As we take the day off to celebrate Memorial Day, we wish you and your family a great day.
Other Memorial Day Posts
Memorial Day
THIS Is What American Troops Are Made Of…
-By Warner Todd Huston
To honor our troops for this year, I am going to share this story about their mettle. What follows are excerpts from remarks by Marine Lt. Gen. John F. Kelly made to the Semper Fi Society of St. Louis on November 13, 2010. While leading his platoon on a combat patrol, Kelly’s son, Marine 1st Lt. Robert Michael Kelly, had been killed in action four days earlier in Sangin, in southern Afghanistan. Lt. Kelly was only 29-years-old.
Giving Thanks for Our Warriors
“Those with less of a sense of service to the nation never understand it when men and women of character step forward to look danger and adversity straight in the eye, refusing to blink, or give ground, even to their own deaths… No, they are not victims but are warriors, your warriors, and warriors are never victims regardless of how and where they fall. Death, or fear of death, has no power over them. Their paths are paved by sacrifice, sacrifices they gladly make… for you….
“Two years ago when I was the commander of all U.S. and Iraqi forces, in fact, the 22nd of April 2008, two Marine infantry battalions, 1/9 ‘The Walking Dead,’ and 2/8 were switching out in Ramadi… Two Marines, Corporal Jonathan Yale and Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter, 22 and 20 years old respectively, one from each battalion, were assuming the watch together at the entrance gate of an outpost that contained a makeshift barracks housing 50 Marines… Yale was a dirt poor mixed-race kid from Virginia with a wife and daughter, and a mother and sister who lived with him and he supported as well. He did this on a yearly salary of less than $23,000. Haerter, on the other hand, was a middle-class white kid from Long Island. They were from two completely different worlds… But they were Marines, combat Marines, forged in the same crucible of Marine training, and because of this bond they were brothers as close, or closer, than if they were born of the same woman.
Continue reading “
THIS Is What American Troops Are Made Of…”
The Birth of Memorial Day
-By Warner Todd Huston
A few years after the Civil War as the nation started upon its long road toward reconciliation, rebuilding, and healing the wife of one of the war’s union generals noticed the touching devotion of Confederate widows, wives and their children as each year they came together to place flowers and little flags at the graves of their fallen. Mary Simmerson Cunningham Logan was so moved by the devotion she witnessed that she urged her husband, Illinois General John A. “Blackjack” Logan, to look into creating what was to become Memorial Day.
General Logan was a Senator from Illinois and eventually became a candidate for Vice President on the 1884 Republican ticket, losing to Grover Cleveland and another Illinoisan, Vice President Adlai Stevenson. But before all that Logan was instrumental in creating Decoration Day, the celebration of the nation’s war dead that eventually became Memorial Day.
The following is the general order that Logan issued in 1868.
HEADQUARTERS GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC
General Orders No.11, WASHINGTON, D.C., May 5, 1868The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.
The Birth of Memorial Day”
Thank You Veterans
Mitt Romney’s message for the day…
“It’s time for us to come together and to carry our message across this country, we’re restoring those principles that made America the great nation that it is …. We’re going to keep America strong, and worthy of the great sacrifice of America’s veterans and those young men and women who put their lives on the line for us even today.”
Happy Memorial Day, 2012
As we take the day off to celebrate Memorial Day, we wish you and your family a great day.
MSNBC Liberal Chris Hayes ‘Uncomfortable’ Calling Our Troops ‘Heroes’
-By Warner Todd Huston
After a morning in remembrance of our fallen troops and an afternoon firing up the gas grill to burn up a mess of burgers, hot dogs, and brats for my family as we observe what has become a traditional American Memorial day meal (Some of us in my household are working tomorrow, so we had our meal today), I find that MSNBC is observing this holiday in true liberal* fashion: denigrating our troops.
True to that liberal penchant of discounting the brave men and women that serve in our nation’s armed forces, I introduce to you a lowly personage named Chris Hayes, a left-wing MSNBC host whose show “Up” airs on the weekend.
This weekend Hayes felt compelled to warn everyone that calling our troops “heroes” is something that should make us all “uncomfortable.”
In an inordinately inarticulate way, here is what he said about our troops this weekend:
Thinking today and observing Memorial Day, that’ll be happening tomorrow. Just talked with Lt. Col. Steve Burke [sic, actually Beck], who was a casualty officer with the Marines and had to tell people [inaudible]. Um, I, I, ah, back sorry, um, I think it’s interesting because I think it is very difficult to talk about the war dead and the fallen without invoking valor, without invoking the words “heroes.” Um, and, ah, ah, why do I feel so comfortable [sic] about the word “hero”? I feel comfortable, ah, uncomfortable, about the word because it seems to me that it is so rhetorically proximate to justifications for more war. Um, and, I don’t want to obviously desecrate or disrespect memory of anyone that’s fallen, and obviously there are individual circumstances in which there is genuine, tremendous heroism: hail of gunfire, rescuing fellow soldiers and things like that. But it seems to me that we marshal this word in a way that is problematic. But maybe I’m wrong about that.
(Thanks Newsbusters for the transcript)
This is typical of the hatred that liberals have for our troops.
Continue reading “
MSNBC Liberal Chris Hayes ‘Uncomfortable’ Calling Our Troops ‘Heroes’”
Memorial Day 2012: THIS Is What American Troops Are Made Of…
-By Warner Todd Huston
For Memorial Day, I don’t usually post much, preferring to dedicate the day to memorializing our troops. To do that this year, I am going to share this story about the mettle of our troops. What follows are excerpts from remarks by Marine Lt. Gen. John F. Kelly to the Semper Fi Society of St. Louis on November 13, 2010. Kelly’s son, Marine 1st Lt. Robert Michael Kelly, 29, had been killed in action four days earlier in Sangin, in southern Afghanistan, while leading his platoon on a combat patrol:
Giving Thanks for Our Warriors
“Those with less of a sense of service to the nation never understand it when men and women of character step forward to look danger and adversity straight in the eye, refusing to blink, or give ground, even to their own deaths… No, they are not victims but are warriors, your warriors, and warriors are never victims regardless of how and where they fall. Death, or fear of death, has no power over them. Their paths are paved by sacrifice, sacrifices they gladly make… for you….
“Two years ago when I was the commander of all U.S. and Iraqi forces, in fact, the 22nd of April 2008, two Marine infantry battalions, 1/9 ‘The Walking Dead,’ and 2/8 were switching out in Ramadi… Two Marines, Corporal Jonathan Yale and Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter, 22 and 20 years old respectively, one from each battalion, were assuming the watch together at the entrance gate of an outpost that contained a makeshift barracks housing 50 Marines… Yale was a dirt poor mixed-race kid from Virginia with a wife and daughter, and a mother and sister who lived with him and he supported as well. He did this on a yearly salary of less than $23,000. Haerter, on the other hand, was a middle-class white kid from Long Island. They were from two completely different worlds… But they were Marines, combat Marines, forged in the same crucible of Marine training, and because of this bond they were brothers as close, or closer, than if they were born of the same woman.
Continue reading “
Memorial Day 2012: THIS Is What American Troops Are Made Of…”
The Beginnings of Memorial Day
-By Warner Todd Huston
A few years after the Civil War as the nation started upon its long road toward reconciliation, rebuilding, and healing the wife of one of the war’s union generals noticed the touching devotion of Confederate widows, wives and their children as each year they came together to place flowers and little flags at the graves of their fallen. Mary Simmerson Cunningham Logan was so moved by the devotion she witnessed that she urged her husband, Illinois General John A. “Blackjack” Logan, to look into creating what was to become Memorial Day.
General Logan was a Senator from Illinois and eventually became a candidate for Vice President on the 1884 Republican ticket, losing to Grover Cleveland and another Illinoisan, Vice President Adlai Stevenson. But before all that Logan was instrumental in creating Decoration Day, the celebration of the nation’s war dead that eventually became Memorial Day.
The following is the general order that Logan issued in 1868.
HEADQUARTERS GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC
General Orders No.11, WASHINGTON, D.C., May 5, 1868The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.
The Beginnings of Memorial Day”
U.S. Rep. Roskam Marches in Wheaton Memorial Day Parade
-By Warner Todd Huston
Memorial Day Parade, Wheaton, Ill– Illinois Congressman Peter Roskam (R, 6th District) walked in the Wheaton Memorial Day Parade to some applause and ended the exercise by speaking to those assembled at the Wheaton Cemetery to commemorate those that have served us in peace and war and those who gave their last full measure so that we could remain the last best hope of the world.
The weather could not have been better as the parade stepped off this morning. The skies were clear and Summer temperatures had finally arrived. As the route rolled on the heat did tend to rise, though. Still, compared to the dismal weather we’ve seen the last few months, this Memorial Day was a welcome respite.
Rep. Roskam had a group of about fifty supporters march with him and I joined them to document the event. As we walked the distance from downtown Wheaton to the Wheaton Cemetery it was obvious that the congressman had many fans along the route. There were surprised smiles and a healthy amount of applause as the congressman and his lovely wife led the contingent.
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U.S. Rep. Roskam Marches in Wheaton Memorial Day Parade”
The Story of Stars and Stripes Honor Flight – Documentary Trailer
-By Warner Todd Huston
Freethink Media brings us a teaser for their film, “Honor Flight” which will be out this coming November. The film depicts the efforts of HonorFlight.org to help as many WWII Vets to get to Washington D.C. to see the WWII memorial as possible — at no cost to the vets — before it is to late.
We are losing thousands of these veterans ever year and time is fast running out for The Greatest Generation. They are about to pass into history forever.
If you’d like to donate to help HonorFlight.org shuttle these living heroes to D.C., do contact them and do so. They could use all the help you can give them.
Here is the HonorFlight.org Facebook page.
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The Story of Stars and Stripes Honor Flight – Documentary Trailer”
Memorial Day 2011: THIS Is What American Troops Are Made Of…
-By Warner Todd Huston
For Memorial Day, I don’t usually post much, preferring to dedicate the day to memorializing our troops. To do that this year, I am going to share this story about the mettle of our troops. What follows are excerpts from remarks by Marine Lt. Gen. John F. Kelly to the Semper Fi Society of St. Louis on November 13, 2010. Kelly’s son, Marine 1st Lt. Robert Michael Kelly, 29, had been killed in action four days earlier in Sangin, in southern Afghanistan, while leading his platoon on a combat patrol:
Giving Thanks for Our Warriors
“Those with less of a sense of service to the nation never understand it when men and women of character step forward to look danger and adversity straight in the eye, refusing to blink, or give ground, even to their own deaths… No, they are not victims but are warriors, your warriors, and warriors are never victims regardless of how and where they fall. Death, or fear of death, has no power over them. Their paths are paved by sacrifice, sacrifices they gladly make… for you….
“Two years ago when I was the commander of all U.S. and Iraqi forces, in fact, the 22nd of April 2008, two Marine infantry battalions, 1/9 ‘The Walking Dead,’ and 2/8 were switching out in Ramadi… Two Marines, Corporal Jonathan Yale and Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter, 22 and 20 years old respectively, one from each battalion, were assuming the watch together at the entrance gate of an outpost that contained a makeshift barracks housing 50 Marines… Yale was a dirt poor mixed-race kid from Virginia with a wife and daughter, and a mother and sister who lived with him and he supported as well. He did this on a yearly salary of less than $23,000. Haerter, on the other hand, was a middle-class white kid from Long Island. They were from two completely different worlds… But they were Marines, combat Marines, forged in the same crucible of Marine training, and because of this bond they were brothers as close, or closer, than if they were born of the same woman.
Continue reading “
Memorial Day 2011: THIS Is What American Troops Are Made Of…”