Posted on 11/13/2009 12:50:34 PM PST by pissant
At no time should we ever compromise ourselves to anyone who is seeking to destroy our God-given freedom and liberty – we either stand up, or fall fighting for it!
This, in essence, is the gist of the speeches delivered by former Congressman Duncan L. Hunter, and his son, Congressman Duncan D. Hunter, guest speakers at the celebration of America’s Independence by the Skyline Church of La Mesa. Dubbed “Celebrating Life Together” the Independence Day services/celebration was held Friday afternoon, July 3, 2009.
Dr. James L. Garlow, Skyline’s senior pastor, introduced the Hunters with these beautiful words: “These congressmen don’t particularly enjoy Washington, D.C. They are genetically disposed to serve. They are not enamored by power, but by a government operating the way it should operate.”
Before the Hunters started speaking, Pastor Garlow prayed blessings and prosperity for them.
Both Hunters talked about America as a Christian nation, and about the sacrifices that our American soldiers are doing around the world. Former Cong. Hunter stated that “we formed this nation for freedom and liberty, not oil and gold. We did it for an idea, something that is intangible.”
He also said that Americans always make a good fight. “We are a Christian nation because God formed us this way. We won in Iraq because of our American example. Now, we have to do our very best to make our country great again.”
“As I speak,” the young Congressman Hunter also said, “there are soldiers fighting and dying in Afghanistan. As we celebrate the birth of our nation, our thoughts and prayers are with our brave military men and women who continue to fight for the rights and freedoms that we enjoy.”
The young Hunter used to be in the military, just like his father. He was a Captain in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, and was deployed in Iraq in 2003 and 2004, and again in Afghanistan in 2007. On November 4, 2008, he was elected to succeed his father, Cong. Duncan L. Hunter, as the congressional representative of the California’s 52nd congressional district.
The elder Hunter was commissioned into the United States Army in 1969. He served in South Vietnam from 1970 to 1971 during the Vietnam War in the Army Rangers’ 75th Ranger Regiment, attached to the 173rd Airborne Brigade. He participated in 24 helicopter assaults, as well as in small-number, night-time reconnaissance patrols. He held the rank of First Lieutenant, and was awarded the Bronze Star, Air Medal, and service ribbons such as the Vietnam Service Medal.
After his stint in the military, Hunter served as congressman for twenty-eight years, from1981 to 2009, and was chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. During Cong. Hunter’s first term of office, he appointed this columnist as one of his advisers. In 2008, Hunter sought the Republican Party’s nomination for President of the United States, but dropped out after unpromising results in the Nevada caucuses.
The Hunters introduced another military man, Gunnery Sergeant Nick Popaditch, who talked also about his experiences serving in Iraq. Popaditch, or “Gunny Pop” as he is fondly called, lost his eye in Ramadi, Iraq, when he was hit by fragments from the enemy’s RPG. He said he is thinking of also running for Congress, probably in another congressional district.
Several hundreds of people attended the services/celebration. Before the service started, the Skyline congregation and guests partook of the sumptuous pot-luck dinner served at the church grounds. Dinner itself was held inside the church, which was decorated with red, white and blue balloons in honor of America’s Independence Day.
Americans are enjoying the liberty and freedoms that our forefathers envisioned for us, thanks to caring, committed and patriotic men like the Hunters and Popaditch, and the brave men and women who are serving their country even at the cost of their own lives.
The freedoms we now enjoy cost us the lives of countless men and women who died so that we can live and be free. If you really think about it, freedom is not free. An unidentified Air Force Cadet wrote a poem with that title, and here it is for you:
“Freedom is not Free”
I watched the flag pass by one day. It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it, and then he stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform, so young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square and eyes alert, he’d stand out in a crowd.
I thought how many men like him had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil? How many mothers’ tears?
How many pilots’ planes shot down? How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers’ graves? No, freedom is not free.
I heard the sound of taps one night, when everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play and felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times that taps had meant “amen,”
When a flag had draped a coffin of a brother or a friend?
I thought about a graveyard at the bottom of the sea,
Of unmarked graves in Arlington, no, freedom is not free.
A Hunter story I missed.
Ahhhh, my men.
Palin/Hunter 2012
And MEN they are. Unlike most of the DC critters.
BUMP
Great men, we will need many like this in the coming storm.
BTT
SO nice to hear a real conservative voice once in a while!
Duncan Hunter should run for senate against the Boxer.
It would be a step down from his previous position. He’s not interested in the Senate.
*At no time should we ever compromise ourselves to anyone who is seeking to destroy our God-given freedom and liberty – we either stand up, or fall fighting for it!*
This is so true, we don’t have room for anti war traitors
who with their denial that Terrorists are not a problem
if we mind our business. These traitors need to be voted out while we still have a country.
Cool. B4DH and B4DDH.
30 lashes for you! Thanks for posting it now!
“These congressmen don’t particularly enjoy Washington, D.C. They are genetically disposed to serve. They are not enamored by power, but by a government operating the way it should operate.”
Just exactly what we need...now more than ever!
Too bad most republicans are too damn stupid to see what’s in front of them.
G'night pissant. Thanks for all you do!
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