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Posted on 12/10/2005 5:39:57 PM PST by 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub
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RIP Brave Protectors of Freedom
About 25,000 people came to Baylor University's Floyd Casey Stadium on Saturday afternoon to welcome home about 2,500 members of the Texas Army National Guard's 56th Brigade Combat Team that has been serving in Iraq for nearly a year.
56th Brigade returns home in joyous ceremony
By Emily Ingram and Tim Woods Tribune-Herald staff writers
Sunday, December 11, 2005
It was an emotional homecoming as Spc. Rick Molina kissed and cradled his three-month-old son, Nicholas, while his wife and family looked on. Dressed in sand-colored fatigues, Molina held the baby whom he had left at two weeks old to return to Iraq.
Three months later, Molina, a member of the Texas Army National Guard's 56th Brigade Combat Team that recently returned from active duty in Iraq, was reunited on Saturday with the family he left in January 2005. The 25-year-old soldier was given two weeks leave to come home for Nicholas' birth, then had to leave the newborn and his wife to return to Iraq.
“The first thing I did when I got back to the States was kiss my son and kiss my wife,” Molina said. “Then, I had a big steak. No more Army food for me.”
Molina was one of over 3,000 soldiers from the 56th Brigade who deployed for Iraq Jan. 1, 2005. He was also one of approximately 2,500 to return Saturday in a welcome home ceremony at Baylor University's Floyd Casey Stadium.
Over a sea of American flags and banners, Gov. Rick Perry thanked the crowd of almost 25,000 for coming from across the state to cheer on the troops returning from more than 340 days in Iraq. Speaking to the soldiers on the field, he acknowledged the sacrifice of the soldiers and their families.
“I'm proud of the 56th Brigade,” Perry said. “On behalf of 22 million (Texans), I'd like to say thank you and welcome home. A year ago, we stood here hours before your deployment. Texas hasn't been the same without you, and now, after your deployment, the world won't be the same, thanks to you.”
Evening, Kathy. Thanks much for Blessed Assurance.
WE SUPPORT THE TROOPS.
PRAYERS ONGOING FOR THE TROOPS AND FAMILIES.
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Off Topic.
Hello Fruit Cake Fans!
Here's a good dark fruit cake recipe.
Cindy's Kind of Old-Fashioned Fruitcake
2 cups raisins
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup of craisins (dried cranberries)
2 cups of pecan halves or almond slices
(or 1 cup of pecans; 1 cup of almonds)
1 c Halved red candied cherries
1 c Halved green candied cherrie
RUM/BRANDY OR RUM OR BRANDY
OR APPLE CIDER (See note below.)
2 cups of unbleached flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/8 t salt
1 cup of butter (I use lite butter or Take Control vegetable spread.)
1 c Packed brown sugar
3 Eggs (I use Egg Beaters.)
2 tablespoons of unsulphured molasses
2 tsp. of Vanilla
OPTIONAL: I grate 1 large orange and add the grated orange rinds to the mix.
NOTE: I put the raisins, golden raisins, craisins in a bowl the day before and
cover the mix with liquid. Some people prefer just rum or just brandy. I like
to use half of each which equals about 2 cups of liquid. The last couple of years I have used Martinelli Apple Cider instead of alcohol and it is a great taste, too.
Directions.
Let the raisins, golden raisins sit in a bowl with liquid covering it at least overnight.
I like to have this mix set for 12-20 hours.
Now, get a giant mixing bowl or pot and pour the raisin mix and liquid in it.
Add all of your liquid ingredients.
Mix well.
Add all the rest of your ingredients.
Mix well.
Lightly grease your 2 or 3 loaf pans.
Pour mixture into it.
Cover and refrigerate over night.
Preheat over at 250 degrees.
Take your covering off the loaf pans
and slide those loaf pans into the over.
Cook 3 to 3 1/2 hours.
Note: You can tell when fruit cakes are done
if you take a sharp knife chop stick; poke it
down the middle; pull it up and it comes out
clean with no unbaked batter on it.
These fruitcakes freeze well until ready to use.
You must be speaking of the little gold digger in the song.
The Marvelous Ms. Kitt can buy all of those things for herself.
Drink the rum or brandy.
Make a chocolate cake instead.
Put all those nasty bits of rind in the squirrel feeder.
Well I been taking easily today so some stories are dates latest off SKY News is report that explosion at oil deport in London turn out be accident that good
Aussie Age wire report that soccer hooligans got in trouble down under after Aussie soccer team qualify for world cup today LOL!
Songs for our Troops, Veterans, Families, and Allies!
Statler Brothers ~ Christmas To Me
ArtistDirect.com l Amazon.com l Ticketmaster.com l Songfacts.com l Walmart.com
Songs for our Troops, Veterans, Families, and Allies!
Boots Randolph ~ Deck The Halls
ArtistDirect.com l Amazon.com l Ticketmaster.com l Songfacts.com l Walmart.com
Good Sunday to the DBR family. You are quite right...our Troops, past and present, and their families, are AWESOME! We must ALWAYS remember that.
U.S. Army Pfc. Nelson Raymond, a medic assigned to Alpha Troop, 4th Battalion, 14th Cavalry, 172nd Stryker Brigade, monitors a Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below System inside his Stryker vehicle in Mosul, Iraq, Dec. 1, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. James H. Christopher
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Pedro Chavez and Spc. Ryan Crabtree, assigned to Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade, inspect a burned out car during a dismounted patrol, in Mosul, Iraq, Dec. 2, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. James H. Christopher
U.S. Army Spc. Gerard Solinap provides security during a dismounted patrol in Mosul, Iraq, Dec. 2, 2005. Solinap is assigned to Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. James H. Christopher
U.S. Staff Sgt. Robert Dupont and Spc. William Hawkins, assigned to Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade, provide mounted security during a patrol in Mosul, Iraq, Dec. 2, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. James H. Christopher
Songs for our Troops, Veterans, Families, and Allies!
Cincinnati Pops Orchestra ~ The First Noel
ArtistDirect.com l Amazon.com l Ticketmaster.com l
Songfacts.com l Walmart.com
U.S. Army Spec. Tyler Sloan conducts security during a mission in Mosul, Iraq, Dec. 5, 2005. Sloan is assigned to C Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Fort Wainwright, Alaska. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. James L. Harper Jr.
U.S. Army Capt. Kent Park discusses security preparations for the upcoming elections with an Iraqi police official in Mosul, Iraq, Dec. 5, 2005. Park is assigned to C Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Fort Wainwright, Alaska. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. James L. Harper Jr.
Hello, Penguin Girl, and thanks for your service too.
Greetings txradioguy.
Greetings to the Ladies and Gentlemen of the canteen.
Greetings to the gentlemen from New Zealand.
Well, tx it has been a stunningly miserable week here along the banks of the old Potomac. Snow, rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, freezing rain and of course, snow. I had to..excuse me.. *shudder*, shovel on Friday. I hate shoveling. Driving around here is always a PITA, but even more so when the weather is less than perfect.
It's been cold, not drop-dead, one-way ticket to Florida cold, but it's early December. More nastiness is due Thursday, and Omar the barn cat has moved in for the duration. This is a sure sign of a cold winter. Omar "don't play". (-;.
Hope everyone is fine, and by the way, prayers up for all soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines everywhere. God bless you all.
Regards,
AR
Amazing Grace...LeAnn can sure sing it. Thanks, AZ.
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