Thank you Veterans

The American people, thank and appreciate you for your courage, dedication and sacrifice.

Today we remember and honor those who have served our armed forces, whether it be in times of war, or peace.

You are held in the highest esteem.

Thank you


Other blogs for Veterans day:

Caos blog
Freedom Folks
Melanie Morgan
Flight Pundit
Wake Up America
The Political Jungle
Gateway Pundit
The Bookworm Room

And finally, we have the poem Flanders Fields. Written by a Canadian field surgeon in the heat of battle:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flander's fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, tho poppies grow
In Flander's fields.

Ltn. -Col. John McCrae


God bless our military, God bless the United States of America

Military hating lawyer keys Marines car

From Flopping Aces:

Marine Sgt Mike McNulty is on activation orders to Iraq (second tour). On December 1st, 2007, Mike went to visit a friend in Chicago before deploying to say goodbye. In order to get to his friend's residence, and keep in mind that Chicago is a myriad of diagonal and one-way streets, the front entrance (right way) to the one-way street was blocked. Mike, being a Marine, overcame and adapted by driving around the block to the other end of the street and backing up all the way to his friend's place.

While saying goodbye, at about 11am, he noticed a man leaning up against his car. Mike left his friend's apartment and caught the man keying his car on multiple sides.

After caught in the process, the man told Mike, "you think you can do whatever you want with Department of Defense license plates and tags". (In Illinois you can purchase veteran, Marine, or medal plates. Mike has Illinois Marine Corps license plates.) During the exchange, he made additional anti-military comments.

Mike called the Chicago police and had the man arrested. A citation against the man was issued for misdemeanor criminal damage to private property.

It doesn't end there. The damages turned out to be 2400 bucks which is a felony (no idea why he was cited for a misdemenor since I have never in all my years in a black & white seen a keying of a car come out to less then 300 bucks in damages) and the Marine demanded the guy be charged with a felony while in court.

*snip*

Read the rest of the article and responses. This guy is a scumbag, first class, and because he is a lawyer, he gets to act smug and like he is above the law. And the state isn't helping AT ALL.

Scumbags, all of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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Update 1/1/08 0958 (yeah, I am a little behind on this)

From Flopping Aces this update:

Attn: BlackFive

I am writing to produce an update of the results of Sgt McNulty's case against Jay R Grodner. I was present in support of Mike and thought you may be interested in an update for this story.

Sgt McNulty was called forward by the State's Attorney in order to discuss the case. I am not sure what transpired behind the closed doors, however, I overheard the State's Attorney expressing her intent to prosecute this guy to the fullest extent. It seems as if BlackFive is the sole catalyst to this story getting out and I am sure Sgt McNulty has probably heard the effect of yours and other blogs from the results of today's proceedings to include several Marines and civilians who showed up in his support.

Jay R Grodner was called before court and in his absence, the Judge issued a warrant for his arrest effective immediately. Sgt McNulty was departing the court when Grodner rolled in to the courtroom more pathetic than anyone I had ever seen. The Judge had questioned him on his tardiness and he explained that traffic had been busy and he 'made a wrong turn'. The Judge chastised him for his tardiness, pathetic excuses, and that he was lucky the warrant had not been executed prior to his arrival.

It seems the blogosphere has put the ball in Sgt McNulty's court. Furthermore, it is also apparent that the State's Attorney's Office has decided to take this matter on a much more serious level. A new and very aggressive State's Attorney seems to have a genuine interest in pursuing this case to the extent that it warrants.


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This is the power of the conservative blogosphere at work folks...the MSM and certainly dimwits such as dailykos would never have this kind of positive influence to do what is right, nor would they report on the idiocy of this "lawyer" and the sheer meaness of what he did. ... oh excuse me ... "Allegedly" did.

Tribute to the troops

We thank the selfless courage and dedication of the American soldier who voluntarily dons his/her uniform, takes up his/her arms and fights for our freedom, worldwide.

We are proud to call you hero.

A tribute

I ran across this while surfing....very touching. WARNING: Heart tugging content



Remember Me - Watch more free videos

We honor Spec McPeek

Saturday began a bright and sunny day, a day filled with hope and promise, as I motored my way towards the support our troops rally at the front gates of Davis Monthan, I was contemplating the day that lay ahead...and the sad but necessary duty we were to perform to honor an American hero, Army Specialist Alan McPeek.

The gates to Davis Monthan were festooned with the usual decorations and declarations of support for our troops.



It was an uplifting time that we used to strengthen us for the sad task ahead of us.

We wrapped things up early to head over to Evergreen Cemetery here in Tucson to ready the decorations and setup to honor our fallen hero.









The setup was done in a dignified fashion, with attention paid to detail, the American rememberances were spaced evenly and placed with love and attention.





We stood on each side of the road, with American flags, Army flags, flags representing all services and we were at attention as the motorcade arrived. Pima County Sherriff had 3 officers on site at the entrance, and they stood at parade rest as the procession made its way past us. For our part, we held our flags and placed our right hands over our hearts to honor the hero. Leading the way was the hearse carrying the flag draped coffin of our beloved hero, and the attendants in it were solemn as they made their way past our position, as the hearse slowly drove by I was hit with tears that didnt stop until after the last car had made its way past. Next in line was the limousine carrying the family. Then, the patriot guard, some 50 strong entered...solemn faces filed past us with reverance with a few nodding and mouthing thank you as they went.

Then a string of cars came in, some 150 strong (estimated) each one filled with people who had loved and known this fallen hero, and suffering the same mourning that filled each and every heart that day. Cars filled with men, woman, white, black, hispanic, asian, children, adults, senior citizens....all looking around and taking it all in, some burst into tears as they saw the flags, others just looked straight ahead, some waved to thank us, but we stood solemn.

After the last car had filed past, noone moved...there was a stillness that couldnt be explained...just felt, as I lowered my hand from my heart I surveyed the others in our group...and not a dry eye was to be found. Noone wanted to leave their position, we all just wanted to let it sink in. We were moved and touched by the whole experience, a box of tissues was produced and passed around. People started talking...for my part, I just stood to one side and let the powerfullness of what just happened wash over me. The plan was made to stay until the family left...I never made it that long, I had some business to attend to, but I stayed to hear the 21 gun salute and taps played.

I drove away with tears in my eyes. Nothing could have prepared me for the impact that day had on me, and the renewal of my vow to let all service men and woman know that they are loved, they are cherished, and they are honored as American heros in my heart and mind.

May God bless the United States of America and all people of the world. Amen.

Farewell American Hero

Tucsonan, 20, killed on his last day in Iraq
By Carol Ann Alaimo
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.06.2007

There is never a good time to lose a loved one at war, but for the family of Army Spc. Alan McPeek, fate seemed especially cruel.

The 20-year-old Tucsonan was killed in action Friday on his last day in Iraq — which also happened to be his mother's birthday.

McPeek's family had been planning his welcome home party when word came that the young combat engineer, and the replacement he'd been training, died together in Ramadi last Friday, hit by enemy forces with small-arms fire.

"It hurts so bad," the soldier's mother, 42-year-old Navy veteran Rose Doyle, said late Monday, shortly after the Defense Department announced the deaths.

"I would like for our elected people to stop talking and stop debating, and do something, please, do something. Because it's getting worse over there, and my son saw that it was getting worse," she said.

McPeek, a 2004 graduate of Mountain View High School, was the 27th service member with Southern Arizona ties to be claimed by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He was the fifth former Mountain View student felled, a sad distinction for the local high school that has seen more war casualties than any other.

Since the weekend, friends and relatives have been converging on the family's Northwest Side home, many travelling from out of town to show their support.

"This is so devastating that, without them, I just don't know what we'd do," Doyle said.

"We're just kind of stunned by this whole thing," added her husband, Kevin Doyle.
Kevin Doyle said McPeek enlisted at age 17 because "he decided he didn't like what was going on over there and he wanted to make a difference."

Asked if McPeek felt he had made a difference, family members said it was hard for the soldier to think so, since he'd spent most of his time at an outpost near Ramadi that was such a hotbed of insurgent activity it had once been used as an al-Qaida hideout.

"He was in a very dangerous place," Kevin Doyle said. "He didn't see a lot of good happening there. He saw a lot of bad things going on."

McPeek was assigned to the 16th Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, at Giessen, Germany.

In his high school years, he may have seemed an unlikely candidate for the regimentation of military life. McPeek was a nonconformist given to flamboyant self-expression, family members said.

"He probably went through three different hair colors, and the styles went from long to spiky. One time it was gold, another time it was almost pure white.

"At his going away party, his friends and family took turns cutting off locks of his hair, getting him ready for his first buzz cut," Kevin Doyle recalled.

But the Army seemed to agree with McPeek in many ways, and he was about to be promoted to sergeant when he died, family members said.

McPeek worked at an Eegees on the Northwest Side during high school, and was involved in Pop Warner football for several years, they said.

"He had hundreds and hundreds of friends. He was just loved by everybody," Kevin Doyle said. "He was a joker. He always had a smile on his face."

Many were pals from his Mountain View days, Kevin Doyle said in a posting on McPeek's page on myspace.com.

"Every time he was home it was like a Mountain View reunion. Many of you have been in our home, and it was always very clear to me that he had chosen good kids to be friends with. You all are the reason he so wanted to get the hell out of Iraq," he wrote in a message to the fallen soldier's friends.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete, but McPeek will be laid to rest in Tucson, where he had lived since age 2, his family said. He was born in Hawaii while his mother served in the Navy there. He has a 13-year-old sister.

"We were offered the choice of a burial at Arlington National Cemetery," Kevin Doyle said. "But we chose to bring him home."
_______________________________________

A sad story to be sure, but this man is an American hero...and his memory will live on as one who died fighting for freedom and democracy. I salute you sir, may you rest in peace and God receive you in heaven with Glory and Triumph! Let not your death be in vain, may God favor your brothers in arms to finish the tough job we started.

Farewell American Hero

From Arizona Daily Star:

Farewell to able noncom 'walking with God now'

By Stephanie Innes
Arizona Daily Star

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.01.2007

Walking away from the grave where his younger brother was about to be lowered into the ground, 40-year-old Christopher Michael Borea wiped away tears and took off the green camouflage U.S. Army jacket he'd been wearing.

"I'm not worthy," he said, explaining it had been a gift from his brother. "My brother was a better man than me. He's walking with God now."

Borea's brother, Army Sgt. 1st Class Russell P. Borea, died Jan. 19 in the Mosul area of Iraq when an improvised explosive device detonated during combat. More than 200 friends and family members said goodbye to him Wednesday at East Lawn Palms Mortuary and Cemetery in Midtown.

The 38-year-old Catalina High School graduate was the 24th person with Southern Arizona ties to be claimed by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan; two more have died since. Borea had been in Iraq since November with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, from Fort Bliss, Texas.

Members of the Fort Huachuca honor guard lined the entrance to the chapel where the services were held. Outside, members of the local Patriot Guard Riders held up U.S. flags.

"I can never repay Russell and all the members of our military who have given their lives so that I can walk freely," family friend Jim Bridges said during the service, urging Borea's relatives to hold their heads high and remember him as a hero.

Staff Sgt. Enrique Torres, a member of Borea's unit at Fort Bliss, said the lesson Borea taught fellow soldiers was to appreciate time spent with family. He said members of his unit characterized Borea as one of the most knowledgeable sergeants they'd encountered.

"He will forever be in my heart and part of my greatest memories," Torres said before walking to the front of the chapel and saluting Borea's flag-draped coffin.

Fort Huachuca Gen. Carroll Pollett put Borea's identification tags around the neck of Borea's 10-year-old daughter, Marialena, and then saluted her. Army members presented Borea's widow, Maria, with her husband's Bronze Star and a Combat Infantryman Badge.

As the skies darkened and the wind picked up after midday, mourners gathered around Borea's burial site in the cemetery's veterans section. A Fort Huachuca bugler played taps, and the honor guard fired a salute — sounds of freedom, Army chaplain Steven M. Jones said. He told mourners to celebrate a life that was well-lived and spent in service to Christ and to a "grateful nation."

Before Borea's casket was lowered into the ground, his relatives paid their last respects. Several kissed the casket.

Borea was born in Connecticut to a family that moved to Tucson when he was young. His father was killed by a drunken driver three years ago, which has made coping with Borea's death particularly difficult, said Christopher Borea, who lives in Phoenix. Their mother, Gertrude, lives in Las Vegas.

After high school, Borea spent several years in civilian jobs, including a stint as a manager of a local pizza parlor. He met his future wife in Tucson and joined the Army shortly before the couple wed in 1995.

Borea and his wife, who also goes by her middle name, Nikki, had a home in El Paso near Fort Bliss.

Borea was one of six children — four boys and two girls, Christopher Borea said. Just 11 months apart in age, the brothers played basketball and football together as high schoolers. Christopher was the wild one, he said, and Russell was more conventional.

"I'm the one who was 15 minutes late. He was always 15 minutes early," Christopher Borea said.

Christopher Borea said after they celebrated Russell Borea's birthday in Las Vegas last year, his brother gave him the Army jacket, knowing he'd be in Iraq for a year.

"I think he knew he wasn't coming back," Christopher Borea said. "I'm bitter, but I shouldn't be. He wanted to serve his country, and he did what God told him to do."