New York City Lawmakers Call for Ticker Tape Parade for Iraq Vets

What do you think?

Update on Thursday, December 29, 2011 at 10:40 AM by Basil Ryan

Obama Administration Nixes Ticker-Tape Parade for Iraq War Troops

Obama's contempt for the military is palpable. They say they are afraid a celebration "could spark violence overseas." How ridiculous. As if the jihadis weren't already trying to kill U.S. military personnel. Now the Obama Pentagon would have us believe that everything is fine and peaceful, but a ticker-tape parade for our troops will set the jihadis off? Please.  Read more...

"The PROTESTER”: Time Magazine’s Person of the Year

"I wanted to die right then. I hear a voice yelling, 'Lieutenant ... Lieutenant ... oh my God ... I think the lieutenant is dead. ...' I remember being drug and put into a vehicle. ... I was screaming the whole time ... but with most of my face blown off and my mouth destroyed ... it came out as this ghostlike hollow sound ... not even human. The next thing I remember was waking up weeks later at Walter Reed Army Hospital in D.C."

--Lieutenant D.J. Skelton

You likely know by now that the last U.S. soldiers rolled out of Iraq across the border into neighboring Kuwait at daybreak Sunday.

The un-declared war cost nearly 4,500 American lives and more than 100,000 Iraqi lives and almost $1 trillion ($800 billion) from the U.S. Treasury.

With this in mind, from our point of view Time Magazine has its priorities all wrong with its choice of “The Protestor,” for its 2011 Person of the year. 

Our Person of the Year is the American soldier—especially as the last U.S. soldiers left Iraq—who through their service and sacrifice to this country for 236 years have defended and protected the rights of “The Protestor" to protest.

Roy Exum a so-called “grassroots contributor" to THE PATRIOT POST has a similar point of view in his commentary piece entitled: My 2011 Man of the Year (MUST READ). And although our troops have left the battlefields of Iraq, many will face another, potentially lifelong, battle here at home .  ABC’s Christiane Amanpour interviewed Army General Peter Chiarelli about the devastating “invisible wounds and scars” of war facing our returning troops and their families.

RELATED STORIES

• Capt. D.J. Skelton, the Army's Most Seriously Wounded Commander, Returns to Combat
• NC Soldier, 23, Was Last US Troop Killed in Iraq
• VA claims backlog approaches 1 million mark
• VA hopes to eliminate backlog in benefits claims by end of 2015
• Legion: 'Treat the root' of VA claims backlog
• Support Our Wounded Warriors This Christmas

SUPPORT STARS AND STRIPES HONOR FLIGHT: TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE

STARS AND STRIPES HONOR FLIGHT’s mission is to fly WWII veterans and terminally ill veterans from other wars to see their memorials in Washington, DC. They also work closely with schools throughout Wisconsin to ensure that the heroic stories of our veterans are built into the curriculum so that future generations will fully appreciate the sacrifices made on their behalf.

Sadly, my father-in-law,  a Navy veteran who served in WWII  in the Pacific and fought in the horrific Battle of Okinawa was scheduled to take his Honor flight on October 8, but died just weeks before his notification came.  World War II veterans are dying at an incredible rate of nearly 1000 per day.  Please consider supporting STARS AND STRIPES HONOR FLIGHT.  Time is of the essence.

REST IN PEACE JACK...

SUPPOPRT Our Troops: Baseball Gloves Needed For Marines in Afghanistan

There is still plenty of time to donate new or good-condition, adult-size baseball gloves (left and right-handed) to a group of our Marines serving in Afghanistan.

Karen Grochowski made the initial community-wide request a couple of weeks ago on FranklinNOW, noting that “so much of a military deployment is "hurry up....and wait,” adding waiting is the toughest part for Marines.

Through June 15th we are collecting new or good-condition, adult-size baseball gloves to fulfill a request by a group of Marines in Afghanistan. It really helps them pass the time. So much of a military deployment is "hurry up....and wait" and the waiting is the toughest part for many Marines. The request simply states “Baseballs gloves (one or two left handed ones as well as many right handed ones.)” We hope fill a box with gloves for these Marines at our big packing event on May 23rd, but will continue the collection through June 15th.

Baseball glove donations will continue to be accepted through June 15 in the “Support Our Troops” barrel in the Franklin Public Library lobby.

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Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends

“... It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

—President Lincoln, except from The Gettysburg Address

We hope you’ll take a few minutes today to watch this incredible  tribute to those who have sacrificed so much to protect and defend our Freedom and Liberty.

Here is what one YouTube commenter wrote about this tribute:

“Amazing, Every American should see this video to help them remember it's not a day off for BBQs but for giving thanks to all of those who served past present and future. There have been times when this great nation was threatened, but brave men and women have answered the call and defeated oppressors and kept this nation safe and continue to do so. God Bless our troops and their families!”

 To comment privately on this article or any other aspect of this publication click here.