Photo of soldiers in the United States Army taken in Afghanistan in 2005 and on display at our local VFW post:
These four soldiers are home now!
The sonnet below the fold was written a few years ago by then tenth-grade homeschool student "A.M."
A Soldier’s Farewell
Belovéd, do not weep for me today, Nor sigh on the morrow when I depart. For though I am from thine eyes far away, My thoughts dwell on thee as the battles start. Death’s cold embrace might appear a relief From this hellish battlefield’s roiling sand, Yet then I dream my death writ on a leaf And with renewed spirit protect my land. I shirk not my duty to my country And will strive to bring liberty to all; When peace and hope shine through the night ‘round me, Homeward shall my steps delightedly fall. For one’s heartstrings in his own country lie And calls him with more force than battle’s cry. --Contributed by A.M.
In my view, Obama, in order to appear as commander-in-chief, had to relieve General McChrystal from command. A commander-in-chief cannot allow a general to openly ridicule a President and his administration, even if the administration deserves ridicule.
But something bigger is going on here, as Mr. Gingrich points out: the incompetence of the Obama administration.
Furthermore, Obama's sycophants in the media, like Obama himself, are more worried about Obama's image than anything else, let alone the war in Afghanistan:
ABC, CBS and NBC all led Tuesday night with multiple stories on the “firestorm” over disrespectful coments by General Stanley McChrystal and his aides about President Obama and other administration officials, but ABC's Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos particularly despaired over the position in which McChrystal has put Obama.
Sawyer fretted that Obama “now faces a mind-boggling choice,” before Stephanopoulos kvetched “the President has really been put in a real political box” and “a very painful political position,” forcing him to choose between “looking thin-skinned and petulant” or “looking weak.”
CBS's Katie Couric didn't go that far, but she was disturbed by the burden on Obama: “This controversy is about the last thing the President needed on his plate as he deals with two wars overseas and another against an invasion of oil off the gulf coast.”
You see, what we've got sitting in the Oval Office is a man who is all about himself and the narrative, as admitted by David Alexrod himself:
"So much of the coverage and commentary has to do with the narrative, stagecraft, the political implications of what he is doing," said David Axelrod, Obama's special adviser for narrative, stagecraft and the political implications of what the president is doing.
Two of my cousins from Tennessee, neither of them having yet reached the age of twenty-one, were on the beach on D-Day.
Both came home physically whole but never the same in their souls. What they had seen and experienced in that battle scarred them forever.
But I never saw nor met two others as patriotic as my two cousins. They remained staunch patriots for the rest of their lives.
They never spoke one word about what happened on that beach. Neither did they sleep through another night again without nightmares and calling out in their sleep. And they never uttered one word of complaint about having served our nation, nor did they want any special recognition.
Would that all Americans today had the same humble determination to preserve freedom and the same willingness to fight for the noble cause of preserving that freedom!
Hat tip to Mustang of Social Sense for the following video:
Read the eloquent words of Dwight D. Eisenhower before that great battle:
SUPREME HEADQUARTERS ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE
Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!
You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.
In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.
Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened. He will fight savagely.
But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men.
The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to Victory!
I have full confidence in your courage and devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full Victory!
Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.
SIGNED: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Ronald Reagan commemorating D-Day in 1984 (another hat tip to Mustang:
I wish that my two cousins from Tennessee had lived long enough to hear Reagan's words.
Due to out-of-town company, hauling Mr. AOW to post-stroke neuro physical therapy, and work obligations, I've been on the web very little for over a week or even had time to read the daily newspaper. But I simply must make mention of the following from the Washington Post on May 24, 2010, pointing out that BHO will not be at Arlington Cemetery on Memorial Day this year to place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier:
...On Monday, Obama will make remarks at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, south of Chicago - missing the usual tradition of presidents speaking at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day....
I'm thoroughly disgusted with BHO as commander-in-chief in the above willful act of his disrepecting our military, especially as my young cousin will shortly be shipping out, to put his life on the line.
BHO reaches out to the Islamic world, but refuses to attend Arlington Cemetery on Memorial Day? What kind of American President is THAT? Especially when we are at war!
I've never said the following before about any President of the United States, but I will say it now: I will not call the present occupant of the Oval Office my President.
I don't usually cite Michael Savage, but I will this time:
Quickie link to this article at Bob McCarty Writes. Excerpt:
A controversy with life-and-death implications has been brewing for 12 months over the Army’s decision to deploy the Preliminary Credibility Assessment Screening System, a hand-held lie detector, to combat zones....
ST. PETERSBURG - Michael Agosta joined the Army on May 30 and was immediately ordered to ship out for basic training in 19 days.
So he gave his apartment complex copies of his orders and notice that he was terminating his rental agreement.
Only the complex, Camden Lakes at 11150 Fourth St. N., won't let him out of his lease...
Agosta said he even had his Army recruiter, Staff Sgt. Sherwin Richardson, intercede on his behalf, but to no avail. -------- "They were coming off to me like I was a six-month resident who was just giving them fake orders just to get out of my lease, which was not the case," Agosta said. "I've been there for four years and eight months."
[...]
He acknowledged he gave the complex only 17 days' notice when state law allows military members to break their leases if they provide 30 days' notice and documentation.
He enlisted on a Friday and gave notice to the property manager the following Monday. Now visiting with family in South Florida, he is to report for 19 weeks and three days of basic combat training at Fort Jackson, S.C., on Tuesday.
He was unemployed when he decided to join the Army. He said his father told him he should apply for food stamps. He refused.
"I figured I might as well do something to benefit my country, rather than take from people who need it more than I do," he said.
Agosta said he doesn't know what financial penalties he faces for breaking his lease, which runs to April 20, 2009. He said he was threatened with having the delinquency appear on his credit report, which could affect his security clearance....
Back in the Dinosaur Age, when Mr. AOW was called up for reserve duty, he received reimbursement from the landlord for the weeks away from the apartment, which was, of course, not rented out in his absence. Mr. AOW didn't even have to ask for the reimbursement! Instead, the landlord felt duty-bound to support our military.
Times sure have changed.
HEREis the website of the company that owns the apartment complex mentioned in this posting. The phone number is 727-577-7557.
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