Posted on 04/07/2006 7:39:09 PM PDT by SandRat
WASHINGTON, April 7, 2006 Swearing to defend the U. S. Constitution, 40 Army Reservists re-enlisted yesterday on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building here.
"These great American heroes swear and affirm that they will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic," Army Lt. Gen. James R. Helmly, chief of the Army Reserve, said at the ceremony. "The reading of the oath only lasts but a minute, but their pledge will last a lifetime." The re-enlisting soldiers come from all walks of life. The group includes a teacher, a youth pastor, a computer technician, a police officer, a retail representative and a student. Many of are veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and some are Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipients. The ceremony highlighted the positive re-enlistment trend among Army Reservists. In fiscal 2005, re-enlistments by Army Reserve soldiers reached 101.5 percent of the goal, according to an Army Reserve news release. Sgt. 1st Class Juanita Wilson, one of those who re-enlisted yesterday, lost her left hand in Iraq on Aug. 21, 2004, when a roadside bomb detonated under her vehicle. She was treated for her injury at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here and now serves as a supply sergeant in the Active Guard Reserve Program. Wilson said she was very proud that Army officials determined she was capable to continue to serve after her injury. "I'm very humbled by the fact that my senior leaders deem me fit for duty," she told American Forces Press Service. "The Army believes, as I believe, that I can make a difference and be a leader and continue my military career -- and do an outstanding job at it." Wilson said she feels that the Army is where she belongs. "It's almost like I was born and bred to be a soldier. This is my life, this is what I love, this is where I want to be, this is my family," she said. Staff Sgt. Aaron Knudson, of Rockford, Ill., said he re-enlisted because he felt "a duty to the country, and a responsibility to protect Americans and my family." Also re-enlisting was Sgt. Joshua Frey, of Cleveland, Ohio, who said he wanted to continue his service with the 762nd Transportation Company "so that I can keep the training tradition alive, and train up the younger soldiers who are coming in, so that they're combat-ready to keep defending this great nation." Frey's civilian job is as a police officer. He has been in the Army Reserve for six years. During his deployment to Iraq, his main job was to drive a truck for the 762nd. "I think the people of Iraq appreciate what we're doing there, even if that seems hard to believe sometimes," Frey said. Staff Sgt. Magdalena Rodriguez, of Hinesville, Ga., also re-enlisted, saying that she felt it was her duty. "It was my duty to do so. I love the uniform and I love the Army. They've always been really good to me and I've had really great leaders," Rodriguez said. "There's no better job to come to than the one that the whole country thanks you for." Rodriguez is currently mobilized with the 87th Training Division at Fort Stewart, Ga., where she prepares soldiers for mobilization. Later this month Rodriquez will become a U.S. citizen. Helmly dedicated the re-enlistment ceremony to Army Sgt. Keith Matthew Maupin, a reservist who went missing April 9, 2004, during an attack on his convoy in Iraq. Maupin is classified as captured, and is the only servicemember missing from operations in Iraq. "We call upon our enemies to release him and treat him humanely," Helmly said. "Sgt. Maupin knows that we will live the warrior ethos -- 'I will always place the mission first, I will never accept defeat, I will never quit, we will never leave a fallen comrade.'" Other soldiers who participated in the ceremony were:
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A group of 40 Army Reservists take an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution at a re-enlistment ceremony on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, April 6. Photo by Steven Donald Smith
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Say hello to 40 Re-Up'd Army Reservists!
Shur....I knew you could.
Wonder if any of the decoded the message?
a pox upon the enemies of America.
It has always been traditional to allow enlisted to chose the location where they re-enlist. For instance, in the AF it is very common to re-enlist inside an aircraft during flight or next to a parked aircraft on the flightline. During the 80's I spent a tour in West Berlin, Checkpoint Charlie was a common place for people to re-enlist.
The re-enlisting soldiers come from all walks of life. The group includes a teacher, a youth pastor, a computer technician, a police officer, a retail representative and a student. Many of are veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and some are Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipients. The ceremony highlighted the positive re-enlistment trend among Army Reservists. In fiscal 2005, re-enlistments by Army Reserve soldiers reached 101.5 percent of the goal, according to an Army Reserve news release.
Thanks for the posting and the ping!
BTTT
I get SO excited by posts like this! I wish I was younger. I'd be active duty SOMEWHERE. For all of you who serve; for all of you who re-enlist, God bless you, and THANKS FOR SERVING SO PROUDLY!!! I love you all.
BTTT
[cue "Fanfare for the Common Man"]
Thanks for the ping!
Greetings From Rancho Mirage
By Ben Stein
Published 4/5/2006 2:29:42 AM
Tuesday
Dear Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, National Guard, Reservists, in Iraq, in the Middle East theater, in Afghanistan, in the area near Afghanistan, in any base anywhere in the world, and your families:
Let me tell you about why you guys own about 90 percent of the cojones in the whole world right now and should be damned happy with yourselves and damned proud of who you are. It was a dazzlingly hot day here in Rancho Mirage today. I did small errands like going to the bank to pay my mortgage, finding a new bed at a price I can afford, practicing driving with my new 5 wood, paying bills for about two hours.
I spoke for a long time to a woman who is going through a nasty child custody fight. I got e-mails from a woman who was fired today from her job for not paying attention. I read about multi-billion-dollar mergers in Europe, Asia, and the Mideast. I noticed how overweight I am, for the millionth time.
In other words, I did a lot of nothing. Like every other American who is not in the armed forces family, I basically just rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic in my trivial, self-important, meaningless way.
Above all, I talked to a friend of more than forty-three years who told me he thought his life had no meaning because all he did was count his money.
And, friends in the armed forces, this is the story of all of America today. We are doing nothing but treading water while you guys carry on the life or death struggle against worldwide militant Islamic terrorism. Our lives are about nothing: paying bills, going to humdrum jobs, waiting until we can go to sleep and then do it all again. Our most vivid issues are trivia compared with what you do every day, every minute, every second.
Oprah Winfrey talks a lot about "meaning" in life. For her, "meaning" is dieting and then having her photo on the cover of her magazine every single month (surely a new world record for egomania ).This is not "meaning."
Meaning is doing for others. Meaning is risking your life for others. Meaning is putting your bodies and families' peace of mind on the line to defeat some of the most evil, sick killers the world has ever known. Meaning is leaving the comfort of home to fight to make sure that there still will be a home for your family and for your nation and for free men and women everywhere.
Look, soldiers and Marines and sailors and airmen and Coast Guardsmen, there are eight billion people in this world. The whole fate of this world turns on what you people, 1.4 million, more or less, do every day. The fate of mankind depends on what about 2/100 of one percent of the people in this world do every day -- and you are those people. And joining you is every policeman, fireman, and EMT in the country, also holding back the tide of chaos.
Do you know how important you are? Do you know how indispensable you are? Do you know how humbly grateful any of us who has a head on his shoulders is to you?
Do you know that if you never do another thing in your lives, you will always still be heroes? That we could live without Hollywood or Wall Street or the NFL, but we cannot live for a week without you?
We are on our knees to you and we bless and pray for you every moment.
And Oprah Winfrey, if she were a size two, would not have one millionth of your importance, and all of the Wall Street billionaires will never mean what the least of you do, and if Barry Bonds hit ninety home runs it would not mean as much as you going on one patrol or driving one truck to the Baghdad airport.
You are everything to us, as we go through our little days, and you are in the prayers of the nation and of every decent man and woman on the planet.
That's who you are and what you mean. I hope you know that.
Love, Ben Stein
Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer living in Beverly Hills and Malibu. He also writes "Ben Stein's Diary" in every issue of The American Spectator. You can now subscribe to Ben Stein's Diary for just $1.95 per month. Click here to subscribe. And to subscribe to the full magazine, click here.
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This is great! But! E-4s & up. Dont scrub S..Ters pull mess duty or mop floors or......
Were getting a military that cant take care of its self.
BTTT
That's why they have contractors
And thats one of the problems. More big government spending money. Plus we get to have personal shortages latter.
The GI getting shot at is makeing less than the person doing the floor or working the mess. Nothing like haveing unions around.
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