Tom Hoefling:

Tonight I intend to go to Council Bluffs to stand with our veterans at the city council meeting.

The Vietnam Vets were kept out of a local parade because their float contained a Tiger Cage, meant to depict the cages that our POWs were kept in by their Vietnamese captors.

This is all so stupid. If it weren't for men who were willing to risk ending up in a Tiger Cage, or dead, we wouldn't be able to do things like hold parades.


Veterans skip Council Bluffs parade after float banned
Read more: http://www.ketv.com/news/veterans-skip-council-bluffs-parade-after-float-banned/26043034#ixzz32ALGCY6V

CNSNEWS

By PHILLIP RAWLS, Associated Press

Former Alabama Sen. Jeremiah Denton, who survived 7½ years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam and alerted the U.S. military to conditions there when he blinked the word "torture" in Morse code during a television interview, has died. He was 89. - See more at: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/sen-jeremiah-denton-who-spent-7-and-half-years-pow-vietnam-dies-89#sthash.x8kveJYC.SFpsCDVu.dpuf

Tom Hoefliing: "RIP, sir. Thank you for your great sacrifices for our country."

News Channel 5

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - After the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary School, one local father and former Marine is standing guard at his children's school and parents said he's a welcome addition to the school.

Jordan Pritchard, a former Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, pulled down his old Marine Corps uniform from the attic Sunday night and decided to make a difference in his community. When he was in the military his job was to keep our country safe and for the next week he planned bring that safety home by standing guard outside the front door of Gower Elementary School.

He said it's his responsibility.

"I'm doing this because we need hope man. We need hope," explained Pritchard.

He's a volunteer. He's not getting paid. He's not even armed, but parent said they feel a whole lot better about leaving their children at school while he's been at the front door.

The shooting massacre in Newtown, Connecticut was a thousand miles away, but what happened there hits too close to home.

Pritchard said it's his duty, and parents are appreciative.

"If you are able and capable of doing something you have the responsibility to act," he said.

Sarah Knies has 2nd and 3rd graders who attend Gower Elementary School. She said she was comforted knowing Pritchard was there.

"He made me feel good. Just to know that he stood up and did something to make us all feel better today," she explained.

Many parents, staff and students stopped by to thank Pritchard.

"When parents come up to me and they're crying and thanking me for being out here," Pritchard said. "There's no job in the world that can pay me enough money to not do things for the kids and the parents."

Pritchard also has children who attend Gower Elementary School: a daughter, Valerie, in second grade and a son, Colby, in first grade. He insists his actions have not just been about them. He said he feels is about something much bigger.

"We have to live this life for other people. That's the only way that happiness and true peace and hope will come back to our nation is when we all come back together and love each other," he said.

Sergeant Pritchard plans to stand guard at the school until Wednesday, when Metro Schools finish for the year.

American Minute with Bill Federer

D-Day was JUNE 6, 1944.

160,000 troops landed on the Normandy coast of France in the largest invasion force in history, involving 5,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft along a 50-mile stretch of heavily fortified beaches.

It was a major turning point in World War II.

Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight Eisenhower issued the order which sent nearly 100,000 Allied troops marching across Europe to defeat Hitler's National Socialist Workers Party:

"You are about to embark upon a great crusade...The eyes of the world are upon you.

The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you...

You will bring about...the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe...

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened, he will fight savagely...

And let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."

President Franklin Roosevelt stated JUNE 6, 1944:

"My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation...

I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God, Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our republic, our religion, and our civilization...

Give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard.

For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces...

We know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph...

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom."

Over 9,000 Allied soldiers were killed or wounded in the Normandy invasion.

FDR concluded:

"Help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice...

I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength...and, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee...With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy...

And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen."

For freedom’s way the patriots bled,

The crosses mark our honored dead.

More clearly than mere words e’er may

That field lays out their final say:

No greater love, they gave it all,

In answer to man’s highest call.

But don’t forget that most returned.

To them we owe esteem they earned.

And last of all, remember this:

Our LORD betrayed by one mere kiss.

For from within true danger lies,

Though carefully as friend disguised.

So fight my friend, from where you stand,

For freedom rides on every man.

E pluribus unum

Tom Hoefling, November 11, 2009

Memorial Day 2012

Monday, May 28, 2012

The Foundation

"Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives." --John Adams

Essential Liberty

Col. Tom Manion, USMCR (Ret.), wrote in The Wall Street Journal about the remarkable men and women in uniform and what they give for our great nation. He should know -- his son gave his life in Iraq in 2007.

"I served in the military for 30 years. But it was impossible to fully understand the sacrifices of our troops and their families until April 29, 2007, the day my son, First Lt. Travis Manion, was killed in Iraq.

"Travis was just 26 years old when an enemy sniper's bullet pierced his heart after he had just helped save two wounded comrades. ...

"While my son's life was relatively short, I spend every day marveling at his courage and wisdom. Before his second and final combat deployment, Travis said he wanted to go back to Iraq in order to spare a less-experienced Marine from going in his place. His words -- 'If not me, then who...' -- continue to inspire me.

"My son is one of thousands to die in combat since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. ...

"When my son died in Iraq, his U.S. Naval Academy roommate, Brendan Looney, was in the middle of BUD/S (basic underwater demolition) training to become a Navy SEAL. Devastated by his good friend's death, Brendan called us in anguish, telling my wife and me that losing Travis was too much for him to handle during the grueling training regimen.

"Lt. Brendan Looney overcame his grief to become 'Honor Man' of his SEAL class, and he served in Iraq before later deploying to Afghanistan. On Sept. 21, 2010, after completing 58 combat missions, Brendan died with eight fellow warriors when their helicopter crashed in Zabul province. He was 29. Brendan and Travis now rest side-by-side in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery. ...

"Even after more than a decade of war, these remarkable men and women are still stepping forward. As the father of a fallen Marine, I hope Americans will treat this Memorial Day as more than a time for pools to open, for barbecues or for a holiday from work. It should be a solemn day to remember heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice, and also a stark reminder that our country is still at war."

For the Record Former Lt. Col. Oliver North, USMC, wrote of Memorial Day:

"As a crowd of high-school students offloaded from the tour bus for a visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial aka 'The Wall,' he yelled, 'There are no good wars!' ... He held a sheet of cardboard, hand-inscribed with the words 'I'm the 99 percent' on one side and 'Help me, I'm Homeless' on the other. ...

"'The Wall' is like that. The V-shaped black granite panels with 58,282 names inscribed upon them attract visitors like no other place in our nation's capital. ...

"[T]his year, our countrymen who pause from travel, shopping, sporting events and auto races on the last Monday in May will see a very different observance: the 50th anniversary commemoration of the Vietnam War.

"For the 2.7 million Americans who fought for our nation in Southeast Asia, the Gold Star families who lost loved ones there and those who still yearn to know what happened to the 1,350 who still are unaccounted for, Monday's ceremony is a long-awaited requital for unacknowledged sacrifice. It's an overdue but welcome event.

"What is less certain is whether this commemoration finally can bring closure to the most polarizing armed conflict for Americans since the Civil War. Will it end the false mythology of the Vietnam vet as a pothead marauder, a homeless, unemployed dropout who couldn't fit in after coming home?

"The Occupy protester I confronted on my way to 'The Wall' this week probably won't be convinced by this single ceremony. It's unlikely he ever will grasp the innate decency, unstinting perseverance, quiet courage and true humility of those whose names are engraved on those black granite panels. There are no good wars. But there are good warriors. ...

"Like most Vietnam War veterans, they still are giving more than they ever asked in return. They aren't dropouts. They are American heroes -- and I'm blessed to call them friends."

In Honor of Fallen Patriots

Don't miss Mark Alexander's essay on Memorial Day and what it really means.

Also, please view our Patriot Memorial Day Tributes.

Memorial Day Challenge

Ryan's Story

Insight

"They fought together as brothers-in-arms, they died together, and now they sleep side by side. To them we have a solemn obligation." --Chester Nimitz

"They are dead; but they live in each Patriot's breast, and their names are engraven on honor's bright crest." --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Gipper

"Freedom is never more than one generation from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset telling our children and our children's children what is was once like in the United States where men were free." --Ronald Reagan

Thank You

"We pause this day in America to remember our fallen heroes, the men and women who answered the call of freedom and paid the ultimate sacrifice. Let us remember and thank them for the nights they slept freezing in a tent or sweating in the desert, for the lonely days they spent fighting boredom and missing loved ones, for the hours they spent sick in pain from battle and without someone holding their hand other than their fellow soldiers, for the moments of sheer fright in the heat of battle, for the wounds suffered fighting evil, for the endless days in hospitals undergoing painful surgeries, for the precious occasions missed at home with family and friends. For all of these sacrifices, we need to thank them on behalf of millions of Americans who are so grateful. We truly appreciate their dedication to duty. ... May their legacy be honored for generations to come, may the tears shed over their coffins fertilize the fields of patriotism in our nation. The new generations to come must be built on strength, duty, honor and country, willing and able to follow in their Warrior footsteps when duty calls to defend America. May their blood not have been shed in vain. May we prove worthy of their sacrifice." --Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely U.S. Army (Ret.)

A Final Note

From the Publisher

On Wednesday of last week, I heard from our longtime, and very devoted editor, David Weed, that he would be out of the publishing loop for Thursday and Friday with "medical issues." On Friday afternoon, I heard from his lovely wife Karen that David has departed this life for the next. David was faithful in his service right to the end, and his absence will leave a large hole in the quality of our Patriot prose.

David was our token Yankee curmudgeon -- yes we have a few other Yankees on the team but not as curmudgeonly as David. It would be difficult to find the right adjectives to describe his unique "wit and charm" without the benefit of a very unabridged dictionary!

I thank God for his life and the part of it he so generously donated to advance Liberty by way of The Patriot Post. David was a brother and a Patriot, and his legacy has been quietly etched in the hearts and minds of his Patriot brothers and sisters across the nation. I would only ask your prayers for his wife, Karen.