blatherings

if there’s an opportunity to escape the deadly blast of a grenade, the Army trains soldiers to take it.

when an iraqi insurgent threw a grenade into the humvee where Pfc. Ross A. McGinnis manned the machine gun, he had time — a split second – to jump from the turret and save himself.

but he didn’t.  in a matter of seconds, with four of his buddies stuck inside, Ross yelled “grenade!” into his microphone, dropped down the turret and used his back to smother the explosive.  he gave his life so they could live.

today during a solemn white house ceremony, President Bush presented Ross’s parents, Tom and Romayne, with a posthumous Medal of Honor for their amazing son.

“America will always honor the name of this brave soldier who gave all for his country and was taken to rest at age 19,” President Bush said. “No one outside this man’s family can know the true weight of their loss.”

 

Ross was raised in Knox, Pa., a town about 50 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.  he joined the Army at 17 through its delayed-entry program, which allows enrollees to learn some military fundamentals before they get to basic training.  his family says he always wanted to be a soldier.

“I guess about the only thing you’re really going to remember about my son is that he did the right thing at the right time,” his father, Tom McGinnis, said at a news conference after the ceremony.

i think i will remember alot more then that about Ross.

after his death, Ross was promoted to the rank of specialist and was awarded the Purple Heart, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and the Army Good Conduct Medal among others.

his was a selfless act of bravery and courage.  godspeed.

today i want to highlight a number of really great things that are happening in the lives of our american service men and women.  FIRST:  vets for freedom!  they are an awesome group that i have blogged about frequently.

vets for freedom is taking donations to help elect good freedom-loving veterans to Congress.

vets for freedom pac will be actively and aggressively supporting candidates—mostly veterans—who believe in achieving success in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the overall War on Terrorism. To that end, we’re proud to announce our initial slate of candidates—and we hope you will help us raise the money to support them. Our guys include:

Steve Stivers (OH-15) is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army National Guard who was awarded the Bronze Star for actions in OIF and is already impressing voters in Ohio.

David Bellavia (NY-26) is a recipient of both the Silver and Bronze Stars for Valor, and nominated for the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during the Battle of Fallujah in 2004. David helped found Vets for Freedom and will fight for all of us in Congress.

Lee Zeldin (NY-1) served in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division and continues to serve as a Captain in the Army Reserves.

Tom Rooney (FL-16) served as an Army JAG for four years before teaching Constitutional and Criminal Law at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Duncan Hunter (CA-52) signed up to serve our country the day after September 11th, and served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan with the United States Marine Corps. He remains in the Marine Reserves.  * and yes this is the awesome Rep. Duncan Hunter’s son *

all five of these men have worn the uniform, understand what is at stake in the global war on terrorism, and will fight for victory if elected to congress.  if we are serious about winning and bringing our troops home, here is a great place to invest your support both financially and with your vote.

NEXT UP:  move america forward  has launched an effort to ship the largest number of care packages to U.S. troops - in history.  between now and June 26th you can sponsor personalized care packages that will then ship over as part of a mass shipment to our troops - just in time for the 4th of July holiday! 

the grand finale for the push will take place on June 26th with an 8-hour internet telethon, “From the Frontlines.”  michelle malkin, hotair and move america forward will livestream, where live and taped reports will be given from our troops serving in Iraq & Afghanistan. also many pro-troops celebrities and leaders of grass-roots pro-military groups will be on hand.  go here for much more info and save the date!

AND FINALLY:   a really terrific video - ‘RAQSTAR - put together by mike the marine to the music of nickelback.  turn up your sound and please go check out mike’s blog — it’s really great.

there are no greater heroes in the world today then the US military.

 
an excerpt from the Gettysburg Address:

“The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. 

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1965.  our 16th presdent of the United States.

“I have the knowledge and the experience and the judgment to lead this nation,” john mccain said. “My opponent does not.”

jmac went on to “praise” Obama.

“I admire and respect Sen. Obama,” mccain said. “For a young man with very little experience, he’s done very well. I appreciate his very great lack of experience and knowledge of the issues.  He’s been very successful.”  ABC News

 

thank you for your heroic service and sacrifice to this country senator.  we remember you and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for this great land.

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gene simmons loves america and is not a cornball

if you have ever watched his reality show, gene simmons makes no apologies for his commitment, respect and admiration for those who serve. so turn up the sound and prepare to sing along too as you watch this fun tribute to american military including gene’s comments at the end. 

nope.  he’s definately NOT a cornball.  patriotism is incredibly cool.

this is Irena Sendler.  she died monday in Warsaw, Poland at the age of 98.  read her story, then let’s talk… 

Saviour of Warsaw Ghetto children dies

WARSAW (Reuters) - Irena Sendler, a Polish woman who saved thousands of Jewish children during World War Two by smuggling them out of the Warsaw Ghetto, died in the Polish capital on Monday after a long illness, local media said.

Israel’s Holocaust remembrance authority, Yad Vashem, said in a statement that it mourned her death.

The web portal of Poland’s leading daily, Gazeta Wyborcza, said Sendler, 98, died in Plocka Street hospital early on Monday. The hospital declined to comment on the report.

Yad Vashem chairman Avner Shalev said: “Irena Sendler’s courageous activities rescuing Jews during the Holocaust serve as a beacon of light to the world, inspiring hope and restoring faith in the innate goodness of mankind.”

Using her position as a social worker, Sendler regularly entered the ghetto, smuggling around 2,500 children out in boxes, suitcases or hidden in trolleys.

The children were then placed with Polish families outside the ghetto, created by Nazi Germany in 1940 for the city’s half a million strong Jewish population, and given new identities.

But in 1943 Sendler, who led the children’ section of the Zegota organisation which helped Jews during the war, was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo.

She only escaped execution when Zegota managed to bribe some Nazi officials, who left her unconscious but alive with broken legs and arms in the woods.

“People who stand up for others, for the weak, are very rare. The world would have been a better place if there were more of them,” Marek Edelman, the last surviving commander of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, said on national television.

His sentiments were echoed by former Polish President Lech Walesa as well as religious leaders.

Sendler was honoured with Israeli Yad Vashem Righteous Among the Nations medal in 1965 for her actions, and later made an honorary Israeli citizen.

dear Irena Sendler knew what it meant to look death in the eye for the sake of others — and most assuredly knew real fear.   but she did not tire, she did not falter, and she did not fail.  after the escape from prison, she assumed a new identity and continued her work of saving the lives of jewish children from certain death at the hands of the Nazi’s.

she was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize last year but, despite her bravery, she denied she was a hero.  she said this in one of her last interviews:  “The term ‘hero’ irritates me greatly. The opposite is true. I continue to have pangs of conscience that I did so little.“  

she didn’t win that Nobel Peace Prize but if she had, it would have been the first time a nobel prize was awarded in connection to the holocaust. (haaretz.com)  Al Gore won instead of Irena.

such a magnificent face and such a magnificent life.  

h/t jwf

you know how much i love to blog about code pink.   *sniff*

like any other group, communists and socialists come in a lot of shapes, sizes and colors.  this time they’re wearing pink, they’re on the nightly news, and more than anything they want the mothers and grandmothers of America to identify with them.

if you didn’t know any better you’d think the leaders of the women’s anti-war group code pink got lost on their way to the carpool lane.  for months now, these hot pink-clad “marching moms” have held the city of berkley, california and the marine recruitment center there hostage — spinning tales to reporters from coast to coast about how concern for their own families moved them to trade in their oven mitts and mini vans for placards and bad fashion to take to the streets in protest of an “unjust war on Iraq”.   *eyeroll*

well this past weekend, code pink got pink’d er, i mean punk’d when Beverly Perlson and the awesome Band of Mothers crashed an annual code pink dinner.  sweet!  and of course, the ever “sincere” code pink marxist founder Medea Benjamin just did not appreciate it.   *cough*

Bev Perlson had a few words with Medea Benjamin, via the Herald News who reported on the event:

“I wanted to say hello to you and move you a bit toward dialogue,” Benjamin said to Beverly Perlson, who came from the Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn, Ill., to protest the event. Perlson said her son has been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan four times.

“I have a message for you, Medea, get out of our country,” said Perlson, who carried a sign that said “The original Medea murdered her own children, Medea Benjamin is murdering ours” — a reference to the character from Greek drama.

and of course i also have a message for Medea:

  
 
h/t photos from zombie
 

we all remember this despicable ad placed in the NYT the day before general petraeus’ testimony 6 mos. ago before congress:

 

general petraeus became the victim of inexcusible personal and quite vicious attacks from the whackos at moveon.org and other ultra-liberal groups.

well, senator mitch mcconnell, (R) ky has provided a forum to say thanks from all of us who appreciate the hard work and sacrifice of this american hero.  the senator has created a page on his campaign website where people can show their gratitude for Petraeus’ accomplishments in Iraq. 

  

go there and sign the card.  by the way, as the hearing progresses, i will be adding updates as needed especially if the code pinkos act stupid.  hehe

   

and if you are interested, Tom Elia is keeping a protester interruption scorecard. 

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update:  another mccain senior moment confusing sunni and shia again.  oy.

update:  joe liebermann said this in response to the nay-saying windbags on the (D) side “Their attitude is ‘Hear no progress in Iraq, see no progress in Iraq, speak of no progress in Iraq.’ I wish we could have agreement on the charts you have shown, the facts you have told us…we’ve got to give some credit for that.”   wtg joe.

so barack obama has picked up the coveted and all-important Jane Fonda endorsement.  is this good news or bad news?   my guess is that the obama camp keeps it on the down low.

jane fonda, the anti-war activist that some believe (including me) should have been tried for treason for her propaganda efforts on behalf of the North Vietnamese government, told reporters that she backs barack obama in the presidential race.  it was most likely his very anti-war stance that tipped the endorsement to him rather then to hillary.  remember jane is also a big feminist — what ever that really is.  this endorsement helps paint barack obama as a far-left candidate he really is rather then the independent centrist he would like us to think. 

and the delicious irony?

the traitor and the hero.

the irony, of course, is that fonda’s most famous moment came when she was in North Viet Nam manning an anti-aircraft gun to shoot down American flyers - an image john mccain might not appreciate since it was those very same anti-aircraft batteries that shot him down over Hanoi, leading to his torture and imprisonment in the infamous hanoi hilton for 5 1/2 years.

nice going hanoi jane.

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UPDATE:  for those who may have forgotten or were too young to know about her….   i found this video with more pics of the exploits of hanoi jane.  it includes her voice over with outrageous speeches she made.  caution — there is a freeze frame that includes bad language.  all in all worth watching folks!

i believed he was still alive.  maybe.  it seemed like a hopeful thing to do for his family, friends; those who loved and missed him. 

“…Keith Maupin confirmed this afternoon that the remains of his son, Matt Maupin, have been identified by the army in Iraq.

In a statement Keith said “We are proud of the continued efforts of the military and the army to return Matt to us. We must now work on efforts to return Matt.”

“Please keep the military and our family in your prayers.”  Carolyn Maupin, Matt’s mother said, “Thanks to everyone for their prayers and continued strength of the family.”  “It hurts after four years of hope and this is what happens it is like a let down for me and I’m trying to get thru that right now.”

“Pray. This is going to be very difficult and stay by our side in support.”  Keith said that the family was informed by a three star general. the body was identified by the D-N-A remains. (according to his hometown news station) 

i had a thud in my stomach when he first went missing.  i saw the news reports — the ominous hooded men behind him.  i read stories about him — what a great kid he was, hs football player, fun loving, really nice guy…   and i’ve prayed for him - his safety and well being and his family’s strength for a long time.  i felt as if in some ways i knew him and so wanted him to come home and continue his wonderful life.

if you don’t know him, meet him…

i love this group: the non-partisan Vets for Freedom National Heroes Tour  and David Bellavia who has written a new book called House to House. 

David has decided to run against a Iraq Veterans Against the War candidate for a Congress seat.  h/t blonde sagacity

“Mr. Bellavia is the recipient of both the Silver and Bronze Stars, and the Conspicuous Service Cross, New York State ’s highest award for combat valor. He also has been nominated for The Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions in a fierce, urban, hand-to-hand fight in the battle of Fallujah in November 2004.”

do you live in NY?  in his district?  isn’t this the kind of person we want representing us?  go vote for this guy!