“The real problem is not that we are different, nor that we disagree and have conflict. It's that most of us automatically view conflict as something negative rather than as a tool God can use to help us better understand ourselves and one another.
--Robert Ricciardelli”
Sgt. John F. Thomas(Right) & Sgt. Ronnie L. Shelley, Sr.(Left)
33 & 34 years old from Valdosta, Georgia
2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, 48th Infantry Brigade, Georgia Army National Guard
July 24, 2005 & July 30, 2005
Sgt. Ronnie "Rod" Shelley and Sgt. John F. Thomas became best friends in the Georgia Army National Guard.
They both were ex-Marines, both about the same age, and both enjoyed searching for arrowheads and fishing together. As their friendship grew, Thomas often came over to Shelley’s house for steaks and ribs barbecued by his friend. And when their infantry unit was sent to Iraq in May of 2005, they went to war together.
When their unit was mobilized for combat duty in Iraq, Shelley promised to watch out for Thomas. "Ronnie said, 'Don't you worry, I'll bring him back safely,"' said Thomas' grandfather. But neither Sgt. Thomas or Sgt. Shelley made it back safely. Sgt. Thomas was killed July 24, 2005 by a roadside bomb near Baghdad. And Sgt. Shelley was killed six days later on July 30 by another roadside bomb, also near Baghdad.
Shelley was a family man, married with three children, who was obsessed with having a neat yard, his wife said. "The grass had to be two inches," she said. "If the neighbor mowed the grass, Rod had to mow. He also wanted the biggest, baddest lawn mower."
She said she fell in love with his "gorgeous blue ... eyes," and "he had a laid back attitude. I could not make him mad."
Thomas was married but had no children. His grandparents said he dreamed of becoming a forest ranger. "John wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail. Now the only trail he can walk is the trail in heaven," the grandfather said.
Mrs. Thomas, wiping back tears, said the soldier felt responsible for the others in his unit. "He cared for people," she said. "That's why he had so many friends. People cared for him."
Killed alongside Sgt. Shelley were Staff Sgt. David R. Jones Sr., Sgt. 1st Class Victor A. Anderson and Sgt. Jonathon C. Haggin and killed alongside Sgt. Thomas were Army Spc. Jacques E. Brunson, Army Staff Sgt. Carl R. Fuller and Army Sgt. James O. Kinlow.These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People LivedThis post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Isn’t it interesting that, in a time of Federal budget deficits, and cries from the Left to cut back on Corporate welfare, that Democrats are more infaovr of the latest farm sudsidy bill to come out of Congress?
More than half the subsidies paid out from 2003 to 2005 went to 19 of the 435 congressional districts, according to the non-partisan Environmental Working Group, an opponent of the bill.
The bill almost exclusively sends money to the big agribusinesses, and does not help the individual farmer much—not that there are that many of them left anymore anway. And, just where…exactly…do the candidates stand on all this?
… McCain went to Iowa, the heart of farm country, this month to announce his opposition to the bill. On Thursday, he called it "a bloated piece of legislation that will do more harm than good for most farmers and consumers."
Obama came out in favor of the farm bill Thursday after failing to vote on a previous version when it passed in November.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama's Democratic opponent, has supported the farm bill without reservation.
Imagine such a thing…the left in favor of MORE corporate welfare? What will they have left to blame Republicans and Conservatives for if this keeps up?
This Weeks Hero Was Suggested By Cindy
Petty Officer 2nd Class Chris Davila
From Sierra Vista, Arizona
On the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attack on the United States, Petty Officer 2nd Class Chris Davila raised an American flag over Camp Korean Village, Iraq, he brought with him from Arizona.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008, Sierra Vista firefighter and emergency medical technician Chris Davila presented that flag to Fire Chief Randy Redmond as fellow firefighters looked on. Monday, May 5, 2008, was Davila’s first day back on the job with the department after being gone for nearly nine months, with seven of those months deployed as a Navy Reserve corpsman serving with a Marine unit near the Jordanian and Syrian border area in Iraq.
And, as luck would have it, on his first shift saw him responding to a blaze in Sierra Vista. "Right back to work," he said with a laugh.
You can read the rest of PO 2nd Class Davila's story here.These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People LivedThis post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Imagine such a thing! Hezbollah getting upset because it doesn’t like government rules? Well, that’s what it amounts to, anyway. Unfortunately, with as much power, if not more so, as the government itself wields, Hezbollah can get away with a lot. And, with their usual rhetoric, they say it is all because the US and Israel are trying to control them.
"The (government) decisions are tantamount to a declaration of war and the start of a war... on behalf of the United States and Israel," he [Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah] charged during a rare press conference.
Of course!…it couldn’t possibly have anything to do with maintaining civil order… how silly of the world to think that could be the case. I loved the comment from the US State Department:
"Hezbollah needs to make a choice: Be a terrorist organisation or be a political party, but quit trying to be both," said US national security council spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
Hezbollah has been very successful ,just like Yassir Arafat and the PLO, at making it look like everything is political—while terrorizing any dissenters, and neighboring nations. Of course, the UN is calling for calm, and not getting involved—as usual. I wonder what country will have a bunch of soldiers killed on a peace keeping mission this time. I also wonder if that would change the way the UN handles situations like this.
(…Darfur…Bosnia…Kosovo…Lebanon…has the methodology changed?…or ever really worked?...long term?...)
Democrats are at it again. In another move to strengthen the hold of government over people, the Democrats are proposing a way for the Federal government to ultimately own property—personal property—and control the rights to it. Don’t believe me? Then check out their latest idea for bailing out the home mortgage market.
The centerpiece of their plan is a bill by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the House Financial Services Committee chairman, to have the Federal Housing Administration relax its standards and back up to $300 billion in more affordable, fixed-rate loans for borrowers currently too financially strapped to qualify.
Instead of bailing out the home owners, they are proposing another way to bail out the banks, without making it look like it. And, according to estimates, this nearly $3 billion bailout will only help 500,000 home owners. The hidden translation, though, is that if anyone defaults again the Federal Government owns the homes, because they financed them to pay off the banks.
(…isn’t that a comforting thought…bailing out the banks…letting the investors off the hook…and getting control of housing…yep…sounds absolutely like the Democrat agenda to leave government in charge…)
CSM Robert Prosser and LTC Erik Kurilla
1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment (Deuce Four)
LTC. Erik Kurilla and CSM. Robert Prosser's story is an amazing one. One that Michael Yon has told far better than I ever could. Warning. The site contains very graphic images. Some may want to turn off images before viewing.These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People LivedThis post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
There has been a lot of press lately…mostly liberal, of course…denouncing all the stuff on the internet about Obama being Muslim. And, remember, Obama boldly proclaimed that “I am a Christian. I have always been a Christian.” Well, it seems there is a lot of public information that contradicts that. Daniel Pipes April 29, 2008 article on Barack Obama's Muslim Childhood details it very nicely.
Nedra Pickler of the Associated Press reports that "documents showed he enrolled as a Muslim" while at a Catholic school during first through third grades. Kim Barker of the Chicago Tribune confirms that Obama was "listed as a Muslim on the registration form for the Catholic school."
But, even without all that, there are a couple of obvious telltale clues. After all, only Muslims name their children Hussein.
Now, to be fair, Islamic faith does not and should not disqualify him, or anyone else, from holding the office of President of the United States—or any other public office. LYING in order to cover up his Islamic faith and deceive the American people about who he really is should absolutely disqualify him.
