A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....05-17-04....Military Monday

Billie' The Mayor

[The Mayor]

A Few of FR's Finest
....Every Day

FR is a Treasure Trove of talented, compassionate, patriotic, wonderful people who gather every day to discuss the latest news and issues; salute and support our military and our leaders;  tell a few jokes;  learn a new word;  write poetry;  pray for those in need;  and congratulate those who are deserving. Thank you, Jim Robinson, for giving us the vehicle in which we can express ourselves.

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest November 11, 2001

So many people have written me since my original Veteran's Day Tribute, asking how they, or a loved one, could be included in that tribute. Since I could no longer add the photos to the body of the thread, I had been including them in additional posts as I received enough to make another collage.

Still that didn't seem to be enough. I think there's never been a better nor more appropriate time to keep the faces of our own Veterans and Active Military in front of FReepers--every day! That's why I wanted to do yet another Daily Thread .....ABOUT FReepers .....and FOR FReepers. But not only about our Military FReepers; for all FReepers! Wouldn't it be nice to get to know a few of the other FReepers as well? That's why we've created a place for just that. This is a friendly room in JimRob's house where FReeper FRiends can gather every day and just say hello if that's all they want to do.

There's more of course. We sometimes feature different FReepers, with a little background information on who they are and what makes them who they are, along with a few photos you might not have seen on other threads; sometimes others write an essay for us to post as the feature for the day; sometimes our presentation is a human interest story found elsewhere that you might not have read; sometimes special holiday threads; but whatever the topic of the day, it is always with FR's Finest in mind and that is YOU!

If you would like to be featured, or would like to see someone else featured, please send me a private FR mail.

Every Monday we will post the photos of FR's Military Personnel that I have collected and put into groups; these will be available to view through a link the remainder of the week - every day just a click away. :)   If you would like to add a photo of yourself or a loved one in the military, past or present, please let me know; I will hold it until I have enough for a new group.

Thank you, and please have fun with us...every day! ~ Billie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank You For Serving Our Country!

TOP: Logos, SwedeGirl's hubby, Neil E Wright, FallGuy, 1John, Sneakypete
MIDDLE:  T'wit, COB1, LadyX, Dick Bachert, 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub
BOTTOM:  YankeeinSC, Delta21, JoeSixPack1

TOP:  Bosniajmc, AFVetGal, Archy, A Navy Vet
MIDDLE:  4TheFlag, Aeronaut, 68Grunt, Xinga
BOTTOM:  Codger, AAABest, Clinton's A Liar, Duke809, dcwusmc

TOP:  mc5cents, Norb2569, LBGA's son, VanJenerette
MIDDLE:  Jim Robinson, KJenerette, davidosborne, KG9Kid
BOTTOM:  gwmoore, Equality7-2521, SAMWolf

TOP:  porgygirl, Phil V., MudPuppy, NorCoGOP
MIDDLE:  RaceBannon, OneidaM, rdb3, jwTexian
BOTTOM:  USMC Vet, The Mayor, Vineyard, rhododogma

TOP:  g'nad, AgThorn's son Justin, SLB, AgThorn's son Brett.
MIDDLE:  fish70, razorback-bert, CheneyChick,Leroy S Mort, Mark17.
BOTTOM:  Terry's Take, Taxman, DinkyDau.

TOP:  ValerieUSA's son Grant, SK1Thurman, kd5cts, RangerVetNam,
dansangel and .45man's son-in-law Tony
BOTTOM:  rangerX, Old China Hand, Trish, Howlin's dad, Mustang

TOP: ohioWfan's son, MamaBear's father-in-law, MamaBear's dad, ladtx
MIDDLE:  The Mayor's niece, M.Kehoe, Beach_Babe's son-in-law
BOTTOM:  deadhead's dad, HiJinx, Severa's hubby, viligantcitizen's granddad.

TOP:  spectr17, RightOnline, SERE_Doc, Tet68.
MIDDLE:  FutureSnakeEater, RightOnline's wife, CIApilot, Clamper1797
BOTTOM:  usmcobra, onedoug, DiverDave, Joe6-pack

TOP:  Q6-God, Scan59, Mama Bear and JKPhoto's son, ofMagog.
MIDDLE:  Big'ol_freeper, JustAmy's great uncle, Prodigal Son.
BOTTOM:  JustAmy's husband, JustAmy's brother-in-law, JustAmy's brother.

TOP:  dakine's wife, MeeknMing's dad, Auntbee's nephew, MilitiaMan7, AlasBabylon.
BOTTOM:  Joe Brower, Temple Owl, Temple Owl's wife, dutchess' dad, Aomagrat.

TOP:  ladtx #2 son; DiverDave's twin Don; petuniasevan and husband
poorman; Mustard; ladtx #1 son;
BOTTOM:  AlamoGirl's brother Floyd; AG's dad; AG's brother Jim (inset);
WVNan's husband; ladtx' Aunt Eva.

TOP: Mo1's dad; BuffyT's Uncle (right, w/ her dad & grandmother); Armymarinemom's 3 sons.
MIDDLE: ru4Liberty's dad; SheLion's husband, MaineRebel; wirestripper.
BOTTOM: fivetoes; bigghurtt; hurricane; ladtx' dad; Pippin's brother.

TOP: Repubmommy's brother, Rose in RoseBear's uncle, BoxerBlues' son Chris, BoxerBlues' son Brent.
BOTTOM: Rose in RoseBear's cousin's hubby, Deadhead's stepdad, Dansy's dad, Misty's brother.

                     

THE WEEKEND THREAD 05-14,15,16-04... Week in Review ^

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me a FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

[Dubya]

Thanks for sharing with us. Good luck to her congress run.

[Dubya]

Some U.S. soldiers see fracture in mission, morale

By Edward Wong
N.Y. Times News Service

KARBALA, IRAQ - Six weeks ago, soldiers of the 1st Armored Division were renovating schools. Now they are raiding them for hidden munitions.

Children wave to them along the roads, while insurgents with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades make them targets.

"Our mission is to rebuild this country, but the thing is, the bad guys won't let us do it," said Spc. Jennifer Marie Bencze, 20, of Santa Rosa, Calif. "At the same time we've got engineers rebuilding schools, fixing roads, doing all the humanitarian projects; we've got infantry fighting the bad guys. So the mission is really confused."

Here in the Shiite heartland, the division is caught up in the fiercest and deadliest fighting under way in Iraq. That is a far cry from May 2003, when the division rolled into Iraq thinking the war was all but over, ready to plant Western-style institutions in this arid land. Interviews with dozens of soldiers over the past two weeks suggest that their idealism has been tempered.

All agree the war is at a crucial juncture, but few soldiers can say with certainty how to achieve victory – or even what might constitute victory.

"I think Bush is a good man, but over here, it's not as easy as he makes it sound," said Spc. Matthew DeGregorio, 35, a reservist in civil affairs assigned to persuade Iraqis to work on projects with the Americans. "Nobody buys the fact that it's so easy.

"To be honest, I'd say there are things that need to be worked out," he added. "I'd say they need even more men in the entire country. I think it goes back to the cuts in the military. I think they're leaning too heavily on the National Guard and the reserves."

The abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib concerns soldiers, too. They ask whether their work has been irrevocably tarnished in the minds of Americans and Iraqis. "Now we wonder what people back home think of us," said 1st Lt. Erik Iliff, 24, of Columbia, S.C. "Will it be like Vietnam, where everyone who's fought there is labeled a baby killer?"

As for Iraqi opinion, Spc.DeGregorio said the scandal "adds fuel to the fire."

"We're not only seen as an occupier, but we're seen messing with their people and doing sick stuff," he said. "Rumors and stuff you see on TV are huge here. They've already had it driven into their heads by Saddam Hussein that America is the Great Satan."

Many of the soldiers are tired. They were supposed to go home at the end of April, but their tour was extended by four months when it became clear that troop numbers were too low. They share a sense of camaraderie, though, forged by working together during what is for most of them the toughest year of their lives.

At Camp Lima, a military base on the outskirts of Karbala, they sleep scores to a tent in 100-plus-degree heat. They are barred from indulging in sex and alcohol. When they do leave the base, it is often to get shot at or to kill people.

The strength of the insurgency convinces some soldiers here that a strong U.S. military presence must remain in Iraq. "We're just trying to take this big ball of mess and keep it from exploding," said Lt. Josey Sandoval, 24, of Seattle. "If the U.S. Army left right now, this country would tear itself apart."

For others, a mission that began with clear objectives is murkier than ever.

Asked to describe his mission, Sgt. Daniel Rigole, 23, said: "It just seems like we're trying to police. In my personal opinion, it's a job for the United Nations. I don't really think it's our job anymore.

"Our job as combat engineers has nothing to do with driving around, policing people up," he added. "It's nothing we trained to do."

In their hot and fetid tent, Sgt.Rigole and several others talked of U.S. casualties suffered in recent fighting around the Mukhaiyam Mosque. Three soldiers have been killed and at least 55 wounded since the 1st Armored Division opened the offensive against rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia two weeks ago. Daily battles rage in downtown Karbala. The division's casualty rate is running higher than at any time in the last year.

Sgt. Rigole said he believed that outside Iraq, "nobody cares anymore, because it's just becoming another part of life."

"When it's somebody of your own, that's somebody who was watching your back and you were watching his back," he said. "It's part of your family, you know. Even when it's someone who's part of another unit, you still care."

Cpl. Jonathan Torres, 20, from Puerto Rico, observed: "It builds some type of anger. It makes you angry at the enemy."

A soldier close to an infantryman killed by a sniper stopped by a reporter's room at the base and almost punched the wall. He was on the verge of tears. "I want you to tell people that this is ridiculous," he said. "We know where the enemy is. We could take them out. But we're holding back because of politics."

He was speaking of the balance adopted by U.S. commanders, who have refrained from attacking insurgents holed up around two especially important shrines in downtown Karbala out of fear they could inflame Shiite Muslims the world over. Most of the mortar shells and rocket-propelled grenades being fired at Americans are coming from that area. It is a dilemma intrinsic to the kind of urban warfare the Americans have been drawn into – weighing the potential of a public backlash against the need to win a decisive victory with the fewest casualties.

"It does limit some of our options," said Lt. Col. Garry P. Bishop, the commander of American forces in Karbala. "But you can win a battle and lose a war if we turn the will of the people against us."

[Dubya]

Thank you Marine.

[Dubya]

NAR Cosponsors Smithsonian's WWII Exhibit

(May 7, 2004) -- The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® will cosponsor "So Proudly We Hail," an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History that will honor World War II veterans and the flag under which they served.

The temporary exhibition, to be located adjacent to the current "Star Spangled Banner" exhibition, unites for the first time in one exhibition four historic flags from the war. The exhibit opens May 27 to coincide with the dedication of the National World War II Memorial on the National Mall and runs through Sept. 6.

Included in the exhibition will be the American flag raised at Iwo Jima in 1945; the first American flag to enter Berlin in 1945; a flag made with material from a captured Nazi flag, a blue dress uniform and some salvaged red fabric; and the 31-star flag carried by Commodore Matthew C. Perry entering Japan in 1853 and brought aboard the U.S.S. Missouri for the formal surrender of Japan.

NAR also is sole sponsor of "Within These Walls …," a permanent exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History that includes the struggles and triumphs of the WWII generation. It showcases 200 years of American history as seen from the perspective of one house that stood from Colonial days through the mid-1960s in Ipswich, Mass. The final setting in the exhibition illustrates how a woman and her grandson served on the home front in 1942 by growing and canning vegetables, conserving fat, and saving tin cans. Their story reflects the many personal sacrifices towards the war effort made by thousands of American families.

"REALTORS® are proud to honor the men and women who sacrificed so much and to whom we owe such a great debt," says Walt McDonald, NAR president and broker-owner of Walt McDonald Real Estate of Riverside, Calif. "By cosponsoring 'So Proudly We Hail,' we are helping to make possible the display of the very flags that inspired a generation to achieve the greatest victory in world history. Never before have these flags flown together. Now they are joined to celebrate the dedication of the World War II Memorial, and REALTORS® helped to make it happen."

—NAR

[Issaquahking]

Ping to you, my FRiend

[Mama_Bear]

Thank you for posting this! I will be sending it out to everyone on my e-mail list.

We're going to turn out all right. As long as men like Brian Chontosh wear our uniform.

Amen!

God bless this man and all of our brave heroes!

[Dubya]

Calls for N. Korea’s freedom sounded by leaders, defectors at Capitol Hill rally

[LadyX]

Thank you so much for posting this.

Another in the long chain - - isuing a proud SEMPER FI !!!

[LadyX]

It was a wonderful weekend with my sister here, BIS...:))
Hope yours was as well.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

"SOMETHING THAT DIDN'T MAKE THE NEWS"

The media is to busy covering up Hanoi Kerry's past.
There is not one TV or Cable newsroom that will take a stand to this traitor.
And not one dared to show the whole Swift Boat Vets Press Conference.
Instead they show IRAQI prisoner abuse and leave stories like this hero
and other good news in the military alone.

[dansangel]

Thank you ((((((Issaquahking))))))))) for sharing that wonderful piece. Yes, it's too bad, but at least *we* are privileged enough to have access to and share beautiful stories such as that.

((((((donaeus))))) - excellent news from your support rally. Y'all ***ROCK*** just like our troops!

((((((Billie)))))) and ((((((NicknamedBob))))))) - wonderful, touching and beautiful collaboration once again. You two make a *dynamic duo*!

[[[[[{{{{{(((((Louie_Wolfie_Man)))))}}}}}]]]]] and ((((((skinny dood)))))))

(((((HUGS)))))) to the best bunch of people on the Internet. May God Bless you all abundantly for the support that you show our President and, most especially, our troops.

Dear Father, please place Your bloodline of protection around our military troops and bless their families for their unselfish sacrifices. May we have the grace and the wisdom to express our gratitude to our military members, past and present, for their hard work and sacrifices to ensure our freedoms. We ask these favors in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

[Mixer]

Billie....What a wonderful graphic. Touched my heart in a way that few pictures have the ability to do. Thanks for sharing.

[jwfiv]

An inspiring thread this Monday, thank you, Mr. Mayor, and all the Finest who've made it so.

[Diver Dave]

Afternoon to FR's Finest... and Military Monday.

Falling in for muster.

WMD found in Iraq. Look for Page 8 coverage in tomorrow's papers.

Massachusetts Wedding Day will be splattered all over the front pages.

Nonetheless, Praying for our Troops and our nation's leaders.

Great behind-the-scenes stories presented today.

Salute to one and all

[Mama_Bear]

May God Bless you all abundantly for the support that you show our President and, most especially, our troops.

And you too, dansy.

Haven't talked to you in awhile. Hope all is well in your world. ((((((((((dansangel)))))))))))

[NicknamedBob]

Thank you,

I'm pleased that you found it touching. You may wish to be aware that I find pleasure it drawing these emotions from myself as well, during the composition.

It seems a somewhat magic time, like being a landscape painter looking at, and trying to capture, a gorgeous sunset. Sometimes my reaction is more extreme than anyone else's.

[Billie]

Below are names of some of our FReepers' loved ones who are serving our country. If you have someone you would like to add, please address a post to Billie; Mama_Bear; Dutchess; Aquamarine, and we will add their name to this list. As we pray for them, we pray also for all our nation’s leaders, and military personnel, and their families and friends. May God hold them close to His heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OhioWfan........................son mystery-ak..........son, husband Gogrammy................grandson Inspectorette...................son Blessed American..........nephew Slip18..........................nephew anniegetyourgun...........nephew Diver Dave.......niece, nephew Pippin..niece,nephew,loved one Doug from Upland......son-in-law weldgophardline.....brotherinlaw Future Snake Eater..........cousin WaterDragon.............grandson WaterDragon...........son-in-law BeforeISleep...................son kimmie7......................brother The Mayor........................niece LadyX.........................grandson fawn796.......................nephew Dubya............................nephew StarCMC......................brother ValerieUSA..................2 sons Lakeside......................2 sons Spruce.....................daughter Philman_36..............2 nephews Warrior Nurse...........active duty SK1 Thurman...........active duty David Osborne.........active duty fc2tomschermuly......active duty bkwells..................active duty LongCut..................active duty cjk............................active duty Trish.......................active duty ODC-GIRL.................active duty AF_Blue..................active duty Notwithstanding.....active duty thumperusn.............active duty Q6-God.....................active duty Q6-God...................twin brother Veloxherc.................active duty

Maigrey................cousin ladtx....................2 sons Mama_Bear.........2 nephews gator girl............husband severa.......husband, brother Hostel..................cousin MozartLover......son, nephew LBGA........................son katykelly.................son cookcounty..............son SpookBrat...nephew, cousin Himyar.....................son boxerblues............2 sons the piper...................son sheeza...............husband kemathen7...........husband Tiffee4Bob.......boyfriend deadhead................cousin JimRobinson.....2 nephews Armymarinemom.......3 sons TexKat..............son, step-son Rose inRoseBear.cousin's hubby Consort..2 daughters,son-in-law Darheel.....................niece Donaeus...................nephew dixie sass...............nephew BeAllYouCanBe............son Repubmommy...............brother AgThorn...................2 sons homeschoolmama.......nephew kneezles......................son Redhead....step-granddaughter Redhead..step-grdaughter fiance Atomic Conspiracy..half-brother Atomic Conspiracy...nephew Atomic Conspiracy...niece Sunflowergal.........grandson visualops.................cousin Alouette.......................son

[Mama_Bear]

Massachusetts Wedding Day will be splattered all over the front pages.

As if Ted Kennedy wasn't enough, now Massachusetts gets to add this to her dubious credit. I was born there, my family's roots reach all the way back to the pilgrims. How sad what has happened to the my birth state, not to mention what has happened to the state I now call home. *sigh*

[Donaeus]

That is WONDERFUL news, Donnie! So happy to hear what a huge turnout you all had! Congratulations to all for the hard work getting it together!

It was an absolute honor to be a part of this. I wish that every service member and every liberty loving American could have been there. I'm listening to Greg's show now and several people have called in with stories about their day. The ripples from this are already reaching around the world.

[Donaeus]

Mama Bear, thank you for posting this photo! You might want to hang on to the links, more photos and audio will be posted when they can get them online. They are also planning on making a DVD of the event available soon, then we can send them to troops, family and friends who could not attend.