Remembering the past, Honoring the fallen

As we observe the 5th anniversary of the cowardly attacks on our country, I have several images in my mind. Images of destruction and pain, and images of bravery and sacrifice. The 2996 project is about the people we lost in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in a field in Pennsylvania. These people were our family, friends, sisters, brothers, children, parents, co-workers, and neighbors. Each one is missed by his or her loved ones every day. We owe it to every one of them to remember their names and their lives. It could have been any one of us. Here are some of their stories, as told by bloggers who each present one individual to remember and cherish: Links added Sept. 12: Alexander Lygin from Sgt Hook Rick Rescorla at Mudville Gazette. Don't miss the timeline pictures below Rick's post. Added at 9pm Pacific time: Carol K. Demitz from Teresa at Technicalities Stephen Poulos from Seawitch at Thoughts by Seawitch Lt. Dennis Mojica from Two Babes and a Brain Gregory Sikorsky from Frank J. at IMAO Rahma Salie from That1Guy at Drunken Wisdom (T1G also has a link post going - please go visit him for more tribute links) Jonathan C. Randall from Michael at DownEast Blog Efrain Franco Romero, Sr. from Damian at Conservathink Daniel L. Maher from Conservative Schooler Don Simmons from Boudicca at Boudicca's Voice Lorraine G. Bay from ALa at MobyRebuttal Original list: Milagros Hromada from the 2996 Project blog Mike Horrocks from TacoBell at Sandgram Max Beilke from Echo9er Timoth Patrick McSweeney from Fuzzybear Lioness at Fuzzilicious Thinking. Lydia Estelle Bravo from Cass at Villainous Company John J. Tobin from Snarkatron at Snark Patrol James Sands Jr. from Sgt B at The Gun Line Davin Peterson from AFSister at My Side of the Puddle John Chipura from LindaSOG at Something … and Half of Something Matthew Lancelot Ryan from Blackfive Davis Grier “Deeg” Sezna, Jr. and Daphne Ferlinda Elder from Anna at A Rose by any other Name Michelle Coyle-Eulau from DadManley Kenneth “Ken” Swenson from MajorDad1984 at Cursed by a Classical Education Father Mychal Judge from HFS at HomeFrontSix Benjamin “Keefe” Clark from David at Random Nuclear Strikes ** UPDATE ** More tributes added ... Karl W. Teepe and Police Officer Vincent Danz from John at Castle Argghhh Heather Lee Smith from Lex at Neptunus Lex This is not close to an exhaustive list. Murray of Hitting Metal with a Hammer has a complete list of the names here. I hope to update the links as I get time. Remember them always …

Didn't know they had names!

For Lex ... boobie posting. Beth of She Who Will Be Obeyed, and the ladies of the Cotillion group, have started a trend. Boobie naming ... Your Boobies' Names Are... Tweedledum and Tweedledee Boobie Name Generator Now I just have to inform the Hubster of the new names. Heh.

A Eulogy to a great Father and Marine

Losing a beloved parent is very tough, and I knew my friends HanyaP and MrMan, her terrific husband, were struggling to deal with the loss of Mr. Man's dear father. What I didn't realize was how eloquent MrMan can be when pouring out his heart.  Nor did I know of the depths of his father's love of country and sacrifice in its service.  Not just in one war, but in two - and not just in one uniform, but in three.    "He was a great teacher, a great story teller, a great father, and a great friend."   Here is definitely Someone You Should Know.

Support AnySoldier Today!

The folks at AnySoldier (AnyMarine, AnyAirman, AnySailor, AnyCoastGuardsman) perform a great service, making it easy for us to make contact with our men and women in the military who are deployed overseas. In Iraq and Afghanistan, and in other places around the globe, we have military personnel who are serving this great country, and who deserve our support. I am sure that most of the folks who may wander in here from the Castle or parts around there are aware of AnySoldier. But I was tickled when I spotted Captain Major B's post about the calendars and other items available for sale, with the proceeds going to help support the AnySoldier and AnyMarine (and other) sites. Marty Horn and his crew are doing a bang-up job, and it just doesn't get easier than buying something we all need anyway, and also support the site. Better yet, if you get over there soon, you can even buy one of the special edition, autographed calendars - signed by either Major B, or by Taco Bell. (Click Here and scroll down) OoRah! There are other ways to raise funds ... 10. What if AnySoldier.com earned a penny every time you searched the Internet? Well, now we can! GoodSearch.com is a new search engine that donates half its revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. You use it just as you would any search engine, and it's powered by Yahoo!, so you get great results. Just go to www.goodsearch.com and be sure to enter "Any Soldier" as the charity you want to support. Just 500 of us searching four times a day will raise about $7300 in a year without anyone spending a dime! And, be sure to spread the word! Make sure that you press the Verify button to ensure that AnySoldier is pegged as your charity ... you can even check to see how the donations gathered have added up! Come on, how easy do they have to make it?? As Major B says - Get Some!!

We all have choices

Simple choices such as eating healthy or splurging on the triple dip cone, and tough choices like working for less money at a job closer to your kids' school so that you can spend more time with them. Some of them don't have a "right" answer, just a lesser of evils. The political season is upon us. In fact, my absentee ballot for the Washington primary is sitting here patiently awaiting my selections. In some states, the races to be decided this year will help determine the balance of power in Congress. So when this article from the Weekly Standard arrived in my email, I was in a good frame of mind to digest it. Will We Choose to Win in Iraq? The war is frustrating. That doesn't mean we ought to get out. by William J. Stuntz Thirty-eight years ago, American politics was rocked by another politically controversial war. Then, as now, liberal Democrats competed for the allegiance of an increasingly powerful antiwar left. Then, as now, that constituency flexed its muscles in a key Democratic primary that seemed to turn American politics upside down: In March 1968, Eugene McCarthy almost defeated President Lyndon Johnson in New Hampshire; earlier this month, Ned Lamont triumphed over Senator Joe Lieberman in Connecticut. And there may be one more parallel. According to Michael Barone, the gold standard in political commentary, many of the voters who pulled the lever for McCarthy were dissatisfied with Johnson's conduct of the Vietnam war not because they believed the war was wrong or wasteful, but because they believed America was losing it. As Barone puts it in Our Country, voters dissatisfied with Vietnam wanted to "win or get out." I would like to see us win, so that we can get out. Are we doing all we can to achieve that goal? There is one more possible reason to head for the exits in Iraq: Victory is either impossible or (what amounts to the same thing) prohibitively expensive. And there is a sure-fire test of whether or not victory truly is impossible: See whether a rising number of American soldiers in a given city or neighborhood tends to produce more violence or less. If the answer is more, then it is pointless to send more soldiers; the ones who are already there are doing net harm. But that is not what the evidence shows. Recently, as part of the Army's effort to reduce the killing in Baghdad, soldiers were pulled out of Mosul--and violence in Mosul escalated. Iraq the Model, a blogger who knows far more about conditions in Baghdad than most Western reporters, fears not that American soldiers will cause more killing, but that we have too few soldiers on the ground to pacify territory and then hold it. I encourage you to go read the complete article. One section in particular caught my eye. It's not a new sentiment, but useful to remember as we head into our election season for this year... Our side in Iraq holds elections. The other side kills people who stand in line to vote. America's military is fighting not to protect one set of thugs from another, but to allow a democratically elected government to establish itself in a society a majority of whose members want it to do so. It's hard to imagine a more morally worthy goal. And that would be true even if our enemies were not uncommonly murderous--which they plainly are. Rarely has a militarily powerful state fought for nobler ends. Go read the whole thing, and let me know what you think. How much does the war in Iraq (and don't forget Afghanistan) and the tension with Iran and Korea affect your thoughts on voting this year?