This Veterans Day I celebrated by reading my favorite post about World War II.  It’s the story of my parents when they were a young married couple.  My father was in San Diego - waiting to ship out to the south Pacific.  My mother was in Georgia - missing her Marine husband.  So she took the week-long train trip from one side of the country to the other in order to visit him.  Here her story - from her blog, Ruthlace.

A Glimspe of Romance during World War II

During World War II, I made a week long train trip from Georgia to San Diego, California to be with my Marine husband before he was to be shipped out for action in the South Pacific.

Charles told me “girls” were a major topic of conversation among these young marines in the barracks. This close knit unit of men passed around and pinned up pictures of girl friends and wives for the admiration of their brothers.

“The greatest generation” is a label that was later to be conferred on them. At this point they were just “men in the making” and still preparing for overseas duty and combat.

My husband was happy to announce to his buddies that a real Georgia peach was on her way to California. It was a week long train trip with crowds of soldiers and their wives as weary travelers.

Alas, soon after my arrival, I was quarantined at the Naval Hospital with Scarlet Fever. My Marine could only come over to sit on a wall outside the hospital window and look longingly inside and speak through the window.

One afternoon he brought a buddy to see his “pin up girl.” On this afternoon, the “Georgia Peach” was lying on her stomach with her feet toward the window. The only thing my husband’s buddy could think to say was, “She sure has beautiful feet.”

The photo above is of my mother during that time. I definitely come form “good stock,” don’t I?  No wonder my father was so crazy in love with her.

My mother talks about the exuberant patriotism of the times.  There were no pseudo-authorities in the news pontificating against the war.  Rather than highlighting and exaggerating every possible negative happening as the news agencies do today, the news shows were filled with positive news and supportive commentary.  It’s sad to see how the liberals have come to believe they’re “cool” by denouncing their own country - how they bastardize their free speech rights.  The contrast of our country from World War II times and now is disheartening.

My father came home from the war, and he and Mother went on to raise seven children together and to see all seven of their kids grow up, marry and do well on their own - and they welcomed a bunch of grandchildren before my father died in 1986.  God bless all our service folks - both past and present.

It’s always interesting to check my site meter to see the search words that landed people at THE MEDIAN SIB.  Someone Googled the following sentence - “How about rooting for our side for a change,  you liberal moron!” -  and ended up here.  They were likely looking for the following graphic which I will gladly provide.  Amen and amen.

The annual Project VALOUR-IT is underway, and I have signed up to help the MARINES since my father was a Marine in World War II. At first I wasn’t even sure what Project Valour-IT was, but I checked with the Marine team leader, Holly, at Soldiers’ Angel, and here is the description of its purpose and goal:

Project Valour-IT(Voice-Activated Laptops for OUR Injured Troops)“It was the first time I felt whole since I’d woken up wounded in Landstuhl.”
–Chuck Ziegenfuss, on using a voice-controlled laptop Our Annual fundraising competition is in full swing, and continue through November 11. . . .  Project Valour-IT, in memory of SFC William V. Ziegenfuss, helps provide voice-controlled and adaptive laptop computers to wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand wounds and other severe injuries at major military medical centers. Operating laptops by speaking into a microphone or using other adaptive technologies, our wounded heroes are able to send and receive messages from friends and loved ones, surf the ‘Net, and communicate with buddies still in the field. The experience of MAJ Charles “Chuck” Ziegenfuss, a partner in the project who suffered serious hand wounds while serving in Iraq, illustrates how important these laptops can be to a wounded service member’s recovery.

See the slide show here.

Kathi at Mail Call did the beautiful montage above to commemorate the one year anniversary of Wednesday Heroes.

The idea for Wednesday Heroes started with Indian Chris at Right-wing and Right minded. He says that Greta of Hooah Wife! was a driving force behind it. Greta is a driving force to be reckoned with, so Indian Chris started the Wednesday Hero blogroll! It started out with just a few participants but has grown to quite a large group who post weekly tributes to our heroes, all written by Indian Chris.

You can find more information about the blogroll and how to join yourself at Right-wing and Right Minded.

cross posted: Blue Star Chronicles

Beth over at Blue Star Chronicles has a post containing an email from an American soldier responding to allegations by a  New Republic reporter about supposed crimes.  The Army officer responds to each of the allegations to show just how ridiculous they are. 

Here’s a snippet from the email Beth received:

The U.S. Army today is the most disciplined and professional Army in the history of the United States. This is the only war in our nations history where we have not instituted the draft to fill our ranks. Every man in the service today is there because he volunteered. They stood up in the face of danger, knowing we were at war, and said “I’ll go”. Most of these men are on their second deployment in support of the War on Terrorism, some are on their fourth and fifth. After five years of war with an increasing number of casualties, longer and more frequent deployments, and no end in site, these brave young men continue to volunteer their services, many of them reenlisting. No other Army in our history has been able to do that without the draft. Our military men and women today are true professionals, they are truly America’s best and bravest. While there are some bad apples and non-conformist in our ranks, we are quick to identify them and remove them from the service. The author of this story is a bad apple. He is trying to get attention by telling wild stories. He too will be identified and removed from the service.

What saddens me is that so many of the anti-war crowd will believe the allegations - no matter how absurd - because they want to.  It won’t matter what is true.  It will be one more arrow of discredit grasped from thin air to try to harm and dishearten our honorable service men and women.

In BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA, Jess is bullied by a girl on the school bus who claims that Jess tripped her, and Jess gets thrown off the bus and has to walk the three miles home.  Jess wants to just drop it, but Leslie tells him:

“It’s the PRINCIPLE of the thing, Jess.  That’s what you’ve got to understand.  You have to stop people like that. Otherwise, they turn into tyrants and dictators.”

BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA is a novel, and the characters are fifth graders.  Nevertheless, there is a lesson to be learned here. 

When  you show weakness to your enemies,  you enable them to become more and  more aggressive.   The militant Islamic terrorists MUST BE STOPPED.   People such as our Democratic leadership who tell us the war is already lost or that it must be won via diplomacy are either stupid or traitorous - or maybe a combination of both.

Joan at Daddy’s Roses has written a post quoting a Democratic Representative who was one of only two Democrats who voted against the non-binding resolution. 

I didn’t realize that there was actually a voice of reason and common sense in the Democratic party, but apparently there is at least one.  Here is part of what Representative Jim Marshall (D, GA) said when he spoke before the Assembly.  The emphasis is Joan’s:

We’re debating a nonbinding resolution to disapprove of the Iraqi/American military surge in Baghdad…. we do so hoping our debate and vote will not discourage those called upon to execute the surge…but we also do so knowing that it might. That’s enough for me to oppose the resolution……..This anti-surge resolution is akin to sitting in the stands and booing in the middle of our own team’s play because we don’t like the coach’s call. I cannot join midplay nay-saying that might discourage even one of those engaged in this current military effort in Baghdad.

Click over to Daddy’s Roses to read what he said directly to the troops about the resolution.

What Democrats fail to understand is that, like it or not, President George W. Bush is THEIR president as much as he is president for the Republicans.  In the long run, the Democrats’ words and actions against President Bush are actions against themselves.  Sure, they have the right to say and do what they’re doing.  However, they’re too short-sighted and self-involved to realize that they’re hurting themselves in the process.

An Open Letter to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi

Dear Sir and Madam:

You have said often enough that you don’t believe in the war in Iraq and that you want to bring the troops home. Yet all you do is talk and sign non-binding resolutions which only goes to show that you really don’t mean what you say about ending the war or that you’re just playing political games and in doing so giving aid and comfort to a dedicated enemy.

Now if you’re serious about ending the war you have the means and the votes to do just that. Simply cut off the funding for the troops, bring them all home and the American people can transfer the deed to this war and the ramifications of what you do to the Democrat party and you can live with the results.

You say you support the troops, but that has to be a lie. If you supported them and you truly think the war is wrong, you’d bring them home or either dispense with the poisonous rhetoric and get in behind them and help them get the job done.

You can’t have it both ways. If you support the troops do something. Your party won a majority in both houses, so you have control so take the responsibility.

Of course, I think you should remember that when the terrorists follow us home from Iraq and start their attacks on American soil it’s too late, so you’d better have a plan to deal with it. Do you have a plan?

And if Iran goes into Iraq and makes it a staging ground for Al Qaida to plan and carry out attacks all over the western world you’ll need to deal with that. Do you have a plan?

And if Iran decides to go into Kuwait and cut off the oil flow from the Persian Gulf, you’ll need a way to make up for the shortfall. Do you have a plan?

The world would look at us as a country that has not finished a commitment to war since 1945. Do you have a plan for dealing with that?

The purpose of this letter is to call your bluff. I don’t believe you have the guts to do anything but talk and talk is cheap. Oh you have no shortage of words but I seriously doubt the amount of backbone you have.

Do you really think that signing a non binding resolution is really fooling anybody into thinking you’re anything less than career politicians trying to tip the scales of the O08 Presidential Election.

What you’re doing is silly and dangerous. If you really don’t like what’s going on, change it, do something about it. You’ve got the power but have you got the guts?

Pray for our troops.

What do you think?

God Bless America
Charlie Daniels
February 16, 2007

Wow!  That says exactly what I believe.  With the dems it’s all about politics, politics and politics.  They back-stab and fill the airwaves with hateful rhetoric to try to ensure that the Bush plan will fail while still making themselves look politically good.  You can’t “support the troops” while spewing crap that makes the terrorists bolder and more confident and ends up getting more of our troops killed.  The troops don’t need THAT kind of suppport.  Dems, you can’t have it both ways. 

Tiara-tip to Linda at Something …and Half of Something.  Also at A Mom and Her Blog and Blue Star Chronicles.

At The Huffington Post, Greg Gutfeld has written a thoughtful post that is generating quite a stir among leftwingers.  Reading the comments to his post is almost more fun than reading the post.  Leftwingers never cease to confirm that they can be the most venomous and vile commenters. 

Here’s what Gutfeld’s wrote:

Whenever I visit this lovely blog, I usually run into someone - a “leftist,” if you will - who finds pleasure in things that make our country or the President look bad. I suppose I could say these angry types are no better than cheerleaders for terrorism. After all, both entities - the left and terrorists - seem to share the same desire: to put the US, humiliatingly, in its place.

But I would be wrong to say such things. Very wrong. Of course, “dissent is patriotic,” and the left is only critical of America because it simply loves our country much more than I do.

That’s why calling them terrorists would be intolerant and pretty shameful.

But what about “patriotic terrorists?”

That’s kinda neat.

What is a patriotic terrorist?

It is an American who claims to love his or her country while enjoying the enemy’s success against said country. It is a person who gets deeply offended if you question their patriotism, while also appearing to share the same ideals of the more spirited folk who like to blow up innocent people.

Patriotic terrorists love America with so much intensity that it appears to the untrained eye that they hate it. But it’s actually the most powerful form of “tough love” known to man, woman and Rosie O’Donnell. Patriotic terrorists love America so much that they realize it needs an intervention - and real terror is the only way to enable that intervention. In fact, to keep a mammoth, arrogant superpower like America in check, terrorism is the only thing we’ve got. Noam Chomsky knew this from the start, making him a patriotic terrorist of the highest order.

This is why he gets the chicks.

Hey, I bet you’ve probably wondered why Al Qaeda hasn’t struck in the US since 9/11. They don’t have to. It has its own offshoot franchise here at work already. Patriotic Terrorists.

Think about how much both groups have in common!

-Both patriotic terrorists and Al Qaeda want the US to abandon Iraq, for that reveals Bush and America to be monstrous, laughable failures. It does not matter to either group that the withdrawal from Iraq will make post-Vietnam look like an afternoon at Ikea shopping for a Hoggbo innerspring mattress.

-For patriotic terrorists and real terrorists, car bombs going off is music to their ears. It proves that you can’t offer democracy to troubled countries, as long as you’ve got terrorists standing in your way. And that’s great news for everyone who believes in checks and balances between the haves and the have nots! (Note: “haves” means the US. “Have nots” means those who hate the US)

-Patriotic terrorists and the more committed terrorists both believe that infractions at Guantanamo Bay are far worse than anything a genocidal dictator could muster, and such horrors possess far more PR potential in denigrating the US than anything involving Ed Begley Jr.

-Both patriotic terrorists and Al Qaeda terrorists believe the US desires to control the Middle East, empower evil Israel and expand it’s power base at the expense of innocent Arab lives. But both groups also realize that the US is too stupid to achieve these goals - and that makes being a patriotic terrorist loads of fun!

Are you a patriotic terrorist?

If you are intensely critical of the US, while tolerating homicidal enemies who condemn everything you previously claimed you are for - human rights, voting rights, gay rights, women’s rights, porn - then you’re a patriotic terrorist.

If you talk about tolerance constantly - and hilariously tolerate genocide and suicide bombers because those actions undermine your more intimate opposition, the American right - then you’re a patriotic terrorist.

The only difference between a patriotic terrorist and a real one? Real terrorists are simply patriotic terrorists who’ve taken the extra step - choosing to actually die for their beliefs - rather than simply talking about them at Spago. If Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, Michael Moore, and their ilk had real cojones, they’d all be wearing cute black vests - but stuffed with more than dog-eared copies of Deterring Democracy.

Hat tip Blue Star Chronicles.  Read more commentary there and also at Something…and a Half of Something.

Plastic Nancy and Murtha are in Iraq.  Don’t you know the soldiers are just thrilled about that! 

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, an outspoken critic of U.S. President George Bush’s plan to send more troops to Iraq, arrived in Baghdad on Friday for talks with U.S. and Iraqi officials.

Pelosi, a key player in the Democratic takeover of Congress, has helped lead opposition in Washington to Bush’s retooled Iraq strategy which envisages sending 21,500 reinforcements to help quell raging sectarian violence, especially in Baghdad.

She has accused Bush, a long-time foe, of playing politics with soldiers’ lives and said after his State of the Union address to Congress this week that he had ignored the concerns of the American public over the unpopular war.

A U.S. embassy official said Pelosi, the first woman speaker of the House, had arrived in Iraq at the head of a six-member congressional delegation for meetings with Iraqi and U.S. officials but did not plan any public appearances.

The delegation includes John Murtha, a Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania, who has also been vocal in his criticism of the Bush administration’s handling of the war.

No public appearances? I’ll bet they’ll be a few photo ops. If they can find a soldier with a strong enough stomach to pose with them.