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Amazing Grace

UPDATE: May 28, 2012  Here are some more stories for your Memorial Day reading.

"21 Steps" by Dave Carter at Ricochet.com.

"In Loving Memory" by Robert Mitchell at Ricochet.com.

The Marines made a bed for her.  An article by Lily Burana in the NYT.

"Robert Higgin's War" by Sean Higgins at NRO.

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The grace that we Americans recieve from those who "gave the last full measure of devotion," is truly amazing.  Today is the day we pause to honor these Americans.  Or so it should be.

In the WSJ, Col. Tom Manion, USMCR (Ret.), writes about why they serve, even when they know that we are at war.  Col. Manion knows of which he speaks.

Over at The Corner, David French reminds us of the power of that "amazing grace."

And don't miss this video about Honor Flight Stories, an effort to bring WWII vets to Washington to visit their memorial and share their stories.  These folks are dying before our very eyes these days, and all will be gone soon.  Check it out.

Evil Empire

Peter Robinson at Ricochet reminds us that it was 29 years ago yesterday that President Reagan called the USSR an "evil empire."  Talk about a real "speaking truth to power."  How many nukes did they have pointed at us in 1983? 

Peter links to this very interesting post from Frank Warner which describes in detail how the speech came about and how the words "evil empire" were almost left out.  Frank also follows with a time line of the collapse of the USSR, which many Reagan supporters credit to the US finally "speaking truth to power."

I like this quote in Frank's post from President Reagan at the August 1992 Republican National Convention.  The President refers to some claims that were made at the Democrat National Convention the prior month.

“We stood tall and proclaimed that communism was destined for the ash heap of history," Reagan told his fellow Republicans. "We never heard so much ridicule from our liberal friends. The only thing that got them more upset was two simple words: 'Evil Empire.'

“But we knew that what the liberal Democrat leaders just couldn't figure out: the sky would not fall if America restored her strength and resolve. The sky would not fall if an American president spoke the truth. The only thing that would fall was the Berlin Wall.

“I heard those speakers at that other convention saying, 'We won the Cold War' -- and I couldn't help wondering, just who exactly do they mean by 'we'?”

Shall Issue v May Issue In Maryland

The effort by the Maryland General Assembly to restrict the right of our citizens to defend themselves took a beating on Monday as a US District Court judge in Baltimore ruled that Raymond Woolard actually does have a right to defend himself outside his home.

Best line from the judge-

"A citizen may not be required to offer a good and substantial reason why he should be permitted to exercise his rights. The right‘s existence is all the reason he needs."

The judge's opinion is here.

Here is a review of the opinion from John Richardson, who blogs at No Lawyers-Only Guns and Money.

Maryland Shall Issue has this to say on the case.

The Second Admentment Foundation speaks here.

And more from Dave Kopel and Eugene Volokh.

And for the news-WaPo, Baltimore Sun, AP (via WaPo).

And the Sun's opinion.

Bad Idea

"We trust 20-year olds in the military to guide $100 million jets on carriers; in contrast, I find it dangerous to walk across a campus parking lot with 20-year-old students running through stop signs."

VDH in a post on Ricochet.com where he says cutting the military is a bad idea.  Bottom line-there are still plenty of bad guys out there.

Hexagon/Big Bird

This is way cool...

"Here's your mission, should you choose to accept it: build a camera that can take high-resolution photographs of the Earth from orbit and return them to the Central Intelligence Agency. There's only one catch: you don't get to use a computer or a single kilobyte of network bandwidth."

Read the whole story of how we photographed our enemies during the Cold War on film.

82nd or 101st?

I'm confused.

I was reading some old World War II magazines this week and came across a piece about the crickets issued to the 101st Airborne Division prior to the Normandy landings on D-Day.  In the piece (I can't find it online) the writer said that the crickets were issued to the 101st but not the 82nd.

Well, it just so happened that I recently watched The Longest Day, Darryl Zanuck's production of Cornelius Ryan's great book on the D-Day invasion of Europe.  In the movie, John Wayne plays Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort, a battalion commander in the 82nd Airborne Division. It's Lt. Col. Vandervoort who briefs his men about the crickets and their planned use in the movie (at about the 39 minute mark).

I am sure that someone has questioned this before, but am I missing something?  All I could find on the web indicates that the crickets were issued to the 101st only. 

Is this just a Hollywood Howler that I missed in my WWII issues?

Wreaths Across America

On Saturday, December 10th, a group of friends from the St. John the Evangelist Hospitality Team and The Bishop McNamara Council of the Knights of Columbus joined thousands of patriotic Americans for Wreaths Across America at Arlington Cemetery. 

We helped lay 90,000 wreaths on the final resting places of those who have served in the Armed Forces
of the United States of America.  This year's event at Arlington, and at cemeteries across the nation, was the largest in the 20 years of wreath laying.  It is estimated that 15,000 volunteers showed up at Arlington on Saturday to contribute.

With the increase in donations, it was possible to include many sections of the cemetery this year, including Civil War and World War I veterans. But the most moving section to visit is Section 60, where the recently killed or deceased are laid to rest.  Section 60 has more than 9000 graves, and the picture above cannot come close to displaying the emotion involved in walking among these Americans and remembering what they gave for us.  We are forever grateful.

There are also some personal memories for me on this day, albeit fleeting.  I have 3 uncles resting at Arlington; my mom's 2 brothers who were Marines, and her brother in law who served in the Army.  May they all rest in the peace of the Lord.

President Lincoln, from his letter to Mrs. Bixby-

"I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom."

-Abraham Lincoln, November 21, 1864

Cool Shoot 'em Up Videos

For your enjoyment....

A railgun from General Atomics shoots a round 7km (at 0 degrees elevation) after penetrating a 1/8" steel plate 100 yards downrange.  Muzzle velocity approximately 1600m/s (Mach 5).  Headed for US Navy ships.

A IRBM intercept using remote radar and the AEGIS system.  First time ever.  The ground and space based radar extend the range of the shipborne AEGIS anti-missle system.

The Land of the Free Because of the Brave

It's not just a cool slogan on a bumper sticker.  Please read this.  

And pray for the Kelly family and all of those who defend us and our freedom everyday.

God bless Robert Kelly and his family.

All of us can help support our troops.  Here are some places to start.

USO

Soldiers Angels

Operation Let the Fire Fall

Campaigning With Grant

I have been reading a book titled "Campaigning with Grant" by General Horace Porter, who served on General Grant's staff from early 1864 through the end of the Civil War.  I bought it for a couple of bucks a month or two ago at Wonder Books while wandering through the Civil War aisle.

It is a wonderful read.  I enjoy reading several modern historians, including David McCullough and Victor Davis Hansen, but there is nothing like reading a first person account of significant happenings in US history.  General Porter was there all the way, from the time President Lincoln promoted General Grant to the command of all Union armies, through the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865.  In fact, General Porter was in the room of Mr. McLean's house in Appomattox Court-house on April 9, 1865.  Here is a sample of General Porter's involvement in the surrender that day:

"When this had been done the general (Grant) took the manifold writer in his right hand, extended his arm toward Lee, and started to rise from his chair to hand the book to him.  As I was standing equally distant from them, with my back to the front window, I stepped forward, took the book, and passed it to General Lee."

The book contained the terms of surrender as written by General Grant.  You gotta love this kind of stuff if you like US history like I do.  

Here is the amazon page for the book.