A Day in the Life of President Bush (photos): 5.30.05

Today is Memorial Day President Bush commemorated this solemn event by taking part in the ceremonies at Arlington Cemetery along with the Secretary of Denfense Donald Rumsfeld.

For further details of this event and Arlington Cemetery in general visit http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/

Yesterday 29th May 2005, Secretary of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld addressed a Memorial Day Rolling Thunder veterans rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, May 29, 2005. Earlier in the day, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Richard Myers had led thousands of the Rolling Thunder motorcycle riders into Washington for their 18th annual 'Ride for Freedom' and rally for veterans

The history of Memorial Day
Each year, on the last Monday in May, the USA celebrates Memorial Day. For many, this day carries no special meaning except perhaps an extra day off from work, a beach barbecue, the start of the summer travel season, or for merchants, the opportunity to hold their annual Memorial Day Weekend sale.

In reality, the holiday is observed in honor of the nation's armed service personnel who were killed in wartime (in the UK this is the 11th November – Remembrance Day at which on the 11th hour of the 11th month we have a minutes silence all over the Britain).

The custom of honoring the graves of the war dead began prior to the end of the Civil War, but the national Memorial Day holiday (or "Decoration Day," as it was originally named) was first observed on May 30, 1868, on the order of General John Alexander Logan for the purpose of decorating the graves of the American Civil War dead. With the passage of time, Memorial Day was extended to honor all those who died in service, from the Revolutionary War to the present. It continued to be observed on May 30th until 1971, when most states changed to a newly established federal schedule of holiday observance.

Confederate Memorial Day, once a legal holiday in many southern states, is still observed on the fourth Monday in April in Alabama, and the last Monday in April in Mississippi and Georgia. A National Moment of Remembrance

May of 1997 saw the start of what is becoming an American tradition recognized by the President and Members of Congress -- to put the "memorial" back in Memorial Day. The idea of a National Moment of Remembrance was born a year earlier when children touring Lafayette Park in Washington, DC were asked what Memorial Day meant and they responded, "That's the day the pools open!"

The "Moment" was initiated by No Greater Love, a Washington, DC-based national humanitarian organization. For the first time in U.S. history, on Memorial Day 1997 "Taps" was played at 3 p.m. in many locations and at events throughout America. This effort was repeated again in subsequent years.

The objective of the "Moment" is to raise Americans' awareness of the honorable contributions made by those who died while defending our nation and to encourage all Americans to honor those who died as a result of service to this nation by pausing for one minute at 3:00 p.m. (local time) on Memorial Day.

This is written by a British man about my 3rd cousin.
Charles was a B-17 pilot who rather than bail out,
guided his plane loaded with bombs away from the town
of Penn, Buckinghamshire, England which would have
been turned into a parking lot.
The people each yr. remember Charles and his crew.

B-17 "Tomahawk Warrior" – A Tribute
to the Charles J. Searl & Crew

By Ronald M. Setter

Saturday, 12 August 1944 – a B-17 bomber named the “Tomahawk Warrior” and nine young men came into the history of Penn forever. Many years have gone by – some of the elders of Penn who remembered that day have passed away and a new generation born. They can only read of the sacrifice made by the “Tomahawk Warrior” and her crew.

The nine young men who flew that morning died long before their time on their 25th mission. Only a few more to fly and they would have been going home to loved ones and a full and happy life ahead.

This is their story……

The 398th Bomb Group was one of the last to arrive in this country during March 1944. They flew their B-17’s from Newfoundland to England to the allotted aerodrome of Nuthampstead near Royston in Herts where the countryside was very similar to that which surrounds Penn. To one crew their B-17 was special to them and as was usual the Pilot, Charles Searl, named it the “Tomahawk Warrior” after the small town where he lived. There was a crew of ten to fly her and a skilled ground crew to care for her. The first mission was to Berlin on the 19th of May. They returned safely and one can only feel that they were relieved and jubilant.

Charles Searl was married with a daughter of 18 months and he and his wife were expecting another addition to the family in July. He was 23 and had enlisted in the Air Force soon after Pearl Harbor. As far as records show none of the other nine crewmembers were married and their ages ranged from 20 to 27. They had come from many states across the USA… Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Michigan, Washington, D.C., Arkansas, Virginia, Ohio and New York.

The “Tomahawk Warrior” flew many missions including a D-Day one to targets at Caen and Courseulles, France. Missions were interposed with leave which one supposes they spent in London. Their evenings would be spent at the local Inn just on the edge of the airfield and at Royston, the nearest small town. Entertainment would have been laid on at the base along with dances and there must have been invitations from the local population.

By June the “Tomahawk Warrior” had completed sixteen missions, all with the same crew. July recorded only five missions. During this month Charles Searl must have received news of the birth of a second daughter, sadly he was never to see.

From August 1st the “Tomahawk Warrior”, still with her original crew, flew missions to France and Germany and on the morning of the 12th were on their twenty-fifth to Europe, Versailles, France. The day was dull and overcast with low cloud. Just before take-off, the tenth member of the crew stepped down from the flight. It has never been sure why. All that is known of him is his name and rank and after the “Tomahawk Warrior” crashed he was returned to America and so survived the war. No trace of him was ever found.

The crew of nine took off at 0618. Formation was hazardous with the bad weather as the plane climbed to reach height. By 0700 the “Tomahawk Warrior” was heading out Southeast and already in trouble. One engine was seen to be on fire, and as it turned over the town of High Wycombe to return to base, a second engine was seen also on fire. Below in the town was the HQ of the 8th Air Force and most likely monitoring the mission. It has always been accepted that the pilot was trying to find open ground to attempt a landing when he had no chance of reaching his base or even Bovingdon airfield which was only ten miles away to the North. He would have seen the populated area he was flying over and realized the devastation the plane would cause if it crashed there. It skimmed over the farmhouse of Lude Farm and crashed into open fields opposite. “Tomahawk Warrior” and its crew of nine young men ended life in a massive explosion and fire. No one had bailed out of the stricken plane and no distress signal was ever traced. They stayed together, comrades now for all eternity. One of the crew was found in the lane and two at the edge of the fields. The rest were identified by their dog tags. A short entry in official records at their base read, ‘Takeoff 0618 hours, 0720 no return’. Such a short epitaph.

No investigation took place as to the reason for the crash. It was just one more casualty of war. General Doolittle, who was at the HQ in High Wycombe, visited the scene of the crash later in the day.

The field where the “Tomahawk Warrior” crashed is the same today as it was fifty-seven years ago. Beautiful, peaceful and the seasons come and go. It is an everlasting memorial to duty and sacrifice. They that died need no other.

The following are the names of those that died that morning:

Pilot: Charles J. Searl Wisconsin
Co-Pilot: Albert L. Dion Massachusetts
Navigator: Saul J. Kempner Michigan
Bombardier: Leo C. Walsh Washington, D.C.
Radio/Gunner: Cecil E. Kennedy Virginia
Eng / TT Gunner: James A. Beaty Arkansas
Ball Turret Gunner: Alfred Bueffel New York
Right Waist Gunner: Albert W. Knight Ohio
Tail Gunner: Orville M. Wilson Washington, D.C.

They were all buried in Cambridge Cemetery but after the war, in accordance with the wishes of their relatives, eight of them were re-interred in Arlington Cemetery, America. They sleep amongst the highly honored in America. The one who was left behind, Albert Knight, also with his parent’s wishes, is honored yearly by the Chiltern Aircraft Research Group on the anniversary of the crash with flowers and thoughts of the eight lying in their home country.

Each Armistice Day Penn Church remembers them in the service and reads their names out along with others who gave their lives from the village. Small American Flags are placed along the path by the church door, each with the name of the “Tomahawk Warriors” crew, and usually the Battle Hymn of the Republic is sung in honor. The Book of Remembrance in Penn Church has their names inscribed in glorious memory.

To all who read this tribute, remember… they gave their lives just as bravely and in sacrifice for peace, just as those who were lost on and over the battlefields of Europe.

How do you do good friend"SoCalPol""Thanks snugs for your work on the dose today.SoCalPol"Thank you all

"A SAS Soldier's Prayer

I bring this prayer to You, Lord
For You alone can give
What one cannot demand from oneself.
Give me, Lord, what you have left over,
Give me what no-one ever asks You for.
I don't ask You for rest,
Or quiet,
Whether of soul or body;
I don't ask You for wealth,
Nor for success, nor even health perhaps.
That sort of thing You get asked for so much
That You can't have any of it left.
Give me, Lord, what you have left over,
Give me what no-one wants from you.
I want insecurity, strife,
And I want You to give me these
Once and for all.
So that I can be sure of having them always,
Since I shall not always have the courage
To ask You for them.
Give me, Lord, what You have left over,
Give me what others want nothing to do with.
But give me courage too,
And strength and faith;
For You alone can give
What one cannot demand from oneself.

- Lt. Andre Zirnheld, SAS, died in battle July 26, 1941, this was found in his uniform."

http://www.ability.org.uk/Prayer.html

"He stands barefoot in the snow, starved from lack of food, wounded from months of battle and emotionally scarred from the eternity away from his family surrounded by nothing but death and carnage of war.

He stands though, with fire in his eyes and victory on his breath. He looks at us now in anger and disgust and tells us this...

I gave you a birthright of freedom born in the Constitution and now your children graduate too illiterate to read it.

I fought in the snow barefoot to give you the freedom to vote and you stay at home because it rains.

I left my family destitute to give you the freedom of speech and you remain silent on critical issues, because it might be bad for business.

I orphaned my children to give you a government to serve you and it has stolen democracy from the people.

It's the soldier not the reporter who gives you the freedom of the press.

It's the soldier not the poet who gives you the freedom of speech.

It's the soldier not the campus organizer who allows you to demonstrate.

It's the soldier who salutes the flag, serves the flag, whose coffin is draped with the flag that allows the protester to burn the flag!!!

"Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. I ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen."

From a sermon by John Hagee"

http://www.domtalk.com/valley-forge.html

http://www.quickegreets.com/religion/relarmy.htm

"Give thanks for the progress being made in the Middle East, in spite of the great difficulties still encountered on many fronts. As President Bush met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai this week, both leaders expressed appreciation and gratitude for the progress of democracy in that nation. Pray for the continued strengthening of the new democratic regime in Afghanistan, and pray for our troops who help keep that nation free and strong as they continue to work toward full freedom and democracy.

Even as the progress in Afghanistan is celebrated, the difficulties in Iraq continue with seemingly relentless fervor. Pray for an end to the unrest and insurgency in that country, asking God to strengthen those working to bring freedom, democracy and fairness to Iraq. Pray for the young government and its new leaders as they daily face threats, resistance and death. Pray for the many American personnel working to help the new government implement much needed services and policies.

Pray for the President as he speaks to the graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy, asking God to protect him and to use him to encourage and inspire the newest graduates of that great military institution. Pray for all graduates across the nation this spring.

Pray for the President as he welcomes South African President Thabo Mbeki to the White House on June 1. The two leaders will discuss global security, conflict resolution in Africa, economic development, trade and investment, and fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa.

As new stories involving crimes committed against children continue to emerge, pray for the children of our nation, that they will be protected and their innocence preserved. Pray for Mrs. Bush's initiative, Helping America's Youth, that it will be effective in its efforts to draw children and teens away from violence, gangs, drugs and other negative influences.

As our nation observes Memorial Day, pray for a sincere spirit of remembrance and gratitude for the sacrifices made to preserve our freedom. Pray for the safekeeping of all our troops as they

INSPIRATIONAL REFERENCE FOR THE WEEK

I will listen to what God the Lord will say; He promises peace to his people, His saints- but let them not return to folly.
--The Bible, Psalm 85:8 (NIV)

The memory of the righteous will be a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.
--The Bible, Proverbs 10:7 (NIV)"

http://www.presidentialprayerteam.org

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