“It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan. He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it. This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ‘ to care for him who shall have borne the battle’ given that the United States government sent members of the armed forces into harm’s way, and not private insurance companies. I say again that The American Legion does not and will not support any plan that seeks to bill a veteran for treatment of a service connected disability at the very agency that was created to treat the unique need of America’s veterans!”

Apparently, the Commander in Cheif would rather private insurance bear the burden of recovery health care for those injured in conflicts brought upon those soldiers BY the order of the government rather than shoulder the responsibility (shock, Obama’s administration shunning responsibility!)

Barring minor injuries, many of the treatment procedures these fine men and woman must endure are FAR more costly and long lasting than most of us could imagine… I think you would be hard pressed to find an affordable insurance policy out there that would cover injuries sustained from combat, let alone one that could withstand the recovery costs.

If Obama were to follow through with this plan, I feel it would be a massive slap in the face to all of those injured, fighting selflessly for their country.

The greatest moment of the entire service came when several surviving WWII veterans spoke about their service to their country as Native Americans. It was a very real reminder of how much some people give for their country and how much we sometimes take for granted.

If you see someone in your daily routines today that you know has served or is serving this great country in our armed forces, please stop and thank them.

I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
And then he stood at ease.

No, freedom isn’t free.

“Mark my words… It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.

I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate and he’s gonna need help. And the kind of help he’s gonna need is, he’s gonna need you – not financially to help him – we’re gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it’s not gonna be apparent initially, it’s not gonna be apparent that we’re right.

I’ve forgotten more about foreign policy than most of my colleagues know, so I’m not being falsely humble with you. I think I can be value added, but this guy has it. This guy has it. But he’s gonna need your help. Because I promise you, you all are gonna be sitting here a year from now going, ‘Oh my God, why are they there in the polls? Why is the polling so down? Why is this thing so tough?‘ We’re gonna have to make some incredibly tough decisions in the first two years. So I’m asking you now, I’m asking you now, be prepared to stick with us. Remember the faith you had at this point because you’re going to have to reinforce us.”

Now normally, if you’re going to make a bold, sweeping statement such as this, you are normally going to have to go into detail about what you were saying at some point soon after such a statement was made. After all… you don’t want imaginations to run wild and cause damage to your run. Problem is… so far no one has asked him to elaborate and boy are the gears turning.

If you put Biden’s comment side by side with a comment made by his running mate at the ServiceNation presidential forum at Columbia University in New York City and they could be very well speaking of eliminating the volunteer service program in this country.

“My grandfather, after Pearl Harbor, joined the military. My grandmother, who had just had a baby at Fort Leavenworth, stayed back and worked on a bomber assembly line. There was a total mobilization.

And when my grandfather came back, he came back to a G.I. bill that was going to pay for his college education and FHA loans that would help them purchase a home. There was that sense of sacred obligation that, frankly, we have lost during these last two wars.

I want to restore that.

But it’s also important that a president speaks to military service as an obligation not just of some, but of many. You know, I traveled, obviously, a lot over the last 19 months. And if you go to small towns, throughout the Midwest or the Southwest or the South, every town has tons of young people who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. That’s not always the case in other parts of the country, in more urban centers. And I think it’s important for the president to say, this is an important obligation. If we are going into war, then all of us go, not just some.”

I’m not saying that is what they mean, but it does paint a very REAL scenario since they aren’t being forthcoming with the details behind Joe’s “humble” moment.

Obama is campaigning as an agent of change, an anti-war candidate wanting to bring us all home and cower in the corner while he runs out to discuss our differences with people hell bent on our annihilation.

If he IS hinting at a draft or obligated military service, may I mention that while his grandfather was a service member during WWII, he was not FORCED to serve his country. You CANNOT make a man die for a country he would not volunteer his life for. I would love for someone to explain to me what Obama plans on changing in this country that would make Americans step up as they did in his grandfathers day.

I would also LOVE a detailed explanation from Biden as to what this generated crisis will be.

Here, in remembrance of lives lost on that day is the Prayer to the Nation given by President Roosevelt:

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. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, 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, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; 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. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest — until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

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

And for us at home — fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them — help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, 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, too — strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment — let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace — a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. 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.

Bugles Across America is an organization who is trying to gain as many volunteers as they can to serve the men and women in the armed services who have fallen by honoring their memory through a LIVE performance of Taps.

BAA was founded in 2000 when Congress passed legislation stating Veterans had a right to at least 2 uniformed military people to fold the flag and play taps on a CD player. Feeling that it was a slap in their face to simply play Taps on a recording as if we were too busy to honor them.

As a Trumpet player myself, as well as a Vigil Honor Eagle Scout, I felt that such a call was well served and I would be honored to play a mere 24 notes for their life of service.

So if you too play the Trumpet or a valved/non-valved Bugle I would love it if you would sign up.

You can read more about the NFP Organization by visiting their website.

Berkley City Council on Tuesday voted 6-3 in favor of the following declaration.

“Shattuck Avenue Marine recruiting station is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders.”

Got that? The US Military (their declaration apparently applies to all armed forces) is an intruder in Berkley, CA. They EVEN went so far as to dedicate a reserved parking space to Code Pink (PMS and politics DO NOT mix) in front of the recruiting station and have encouraged them to impede the efforts of officers who are trying to recruit there.

Code Pink member Fran Rachel said the push for a parking space and a noise permit (aptly named don’t you think?) is essential to their cause because Marines are recruiting soldiers who may die in an unjust war.

“This isn’t a game; it’s mass murder. There’s a sickness of silence of people not speaking out against the war. We have to do this.”

Hey, it’s their right to throw a fit but I think it should also be the right of the armed services to withdrawal any and all security and support detail from Berkley in return.

Honestly, I think recruitment offices should be in shared space government buildings, after all it’s a government operation so what’s wrong with putting in the post office, or on base?

Congress controls the money, not the military. If Congress has the numbers, they can issue a budget that all but forces the Commander in Chief into a troop withdrawal but don’t think they can usurp the control of the military from the President, it’s not in their job description.

Cheney went on to say, “This action by the House of Representatives is irresponsible and sends exactly the wrong message to our enemy. When members of the Congress speak not of victory but of time limits, deadlines or other arbitrary measures, they’re telling the enemy to simply watch the clock and wait us out. It’s time the self-appointed strategists on Capitol Hill understood a very simple concept: You cannot win a war if you tell the enemy when you’re going to quit.”

There’s talk of a forced budget cut to try to make the moves FOR Bush, but I’m guessing the Democrats have underestimated the President if they think such a move is going to win them any points in Washington.

I see this as a MAJOR reason that so many could care less how our current war ends. They’re too busy spending billions at Abercrombie to think about the men and women who are putting their lives on the line every day over seas.

Have you thanked a serviceman lately?

The Chief Judge has issued the following statement, “From tomorrow, any day could be the day.” leaving Saddam with no knowledge of when his life on this planet will end.

Personally, I think such a fate is perfectly fitting for such a heartless person… after all, it’s not like any of his victims had a spelled out timeframe on their life, why should he get the honor of getting his emotions in order.

I think all executions should run in a similar fashion… if you’re sentenced to death, you get one shot to appeal… fail that and from the day after and onward you’re put on notice that you’re to die “any day now”. Cruel and Unusual has been left for the babies to exploit, why else would someone get a stay of execution because a needle might hurt.

Goodnight Saddam, I hope you enjoyed yourself.