IVAW Weenies Smacked Down

IVAW has suspended the membership of one zealot who threatened to bomb the next GOE event, and terminated another one who threatened to “waste” pro-military activists. As someone who routinely received correspondence from these and other members of IVAW that included some pretty graphic descriptions of violence towards me and the rest of GOE they were interested in pursuing, I’m having a hard time suppressing a chuckle at the knowledge that their daddy just spanked them. Their exposure has just begun, however. There is plenty more information to come out about IVAW and their activities.

While I still disagree wholeheartedly with IVAW’s political stance, their cowardice, and their willingness to betray those who still serve, I will applaud them for at least disengaging themselves from this type of idiocy. Knappenberger and De Wald were loose cannons; they were dangerous, uninformed, and far too arrogant for their own good.

Kudos to the IVAW for cutting them off. Now if they could just pull their own personal honor out of the gutter maybe we’d get somewhere.

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They Don’t Support the Troops–Ever.

Berkeley “thinker” explains that any support for the troops is bad–even if they’re friends or relatives.

Berkeley, CA–Every so often we read something that is so evil, so disgusting, and so vile that it stays with us after it’s read, like some kind of curse we can’t shake in our minds. This article is one of those vile things.

Kenneth Thiesen, of the Berzerkley Observer, wrote a piece called “Why I Don’t Support the Troops.” Interestingly enough, he gets one thing right:

It is objectively impossible to support the troops of the imperialist military forces of the U.S. and at the same time oppose the wars in which they fight.

Well, no kidding. We’ve been telling you people that for a while now. You telling us you don’t support the troops isn’t really news to us. It’s just letting us know to step up the fight, because you’re obviously comfortable enough now that you don’t feel the need to hide behind the tired old “I support the troops but not the war” platitude. You’re bombing recruiting offices, for crying out loud. We know you don’t support the troops.

Theisen, however, is not content to say he doesn’t support the troops. He’s not happy just to say he opposes the war in Iraq. He has a whole list of “gems” that he shares with the equally-idiotic Berkeley population:

- “We need to oppose the recruitment of men and women into the military. We need to support resisters within the military who have realized what they are doing and now choose to resist the role of the U.S. military. ”

- “We need to expose that those in the U.S. military are trained to be part of a ‘killing machine…’ The bottom line is that even if these people are relatives or friends, you can not support the troops without also supporting the objective role that these troops play in the imperialist system.”

- “United States troops are acting as destructive and murderous forces of invasion and occupation.”

- “Those of us who oppose the unjust wars of the Bush regime must struggle with those in the military and those that support them to expose what role the troops objectively play. Supporting the troops engaged in making war against other nations and people on behalf of U.S. imperialism is not acceptable.”

At least they’re being honest about it now. It’s nothing we didn’t already know, just by looking at their actions: Bombings, defecation on the flag, how they treat veterans. They hate our nation, hate our military, and therefore by definition they hate those of us who support them.

Only one problem…we’re not going anywhere, and we will continue to stand for our men and women in uniform.

Thanks to LGF for the tip.

Technorati Tags: Berkeley, liberal, idiot

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If You’re Reading This

If you haven’t heard this song, please click play. Now. I can’t stop listening to it, and I can’t stop crying.

If You’re Reading This
Tim McGraw

If you’re reading this
And My mama’s sitting there
Looks like I only got a one-way ticket over here
I sure wish I could give you one more kiss
And war was just a game we played when we were kids
Well I’m laying down my gun
I’m hanging up my boots
I’m up here with God
And we’re both watching over you

So lay me down
In that open field out on the edge of town
And know my soul
Is where my momma always prayed that it would go
And if you’re reading this
I’m already home

If you’re reading this
Half way around the world
I won’t be there to see the birth of our little girl
I hope she looks like you
I hope she fights like me
Stands up for the innocent and the weak
I’m laying down my gun
I’m hanging up my boots
Tell dad I don’t regret that I followed in his shoes

So lay me down
In that open field out on the edge of town
And know my soul
Is where my momma always prayed that it would go
And if you’re reading this
I’m already home

If you’re reading this
There’s gonna come a day
When you move on and find someone else
And that’s okay
Just remember this
I’m in a better place
Where soldiers live in peace
And angels sing Amazing Grace

So lay me down
In that open field out on the edge of town
And know my soul
Is where my momma always prayed that it would go
And if you’re reading this
If you’re reading this
I’m already home

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Latest Photos In Support of Pendelton 8

You guys will want to see these photos, I guarantee it. The Pendelton 8, though recently releashed from their shackles, were today officially charged with kidnapping and murder among other things. And this is what True Red-Blooded Americans think about that! Even the dog knows what’s what. Can’t say that for Murtha.

Huge thanks to my Desert Storm Vet.

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We’re BACK!

That’s right, folks. After four days of John’s intelligence, Misha’s blessed rumbling and Chad’s sarcastic yet amusing rambling (by the way, Chad, we can’t believe you spilled the beans about the overactive category listings), we are home with presents and stories for all of you.

We’ll be putting up more photos, stories and experiences throughout the next few days so you can get a feel of how amazing this event was, but in the meantime feel free to browse the few photos I put in our Flickr archive. You can see them at the top of the page. Click on an image to go to the gallery.

Also, for those veterans who have asked me how to get a copy of the song I sang for the Rangers titled “Over There,” you can click here to download it. It’s part of the Memorial Day article.

Check back often, as we’ll be constantly adding to this as we get photos uploaded and sorted and combed through. We’re also willing to put up photos from other vets who attended, so if you’ve got a photo you’d like to share, email it to us at euphoricrealitynet@gmail.com along with your unit (your name is optional if you’d like to remain anonymous).

Back later with more photos…

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Durka Durka Update

Just in case you missed the excellent Hot Air video update on the whole “Hadji Girl” brouhaha that the terrorist front organization CAIR and their witless and willing accomplices in the MSM are using to hurt our troops, here’s the link. No excuse now, so hop to it.

I, like Michelle, have [fifteen-sentence string of expletives deleted -- Emp.M] HAD it with those weasels sliming, attacking and undermining our soldiers, airmen and sailors in every which way they can think of. None of those maggots are worthy of licking the dirt-encrusted boots of the lowliest recruits of Camp Whatchamacallit and, more importantly, none of them would have the freedom to be the base, filthy, backstabbing assholes that they enjoy so much if it weren’t for our men and women of the Armed Forces.

What I hate even more is that it looks like some of the desk-jockeying shitbirds among the brass are beginning to cave to this nonsense, trying to figure out a way of punishing CPL Belile for hurting the feelings of CAIR.

Time to let them know that we won’t sit still for that. Let them know how much we love and support our troops and that we’re not going to let CAIR re-write the UCMJ.

Commandant of the Marine Corps
Phone: (703) 614-1034
Fax: (703) 614-2358
comrel@hqmc.usmc.mil

Semper Fi!

P.S.: How about telling CAIR to clean up their own hadji-supporting, hate-spewing, anti-American shithouse FIRST?

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Michael Moore Under Fire From Disabled Iraq War Veteran

Now here’s a soldier who’s taking the war to Michael Moore and speaking the only language he’ll ever understand - big, fat litigation. heh heh

A double-amputee veteran of the Iraq war is suing filmmaker Michael Moore for $85 million, claiming Moore used an old interview with the G.I. to make him appear anti-war in his movie “Fahrenheit 9/11.”

Sgt. Peter Damon, 33, who strongly supports America’s invasion of Iraq, said he never agreed to be in the 2004 movie. Damon lost his arms when a Black Hawk helicopter exploded in front of him.

In the 2003 interview, which he did at Walter Reed Army Hospital for NBC News, he discussed only a new painkiller the military was using on wounded veterans, the New York Post reports.

“They took the clip because it was a gut-wrenching scene,” Damon said. “They sandwiched it in. [Moore] was using me as ammunition.”

According to the lawsuit filed in Suffolk County, Mass., Damon seems to “voice a complaint about the war effort” in the movie.

But he told the Post: “I was complaining about the pain I would’ve been having [if it weren't for the painkiller].

Newsman Brian Williams ends the NBC clip by adding, “These men with catastrophic wounds are . . . completely behind the war effort,” according to the lawsuit. That part wasn’t shown in the Moore movie.

Good. Take him for every cent you can, Sgt. Damon! We’re behind you 100%!!!!

UPDATE 6/1: additional news coverage with a few more details.

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Memorial Day (with audio) *Bumped Up- New Posts Below

My favorite holidays have always been the ones where we reflect on the history and heritage of the freedom we so easily take for granted. Veterans’ Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day. They are as deeply ingrained for me as my name.

I have always loved the parades, especially. The patriotic music, the national colors, the tiny flags everywhere. Most moving of all is the procession of veterans: the VFW troops, the American Legion, the Auxiliaries. I have marched in many a parade, spinning rifles and holding my country’s flag above them all. But as much as I love to take part, I love to watch the veterans march by far more.

Aged old men, heroes from another time when a man’s word was his bond and character was everything. Their shoulders are stooped, their walks slow, but their heads are held high, garrison caps perched jauntily on whitened hair. Their frail bodies still remember the unmistakable sound of lay-eft, raht, lay-eft, and their eyes are still just as bright. They are proud to be here, proud to say “I served my country and kept her free.”

In their life-lined profiles, I see another era. I see younger faces and cocky smiles, the screaming Mustangs and lumbering tanks. I see the artillery-scarred forests of Bastogne, the pitted beaches of Normandy. I hear them vainly exhort their blood-soaked brothers to “hang on Joe, you’re gonna be okay.” I see the sepia-tinted photos of innocent, idealistic boys who posed for the camera on their way to war–and came back as men in a flag-draped box.

They are everywhere, these veterans. The old man who bags your groceries at the corner store watched the flag go up at Iwo Jima. Your friend’s grandpa spent long, terrifying minutes in a fire-and-brimstone French sky in 1944, hoping his parachute would hold long enough for him to get to the ground. That young-looking guy on crutches who you held the door for yesterday left his right leg and his best friend in Iraq. That mean old lady who lives down the street held the hands–and lives– of thousands of wounded soldiers in an undersupplied hospital.

These men and women are dying now, as their seemingly endless age draws to a close. Their sacrifice, their gift, lives on in the face of well-known soldiers like Joshua Sparling and Pat Tillman–but it also lives in the faces of ‘regular guys’ like my friends Aaron, Nate, Justin and Matt–good men who did their duty and refuse to believe they are heroes. It lives in the white stone that marks the resting place of Randall Shugart and Gary Gordon. It breathes forever in the path worn by the unfaltering steps of a silent guard in front of the Tomb of the Unknown.

If our country survives, it will be because of another generation of men and women who raise their right hand, saying, “I will go for you.”

USA Today’s letter section had something from reader Joan M. Maiman that every American should take to heart this Monday:

On Memorial Day, we honor those rare souls of extraordinary grace who gave their lives in battle far too soon, so that the nation they loved more than life itself might live.

On Monday, hug your kids, grill a steak, jump in a pool. But first, find a veteran and tell him how grateful you are. Your freedom was his gift to you.

I wrote a song that I will be singing at Welcome Home 2006 in Branson for the Army Ranger Reunion. I have decided to put it out here for our readers to listen to on Memorial Day.

Many, many thanks to Jake from Freedom Folks, who did an incredible job taking the song I gave him and making it into something that truly encapsulates what I wanted to say.

The song is titled “Over There.” I hope y’all like it, but more than that, I hope it makes you think about our veterans on Memorial Day.

UPDATE: For folks with poor internet connections, the lyrics are below.

Over There

I wanted to tell you a story
about my brother in the war
But how do you tell of a hero
and all that his fighting was for?

He fought in the jungles
he fought on the beach
from ocean to ocean and more
he came from the sky
he rose from the deep
though tired, hungry and sore

So I will stand proudly today
and raise my fingers to my brow
in honor of the ones who were there
over there
for me

There are those who enjoy all our freedoms
and don’t care how they were won
they forget that behind all their librty
was the death of some mother’s son

That’s why I stand proudly today
raising my fingers to my brow
in honor of the ones who were there
over there
for me

I’ll never be able to say
that I’ve repaid him my debt
for the freedom to live under red, white and blue
freedom so many others won’t get

That’s why I stand proudly today
raising my fingers to my brow
in honor of the ones who were there
over there
for me.

————————

Linked to Stop the ACLU, who has quite a few Memorial Day posts, and Blackfive, who has more.

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Joshua Sparling Encounters The Best And Worst Americans At The Airport

We’ve always tried to keep a big sisterly eye on one of our heroes, SPC Joshua Sparling, the 82nd Airborne paratrooper who was wounded so terribly in Iraq. GunnNutt has an amazing example of how very differently Americans have treated Joshua. When I read this, I alternated between fury and deep gratefulness for the Americans who made it better. Please see GunnNutt’s post for the entire letter from Mike Sparling, Joshua’s dad - it has a lot of background of Joshu’as early military career, and how he was injured in Iraq. Here’s an excerpt:

From November 20, 2005 through January 15, 2006, Joshua had over 23 surgeries on his right leg while being treated for depression. He has had 31 surgeries to date. Joshua was discharged from the hospital on February 4, 2006 and began physical therapy. Both bones on his lower right leg were completely gone as well as his calf muscle and nerves. They removed the muscle from his stomach and placed it just below his knee. They did skin graphs from his left leg and hip to put on his right leg and used a new drug hormone that promotes new bone growth.

Joshua suffered other injuries from the explosion as well. He has a blown eardrum, cracked teeth with cavities blown out and shrapnel wounds inside his mouth and all over his body.
[...]
Joshua had booked a flight to go home for another convalescent leave on SPIRIT Airlines. We told them we would need a wheelchair and assistance with security because he was a wounded paratrooper confined to a wheel chair. They told us that would not be a problem…We arrived at the airport at 4:30 pm for a 5:10 flight. When we arrived there was no wheel chair, no one at the SPIRIT counter and no security. I looked for a SPIRIT employee for ten minutes. Joshua said, “Dad I’m going to miss my flight, just get me to the gate and they can help us there.” Northwest gave us a wheel chair, but we still had no security. Security would not let us through because we had no boarding pass. We informed them that SPIRIT had our boarding pass and asked that he please let us go to the gate with him and he could verify it, or get someone from SPIRIT and they could give it to him. The security guard said, “You are no different than any other passenger with no boarding pass - no go.”

My son started to cry uncontrollably and told the guard to go to hell. Another lady spoke up and said, “That’s what you get for fighting in a war we have no business in.” Madder and very emotional I asked, “Can’t you remember 9-11?” She responded that was just our excuse to be in Iraq when we should not be there and we deserved whatever we got. That is when my son really lost it. Three WWII vets were coming off flights into DC, gave my son a hug, and stood up to the lady and security guard. They stayed with my son until he flew out.

In the meantime, a wonderful man who works for the Military Severely Injured Center, and assigned to the airport, was called by security. He asked what was going on. The Vets and I explained the situation and he said he would get someone from SPIRIT as soon as possible. It was now 4:50 pm and the plane leaves at 5:10. He went to the SPIRIT counter and there was still no one there. At 5:00, he found the employees in the back room at the SPIRIT counter, where they had been the entire time. He could not explain why they were not there to support their passengers. The manager came out and told us we were too late and they could not get Joshua on the flight because it was leaving in ten minutes. He also explained that it was a non-refundable ticket, but he would let us fly tomorrow evening. The head of MSIC (Military Severely Injured Center) said to give us a voucher on another airline and get the Soldier out tonight. The SPIRIT manager said they do not do vouchers for other airlines. I then suggested they give us a refund so we can get a ticket on another airline…he said, “NO.” The head of MSIC told them to give the Soldier a refund now or we will press charges against SPIRIT. We were then given a refund.

Meanwhile, Joshua was still at security. I told him “SPIRIT would not help us, but hang tight, I’ll get you out tonight, I promise.” Joshua said, “never mind Dad, it’s not worth it. I’m going to end it tonight.” I said don’t you dare do anything stupid. There are too many people who care about you and too many people have got you where you are today. Remember they thought you were going to die and you fought hard to stay alive.

I went to the Northwest counter and the lady was crying because of what had happened. She told me she was already working on a ticket for Joshua. Northwest offered any passenger a free roundtrip ticket to anywhere they flew, if they would give up their seat for a soldier who was severely injured in Iraq.

EIGHT businessmen came forward and said he could have their seat and no compensation was necessary. Northwest then asked if anyone would give up his or her first class seat for Joshua. A gentleman came forward and said Joshua could have his seat, saying he would sit in the toilet if need be. Other passengers remarked that Joshua could sit anywhere on the plane he wants and we will sit wherever.

That is when I broke down and started to cry. Everyone on that Northwest flight began patting Joshua on the back shaking his hand and telling him what a great job he did and how proud they were of him and the other troops who serve. After helping my son board, not one person failed to tell me thanks for what my son and I have been through. Joshua made it back to Michigan and is doing extremely well. He has therapy at Port Huron Hospital and he has counseling twice a week and is doing great!

Since this ordeal began, I have lost my job, Joshua and I have missed the birth of my grandson and granddaughter, my 18-year-old son’s graduation from high school and every holiday. Joshua and I feel we would go through it again if need be. My belief has always been God, Family and Country, in that order, nothing else matters.

It’s people like the Sparlings that truly inspire me; and the employees of Northwest have earned my gratitude and future business. The woman who chastised our injured hero, on the other hand, deserves a steel-toed boot up her ass; and SPIRIT airlines won’t ever get one dollar of business from me, I don’t care if they are $35 frickin’ dollars cheaper than anyone else.

Joshua, you are a true hero to countless people. I wish there was something, anything we could do to help you through your pain and darkness. Thank God for your family - and I am truly thankful for Americans like those you encountered in that airport who did everything they could to honor your sacrifice. They acted on behalf of all of us.

H/T: Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler. Thanks!

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Veterans Disability Benefits Commission Studies Offsetting Social Security Disability Benefits

This comes from the ER mailbag:

There have been allegations from outside parties that the Veterans Disability Compensation Commission recently set up by Congress was studying the question of whether veterans disability compensation should be reduced by Social Security disability benefits. There is no doubt now. The Commission has now confirmed this. No final decision has been made, but it seems clear from the press release that recommending an offset is under very serious consideration.

Meanwhile, the American Legion says they’ll do whatever it takes to make sure this doesn’t happen:

The board of directors of the nation’s largest veterans organization today unanimously authorized its national commander to take all “appropriate actions, with other organizations or singly, up to and including authorizing litigation,” to ensure that the Veterans Disability Benefits Commission does NOT attempt to erode veterans disability benefits by offsetting them with the Social Security disability system.

Members of the National Executive Committee of The American Legion passed a resolution giving National Commander Thomas L. Bock full authority to work with the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and other organizations to block a blatant attempt by the commission that could propose termination of veterans’ disability benefits when a veteran obtains a job despite a militarily incurred disability.

“Disability benefits are and should remain totally separate and subject to separate rules because Social Security benefits are the result of insurance premiums which constitute part of the Social Security tax and veterans benefits are earned for taking up the burdens of the nation,” Bock said. “Veterans subjected themselves to the mental and physical hazards, as well as the economic and family detriments, which are unique to military service.”

Our veterans deserve better than this. We’ll keep you posted on this one.

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Who Are They??

Produced by: RedSquareEye at The People’s Cube
H/T: Ms. Underestimated

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Respect for America’s Fallen Heroes Act of 2006 Passes the House

A bill making it a crime to protest, picket, or demonstrate outside the funeral of a military member passed the House of Representatives last week.

“…H.R. 5037 [bans] all demonstrations one hour before, during, and one hour after a military funeral at a national cemetery. It would impose a 500-foot separation restriction, and would allow for fines and/or jail time for violations. It also encourages the states to enact similar bans for public and private cemeteries, as well for funeral home services.”

The bill was introduced in light of Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church, who have been desecrating the graves and funerals of our soldiers for years.

According to VFW Commander-in-Chief Jim Mueller, it is imperative that the nation enact laws to protect families from those who would violate the rules of common sense and decency.

“A funeral is a solemn occasion to support those who grieve and to honor the life, service and sacrifice of the fallen,” he said. “It is not a time or place to hide behind the First Amendment and spout hatred.”

Will this much-needed bill pass the wimpy, bloated, pork-laden Senate? Tune in next time for “As the Illegal-Loving Drunkards Turn.”

Linked at Castle ARRRGH.

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1st Sgt. Brad Kasal Awarded the Navy Cross

by Lance Cpl. Patrick J. Floto

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (May 4, 2006) — Sgt. Maj. Bradley A. Kasal feels he did what any good Marine would’ve done.

That includes taking enemy rifle fire on Nov. 14, 2004, absorbing a grenade blast and refusing medical attention inside Fallujah’s “House of Hell” during Operation Al Fajr (New Dawn).

For his extraordinary heroism and leadership in Fallujah, Iraq, as the Weapons Company first sergeant for 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Kasal was awarded the Navy Cross during a ceremony here Monday.

“The word hero is tossed around pretty loosely these days,” said Maj. Gen. Michael R. Lehnert, Commanding General of Marine Corps Installations West, after awarding Kasal with the Naval service’s second-highest decoration, in front of an audience that included the 1st Marine Division’s past and present commanding generals, Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis and Maj. Gen. Richard F. Natonski, respectively.

”Some may call a basketball player a hero for scoring the winning goal or a celebrity for donating a small portion of their earnings to a good cause, but Kasal is a true American hero.”

When then-1st Sgt. Kasal assisted one of his platoons with an over watch inside Fallujah that day, intense gunfire broke out in an Iraqi home to his immediate front.

Seconds later, Marines were rapidly exiting the building, known as the “House of Hell.” “That house was a death trap,” said Maj. Gen. Lehnert.

“It was set up for one purpose: to kill United States Marines.” Kasal could have easily stayed out of the house.”

When he found out that there were Marines still pinned down inside the infamous house, nothing the insurgents could put on the table would stop him from rescuing his Marines.

“Going in for them was the right thing to do,” said Kasal, 39, who hails from Afton, Iowa. “They’re Marines, and I’m a Marine. We look out for each other.”

Upon entry of the house, Kasal found himself face-to-face with an insurgent who he neutralized at extreme close range. Shortly afterwards, AK-47 gunfire was coming from all directions, and Kasal was hit from behind.

“While I was in that house, I made three life or death decisions,” Kasal said. “I never thought I would live through any of them, but I did what I did to help the other Marines.”

The first decision Kasal made was to expose himself to enemy fire in order to pull another wounded Marine out of the line of fire. Kasal took more enemy fire doing this.

While both Marines were under cover, they assessed their wounds. Both had multiple injuries, but there were only enough bandages for one of them to live.

Kasal made his second decision to forfeit his medical supplies to the other Marine.

“It made more sense to use all of the bandages on one of us then to split the supplies and have us both bleed to death,” Kasal said.

The insurgents deployed a hand grenade to get the Marines out of cover, and it landed within a few feet of the two bleeding Marines.

Kasal then decided to use his own severely wounded body to protect the Marine from shrapnel.

By the time he was carried out of the house by Lance Cpl. Chris Marquez and Lance Cpl. Dan Shaffer as Lucian M. Reed, an Associated Press photographer snapped the iconic photo displayed at Marine Corps installations all over the globe, Kasal had lost approximately 60 percent of his blood from more than 40 shrapnel wounds and seven 7.62 mm AK-47 gunshots.

One day prior to being awarded the Navy Cross Kasal’s father passed away.

However, a live video teleconference feed to Kasal’s hometown provided his mother, family members and friends an opportunity to watch him receive the Navy Cross, be promoted to the rank of sergeant major and reenlist for three years.

“It’s been a very emotional week,” Kasal said. “I am blessed to recover from my injuries, which the doctors thought would never happen, and regain my place in the Marine Corps. I would take the pain of surgeries any day over the pain of being away from my Marines.”

We continue to be free because of men like Kasal. He is a Marine’s Marine, and even with the chaos that is rampant in our country right now, I am heartened to know that men like him “stand between their loved homes and the war’s desolation.”

(Thanks to one of our Marine readers for the link!)

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From the Pocket of a Dead Soldier

This has been making the rounds a bit, and to be honest, I’m not sure if it was really found in the pocket of a dead soldier in Iraq. As far as I’m concerned, though, it’s gold. I hadn’t seen it until today, when a Marine who just did combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan showed me this today and told me that it choked him up to read it. It’s simplistic poetry, and it’s not perfect. But it’s heartfelt, and it made me think all day.

Take a man and put him alone,
put him twelve thousand miles from home.
Empty his heart of all but his blood,
make him live in sweat, in mud.
This is the l