Thor’s Hall

We braved the heat and the humidity of the upper mid-west, and hauled the clan the mile or two down the street to the local Independence Day Parade.  A long walk for the kids, on a hot day to stand along a tree lined street and watch a parade.

My concept of a parade is built around the Grand Floral parade that takes place as part of Rose Festival in Portland every year.  Add to the that, the Macy’s day parade, the Pasadena Rose Festival parade and certain expectations are set.  Complicate the matter by realizing that I have spent the last 9 months working in Manhattan and I was pleasantly blind sided by the intimacy and genuine fun of today’s event.

Picture if you will, a two lane shaded road with a parade running through it.

These kind folks, spotted me in the crowd and went out of their way to make sure that I had an application to join their organization.

There were Shriner’s on bicycles,

and Shriner’s in go carts,

and Shriner’s on horseback.

A Candidate for US Senate notice the way that he has arranged to get out in front of the crowd and lead.  It’s the little things that set perceptions.

A couple of unusual flags on display

When it came time  for the gay pride coalition folks to come through with their rainbow flags, there was a deafening silence from the crowd.  A couple of birds tweeting, some crickets chirping, and just a lot of folks not saying anything.  Good mid-west manners that, if you can’t say something nice….

Yeah, I’ve spent too much time with the slick media productions and liberal attitudes of New York.   Every where you turn there’s a live news report, a rolling ad for Broadway play, a new product introduction, billboards on every building, Jumbotrons, live TV studios and broadcasts from the street.

It’s nice to be home for a while.  Besides, I kinda miss these guys when I am on the road.

Today marks the 234 anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, our Independence Day.  The day that a small, representative group of individuals penned a document that set forth their complaints against the Crown, and the intention to break free from the British Empire.

Today, we celebrate that event.  In doing so, there will be many tributes, parades, and other events where we commemorate the event.  There will be and have been many, many posts flying around the internet where individuals set forth some of the meanings that this day holds for them.  Here are a few of the things that I would like to point out to my limited readership.

The Base

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

Over at OpFor Lt. Col. P presents the money quote.

Liberty is a precious and rare thing, handed down from generation to generation with solemn admonishments to preserve it at all costs, for it is in fact something to fight for.

At OMV, the good Major is on a bit of a rant:

There was a special element within those that founded this country. They constructed this thing that started with “We the people” not hey lets be gentle friendly and NOT piss anyone off mentality that has been growing for decades now.

Finally over at Stormbringer’s place he takes a look at a fourth of July that many of us forget.  1863, Gettysburg.

The din of muskets and cannon had faded but the stench and pall of battle still hung in the air; two American armies stared at one another in a heavy rain across bloody fields on the Fourth of July in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 1863.

Both armies began to collect their remaining wounded and bury some of the dead. Between 46,000 and 51,000 Americans were casualties of the three-day battle. Union casualties list 23,055 (3,155 killed, 14,531 wounded, 5,369 captured or missing), while Confederate casualties are estimated 23,231 (4,708 killed, 12,693 wounded, 5,830 captured or missing).

Enjoy your holiday.  Celebrate it safely.

It is Independence Day, and this 40 year old skit seems appropriate for the day.

The search engine battle out there is pretty intense.   It seems that every time that you add a new application to your computer, they want to install a toolset.  It might be Yahoo, Google, Ask, or others.  While the search results are really the most important thing to measure a search engine on, one of the things that many people also measure is how the engine marks the holiday.  I tend to like Google, and they do some tasteful things on holidays (most of the time).

This weekend for Memorial day, they were a little underwhelming.  Over here is a nice comparison of the search engines over the Memorial Day weekend.

On this Memorial day this video pretty much speaks for itself.

Against GySgt Wallgreens request I recorded his speach in secret….. the result is this awesome video with the last words we heard before boarding helos and heading into the heart of Marjeh. Have you ever wondered how Marines get pumped up? This video will show you how true leaders inspire their Marines to do the unthinkable.– description w/video on YouTube

Another Memorial Day is upon us.  For many, the weekend is represented by the events in Indianapolis yesterday, or the weekend “sales”, or just another holiday to party.  Lest we forget what the holiday really represents:

HEADQUARTERS GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC

General Orders No.11, WASHINGTON, D.C., May 5, 1868

I. The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet church-yard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.

We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose among other things, “of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors, and marines who united to suppress the late rebellion.” What can aid more to assure this result than cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foes? Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race in chains, and their deaths the tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let no wanton foot tread rudely on such hallowed grounds. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.

If our eyes grow dull, other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain to us.

Let us, then, at the time appointed gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring-time; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from dishonor; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon a nation’s gratitude, the soldier’s and sailor’s widow and orphan.

II. It is the purpose of the Commander-in-Chief to inaugurate this observance with the hope that it will be kept up from year to year, while a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades. He earnestly desires the public press to lend its friendly aid in bringing to the notice of comrades in all parts of the country in time for simultaneous compliance therewith.

III. Department commanders will use efforts to make this order effective.

By order of

JOHN A. LOGAN,
Commander-in-Chief

N.P. CHIPMAN,
Adjutant General

Official:
WM. T. COLLINS, A.A.G.

Others out here in blog world will present you with their eloquent stories, that recognize and remember the sacrifices that have been made to protect our way of life.  So, go read what they have to say.

Remember Memorial Day and America’s Freedom Fighter

20,000 Flags – Forward Movement
Remembering Mark – Kerplunk
Graduation Night: Moon Over Yusufiyah – Mudville Gazette
Four-Day Weekend – Wings Over Iraq
Coming Home – Mudville Gazette
A Way To Honor A Fallen Hero Today – Blackfive
Memorial Day – Prairie Pundit
Memorial Day: Fitting Memorials and Passing of Torches – Blackfive
National Memorial Day Parade – Blackfive
What We Remember on Memorial Day – Los Angeles Times
Remember Who? – Paragould Daily Press
Take a Moment to Reflect on Memorial Day – Chillicothe Gazette
Memorial Day Has Relevance – Odessa American
Remember Vets; Celebrate Freedoms – Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Is the Traditional Memorial Day Celebration Still Relevant? – Delmarva Daily Times
A Special Monday – Battle Creek Enquirer
Memorial Day’s First Blossoms – Louisville Courier-Journal
Memorial Day About More Than Barbecues, Sales – Rio Rancho Observer
A Day to Honor, Not Celebrate – Duluth News Tribune
Don’t Forget the ‘Memory’ in Memorial Day – New Haven Register
Memorial Day – Southeast Missourian
Honoring the Fallen – Covington News
Remember the Reason for Memorial Day – Mount Airy News
We Wish We Didn’t Need Tomorrow But, Sadly, We Do – Leader Vindicator
Memorial Day Used to be May 30, Still Should Be – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
‘Yes, We Thank You. Yes, We Remember You.’ – Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
Honoring the Fallen – Catskill Daily Mail
Memorial Day is Time to Reflect Upon Sacrifices – Daily Republic
A Time to Remember Their Sacrifices – Hillsboro Times Gazette
Giving Their Last Full Measure – McCook Daily Gazette
They Gave Their Lives – Casper Star-Tribune
Memorial Day is Foremost a Day of Honor – Lexington Dispatch
Every Day is Memorial Day – Washington Times
Seeing a Fallen Soldier Home – Washington Times
Maintain Peace by Staying Strong – Washington Times
The Glory of War – Washington Times

Bookworm – Memorial Day Post: The Warriors Among Us

Kim Priestap – Memorial Day Tribute

Flopping Aces – Memorial Day Post and video dedicated to the memory of the late milblogger Maj. Chris Galloway
Memorial Day Weekend 2010: Giving thanks for those who made the ultimate sacrifice

Here’s one that I missed.

Merry Christmas From CAAT 1, WPNS CO, 2nd Battalion 2nd Marines. (filmed on site at Alpha 1)

A Soldier’s Christmas

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
my daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree, I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep
in perfect contentment, or so it would seem.
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,
But I opened my eye when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
and I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

“What are you doing?” I asked without fear
“Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!”

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts,
to the window that danced with a warm fire’s light
then he sighed and he said “It’s really all right,
I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night”

“Its my duty to stand at the front of the line,
that separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at ‘Pearl on a day in December,”
then he sighed, “That’s a Christmas ‘Gram always remembers.”
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ‘Nam
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red white and blue… an American flag.

“I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home,
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat,
I can carry the weight of killing another
or lay down my life with my sisters and brothers
who stand at the front against any and all,
to insure for all time that this flag will not fall.”

“So go back inside,” he said, “harbor no fright
Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right.”
“But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,
“Give you money,” I asked, “or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you’ve done,
For being away from your wife and your son.”

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
“Just tell us you love us, and never forget
To fight for our rights back at home while we’re gone.
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead,
to know you remember we fought and we bled
is payment enough, and with that we will trust.
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.”

-Michael Marks,
December 7, 2000

Deployed at Christmas?  It is tough.  Technology has improved things to some degree but, in general terms it is one of the tougher things to mentally deal with.

Don’t forget the guys that are out there at the tip of the spear.