An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings
Archive for Heroes
A “Hometown Hero”
Every once in a while, there is someone who will actually stand up to the status quo. I met a guy a few years back, in Wisconsin, who I thought should run for office. Well, finally he ran, and won! County supervisor, Jim Kiser is one of those rare people who will NOT cave into the opposition. I don’t think “compromise” is in his vocabulary. He knows what’s right, and what’s wrong, standing up for what’s right every time. He’ll fight for his constituents rights against the most staunch of the left.
Here’s an example, from the Wisconsin Family Council:
Our first story takes place in Fond du Lac County. It starts with a few county supervisors trying to pop a sham, if you will. These supervisors, in cahoots with some people with an agenda in the county, claimed Fond du Lac County was facing a workforce crisis in the future because of the imminent retirement of baby boomers, an interesting proposition in itself, considering that Fond du Lac has, as one county supervisor noted, more people than jobs. The answer these supervisors proposed was a ‘Comprehensive Countywide Diversity Initiative.”
It should come as no surprise that an initiative with the word diversity in it includes sexual orientation in the list of special classes. And not only that, the initiative originally specifically stated that “Fond du Lac County communities shall welcome and include all people in neighborhoods, places of worship, schools…” etc. Places of worship! Since when did county government have the right to mandate the policies of places of worship? Amazingly, a timely revision has removed the “places of worship” phrase.
The hometown hero on this one? A courageous county supervisor who was eventually joined by several brave residents. Supervisor Jim Kiser alerted the community and rallied a host of concerned citizens to the board meeting. It was a happening meeting, according to an eyewitness account, with 14 citizens registered beforehand to speak against the initiative and 3 registered to speak in favor.
True to form, however, the chair decided that the discrepancy between those speaking for and against wasn’t “fair” and tried to make up for the lack of supporters by denying input from all but 3 of those speaking against. Thankfully, this hometown hero and courageous supervisor, even while taking potshots from at least one other supervisor, spoke up for those who had taken the time to come prepared to speak and the rest of the board agreed with him.
The end result was a 12 to 6 vote in favor of tabling the discriminatory resolution indefinitely! The heartiest of congratulations to Jim Kiser, a hometown hero and all the brave citizens of Fond du Lac County who took the time to get involved in their local government. You have shown courage in the face of hostility, wisdom in the face of an aggressive political agenda—and God has honored your efforts!
I sure wish we had a few like him in Tennessee! I’m hoping he’ll run for a higher office…..like assembly, state senate…… governor???
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Gotta Love Their Sense Of Humor
Courtesy of Mr Ol Broad.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
So He Can’t Email?
Big flippin’ deal!
Watch this video, then shut up!
H/T: Connie via email.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
The Names
Here is a complete list of the names.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
The Little Ones
On this 7th anniversary of the attack on our nation, we often tend to forget names. We remember some, but there are a few we tend to forget. This is a column from 12/21/01:
Littlest victims largely overlooked
Too young to comprehend evil, the Pokemon fan, the Tweety Bird lover, and the toddler who believed Mickey Mouse is real were assassinated by terrorists on Sept. 11. Three months later, the story of the eight child victims remains largely untold. Ranging in age from 2 to 11, they climbed aboard two thundering jetliners high on life, as only innocent children can be. Their last moments were filled with ghastly horror.
Over the last 7 years, we’ve learned a little more about those who died on 9/11. Some, like Todd Beamer, we have become quite familiar. Others, like these little ones, we don’t know very well.
Christine Lee Hanson, 2, Groton, Mass.
David Brandhorst, 3, Los Angeles, Calif.
Juliana McCourt, 4, New London, Conn.
Bernard Brown II, 11, Washington, D.C.
Asia Cottom, 11, Washington, D.C.
Rodney Dickens, 11, Washington, D.C.
Dana Falkenberg, 3, University Park, Md.
Zoe Falkenberg, 8, University Park, Md.
I’m hoping on the 7th anniversary of the worst day in our country’s history, we won’t ever forget any of those lost. These little ones, who were lent to us by the Almighty for just a short time, whose names we might not always remember, should always be in our hearts.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Project 2996
Sadly, it’s that time of year again when we honor those who died on 9/11. The 2996 Project is looking for some bloggers who will honor at least one of our lost. Time is short, so please, if you want to put a little time into a project, please go here, send an email letting them know you want to participate. You’ll be assigned a name, and it will be up to you as how much, or how little you’ll post about the person.
FYI, this is not a partisan issue. This is an American issue. We can all put aside our differences for one day to honor those who were murdered by the 19. None of us, not one single person, should ever forget!
Contact:
Or sign up on the blog page in comments.
(Newer posts below.)
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
REAL Hero
The types of people that are considered ‘heroes’ these days….. just boggles the mind. Sports figures who can’t seem to grow up, the Hollyweird types who fail to grasp reality, and believe because they “played a doctor on TV, they can do brain surgery”, the sort of people, in reality, you do NOT want your kids to grow up to be.
True, there are some REAL heroes these days. The American soldier comes to mind, police, fire fighters, even some….teachers! Heroes who would give it all, in the service of others. Those kinds, in general, everyday life, aren’t all that common these days.
When Adolf Hilter came to power in 1933, 75 years ago, things were pretty tough in Germany for the regular folks. The country had been defeated in an ugly war, and the Treaty of Versailles wasn’t exactly conducive for a good working relationship for economic growth. I guess by the mid 20s, Germany was getting ready for a ‘change’. In 1933, they got it, and evil took a foot hold.
In 1933, Dauchau was opened. Prisoners consisted of “political, professional criminal, emigrant, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexual, Germans shy of work, and other nationalities shy of work“. Covers a lot of area for a country in the midst of a depression, doesn’t it. Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen followed, along with a large number of other ‘work’ camps.
Time progressed. Hilter decided, at some point, he should rule the world and get rid of anyone who stood in his way. Sadly, not many did stand up to him, within his own country. Looking back, I wonder if they were really so bamboozled by his ‘charismatic’ speeches, or, if the people did believe as he did. (kool aid drinking comes to mind)
There were men and woman who did speak up against the tide. Their voices were quickly silenced, and few dared to question the authority for fear of losing everything, including their lives. But, there was an ‘underground’. Individuals who DID fight back in their own way. People who saved the lives of thousands. Some names, we’ll never know. They were killed along with those they tried to save. There are names like Oscar Schindler, made famous by Stephen Speilberg’s movie. There was Irena Sendlerowa, who saved 2,500 Jewish children in the Warsaw Ghetto. (unbelievable that bag of hot air won a “Peace Prize” over this good lady)
She buried jars containing their real and assumed names in the garden, so that they could be one day learn the names of their biological families after the war.
Some names will never be known. They lived, and died, as true heroes.
Let’s not forget this one too!
Unsung Holocaust hero celebrates 100th
Steiner already was in his late 20s when the Nazis occupied Czechoslovakia, bringing with them anti-Jewish laws they had spread through much of the rest of Europe. His father-in-law fled to England in 1938, but Steiner settled in Bratislava with his wife and young son.
He was arrested after Nazis seized control of the country, but was later released to finish a building project in town. He began designing work camps and other sites for the Nazis, hoping the Jewish community would be better off if they cooperated.
Soon he had 4,000 people working in 130 workshops at the camps, making an array of items for the German war effort. At lunch, he gathered with other young Jews to talk about ways to improve conditions for the Jews. The band soon became known as the Bratislava Working Group.
But as Slovaks began a massive deportation of Jews to concentration camps in Poland in 1942, the group’s mission changed as well. It decided to focus on finding a way—any way—to rescue Jews in Slovakia.
“We wanted to help in any way we could,” he said. “It was a very close-knit friendship with one ideal: To help the Jews.”
One of the members, Rabbi Michael Dov Weissmandl, had heard a rumor that a Nazi official was willing to accept cash bribes to keep Jews off the dreaded deportation list. Soon, they had devised a back story for their gambit: They were negotiating on behalf of a fictitious world Jewish leader named Ferdinand Roth.
When it was time for a face-to-face meeting, the group picked Steiner, the confident man who cut a dashing figure with slicked back hair and a golden tongue. Inside, though, Steiner was awash with anxiety. A single misstep could have cost him his life and betray the group’s effort.
Asking the rabbi for advice, he got a most unexpected answer: Imagine the Nazi sitting on a toilet nude. When he arrived at the meeting and did just that, he couldn’t stifle a smirk.
Do we really need movies and controversial “Nobel Prizes” to remember those who have done more for humanity than we could ever conceive? No, such history should be taught daily!
May God Bless You And Yours!
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Why I Am Angry!
In 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Many young men joined the military to help rebuild what had been lost. I think it might have been our innocence lost that day too. Even some older men joined to do their part.
My dad, who was born in 1907, was one of those older types. He had just turned 34. He never got to see action, in any theater of that war. During his training in the Army Air Corp, there was a car accident on the base. No, he wasn’t in the car. Some general’s daughter was. It was a fiery explosion, and my dad, being of the “Greatest Generation”, did what anyone would have done. He saved that young girl’s life. In doing so, he suffered 3rd degree burns over 75% of his body.
They didn’t expect him to live. In 1942, medicine was no where near as advanced as it now. Usually, men like my dad died. God was with him. So was my mom. And a whole team of military medical folks. He spent 18 months in the hospital recuperating. When he was finally released, he wasn’t exactly the same person, physically, or emotionally. Probably not mentally either. But those people at the VA worked with him, and brought him back to almost the man he was before the accident.
He’d never really be the same obviously. Physically, he was still pretty much the same. They grafted skin from other parts of his body onto his face. His pinky’s wouldn’t bend like they should, which was a constant fascination to me as a kid….try as I might, I couldn’t make ‘em go straight!
One other problem that arose. He was no longer able to have children. Oh, my mom would get pregnant, but there was something wrong, and she never could carry to term. They said it was because of the fire. I’m going to believe them. (Obviously, we kids were adopted. Reckon that’s why God kept him on the earth a while longer….to give us a home!)
Now, the reason for me sharing this very personal story? It’s because of this:
Army leaders defend supervision of soldier care unit
Mold infests the barracks that were set up here a year ago for wounded soldiers after poor conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center triggered a systemwide overhaul, soldiers say.
Twenty soldiers, who spoke to USA TODAY early last week, said their complaints about mold and other problems went unheeded for months. They also said they had been ordered not speak about the conditions at Fort Sill.
And then there’s this:
After problems surfaced last year at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the Army established a WTU at each of 35 installations. Soldiers assigned to these units receive specialized care. They are assigned a squad leader, nurse case manager and doctor to care for them, and usher them to return to duty or medical retirement. “Those three people are with this soldier from start to finish … (to ensure) that the soldier can get through the system without having to fight,” Gen. Michael Tucker said in announcing the program last year. “The soldier’s mission is to heal.”
But as the number of soldiers in the program doubled from 6,000 to 12,000 by June, individual care slipped, congressional investigators found. In July, Army leaders told Congress they were struggling to improve the program. “It takes time to kill bureaucracies,” Lt. Gen. Michael Rochelle said.
Bureaucracies? They are concerned about bureaucracies? No. There should be NO level of bureaucracy that would put any of our military personal, who have served their country valiantly, into such conditions! NONE!
If my dad had had the same level of NON-care back in 1942, he would have not lived. I would not be the person I am now for him having been my dad. MY life would have been radically different, as would have been my mom, my two sisters, and my brother. Even my daughter, granddaughters, nieces and nephews.
The care we give our military personal does not just affect their lives! If affects ALL our lives! To quote Texas Fred, “We spend BILLIONS of U.S. taxpayer dollars to finance the Iraqi government in their CIVIL WAR, but we won’t spend the necessary money to properly care for the troops that we send into harms way to carry out the actions and wishes of our President.”
And commenter Basti, “Another shameful page in the history of this nations treatment of its troops and veterans. It goes like this. “They have given their all for us. Now how do we want to treat them? Who cares, let’s just get the next sucker to fill their slot.”
Do I blame Bush? Maybe partially! What I blame more is the lack of consideration coming out of Congress. They claim to care about our troops, but when it comes to funding them, in combat or in the hospitals, they tack on so much crap to the bills that are totally irrelevant. Why not use those extra funds to actually FUND OUR MILITARY? OUR VETERANS? Why must these pissants think the world begins and ends with them? If it wasn’t for people like my dad, his brothers, and every other man who has served this great country so well, those scumballs wouldn’t be in D.C. at all! NONE of them! ZERO!
Now, get off your sorry asses and fix this f*’ing problem!
NOW!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Must See Video
Perhaps you have seen this video before, but it is well worth your time to watch again. If you haven’t, stop to remember those who have served. It’s long, but trust me, you’ll be glad you did. There are no words, but words aren’t needed.
Thanks to Ken the cop for sharing.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Grant Them Peace
US soldiers ‘found dead in Iraq’
The bodies of two US soldiers missing in Iraq for more than a year have been found, their families have told the Associated Press news agency.
Spc Alex Jimenez and Pte Byron Fouty were seized in an ambush in May 2007 in an area south of Baghdad.
The body of a third soldier, Pte Joseph Anzack Jr, was found in the Euphrates river a short time after the attack.
The Islamic State of Iraq, a group that includes al-Qaeda in Iraq, had released a video saying it killed all three men.
The parent’s of Spc Jimenez, 25, of Massachusetts, and Pte Fouty, 19, of Michigan, said uniformed military officials had visited their homes to inform them of their sons’ deaths.
The Pentagon usually waits 24 hours after notifying soldiers’ next of kin before making a public announcement.
Many prayers with the families of these fine young men.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
