Riddick is among 180 soldiers who left after the ceremony for a year of deployment in Iraq. The unit will be responsible for training, mentoring, and coaching Iraqi Police.
(John Tlumacki/Globe staff)
(John Tlumacki/Globe staff)
( John Tlumacki/Globe staff)
A former fetus, the “wordsmith from nantucket” was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1968. Adopted at birth, wordsmith grew up a military brat. He achieved his B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles (graduating in the top 97% of his class), where he also competed rings for the UCLA mens gymnastics team. The events of 9/11 woke him from his political slumber and malaise. Currently a personal trainer and gymnastics coach.
The wordsmith has never been to Nantucket.
that little boy is killing me, seeing his sadness hurts. i pray for each and everyone of our soldiers and hope for a safe return for all of them. these men sacrifice of themselves so that t he world is a better place and their families are torn apart and the freakin libs havet he balls to say bad things about them. they are doing wha tthey believe in as americans and human beings. the libs can kiss off, send them to frnace or some other stupid nation, get them out of here.
Yeah, that first photo was deeply moving. Just had to post it. When I saw that second photo, it was difficult choking back tears.
Heartfelt prayers and eternal gratitude to all those who serve and sacrifice, including military family members.
Little Morgan’s dad was hurting just as much as his son. We owe them so much for the sacrifice they make for our country. I pray they will be together again, until the next deployment. It’s a tough life for those in service. Bless them all, their families too.
Damn.
Those photos make me wish I were 10 yrs younger so I could take that young fathers place.
Meanwhile Bill and Bernadine are snuggled safely in their Chicago mansion enjoying the liberty these brave men are risking their lives for. My heart is sick and my soul feels broken over this hideous election and the possibility of Obama becoming POTUS.
Yes the photos show what our soliders sacrifice for our freedoms. For or against the War you have to give the soldiers all the rspect and praise that you can give. They sacrifice a lot for the freedoms we take for granite every day.
Bill Ciz, I’ve worn those Soldier’s boots 5 years ago when I was in Iraq, so I know exactly where you’re coming from! And I used to be in the MA Army National Guard, as these Soldiers are. And 2 of these Soldiers are from my town here in MA!
Rest assured that they are America’s best and finest, and will carry out their mission with pride and honor!
I enjoyed so much Sarah Palin when she told a stupid leftist protester of war in one of her rally:
” You know what, Sir? My two sons are in Iraq right now, fighting for your right to protest here today”
… or something like that, I don’t remember her exact words, but it was something similar to that.
Meanwhile Michelle Obama can say we’re mean spirited and that she has not been proud of her country in her entire life, while her spiritual mentor damns America.
I loved it when Palin said it like it is, about Democrats wanting to cut off funds and leave our finest men and women in Iraq in the middle of danger with nothing. I don’t remember the exact quote, but I saw it again on TV a few days ago.
All those who served and all those who are serving need our respects, our prayers, and our support. Brave men and women are fighting for the US overseas just so that you and I can sleep safely at night, just so that we can keep and enjoy our freedoms. Democrats don’t have an ounce of respect for these guys.
To those on this site who have already served, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’m doing all I can here to excel in my career in order to be able to keep those who disrespect our fellow Americans overseas out of the seat of power, and I will do the very best I can.
It’s like that every deployment. And every time a heartbreaker, bless their little hearts. The smallest ones never understand why. Only that mommy or daddy are leaving. As they get older that start to get it and practise their bragging rights on anyone who’ll take the time to listen. Let them praise away. Often they’ll push how wonderful their parent is in school and that many times is transformed into classes participating in general letters to the troops. Not just for the married ones with kids, but the singles too who may not get many letters. There’s a lot of loneliness that comes with that life. So much lost time.
Thanks Leah and everyone else who pour out their hearts in support for our troops. Our support is one of those things empowering them to keep it up. The holidays are coming up. It’s a great project to get kids involved in and doesn’t take very much time. You can drop off letters of support to recruitment offices and they’ll send them on.
I doubt an Ayers’ education system could tolerate something like that. His soul is so rotten, if he had our military sent any letters from his classes, they would be simply awful. Ayers would program the kids to acuse them of being pigs, killing babies and children, etceteras. Isn’t that the Alinsky way? For any anti-war people out there, before you do, DON’T! Don’t even think about it. Only an internally ugly, evil, and morally corrupt individual would ever viciously take out their hatred on our troops. They have no choice but to go where they are sent. They are not responsible for what politicians on either side of the aisle decide. Nobody asks their opinion before sending them off to war. You want to vent your political anger? Send your opinions to your politicians. Do not attempt to demoralize those who pay with their blood and sweat for your right to protest. Having been the unlucky recipient once of one of these letters disguised as a Christmas card, I was certainly not demoralized. But I was severely pissed off at the sender and gave considerable thought to forewarding it back to his local TV station so his neighbors might find out what a POS he was.
Speaking of which, Ayers CAC education buddy Obama is still running. It’s not too late to send him a message with your vote.
Support Our Troops, Not Our Socialists.
My Dad relayed to me, several years ago, that when I was very young, and when he returned from a second tour in Vietnam, I told him “Daddy, I’m glad you didn’t die.” I don’t remember it, and can’t believe that I even fathomed exactly what death was. I do remember making some drawings that were sent to him and which he hung on a wall and took a picture of. I have a vague recollection of being a bit peeved about one artwork in particular from nursery school, that my mom said she was sending. I think I wanted to keep it.
Later, when I was in my preteens, I was snooping around in the basement and uncovered some audio cassettes. I didn’t know what they were, and played them. They were conversations. My parents were mailing audio cassettes to each other. My mom being Japanese, I suppose she might have found it easier to talk into a tape recorder than write in English. In one of the tapes, you could hear me chanting, “Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas”, over and over…and over in the background. Another one had my mom break down in tears, midway. It was quite a shock. I had no idea what she went through emotionally with the separation, nor my dad, until that tape.
It’s funny, but your comment just triggered this memory for me. Now I’m curious to know where, in all of our moves, where those tapes might now be. I never discussed it with my parents that I ever discovered those tapes. Just like, to this day, I haven’t gotten around to telling my dad that I knew about his Penthouse magazines under my parents’ bed.
Hope that last addition doesn’t veer the conversation off-topic. 🙂
Wordsmith;
Happy you found my post thought-provoking. And that it may help encourage you to rediscover your past. I don’t think it’s off topic at all to bring up our own memories of being military children like those depicted above. What’s more you had a good story to tell.
My twin and I were still in the womb when our father enlisted in the Navy. He was assigned shipboard on a battleship in the Pacific and we were living in Indiana, so it was too expensive for our struggling family for him to travel home. Especially with two new mouths and a wife back home to support on a seaman’s pay. Our dad didn’t see combat during his stint. That was after the Korean War and before the Vietnam War. Even though he wasn’t with us in our early years, he frequently corresponded with our mother and pictures were sent back and forth. There were numerous pictures of us in diapers and sailor caps. Some of him in the South Pacific he took and sent back from when they would be allowed shore leave to visit islands. He caught hell from our mom for the ones of women wearing grass skirts and little or nothing else. The old men would roar with laughter and ask to see them, while their wives would elbow them in the ribs and throw “hissy-fits”. We were toddlers before we first laid eyes on Dad. All we understood up until he left the Navy at the end of his 4-year tour and returned was Mom saying he was a Sailor, just like Popeye. So we watched the Popeye cartoons ernestly and tried to imagine what it was like for him. It wasn’t too hard on us not having our Dad around. We were the “darling babies” of our Grandparents and Great-Grandparents and often stayed at their homes with our Mom. We were still too poor to have a home of our own. This contributed heavily to my opinions on the Great Depression and how hard times were for them. We were very precocious children and constantly asking questions of them, like the little mouse “Sniffles” in our cartoons. We did this so we could relish in all the fascinating stories, common sense, and homilities the old-folks had to relate.
Military service was an honored tradition and previledge in our family. It had nothing to do with a love of war, it was the dues we paid for the freedoms we shared. In exchange, Uncle Sam would teach you a trade which allowed you to get a decent paying job. Our family was not financially well off. Our wealth was in our morals, traditions, culture, love, and family support structure which no man may put a price on.
Amen to that! Thanks for sharing a bit of yourself here, Rocky.
God Bless those kids and their parents!
The top photo reminded me of another favorite: