For Independence Day 2022

(For current politics, please scroll down) 

The inimitable Paul Harvey (1918-2009) and worth your time:

Truly, we stand upon the shoulders of giants.  

Oh, the sacrifices those men made for liberty! 

May we be worthy to have received that liberty!

Musical Interlude For Memorial Day

(For politics, please scroll down)

Memorial Day weekend is, or should be, about so much more than cookouts and the opening of swimming pools. Rather, it is, or should be, a time for solemn remembrance.

Additional reading: The poem "In Flanders Fields" and The WWI Origins of the Poppy as a Remembrance Symbol. 

"The Home of the Not Especially Brave"

(with thanks to Silverfiddle, Blogger Extraordinaire, who kept Always On Watch running during Warren's and my prolonged near-total absence, and who recently emailed me the link below)

 The first part of the above Viking saying appears to be not so true for many of today's Twenty-first Century Americans, yet which, I think, was mostly true in the early days of the Twenty-first Century, when we were still reeling from the Islamic terror attacks of 9/11. 

From "Why are so few Americans willing to defend their country?" (by Lionel Shriver at the Spectator, dated March 19, 2022):  

For many of us war voyeurs watching the news with a glass of sherry, admiration of the little-engine-that-could Ukrainian fighters is underwritten by unease. As families escape to safety, plenty of feisty Ukrainians are remaining behind to battle a far more powerful aggressor, and they’re not all men, either. The question nags, then: in the same circumstances, would we stick around to defend our homelands, or would we cut our losses and get out?

Earlier this month, that’s precisely what a Quinnipiac poll asked Americans. Some 7 per cent answered ‘Don’t know’. But an astonishing 52 per cent of Democrats predicted that they’d skedaddle. Among Republicans, a full quarter would carpool with the hightailing ‘to hell with this!’ Democrats, while 68 per cent would stand their ground – or think they would. Among all respondents, 55 per cent would stay and fight, while 38 per cent would flee. Scaled up, that would be 125 million Yanks storming from the Land of the No Longer Free and the Home of the Not Especially Brave....

Read the rest HERE — after you have, as honestly as possible, answered these questions...

1) Why did so many Americans polled choose to flee our country?

2) Would you be among those who stand and fight, or would you be among those who flee? And why would you make that choice?

Musical Interlude

(For politics, please scroll down)

We arose at the crack of dawn to film "My Country ‘Tis of Thee" in the beautiful meadowlands of Deadwood, SD! And don’t y’all think it was about time we did a version of this de facto national anthem anyways??

Enjoy a few moments with the American country, a cappella group Home Free:

 

Memorial Day 2021

This Memorial Day Weekend, amid shopping for bargains, getting together with family and friends after all the months of pandemic lockdowns, and enjoying the traditional Memorial Day Weekend cookouts, let us remember the significance of Memorial Day: honoring Our Fallen, who made the ultimate sacrifice.  

Gone, but never forgotten.

American military cemeteries around the world:

For many, the concept of honoring Our Fallen holds the deepest kind of personal significance:

   

Surely we can all find time to do some reading appropriate for this weekend...2021 Memorial Day: 30 facts, meaning and history to celebrate this holiday.

Happy Birthday, America — Land That I Love!

(with thanks to Warren for sending me the link to this video)

Take time to learn this history lesson for this Independence Day 2020:

Memorial Day 2020

(with a hat tip to Bunkerville for the first video below)

This Memorial Day, please remember to pause long enough to honor our fallen.  They more than deserve that honor.

American Cemeteries around the world and the number of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice:


Note: the above is the soundtrack opener for the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan.

 In honor of our fallen, the Armed Forces Medley, performed by the National Symphony Orchestra and, my "alma mater," the Choral Arts Society of Washington:

Veterans Day 2019

Every act of service, from those who serve stateside in peace, to those who have perished abroad in war, contributes to the freedoms we so often take for granted. Thank you, veterans, for fulfilling your oath.

Important related reading: 5 Facts to Know About Veterans Day.

Independence Day 2019

(For politics related to current events, please scroll down)

What is there about America to love? The two selections below offer many reasons:





Happy birthday, America!

For Memorial Day 2019

[With thanks to Warren, who called my attention to the cited essay below]

[about "Flags In" at Arlington National Cemetery]

Some appropriate reading for Memorial Day and worth pondering....

From Sacred Duty: A Soldier’s Tour at Arlington National Cemetery by Tom Cotton, published in Hillsdale College's Imprimis (April/May, 2019):

Every headstone at Arlington tells a story. These are tales of heroes, I thought, as I placed the toe of my combat boot against the white marble. I pulled a miniature American flag out of my assault pack and pushed it three inches into the ground at my heel. I stepped aside to inspect it, making sure it met the standard that we had briefed to our troops: “vertical and perpendicular to the headstone.” Satisfied, I moved to the next headstone to keep up with my soldiers. Having started this row, I had to complete it. One soldier per row was the rule; otherwise, different boot sizes might disrupt the perfect symmetry of the headstones and flags. I planted flag after flag, as did the soldiers on the rows around me.

Bending over to plant the flags brought me eye-level with the lettering on those marble stones. The stories continued with each one. Distinguished Service Cross. Silver Star. Bronze Star. Purple Heart. America’s wars marched by. Iraq. Afghanistan. Vietnam. Korea. World War II. World War I. Some soldiers died in very old age; others were teenagers. Crosses, Stars of David, Crescents and Stars. Every religion, every race, every age, every region of America is represented in these fields of stone.

I came upon the gravesite of a Medal of Honor recipient. I paused, came to attention, and saluted. The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest decoration for battlefield valor. By military custom, all soldiers salute Medal of Honor recipients irrespective of their rank, in life and in death. We had reminded our soldiers of this courtesy; hundreds of grave sites would receive salutes that afternoon. I planted this hero’s flag and kept moving.

On some headstones sat a small memento: a rank or unit patch, a military coin, a seashell, sometimes just a penny or a rock. Each was a sign that someone—maybe family or friends, or perhaps a battle buddy who lived because of his friend’s ultimate sacrifice—had visited, honored, and mourned. For those of us who had been downrange, the sight was equally comforting and jarring—a sign that we would be remembered in death, but also a reminder of just how close some of us had come to resting here ourselves. We left those mementos undisturbed.

After a while, my hand began to hurt from pushing on the pointed, gold tips of the flags. There had been no rain that week, so the ground was hard. I asked my soldiers how they were moving so fast and seemingly pain-free. They asked if I was using a bottle cap, and I said no. Several shook their heads in disbelief; forgetting a bottle cap was apparently a mistake on par with forgetting one’s rifle or night-vision goggles on patrol in Iraq. Those kinds of little tricks and techniques were not briefed in the day’s written orders, but rather got passed down from seasoned soldiers. These details often make the difference between mission success or failure in the Army, whether in combat or stateside. After some good-natured ribbing at my expense, a young private squared me away with a spare cap.

We finished up our last section and got word over the radio to go place flags in the Columbarium, where open-air buildings contain thousands of urns. Walking down Arlington’s leafy avenues, we passed Section 60, where soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan were laid to rest if their families chose Arlington as their eternal home. Unlike in the sections we had just completed, several visitors and mourners were present. Some had settled in for a while on blankets or lawn chairs. Others walked among the headstones. Even from a respectful distance, we could see the sense of loss and grief on their faces.

Once we finished in the Columbarium, “mission complete” came over the radio and we began the long walk up Arlington’s hills and back to Fort Myer. In just a few hours, we had placed a flag at every grave site in this sacred ground, more than two hundred thousand of them. From President John F. Kennedy to the Unknown Soldiers to the youngest privates from our oldest wars, every hero of Arlington had a few moments that day with a soldier who, in this simple act of remembrance, delivered a powerful message to the dead and the living alike: you are not forgotten.

*****************************************************************************

The Thursday before Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery is known as “Flags In.” The soldiers who place the flags belong to the 3rd United States Infantry Regiment, better known as The Old Guard. My turn at Flags In came in 2007, when I served with The Old Guard between my tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Old Guard is literally the old guard, the oldest active-duty infantry regiment in the Army, dating back to 1784, three years older even than our Constitution....

[...]

No one summed up better what The Old Guard of Arlington means for our nation than Sergeant Major of the Army Dan Dailey. He shared a story with me about taking a foreign military leader through Arlington to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Sergeant Major Dailey said, “I was explaining what The Old Guard does and he was looking out the window at all those headstones. After a long pause, still looking at the headstones, he said, ‘Now I know why your soldiers fight so hard. You take better care of your dead than we do our living.’”

Read the entire essay HERE.

Memorial Day is not really about store sales and cookouts. 

Rather, Memorial Day is a solemn commemoration of our fallen military across the centuries. 

Pause, remember, reflect.

Veterans Day 2018

(For politics, please scroll down)

Please read: 5 Facts to Know About Veterans Day (from the US Department of Defense).

For Independence Day 2018

"America the Beautiful," performed by the Hillsdale College Choir:

The lyrics of "America the Beautiful" By Katharine Lee Bates (1913):

Remembering D-Day, June 6, 1944

The Silent Wings Museum commemorates the 74th anniversary of D-Day

Read and watch the videos at 5 Fast Facts About D-Day, June 6.

Today is the the 74th anniversary of the Allied invasion that changed the course of history — for the better:

What "Comrade In Distress" Looks Like

Because a stroke on September 15, 2009, deprived Mr. AOW of the ability to walk any more than a few steps, we have wheelchair ramps at our house: one from the street to the front door and one from the aforementioned ramp to the Little House (Mr. AOW's man cave since 1982).

Graphic by Stogie

We paid not a single dime for these two ramps because Mr. AOW's fellow veterans from the VFW and the American Legion built those ramps according to the guidelines of Comrade in Distress.

Recently, we needed another kind of ramp built so as to access The Red Shed, our big tool shed, which has always needed a ramp so that tool boxes and lawn equipment could be moved from therein. The original ramp, the one that Mr. AOW himself built in 1978, caved in years ago, so I had it replaced about eight years ago. The quality of wood used in that first replacement ramp was poor; as a result, it rotted out and became not only usable but also hazardous — a matter brought to my attention a few weeks ago when our realtor wanted to enter the Red Shed. His foot went right through that rickety ramp!

So, Mr. AOW called his Comrade in Arms Mike S., who came over as soon as the spring monsoons ended.  Mike is a Vietnam War Era veteran.  In other words, not a young man.

Memorial Day Weekend 2018

From Wreaths Across America's Facebook page:

Happy Thanksgiving 2017

(A great big "Thank you!" to Stogie, who, at my request, designed the graphic in this post ub 2012. CLICK HERE to see the Thanksgiving graphic that Stogie created for his own site in 2011)



As most who frequent this blog know, I do a lot of moaning and groaning about the present condition of our nation.

Nevertheless, despite all of the negative things that we bloggers opine about, we Americans have so much to be thankful for! I am ever aware of that fact.

Veterans Day 2017

Related reading with video: Veterans Day - November 11th 2017

Happy Birthday, Land That I Love!

I am posting a few days early for Independence Day 2017 so that readers of this blog will have enough time to enjoy the soaring music of Symphony No. 9 In E Minor (aka "From The New World") by Antonín Dvořák (1841 –1904) and the accompanying images:



For detailed information about the composer and the above piece, please see THIS POSTING at Musical Musings. Those of you familiar with the song "Goin' Home" you may be surprised to learn the following:

[Dvořák] composed the Symphony No. 9 in 1893, and while American music inspired him, he did not use any American melodies in the work. He wrote in the American style of pentatonic scale use and did it so well that for a long time many put the cart before the horse, especially in regards to the melody from the 2nd movement. A song named "Goin' Home" takes its melody from the symphony, not the other way around. The words were not set to the melody until many years after the symphony had been written.

A detailed discussion of the origins of "Goin' Home," is found HERE.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, USA!

AND HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY 2017 TO ALL WHO STOP BY ALWAYS ON WATCH!

Never forget why we celebrate this day:

The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a resolution earlier in the year which made a formal declaration inevitable. A committee was assembled to draft the formal declaration, to be ready when congress voted on independence. Adams persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson to compose the original draft of the document, which congress would edit to produce the final version. The Declaration was ultimately a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The Independence Day of the United States of America is celebrated on July 4, the day Congress approved the wording of the Declaration.

Quotes from signers:

"Believe me, dear Sir: there is not in the British empire a man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain than I do. But, by the God that made me, I will cease to exist before I yield to a connection on such terms as the British Parliament propose; and in this, I think I speak the sentiments of America."
Thomas Jefferson

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Benjamin Franklin

"I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in providence, for the illumination of the ignorant and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth."
John Adams

"There, I guess King George will be able to read that."
John Hancock

"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right...and a desire to know; but besides this, they have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean of the characters and conduct of their rulers."
John Adam

"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."
Thomas Jefferson

"I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure it will cost us to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these states. Yet through all the gloom I see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is worth all the means. This is our day of deliverance."
John Adams

"Equal and exact justice to all men...freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected,these principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us."
Thomas Jefferson

"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."
Benjamin Franklin

Memorial Day Weekend 2017

(For politics, please scroll down)

With all our busy-ness, let us not forget the meaning of Memorial Day.  Instead, with solemnity and humility, let us remember and honor the more than 1.8 million servicemen and servicewomen who have died in the service of our nation since 1775.

So Sick Of The Blame Game

Such as what the placard in this graphic expresses:

The legacy of Howard Zinn, who, among others, made the term "American patriotism" a dirty word.

See THIS and THIS about Howard Zinn.