LEATHERNECKM31

No contest… the Medal of Honor against a craven homeowners’ association

Colonel Van Barfoot fought and helped defeat the Nazis and the communists twice, yet now, even at age 90 his enemies are still at the gate.

The retired Army officer has dug in against his home owners association in Richmond Virginia because they’ve threatened legal action for flying his US flag on a 21-foot tall pole.

He raises the American flag every morning on the pole, then lowers and folds the flag at dusk each day in a three-corner military fashion.

Van Barfoot was given until 5 p.m. today by the Richmond law firm of Coates & Davenport  to remove his flagpole or face "legal action being brought to enforce the Covenants and Restrictions against you." The letter states that Barfoot will be subject to paying all legal fees and costs in any successful legal proceeding pursued by the homeowner association's board.

Barfoot moved to the Sussex Square community in western Henrico County last July, and was ordered to remove the flagpole from his front lawn when he flew the flag on Labor Day, and again on Veterans Day.

The HOA said he could not use his flagpole "for aesthetic reasons.”

This is the respect shown to a man who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his action following the Anzio landing in early 1944.

Then a tech sergeant, Barfoot advanced alone through a Nazi minefield, following ditches and depressions, until he came within a few yards of a machine gun on the German flank. After taking out the gun with a hand grenade, he entered the German trench and advanced on a second machine gun, killing two soldiers and capturing three others. When he reached a third gun, the entire crew surrendered to him. Others also surrendered and Barfoot captured a total of seventeen German soldiers, and killed eight.

When the Germans launched an armored counterattack later in the day, Barfoot disabled one tank with a bazooka, then advanced into enemy-held territory and destroyed an abandoned German artillery piece. He returned to his own lines and helped two wounded soldiers from his squad to the rear.

Now as then, the lanky (6’5”)  Barfoot is not backing down and will fight this in court. He is said to be shocked and gratified by the outpouring of support from around the country.

There is no HOA rule expressly forbidding flagpoles, but the board ruled against Barfoot’s flag pole after the fact and ordered it removed in July. Short flag “stands” attached to porches dot the community. See video here.

We all know HOAs are populated by people who snitched on you in grade school, and they’ve never grown up.

The appropriate and proper response is to grant him an exemption, but they’re the perfect little fifth-columnists for who, “the rules” are far, far more important than respect, dignity and common sense.

He earned the exemption a very long time ago, putting his life on the line professionally for millions of people who aren’t fit to carry his canteens.

And what of those brave attorneys at Coates & Davenport P.C. who accepted this “case”?

They did so because compared to money, the Medal of Honor, the Flag and America do not mean anything to them… otherwise they would have refused the retainer.   

Perhaps…. your opinion about this matter may be of interest to them at:

Coates & Davenport P.C.

5206 Markel Road, Suite 200
Richmond VA 23230
Toll Free: (800) 450-8311
Local Phone: (804) 285-7000
General Fax: (804) 285-2849
Real Estate Fax: (804) 285-3426

The picture of their office on their website doesn’t show a flag flying.

Real America still produces men like Col. Barfoot, warriors young enough to be his great grandsons (tip of the helmet to Sailor Ron).

The morning of Nov. 16, 2005, was another day in Operation Steel Curtain to stem the flow of mercenaries entering Iraq from Syria. The end of this particular assignment was in sight as the Marines were running out of houses to check for signs of hostiles on the outskirts of New Ubaydi, near the Iraq border.

What they couldn't know was that two dozen insurgents had picked the last farmhouse on the road for a final stand.

The firefight lasted only an hour, but the heroics would produce one Navy Cross, four Silver Stars and three Bronze Stars with Valor.

The Navy Cross—America’s second-highest valor award—was earned by Cpl. Joshua Mooi, right, who entered direct line of enemy fire six times in an effort to remove badly injured Marines who had been ambushed.

Do yourself a favor and read about Mooi and his comrades in the life-changing minutes for members of 2nd Platoon, Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment—here.

It’s an honor to have worn the same uniform as these fine young Marines

And you also need to bookmark this website:   Americanvalor.net 

“Since the Sunday before Veterans Day 2009, the newspapers and Web sites of Stephens Media are privileged and humbled to begin a 54-part series that tells the stories of heroism and bravery by the men and women in the United States Armed Forces.”

No one grinds the news media more than I, but this is a great effort by Stephens to bring to our attention the Recipients of all the valor awards being earned in Iraq and the Af-Pak Theater. Stephens is to be commended.

There is also a section for you to post the details of your military hero, regardless of war; submissions will be reviewed before posting and your contact information is required to verify the information.

Again the death angel sings… we stand at 92

By modern standards the only problem with the WWII M1-Garand was its clip’s 8-round capacity… and that Ting!! sound when the bolt locked back after firing the last round, thus alerting the enemy you were outta ammo.

Army Private First Class Alejandro Ruiz knew all this as he lay pinned down by Jap automatic weapons fire coming from a network of concealed bunkers hidden on steep ridges near the village of Gasukuma, Okinawa.

Only he and his squad leader were battle effectives, the remainder of their platoon, dead or wounded.

The 22-year-old from New Mexico needed more firepower; he’d decided to attack the bunker complex. Grabbing a Browning automatic rifle (“BAR”) he calmly walked 35 yards of open ground to the first bunker. He climbed on top and was prepared to fire into it, but a ruptured cartridge jammed the Browning.

Seeing the soldier in the open and essentially unarmed, a Jap soldier charged , and Pfc. Ruiz beat him down with the jammed weapon. Now completely unarmed, he ran back through the grenade explosions and gunfire to his platoon  position, retrieved a second BAR, tested it, grabbed extra ammo and ran ran back top the enemy bunkers.

By now all the Jap gunners realized that Ruiz was the only American threat to them. Firing in unison, the enemies’ rounds found him, wounding him in the leg. Undeterred, and despite his injury, Pfc. Ruiz climb back on top of the pillboxes. spraying bursts of gunfire into the apertures, leaping fro one to the next to deliver devastating fire.

Yesterday Medal of Honor Recipient Alejandro R. Ruiz Sr. was laid to his rest in Napa California, succumbing to congestive heart failure and age, not to the enemy.  He was 85.

He passing on Nov. 23, leaves 92 surviving Medal of Honor Recipients.

He spent the next quarter century in the Army, serving in the Korean War and retiring at the rank of master sergeant in the mid-1960s. He lived for many years in Visalia, Calif., which named a park in his honor, and most recently, he resided at the Veterans Home in Yountville, Calif., near Napa.

Sgt. Ruiz (photo above, right, courtesy of Nick Del Calzo) often recounted the circumstances that led to his Army service. As a teenager working in odd jobs for a cattle farmer in Carlsbad, N.M., he had been tasked to drive a cow to another farm when he became distracted by thoughts of a girlfriend.

The Washington Post reports:

“Sgt. Ruiz often recounted the circumstances that led to his Army service. As a teenager working in odd jobs for a cattle farmer in Carlsbad, N.M., he had been tasked to drive a cow to another farm when he became distracted by thoughts of a girlfriend.

“He drove, with the cow in tow, straight to Barstow, Tex., 122 miles away, to woo the young woman into marrying him. Sgt. Ruiz was detained, and a judge told him that he would either be sent to jail for kidnapping the cow, or he could enlist in the Army to stay out of trouble. He chose the Army.”

Thank God.

My friends, Real Americans, keep the Ruiz family in your thoughts tonight and tomorrow as you give thanks for all you have… it is because of men like Pfc. Ruiz that we sleep safe in warm beds and can awake each morning to freedom.

I am not at liberty to report details, but also please extend your prayers to all our Recipients and other great heroes…. several of them need God’s help at this time.

And today’s heroes face not only a fanatical and suicidal enemy… they have to battle their own government and even their own command structure, as rear-echelon, fat-ass wastes of air add insult to injury.

DATELINE:  The E’ffing Land of E’ffing Oz 

FoxNews reports: Navy SEALs have secretly captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq — the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004.

And three of the SEALs who captured him are now facing criminal charges, sources told FoxNews.com.

The three, all members of the Navy's elite commando unit, have refused non-judicial punishment — called a captain's mast — and have requested a trial by court-martial.

Ahmed Hashim Abed, whom the military code-named "Objective Amber," told investigators he was punched by his captors — and he had the bloody lip to prove it.

Petty Officer Matthew McCabe, a Special Operations Petty Officer Second Class (SO-2), is facing three charges: dereliction of performance of duty for willfully failing to safeguard a detainee, making a false official statement, and assault.

Petty Officer Jonathan Keefe, SO-2, is facing charges of dereliction of performance of duty and making a false official statement.

Petty Officer Julio Huertas, SO-1, faces those same charges and an additional charge of impediment of an investigation.

The three SEALs will be arraigned separately on Dec. 7. Another three SEALs — two officers and an enlisted sailor — have been identified by investigators as witnesses but have not been charged.

FoxNews.com obtained the official handwritten statement from one of the three witnesses given on Sept. 3, hours after Abed was captured and still being held at the SEAL base at Camp Baharia. He was later taken to a cell in the U.S.-operated Green Zone in Baghdad.

----

I can’t write any more about this insanity… have a good Thanksgiving and remember our veterans who made it all possible.

Southern Command… out.

Medal of Honor “Deserter” passes at 88; now 93 survive

"I believe in freedom, I believe deeply in it. I've fought in three wars, and volunteered for all of them, because I believed as a free man, that it was my duty to help those under the attack of tyranny. Just as simple as that.” – Col. Lewis L. Millett, United States Army, 1920-2009.

Lew Millett was an original and tended to march to a different drummer; the US military hasn’t seen someone like him in a very long time; it won’t see his like again.

He fought in three wars, for two armies and passed away Saturday in California, just a month from his 89th birthday.

Millett, as a company commander, led two or three bayonet charges in 1951 during the Korean War; the spirited attacks turned the tide on a disputed battleground and earned him the Medal of Honor. (I wrote “two or three” because Col. Millett once insisted to me that ‘people think it was one, but it was three separate charges’. Millett’s were the last bayonet charges in US military history.)

"We had acquired some Chinese documents stating that Americans were afraid of hand-to-hand fighting and cold steel," he told Military History. "When I read that, I thought, 'I'll show you, you sons of bitches!' "

When one of his platoons was pinned down by heavy fire, he placed himself at the head of two other platoons and ordered the men to charge up Hill 180 near Soam-Ni on Feb. 7.

Once at the top of the hill, Millett waved his rifle over his head, encouraging his men by shouting "Grenades and cold steel!" - while still fighting the enemy.
Millett's charge was so effective that the remaining Communist forces fled, but not before 47 North Korean and Chinese soldiers lay dead, 18 of which had been killed by bayonets.

According to his Medal of Honor citation, Millett bayoneted several enemy soldiers and lobbed grenades in their direction while rallying his men to fight. He refused medical evacuation after being wounded by grenade fragments.

Millett, not as well-known as some of his Medal of Honor peers, earned the nation’s four highest awards for valor and his colorful military career is more than worthy of motion picture.

Millett, shown right in 2007, joined the National Guard in 1938 while still in high school, because he wanted to fight.

When WWII broke out in Europe in 1939 and President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “No American boys would be sent to fight in any European wars,” Millett was outraged; he deserted and joined the Canadian Army.

He was sent to Britain, where he received intensive commando training that would later prove pivotal to his career. He manned an antiaircraft gun during the London blitz and when America finally entered the war in 1941, Millett went to the U.S. Embassy in London and rejoined the United States Army.

As an antitank gunner in Tunisia, he earned the Silver Star after he jumped into a burning ammunition-filled halftrack, drove it away from allied soldiers and leapt to safety just before the vehicle exploded. Not long after, he shot down a German Messerschmitt Me-109 fighter that was strafing Allied troops. Millett, then a staff sergeant, and firing machine guns mounted on a halftrack, hit the pilot through the windshield.

He served with distinction in the 1st Armored Division in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. When his court-martial papers for desertion finally caught up with him, he had already earned a battlefield commission and several decorations for bravery. The charges were quietly forgotten.

So that the issue would never arise again, he was court-martialed and convicted… fined $52 and returned to duty.

When World War II ended, Millett temporarily left active duty, only to rejoin the National Guard.

After his Korean War service, he went through Ranger training at Fort Benning, and was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division as an intelligence officer. He later was sent to Vietnam as a military adviser to a controversial intelligence program called Phoenix, which killed thousands of suspected Viet Cong and their sympathizers in an effort to destroy the Viet Cong infrastructure in towns and villages.

He said he retired in 1973 because he was convinced that the United States had "quit" in Vietnam. He championed the return of U.S. prisoners of war from Vietnam and then worked as a deputy sheriff in Trenton, Tenn., before settling in the San Jacinto Mountains resort village of Idyllwild, Calif., across the street from an American Legion post.

One of my cherished memories about Col. Millett occurred during my first Medal of Honor National Convention—Pueblo, 2000. He was talking with Don and I was sitting a few feet away taking candid photos when I noticed that he was wearing the Navy/Marine Corps version of the Medal of Honor, not the Army version.

“I wear this in honor of Joshua Chamberlain who received The Medal for leading a bayonet charge at Little Round Top, Gettysburg; and since I led one in Korea and we’re both from Maine, I had this engraved in his honor; bought it at a gun show in the 1960s.”   

Colonel Millett's awards in addition to the Medal of Honor include, the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Legion of Merit (with 2 oak leaf clusters), Bronze Star, Air Medal (with numeral 2), Purple Heart (with 3 oak leaf clusters), Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and Vietnam  Campaign Ribbon, the Ranger Tab, US and Thai Master Parachutist Badges among others.

He earned the rare master parachutist wings with Gold Star Device for five combat jumps. 

At Osan Air Base in South Korea, "Millett Road" is named after Colonel Millett running up Hill 180, the hill where he led the legendary bayonet charge.

Earlier this year, a park in San Jacinto, Calif., was named in his honor.

The inexorable losses in the ranks of our greatest heroes is a shadow on our nation; since Don started the Medal of Honor Host City Program here about 10 years ago, we have lost more than 50 Recipients. 

When membership in the Congressional Medal of Honor Society reaches 25, it will be disbanded.

We stand at 94; domestic communists threaten our future

Vietnam Medal of Honor Recipient Leonard “Len” Keller, 62,  died at Sunday afternoon in after being critically injured in a motorcycle accident only minutes after being honored at the U.S. Navy Fleet Reserve Association in Pensacola Florida.

Sergeant Keller was cited for heroic action in May, 1967 when his unit was assaulted by superior enemy forces near Ap Bac, South Vietnam.

Police reports indicate that Keller was thrown from his three-wheeled Harley Davidson after leaving the association’s parking lot.

A two-tour Army veteran, Keller had recently retired after a 28-year career as a civilian in the supply unit at Pensacola Naval Air Station.

Navy Captain Bill Reavey, commanding officer of Pensacola NAS, called Keller's death "a national loss."

Funeral arraignments are pending.

We stand at 94.

Read more here.

                                  

It’s been hard to grab traction since back from Indian Territory.

As far as I can see after a few days away is the commander-in-chief continues to dither and stall on reinforcements to Af-Pak, and I fear that a coordinated and widespread, Tet Offensive-like attack is being formulated by the Taliban.

Because we have done nothing to head the coup that will eventually destroy us, federal funding for ACORN has resumed, the “government option” is back in Obamacare (as if it was ever out), and our enemies as so brazen that another ObaMaoist has blithely and publically said:

“As we've tried to learn about this world, we have evolved some views....
”Generally speaking, we get the joke. We know that the free market is nonsense. We know that the whole point is to game the system, to beat the market or at least find someone who will pay you a lot of money, 'cause they're convinced that there is a free lunch.

“We know this is largely about power, that it's an adults only no limit game. We kind of agree with Mao that political power comes largely from the barrel of a gun.”   Video.

The latest self-proclaimed Maoist is Ron Bloom, “manufacturing czar”; he began as “car czar”, came up with “Cash for Clunkers”, and with that rousing success, he’s now in charge of all manufacturing.

… as Henry Ford revolves in his grave.

Bloom is a Harvard grad… no surprise there, considering that Harvard has produced more enemies of America than any other institution of “higher” learning in the nation world.

More importantly, he is a decades-long operative of SEIU—ACORN’s next door neighbors; he has represented the United Steel Workers (USW) before his halcyon days “under the hood.“

He also saw to it that the United Auto Workers (UAW), ended up owning most of General Motors in sweetheart deal enforced by the Obama regime.

It disgusts me to mention these scumbags in the same space as Len Keller; I agree with Zell Miller… I wished we lived in a time when things were settled with duels.

If when that happens…. I have a list; oh trust me, I have a list.

Before I turn this off for Monday Night Thug Ball, raise a glass to Len Keller’s memory and say “God speed”, I’ll just hit a few trip wires that confront us…. how many commies in the White House does it take until we remember the lessons of our Founding Fathers and overthrow our oppressors?

Another One of Obama's Czars Caught on Tape Praising Mao Tse-Tung....

President not yet sure on timing of troop decision...

“President Barack Obama has not yet determined whether he will make a decision on sending more troops to Afghanistan before the November 7 election runoff, a US official said Tuesday.”

• Because he’s whistling while we burn….

NATO "a corpse," fumes former Canada military boss

Canada????

Defense Secretary Gates Breaking Ranks? Says Obama Can't Wait For New Afghan Elections to Make a Decision on Sending More Troops...

Screw chain-of-command… if the theater commander yells help, and the SecDef chimes in… it’s time to remove the commander-in-chief.

Nice salute, dipwad….. nice tie.

NY Times Forced to Admit, Military Ranks Growing Increasingly Frustrated With Obama.....

Obama’s Safe Schools Czar Now Says Teach Respect for Homosexuality in Kindergarten-

And where would we be without this guy?

GOP Rep. Gregg Harper: "We Hunt Liberal, Tree-Hugging Democrats, Although it Does Seem Like a Waste of Good Ammunition".....

And THIS GUY?

Rush to CNN's Carol Costello: 'Go sit on a fire hydrant and improve your day'

Today’s “Day by Day” from Chris Muir:

The Real America in Real America

I’m dispensing with my usual meat and potatoes posts today… I figure that what with Obama thinking he’s the King of the World who has forfeited the rest of America’s season to our enemies… with Iran working on two nukes… not the zero nukes the dimocrats have insisted there are, and OBL is demanding that Europe withdraw its pitifully small number of troops from Afghanistan, and Kadafi claiming paternity of Barry (not a stretch considering Barry’s old lady)… terror squads being busted across the nation…. what could happen?

Today me and my homie, Chuck Chow attended the annual Gene Autry Oklahoma Film and Music Festival in where else but Gene Autry, Okla., (near Ardmore).

All my life I’ve used “Howdy” more than any other greeting and in this crowd… in the civic Center near the Gene Autry Church and the Gene Autry Volunteer Fire Department, so does everyone else.

Many in attendance dress the part, celebrating perhaps not the authentic West but the West portrayed in thousands of Western films… the exhibits are awash in boots, parasols, school marm dresses, marshal badges, cowhide vest and long sleeve shirts with pear snap buttons…. and enough six-guns to start a range war, I reckon.  

Autry (1907 – 1998) made a lot of mostly B Westerns which usually saw him meeting a nice girl and defending her honor in a fist-fight or with some fair gun slingin’ which usually involved The Singing Cowboy shooting the bad guy’s Colt from his hand.

Damned fine shootin’ from waist.

And yes, each two-reeler usually featured at least three or four songs, often on horseback.

Autry:

• acted in almost 100 films, and had soundtrack credit for 115 movies in a career that spanned more than a half century. 
• made 640 recordings, including 300+ songs he wrote or co-wrote.
• sold more than 100 million records and had more than a dozen gold and platinum records, including the first certified gold record.
• flew “the Hump”—over the treacherous Himalayas—in the China-Burma-India Theater after enlisting in 1942 at age 35.

Gene owned the Anaheim Angles for decades, died at 92, and made more money than God, appearing on the Forbes’ magazine list of the 400 richest Americans until he slipped to a "near miss" in 1995 with an estimated net worth of $320 million.

Not bad for the grandson of a Methodist preacher,

And of course Autry had his own radio and TV shows in the 1940s and 50s, and was concerned that his young radio listeners would emulate him, so he wrote the Cowboy Code:

He told his fans that to be a good cowboy one:

1. must never shoot first, hit a smaller man, or take unfair advantage.
2. must never go back on his word, or a trust confided in him.
3. must always tell the truth.
4. must be gentle with children, the elderly and animals.
5. must not advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas.
6. must help people in distress.
7. must be a good worker.
8. must keep himself clean in thought, speech, action and personal habits.
9. must respect women, parents and his nation's laws.
10. must be a patriot.

Perhaps these few, now remarkable guides for life were his greatest contribution.

Gene Autry, great American.

The real fun today was meeting some of my favorite movie and TV character actors from the 40s, 50, and 60s, including Donna Douglas—The Beverly Hillbilly’s “Elly Mae”; Ben Copper, left and above, mostly known for his work in Westerns, including Duel at Apache Wells, Johnny Guitar and numerous TV appearances through the 1980s; and James Hampton best known for his portrayal of bugler “Dobbs” in TV’s send up of U.S. Calvary movies… F Troop.    . 

Cooper is shown below in a scene from Gunfight at Comanche Creek starring Audie Murphy,WWII Medal of Honor Recipient and one of the most decorated American soldiers of all time.

Cooper remembered Murphy as a “quiet, great guy” who was easy to work with.

Most people don’t know that Murph was also a successful country music songwriter. His songs were cover4ed by such diverse artists as as Dean Martin, Eddy Arnold, Charley Pride, Porter Waggoner, Roy Clark, and interesting, Harry Nilsson.

His two biggest hits were "Shutters and Boards" and "When the Wind Blows in Chicago". 

Donna Douglas, below with my main man, Chuck, was a dear heart; easy and pleasant with the fans, chatting and signing and posing for photos.  

When I purchased one of her photos I asked her if she recalled making a public appearance in Taft California about 1964-65 where I first met her as a high school student. (Donna is shown right with my protégé the aforementioned Mr. Chow.) 

Assuming she’d look quizzical or just say, “no”, she surprised me by immediately saying, “Yes, it was at a car dealership.”

Right she was…. and to this day I can still recall my, shall we say impure thoughts as I clasped her tiny hands and said “pleased to meet you”, my mind filled with fantasies that will be recounted in my soon-to-be published autobiography…. “I’ve Done Some Interesting, and Dangerous Things.”    

For those keeping track, Miss Elly May will be 76 tomorrow.

Ahh, where did my life go? 

Had some nice conversation with Jim Hampton, who lives in Trophy Club, Texas, in the Dallas area—just and hour and a half from here.

“F Troop” was a great TV series which should forever be respect for the punch line about the “Ha’kowie Indians” who were so named after being lost for a very long time and then finally uttered… “Where the heck are we?”

The tribe’s name has been changed over the years to a more humorous and far more crude punch line.

So?…  call Russell Means. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a great day, walking back through my childhood, full of Red Ryder BB Guns, Roy Rogers lunch pails, and humming the lyrics of “Happy trails…. to you… until we meet again…..”

And once again I felt very grateful for the childhood I had… when children were loved and given the right role models and expected to respond to those lessons. For a time of wholesomeness and easily defined lines, a great education and wonderful friends… most of whom I still have.

Those who came after me have my sympathy

Well, gotta go, Pilgrim; It’s quiet….. too quiet, I think it’s Comanch’.

It’s what you do when you’re not proud of your country

“Movin’ on up….”

The Obamas meeting the winners of the Brazil’s Carnaval Dance Off?

The Obamas cutting the ribbon at the opening of the Carmen Miranda Museum and Samba Studio?

No America, this is what the clueless, classless, ignorant, arrogant bitch chose to wear to the White House ceremony where her communist husband presented the Medal of Honor to the parents of Sgt. 1st Class Jared C. Monti who was killed in Afghanistan in June 2006.

And since your First Lady sat in the front row at the somber ceremony as Paul and Janet Monti of Raynham, Mass., accepted the sixth posthumous Medal of Honor of the Overseas Contingency Operation in Iraq and Afghanistan, they were subjected to the garishly loud and inappropriate ghetto clothing.

Michelle is shown right, seated next to Mr. Monti as he greets some of his son’s comrades from the Third Squadron of the 71st Cavalry Regiment (Recon), 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.

This is the woman who said, "People in this country are ready for change and hungry for a different kind of politics and ... for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback."

And fellow-travelers….

Also visible at the ceremony to honor 1stSgt Monti was Sen. John Kerry who, referring to Monti and other service-members in this war, said, “…. there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the -- of -- of -- of -- historical customs, religious customs, whether you like it or not. Iraqis should be doing that…..”

…. and this:

Speaking to college students in California, Kerry said, "You know, education -- if you make the most of it -- you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

And about veterans of the Vietnam War:

“…. they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country.”

And here are several more craven statements from this waste of skin who isn’t fit to carry 1stSgt. Monti’s canteens, let alone serve as his Commander-in-Chief.

It is our patriotic duty to see that the Obama years end in 2012 so the real American patriots…. We the People… can set about the task of restoring the Nation and seeing to it that no other Gold Star family is subjected to such indignity.

To wash this image from your eyes and the bad taste from your mouth, visit the Army’s great Medal of Honor site to learn more about 1stSgt Monti, his life and his final battle in which is his last-known words were, "I'm going for him!"

 

Detective Dimeo's wild ride

Dateline: In the Belly of the Beast— The Southern Command has ventured into Union territory for the 2009 Medal of Honor Convention.

Chicago … the City with Big Shoulders and a seamy undercurrent.

I thought about dropping by Obama/ACORN HQ for some legal advice and seed money for my escort business, but the office was closed. 

The first night in town we hooked up with one of Chicago’s Finest, and experienced Det. Mark Dimeo’s Wild Ride which took us to the West Side near The Projects, through the mean streets and eventually to “Lucky’s Liquor” where out front the homies were doing a brisk business in “40s” and god-knows-what.  (Mark is shown left with Recipient Bob Patterson and daughter.)

The is the part of town where the booze and customers are separated by bullet-proof glass and a heavy aluminum screen. Dimeo flashes his tin and someone opens the door and we are  now inside the store which is about the size of a McMansion bathroom.

Don and Mike and I figgered that there was an under counter gun about every five feet. We got our Crown and Glenlivet and... with a nice “copper discount”.

Package in hand, Mike headed out the door and toward the curtain of milling, aimless loiterers; still inside, Dimeo yells,”…. Hey, hey, hey…. Mike. Back in here!”

It’s not advisable to walk outside alone having just purchased some of Scotland’s high dollar national drink.

We sped down under the city multi-layered street seen seen is some most movies, most recently, “Batman –The Dark Knight” with Dimeo steering expertly through heavy traffic.

I can understand why Batman is dark and brooding down here.

More on the ride later… the best news is that John Finn is here and in good health and in about 30 minutes he’s headed the Wrigley Field to see the Cubs lose.

As faithful readers know, Mr. Finn, Hero of Pearl Harbor,  turned 100  last June….. and was born in the middle of the Cubbies’ 1909 season; they would go on to win 104 games that year but finished second in the behind the Pirates. The roster included Christy Mathewson and the DP combo of Tinker, Evers and Chance.

Mr. Finn has lived his entire life without the Cubs winning the World Series.

Chicago can be a mournful town.

Mr. Finn knows a lot of history… hell, Mr. Finn is a lot of history.

Great architecture here…. obviously a city committed to preserving the old while embracing modern, but far from garish design. It has the feel of a port town due to expanse of Lake Michigan which serves to display the downtown area beautifully.

Took in a great talk by Recipient Leo Thorsness and MajGen. John Borling who were together in the Hanoi Hilton for several years, on the subject of “Commitment to Courage”.

As is the case with real heroes, both men spoke eloquently on the subject without making themselves the focus of their own stories; our current commander-in-chief should try the approach himself. sometime.

Colonel Thorsness, in discussing the warmth and the magnitude of the POWs welcome home in 1972 said something that every veteran in the room immediately knew was the absolute truth.

Of a country that was greatly divided against itself over the Vietnam war, he said, “Regardless of how people felt politically or about the war, they could genuinely be happy that we were home; we were America's substitute for victory".”

While it is the truth…..most of us believe there is no substitute for victory, and that history is on our side.

Sixth Iraq/Afghanistan war Medal of Honor approved

 

Jared Monti came from a large Italian family in Raynham, Massachusetts. He liked to cook eggplant and once gave away his (and his roommate’s) $500 dining room table because one of his soldiers didn’t have a table and his kids were eating while sitting on the floor.

A few minutes on the internet reveals hundreds of tributes to Monti who was killed in action three years ago on his third attempt to save one of his wounded soldiers in Afghanistan when his unit was holding its own against a numerically superior enemy force.

For those heroic actions, SFC Monti will be awarded the Medal of Honor, it was learned today.

21 June 2006--Monti, then a staff sergeant, was the assistant leader of a 16-man patrol tasked to recon the Gowardesh region. With nightfall approaching, the patrol was attacked by a well organized 60-man enemy force.

Greatly outnumbered, SFC Monti's patrol was in danger of being overrun. The enemy was dug in above the patrol in a densely wooded ridgeline when it sprang the ambush. Monti immediately personally returned fire and directed  the patrol to seek cover. In defilade, he called in indirect fire and close air support danger-close to the patrol's position. He did this while simultaneously directing the patrol's return fire.

When Monti learned that PFC Brian Bradbury, was critically wounded and remained exposed, he ran through enemy fire to within three feet of Bradbury's position, but was forced back by heavy RPG fire.

A second time Monti broke from cover to drag Bradbury away, but was forced back by intense enemy fire. Directing his men to provide covering fire, Monti advanced yet a third time and was mortally wounded by an RPG.

Moments later the air strikes Monti had called in consumed the enemy position, breaking the enemy attack and killing 22 enemy fighters.

Monti's actions prevented the patrol's position from being overrun, saved lives and inspired his men to fight on against overwhelming odds.

SFC Monti, center, is shown in a 2006 photo taken aboard a C130 on his way to Afghanistan.

A 12-year Army veteran, Monti was previously awarded the Bronze Star Medal with V device for Valor, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Purple Heart.

After retirement Monti planed to be come a teacher like his father.

The award of the nation’s highest medal for valor to SFC Monti was confirmed in a presidential phone call to his parents, Paul Monti of Raynham, MA, and Janet Monti of Winterville, N.C.,

Monti’s was the sixth Medal of Honor in the War on Terror, all posthumous.

Previous Medals of Honor were earned by:

Lt. Michael Murphy, USN SEAL, Kunar Province, Afghanistan, 28 June, 2005.

 

(Click on all thumbnails for larger photos.)

 

 

In Iraq:

SFC Paul R. Smith, USA; Baghdad, 4 April, 2003.

 

 

 

 

Corporal Jason Dunham, USMC, near Syrian border, 14 April, 2004.

 

 

 

 

Master at Arms 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor, USN SEAL, Ramadi, 29 September, 2006.

 

 

 

Specialist Ross A. McGinnis, USA, 4 December, 2006.

 

 

 

 

See my posts here; see DoD profiles here.

May they rest in eternal peace.

Iwo Jima Hero George Wahlen, MOH, passes away

“The Quiet Hero” is gone.

I first met George Wahlen in 1993 at a gathering of Iwo Jima veterans. He asked our small group if we’d ever read the reverse side of the Medal of Honor which carries an engraving of the citation.

And with that… and the quip, “…from Harry Truman hands to mine, to yours”…  he removed it from around his neck and passed it to us.

He was that kind of person… an humble family man who served well his nation, his faith and his community.

His death Friday leaves his good friend Woody Williams the sole surviving Medal of Honor Recipient from the hell that was the battle for Iwo Jima, 1945.

Jack Lucas preceded him in death last June; now Woody is the only one of 13 of Iwo’s 27 MOH Recipients who lived to wear the distinctive decoration.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Read here for the Salt Lake City Tribune’s coverage.

George had agreed to come to Gainesville for our 2010 MOH weekend after poor health forced him to cancel last April.

This weekend we’ve hosted 10 Recipients and held a moment of silence this morning for George and other Recipients who have passed away this year.

Shown are Vietnam Recipients Jon Cavaiani and Roger Donlon.

America bows to in-bred, raghead cross-dresser who would be burning camel dung for cooking were it not for U.S. pumping vast wealth out of the ground for him... and that's because the raghead culture peaked around 600 A.D.

Video: President Obama bowing to Saudi King Abdullah during the G-20 summit

This pictures is worth 100,000,000 words... and the words say that under the fifth- columnist Barack Hussein Obama, The United States of America grovels before those who are our sworn enemies. Video here.

We are were a nation that bows to no one even when facing the hangman's noose.

Even after two years' captivity during which he was a major pain in the ass to and his Vietnamese communist captors, they could not break Medal of Honor Recipient Capt. Rocky Versace

The last time that any of his fellow POWs heard from him, Capt. Versace was singing God Bless America at the top of his lungs  from his isolation box....

... just before he was shot in the head.

By word and deed Barack Obama has prostrated every man jack of us before our enemies... the virulent, human scum not worthy of breathing our air.   

This what you want, you 68 million somnambulant  cretins? You like to kiss ass so much, turn in your citizenship get the hell to Iran or some other Third-World shit hole.

"I know that strain is shared in many places where the Muslim faith is practiced. So let me say this as clearly as I can: The United States is not and will never be at war with Islam."

Huh. Not only is Obama God with a Teleprompter, he is also a sage, a shaman, are fortune teller. He can tell who will try to kill us at any time in the future and promises we won't defend ourselves.

Man, pure Teddy Roosevelt, heh?

This broke too late for my yesterday post:

White House officials traveled to France at the start of March to discuss a visit by Obama to Omaha Beach, the site of the American Cemetery, established in 1944 just after D-Day and where the Allies paid a heavy price in the first step toward liberating Fortress Europe.

In Normandy's bright sunshine the souls of 9,387 Amercian fighting men killed on and after June 6 waited in vain for the visit by their Commander-in-Chief; among them Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr., Medal of Honor Recipient, and the eldest son of the 26th US President.

Barack Obama, concerned about offending Britain and Germany, rebuffed strenuous attempts by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France to persuade the new American president to make a trip to Normandy this week.

"It wasn't going to happen," said an one Obama functionary in Washington. "We went through the motions to placate President Sarkozy but giving special treatment to France was not on our agenda.

Yes, America, Commander-in-Chief Obama could not be bothered on our behalf to pay respects to our honored dead because he didn't want to offend Brits and Nazis.

Deep breath, let that sink in. 

Then remember that his entire time in the Senate was spent voting against and undermining our war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan... now he has the power to send the very same people to their deaths.

And this from my Jan. 24, '09 post: 

For the first time in 56 years an incoming president snubbed our nation's greatest heroes... the Recipients of the Medal of Honor at their “Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball”, which started in 1953 with President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s first inauguration.

The newly sworn-in President... snubbed the “Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball”, the first and only time that has happened in 14 Inaugurations.

So where was our new President instead of honoring Medal of Honor Recipients who by some miracle are still alive? 

He was here: In addition to the Neighborhood Ball, the other nine also featured many stars such as Kid Rock and Kaney West at the Youth Ball, Cheryl Crow at the Midwest one, and Marc Anthony at the Western Ball.

This morning Somali pirates captured a US cargo vessel and took prisoner at least 20 Amercian crew members.

Obama instead of scrambling F-18s and getting a SEAL team ready to go medieval on their ass, immediately called a meeting, which no doubt would have eventually resulted in a "strongly-worded letter of protest".

Thankfully, since the sailors probably realized Obama would have no idea what to do, not matter how clear the course of action, they rallied and seized back the control of their ship from the ragheads.

Reports said: 

"The crew is back in control of the ship.

"It's reported that one pirate is on board under crew control - the other three were trying to flee."

The status of the other pirates was unknown, the official said, but they were reported to "be in the water."

Chuckle...

I think I know what "in the water" means... hopefully the swim lesson involved a spare anchor.

Where's Tom Jefferson when we need him?

Hell, where's Millard Fillmore when we need him?