Today is my day over at the Tanker Brothers Rolling Victory Fast.  Here is the link that will explain it all.   Please take a minute to read it...and then come back...


My fast today, is dedicated to the D.C. Chapter of the Free Republic and to Joshua Sparling.  To learn more about Free Republic go here.

These dedicated patriots have been outside Walter Reed Medical Center every Friday evening for 94 weeks.  What began as a counter protest to code pink's twisted "support" of the troops, has evolved into a labor of love.

On the 27th of January they stood in support of the troops and the country at the Anti-Victory Peace rally on the National Mall.  You can go here to watch videos of these "promoters of peace" in action.  You can just feel the hate love through your monitor.  Especially toward Joshua, a wounded Soldier still at WRAMC and the other vets with him.

And....just so you know...some of our Tanker Sisters are FReepers too.! 

Semper Gratis,
Mary*Ann


P.S.  To those I double dog dared to join in the RVF a while back....this is it....I TRIPLE DOG DARE you.

  A toast to 3RD....                                                       



...and to all of  you Googling "Birthday Toast"....I'm sorry...but I'm toasting a friend here...if you are looking for a good website for birthday toasts....try the Quote Garden

Behold the true harbinger of spring.    The equipment truck leaves this week!!!

Here is a website that LCpl. Manoukian’s mother set up for her son after he lost his life in Ramadi.

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.

Is Foolish And Wrong To Mourn The Men Who Died. Rather We Should Thank God That Such Men Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great country, you can find out how by clicking here.

This Weeks Hero Was Submitted By Mark Bell

...not 1969.  I remember the 60's all too well.  The good old days...not so much.

I've had my fill of the news stories...all one sided.  The Boy just called me in to watch an MTV "report" (sheesh).  Those being interviewed....Iraq Vets against the war.  They briefly showed the FreeRepublic's counter protest...but no interview with anyone from that side...like...say.... Joshua Sparling...  Josh Sparling, who received a card while he was a patient at WRAMC basically saying "hope you die".  Josh Sparling, who was spit on by one of the peace loving  commie protesters.

(For whatever reason, I still cant link to anything...but I can copy and paste, and the links seem to work, go figure.)

More on Joshua Sparling at Michelle Malkin:

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/006779.htm

To me, a great many of these "activistst"  are just some perenially unhappy people trying to either recapture their youth...or experience something that happened before they were born.  Either way I find it sad and disheartening.  I see it as giving aid and comfort to an enemy that... should the enemy win...will have these code pink people (Barbarella included)...in black...or at best blue, burkas. 

Tom the Redhunter has a report and links from Saturday's D.C. protest. 

http://theredhunter.com/2007/01/countering_united_for_peace_and_justice_in_washington_dc.php

Follow his links to some "interesting" photos and video..especially Age of Hooper found at...

http://ageofhooper.blogspot.com/2007/01/heres-yet-another-video-requires-flash.html

This was supposed to be a "grass roots" protest.  The Redhunter did some research.  What he found was interesting...a list of some of of the groups involved in the anti war movement.  Grass roots, indeed.

"So did they succeed in putting that "milder face" on the anti-war movement? I went to their website and downloaded their national member list. Here are a few of the groups

CODEPINK: Women for Peace
Communist Party USA
Democratic Socialists of America
Greenpeace
RainbowPUSH Coalition (Jesse Jackson)
Young Communist League (YCL)"

The best comment I've heard all day...and I'm so od'd on news stories that I can't remember who or where I heard it...might have been Hugh Hewitt...."they don't know history didn't begin with Viet Nam".  'Nuff said.

By the way...spellcheck not working either...just so you know :-)

Anti war protests in D.C. and San Francisco. 

I tried writing something scathing and clever....but there are others who do a much better job of that than I can.  What came to me watching the news and reading the overtly anti American comments by the protestors....who seem to think life in America is so very oppressive....was.....again from Bill Whittle's Silent America.....http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000046.html (hyperlink not working)

"We have been so safe, and so free, for so long, that it has warped our sense of history and human nature. It is, of course, a trade I am happy to make, but this isolation from the true horror and depravity that are everyday experiences in many parts of the world has embedded in it, like a particularly lethal virus, the seeds of our own destruction. And it is this threat, much more than that from fundamentalist Islam and its organs of terror, that we must look at – closely, and deeply, and often.

I believe that many of those who opposed the war did so because they simply could not -- or in many cases would not – imagine what life under real oppression is like. Remember, these are the people who say, and seem to believe, that we in the US live in a police state, under a murdering dictator, where propaganda is spoon-fed to us like willing idiots and political opposition is crushed mercilessly.

If you say such things long enough, and you spend all your time in the company of similarly tinfoil-hatted comrades, then you actually begin to believe that life in Baghdad under Saddam Hussein wasn’t that much worse than life in Berkeley under the racist, election-stealing, Wellstone-murdering, Earth-destroying Republikkkan administration.

This nation has been for many decades under direct and coordinated attack by fanatics whose failure to gain respect and attention through the force of their arguments have turned their level of rhetoric to such a shrill and hysterical pitch that years of it have seemingly driven some of them quite insane -- insane to the degree that they cannot see that acid baths, state rapists, children’s prisons and daily torture and execution are not mere rhetorical flourishes -- roughly equivalent to hanging chads and bulldozed Dixie Chicks CD’s -- but a desperate and ever-present reality. They did everything in their power to deny this reality, these Champions of Compassion, and Not In Their Name did these daily horrors come to an end. That is what six decades of freedom, security, tolerance and prosperity will do to some people: isolate them from the brutal reality of horror and torture to the degree that “evil” must be accompanied by sneer quotes and the motives of 300 million free and decent people are suspect while those of psychopathic mass murderers are not."

I think the protesters have every right to express their opinions....I just think they suffer from a lack of imagination....of what real evil is.

I'm number 2,183.

The NRSC Pledge...I had to sign it.

"If the United States Senate passes a resolution, non-binding or otherwise, that criticizes the commitment of additional troops to Iraq that General Petraeus has asked for and that the president has pledged, and if the Senate does so after the testimony of General Petraeus on January 23 that such a resolution will be an encouragement to the enemy, I will not contribute to any Republican senator who voted for the resolution. Further, if any Republican senator who votes for such a resolution is a candidate for re-election in 2008, I will not contribute to the National Republican Senatorial Committee unless the Chairman of that Committee, Senator Ensign, commits in writing that none of the funds of the NRSC will go to support the re-election of any senator supporting the non-binding resolution."

***If you agree with this pledge, sign the petition now and have your name and blog listed too.

Our visit to our Soldier in Virginia went much too quickly.  We said our goodbyes and headed to the airport.  I thought I had done a pretty good job not getting all teary eyed and weepy during our visit.  So I thought I had it made...how wrong I was.

We turn in our rental car....make our way to check in....  then on to security.  Shoes off....books in the bin...coat...purse...through the metal detector...all good.  As I start gathering my things at the end of the conveyor there is a young TSA employee.  He is reading the Soldiers' Angels logo on my shirt.  He says to me, "Soldiers' Angels....they're....the pen pals...I had one in when I was in Iraq...she was from California".  Then he holds out his hand and says, "Thank You"...to me!  I say, "no, no...Thank You" ...and we smile at each other. 

Well, I made it about 50 feet or so into the terminal...and then came the tears.  An appropriate ending to a memorable trip. 

                                                     Lt. Col. Michael E. McLaughlin

Sitting in the car with Lt. Col. Michael E. McLaughlin’s 18-year-old daughter, her father’s friend of 21 years had just broken the news of his death.During years of friendship and service in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, Lt. Col. McLauglin and retired Capt. Brad Mifsud had a bond so close that they promised each other if something were ever to happen to either one of them, they would be there for the other’s family.

Lt. Col. McLaughlin died when a suicide bomber rushed through a crowd of Iraqi police recruits in Ramadi and detonated a bomb that also killed a Marine and nearly 80 Iraqis. The day before the attack, Lt. Col. McLaughlin said he was fully confident that Ramadi had finally turned a corner in the insurgency. As hundreds of local men streamed into the Ramadi Glass Factory on Wednesday to join the city’s long-defunct police force, a wide grin spread over a pinch of tobacco stuffed into the 44-year-old’s lower lip.

“This may not look like much, but it’s history,” McLaughlin told a reporter. “We’re making history right here.”

With a significant wound to the back of his head, Lt. Col. McLaughlin turned to his injured personal security detail officers and inquired about their well-being. Waving off medical attention, he asked them to check on the soldiers under his command.

“In an act of extreme selflessness, he stated that he was OK, but to concentrate on saving the lives of his men,” said Col. Grey Berrier, a close friend of Lt. Col. McLaughlin.

Lt. Col. McLaughlin died shortly after giving that instruction, according to the Guard.

A long-time artillery officer in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, McLaughlin was assigned to Task Force 2-222 Field Artillery and was the primary liaison between the 2-28 Brigade Combat Team and local tribal and government leaders in Ramadi. His efforts were instrumental in getting local sheikhs to support the recruitment drive and encourage more than 1,000 area men to volunteer for the force, commanders said.

“Mike is a true hero in every sense of the word, and he died while doing his job the only way he knew how - out front and with great enthusiasm and courage,” said Col. John L. Gronski, commander of the 2-28 BCT. “This loss only strengthens our resolve to carry on and complete the mission in order to honor his memory.”

A gregarious wisecracker, McLaughlin said his hope was to one day return to a peaceful Iraq, where he planned to walk the streets of Ramadi in a traditional Arab “man dress,” or dishdasha, and sip coffee and chai with those sheikhs he had met during the war. McLaughlin said that one particular tribal leader he had developed a close relationship with dubbed him “The Sheikh of Sheikhs” - a nickname that was soon picked up by fellow officers in the brigade.

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.

It Is Foolish And Wrong To Mourn The Men Who Died. Rather We Should Thank God That Such Men Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great country, you can find out how by clicking here

Becoming a Soldier's Angel is the best thing I've ever done.  While I do most of the letter writing, the entire family pitches in in one way or another.

It isn't just Soldiers, but also Marines, Seamen, Airmen and Coast Guard.  Support is mostly in the form of letters and care packages.  However, it can take many many forms.  Angels have done some amazing things in support off their heroes...who never want to be called heroes.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to meet one of my adopted Soldiers.  He is going through a really rough time right now.  This visit was made possible in large part by another Soldier's Angel.  Kristi is an Angel with a specific mission.  Her patience, kindness and great heart are inspiring....as are her children, Christian and Noelle....who also have adopted troops. 

I send these three amazing Angels my thanks, love and respect.

I have posted before about the Tanker Brothers Rolling Victory Fast.  Today I am fasting in support of those who stand between ourselves and those who would do us harm.  (Heroes in my book.)  If you aren't familiar with the Tanker Brothers take a look here to see how it started.....all the way back in July  (Cindy who?).  Many of the Tanker Sisters and Brothers are also Soldiers' Angels...for those of you who are not....consider it...

Flat Rate Shipping:  $8.10
Knowing you are really supporting the troops....PRICELESS  (I assure you, it is.)

Happy Birthday Ben!



 
I've read many versions of this quote.  "God gave us beer because he loves us and wants us to be happy",  works just fine for my hubby. 

This Weeks Heroes Were Suggested By CavMom

This week I have three people to talk about.  Roy Velez and his two sons, Jose and Andrew.  One who was lost in Iraq and another who lost his life in Afghanistan.

It happens almost daily. A stranger reaches out to comfort Roy Velez, unintended symbol of unspeakable loss and grief.

Today it's a woman who approaches as he's halfway through breakfast at Montelongo's Mexican restaurant.

"My brother told me about you and your sons," she says, extending her hand.

He takes her small hand between his - this sturdy man who has buried two boys who went off to war - and listens gently as her own story of sorrow spills forth. Her 8-year-old daughter, a traffic accident, her son at the wheel.

As waiters bustle about with trays of huevos rancheros and barbacoa plates, Mr. Velez does what he does best: offers up a soft prayer to help this mother endure her emptiness.

Strangers learn about Mr. Velez from newspapers and TV. They come to him to share their gratitude or their grief. They come to thank him and console him, tearfully, for his family's sacrifice.

This is how Mr. Velez chooses to live after losing two sons in two years, not riven with anger or paralyzed with sadness. But as someone ready for those who might slip into the darkness of despair.

For his strength for others, compassion and grace - and for serving as inspiration for anyone who knows his story - Mr. Velez is the 2006 Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year.

Because this story is so long, I've linked to the article which you can read in it's entirety.

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 Have Every Right To Dream Heroic Dreams. 
Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll.  If you would like to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great country, 
you can find out how by clicking here.

If you do a  Google news search for Jimmy Carter this evening...there is an interesting story.  Seems that over a dozen of Mr. Carter's advisors from his think tank have resigned over his recent book and statements made regarding Israel and Palestine.  (Really wanted to say "Jimah"...but we just had a long conversation here about respecting the office.)

I found this story interesting because this past Sunday, I met a man that was  anti-Israel, pro-Palestine.  To make a long story short....I was at work.  There is a display that is unashamedly pro- troops.  He starts up a conversation...and I am not quite believing what I am hearing.  He feels sorry for all those "poor guys" (the troops)...we shouldn't be over there...if we would just help the Palestinians...give them some money for hospitals...and..."pick up the garbage" (?)  Israel has been killing thousands of Palestinians...they should be "wiped off the map".  On and on he went.  But...I am at work...I can't go off on a customer.  What to do?  Fortunately, it was my quitting time.  He was still talking, possibly thinking I agreed with him.  Couldn't let that go on...I gathered my things...made eye contact...and told him we were on opposites sides on this and excused myself as politely as I could. 

I have to admire these former Carter people, while I probably wouldn't agree with them on a lot of issues...they did not take the cowardly way out.