Michael Ware has a different definition of winning in Iraq. Watch this video.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P04vq7Dz_eI]
I challenge you..
A couple of weeks ago following my nephew’s graduation from Recruit Training at Great Lakes Naval Station I approached my nephew and told him I thought that national service would be a good thing for most Americans. I thought we’d have a little less self-absorption if more of our fifty and under crowd actually served something other than their own narrow agendas. Tom agreed and said, “Uncle Don I just said the same thing to Dad.” I hear a lot of talk from many of my younger friends and even from some of the older ones of supporting the troops, but I want to know what have you actually done. I therefore challenge this new generation of Americans to join up. Go Navy! Go Army! Go Marine! Go Air Force! Go Coast Guard! Do something don’t just talk big, walk big too. If you can’t actually join, find a military person that you can write to. Find out if they need money for their family and send them some cash. Ask for nothing in return.
I gotta go now.., but you think of what you can do to help our young women in men and uniform and better yet become one yourself. Patriotism is more than waving the flag, it’s about carrrying it too. Show your gratitude by what you do, not what you say.
Buchanan loved the speech too!
I would have thought hell had frozen over before I’d hear these words from Pat Buchanan. That is the measure of the power of Senator Obama’s acceptance speech.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0Fru4dZLGA]
It’s about US
Today I got some emails about Senator Obama and about why I shouldn’t vote for him and it propelled me to write back and to assert that Senator McCain is not a bad person or a bad American either, but that Senator Obama has a vision for America that is decidedly different and a place where we as Americans need to be moving. This short excerpt of his acceptance speech is one the home runs he hit on Thursday night.
But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other’s character and patriotism.
The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America – they have served the United States of America.
So I’ve got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.
America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can’t just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose – our sense of higher purpose. And that’s what we have to restore.
We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don’t tell me we can’t uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don’t know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America’s promise – the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.
I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that’s to be expected. Because if you don’t have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.
You make a big election about small things.
And you know what – it’s worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn’t work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it’s best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.
I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don’t fit the typical pedigree, and I haven’t spent my career in the halls of Washington.
But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don’t understand is that this election has never been about me. It’s been about you.
Remember this election is about us. It’s not about us and them. We are us. We are the United States of America and by God let’s be united and lets start living united.
Squirrels in our midst
I drove to Olean, New York tonight for a dinner with my wife at the Beef & Barrel Restaraunt in downtown Olean. It’s one of our favorite stop and perhaps the best beef house in all of New York State. After dinner Diane did some shopping while I watched this year’s Jamestown Community College-Olean Lady Jaguars Soccer team take on Hudson Valley Community College. I made it to a number of their games last year. But, enough of the Jaguars and the Beef & Barrel. All over Olean squirrels like the one pictured here dot the streets. Some look like veterans, some like Santa, others are colorful like this one. Every town and city has its signature and these squirrels are Olean’s.
Bill Cosby
Last night my wife and I drove west the sixty-seven or so miles that it is from our home in Franklinville, New York to Chautauqua Institution. Chautauqua is one of those lovely contemplative venues that I love. Diane loves Bill Cosby and for her birthday in June I bought a couple of tickets to Saturday’s 8:15 performance. She and our children regularly watched the Cosby Show when it was regular series.
I’ve liked Bill Cosby since I was a young boy. I can remember him starring on “I Spy” with Robert Culp. I remember seeing him on other television shows too. I remember that Bill Cosby wrote an endorsement for the Temptations on their “Great Hits” album.
But, it wasn’t until after I purchased the tickets and read about him on Wikipedia that I realized that we had something in common. It turns out that we are both US Navy veterans and we both served as Hospital Corpsman. Diane thoroughly enjoyed the show. She laughed so hard her sides hurt. Thank you to Bill Cosby for a great evening.
I used my new Blackberry Curve to take this lovely picture of Chautauqua Lake after Diane and I finished dinner at the Tally Ho.
Three generations
I put together a short video of pictures of my uncle, my Dad, myself and my nephew in uniform. That’s three generations serving the United States of America in uniform. My uncle was the lone Army veteran. Dad, Tom and I went Navy. Animoto is a really interesting Web 2.0 site that allows you to create short or long videos and it has gateways to Flickr and Picasa.
[clearspring_widget title=”Animoto.com” wid=”46928cc51133af17″ pid=”48b0268016504f98″ width=”432″ height=”260″ domain=”widgets.clearspring.com”]
Rewarding
At 0730 last Friday morning I found myself riding with my brother and his family through the Illinois Street Gate at United States Navy Recruit Training Command. That morning was filled with excitement for all on board. It was homecoming for one old sailor returning to a place where I too had once served. Once we got thoroughly checked by the U.S. Navy Police we were allowed to walk from our car to the MCPON building which was our portal to the drill hall where my nephew and 967 of his shipmates would pass in review. My brother Mark, was out in front leading the way. Like any father he was more than anxious see his son again. I walked between my sister-in-law Terry and their two children. It was a sunny day with a bright blue sky. Much has changed at Recruit Training Command since my time there. Only one of the buildings from the 1972 era is still there, but the pavements were the same. As I walked, emotion welled to the surface. No one noticed but my eyes were filling with tears. I could feel them trickle down my cheek. Tom was passing in review today but I was home again in a place that didn’t seem like home in 1972. The ghosts of thousands of sailors were with us as we walked and I was aware of them. We crossed the street and moved toward the drill hall where Tom would graduate.
My eyes were drier now and all around me were petty officers shepherding our every movement. I felt at home and as one who had been on a long journey. On my way into the drill hall I passed a 1st Class Hospital Corpman. I forgot she wasn’t supposed to talk me and I blurted out, “I was a 3rd Class Corpsman.” We reached our seats and were to have a wonderful experience watching these young men and women pass in review. After the ceremony as I shopped once more in the Navy Exchange for souvenirs to bring back to my family I spotted a quote from John F. Kennedy. I’d never seen it before but it is one that I will not forget.
I can imagine no more rewarding a career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: “I served in the United States Navy”-John F. Kennedy
Before the day was over and as we waited for my nephew to check in with the Transient Holding Unit I fell asleep under a tree next to the drill field I had graduated from in 1972. I was filled with an abiding sense of peace and I slept fitfully there under that tree. It’s a memory that will be with me for a long time.
Grateful living
I got the following in the mail today from Brother David Steindl-Rast, OSB and it arrives at a time of transition for me. Summer is turning to autumn. My daughter has returned to college. I’ve returned from a journey that saw me in Illinois and then southern New York and New Jersey. I visited places I hadn’t been to in over thirty-five years. I spent time with family that I see very sparingly. I shared in great joy and release.
In thanksgiving for life, I pledge
to overcome the illusion of ENTITLEMENT
by reminding myself that everything is gift
and, thus, to live GRATEFULLY.
In thanksgiving for life, I pledge
to overcome my GREED,
that confuses wants with needs,
by trusting that enough for all our needs is given to us
and to share GENEROUSLY
what i so generously receive.
Life is truly a gift and yet I don’t see it that way often enough. Read more of Brother David’s work here.
Pass in Review
Thursday of this week will see me traveling to Great Lakes, Illinois. I haven’t been there since February 8, 1973. My nephew is due to Pass in Review. He’s been at Great Lakes Recruit Training Center since late June. Tom signed up on a delayed enlistment plan in January. Since then a young man I hardly knew because we’re usually separated by hundreds of miles has constantly been in my thoughts and prayers. I called him the night before he left and talked briefly with him and let him know that I’d be praying for him. I’ve sent him 7 letters and a postcard since he’s been in Boot Camp. I know from being there that “mail call” can be a lonely time. I’ve done my best to lighten his load and encourage him along the path to his new career. Whether Tom stays in the Navy for four or thirty-four years one thing is for certain now, he’ll never be the same again. Boot camp is one of those rights of passage that young men and women go through that set them apart from their peers. It is designed to be that way. He has metamorphosed from a civilian with a distinct individuality into a member of a military unit where each person is part of a great whole.
This journey to Great Lakes is part of a larger journey which Tom’s enlistment has been for me. It’s been a journey into my own past and a better insight into my own experience of the United States Navy. Thirty-six years ago on the 13th of October 1972, I led the division onto the field carrying the American flag. I got the honor because I’m tall and I had a good military bearing. I get goose bumps just thinking about standing again at a place where my own Navy journey began. So much has changed in these past 36 years and yet so much remains the same. I’m as anxious as a nineteen year old once more except I know now how it turned out. I did well. I excelled and I hope the same for Tom and his shipmates. One thing is for certain as they pass in review there will be one old sailor with a lump in his throat, a tear in his eye and a chest filled with a healthy sense of pride for this new group of sailors about to become part of the greatest navy in the history of the world.