Restrepo August 6, 2010

The documentary Restrepo won the Grand Jurry Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.  It chronicles a year with one platoon in the deadliest valley in Afghanistan, the Korengal Valley.  It is here that the platoon lost their comrade, PFC Juan Restrepo, and erected an outpost in his honor.  This film is currently only being shown at select Landmark Theaters around the country.  It is highly recommended by a good friend who is a Staff Sergeant in the Marines and has been to Iraq and Afghanistan multiple times.  This film is said to be the most realistic war film yet.  This movie is recommended to anyone who really wants to understand the lifestyle of a US soldier at war in Afghanistan.  "Unlike the mediated versions of war that we experience on the news or in Hollywood movies, this is war as it actually occurs" -Zak Gottlieb. 

Happy July 4, 2010

Today our country is 234 years old.

Protesters at Funeral of Matthew Snyder June17, 2010

A Petition signed by 40,000 backs legal fight against Westboro Baptist Church.

Snyder's legal battle began after his son, Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew A. Snyder, 20, was killed in a Humvee accident in Iraq on March 3, 2006. A week later, Westboro Baptist members stood outside the funeral at St. John's Roman Catholic Church in Westminster, waving signs that said "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "God hates fags" as mourners grieved inside.  On Saturday, May 29, VFW delivered a powerful Declaration of Support to Albert Snyder, father of fallen Marine Matthew Snyder. Mr. Snyder is battling a hate group in court after they protested at the funeral of his son. In an outrageous legal decision, Mr. Snyder has been ordered to pay court costs.  On March 8, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in the fall. More than 45 state attorneys-general have signed an amicus brief in support of the case, Snyder v. Phelps.  "It's an uphill battle," Snyder said Saturday. "People want to make this out as free speech. But to me, this case is about harassment," adding that he does not want other families to endure such pain.  Is the Westboro Baptist really a church or did they find a way to legally manipulate the system to protect their hateful worldview?

Teachers' Anti-War Message Draws Fire June 16, 2010

SOUTH YARMOUTH — Some students are calling for the firing of two Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School teachers who held an anti-war sign during a school assembly Friday.History teacher Marybeth Verani and English teacher Adeline Koscher made their silent protest during the part of the assembly in which school officials recognized graduating seniors who are entering the military.  See the full story in the Cape Cod Times.  First question: Where is the logic in protesting war in a vague general sense?  Second question:  Is it appropriate for a teacher to make that illogical protest during a ceremony honoring those who serve our country?

Remember Captain Ed Freeman May 31, 2010

Today is Memorial Day.  Take a moment to thank the members of the armed forces who defend our country.  Remember all those fallen who never made it home so that we could have freedom in our contry.

You're a 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley , 11-14-1965, LZ X-ray, Vietnam. Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8 - 1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming in.


You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you're not getting out. Your family is half-way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day. Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter, and you look up to see an un-armed Huey, but it doesn't seem real, because no Medi-Vac markings are on it.


Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come.


He's coming anyway.


And he drops it in, and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 2 or 3 of you on board.
Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the Doctors and Nurses.
And, he kept coming back.... 13 more times..... And took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out.


Ed Freeman was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on July 16th, 2001.  He died Wednesday August 20, 2008 at the age of 80, in Boise, ID.  In March 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution designating the U.S. Postal Service facility located at 103 West Main Street in McLain, Mississippi, as the 'Major Ed W. Freeman Post Office'. McLain was the hometown of Ed Freeman.  Visit the obituary of Ed Freeman.

Memorial Day Weekend May 28, 2010

Not Your Grandfathers War April 30, 2010

The US is steadily increasing its offensive in Afghanistan.  This article by Iason Athanasiadis highlights some of the struggles American troops face in the midst of a completely different culture.  See the full story at Al Majalla.  How can soldiers be better equipped to handle the culture shock associated with occupying a foreign country?  Is it really the purpose of a soldier to develop relationships with the locals?

Patriots' Day April 19, 2010

Patriots' Day is a state holiday recognized in Massachusetts and Maine.  Historical groups still reenact the battles at Lexington, Concord and the ride of Paul Revere.  Do you think the second amendment is a God-given right or a government-given right?  Without this basic human right would we still be paying taxes to England?