Free Republic

Living a successful life take personal initiative and courage and sacrifice. My biggest beef with Republicans over the years was how gutless so many of them were. Trump was such a breath of fresh air, a fighter. He did inspire some to get a backbone. I read these citations often and thought it would be very fitting to share the link today on Memorial Day. Very inspirational and a reminder of what traits can make one a "hero" in daily life. That is all. At ease.

Too many people want us to forget our history or devalue its importance. Like most of you, I will enjoy a "family day" and eat too much. We have a grandson now. This is also the first holiday that I won't have my parents around. My mom died in mid-May and my father back in 2015. Our routine is to turn on the grill and eat some burgers. Often, I watch those military documentaries or a good war movie. A few years ago, we watched the series "John Adams". My parents always told us family stories. They would say something...

President Donald Trump presented Ohio State University police officer Alan Horujko, a Fairfield native, with a presidential Medal of Valor on Wednesday for shooting to death a knife-wielding Somali refugee on Nov. 28, 2016, after the attacker had wounded 13 people on campus. During a White House ceremony to award medals to 14 public safety officers, Trump gave Horujko his medal, the highest decoration police officers can receive. Horujko shot Abdul Razak Ali Artan, a move university officials said prevented an even worse attack. Artan, an 18-year-old OSU student, had crashed his brother’s car into a crowd of people near...

It is 8 minutes of thankfully no bullcrap-- freaking TRUTH-- no drum beating, no genetic fraud-- just. the. truth. And a hell of a lot of thank GOD Navy Humor! Anchors Away!! https://videos.extremesealexperience.com Retired Navy SEAL Don Shipley pulls the Military Records of Nathan Phillips AKA Nathan Stanard, Native American Drummer Dude. He was NOT a Vietnam Vet.

ESSEX – A World War II veteran who spoke nationally about his participation in the D-Day invasion and stood with other veterans behind President Obama at the 70th anniversary in Normandy has admitted to misrepresenting his military record. Morley Piper, 93, of Essex, said he was not a member of the 29th Infantry Division, which suffered heavy casualties as part of the first wave of the historic invasion, as he had claimed. Piper’s fabrication was brought to light when someone contacted the New England Newspaper & Press Association, where he worked for 47 years and has an award named in...

We have been asked to provide the Veteran’s Perspective on the topic of “stolen valor” … well, it is a diversion from the issue of Radical Islamic Terrorism and frankly a good way to help us all head into the Thanksgiving holiday on the proper note. Here goes … Must Be a Sad Illness – To those of us who have served in combat and must deal with the “blessings” and the “burdens” that come with that service it is completely inconceivable that somebody would want to lie about having been to combat. We know firsthand that in reality there...

"As the compound was being stormed, the plan was not for the U.S. ... forces to enter the compound or be involved in the firefight," Carter said. "However, when a firefight ensued, this American did what I'm very proud that Americans do in that situation, and he ran to the sound of the guns and he stood up. All the indications are that it was his actions and that of one of his teammates that protected those who were involved in breaching the compound and made the mission a success." "That is an inherent risk that we ask people to...

I remember landing under Sniper fire>

When Capt. Derek Herrera was called to stand in the place of honor Friday at his retirement ceremony, he pressed buttons on what appeared to be a wristwatch as a fellow Marine came to his aid. After another push of a button and three short beeps, Herrera rose, legs shaking, and walked deliberately toward his commander. With each step, the exoskeleton he wore emitted a robotic whirring noise, as though it were Iron Man striding through the cordoned off parking lot in digital camouflage. Herrera was paralyzed from the chest down in June 2012, when he was shot in...

The creation of the new medal honoring unmanned vehicle pilots and cyber troops, “is a telling and sad commentary on the judgment of those who are responsible for the creation and approval of this award,” Jack Jacobs, Medal of Honor recipient and Vietnam veteran, told USNI News on Wednesday.

Lawmakers are lashing out at the Pentagon’s creation of the Distinguished Warfare Medal - intended to honor the contributions of drone pilots and cyber warriors who haven’t set foot on the battlefield - by introducing legislation that would ban it from being rated on par with or above the Purple Heart. A trio of veterans serving in Congress, Reps. Duncan Hunter, D-Calif., Tom Rooney, R- Fl., and Tim Murphy, R-Pa., introduced the bill on Wednesday, in response to what has been a public outcry against the creation of the medal, which was announced on Feb. 13. “Combat valor awards have...

Court tosses law about false claims on medals Published June 28, 2012 Associated Press WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a federal law making it a crime to lie about receiving the Medal of Honor and other prized military awards, with justices branding the false claim "contemptible" but nonetheless protected by the First Amendment. The court voted 6-3 in favor of Xavier Alvarez, a former local elected official in California who falsely said he was a decorated war veteran and had pleaded guilty to violating the 2006 law, known as the Stolen Valor Act. The law, enacted...

U.S. Army Ranger Sgt. Martin A. Lugo Jr. led his squad through a fierce firefight with the Taliban in Logar province, Afghanistan, almost 18 months ago. His team killed 14 enemy fighters on Aug. 19, 2010, in a clash that left the 24-year-old Tucson native mortally wounded. Lugo's heroics were remembered Friday when he was awarded the Silver Star. The medal was presented to his father, Martin Lugo Sr., at a ceremony in Savannah, Ga. The Silver Star is the nation's third-highest award. He also has been posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal and Purple Heart. Awards...

Uploaded by johnnyb34435 on Nov 13, 2011 I decided to have the usual Place year fun whenever veterans day or memorial day comes around I dress up in my best military costume go to the bar and get all the drinks I want for absolutely nothing it seems that the American sheeple will buy anyone all the drinks they want as long as they feel that they're paying back for the so call freedom they never lost.

WASHINGTON, July 26, 2011 – They are used to their deeds pass as unnoticed as their battlefield movements, but six Special Forces soldiers took the limelight here last night to receive a French military award roughly equivalent to the Silver Star. Special Forces soldiers from the 10th Special Forces Group and the 20th Special Forces Group received the French Croix de la Valeur Militaire, roughly analagous to the Silver Star, during a private ceremony at the French ambassador's residence in Washington, D.C., July 25, 2011. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Five...

This weekend, American soldiers have once again stepped into harm’s way, as Operation Odyssey Dawn begins in Libya. Coincidentally, we’re also passing through a pop-culture moment of some significance, as a sizable portion of our cultural elite find themselves strongly at odds with audiences over an unexpectedly popular movie, Battle: Los Angeles. Pop-culture criticism can be a tricky affair. Critics often praise a film that audiences ignore, or vice versa. What’s interesting in this case is how profound the disconnect has become. Battle: LA passed the $60 million mark at the box office this weekend, but many critics don’t just...

Inside the terrifying firefight that revealed what kind of soldier — and man — Wheaton's Rob Miller was. "I don't want to be remembered for dying. I want to be remembered for who I was. Miller and the Medal of Honor (posthumous)

Army Staff Sgt., Awarded Medal of Honor for Valor in Afghanistan, Says Comrades Going Beyond Call Every Day America's first living recipient of the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War says the heroic actions he undertook in Afghanistan are as brave as what every American soldier experiences day in and day out during their tours of duty in that country. Interview - Staff Sgt Salvatore Giunta

Criminalizing speech is a tricky business, but Congress seemed to think it had found the right balance in 2006 when it overwhelmingly enacted the Stolen Valor Act, which made it a crime simply to lie about having received a military medal or service badge. Stolen Valor Act ruling Xavier AlvarezTherese Tran/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin Xavier Alvarez falsely claimed to have been a U.S. Marine and Medal of Honor recipient. But the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit begs to differ. In a decision released on Tuesday, the three-judge panel, based in San Francisco, declared the law unconstitutional...

A federal judge in Denver has ruled the Stolen Valor Act is "facially unconstitutional" because it violates free speech and dismissed the criminal case against Rick Strandlof, a man who lied about being an Iraq war veteran. "The Stolen Valor Act is declared to be facially unconstitutional as a content-based restriction on speech that does not serve a compelling government interest, and consequently that the Act is invalid as violative of the First Amendment," Blackburn wrote in his opinion. Strandlof, 32, was charged with five misdemeanors related to violating the Stolen Valor Act - specifically, making false claims about receiving...