Author Archives: BZ

The American Soldier At Christmas

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110713-F-RN211-023In 2012, Christmas and New Year’s day happen to fall on my standard off-duty times.  I go back to work the day after each.  That was simply the luck of the draw in terms of my current non-overtime schedule.

That said, there are multiple tens of thousands of American soldiers stationed all about the planet, in Germany and Europe (recently, 80,000), in Iraq (4,000+), in South Korea on the DMZ (USFK, 28,000+), in Afghanistan (68,000), on Okinawa and in the USFJ (over 35,000) who don’t get days off and who will be working and conducting patrols and engaging in firefights and disabling IEDs and wearing armor and helmets and carrying M4s.

They are working on problems and stationed at posts in the rain and the cold at all hours of the day and night.  They stand watch over our freedom.  They are assigned to places they don’t really want to be; their families are bereft one very important person during this holiday season.

That said, I am reminded of one man who sacrificed 57 of his personal Christmases for our troops between 1942 and 1988: Bob Hope.

This is what he did:

[Historical note: the American invasion of Peleliu in World War II on September 15th, 1944, was begun by the 1st Marines.  This assault, in the Palau Islands, had the highest casualty rate of any amphibious invasion in terms of men and materiel in the entire Pacific Theater.  The 1st Marine Division suffered over 6,500 casualties — over half of the division itself.]

Bob Hope in Cu Chi, Vietnam, Christmas of 1966.

During Phyllis Diller’s first tour with Bob Hope in Vietnam, when she observed the conditions to which our American soldiers were subjected, she began to cry just prior to taking the stage.  Hope took her aside and said stop it.  That’s the last thing these men need to see.  Reign it in.  They’re here for some brief relief from their plight and you’ve got to do your best to keep things upbeat.

That was Bob Hope.

And those were — then — and now — our American Troops.

They made their sacrifices way back when.  And make their sacrifices now.

Year after year after year, during the Christmas season.

Throw a prayer their way, if you will.  Remember them in your thoughts at night.

God bless the American Soldier.

Merry Christmas to each and every one of my visitors, writers and readers.

BZ

P.S.
Thanks for all the wonderful, incredible, glorious memories, Bob.

 

 

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A ‘dad’ is tenth most popular Christmas list request for children

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Dad For ChristmasWhen I read that headline, I first felt a lump in my throat.

Then I realized: this is nothing more than the truth trumping Leftism, Feminism, fish and bicycles.

From the UKTelegraph.com:

A study of 2,000 British parents found most children will put a new baby brother or sister at the top of their Christmas list, closely followed by a request for a real-life reindeer.

A “pet horse” was the third most popular choice, with a “car” making a bizarre entry at number four.

Despite their material requests, the tenth most popular Christmas wish on the list was a “Dad”.

In fear of spoiling Christmas Day, I have decided to persevere, with a clear Constant that few have the guts to express: a single woman with a child isn’t a true family.  Two gay men with a child aren’t a family.  Two lesbians with a child aren’t a family.  I couldn’t write this more clearly.

Without a Mars to a Venus, children are simply shorted.  Plain and simple.

There is a yin to the yang.  One without the other results in cheated children.  A generation after generation of cheated children.

Which results in, primordially, where we are now.

Men, their viewpoints, their presence, their influence, are sorely needed in society.

More.  Not less.  More testosterone.  Less estrogen.

Children are saying and thirsting for it themselves.

BZ

P.S.
This scene will never escape me:

I was driving my father to a nearby restaurant in 2008 — Woody’s on Watt Avenue, one of his favorites — when I came to the stop sign at Yellowstone and Marconi, about to turn left.  We had been talking about my wife and I asked my father: “Do you know why my wife calls you Dad, as opposed to my former girlfriend calling you Dick?”

“No, why,” he asked.

“Because she never had a Dad, a real Dad,” I said, “and she considers you her Dad now.”

He was very quiet enroute the restaurant.  But I noticed that he gave my wife a very big hug when we met there.

That is a moment I will never forget.

 

 

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Kansas Residents Plan Human Shield To Block Westboro Baptist Church At Police Funerals

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Westboro-Baptist-ChurchAll that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
-Edmund Burke

I am an adherent of the First Amendment. I may disagree with what people say but, on the other hand, I have the right to voice my disagreement.

As in: these protesters are good people doing something.

Over 2,000 people have signaled an intent to join a human shield in an attempt to block a Westboro Baptist Church protest of the funerals of two Topeka, Kan., police officers killed in the line of duty.

Two grassroots-based movements, organized via Facebook, are planning to surround the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka on Saturday to block planned protests by the controversial group, which is based in Topeka. The funerals are for Topeka police officers David Gogian and Jeff Atherly, who were killed in a shootout in front of a Dillon’s supermarket last Sunday evening. The planned shield comes as Westboro faces a national backlash and similar events have occurred in response to the group’s plans to protest the funerals of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Connecticut.

Westboro has a right to protest, no matter how despicable and ugly their reasons.  And trust me, they are ugly and despicable.

Just as these movements have a right to block the Westboro protests.

BZ

 

 

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