Freedom-Fighters Forum

By William J. Dell
Amore Dei, Familiae, Patriae ducit !

It is the year of our Lord Two Thousand Eleven, and of the United States the 235th. It is also ninety-three years since a group of men met in a boxcar in France and sign an armistice to end “The Great War” at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. President Wilson proclaimed the first Armistice Day in 1919 to honor all those who fought. President Eisenhower changed the name to Veterans Day in 1954 to honor all veterans regardless of the war in which they served.

As we pay tribute to all those who have served, I am once again reminded of the depth of emotion engendered within me as I once again contemplate my own service and the service and sacrifice of so many others throughout our history, those who have had the Fire of Freedom burning in their hearts and the Light of Liberty radiating within their souls. Those who have served and returned and those who have given the “last full measure of devotion” that Freedom and Liberty might be preserved around the world and more particularly here in our nation.

Webster defines a PATRIOT as, (more…)

On October 18, 2011 I posted the following article on Military Healthcare entitled Honoring Those Who Served.

http://www.freedom-fightersforum.org/will%e2%80%99s-opines/forum-2011/honoring-those-who-served/

David Alexander of Reuters had this to say:

U.S. military retirees fret about healthcare feesBy David Alexander

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/02/us-usa-defense-healthcare-idUSTRE7A10K120111102?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews&rpc=76

FORT WORTH, Texas | Wed Nov 2, 2011

FORT WORTH, Texas (Reuters) – When Wayne Johnson flew missions in Vietnam in the 1960s, one of the allures of a military career was the pledge that those who risked their lives for the United States would be repaid with healthcare in old age.

Now, as the 65-year-old retired Air Force major nears an age when he may need to bank on that promise, support is building in Washington for changes that could make it more costly for military retirees and their dependents to receive healthcare. It is a move Johnson finds worrying. (more…)

By William J. Dell
Amore Dei, Familiae, Patriae ducit !

Like all other Viet Nam Era and World War II Veterans, I was promised when I signed on the dotted line both what was written into the contract and what was promised in the oft-stated “oral contract” by recruiters and superiors during my service. Foremost in this was the many verbal assurances that we, as Veterans, and our spouses would have free medical for life. A benefit which has already been cut by Medicare B payments and co-pays for services and prescription drugs received when we become 65 and must join TRICARE for Life.

I found in my email inbox today from Military.com (you can sign up at http://feeds.feedburner.com/militaryadvantage for the emails) a very disturbing article that Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has sent a letter to the Budget Super-Committee stating that he is OK with placing “cuts” in our military benefits on the table.

What is he thinking? Has he forgotten the trials and tribulations of those who wore and are wearing the uniform in defense of our Constitutional Republic? Has he forgotten his own service and the years in the Hanoi Hilton? Has he forgotten the promises (more…)

Two Black Americans were elected to Congress this cycle, and both are Republican. Col. West is from southern Florida. He won in a walk.

This new Congressman was an extremely popular commander in Iraq. He was forced to retire because during an intense combat action a few of his men were captured. At the same time his men captured one of the guys who were with the Iraqis who captured his men.

Knowing that time was crucial and his interrogators were not getting anywhere with the prisoner, Col. West took matters into his own hands. He burst into the room and demanded thru an interpreter that the prisoner tell him where his men were being taken. The prisoner refused so Col. West took out his pistol and placed it into the prisoner’s crotch and fired. Then the Col. told the prisoner that the next shot would not miss. So the prisoner said he would show where the American service members were being taken. The Americans were rescued. Someone filed a report on incorrect handling of prisoners. Col. West was forced to retire. Col. West was just elected in November 2010 to Congress from Florida. During the elections he was part of a panel on how to handle or how to relate to Muslims. You will see his answer here explaining in just over a minute the truth about Islam .

http://secure.afa.net/afa/activism/takeaction.asp?id=384

By Jennifer Oliver

“Hey, Jennifer!” someone hissed. “Get up!”

Looking up from my doll, I saw that the other kids on the playground had dropped what they were doing and froze. Quickly, I rose to full height, clapped my right hand over my heart, and froze like the others, straining to hear the high-pitched trumpet signal the end of the day. Somewhere on our base the United States flag was being lowered, folded with solemn precision, then carried away in a clipped march.

When the last note trailed off, I tried rubbing the goose bumps off my forearms. What little I could hear of the melancholy horn had an effect on me.

Such was a small part of the life of an army [navy] [military] brat.

At Saturday matinees, I savored the luxury of a candy bar and soda while waiting for the curtains to swish open. As soon as the screen was revealed, all of us army brats rustled to our feet, palms flat against hearts, and in respectful silence watched a series of patriotic scenes flash across the screen, time to the rhythm of our national anthem. The last scene of our nation’s rippling in slow motion burned in my mind as the anthem closed with a rousing flourish.

When I was sixteen, I sat in an off-base public movie theater for the first time. (more…)

By William J. Dell, MCPO USN(Ret.)
Amore Dei, Familiae, Patriae ducit !

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen has stated that Military Pay and Benefit Cuts are on the table as they consider reducing the Defenses Budget by $400B over the next twelve years. (See Adm. Mullen’s remarks at www.military.com/news/article/mullen-says-pay-benefit-cuts-on-the-table.html)

How history repeats itself! When I retired in 1986 after 25 years of service, my “promised,” “oral contract” free medical benefits for life for myself and family were already being decreased. And now I have to purchase Medicare Part B before my TriCare for Life can pick up the difference as secondary rather than primary medical insurance. Additionally, military retirees have had no COLA increases for several years. Adm. Mullen whatever happened to “to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and orphan?” (President Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865.) Of a truth the servicemen and women of our nation have already sacrificed more than any other segment of this nation!

Where is the President’s sacrifice? Where is the sacrifice of (more…)

By Lizzie Palmer

Great for Memorial Day presentation on YouTube by a 15 year old girl.

This puts to shame the output of a number of Hollywood producers and/or directors.

All I can say is WOW!!!!!!!

This film was made by a 15 year old girl. It is the hottest thing on the internet and on Fox News today.

There have been over 3,000,000 hits as of this morning.

In case you missed it, here it is. Watch all of it . . . and, pass it on!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ervaMPt4Ha0

By John Bernard
http://www.letthemfight.blogspot.com/

NOTE: This Entry will be released through this Blog over three days. It is lengthy but I implore all of you to take the time to read it and pass it on to all you know and most especially to your Congressmen/women.

This is the genesis of the argument against COIN/ROE. It is the sole act, I believe, that “gave permission” for the military ideologues to dust off a 70 year old controversial doctrine and roll it into Afghanistan. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Click on the above link to go to John’s Blog “Let Them Fight”

As I came out of the supermarket that sunny day, pushing my cart of groceries towards my car, I saw an old man with the hood of his car up and a lady sitting inside the car, with the door open. The old man was looking at the engine. I put my groceries away in my car, and continued to watch the old gentleman from about twenty five feet away.

I saw a young man in his early twenties with a grocery bag in his arm walking towards the old man. The old gentleman saw him coming too, and took a few steps towards him.

I saw the old gentleman point to his open hood and say something. The young man put his grocery bag into what looked like a brand new Cadillac Escalade. He then turned back to the old man. I heard him yell at the old gentleman saying: “You shouldn’t even be allowed to drive a car at your age.” And then with a wave of his hand, (more…)

By William J. Dell
Amore Dei, Familiae, Patriae ducit !

There thunders from Mount Sinai God’s injunction, “Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” To this Paul, the Apostle, added: “Which is the first commandment with promise.” Are We the People, as individuals and as a nation, still seeking the “promise?” Or does it no longer matter? Do we, as Americans, even care that our Constitutional Republic survives so that we might “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity?”

During the Seventeenth Century, many of our ancestors fled the oppression of Europe to come to the New World in search of religious freedom. In 1776 our forefathers were highly resolved to establish a land of Liberty and did so by pledging their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. During our Civil War, many of our ancestors gave the “last full measure of devotion” so that our nation might have “a new birth of freedom.” Always there have been patriots among our ancestors willing to lay down their lives that others, here and abroad, might continue to live with freedom and liberty.

IN FLANDERS FIELDS
John McCrae

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
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

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.

In just over a month our nation will celebrate its 235^th birthday. Through the many decades since Lexington and Concord, (more…)