Happy Independence Day
to those who stand ready
Today is Independence Day, the 229th anniversary of the day that 56 men stood before “Supreme Judge of the world” to proclaim that they did, “in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States...”
Today, that free and independent group of states has grown into the most prosperous and freest nation in the history of mankind; a nation whose people are the healthiest, best fed, best educated, and most productive people in the world.
Today those people and this nation face grave threats from both without and within: the threat from without is the primitive forces of ignorance, savagery and barbarism; the threat from within is the degeneration of civilization which arises from too much safety, too much prosperity and too much distance from the real face of Nature, red in tooth and claw.
Today I am privileged to be able to express in some small way my gratitude to five out of the thousands of men and women who stand daily between US in our safe and comfortable homes and the forces that would tear our civilization down and take our entire species back to the caves.
doc Russia
--doc Russia describes himself as a Marine grunt going to med school. From his experience, he shares what he’s learned about being tough:
It begins and ends in the mind.
Yep.
Darth VOB of Musings from the Imperial Senate is so technically competent that when he blogs about his work I come away feeling like a drooling ninny. I do love a geek. He is also funnier than hell and repeatedly had me laughing out loud. This Mill quote from his blog explains some of his more serious side:
"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
Darth VOB is a member of the Army National Guard, a husband and a father of two beautiful girls. He is now Sandbox Bound.
Matthew Heidt of Froggys Ruminations is going through rough times this week, along with his fellows in the Navy Special Warfare community. The chopper that crashed in Afghanistan was filled with his compatriots. In a community as tightly knit and as small as the elite forces, a loss like this is staggering.
One thing that I think is important to point out is the incredible bravery and heroism of the SOF operators involved here. Imagine being in a small group of operators reporting the activities of an enemy force 25 to 30 times your strength deep behind enemy lines. Well, our SOF operators don’t have to imagine it, they do that every day. Imagine going in to rescue your embattled recon team facing 100 or more enemy fighters in a helo with 7 to 10 other SEALs in a high mountain pass in the middle of nowhere probably at night. Well, that’s what my brothers were about to do when their aircraft took fire. Recognize that every one of these men know that if captured, they will be peeled like an onion by the savage heathen scumbags that it is their job to annihilate. Think about that.
I don’t know about you, but as I wrote that, a chill went up my spine. While this incident is a terrible tragedy, it underscores the deep commitment of the American fighting man to defend this nation, and the incredible intrepidy of our SOF operators. This Independence Day weekend, take a minute and hoist a cold one for our boys. Because it is these men serving our nation around the world for the past 229 years that have made your BBQ possible.
Now, head on over to Warrior Foundation and see what you can do.
Major John of Miserable Donuts is best known as the one-time Instapundit Afghanistan Correspondent (April 2004-2005). From time to time you will see a Gratuitous Afghanistan Photo on his blog. My favorite [so far] is one of an Afghani father in whose village Major John and his outfit, amongst patrols and other duties in a combat zone, built a school. Under the photo, Major John wrote:
Happy Father’s Day, anon. father in Deh-e Hazara.
I hope you and your family are well. This morning I remembered how I had met you - on a humanitarian assistance mission to your village. I wonder if things are better in Deh-e Hazara now. It seems strange that only 6 months ago I was in your village for the first time. You, and everyone else there, were so very happy that we came. All the good people at home had sent us clothing, shoes, and especially baby gear - and your village was grateful for it. I was glad I managed to come back two more times before I left for my home.
I know all of you love your children very much. Everyone was so happy to tell us that a new school was opening. I hope someday that your son will be able to write you something nice like in the card I got from mine today. Well, that’s all I wanted to share. Happy Father’s Day.
Firepower 5, with his education and career in high finance, is currently serving in Afghanistan as XO of a Logistics Task Force. This financial wizard can describe an experience with such clarity that it is possible to taste the breezes and feel the sweat. I will give him the last word, today.
...It seems to me now, that this war will be won not by virtue of our nations ability to place these gargantuan aircraft, and the vast numbers of it’s deadly cousins on the ground and in the skies over this desolate land, nor in the ability to house, arm and sustain the thousands of servicemen and women who had just rendered final honors to these heroes here in this remote and barren country. It will not be won solely by the actions of those who ascended that ramp beneath their nation’s colors, though God knows they gave more than any has a right to ask, but by the heart of those who carry the colors back down the ramp, into the darkness of this hostile country having just said a final farewell to friends.This war will be won through the knowledge that the warrior cannot be separated from the human, that we can no longer fight wars by separating all that is decent and humane from our actions in relentless destruction of those who mean us harm, but rather by the embodiment of decency and humanity in our warrior ethos in order to secure victory through peace.
The papers and the televisions will keep reporting the unfortunate and heart-rending loss of American life here in these distant lands like perverse box scores long after the American public or the world at large has become desensitized, but it will be that which is unquantifiable, that which comes from the recesses of the American warrior’s heart which sparks and sustains beyond all reasonable standards, the willingness to sacrifice for the sustainment of freedom that will eventually win a long forgotten peace in this country and the security of our own.
De Oppresso Libre
I am heartened and eternally grateful. With knowledgeable, thoughtful, strong and decent men like these standing ready, the Great Experiment that is America will live into the future and continue to prosper.
.
Bloodletting Blog [doc Russia]
Musings from the Imperial Senate [DarthVOB]
Froggy Ruminations [Matthew Heidt]
Miserable Donuts [Major John]
Firepower Forward [Firepower 5]
What a wonderfule tribute to our milbloggers from the entire Cotillion!
And Froggy is doing a tremendous job keeping us posted about the tragedy in Afghanistan. Thanks for bringing that to our attention.
I echo your sentiments for all our men AND women in uniform and their families.
Posted by Rick Moran on 07/05/05 at 03:48 AM
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