President’s Memorial Day Weekend Remarks… Saturday, May 26 2012 

Coast Guard and Comarade Obama and Hero and Memorial Day and Military and Obama and US Air Force and US Army and US Marines and US Navy , , , , , , 1IDVET 08:01

I’m not going to hammer him. But I think this day was/is meant to honor our dead, not the living. The living have two days devoted to them, this one is for those that gave their last measure of devotion to this country and for those that served and eventually passed on. It is our duty to remember them for their sacrifices.

“Duty then is the sublimest word in the English language. You should do your duty in all things. You can never do more, you should never wish to do less.”
10 points if you guess who said that.

At any rate, here’s President Obama’s remarks:

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
May 26, 2012

This weekend, folks across the country are opening up the pool, firing up the grill, and taking a well-earned moment to relax. But Memorial Day is more than a three-day weekend. In town squares and national cemeteries, in public services and moments of quiet reflection, we will honor those who loved their country enough to sacrifice their own lives for it.

This Memorial Day, Michelle and I will join Gold Star families, veterans, and their families at Arlington National Cemetery. We’ll pay tribute to patriots of every generation who gave the last full measure of devotion, from Lexington and Concord to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Later that day, we’ll join Vietnam veterans and their families at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial—the Wall. We’ll begin to mark the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. It’s another chance to honor those we lost at places like Hue, Khe Sanh, Danang and Hamburger Hill. And we’ll be calling on you—the American people—to join us in thanking our Vietnam veterans in your communities.

Even as we honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice, we reaffirm our commitment to care for those who served alongside them—the veterans who came home.  This includes our newest generation of veterans, from Iraq and Afghanistan.

We have to serve them and their families as well as they have served us: By making sure that they get the healthcare and benefits they need; by caring for our wounded warriors and supporting our military families; and by giving veterans the chance to go to college, find a good job, and enjoy the freedom that they risked everything to protect.

Our men and women in uniform took an oath to defend our country at all costs, and today, as members of the finest military the world has ever known, they uphold that oath with dignity and courage. As President, I have no higher honor than serving as their Commander-in-Chief.  But with that honor comes a solemn responsibility – one that gets driven home every time I sign a condolence letter, or meet a family member whose life has been turned upside down.

No words can ever bring back a loved one who has been lost. No ceremony can do justice to their memory. No honor will ever fill their absence.

But on Memorial Day, we come together as Americans to let these families and veterans know that they are not alone. We give thanks for those who sacrificed everything so that we could be free. And we commit ourselves to upholding the ideals for which so many patriots have fought and died.

Thank you, God bless you, and have a wonderful weekend.

 

Gravesites of Veterans in Shocking Disrepair… Friday, May 25 2012 

Coast Guard and Hero and Memorial Day and Military and US Air Force and US Army and US Marines and US Navy and Veterans , , , 1IDVET 09:19

This is NOT how a nation should treat its defenders of freedom.  This is how we treat their final resting place? This is how we say thank you for your sacrifices?

This is not what America is about. A nation that disrespects her veterans doesn’t deserve the benefits of their sacrifices.

It’s despicable.

Around nation, gravesites of veterans in shocking disrepair

By Mike Jaccarino

The final resting places for many of the men and women who fought America’s wars have fallen into shocking disrepair, with neglect, theft and vandalism prompting veterans groups to question the nation’s commitment to honoring its dead soldiers.

Advocates say smaller federal, state, county and private cemeteries that contain the graves of service members are often poorly kept, marked by crumbling headstones, overgrown with weeds and littered with debris. Perhaps even worse, many veterans’ gravesites have been targets of vandalism and theft.

via Around nation, gravesites of veterans in shocking disrepair | Fox News.

 

Where Will You Be? Friday, May 25 2012 

Military and Truth and History and US Army and US Air Force and US Marines and US Navy and Coast Guard and Military History and Memorial Day , , , , , , 1IDVET 06:28

This is a preamble to Memorial Day. I’ll post more about it when I can. It sometimes hard for me to do this. I lost a friend in Iraq in 2006, so this is always personal.

This comes from Allen West.

Where will you be at 3:00 P.M. on Memorial Day?

Our steadfast and loyal heroes deserve remembrance
by Allen West

The solemn act of honoring those who have fallen in battle is a custom that seems to have faded in importance to our nation over time.

Nowadays, many Americans have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At cemeteries across the country, the graves of the fallen are sadly ignored, and worse, neglected.

While there are towns and cities still planning Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some think the day is for honoring anyone who has died, not just those fallen in service to our country.

Perhaps they do not know how deeply our nation once appreciated those who sacrificed their lives in defense of the principles we hold most dear. Perhaps those very principles of individual sovereignty, freedom and liberty are no longer so important.

It was not always so.

More

 

Soldier Gets His Guns… Tuesday, May 22 2012 

Axis of Idiots and Guns and Police Officer/Sheriff and Police State and Politics and Second Amendment and US Army and Veterans , , , 1IDVET 07:57

Here’s some good news out of the D.C. shithole. I posted about this earlier. Too bad it took some high powered lawyers, some Senators and the publicity that it received for this to happen. When the D.C. charges were dismissed, this man’s property should have been returned to him within the week. It’s this type of criminality from government officials that needs to be exposed, and pounced on at every occurrence.

MILLER: Soldier gets his guns

Congress needs to reform District’s property seizure laws

The active duty soldier who had his guns confiscated by the District of Columbia two years ago will have his property returned by Memorial Day. It took the help of a high-powered lawyer, two U.S. Senators, a member of Congress and national publicity to force the obstinate District to show some respect for the Constitution. It should never happen again.

On Friday, D.C. property clerk Derek Gray determined the city would finally return 1st Lt. Augustine Kim’s “dangerous articles” because the Army national guardsman fulfilled the plea agreement arranged with the U.S. attorney’s office a year earlier. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) arrested Lt. Kim on four felony charges of carrying firearms in the District after he was pulled over with the items securely stored in his trunk, as is allowed under federal law.

Lt. Kim pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of possessing an unregistered gun, and that charge was dismissed in May 2011. Since then, Lt. Kim’s lawyer, Richard Gadiner, had failed to get the attention of Mr. Gray, who refused to respond to his repeated requests for a hearing.

via MILLER: Soldier gets his guns – Washington Times.

 

Armed Forces Day, 19 May, 2012… Saturday, May 19 2012 

Coast Guard and History and Military and Military History and US Air Force and US Army and US Marines and US Navy and Veterans , , , , , , 1IDVET 00:30

Today is Armed Forces Day.

This is a day where we can thank all our military for their service and sacrifice for this nation on our behalf. 

Armed Forces Day
History

On August 31, 1949, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced the creation of an Armed Forces Day to replace separate Army, Navy and Air Force Days. The single-day celebration stemmed from the unification of the Armed Forces under one department — the Department of Defense. Each of the military leagues and orders was asked to drop sponsorship of its specific service day in order to celebrate the newly announced Armed Forces Day. The Army, Navy and Air Force leagues adopted the newly formed day. The Marine Corps League declined to drop support for Marine Corps Day but supports Armed Forces Day, too.

In a speech announcing the formation of the day, President Truman “praised the work of the military services at home and across the seas” and said, “it is vital to the security of the nation and to the establishment of a desirable peace.” In an excerpt from the Presidential Proclamation of Feb. 27, 1950, Mr. Truman stated:

Armed Forces Day, Saturday, May 20, 1950, marks the first combined demonstration by America’s defense team of its progress, under the National Security Act, towards the goal of readiness for any eventuality. It is the first parade of preparedness by the unified forces of our land, sea, and air defense.

The theme of the first Armed Forces Day was “Teamed for Defense.” It was chosen as a means of expressing the unification of all the military forces under a single department of the government. Although this was the theme for the day, there were several other purposes for holding Armed Forces Day. It was a type of “educational program for civilians,” one in which there would be an increased awareness of the Armed Forces. It was designed to expand public understanding of what type of job is performed and the role of the military in civilian life. It was a day for the military to show “state-of-the-art” equipment to the civilian population they were protecting. And it was a day to honor and acknowledge the people of the Armed Forces of the United States.

According to a New York Times article published on May 17, 1952: “This is the day on which we have the welcome opportunity to pay special tribute to the men and women of the Armed Forces … to all the individuals who are in the service of their country all over the world. Armed Forces Day won’t be a matter of parades and receptions for a good many of them. They will all be in line of duty and some of them may give their lives in that duty.”

The first Armed Forces Day was celebrated by parades, open houses, receptions, and air shows. In Washington D.C., 10,000 troops of all branches of the military, cadets, and veterans marched pass the President and his party. In Berlin, 1,000 U.S. troops paraded for the German citizens at Templehof Airfield. In New York City, an estimated 33,000 participants initiated Armed Forces Day “under an air cover of 250 military planes of all types.” In the harbors across the country were the famed mothballed “battlewagons” of World War II, the Missouri, the New Jersey, the North Carolina, and the Iowa, all open for public inspection. Precision flying teams dominated the skies as tracking radar were exhibited on the ground. All across the country, the American people joined together to honor the Armed Forces.

As the people gathered to honor the Armed Forces on this occasion, so too did the country’s leaders. Some of the more notable of these leaders’ quotes are stated below:

“Armed Forces Day, Saturday, May 20, 1950, marks the first combined demonstration by America’s defense team of its progress, under the National Security Act, towards the goal of readiness for any eventuality. It is the first parade of preparedness by the unified forces of our land, sea, and air defense.”

Former Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson

“The heritage of freedom must be guarded as carefully in peace as it was in war. Faith, not suspicion, must be the key to our relationships. Sacrifice, not selfishness, must be the eternal price of liberty. Vigilance, not appeasement, is the byword of living freedoms. Our Armed Forces in 1950–protecting the peace, building for security with freedom–are “Teamed for Defense …”

General Omar N. Bradley
Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

More

 

Military Detention Law Blocked… Thursday, May 17 2012 

Axis of Idiots and Buyers' Remorse and Circuit Courts and Comarade Obama and Communism and Department of Homeland Stupidity and Government and Military and Neo-Marxists and Obama and Police State and Politics and SCOAMF and Socialism , , , , , , , , , , 1IDVET 03:45

This is welcome news. Let’s hope that this law is permanently blocked.

Military Detention Law Blocked by New York Judge

Opponents of a U.S. law they claim may subject them to indefinite military detention for activities including news reporting and political activism persuaded a federal judge to temporarily block the measure.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan yesterday ruled in favor of a group of writers and activists who sued President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and the Defense Department, claiming a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law Dec. 31, puts them in fear that they could be arrested and held by U.S. armed forces.

The complaint was filed Jan. 13 by a group including former New York Times reporter Christopher Hedges. The plaintiffs contend a section of the law allows for detention of citizens and permanent residents taken into custody in the U.S. on “suspicion of providing substantial support” to people engaged in hostilities against the U.S., such as al-Qaeda.

“The statute at issue places the public at undue risk of having their speech chilled for the purported protection from al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and ‘associated forces’ – i.e., ‘foreign terrorist organizations,’” Forrest said in an opinion yesterday. “The vagueness of Section 1021 does not allow the average citizen, or even the government itself, to understand with the type of definiteness to which our citizens are entitled, or what conduct comes within its scope.”

via Military Detention Law Blocked by New York Judge – Bloomberg.

 

VJ Day! Tuesday, May 15 2012 

Coast Guard and History and Military and Military History and US Army and US Marines and US Navy and Veterans , , , , , , 1IDVET 11:31

Let’s not forget. This was huge! And as the Armorer states, it never happened again…

VJ Day, 1945

By The Armorer o

I would say it’s too bad that we’ve not been able to celebrate the end of a war like this film clip shows people doing so in Honolulu on VJ Day, 1945… But since then, the end of the wars have not been clear victories and at least one was a clear loss, not even Desert Storm, in the end. Nor have the aims been as black-and-white. Of course, balanced against that is that in order to achieve that sense of clear victory, we had to pound two nations flat in ways we don’t do any more, either, which isn’t a bad thing, in terms of piling up the bodies and destroying our communal heritages.

via Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah’s Military Guys.. – VJ Day, 1945.

 

US Downs Missile with New Interceptor… Friday, May 11 2012 

Defense Technology and Developments and Military and US Navy , , , , 1IDVET 06:17

More progress in our anti-missile defense. This one is fired from the USS Lake Erie.

The shit we have is impressive as hell.

Of course, a lot of our R & D will take a huge hit with our budget issues, but we aren’t alone in that.

Now if we can just figure out how to keep the damn Chinese the hell out of our computer systems, then we might be getting somewhere.

At any rate, there’s video at the site of the intercept.

Reminds me of when I was in Desert Storm. I saw a Patriot missile shoot down a Scud missile. But that’s another story, isn’t it?

US downs missile with new interceptor

Video released by the Department of Defence shows what it claims to be the first successful test of the Navy’s newest anti-missile interceptor.

U.S. forces said they had destroyed a target in the first successful test of the Navy’s newest anti-missile interceptor, designed to protect allies from attacks by countries like North Korea and Iran.

A target ballistic missile was downed near Hawaii late on Wednesday by the latest Raytheon Co-built Standard Missile-3 interceptor, the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said.

The advanced interceptor is key to the next phase of an anti-missile shield being built by the United States in and around Europe.

via Video: US downs missile with new interceptor – Telegraph.

 

House Hits Back at Same-Sex Marriages… Thursday, May 10 2012 

Politics and Military and Comarade Obama and Buyers' Remorse and Obama and SCOAMF , , , 1IDVET 05:45

Another slap in his face from the House.

House panel votes to ban same-sex marriages on US military bases

WASHINGTON – On the same day that President Barack Obama declared his support for same-sex marriage, the House Armed Services Committee backed measures prohibiting the practice on U.S. military bases.

The panel stepped into the gays in the military issue as it considered a sweeping, $642 billion defense bill for next year that buys new weapons, ships and aircraft, increases military pay by 1.7 percent and sets policies for the Pentagon. The committee worked through the day Wednesday and into the early morning Thursday on the legislation that adds billions of dollars to the president’s budget request.

The committee fleshed out a blueprint for next year that calls for a base defense budget of $554 billion, including nuclear weapons spending, plus $88 billion for the war in Afghanistan and counterterrorism efforts. That compares with the administration’s proposal of $551 billion, plus $88 billion.

via House panel votes to ban same-sex marriages on US military bases | Fox News.

 

‘On My Behalf’… Thursday, May 10 2012 

Politics and Military and Comarade Obama and Lies and Buyers' Remorse and Democrats and WTF Files and Obama and SCOAMF , , , , , 1IDVET 02:11

So he was for gay marriage, the for civil unions, then against gay marriage, now he’s for gay marriage. Evolve my ass. It all depends on what direction the wind is blowing.

Now apparently, the military is fighting on his behalf. Unbelievable.

Fire this douche bag!

Get your ass out and vote this asshole out of office in November.

 

‘On My Behalf’

 

Really?

The debate over same sex “marriage” has engaged the heartfelt feelings and convictions of millions of Americans. Then there is Barack Obama.

In his ABC interview, the president pretended that his much touted “evolution” had now led him, ineluctably, to speak out now, today; he simply could longer stay silent. ABC let him off the hook, but this is not a credible account. In March, the Washington Post was reporting the debate among his advisers on whether the issue would help or hurt the reelection campaign and what, therefore, Obama should say: “Obama’s top political advisers have held serious discussions with leading Democrats about the upsides and downsides of coming out for gay marriage before the fall election.”

The same advisers told the Post that Obama would make the decision based on his gut, but that is an insulting way to refer to the vice president. There is no evidence that Obama planned to speak until Joe Biden said last weekend that he was for gay “marriage” and forced the issue.

via ‘On My Behalf’ | The Weekly Standard.

 

Next Page »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 110 other followers