There are no words. Wow, amazing, these kinda things just don’t say it.

Thank you both. That’s all I can say-that, and CONGRATULATIONS!

Streamers fly during the christening ceremony of the USS Jason Dunham, an Arleigh-Burke Class destroyer, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009, at Bath iron Works in Bath, Maine. The ship is named after the late Marine Cpl. Jason L. Dunham, of Scio, N.Y. Dunham, 22, of Scio, N.Y., who was mortally wounded as he saved his comrades that day, will be honored Saturday at the christening of the Navy’s newest destroyer, the USS Jason Dunham. The young corporal who threw his Kevlar helmet and his body onto the grenade became the first Marine since the Vietnam War to receive the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military honor. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

A local story on the occasion:

In a solemn ceremony punctuated by talk of courage, service and sacrifice, the mother of a Marine corporal on Saturday christened a warship honoring her son, who died after covering an exploding grenade to protect his comrades in Iraq.

After composing herself and taking a deep breath, Deb Dunham smashed a bottle of champagne over the bow of the 510-foot warship Jason Dunham, then held the bottle aloft before a cheering crowd of more than 1,500 people.

She was joined by the Marines who served with her son, by her husband, Dan Dunham, and their daughter Katelyn Dunham. Two other Dunham boys also were in the audience.

Retired Gen. Michael Hagee, a former Marine commandant who was with the Dunhams when their son died at Bethesda Naval Hospital days after the explosion, said Jason gave the “gift of valor.” Hagee said the warship will serve as a reminder that freedom “is paid for by the men and women who wear the cloth of this nation.”

“They are willing to give up everything that is important: love, marriage, children, family, friends,” Hagee said of the 22-year-old Marine. “I can tell you I’ve always stood in awe of that.”

BATH, Maine, (Aug. 1, 2009) Deb Dunham christens the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer Jason Dunham (DDG 109) at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. The ship is named for her son, U.S. Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in Operation Iraqi Freedom. (Photo courtesy Michael C. Nutter/ General Dynamics/Released)

A few of posts I did on this hero over the years:

Marine To Be Awarded The Medal Of Honor
RIP Marine Cpl Dunham
Jason Dunham Memorial

The RIP post has the full video of the Medal Of Honor ceremony. The ceremony also brought us this picture of President Bush crying:

A great picture of tears shed for a great man, a hero.

If you don’t know this hero’s story read the article written by Michael M. Phillips, who would later write a book titled The Gift of Valor: A War Story about Jason.

AL QA’IM, Iraq — Early this spring, Cpl. Jason Dunham and two other Marines sat in an outpost in Iraq and traded theories on surviving a hand-grenade attack.

Second Lt. Brian “Bull” Robinson suggested that if a Marine lay face down on the grenade and held it between his forearms, the ceramic bulletproof plate in his flak vest might be strong enough to protect his vital organs. His arms would shatter, but he might live.

Cpl. Dunham had another idea: A Marine’s Kevlar helmet held over the grenade might contain the blast. “I’ll bet a Kevlar would stop it,” he said, according to Second Lt. Robinson.

“No, it’ll still mess you up,” Staff Sgt. John Ferguson recalls saying.

It was a conversation the men would remember vividly a few weeks later, when they saw the shredded remains of Cpl. Dunham’s helmet, apparently blown apart from the inside by a grenade. Fellow Marines believe Cpl. Dunham’s actions saved the lives of two men and have recommended him for the Medal of Honor, an award that no act of heroism since 1993 has garnered.

A 6-foot-1 star high-school athlete from Scio, N.Y., Cpl. Dunham was chosen to become a squad leader shortly after he was assigned to Kilo Company, Third Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment in September 2003. Just 22 years old, he showed “the kind of leadership where you’re confident in your abilities and don’t have to yell about it,” says Staff Sgt. Ferguson, 30, of Aurora, Colo. Cpl. Dunham’s reputation grew when he extended his enlistment, due to end in July, so he could stay with his squad throughout its tour in the war zone.

During the invasion of Iraq last year, the Third Battalion didn’t suffer any combat casualties. But since March, 10 of its 900 Marines have died from hostile fire, and 89 have been wounded.

April 14 was an especially bad day. Cpl. Dunham was in the town of Karabilah, leading a 14-man foot patrol to scout sites for a new base, when radio reports came pouring in about a roadside bomb hitting another group of Marines not far away.

Insurgents, the reports said, had ambushed a convoy that included the battalion commander, 40-year-old Lt. Col. Matthew Lopez, of Chicago. One rifle shot penetrated the rear of the commander’s Humvee, hitting him in the back, Lt. Col. Lopez says. His translator and bodyguard, Lance Cpl. Akram Falah, 23, of Anaheim, Calif., had taken a bullet to the bicep, severing an artery, according to medical reports filed later.

Cpl. Dunham’s patrol jumped aboard some Humvees and raced toward the convoy. Near the double-arched gateway of the town of Husaybah, they heard the distinctive whizzing sound of a rocket-propelled grenade overhead. They left their vehicles and split into two teams to hunt for the shooters, according to interviews with two men who were there and written reports from two others.

Around 12:15 p.m., Cpl. Dunham’s team came to an intersection and saw a line of seven Iraqi vehicles along a dirt alleyway, according to Staff Sgt. Ferguson and others there. At Staff Sgt. Ferguson’s instruction, they started checking the vehicles for weapons.

Cpl. Dunham approached a run-down white Toyota Land Cruiser. The driver, an Iraqi in a black track suit and loafers, immediately lunged out and grabbed the corporal by the throat, according to men at the scene. Cpl. Dunham kneed the man in the chest, and the two tumbled to the ground.

Two other Marines rushed to the scene. Private First Class Kelly Miller, 21, of Eureka, Calif., ran from the passenger side of the vehicle and put a choke hold around the man’s neck. But the Iraqi continued to struggle, according to a military report Pfc. Miller gave later. Lance Cpl. William B. Hampton, 22, of Woodinville, Wash., also ran to help.

A few yards away, Lance Cpl. Jason Sanders, 21, a radio operator from McAlester, Okla., says he heard Cpl. Dunham yell a warning: “No, no, no — watch his hand!”

What was in the Iraqi’s hand appears to have been a British-made “Mills Bomb” hand grenade. The Marines later found an unexploded Mills Bomb in the Toyota, along with AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled-grenade launchers.

A Mills Bomb user pulls a ring pin out and squeezes the external lever — called the spoon — until he’s ready to throw it. Then he releases the spoon, leaving the bomb armed. Typically, three to five seconds elapse between the time the spoon detaches and the grenade explodes. The Marines later found what they believe to have been the grenade’s pin on the floor of the Toyota, suggesting that the Iraqi had the grenade in his hand — on a hair trigger — even as he wrestled with Cpl. Dunham.

None of the other Marines saw exactly what Cpl. Dunham did, or even saw the grenade. But they believe Cpl. Dunham spotted the grenade — prompting his warning cry — and, when it rolled loose, placed his helmet and body on top of it to protect his squadmates.

The scraps of Kevlar found later, scattered across the street, supported their conclusion. The grenade, they think, must have been inside the helmet when it exploded. His fellow Marines believe that Cpl. Dunham made an instantaneous decision to try out his theory that a helmet might blunt the grenade blast.

“I deeply believe that given the facts and evidence presented he clearly understood the situation and attempted to block the blast of the grenade from his squad members,” Lt. Col. Lopez wrote in a May 13 letter recommending Cpl. Dunham for the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for military valor. “His personal action was far beyond the call of duty and saved the lives of his fellow Marines.”

Recommendations for the Medal of Honor are rare. The Marines say they have no other candidates awaiting approval. Unlike other awards, the Medal of Honor must be approved by the president. The most recent act of heroism to earn the medal came 11 years ago, when two Army Delta Force soldiers gave their lives protecting a downed Blackhawk helicopter pilot in Somalia.

Staff Sgt. Ferguson was crossing the street to help when the grenade exploded. He recalls feeling a hollow punch in his chest that reminded him of being close to the starting line when dragsters gun their engines. Lance Cpl. Sanders, approaching the scene, was temporarily deafened, he says. He assumed all three Marines and the Iraqi must surely be dead.

In fact, the explosion left Cpl. Dunham unconscious and face down in his own blood, according to Lance Cpl. Sanders. He says the Iraqi lay on his back, bleeding from his midsection.

The fight wasn’t over, however. To Lance Cpl. Sanders’s surprise, the Iraqi got up and ran. Lance Cpl. Sanders says he raised his rifle and fired 25 shots at the man’s back, killing him.

The other two Marines were injured, but alive. Lance Cpl. Hampton was spitting up blood and had shrapnel embedded in his left leg, knee, arm and face, according to a military transcript. Pfc. Miller’s arms had been perforated by shrapnel. Yet both Marines struggled to their feet and staggered back toward the corner.

“Cpl. Dunham was in the middle of the explosion,” Pfc. Miller told a Marine officer weeks later, after he and Lance Cpl. Hampton were evacuated to the U.S. to convalesce. “If it was not for him, none of us would be here. He took the impact of the explosion.”

At first, Lance Cpl. Mark Edward Dean, a 22-year-old mortarman, didn’t recognize the wounded Marine being loaded into the back of his Humvee. Blood from shrapnel wounds in the Marine’s head and neck had covered his face. Then Lance Cpl. Dean spotted the tattoo on his chest — an Ace of Spades and a skull — and realized he was looking at one of his closest friends, Cpl. Dunham. A volunteer firefighter back home in Owasso, Okla., Lance Cpl. Dean says he knew from his experience with car wrecks that his friend had a better chance of surviving if he stayed calm.

“You’re going to be all right,” Lance Cpl. Dean remembers saying as the Humvee sped back to camp. “We’re going to get you home.”

When the battalion was at its base in Twentynine Palms, Calif., the two Marines had played pool and hung out with Lance Cpl. Dean’s wife, Becky Jo, at the couple’s nearby home. Once in a while, Lance Cpl. Dean says they’d round up friends, drive to Las Vegas and lose some money at the roulette tables. Shortly before the battalion left Kuwait for Iraq, Lance Cpl. Dean ran short of cash. He says Cpl. Dunham bought him a 550-minute phone card so he could call Becky Jo. He used every minute.

At battalion headquarters in al Qa’im, Chaplain David Slater was in his makeshift chapel — in a stripped-down Iraqi train car with red plastic chairs as pews — when he heard an Army Blackhawk helicopter take off. The 46-year-old Navy chaplain from Lincoln, Neb. knew that meant the shock-trauma platoon would soon receive fresh casualties.

Shortly afterward, the helicopter arrived. Navy corpsmen and Marines carried Cpl. Dunham’s stretcher 200 feet to the medical tent, its green floor and white walls emitting a rubbery scent, clumps of stethoscopes hanging like bananas over olive-drab trunks of chest tubes, bandages and emergency airway tubes.

The bearers rested the corporal’s stretcher on a pair of black metal sawhorses. A wounded Iraqi fighter was stripped naked on the next stretcher — standard practice for all patients, according to the medical staff, to ensure no injury goes unnoticed. The Iraqi had plastic cuffs on his ankles and was on morphine to quiet him, according to medical personnel who were there.

When a wounded Marine is conscious, Chaplain Slater makes small talk — asks his name and hometown — to help keep the patient calm and alert even in the face of often-horrific wounds. Chaplain Slater says he talked to Cpl. Dunham, held his hand and prayed. But he saw no sign that the corporal heard a word. After five minutes or so, he says, he moved on to another Marine.

At the same time, the medical team worked to stabilize Cpl. Dunham. One grenade fragment had penetrated the left side of his skull not far behind his eye, says Navy Cmdr. Ed Hessel, who treated him. A second entered the brain slightly higher and further toward the back of his head. A third punctured his neck.

Cmdr. Hessel, a 44-year-old emergency-room doctor from Eugene, Ore., quickly concluded that the corporal was “unarousable.” A calm, bespectacled man, he says he wanted to relieve the corporal’s brain and body of the effort required to breathe. And he wanted to be sure the corporal had no violent physical reactions that might add to the pressure on his already swollen brain.

Navy Lt. Ted Hering, a 27-year-old critical-care nurse from San Diego, inserted an intravenous drip and fed in drugs to sedate the corporal, paralyze his muscles and blunt the gag response in his throat while a breathing tube was inserted and manual ventilator attached. The Marine’s heart rate and blood pressure stabilized, according to Cmdr. Hessel. But a field hospital in the desert didn’t have the resources to help him any further.

So Cpl. Dunham was put on another Blackhawk to take him to the Seventh Marines’ base at Al Asad, a transfer point for casualties heading on to the military surgical hospital in Baghdad. During the flight, the corporal lay on the top stretcher. Beneath him was the Iraqi, with two tubes protruding from his chest to keep his lungs from collapsing. Lt. Hering stood next to the stretchers, squeezing a plastic bag every four to five seconds to press air into Cpl. Dunham’s lungs.

The Iraqi, identified in battalion medical records only as POW#1, repeatedly asked for water until six or seven minutes before landing, when Cpl. Dunham’s blood-drenched head bandage burst, sending a red cascade through the mesh stretcher and onto the Iraqi’s face below. After that, the man remained quiet, and kept his eyes and mouth clenched shut, says the nurse, Lt. Hering.

The Army air crew made the trip in 25 minutes, their fastest run ever, according to the pilot, and skimmed no higher than 50 feet off the ground to avoid changes in air pressure that might put additional strain on Cpl. Dunham’s brain.

When the Blackhawk touched down at Al Asad, Cpl. Dunham was turned over to new caretakers. The Blackhawk promptly headed back to al Qa’im. More patients were waiting; 10 Marines from the Third Battalion were wounded on April 14, along with a translator.

At 11:45 p.m. that day, Deb and Dan Dunham were at home in Scio, N.Y., a town of 1,900, when they got the phone call all military parents dread. It was a Marine lieutenant telling them their son had sustained shrapnel wounds to the head, was unconscious and in critical condition.

Mr. Dunham, 43, an Air Force veteran, works in the shipping department of a company that makes industrial heaters, and Mrs. Dunham, 44, teaches home economics. She remembers helping her athletic son, the oldest of four, learn to spell as a young boy by playing “PIG” and “HORSE” — traditional basketball shooting games — and expanding the games to include other words. He never left home or hung up the phone without telling his mother, “I love you,” she says.

The days that followed were filled with uncertainty, fear and hope. The Dunhams knew their son was in a hospital in Baghdad, then in Germany, where surgeons removed part of his skull to relieve the swelling inside. At one point doctors upgraded his condition from critical to serious.

On April 21, the Marines gave the Dunhams plane tickets from Rochester to Washington, and put them up at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., where their son was going to be transferred. Mrs. Dunham brought along the first Harry Potter novel, so she and her husband could take turns reading to their son, just to let him know they were there.

When Cpl. Dunham arrived that night, the doctors told the couple he had taken a turn for the worse, picking up a fever on the flight from Germany. After an hour by their son’s side, Mr. Dunham says he had a “gut feeling” that the outlook was bleak. Mrs. Dunham searched for signs of hope, planning to ask relatives to bring two more Harry Potter books, in case they finished the first one. Doctors urged the Dunhams to get some rest.

They were getting dressed the next morning when the intensive-care unit called to say the hospital was sending a car for them. “Jason’s condition is very, very grim,” Mrs. Dunham remembers a doctor saying. “I have to tell you the outlook isn’t very promising.”

A Marine kisses a helmet standing in honor of Cpl. Jason L. Dunham during a service at Camp Al Qaim, Iraq.

She says doctors told her the shrapnel had traveled down the side of his brain, and the damage was irreversible. He would always be on a respirator. He would never hear his parents or know they were by his side. Another operation to relieve pressure on his brain had little chance of succeeding and a significant chance of killing him.

Once he joined the Marines, Cpl. Dunham put his father in charge of medical decisions and asked that he not be kept on life support if there was no hope of recovery, says Mr. Dunham. He says his son told him, “Please don’t leave me like that.”

The Dunhams went for a walk on the hospital grounds. When they returned to the room, Cpl. Dunham’s condition had deteriorated, his mother says. Blood in his urine signaled failing kidneys, and one lung had collapsed as the other was filling with fluid. Mrs. Dunham says they took the worsening symptoms as their son’s way of telling them they should follow through on his wishes,.

At the base in al Qa’im, Second Lt. Robinson, 24, of Kenosha, Wis., gathered the men of Cpl. Dunham’s platoon in the sleeping area, a spread of cots, backpacks, CD players and rifles, its plywood walls papered with magazine shots of scantily clad women. The lieutenant says he told the Marines of the Dunhams’ decision to remove their son’s life support in two hours’ time.

Lance Cpl. Dean wasn’t the only Marine who cried. He says he prayed that some miracle would happen in the next 120 minutes. He prayed that God would touch his friend and wake him up so he could live the life he had wanted to lead.

In Bethesda, the Dunhams spent a couple more hours with their son. Marine Corps Commandant Michael Hagee arrived and pinned the Purple Heart, awarded to those wounded in battle, on his pillow. Mrs. Dunham cried on Gen. Hagee’s shoulder. The Dunhams stepped out of the room while the doctors removed the ventilator.

At 4:43 p.m. on April 22, 2004, Marine Cpl. Jason L. Dunham died.

Six days later, Third Battalion gathered in the parking lot outside the al Qa’im command post for psalms and ceremony. In a traditional combat memorial, one Marine plunged a rifle, bayonet-first, into a sandbag. Another placed a pair of tan combat boots in front, and a third perched a helmet on the rifle’s stock. Lance Cpl. Dean told those assembled about a trip to Las Vegas the two men and Becky Jo Dean had taken in January, not long before the battalion left for the Persian Gulf. Chatting in a hotel room, the corporal told his friends he was planning to extend his enlistment and stay in Iraq for the battalion’s entire tour. “You’re crazy for extending,” Lance Cpl. Dean recalls saying. “Why?”

He says Cpl. Dunham responded: “I want to make sure everyone makes it home alive. I want to be sure you go home to your wife alive.”

His memorial page is here, please visit.

The remains of Navy Captain Scott Speicher, a pilot who has been missing since being shot down during the 1991 Gulf War, have been positively identified. The Pentagon has released a statement:

The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) has positively identified remains recovered in Iraq as those of Captain Michael Scott Speicher. Captain Speicher was shot down flying a combat mission in an F/A-18 Hornet over west-central Iraq on January 17th, 1991 during Operation Desert Storm.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Captain Speicher’s family for the ultimate sacrifice he made for his country,” said Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy. “I am also extremely grateful to all those who have worked so tirelessly over the last 18 years to bring Captain Speicher home.”

“Our Navy will never give up looking for a shipmate, regardless of how long or how difficult that search may be,” said Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations. “We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Captain Speicher and his family for the sacrifice they have made for our nation and the example of strength they have set for all of us.”

The statement goes on to recount the details of how Capt. Speicher’s remains were found, and the likelihood that he died on impact. I am so glad that the remains have been identified, and the mystery solved.

Much like the disappearance of Etan Patz, the Speicher case has been weighing on my mind. While every missing person and serviceman is important, some cases take on a special meaning in our consciousness. I’m glad that Capt. Speicher’s family has the certainty of knowing what happened, and of burying him in the U.S.A

During a series of email and telephone exchanges Matthew Degn relayed to www.regimeofterror.com… his vast array of experiences working with intelligence issues relating to the current and former situation in Iraq. Among his responsibilities during his years in Iraq Degn worked as a civilian interrogator attached to the U.S. Army in Iraq before working as a Senior Policy/Intelligence Adviser to Deputy General Kamal and other top intelligence officials with the Iraq’s Ministry of Interior. Degn, currently working on a book about his experiences in Iraq (personal website here), continues to argue against those that feel there was no link between terrorism and Saddam Hussein’s regime based on his involvement with hundreds of interrogations in Iraq and his involvement with many of the Iraqi Intelligence officials with the Ministry of Interior. Degn says that much of the public perception about Saddam Hussein’s regime and terrorism are incorrect.

Degn is currently the Director of the Intelligence Studies Program and a professor at American Military University currently a professor at American Military University whose testimony about events in Iraq has been cited by NPR, ABC News, the Washington Post and elsewhere.

~~~

Another reason for conflicting reports that Degn pointed out is both the chain of command in the U.S. government’s many agencies and compartmentalization of information (”need to know”). Degn said he saw firsthand how these two factors led to vital wartime information being “watered down” before it mades its way to official reports and investigations.

Again from the US Army’s webpage on D-Day, a General’s message to his troops. The page has a link to the audio. Below, the transcript.

Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force! You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers in arms on other fronts, you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle hardened, he will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944! Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man to man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our home fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned! The free men of the world are marching together to victory!

I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory!

Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.

– Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower

Lastly, a page of tributes and news articles guaranteed to touch your heart the Army’s “news” page.

Medic honors grandfather’s legacy on Normandy beach
June 5, 2009 – By: Sgt. Fay Conroy

Normandy residents show servicememebers supporting D-Day anniversary some hometown hospitality
June 5, 2009 – By: Tech. Sgt. Michael Voss, 435th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

D-Day commentary: Values bind servicememebers together across span of time
June 4, 2009 – By: Spc. Adrienne Killingsworth, 18th Military Police Brigade Public Affairs Office

Brussels Soldiers meet D-Day veterans
June 4, 2009 – By: Thad Moyseowicz, U.S. Army Garrison Brussels Public Affairs

Stryker sergeants relive history by recreating image of Soldiers taken on D-Day
June 4, 2009 – By: Tech. Sgt. Michael Voss, 435th Air Base Wing Public Affairs Office

Chance meeting brings cavalry sergeant face-to-face with D-Day veteran
June 4, 2009 – By: Air Force Tech. Sgt. Michael Voss

Airborne museum houses one-of-a-kind artifacts that honor historic jump during D-Day invasion
June 3, 2009 – By: Sgt. Fay Conroy, 21st Theater Sustainment Command Public Affairs

Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen living and working together to support 65th anniversary of D-Day
June 3, 2009 – By: Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (AW) Chris Henry

Church tower, windows pay tribute to paratroopers who jumped into first town liberated during World War II
June 2, 2009 – By: Sgt. Fay Conroy

Soldiers prep to support D-Day ceremonies for 65th anniversary of invasion
June 1, 2009 – By: Spc. Adrienne Killingsworth

By now, the current POTUS/TOTUS has landed in France… set to address another world audience on the 65th anniversary of D-Day. Regardless of the political scrutiny of Obama’s performance, this is as it should be. Our CIC *should* be there to pay honor to our heroes, resting on French soil.

But I will say this… considering Obama’s track record of speeches across Europe as POTUS, and as a candidate, I’m not looking forward to his D-Day Obama comments, and his half-baked pride in America that gets buried under platitudes during a fence balancing act. This is a day I want a Commander in Chief that delivers. A President who remembers and mourns the “boys” that left for war, and is proud and forever beholding to those same boys who became the “men” who conquered a cliff and saved a continent

Old Trooper has sent me the perfect tribute, with a promise I would post this to remind all FA readers of the honest and heartfelt thanks from a genuine Commander in Chief from decades past. So, together we take you back in time to 1984… President Ronald Reagan’s speech commemorating another anniversary of fallen heroes on sacred ground.

It is fitting, it is a speech worthy of the day, delivered by a Commander in Chief proud not only of his country today, but also it’s history. And today, I want to share it with you… and with heartfelt thanks to Old Trooper for reviving this stirring memory.

Today, as 40 years ago, our armies are here for only one purpose. To protect and defend democracy. The only territories we hold are memorials, like this one, and graveyards where our heroes rest. We in American have learned bitter lessons from two World Wars. It is better to be here, ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea… rushing to respond only after freedom is lost.

President Ronald Reagan, June 6, 1984, Normandy

Normandy Invasion, June 1944

Army troops wade ashore on “Omaha” Beach during the “D-Day” landings, 6 June 1944.
They were brought to the beach by a Coast Guard manned LCVP.

Photograph from the U.S. Coast Guard Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Wounded men of the 3rd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, receive cigarettes and food after they had stormed “Omaha” beach on “D-Day”, 6 June 1944.

Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Landing ships putting cargo ashore on one of the invasion beaches, at low tide during the first days of the operation, June 1944.
Among identifiable ships present are USS LST-532 (in the center of the view); USS LST-262 (3rd LST from right); USS LST-310 (2nd LST from right); USS LST-533 (partially visible at far right); and USS LST-524.
Note barrage balloons overhead and Army “half-track” convoy forming up on the beach.

Photograph from the U.S. Coast Guard Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

USS LST-325 (left) and USS LST-388 unloading while stranded at low tide during resupply operations, 12 June 1944.
Note: propellers, rudders and other underwater details of these LSTs; 40mm single guns; barrage balloon; “Danforth” style kedge anchor at LST-325’s stern.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Senior U.S. officers watching operations from the bridge of USS Augusta (CA-31), off Normandy, 8 June 1944.
They are (from left to right): Rear Admiral Alan G. Kirk, USN, Commander Western Naval Task Force; Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley, U.S. Army, Commanding General, U.S. First Army; Rear Admiral Arthur D. Struble, USN, (with binoculars) Chief of Staff for RAdm. Kirk; and Major General Hugh Keen, U.S. Army.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

The pictures of Normandy tell a story… but the story we shall miss the most are from those men and women – still with us – who returned home to start again. We are losing the last precious survivors of this generation of extraordinary Americans daily. With their loss goes a more personal perspective of what it truly means to sacrifice and support our military in a war.

I, personally, find this particular D-Day anniversary more poignant than usual. Perhaps I’m more aware of what we have to lose when I’m told our nation needs to be “remade” by a some young, hip President with no emotional connection to this WWII era, the Founders and Framers. Or perhaps it’s year where I am more painfully aware of mortality… and the losses I’ve already had, and those I’ve yet to face.

Most likely it is both. A longing for a time when we knew what we had, and felt that it was worth fighting to keep… not remake. And even more, the loneliness of losing those around me who feel the same.

Today is a day to again honor that generation… while they are still around to look into their eyes and express our gratitude. They changed the lives of the world… and for the better. We cannot thank them enough.

Thank you Eddie

Most of the photos come from DoD, and are focused on the current conflicts. The editing is a bit uneven, as I haphazardly imported pictures without a lot of discrimination; but ultimately, what I decided I wanted to convey is the sense of sacrifice of not just the soldiers, but of the military families they leave behind who dare to support them and their mission. I wanted to juxtaposition those photos of them reunited/leaving their families with photos of what their service and sacrifice away from home have gained back in return: Purple fingers….admiration and friendships with Iraqis and Iraqi children….. There’s a poignancy there, because these mothers and fathers should be back home with their own families, who need them in their lives; their children deserve to have their parent holding them- not be half a world away, holding someone else’s child in place of them. And yet, what the soldier does by leaving his family behind, he does on behalf of them…and us.

It is the American soldier who is the best ambassador to other nations; who exemplifies nobility and compassion and who exports our values and traditions. It is the American soldier who represents the best and brightest our country has to offer.

When those Iraqi children in the photos grow up, I hope they remember the kindness and friendship of U.S. soldiers.

A reminder of why America’s military is the most hated around the world.

Take also into consideration, the following:

Just Europe .

1. The American Cemetery at Aisne-Marne , France . A total of 2289 of our m ilitary dead.
We Apologize.

2. The American Cemetery at Ardennes , Belgium . A total of 5329 of our dead.
We are arrogant .

3. The American Cemetery at Brittany, France . A total of 4410 of our military dead.
Excuse us.

4. Brookwood , England American Cemetery. A total of 468 of our dead.

5. Cambridge , England . 3812 of our military dead.

6. Epinal , France American Cemetery. A total of 5525 of our Military dead.

7. Flanders Field , Belgium . A total of 368 of our military.

8. Florence , Italy . A total of 4402 of our military dead.

9. Henri-Chapelle , Belgium . A total of 7992 of our military dead.

10. Lorraine , France . A total of 10,489 of our military dead.

11. Luxembourg , Luxembourg . A total of 5076 of our military dead.

12. Meuse-Argonne. A total of 14246 of our military dead.

13. Netherlands , Netherlands . A total of 8301 of our military dead.

14. Normandy , France . A total of 9387 of our military dead.

15. Oise-Aisne , France . A total of 6012 of our military dead.

16. Rhone , France . A total of 861 of our military dead.

17. Sicily , Italy . A total of 7861 of our military dead.

18. Somme , France . A total of 1844 of our military dead.

19. St. Mihiel , France . A total of 4153 of our military dead.

20. Suresnes , France . a total of 1541 of our military dead.

IF I ADDED CORRECTLY
THE COUNT IS 104,366

Apologize to no one. Remind those of our sacrifice and don’t confuse
arrogance with leadership.

From 2008:

From 2007:

Hat tip Cox and Forum for the following:

The official birthplace of Memorial Day is Waterloo, New York. The village was credited with being the birthplace because it observed the day on May 5, 1866, and each year thereafter, and because it is likely that the friendship of General John Murray, a distinguished citizen of Waterloo, and General John A Logan, who led the call for the day to be observed each year and helped spread the event nationwide, was a key factor in its growth.

General Logan had been impressed by the way the South honored their dead with a special day and decided the Union needed a similar day. Reportedly, Logan said that it was most fitting; that the ancients, especially the Greeks, had honored their dead, particularly their heroes, by chaplets of laurel and flowers, and that he intended to issue an order designating a day for decorating the grave of every soldier in the land, and if he could he would have made it a holiday.

Logan had been the principal speaker in a citywide memorial observation on April 29, 1866, at a cemetery in Carbondale, Illinois, an event that likely gave him the idea to make it a national holiday. On May 5, 1868, in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, a veterans’ organization, Logan issued a proclamation that “Decoration Day” be observed nationwide. It was observed for the first time on May 30 of the same year; the date was chosen because it was not the anniversary of a battle. The tombs of fallen Union soldiers were decorated in remembrance of this day. …

The alternative name of “Memorial Day” was first used in 1882, but did not become more common until after World War II, and was not declared the official name by Federal law until 1967. On June 28, 1968, the United States Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill, which moved four holidays from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend.

Other FA Memorial Day posts:
“Earn this. Earn it.”

The History of Memorial Day

A Memorial Day Message for the Ages

Today I Remember Sgt. Eddie Jeffers

Remember Memorial Day

“God must have a special place for soldiers.”

Interactive search of the Vietnam Wall Memorial

Memorial Day 2009

Remember… and honor

60 year old Maj. Steven Hutchison, a Vietnam veteran who re-enlisted after 9/11 was killed in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq on May 10th.

From MSNBC:

A 60-year-old Vietnam War veteran who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq has become the oldest Army soldier to die in that conflict, the military said Thursday.

An Associated Press database of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan shows that Maj. Steven Hutchison, of Scottsdale, Ariz., is the oldest member of any service branch killed since the wars broke out.

His brother said Hutchison decided to re-enlist after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the death of his wife.

This is a debt we can never repay.

The best we can do is to never forget.

h/t – Larry W for pointing out this story.

h/t – Hawk for the pic link.

“From my own experience visiting the troops in the Middle East, I can tell you this, though: despite how the conflict has been portrayed by our glorious media, if you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Osama bin Laden, there’s a good chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice, and Harry Reid and bin Laden would be strangled to death.”

I post this to point out that American “troops” that I’ve spoken with are not at all enamored with Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid. It might be because Pelosi worked against their efforts to succeed in Iraq, and Harry Reid flat out said the war was lost at the very same moment it was being won. It might be because they both tried to cut off supplies to American forces in combat just to get some good political PR. There’s probably a lot of reasons, but the point here is that the by and large the “troops” were not supported IN EFFECT or even in rhetoric by Democratic Party leaders, and many people-myself included-often hear from “troops” that the frustration is much much MUCH higher than Democrats and opponents of the American forces efforts to succeed in Iraq might realize.

The Marines’ Infantry Immersion Trainer combines live role-players, virtual characters and pyrotechnics in an intense simulation.

He also notes that never once did the Congress members ask what methods they used to obtain the intelligence.

Gaubatz is disturbed that the current administration, and the Congress members he helped keep informed, now turn their backs on the truth, hamper intelligence gathering, and abandon the US intel operatives in order to throw their support to detainee rights. To this end, he promises to release documents and photos from 2003.

Our troops knew in 2003 we were facing an ‘evil ideology’ of Islamic terrorists, many died, and many more will likely sacrifice their lives because we have politicians who care more for their careers than they do the security of our nation.

I am releasing several never before seen documents and photographs I obtained while working counter-intelligence/counter-intelligence in 2003. Why? Because the intelligence gathering abilities of our brave officers is being hampered, this translates into our country facing a national security threat from Islamic terrorists. This means our children will become their targets.

I believe it disturbs many Americans and the intelligence officers that now we have liberal Democrats in office who know the truth about the sufferings of our troops, and now stand up for the rights of Islamic terrorists who may have to be pushed around to save our troops. I will not be one responsible for their deaths and the sufferings their parents will go through simply because a politician wants to placate the liberals who care more for Islamic terrorists than they do for their neighbor’s son or daughter fighting for our country.

Gaubatz also noted that he took his civilian assignment with the full knowledge that, if captured, he would be considered an enemy spy under the Geneva Convention and likely executed… and that the US government would not be able to prevent this. This would be the same GC that everyone reveres today as the guideline for detainee treatment including anything that constitutes “mental” torture.

He noted he documented his contacts with Congress members, regularly inquiring about obtained intelligence.

FP: Can you name politicians who were aware of intelligence that was being obtained during interrogations?

Gaubatz: It would be easier to name the ones who were not concerned. In early 2003, Americans fighting in Iraq felt we had the support of all politicians, regardless of political affiliation. We had inquires from politicians of all levels about the intelligence we were collecting. These politicians had constituents who wanted answers on the war and I believe deserved answers. Our teams wrote hundreds of intelligence reports and we briefed many through other electronic means. One such person at the time was then Senator Joe Biden (now VP Biden). I still have my war notes taken from the field, and his name was written in my book on 7 June 2003.

Biden was aware of intelligence we were obtaining from the field, and never did anyone question our methods of obtaining the intelligence. We were professionals and collected intelligence using the best method one could when surrounded by enemies sometimes 6 to our 2.

Gaubatz may seem like he’s publicly wondering why Biden refuses to speak up now. But he knows all too well that this is politics, and that’s not setting too well with him.

Why will he not speak about it? Did Biden know Iranians were entering Iraq and providing sophisticated weapons to Islamic terrorists to kill our brave troops? I am not trying to single out Biden who knew what was going on, but to let the American people understand both Republicans and Democratic leaders were aware of the situation in Iraq.

We were being encouraged by both parties to obtain intelligence to protect our troops and country.

When we went to war in 2003, we were facing an enemy we were not prepared for, and still aren’t. The enemy was not simply the Army of Saddam, but the Islamic terrorists who were residing in Iraq well before 2003. Once we entered Iraq, the Iranians began entering southern Iraq and were paying Islamic suicide bombers to kill Americans. VP Biden and all key government leaders were provided reports of these acts.

Now I watch television daily and hear our liberal leaders whining about Islamic terrorists who may have been ‘slapped’, or put into a box with a caterpillar. None of these liberals were standing up for civilian intelligence officers in 2003 that were being deployed to Iraq with misleading identification and weapons.

Gaubatz elaborates on the Jessica Lynch event, from their capture, treatment, to the ultimate rescue. He notes ROE preventing the search of mosques, schools, or Red Crescent ambulances cost the lives of U.S. military personnel. He also states, in no uncertain terms, that the jihad movements were thriving in Iraq long before 2003.

This is worthy of a full read.. and I don’t think we’ve heard the last of David Gaubatz on this issue. In fact, I shall be checking in on his blog, DG Counter-terrorism Publishing, often for updates. What will be more interesting is seeing how the Congress members he names do the posturing and dodging needed in order to extract themselves from his charges.

It’s likely the media shall, once again, go on the attack for Mr. Gaubatz as happened back in 2006, when he was much maligned and portrayed as a kook when he pushed the ISG to have locations ID’d by locals as caches for WMDs searched. I had posted on this back in Feb of 2006 when Eli Lake’s NY Sun article appeared with the tale of lost opportunity. [Mata Musing: See more on this subject in my comment below.]

Now to see what a POTUS – that considers intimidation tactics the norm and uses an Alinsky attack machine of riled up citizens over class warfare as part of it’s own ROE – does with Mr. Gaubatz on the interrogation controversy.

Listen, I am so honored.

AUDIENCE MEMBER [State Dept Official/appointee who is new in-country]: We love you.

THE PRESIDENT: I love you back. (Applause.) I am honored — I’m honored and grateful to be with all of you [and grateful that you all have cameras, or I wouldn't have even flown over this place]. And I’m not going to talk long because I want to [get as many photos for the web] shake as many hands as I can. (Applause.) And I’ve been talking all week. (Laughter.) [It's time words mean something-like when I told North Korea to STOP or I'll have to say STOP again!]

But there’s a couple of things I want to say. Number one, thank you.

AUDIENCE MEMBER [member of traveling press corps]: You’re welcome.

THE PRESIDENT: You know, when I was at Camp Lejeune [to push back the timeline for withdrawal again] I spoke about what it means for America to see our best and brightest, our finest young men and women serve us. And what I said then is something that I want to repeat to you, which is: You have performed brilliantly [and ACCOMPLISHED] every mission that has been given to you.

AUDIENCE: [barely audible] Ooh-ah.

THE PRESIDENT: Under enormous strain and under enormous sacrifice, through controversy and difficulty and politics [Gosh I hope no one remembers "I opposed this war in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 06, 07, and again in 2008."], you’ve kept your eyes focused on just doing your job [despite opposition to your doing your job from Democrats and me]. And because of that, every mission that’s been assigned — from getting rid of Saddam [which I opposed], to reducing violence [which I opposed], to stabilizing the country [which I opposed], to facilitating elections [which I opposed]– you have given Iraq the opportunity to stand on its own as a democratic country. That is an extraordinary achievement, and for that [now that I've successfully used your as tools to get elected] you have the thanks of the American people [including Democrats now-woohoo!!]. (Applause.) That’s point number one.

Point number two is, this is going to be a critical period, these next 18 [err, 19] months. [...and it's going to be even tougher for the 50,000 of you who will stay here indefinitely beyond those 19 months] I was just discussing this with your commander, but I think it’s something that all of you know. It is time for us to transition to the Iraqis ['cause, ya know, no one's been trying to do that for the past six years, right?]. (Applause.) They need to take responsibility for their country and for their sovereignty [oh gawd, I hope no one notices that my speechwriter took that verbatim from a Bush speech in 2003]. (Applause.)

And in order for them to do that, they have got to make political accommodations [and do things that we American politicians would never do: work together rather than ramrod through legislation over minority parties]. They’re going to have to decide that they want to resolve their differences through constitutional means and legal means [or they can do it like today's Democratic Party does ala Chicago-style politics]. They are going to have to focus on providing government services that encourage confidence among their citizens [...and I'm not sure how to do that 'cause confidence among American citizens is waning at best].

All those things they have to do. We can’t do it for them [oops, more Bush speech taken verbatim-hope no one notices]. But what we can do is make sure that we are a stalwart partner, that we are working alongside them, that we are committed to their success, that in terms of training their security forces, training their civilian forces in order to achieve a more effective government, they know that they have a steady partner with us. [WTF?! How much did we plagiarize from Bushitler?]

And so just as we thank you for what [MISSIONS] you’ve already accomplished, I want to say thank you because you will be critical in terms of us being able to make sure that Iraq is stable, that it is not a safe haven for terrorists, that it is a good neighbor and a good ally, and we can start bringing our folks home [OMG, I think Rahm hired a Bush speech writer]. (Applause.)

So now is not the time to lose focus. We have to be even more focused than we’ve been in order to achieve success [which I opposed, but now that I'm President...I damn well support!].

The last point I want to make is I know how hard it’s been on a lot of you. You’ve been away from your families, many of you for multiple rotations. You’ve seen buddies of yours injured and you remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

AUDIENCE [traveling White House press corps photographer looking for pics of caskets to sell/make money off of]: Ooh-ah.

THE PRESIDENT: There are probably some people here who have seen children born and have been missing watching them grow up. There are many of you who have listened to your spouse and the extraordinary sacrifices that they have to make when you’re gone.

And so I want you to know that Michelle and myself are doing everything — (applause) — are doing everything we can to provide additional support for military families. The federal budget that I have introduced increases support for military families. We are going to do everything required to make sure that the commitment we make to our veterans is met, and that people don’t have to fight for what they have earned as a consequence of their service.

The main point I want to make is we have not forgotten what you have already done [In fact, we Democrats are only now noticing/supporting it], we are grateful for what you will do [...and I no longer oppose it], and as long as I am in the White House [the most important thing], you are going to get the support that you need and the thanks that you deserve from a grateful nation [Including Democrats now!]. (Applause.)

So thank you very much everybody [for being the tools you were to get me elected]. (Applause.) God bless you [Oops, Markos Moulitas might take that as a call for Holy War]. (Applause.) God bless the United States of America [Oh man, Keith Olberman's gonna say I'm trying to create a theocracy now]. (Applause.)

link

Ryan was decorated for valor several times in his first tour of Iraq. He seems to be a really nice guy by all accounts and of unusually good character for the MTV series.

Ryan voted for Obama
Ryan voted to end the War in Iraq
Ryan was happy
Obama did not end the War in Iraq.

Obama knew during the campaign that the Department of Defense and generals and his own military advisors told him that a 16-month withdrawal was not a responsible withdrawal. Still, he promised it, and he deliberately misled people like Ryan.

Obama has instead chosen to follow President Bush’s timeline to end the war in Iraq (a tentative 23-month withdrawal started last fall rather than the 16-months he promised), and so Ryan was called back to Iraq again.

Ryan is not happy
Ryan is a young man who Barack Obama misled and used as nothing more than a means to power.

My sympathy and most sincere hopes for Ryan’s safety go out to him. Godspeed Ryan, and I’m sorry Obama and the Democrats’ Congress were able to lie to you without condemnation.

Here two of Ryan’s roommates watch last night’s episode and reflect on Ryan:

Ryan gets the call: