I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed–
I, too, am America.
– Langston Hughes
Jules Crittenden writes
As we speak, mild-looking old men are limping through airports all over the United States. Each wears a black Stetson cavalry hat, and each is making his way to, of all places, Boise, Idaho. If their fellow travelers ever knew…
Ed “Too-Tall” Freeman, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor for his efforts in supporting a heavily engaged infantry battalion in the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam, evacuating more than 30 seriously wounded soldiers in 14 separate missions under heavy fire, has passed away.
His son related this story from the last few weeks as his father lay in the hospital:
“A guy came into the hospital and said, ‘You don’t know me, but I was one of those people you hauled out of the X-Ray,'” said Mike Freeman, 54, one of Ed’s two sons. “He said, ‘Thanks for my life.’ “
Rest in Peace.
today that I first walked in the doors of a Target store as a team member – Assets Protection Specialist was the title – I was making $5.71/hr.
Fifteen years later, six months, and moving through seven different roles — I’m still here as Manager, Assets Protection Innovation at HQ — the “dessert” party for our floor is later in the month.
Though many opportunities have come my way to move on – leave the company – do something else – it’s the great folks that I work with everyday that keep me inspired and motivated — and challenged…. It’s been a great place to have a career.
Maggie, wherever you are nowadays, thanks again for hiring me. I had no idea this would be so much fun!
There were less than 15 US military deaths in Iraq during the entire month of July 2008.
Can you point to one major newspaper that covered this in the same fashion in which they covered our more violent months?
I can’t.
Someone asked me the other day why I hadn’t blogged about DC v Heller, the Supreme Court Gun Control case that was decided a few days ago.
I replied – “Because it’s the outcome that I had always hoped for – and the one that I expected to see…”
I’ve been an advocate of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms since the day that I read the Bill of Rights and truly felt as if I understood what it meant – I feel just as strongly about the other amendments and the rest of the Constitution as well.
Prior to 9/11, I was nearly a single issue voter – that issue was gun control. A candidate’s stance on this issue tended to embody for me what I perceived to be that candidate’s view on most of the Constitution – even though that wasn’t quite true in most of the cases.
Now that the core issue is decided, I’m looking forward to the next 20 years of court decisions dealing with individual and specific issues related to this ruling.
Oh, and to all of you who I’ve argued this issue with who were on the other side of the issue – I told you so.
Major General William Troy writes in today’s Washington Post about serving as the General Officer assigned to funeral duty several times over the last few years:
My funeral duty has taught me a lot. The cynicism with which some people view politicians doesn’t square with what I’ve seen. Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Mike Gregoire, husband of the governor of Washington, attended just about every funeral I went to in their states. Absent the media or official entourages, they personally expressed condolences to grieving families. I’ve learned that the Patriot Guard Riders motorcycle club may seem unconventional, but its members’ patriotism and sincerity are undeniable.
And I’ve learned that war most often claims the lives of young kids who go out on patrol day after day, night after night. They go because they are good soldiers led by good sergeants. They go with a singular purpose: to not let their buddies down. Each soldier we lay to rest shared that goal. They kept faith with their comrades, even in the face of danger and death. That is the most humbling lesson of all.
For all those that have given their lives – or sacrificed in other ways – for their friends, their comrades, and their buddies around them at that awful moment… but most importantly for the freedom of total strangers like my family and I – know that today you are never far from our thoughts.