70 chain restaurants offer free,discounted meals to thank those who defend our freedom

Freedom is not free. But in tribute to veterans and active service members who serve to protect that freedom, dinner will be free or discounted at  70 restaurants throughout the nation on Veterans Day, Monday, November 11, 2013. Such popular eateries as Applebee's, Cheeseburger in Paradise, and Chili's are included in the list that can be found here. It's their way of thanking those who defend our freedom.

Army Ranger Josh Hargis' 'salute seen around the world' ... this is what a hero looks like

 

This is a photo taken by Josh Hargis' wife, originally published in the Cincinnati Enquirer

Army Ranger Josh Hargis was severely wounded by multiple IUDs during a mission in Afghanistan. During the ceremony to award him the Purple Heart prior to his medevac to Germany, though medical staff said he was unconscious, Ranger Hargis rendered honors to his Commander as the citation was read. A GENUINE AMERICAN HERO.

... as the Purple Heart presentation began, Josh Hargis struggled to move his right hand and lift it into a saluting position. Military protocol calls for a soldier to salute when he receives the Purple Heart.

Freedom is not free....

USA Today: Soldier delivers 'salute seen around the world'

H/T to Bill Janis

Valley military families ... 'A special homecoming'

Today's News Virginian has a story, A special homecoming, about a Valley soldier who returned from Afghanistan to see his six-month old daughter for the first time.

This is yet another way our military sacrifices for our freedom. Imagine not being able to stand with your wife as she gave birth to your first child because you were deployed with the Army halfway around the world. We can never thank our troops enough for what they do.

"For those who have fought for it, freedom has a flavor the protected will never know."

Cross-posted at Facebook

Richmond area soldier, 2 others killed in Afghanistan over weekend

This morning comes sad news that three U.S. soldiers, including one from the Richmond area, killed over the weekend in Operation Enduring Freedom.

Spc. Kyle P. Stoeckli, 21, of Moseley, Virginia, was killed in Maiwand, Afghanistan, on Saturday, June 1, from an improvised explosive device (IED). He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, based out of Fort Bliss, Texas.

Spc. Ray A. Ramirez, 20, of Sacramento, Calif., died Saturday in Wardak Province when his unit was attacked by an IED. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, out of Fort Stewart, Ga.

Pfc. Mariano M. Raymundo, 21, of Houston, Texas, died Saturday in Sharan. The Department of Defense said the incident is under investigation. Raymundo was assigned to the 210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, based out of Fort Drum, N.Y.

The deadly weekend for our Armed Forces is a reminder that our military men and women are still at war far away from home. These young men made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Our prayers go out to their families and friends. Freedom is not free.

American flags on Memorial Day

SWAC Husband, U.S. Air Force veteran, put his Americans flags out bright and early on Memorial Day morning including the POW-MIA flag (center).

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
May 27, 2013

Memorial Day: The uncle I never knew

Memorial Day is a time to reflect on our military men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in protecting our country. For my family, that includes an uncle who was killed in the closing days of World War II, an uncle I never knew, my mother's older brother.

Mom was a student at Thomas Dale High School in Chester, Virginia, when her brother Clarence, the oldest of nine siblings, died. She still remembers her mother's reaction that fateful day when the official government car drove up the driveway of their farm many decades ago, and how her mother's knees buckled as she realized the presence of that car meant her son had been killed. Mom says her mother, who lived into her 80s, never completely got over the loss.

After retiring, my mother spent hours researching to discover what exactly happened to her brother and eventually found Clarence's lieutenant living in Texas. She traveled there to talk with him and hear about her brother's final hours, something she documented for our family.

In 2012, Mom wrote:

My brother, Clarence, would be 94 years old August 1st ... and it has now been a little more than 67 years since he was killed in Germany during World War II, only six weeks before Germany surrendered and the war in Europe ended.

Clarence was a 'foot soldier' and had fought for 15 months, from southern Italy to the liberation of Rome, then from the Riviera of Southern France all the way up to Germany's Siegfried Line, liberating the people of those two countries who had been prisoners of the Germans for several years.

Clarence was killed as they were crossing through the Siegfried Line from France into Germany. I think of him often and think about the fact that if we had not won World War II, there would no longer be a United States of America because Germany would have taken control of our country and our lives.

There was nothing romantic or glorious about how he died. His unit had encountered the almost impossible difficulties of fighting in mud, the freezing conditions of snow and ice. There was no time to mourn when a buddy died ... they had to move on, and returned later to recover their dead.

His name is carved into the granite walls of the Virginia War Memorial that overlooks downtown Richmond and the James River. Today we remember his sacrifice along with that of other fallen heroes who have fought for our country ... another reminder that freedom is not free.

'When you go home, tell them of us....'

"When you go home, tell them of us and say,
'For your tomorrow, we gave our today.' "

In memory of Augusta County's fallen heroes...

Jason Redifer, 19
USMC, KIA, Operation Iraqi Freedom

January 31, 2005

Daniel Bubb, 19
USMC, KIA, Operation Iraqi Freedom

October 17, 2005

Daniel Morris, 19
USMC, KIA, Operation Iraqi Freedom

February 14, 2007

Freedom is not free.

Today: Churchville Memorial Day 2013 Service

A small town in America honors fallen Armed Forces, Memorial Day 2013.

A community-wide service will be held today, May 26, 2013, in Churchville in observation of Memorial Day to honor military members who have died while defending our country.

Will Bear, co-owner of Bear Funeral Home in Churchville, called earlier this week to extend an invitation for all to attend this somber event to be held at Green Hill Cemetery at 4:30 p.m. When entering the gates of the cemetery, drive to the crest of the hill toward the back where there will be a thirty-minute service with remarks from local citizens and military honors from a local reenactment group.

Green Hill Cemetery is located on Green Hill Lane (Rt. 836). From Rt. 250 in Churchville, turn south onto Rt. 42 (Buffalo Gap Highway) to Bear Funeral  Home on the left in the sharp curve. At the curve, continue straight onto Rt. 836 (Green Hill Lane) for 0.7 mile. Cemetery will be on the left.

A Memorial Day message from Congressman Eric Cantor

From Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-7th Congressional District)....

This weekend and Monday most Americans will take some time off and spend it with their family and friends. Traditionally, we recognize this time of year as the beginning of summer. There are many fine traditions associated with this weekend, from the Indianapolis 500 to local parades to family backyard barbecues.

But I hope that you will join me in remembering what is really important this weekend. Over the course of this Memorial Day Weekend, please take a moment to remember and appreciate all those brave individuals who made the ultimate sacrifice so we can enjoy the freedoms we do today.

Also, please remember the men and women of our armed services who continue to serve in harm’s way. They will not spend this weekend with their family and friends because they are risking their lives to protect and preserve our liberty. We owe them all a great debt of gratitude.

Please have a very safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend and I look forward to seeing you soon.

For those who have fought for it ...

... freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.

Freedom is not free.

Veterans Day 2011

11.11.11

Wreaths Across America ... sacrifices of troops are not forgotten

Staunton, Va, National Cemetery in 2009.
Photo by Lynn R. Mitchell

Cross-posted at the Washington Examiner....

If you drive by a military cemetery this weekend and see tombstones decorated with fresh, handmade balsam Christmas wreaths accented with bright red bows, you will have witnessed the generosity of Wreaths Across America.

The tradition was started with 4,000 wreaths in 1992 by Morrill Worcester and continues on the second Saturday each December. This year, thousands of volunteers across the nation and around the world will lay 219,000 wreaths on military graves as a remembrance of those who sacrificed for our freedom.

Mr. Worcester's quiet donation eighteen years ago of 4,000 wreaths for Arlington Cemetery became an annual gift of love from this Maine wreath maker who recognized that freedom is not free. Because of his generosity and desire to remember those who sacrificed, he started a tradition that was fairly obscure for 12 years until a photo hit the internet in 2005 showing the Christmas wreaths on Arlington's snow-covered graves.

As the photo hit the internet with the Worcester story, an anonymous person added a caption: "Rest easy, sleep well, my brothers. Know the line has held, your job is done. Rest easy, sleep well. Others have taken up where you fell, the line has held. Peace, peace, and farewell."

Word spread quickly and wreath requests poured in for other military cemeteries around the country which led Mr. Worcester and his family to establish the non-profit Wreaths Across America with a mission to remember, honor, and teach.

What would drive this 59-year-old owner of the largest wreath producing company in the world to give away thousands of wreaths for the past 18 years? Mr. Worcester recalled that when he was a 12-year-old newspaper carrier, he won a Bangor Daily News subscription-selling contest that sent him to the Nation's Capital. The lines of white stones in Arlington Cemetery made an impression on him that never left.

Years later, Christmas 1992, the successful businessman's Worcester Wreath Company had 4,000 surplus wreaths and nothing to do with them so late in the season. Grateful that his success was due in large part to the sacrifice of American troops, and remembering the rows of white tombstones, he put in a call to Arlington Cemetery. With a handful of volunteers, they drove a truck load of wreaths to Arlington and spent the next six hours distributing them on graves, a tradition continued quietly for years by a man who did not seek publicity. The 2005 photo sealed his destiny.

This Saturday volunteers will lay wreaths at American military cemeteries around the world. National Cemetery in Staunton will be included as they have in previous years. On each wreath will be a tag that reads: Through the generosity and actions of hundreds of thousands of volunteers, this wreath is donated and placed on the grave of a True American Hero. Wreaths Across America ... we make it our business to NEVER FORGET."

It's once again a reminder that freedom is not free and that Americans have not forgotten. That is the legacy of Morrill Worcester and his Maine balsam Christmas wreaths.

UPDATED - Lance Cpl Daniel Morris ... A community honors a local fallen hero

Lance Corporal Daniel Todd Morris
United States Marine Corps
1987 - 2007
Killed in Action in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom
Semper Fi.

American flags snap in the breeze at
New Providence Presbyterian Church.

Hundreds of mourners packed the historic New Providence Presbyterian Church Thursday for the funeral of Lance Cpl Daniel Morris who was killed in Iraq on Valentine's Day.

Forty-five minutes before the 11:00 service was to begin, cars were backed up on Rt. 252 waiting to turn into the parking area; others parked along the road. The standing-room only crowd included 50 high school students, the Wilson High School Marching Band, friends, family, community leaders, active military, Marine League, military veterans, and law enforcement officers.

SWACers who attended included Captain Barth Berry and his wife, Kimberly and their two children; SSgt. Herb Harman and his wife, Jan; Marine Reservist Jim Holbert; Marine Reservist Scott Anchors; Poppet Nelson, Rhonda & Scott Winfield; Alex Davis, SWAC Daughter, SWAC Husband, and SWAC Girl aka Lynn R. Mitchell.

The Augusta County Republicans, after asking permission of the family, had arrived early to put up dozens of American flags to honor Daniel and his family.

When the service ended, eight Marines carried the casket from the church followed by Reverend Christopher Crotwell, the family, and all those in attendance. Standing guard outside were a dozen members of the Patriot Guard Riders, each holding an American flag, each standing solemnly to honor a young Marine and fellow American.

A bagpipe played the Marine Corps Hymn and "Amazing Grace" as mourners slowly followed the flag-draped casket out the door and along the drive to the adjoining cemetery, gathering at the top of the hill at the final resting place for Daniel.

Members of the U.S. Marine Corps
Co. C 4th Combat Engineer Battalion.

As a gusty breeze blew through the trees on an unusually mild February afternoon, the graveside service included Taps, a 21-gun salute, and the presentation of the Purple Heart to the family. Fifteen Marines and a Navy bugler carried out the final details of the ceremony.

How does one thank a family for such a supreme sacrifice? What words can be said ... what actions can be taken? How can we honor a young man who was willing to lay down his life for us ... for me ... for my children? Many emotions play out ... many tears are shed.

I did not know Daniel ... but he was the age of my youngest child. He was a fellow Marine to 21-year-old Nate Salatin, the young man from Augusta County who is currently serving in Iraq who is special in my life. To decide at such a young age to serve one's country shows a maturity way beyond that of many others their age.

I posted a photo of a whiteboard with the comment: "America is not at war. The Marine Corps is at war. America is at the mall." While other 19-year-olds (and all the rest of us) are hanging out at the mall or spending our days playing video games or other numerous activities, our volunteer military is out there protecting us, standing guard over us, giving us the freedom to live life as if we are not at war.

But we are at war. This is a stark reminder ... in the middle of our video games and mall shopping. Our lives will go on ... but this family's life will now stand still in time....

We must never forget those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

The very least we can do is support our Armed Forces and their mission and our country ... and our President. Being a Monday-morning quarterback is always easy; being a leader is not. And leadership includes keeping the people of America safe from terrorists who want to kill us.

Daniel was part of that war on terrorism. He knew when he joined the Corps he could be sent to Iraq. That is bravery. At his young age he wanted to go so that a husband or father wouldn't have to go ... he was ready to serve. And he was ready to die.

God bless Daniel Morris and his family. We thank them for their sacrifice for our freedom.

Kilo at Spark It Up!!! wrote Laid To Rest. He offered supportive, encouraging remarks about the SWAC bloggers and our support of the military and the war. Thank you, Kilo, from all of us for your kind words.

Also stories at Staunton News Leader and Waynesboro News-Virginian.

John Palmer Gregg's photo gallery.

Letter to Editor in News Leader: Daniel Morris stands guard at the Pearly Gates.

Day is done, gone the sun,
From the hills, from the lake, from the skies.
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh.
"Taps"

May God bless America.

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell