The Heritage Foundation on this health care vote:
"...today's intolerable acts...must not stand...violate[s] our constitution..."
The insanity continues, and the battle lines show an ever more divided America. Way to go, Mr I-will-unite-this-country!
Pay attention, America.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Cpl Dusty Lee: His soul goes marching on
In Memory Of Marine Cpl Dustin J Lee And Honoring K9 Lex
Three years ago, Cpl Lee gave all in service to his country. Three years ago, the Lee family applied to adopt hero MWD Lex, who was with his friend until the end. At that time, I wrote a post over at Tanker Bros, and included a letter that Lex sent as part of that process:
Cpl. Dusty Lee and Lex.
A letter from Lex
written by John Burnam
I'm a U.S. Marine and the primary element of a two-member team trained to hunt and locate explosives. My partner and I trained as a team for many months honing our expertise to save American lives in the War on Terrorism in Iraq.
The date is March 21, 2007 and I was on the job in Fallujah, Iraq when an enemy fired Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) exploded in our midst. I was blasted to the ground. I'm Stunned. My head is ringing and my body feels numb. My eyes can't quite focus on anything.
My partner is lying next to me severely wounded and bleeding. I move to him and touch him but he's not responding. I feel sharp pains in my side and back. I'm bleeding but deal with it and concentrate on comforting my partner and protecting him from further harm.
Everything happened so fast that it caused disorientation and confusion. My senses pick up the lingering smell of burnt powder and smoke from the explosion. I hear lots of American voices and heavy boot-steps hurrying all around us. They reach our location and immediately attend to my partner. And then they carry him
away. I'm separated from my partner for the first time. I'm not clear of thought and then I too am carried way but to a different hospital.
I'm in a building lying on a table with lights above and people talking. Still dazed and confused I hear a strange voice say my name, Lex! I gesture a slight reflex of acknowledgement. Lex! You are going to be okay buddy! Just lay still. We are going to take care of your hurts, so stay calm okay, Lex. My eyes dart around the room searching for your partner, but he's not there and no one can
interpret my thoughts. I'm released from the hospital and well enough to travel so they transfer me from Iraq to a U.S. Marine Corp base in Albany, Georgia. I really miss my partner, Dusty. I know something has happened to him because he
would never have left me alone for so long.
Yes, my name is Lex. I'm a seven year old German shepherd Military Working Dog. My master and loyal partner is Corporal Dustin Jerome Lee, U.S. Marine Corps canine handler from Mississippi. I'm well disciplined to my master's commands
and expertly trained to sniff out bombs and explosives. Where's my master, Dusty? Where's Dusty, my partner? No one can understand me but Dusty. Where's Dusty?
Iraq was to be my last combat tour before retirement. Dusty talked to me all the time about going home and adopting me. I sure do miss my Dusty. He is the best friend I've ever had. I love that crazy Marine from Mississippi!
No one can measure the love and unconditional loyalty I have for Dusty. I'd sacrifice my own life for him and he knows it. I just wish I could have stopped that RPG or pushed Dusty away from that powerful blast. It all happened in a blink of an eye and I didn't see it coming until it was too late. Now I sit alone in my kennel-run waiting for the day Dusty shows up.
The U.S. Marines are treating me very well. I get enough food and water and exercise each day. And the Veterinarian comes by to examine my wounds on a regular basis. I just can't sleep well at night. I wake up to every little noise and I think about Dusty. Where can that Marine be?
The nights are long. The days turn into weeks. Still no Dusty! My wounds are healing and the hair is growing back. The pain still resides in my back but I can walk okay. I have a piece of shrapnel near my spine that the Veterinarians avoided removing for fear of further health complications. I've been fortunate to be declared physically unable to perform in a combat zone. One of the dog handlers gave me a real good bath and grooming. I felt so
refreshed because I was on my way to meet Dusty's family. Maybe Dusty will be there waiting for me. When I arrived I sensed something was not quite right. Dusty wasn't there and everyone was sad, but very happy to greet me. I then realized that I was attending Dusty's funeral. Everyone showed up to pay their
respects.
Dusty is a real American hero and he was buried with full military honors. I was so proud to have been his last best friend and partner. At one particular moment of total silence during the ceremony, I sniffed a slight scent in the air that was very familiar. It smelled like Dusty. I figured he sent me a signal that he knew I was there! I moaned a sigh of grief that he would only hear and understand.
I was greeted by the Lee family with joy in their hearts. It felt so warm and comfortable to be with my partner's loving family. I wanted to stay but I was escorted away after the funeral and back to Albany, Georgia. What is going to happen to me now?
Wait a minute! I was due for retirement, right? Why did the military take me to see Dusty's family and not leave me there? I belong with them in Mississippi not here in Georgia. There is something very wrong with this picture!
The Lee family adopting me would not be too much to ask considering they will never again see their son, grandson, brother, nephew and friend. Adopting me will keep a big part of Dusty's life alive for them and for me. It will enable Dusty's family to experience what he already knew about me. I loved and
protected him everywhere we went and even on the battlefield in Iraq. It's time the U.S. Marine Corps allowed Dustin's family to adopt me. I'm not a young pup anymore, you know! I'm of retirement age and I want to spend the rest of my life with the Lee family. It's where I now belong!
So please help the Lee family adopt me!
Lex
German Shepherd Dog
Military Working Dog
U.S. Marine Corps (source)
Lex has lived with the Lees ever since, and still serves his country. I have to believe that Dusty is looking on and smiling. [You can read my previous columns on this pair of heroes here.]
Always remembered and honoured. Rest in Peace, Cpl. Lee.
Every Day Heroes
Then...
And now...
And now...
History of Bataan Death March
The Bataan Memorial Death March honors a special group of World War II heroes. These brave soldiers were responsible for the defense of the islands of Luzon, Corregidor and the harbor defense forts of the Philippines.
The conditions they encountered and the aftermath of the battle were unique. They fought in a malaria-infested region, surviving on half or quarter rations with little or no medical help. They fought with outdated equipment and virtually no air power.
On April 9, 1942, tens of thousands of American and Filipino soldiers were surrendered to Japanese forces. The Americans were Army, Army Air Corps, Navy and Marines. Among those seized were members of the 200th Coast Artillery, New Mexico National Guard.
They were marched for days in the scorching heat through the Philippine jungles. Thousands died. Those who survived faced the hardships of a prisoner of war camp. Others were wounded or killed when unmarked enemy ships transporting prisoners of war to Japan were sunk by U.S. air and naval forces.
Memorial March began in 1989
The Army ROTC Department at New Mexico State University began sponsoring the memorial march in 1989 to mark a page in history that included so many native sons and affected many families in the state. In 1992, White Sands Missile Range and the New Mexico National Guard joined in the sponsorship and the event was moved to the missile range.
In 2003, for the only time in its history, the memorial march was canceled. Operation Iraqi Freedom required extensive deployment among the units that usually support the march and event could not be safely and efficiently conducted.
Since its inception, the memorial march has grown from about 100 to some 5,200 marchers from across the United States and several foreign countries. While still primarily a military event, many civilians choose to take the challenge.
Marchers come to this memorial event for many reasons — personal challenge, the spirit of competition or to foster esprit de corps in their unit. Some march in honor of a family member or a particular veteran who was in the Bataan Death March or was taken a prisoner of war by the Japanese in the Philippines.
For more on these heroes, go here.
There has been much written about this dark period in human history - about these heroes. Today is the 2010 Bataan Death March Memorial. Go read it all, and marvel at the heroes of then and now.
We owe it to the heroes of then and now, to always remember and honour them. With gratitude.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Always Remembered and Honoured
One year ago today. (here)
Clockwise from top left: Corporal Tyler Crooks, Trooper Jack Bouthillier, Master Corporal Scott Francis Vernelli and Trooper Corey Joseph Hayes
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
WELCOME HOME HMCS Athabaskan!
Canadian Navy destroyer HMCS Athabaskan pulls into port in Halifax, N.S. on Wednesday, March 17, 2010, in this image taken from video.
HMCS Athabaskan returns home after Haiti mission
Updated: Wed Mar. 17 2010 6:17:04 PM
CTV.ca News StaffThe second of the two Canadian Navy ships deployed to Haiti in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake, arrived back in Halifax Wednesday morning.
The destroyer HMCS Athabaskan was deployed to Haiti along with the frigate HMCS Halifax in January to provide light engineering help, humanitarian aid and medical assistance following the earthquake that killed about 200,000 people.
The ships left port after an unprecedented effort to prepare the crew and load supplies in just a few days -- arriving in Haiti just seven days after the quake struck.
The 225 crew members on the HMCS Halifax, which returned home on March 2 after a six week deployment, was focusing efforts in Jacmel, Haiti.
HMCS Athabaskan, with a crew of 240, was working mostly in Leogane.
Capt. Art McDonald, who was overseeing Canada's naval effort in Haiti, said the crew of the Athabaskan is returning home "having made some friends and having done a lot of good, and we come back better Canadians for it."...(more and a video interview with the Captain here)
My favourite stories!
HMCS Athabaskan returns from 8 weeks in quake-ravaged Haiti
Alex Boutilier/For Metro HalifaxHMCS Athabaskan crew member Lt. Daniel Willis is welcomed home by his son Gabriel, 2, and wife Melanie.
HMCS Athabaskan returned to Halifax yesterday morning, marking the end of an eight-week mission to Haiti.
And, as Cmdr. Peter Crane put it, “mission accomplished.”
The 240-person crew was welcomed back by family and friends standing on a sunlit navy dockyard pier. As the ship pulled in, cheers and greetings were shouted back and forth between the pier and the deck.
The ship was docked outside of Léogâne, a small city near the epicentre of Haiti’s Jan. 12 earthquake. Crane said the buildings in the area were almost completely destroyed.
“The areas that we were working in were incredibly devastated,” he said. “Ninety per cent of the houses are uninhabitable.”
Upon arrival, Crane’s crew focused on delivering medical supplies, water and food to Haitians. Later, they turned their attention to building shelter, including four orphanages. Crane said while the Haiti they left had a long way to go, he was proud of the work they did.
“We have left it better,” he said. “Is it better over the long term? Don’t know. It’s too big a question to answer ... but from what we saw on the first day, on the 19th of January, when we flew over that city and when we walked around? It is in better shape.”
Crane said the mission profoundly affected his crew, so much so he decided to slightly alter the Athabaskan’s motto.
“The ship’s motto is ‘We fight as one,’ and after about three or four days in Haiti, I realized that that deserved to be modified,” Crane said. “‘We help as one.’ We flew that signal on our flag ... when we came up the harbour this morning.”
Thank you and WELCOME HOME!!!
We the People!
From Monkey in the Middle:
Hat tip to TexasFred
On Sunday the Democrat controlled House of Representatives will pass the abomination known as Obamacare. No matter what the people of this nation think or say. I do believe that this nation is heading down on a course that will lead it towards another Civil War. There is only so much destruction of the values of this nation, the wanton ignorance of the will of the people, and the open contempt of the Constitution that their anger will not be contained.The great danger in historical revisionism is the potential for future generations to make the same mistake. Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt were no friends to the US Constitution, but few Americans know this fact. Even more egregious is the dearth of Constitutional knowledge in America. However, that is changing, which does not bode well for the Obama Administration.
Never in our country’s history have Americans witnessed the travesty of such an anti-constitutional administration and congress. And a great deal of the responsibility falls on both major political parties and the media. However, there are others, including American voters who refuse to intelligently discuss the issues and critically analyze what the administration is doing. As a result, the likelihood of another civil war or second revolution increases with each passing day and each new power-grab by the Obama administration.
This past week, while garnering the largest market share of any news media outlet, Glenn Beck painstakingly analyzed what the Obama administration is really all about and what it is actually doing. There hasn’t been one White House denial....
You KNOW there is more! On this day - which may well go down in the American history books - you really NEED to go read all of this column. Go here.
Pay attention, America!
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