Liberal Tolerance - Continues

A friend of this blog needs our help once again! Grey Eagle the 101st Combat Medic I wrote about a couple of days ago is still having problems.

It was brought to my attention that my polls had been changed. When I went there, I was completely shocked by all the questions. Once again, it was originally designed to offer a voice in things. And once again it was abused. Do you people think that this is cute, or just hell-bent on trying to get me into trouble? Did I do something so offensive to you personally that you feel the need to attack me in such a personal way?

Once again the party of tolerance shows how tolerant they are when the message isn’t a message they agree with. And they have the audacity to say that being a Republican is akin to having a mental illness, isn’t that want psychologist call projection?

Currently someone has offered to completely redesign this website with built in security. I cannot tell you how happy I am with that. To finally have a website where I can post my stories, and have visitors who do not have to contend with your hacks on soldier's tributes, insulting people with changing the polls, and the many other things you have done to this website. I know that this isn't the most secure website; I didn't realize that it was going be such a requirement when I designed it. I was obviously wrong. I wish to personally say I am sorry to anyone who has had to read or endure the messages or polls that may have been offensive on this website. You will note that the units have been removed from the menu in addition to the polls for the same security reasons. As upset and humiliated as I am, I am not going to quit. I am not going to abandon this project, or terminate the website. I will learn, improve, adapt, and overcome your childish attacks. I should have known as soon as I saw that you were coming back out of hiding to resume posting your hateful and spiteful comments that something like this would occur.

That’s it Grey Eagle show that AIR ASSAULT spirit and let’s show those felonious bastards how to win a war! Their acts while despicable will not sway the actions of a dedicated and optimistic soldier nor should they.

I will hope and pray this will be the last time I have to post another message like this. But if not, know that I will not be defeated. I will not let your emails referring to me as a "baby killer", your calls for me to walk away from my duties, your questioning of my loyalty to this county discourage me. I will not let your small minded attacks to my website deny me my voice, I have earned that right. And I will not continue to allow you to insult the visitors who come to this website to read or learn about life here. This is not a political website so please refrain from making it one. I will begin to delete your comments, I will backup this website so as to overcome your attacks, and I will await the completion of the new website.
Grey Eagle
"Air Assault"

Go there and let her know you are as pissed about this type of behavior as I am, and if you happen to know of anyone that works in the FBI Cyber Crimes unit, perhaps you could send them her way as some much needed back up.

Thank you.

Pushback Day-7

The Push back continues and today is Linked in USAF’s turn. He writes in part:

OPTIMISM is almost non-existent in the MSM OSM LAME PMM (Prevaricating Media Machine). In fact, I have been noticing that it is often missed by our fellow milbloggers. I am not asserting that optimism is burying ones head in the sand. The media is doing fine on their own hitting us with their invectives. I submit that we must try very hard to uncover the good and ensure that it permeates the blogosphere until it hits the general consumer. We have a responsibility to those that are sacrificing their all to protect us. Since we are "on the wall" here at home, we must lead by example and fight with the greatest power in the universe: optimism.

On Day 8, please be sure to check in on Carol of Planningblog.com! And, if you haven't already, please go back and read up from all the other folks involved in the 14 Day Push Back!

Welcome Mudville Gazette Readers

Thanks for stopping by. I must say I am totally amazed that I have been linked by Mrs. Greyhawk and her Dawn Patrol twice now; I really must remember to actually come to my blog and check these things more often. Please feel free to look around and let me know what you think, as you can see by my previous post I'm tired after having a busy night, so there will most likely be no big essay today, but who knows what this afternoon will bring.

Again, thanks for stopping by.

David

Tired

Last night was a busy night for us, in 2 hours time in the County we had one building collapse, one person struck by lightning, 4 vehicle accidents one involving an ambulance on the way to another vehicle accident 5 automatic alarms and 2 structure fires one of which burnt the house to the ground, that was the call that was really busy for us. Yes I realize I am Mr. Fire Prevention but sometimes the need is just there and no matter how powerful my curse is, it is over-ridden by some higher power.

The first house fire we were dispatched to was a reported house stuck by lightning up in the County Watershed area. It was a bear getting to it and there was no way we would have gotten our Tiller-truck back the lane to the house if they had needed us. The first unit arrived on scene to report the fire was out, so we only had to find a suitable place to turn our massive vehicle around on the road, which was no easy task. 45 minutes after leaving quarters we were back and getting ready for the next call, which as fate would have it wasn’t far off.

About 20 minutes later we had our next call come in. The second house fire was originally dispatched as a structure fire, which brings 3 Engines, 1 Truck and 1 Ambulance to the scene, but was upgraded to a box alarm 3 Engines, 2 Trucks 1 Heavy Rescue and 1 Ambulance within a minute of being dispatched. This means that before the first units were even out the door they were upgrading the assignment which almost always means it’s a working fire, this upgrade brought us out on the call. Within another minute they asked for a Tanker Task Force: 5 Tankers each carrying at least 2000 gallons of water, and within 4 minutes they asked for a full Fire Task Force an additional 4 Engines, another Truck, 1 Air Unit, 1 Medic, and an additional Ambulance. This also has the unintended effect of bringing out all the white shirts, senior officers, in the county. The best way to make a chaotic scene even more chaotic is to add in 4 or 5 chief officers, all of whom want to be in charge!

The first unit arrived on scene to report heavy fire showing from all sides. Apparently the fire started in the basement or on the back porch and extended to the basement very quickly, which then allowed it to extend to the rest of the structure rapidly. The homeowner reported hearing a loud boom and then smoke started to build up in the house; he was able to get out with his family by escaping out a window but had to leave the family pets behind.

Traffic was terrible as the road was clogged with people and their cars, all trying to gawk at the fire, and all in a torrential downpour. I understand the draw of watching a fire, but come on people it was a horrible storm to be out in, just to see a fire. Police eventually had to be called in just to get the watchers out of there. As it was the house was a total loss, about 20 minutes in to the fire all that was still standing of the house was the chimney, and the Engine Companies were protecting the exposures.

The Myth of the Underprivileged Soldier

Tim Kane and Jay Carafano, both military veterans, and research fellows at the Heritage Foundation published an editorial in the Sunday November 27th USA Today taking on the myth that military recruiters prey on poor, disadvantaged and under-educated youths in an effort to swell the ranks and meet quotas. Bob Herbert, columnist with the New York Times continually writes, “…likely there would be no war if rich kids had to fight.” Rep Charles Rangel, D-NY even goes so far to call for the draft as some sort of social equality program. The fact of the matter is, “the typical recruit is wealthier, more educated and more rural than the average 18 – 24 year old.” Kane and Carafano found that while rural areas do produce more enlistees, this has always been the case but more to the point 98% of enlistees, “joined with high-school diplomas or better. By comparison, 75% of the general population meets that standard.”

The researchers also found that since 9/11 more volunteers have emerged from the middle and upper classes and fewer from the lowest-income groups. Allegations that recruiters are disproportionately targeting blacks also do not hold water. First, whites make up 77.4% of the nation's population and 75.8% of its military volunteers, Kane and Carafano found. Second, they found that in those areas of the country with the highest concentration of blacks, which range from 24.1% black up to 68.6%, account for 14.6% of the adult population yet only produced 16.6% of recruits in 1999 and only 14.1% in 2003. Those numbers suggest that recruiters are not aggressively targeting black communities but instead they are going after a different demographic altogether.

They end their editorial by saying, “Maintaining the strength and size of our all-volunteer military isn't always easy. But Americans step up when their country needs them. To suggest the system is failing or exploiting citizens is wrong. And to make claims about the nature of U.S. troops to discredit their mission ought to be politically out of bounds.” I couldn’t agree more and I wish the Main Stream Media as well as many members in Congress would realize that they aren’t helping themselves or America with their blatant falsehoods.

Pushback Day-6

The Pushback started by Andi of Andi’s Place continues.

Today Air Force Family takes the reins and pushes back with a column written by an Active Duty Air Force Officer and a former member of the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) that operated under David Kay prior to the invasion. He writes: “I’ll spare you the humiliating stories about interrogating Ba'athists and running them as sources. It’s not pretty, it never is. Those we interrogated were proud when they were on top, but they would do anything they needed to survive; including tell[ing] you what you wanted to hear, whether or not it was true. But we were professionals, and eventually separated lies from truth. So here is the truth. My Congressman told me there were no WMD in Iraq. But he was wrong, because it was and is still there. And we found some.

Go read the whole thing, you won’t believe what he is saying and you too will be asking why the Main Stream Media isn’t going after this story.

Media Lies

Despite what you might be reading in the press recently Col. John Murtha, D-PA is a not a Hawk suddenly turned Dove, for Congressman Murtha has been promoting his cut and run policies since Somalia, and never backed the war on terror when it wasn’t politically expedient to do so. The media loves to find old soldiers that have turned their back on their fellow brothers in uniform, and tout them as some holier than thou hero, that has suddenly seen the evil of their past ways, former President and current disgrace Jimmy Carter is another one of these heroes the Media loves to talk about and lavish attention on. He and many others like him according to the Media have absolute moral authority when commenting upon all matters military, but the truth is they have no more absolute authority than I. Not surprisingly these media darlings are all members of the Democratic Party, the party whose current national policy is to do anything that gets George W. Bush ousted from office.

Also not surprising is the little reported fact by the media that they are controlled by persons with ties to the Democratic Party. By that do I mean that the DNC controls the media, no not at all, what I do mean is that of the Thousands of Editors and Producers in the Main Stream Media the overwhelming majority vote Democratic and contribute large sums of money to promote Democratic agendas. This is without a doubt the ultimate in conflicts of interest.

If the Media is supporting those that they are reporting on, how can we trust them to even report the news accurately? In even the most sophomoric of television cop shows you can hear the phrase uttered by the senior and wise detective, to “…Follow the Money…” if we follow the money on this one it only leads back to the news agencies. Is it any wonder then that the failed Democratic policies of the past 40 years: the war on poverty, welfare and affirmative action, are still the lynch pins of the Main Stream Media? If we can’t get the straight story on how these policies have failed us as a nation how can we expect that what they are reporting on Iraq and Afghanistan is at all accurate. Isn’t this the ultimate example of the tail wagging the dog?

Thankfully the American people are not totally fooled at least many of us aren’t fooled. A recent RT Strategies poll found that an overwhelming majority of those surveyed believes the motive is really to "gain a partisan political advantage." Their poll also found that Seventy percent of people surveyed said that criticism of the war by Democratic senators hurts troop morale -- with 44 percent saying morale is hurt "a lot," according to a poll taken by RT Strategies. Even self-identified Democrats agree: 55 percent believe criticism hurts morale, while 21 percent say it helps morale.

If this is the case why does the Main Stream media continue to bombard us with lies about the conduct of the war and more importantly why are we putting up with it? I know the truth of what is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan because I have taken the time to go out and find out for myself what is happening there, when is the Main Stream Media going to start doing the same thing?

When are you?

Stupid Pet, er...um, I mean Criminal tricks.

Shamelessly stolen from Wizbang.

Good idea: Buying a digital camera to preserve those special moments.
Bad idea: taking kiddie porn pictures with that digital camera.
Good idea: deleting those pictures.
Bad idea: going to Best Buy for help when you can't figure out how to delete them by yourself.

What Are You Thankful For?

Its Thanksgiving here in the States and I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of the men and women in uniform citizens and non-citizens that have decided that this country is worth fighting for. I want to thank them all for the tireless and thankless service they provide on a daily basis, whether it be going out beyond the wire to look for our enemies, or staying behind to care for those that come back wounded, or even if they are still stationed stateside or overseas on some other military installation. I want to thank each and every one of you that is making my life and the lives of my children safer.

Be proud of what you are doing and never forget that we are here pulling for you 100%!

Thank you and Thank you God for blessing all of us with life and freedom.

Supporting your Employee/Soldier

I was talking to J.P. Borda of Milblogging.com, formerly TheNationalGuardExperience, the other day and I asked if he was going to stay in his current Guard unit or look for a new one near where he now lives, and if he was going to look for a new one, was he going to shop around for one that wasn’t scheduled to deploy until his time in service is done? He surprised me by stating that he would be very willing to go back if needed, but that the burden on his growing family would be too great the next time. He then half jokingly suggested that I should re-enlist so that we can go back together. I replied that I’m too old and my wife would never go for that. We laughed for a bit about that and then moved onto other topics. But, the truth is; I’m probably not too old, I mean heck I’m only 41 and I’m still in good shape, and I had been thinking of re-enlisting for some time now, so I mentioned the conversation to my wife that evening. As I expected she said “No!” right away, but later we talked some more about it and she said, “If it’s something you feel you have to do, we can look at finding a way to make it happen.” I have to tell you, my wife never ceases to amaze me. She has supported me in more than one hair brained endeavor and while not all of them turned out for the better, she never once told me that I was wrong.

Anyway, her reply to me got me thinking about what the actual burden would be on the family. This morning I spent an hour going through my company’s policy manual to see what they have to say about me re-enlisting and what would happen if I was deployed. The company follows all the federal laws to the letter, which means basically if I do get deployed, I can get my job back or a comparable job and that I can get all pay raises and bonuses that my co-workers received in the time I was gone, however, my insurance would end, unless I want to pick up the entire monthly tab and my pay would end as I would effectively no longer be an employee of my company.

Well, I have to say, that pretty much clinched it for me. To start shopping around for another employer that would be more acceptable to some possible future deployment and lose all my time in grade here seems foolish to me. Do I still want to re-enlist and take a more active role in the GWOT? I sure do, but right now I have to think about my family and I’m not ready to make them suffer any more than they should have to. If my current employer, changes their policy based upon my inquiry, even better, because I really love what I do.

I must say I’m a little shocked that my company isn’t more supportive than they are, especially considering that they make a couple hundred million dollars a year on military contracts, but on the other hand I’m not surprised. Knowing that your employee is in the Guard or Reserve and that they can be called up puts a strain on a company when that does happen. Not only are you missing a quality employee but now you have to find and hire a replacement. However, in my research this morning I found countless employers of all sizes and types that go the extra mile in supporting their employee/soldiers. Henrico County Virginia is one of those employers, when one of their employees is activated the County makes up the difference between their military pay and their regular pay. Not bad especially in this area where you need two incomes in your family to survive, now taking a massive pay cut to serve your country just got a whole lot easier thanks to employers like that. Way to go!

If your employer is going the extra mile, take a moment to thank them and then take a moment to thank the employees that are also Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and Sailors, they deserve it. Until such a time comes that I do re-enlist, I’ll be right here supporting those that are currently serving.

The Push is On.

Since the Main Stream Media's sole reporting on Iraq and Afghanistan is a daily body count, Andi of Andi’s World, is taking on the task of pushing back against the mainstream media with respect to its jaded view of the War on Terror. Her, and the other bloggers joining her, aim is to counter the message that Iraq is a quagmire. ‘It's our little way of saying, "we've had enough"’

Her first installment aired yesterday and is entitled: The Sin of Omission is Costly.
Today is Toni of Bear Creek Ledger’s turn. Stop in and read her post: Need to Vent .
The rest of the posting schedule is as follows:
November 23 - Doug Petch
November 24 - Thanksgiving (day off)
November 25 - Rightfielder
November 28 - Gunn Nutt
November 29 - Air Force Wife will host an active-duty guest blogger
November 30 - LinkedinUSAF
December 1 - Carol
December 2 - rounds out the event with a special guest blogger.

Be sure to drop in on these bloggers as they devote their time, and blog space, to send a message - one you won't hear articulated by the MSM.

Iraq: Learning the Lessons of Vietnam

Michael at Boots in Baghdad has an excellent article posted about being in Iraq is really all about and what leaving early will result in. He writes: “This is the best article I have read on Iraq since I returned home. The author's objective writing is based on a perfect balance of intelligence and experience. In my opinion, his accuracy is absolute.It is written by Melvin Laird, former Defense Secretary to Nixon. It is posted in its entirety below or it can be found at Foreign Affairs.

Laird writes, “It is time for a reasonable look at both Vietnam and Iraq -- and at what the former can teach us about the latter. My perspective comes from military service in the Pacific in World War II (I still carry shrapnel in my body from a kamikaze attack on my destroyer, the U.S.S. Maddox), nine terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, and four years as secretary of defense to Nixon.Today, we deserve a view of history that is based on facts rather than emotional distortions and the party line of tired politicians who play on emotions. Mine is not a rosy view of the Vietnam War. I didn't miss the fact that it was an ugly, mismanaged, tragic episode in U.S. history, with devastating loss of life for all sides. But there are those in our nation who would prefer to pick at that scab rather than let it heal. They wait for opportunities to trot out the Vietnam demons whenever another armed intervention is threatened. For them, Vietnam is an insurance policy that pretends to guarantee peace at home as long as we never again venture abroad. Certain misconceptions about that conflict, therefore, need to be exposed and abandoned in order to restore confidence in the United States' nation-building ability.”

Stop over and read the whole article, you will learn a lot, I know…I sure did.

Liberal Tolerance...Again.

I’m all about free speech after all it is that 1st Amendment Right that gives me the right to post on this blog, but I can’t understand how some people think that free speech only extends to speech that you agree with. The great liberal left is all about preaching how important free speech, tolerance and diversity is until they run into someone that is expressing an opinion that isn’t just like theirs, at which point they become psychopathic idiots. Case in point, Grey Eagle is a combat medic in the 101st Airborne Division currently serving in Iraq. She writes on a blog called Grey Eagle’s - A Female Soldier 2: My Life in the Box…Stories from the Front. She doesn’t moderate her comments and allows even the intolerant to post comments to her honoring lost soldiers in the War in Iraq. So how do they thank her service? Let’s have her tell it:

“Congratulations to Those Who Oppose the Soldiers

I wish to express my congratulations to the hackers, vandals, and anti-war visitors who successfully blocked my ability to post any further tributes to the soldiers. I am sure you find victory in preventing myself and others from having a place to read and pay our respects to the Fallen Female Soldiers, and my brother’s in arms, the brave soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division. I can only imagine your satisfaction in justifying the disgrace of men and women who died for this country. You may not feel it was justified, but they gave their lives believing in what they were doing. Apparently freedom of speech is merely a phrase to you, not something you believe, in unless it applies to you. If you do not share the person’s view you justify your actions in removing the ability for them to express their opinions. In doing so, you have only displayed to me that your cause is unjust, and strengthen my resolve and beliefs in what we are doing here. You have dishonored those who did believe in something, and took away my right to mourn their memories. These were men and women who actually took a stand in what they believed in, sacrificed their time with their families, and put themselves in danger simply because they believed in something. So to support your beliefs what have you done? Oh, that is right, you took away my freedom to pay tribute and mourn my fellow soldiers.”

Oh yes once again the moonbattery on the left has decided that a civil debate on topics of National importance can only take place if those that think differently than them have no voice in the matter. That’s tolerance for you. Here is a fine woman who has placed herself in harms way, away from her family, to protect your freedoms and what do you do as thanks, you take away her 1st Amendment rights.

“I have never took (sic) away anyone’s freedom to post their views here. It was my belief that if I was to fight and defend freedom, then that would have to be for all, regardless of whether I believed in your views or not. I never deleted your comments or views, and rarely stepped in to oppose them or prevent your expression of them. I even went as far as to give you a forum on the website at my expense to present your views in open debate. But you hacked that, and prevented anyone from presenting their views. I guess that is your version of freedom of speech that you believe in so dearly in.”

You have hit the nail right on the head Grey Eagle, their version of freedom is the only version they can deal with. Their version of freedom means being subservient to other countries and religions, and appeasing all in the name of tolerance; unfortunately their version of freedom is really slavery. They pull out the old tired meme’s that this war is illegal and that we should leave right now, no questions asked, but they fail to mention that if we did do that the murderous terrorists would move right back in and kill every last person that has been working for a free and democratic Iraq.

“I have read without intervention your mindless presentations of life here and the harm we supposedly do to the Iraqi’s, yet you have never set foot on the soil here. I read the post of phosphorus bombs and wondered if you ever look beyond what you wanted to believe to discover the truth, or do you just mold it until you are able to shape it into some sort of viewpoint. Were you here during that time? I do not believe so, otherwise you would agree with others who were actually here, and actually witnessed the events. The phosphorus bombs were a more humane effort to dislodge a group of insurgents that had attacked and engaged U.S. troops. The military did not want to blow apart the entire area and the structures in it, as well as bring harm to those innocent in the attack. So this method was elected, to prevent further destruction and loss of innocent lives. I know that we do not share the same viewpoint here, but I continue to believe that if you do not wish to die at the hand of U.S. soldiers, then you should not attack them and attempt to kill them. They will happily spare your life if you refrain from attacking them. Please in the future do not post your tributes to the insurgents who kill hundreds of innocent women and children in Iraq. And to answer your question, yes many of those innocent Iraqi’s are brought to military facilities for the finest in medical care possible as innocent victims of the terrorist you seem to support. So I have had the opportunity to see the horrible damage to a human body that a suicide bomber can do, and look in their faces, and not know what to say or how to explain how one of their own countrymen could do this to them. I seriously doubt that you have ever know that pain, that I felt in my heart when the Blackhawks landed with these people. So save your ridiculous accusations about me, what I do, what I feel, or the devoted men and women who serve here that saved the lives of those people that your precious noble terrorists that you defend so freely, attempted to destroy with their suicide bombs.”

“I stood on the runway the other day with Charlie Company. We were part of what is called a “ramp ceremony” in which we line up to pay our respects as the fallen soldiers in flag draped coffins are carried by to be loaded in C130 aircraft for their final trip home. I was very moved by this experience and wished to post it on my tribute which I have invested countless hours and cost to present to myself and others who are more respectful and obviously take the freedoms granted to you as American’s more seriously. But I was unable to, thanks to your prevention of my rights. I am so glad to know that I am here defending your rights to speech and your ability to remove mine.”

Again, they deny the basic freedoms endowed by our creator to this fine soldier by committing a felony and stealing her personal property. How noble of you on the left. How brave that you sit comfortably in your computer rooms and hack the personal websites of individual soldiers; soldiers that are only interested in serving their country and protecting idiots like you, while your only concern is whether Starbucks will be crowded later today when you run out for your double de-caffeinated latte. Do you even know how precious your freedoms are as you defend your so-called freedom fighters, the same freedom fighters that will slaughter you just as easily as they did helpless children in Beslan?

“So it is with disgusted congratulations that I give you the recognition you so obviously require and let you know that you blocked further postings for now of fallen soldiers. I am sure you feel proud as American’s, as human’s in a free society, and of fully taking advantage of the freedoms I offered you on this website. It is true that I have very limited time here to spend constantly updating, backing up and re-uploading this website. Somehow the mortars, the small arms fire, and the wounded soldiers that arrive here daily prevent me from devoting the time required to monitor and prevent your attacks to the website. In addition, I receive no contributions, donations and have never asked for anything in presenting this website and have absorbed all the cost and additional costs in the increased bandwidth and attacks you carry out on my website out of my own pocket. So take this victory against my fallen brother in arms with pride.

To those who have not devoted as much energy to the destruction of this website and my rights, I do want to thank you for your continued support and the wonderful email I receive daily. I want you to know that not only I read your message, but many of the other soldiers here read them as well. As the holidays approach us and we are away from our families that means a lot more then you will ever know. A special thanks to PJ and the Web Of Support community for their wonderful care packages that have arrived (if you wish to give please contact them). It was like Christmas here as we opened our boxes of treats. We have also received care packages from other caring individuals and we appreciated them so much. Just to know that we are not alone, and the world has not turned against us and our efforts can be a very moving and powerful moment for us when we get our mail and our packages.”

Grey Eagle has more courage and patriotism in her pinky than the entire lot of you has in your collective bodies. She is not afraid to read your words for even though she does not agree with them, she respects the freedoms that allow her the right to publish her own words. You on the other hand feel the need to silence her simple words of honor for her fallen soldiers. If the loss of 2000 American Soldiers and Americans was as important event as you would have had us believe how can you do such a despicable act to the memory of those same men and women now? Is it because you really have no respect for these fine Americans and that you honestly believe that the entire Military complex should shut down for good? Do you even understand the sacrifice that our military makes on a daily basis, not only their personal safety, but the hardships they deal with while being away from their families?

“Finally, I wish to say that a soldier wounded from shrapnel awoke the other day after being unconscious from his wounds. His eyes are etched into my memory as he discovered he was alive, safe, and among his fellow soldiers. In that moment, I knew that everything I had sacrificed in my life, that this holiday season away from my husband and children, that the lack of sleep, the long days, and my personal sadness at times from the separation are worth it. Sometimes there are causes worth serving that are greater then ourselves.

Happy Thanksgiving and Holidays,
Grey Eagle
“AIR ASSAULT!”

Go back to your dark rooms oh great liberals of the left for your version of freedom can not stand up in the light of day. Take with you your version of tolerance only for those that agree with you, and let the rest of us do our job protecting you in silence.

To my friends, go lend a kind word or a helping hand, because this brave warrior in the 101st could use our help and support.

A Brief History of the Gulf War parts I, II and III:

For those among us that believe that G.W. Bush invented the entire conflict with Iraq in his head so he could declare war or have forgotten the complex struggles that got us involved in the invasion of Iraq in 2003 I suggest that you head on over to The Mudville Gazette and read: A Brief History of a Long War (Iraq 1990 – 2003). Greyhawk has compiled and put together a great post about how previous Administrations and International Agencies dropped the ball on Iraq or turned a blind eye altogether to the trouble brewing thanks to Saddam.

Don’t miss this January 2001 quote from the Washington Post “...of all the booby traps left behind by the Clinton administration, none is more dangerous -- or more urgent -- than the situation in Iraq. Over the last year, Mr. Clinton and his team quietly avoided dealing with, or calling attention to, the almost complete unraveling of a decade's efforts to isolate the regime of Saddam Hussein and prevent it from rebuilding its weapons of mass destruction. That leaves President Bush to confront a dismaying panorama in the Persian Gulf," including "intelligence photos that show the reconstruction of factories long suspected of producing chemical and biological weapons."

Good Job Greyhawk, once again the voice of reason will prevail!

A Cause Worth Fighting For

Sgt Hook says this…I received an email from a mother whose son is currently fighting in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division. He and his platoon have penned a message to the American public that is a little different from the message we are getting via the MSM. He asked his mom to help get this message out and she asked me. Here it is from the soldiers on the ground…

Friends this is an amazing letter and even though the writer calls himself “just a soldier…” he is far from being just a soldier for he is a true American. Join me in passing this note around to everyone that has the guts to read and then to a few that can’t stand to have the truth shown to them.

UPDATE:
Sgt. Hook had originally kept the Sgt’s name off of the letter for OPSEC reasons. He has since contacted the Sgt who has given permission to include his name on the letter. So thank you, SGT Walter J. Rausch and 1st Platoon 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

Morning Spirits

I like to visit the Memorial early in the morning as the sun is rising, glinting off the Bell and Trumpet, and illuminating the Maltese cross, the symbols of our trade. The eternal flame flickers at the base of the memorial as you walk up the brick path treading on the names of those that have supported the endeavor to put forth a memorial so that None Are Forgotten. I know where I am going, my destination is two plaques this morning, one from 1993 and one from 2001 it is the same two plaques I always visit when I take a walk to the memorial. There are some here who can tell you every name on each and every plaque but many of us only go to those that we know. There are actually 2 plaques for 2001, because the loss of life at the WTC was so great that there was no exception but to include those names on a separate plaque.

This morning, the air was cold in the bright sun as I walked through the opening in the wall to get to the flame and names; a stiff breeze drove the chill past my coat and into my body as if each spirit there was running towards me and into my heart. Time seems to stand still as you survey all the names and at times you can hear the soft whisper of names on the wind as you read them off the plaques. Stopping briefly at each of my two stops, I prayed for their families and reminded them that we will never forget them.

Rest quietly my brothers.

The Forgotten Fire

I read an article the other day on one of the trade websites that brought back an old memory for me, the article was about what is being called, “The Forgotten Fire.” This fire resulted in the loss of three firefighters from FDNY. On June 22, 2001, I wrote this letter to the editor to express my thoughts on the loss; they are the same today as they were then. For those of you wondering why this is called The Forgotten Fire it is quite simply because of a matter of timing for you see, just 3 months later was September 11, 2001.

On Sunday June 17, 2001, Father’s Day, the Fire Service lost three more of its family, Harry Ford, Brian Fahey and John Downing all of the New York City Fire Department. All three men were married. Ford, a highly decorated firefighter, leaves behind three children - a daughter, 24-year-old Janna O'Brien, and two sons ages 10 (Gerard) and 12 (Harry). Fahey has 3-year-old twin boys, Patrick and James, and an 8-year-old son, Brendan. Downing leaves a 7-year-old daughter, Joanne, and 3-year-old son, Michael.

It seems like every day that I hear of another member of our family passing while serving others, and constantly I am asked, why do you do it? It’s such a risky job how could you ever want to do that? I can’t even tell you the number of times I’ve seen my wife cringe, or heard her whisper, “shit” as I ran out the door in response to my pager, or the number of nights where I’ve only slept an hour, and still got up to go to work the next day. And still I’m asked the same question.

Why do we do it? It certainly isn't for the money. We don't make much and many of us do it for free. It isn't for the glory, for there is no glory when you are cleaning the apparatus, in the middle of the night after a call, just lots of hard work and aching muscles.

When you ask a firefighter why they do what they do, you will get a variety of answers ranging from “I like the adrenaline“ to "I want to help people," but the truth goes much deeper. Being a firefighter becomes an integral part of who you are it’s not just a job we do; it’s what we are. Every call changes you and leaves its mark on you. You become something more than you were before. And every call has the potential to be the last. The smallest fire has the potential to be deadly. When we leave to go to work in the morning or respond from our home to answer our pager's shriek, we all know that it may be our last.

But still why do we do it? Is it because we care? Is it because we care enough to give our lives to make sure that the people we serve are safe and well cared for? Or is it because if we don’t who will? Will the mayor of your town do what I do for my pay? Will the teacher down the street do it?

A few days ago we lost three more of our own and made 8 children fatherless. So you may ask once again, why do we do what we do? We do it ‘cause it’s the right thing to do, and because … we are firefighters.

So while I take a short walk to visit the National Fallen Firefighter Memorial to pay my respects, join me now in ensuring that every lost firefighter is never forgotten.

Operation Clean Sweep

Thunder 6 takes us on an intense ride into a combat mission as he leads his men for the first time as Company Commander. Strap yourself in, put in your ear protection, lock and load one 30 round magazine and get ready for an Air Assault mission into Iraq.

Mr. Fire Prevention Strikes Again

Tuesday evenings are my evenings to volunteer with my local fire department, as I noted in previous posts we are a Truck Company, which means we are considered a Special Services Unit, which makes us rather unique, what makes us even more unique is that while most Truck Companies staff one Truck, we staff 2 Tractor-Drawn Aerial units as well as an Air/Light Unit out of our quarters. Because of our equipment make-up we are dispatched on 95% of all structure fires and automatic alarms that occur in our city, which usually sends us out of our quarters on average 5 times a day giving us a pretty decent amount of runs per year for a city of only 80,000 people.

Lately, my presence at the station indicates that we will only sit around and do nothing, in fact it has gotten so bad that as soon as I show up many of the guys there will say, “Hey David’s here! I’m going to get into my PT uniform cause I know we won’t be going anywhere as long as he is here.” I just laugh and go along with it, but it does seem true. Last year after having the same set of turnout gear for several years, I was issued a new set of gear, and yes, it is still very clean, in fact the only call I’ve worn it on to get it dirty is the apartment fire I wrote about a couple of months ago.

So yesterday was Tuesday and I showed up like I always do, only as I was driving across town I hear a box alarm dispatched for an apartment building fire, being 3 blocks from the station I know its going to be close to make the truck, but as luck would have it I pass them about a block later as they are heading to the call. *sigh* “Oh well, they have already run 5 calls today there might be another,” I think to myself as I pull into the lot, gather up my gear and uniform and head on into the station. 30 minutes later they are back; it was food left on the stove and only smoked up the apartment some, so no need for a whole lot of units to stay on the scene, the first due Engine Company handled the call by themselves.

The rest of the evening is spent sitting around watching TV, making sure my gear is ready and BSing with the guys. I decide to head home about 9:30 since I’m getting bored and I make a comment to the on duty Lieutenant that when I leave to just get into his gear as they will get a call in about 20 minutes of my leaving.

Exactly 15 minutes after leaving and 4 minutes after walking in my front door at home, you guessed it; they roll out the door on another call.

“If I Die Before You Wake”

This prayer is at the end of a moving slide show presented by An American Soldier. The credit for this moving tribute goes to writers Dustin Evans, Rick Tiger & Dave Brainard, the song is performed by Dustin Evans. The words and images in this show are incredibly moving and sincere, and as the authors of the piece notes in their song, the price is worth the effort.

Dear Lord,

There's a young man or woman far from home,
Called to serve their nation in a time of war;
Sent to defend our freedom
on some distant foreign shore.

We pray You keep them safe,
We pray You keep them strong,
We pray You send them safely home,
For they've been away so long.

Bless those who await their safe return
and those who mourn the lost.
Bless those who serve this country well,
No matter what the cost.


God, bless America and her heroes…

…and thank You for the privilege to serve.

Never Forget them!

When I figure out how to attach a PowerPoint slide show to my blog I’ll post the slide show that goes along with this, until then join me in saying this little prayer.


UPDATE:
I don't have to figure it out yet, Texas Grey was kind enough to just upload it to her storage site, and send me the link. You can access the PowerPoint Show by clicking on the title link.

Thank you Texas Grey

The best post you will ever read

Some Soldier’s Mom writes the post of the year about a Military Funeral she attended on Saturday. It has to be the most moving tribute I have ever read about the honor and dignity of a military funeral, and the sorrow of ones loss.

As I posted Saturday, we attended the funeral on Veterans' Day of Noah's friend Tommy Byrd who was killed along with four others of Noah's squad in an IED attack October 15. Here's a longer-than-usual post, but a story that should be told...

Go read the whole thing, NOW!

Should third-parties tell you how much you should pay your employees?

This is a question I have for the religious community that believes that it is their place to step into the economic arena and blast employers for not paying their employees what the third-party deems sufficient, while religious organizations and churches have a social and moral obligation to care for the less fortunate I do not believe that they have the right to call for boycotts of employers for not being “nicer” to their employees. What prompts this question? None other than my surprise at being mentally assaulted when I stopped in at church the other night to pick up my boys from Faith Weavers, only to find a stack of flyers on the table in the back of our fellowship hall promoting a screening of the so called documentary “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price” produced by Brave New Films.

In an email to my pastor I wrote, "I do hope that our congregation is not participating in this Communist backed project to subvert Capitalism and American Business." Yes I said Communist backed for that is exactly what it is, a simple stop at the WalMartMovie.com website clearly has a link to ACTIVISTS and on that page they proudly show all of their supporters to include ACORN, MoveOn.org, and a dozen other communist backed and anti-American groups.

Apparently, these organizations are only concerned about the employees of Wal-Mart and that they are somehow not being paid a living wage, but what is a living wage? The living wage is a fashionable notion that “the wages of a single person will support a family of four,” I don’t know about you, but if that is the case, then I do not make a living wage and I would bet that very few people in my congregation does either. Thomas Sowell addressed this same topic in an essay several months ago in which he asks:

“The question we must ask ourselves is; are people to be paid according to what they ‘need’ or are they to be paid according to what their work is worth?

If their work is not worth enough to pay for what they want, is it up to others to make up the difference, or is it up to them to upgrade their skills in order to earn what they want? Are they supposed to be subsidized by Wal-Mart's customers through higher prices or subsidized by Wal-Mart's stockholders through lower earnings? After all, much of the stock in even a rich company is often owned by pension funds belonging to teachers, policemen and others who are far from rich.”

As a person who invests in his retirement, through my participation in a 401k program as well as other investments, why should I have to expect lower returns on my retirement accounts just so these third-parties can feel better about what Wal-Mart is paying its employees? After all, if their value as employees is worth more than they are being paid, why isn’t some other employer recruiting them? Nor are they enslaved to Wal-Mart for life, many entry-level jobs are a stepping-stone, whether within a given company or as experience that gets them a better job with another company.

I believe that Brave New Films and its alliance have duped the religious community into thinking that they have an “obligation” a “social responsibility” if you will, to speak out against Wal-Mart, for simply being successful and that third parties like themselves should be determining how much somebody else should be paying those who work for them. My answer to that belief: BULLSHIT!

Unpatriotic Americans

Wow! Matt Heidt didn’t pull any punches with his latest essay Liberals Are Unpatriotic. I must say though I disagree with just the term liberals in the title, for everyone that is actively opposing our success in the War on Terror is not only Unpatriotic but also a traitor.

Matt does an excellent fisking of the lies that are being spoken at every opportunity, by the Anti-American crowd in the hopes that one of them might become true. The only problem with their playbook is that every one of the lies they are promoting right now has been actively debunked by everyone in Government to include many of the same elected representatives’ that are espousing them, the only people who are believing them seem to be the DU crowd and the typical hangers on at the Daily KOS.

Keep up the good work Matt!

Valour-IT and Veteran's Day.

As you can see by the paypal button on the right, I've stepped up to the plate and donated to this awesome cause. If like me you've been thinking of something meaningful to do for Veteran's Day other than sit around and be a slug, this is a great first step.

Project Valour-IT, in memory of SFC William V. Ziegenfuss, provides voice-controlled software and laptop computers to wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand and arm injuries or amputations at major military medical centers. Operating laptops by speaking into a microphone, our wounded heroes are able to send and receive messages from friends and loved ones, surf the 'Net, and communicate with buddies still in the field without having to press a key or move a mouse. The experience of CPT Charles "Chuck" Ziegenfuss, a partner in the project who suffered hand wounds while serving in Iraq, illustrates how important this voice-controlled software can be to a wounded servicemember's recovery.

Come on step up and donate to a worthy cause not only is it a good thing to do, its also tax-deductible.

Go Army!

UPDATE: At 11:03 pm EST on November 10, 2005 The Army team hits its goal of raising $21,000 before Veteran's Day. Now lets see if we can get to $25,000 in the next 15 hours!

Project VALOUR-IT

From Captain Z's site TC Override...

Mkay... I dragged my drugged and temporarily one-handed body out of the hospital bd to tell ya'll about something most important.
Carren is gonna be on national TV (and live national TV at that) to let everyone now about Project Valour-IT. She will represent me (the nerd who thought of this project), and the many people who have made this project a success. She is going to be on "Connected coast to coast" a show run by MSNBC. Don't know how long she'll be on, but for the love of god, please tune in, put your hands on the top of your TV, and talk to Jebus when the show is over. The show runs from 1200-1300 (noon to one fer ya civlians out there)(and that's eastern time) My beloved is supposed to be on around 1240, but I will rest assured that her looks, personality, and general charm will either get her on early, or the show will go into extra rounds like Rocky and the Big Ruskie in Rocky IV.
Here's how you can help. Send this to every one you know, post it on your blog, get them to post it on theirs. One side will say it's a failure of the gummint to not provide this for the soldiers, others just see it as a way to help our brothers and sisters who have fallen but will be getting up. However they spin it, just get the word out.
There's less than 18 hours to game time, so let's get our blog on!
--Chuck

Captain Z asks that we "cross post the hell out of this". So, if you are looking for something meaningful to do for Veteran's Day get on board and lets help out our wounded vets. If you want to help get the word out, I'll make it easy for you. Copy the above message. Below are the link and trackback urls for Captain Z's post at TC Override.
link: http://tcoverride.blogspot.com/2005/11/publicity-stunt.html
trackback: http://haloscan.com/tb/tcoverride/113148639194421575

A Friend's Loss

This morning I received an email from my friend V she writes: “Tonight I am in some sadness. A young man who attended high school with my oldest son, same age, and same year of graduation has died. He died in Iraq. They announced it on our local news as the family still lives here and he was out of Ft. Stewart, Georgia.” She continues later, “…he was only 22 years old, a baby still, a whole life ahead of him. He is gone and the family is asking for privacy at this time. My heart goes out to them. I am at a loss for words when now it is close to home that we lost one of our military men. I know my son will be in shock as well as feel the loss of a friend.”

Why is it that we view our Soldiers and Marines as babies at age 22 when at age 29 athletes are washed up? The truth of the matter is, this soldier was not a babe, he was a man and a great man at that, for he saw the greater good of his service and he stepped forward knowing the physical danger, in essence he LIVED HIS LIFE and we are better for having known him.

A phrase from the bible goes something like this; when it is your time to go, make sure that you have lived your life so that your passing is not easy on those left behind. What does this mean? It means simply that we should live our life as God has deemed and have done such great deeds that those we leave behind, for our next life, are saddened at our loss. This great man has done just that and more so for he was an American Soldier, one of the greatest men on this earth and for whom we are indebted for everything.

Grieve for him and his family’s loss, but also celebrate him for his heroism and courage for without men like him there would be an even greater sorrow in this world.

Murder by Moonbattery

I found this comment on Major K’s blog and had to laugh at the idiocy of this so called Christian. Not knowing who Christians for Cheap Oil were I "Googled" the name, not surprisingly it came back with literally dozens of moonbat websites that included the Daily Kos, and no I won’t link to his site.

The real problem with this comment isn’t the anachronistic use of the term Christian but rather that the writer somehow believes that 30,000 innocent Iraqis have been murdered and somehow that US soldiers are responsible for their murders. Have innocent Iraqi’s been killed by US soldiers? Unfortunately yes, and in almost every instance it was because of their own stupidity that they were killed; whether it be driving towards a check point and not slowing down when commanded to do so or by, waving their firearm at US Soldiers or by just being in the wrong place at the wrong time and getting caught in the cross fire. These acts do not make US Soldiers murders as Christians for Cheap Oil seems to imply, quite the contrary, US soldiers go to great extremes, more than necessary in my opinion, to employ rules of engagement that are designed to reduce civilian casualties and in doing so they are placed in more danger as the insurgents can now use civilians against the US.

So who is murdering the Iraqi civilians, that Christians for Cheap Oil is so worried about? It is none other than Michael Moore’s, and by extension Christians for Cheap Oil’s, freedom fighters, the insurgents that use car bombs to kill and maim hundreds of Iraqi citizens on a daily basis, whose only crime is living in Iraq and voting for freedom, who are the true murderers. They murder men, women and children in the name of Allah and a return to the 7th Century and the Caliphate, they murder anyone that they can not coerce into accepting their ways and they hide behind the veil of religion and orthodoxy.

Christians for Cheap Oil, it is you that is responsible for the murder of 30,000 innocent Iraqis as well as the murder of 2000 American Soldiers, Marines and Airmen. I charge you and your ilk as accessories to murder and one day you will be brought to justice, not in the name of cheap oil, but in the name of Freedom. Christians for Cheap Oil can be reached at the email address: smith14365 * at * hotmail * com, do with the address as you see fit but for me I will write to him and let him know he is not welcome at our table.

Thank You and Welcome.

A major thank you to both A North American Patriot and Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette, for allowing either a trackback or a link to my essay Anger and Action. For those of you that are coming to my site from those links, welcome, but please do not think that I write like that on a regular basis, those in the blogosphere that write as well as read can attest writing is not easy and writing heavy essays can be rather taxing. On the other hand I do write about a lot of topics so please feel free to come back often as I normally update a few times a week.

Again thanks for dropping in and I hope to see you all again soon.

David M

Anger and Action

The news from Danjel of his promotion and the circumstances concerning his appointment has brought to mind several things for me, I’m sad and angry for many reasons but mostly I am angry that our “loyal opposition” stands against us in this fight. They hate that their sensibilities have been challenged by a cowboy from Texas, they hate because their comfort level has been challenged and their policies of inaction have been thrown to the wayside and they must take a stand that requires direct action on their part, freedom is not free nor is it a privilege which can be taken away when it suits our leaders, rather as the founding fathers noted it is a right that can be neither given nor taken by someone unless you allow it to be so, the loyal opposition no longer has our permission to give away our freedoms in exchange for power and stability and that angers them.

They claim that our policies are an affront to “our allies” and that they make us a laughing stock in the world, but what they really mean is that our current policies have shown our allies that a policy of stability based upon appeasement is not one that is compatible with a policy based upon freedom, and that makes them the laughing stock of their allies for they can no longer control their charges. To the consternation of the loyal opposition, our allies see the wisdom of our policies and they stand beside us in our struggle; no longer do they set their policies upon the false ideals of appeasement and stability, but rather on the advancement of basic freedoms that are encumbered upon all of humanity by the very nature of birth.

Since the Loyal Opposition no longer controls the power which they have wrested from good American’s over the past 40 years, they take up the cause of our enemies and become traitors in our own midst. They celebrate the loss of each of our brave soldiers as if they themselves pulled the trigger or planted the roadside bomb that ended their life in this fight for freedom, for them it is not a war against oppression but rather an opportunity to regain a power that they illegally stole from us in the first place. They use lies and false promises of peace to get those lost souls that follow them blindly to protest our policies across the globe, they oppose all legislation that takes power out of their hands and places it back into the hands of the people, they attack the character of those that stand against them for they have no other method of countering the truth.

Friends, I am also saddened that some of you have not stood up with me and decried the actions of these traitors in our midst that you simply frown when you read about the latest antics by those that actively support our failure in this endeavor. It is no longer enough to say, I stand with you in my beliefs, the time for quiet support is past now a vocal majority must present itself before our fellow Americans and say that the old policies of appeasement and stability are no longer our policies and those that follow them are no longer welcome here for Freedom in the guise of stability is not freedom it is enslavement and I shall never be enslaved. The road to freedom is not an easy road, but it is one that must be taken for if we as a people are to survive it is our only choice, do not allow them to use the argument that it is easy for you to support something for which you are not actively participating in, for you are participating in this struggle we all are, for failure means that our life as a free people will forever be lost.

Golden Light and Dark Shadows

This morning is turning out to be a morning, of extraordinary emotions. Of late my morning drive coincides with that special time of day when the sun shines its golden glow over creation giving photographers that perfect light. A golden glow that bathes the earth making everything extra clear and seemingly perfect, the colors of the changing leaves on the mountains a patchwork of red, yellow, gold, and orange mixed intermittently with green. The occasional stick of a fully nude tree standing majestically amongst its still partially clothed brothers would draw my eye to it, as if it was saying, “Look at me, I’m free!” Add to that the combination of a CD not listened to often and the commute took on one of almost magical proportions.

That magic was shattered with the notification that my friend in Iraq lost 4 friends and comrades over the last week. His silence always implies that something big is or was happening and his silence since the 24th of October was no exception, however, his silence for this reason was not a welcome one. Danjel writes, “In a handful of days we lost four great men, COL William Wood, CPT Michael Mackinnon, CPT Ray Hill, and SPC Shakere Guy.”

"Good men must die, but death can not kill their names.” Anonymous Proverb

Good men indeed, and their names shall not be forgotten my friend for they were not afraid to live and fight for a just and noble cause. I’m finding it hard to express my sentiments when so much needs to be said, yet no words can adequately express the feelings and honor that these men imbued in their character. Words seem so inadequate for advertisers in New York and LA, have used them all up extolling the virtues of shampoo, cars, shoes and a thousand other products, that really deserve no such recognition. Words such as extraordinary, noble, courageous all seem proper but they pale in comparison to the men that they describe.

"Some people are so afraid do die that they never begin to live." Henry Van Dyke

It is safe to say that these men, your fellow soldiers and friends, were not afraid to live and they lived richly because they knew their cause was just and good. My thoughts and prayers are with you Danjel, the families of those that have gone on, and your family of men that protect us.

Whatever happened to peeing in the wild?

The tag line to The Mudville Gazette is George Orwell’s famous quote, "Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." If that is true how are we to sleep in a few years, when this current crop of males takes their place in business, government and all the other functions of government and life in general?

I wrote earlier this week about my son and his camping experiences, but what I am focusing on now is his reluctance to not pee in the wild. I mentioned his actions to a friend of mine and he stated that his son was the same way. My friend Texas Grey states that her husband will just pee anywhere, especially if they are out in the hot tub, I hope that doesn’t mean he pees in the hot tub. She then stated that her neighbor has confided in her that her husband will also just pee outside without a thought to it. What we all thought was an innate trait in all men is apparently being bred out of us with each generation that becomes more and more androgynous.

Is this some secret plot to feminize American males? I’m not sure I can say that it’s a world wide plot for many of the men I met in Europe 20 years ago were pretty feminized already. Perhaps it has slowly moved over the ocean to the States and only now that I have children in the public school system and I am noticing it first hand.

When I was in the Army it wasn’t at all unusual for us to just face off the side of the APC and let it go where we were. Being in an all male unit there were no concerns at all, and in the fire service if you don’t have a thick skin you won’t last long so there is little PC talk there. I have no idea what’s going to happen to this country, but for me, I’ll be teaching my boys to pee in the wild.