Monday, May 31, 2010

Moving tribute to our fallen

My girls and I just returned from town after attending the Memorial Day Observance hosted by American Legion Post #6.  I've been to services in the past with only 35-40 people taking the time to come and honor our fallen servicemen and women. But today the seats were filled with many standing around the room...I would guess there were  300 people in attendance, maybe more.  The Moscow combined Jr/Sr. High Band did a beautiful job, playing a poignant tribute written in honor of a specific Marine unit, along with another medley of songs and the National Anthem.

But the keynote address by Brigadier General Waldrop (Ret.) was so moving and so inspirational that I begged him to send me a copy so I could post it here.  My tissues were out more than once during his address.  I hope our readers are likewise inspired and touched by his remarks to honor our fallen.  At the very end of the post is a great youtube video about expressing gratitude to our servicemen and women.  Please scroll down to watch it.

M E M O R I A L  D A Y  A D D R E S S
Moscow, Idaho, Monday, May 31, 2010
Brigadier General Carleton B. “Barney” Waldrop, USAF (Ret)

“FREEDOM IS NOT FREE”

INTRODUCTION:

Thank you for the introduction and thanks to American Legion Post. No. 6 for hosting this Memorial Day ceremony, honoring those who have so bravely served our Nation.


RECOGNITION:

I would particularly like to thank all of you for attending today and especially recognize the Veterans who are present. Please raise your hand if you are a WW-II  Veteran ….. Korean War ….. Vietnam ….. Desert Storm ….. Operation Enduring  Freedom ….. Iraq ….. Afghaniztan.

Thank you so much for your service to our country. It’s an honor for all of us to  be here in the presence of you warriors who have done so much to secure our Freedom.


FREEDOM IS NOT FREE

FREEDOM IS NOT FREE – Someone has to pay for it. We are gathered here today to honor those who have paid and made that ultimate sacrifice. And, we are here also to honor others still living who have served their country in times of war and in times of peace; and those who continue to serve.

MEMORIAL DAY:

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our Nation’s service. Although Waterloo, NY was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, this significant day had many different beginnings in separate locations in the North and in the South of our country before the end of the Civil War, as communities gathered to honor the many who had died in that conflict. There were over 600,000 American casualties in the War Between the States and Decoration Day, was officially first proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan in General Order No. 11. In 1971,

President Nixon declared that Memorial Day would be celebrated on the last Monday of May. Today is that day.


FREEDOM IS NOT FREE and Memorial Day is about a coming together to honor those who have given their all in sacrifice to secure that “Shining City on the Hill” - America - that City of Freedom as it is known. What is this FREEDOM of which we speak? Not only does it entail the Free Speech, Free Assembly and Free Press of which we are so familiar, but it also includes the Freedom of Americans to be secure in their homes and their persons. As George Washington said, “ We are a country of laws, not men,” and FREEDOM is about the Rule of Law, not about the fear, chaos and anarchy currently being experienced on our southern border that is slowly rolling northward like the sound of not so distant thunder.


And now more than ever it’s the Freedom to be Free from the excessive  regulation of almost every aspect of our lives. The Freedom NOT to have political correctness prevail over the very security of our Home Land. The Freedom NOT to be burdened by a crushing national debt. The Freedom NOT to have a global governance imposed on our Nation by naïve, East Coast, Ivy League and European elites. Most of all, the Freedom NOT to have our visions, our strengths, and our hopes for the future extinguished and destroyed.

DUTY, HONOR, SOVEREIGNTY, JUSTICE in all things, TAXES paid by all of us for our needs – Not just by an unlucky minority of our population, Faith in GOD, Pride in our COUNTRY, FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY and living within one’s means, Security through STRENGTH – Not appeasement, PRIVATE ENTERPRISE – Not dubious social engineering experiments, FAMILIES with both a father and a mother, COMMON SENSE decision-making, AND that WONDERFUL SPIRIT OF AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM. These and HARD WORK are the traditional American values for which our heroes have died, whom we so humbly honor today.

In 1863, at the dedication of the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Cemetery for Civil War dead, Abraham Lincoln said:

…. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work (for) which they (the dead) who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of (their) devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.


More recently, the Honorable Andrew P. Napolitano has stated: “In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its maximum hour of danger, and NOW is that time.”  Right here, today.

Adding to Judge Napolitano’s words, now is also the time to remember the charge given us by the honored dead mentioned in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Those brave souls who gave their last full measure of devotion for this America – this new birth of Freedom.


ED FREEMAN of Boise is a Medal of Honor recipient. Ed is one of those rare
individuals who survived the action that resulted in his receipt of the Medal of Honor. He passed away in Boise, August two years ago (August 30, 2008) at the age of 80.

In 1965, Ed Freeman was a 37-year-old Huey helicopter pilot in Viet Nam. I’m going to tell you his story and what qualified Ed Freeman for the Medal of Honor because FREEDOM IS NOT FREE and many have done great things just so that we can be here in safety and Free association today.

Here’s how Ed Freeman earned his Medal of Honor as told by one of the soldiers he rescued: (Reported in the Fall 2008, “Rudder Flutter,” Idaho Div of Aeronautics)

“Many in our unit were critically wounded, dying in the jungle of Viet Nam; it’s at Landing Zone X-ray. It’s November 14, 1965 and our infantry unit is under intense enemy fire from a mere few hundred yards away. We are outnumbered eight to one and the fire is so intense that our own commander has ordered the Medivac helicopters to cease operations.”

“We’re lying there, listening to the incessant chatter of the enemy machine guns; we know we’re not getting out. Eighteen, 19 years old, and our families are 12,000 miles away on another continent, in another world, on another planet. We will never see them again.” (Or so we think.)

Slowly, as consciousness begins to fade, we hear the faint sound of a helicopter, or is it just the distortion of the machine guns caused by (our) pain and resignation (of death)? In the haze that has wrapped itself around (our) minds, (We) can make out the image of a Huey; surreal in (our) thoughts because it has no Medivac markings. In its semiconscious fog, (our) minds struggle between hope and the despair that tells (us) the Medivac helicopters were ordered to stand down.”

But hope prevails. It is Ed Freeman and he’s coming for us. No, he’s not a Medivac and (No) it is not his job, but he is coming anyway. He is flying his Huey directly into the smothering machine gun fire even after the Medivac helicopters were ordered not to come.

Ed drops it in and sits there amidst the withering gunfire as they load two or three of us on board. Then he flies up and away, out of the hail of bullets, to the waiting doctors and nurses.

And, he comes back again and again and again. Ed keeps on coming back ….. 14 times he comes back …… and moves about 30 wounded soldiers to safety, who otherwise would never have made it, while at the same time bringing in badly needed ammunition and supplies to the besieged infantry unit.


FREEDOM IS NOT FREE. May we never forget the valor, selfless dedication and sense of duty that Ed Freeman displayed on that day in 1965 in another war, and may we remember that those same traits reside in each of our military members serving us in far away lands throughout the world, in combat and in peace. May we never forget our commitment and responsibility to them for their service. May we never forget those who have died … those who have served … and those who are serving, those like Ed Freeman. Because you see, FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.”


Over our history, many outstanding leaders have had unusual, visionary experiences. One such person is General George Washington who was indeed a visionary of our new America.

It was a chilly, winter day in 1777 and General Washington was alone in his quarters for the purpose of preparing military dispatches, when something disturbed him. Looking up he saw a mysterious visitor, an apparition, who appeared and is said to have presented a luminous vision to General Washington. This vision embodied three great perils that would come upon the Republic – this new America.


The first great peril in the vision was the Revolutionary War in which General Washington was then involved. The second great peril was the Civil War, which would not take place for yet another 100 years after General Washington was long dead.

General Washington also saw all of America in this vision and beheld villages, towns and cities springing up one after another until the whole land from the Atlantic to the Pacific was dotted with them. This too was something that would not happen for many, many years as most of the land west of Pittsburgh at that time was still wilderness.

The third of these great perils, if General Washington’s vision is to be believed, is yet to come. It will be America’s greatest challenge, because you see, FREEDOM IS NOT FREE, and there are those who have a burning hatred for America; this Christian nation; this Shining City of Freedom on the Hill”.

Dr. William J. Bennett in his book, AMERICA, THE LAST BEST HOPE, states:  “We cannot escape our destiny, nor should we try to do so. The leadership of the free world was thrust upon (America) two centuries ago in that little hall (in) Philadelphia"  …. Dr. Bennett then goes on to quote a statement made by Pope Pius XII who said, ‘The American people have a great genius for splendid and unselfish actions. (and) Into the hands of America, God has placed the destinies of an afflicted mankind.’

We (Americans) are indeed, (as Pope Pius has stated), the last best hope of man on earth.” And we can be very proud of this responsibility - this destiny – this fight for Freedom

And, there is something very special about destiny, too. You don’t have to look for your destiny, because it will find you. BUT, you do have to prepare.

In closing, I know that many of you have heard of the poem, “In Flanders Fields,” which was written in 1915 by John McCrae. The poem title refers to Flanders Field American Cemetery & Memorial; a resting place for those lost on the WW-I battlefields of the medieval County of Flanders in Europe, which spans southern Belgium and northwest France.

This poem reads in part:

“In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly …..

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.”


Inspired by this poem, a woman by the name of Moina Michael responded in the same year with her own, even more poignant, verse:

“We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.”

THANK YOU for being here today, and May God richly bless each and every one of you - AND GOD BLESS AMERICA. FREEDOM IS NOT FREE – Someone has paid for it, and those who have paid are the ones we honor here today. Let us ensure that the red blood of these brave heroes never dies. They have left us with a sacred trust.


Saturday, May 29, 2010

Upcoming meeting: June 8th - location TBA

Kudos to Brushfire folks and all who engaged in the political process!  District 6 voter turnout went from 11.53% in the last primary (a presidential election year!) to 24.37% in an off-year primary.  Our goal was to increase voter participation...so this can be chalked up as a win regardless of how individual candidates did!
Princeton, Troy and Deary ran out of ballots and needed more sent out.  (Not to worry, no one was turned away and everyone had opportunity to cast a vote.)

Way to make a difference, folks!

 Karen is back from the campaign trail and will be with us again - hurray! She'll have lots to share about the political process state-wide. 

Besides discussing the recent elections, we have two special presentations lined up:

  • Ken Hunt (Lt. Colonel retired) - sharing about Warrior's Promise, a non-profit support organization for our men and women in uniform.   http://www.warriorspromise.org/
  • Representatives from local radio stations -  to discuss the "Fairness Doctrine" and the impact it will have on first amendment freedoms. 
Email with meeting location details will be going out as soon as we can make reservations - there was no answer on Friday (probably due to the long holiday weekend).

for liberty,
Paula B. /  Karen C.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Get Involved!

This is the final weekend before the primaries.
We have a number of liberty-minded candidates running for office in Latah County.

Invest a little time into your candidate's campaign...I know they will appreciate your support and help!

Any candidates needing a hand, feel free to leave a post in the comment section giving details.

Senator Schroeder's voting record

Thanks to member Beth McManus who did some research to find out the incumbent's voting record on the following bills.  Get informed and vote smart!

Gary J. Schroeder’s Partial Voting Record:

* S 1337 2/28/06 - Controlled Substance Relation to Pregnant Woman and Child Bill. Vote to pass bill makes it a felony for an individual to inject a controlled substance into a Pregnant woman. For a Pregnant woman to knowingly take a controlled substance and for an individual to allow or cause a child under 18, including fetuses and embryos, to ingest a controlled substance...  
Gary Schroeder voted “NO”.


* S 1082 - Parental Consent for Underage Abortion.  This bill allows for Minors (women under the age of 18) to get consent for having an abortion. 
Gary Schroeder voted “NO”.


*S 1353 2/26/10 - Authorizing Health Care Professionals to Refuse Specific Health Care Services.  This bill is to protect health care professionals or their employers from being forced to provide any health care service that violated his or her conscience and to protect them from being civilly, criminally or adminislatively liable for declining to provide such services that violate his or her conscience, including abortion, abortifacient administration and stem cell research on embryo’s and fetuses. 
Gary Schroeder voted “NO”.


* H 374 - Allowing diversion of Funds to Virtual Education.  This bill allows state funding for Virtual Education and Charter Schools.
Gary Schroeder voted “NO”.


* HJR2 2/15/06 - Marriage Amendment Ballet Question.  Intent is to protect marriage as being only between a man and a woman.
Gary Schroeder voted “NO”.



*3/7/07 - English as the Official Language in Idaho.
Gary Schroeder voted “NO”.

Voting information was obtained from http://www.votesmart.org

Vote smart! 
Beth L. McManus

Monday, May 10, 2010

Dinner for Gresham Bouma Tonight!

"Silent No More"
Dinner and Auction
for Gresham Bouma
Idaho State Senate


6 pm at Troy Lions' Club
Main Street, Troy Idaho
Monday, May 10th
$15 per plate (suggested donation)
Keynote address and Q & A time 


Live Auction by Ray Lienhart (thanks, Ray!), music, and special guest speakers:


Dave McGraw
Latah County Commission candidates
'Jimmy G' Gilder


Isaac 'Ike' Young
  District 6B Representative candidates

Dave Klingenberg


Great auction items like certificates for carpet cleaning, backhoe services, framed art and much more!

Contact Robyn at 301-1095 about tickets or to RSVP. 

See you tonight for a fun and informative evening.  Bring your friends and let's stand up and raise our voices in support of Gresham.
 (photos courtesy of Peter Roise )
paid for by Gresham Bouma for Idaho Senate - Carol Bauer, Treasurer

Friday, May 7, 2010

Brushfire Alliance meeting, Tuesday May 11 7 pm at Latah Fairgrounds

Brushfire Alliance meets on May 11 at 7 pm at the Latah County
Fairgrounds - same location as last meeting. Feel free to bring
snacks.  I'll make sure there's hot water for tea (of course we prefer
TEA, but there'll be coffee singles available, too  :-) 

One of the things that needs discussing is a meeting schedule after
the May 25th primary.  I am willing to travel and hold a meeting every
week (AFTER the primary!)  in different areas of the county.  Maybe a
joint monthly meeting at a central location  with special guest
speakers once a month, and 3 outlying areas host a meeting the other 3
weeks?  I am eager to hear your thoughts on this as Brushfire
continues to grow and gather momentum.

Speaking of momentum:
The Bouma campaign needs feet on the ground to help with neighborhood
canvassing on Saturdays.  I am sure Ike Young, David Klingenberg, Dave
McGraw, Jimmy Gilder, Raul Labrador, Todd Hatfield, and all our other
conservative, liberty-minded candidates would also welcome your help
and participation. Please visit their websites, facebook pages, and
blogs to get current info on how they need help and how to contact
them. ( If the candidates would send me links, I would be happy to
post  them on the Brushfire blog.) http://brushfirealliance.blogspot.com

Canvassing start times (2 shifts):
8 am in Potlatch (meet at the Scenic 6 park) and 1 pm
8:30 am in Moscow (meet at Rosauer's parking lot) and 1:30 pm
9 am in Troy (meet at park across from the Sunset Mart) and 2:00 pm

I know this is short notice on canvassing...I just got home from the
10th Amendment Rally and am scrambling.

Also, there is a fundraising dinner / auction for Gresham Bouma.
Other local candidates have been invited to speak as well in order to
give Latah voters as many chances as possible to meet these candidates
and become informed voters.
The dinner is at the Troy Lions' Club and starts at 6 pm.  Food will
be served from 6 - 7 pm, with auction items and speakers throughout
the evening.  Tickets ($15 suggested donation) are available from
Robyn 208-301-1095.

We'll see everyone at the meeting on Tuesday.  We have a special
presentation by the area history buff, Keith Lunders, some information
presented by a group in Deary, and I am hoping to have a short
presentation on "Fully Informed Jury Association,"  but that may have
to wait until June.

Thanks everyone for your continued interest and participation in civil
matters.  You all are a huge source of encouragement and hope to me.

In Liberty,
Paula Bauer (on behalf of Karen Calisterio also)
Brushfire Alliance
brushfirealliance.blogspot.com