Too cowardly to show his/her/their face and voice contemptable political opinions publicly, one or more scumbags defaced a sign dedicating a part of a recreational trail to the memory of a soldier killed in Afghanistan.

The family of a Green Beret who was one of the nation's first casualties in the war on terror in Afghanistan was outraged after discovering vandals had defaced a sign honoring the soldier with anti-war graffiti.

"I felt like I was going to vomit," said Michael Petithory, the brother of Army Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Petithory.

"It was just pure rage," he told the North Adams Transcript.

Daniel Petithory was killed Dec. 5, 2001, along with two other soldiers when a U.S. bomb landed about 100 yards from their position north of Kandahar.

Michael Petithory discovered the vandalism on Thursday as he biked along the Ashuwillticook Trail.

The words "oil," "Bush" and "Christian Crusade" and other phrases were written in black marker on the brown metal sign.

Family and friends cleaned the sign, which is one of three along a stretch of the trail that honors the Cheshire native. The other two signs were not vandalized.

Daniel Petithory was a recipient of the Silver Star and Purple Heart. He joined the Army shortly after graduating from Hoosac Valley High School in 1987. He is buried near family members in Cheshire Cemetery.

Police in Cheshire and Lanesborough are investigating, but there had been no arrests as of Friday evening. Cheshire, a town of approximately 3,500 residents, is about 140 miles west of Boston.

Vandals are, of course, a pathetic breed to begin with. That they would desecrate a sign memorializing a member of the military who died in the service of the country makes this crime that much lower. And that they seem to have forgotten that the action in Afghanistan was directly related to the 9/11 attack indicates a level of ignorance and immorality that is almost pathological.

Daniel Petithory had made the army his career, according to his father, Lou.

"He had been in the military for 14 years, so he was one of the older guys on his team," Lou Petithory told the Boston Herald. "They made military history. They were 200 Green Berets inserted into Afghanistan, and within two weeks the Taliban was gone.

"I'm so proud of my son for being part of that," he said.

Mr. Petithory. all Americans who love this country are proud of your son for having been a part of that, and roundly condemn this disgusting act of America-hating cowards.

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Posted by: Greg at 06:53 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And in the course of that service performed deeds of heroism so compelling that Desmond Doss was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Not bad for a pacifist who refused to carry a weapon out of a profound respect for the word of God and human life.

Desmond T. Doss, Sr., the only conscientious objector to win the Congressional Medal of Honor during World War II, has died. He was 87 years old.

Mr. Doss never liked being called a conscientious objector. He preferred the term conscientious cooperator. Raised a Seventh-day Adventist, Mr. Doss did not believe in using a gun or killing because of the sixth commandment which states, “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13). Doss was a patriot, however, and believed in serving his country.

During World War II, instead of accepting a deferment, Mr. Doss voluntarily joined the Army as a conscientious objector. Assigned to the 307th Infantry Division as a company medic he was harassed and ridiculed for his beliefs, yet he served with distinction and ultimately received the Congressional Medal of Honor on Oct. 12, 1945 for his fearless acts of bravery.

According to his Medal of Honor citation, time after time, Mr. DossÂ’ fellow soldiers witnessed how unafraid he was for his own safety. He was always willing to go after a wounded fellow, no matter how great the danger. On one occasion in Okinawa, he refused to take cover from enemy fire as he rescued approximately 75 wounded soldiers, carrying them one-by-one and lowering them over the edge of the 400-foot Maeda Escarpment. He did not stop until he had brought everyone to safety nearly 12 hours later.

When Mr. Doss received the Medal of Honor from President Truman, the President told him, “I’m proud of you, you really deserve this. I consider this a greater honor than being President.”

Mr. Doss’ exemplary devotion to God and his country has received nationwide attention. On July 4, 2004, a statue of Mr. Doss was placed in the National Museum of Patriotism in Atlanta, along with statues of Dr. Martin Luther King, President Jimmy Carter, and retired Marine Corps General Gray Davis, also a Medal of Honor recipient. Also in 2004, a feature-length documentary called “The Conscientious Objector,” telling Doss’ story of faith, heroism, and bravery was released. A feature movie describing Doss’ story is also being planned.

Mr. Doss died Thursday morning in Piedmont, Ala. He is survived by his wife, Frances; his son, Desmond T. Doss, Jr., and his brother, Harold Doss.

Visitation will be held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 31, at Heritage Funeral Home, located at 3239 Battlefield Parkway, Fort Oglethorpe.

A memorial service will be held Saturday, April 1, at 3 p.m. at the Collegedale Seventh-day Adventist Church located at 4829 College Drive East in Collegedale.

Burial will take place on Monday, April 3, at 11 a.m. at the Chattanooga National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the Doss family requests that donations be sent to the Desmond Doss Museum Fund at the Georgia-Cumberland Conference office (P.O. Box 12000 Calhoun, Ga., 30703).

This man, ladies and gentlemen, was a true hero. We look at today's crop of "peace activists" and find a motley crew of ne'er-do-wells and whiners who have little respect for this country or its soldiers. Contrast the actions of Desmond Doss with the refusal of the recently rescued Christian Peacemaker team hostages to offer so much as a word of gratitude for the actions of military personnel who rescued them from terrorists who kidnapped them and murdered one of their number.

I have no doubt that Mr. Doss is this day in Paradise, in the company of the One True God.

ADDITIONAL TRIBUTES: MFVOV, Missing Link, Chaotic Synaptic Activity, Mudville Gazette, The Daily Brief, Hit and Run, Eric Berlin, Slobokan, Riehl World, Chatter, Two Malcontents, Fred Schoeneman, Blackfive

UPDATE: The Washington Post has this obituary, which is very good. It notes that Doss was not the only conscientious objector to receive thh Congressional Medal of Honor, merely the first. The other, Cpl. Thomas W. Bennett, a medical aidman who died while serving during the Vietnam War, also received the nation's highest military honor.

I urge you to click below to read the extended entry, where I have reproduced the full text of the citation that accompanied his Medal. You will be awe-struck by the degree of bravery exhibited by this man over the course of several days. Such Christ-like devotion to his fellow man in the face of his own possible death -- including while seriously wounded himself -- brought tears to my eyes. more...

Posted by: Greg at 02:51 PM | Comments (26) | Add Comment
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Sgt. Jason R. Lyon sprained his ankle in 2004, jumping off a Humvee in Iraq.

The US Army says he can perform any duty, military or civilian.

The US Postal Service says he is physically unfit to carry the mail.

While Sgt. Jason R. Lyon was serving with the Army in Iraq, he suffered a sprained ankle when he jumped off a Humvee. He also nearly had his head blown off by a roadside bomb that killed three of his friends.

After extensive medical treatment and physical therapy, military doctors have certified the Hamburg serviceman physically fit to return to combat duty in Iraq.
But the U.S. Postal Service says he is physically unfit to deliver mail.

"To me, it really seems unfair," said the National Guardsman, who was recently turned down for a postal carrier job because of the ankle injury he suffered in Baghdad in July 2004.

"The military says I can go to combat. I can march, run, fight in a war and do anything else a soldier can do. But the Postal Service says I'm not fit to deliver letters."

A frustrated Lyon, 28, spoke about his dilemma in his home Monday, showing a Buffalo News reporter his Purple Heart for wounds suffered later and a thick stack of medical reports from the Army, declaring him fully fit for military duty.
"Currently no limitations of military or civilian activity," a National Guard medical officer wrote in a report on Lyon last month.

A doctor for the Postal Service saw it differently, ruling that Lyon's ankle injury makes him unfit to be hired as a mail carrier. A physician for the Postal Service called the injury a "physical impairment" that would make it difficult for Lyon to walk or stand for long periods of time.

IÂ’m speechless beyond words at the absurdity of this decision by one doctor/bureaucrat who does not seem to realize that a sprained ankle is an injury that HEALS.

Not even congressional intervention has helped.

The office of Rep. Brian M. Higgins, D-Buffalo, has been trying to help Lyon in his dispute but without results. On March 11, Lyon got a letter from the Postal Service, saying a doctor for the service had refused to change her medical assessment.

Is it just me, or does this absurd and nonsensical slap at a veteran serve to reinforce the stereotype of the Post Office as an out-of-touch bureaucracy that needs to be eliminated so that private industry can do the job better and cheaper?

Posted by: Greg at 01:45 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I am not supportive of this.

States have been passing laws regarding funeral protests by the reprehensible blasphemers of the Lord's name from Westboro Baptist (sic) Church (sic), the family cult bred by Fred Phelps. I've not been ver supportive. But now there is a move to make the ban a federal one -- and I really have to object.

A Michigan congressman will introduce federal legislation to block protests during military funeral services in response to a Kansas churchÂ’s continued demonstrations at servicemembersÂ’ burials.

Rep. Mike Rogers said he wonÂ’t officially submit the bill until later this month, but colleagues in Congress have already scheduled a hearing in early April and pledged their support for the measure.

The proposal would prohibit protests an hour before or after a funeral at any national cemetery, and force protesters back at least 500 feet from the grieving family. Penalties for violations still need to be worked out.

“When you go to a funeral, it’s difficult enough to show up and pay your respects to someone who died for their country without getting jeered, taunted and harassed,” said Rogers, a Republican. “There’s a difference between free speech and hateful, harassing speech.”

On Thursday, Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., introduced similar legislation in the Senate, creating a 300-foot buffer zone and making violations punishable by up to five years in prison. Bayh’s bill would apply to “all funerals for soldiers who were killed in active duty service.”

There is no reason to make this a federal issue -- such regulatiosn bvelong more properly on the state and local level, if they are to be passed at all. What, are we going to have the FBI out enforcing these bans? More to the point, why should such a ban be limited to military funerals? After all, why shouldn't it include the funerals of dead gay folks targetted by the Phelps family of primitives? Why shouldn't it include ANY funeral, if this is truly a reasonable time, place, and manner restriction and not simply legislation targetted at the message?

H/T Jawa Report, Stop the ACLU, Bluto, Vince, Kerfuffles)

Posted by: Greg at 11:37 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Proving once again that the business plan for the failing Leftist radio network includes treason and sedition, host Mike Malloy accuses American military personnel of trading "war pornography", being murderers, and likened them to Nazis.

More details at Expose the Left, Wizbang, Jawa Report, BoreAmerica, MoveOnAndShutUp.Org, Kerfuffles, Conservative Culture, Say Anything

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Recruiting goals are being met and exceeded by the Army National Guard, according to the most recent monthly figures.

The Army National Guard, which has suffered a severe three-year recruiting slump, has begun to reel in soldiers in record numbers, aided in part by a new initiative that pays Guard members $2,000 for each person they enlist.

The Army Guard said Friday that it signed up more than 26,000 soldiers in the first five months of fiscal 2006, exceeding its target by 7 percent in its best performance in 13 years. At this pace, Guard leaders say they are confident they will reach their goal of boosting manpower from the current 336,000 to the congressionally authorized level of 350,000 by the end of the year.

"Will we make 350,000? The answer is: Absolutely," said Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau.

The rebound is striking because since 2003, the Army Guard has performed worse in annual recruiting than any other branch of the U.S. military. The Guard was shrinking while it was being asked to shoulder a big part of the burden in Iraq. Together with the Army Reserve, it supplied as many as 40 percent of the troops in Iraq while also dispatching tens of thousands of members to domestic disasters.

Why the turn-around? It seems that hearing about the Guard and it mission from Iraq veterans has been an important factor.

A driving force in this year's early success, Guard leaders say, is that thousands of Guard members have now returned from Iraq and are reaching out to friends, old classmates and co-workers -- widening the face-to-face contacts that officials say are critical to recruiting. Guard members "are staying with us and want to fill up units with their neighbors and friends," Blum said in an interview. "Now that they're back -- watch out."

The development of a more regular deployment cycle has helped as well.

MORE AT: American Thinker, Blogs for Bush (twice), Cigar Intelligence Agency, Right Wing News, Ranting Profs, WILLisms, Say Anything, Mudville Gazette, reconsider, Execupundit, UNCorrelated, Backcountry Conservative,

Posted by: Greg at 01:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Recruiting goals are being met and exceeded by the Army National Guard, according to the most recent monthly figures.

The Army National Guard, which has suffered a severe three-year recruiting slump, has begun to reel in soldiers in record numbers, aided in part by a new initiative that pays Guard members $2,000 for each person they enlist.

The Army Guard said Friday that it signed up more than 26,000 soldiers in the first five months of fiscal 2006, exceeding its target by 7 percent in its best performance in 13 years. At this pace, Guard leaders say they are confident they will reach their goal of boosting manpower from the current 336,000 to the congressionally authorized level of 350,000 by the end of the year.

"Will we make 350,000? The answer is: Absolutely," said Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau.

The rebound is striking because since 2003, the Army Guard has performed worse in annual recruiting than any other branch of the U.S. military. The Guard was shrinking while it was being asked to shoulder a big part of the burden in Iraq. Together with the Army Reserve, it supplied as many as 40 percent of the troops in Iraq while also dispatching tens of thousands of members to domestic disasters.

Why the turn-around? It seems that hearing about the Guard and it mission from Iraq veterans has been an important factor.

A driving force in this year's early success, Guard leaders say, is that thousands of Guard members have now returned from Iraq and are reaching out to friends, old classmates and co-workers -- widening the face-to-face contacts that officials say are critical to recruiting. Guard members "are staying with us and want to fill up units with their neighbors and friends," Blum said in an interview. "Now that they're back -- watch out."

The development of a more regular deployment cycle has helped as well.

MORE AT: American Thinker, Blogs for Bush (twice), Cigar Intelligence Agency, Right Wing News, Ranting Profs, WILLisms, Say Anything, Mudville Gazette, reconsider, Execupundit, UNCorrelated, Backcountry Conservative,

Posted by: Greg at 01:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I can neither add nor subtract from these words from one of our fighting men.

'What I fight for'

I'm Sgt. Matthew Spencer, and this is my story.

As many of you are aware, there are husbands, fathers, brothers and sons, mothers, sisters, daughters and wives making a daily effort to make Iraq a better place.

Is it hard being away from the ones you love? Of course it is. Nobody wants to be separated from those who love you and support you.

But as a two-time Iraq veteran, serving back-to-back rotations, I can truly say that there is a lot of good coming out of Iraq that you, the public, don't see. I would like to take a minute of your time and help you look through my eyes while I take you on a mission.

As you are traveling down an old, dusty, dirt road, the temperature is around 140 degrees, and you have 150 pounds of protective armor on you. You are driving a truck with a three-soldier crew, and you look out the thick armor windows. You see kids that are playing in the streets — with clothes on their backs and shoes on their feet.

All of a sudden, there is a big blast and a flash of light.

It is a roadside bomb. You and your crew are yelling at each other, thinking in the back of your mind, if I can hear my crew, then we are still alive.

Seconds feel like hours. You finally calm down and look back out that window and see those same kids, still playing as if nothing had happened.

They are smiling and laughing, not at us, but because they are having a good time — they finally have a school to go to, a ball to kick around and clothes to keep the hot sun off of their skin.

That is what I fight for. Being able to give something to those who did not have anything and expecting nothing in return.

I fight for my loved ones back at home because I would rather have the fight here than in my back yard.

I fight for my fellow brothers and sisters who have died, fighting for my freedom, and my way of life.

I fight because I believe things can change, and it must start sometime.

I fight so that my kids will not have to.

I fight because I am free.

I fight because I am a father, a husband, a brother and a son.

And I will fight till freedom is won.

Who is Sgt. Matthew Spencer?

A soldier's words help us remember the men and women behind war's headlines.

SGT. MATTHEW SPENCER, 26

U.S. Army, 101st Airborne Division

Hometown: Montgomery (Illinois)

1998 graduate of Aurora Christian High School

Married to Yvonne; father of four children, including baby Jolene, born March 2, while her father was serving in Iraq.

May God richly bless you, your family, and those with whom you serve.

Posted by: Greg at 08:03 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Well, the Ditch Bitch finally admits it .

It seems that the protests of "Saint Cindy Sheehan, Our Lady of the Martyred Soldier" has made it clear that her protests have nothing to do with her son, Case, who was killed in Iraq.

MODERATOR: Cindy, here's a question for you... "Over the past several months you've become a lightning rod for the anti-war movement, and a polarizing figure for military families. Is this what Casey would have wanted? Or are you doing this for yourself?"...

...CINDY SHEEHAN: I'm doing this for... the troops to come home.

(applause)

CINDY SHEEHAN: And... I'm not doing this for Casey. Casey's already dead. I wish I would have done it for Casey before he was killed.(emphasis added)

Let's not forget -- Casey reenlisted knowing that he would be sent to Iraq -- and supported the mission there. He was a hero before he died, is a hero after death, and the exploitation of his good name by those who oppose his choice and the sacrifice he made is hideous.

And that Mama Sheehan stands upon the dead body of her son to use him as a pulpit to preach against what he believed is truly vile.

By the way, Cindy -- when will you buy Casey's headstone? His grave is still unmarked. But you can afford a new convertible. It is really clear that you aren't doing this for Casey -- you are doing this for you.

Your 15 minutes are up, woman -- and your allegedly unquestionable moral authority has evaporated.

Posted by: Greg at 06:13 AM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
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Dan Frazier is scum, exploiting dead military personnel over the objections of their family members. And he intends to keep making a profit off the dead bodies of dead soldiers, sailors, and airmen, no matter what.

That is why Yvette Burridge is fighting for legislatitonzier an to stop Frazier and other war profiteering ghouls like him.

An Acadiana mother has a message for anti-war protestors. She wants them to stop profiting from the death of her son. And, it's a fight she's hoping to take to Washington, D.C.

The mother of a Marine killed-in-action tells how she hopes to protect her son's name.

Yvette Burridge has been spending every free moment on the internet, fuming over one site in particular - carryabigsticker.com, which promotes and sells anti-war and anti-President Bush paraphernalia.

Why is she angry? Burridge's son, Marine Private First Class David Paul Burridge was killed in Iraq in 2004 when a suicide bomber attacked his convoy.

Now, his name and the names of other fallen military personnel are listed on anti-war stickers and t-shirts, all of which read, "Bush lied, they died."

Yvette Burridge says it is something she doesn't want to be associated with and knows her son doesn't want to be associated with it either.

Burridge claims she is not alone, saying the families of other fallen soldiers are disgusted over this website and other anti-war sites that profit from their loved one's deaths.

And so Burridge is seeking to protect the good name and honorable service of her son and other American heroes through legislation banning the exploitation of the names and images of war dead without the permission of their survivors. Such legislation is pending in Oklahoma.

Not that the objections of family members matter to a scumbag like Frazier, who makes money by treading on the corpses of those killed in the war on terror.

Meanwhile, the owner of the website - carryabigsticker.com says he will not remove any soldier's names from his products.

Dan Frazier says he's a firm believer in freedom of speech and feels that if soldiers are going to be listed, all of them need to be listed, and remember all of them and treat them all equally.

Dan Frazier says his intention is not to be disrespectful to any of the fallen soldiers, and he is sorry some families feel that he is.

It isn't a question of feelings, Mr. Frazier. It is a question of fact.

Contact him and let him know what you think.

Posted by: Greg at 08:58 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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