Today, we at The Heritage Foundation are proud to honor Veterans Day by pausing to remember the men and women in uniform who serve this country. They are some of the finest this nation has to offer.

Among those who have served throughout the years, the recipients of the Medal of Honor (MOH) deserve our utmost respect and admiration. They wear this august award for those who did not come home. They never refer to themselves as “winners” but see themselves as caretakers of the Medal of Honor for all who also served in harm’s way in defense of freedom.

The Medal of Honor is the highest award given to an American military service member who has shown extreme courage and intrepidity during combat.

We at The Heritage Foundation would like to take the opportunity on this special day to introduce you to a foundation devoted exclusively to perpetuating the legacy of these heroes and their notion of service above self.

The Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation and its Educational Curriculum are an invaluable resource for Heritage and for our nation. Teaching lessons in character, the Foundation holds in its resources short video living biographies of over 100 recipients of the Medal of Honor. These testimonials provide the basis for a six-part curriculum that teaches students how to better understand and emulate the virtues of courage, integrity, sacrifice, commitment, citizenship and patriotism in their own lives.

The interdisciplinary character development resource, “Medal of Honor: Lessons of Personal Bravery and Self-Sacrifice,” uses the oral histories of Medal of Honor recipients to convey to students that not only in military circumstances, but in everyday life, everyone can demonstrate courage and sacrifice. The lessons are intended for use across grade levels using a wide variety of teaching methods. The content is appropriate for all students in any school setting and encourages the use of critical thinking and collaboration skills.

This MOH Character Development Program is a research-based teaching strategy using vignettes that allow the participants to see and hear the events directly from the Medal of Honor recipient’s perspective and in their own words.  To see a sample of this resource, go to www.cmohedu.org. Above the log in, you can view one of the overview videos “In Their Own Words.” You can also watch MOH recipient Clarence Sasser and hear how a medic on a mission saved so many lives in the jungles of Vietnam.

Students connect the lessons to their own lives through small and whole group strategies and discover “what values can I apply to my life?” This resource curriculum does not glorify war. In contrast, it asks students to create their own definitions of courage, integrity, sacrifice, commitment, citizenship, and patriotism. The Program helps students acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to positively direct their social and civic interactions and to preserve our democratic society.

The Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation’s target goals and strategies include:

• Increase students’ understanding of the Medal of Honor and the 6 values associated with it: courage, commitment, integrity, sacrifice, citizenship and patriotism.
• Increase academic engagement
• Improve school culture and climate
• Increase student achievement

To quote an educator using the program, “Just…press play; you will immediately know the importance of educating our youth about the values these men represent.” And from a student: “Act like everyone is watching, even if no one is.”

Police are looking for some vandals who stole metal rods from a veterans’ cemetery, most likely for cash.

The thieves took at least 18 markers made of copper, bronze and brass from the graves of war heroes at Mount Vernon Cemetery.

Cemetery superintendent John Burnett said the staff that holds the marker together with the American flag is what the grave robbers are looking to fence, not the medallions that come with them.

“What they do, they leave the medallion on the ground because they can’t turn them in because scrap metal people won’t take them because it’s a veteran marker,” Burnett said.

There have always been people who aren’t worth much more than trash.  Stealing from the graves of our heroes doesn’t even rank as high as trash.

It was sometime in late May of 1991 and I was headed home after my first trip to the “Sand Box” as it was first coined then. The war was over and we had kicked Saddam out of Kuwait. America felt strong again after years of hanging its head low in the wake of Vietnam. Movies like Platoon, Hamburger Hill, Apocalypse Now, and The Deer Hunter had cast a terrible light on the silver screen of my early childhood. Somehow America had begun to blame the soldiers for the failures of its politicians. I knew little about the world at the time, but I did know that this was somehow wrong.

I was 20 years old as I lifted my duffel bag over my shoulder and began to depart the Pan-Am 747 that had just delivered us to Westover Massachusetts and finally home from the war. Thrilled to be alive and happy to be back in America, the scene was electric. The crowd was cheering and waving as we walked down the 1000 foot long red carpet and into the gargantuan Aircraft hanger where our welcoming party awaited. It too was filled with cheering crowds of Americans. Everyone wanted to shake our hands and thank us for a job well done.

I bent down on one knee to see a young troop of local boy and girl scouts who wanted me to autograph their shirts. Amazed by the pride and the excitement of the moment I was more than joyous to do so. No one had ever asked me for my autograph before.

As I made my way down the long red carpet I began to notice what was at the end of the long line of cheering people. I stopped shaking hands and slowly pulled away from the crowd for a moment as my thoughts began to turn inward. I began to detach myself form everything that was going on around me. It was then that I truly realized who was standing before me there to shake my hand. There were a handful of veterans from previous wars, standing tall and resolute with pride for what we had done.

At that moment everything changed for me. It was not them thanking me, it was the other way around. There before me was a Vietnam veteran. I started by shaking his hand then the grip began to tighten. We pulled each other closer and began to embrace in a brotherly hug. My eyes began to well with tears as did his.

As I pulled away, our hands still were locked tightly in a grip. I peered into his eyes and said “This, all of this, it’s really for you. You do know that don’t you?” As a tear slid down his cheek, he simply smiled and nodded. Neither of us could say another word. We released our tight grip that had joined two generations for that brief moment and I slowly turned and walked down the remainder of the red carpet.

I have three combat tours in two different wars under my belt now, and I too am a disabled veteran. To this day, every time I see a veteran of a past war proudly wearing his black veterans ball cap, I stop and shake his hand and thank him. Outwardly, I thank them for setting the example of bravery and sacrifice for my generation. Again outwardly, I thank them for everything that this nation is and has the potential to become. But most important, inwardly in my heart, I’m really thanking them for teaching me to be humble before those who deserve it the most.

Rest assured….if I EVER see anyone treat our returning soldiers as they were treated after serving in Vietnam, someone will end up on their ass!  And it will NOT be me!

Honestly, I have a lot of favorite vets, many of who are fellow bloggers! But this one was my ALL time favorite. Why? Cuz he’s my dad. Gone nearly 30 years now, but he’ll always be #1 in my book. He was the first hero in my life, and remains so to this day!

Thank you, dad! And to all those who served to keep me safe….

A three-year-old federal law that makes it a crime to falsely claim to have received a medal from the U.S. military is unconstitutional, an appeals court panel in California ruled Tuesday.

The decision involves the case of Xavier Alvarez of Pomona, Calif., a water district board member who said at a public meeting in 2007 that he was a retired Marine who received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military decoration.

Mr. Alvarez was indicted in 2007. He pleaded guilty on condition that he be allowed to appeal on First Amendment grounds. He was sentenced under the Stolen Valor Act to more than 400 hours of community service at a veterans hospital and fined $5,000.

A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with him in a 2-1 decision Tuesday, agreeing that the law was a violation of his free-speech rights. The majority said there’s no evidence that such lies harm anybody, and there’s no compelling reason for the government to ban such lies.

Is common decency a ‘compelling reason’?  You can’t shout FIRE in a crowded theater.  It is NOT protected under the 1st Amendment, nor should a feckless weasel LYING about his military service.  It dishonors all who DID receive such medals.   It is a slap in the face to every honorable person in the country.  But then, this IS the 9th circus, and judging by many of their decision, honor isn’t even in their vocabulary.

In my limited understanding of the 1st Amendment, the phrase “abridging the freedom of speech”, does NOT protect thieves. And that’s what this case represents….THEFT!

THOU SHALT NOT STEAL!!

A new attack by the Southern Poverty Law Center charges the tea-party movement is “shot through” with radical ideas and tied with “hate groups,” “furious anti-immigrant vigilante groups” and “so-called ‘Patriot’ groups.”

The SPLC report, “Rage on the Right, The Year in Hate and Extremism,” assails Rep. Michelle Bachmann, R-Minn., for “plugging” anti-government ideas and Gun Owners of America Executive Director Larry Pratt for daring to promote Second Amendment gun rights.

The SPLC’s Mark Potok warns “so-called ‘Patriot’ groups – militias and other organizations that see the federal government as part of a plot to impose ‘one-world government’ on liberty-loving Americans – came roaring back after years out of the limelight.”

I gotta tell ya, THIS guy scares me a WHOLE lot more than anyone I’ve ever met at the Tea Party rallies!

I’ve checked out the SPLC more than I’d care to admit.  It’s a scary site too.  When you have the word LAW in your title, wouldn’t you think that someone over there would have bothered to read the basis for our laws?  Just a thought.  As much as I hate to do it, in the sense of fair play, this is the link for Mr Potok’s recent rant.

The SPLC said the “radical right” “caught fire last year.”

So, folks who believe that the U.S. Constitution trumps all the horse manure flowing out of D.C. are the ‘radical right’? Got it. I guess the folks who actually sat down and WROTE that document were pretty ‘radical’ too, eh?

“The ‘tea parties’ and similar groups that have sprung up in recent months cannot fairly be considered extremist groups,” Potok wrote, “but they are shot through with rich veins of radical ideas, conspiracy theories and racism.”

Oh yeah, “rich veins of radical ideas”, kind of like Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and the like. I’ll grant ya, there are some on the very fringe who keep coming up with conspiracy stuff, like Alex Jones, but then, there are loons on ALL sides. Seems to me that the troofers are more on the left, than the right? I suppose the representation from the lame stream would make it look like there were nothing but angry, white folk attending the rallies. Heaven forbid if they actually had the WHOLE picture. Just a few examples I found with a couple of keystrokes:

Oh yeah. a WHOLE lot of racists.  When you consider that the ratio of white to black citizens in this country at anywhere from 13% to 17%, depending on the source, I’d say that attendees of the rallies pretty much reflects the make up of the nation.

The report cited an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll that affirmed only one-quarter of the nation thinks government can be trusted and the “anti-tax tea party movement is viewed in much more positive terms than either the Democratic or Republican parties.”

I find it utterly amazing that there are even ‘one-quarter’ who have ANY trust in the current incarnation of the federal government.

“The signs of growing radicalization are everywhere. Armed men have come to Obama speeches bearing signs suggesting that the ‘tree of liberty’ needs to be ‘watered’ with ‘the blood of tyrants,’” the SPLC report said.

The quote, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants,” is from Thomas Jefferson.

What a complete bunch of blithering idiots!

Stewart Rhodes, founder of Oath Keepers, told WND such accusers try to link activists with terrorists such as Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, because their arguments have no substance.

And that is when we always end the discussion! With cries of “racist”, “fascist”, “nazi”. Rationality and facts never seem to faze ‘entities’ such as SPLC.

“We hope for a return to a constitutional republic free from fear and hatred. We hate only tyranny. We are Oath Sworn Americans who want the Constitution returned to its legal and rightful place, intact, as the ultimate Law of the Land,” his website said.

While, yes, I did dissolve my association with the .ning Oath Keepers website, I did NOT dissolve my desire for a return to a Constitutionally run government!

The SPLC also warned about “politicians pandering to the antigovernment right” who have introduced “Tenth Amendment Resolutions” already in 37 states. The resolutions essentially warn the federal government not to adopt unconstitutional measures.

I’m dumbfounded!

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

If I was a total conspiracy nut, reading SPLC’s pap, I might be inclined to say these people were down right UN-American!!

The report said “hate” groups have been rising for years – up 54 percent from 2000 to 2008 – and blames part of the growth on “the climb to power of an African American president.”

What a bunch of bigots! Making such an assumption, because people disagree with a person’s ideology, then it must be hatred due to his/her skin tone. My youngest granddaughter has darker skin than I do, does that mean I hate her, right or wrong? Give me a flippin’ break. I won’t dispute there are some who don’t like Obama because of his skin color. Those kind of people wouldn’t care if the man was POTUS or trash collector. Oh, sorry, sanitation engineer.  Branding anyone who disagrees with the socialist agenda of the current administration, and Dem majority Congress, because Obama is HALF black, as a ‘hate group’ is insulting to anyone with half a brain.

Last year, the state of Missouri issued a report linking conservative groups to domestic terrorism and warned law enforcement to watch for vehicles with bumper stickers promoting Ron Paul and Chuck Baldwin. It also warned police to watch out for individuals with “radical” ideologies based on Christian views, such as opposing illegal immigration, abortion and federal taxes.

Well, you won’t catch a Ron Paul or Chuck Baldwin bumper sticker on my vehicle, but, if I put bumper stickers on it, you MIGHT see something like this:

Or, maybe this:   

“Returning veterans possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to right-wing extremists,” it said. “DHS/I&A is concerned that right-wing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize veterans in order to boost their violent capacities.”

Heaven forbid a soldier, returning from war, should actually take the oath seriously, in protection of his/her fellow American citizens.

23 February 1945

H/T to Paula, another Smart Girl Politics member.

Unlike now, with an apologist and groveler, in the White House.

Just a snippet:

Looking at Afghanistan today it is fairly easy to see what is about to happen there, barring some unforeseen event. The “Vietnam Syndrome” has already set in among the troops in theatre. Look, Obama may fool some of the people, (actually he is fooling a LOT of the people) but he is NOT, I repeat, NOT fooling the Military!
“American Warriors”, know beyond any doubt, whatsoever, that when they find themselves in a tight spot — a call for reinforcements will be answered, immediately, with those reinforcements, Usually more reinforcements are sent than were requested.

The current Commander-in-Chief received a call for 40,000 troops to reinforce the brave American warriors in Afghanistan as far back as August of 2009. It is mid November. Those reinforcements have NOT BEEN SENT as of this writing! There is no excuse, none, sufficient to excuse this lack of action on the part of the Commander-in-Chief and his Administration. We are seeing frequent reports now of low moral among American troops in Afghanistan —and why not? They are being used as “cannon fodder” while the President appears to be searching for some political goal he can announce as an acceptable “Victory in Afghanistan.” My guess is – it will have nothing to do with actually defeating the Taliban.

In other words, dear reader, Obama is playing politics with the lives of our military men and women in Afghanistan. I know of no other way to state the obvious.

Read the whole post here.

I have never, and will never, understand the mindset of the libtard.   Since the foundations of this country, it has been the U.S. military that has kept us free, yet all the lefty socialists want to do is destroy them.  The sacrifices of the families, the lives of the men and women who serve, mean nothing to them.  I, for one, do not believe they deserve the freedoms afforded us by the blood of our heroes.

Today, we at The Heritage Foundation will honor Veterans Day by pausing to remember those who sacrifice in defense of freedom for our country. Heritage honors all who serve past and present in the United States Armed Forces, their families, and all military retirees and veterans. We solemnly remember those fallen men and women who gave the last full measure of devotion and will also not forget those who have yet to come home and remain missing in action.

This national holiday warrants a diversion from discussing domestic priorities to take a closer look at what Congress and the White House are doing about many pressing defense issues.

Some policymakers seem want to keep defense and military issues out of the headlines, choosing instead to continue cutting the defense budget to fund domestic programs. This observation is based on actual outcomes from this year’s defense budget debate.

During the past few months, Congress and the President effectively shut down the purchase of next-generation equipment for the military. That includes: the Air Force’s F-22 fifth-generation fighter aircraft, the most sophisticated in the world; the Army’s ground vehicles designed to replace a combat fleet built in the 1970s and 80s; two types of helicopters-one which fulfills the unique duty of rescuing military personnel held behind enemy lines; and large cuts to the missile defense program designed to thwart the threat of long-range ballistic missiles from hitting U.S. shores and cities.

What’s likely next year? Jack Reed (D-RI), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, recently opined that the Department of Defense should buckle up for some (more) “painful adjustments”-as if any more could be borne by those in uniform-and get ready to do the following:

• sacrifice defense dollars to pay for TARP, the stimulus bill, domestic programs and the federal debt;
• hand over another chunk of the defense budget to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for civilian aid or “soft power” programs; and
• delay or cut weapons programs that are not “absolutely essential.”

Unfortunately, Congress set a horrible precedent, having given the President so many of his defense cuts during a time of war. That just makes more devastating cancellations likely in the coming years.

The problem is that, since they have no new weapons systems to slash, politicians will need to start eliminating equipment that today’s troops are using everyday. This includes replacements for tanks, trucks, ships and planes that are already worn out after nine years of consecutive warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In short, finding further “savings” in the defense budget would require cutting to the bone and hurting those in uniform. Having a world-class military and truly honoring those who serve requires policymakers to provide the same technologically-advanced equipment to defeat any enemy when necessary and protect those in harm’s way.

Providing the military just enough to barely get by is dangerous, and an outright dereliction of duty by federal policymakers whose first job is found in the preamble of the U.S. Constitution: to provide for the common defense of the American people.

“The whole point of Oath Keepers is to stop a dictatorship from ever happening here,” Rhodes, a former Army paratrooper and Yale-trained lawyer, said in an interview with the Review-Journal. “My focus is on the guys with the guns, because they can’t do it without them.

“We say if the American people decide it’s time for a revolution, we’ll fight with you.”

That type of rhetoric has caught the attention of groups that track extremist activity in the United States.

I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that people who want to preserve the U.S. Constitution would be called ‘extremist’. It’s a sad commentary on today’s society.

In a July report titled “Return of the Militias,” the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center singled out Oath Keepers as “a particularly worrisome example of the Patriot revival.”

Loving your country is a bad thing? I guess so, since there are so many out to destroy her.

The Patriot movement, so named because its adherents believe the federal government has stepped on the constitutional ideals of the American Revolution, gained traction in the 1990s and has been closely linked to anti-government militia and white supremacist movements.

Of all the people I’ve met through the Tea Parties, and Oath Keepers, not one single person has expressed ANY ‘white supremacist’ sentiments. NOT ONE! When it comes to racism, I doubt anyone could top SPLC!

Oath Keepers got some unwanted attention in April when an Oklahoma man loosely connected to the group was arrested for threatening violence at an anti-tax protest in Oklahoma City. Rhodes called the man “a nut” who had no real affiliation with his group.

My cats could say they were associated with Oath Keepers, that doesn’t make it so. REAL OK’s are not promoting any violence.

According to the law center, militia groups are re-emerging in this country partly as a result of racial animosity toward Obama.

Two words: BULL and SHIT! For one thing, the OK is NOT a “militia group”. Second, no one gives a flying flip what color Obama is on the outside. It’s the color of his insides that has people worried. That color would be RED, as in Marxism!

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reached a similar conclusion in a report earlier this year about the rise of right-wing extremism. The report said the nation’s economic downturn and Obama’s race are “unique drivers for right-wing radicalization and recruitment.”

I repeat, and will continue repeating: External color is NOT an issue. The economic downturn is being increased continuously by policies. Perhaps these people should look into the types who carry around signs promoting the murder of American soldiers, or destroying vehicles, or destroying businesses.

The homeland security report added that “disgruntled military veterans” might be vulnerable to recruitment by right-wing extremist groups.

That warning was enough to make Rhodes feel paranoid.

It should makes us ALL feel paranoid!

“They’re accusing anybody who opposes Obama of being a racist or a potential terrorist,” he said. “What they’re saying is, ‘We’re coming after you.’”

The motto of Oath Keepers: “Not on our watch!”

More people should have the same motto!  We should have never gotten to this point in our nation, but now that we are here, I will stand with my fellow freedom loving Americans!  On 9/12, I stood with many from around Tennessee and took the same oath the military takes, “…that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…“!

Two things have happened since the Homeland Security Department and Southern Poverty Law Center released their reports on extremism: Membership of Oath Keepers has spiked dramatically. And Rhodes has had to do a lot of explaining.

Only liberal racists (redundant?) would need to have common sense explained to them.

Another prominent Oath Keeper is former Arizona sheriff Richard Mack, who has long been an outspoken government critic.

The Southern Poverty Law Center calls Mack a “longtime militia hero” who helped weaken gun control laws.

Bless his heart! I wish I could have gone to hear Sheriff Mack speak when he was in East Tennessee recently. It’s not guns that need to be controlled. It’s the government, which is totally OUT of control. Of course criminals shouldn’t have guns. DUH! But criminals don’t care about gun laws, so what difference does it make?

Well, you get the idea.  It’s a rather lengthy article, but if you want to, go read the whole piece.  And while you’re at it, read some of the comments.  Honestly, there is really no hope for some people.  Clueless is an understatement.  The majority of the comments I read were positive, but there are always moonbats in the bunch.

Perhaps this person should have titled his piece “Americans Already Revolted by Revolting Gov’t Policies“.

OATH KEEPERS: ORDERS WE WILL NOT OBEY

1. We will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people.

2. We will NOT obey orders to conduct warrantless searches of the American people

3. We will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to military tribunal.

4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state.

5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty.

6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.

7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.

8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control.”

9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies.

10.We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.