CKZCJ

It’s not Verteran’s Day, or Memorial Day or any other particular day honoring our military. I got this story in my e-mail and felt compelled to share. Whether you care or not, I do. Enough said…..

On 29 September 2006, 25-year-old Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor was killed during operations in enemy-held territory at Ar Ramadi, Iraq, when he threw himself on top of a grenade in order to save the lives of his fellow SEALS. Vigilantly watching for enemy activity, an enemy fighter hurled a hand grenade onto the roof from an unseen location. The grenade hit him in the chest and bounced onto the deck. He immediately leapt to his feet and yelled “grenade” to alert his teammates of impending danger, but they could not evacuate the sniper hide-sight in time to escape harm. Without hesitation and showing no regard for his own life, he threw himself onto the grenade, smothering it to protect his teammates who were lying in close proximity. The grenade detonated as he came down on top of it, mortally wounding him.

Petty Officer Monsoor’s actions could not have been more selfless or clearly intentional. Of the three SEALs on that rooftop corner, he had the only avenue of escape away from the blast, and if he had so chosen, he could have easily escaped. Instead, Monsoor chose to protect his comrades by the sacrifice of his own life. By his courageous and selfless actions, he saved the lives of his two fellow SEALs and he is the most deserving of the special recognition afforded by awarding the Medal of Honor.

In April 2008, Michael Monsoor (who had already been posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his actions in a 9 May 2006 incident, when he and another SEAL pulled a wounded team member to safety amidst gunfire) was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.  His funeral, attended (in the words of President Bush) by “nearly every SEAL on the West Coast,” was held on 12 October 2006 at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego. During Monsoor’s funeral service, as the casket was taken from the hearse to the gravesite, fellow SEALs lined up in two columns to slap and embed the gold Tridents (awarded for successful completion of SEAL Qualification Training) from their uniforms onto the top of Monsoor’s coffin:

As President George W. Bush said of the event during the April 2008 Medal of Honor ceremony, “The procession went on nearly half an hour, and when it was all over, the simple wooden coffin had become a gold-plated memorial to a hero who will never be forgotten.”

This should be front-page news instead of the crap we see everyday.

Since the media wont make this news, I choose to make it news by posting here. I am proud of our military. If you are proud too, please pass this on.  If not then rest assured that these fine men and women of our military will continue to serve and protect us.

You should really check this out – this is one smart cookie. What a better way to prove a point.

grow fonder, right? I’ve been hard at work and have about 3 posts waiting for the final touches and I’ve also been working on a new photo blog. I’ve got a few edits to make on the colors then I’ll link it up live for all the world to see. Hah, more like the few dozen to see. New posts to follow really soon, I promise.

The boys birthday cake was by far one of the most awesome cakes I’ve ever seen! I told Ms. Esther that one boy liked space and one liked dinosaurs and provided a few small figurines and she totally ran with it. I was expecting some round flat cakes decorated but when I picked the cake up before their birthday party I was floored! She had created the Earth, Moon, Sun, and we think maybe Saturn with yummy edible chocolate rocks. Then she took the dinosaurs and put them on the Earth’s continents and made the Pterodactyl fly! Amazing work with the frosting and colors, the kids at the party loved the cake and were very excited to get to eat it. Each one requested certain parts of the planets and it was certainly a hit.

The astronaut on the moon with the flag was very neat and catered to Z Man’s likes (along with the other planets). The cake was all very yummy chocolate and the frosting was vanilla mixed with the colors.

The planet Earth however was all for Casey J. She did an awesome job of placing the dinos around the earth and the colors of the icing were great. This cake was two sheet cakes together and we still have over two-thirds of the Earth left to eat share. Beside the cake that was the spotlight of the party the boys had an absolute thrill with a handful of their school mates at their party inside the Inflatable Party Zone. It’s basically a metal shop-like building full of inflatable jumping things, one is a maze, one is a giant slide, obstacle course etc. All that’s left to do is get them to make some thank you cards for the gifts they received.

So if you have need for a totally unique cake, let me know and I’ll get you Ms. Esther’s information. Just a little plug for her there.

Z Man had his first flag football game this weekend. He hustled the whole game and made a few really good defensive plays. He played center for a bit but the concept of gently hiking the ball to his coach was a little lost on him. He would turn around and chunk it to his coach sending his coach scrambling to protect his face. The one time he was handed the ball to run it he dropped it right away. He’s such a big guy I think Big C is crossing those fingers that the football coordination will come. He wants to play baseball in the spring instead of soccer, then pick his favorite. Just in case you are wondering Casey J wanted absolutely nothing to do with playing football but after watching the game he said he wants to play next year. Z Man is doing really well with his guitar lessons and continues his karate. He got a 100% on his first math test last Friday. He was also enjoying reading a Scientific America magazine on the way home last week, and yes, he can read the words in it. Sometime he amazes me.

Waiting to see where Ike is going to make landfall. Looks like it’ll be close to home and we’ll have visitors up here. It’s throwing a small wrench in the plans for the boys birthday party. My folks are boarding up the house tonight and have retrieved the camper from the coast….