Indomitable Spirit

Look closely at the picture on the left. That’s Marine Gunnery Sgt. Brian Meyer.

A bomb in Afghanistan had just blown off his leg, his hand, and three fingers on his other hand.  And yet there he is smiling. And he was doing it on purpose.

GySgt. Meyer ordered another Marine to take this picture. He forced a smile despite the pain, because he was worried about the impact his injuries would have on his squad. He hoped the picture would make it easier for them to deal with what happened.

Can you imagine? He was just seriously injured and yet he was thinking about his fellow Marines and how THEY were feeling.

I find that kind of spirit beyond remarkable. And it’s that spirit that is helping GySgt. Meyer through his recovery process. And helping him become independent despite his injuries.

The picture on the right is him now. He says: "I focus on what I have left, not what I lost." What a great attitude.

GySgt. Meyer also works for the Injured Marines Semper Fi Fund, counseling fellow combat veterans. And he uses the picture of him injured to show them what’s possible.

He says: "It's the exact opposite of what somebody expects you to do. So when I show it to people and they are inspired by it, instead of being shocked, I know they get it."

I hate war. I hate seeing how many young men and woman have lost their lives. And I hate seeing how many young men and women have suffered life changing injuries.

But at the same time, I find stories about veterans like GySgt. Meyer incredibly powerful. They are a reminder that there is always hope, no matter how bad the situation is. They are a reminder that all of us are capable of so much more than we think we are. And they are a reminder to NEVER give up.

Thank you GySgt. Meyer. To you and all other veterans: Stay strong!

Music Monday

National Anthem | 1000 Voice Choir

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Hero Salute

During a mission in the Panjwai district of Afghanistan, the U.S. Army’s 3rd Ranger Battalion was attacked by a massive suicide explosion that left four members of the team dead. Ranger Josh Hargis, one of the survivors, was severely wounded from the attack.

Here is a picture of Josh recovering in a hospital in Afghanistan. About fifty soldiers crowded into the room to award him with the prestigious Purple Heart for his wounds received in action. Despite the horrible pain he was experiencing, he still gave this incredibly beautiful salute to his commanding officer. This is the definition of true patriotism.

Here is what Josh’s wife posted, along with the photo, to her Facebook page:

I received this picture today along with a letter from the commander of the team Josh was a part of on the night of his injuries. A letter to explain to me what kind of man I have the privilege of being married to. He explained to me what happened and what was going on in the picture.

“Josh was seriously wounded as you know, and survived for almost two hours after his injury before arriving to the hospital. Josh was immediately pushed through a series of surgeries and emerged hours later into an intensive care unit here at our base in Afghanistan.

Despite being in intense pain and mental duress, Josh remained alert and compassionate to the limited Rangers that were allowed to visit his bedside. Prior to Josh being moved to Germany for his eventual flight to America, we conducted a ceremony to award him with the Purple Heart for wounds received in action.

A simple ceremony, you can picture a room full of Rangers, leaders, doctors, and nurses surrounding his bedside while the Ranger Regimental Commander pinned the Purple Heart to his blanket. During the presentation the Commander publishes the official orders verbally and leaned over Josh to thank him for his sacrifice.

Josh, whom everybody in the room (over 50 people) assumed to be unconscious, began to move his right arm under the blanket in a diligent effort to salute the Commander as is customary during these ceremonies. Despite his wounds, wrappings, tubes, and pain, Josh fought the doctor who was trying to restrain his right arm and rendered the most beautiful salute any person in that room had ever seen.

I cannot impart on you the level of emotion that poured through the intensive care unit that day.
Grown men began to weep and we were speechless at a gesture that speak volumes about Josh’s courage and character. The picture, which we believe belongs on every news channel and every news paper is attached. I have it hanging above my desk now and will remember it as the single greatest event I have witnessed in my ten years in the Army.”

What an inspiring young man. Just as Josh’s commander pointed out, Americans need to see more heroes like this. This story belongs on every news channel and website and newspaper across the country. Let’s each do our part to SHARE this incredible example of patriotism and honor.

Emily Hulsey | On 15, Oct 2013

Happy 4th of July

Photographer: Jason Price

Memorial Monday

Gratitude Campaign

A Speech Every American Should Hear

Dr. Benjamin Carson
Johns Hopkins Hospital
Pediatric Neurosurgery Division Director
National Prayer Breakfast - February 7, 2013

VOTE!!!

It's a Grand Old Flag

Happy Flag Day

Happy 125th Birthday

Thank you, France...

Remembering and Honoring

Don't Know What You've Got 'Til It's Gone

There's a group of ladies in the Dallas area who make and stuff neck pillows for soldiers coming through the Dallas Forth worth airport. They go to the airport and and meet the incoming planes every week and greet the soldiers coming back for a few weeks of R&R, give them a pillow, tell them they pray for them, and thank them for their service. The lady who shot this video said everyone was so surprised to see George and Laura Bush recently just standing quietly in the waiting area with others who had come to meet the troop planes. She said it was amazing to watch the faces of the soldiers light up in recognition when they spotted them and that many came over to speak and shake hands.

My Flag

A gray-haired man, a little bent with age, stood as tall as he could with his hand over his heart as his country’s flag passed by. Standing next to him, his grandson noticed a tear run down the old man’s cheek. “Grandpa,” he said, “Are you OK? Why are you crying?”

“I’m just fine,” replied the grandfather. “I just love that flag, my flag.”

What is there about a flag that makes us feel so proud and willing to give so much? An athlete will strive with all her might for the right to stand on the podium as her flag is raised in honor of her victory. A soldier will risk life and limb to raise his flag over a conquered battlefield. Patriots young and old pause in reverence, their hearts beating a little faster, when they see their flag unfold in the breeze.

Each of us has a land we call our own. We all feel connected to a country by virtue of our heritage or loyalty. And nothing seems to touch so deeply our love of country as that almost sacred fabric, woven with pattern and color, that we call our flag. Whether it is waving over a schoolhouse or a field of combat, the sight of our flag inspires courage, hope, gratitude, and unity.

The bond of common citizenship represented by our flag unites us in spite of differences of race, religion, or politics. When people who share our flag are in distress, we reach out to meet their needs and defend their rights. The allegiance we pledge to our flag is, at its heart, a promise to help one another.

An old man sheds a tear as the flag passes by. A young man begins to understand what those colors represent. And all of us, no matter which banner we salute, say with pride, “I love that flag, my flag."

Flag Day the Proper Way

There is a right way and a wrong way to display the flag. The American flag should be held in the highest of regards. It represents our nation and the many people who gave their lives for our country and our flag.

Here are the basics on displaying the American flag:

• The flag is normally flown from sunrise to sunset.
• In the morning, raise the flag briskly. At sunset, lower it slowly. Always, raise and lower it ceremoniously.
• The flag should not be flown at night without a light on it.
• The flag should not be flown in the rain or inclement weather.
• After a tragedy or death, the flag is flown at half staff for 30 days. It's called "half staff" on land ,and "half mast" on a ship.
• When flown vertically on a pole, the stars and blue field , or "union", is at the top and at the end of the pole (away from your house).
• The American flag is always flown at the top of the pole. Your state flag and other flags fly below it.
• The union is always on top. When displayed in print, the stars and blue field are always on the left.
• Never let your flag touch the ground, never...period.
• Fold your flag when storing. Don't just stuff it in a drawer or box.
• When your flag is old and has seen better days, it is time to retire it. Old flags should be burned or buried. Please do not throw it in the trash.

Did you Know? There is a very special ceremony for retiring the flag by burning it. It is a ceremony everyone should see.Your local Boy Scout group knows the proper ceremony and performs it on a regular basis. If you have an old flag, give it to them. And, attend the ceremony.

United States Code, 36 USC Sec. 301 says that during the playing of The Star Spangled Banner (United States National Anthem) when the flag is displayed, everyone except those in uniform should stand at attention while facing the flag and have their right hand over their heart. Individuals in attendance that aren’t in uniform should remove anything they are wearing on their head with their right hand and hold it at their left shoulder, with their hand held over their heart. Individuals in uniform should show the military salute during the first note of the anthem and stay in this position until the last note. If the flag is not displayed, people in attendance should face the music and respond as if the flag were present.

One Light Bulb at a Time

Let's throw out the myth that we cannot find products we use every day that are made right here in the United States!! In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else - even their job. So, after reading this e-mail, I think this lady is on the right track. Let's get behind her...

My grandson likes Hershey's candy. I noticed, though, that it is marked made in Mexico. I do not buy it any more. My favorite toothpaste Colgate is made in Mexico. I have switched to Crest. You have to read the labels on everything.

This past weekend I was at Kroger. I needed 60 watt light bulbs and Bounce dryer sheets. I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand, I normally buy, was an off-brand labeled, Everyday Value. I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats. They were the same except for the price. The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in Mexico while the Everyday Value brand was made in the USA at a company in Cleveland, Ohio .

On the other aisle, Bounce Dryer Sheets cost more money and are made in Canada. The Everyday Value brand was less money and made in the USA. I did laundry yesterday and the dryer sheets performed just like the Bounce Free I have been using for years and at almost half the price!

My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in the USA. The job you save may be your own, or your neighbors!

Let's get with the program and help our fellow Americans keep their jobs and create more jobs by buying American, one light bulb at a time!!

Today In History...

Gettysburg Address
President Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate — we cannot consecrate — we cannot hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

True Story

Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock , did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom. When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks. 'Ms..Cothren, where're our desks?'

She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.'

They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.' 'No,' she said. 'Maybe it's our behavior.' She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.' And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom.

By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms.Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room. > > The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.'

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it. Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.

Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you.. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'

Happy 4th

A Liberty Bell Salute