Led by Gen. David Petraeus, 1,215 U.S. servicement from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, representing all 50 states, took their oath of duty at the Al Faw Palace in Baghdad, Iraq earlier today, July 4, 2008, in the largest known reenlistment ceremony in the history of the U.S. military.
Gen. Petraeus, reiterating earlier remarks made by Command Sergeant Major Hill, said that the unprecedented ceremony sends a “message to friend and foe alike.” He told those assembled that it is “impossible to calculate the value of what you are giving to our country . . . For no bonus, no matter the size, can adequately compensate you for the contribution each of you makes as a custodian of our nation’s defenses.”
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Meanwhile, Stars and Stripes reported that troops at seven bases in Iraq were to get fresh deep dish pizza straight from Chicago as part of their 4th of July celebrations, courtesy of an idea from a retired airman and the generosity of hundreds of others. The 3,000 pizzas — each with a pound of cheese and packed with other toppings — were cooked by Lou Malnati’s Restaurant staffers last week, then shipped though New York, Belgium and Bahrain on their way to U.S. troops around Baghdad.
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Sort of brings more perspective to parades and picnics and fireworks, doesn’t it?
[H/T to Bob Krum for the video and details - and the title.]
Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue.
-inscription on the Iwo Jima Monument
Three of the six Marines in this photograph died in later fighting on Iwo Jima. A fourth lived the rest of his life a broken man, wracked by survivor guilt. Overall, 6,825 Marines perished in the battle. [Source]
“The whole problem with this idea of obscenity and indecency, and all of these things — bad language and whatever — it’s all caused by one basic thing, and that is: religious superstition,” “There’s an idea that the human body is somehow evil and bad and there are parts of it that are especially evil and bad, and we should be ashamed. Fear, guilt and shame are built into the attitude toward sex and the body. … It’s reflected in these prohibitions and these taboos that we have.”
I totally agree. I’m going to miss George’s salty mouth and real-person, real life mannerisms. Of all the Hollywood glitters bits, George was one of the few who had the balls to stand up, stray from the fake and phoney shit, and lay life on the table as it really is.
I spotted this Wall Street Journal article today Protesting the Antiwar Protestors highlighting the Chester County [PA] Victory Movement, which began nine months ago as one man’s protest at the Chester County Courthouse against anti-war protesters and has now become a weekly presence to challenge the anti-war group that has regularly protested there since 2003. Here’s a video of their May 3, 2008 action.
Today, Memorial Day 2008, the site pays tribute to our soldiers, humbly observing:
But in reality, we are just the Sheep - the real Sheepdogs, the ones who are putting their lives on the line and deserve our gratitude and honor, are the US Soldiers. On this Memorial Day most of us will do just that, we will remember our fallen heroes and we will give them our most solemn thanks.
Definitely a site worth paying a visit to. (And while you’re there, be sure to follow the link to their page about the sheepdogs.)
This WSJ article once again gives testimony to the power of a single dedicated individual to affect his world, in this case a retiree from the Navy after 20 years of service by the name of Ron Davis, who, as the article explains, at first hoped someone would challenge the anti-war protesters, speak up for the troops, and defend their mission. On Sept. 8, 2007 he decided that someone had to be him, and he received a rather unwelcoming reception from the protesters whom he attempted to stand next to with his dissenting sign.
Ron persisted, but it is also true that we are stronger when we are not alone - we need support from others who are willing to stand by our side. The WSJ article also notes the critical assistance from Gathering of Eagles, who a few weeks after Ron Davis began his solitary protests came to show solidarity, bringing some 40 sign-holding, flag-waving supporters to stand at his side and have joined with him since.
Today, Ron, we at ARS stand with you too and with groups like Gathering of Eagles to honor our troops fighting on our behalf and to pay tribute to those who have fallen in battle.
“Greater love has no man than that he lay down his life for his friends”. These words recorded from the Last Supper continue to echo down the ages - and continue to confound us. Few of us encounter such an occasion, and fewer find the courage to do so. Yet for the most part, such self-sacrifice remains unfathomable. And those who have ended up surviving acts of self-sacrifice, the mystery persist, as most can say little more than that it wasn’t something that they thought about or debated - they just did it.
So for this Memorial Day, I would link our readers to an article titled The Lost Heroes of the War on Terror that Jeff Emanuel wrote for Memorial Day 2007, in which he introduces us to four heroes from Iraq representing each of the branches of our military forces:
Michael Monsoor, United States Navy
Jason Dunham, United States Marine Corps
Ross McGinnis, United States Army
Jason Cunningham, United States Air Force
Three of these have now received the Congressional Medal of Honor.
We at ARS salute these young men and the unfathomable nobility of their spirits - and express our condolences to the families and friends of these men along with our gratitude for their sacrifices. May their work not be in vain.
My wife played for me Tim McGraw’s “If You’re Reading This” for the first time this weekend. I haven’t kept up with the country music since I was a senior in high school, so I know this is an older song. That being said, I don’t think that I’ve cried this hard in a long time. I just kept thinking ’bout my buddy Ernie (tribute in my sidebar). And how he would never be a husband and a father. That he sacrificed what I currently have. He is a better man than I, which makes me wonder why God took him instead of me. I know this is a question man has asked since the beginning, and I doubt it will be answered until the end, but is a question that will be asked…
I am including a tribute that includes the song. I won’t stop thinking about those who have, and continue, to sacrifice for this country.
Ernie, I love you man.. and this world is a darker, colder place without you in it…
1. Pride in oneself and the organization they represent.
2. A strong willingness to put in extra attention to detail to get the job done.
3. May wear articles of Marine clothing; T-shirts, jackets, watches, well into their 80’s.
4. Will not hesitate to stand up or put their hand over their heart, or even salute when the National Anthem is played.
5. Does not succumb easily to political correctness.
6. Is sure of who they are.
7. Is often either respected or hated by others, due to their abilities and talents.
8. May donate toys to needy kids at Christmas.
9. Some have been known to wear their hair in a high and tight well into their 90’s.
10. Will look you in the eye when talking to you.
11. Will give you a firm handshake.
12. Knows what honor, courage and commitment mean.
13. Can usually be found in some type of leadership position in whatever organization they work for.
14. Will often regard their drill instructors with the same respect as their parents.
15. Often found in either law enforcement or various professions.
16. Is extremely thorough at what they do.
17. Does not wear a bunch of patches to adorn their uniform. Their title of Marine is often sufficient.
18. Often arrives at work earlier than expected. If they wear a shirt and tie in their job, you might see the tie clip. between the third and fourth button centered.
19. Had spent time training at one of two places; Parris Island or San Diego.
20. May be able to field strip their rifle, up to 60 years after leaving active duty.
21. Can recite the nomenclature of the M1, M14 or M16.
22. May often have his pencils sharpened to a perfect precision point.
23. Will not back down from a fight.
…again, don’t ask me why Jarheads make me oh so horny.
X Posted @ Michael’s (A jarhead who does make me horny)
As we sit down today to enjoy the company of family and friends and a special meal, let us call to remembrance and give thanks to our troops serving abroad in dangerous territories to preserve our freedom, and let us also include their families and loved ones and friends to our thanksgivings.
In tribute, I am posting what I believe to be two examples of the nobility of our finest and a reminder of the ultimate price that some have paid on our behalf.
1) Semper fidelis usque ad mortem*
This image of grief etched in the face of 8 year-old Christian Golczynski as he receives the flag at his father’s funeral will likely become one of the iconic photographs of Americans at war. His father, Marine Staff Sgt. Marc Golczynski, was shot and killed while on patrol in al-Anbar province on March 27, 2007, just a few weeks before he was scheduled to return from his second tour of duty in Iraq.
Just days before he left for his second tour, Marc sent a letter to his family that would be his epitaph:
Due to our deep desire to finish the job we started, we fight and sometimes die so that our families don’t have to. Stand beside us because we would do it for you. Because it is our unity that’s enabled us to prosper the nation.
The article goes on to observe that for all that his father may now represent to others, to Christian, Dad is the man who spent time with him and who was teaching him about being a soldier. “He was a hero…he helped our country and tried to stop terrorists,” Christian said.
Marc Golczynski’s commitment to his country has left his son fatherless. But that son still dreams of growing up one day and becoming a Marine.
* “Alway faithful even unto death” - see also Revelation 2:10
2) A general lays down his rank for his troops
I’ll be back later to finish. More details on General Pace at Theodore’s blog.
Going through my USMC email alerts, I came across this cool article: I didn’t watch Gomer Pyle when it was popular- I never even heard of him until I was grown up and on my own…but I do have a DVD set with most of the shows.
HONOLULU — Hawaii resident and longtime entertainer Jim Nabors enjoyed a special honor on Tuesday night from the U.S. Marine Corps for his character Gomer Pyle.
The television show Gomer Pyle USMC premiered in 1964. Gomer Pyle was a bumbling but lovable private who put a humorous and human face on the U.S. Marine Corps.
[...]
The Marines said Gomer Pyle embodied qualities Marines respect: honesty, loyalty and devotion to duty.
“What’s Gomer think about this? Well golly!” Nabors said.
Those qualities are lacking in most of todays members of Congress, thats for sure!
Speaking of the Marines, Mustang sent me this last evening:
Who needs San Fransisco for a back drop of a commercial? Not the Marines.
I wrote this poem two years ago when I saw this photograph by Richard Drew (AP) at GM’s but it’s still as timely as ever. We need to remember the face of evil that was undeniably revealed six years ago.
What a wrenching choice for those trapped above the crash level: fiery extinction vs. flight into eternity.
Let us never forget - for our sakes and for our children’s.
Haiku on “The Falling Man”
Life rejects the flames
Cradled ‘gainst gravity’s breast
Heav’n and earth collide
Nineteen
The number on his back, Voted captain of his high school football team
Took us all the way to state, got a scholarship to play down in Tennessee
He could run, he could duck, he could throw, he could go like you’ve never seen
Nineteen
But on the day those twin towers came down his whole world turned around
He told em all, ya’ll I can’t play ball there’s a war on now
So he marched right in with a few good men, and joined the Marines
At Nineteen
Well he’s the boy next door, might have carried your bags at the grocery store
He’s somebody’s son, in a hole with a gun, in a foreign land
Try’ in to hold on to his American dream
Nineteen
There’s a sniper out there in the dark somewhere, and a solider down
Ya we need someone who can duck and run to get him out some how
Want one good man to raise his hand, and take one for the team
Well how bout you Nineteen
Well he’s the boy next door, he used to carry your bags at the grocery store
He’s somebody’s son, in a hole with a gun, in a foreign land
Try’ in to hold on to his American dream
Nineteen
Brought him home today with a big parade down on main street
Got a purple heart and a silver star, solider gave a speech
Said he could run, he could duck, he could throw, he’s the one who rescued me
He said he could have played for Tennessee
Number Nineteen
He was Nineteen
Much will be written in the next several days about September 11 2001. Not much will top this though.
The wind came when the pillar of fire became, in what seemed a moment outside of time, a pillar of smoke. We had been standing on the Promenade that morning in our thousands watching death rage at the center of a beautiful September morning. It was a morning with a clear and washed blue sky; the kind of rare New York morning when you can believe, again, that anything is possible in that city of dreams that so often dissolve into disappointment.
Anything, of course, except the two towers whose peaks were engulfed in flames.
Anything, it would seem, but what we were seeing.
And it was a morning, as I recall, that had no wind at all. That was why the flames and the smoke from the flames went almost straight up into the sky, a long sooted streak that bisected one side of the blue sky from the other.
It was, except for this one insane thing happening in the middle of our panoramic view from the Promenade, a most beautiful day; made even more so by the absence of any irritating noise from passenger jets overhead.
The last two jets into New York airspace that morning would be the last for days to come. In New York you become so used to the sound of jets overhead in New York that you don’t really hear them. What you did hear on that day was the silence of their absence. When the sound of jets came back later that afternoon it was not the sound of passenger jets but of F-16 fighters, and we were glad to hear them.
But in that mid-morning all we could see and think about were the souls trapped in the twin torches about a quarter of a mile away from us on the other side of the East River.
At a certain point in that timeless time you noticed that specks were arcing out from the sides of the buildings from just above or just below or just within the part that was in flames. Looking again you saw that the specks were people flying out from the building and plunging down the sides to disappear behind the shorter buildings that ringed the towers. You tried to imagine what must have been going on in the offices and rooms to that building that made leaping from 100 floors or more above the ground the “better” option but you didn’t have that kind of space left in your imagination. And so you looked on and watched them leap and distantly, silently fall, locked within that morning that had no time, in which all of what you had known, believed, and trusted in came, at once and forever, to a sudden frozen halt.
And then the first tower came down.
How haunting. Never forget that day because if you do, America’s soul will suffer.
In this powerful video tribute to our armed forces today in Iraq and those who’ve fought for American freedom in past wars, Mike Kaminski updates Patton’s famous speech from the movie Patton to call upon our nation to diligently carry out the task that has been appointed to it in these times; to rise to the challenge posed by the defining issue of our generation: to win the War on Terror.
An awe-inspiring and truly-inspired rendition that the general himself would likely deliver (a bit more colorfully, I suspect) were he still among us today.
Read this, and be in awe of these men who have overcome tremendous wounds and long healing processes, who have made a choice.
Here are some quotes from the Marines in this article:
“They remind me why it’s good to be an American - and it’s better to be a Marine.”
“You used to put on your shoe, now you put on your leg,” he said. “It saves you money. You only gotta wear one sock. And you don’t have to cut your toenails anymore.”
“Five Marines were saved,” he said. “This is why God put me in the Marine Corps.”
“Any time you hear Marine, especially with U.S. in front of it, people don’t want to fight with you.”
Rather than sit around and mope and feel sorry for themselves, they chose to move forward and be active AND help their fellow Marines. These guys are an inspiration for ALL. The Semper Fi team will be participating in the Nation’s Triathlon in September. It’s amazing: these guys have lost limbs and have under taken the task of brutal training schedules, other marathons and events, ON their own time, with no assistance from the US Government.
All the money they raise in these endeavors is given right back to other injured Marines. Only a few and only some proud could do this. The spirit of the Marine Corps lives on through these men.
Seventeen-year-old Travis VanKuren was walking to his car at the Wal-Mart in Springettsbury Township at 7 p.m. last Wednesday when he saw a man and a woman struggling in the parking lot.
VanKuren, a slim, 5-foot, 9-inch junior at Dallastown Area High School, took a closer look and made eye contact with the woman involved in the fight.
“She looked over at me and started screaming for help,” VanKuren said. The woman also screamed “help” at two other people in the parking lot who looked at her and walked away.
VanKuren didn’t.
Maybe this is why he isn’t like so many others, who chose to walk away?
Word of VanKuren’s heroics is beginning to get out at his high school, however. Master Gunnery Sergeant Mark Jovich, VanKuren’s instructor at the high school’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, said VanKuren’s actions are being relayed to every JROTC class as an example of leadership.
“We’re very proud of him,” Jovich said. “He knows what is right or wrong, and he steps up. It would have been very easy to walk away, and a lot of people would have walked away. He was calm, cool, and collected. That is leadership. I think he handled it exactly how he should have handled it.”
VanKuren, a cadet lieutenant in the JROTC, said he wants to pursue a career in the military, either in the Marines or in the Navy, like his father.
The world needs more heroes. Men and women who aren’t scared of their own damn shadows; who would come to the defense of another person in need of help. Who just do the right thing.
You stand to fight and we agree
Until we see your brothers bleed
You give your life to hold the line
And then we change our minds
Afraid to say that you’d
Come home this way
I stand to give you my applause
How could you fight for a better cause
Opposed by those that you set free
Still you fight for me
We hold our signs of war and peace
They seem to change so easily
While passing judgment from our homes
In foreign lands you roam
Afraid to say what you’d
You’d die to save
Chorus:
I stand to give you my applause
How could you fight for a better cause
Opposed by those that you set free
Still you fight for me
To all the soldiers don’t you know
You’ll always be the world’s hero
As long as we have enemies
Still you fight for me
