BlackFive

Toby Nunn and Patti Patton Bader talk about how you can help send one million letters to our troops and get some great music in the bargain!

"All that is needed for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Of all the men I have served with and think of when I honor their sacrifices on this day, the one I think about is the one that I never met.  And would like to think that I would have liked to have met him, because I know men of his character, and what good men they are to know.

I think today about Eddie Jeffers...

He wrote a piece entitled “Hope Rides Alone” (please check it out After The Jump) Every Memorial Day and Veterans Day I read it aloud to myself and try not to choke up at the thought that this young man, who at the age of 23, was wiser and more worldly than 90 percent of the young men his age.

It reminds of the what "sacrifice" means and how everyday, I would only be disrespecting the memories of men like Eddie Jeffers if I did not take the time to enjoy and express the freedoms that they have given their last full measure of devotion to this great country to secure.

I think about his father, David Jeffers, when I look at my son, who asks me difficult questions that he cannot possibly fathom the answer to about war, sacrifice and what it means to serve a cause that is bigger than yourself; or even what it is like to place your life in the hands of another man, and trust that he will watch out for you, just like you will watch out for him.  There is no way I can possibly imagine the pain of his loss and how everyday it must affect him in some way. 

I cannot answer my son’s questions, not because I don’t have the answer, but because I don’t know how to answer.

Eddie will never get to see the victory that he helped to shape and the young men he inspired through his leadership grow to be old men.  I want so badly for him to know how it turned out, and that what he did in a far away place with a funny name meant something.

I have never met Eddie, but I miss him so much.  The world is an emptier place because he is not here.

I know that with a company of men like Eddie Jeffers and Uncle Jimbo as my First Sergeant (and Matty O’ as my B.C. of course) we could rule the world.

Get some rest Sergeant Eddie Jeffers, I will watch your sector for awhile…

I keep this photo as probably the most powerful reminder for me of what the real price of freedom looks like.  Those that give their all as well as those they leave behind.  We should remember both as we celebrate the freedom they've blessed us with and assured for us on this Memorial Day.

For Stuart Barnett, SP4, KIA, RVN 8/26/1970 - Thank you, Barney.  Rest in peace my friend.

While introducing the new National Security Strategy, President Obama recently declared that the "War on Terror" is over. More accurately, war as we know it is over. Through soft power, the United States has reinvented conflict into a feel good, region-building contingency operation where soldiers become ambassadors rather than warriors - seeking to win over our enemies rather than defeat them.

"We will always seek to delegitimize the use of terrorism and to isolate those who carry it out," it states. "Yet this is not a global war against a tactic – terrorism..."

First off, can Obama name one example how his administration has done anything to delegitimize Islamic terrorists?

I do agree that one can't declare war on terrorism (calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear, intended to coerce or intimidate governments or societies ... [to attain] political, religious, or ideological goals) any more than you can declare war on L-shaped ambushes. I concede that the Global War on Terror is not the best name for our current conflict. But the same argument could be made about World War II. Ultimately, what the war is called is pointless. The important thing is that it is brought to a quick, decisive, and favorable end, and as of yet there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

"... or a religion – Islam."

This is clearly not a war against Islam. The fact that our leaders continue to bring this up is an insult to everyone's intelligence, and pandering to our enemies. Members of the Islamic religion - the jihadists - are at war with us, whether we acknowledge it or not. But if one were to read the Qur'an, one would find that jihad is a pillar of Islam, not something that was taken out of context by misunderstanders of the so-called "religion of peace" or created by George Bush and Dick Cheney in order to justify their diabolical scheme. If you doubt me, see for yourself.

"Our long-term security will not come from our ability to instill fear in other peoples but through our capacity to speak to their hopes."

The puss-nut diplomats and think tankers that came up with this s--t should be called pirates and turned in to the Russians. Since before Moses was a corporal, civilizations protected themselves by instilling "fear" among those who seek to subjugate or eliminate their culture - as jihadists do today. The fact that Obama doesn't want to "instill fear" in jihadists should be a matter of grave concern for Americans.

But possibly the worst thing is that the National Security Strategy Obama was introducing resurrects the sovereignty stripping, military weakening, massive income redistributing Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST). If you treasure the Constitution and enjoy the idea of our own elected officials running our country and not unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats in Brussels, then it would behoove you to learn about the LOST and prepare to fight off the administration's efforts to ratify this treaty.

Remember, We the People ARE the government. Our elected officials are merely our servants.

Greyhawk outdoes himself yet again.  For those that follow good reporting (from any source) on the war, you've probably seen the name C. J. Chivers.  He was a Captain in the Marines, and decided to take a new objective:  reporting.  Few do it as well, and you really need to go read the story to learn more.  You will also learn of some memorials, and Marine humor. 

LW

This is short, sweet, and simple.  There is a petition up to name a U.S. Navy ship in honor of Lt. John William Finn.  Well, just don't stand there, get to it.  Rumor has it that DDG-113 hasn't been named yet...

LW

Link should be fixed now, some software was trying to be helpful, was simply trying...

(h/t Weekly Standard) It is almost comical to watch our major news organs play agenda journalism. They have a narrative and the facts be damned, or at least spun so that the proles are sure to get the proper message, in this case Gitmo is bad, mmmkay?

About 10 percent of the 240 detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, when President Obama took office were "leaders, operatives and facilitators involved in plots against the United States," but the majority were low-level fighters, according to a previously undisclosed government report. About 5 percent of the detainees could not be categorized at all.

For comparison let's say that the bad guys captured an entire US infantry company which has approx. 130 men. Out of them you have one Captain, an XO, 4 Platoon leaders and the First Sergeant and then a bunch of sergeants, specialists and privates. Would the Wa Po spin on their make up read like this:

About 5 percent of the 130 detainees held at George Soros Enemies of the World compound in the Cayman Islands were "leaders, operatives and facilitators involved in plots against the New World Order," but the majority were low-level fighters, according to a previously undisclosed world government report.

I kinda doubt it, but that is the way they spin this report. It ought to say that 95% of those at Gitmo are firmly-identified bad guys and the others still stink like rotten fish, we just aren't certain exactly what their roles were. The bottom line is that we have a bunch of scum bags that we can't afford to let loose and we need somewhere to keep them and the others we will pick up going forward. Since Gitmo is by definition evil, the Obama team and their chorus of anti-torture mongers have painted themselves into a corner. Congress is at least listening to the American people who have said loud and clear, don't bring 'em here. Bagram is looking like a decent option eh?