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Patriotism: Obama vs. McCain

One Veterans Perspective on the Patriotism Question

by Peter Macdonald

Two equal sides to Patriotism told by two different but equal U.S. Citizens. One see Patriotism as something in the gut, the other views it by the history of the Veteran. One sees it as remembering child hood history and memory of historical events witnessed by him with is family. The other see it as putting the country first, before party or personal ambition before anything that all people share the responsibility of freedom.

One person gets his message by listening to Veterans, knowing through personal experiences of risking everything to sacrifice for the privilege to be an American. The other by way of his grandfather's pride in serving-a country where we have the unparalleled freedom to pursue our dreams.

Army Blogger Ordered To Shut Down His Blog

Army Blogger Ordered To Shutter Site

Orders are orders

A solider in the U.S. Army has been ordered to shut down his blog for writing posts that criticized his superior officers.

Blogging about the Iraq war under the pseudonym "LT [Lieutenant] G" since December 2007 the popular blog called "Kaboom: A Soldiers War Journal," detailed the daily life of the war describing firefights, combat patrols and tribal meetings.

The entry that landed the lieutenant in trouble with his superiors was a May 28 post titled "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage." In the post LT G writes about turning down a promotion to become an XO (Executive Officer).

"I want nothing to do with a lateral promotion to XO (Executive Officer) that involves becoming a logistical whipping boy and terminal scapegoat for all things NOTGOODENOUGH. I've been out here in the wilds too long, dealing with matters of life and death, to go back to Little America for PowerPoint pissing matches."

Willie Nelson Supports Full Funding for Veterans Healthcare

Willie Nelson Supports Full Funding for Veterans Healthcare

Willie Nelson Records Public Service Announcement for Veterans and VA Healthcare and Benefits

Click and Listen to Audio Now: 30 Second Spot (.mp3) - 60 Second Spot (.mp3)

Operation Firing for Effect (OFFE) and Willie Nelson have recorded a public service announcement in support of U.S. Veterans. OFFE2008.org has a long standing relationship with Willie.

During a recent Willie Nelson Concert in Finger Lake, New York, Operation Firing For Effect’s National Chairman, Gene Simes managed to get a personal package delivered to Willie Nelson after the concert. The package contained OFFE’s resolution for full mandatory funding of veteran’s healthcare, and OFFE T-shirt that says; ‘Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You, Ask What Is Your Country Not Doing For Your Veterans?’

Gene received the following message on his voice mail; “Gene, this is Willie, call me.”

Medal of Honor Awarded to Mike Mansoor

by Wind Bear

Petty Officer 2nd Class (E5) (Rate: P EOD2) MIKE MANSOOR, a Navy EOD Technician, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, posthumously for jumping on a grenade in Iraq , giving his life to save his fellow Seals.

During Mike Monsoor's funeral in San Diego, as his coffin was being moved from the hearse to the grave site at Point Loma's Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery , SEALs were lined up on both sides of the pallbearers route forming a column of two's, with the coffin moving up the center. As Mike's coffin passed, each SEAL, having removed his gold Trident from his uniform, slapped it down embedding the Trident in the wooden coffin.

How will the Army handle the flood of PTSD Veterans?

FORT DRUM, New York - Fort Drum, a bleak U.S. Army base in upstate New York, is a test case for how the military is handling a looming mental health crisis.

The military and its critics agree on one thing — there are not enough therapists to treat all the soldiers who return from Iraq and Afghanistan traumatized by the experience.

The 10th Mountain Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team (2BCT) is the most-deployed brigade in the U.S. army since 2001. It served two tours in Afghanistan, totaling 11 months, and was sent to Iraq twice for tours of 12 and 15 months."They're kind of a canary in a coal mine," said Paul Rieckhoff, a former Army captain who founded the advocacy group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "They're a good barometer to understand the human cost of the war."

VA: Brain-injured War Veteran Not Getting Proper Care

Brain-injured vets still not getting proper care Audit: Job assistance, counseling lacking, despite government pledges

Many Iraq war veterans with traumatic brain injury are not getting adequate health care and job assistance for their long-term recovery despite years of government pledges to do so, Veterans Affairs Department investigators say.

“Significant needs remain unmet,” according to the report released by the VA’s inspector general. It is the first to examine the Bush administration’s long-term efforts in supporting veterans with traumatic brain injury, a leading problem among soldiers struck by roadside bombs that often causes lasting emotional and behavioral difficulties.

The study tracked a group of 52 patients that received VA treatment after sustaining brain injury during a seven-month period in 2004. An initial review by the IG in 2006 found gaps in follow-up care and family counseling 16 months after the injury and urged the VA to improve long-term case management.

The VA pledged to coordinate the necessary follow-up care with the Pentagon, but the latest audit concludes that efforts are still falling short for roughly one in four patients.

Let's Celebrate Our Loss of Freedom this 4th of July!

Freedom in 2008? Patriotism? 4th of July?

Our Forefathers are turning in their graves!

by John Perna

As we go out to celebrate our freedom this 4th of July let's go over a few things to make your celebration a success. Most importantly, you must keep all of your thoughts, and words, about defending freedom, and American Independence, IN THE PAST. Just wave that plastic American flag made by political slaves in Communist China. You don't want to seem un-American do you?

You must not talk about the fact that we are LOSING our American Independence TODAY to sovereignty destroying international forces like the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and the creation of regional government through "trade treaties". For more information, do a Google search using keywords like "FTAA", "CAFTA" , OR "NAFTA".

What Happened to the Men who Signed the Declaration of Independence?

True Heros: Veterans Who Fought for our Freedoms in 1776

Signers Tortured, Ransacked, Ramshackled, and Killed During the Revolutionary War

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Declaration of Independence: The Last Man Standing - Charles Carroll

The longest lived signer of the Declaration of Indpendence

Charles Carroll is the last man standing

Charles Carroll of Carrollton (September 19, 1737 – November 14, 1832) was a delegate to the Continental Congress and later United States Senator for Maryland. He was the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was the longest lived signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Continental Congress. He lived to age 95.

He was born on September 19, 1737 at Annapolis, Maryland, the son of Charles Carroll of Annapolis (1702–1800) (his grandfather was Irish Daniel Carroll) and Elizabeth (Brooke) Carroll. His reputed attendance at the Jesuit preparatory school at Bohemia in Cecil County cannot be confirmed from contemporary records, and he may have been schooled at home before departing for Europe, where he attended the College of St. Omer in France, and graduated from the College of Louis the Grand in 1755. He continued his studies in Europe, and read for the law in London before returning to Annapolis in 1765.

Charles Carroll of Annapolis granted Carrollton Manor to his son, Charles Carroll of Carrollton. It is from this tract of land that he took his title, “Charles Carroll of Carrollton.”

Text of the Declaration of Independence

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

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 of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, having 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. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient suffrance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.