Posted on 05/24/2004 4:55:48 AM PDT by The Mayor
|
|
|
THE WEEKEND THREAD
|
 |
 1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar. |
Now I'm confuseled.
That's kool!
OOOOPS!!!
Preview is our friend... Forgotten flier recalls her role
"(The DEVIL BUNNIES are coming to get us all! Run for your lives!)"
Never fear, Darks - Marines do not cower in fear, even of DEVIL BUNNIES - and there is LOTS of backup on this Military Monday Thread - LOL
A few OOOOHRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHS !!!!
followed by "Bunnies-Be-Gone,"
and The Situation will have been resolved..:))
When I'm not hunting, yes.
I'm currently in 'off duty' relaxation time.
May 24, 2004
Camp Lejeune-based Marine dies in Iraq
BOSTON - A Marine corporal has died in Iraq less than two weeks from his 26th birthday.
Cpl. Andrew Zabierek, 25, died Friday south of Baghdad while serving in the 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Battalion, according to a statement released Saturday by U.S. Congressman Marty Meehan. The 2nd Marine Division is based at Camp Lejeune.
Cpl. Zabierek, who arrived in Iraq in March, was patrolling the Al Anbar province of the country when he was struck by a vehicle, possibly driven by an Iraqi resident, Rep. Meehan told The Sun.
His father, Stephen Zabierek, told the newspaper he expected to learn more details on Tuesday.
Cpl. Zabierek, a Clemson University graduate, worked for American Express Financial Advisors in Waltham before volunteering for military service after the Sept. 11 attacks.
"Andrew could have been an officer, but he chose to start out as an enlisted soldier," Mr. Zabierek said. "His point was, how do you lead a grunt if you don’t know what a grunt goes through every day?"
Mr. Zabierek said his son had a difficult life in the Middle East, but he enjoyed talking to Iraqi children and said they would flock around him and ask questions about America and his family.
Cpl. Zabierek’s grandfather was a World War II bombardier, and his father served four years in the U.S. Navy in the early 1970s. His younger brother, Mark Zabierek, is a second lieutenant and intelligence officer for the U.S. Air Force in Texas.
Cpl. Zabierek, of Chelmsford, Mass., was almost halfway through his four-year commitment to the Marines, The Sun reported.
"I am deeply saddened by the loss of Andrew. He was a brave young man," Rep. Meehan said. "Andrew answered his call to duty and made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom of the United States, Iraq, and the world. We owe him all a debt of gratitude."
Some of that remained when I entered the Marine Corps in 1952. although women were full-fledged members by that time. We were assigned only support roles, freeing men for combat.
I learned this only after applying for Air Traffic Control and Mapping & Surveying MOS fields, and after being sworn in and in training, was apprised the Recruiter had *misled* (coughing and then gnashing teeth here) me.
I, however, was fortunate enough to be assigned to be a Classroom Instructor for women recruits straight out of Boot Camp.
It has been only in recent years the proper recognition and benefits were accorded them, after many were no longer living to know this.
Most of today's populace is unaware of so many of the roles ordinary but dedicated American citizens played during WWII in the larger scheme of things - and at great personal cost.
Nothing mattered except victory and survival for our country - then - -
May your heart be warmed by the knowledge of all of us who love you, and may God shower you with His infinite blessings.
Thank you so much for introducing me to Invictus (((((LadyX))))))
Invictus: Thank you for your gracious service to our country. You, along with every military member that has given selfless service to our country to preserve our freedoms deserve nothing but deepest thanks. (((((HUGS)))))) to you and my unending gratitude.
May 24, 2004
Russian leader plans trip to Normandy for D-Day
MOSCOW - Who did more to defeat Adolf Hitler – the Soviet Union or its Western allies?
Through the Cold War and beyond, each side has clung to its own narrative icons – the Soviets to the battle of Stalingrad in 1942 and the West to D-Day in 1944. But next month, President Vladimir Putin will become the first Russian leader to travel to Normandy for a D-Day anniversary – and in so doing he will turn a new page in the history books.
"It’s a sign of the new relations between Russia and the West," said Yevgeny Volk, head of the Heritage Foundation’s Moscow office. "The importance of D-Day has always been downplayed in Russia. Putin’s intention to pay tribute to it shows a new vision."
Every 10 years, leaders of the countries that took part in D-Day gather on a Normandy beach for a memorial. No Soviet leader was ever invited, nor was Boris Yeltsin, the first post-Soviet president. This year, however, French President Jacques Chirac has invited Mr. Putin and Gerhard Schroeder, the first German chancellor to attend a Normandy memorial.
Soviet generals and many military historians argue that D-Day, the largest amphibious invasion in history, was of secondary importance to World War II – that the German military machine had already been broken beyond recovery in the battles of Stalingrad and Kursk.
In the Soviet Union and Russia, D-Day is widely known as the opening of a "second front" that came only after millions of Red Army soldiers died to turn back the Nazis.
From June 1941, when Germany attacked the Soviet Union, to the end of the war in May 1945, an estimated 9 million Soviet soldiers were killed – three times more than all the other Allies’ military losses combined.
"It would be wrong to say that the Allies weren’t helping us, but it would be equally incorrect to say they were helping us very actively," Marshal Dmitry Yazov, a former Soviet defense minister who fought throughout the war, told The Associated Press.
"They only opened the second front less than a year before the victory."
As the Germans advanced deep into Russia in 1941 and 1942, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin persistently urged stronger efforts to divert Mr. Hitler’s armies from the eastern front.
Marshal Georgy Zhukov, who crafted Soviet victories throughout the war, bluntly expressed Moscow’s annoyance with the United States and British allies in his memoirs.
"They could have opened the second front in 1943 but deliberately decided not to hurry, waiting for a more significant defeat of the German forces, and, on the other hand, for a greater attrition of the Soviet armed forces," Mr. Zhukov wrote.
Mr. Yazov, echoing a widely held opinion, said D-Day was launched out of fear the Red Army would sweep across Europe, establishing Soviet domination.
"They saw that the Soviet Union could defeat Germany alone," Mr. Yazov said in an interview.
Since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, historians and the media have paid more attention to Western allies’ contributions.
The war museum in Moscow’s Victory Park now features numerous exhibits chronicling D-Day and other Allied action.
Sadly, many of the present generations have no respect for this, and indeed are pushing and shoving their way to total eradication of the freedoms we took for granted.
kerry, in particular, would have us assimilated and diluted until we are Euro-dominated and no longer have our national identity.
Do we merely roll over and allow this??
I hear an emphatic "NO !!!" from The Finest Family..:))
The ISP that serves my workplace went down this morning, so this is a quick "hit 'n run" in case it should crash again.
Dear Heavenly Father, Please wrap Your loving arms around each and every member of the military, past and present and protect them the way that they protect us with their selfless acts. Bless their families for the sacrifices that they, too must endure. Help to make us more aware of how important these people are to our daily lives and to freely show our gratitude to them. We ask these favors as Your humble and contrite servants in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
((((((Hugs))))))) to all at the finest.
For my speshul fuzzy brothah [[[[[{{{{{(((((Louie_Wolfie_Man)))))}}}}}]]]]]
And, for the world's most lovable *curmudgeon* ((((((((skinny dood)))))))))))
I needed to hear that message today. Thank you!
Add my voice to that as I am disgusted with the liberal yellow journalists, kerry and his ilk, ted *the swimmer* kennedy.....arrrrggghhhh!
Down with *all* of them and *UP* with our military!
Good afternoon, had a good time camping this weekend. The weather was perfect. Now if only something could be done about all those bitting bugs...OFF DOESN'T WORK!
RELAXATION!
I want to tell you what happened to me this morning.
I was riding the bus to work when a elderly gentleman sat next to me, he was limping very slowly on a cane.
He started talking to me, at first I thought he was just talking nonsense, but I kept listening, he was talking first about his dog. Then we started a conversation about children and about how times have changed. that's when I learned he was a veteran, I guess of either WWII or Korea. But he was telling me some of the things he used to do in the service.
I'm glad I got to talk to a hero, I just wished I had thanked him for his service.
So I'll say Thank You LadyX and Texas Cowboy and other veteran freepers and those in active servide.
Don't feel bad about it.
You're probably the only person in a long time who even thought of it.
If you want some real warmth in your heart, though, the next time you see one of these old vets, say, "Thank you, sir, for your service to our country".
Watch their eyes light up!
LOL!
Thanks!
Yuppers.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
