It’s Friday, and most people are getting ready to kick back and enjoy the weekend.  Not me, my weekend doesn’t start until tomorrow.  (All you Saturday shoppers…be nice to those  retail workers that are taking care of you on Saturday!)  Anyways…I’m beat…the Friday shoppers were, shall we say…interesting.  I punch out later than usual, drive home knowing I don’t have to cook tonight…leftovers…yummy leftovers.  I walk into the kitchen and what do I see out the kitchen window……

Hooah!  I don’t know why the tent is there…no one was out to ask.  (The neighbor just happens to be an Army Recruiter.)  I’m going to have a little surprise for him in the morning.  Stay tuned.

Sgt. Anton J. Hiett
25 years old from Mount Airy, North Carolina
391st Engineer Battalion, Army Reserve
March 12, 2006

Misty Hiett, the widow of Sgt. Anton Hiett, said in an interview that he, Sgt. Hiett, asked to transfer to the 391st Engineering Battalion when it looked like his reserve unit would not be deployed.

Sgt. Hiett was a truck driver who joined the military right out of high school because he “wanted to go help out” during the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. After his transfer to the 391st, he was deployed to Afghanistan on April 22, 2005.

On March 12, 2006, Sgt. Hiett, and three fellow soldiers from the 391st, Staff Sgt. Joe Ray; Spc. Joshua Hill and Sgt. Kevin Akins, were killed when an IED detonated near their Humvee during combat operations west of Asadabad, Afghanistan. He left behind his wife and their then 2(now 4)-year-old daughter Kyra.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Our own little Acorn story….The Boy and some friends went to a show last week in Cleveland Heights (Nuclear Free Zone don’tcha know). When he stepped outside for a smoke he saw three people with clipboards. Knowing full well what was going on, he approached them and asked what was up with the clipboards (he can play soooo innocent when he wants to). They explained they were registering people to vote, was he registered? “Since the day I turned 18″. “Oh, good”. “And you’re voting for Obama.” Statement not question. “Hell, NO.” “Oh, (pause), you’re voting for one of the third party candidates.” Statement again. “No”. And then came the question “Well then, who are you voting for?” (Completely mystified.) “Umm….John McCain”. “Oh”. Apparently, a civilized polite conversation ensued. But I can’t help wondering if registering folks to vote at 10 p.m. in front of a bar….oh…nevermind.

(Good job Boy!)
h/t LGF and Joshuapundit and thanks to bitterclinger for making the video

Cpl. Lance M. Thompson
21 years old from Upland, Indiana
2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force
November 15, 2004

The father of Cpl. Lance Thompson said his son would be proud knowing he fought and died to help Iraqis vote in an election.

Cpl. Lance Thompson died in during fighting in Ramadi by a truck bomb. His father, Greg Thompson, said his son sent him a letter in September of ‘04 which said, “Freedom is not free. It requires sacrifice.”

Greg Thompson said the millions turning out to vote in Iraq was “fantastic” and said it was a “momentous day in the Middle East.”

“Are you asking me was it worth Lance losing his life?” he asked a reporter. “Being the gung-ho Marine that he was, he would say yes. So I’ll say yes. That is a tough, bitter pill to swallow. It hurts. God, I didn’t want to give up my son.”

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

The Daughter and I are glad it’s a work night. If it were a Friday night we might have been tempted to play the debate drinking game. Below is the Ushanka.us version of it. Instead of “um” I’d have chosen “middle class” …if I were drinking…I’d be under the table already.

This Week’s Post Was Suggested And Written By Kathi

SSgt. Renee A. Deville
44 years old from Webster New York
401st Civil Affairs Battalion
September 1, 2008

SSGT Renee A. Deville was an Army Reservist who deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom with the 401st Civil Affairs Battalion from Webster, N.Y. She arrived at Walter Reed August 10, 2006, after being injured in a mortar attack.

While at Walter Reed, Deville was assigned to Chosen Battery, Warrior Transition Brigade, and was among three graduates of the Army’s first Basic Noncommissioned Officers Course Stand Alone Common Core offered to Warriors in Transition.

Deville, who successfully completed every aspect of the course from a wheelchair, was lauded by SGT Major of the Army Kenneth O. Preston as exemplifying the Army’s ‘Warrior Ethos’, at the graduation ceremony for the course on March 28, 2008.

Deville was also the impetus for a new playground being built behind the Mologne House at Walter Reed in 2007.

An October 2007 Washington Post article about the opening of the playground says that SSGT Deville’s mention of her children’s limited recreational options to Col. Bruce Haselden, the garrison commander, helped set in motion the playground project.

Staff Sgt. Renee Antoinette Deville died September 1, 2008 in her room at the Mologne House at Walter Reed. She was 44.

She is survived by her husband and 4 children, her mother, a brother, and two sisters.

SSGT Deville was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on September 19, 2008.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

–
Indian Chris
http://rightwingrightminded.blogspot.com
http://hooahwife.com
Wednesday Hero - Google It

Click Image For Full SizeYeoman 3rd Class Margret Ueberlauer

Yeoman 3rd Class Margret Ueberlauer hands out toys to HIV infected children during a community relations project at the Camillian Center in Pattaya, Thailand. The USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Group is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

– –
Indian Chris
http://rightwingrightminded.blogspot.com
http://hooahwife.com
Wednesday Hero - Google It

My good friend Katy often sends something funny or inspiring on Fridays, so,  I’m sending this video to her. I really should be getting ready for work…but first I took a little spin around my favorite sites. Not sure how I got to Ushanka but it was worth the detour and I’ll be going back. (Disclaimer…they do know the bikini picture is a photoshop…and it does fit the video.) (And I always did like Robert Palmer.)

Have a great weekend…I’ll be at work

CONSTITUTION DAY