Honoring our Fallen, the Arlington Ladies

Memorial Day. A day for honoring the fallen of our nations armed forces. Our national cemetery at Arlington is the final resting place for many of our nations fallen, and one very special group of ladies volunteer to make sure none is buried alone.

Around sixty ladies and one gentleman make up the group known as the Arlington ladies, an all volunteer organization representing the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy, at the funerals of service members and veterans who come to final rest at Arlington National Cemetery. There is no Marine Corps representative; however, there is an official from the Corps who is present for the burial of every Marine interred at Arlington.

The Arlington Ladies are comprised of wives and widows of military veterans, and their purpose is simple: to ensure that no one is buried in Arlington with no one in attendance at the funeral, or to provide comfort to the families of those being buried.

A Tradition Is Born

In 1948, Air Force Chief of Staff General Hoyt S. Vandenberg was living at Fort Myer, Virginia, in a home with a commanding view of the cemetery. He and his wife Gladys often walked there, and noticed airmen being buried with only the chaplain and an honor guard in attendance.

Mrs. Vandenberg enlisted members of the Officers' Wives Club to attend these funerals-without-mourners, and a tradition was born. The "Ladies of Arlington" now are represented by the Army, Navy and the Air Force. The Marine Corps does not have a group, but a representative of the commandant attends every funeral.

There are 23 interments daily, and the ladies are on hand to ensure that none is conducted in a bleak and friendless atmosphere. Even when friends and family are present, the ladies and their escorts, the young active duty men whose job it is to stand at their sides, volunteer their services.

"I always introduce myself to the family as the representative of the chief of staff of the Air Force," said McGuth. "I say that he regrets that he could not be in attendance personally."

Today is the day we, as a nation, pay tribute and honor those who have served our nation's armed forces through remembrance of those veterans and service members who have passed away. For one day, one day of the year, we set aside as reserved for homage to those who have sacrificed that our nation remains free.

A small price for saying "thank you" to the memories of those who served, and those who are no longer with us. And past the department and specialty store sales, the home improvement project specials, the barbeque's, picnics, and the day at the beach, we do remember. Perhaps, by these very acts, we're remembering in a way that would never have been envisioned when Memorial Day was established as a national day of remembrance.

We, Americans, have a great love of life and freedom. We work hard, for the most part, and when we relax, when we play, we like to play every bit as hard and competitively as we work. This is our legacy, and our tradition.

A tradition protected and ensured by our armed forces.

Perhaps, then, it is appropriate, despite what some who would say otherwise, that we do honor our fallen by taking full advantage of a day that we can celebrate life, and the freedom that was earned for us, as citizens, by those who have sacrificed in order for us to continue.

And as we do, let us keep firmly in our minds, and in our hearts, not just today, but every day, a gratitude and a silent thanks to those who gave all. And as we do, let us also give a special thought of gratitude for the Arlington Ladies, who pay remembrance every day at our national cemetery, selflessly giving in their own way to those who pass their way.

A very heartfelt salute to those who have passed on before us...

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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Things that make you go hmmmmm...

For lack of any other explanation than I feel totally random today, we're going to take a look at some headlines that make you sit back and go "hmmmmmm," with a brief commentary on what I find (YES, I know I do this once in a while already, but at least today I'm giving the REASON behind why I do this. Sheesh, everyone's a critic).

First up is one that all of those with BDS are going to be frothing at the mouth about saying "you just KNOW those people at Wake Up America are going to be all FOR this because Bush can do no WRONG (insert appropriate levels of frothing and snarling, foaming at the mouth, and wild, crazed looks here). WRONG. First the bits of the article and then my thoughts on it.

Control sought on military lawyers
Bush wants power over promotions

By Charlie Savage
Globe Staff / December 15, 2007

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is pushing to take control of the promotions of military lawyers, escalating a conflict over the independence of uniformed attorneys who have repeatedly raised objections to the White House's policies toward prisoners in the war on terrorism.

The administration has proposed a regulation requiring "coordination" with politically appointed Pentagon lawyers before any member of the Judge Advocate General corps - the military's 4,000-member uniformed legal force - can be promoted.

A Pentagon spokeswoman did not respond to questions about the reasoning behind the proposed regulations. But the requirement of coordination - which many former JAGs say would give the administration veto power over any JAG promotion or appointment - is consistent with past administration efforts to impose greater control over the military lawyers.

The former JAG officers say the regulation would end the uniformed lawyers' role as a check-and-balance on presidential power, because politically appointed lawyers could block the promotion of JAGs who they believe would speak up if they think a White House policy is illegal.

Okay, BAD idea. You can't take one corps of the military and change the rules and it not affect the other corps adversely. From my own experiences with the Graham-Rudman budget cuts on into the Clinton fiasco of hatred for our armed forces through until today, we've finally gotten our military back into a place where it's able to do what it needs to do more effectively and efficiently than at any time in our nation's history (that's my opinion, and is so stated as such, so DON'T start in with all your left leaning statistics and anti-military frothing and snarling, ok? good). In any event, there is already a system in place for the promotion of military lawyers, as they ARE military officers. There is no need for a separate system of promotions for JAG than for, say, the Corps of Engineers, the Infantry Corps, of the Armored Corps.

Next we move to Bolivia where we see that not all is well in relations between state and industry.

Four Bolivian regions declare autonomy from government

From Helena DeMoura
CNN

Tensions were rising in Bolivia on Saturday as members of the country's four highest natural gas-producing regions declared autonomy from the central government.

Thousands waved the Santa Cruz region's green-and-white flags in the streets as council members of the Santa Cruz, Tarija, Beni and Pando districts made the public announcement.

The officials displayed a green-bound document containing a set of statutes paving the way to a permanent separation from the Bolivian government.

Council representatives vowed to legitimize the so-called autonomy statutes through a referendum that would legally separate the natural-gas rich districts from President Evo Morales' government.

The move also aims to separate the states from Bolivia's new constitution, which calls for, among other things, a heavier taxation on the four regions to help finance more social programs.

"The statutes will be ratified," said Oscar Ortiz, Santa Cruz senator. "With a public referendum, the people of our region will legitimize their will."

About 35 percent of Bolivia's 9.5 million people live in the four states, according to The Associated Press.

Democratic Presidential candidates take particular notice at why these four regions are moving to secede from Bolivia; "a heavier taxation on the four regions to help finance more social programs." Taxing the productive to benefit the non-productive PISSES OFF the productive. In Ayn Rand's terms, this is what you call "looting." WE don't like that happening to us in THIS country, either.

Here's a story that should have all you Huckayucks out there reexamining your support of the former governor from Arkansas (like we really NEED another former Arkansas governor in the White House any time soon, oy vey).

Huckabee's theology degree? Now says ain't necessarily so
Campaign admits candidate doesn't have claimed religious credential
Posted: December 14, 2007
7:20 p.m. Eastern

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee told the Christian Broadcasting Network he had a theology degree, he told voters in Iowa he had a theology degree, he repeated the claim in last month's CNN YouTube debate ... but, his campaign now says, it was not true.

Huckabee's claim began unraveling following his offhanded comment about Mormonism in a New York Times interview last weekend.

Reporter Zev Chafets wrote: "I asked Huckabee, who describes himself as the only Republican candidate with a degree in theology, if he considered Mormonism a cult or a religion. 'I think it's a religion,' he said. 'I really don't know much about it.'

"I was about to jot down this piece of boilerplate when Huckabee surprised me with a question of his own: 'Don't Mormons,' he asked in an innocent voice, 'believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?'"

In the interview, Huckabee's account of his education made no mention of his having earned a theology degree.
was ever rebellious or difficult, there's no record of it. He preached his first sermon as a teenager, married his high-school sweetheart and went off to Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia. There he majored in speech and communications, worked at a radio station and earned his B.A. in a little more than two years. He spent a year at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Tex., before dropping out to work for the televangelist James Robison, who bought him his first decent wardrobe and showed him how to use television."
Chafets wrote: "If young Mike Huckabee was ever rebellious or difficult, there's no record of it. He preached his first sermon as a teenager, married his high-school sweetheart and went off to Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia. There he majored in speech and communications, worked at a radio station and earned his B.A. in a little more than two years. He spent a year at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Tex., before dropping out to work for the televangelist James Robison, who bought him his first decent wardrobe and showed him how to use television."

The problem is, if he's willing to lie about something of such major importance as this...

Just a few thoughts from a pondering wandering man.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man



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When the bough breaks...

Some things are just beyond my comprehension. This is one of those things.

War is hell. On the fighting front, on the home front, it's hell. Most Americans today don't realize what military families experience because we don't really ACT like a nation at war.

I'm not going to get into the politics either pro or con about the war in this posting, I'm merely stepping into the role of Rod Serling to present this tale that seemingly could only have come from the Twilight Zone.

Hat tip to Mondoreb at Death by a Thousand Paper Cuts.

FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina (AP) -- The body of an 11-month-old girl reported missing after her soldier father returned from a deployment in Iraq was found in the attic of her home, authorities said.

Harmony Jude Creech apparently had been dead for weeks, Harnett County Sheriff Larry Rollins said late Saturday night. Rollins said the child's mother, Johni Michelle Heuser, told investigators she had found the baby dead in its crib and put the body in the attic of her home.

Neighbors said they had been bothered by a foul smell for several weeks and that the smell only subsided recently when overnight temperatures dropped. Several neighbors said they had searched their yards for dead animals because of the smell.

Harmony's father, Ronald Earl Creech II, returned to North Carolina from a 15-month deployment in Iraq on Friday hoping to see his daughter. Harmony was born while he was overseas, police said...

Perhaps in the coming days, more will come out on this story and we can understand what happened. Perhaps there is no understand, perhaps it is merely a reflection upon our society of something that has misfired in our internal wiring. Or perhaps it is just another example of a short circuit that has existed since the first men walked this earth so long ago.

Time will tell.

Keep this military family in your prayers.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man


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We were there...

Bunker Hill. Valley Forge. Boston. Saratoga. Yorktown. We were there.

The Chesapeake Bay. Washington, DC. New Orleans. We were there.


Fort Sumter. Shiloh. Vicksburg. Antietam. Gettysburg. Appomattox. We were there.

We were there at San Juan Hill, charging up with Teddy Roosevelt.


We were there at Le Hamel, Nancy, and Cantigny.

We were there at Pearl Harbor. Midway. The Bulge. North Africa. Normandy.


Were were there in Korea and Vietnam, in Central and South America, Kuwait, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.

We have been there to support and defend our nation's liberty since the birth of our nation. Our younger brothers and sisters continue to carry on this duty today.

We are your veterans.

In times of war. In times of "peace." We were there.


In conflicts both popular and unpopular. We were there.


The blood of American servicemen and women has been shed around the world in the name of freedom and liberty.

We were there for you. We were there for America.

Our veterans have stood as the vanguard of our freedoms. Many have given their lives, their health, some their sanity, in the service of a nation they love. They come from all walks of life, from all backgrounds. Doctors, lawyers, mechanics, truck drivers, pilots, soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines.

Americans.

Americans with a drive and an understanding that freedom isn't free. There is a price to be paid to live freely, and that price is that some serve to ensure those rights remain for others.


Give a moment of thanks, of gratitude, today, for those who served our nation to keep us free.

On a personal note for this piece, I have to say it's been one of the hardest I've written to date. Days like today, and Memorial Day, I can't help but think of fallen friends, both from my own time in the service, and the younger generation, those serving today, who have fallen in harms way. I think of the looks that I would get from time to time as I traveled when I was still in uniform.


I've been called a baby-killer. I'm not old enough to have even SERVED in Vietnam. But I do have my own memories that I live with. Many of us do. And we would gladly do so again so that our nation, our way of life, endures.

There are so many, many things I considered saying in this piece that I won't include. I don't want this to be a political rant.

I wanted, and want, this to merely be a thank you to my brothers and sisters who have served for their service. A thank you not only from a fellow veteran, but from an American who is grateful that there are those who have served before me, with me, and who serve us still in our nations armed forces.

God bless you all, every generation.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

[UPDATE] Thanks to Jay at Stop the ACLU for this link showing Veterans Day messages from the candidates and had this to say about Google finally recognizing Veterans Day, as well:

I guess after all those years of criticism, they deserve a pat on the
back for finally doing the right thing. Also, please feel free to use
this post like an open trackback to promote your own Veteran's Day
posts. Please share, thanks, Jay

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Sometimes Heroes Need Help Too

The following needs to be forwarded to your senators and congressmen. We have a chance to help two of America's finest, let's do it.

From Gathering of Eagles:

A Tale of Two Heroes Betrayed

It has come to my attention that two of our brothers need a little numerical support. Both live in states where the Congressional delegation mouths the party line that they support the troops, but the opposite is truly the situation. One lives in Pennsylvania and the other in New York. Both were responsible for acts of valor so audacious as to be worthy of a John Wayne movie. Both performed acts of heroism in combat that are so extraordinary that they deserve, in my estimation, the Medal of Honor. At the very least they deserve the consideration involved with the MOH. Neither is getting even that because politics have, once again, trumped sacrifice and selflessness.

Neither man asked for help. Both have suffered with the stoicism so common to our most heroic brothers. The first, Richard Gresko, came to my attention back at GOE I. He limps badly and is in quite obvious constant pain, but there he was on that bitterly cold day in March standing up to A.N.S.W.E.R. and Code Pink. Long story short, Richie, a Marine in Vietnam, leapt upon a grenade to save his squad, and though painfully wounded continued to direct his unit until he was evacuated. The second, David Bellavia, came to my attention because I saw his book on the shelf in a local bookstore. After I got it home I realized he was one of our brothers from Vets for Freedom. David was a one man task force who nearly single-handedly cleared a building in Fallujah. Before all was said and done he had dispatched multiple terrorists to their final resting place; one with his helmet and a Gerber knife. Both men are the stuff of the type of lore we who have served respect, and neither know that I’m about to solicit your help.

I would like to ask that each of you read the citations below. When you are done I would ask that you then call your Congressmen and both Senators and tell them that these men are worthy of our nation’s highest honor. Email or snail mail a letter too, demanding that the politicians in Washington give these men the honor they are due. Richie has Arlen Specter and Bob Casey in the Senate and Patrick Murphy in the House. David has Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer and Reynolds in the House. Both men were recommended by their commanders for the Medal of Honor. Both have impeccable witness statements. Both have done the deed; now let’s get them the award to accompany it.

Seldom do I use this venue for such a blatantly personal reason, but I am asking each of you reading this to do me a personal favor. Please follow up on this request. I truly want nothing more than to see both David and Richie with that awe-inspiring light blue ribbon and medal around their necks. I can do many things alone, but this I cannot do without your help; each and every one of you. Read the citations and tell me that politics is not at play. I, for one, am through with building bridges to our elected officials. I am starting to demand that they remember they work for us. Please help me, or our brothers will just be another casualty of Capitol Hill. Manchu.

-Chris Hill
National Director for Operations

GRESKO, RICHARD W.
Citation:
The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Richard W. Gresko (2516983), Sergeant [then Lance Corporal], U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving with Headquarters and Service Company, Third Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment, FIRST Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force, in the Republic of Vietnam. On the night of 11 March 1970, Sergeant Gresko was in one element of an ambush set up to protect a village from enemy attack. Around midnight, his element ambushed a Viet Cong unit which was attempting to enter the village. During the ensuing fight, Sergeant Gresko observed an enemy hand grenade land near his position. With complete disregard for his own personal safety and fully aware of the dangers involved, he unhesitatingly threw himself on top of the grenade, absorbing most of the blast fragments with his own body in order to protect his men from certain injury and possible death. Although painfully wounded, he continued to direct his men’s actions until the squad made their sweep. By his bold and heroic action on behalf of his fellow Marines, Sergeant Gresko reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.

Proposed Citation for SSG David Bellavia

For valorous and heroic actions during Operation Iraqi Freedom while serving as a squad leader in Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah, Iraq from 04 November 2004 to 20 November 2004. On 10 November 2004, during an attack on Objective Wolf, SSG Bellavia repeatedly showed incredible courage and complete disregard for his own personal safety. With a squad from his platoon pinned down inside a room in an enemy controlled building and taking casualties, SSG Bellavia entered the “fatal funnel” of the doorway, and directly in the enemy line of fire. With rounds impacting all around him, he suppressed the enemy, allowing the squad to break contact. His actions saved the lives of the squad. After coordinating for the suppressing of the enemy stronghold with 25mm BFV cannon fire, SSG Bellavia re-entered the house. After being forced out of the room by overwhelming enemy fire, SSG Bellavia identified an AIF preparing an RPG. Realizing the danger the RPG posed to his platoon, SSG Bellavia decided to assault the room and destroy the enemy with the RPG. With complete disregard for his own safety SSG Bellavia assaulted the room while under intense enemy fire. He immediately killed the RPG gunner and wounded another AIF with an RPK machine gun who escaped to another room in the house. With an un-cleared room behind him, SSG Bellavia continued his attack. While moving into the un-cleared room he was attacked by two AIF from behind. Despite rounds impacting all around him, SSG Bellavia held his position and returned fire, ultimately killing two AIF. Almost simultaneously a fourth AIF attacked from inside a closet of the room. Exchanging rifle fire at almost point blank range, SSG Bellavia wounded the AIF who fled out the door and up the stairs. SSG Bellavia courageously pursued the AIF up the stairs of the building, exchanging gun fire on the stairwell. Pursuing the AIF into a room, SSG Bellavia used a grenade in an attempt to kill the AIF. Following the detonation of the grenade, SSG Bellavia entered the room and found the AIF preparing to fire his weapon. The ensuing close quarters melee resulted in hand to hand, ending with Bellavia destroying the AIF using his rifle barrel, Kevlar helmet, sappy plate, and ultimately a Gerber knife blade. A fifth AIF leaped from a roof above SSG Bellavia onto the second floor roof. After engaging the AIF through the window, SSG Bellavia moved out onto the roof and continued to engage the AIF until he ran out of ammunition. The AIF fell off the roof into the garden, badly wounded. SSG Bellavia acted on instinct to save the members of his platoon from an imminent RPG attack and ultimately cleared the entire house, destroying four AIF and badly wounding a fifth. His incredible bravery and complete disregard for his own safety to protect the lives of his platoon members was an incredibly unselfish and courageous act. Staff Sergeant Bellavia’s dedication to his fellow soldiers on the battlefield upholds the finest traditions of military service and reflects great credit upon himself and the United States Army.

It goes without saying that Hillary Clinton HATES our military and I'm sure it will be a cold day in Hell before she does the right thing on this.

So.

Let's make sure these two heroes get the recognition and help that they deserve. Contact your Senators and Representatives now.

Thanks.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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One Toke Over the Line...

Know this:

I have had enough. The line has been crossed. If I ever witness such as this, I will NOT REST until I see legal action taken against the "parents" involved. I would encourage the rest of you who still love our country to do the same.

Hat tip to Miss Beth for this from Malagent's Domain :

Child Attacked Over Soldier Costume

On my way home tonight I was drawn into an incident that has me so angry that I could not even write about it until I calmed down a bit.

In a residential neighborhood I stopped at an intersection and witnessed several children who appeared to be fighting a few yards from my vehicle. At first it did not seem real serious, however, one of the children said something that caused me to pay more attention. He said “You’re a terrorist just like your dad, I’m going to kill you just like the Iraq is gonna kill him.” It was then that I realized what was going on. A young boy, probably 10 or 11 was dressed as a US soldier, he was pinned on the ground while a group of four or five other boys where hitting and kicking him while at least two older people in costumes watched.

I left my truck in the street and got out just as one boy picked up a softball sized rock and headed towards he boy pinned on the ground. He was yelling “MURDERER” over and over. I yelled at the boy with the rock who dropped it and ran as he saw me. The others did not stop attacking the boy on the ground until I pulled them off of him. It was at this point the two older people started screaming at me. “What are you doing to my boys, leave them alone!” They were the mothers of two of the attackers. I told them I was calling the police and they all ran off.

The boy who had been attacked was crying and told me his father was serving in Iraq so he had decided to dress “like a soldier” for Halloween. He told me the attackers were his friends and that after one of the mothers start calling him and his dad a murderer his friends joined in and then attacked him.

Although he was bleeding he did not appear to be seriously injured and was very adamant that he did not want police or medical help. When I went to move my truck and call the police the boy disappeared into the neighborhood.

I’m still not sure whether I’m more disturbed by the children’s actions or the two mothers standing there watching. Were they going to let the boy be hit with a rock larger than a softball? Why did they allow the fight in the first place?

What kind of environment is required for ten year old boys to attack & threaten death over a soldier costume? I can only imagine the things they here at home and I can only imagine ho much worse these kids while be in the teens and as adults.

Had the assailants been a little older I’m afraid I would have been in jail before it was over. Given the fact they were literally children, I did nothing more then pull them away from the victim.

I really don’t give a damn what one’s position on the Iraq war or any war for that matter, but to allow this situation to happen is flat out wrong.

Happy F’N Halloween!

My first question is how can two "mothers" stand idly by and allow a gang of kids to beat the hell out of another one? What kind of MOTHER would do that? And over a kid paying tribute to his soldier father by dressing up AS a soldier for Halloween?

One word comes to mind.

Inverted.

When two grown women who have born children stand idly to the side and allow their offspring to gather a group of other kids to beat and kick another child, these women are NOT mothers; they are progenitors of terrorism. THIS is an act of home grown domestic terrorism.

Think that poor kid being wailed on wasn't terrorized? Ask five or six of your closest friends to start beating the hell out of you and telling you they're going to kill you. Make sure that two of their mothers are standing nearby watching and doing nothing.

There are not enough words to express the anger I feel, not ONLY as a veteran, but as a citizen. This is unacceptable. The hatred of the left for our troops has now taken the form of violence against someone who ISN'T EVEN OLD ENOUGH TO BE ONE. It's an attack on the family of one of our soldiers, a man who, I am sure, is asking himself right now "this is what I enlisted to protect? A country that hates me so much that my family isn't even safe?"

I don't know who this family is, I don't know who the soldier is, but brother, I'm proud of you for wearing the uniform and it speaks volumes to me that your son respects you enough that he would show you the honor of wanting to be like his old man. Well done, and God bless you.

To the two "mothers" who stood aside and allowed their children to attack another child? There will be a reckoning. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but there will be a reckoning. I don't know what it will be, and I'm not making any threats; it would be futile to do so as I have no idea who you are, nor do I want to know. What goes around comes around. There will be an accounting for your own act of evil.

To our veterans, this is a wake up call if I've ever seen one. Be vigilant, be alert, and be strong. Our enemy at home has played their next card. This incident will go unpunished by the law, but there will be others. This is just the first, I'm sure. Be ready to make the law accountable for acts of violence against our troops and their families.

To the left, enough. Our troops are there to protect you, show them a little respect. Without our troops, you certainly wouldn't have the freedom to protest. Or would you rather a police state that censors every word, every thought, every freedom? That's the kind of world you're actually advocating when you stand against our nation and our military defending us from those in the world who would see our nation fall.

Enough.

I could go on, I could say so much more...SO much more...but I'm trying to keep this at a level where any age can read it, so I'll keep the poison that this has raised inside me for another outlet...something productive, I can assure you, but I won't go into the cursing rampage that I could go into over this tonight here.

THAT, my liberal leftist hater friends, is called taking the high road.

And no, as much as I would probably like to, I won't go out looking for some moonbat to wail on.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man


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A Disgusted General Speaks

We hear so much rumbling from some of our retired generals about the war in Iraq. The dinosaur media is quick to put a camera and microphone in front of them and give them a world wide audience so that they can condemn our policies and criticize our war efforts. Hat tip to Bill Shannon for forwarding us in email to the website the views of one of our retired generals who isn't aspiring to political ambitions.

The following can be found in full at Go-Patriots.com:

MIDDLE EAST IMPERATIVE
BY JIM CASH

I wrote recently about the war in Iraq and the larger war against radical Islam, eliciting a number of responses. Let me try and put this conflict in proper perspective.

Understand, the current battle we are engaged in is much bigger that just Iraq. What happens in the next year will affect this country and how our kids and grandkids live throughout their lifetime, and beyond.

Radical Islam has been attacking the West since the seventh century.

They have been defeated in the past and decimated to the point of taking hundreds of years to recover. But they can never be totally defeated.

Their birth rates are so far beyond civilized world rates that in time they recover and attempt to dominate again.

There are eight terror-sponsoring countries that make up the grand threat to the West. Two, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, just need firm pressure from the West to make major reforms. They need to decide who they are really going to support and commit to that support. That answer is simple. They both will support who they think will hang in there until the end, and win. We are not sending very good signals in that direction right now, thanks to the Democrats.

The other six, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, North Korea and Libya will require regime change or a major policy shift. Now, let's look more closely.

Afghanistan and Iraq have both had regime changes, but are being fueled by outsiders from Syria and Iran. We have scared Gaddafi's pants off, and he has given up his quest for nuclear weapons, so I don't think Libya is now a threat. North Korea (the non-Islamic threat) can be handled diplomatically by buying them off. They are starving. That leaves Syria and Iran. Syria is like a frightened puppy. Without the support of Iran they will join the stronger side. So where does that leave us? Sooner, or later, we are going to be forced to confront Iran, and it better be before they gain nuclear capability.

In 1989 I served as a Command Director inside the Cheyenne Mountain complex located in Colorado Springs, Colorado for almost three years.

My job there was to observe (through classified means) every missile shot anywhere in the world and assess if it was a threat to the US or Canada. If any shot was threatening to either nation I had only minutes to advise the President, as he had only minutes to respond. I watched Iran and Iraq shoot missiles at each other every day, and all day long, for months. They killed hundreds of thousand of their people. Know why? They were fighting for control of the Middle East and that enormous oil supply.

At that time, they were preoccupied with their internal problems and could care less about toppling the west. Oil prices were fairly stable and we could not see an immediate threat. Well, the worst part of what we have done as a nation in Iraq is to do away with the military capability of one of those nations. Now, Iran has a clear field to dominate the Middle East, since Iraq is no longer a threat to them.

They have turned their attention to the only other threat to their dominance, the United States. They are convinced they will win, because the United States is so divided, and the Democrats (who now control Congress and may control the Presidency in 2008) have openly said we are pulling out.

Do you have any idea what will happen if the entire Middle East turns their support to Iran, which they will obviously do if we pull out? It is not the price of oil we will have to worry about. Oil will not be made available to this country at any price. I personally would vote for any presidential candidate who did what JFK did with the space program---declare a goal to bring this country to total energy independence in a decade.

Yes, it is about oil. The economy in this country will totally die if that Middle East supply is cut off right now. It will not be a recession. It will be a depression that will make 1929 look like the "good-old-days".

The bottom line here is simple. If Iran is forced to fall in line, the fighting in Iraq will end over night, and the nightmare will be over.

One way or another, Iran must be forced to join modern times and the global community. It may mean a real war---if so, now is the time, before we face a nuclear Iran with the capacity to destroy Israel and begin a new ice age. I urge you to read the book "END GAME" by two of our best Middle East experts, true American patriots and retired military generals, Paul Vallely and Tom McInerney. They are our finest, and totally honest in their assessment of why victory in the Middle East is so important, and how it can be won. Proceeds for the book go directly to memorial fund for our fallen soldiers who served the country during the war on terror. You can find that book by going to the internet through Stand-up America at www.ospreyradio.us or www.rightalk. com.

On the other hand, we have several very angry retired generals today, who evidently have not achieved their lofty goals, and insist on ranting and raving about the war. They are wrong, and doing the country great harm by giving a certain political party reason to use them as experts to back their anti-war claims.

You may be one of those who believe nothing could ever be terrible enough to support our going to war. If that is the case I should stop here, as that level of thinking approaches mental disability in this day and age. It is right up there with alien abductions and high altitude seeding through government aircraft contrails. I helped produced those contrails for almost 30 years, and I can assure you we were not seeding the atmosphere. The human race is a war-like population, and if a country is not willing to protect itself, it deserves the consequences...

And he has SO MUCH MORE to say about the Bush administration, the Clinton administration, all the way back to the Nixon administration; it's an incredible read, and gives the insights of an incredible mind.

The bottom line is this: he's right on target with the things that he says, and he backs up the opinions of many Middle East analysts and observers. By his own admission he has nothing to gain politically by stating his observations, and his credentials are more than sufficient to back up what he says.

This is the difference between a general who is a warrior and one who is a politician. George Patton, at the end of World War II, had the foresight to realize that the United States needed to deal with the Soviet Union RIGHT THEN, but the politicians would have none of it. The result of not listening to one of our warriors was decades of "Cold War" between the U.S.A and the U.S.S.R.

Who will we listen to this time? The warriors, or the politicians?

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man


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Behind Enemy Lines...

In the old days they were called "sappers." From the earliest conflicts of man against man, there have been special groups, elite units, who were tasked and trained with doing the exceptional and the extraordinary.

Special Operations took on a new life during World War II with the use of Army Rangers and Airborne troops so heavily during the Normandy invasion, and the reliance of Navy "frogmen" for disarming sea mines.

Out of necessity for changing warfare came the Navy Seals, the Green Berets, and their forerunners from the British Commonwealth, the Special Air Service, or SAS.

We see today how important a role SpecOps plays in conducting modern warfare, and in preventing it, with this report from the Times Online:

SAS raiders enter Iran to kill gunrunners

Michael Smith

BRITISH special forces have crossed into Iran several times in recent months as part of a secret border war against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Al-Quds special forces, defence sources have disclosed.

There have been at least half a dozen intense firefights between the SAS and arms smugglers, a mixture of Iranians and Shi’ite militiamen.

The unreported fighting straddles the border between Iran and Iraq and has also involved the Iranian military firing mortars into Iraq. UK commanders are concerned that Iran is using a militia ceasefire to step up arms supplies in preparation for an offensive against their base at Basra airport.

An SAS squadron is carrying out operations along the Iranian border in Maysan and Basra provinces with other special forces, the Australian SAS and American special-operations troops...

This is where it's very important to know exactly what your enemy is up to. Joint operations between allies, in this case the UK, Australia, and the US, means that information can be shared more quickly and efficiently between the three nations to conduct other operations.

UK special forces operating in Iran
By JPOST.COM STAFF

Talkbacks for this article: 2

British special forces have carried out several operations inside Iran in recent months in an attempt to prevent the Revolutionary Guard's Al-Quds force from shipping weapons to Iraq, the Sunday Times reported.

The British and Australian SAS forces are reportedly working with American special forces to patrol the border to prevent weapons - including surface-to-air missiles and parts for IEDs (improvised explosive devices) - from reaching the hands of Iraqi insurgents.

According to the article, the SAS have engaged in at least six "intense firefights" with both Iranian and Iraqi Shi'ite arms smugglers. The fighting has reportedly taken place on both sides of the Iran-Iraq border, and Iran has fired mortar shells across the border.

The Times said that officials have stated that while the British troops are working to prevent arms smuggling, they do not cross the border into Iran...

Analysis of the information that comes back from these operations is vital for regular forces in knowing exactly what sorts of measures they need to take in their own operations. It also allows for more direct analysis of doing things to prevent the smuggling of weapons from Iran INTO Iraq. It also gives insights on how to secure our own southernmost border here at home; the border we share with Mexico:

U.S. to build watchtower at Iran-Iraq border
Structure to target smuggling of shipments that authorities allege are illegal arms for war

By Sam Enriquez
October 21, 2007

ZURBATIYA, Iraq - About 300 trucks cross the border here every day, ferrying fruit, rugs and building supplies from Iran - and, if U.S. authorities are to be believed, illegal weapons.

Intercepting the smuggled arms should be simple enough, because shipments have to be unloaded from Iranian trucks and transferred to Iraqi trucks at the border. The trouble is, the reloading is done on the Iranian side, behind a wall.

So the U.S. is planning to build a 100-foot watchtower for Iraqi border agents. This solution is one of many to seal a 900-mile desert and mountain border that U.S. authorities allege is used by smugglers to ferry Iranian-made explosives and rockets used in attacks against Iraqi civilians, police and U.S. forces.

Critics say the U.S. hasn't proved that the weapons come from Iran or that the Iranian government is complicit with trafficking. But the allegations have heightened tensions between Washington and Iran, raising the prospect of U.S. military action.

The crossing station here in eastern Wasit province, a moonscape desert with summer highs pushing 120 degrees and the dangerous litter of Iraq's eight-year war with Iran, illustrates the challenge of setting modern controls on an ancient frontier.

Although the United States' latest border problem is half a world away from Mexico and its illegal drug and immigrant traffic, the U.S. military hopes to incorporate some of the techniques used on the U.S.-Mexican border. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is lending border patrol and customs officers to help, and some former officers are working here under private contracts.

"This is a lot tougher than the Mexican border," said Army Col. Mark Mueller, who is in charge of U.S. forces advising Iraq's Department of Border Enforcement and the Iraqi army in this region. "There are leftover mines and munitions everywhere."

Don't expect, however, after reading this, to be able to pull up Special Operations mission reports at random and read them. The vast majority of them are classified information that is not available to the general public. There are a great many reasons for this, none the least of which is the safety of the soldiers and sailors and marines involved in these missions, and the safety of their families.

Keep these specialists in your thoughts and prayers. They put themselves very heavily in harms way to keep you safe.

Once and Always an American Fighting Man
(That last one is my regimental crest. Notice the tie in with the one at the top of the page?)


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"The Right Stuff?"

I have long maintained, both as a veteran and as man who has past his thirties, now, that the military has it ALL WRONG in sending young men into combat.

Allow me to explain.

My fellow veterans from the Reagan era and before will be able to relate to this more, perhaps, than those who came after us in the 90's on until today. Basic training was um, a few days ago (ahem) but the memories...ah the memories.

In my day, it was not uncommon for the drill instructors to eat garlic and onions at any given meal of the day, then share the effects of said bulbs with recruits standing in formation by standing in their faces and talking to them. Loudly. At 18 that can be a bit intimidating, after the age of, oh, say 35, you're more inclined to offer said DI a tic tac.

Head games don't work on older guys the same way they work on the younger ones. Ladies, I know you'll forgive me for saying so, but by the time the average male has reached his mid-thirties, we're sort of used to people playing with our minds.

Ahem.

This shift in attitude works to the advantage when it comes to being a soldier, though, I think. At 18 the mind is not as adjusted to having to make a snap decision as it is when you're older. You're also able to think more abstractly and envision things a bit better. An example? The reason you don't point your loaded weapon at one of your buddies is because it might accidently discharge and you'll shoot him. By the mid-thirties, you're more able to envision the effects of that than at the age of 18.

By the mid-thirties you've also learned (again, apologies to the ladies here, but I think you'll agree) the art of selective deafness. This would come in handy if captured by the enemy. "What is your unit strength, and what is your mission?" "I'm sorry, what?" (Louder) "What is your mission, and how many people are in your unit?" (shaking head sadly, pointing to ears) "Say again?" (Louder still, growing aggitated) "MISSION, UNIT" (Feigning comprehension) "YES I miss my unit, will I be going back to them soon?" (Screams of utter frustration, cursing in native language)

See my point?

After we leave our twenties, we're less inclined to be interested in brawling to "prove ourselves." Remember the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indiana Jones had fought off a group of swordsmen with his bullwhip, only to find himself facing one last opponent who stood twirling and brandishing his sword? Of course you do, it's cinematic history. What did Indy do? He shot the guy and moved on. Classic older guy remedy to the situation. Fight you? Heck no, BANG you're dead.

One of our readers sent the following in email to WUA a few days ago, and the man is absolutely correct.

Enjoy, and see if you can't find the solid logic in the thought processes.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man


Drafting Guys Over 60
I'm over 60 and the Armed Forces say I'm too old to track down terrorists. (You can't be older than 42 to join the military.)

They've got the whole thing backwards. Instead of sending 18-year-olds off to fight, they ought to take us old guys. You shouldn't be able tojoin a military unit until you're at least 35.

For starters:
Researchers say 18-year-olds think about sex every 10 seconds.Old guys only think about sex a couple of times a day, leaving us more than 28,000 additional seconds per day to concentrate on the enemy.

Young guys haven't lived long enough to be cranky, and a cranky soldier is a dangerous soldier. If we can't kill the enemy we'll complain them into submission. "My back hurts! I'm hungry! Where's the remote?"

An 18-year-old hasn't had a legal beer yet and you shouldn't go to war until you're at least old enough to drink. The average old guy, on the other hand, has consumed 126,000 gallons of beer, and a jaunt through the desert heat with a beer and an M-60 would do wonders for the old beer belly. (Note there are 24 hours in a day and 24 bottles in a case...another convenient way to measure time!)

An 18-year-old doesn't like to get up before 10 a.m.

Old guys always get up early to pee.

If captured we couldn't spill the beans because we'd forget where we put them. In fact, name, rank, and serial number would be a real brainteaser.

Boot camp would be easier for old guys. We're used to getting screamed and yelled at and we like soft food. We've also developed an appreciation for guns.We like them almost better than naps. They could lighten up on the obstacle course however. I've been in combat and didn't see a single 20-foot wall with rope hanging over the side, nor did I ever do any pushups after completing basic training. I can hear the Drill Sgt now, "Get down and give me ... er ... one." Actually, the running part is kind of a waste of energy. I've never seen anyone outrun a bullet.

An 18-year-old has the whole world ahead of him. He's still learning to shave, to carry on a conversation, and to wear pants without the top of his butt crack showing and his shorts sticking out. He's hasn't figured out that a pierced tongue catches food particles, and that a 400-watt speaker in the back seat of a Honda can rupture an eardrum, and that a baseball cap has a brim to shade eyes, not the back of his head.

These are all great reasons to keep our kids at home to learn a little more about life before sending them off into harm's way. Let us old guys track down those dirty rotten cowards who attacked us on September 11. The last thing an enemy would want to see right now is a couple of million old farts with attitudes.

Share this with your senior friends. It's purposely in big type so you can read it.

.

Gathering of Eagles update...16JUL07

A Presumption of Innocence

Posted: 16 Jul 2007 06:21 AM CDT

From Eagle Tim Sumner, head of 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America:

You know the story. On May 17, 2006 — to celebrate the 6-month anniversary of his first demanding a timetabled withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq — John Murtha held a press conference in D.C. and stated that Marines in Haditha had, “killed innocent civilians in cold blood.” Even before the preliminary investigation had been completed and before the Marines under investigation had a chance to defend themselves, Congressman Murtha used his office to inquire and publicly pronounced them guilty.

Last week, the investigating officer recommended that the charges against LCpl Justin Sharratt be dismissed, in his strongly worded official report:

Ultimately, there is only one statement by an eyewitness to the events, LCpl Sharratt, and his version of the events is strongly corroborated by independent forensic analysis of the death scene… From as early as February 2006 LCpl Sharratt’s statements are supported by the forensic evidence.

Congressman Murtha did not mention that at his May 17, 2006, press conference for the investigation had not run its course, that independent forensic analysis had not been conducted and compared to testimony. He just rushed to judgment and pronounced United States Marines ‘guilty’ under Jack Murtha’s law.

Here is the not funny part: on July 11, 2007, his office announced that, “Congressman Murtha doesn’t have a statement because the investigation is still ongoing.” Meaning of course, he cannot take the political risk of repeating his slanderous allegations of last year.

I want Congressman Murtha to apologize or resign. Actually, I want him to apologize and resign.

As I live nearby, I will visit Congressman Murtha’s district office in Johnstown the week of July 23, 2007.

Send me your emails and I will gladly deliver a paper copy of them while I am there.

The Gathering of Eagles folks have provided a place to post your emails online. No email addresses will be displayed yet please tell us your name and city and state.

Regardless of where you live, I welcome your comments. Did you know that if you live outside of his district, his official site will not accept them?

Please, CLICK HERE AND BE SUCCINCT AND CIVIL, while telling Congressman John Murtha how you really feel.

Eagles up!


Sunday Reflections

Posted: 15 Jul 2007 12:21 PM CDT

Every so often I read something that inspires me, that lifts me up, dusts me off, and puts me back on the front lines to fight. These articles are admittedly few and far in between, but when I find them it is like a fresh clip of ammo dropped into my foxhole by Providence when I thought perhaps all was lost. This is one of those.

Written by Chris Hill, Nat’l Director for GOE, it is a snapshot of the things in my heart. I was reading it this morning, just toodling along, thinking, “Yes, this is how I feel…this is good stuff…” and then the last paragraph hit me.

This war must be won. I promised a Gold Star mother recently that I would not let her son’s, Sgt Brian Romines, sacrifice to have been in vain. I am prepared to do whatever it takes to support our brave men and women over in The Box. We have not lost Senator Reid, and I, for one am offended that you would say so. I would bleed on the flag to keep the stripes red. Is that too much to expect of an elected official? Sadly, the answer to that is probably yes. [emphasis added]

That one sentence brought me to my proverbial knees.

I feel this way.

I feel it with every fiber of my being, and I am moved to tears to be reminded that there are others in this country who feel the same–who would stand on the front with nothing but their hearts if need be, defending not only the freedoms we cherish, but the memories and honor of those who purchased them for us. Events like GOE 1 in D.C.–and the upcoming GOE rally on September 15th–are imperative. Our freedoms–and our children’s lives–depend on our ability and our willingness to face whatever evil may arise, with honor, conviction of soul, and the courage to do what needs to be done. These are not pretty words. They are the reality, the ever-sobering fact that we are a nation at war. We are a people fighting for our lives.

Bravo Zulu, Chris. See you on the front lines in September.



Letter to A Veteran: Was it worth the Sacrifice?

Posted: 14 Jul 2007 10:26 PM CDT

Dear Veteran,

I understand that you must go to war when our country asks you and I understand that going to war for you means leaving your families, friends, loved ones, and neighbors. I understand that the possibilities you face are more definite than what I know and that you realize you may not come back the person you were before you left, or at most, you may not come back alive. But, what I don’t understand is if you think the sacrifice was worth it? Did WE live up to your expectations for what you gave to us? When you heard of home, were you glad to hear that we were standing up for you? Or did we let you down?

Sincerely,

Was it Worth It?

San Francisco, CA

Dear Was it Worth It,

First I would like to praise your understanding of the meaning of patriotism. It seems like as our great nation becomes more assimilated over the past two centuries, and the free spirit on whom it was founded has become watered down taken for granted by many.

You asked whether or not if I believed the sacrifice was worth it. Without hesitation I will answer emphatically “YES”. Unlike a few, but like many fellow American patriots, I believed that protecting my country and family was like a “right of passage”. Throughout time, young men in every culture have in some form or another, participated in this passage from boyhood to manhood. So, whether you are out proving that you are a warrior by stalking a bear or mountain lion with a bow and arrow, or you kill a lion with a sling shot, or you march off as a boy to defend your beliefs and country, then come back a man of responsibility, it is all tied together in our history of manhood.

The next question is you ask of me is very disturbing deep in my soul and the soul of hundred of thousands from my era. You see, up till 1965-1973, previous wars were met with very little resistance. The majority of the nation felt threatened in some way, and supported the wars in whatever way they could. The spirit of patriotism ran like the mighty Mississippi River, deep and wide. However, something changed to that spirit when foreign sympathizers started poisoning the minds of Americans with the help of the left controlled media during the Vietnam era.

We as fighting soldiers were oblivious to what was happing back home in the states. Letters from home were more precious than gold, and our families would not discuss the politics and bad press in an attempt to shield us from an already ugly war.

So when the majority of us stepped off the plane expecting to come home to a hero’s reception, we were yelled at, spat upon, called “Baby Killers”, and any other name these weird dressed, sign carrying, crazy people could think of to call us.

I was in total shock and confusion. Here we had given the best four years of our lives to our country and no one would even look us in the face. When I got home no one wanted to discuss how it was or what happened. They really didn’t want to listen to any of the stories of the experiences I went through. After a while I just with drew into a shell and tried to pick up the pieces the best I could, and moved on trying to make a life for my family.

So to answer your last question, “ did my country let me down”. It may have let me down, but I have never let it down. I continued to serve as an Law enforcement Officer, helping the very people that turned their back on me, just like they are today, turning their backs on our brave men and women in Iraq who are protecting us from the GREATEST threat we have ever faced as a nation. Wake up America before it is to late.

Sincerely,

US Navy Veteran: Petty Officer, 3rd Class,

Dan Abernathy

* If you would like to write to Letters to A Veteran, please email your letter and contact information to the email address, gabrielle.pike@gatheringofeagles.org. Note: GOE reserves the right to choose to publish any and/or all letters submitted.

*If you are a Veteran and would like to contribute to this weekly posting, please email your name, military branch, and rank to gabrielle.pike@gatheringofeagles.org . Note” GOE reserves the right to choose to publish any and/or all submissions.


Facing Cindy Sheehan: Operation Welcome to Columbus is a SUCCESS!

Posted: 14 Jul 2007 04:12 PM CDT

This comes in from Matt Krause, dedicated Eagle down in Georgia. He and other Eagles faced up to Cindy Sheehan at the “rally” today in Columbus, Georgia, close to the gates of Ft. Benning.

I’m proud to announce that our little band of Eagles outnumbered Ms. Looney Bird and her band of society’s rejects by 2-1! We had our Eagle signs to hold up for her; reprints of the ones used against ANSWER back in March. Four of our local Eagles are also part of Rolling Thunder, so they brought their bikes down to the event. The bikers brought with them a beautiful American flag, which was proudly displayed for everyone to see.

The Columbus Police Dept. was out in force to ensure everyone’s safety. Beyond the gates of the base, we could see the MPs ready to take action in case one of the rejects tried to enter. While we did have to stay a bit flexible, the police did everything in their power to make sure we could exercise our Freedom of Speech. CPD was efficient and professional, and I
really appreciate their efforts in assisting with approval of our last minute event.

We were onsite at 9am, with demonstration permit in hand. We held our signs so passing motorists could see them as they entered and exited the base. After an hour, a rag-tag convoy arrived. It was quite a pitiful sight. They had a few cars, a tiny RV, a beatup pickup truck, and one of those little electric cars. Look everyone, it’s the Looney Bird Express! lol At
first they tried parking down the side street in our parking area, but the police made them move. Unfortunately the police ended up allowing them to park between us and our cars, meaning that any of our late arrivals would have to pass them in order to get to us.

An incident occured when a young man and his two kids arrived late; the kids holding signs showing support for their mom, who is deployed to Iraq. Details are a little sketchy, but it looks like some of Cindy’s group made hurtful comments as they passed, causing the little girl to cry. Their dad fired a verbal salvo back at the rejects, and we were able to tuck them under our Eagle wings when they got to us.

We could tell right away that the rejects weren’t expecting us. One of their organizers had quite a hard time trying to get through our line along the road. Beth, one of our most outspoken Eagles here in town, followed the guy around, holding her sign up so he could see it. (The first time I saw Beth in action, she was “escorting” two infiltrators back to their lines during GOE1.) Cindy’s organizer went over to the police in the hopes that they could move from the side street they were on, to the main road along which we were set up.

The police said they would allow Cindy & Co. to stand on the sidewalk across the side street from us. I had to giggle, as that sidewalk was 20 feet from the road, down a steep hill, making it almost impossible to see them from the main road! haha! When we first arrived we could have had that spot, instead choosing the other side, where we could stand along the curb of the street. An early Eagle gets the best spot.

After some polite pleading with the police, we were allowed to approach Cindy’s band of rejects. We got to within 10 feet of them before the police rethought their decision and asked us to fall back to our primary position. I tried not to listen to her lies,”blah blah torture, blah blah impeachment, blah blah blah”. Everything out of their mouths was just the most idiotic
bunch of bull manure that I’ve ever heard. I think I need to wash my ears. All in all, it was a great two hours. After a small rant, Cindy & Co retreated back to their convoy, so most of us began to pack up. A handful of us were still on the road when they drove past, with Cindy yelling things out the window of her RV. Such class!

Eagles, if you’re close to one of the Looney Bird Express’ proposed stops, please think about getting a demonstration permit and countering her message. We’ve got to make sure that our voices are heard.

Eagles Up!

Matt Krause


Intel Says Moonbat Group May Assault the Vietnam Wall

Posted: 14 Jul 2007 11:26 AM GMT-06:00

A “very preliminary” report by law enforcement in Maryland has come across the wire saying that an anarchist group is looking to deface the Wall on September 15th during ANSWER’s rally in Washington, D.C.

This will not be allowed to happen, period. We are acting on this intel and we’re certain that Eagles will be there in force to assure the safety and sanctity of our hallowed grounds.

Be aware–September 15th will be quite a showdown. Please consider either being there yourself or helping someone else get there by donating to GOE.

Thank you for your continued support. EAGLES UP!



GOE’s Samek Charges ALL Eagles to Counter “Retiree” Cindy Sheehan

Posted: 13 Jul 2007 10:45 PM GMT-06:00

An anti-war protest in Bryant Park at 1701 West Morehead Street of Charlotte, NC at 5:00 pm has led Cindy Sheehan to “come out” of retirement. Sheehan will be countered by GOE’s Eagle George Samek and his crew of anti-Moonbat ducks on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 at 3:00 pm sharp.

GOE requests ALL AVAILABLE Eagles to join Samek and his ducks!

Samek requests ALL participating Eagles to bring all available anti-war material, flags, signs, and bullhorns.

Eagles-let’s show Ms. Sheehan we hacve not “forgotten” her during her short-lived retirement!

Eagles UP!


Daily Contemplation: The Evolution of America

Posted: 13 Jul 2007 10:12 PM GMT-06:00

Eagles,

I have to tell you that as I walked the halls of the Atlanta Home Dec. Show today, I saw an empty building which used to burst at its seams with bustling buyers looking for the next big retail “hit.”

I was saddened as I overheard a woman complaining about how she must close her store because she cannot get people to shop. I became enraged when the next comment she produced was, “The economy is so bad because we, as Americans, just had to elect the most retarded man in the USA as President…this damn war in Iraq has ruined us all!”

I was shocked and though, in a professional setting, was about to become unglued! As she approached me I lightly touched the bold pin of the American Flag on my breast and smiled wanly at her.

It was then that a heart-breaking satisfaction and patriotic pride soared thru my whole being as the woman she was walking with quietly whispered- “My son died in this ‘damn war’ so that you could continue keeping your doors open to commerce and free trade rather than close them under a dictator rule defined by old world religion.”

With that she turned on her heel and walked away.
The woman stood there with her mouth open and a look of horror on her face and as my eyes met hers and she realized I had overheard the conversation; it was then that the severity of what had transpired struck her and tears rolled down her cheeks.

I walked over to her and said, “Ma’am, that woman and her son represent America and you have been weighed, measured, and found wanting. God Bless You.”

As I walked away I meditated on the event and realized that this “minute” occurrence changed three women’s lives forever; a lamb became a lioness, a dove became an eaglet, and an eaglet became an Eagle- as the evolution of America should be.

May this event inspire you as it did me. God Bless and Eagles–Soar!

Your Eagle Sister,
Gabi


U.S. President, Key U.S. General in Iraq Praise Effort Connecting Americans, Combat Troops

Posted: 13 Jul 2007 09:46 PM GMT-06:00

Roseville CA - July 12th, 2007 - The President of the U.S., along with a key U.S. general in Iraq, have recognized how Troops Need You is enabling average Americans to deliver what U.S. troops need to win over Iraqi locals.

“Thank you for supporting those who sacrifice so that future generations may live in peace and freedom,” the President wrote.

The President continued to praise the work of Troops Need You, a citizen-led troop support effort that is mobilizing the American people in direct support of combat troops in Iraq.

Troops Need You completes shipments to U.S. troops in response to requests they receive from local Iraqis. Battalion leadership confirms that such taliored, local solutions help improve the lives of Iraqis, and can be leveraged to motivate Iraqis to stand up for their own government and security. Thus, the resources that Americans are delivering to the troops are actually contributing to overall mission success.

The letter from the President arrived shortly after similar letters of praise from General Petraeus, the top coalition general in Iraq, and Lieutanant General Odierno, the Commander of U.S. Forces in Iraq.Troops Need You fills a unique role by connecting the American people with the combat troops on the ground. High-level leaders understand the need for the troops to have the resources they need to motivate the Iraqi people to stand up for their own security and government. the American people with the combat troops on the ground. High-level leaders understand the need for the troops to have the resources they need to motivate the Iraqi people to stand up for their own security and government.
Need for Even Greater Citizen Involvement Increased attention from military command, media results in more combat troops requesting support

Troops Need You is growing quickly, as a result of the increased attention from government leaders, as well as increased media attention.More combat troops are requesting support, which means that more Americans are needed to get involved, by donating or volunteering to help organize support for specific units.

The vision of Troops Need You is to establish sponsorships between Americans, who raise the support needed to deliver $5,000 in goods per month, and the 50 battalions who are fighting in the most critical areas of Iraq. Groups like churches, political groups, corporations, and civic organizations are well-suited to carry out the role of a sponsor for a combat battalion.

Just as the President praised of “the wonderful things Troops Need You is doing for the troops,” this is the time for more people to get involved so Troops Need You can connect even more Americans with the troops who need their support.

About Troops Need You Troops Need You is a charitable organization dedicated to maintaining the American tradition of mobilizing citizens to directly enable wartime success. By using donated funds from people across the country, Troops Need You delivers what combat units need to win over local Iraqis. Donations are accepted online at http://www.TroopsNeedYou.com or by mail to Troops Need You, PO Box 387, Roseville California 95661.

About the Founder Major Eric Egland (Reserve) has served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He earned a Master of Science in Strategic Intelligence from the National Defense Intelligence College and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He has discussed national security issues on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, C-SPAN and NPR. Some of his experiences are featured in the upcoming Fox News documentary on Iran.


Sheehan Rally - Atlanta

Posted: 13 Jul 2007 08:12 PM GMT-06:00

Cindy Chavez (or I mean Sheehan) will be in Columbus GA on Saturday for a rally and Eagles in Georgia are preparing a response. Anyone wishing more info contact me and I will get you a contact.

As the state coordinator for the Gathering of Eagles for Georgia, I am so pleased to join the group (get the bail money out again) that will “welcome” her as she arrives for a speech at the Seven Stages Theater in Atlanta at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. She is speaking for the presentation of a play on Marxism.

She is a dishonor to her son who lost his life in Iraq while serving in a cause, a conflict, and a military that he chose to support. He had a short but distinguished career. Many Eagles will join me in standing to confront her in Honor of her son and his sacrifice on the altar of freedom.

On Tuesday the 17th I will join George “Bull Horn” Samek in Charlotte, North Carolina for a huge rally in response to her appearance there.

If you can’t be with us then please think about the servicemen and women who serve to protect and defend you everyday. Remember to add this verse I have written to sing whenever I hear the song “God Bless America” which goes like this:

“God Bless our servicemen, wherever they may be,

Stand beside them, and protect them, as they fight for liberty,

In the desert, in the mountains, o’er the ocean, white with foam,

God bless our servicemen. bring them safely home,

GOD BLESS OUR SERVICEMEN, BRING THEM SAFELY HOME.”

The war and support for or against it is something each individual must decide for themselves. But we should never abandon those who put themselves in harms way to insure our freedom.

Somewhere on a island in the Pacific, these words are carved on simple stone monument in memory of those who fought and died there during WWII:

“When you go home, go home to your families and say, to insure their tomorrow, we gave our today.”

There will be many events in the next few months in support of the troops. I will be in Atlanta tomorrow, Charlotte Tuesday, Walter Reed first Friday in August, back in DC 15 September for a huge anti moonbat and support and fund the troops rally and also in DC with another “Vets To Washington Project Trip”.

If anyone would like additional info on any event or info on what you as one person by yourself can do to support the troops please contact me. This is one place where one person can make a difference and you can do that by reaching out and touching the life of a servicemember.

Thanks and See you at the Rally.

Doug Hastings
GOE State Coordinator: Georgia

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Right to know versus Need to know

How much information is "too much?" How much do we REALLY need to know about special operations and secret operations DURING a war that is ongoing, rather than letting those stories come out AFTER conflicts are ceased? Does it NOT make sense to keep certain things under wraps until a more appropriate time to release them rather than to let them out in the middle of an ongoing war?

Evidently the New York Times and certain former military officials don't seem to think so.

U.S. Aborted Raid on Qaeda Chiefs in Pakistan in ’05

By MARK MAZZETTI
Published: July 8, 2007
WASHINGTON, July 7 — A secret military operation in early 2005 to capture senior members of Al Qaeda in Pakistan’s tribal areas was aborted at the last minute after top Bush administration officials decided it was too risky and could jeopardize relations with Pakistan, according to intelligence and military officials.

The target was a meeting of Qaeda leaders that intelligence officials thought included Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden’s top deputy and the man believed to run the terrorist group’s operations.

But the mission was called off after Donald H. Rumsfeld, then the defense secretary, rejected an 11th-hour appeal by Porter J. Goss, then the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, officials said. Members of a Navy Seals unit in parachute gear had already boarded C-130 cargo planes in Afghanistan when the mission was canceled, said a former senior intelligence official involved in the planning.

Okay. Let's think about this analytically. What good does it do for disgruntled former military staffers to complain about the operations they planned didn't come off? I know that there are several members of the military who are not happy with the Bush administration, particularly with George W. being the commander-in-chief. That's not the point. George W. Bush IS the current commander-in-chief of the United States armed forces. Not Nancy Pelosi. Not Hillary Clinton (God help us if she ever DOES make it to that position). Not Harry Reid.

It is highly unprofessional for a military officer to berate his commanding officer.

In MY mind, it says volumes about what kinds of officers these men made while on active duty.

Yes, I said "on active duty." Enlisted men can retire and walk away from it. Officers are officers for the rest of their lives, and subject to being recalled to active duty at any time.

Something to think about in regards to professionalism amongst our nations officers cadre.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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A message from the past for our troops today

I don't know where the flamboyance has gone. The bravado. The intestinal fortitude to step forward and LEAD in a way that inspires and motivates troops to follow. I don't know where the living legends are today.

Without a doubt General George S. Patton was one of the most flamboyant leaders to have commanded an army. I want to put forth his words here, as they are as applicable today, in my mind, as they were when he spoke them during World War II. Any of you who have ever seen the movie Patton, staring George C. Scott, should recognize this instantly:

Be Seated.


Men, this stuff we hear about America wanting to stay out of the war, not wanting to fight, is a lot of bullshit. Americans love to fight - traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble player; the fastest runner; the big league ball players; the toughest boxers. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win - all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost, not ever will lose a war, for the very thought of losing is hateful to an American.


You are not all going to die. Only two percent of you here today would die in a major battle. Death must not be feared. Every man is frightened at first in battle. If he says he isn't, he's a goddamn liar. Some men are cowards, yes! But they fight just the same, or get the hell shamed out of them watching men who do fight who are just as scared. The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared. Some get over their fright in a minute under fire, some take an hour. For some it takes days. But the real man never lets fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to this country and his innate manhood.


All through your army career you men have bitched about "This chickenshit drilling." That is all for a purpose. Drilling and discipline must be maintained in any army if for only one reason -- INSTANT OBEDIENCE TO ORDERS AND TO CREATE CONSTANT ALERTNESS. I don't give a damn for a man who is not always on his toes. You men are veterans or you wouldn't be here. You are ready. A man to continue breathing must be alert at all times. If not, sometime a German son-of-a-bitch will sneak up behind him and beat him to death with a sock full of shit.


There are 400 neatly marked graves somewhere in Sicily all because one man went to sleep on his job -- but they were German graves for we caught the bastard asleep before his officers did. An Army is a team. Lives, sleeps, eats, fights as a team. This individual heroic stuff is a lot of crap. The bilious bastards who wrote that kind of stuff for the Saturday Evening Post don't know any more about real fighting, under fire, than they do about fucking. We have the best food, the finest equipment, the best spirit and the best fighting men in the world. Why, by God, I actually pity these poor sons-of-bitches we are going up against. By God, I do!


My men don't surrender. I don't want to hear of any soldier under my command being captured unless he is hit. Even if you are hit, you can still fight. That's not just bullshit, either. The kind of man I want under me is like the lieutenant in Libya, who, with a Lugar against his chest, jerked off his helmet, swept the gun aside with one hand and busted hell out of the Boche with the helmet. Then he jumped on the gun and went out and killed another German: All this with a bullet through his lung. That's a man for you.


All real heroes are not story book combat fighters either. Every man in the army plays a vital part. Every little job is essential. Don't ever let down, thinking your role is unimportant. Every man has a job to do. Every man is a link in the great chain. What if every truck driver decided that he didn't like the whine of the shells overhead, turned yellow and jumped headlong into the ditch? He could say to himself, "They won't miss me -- just one in thousands." What if every man said that? Where in hell would we be now? No, thank God, Americans don't say that! Every man does his job; every man serves the whole. Every department, every unit, is important to the vast scheme of things. The Ordnance men are needed to supply the guns, the Quartermaster to bring up the food and clothes to us -- for where we're going there isn't a hell of a lot to steal. Every last man in the mess hall, even the one who heats the water to keep us from getting the GI shits has a job to do. Even the chaplain is important, for if we get killed and if he is not there to bury us we'd all go to hell.


Each man must not only think of himself, but of his buddy fighting beside him. We don't want yellow cowards in this army. They should all be killed off like flies. If not they will go back home after the war and breed more cowards. The brave men will breed brave men. Kill off the goddamn cowards and we'll have a nation of brave men.


One of the bravest men I ever saw in the African campaign was the fellow I saw on top of a telegraph pole in the midst of furious fire while we were plowing toward Tunis. I stopped and asked what the hell he was doing up there at that time. He answered, "Fixing the wire, sir." "Isn't it a little unhealthy right now?," I asked. "Yes sir, but this goddamn wire's got to be fixed." There was a real soldier. There was a man who devoted all he had to his duty, no matter how great the odds, no matter how seemingly insignificant his duty might appear at the time.


You should have seen those trucks on the road to Gabes. The drivers were magnificent. All day and all night they rolled over those son-of-a-bitching roads, never stopping, never faltering from their course, with shells bursting around them all the time. We got through on good old American guts. Many of these men drove over forty consecutive hours. These weren't combat men. But they were soldiers with a job to do. They did it -- and in a whale of a way they did it. They were part of a team. Without them the fight would have been lost. All the links in the chain pulled together and that chain became unbreakable.


Don't forget, you don't know I'm here. No word of the fact is to be mentioned in any letters. The world is not supposed to know what the hell became of me. I'm not supposed to be commanding this Army. I'm not even supposed to be in England. Let the first bastards to find out be the goddamn Germans. Someday I want them to raise up on their hind legs and howl, "Jesus Christ, it's the goddamn Third Army and that son-of-a-bitch Patton again."


We want to get the hell over there. We want to get over there and clear the goddamn thing up. You can't win a war lying down. The quicker we clean up this goddamn mess, the quicker we can take a jaunt against the purple pissing Japs an clean their nest out too, before the Marines get all the goddamn credit.


Sure, we all want to be home. We want this thing over with. The quickest way to get it over is to get the bastards. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we go home. The shortest way home is through Berlin. When a man is lying in a shell hole, if he just stays there all day, a Boche will get him eventually, and the hell with that idea. The hell with taking it. My men don't dig foxholes. I don't want them to. Foxholes only slow up an offensive. Keep moving. And don't give the enemy time to dig one. We'll win this war but we'll win it only by fighting and by showing the Germans we've got more guts than they have.


There is one great thing you men will all be able to say when you go home. You may thank God for it. Thank God, that at least, thirty years from now, when you are sitting around the fireside with your grandson on your knees, and he asks you what you did in the great war, you won't have to cough and say, "I shoveled shit in Louisiana."

Rock steady!

God bless and keep each and every one of you, your nation is proud of you.

Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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THESE COLORS DON'T RUN!

It seems Nancy Pelosi is devoping QUITE a pattern of not allowing the media to cover things regarding her if they show her in a bad light.
Honestly, I don't know of any lighting where she would look good, perhaps total darkness is best for the screecher of the house, but I digress before I've even gotten started.

Ahem.

Protestors at yesterdays Surrender is Not an Option rallies who were allowed into screecherPelosi's office entered under a ban of cameras or media members.

'Surrender monkeys' protest Pelosi, Reid

Posted: May 18, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern


By Catherine Moy

Protesters and "surrender monkeys" marched on the offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., yesterday opposing the Democrats retreat-and-defeat policies in the war against Muslim jihadists in Iraq and around the world.

The "surrender monkeys" – played by two chimpanzees in San Francisco – wore the uniform of the original surrender monkeys from France: a beret and a waving white flag.

Move America Forward, or MAF, the country's largest pro-troop group, sponsored the "Surrender is Not an Option" protests in three cities: San Francisco, Las Vegas and Carson City, Nev. The protesters included Iraqi veterans, Vietnam veterans, Gold Star parents, Blue Star parents, American patriots and special guests: two chimpanzees and one French monkey dressed as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys."

Following the protest, 10 people were allowed inside Pelosi's San Francisco office to discuss the issues with a staff person. The media were prohibited from witnessing the meeting; cameras and recording devices were banned with no explanation. Guards kept an eye on the rally and strictly controlled entry into Pelosi's office.

The Cowardly Lion didn't cotton to having visitors come calling, either.

Sen. Reid's office did not take kindly to the 100-plus protesters at his Carson City office. A handful of people, including a war veteran carrying a flag, went to the office and asked a Reid worker if they could make a formal complaint to the Democratic senator. The group, led by Eric Odom of www.opposereid.com, asked her if she agreed with Reid. The woman slammed the door in their faces (video is available online).

Neither Reid nor his office could be reached for comment on the incident.

Isn't it amazing how often this is becoming the case with these two? "Not available for comment." "Could not be reached for comment." Translation, they ain't answerin' the damned phones, people. These leftist elitists are showing in TRUE FORM that they don't give a DAMN about their constituents, America as a nation, or anything anyone outside of their inner circles has to say.

Outstanding work to those who were able to make it to the rallies.

Humboldt County GOP Chairperson Patricia Welch and Eureka Republican Women President Joy Finley presented U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson’s office with a basket of white feathers and surrender flags Thursday morning as part of Surrender is Not an Option Day. Submitted photo

Surrender is Not an Option Day
by Cerena Johnson, 5/17/2007

Members of the Humboldt County Republican Party walked into U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson’s Eureka office Thursday morning to voice support for troops serving in Iraq.

The group intended to hold a pro-troop rally in front of the office in coordination with protests in San Francisco, Las Vegas and Carson City, as part of Surrender is Not an Option Day.

About five residents presented Thompson’s staff with a basket of white feathers and surrender flags, as well as a letter taking a stance against Democratic legislation for the Iraq War.

“The resolutions being proposed in Congress against the president’s call for additional troops are not in the best interests of the United States,” the letter stated.

It was requested in the letter that Thompson “stop politicizing the war and the men and women in uniform who are so bravely serving our country.”

Demonstrations were initially organized by the nonprofit organization Move America Forward.

I don't know that I necessarily agree with the title of the next one, but I'm SURE the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow FELT like they were being attacked...

Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid’s Offices Attacked By Surrender Monkeys

May 17, 2007 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - At 10:30 AM today MoveAmericaForward.org, America’s largest grassroots pro-troop support group brought a bit of street theater to bear on the Democrat leadership.

Outside Nancy Pelosi's office in San Francisco and Harry Reid’s offices in Las Vegas and Carson City, Nevada, living, breathing "Surrender Monkeys" led crowds of patriots in a protest over efforts by the House and Senate leadership to de-fund the war and hand al-Qaeda a victory in Iraq.

The monkeys appeared to be having a good time, but made clear in a statement released before the event that they took a bit of umbrage at being compared to the likes of Reid and Pelosi.

(CBS 5 / AP) SAN FRANCISCO Iraq War supporters surrounded the district offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority leader Harry Reid on Thursday.

Protestors brought chimpanzees from Hollywood to underline their charge that Pelosi and Reid are what the protestors call "surrender monkeys" for their opposition to the war.

"We are going to be out in the streets, with our flags, with our white surrender flags, with monkeys, with people, with energy and dedication and enthusiasm," said protest organizer Melanie Morgan. "Because we have a job to do and that is support our troops."

War opponents have claimed supporting the troops mean bringing them home.

Two people who attended Thursday's protest are parents who lost sons in the Iraq war. Joseph Williams says his son was killed on the third day of the war.

Debra Argel Bastian, whose son Derek Argel died in 2005, said Iraqis are thankful for the U.S. troop presence in Iraq.

"When I was in Iraq in November, I met a group of very thankful people," Bastian said.


Her son served as a captain for the Air Force.

"The troops don’t want to pull out, they want to finish their mission," Bastian added. "And I’m just very confused, because none of the politicians I hear in Washington are able to give us any sort of idea what happens when we do pull out, what happens here."

Let me make this clear, in plain, simple terms that even a politician can understand. We may have cowards in elected positions, there may be a very vocal minority out there who wants to cut and run, the news media with their liberal leanings may want us to surrender, BUT KNOW THIS:

The Heart and Soul of the American Fighing Man/Woman can NOT accept surrender, can NOT accept defeat, and can NOT accept anything but victory, nor can the American public at large.

Tired of the war, my ass. Our TROOPS are asking to let them finish, if they're willing to soldier on, WHO THE HELL IS A POLITICIAN NOT IN THE FIELD TO SAY OTHERWISE?

Again, NO member of Congress is in the chain of command.

THESE COLORS DO NOT RUN.



Once and Always, an American Fighting Man

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