Family praises slain GI, calling him soldier, hero (Pvt Willam Long, terrorist victim in AR)

ARDEMGAZ (requires subscription) ^ | 09 JUN 09 | BY SAMANTHA FRIEDMAN

[DCBryan1]

The day before he died, U.S. Army Pvt. William Andrew “Andy” Long floated the Buffalo River with his sister, Vanessa Rice. If he had his way, she said, the pair would have gone skydiving.

“I’m so blessed to have had that day with Andy,” Rice tearfully told guests at her brother’s funeral Monday at Harlan Park Baptist Church in Conway. “My brother meant the world to me. Andy loved to be outdoors, to travel, and he couldn’t wait to get to Korea to serve his country.”

The service was followed by a burial with full military honors Monday at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock.

Long, 23, of Conway, was shot and killed June 1 outside a west Little Rock recruiting office. Fellow Army Private Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, of Jacksonville, was wounded in the attack.

The church’s sanctuary was filled with Long’s family and friends, fellow armed service members, and government officials, including Gov. Mike Beebe and U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder.

Pastor Johnny Harrington of Long’s church, Sunny Gap Baptist Church in Conway, praised Long’s commitment to the Army and recent appointment to the Army’s Hometown Recruiter Assistance Program in Little Rock. He said Long is a fourth-generation armed services member. Long’s father, Daris Long, is retired from the U.S. Marine Corps.

“No one is more military, no one is more patriotic than this family right here,” Harrington said. “Military runs through their hearts and their blood. No one is more dedicated to it than they, and I know that they couldn’t be prouder of Andy and his desire to serve his country.

“I asked Daris what’s the one word he’d use to describe Andy, and he said two: soldier and hero.”

Wearing a red cap signifying that he is a retired U.S. Marine and an American flag tie, Long’s father shared a letter he had written his son in advance of his scheduled departure for his first duty post in South Korea, which had been set for Monday. He advised his son to always do the right thing, to put aside his personal feelings, to follow the orders of the president and his commanding officers.

“You and your brother ... are both heroes for having the moral courage to stand up when your country needs you most,” Daris Long read. “You are in my hopes and my thoughts and my prayers. You are my son, you are my hero. I love you. Semper fidelis.”

Long’s brother, Pfc. Triston Long of Fort Bliss, Texas, gave Long the cavalry branch insignia badge on behalf of his own unit and in honor of Long’s Army service.

“My brother taught me valuable lessons and made me the man I am today,” Triston Long said. “My commander said, ‘Make your brother one of us.’ I will miss my brother with all that I am, and I serve in honor of him.”

Long also was honored with the Army Commendation Medal and the Army Good Conduct Medal.

The Arkansas Blue Star Mothers presented Long’s mother, Janet Long, with the Gold Star Banner, given to mothers of service members killed in the line of duty.

The funeral service ended with a slideshow featuring childhood photos of William Long and his family.

Camp Robinson Chaplain Jeremy Miller led the burial service.

“We’re here to honor this man today for the sacrifice that he was,” he told Long’s family.

Arkansas Army National Guard Honor Guard members served as pallbearers. After the playing of taps, they presented American flags to Long’s mother, brother and sister, and the family placed red roses atop the casket.

Dozens of leather-vested veterans of the Patriot Guard Riders lined up with flags outside the church during the service, then surrounded the family with their motorcycles at the cemetery.

Beebe issued a proclamation Friday directing U.S. and Arkansas flags be flown at half-staff Monday.

[DCBryan1]

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/ RICK McFARLAND
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/RICK McFARLAND Daris Long (right) salutes as he and his wife, Janet Long, watch the flag-draped casket bearing their son, Pvt. William Long, being carried to his grave site at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock on Monday. William Long’s brother, Pfc. Triston Long (far left), is also saluting.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/ RICK McFARLAND

Janet Long (right), carrying the U.S. flag that draped the casket of her son, Pvt. William Long, gets a hug from an unidentified woman after William Long’s funeral Monday. Long was shot and killed outside a military recruiting center on June 1 in Little Rock.

[DCBryan1]

ping

[NEMDF]

Thank you for the post. May Pvt Long rest in peace, and God bless his family.

[Hiddigeigei]

I wonder why we have heard so little about the other soldier, the one that was wounded (Private Quinton I. Ezeagwula), who has an African name.

[Clara Lou]

May some good, somehow, come from the death by murder of this young man. Condolences to his family.

[hoosierham]

Private Long was serving on the front lines at home and died in a cowardly sneak attack carried out by yet another Muslim terrorist.

Yet our federal government continues to allow,nay faciltate,ever more Muslim immigration ,building of more mosques,etc.,all without requiring those people to renounce their violent acts.

[pillut48]

Another article here--I posted some pictures and links to various sources at #44.

I've also been investigating something fishy about this whole thing at this link...what do you all think? WHO is speaking for the president if *he* isn't issuing these "official" comments on paper/cyberspace??

If it turns out some flunky wrote the statement about Pvt. Long, SHAME on OBAMA and SHAME on them! Pvt. Long and his family and his friends who are grieving his way too early loss deserve so much better!

Transparency?? Yeah, like a concrete bunker door. Feh.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

It seems to me that there are two spheres of activity here. In one, the murderer gunned down a soldier and will face the legal consequences.

However, this neglects the other sphere of activity.

The fanatic was acting in the name of his religion, in a religious act, and indifferent to the legal consequences. The law truly means nothing to him.

For this reason, the fanatic *also* needs to face religious consequences as well as legal consequences. This is a difficult concept for secular westerners to understand, but an important one.

He must be stripped of his Muslim sanctimony.

There are many things a Muslim can do, or have done to them, that strips them of their righteousness by *their* rules. That denies them forever their religious goals. For many (if not all Muslims), this involves being contaminated with pork or pork products.

So his sentence, as it were, will be to somehow splash him, assault him, with pork grease. In his eyes, and the eyes of his fellow Muslims, this matters far more than even his being executed. It is an irrevocable punishment, and *importantly* has an extremely strong deterrent effect against other Muslims who contemplate other such murderous crimes.

For this reason, to save lives, it is *essential* that he be splashed with pork fat.

Only at first does this sound ludicrous. But it is deadly serious. US General “Blackjack” Pershing ended a protracted and vicious war by performing a similar act. After trying for years to conduct war in the first sphere of action, the bloody war still raged. But with a single act in the second sphere, his Muslim enemy immediately stopped hostilities.

In short, he not only needs to be splashed with pork fat, but pictures of that attack need to be widely disseminated, with the message:

“Those who murder for jihad are covered in pork fat.”

The impact of this single act will be extraordinary. The Muslim world will scream in horror that this murderer will have forfeited his soul, not that he has murdered an innocent. But it will be deeply terrifying to them. This will be obvious by their cries and protests, threats and demands.

But more than anything else, it will make the Muslim world fearful. They will fear attacking innocents, for fear that they will meet the same fate.

Pork fat could end much of this war.

[DCBryan1]

ping

[pillut48]

If it saves lives, I’m all for it—but be aware that liberals will cry ‘torture!’ and put it right up there with that horror of all horrors waterboarding!!!! ::rolls eyeballs::

[FreepShop1]

HIS LIFE WAS TAKEN BY ISLAM. DON'T FORGET THAT. ISLAM.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

In the case of General Pershing, he ordered a pit dug, several to-be-executed Moro pirates to be brought up, half of them to be shot and thrown in the pit, and a bunch of dead pigs to be thrown in as well before burial.

Then he ordered the other half to be released, to tell all their friends what they had witnessed. The Moros discontinued the Insurrection almost as soon as they got the message.

The important concept here is that when dealing with religious fanatics, you can’t pretend they are just ordinary criminals or national soldiers. You need to hit them where they live, religiously.

[Uri’el-2012]

A Jihadi Terrorist Muslim attack
on the US Armed Forces on the
mainland of the United States.

This was a watershed.

Chaney is right , we are more unsafe.

Prayers for the families of the murdered or injured.

shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach

[pillut48]

I think I heart General Pershing! No fuss, no muss!

[kcvl]

William Long’s father was on Laura Ingraham’s show this morning.

[kcvl]

I wonder why we have heard so little about the other soldier, the one that was wounded (Private Quinton I. Ezeagwula), who has an African name.

His mother was a guest of the Long's at their son's funeral. She rode in the family car with them. He is having a very hard time with this and his injuries.

[Freedom2specul8]

I wish you luck in your investigation-it’s pretty awesome that you are taking the time to do the research.

In the era of past presidents, we would have found quotes attributed to them in seconds... Daily whitehouse briefings, etc were indeed transparent..!

[kcvl]

Daris Long interview about the shooting death of his son, William Long...

http://cfc.katv.com/videoondemand.cfm?id=41749

[pillut48]

I think I’ll forward my post about the ‘official’ comment to her!

Prayers for Pvt. Long’s family. You could tell his father and mother were just heartbroken. :*(

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!