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We've all seen the photo: But does it tell the whole truth? I'm as anti Obama as anyone but the fact is Obama did have his hand on his heart, just not at the last second of a long musical note. Let me explain: Here is the video. Look at 2:33-2:37 the video clearly shows he does have hand on heart and then the camera pans away. Camera returns at 2:56 and Obama still has hand on heart till 2:59 when camera pans away again. The problem is when do you put your hand back down? As can be clearly...

I dare anyone to watch this video...it will stop you dead in your tracks, lest we never forget 1 million + plus men and women have given their lives for our freedom. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ul60BvTk0U&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efacebook%2Ecom%2Fhome%2Ephp%3F&feature=player_embedded

Sylmar's Pioneer Cemetery Gets Some Needed Attention on Memorial Day San Fernando Valley Historical Society held their annual Memorial Day activities at the historic Pioneer Memorial Cemetery located in Sylmar. This small plot of fenced land is the second oldest cemetery in the San Fernando Valley. Within its very rough cemetery grounds are individual's tombs that have their own stories to tell anyone interested in knowing them. On this Memorial Day, Civil War veterans (shamefully in currently unmarked graves) were the center of attention by the day's memorial speeches. However, there are many more unmarked veterans tombs of several historical...

Steve Barry >>More PhotosSteve Barry has a story of survival and gratitude for the American troops who liberated him during World War II. Steve is Jewish and was sent from Hungary to the notorious Bergen-Belsen camp. He soon was loaded, along with 2,500 other starving Jews, on a train. The train became stranded in the middle of fierce fighting. Soon Steve's captors left, but the passengers were weak, and there was nowhere for them to go, so they stayed with the train hoping for a miracle. Carroll Walsh Steve will never forget the day he saw the first tank...

Is it okay to show your patriotism at the office? For one Arlington woman, the answer was "no" after she hung an American flag in her office just before the Memorial Day weekend. Debbie McLucas is one of four hospital supervisors at Kindred Hospital in Mansfield. Last week, she hung a three-by-five foot American flag in the office she shares with the other supervisors. When McLucas came to work Friday, her boss told her another supervisor had found her flag offensive. "I was just totally speechless. I was like, 'You're kidding me,'" McLucas said. McLucas' husband and sons are former...

Saving Monuments from the ACLU by: Bethany Stotts, May 28, 2009 Schools, parks and courthouses aren’t the only places hit by separation of church and state lawsuits. Several veterans groups recently argued that a case coming before the Supreme Court this fall could help determine the fate of veterans’ memorials around the country. They met on May 21 to protest what Mark Seavey of The American Legion called the American Civil Liberty Union’s (ACLU) “fight to secularize every facet of American life.” “The issue for us goes far beyond the fate of one simple cross in the desert, as mentioned,...

Apparently, not even a somber ceremony to honor fallen soldiers is off limits to desperate people looking to attack Governor Palin. In her latest hate-filled rant, Shannyn Moore has once again demonstrated that she is not bound by logic and common decency when it comes to discussing Governor Palin.

A Texas woman put up an American flag for Memorial Day, and was told to remove it because it was offensive to a coworker. The kicker is the offended employee is not from the United States. I know ... shocker.

There are more than 150,000 people buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. And while the headstones appear identical from a distance each one tells a story about a person who served the nation in uniform at some point in life. David and Margaret Sorensen of Edina, and their children David Roy and McKenzie, could be seen from a distance Monday standing above one such grave marker. "Arthur Marius Sorensen," Margaret Sorensen explained, "It's my children's great grandfather. They never met him, but we like to bring them out here and try to tell stories." Sorensen was a new Danish immigrant...

President Barack Obama lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during Memorial Day commemorations at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va., May 25, 2009. DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeleyI yearn to be able to respect a president I have political differences with. To be able to find common ground as fellow Americans and on occasions such as Memorial Day, out of respect for the office of the presidency, applaud his speech and say, "Well done, Mr. President; well done! We may differ politically, but today I stand with you!" So why am...

President Barack Obama hit the golf course after marking his first Memorial Day as commander in chief. The president's motorcade took him to Fort Belvoir in Virginia. That's where he went for a game of golf more than a week ago. Obama grabbed his clubs after he participated in Memorial Day observances at Arlington National Cemetery

Heather Golczynski and her 8-year-old son Christian hold tightly to the memory of Marine Staff Sgt. Marc Golczynski. Choking back tears, Christian Golczynski accepted the flag from his father's casket. Photographer Aaron Thompson described this moment as "the most emotionally moving event I may have ever witnessed and may ever witness in my life." *snip* Just days before he left for his second tour, Marc sent a letter to his family that would be his epitaph. "Due to our deep desire to finish the job we started, we fight and sometimes die so that our families don't have to....

On this Memorial Day of 2009 there will be parades and music all across this land with heartfelt speeches to mark the day. There will be reunions, picnics, prayers and stories exchanged. American flags will wave o'r the many graves and as we gather together those who fought and died for us will be honored and remembered. Many of us will spend some time in quiet reflection today. Memories of moments in combat will come to the fore for some; for others it will be the loss of a loved one or

President Barack Obama sent a wreath Monday to a memorial for soldiers who fought on the side of slavery during the Civil War, continuing a 90-year-old Memorial Day tradition despite being urged by historians to “break this chain of racism.” The first black U.S. president also started a new tradition by sending a wreath to the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington honoring the 200,000 black soldiers who fought for Union forces in America’s bloodiest conflict. “We ask you to break this chain of racism stretching back to Woodrow Wilson and not send a wreath or other token of...

Sent: Mon May 25 13:36:37 2009 Subject: Pool report #2 5/25/09 POTUS rode out to Fort Belvoir in an uneventful motorcade. Your pool is now holding in the base PX; POTUS is, reportedly, golfing with Marvin Nicholson. Your pool probably won't have any idea exactly what POTUS is doing at 3 p.m. during the moment of national unity he called for.

Russell Kirk once wrote, “A conservative is not, by definition, a selfish or a stupid person; instead, he is a person who believes that there is something in life worth saving.” The same must be said for a patriot. In their view, America is something not to be hated or despised; rather, it is something that is worth saving—a country that has more to offer than any other in the world. Those indelible qualities have been incorporated into America’s soul from its founding. These patriots sought a Republic as moral, as just and divine as any in the world. They...

THE TRUE MEANING OF MEMORIAL DAY - PLEASE WATCH God bless & keep all who do serve, or have ever served, in defense of this Republic & her Constitution...and particularly may He rest all those who have given the last full measure of devotion in that service. That includes my Uncle Albert Spacil, my mom's only brother & my dear, deceased grandparent's only son. He died in a B-17 over Germany in 1944. God continue to rest his soul until we're all gathered over yonder, across Jordan in our Father's Kingdom. ...and may God grant that we have the strength,...

It is likely -- and it is sad -- that on this Memorial Day fresh names will be added to the list of American war dead, a list that stretches from the Revolutionary War to today's conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. We hope we are wrong. We hope today is a safe day for the thousands of American soldiers in those terrifying locations, but we acknowledge the wishfulness of such a thought. Nearly 200,000 American servicemen and women are in danger's way at this moment, a number big enough to remind us, in the safety of our borders, that we...

I admire Andy Rooney's ability to make frightening statements of a dangerous and deadly ideology sound like an innocuous offhand comment that all should find agreeable. He did so once again last night, this time during his monologue on Memorial Day. After a couple examples of men who died in past wars, Rooney said the following: For too many Americans, Memorial Day has become just another day off. There's only so much time any of us can spend remembering those we loved who have died, but the men, boys really, who died in our wars deserve at least a few...

Today - on my day off - I'm washing clothes, washing dishes, organizing, cleaning, planting, entertaining, sweating and more. And griping. Oh yes, I was griping about it. Then it occurred to me that those clothes I'm washing -- they're ours. Mine and my family's. We own them. They don't belong to my employer or worse yet, my owner. They're unique clothes - chosen to fit and compliment someone in my family. They're not oppressively hot with only a window for the eyes. They're weren't given us because we had none. Even better, they don't bear the stripes of a...

The smartest president in U.S. history seems to have confused Memorial Day with Veterans Day: President Barack Obama saluted veterans and urged his countrymen to do the same this Memorial Day weekend, saying the nation has not always paid them proper respect. In his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday, Obama said people can honor veterans by sending a letter or care package to troops overseas, volunteering at health clinics or taking supplies to a homeless veterans center. He said it could also mean something as simple as saying "thank you" to a veteran walking by on the street. ****...

URGENT NEW PETITION for our troops and chaplains. Please click, sign, WE WILL FAX your petition automatically to 435 members of Congress (saving you hours of labor!) BREAKING NEWS: Pentagon Burns Soldiers Bibles - Military Chaplains Attacked A Pentagon spokesman under the Obama Administration has just acknowledged seizing and burning the privately owned Bibles of American soldiers serving in Afghanistan. The Bibles had been printed in the local Pashto and Dari languages, and sent by private donors last year to American Christian soldiers and chaplains, for distribution to American troops on overseas military bases during optionally-attended Christian worship services. Had...

At first there was no place for us to go until someone put up that Black Granite Wall. Now, everyday and night, my Brothers and my Sisters wait to see the many people from places afar file in front of this Wall. Many stopping briefly and many for hours and some that come on a regular basis. It was hard at first, not that it's gotten any easier, but it seems that many of the attitudes towards that Vietnam war we were involved in have changed. I can only pray that the ones on the other side have learned something, and...

This National Geographic Special tours one of Americas most sacred places and explores its hallowed history in this powerful one hour film portrait.

Sentiment exists for changing the day Memorial Day is observed back to the traditional date of May 30 – it was changed in 1968 to the last Monday in May to give us another three-day weekend. Ironically, May 30 was chosen to celebrate Decoration Day, when the graves of soldiers who had died in the Civil War were to be decorated with flags and flowers, 1866, precisely because that date had no prior significance. It was not the day of a significant battle or armistice ceremony. The idea was simply to celebrate those who had died in service to the...

This is from an E mail from an American soldier fighting in Iraq. A friend and former CIA agent sent it along. Please keep the writer and all of our troops in your prayers. “We often hear media reports about civilian deaths as a result of US operations in the War on Terror. What we rarely hear are reports about the daily killing of civilians by insurgents, whether this is in Iraq or Afghanistan. There are many reasons for this. But, for my part, I think it is worth highlighting the atrocities committed by our foes so we remain aware...

In some circles, patriotism has become a synonym for arrogant or jingoistic. Some people even use it as a political weapon; "Don't question my patriotism," they say. Yet, this Memorial Day, and every other day for that matter, we should remember that those who died for this country are the true patriots. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes called Memorial Day, "our most respected holiday," and urged that "we not ponder with sad thoughts the passing of our heroes but rather ponder their legacy - the life they made possible for us by their commitment and pain." At its core,...

It is a simple question. What is the sacrifice that we celebrate on Memorial Day? What did our heroes fight and die for? The liberal will likely tell you they died for, or because of, government. This is actually the opposite of the truth. In fact, it is through opposites that we may find the truth

On this Memorial Day, thousands of small American flags will fly in cemeteries near your home, next to the headstones of men and women who defended this country. Flags also will decorate the thousands of graves at Arlington National Cemetery as well as sacred ground throughout Europe and the Pacific that bears long, straight rows of ivory-white crosses and stars. Many of the young Americans who rest under these simple markers did not live past the age of 19 or 20. There also are tens of thousands of equally young men who fought gallantly for this country during World War...

Memorial Day is a special day in State College, Pa.Each year, the town's hippies, like those college hippies around the country, recall the tradition of turning their backs on the nation's fighting men and women. It's a proud tradition."My great-great-grandfather castigated those who served in the Union Army during the Civil War," said Karlton Fletcher. "Calling them, Butchers of Atlanta, for seeking to enforce the imperial will of the Republican government on the southern states and their unique economic needs."Fletcher's non-fighting lineage continued through America's involvement in the Spanish-American War and World War I. His family passive-aggressively fought for whoever...

Unfortunately, war is sometimes the answer. When it is, soldiers die. On Memorial Day and every day, it's our job as citizens to remember and honor those who paid the ultimate price to keep us free. Since the War of Independence started in 1776 over 650,000 men and women have lost their lives in battle to secure our independence, protect our country, preserve our union and protect the freedoms of countries throughout the world. More than half a million additional soldiers have died in service outside the theater of war. They died servicing us! Among those honored, today we remember....

Google puts up a solitary yellow ribbon for Memorial Day. Very inconspicuous. Contrast this to the elaborate 47 million year old lemur tribute a few days ago.

God bless & keep all who serve in defense of this Republic & her Constitution...and particularly may He rest all those who have given the last full measure of devotion in that service. That includes my Uncle Albert Spacil, my mom's only brother & my dear, deceased grandparent's only son. He died in a B-17 over Germany in 1944. God continue to rest his soul until we're all gathered over yonder, across Jordan in our Father's Kingdom. ...and may God grant that we have the strength, courage, conviction, virtue, and faith to stand in our turn against the internal tyranny...

On this day in which Americans honor their war dead, perhaps a smidgen of our time should be spent reflecting on the unheralded and fearless wartime antics of Sean Penn. Yes, that Sean Penn: Hollywood actor, director, tough guy and agent provocateur in America's time of peril - a man history, no doubt, will credit with an assist in bringing democracy to Iraq.

Amnesiacs can’t remember their enemies, so they don’t avoid them. And they can’t remember their friends, so they aren’t grateful to them. Expressing gratitude is good for us. It reminds us of how fortunate we are. It makes us more likely to be happy and less likely to be angry. How do you observe Memorial Day? Do you go to the mall to check out the sales, or invite friends for a barbecue? These are pleasant activities, but what do you do that distinguishes this day from any other day off work? I visit our National Cemetery and say thanks.

From the man who wouldn't wear a flag pin in his lapel. From the man who wouldn't put his hand over his heart when the anthem was played. From the man who sat in Rev. "God Damn America" Wright's pews for 20 years... It's also worth noting that he quite literally seems incapable of speaking for two minutes without criticizing his predecessor. President Barack Obama urged Americans to pay tribute to veterans on Memorial Day, saying the nation all too often has "failed to live up to that responsibility."

I hope everyone takes a few minutes to think about what the day really means. For most Americans, a day is too much to remember. Talking about sacrifices and heroes has become stuffy and trite. I don't know why. I guess because being a rock star and spending $1,000 on a purse that doesn't match anything is far more interesting or something. But we in the Army live Memorial Day every day of our lives. Even when we are safe at home, we never know when the war will come back to us. Just the other day, I was covering...

Been around for a while....thought I'd repost it....

A society as blessed as ours - its people safe even while at war, prosperous even amidst economic crisis - needs to be reminded that such blessings come at a cost. Memorial Day is a time to remember, but it is more than that. Good men and women go off to war on our behalf, and some do not return.

The Washington Times has partnered with the Internet company Footnote.com on a new project that transforms Washington's Vietnam war memorial wall into an interactive, personal journey on the Web. The Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial allows you to search the names on the wall and to drill down into the government's official war records to learn details about each of the 58,000-plus heroes enshrined on the wall. You can also add your own personal stories, remembrances and photographs. (edit) Start by clicking on the "Search the Wall" box, where you can select "Search" or "View." Once you find the name...

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2009 – Pam Crane sat peacefully in a patch of freshly mowed grass along Highway 27 here in the nation’s capital, remembering her husband, his patriotism and his cause. Bikers from all across the country pull into the Pentagon's north parking lot May 24, 2009, to participate in the 22nd Annual Rolling Thunder rally in Washington, D.C., to remind the nation that many American servicemembers who were prisoners of war or missing in action are still unaccounted for. DoD photo by Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. She...

Based upon our observations of American soldiers and their officers captured in this war, the following facts are evidenced," a foreign intelligence officer wrote. "There is little knowledge or understanding, even among United States university graduates, of American political history and philosophy ... of safeguards to freedom; and of how these things supposedly operate within their own system." Believe it or not, those words weren't written by an al Qaeda operative. They were written during the Korean War (1950-53) by the chief intelligence officer of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army in North Korea. In a 1957 response to those remarks,...

Those who fight America's wars - soldiers, sailors, airmen, Guardsmen and Marines - are my only "beat" for Fox News. It's the best job in broadcasting, for I get to keep company with heroes. For some, a hero wears a spandex suit and a cape. My heroes wear flak jackets, flight suits and combat boots. Today, we pause as a nation to honor all who have been laid to rest after serving in our armed forces to preserve our liberty and offer others the hope of freedom. All those to whom we pay tribute on Memorial Day sacrificed the comforts...

    The FReeper Canteen Observes ------------------------Memorial Day 2009 ------------------------   HistoryMemorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet (see below) carried the dedication "To The...

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By a coincidence of the calendar, our military academies hold their annual graduation ceremonies on or about Memorial Day weekend. The juxtaposition is especially poignant if you visit a service academy on graduation weekend. Hundreds of our young, all of them models of American youth, count down the few remaining hours of four years of prodigious effort. They are fit, intelligent, polite, highly motivated and full of life. They are embarking on careers of service to the nation. All voluntarily chose this path, fully realizing the dangers involved in pursuing a military vocation. It is sobering to see them in...

This memorial is in memory of sacrifices made aboard the Naval carrier USS Forrestal - CVA-59 on July 29, 1967 in North Vietnam -- Gulf of Tonkin, South China Sea. Thanks for remembering!

‘IT MAKES ME SAD. IT MAKES ME PROUD.’ Francis R. Carroll, who guided the effort to fund and build Worcester's $1.8 million Korean War Memorial, points to Richard A. Browne's name (just above his finger) on the memorial. Sgt. Browne was one of more than 191 Central Massachusetts servicemen and women killed in the Korean War. (RICH DUGAS) He (Sgt. Richard A. Browne) wasn’t just somebody killed in action. He was a hero. -- retired Col. Daniel K. Cedusky, OF CHAMPAIGN, ILL. They called him Lucky, a nickname earned only after events have proven it true. And then fate takes...

President Obama tells us this Memorial Day weekend that veterans have not gotten the respect they deserve: President Barack Obama saluted veterans and urged his countrymen to do the same this Memorial Day weekend, saying the nation has not always paid them proper respect. In his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday, Obama said people can honor veterans by sending a letter or care package to troops overseas, volunteering at health clinics or taking supplies to a homeless veterans center. He said it could also mean something as simple as saying “thank you” to a veteran walking by on the...