A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....06-30-04...FR Pet Day...Pfc Hammer Finds a Home

FredtheCat; dutchess | Linda D. Kozaryn

[dutchess]

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

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....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

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We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, Mama_bear, dutchess, Aquamarine~

FredtheCat here. Giz has been on my case lately telling me I'm not "sharing my load". Okay, okay, I am loving the sweet days of summer, days sleeping in mom and dad's bed under the air conditioning, summer nights, "mousing" at sunset when it cools down..

.BUT...never let it be said that FredtheCat doesn't do his fair share at the Finest....

Okay....Giz did a military dog story...So I have one too!!!! (Ha ha.... I admit, being the inventive...smart...sly feline that I am....borrowed a thread posted by Ragtime Cowboy from April...just in case our finest feline friends missed it)

Licking paws, yawn and a stretch...and a final stare....have no idea why mom and Giz get so stressed out with this stuff!!!!! Like CHILL and ENJOY! The good guys ARE winning! MEOW!

Pfc. Hammer Finds a Home By Linda D. Kozaryn...American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2004 – A tiger-striped Iraqi kitten that wiggled its way into the hearts of a U.S. Army unit has made its way to the United States, thanks to a host of volunteers and two animal welfare groups.

Pfc. Hammer, an Iraq-born cat that befriended soldiers of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, during their deployment in Iraq, arrives in San Francisco, Calif., enroute to his new home in Colorado. Courtesy photo Soldiers with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, dubbed the tiny ball of fur that wandered into their tent early last fall "Pfc. Hammer."

"He was born at the site," said Staff Sgt. Rick Bousfield. "There were two other kittens in the litter, but they ran away. He stayed and kept mice out of our living quarters and out of our dining facility."

Adopted by the troops, the young cat provided warmth and companionship in an otherwise hostile environment. When the unit was attacked by mortar fire, Hammer ran to the bunkers, where the nearest soldier scooped him inside his body armor to wait out the attack.

"He was like our stress therapist over there," Bousfield recalled. "You'd come in off raids where we'd been kicking in doors and guys would be sitting outside by themselves. He'd come over and take their minds off the war."

When Bousfield learned the unit was leaving Iraq to return to Fort Carson, Colo., he sent an e-mail asking for help to Alley Cat Allies, a national nonprofit clearinghouse for information on feral and stray cats, in Washington, D.C. The sergeant said he wanted to ensure his whole unit came home together, and that included Pfc. Hammer.

Hammer "has been quite a morale booster for us, because we consider him one of our troops," Bousfield wrote. "If there was a way that ACA could help get Hammer back to the States, it would be a wonderful boost for the men to see the cat who has won their hearts free – like the Iraqi people."

Bousfield's plea "brought the war home for us," said ACA national director Becky Robinson. "This was a soldier in Iraq writing us. How could we say no to a soldier in Iraq fighting for freedom?"

"His e-mail was so moving we felt like we couldn't say no," she said. "We had never done anything like this, but the moment we finished reading it, it was a given that we were going to figure out how to do this."

Hundreds of people sent e-mails and made donations to help get the cat to the States after ACA posted Hammer's plight on on the organization's web site, said Lynne Cummings, ACA director of gift planning.

"Alley Cat Allies doesn't usually get asked to do things in wartime," she said. "It was a really nice thing for us to be able to do to show our support to Rick and his unit. We didn't really care if we raised any money to help defray the costs."

ACA joined forces with Military Mascots, a grassroots all-volunteer effort dedicated to helping U.S. deployed service members who have befriended a canine mascot on foreign soil. Supporters' donations, combined with money from ACA's Compassion Fund, paid for Hammer's medical and travel expenses, Cummings said.

Working with a veterinary hospital in Kuwait, they arranged an international flight for Hammer. Prior to leaving the region, the cat was neutered and given a clean bill of health.

Bousfield returned from Iraq in early April. It took a week or so longer for Pfc. Hammer.

An ACA volunteer met up with Hammer when he arrived in San Francisco and accompanied the cat on a domestic flight to his new home outside of Denver. Bousfield and his daughter Tiffany, 15, along with another company member, Sgt. Robert Scott, were waiting for Hammer when he arrived at Denver International Airport.

The ACA volunteer who accompanied the cat said he started purring and kneading her arm as soon as he heard Bousfield's voice. The wartime bond formed thousands of miles away had not been forgotten.

Back at Fort Carson, Bousfield reunited Hammer with his former cohorts. "We all met at the same time to sign out on block leave so I took him in on his leash," Bousfield said. "They were happy to see him."

Hammer now lives with Bousfield's family – and five other cats. Bousfield said they all get along now that they've gotten "the pecking order straight."

"We kept him in a room by himself for a week," he said. "Little by little we let him out. He roams around all he wants to now. He runs around. He's fast. The vet says he's an Egyptian Mau."

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 06-28-04...Military Monday 06-29-04...Hall of Fame #8

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

CLICK

[jwfiv]

Definitely a 'you should read this one' ping.

[Pippin]

Hi, Dutchess!

It's about time something good happenes to cats! :O)

PFC Hammer is a beautiful cat!

[Billie]

Hey, all! This is *something!* for an AOL poll! The poll pertains to the speakers at the Democratic and Republican Conventions this summer. Poll results didn't 'post' with the picture, but I've copied them separately. Interesting! LOL! These are the results after I voted this morning!

Which speaker would you rather listen to?
Rudy Giuliani 61%
Bill Clinton 39%
Total Votes: 158,004

Which speaker would you rather listen to?
Arnold Schwarzenegger 68%
Ted Kennedy 32%
Total Votes: 157,572

Which speaker would you rather listen to?
Dick Cheney 56%
Whoever ends up as Kerry's running mate 44%
Total Votes: 151,154

Which speaker would you rather listen to?
George Bush 62%
John Kerry 38%
Total Votes: 156,584

AP Bill Clinton Former president				Getty Rudolph Giuliani Former New York mayor

Getty Ted Kennedy Massachusetts senator				AP A. Schwarzenegger California governor

Kerry's Running Mate Who will it be?				AP Dick Cheney Vice President

Pool/AP John Kerry Presidential candidate				AFP/Getty George Bush President

[Billie]

Gotta go! Will try to get back later this evening! Have a great day, ALL!

[GailA]

What a heart warming story!

RESUME OF JOHN F. KERRY

RESIDENCE:

5 mansions, including Washington DC, worth multi-millions

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

LAW ENFORCEMENT

I voted to cut every law enforcement, CIA and defense bill in my career as a US Senator. I ordered Boston to remove a fire hydrant in front of my mansion, thereby endangering my neighbors in the event of fire.

MILITARY

I used three minor injuries to get an early discharge from the military and service in Vietnam. I then returned to the US, joined Jane Fonda in protesting the war, and insulted returning Vietnam vets, claiming they committed atrocities and were baby killers. I threw my medals, ribbons, or something away in protest. Or did I? My book "Vietnam Veterans Against the War: The New Soldier" shows how I truly feel about the military.

COLLEGE:

I graduated from Yale University with a low C average. Unlike my counterpart George Bush, I have no higher education and did not get admitted to Harvard nor graduate with an M.B.A

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE:

I ran for U.S. Congress and have been there ever since. I have no real world experience except marrying rich women and running HJ Heinz vicariously through my wife Teresa.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS US Senator

I set the record for the most liberal voting record, exceeding even Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton. I have consistently failed to support our military and CIA by voting against budgets, thus gutting our country's ability to defend itself. Although I voted for the Iraq War, now I am against it and refuse to admit that I voted for it. I voted for every liberal piece of legislation. I have no plan to help this country but I intend to raise taxes significantly if I am elected. My wealth so far exceeds that of my counterpart, George Bush, that he will never catch up. I make no or little charitable contributions and have never agreed to pay any voluntary excess taxes in MA, despite family wealth in excess of $ 700 million.

Although I claim to be in favor of alternative energy sources, Ted Kennedy and I oppose windmills off Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard as It might spoil our view of the ocean as we cruise on our yachts.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES:

None.

PERSONAL

I ride a Serotta Bike, and nap frequently. My Gulf stream V Jet I call "The Flying Squirrel" I call my $ 850,000 42 foot Hinckley twin diesel yacht the "Scaramouch", because nobody ever made spandex work like Freddie Mercury. Yeah!

I am fascinated by rap and hip-hop and you had better listen to it as It reflects our real culture.

I own several SUVs including one parked at my Nantucket summer mansion, though I am against large polluting inefficient vehicles and blame George Bush for the energy problems.

[Lakeside]

Good afternoon dutchess. What a great story! Loved it.

Happy hump day to all the rest of the Finest.

Happy belated birthday to Billie!

Thanks to everyone who posts all the lovely pictures...especially Lady X--your pictures of rainbows, northern lights, and the little blond-haired girl(who looked amazingly like my granddaughter!) really lifted my spirit.

And thanks to The Mayor whose posts never fail to inspire me.

I'll be back eventually but now, back to lurking mode. I *still* come to The Finest to read & keep up with everybody!

[Texagirl4W]

No surprises here. Our man is THE MAN!!!!!

[MeekOneGOP]

Mornin' Afternoon, everybody ! Happy Wednesday !

---

Hey, ya'll check out THIS ad.

June 24, 2004: Kerry's Coalition of the Wild-eyed
(Go to this link, then click on the ad)

The ad is under the "TV Ads" / "Pessimism"

Commentary by Freeper who sent me to the ad:

For months now, Democrats and Democrat front groups have been hammering President Bush...especially the clinically insane Al Gore and the terminally obnoxious Michael Moore and...arrgghhhh!...Howard Dean. And MoveOn.org actually produced two TV ads comparing the president to Adolf Hitler.

Well, the Bush campaign took clips from these various attacks and put together their own little ad titled, "The Faces of John Kerry's Democratic Party: The Coalition of the Wild-Eyed." ( http://www.georgewbush.com )

Now get this.

The Kerry campaign is having a cow over the Bush ad. "The Bush campaign should immediately remove these hateful images from its website and apologize for using them," said Kerry mouthpiece Phil Singer. "The use of Adolf Hitler by any campaign, politician or party is simply wrong." Does that take brass, or what? For the record, the Kerryites didn't issue any condemnation of MoveOn.org when they originally released their Bush-as-Hitler ads earlier this year.

Expressing outrage over having their own words used against them. Priceless.

Priceless indeed. Ya just GOTTA see this ad. BWAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!

[Pippin]

HEY MEEKIE!

[LadyX]

Entry to the Finest delayed due to expecting an important telephone call, and then a series of thunderstorms, ongoing --- might have to bail soon.

What a sweet graphic for The Pledge of allegiance, dutchess, and a heartwarming story Fred managed to find!

[Texagirl4W]

Billie, Meek is late today.

[LadyX]

- - Please keep in touch - -
{{{{{ Lakeside}}}}}

[LadyX]

[LadyX]

For Fred for her wonderful presentation:

[JulieRNR21]

What a heart warming story!

Georgio W. Bush loved it too!

[LadyX]

[LadyX]

For our Favorite Charming and *Special* Wolf:

hahahaha - as if he needed encouragement!

[LadyX]

The Finest is looking forward to
your homework paper on
"My Excellent Summer Vacation" !!

[LadyX]

[LadyX]

Cat Prayer

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray this cushy life to keep.
I pray for toys that look like mice,
And sofa cushions, soft and nice.

I pray for gourmet kitty snacks,
And someone nice to scratch my back,
For windowsills all warm and bright,
For shadows to explore at night.

I pray I'll always stay real cool
And keep the secret feline rule
To NEVER tell a human that
The world is really ruled by "CATS!"