Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
‘morning Lex. Got your stuff for the Hobbit today?
Yep, we’re all set up, the younger ladies too. But they’re all still sleeping, and I am blessed.
Roger. Chanel N0.5 here. First gift I ever gave her after we were married 30 years ago. Works every time.
Gave mine a new car two weeks ago, told her I’d put a bow on it this morning
I saw the post and started to leave it, to get started on the day, you know – come back to it later. But then I started to comprehend what it was all about and went to the link. It took longer than I had thought it would as it was touching in its detail and the print was hard to read at times as my eyes blurred on occasion for some reason.
Its easy to forget just how much Americans do care when confronted with the blare that is the MSM perverted picture of our nation. And as oft as it is repeated here it is still good to repeat the refrain: “Where do we get men such as these?”.
I now know what I’m doing 21 Feb.
Powerful
I hope they put a DVD on sale. I have basic cable, but none of the premium channels. This is one program I’d love to see, having read the story so many times.
Did anybody read an equally moving article recently about this woman in, I believe, Colo. (or was it Wyo?)who owns a horse drawn old-style formal hearse (Wooden spokes stage wagon-like wheels, etc.,) who provides a final, solemn trip from cemeterie’s edge to grave site–all for free for military funerals within a 300mi radius of her hometown? She does it all out of her own pocket out of respect for the servicemen. The standard hearse carrying the body from the Church services off loads at entrance to cemetery so final ride is horse-drawn military-style, with everyone walking behind. I was really touched by that article about as much as I have been by anything lately.
And I’ll be at the son-in-laws house that night, since he has HBO. T6, I cried, and didn’t care who saw it. God love the Marines, they bring “Semper Fidelis” to new heights.
Read about the story in a Delta’s inflight magazine. They had a brief section/interview piece with the Col. If I recall it correctly, he was so moved that he put together some words via email/blog which got broader attention and ending up catching the eye of some folks who knew that the real stories of real people needed telling (not the typical agenda-based stuff produced).
One of singularly important things I ever did in 23 years of service (and in my life) was to escort one of my men home to his family for services and military funeral. Words fail me, but life-changing comes to mind. B.
I won’t be home that evening but I’m sure HBO will re-broadcast. Perhaps while I’m home recuperating from surgery I’ll catch it more than once.
It’s a powerful story that I have read before – boxes of tissues will need to be on hand when I get the chance to see it.
Had the honor and privilege to escort a friend killed in a mishap when he was at TPS. When he wife called up and asked if I would escort him I really had no clue as to what was involved. But the Col’s remarks are timeless – everyone on each of the flights was so polite, they all spoke of the loss, they couldn’t do enough to help. And things like the pilot making an announcement after landing to please remain seated and let the military escort officer off first just give you a hint that this country does indeed honor those that serve. It is hard to see the shipping container rolling on baggage handling cart and not want to scream “please be careful, don’t jostle him”. But they know.
Wad loved Buds in a gooseneck, so after we buried him at Arlington, a friend and I went back the next day and talked the grounds keeper into letting us bury an empty and a full above his vault- just in case Wad got thirsty.
Fly safe.
Lex- thank you for finding these gems.
I first read about Chance Phelps and his journey home, over at BlackFive
I’m very glad that someone at HBO had enough sense to see the potential this story has to touch all Americans. I just have one question; Why did it take them so long?
Thanks Lex… I good reminder of Good Men (and Women) all.
I needed that this morning.
-JC
Kris and MissBirdlegs, it will be available on DVD beginning in May .
Yup, it was Blackfive who first published the story, sent to him by a Marine’s father and friend of mine who was an early commenter here (in fact, that’s how we met).
That makes me what–a four?–in Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Weird world.
Thanks for the info, Fuzzy!
Thanks for posting this Lex…..
Sepmer Fi Chance
I learned an important lesson about the Marine Corps some years ago, before my children were born.
I went to an open house at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. In the hangar, as the Air Force Band played a medley of military music, I saw a man seated in a wheelchair at the table for the Paralyzed Veterans of America. I saw him sit taller, at attention, during the Marine Hymn portion of the medley.
I walked up to the table afterward, put a couple of dollars in his collection coffee can, and remarked about I figured he must have been a Marine since I saw him sit at attention during the Marine Hymn portion. He said, “Still am. Once a Marine, always a Marine. Were you in the Corps?”
“No, sir, but my father was.”
“He still is, son.”
“Well, sir, he can’t be because he died a few years ago.”
“Son,” he said gently, “your father is standing Honor Guard at the Pearly Gates right now. Once a Marine, Always a Marine.”
I burst into tears. I’ve never thought about the Corps the same way since.
Consider the perspective that the story of Taking Chance shows of the country I love, side by by side with the folks that AW1Tim runs into, and their crowd. Who openly display irrational self-destructive tendencies, and led by a self-hating traitorous media, just brought the most inexperienced, incompetent, socialistic-leaning man into the presidency in perhaps our nation’s history. By what twisted logic is Bill Ayers not a concern, yet Sarah Palin is a monster? I cannot relate to half of my fellow voting citizens, and that frightens me.
Now I want someone smarter than me to explain where we really are, and where we’re really headed. I want someone to convince me that the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave isn’t finished. I want someone who really knows where we are, where American society really is, to convince me that the good people of this country who fought for freedom and the good people who respect and honor those who do, aren’t just a minority today and soon to be a memory tomorrow.
Good movies are fine, but I’m tired of crying over sad endings. Convince me. Please.
Best regards, Peter Warner.
Peter:
You have struck a chord that has been resonating deep within for some time now. I’m all about the adage that all it takes is for good men to do nothing and the barbarians will crash the gates and all. I’d like to think I’m a good man. I’d also like to think that, at 52 years of age, I will do something in the last half of my life to atone for not doing enough in the first half to combat the attitudes you address.
I just don’t know what the hell to do. And that scares me, worries me, and makes me pessimistic when, deep down, I truly believe in our country and our people. How to awaken the passionate love for all things good about America in this culture that seems hell bent on obsessing on her failures? Throw in the rogues gallery of the usual dose of charletans , thieves, and traitors that have always been a part of our history and you have a county dead sent on destroying itself it seems.
How to roll up our sleves and get to work reclaiming the spirit of ’76 – even 1976 would do – is something I ache for the knowledge of how to accomplish.
I’m with you brother – I need leadership I can follow and I’m not seeing it and am ill equipped to provide.