Sometimes you're proud of where you live

[charlieb]

Marine Staff Sargent Jason Rogers was laid to rest Saturday. The funeral was held at my church. The misguided folks from Westboro were here to protest the funeral. They end result was:

http://thehayride.com/2011/04/westboro- ... and-loses/

Freedom Riders were on patrol

[hausdok]

Lump in my throat the size of a tangerine while watching that.

Thanks, Charley.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[kurt]

Way to go Brandon. Charley, you live in a good community.

[Ben H]

"A couple of days before, one of them (Westboro protestors) ran his mouth at a Brandon gas station and got his arse waxed."

You gotta love good ol' boy justice.

Those douchbags showed up here a few months back. While Louisville didn't get as creative as Brandon, they did out number them, and the "protesters" (or as like to to call them, POS's I would not spit on if they were on fire). Left without much of a scene.

I remember talking with my wife about it. KY is a strange state. You have Louisville and Lexington, and then there is Kentucky. Like the small town I grew up in, the one time pot capital of the world, and birthplace of the Cornbread Mafia (yes, it's real). There is not a shadow of doubt in my mind, that if this "church" were to try to "protest" a funeral in my old neck of the woods, someone would get murdered.

[MMustola]

If that happened in my town I would have been proud to be a part of it.

[hausdok]

[br KY is a strange state. You have Louisville and Lexington, and then there is Kentucky. Like the small town I grew up in, the one time pot capital of the world, and birthplace of the Cornbread Mafia (yes, it's real). There is not a shadow of doubt in my mind, that if this "church" were to try to "protest" a funeral in my old neck of the woods, someone would get murdered.

Been following the FX series Justified with Timothy Olyphant?

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Ben H]

[br KY is a strange state. You have Louisville and Lexington, and then there is Kentucky. Like the small town I grew up in, the one time pot capital of the world, and birthplace of the Cornbread Mafia (yes, it's real). There is not a shadow of doubt in my mind, that if this "church" were to try to "protest" a funeral in my old neck of the woods, someone would get murdered.

Been following the FX series Justified with Timothy Olyphant?

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

Oh yeah, I've been a fan of him since Deadwood on HBO.

[AHI in AR]

I have to say that the Westboro Baptist Church is a group that absolutely violates all true Christian principles --as well as any decent non-denominational, agnostic, or atheistic ones.

These people are simply wrong.

[mgbinspect]

All I can say is, as a parent, I can't imagine having to endure the mixed emotions between the loss of a child for our country and the pride of their willingness to lay their life down for the country. I'm exceedingly proud of my son who ran a catapult during one of the wars in the middle east, or my son in law who flew sorties in the other war in the middle east. Losing either of them would be heart-break.

It's so easy to forget that our ability to do the things we do in life comes at a price. I'm sure that most of us have heard of this letter, through the movie Saving Private Ryan, but it is worthy of keeping in mind.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Executive Mansion

Washington, D.C.

November 21, 1864

Dear Madam,

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

Abraham Lincoln

--------------------------------------------------------------------

My commitment to offer all active military and veterans a 25% discount is based - not upon marketing, but a near overwhelming heart-felt appreciation for the sacrifices they were willing to make for ME. I gave a Vietnam vet that discount this morning, along with my customary hand shake and verbal thanks for his service. When I travel, as I see fellas in uniform in the airport, I thank them all. It's a small gesture, but I know it's the kind of thing that they don't easily forget, and so justly deserve.

As Abraham Lincoln wrote, there really is not an adequate way to thank military personnel or their parents for what they endure for us.

[charlieb]

We offer a discount to military, police(any form) and fire fighters. They all serve us.

We adopted the policy when our son signed up 3 years ago. He is a heavy wheeled vehicle mechanic. One tour in sandland and has signed up for another. While there he serves as a driver or riding a 50 cal. We have peace with his choices. We know God keeps him just as safe there as when he is here.

The men and women who serve don't always agree with the politics behind things but they fight to maintain our ideals and freedom for all.

[mgbinspect]

We offer a discount to military, police(any form) and fire fighters. They all serve us.

We adopted the policy when our son signed up 3 years ago. He is a heavy wheeled vehicle mechanic. One tour in sandland and has signed up for another. While there he serves as a driver or riding a 50 cal. We have peace with his choices. We know God keeps him just as safe there as when he is here.

The men and women who serve don't always agree with the politics behind things but they fight to maintain our ideals and freedom for all.

I'm glad you reminded me. I, also, offer the discount to firefighters and law enforcement. There are so many who willingly put their very lives at risk for us. I thank them all. I'm glad you do too, Charlie. We share that experience - being the parent of kids serving.

[hausdok]

The men and women who serve don't always agree with the politics behind things but they fight to maintain our ideals and freedom for all.

That is so true. It's about the backing one another up and completing the mission and not letting their country, or themselves, down.

I used to occasionally take a coffee break and stroll down to the day room to see what my off-duty guys were doing. I'd often catch them in the middle of a full-blown yelling match about politics. There'd be someone yelling about how so-and-so was a bleeding heart liberal and so-and-so was a war mongering pig, etc.. Sometimes they'd get so loud that I could hear them all the way down in my office and I'd walk down there and tell them to pipe down so that the rest of us could work. They'd then want me to weigh in on this political thing or the other and I'd always have to decline. There's a rule in the military that those in leadership positions should keep their political and religious views to themselves and not try to influence those that they supervise. I think it's a good rule. Why do you think I don't allow religion and political discussions here?

However, in spite of their differing politics, when it came the day of our deployment notification each and every one of them pitched in hard to do whatever it took to ensure that the platoon was ready on time and ready to face whatever came. When we boarded that plane at Ramstein they were one very tight-knit and boisterous group; so tight knit and boisterous, you would have thought they were all heading to Florida for spring break and not to a war zone. No complaining, just anxious to go do what they'd been training so hard to do for so long. (Well, that and most of the guys on the flight were falling all over themselves to try and attract the attention of one particularly cute flight attendant.).

I had guys, and gals, in that platoon that expressed views of pacifism and I had some who were barely-contained warriors. Downrange I ended up having one black spot that we could have done without - a married male squad leader that I had to relieve of duty and replace for screwing around with an enlisted female - but, other than that one idiot, the rest of them distinguished themselves and made me immensely proud to serve alongside them. That's why to this day I still sign off with the platoon's motto.

Every time I see one of those funeral procession videos I feel pain; pain that's at least as bad as what I felt when my Dad died, and I know the kind of anguish that that soldier's wife and family are feeling. I truly hope they can find solace.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[charlieb]

We offer a discount to military, police(any form) and fire fighters. They all serve us.

We adopted the policy when our son signed up 3 years ago. He is a heavy wheeled vehicle mechanic. One tour in sandland and has signed up for another. While there he serves as a driver or riding a 50 cal. We have peace with his choices. We know God keeps him just as safe there as when he is here.

The men and women who serve don't always agree with the politics behind things but they fight to maintain our ideals and freedom for all.

I'm glad you reminded me. I, also, offer the discount to firefighters and law enforcement. There are so many who willingly put their very lives at risk for us. I thank them all. I'm glad you do too, Charlie. We share that experience - being the parent of kids serving.

We share one other critical thing. I'll send you a pm

[mgbinspect]

We offer a discount to military, police(any form) and fire fighters. They all serve us.

We adopted the policy when our son signed up 3 years ago. He is a heavy wheeled vehicle mechanic. One tour in sandland and has signed up for another. While there he serves as a driver or riding a 50 cal. We have peace with his choices. We know God keeps him just as safe there as when he is here.

The men and women who serve don't always agree with the politics behind things but they fight to maintain our ideals and freedom for all.

I'm glad you reminded me. I, also, offer the discount to firefighters and law enforcement. There are so many who willingly put their very lives at risk for us. I thank them all. I'm glad you do too, Charlie. We share that experience - being the parent of kids serving.

We share one other critical thing. I'll send you a pm

Indeed we do, Charlie, indeed we do. We're brothers twice over here.