December 7th 2004

- The day my son went to war the first time-

On Feb 13th 2007 he went to war the second time

Jeff Frawley after returning from Iraq in 2005

He is an infintry Sargent and team leader - he recently returned from 15 months in Afghansitan

My son, Jeff, is a proud member of the US Army 82nd airborne. He is a 23 year old paratrooper who was recently promoted to Sargent while serving in Afghanistan. (this photo was taken before his second deployment)

Jeff and 3 of his best friends (Jared Leable, Nick Essik and Brent Wilson) left for basic training 4 days after graduating from high school (June 5th, 2004).

After basic training, advanced infantry training and three went on to Airborne jump school at Ft Benning Ga. was assigned to the 82nd Airborne in Ft Bragg NC. (click her for some cool photos of jump-week at Ft. Benning, Georgia.)

Jeff and Jared were then stationed together at Ft Bragg. Nick Essick got his jump wings and went back to his reserve unite. He later spent 18 months active duty in Iraq as a 50 cal. gunner on a gun truck guarding convoys all over Iraq.

On December 7th 2004, 10 days after graduating from jump school, Jeff landed at Baghdad International Airport with members of Charlie Company 3/325 82nd Airborne. Within 3 days he had earned his combat infantry badge. Jeff returned to Ft Bragg on March 25th 2005.

Jeff's three freinds have all done their tour in Iraq. Jeff and Jared are currently deployed a second time. They are somewhere in the mountains of southern Afghanistan very near the Pakistan boader.

These 21 year old young men have had friends killed in combat and grown up faster than they probably should have. With that said they have not changed their feelings about why they jined the army. They have witnessed the brutallity of radical Islam.

In Iraq one of Jeff's company's missions was to guard Baghdad voting stations during the 2005 Iraqi election. His company provided security for the gate leading out of the green zone to the Baghdad airport. At the time some called this the deadliest 5 miles of highway in the world.

Charlie Company also provided security in Sadr City for American police officers training Iraqi police trainees. (Sadr City is a slum of Baghdad)

While in Iraq, Jeff's unit was constantly hit with suicide bombers. Through the luck of God and their training none of them were injured. Over 60 Irais lost their lives in the various suicide bombings to took place in front of them.

After returning fro Iraq Jeff's company spent the summer of 2006 teaching West point cadets the art of building and manning check points. Jeff and another trooper wrote the course on suicide bombers. West point had never before had a course on this. Now they do and according to Jeff it's a very good one.

After the cadets intial training Jeff's company took on the role of the opposing force (OP4) and showed the cadets how experience combat vertans would attack a check point. Needless to say the cadets learned valuable lessons that hopefully will save the lives of soldiers that these future officers will lead into battle on this war on terror.

Jeff's battalion of 82nd airborne was deploying into the mountains of Afganhistan for 15 months on Feb 8th 2007. According to published news article the 82nd will replace the 10th mountain division.

While in Afghanistan - on March 13th 2007 Jeff re-enlisted for 4 additional years. When he returns he will go through special forces selection. His dreams are to become become a member of a Special Forces A team.

To all those people who think there is no such thing as a war on terror I say " PULL YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS."

August 10, 2006

The events that occured in England of Aug 10 th 2006 confirm that our country needs people like my son and his friends. Ten airliners would have been blown out of the air had law enforcment not caught the sucide terrorits involved. Do the math - how many people do ten 747's carry? I'll tell you how many - it's more than the number of people that died on 9-11 in the world trade center.

To the politicans who choose to politicize this war on terror, I say "PULL YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS" I wonder how many suicide bombers have to make their way to America before these fool politicans take this war seriously.

Take a minute and watch this video clip (CLICK HERE) then come back and read the rest of this article. I'll explain why I think nuclear weapons are not a bad option.

History will have to determine if the war in Iraq served a valuable purpose. I can't answer that question. I feel deeply for the military families that have lost a loved one. One thing is for certain, these ass holes came to us and blew up OUR world trade center. If left unchecked they will do it again and again and again. These are not normal intelligent human beings, they are brain washed terrorists who will not negoiate with reason.

If anyone thinks for one minute that this war is over when we pull out of Iraq they are fools. When you see a member of our military you owe it to them to thank them for their servce.

It is not the Ted Kennedy's of this world who are protecting our way of life, it's people like my son and his friends.

I have added a short video that Jeff brought back from Afghanistan when he visited on his 18 day mid-cycle leave. I believe it will make you laugh and also make you proud of our soldiers.

I HATE THIS WAR - my war rant

I wrote an article titled "I HATE THIS WAR - my war rant" please read it. Feel free to pass it on to friends.

_________________________________________________________________________

A different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

'What are you doing?' I asked without fear,
'Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!'
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said 'Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.'
'It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,'
Then he sighed, 'That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers.'
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.'

' So go back inside,' he said, 'harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right.'
'But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
'Give you money,' I asked, 'or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son.'

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
'Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.'

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq

_________________________________________________________________________

Let there be no misunderstanding about who I support for President

Clicks here to watch Jeff's Afghanistan Movie

ground zero

Ground Zero

CPL Jeff Frawley is kneeling third from the right - the photo was taken in the summer of 2006 when members of Jeff's Platton went to Ground Zero to re-inlist in the Army and the 82nd Airborne.

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things.
The decayed and degraded state of moral and
patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is
much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is
willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his
own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has
no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the
exertions of better men than himself.
—John Stuart Mill (1868)

Churchill saw it coming !!

Here is a short speech given by Winston Churchill in 1899 when he was a young soldier and journalist working in Africa.

How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries!
    Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as
    hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects
    are apparent in many countries, improvident habits, slovenly systems of
    agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of
    property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A
    degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement the
    next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every
    woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a
    child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery
    until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.
    Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the
    religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No
    stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being
    moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has
    already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at
    every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong
    arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the
     civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of
     ancient Rome."

Sir Winston Churchill; (The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages
248-50 )

Most Politicians Lack Integrity

You have to ask yourself some questions about how we got to this point. I am not a fan of politicians. Most talk out of one side of their mouth and will eat their mother if it means staying in office. They majority of them are spineless and lack integrity.

Should you doubt this - take a look at this short little video clip.

Click Here to watch a short little video

It's time for Nuclear Weapons !

I believe our government should start spending money on research for alternative feuls. Our country must become independant of our need for middle east oil. Lets find other other ways to power our factories, run our vehicles and heat our homes. Let's find ways to eliminate the need for Arab oil.

All of a sudden nuclear power plants don't seem that bad do they?

I also believe that when our country is attacked we must respond with overwhelming force.

The days of NATION BUILDING should end. We need to get back to fighting wars like we did in WW II . When we are attacked we can not and should not be concerned with minimal damage and civilian deaths. Yes it is too bad that civilians die in war, but these same civilians often tollerate a corrupt government.

We won the war with Japan and Germany because we killed so many of their people that they sued for peace. Do some home work and look at how many people were killed in the fire bombings of Germany and Janpan. We demanded unconditional surrender.

We need to get back to unconditional surreender. It worked then and it will work again. We should not care what the United Nations things. It's a corrupt organization. We should not be concerned what people from other countries think - their countries were not attacked.

If our country is attacked we should stop sending American soldiers to fight our battles and die. We should send nuclear bombs to flatten the country that these attackers came from or flatten the countries that trained and sponsored the attackers.

The Nov 6th 2006 issue of Newsweek magazine had an article about Captian Robert Secher, a Marine capitain who was killed on Oct 8 th 2006 by a snippers bullet in Iraq. Capitain Secher was writing a book on his tour when he died. He had sent numerous emails home and in one he wrote a fitting quote. "If you really want to win a war you have to be brutal. You have to be Sherman and raze Georgia as you march to the sea."

Would I trade 10 million dead Iraqis or 15 million dead Iranians or Syrians for 2,500 dead Americans soldiers? In a heart beat. Let me push the nuclear button.

Does anyone think for one minute that we are going to change muslim extremists or the countries that grow them? Not ever - not in my lifetime, not in your lifetime, not in our childrens childrens lifetime, not ever! If you think I am wrong I suggest you read a little history. Start with President Thomas Jefferson. Read what he had to say about radical islam almost 200 years ago.

Have you ever listened to the Marine hyme? You know the one - "FROM THE SHORES SOF TRIPPOLI" Those words came from Marines fighintg radical muslims 200 years ago in the Barnary wars.

How do you change people who cut the heads off of people they kidnap? I will tell you how - you kill them and everyone around them.

Countries that harbor extremists and allow them to live and operate within their borders have the responsibility to control them or suffer the consequences. Until this happens we will forever be looking over our shoulder wondering when the next terrorist attack will happen, BECAUE IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN AGAIN!

I believe it's time that the citizens in this country start to tell the politicians of this country that "if you decide to go to war, go in it to win, go in with the concept of "unconditional surrender". Colen Powel tried to tell George Bush this. No one listened.

The people who disagree with this thinking should have their children join the 82nd Airborne and go into the mountains of Afghanistan for a year to fight alongside my son Jeff or explain their position to the surviving family members of those who died on 9-11.

Here is an email from a person who disagrees with me:

After reading your page of personal views about the war, I feel compelled to respond.

First of all, I wish for a fast and safe return for your son and all of the members of the U.S. armed forces.

Having said that, I am saddened by the misinformed, ignorant and ethnocentric basis for your arguments about how we should handle the war. You think we should nuke the middle east into oblivion. To hell with innocents, you want us to kill the "Muslim extremists." Yet your stance is just as extreme as those you're stumping for us to nuke, if not more so - while the terrorists aim for the deaths of dozens or hundreds, you're perfectly content to slaughter thousands and millions in order to achieve "unconditional surrender" (which, by the way, is a pipe dream). Your disregard for innocent lives is just as irresponsible and unforgivable as their disregard for ours. Unilateral bloodbaths won't win the U.S. unconditional surrender, it will unite the rest of the world - including our present allies - against us, and likely instigate World War III.

I was actually getting ready to buy some equipment from your site - I've purchased leashes and training collars from you and been very, very happy with them. Easily the highest quality items I've used so far. But after reading your perspective on the war, I honestly don't know if I can justify giving my business to you. I don't expect you to agree with me about the war, but your comments are irresponsible to the point of being flat-out obscene. I'm sure you couldn't care less whether or not you get my business - I seriously doubt my small purchases would even be noticeable. Nevertheless, I just can't justify doing business with you right now, and I'm afraid that I'll have to share my thoughts with friends/family who are in the market for training products.

Again, I hope your son returns from duty quickly and safely, and although I disagree with why we are at war (and with whom), I am still very proud of people like your son who are risking their lives for our country.

Matthew Bunce [mwbunce@hotmail.com]

I will not accept ORDERS in my business from Saudi Arabia

With this said my company will not accept an order for dog training equipment or training dvds from Saudi Arabia or several other countries that I feel support terrorists.

The Saudi's disgust me. They are nothing more racist bigots. I have seen first hand how they treat women. I have seen first hand and up close how they murder their own relatives who don't follow their pig headed views of the muslim religion.

I'll tell you one thing the American Army should be doing. They should be collecting all the waste from the pig slaughter houses in Iowa. Then ship what they collect to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Then every muslim terrorist the American Army kills needs to be buried with a healthy dose of pig entails.

You see they be live that if they come in contact with pigs they don't get the 77 Virgins when they go to heaven.

TAKE 5 MINUTES

AND WATCH THIS

I invite you to take 5 minutes and watch a short video clip that pretty much explains my opinion of feelings of this war and the people who protest.

(CLICK HERE TO WATCH)

Let the fools who support Ted Kennedy think about this.

http://www.pcsuccess.us/yrg/farewell.html

Then tell me how they would have explained 10 planes exploding over the Atlantic. What part of this do the politicians miss? When is "A VOTE" more important than the security of our country?

OR THIS !!

http://www.youtube.com/v/-HlaVpqUXF0

Next Time you Purchase a New Car

You May Want to Think About This

Photo's of Jeff

Photos of Jeff in Basic Training

Photos of Jeff's Airborne Jump Week

Photo's From Baghdad

More Photos from Baghdad

A lot of Photos from Iraq

Notes From Baghdad

Emails from others

Return Home to Ft Bragg 3-25-05

Jeff Frawley

Jeff Frawley graduating from Airborne School
Ft. Benning, GA

Nick Essick

Nick Essick In Iraq

(retired Leerburg kennel employee)

Nick is one of Jeff's best friends. Nick and Jeff worked here at Leerburg Kennels for 3 years while in high school. He and Jeff are the reason I have white hair. Their view of a job description included "See how much you can screw with Ed without making him go completely crazy."

Nick went through jump school with Jeff and served in Iraq until late 2006. He is a Humvee gunner guarding convoys all over Iraq. He lost two men from his company to IEDs.

Photo by Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News

When 2nd Lt. James Cathey's body arrived at the Reno Airport, Marines climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag over his casket as passengers watched the family gather on the tarmac. During the arrival of another Marine's casket last year at Denver International Airport, Major Steve Beck described the scene as one of the most powerful in the process: "See the people in the windows? They'll sit right there in the plane, watching those Marines. You gotta wonder what's going through their minds, knowing that they're on the plane that brought him home," he
said. "They're going to remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives. They're going to remember bringing that Marine home. And they should."

Photo by Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News

Photo by Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News

The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs
that reminded her of 'Cat,' and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. "I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it," she said. "I think that's what he would have wanted."

ON SHEEP, WOLVES, AND SHEEPDOGS

Jill Edwards is a junior math major at the University of Washington. In brief, Edwards, a member of the UW student senate, opposed a memorial to UW grad "Pappy" Boyington. Boyington was a U.S. Marine aviator who earned the Medal of Honor in World War II. Edwards said that she didn't think it was appropriate to honor a person who killed other people. She also said that a member of the Marine Corps was NOT an example of the sort of person the University of Washington wanted to produce.

Gen. Dula's letter to the University of Washington student senate leader:

To: Edwards, Jill (student, UW)
Subject: Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs

Miss Edwards, I read of your 'student activity' regarding the proposed memorial to Col Greg Boyington, USMC and a Medal of Honor winner. I suspect you will receive a bellyful of angry e-mails from conservative folks like me. You may be too young to appreciate fully the sacrifices of generations of servicemen and servicewomen on whose shoulders you and your fellow students stand. I forgive you for the untutored ways of youth and your naiveté.

It may be that you are, simply, a sheep. There's no dishonor in being a sheep - - as long as you know and accept what you are. Please take a couple of minutes to read the following. And be grateful for the thousands - - millions - - of American sheepdogs who permit you the freedom to express even bad ideas.

Brett Dula
Sheepdog, retired
----------------------------------------------------------
ON SHEEP, WOLVES, AND SHEEPDOGS

By LTC(RET) Dave Grossman, RANGER,
Ph.D., author of "On Killing."

Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always, even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for? - William J. Bennett - in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997

One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me: "Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident." This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another.

Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.

Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.

I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me, it is like the pretty, blue robin's egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell.

Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful. For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.

"Then there are the wolves," the old war veteran said, "and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy." Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.

"Then there are sheepdogs," he went on, "and I'm a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf. "

If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf.

But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero's path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed

Let me expand on this old soldier's excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial, that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids' schools.

But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid's school. Our children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep's only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the path of denial.

The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, cannot and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheep dog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours.

Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports, in camouflage fatigues, holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, "Baa." Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.

The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door.

Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word hero?

Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed, right along with the young ones.

Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes." The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, "Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference." When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference.

There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but he does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population.

There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory crimes of violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language: Slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself.

Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I'm proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs.

Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his phone and uttered the words, "Let's roll," which authorities believe was a signal to the other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers - athletes, business people and parents. -- from sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground.

There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men. - Edmund Burke

Here is the point I like to emphasize, especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They didn't have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision.

If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior's path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.

For example, many officers carry their weapons in church. They are well concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt holsters tucked into the small of their backs. Anytime you go to some form of religious service, there is a very good chance that a police officer in your congregation is carrying. You will never know if there is such an individual in your place of worship, until the wolf appears to massacre you and your loved ones.

I was training a group of police officers in Texas, and during the break, one officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon in church. The other cop replied, "I will never be caught without my gun in church." I asked why he felt so strongly about this, and he told me about a cop he knew who was at a church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1999. In that incident, a mentally deranged individual came into the church and opened fire, gunning down fourteen people. He said that officer believed he could have saved every life that day if he had been carrying his gun. His own son was shot, and all he could do was throw himself on the boy's body and wait to die. That cop looked me in the eye and said, "Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?"

Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and would probably scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for "heads to roll" if they found out that the airbags in their cars were defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids' school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can happen and that there must be safeguards against them.

Their only response to the wolf, though, is denial, and all too often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks himself, "Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself if your loved ones were attacked and killed, and you had to stand there helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?"

It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and horror when the wolf shows up.

Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are not physically prepared: you didn't bring your gun, you didn't train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by your fear, helplessness and horror at your moment of truth.

Gavin de Becker puts it like this in Fear Less, his superb post-9/11 book, which should be required reading for anyone trying to come to terms with our current world situation: "...denial can be seductive, but it has an insidious side effect. For all the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying it isn't so, the fall they take when faced with new violence is all the more unsettling."

Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in small print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some level. And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes.

If you are warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that the bad man will not come today. No one can be "on" 24/7, for a lifetime. Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself..."Baa."

This business of being a sheep or a sheep dog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other.

Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that continuum, away from sheephood and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved ones will survive, physically and psychologically at your moment of truth.

"If It Weren't For The United States Military"
"There Would Be NO United States of America"

A very touching slide show on another web site about our soldiers

(click here)

It's worth a few minutes of your time.

Muslim Extremists

For those who think we are not at war? For those who think Peace is the answer - click below and watch this clip and then see what you think:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6331994107023396223&hl=en

Written by a housewife from New Jersey and I agree with ever word !!.

"Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001?

Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania?

Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?

And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was "desecrated" when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet?...Well, I don't. I don't care at all.

I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia

I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat.

I'll care when the cowardly so-called "insurgents" in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.

I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.

I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care.

When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college-hazing incident, rest assured: I don't care.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank: I don't care.

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed "special" food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being "mishandled," you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts: I don't care.

And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled "Koran" and other times "Quran" Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and-you guessed it-I don't care !!

Somethings to think about:

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan

"If we ever forget that we're One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under." Also by.. Ronald Reagan

In case we find ourselves starting to believe all the Anti-American sentiment and negativity, we should remember England's Prime Minister Tony Blair's words, he said: "A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in... And how many want out."

Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you:
1. Jesus Christ
2. The American G. I.

One died for your soul, the other for your freedom!

The Sands of Christmas

by Michael Marks

I had no Christmas spirit when I breathed a weary sigh, And looked across the table where the bills were piled too high.

The laundry wasn't finished and the car I had to fix, My stocks were down another point, the Dolphins lost by six.

And so with only minutes till my son got home from school I gave up on the drudgery and grabbed a wooden stool.

The burdens that I carried were about all I could take, And so I flipped the TV on to catch a little break.

I came upon a desert scene in shades of tan and rust, No snowflakes hung upon the wind, just clouds of swirling dust.

And where the reindeer should have stood before a laden sleigh, Eight Hummers ran a column right behind an M1A.

A group of boys walked past the tank, not one was past his teens.

Their eyes were hard as polished flint, their faces drawn and lean.

They walked the street in armor with their rifles shouldered tight, Their dearest wish for Christmas, just to have a silent night.

Other soldiers gathered, hunkered down against the wind, To share a scrap of mail and dreams of going home again.

There wasn't much at all to put their lonely hearts at ease, They had no Christmas turkey, just a pack of MRE's.

They didn't have a garland or a stocking I could see, They didn't need an ornament-- they lacked a Christmas Tree.

They didn't have a present even though it was tradition, the only boxes I could see were labeled "ammunition."

I felt a little tug and found my son now by my side, He asked me what it was I feared, and why it was I cried.

I swept him up into my arms and held him oh so near and kissed him on the forehead as I whispered in his ear.

There's nothing wrong my little son, for safe we sleep tonight, Our heroes stand on foreign land to give us all the right,

To worry on the things in life that mean nothing at all, Instead of wondering if we will be the next to fall.

He looked at me as children do and said its always right, to thank the ones who help us and perhaps that we should write.

And so we pushed aside the bills and sat to draft a note, to thank the many far from home, and this is what we wrote:

God Bless You all and keep you safe, and speed your way back home.

Remember that we love you so, and that you're not alone.

The gift you give you share with all, a present every day, You give the gift of liberty and that we can't repay.

To Kill an American

You probably missed it in the rush of recent news - there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.

So an Australian dentist wrote the following to let everyone know what an American is, so they would know when they found one. (Good one ya, mate!!!!)

An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German,
Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan. An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.

An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses. An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person the pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every
other nation in the world in their time of need. When Afghanistan was
overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country.!

As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any
Other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.

Americans welcome the best, the best products, the best books, the
Best music, the best food, the best athletes. But they also welcome the least.

The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your
tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the
homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America. Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. I've been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.

So you can try to kill an American if you must.

Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the history of the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who Holds to that spirit, everywhere, can fit the profile of being an American.

Sent to me from a friend - a letter from a U.S. Soldier somewhere in Afghanistan:

"So we are up in the mountains at about 0100 hrs looking for
bad guys that we thought were in the area. Here are ten of us,
pitch black, crystal clear night, about 25 degrees. We know
there are bad guys in the area; a few shots have been fired but
no big deal. We decide that we need air cover and the only
thing in the area is a solo B-1 bomber. He flies around at
about 20,000 feet and tells us there is nothing in the area.

He then asks if we would like a low level show of force. Stupid
question. Of course we tell him yes. The controller who is
attached to the team then is heard talking to the pilot.

Pilot asks if we want it subsonic or supersonic. Very stupid
question. Pilot advises he is twenty miles out and stand by.
The controller gets us all sitting down in a line and points
out the proper location. You have to picture this. Pitch black,
ten killers sitting down, dead quiet and overlooking this about
30 mile long valley. All of a sudden, way out (below our level)
you see a set of four 200' white flames coming at us. The
controller says, "Ah-- guys-- you might want to plug your
ears".

Faster than you can think a B-1, supersonic, 1000' over
our heads, blasts the sound barrier and it feels like God just
hit you in the head with a hammer". He then stands it straight
up with 4 white trails of flame coming out and disappears."

Cost of gas for that: Probably $50,000

Hearing damage: For certain

Bunch of Taliban thinking twice about shooting at us: Priceless

Something a Retired Marine Officer Wrote

Eleven thousand American soldiers
lay beneath the dirt and stone,
all buried on a distant land
so far away from home.

For just a strip of dismal beach
they paid a hero's price,
to save a foreign nation
they all made the sacrifice.

And now the shores of Normandy
are lined with blocks of white:
Americans who didn't turn
from someone else's plight.

Eleven thousand reasons
for the French to take our side,
but in the moment of our need,
they chose to run and hide.

Chirac said every war means loss,
perhaps for France that's true,
for they've lost every battle
since the days of Waterloo.

Without a soldier worth a damn
to be found within the region,
the French became the only land
to need a Foreign Legion.

You French all say we're arrogant.
Well hell, we've earned the right--
We saved your sorry nation
when you lacked the guts to fight.

But now you've made a big mistake,
and one that you'll regret;
you took sides with our enemies,
and that we won't forget.

It wasn't just our citizens
you spit on when you turned,
but every one of yours
who fell the day the towers burned.

You spit upon our soldiers,
on our pilots and Marines,
and now you'll get a little sense
of just what payback means.

So keep your Paris fashions
and your wine and your champagne,
and find some other market
that will buy your airplanes.

And try to find somebody else
to wear your French cologne,
for you're about to find out
what it means to stand alone.

You see, you need us far more
than we ever needed you.
America has better friends
who know how to be true.

I'd rather stand with warriors
who have the will and might,
than huddle in the dark
with those whose only flag is white.

I'll take the Brits, the Aussies,
the Israelis and the rest,
for when it comes to valor
we have seen that they're the best.

We'll count on one another
as we face a moment dire,
while you sit on the sideline
with a sign, "friendship for hire."

We'll win this war without you
and we'll total up the cost,
and take it from your foreign aid,
and then you'll feel the loss.

And when your nation starts to fall,
well Frenchie, you can spare us,
just call the Germans for a hand,
they know the way to Paris.

Michael Marks

My Opinion of the Iraq Prison Scandal

I have heard enough about Iraqi prisoner mistreatment - here is my response.

If hooking up an Iraqi prisoner's scrotum to a car battery will save one American's life, then I have just two things to say:

RED is Positive +

BLACK is Negative -

Maybe the NAY SAYERS in our country do not understand that cutting the heads off innocent civilians is a war atrocity. Killing women and children with suicide bombers is a war atrocity.

Parading terrorists around naked on a dog leash is not a war atrocity. If doing this results in one prisoner giving up information that helps find one bomb factory – well I say lets get their cloths off, find the dogs and the dog leashes.

We have women in my town that protest the war every Friday by standing on Main Street during lunch hour with signs. They are called the "women in black." These people insult me, they insult my son, they insult our military and they insult our country. I wonder what they would say to Osama or his followers? I wonder what they would say to the British suicide bombers? I wonder what they would say to the survivors and family members of the victims of 9-11?

When our military has a terrorist like Al Sadar and 40 to 50 of his closest followers surrounded in a 1000 year old Mosque

Bomb the hell out of the Mosque and let God sort it out.

Let the first American step foreword who would rather sacrifice his son or daughter rather than bomb a stupid building.

A very good friend of mine is a retired Kprea Marine - he sent me these thoughts:

Rules for Gun Fighting

USMC Rules for Gun Fighting

1. Be courteous to everyone, friendly to no one.
2. Decide to be aggressive ENOUGH, quickly ENOUGH.
3. Have a plan.
4. Have a back-up plan, because the first one probably won't work.
5. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet.
6. Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun whose caliber does not start with a "4."
7. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap.
Life is expensive.
8. Move away from your attacker. Distance is your friend. (Lateral & diagonal preferred.)
9. Use cover or concealment as much as possible.
10. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.
11. Always cheat; always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.
12. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics.
They will only remember who lived.
13. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating or reloading.
14. Someday someone may kill you with your own gun, but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.
15. And above all ... don't drop your guard.

Navy SEALS Rules For Gun Fighting

1. Look very cool in sunglasses.
2. Kill every living thing within view.
3. Return quickly to looking cool in latest beach wear.
4. Check hair in mirror.

US Army Rangers Rules For Gun Fighting

1. Walk in 50 miles wearing 75 pound ruck while starving.
2. Locate individuals requiring killing.
3. Request permission via radio from "Higher Up" to perform killing.
4. Curse bitterly when mission is aborted.
5. Walk out 50 miles wearing a 75 pound ruck while starving.

US Air Force Rules For Gun Fighting

1. Have a cocktail
2. Adjust temperature on air-conditioner
3. See what's on HBO
4. Determine "what a gunfight is"
5. Request more funding from Congress with a "killer" Power Point presentation
6. Wine & dine 'key' Congressmen, invite DoD & defense industry executives
7. Receive funding, set up new command and assemble assets
8. Declare the assets "strategic" and never deploy them operationally
9. Tell the Navy to send the Marines

Navy Rules For Gun Fighting

1. Go to Sea
2. Drink Coffee
3. Watch porn
4. Send the Marines

The war-weary Marine asked, "Ma'am, may I have that seat?"

The French woman just sniffed and said to no one in particular, "Americans are so rude. My little Fifi is using that seat."

The Marine walked the entire train again, but the only seat left was under that dog.

"Please, ma'am. May I sit down? I'm very tired."

She snorted, "Not only are you Americans rude, you are also arrogant!"

This time the Marine didn't say a word, he just picked up the little dog, tossed it out the train window, and sat down. The woman shrieked,

"Someone must defend my honor! Put this American in his place!"

An English gentleman sitting! nearby spoke up, "Sir, you Americans often seem to have a penchant for doing the wrong thing. You hold the fork in the wrong hand. You drive your autos on the wrong side of the road. And now, sir, you've thrown the wrong bitch out the window!"

The difference between a hero and a .....
HERO IN FALLUJAH: Marine Laid Himself on Top of Grenade to Save the Rest of his Squad

by Oliver North
Posted Dec 16, 2004
" It's stuff you hear about in boot camp, about World War II and Tarawa
Marines who won the Medal of Honor," Lance Corporal Rob Rogers of the
1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment told the Army Times. Corporal Rogers
was describing the actions of his fellow Marine, Sgt. Rafael Peralta, a
Mexican immigrant who enlisted in the Marine Corps the day he received
his green card.

Most readers of this column probably haven't heard about Rafael
Peralta.

With the exception of the Los Angeles Times, most of our mainstream
media haven't bothered to write about him. The next time you log onto the
Internet, do a Google search on Rafael Peralta. As of this writing,
the Internet's most used search engine will provide you with only 26
citations from news sources that have bothered to write about this heroic
young man.

Then, just for giggles, do a Google search on Pablo Paredes. Hundreds
of media outlets have written about him. The wire services have blasted
his story to thousands of newspapers. Television and radio debate programs
gladly provide the public with talking heads that can speak eloquently
on the actions of Pablo Paredes.

You see, Pablo Paredes, a Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class, did something
the liberal elites consider "heroic" and the media consider "newsworthy" -
he defied an order. Last week, Paredes refused to board his ship bound
for Iraq along with 5,000 other sailors and Marines. He showed up on the
pier wearing a black tee shirt that read, ``Like a Cabinet member, I
resign.''

We know this because Petty Officer Pablo Paredes had the courtesy and
forethought to notify the local media that he would commit an act of
cowardice the following day. Perhaps he hoped to follow the lead of
another famous war protestor who went on to become a U.S. Senator and
his party's presidential nominee by throwing away his military medals.
Petty Officer Paredes stopped short of trashing his military I.D. in front
of the cameras because he said he didn't want to be charged with the
destruction of government property. The media, we are promised, will
continue to follow this story intently.

It is a shame that the media focus on such acts when they could tell
stories about real heroes like Rafael Peralta who "saved the life of
my son and every Marine in that room," according to Garry Morrison the
father of a Marine in Peralta's unit - Lance Cpl. Adam Morrison.

On the morning of November 15, 2004, the men of 1st Battalion, 3rd
Marines awoke before sunrise and continued what they had been doing for
seven days previously - cleansing the city of Fallujah of terrorists house by
house.

At the fourth house they encountered that morning the Marines kicked
in the door and "cleared" the front rooms, but then noticed a locked door
off to the side that required inspection. Sgt. Rafael Peralta threw open
the closed door, but behind it were three terrorists with AK-47s. Peralta
was hit in the head and chest with multiple shots at close range.

Peralta's fellow Marines had to step over his body to continue the
shootout with the terrorists. As the firefight raged on, a "yellow,
foreign-made, oval-shaped grenade," as Lance Corporal Travis Kaemmerer
described it, rolled into the room where they were all standing and
came to a stop near Peralta's body.

But Sgt. Rafael Peralta wasn't dead - yet. This young immigrant of 25
years, who enlisted in the Marines when he received his green card,
who volunteered for the front line duty in Fallujah, had one last act of
heroism in him.

Sgt. Rafael Peralta was the polar opposite of Pablo Paredes, the Petty
Officer who turned his back on his shipmates and mocked his commander
in chief. Peralta was proud to serve his adopted country. In his parent's
home, on his bedroom walls hung only three items - a copy of the
United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights and his boot camp graduation
certificate. Before he set out for Fallujah, he wrote to his 14-year
old brother, "be proud of me, bro...and be proud of being an American."

Not only can Rafael's family be proud of him, but his fellow Marines
are alive because of him. As Sgt. Rafael Peralta lay near death on the
floor of a Fallujah terrorist hideout, he spotted the yellow grenade that
had rolled next to his near-lifeless body. Once detonated, it would take
out the rest of Peralta's squad. To save his fellow Marines, Peralta
reached out, grabbed the grenade, and tucked it under his abdomen where it
exploded.

"Most of the Marines in the house were in the immediate area of the
grenade," Cpl. Kaemmerer said. "We will never forget the second chance
at life that Sgt. Peralta gave us."

Unfortunately, unlike Pablo Paredes, Sgt. Rafael Peralta will get
little media coverage. He is unlikely to have books written about him or
movies made about his extraordinarily selfless sacrifice. But he is likely
to receive the Medal of Honor. And that Medal of Honor is likely to be
displayed next to the only items that hung on his bedroom wall - the
Constitution, Bill of Rights and his Boot Camp graduation certificate.

Yes, Virginia, there are still heroes in America, and Sgt. Rafael
Peralta was one of them. It's just too bad the media can't recognize them.

Lt. Col. North (Ret.) is a nationally syndicated columnist and the
author of the new FOX News/Regnery book, War Stories: Operation Iraqi
Freedom

From the LA Times:

MARINE TO MARINE

No one can understand the singular suffering of the wounded like their injured comrades. So one is leading the way in ministering to them.

By David Zucchino, L. A. Times Staff Writer

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — A hospital therapist pressed down hard against a ridge of crimson scar tissue on the shattered left leg of Marine Lance Cpl. Donald Ferguson. The corporal gritted his teeth.

His face red and contorted, Ferguson tried to snap to attention as a Marine lieutenant colonel approached. The officer's hair was cropped close on top and shaved on the sides, revealing a jagged pink scar across his left temple from a combat wound.

"Relax, relax," Lt. Col. Tim Maxwell said, resting his hand on the corporal's shoulder. "Just wanted to see how you're doing."

"Doing good, sir. How about you?"

"I feel like I got no brain left," Maxwell said. "My brain got whacked pretty good. I kind of have to fake it to get by."

On Oct. 7 in central Iraq, mortar shrapnel tore into Maxwell's skull, causing severe brain damage, and lacerated the left side of his body. Seventeen days later, a rocket exploded near Ferguson in western Iraq, shredding his lower left leg.

The two Marines had never met before the 40-year-old colonel sought out the 22-year-old corporal in the physical therapy ward of the Naval Hospital at Camp Lejeune this month. Their encounter was part of an extraordinary endeavor by a Marine officer with a faulty memory and a speech impediment, in which the walking wounded help care for injured comrades.

Even as Maxwell recovers physically and psychologically, he patrols military hospitals and barracks to comfort and counsel a handful of the U.S. service members injured in Iraq, which number about 14,000.

Sometimes Maxwell's speech is halting, and often his right foot "flops," as he puts it. He struggles to recall mundane words like "strawberry" or "compass." But Maxwell, who has endured depression and self-doubt during his recovery, says he is determined to make sure that no wounded Marine is left alone to sink into depression or despair.

"People who haven't been wounded can't possibly understand the sense of loneliness and abandonment you feel," Maxwell, a slender, sharp-featured figure in a tan Marine uniform, said as he hustled through the therapy ward.

Maxwell, one of the highest-ranking U.S. service members wounded in Iraq, recalls encountering a 20-year-old Marine sitting alone inside a Camp Lejeune barracks in May.

"The kid couldn't use his arm. He'd seen his buddy killed. His family was in Florida," Maxwell said. "And he told me he felt so lonely and lost. I decided no Marine was going to be left all alone like that."

This spring, his solitary mission evolved into an informal effort approved by Marine brass. Maxwell has recruited several other injured Marines to help wounded comrades — most of them young and far from home.

They tell them what to expect during surgery, therapy and recovery. They help them negotiate the military health system. They have heartfelt talks with wives and parents.

They also display graphic photos of their own wounds to show that even the most grievous injuries can heal. Mostly, they try to lift spirits during what is probably the most trying period in the lives of these soldiers.

"I want these families to know that their guys aren't forgotten," Maxwell said. "There are Marines here for them, right by their side."

Maxwell says the military will provide a small office and vehicles as he recruits more volunteers. And 10-bed living quarters for wounded Marines will open at the base Aug. 8, he said.

Sometimes Maxwell brings along his wife, Shannon, on his visits. She helps him finish his sentences and fill in holes in his memory. She urges him to be gentle and patient. "I was a scary guy with a bad temper" as a battalion operations officer in Iraq, he said.

Shannon Maxwell says her husband doesn't remember rolling his wheelchair through a ward at Bethesda Naval Hospital just days after brain surgery in January, searching for Marines. He does remember the first thing he told her after awakening: "I want to be with wounded Marines."

Maxwell still longs for the intense bonds forged in combat. Every wounded Marine he has met, he said, has described a deep emotional void that develops after being ripped from a tightly knit unit.

"Worse than getting hurt is leaving the team," Maxwell said. "These Marines feel guilty: 'Did I abandon my buddies? Did I quit on them? How will they ever get along without me?'

"Their unit — their crew — is all they care about. So we've created a new crew for them."

Maxwell finds camaraderie in what he calls his "wounded warrior team." There's Staff Sgt. James Sturla, 26, a tank commander whose right hand was "de-gloved" — the skin, tissue and muscle ripped from the bone — during an attack in western Iraq in September. And there's Gunnery Sgt. Ken Barnes, 35, whose left arm was shattered by a roadside bomb in central Iraq in November.

Barnes was recovering in the hospital here last month when Maxwell called.

"He was so excited, it took me a minute to figure out what he was talking about," Barnes said. "But once I realized he meant reaching out to wounded Marines, I jumped at the chance."

Barnes has had seven surgeries. His left wrist was broken and his face and arms were tattooed by shrapnel. His left arm has lost muscle tone. His children call his injured hand "The Claw." Once a 225-pound weightlifter, he weighs 180. He can barely do three pull-ups.

"You get discouraged with how slow the recovery goes," he said. "I tell these Marines that no matter how bad things look, they will get better."

Sturla, who was recruited by Maxwell at the hospital in late May, has struggled through 24 surgeries on his hand, arm and back — including skin grafted from his stomach to his hand. His face is dotted with tiny purple shrapnel scars, and his right hand is still bandaged.

He was in the middle of his daily therapy recently when he encountered Ferguson. When Ferguson mentioned that he was awaiting a special shoe lift because he had lost an inch of bone in his injured leg, Sturla said he had just had surgery to remove excess bone growth.

"I wish I could give you my extra bone growth," he told Ferguson.

The two began exchanging war stories. Most Marines will not tell anyone except a fellow Marine the details of their injuries, Sturla said.

"They just don't feel comfortable sharing their stories with outsiders, even the nurses and therapists," he said. "But once I tell them what happened to me, they open right up. There's this huge release — they just talk and talk."

There are two basic questions most wounded Marines ask: Can I go back to my unit? Can I stay in the Marine Corps?

Until recently, wounded Marines who could not perform battlefield duties were forced to leave the Corps. Now the service attempts to find non combat positions for them.

Returning to combat is rarely an option. Barnes, who is serving as a machine gun instructor while he recovers, says he has accepted, with deep regret, that he will never again be a combat infantryman. Sturla still hopes to return to Iraq with his unit as a tank commander in the spring if his hand heals properly.

Apart from telling severely wounded Marines that they can't rejoin their units, the most difficult part of the team's mission is persuading them to talk to psychiatrists. A 2004 New England Journal of Medicine study of 6,200 Marines and soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan found that combat veterans with mental health problems did not seek counseling because they did not want to be seen as weak.

"They're afraid it'll stay on their record," Barnes said. "Plus, they figure they're tough, they're mentally hard, so they don't need a shrink messing with their heads."

Maxwell said he sought a psychiatrist after he realized he was severely depressed. He wept when he was transferred from the military hospital in Bethesda — where he was surrounded by wounded Marines — to a Veterans Administration hospital in Richmond, Va.

"I tell these kids: Don't be ashamed to see a psychiatrist. Don't be afraid," Maxwell said. "I tell them how depressed I felt, that it's normal to be depressed after what they've been through."

For Maxwell, counseling Marines is his own form of therapy. He is still recovering from surgery that removed a portion of his scalp to relieve brain swelling. The scalp flap was sewn to his abdomen in October and replaced on his head in January.

Early on, he said, he was bitter and angry. He had been a tri athlete and marathoner, and was proud of his physical prowess. Confined at first to bed and then a wheelchair, he had difficulty speaking and walking. Photos of him receiving a Purple Heart show scarlet bruises under both eyes and a raised red surgical scar snaking across his temple.

Shannon Maxwell described his progress: "At first, the doctors said he'd lose a lot of cognitive abilities and some of his personality," she said, sitting at home in Jacksonville with her husband and their two children. "So he's really exceeding the prognosis.

"He has the same personality and energy — he's just more sensitive now."

Lt. Col. Maxwell is able to swim, lift weights and run three miles. He has taught himself to read again, beginning with children's books. His speech pathologist, Anna JurczynskiMartin, said Maxwell read at a third-grade level when he began seeing her in January. Today, he reads at a seventh-grade level and is improving weekly, she said.

At a recent therapy session, Maxwell held his head in his hands as he struggled to recall the names of everyday objects.

He sweated through his uniform as Jurczynski-Martin showed him drawings — an exercise called "confrontational naming."

In January, Maxwell could name just 40% to 50% of the objects she showed him. On this test, he named 80% to 90%.

He was able to come up with "bed," "tree," "book," "pencil," "toothbrush" and "helicopter." But, squeezing his eyes shut, he couldn't remember "volcano."

"It explodes…. It smokes," he muttered.

"Starts with a 'V,' " the therapist said.

"Oh, 'volcano!' " Maxwell said.

She showed him a drawing of a tripod.

"You use it to lay mortar rounds," Maxwell said. He paused and said: "Yeah, 'tripod.' "

He stumbled over "accordion" and "asparagus," got "pyramids" and "tongs," but couldn't come up with "trellis," "protractor" or "abacus." He was sweaty and spent. The therapist ended the session.

"You showed significant improvement; you're doing great," she told him.

Despite his difficulty naming things — a condition called anomia — Maxwell's motor speech is good, and "cognitively, he is absolutely intact," JurczynskiMartin said. "This man's motivation and focus are beyond anything I've ever seen."

Maxwell, a 17-year veteran with a chest full of campaign ribbons and awards, says he is determined to stay in the Corps if his condition continues to improve. But, he added, "I'll get out of the Corps if I stay the way, uh … " — he struggled for the right words — " … if I stay the way I am."

Maxwell spent much of a recent day patrolling the hospital ward, keeping up a steady chatter with nurses, therapists and wounded Marines. He focused on Ferguson and his badly injured leg.

He asked, as he usually does, about the Marine's family. Ferguson is married, with a 4-month-old son.

Maxwell asked whether Ferguson had spoken with a Marine comrade who was wounded in the same attack as Ferguson. The corporal nodded.

"That's critical," the colonel said. "Keep talking to him. I'm glad you got that going for you."

Maxwell paused, then mentioned how badly he had missed his fellow Marines in Iraq after being evacuated. He had felt helpless and abandoned, he told Ferguson.

"Being alone sucks, huh?" he whispered.

The corporal stared down at his scarred leg. "Yes, sir," he said. "It's awful."

WHAT SENATOR JOHN GLENN SAID

Things that make you think a little:

There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq in January.
In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the
month of January. That's just one American city,
about as deadly as the entire war-torn country of Iraq.

When some claim that President Bush shouldn't
have started this war, state the following:

a. FDR led us into World War II.

b. Germany never attacked us; Japan did.
> From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost ...
an average of 112,500 per year.

c. Truman finished that war and started one in Korea.
North Korea never attacked us.
> From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost ...
an average of 18,334 per year.

d John F. Kennedy started the Vietnam conflict in 1962.
Vietnam never attacked us.

e. Johnson turned Vietnam into a quagmire.
> From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost ..
an average of 5,800 per year.

f. Clinton went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent.
Bosnia never attacked us.
He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three
times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on
multiple occasions.

g. In the years since terrorists attacked us , President Bush
has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled
al-Qaida, put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran, and, North
Korea without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who
slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.

It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno
to take the Branch Davidian compound.
That was a 51-day operation.

We've been looking for evidence for chemical weapons
in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton to find
the Rose Law Firm billing records.

It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the
Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard
than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his
Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick.

It took less time to take Iraq than it took
to count the votes in Florida!!!!

Our Commander-In-Chief is doing a GREAT JOB!
The Military morale is high!

The biased media hopes we are too ignorant
to realize the facts

But Wait .

There's more!

JOHN GLENN (ON THE SENATE FLOOR)
Mon, 26 Jan 2004 11:13

Some people still don't understand why military personnel
do what they do for a living. This exchange between
Senators John Glenn and Senator Howard Metzenbaum
is worth reading. Not only is it a pretty impressive
impromptu speech, but it's also a good example of one
man's explanation of why men and women in the armed
services do what they do for a living.

This IS a typical, though sad, example of what
some who have never served think of the military.

Senator Metzenbaum (speaking to Senator Glenn):
" How can you run for Senate
when you've never held a real job?"

Senator Glenn (D-Ohio):
" I served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps.
I served through two wars. I flew 149 missions.
My plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 12 different
occasions. I was in the space program. It wasn't my
checkbook, Howard; it was my life on the line. It was
not a nine-to-five job, where I took time off to take the
daily cash receipts to the bank."

"I ask you to go with me ... as I went the other day...
to a veteran's hospital and look those men ...
with their mangled bodies . in the eye, and tell THEM
they didn't hold a job!

You go with me to the Space Program at NASA
and go, as I have gone, to the widows and Orphans
of Ed White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee...
and you look those kids in the eye and tell them
that their DADS didn't hold a job.

You go with me on Memorial Day and you stand in
Arlington National Cemetery, where I have more friends
buried than I'd like to remember, and you watch
those waving flags.

You stand there, and you think about this nation,
and you tell ME that those people didn't have a job?

What about you?"

For those who don't remember ..
During W.W.II, Howard Metzenbaum was an attorney
representing the Communist Party in the USA.

Now he's a Senator!

If you can read this, thank a teacher.
If you are reading it in English thank a Veteran.

DOWN UNDER - A BETTER WAY

Get out if you want Sharia law, Australia tells Muslims

CANBERRA: Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia, as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.

A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown.

Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that Australia was a secular state and its laws were made by parliament. "If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you," he said on national television.

"I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia, one the Australian law and another the Islamic law, that that is false. If you can't agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country which practices it, perhaps, then, that's a better option, "Costello said.

Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked move to the other country.

Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims who did not want to accept local values should "clear off". "Basically, people who don't want to be Australians, and they don't want to live by Australian values and understand them, well then they can basically clear off," he said.

Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spies monitoring the nation's mosques.

AMERICANS.....ARE YOU LISTENING?

FLANDERS FIELDS

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

In thanks for those who served...

A few Facts that we should all know

Did you know that 47 countries have reestablished their embassies in Iraq?

Did you know that the Iraqi government currently employs 1.2 million Iraqi people?

Did you know that 3100 schools have been renovated, 364 schools are under rehabilitation, 263 schools are now under construction and 38 new schools have been built in Iraq?

Did you know that Iraq's higher educational structure consists of
20 Universities, 46 Institutes or colleges and 4 research centers, all
currently operating?

Did you know that 25 Iraq students departed for the United States
in January 2005 for the reestablished Fulbright program?

Did you know that the Iraqi Navy is operational? They have 5-
100-foot patrol craft, 34 smaller vessels and a naval infantry regiment.

Did you know that Iraq's Air Force consists of three operational
squadrons, which includes 9 reconnaissance and 3 US C-130 transport
aircraft (under Iraqi operational control) which operate day and night,
and will soon add 16 UH-1 helicopters and 4 Bell Jet Rangers?

Did you know that Iraq has a counter-terrorist unit and a Commando
Battalion?

Did you know that the Iraqi Police Service has over 55,000 fully
trained and equipped police officers?

Did you know that there are 5 Police Academies in Iraq that produce
over 3500 new officers each 8 weeks?

Did you know there are more than 1100 building projects going on in
Iraq? They include 364 schools, 67 public clinics, 15 hospitals, 83
railroad stations, 22 oil facilities, 93 water facilities and 69
electrical facilities.

Did you know that 96% of Iraqi children under the age of 5 have
received the first 2 series of polio vaccinations?

Did you know that 4.3 million Iraqi children were enrolled in
primary school by mid October?

Did you know that there are 1,192,000 cell phone subscribers in
Iraq and phone use has gone up 158%?

Did you know that Iraq has an independent media that consists of 75
radio stations, 180 newspapers and 10 television stations?

Did you know that the Baghdad Stock Exchange opened in June of
2004?

Did you know that 2 candidates in the Iraqi presidential election
had a televised debate recently?

OF COURSE WE DIDN'T KNOW!

WHY DIDN'T WE KNOW? OUR MEDIA WOULDN'T TELL US!

Instead of reflecting our love for our country, we get photos of
flag burning incidents at Abu Ghraib and people throwing snowballs at the
presidential motorcades.

The lack of accentuating the positive in Iraq serves two
purposes. It is intended to undermine the world's perception of the
United States thus minimizing consequent support, and it is intended to
discourage American citizens.

Links worth mentioning:

Chicago for the 82nd Airborne Division Association

www.82ndassociation.org

nuns with guns

Don Bendell served as an officer in four Special Forces Groups, including a tour on a Green Beret A-team (Dak Pek) in Vietnam in 1968-1969 and was in the Top Secret Phoenix Program, is a top-selling author of 21 books



Raising Puppies	Training DVDs	Training Equipment	New Products