Semper Gratus!

We had a good turnout this week: 15 patriots to 9 stinking pinkos. Only one abusive nutbag in a car. I don’t write about Friday nights at Walter Reed much anymore ’cause it’s all the same and sameness is boring. But tonight something rather special did happen.

A soldier who is a patient in the hospital came out to visit us. Nothing new there.

He went down to the Pinkos and talked to them, too. Ditto. Nothing new.

When he came back up to the “right” side, I went over to say “Thank you” and to talk. Still nothing new.

Then, the bombshell: This soldier was at the White House yesterday and came face to face with Zero and .. refused to shake his hand!

Part of me thinks his action was disrespectful, but this warrior has the right to express his opinion and that was certainly a powerful way of doing so. What cojones!! I’m so proud of him… *sniff*

Everyone’s (except liberals and terrorists) favorite tough guy gives a ’sort of’ apology in response to Hitlery’s apology south of the border last week:

I got an apology, I’m sorry for all of those who have lost loved ones during 9/11 and while kicking ass in Iraq & Afghani.. I’m sorry we didn’t come with the entire Marine Corps and stomp the shit out of all terrorists in the country sooner. I’m sorry, If our M1 tanks and low flying F18s bother you as they hunt you scumbag terrorists down. I’m sorry we haven’t constructed a Wal-Mart chain in your country and show you what capitalism is really all about. I’m not sorry to call this war a War on Terrorism. I’m not sorry for all of the evil scumbags we help meet Allah. I’m not sorry for any of the terrorists about to be set free out of Guantanamo. I’m not sorry to tell any drug infested waste of air drug lord that we will hunt you down next and I’m not one bit sorry or going to take blame for our amigos to the south for their lack of intestinal fortitude to stand up to the drug lords.

You said a mouthful, Maj Pain!

I can’t tell you how many emails I’ve received asking about the “Doesn’t Play Well with Others” t-shirts that we sold several years ago. I always pointed people to Crye’s website where they could buy the MLI shirts without the special Maj Pain back.

For far too long Crye’s site has been under construction or something and the T-shirts were not available. You could find them on ebay for 35$ or more!

Well, they’re finally back! Go check out Crye Precision for all your Major League Infidel merchandise!

Thanks to TankerBabeLC I got to play taxi to 3 real purty soldiers and attend several very special memorials on the day before Veteran’s Day.

Young and old veterans meet and greet.

Standing at attention while Taps is played.

The 82nd Airborne’s Color Guard along with the colors from the 173rd Airborne (front).

The official memorial for the 173rd.

SGT Pitts places flags in memory of his fallen breathren.

A ceremony led by LtCol. Roy Lombardo to honor Major General “Butch” Williamson.

The most touching memorial of all. Three young warriors, all wounded at the battle of Wanat, pay tribute to one of their own who died there. SPC Sergio Abad, rest in peace soldier.

Comrade Vladmir is recreating the USSR. He misses the old days when The Party ran everything and could physically crush any signs of rebellion. He’s removed all remnants of the free press, jailed or killed political rivals and instituted a policy of aggressive anti-western propaganda. This becomes evident when reading the hate-America drivel rampant on Russian blogs.

Russians think the following comic is funny, and true.

Aaaawwwww, poor widdle Ossetia, filled with peaceful ethnic Russians just trying to get along, is being bullied by big, bad Georgia!!! Russia has to come along and make things right by stomping bully-boy Georgia and taking widdle Ossetia back home to Momma Russia.

Czar Vladimir doesn’t dare tell his serfs that he’s been doing all he can to fill Ossetia with Russian passport holding citizens and convincing them to rebel against their sovereign government in Tbilisi. He certainly won’t admit that his ambition is to put a puppet government in place to give him control of the oil pipeline from the Caspian sea.

The cartoon really should look like this:

Unfortunately, too many Americans have no idea how critical it is for our own national security to keep Georgia a free and autonomous nation. Not to mention the fact that they have been a really good friend to us in Iraq and have sent, per capita, more troops than any other country besides the UK.

Whoowee! A hat-trick of feminine flyers. Check out this story on CJTF82 about the Smith Sisters.

Army Chief Warrant Officer Amber Smith (left) and Air Force Capt. Kelly Smith (right) celebrate at a graduation for their younger sister, Army Chief Warrant Officer Lacey Smith (center). All three Smith sisters are pilots in the armed forces. (Courtesy photo)

OK, so the Taliban and al-Qaeda may not find the skies so friendly, but the rest of us can sleep soundly at night knowing these fine ladies have us covered.

Once again the great folks at AmpSurf will be hosting a group of Wounded Warriors for a week of surf, sand, sun and fun. I posted about the first event in “These guys will try anything!” if you would like to see pics and read the story from Donna, Los Osos. I got the heads-up about this year’s event from Dana Cummings, AmpSurf’s Executive Director:

Hey all:
Please note that we did this again in 2007 and are doing it this year August 14th-18th, 2008. If you would like to come out and Volunteer we would love to have you. Also if you are a veteran and would like to learn to surf please contact us to participate. Just go to the website http://www.ampsurf.com and click on Operation Restoration III.

Yeehah!! A great pic by Desiree Cobb of an incredible athlete.

Check it out! I hope there’s lots of coverage of this year’s event since I won’t be able to be there again… Donna, I’m counting on you for another full report!

Thanks to the American Legion, Jeff Davis Post 18 and America’s Wounded Heroes, 4 Wounded Warriors from Walter Reed were treated to a very special Veteran’s Day this year.

SGT Josh Sparling, SSG Sean Cannon, CPL Robert Schubert, SPC Chase Matthews with their ducks and shotguns.

4 shotguns were donated for the guys! A Charles Daly from Ducks Unlimited, an H&K from Bass Pro Shop and 2 Brownings from Safari International and MD Waterfowl Association.

Action shot!

Chase shoots with his dad, Rudy, looking on.

Josh concentrating.

The Times Herald of Port Huron, MI, did a really nice article this weekend about the charity America’s Wounded Heroes and the duck hunt event. Unfortunately, we didn’t get all the pics edited and uploaded in time for them to be included in the article. For all the fun stuff and some serious photos, check it out here.

Josh and Mike Sparling.

The great Veterans and spouses of the American Legion Jeff Davis Squadron and Post 18, Centerville, MD made the whole weekend wonderful! They made our young heroes feel like superstars (which, of course, they are!). There will be more news and updates on the AWH website once I get it updated IS more news and stuff on the New, the Improved, America’s Wounded Heroes website!

Lights on the flight deck of the multi-purpose amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) illuminate an MV-22 Osprey attached to Marine Medium Tilt-rotor Squadron (VMM) 263 as it transits the Straits of Tiran. Wasp is on a surge deployment bringing the Osprey on its first combat deployment to the Middle East. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Zachary Borden, Navy Visual News Service.

Gee, wish I got one of these for My birthday!

Let’s push the Marine Team up a bit on the Valour-IT competition! Make a contribution on the 10th in honor of your favorite Devildog.

Voting is now closed – Monday, November 5th
Yes, Marty and the gang are in the running for the Above and Beyond Awards sponsored by Microsoft and the USO.

Microsoft Corporation, in partnership with the United Service Organizations (USO), is recognizing the contributions of the military community – the friends, family, and other individuals who help brighten the lives of U.S. troops throughout the world – with the creation of the first annual Above and Beyond Awards.

You can vote up to 5 times! So vote early and often!!!

Rather than standing out front with the FReepers getting rained on, I accepted an invitation to spend the evening indoors watching a very cool band.

Gary Sinise, bassist and front man for the LT Dan Band.

The band

The concert was sponsored by the USO which had volunteers scurrying everywhere! They gave out bagged meals (sandwiches, salads, chips & soda) followed by some really yummy key lime pie. There were also people handing out sample cans of Right Guard X Body Spray which Mike Sparling kept telling everyone I needed more of. *jerk*

Intro to Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (of Co ‘B’)

As viewed from the balcony

My cutiepie neighbor and her parents. Daddy won an XBox in the door prize drawings.

Iraq and Vietnam Vets

The Vietnam Vet pictured above is Murphy Neal Jones, Colonel, USAF (Retired). He spent 7 years in POW Hell during that war (1966-1973)

There were times when I wanted to die to end this ordeal, but my faith in God, my country, my family and the American people gave me the strength to endure it. I considered myself very patriotic when I was captured, but the patriotism I felt at that time is only a fraction of what I feel now. There is no denying that we have some problems in our country, but it is still by far the greatest country in the world.

Col Jones is a wonderful, gracious man who was obviously in heaven being around these young guns. His pride in the new generation of warriors just spilled out as he worked the crowd before and after the concert. Talk about a hero!

A Tired pup

Mike is showing Gary and crew member the back of the “Major League Infidel” shirts. The crew member was waaaay happy about getting a 2XL for himself and a bunch more for the band. My stash is now officially gone.

The band came early and toured the wards. Gary then stayed late and shook hands/had pictures taken with everyone. There were probably 200-250 people there. One kid looked like he should not have been out of the hospital yet, but he stayed thru most of the concert!

Gary and the band were very, very nice! It was obvious that their hearts really went out to the wounded warriors and the crowd was very appreciative.

Cross-posted at the Vox site.

MNF-Iraq, BAGHDAD — In a well-lit meeting room in a government building in the Iraqi capital, 20 Iraqi women were sitting in a circle, intently watching the demonstration in the center of the room. They were dressed modestly but with some flair: bright pink and blue headscarves mixed in among the black chadors, chunky, designer purses resting on the floor beneath their seats.

The friendly, casual atmosphere in the room looked similar to a suburban book-club meeting, or maybe a Mary-Kay cosmetics party. Except that these women were not learning how to apply foundation, they were learning how to lock and load an AK-47.

“Who can show me how to do it?” asked the instructor, an Iraqi Army sergeant, holding up the weapon.

One of the women jumped up and took the automatic rifle, expertly disassembled it and put it back together. When she cocked it by loudly slamming the charging handle back, the rest of the women applauded.

They might well have been applauding themselves. As members of the first class of female security volunteers in Adhamiyah, all 51 women in the class were groundbreakers. The women will join hundreds of male residents that are already helping secure Adhamiyah by guarding important public sites like schools, hospitals, and government buildings.

Pretty cool, huh?

read the rest.

RIP Sgt. Eddie Jeffers

Sgt Jeffers was the author of the scathing essay Hope Rides Alone.

People like Cindy Sheehan are ignorant. Not just to this war, but to the results of their idiotic ramblings, or at least I hope they are. They don’t realize its effects on this war. In this war, there are no Geneva Conventions, no cease fires. Medics and Chaplains are not spared from the enemy’s brutality because it’s against the rules. I can only imagine the horrors a military Chaplain would experience at the hands of the enemy. The enemy slinks in the shadows and fights a coward’s war against us. It is effective though, as many men and women have died since the start of this war. And the memory of their service to America is tainted by the inconsiderate remarks on our nation’s news outlets. And every day, the enemy changes…only now, the enemy is becoming something new. The enemy is transitioning from the Muslim extremists to Americans. The enemy is becoming the very people whom we defend with our lives. And they do not realize it. But in denouncing our actions, denouncing our leaders, denouncing the war we live and fight, they are isolating the military from society…and they are becoming our enemy.

He knew what he was doing was right and good and on September 19, 2007 he died for our freedom.

H/T concretebob

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UPDATE 9/21: Flag Gazer has a most wonderful letter from Eddie’s father, and a lot more info about this awesome Soldier. Pleaes read SGT Eddie Jeffers ~ Farewell and walk with God.

Jim Webb (D-VA) is an ass!

1/6 Marines is where his son is serving, and I can’t believe “son” is terribly proud of his EX-Marine daddy. Webb is complaining that we’re expecting too much from our troops. He quoted Eisenhower from the Korean war saying that the troops did all we asked and more, but Webb thinks the poow widdle men and women are being abused unnecessarily cause “Bush sucks!”. looser!

Chairman Biden (D-DE) and Obama (D-IL) keep spewing their own vision (”There’s no strategy by this administrations! Waaahhhhh!”) and have not been listening at all to General Petraeus or Ambassador Crocker. These guys are insane!
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Started listening late today (that work stuff really gets in the way )
The Armed Services Committee Hearing is going to start at 2:15pm EST.
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Oh, fer cryin’ out loud! CSPAN is taking calls from all the loonies it can grab. They all think its a huge Halliburton conspiracy with Bush and Cheney stealing oil. *barf!*
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AAAAAHHHHGGGGG! Senator Byrdbrain (D-WV) is asking “What, if any, connection is there between Sept 11th and Iraq?”

This old windbag can’t zip his own pants anymore let alone think in any way other than party-line drivel…
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Aaaahh, a breath of clean, sober air! Sen Inhofe (R-OK) is reliving his time spent in Iraq and putting the successes he’s seen in their proper importance. He’s apologizing to the Gen. and Amb. for CodePink’s behavior and for the abominable remarks by Cong. Lantos yesterday. Asking who is responsible for the report given today.

Gen. Petraeus gives due to his crack team of assistants!!!! All was done by himself and his staff (who know how much the CLs love them!!!).

HAHA! Inhofe suggested that Byrdbrain and Kennedy go to Iraq and check things out for themselves before spewing their “no success, we must surrender” spiel. Good on ya!

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Now Sen. Lieberman (I-CT) is making a big deal out of Gen. Petraeus’ predicted troop withdrawls and wondering why all of the Congresscritters aren’t thanking the General for this really good news.

He asked Crocker if the Iranians are in any way responding to our diplomatic efforts to keep them from arming and supporting terrorists in Iraq? Crocker said “Nada, nothing, zip! They’re still supporting/exporting terrorism.”

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Sen Jeff Sessions (R-AL) wants his colleagues to stop being a*holes.

In response to questioning about counter-insurgency and “the book” that the Gen wrote, Petraeus explained what a big job the surge is and how complicated all the pieces are. Sessions is doing a great job asking questions that prompt really good, non-biased answers.

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