Recently in Heroes Category

I hope you are all having a wonderful long weekend. TB, the kids, and I certainly are. Yesterday we had a movie night, and broke with our usual routine to dine in front of the TV. The movie was National Treasure: Book of Secrets. The movie fell somewhat short of the first due to its predictability, but the banter and special effects were top notch. And there was a hint of a third movie to come which we'll definitely want to see.

Today, the kids are over at a schoolmate's house for the afternoon. TB is taking it fairly slow since she's recovering from a tooth extraction combined with a sinus infection. Me, I've got around 35 pounds of pork shoulder (butt roast) on the smoker - it's pulled pork for dinner tonight.

Had we not received the invite for the kids, I would have liked to have driven south to the tour of Dover's Revolutionary War veterans at Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery in Dover. Did you know we lost 25,000 people in the Revolutionary War? Not all were battlefield deaths, most died from disease or in prison ships. Casualty-wise, the Revolutionary War differs dramatically from our current conflict in scope. What the first war does have in common with today is that the troops then, as now, were all volunteers.

While all those who have died in defense of our country deserve respect and remembrance today and every day, there's a special place in my thoughts for those who willingly serve knowing that they may not survive. It's a devotion and love for country and countrymen that some Americans don't feel and can't understand. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as this is a free country and folks can believe as they wish. Still, I can't fathom the need for some to take a day like this and use it to deride the sacrifices so many have made for our country.

For example, I saw a post yesterday on another blog suggesting that we separate Memorial Day into two holidays - one to "honor the troops that were drafted into fighting", and another to shower contempt upon those "schmucks that signed up for it" who "knew what they were getting into". This means volunteers, including, for example, the 25,000 I mention above and the 6.3 million who volunteered during during the second world war.

However, it's still a free country, and I don't mind having volunteered 20 years of my life toward maintaining his right to spit contempt and ignorance.

Back to the real nature of the holiday, though. TB and I wish for all of you to have a safe and happy holiday as we honor and thank those who gave us the freedoms we enjoy today.

Especially the volunteers.

I couldn't help but think back to the visit his vile bunch of haters made to Delaware. Kristin Harty recalls the event in the Wilmington News-Journal today:

Demonstrators from Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church huddled together with their signs.

"God Hates Fags."

"Fags Doom Nations."

"Thank God for Dead Soldiers," some of the signs read.

Then one of the demonstrators smiled at Dunn and spit on the American flag.

"Can't you do anything about that?" Dunn asked one of the dozens of policemen protecting the protesters.

"Not a thing," the policeman said.

Thankfully for the family of Cpl. Cory Palmer, the town of Seaford poured out into the streets to counter the Kansas group's disgusting display. The town made sure the location of the protest was out of view from where friends and family paid their respects to Cory. A funeral for a fallen hero is surely a sad event, but thanks to many Seaford residents, it was also a proud day for Delaware as over a thousand folks stood up for their own.

It wasn't just Seaford residents. Ms. Harty doesn't mention the efforts of 370+ Patriot Guard Riders, who helped to cancel the sick vitriol from Phelps' haters.

Marine Corporal Cory Palmer, 21, died on May 6, 2006 at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Tex., from wounds received while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Anbar Province. One of Delaware's own, and a true hero.

Paul Tibbets, 92, passed away yesterday. Paul was the pilot of the "Enola Gay", the B-29 bomber that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima during WWII.

Most of the coverage I've seen on the news sites centers on controversies surrounding the atomic bomb that helped bring about the end of the war with Japan. I won't deal with that here.

Paul Tibbet was part of a generation that placed country above self. He and the others who served in WWII answered the call from their nation with courage and honor, and enjoyed the support of a grateful American public. Today's America could learn some valuable lessons from that era.

Rest in peace, Paul Tibbets.

Very unusual in an AP story - a tale of heroism:

CORONADO, Calif. - A Navy SEAL sacrificed his life to save his comrades by throwing himself on top of a grenade Iraqi insurgents tossed into their sniper hideout, fellow members of the elite force said.

Please go read the rest.

Update: Must remember to search before posting. Shoulda known Froggy was on top of this over at Blackfive.