Charge your glasses!
- Posted by Beth on July 3rd, 2005 filed in General, Support the Troops
For this Independence Day, some of the women of Cotillion are honoring our military–a blog dining-out, if you will.
So with this, I propose a toast to the United States military, active duty and veterans alike.
Andrew Olmstead has a magnificent collection of work that shows the “Reasons Why”:
Earlier in my service my own company commander had given me a copy of this work when he changed command, as we had often discussed similar matters in his company. Within are a number of quotes, book excerpts and notes regarding military service. Some are inspirational, others merely interesting, but they all share one common theme: they attempt to answer the question why—why do some men choose to serve their country despite the myriad challenges they face?
This one from “Reasons Why” is quite fitting for Independence Day:
Freedom Isn’t Free
Freedom is a priceless possession.
You can trace the painful price from Bunker Hill and Concord to Valley Forge.
The founding fathers made the down payments there
And brave men have continued to pay with their lives
At the Argonne and in Flanders Field;
At Dunkirk, Iwo Jima, the Anzio Beachhead;
In Korea; and today in war-torn Vietnam.
Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Remember that!
Freedom is a strange and evasive, yet rewarding, entity.
Freedom is like health: to love it is to appreciate it.
Freedom is indivisible, but we lose it by degrees.
Freedom is an end product. It is not the cause. It is the effect.
It is not static! It does not dwell in isolated splendor atop a wind-caressed mountain retreat,
Nor does it take residence within the ivy towers of historic reminiscences.
Freedom rides with the commuter on his way to work.
It strides with the farmer on his way to the field,
Where the soil of earth is furrowed in joy
And the winds sing the songs of wide ranges and blissful days.
It marches in cadence with those men and women who do the work of the world in dangerous places…
Whose boots show the stain of bitter waters
And whose clothes are muddied by foreign soils.
Men and women in uniform…the defenders of freedom!
For freedom is doing…it is action…it is concern…it is involvement…it is investment…it is
prayer…it is faith…it is dedication…it is all of life reaching upward and outward and onward.
Rev. Russell J. Clearman, Pastor
Gaines Street Baptist Church
Little Rock, Arkansas
Go feast on this inspiring tribute to military service.
What kind of dining out would it be without Blackfive, the Paratrooper of Love?
For this offense of ungentlemanlike behavior, the Grog Bowl! * (He’s the guy in the Superman shirt.)
OK, enough silliness. Blackfive is a daily read of mine; features like “Someone You Should Know” are one of my favorite things on the whole “internets.” He’s also a devoted and generous friend to Soldiers’ Angels and other causes that support the troops. Find out the hilarious story behind the genesis of Blackfive here, and then read about Someone You Should Know. Oh, hell, just read the whole blog. You’ll see why I read it every day. Been there, done that, and got the t-shirt!
Go get the shirt–$5 from each shirt sold go to Soldiers’ Angels!
Speaking of men who enjoy jumping out of perfectly good airplanes… :wink: I heart The Jump Blog! You think I’m politically incorrect? HA. Read this! It’s f’n beeeeautiful! He pulls no punches here, either. It just makes my heart go pitter-patter! :wiping tears: (As you can imagine, he gets his trolls…)
Don’t be fooled though; it’s not just a rant blog. He’s got music, art, poetry, and more. Go read and blogroll him!
Here’s a little politically incorrect graphic he did:
Artitumis.com is run by Marcus, a Marine whom I “met” (in the virtual sense) during the 2004
Weblog Awards, because he, Scott Boone, and I worked with Kevin Aylward on setting up the categories. Marcus’ blog was still pretty new at the time, but I blogrolled him immediately. Not only because he’s a really nice guy, but he’s also got some great digital art!
Click the thumbnail…I thought this was an enhanced photograph when I first saw it.
Jo says:
Thanks for this great post. I’m still waffling back and forth on what to do for tomorrow on my site. You gave me some great idea — not that I’d steal them mind you, I don’t want you kicking my cyber butt that’s for sure.
Have a great Sunday.
basil's blog says:
Brunch: 7/3/2005
Try one of these specials with your weekend brunch: Carol (An American Housewife) suffers a loss. Beth is a point of contact for helping Carol. Mark in Mexico looks at Lawrence O’Donnell’s credibility. Jackson’s Junction looks at developments in Rus…
The Orphan says:
This gentleman has posted a comment from the President. I hope the URL sticks…don’t know what format this board is working under.
Go to… http://www.swankyconservative.com/
He writes a pretty goood blog and could use some traffic….
david
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