To all those out there (mostly liberals) who said that the Iraqis would never be able to handle democracy and that we were wasting our time and the lives of brave Americans in a pointless war, I have a question for you.
"Why was the nation wide voter turnout higher in Iraq than it was for some of the most contested elections held recently in this country?"
Is it tragic that we've lost nearly 2,000 brave men and women for this cause? Of course. It's especially painful for my battalion, who couldn't bring home 16 of our men and that's not counting the 130 or so who earned the purple heart this past year. Was it worth it? To a man, I would bet that every Marine in my battalion, and even most of the ones who have recently gotten out of the Corps after THREE tours to some of the heaviest fighting in this conflict, would say that yes, it is worth the risk and danger to help people realize the rights which they were "endowed with by their Creator, and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." I read that somewhere once.
Oh, one last thing... as their career counselor, I always ask a young Marine why he joined the Marines in the first place because it helps me figure out how I can help him. Ya' know, oddly enough, I have yet to hear someone tell me that they joined because they had to. No one forced these guys to sign up. Some of them even say they enlisted because they knew the path they were on in high school was a path to destruction and they wanted to do something more with their lives. Well, to that end I can not help but recall one of our favorite quotes of one of my favorite presidents. Ronald Reagan once said that, "Some people go their entire lives wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem."
Monday, October 24
Tuesday, October 18
That's my boy!
Did you ever see those old Tom & Jerry cartoons where Spike (the bulldog) teaches his son how to chase cats and Tom is victimized for the rest of the skit? My point is this: Spike often laughs and says, "Ah-ha-ha... that's my boy!" That's the way I felt yesterday. My son turned 4 and I couldn't be more proud. I'd post pictures, but my wife already did, so I'd invite you to go there to see him. It's amazing how much he's grown in the last year. His diction is much better now and he can make himself understood easier, which is a relief to all of us. It was pretty funny though on Sunday, as we talked about his birthday being the next day, he said, "I don't want it to be my birthday." We asked him why not and he said he wanted to be three forever. Oh, please no! Fortunately, time marched on and when he woke up from his nap yesterday afternoon and saw that we had decorated (blown up some balloons and rearranged the furniture) he got all excited that his best friend and her family were coming over, not to mention Grandma and Grandpa. He also got a present from my folks way out in Ohio and just had a blast all around. After we got the kids hyped up on sugar with a birthday "cake" made of ice cream, we took 'em bowling. Fun, fun, fun let me tell you. The only thing that would've been better would have been had it not been one of the 12 days of the year that it rains here in SoCal. Oh well, can't have everything, right?
To make it even better, yesterday was the first weekday in over seven months when I didn't have to go to work. I've started three weeks of leave and it couldn't have come at a better time. I'll tell you more later about our memorial last week. Let me just say that it was good for my heart to know that those who fell did not die for nothing. Just read this article from USA Today if you don't agree.
Oh, and by the way at least the Eagles didn't lose yesterday thanks to their bye week... Go Chargers!
To make it even better, yesterday was the first weekday in over seven months when I didn't have to go to work. I've started three weeks of leave and it couldn't have come at a better time. I'll tell you more later about our memorial last week. Let me just say that it was good for my heart to know that those who fell did not die for nothing. Just read this article from USA Today if you don't agree.
Oh, and by the way at least the Eagles didn't lose yesterday thanks to their bye week... Go Chargers!
Wednesday, October 12
Well, that was fun
We had a big "shin-dig" for the battalion as an official welcome-home battalion family day at the State Beach in San Onofre (just south of San Clemente) yesterday.
It could've gone better.
We were late getting there, which wasn't too big a deal since there were about 1200 people hanging out, but the kicker was that it wasn't on the beach... not even close. The party was in a park area up behind the RV parking so my son couldn't play in the sand like his mommy and daddy had said he could.
Strike one.
The caterer for the event was a barbeque place (I so wish I could remember their name so I could link it here) that had a sweet tasting sauce to add to their shredded beef for BBQ sandwiches. If you didn't like that, there was also lunch meat available. Of course, the boy doesn't eat anything like that even though the cole slaw was good and they even had cookies.
Strike two.
They did have a bounce house for the younger kids, so that was a plus... until Lil' Bill got in for the last time and was DDT'd by some other kid in there. It could've been funny (or at least okay) if the other youngster had not hit the bug's mouth with his head. That split my son's lip and caused some serious concern for mom, who chipped a tooth in her younger days. Of course, the site of his worried mom and the fact that he can taste his own blood coming from his lip didn't help calm him down very much. Even when we went to see the paramedics and he got to sit on the bumper of their big red truck while the nice lady paramedic held an ice compress to his lip didn't help calm him down. The fact that he'd gotten up early and only had a short nap in the car on the way up there probably didn't help either.
Strike three. We're outta there.
The whole adventure lasted maybe two hours and that's if you include the drive up and back. What a day. Just remember, we're making memories that will last a lifetime.
It could've gone better.
We were late getting there, which wasn't too big a deal since there were about 1200 people hanging out, but the kicker was that it wasn't on the beach... not even close. The party was in a park area up behind the RV parking so my son couldn't play in the sand like his mommy and daddy had said he could.
Strike one.
The caterer for the event was a barbeque place (I so wish I could remember their name so I could link it here) that had a sweet tasting sauce to add to their shredded beef for BBQ sandwiches. If you didn't like that, there was also lunch meat available. Of course, the boy doesn't eat anything like that even though the cole slaw was good and they even had cookies.
Strike two.
They did have a bounce house for the younger kids, so that was a plus... until Lil' Bill got in for the last time and was DDT'd by some other kid in there. It could've been funny (or at least okay) if the other youngster had not hit the bug's mouth with his head. That split my son's lip and caused some serious concern for mom, who chipped a tooth in her younger days. Of course, the site of his worried mom and the fact that he can taste his own blood coming from his lip didn't help calm him down very much. Even when we went to see the paramedics and he got to sit on the bumper of their big red truck while the nice lady paramedic held an ice compress to his lip didn't help calm him down. The fact that he'd gotten up early and only had a short nap in the car on the way up there probably didn't help either.
Strike three. We're outta there.
The whole adventure lasted maybe two hours and that's if you include the drive up and back. What a day. Just remember, we're making memories that will last a lifetime.
Monday, October 10
grrrrrrrr....
That figures... last weekend was a good one for me as far as sports go and it ALL fell apart this week.
The Padres were swept out of the playoffs in three quick games. Along that train of thought, if you think about it, the Braves kinda got to play five games against the Astros. I mean the fourth one was more like a double-header, but still they played five games worth of baseball.
The Buckeyes came back from their week off and only scored 10 points? That ain't gonna cut it against the Nittany Lions. Maybe this is Penn State's year. They certainly look strong enough.
The Eagles... yeah, whatever. I think Donovan McNabb should get his surgery and stop trying to be the hero. If he's only out 4-6 weeks he'd be back in time for a playoff run but the way they're playing right now makes me think they're not going to the post-season.
So my hopes for a redemption of the weekend fell on the shoulders of the hometown heroes, the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals. And they fell short.
Hence the title of this post: grrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
At least I've got the day off today and tomorrow's a family day for the battalion at the beach.
The Padres were swept out of the playoffs in three quick games. Along that train of thought, if you think about it, the Braves kinda got to play five games against the Astros. I mean the fourth one was more like a double-header, but still they played five games worth of baseball.
The Buckeyes came back from their week off and only scored 10 points? That ain't gonna cut it against the Nittany Lions. Maybe this is Penn State's year. They certainly look strong enough.
The Eagles... yeah, whatever. I think Donovan McNabb should get his surgery and stop trying to be the hero. If he's only out 4-6 weeks he'd be back in time for a playoff run but the way they're playing right now makes me think they're not going to the post-season.
So my hopes for a redemption of the weekend fell on the shoulders of the hometown heroes, the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals. And they fell short.
Hence the title of this post: grrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
At least I've got the day off today and tomorrow's a family day for the battalion at the beach.
Wednesday, October 5
How ya' been?
Okay, so I didn't post last week because my parents were in town to verify that I had safely made it home from the desert and was not just pulling their leg when I called to say "I'm home!" a couple weeks ago. So, what's been going on in my little world? Good question and I'm glad you asked. (:D
Let's start with me personally... I'm either certifiably crazy, or I think I'm over my fear of the public (or I'm in denial) because last night I auditioned for the vocal team at my church which will put me in front of hundreds of people twice a month for Sunday services. I also signed up for the band and even told the drama director that I was available if needed. Sheesh!
Hey, how 'bout them Padres? With a record of only 82 wins, which would have put them in at least third in any other division in baseball this year, the San Diego baseball club clinched the NL "Worst" last week and promptly lost game 1 of the NLDS to the St Louis Cardinals. My prediction? The "Friars" will win tonight's game in honor of Jake Peavy, whose busted ribs were unknown to anyone (?) until after the game and then they'll lose the next two and be out of the playoffs before they really get started. Let's face it folks, until San Diego is willing (or able) to spend the kind of money the Yankees and the Sox spend, they ain't goin' anywhere.
Besides, now that it's October, I'm more interested in the weekend action. Fortunately, the Buckeyes didn't lose on Saturday (didn't play) so that's a good thing. The Eagles had to mount a dramatic comeback in Arrowhead which is not an easy thing to do. Oh, and surprise, surprise... The Chargers beat the two-time champs... in Foxboro. Does that mean they coulda won the Superbowl last year or could win it this year? Not necessarily. It just proves that you have to play the game and can't rely on how the teams look on paper. Don't believe me? Ask the four teams who have played the Bengals so far this year!
Finally, I've received a few questions about my hobby, model railroading. I find it to be a peaceful distraction from the hustle and bustle of every day life. Unfortunately, I can only work on my layout ("train set" for those of you who aren't modelers) in my mind or on paper. I don't have an actual layout for two very good reasons. One, being in the military means I move a lot and I don't really have the time to devote to actually building anything right now. Two, I have a tendency to put off doing something until I'm sure it's going to be my absolute best effort. To that end, I've mentally built and rebuilt my layout several times. I'm hoping to actually start building after we finally buy a home and I know I won't be moving again, but that's probably not for a couple more years. In the mean time, I have my vivid imagination and (thanks to my sister) I have a subscription to Model RailRoader magazine to help me learn.
So, there it is. The whole battalion is home now and we're getting ready to start our much deserved post-deployment leave block next week. Hopefully by then I'll be able to figure out time to make more timely entries on my blog. Have a great week and let me know what's up.
Let's start with me personally... I'm either certifiably crazy, or I think I'm over my fear of the public (or I'm in denial) because last night I auditioned for the vocal team at my church which will put me in front of hundreds of people twice a month for Sunday services. I also signed up for the band and even told the drama director that I was available if needed. Sheesh!
Hey, how 'bout them Padres? With a record of only 82 wins, which would have put them in at least third in any other division in baseball this year, the San Diego baseball club clinched the NL "Worst" last week and promptly lost game 1 of the NLDS to the St Louis Cardinals. My prediction? The "Friars" will win tonight's game in honor of Jake Peavy, whose busted ribs were unknown to anyone (?) until after the game and then they'll lose the next two and be out of the playoffs before they really get started. Let's face it folks, until San Diego is willing (or able) to spend the kind of money the Yankees and the Sox spend, they ain't goin' anywhere.
Besides, now that it's October, I'm more interested in the weekend action. Fortunately, the Buckeyes didn't lose on Saturday (didn't play) so that's a good thing. The Eagles had to mount a dramatic comeback in Arrowhead which is not an easy thing to do. Oh, and surprise, surprise... The Chargers beat the two-time champs... in Foxboro. Does that mean they coulda won the Superbowl last year or could win it this year? Not necessarily. It just proves that you have to play the game and can't rely on how the teams look on paper. Don't believe me? Ask the four teams who have played the Bengals so far this year!
Finally, I've received a few questions about my hobby, model railroading. I find it to be a peaceful distraction from the hustle and bustle of every day life. Unfortunately, I can only work on my layout ("train set" for those of you who aren't modelers) in my mind or on paper. I don't have an actual layout for two very good reasons. One, being in the military means I move a lot and I don't really have the time to devote to actually building anything right now. Two, I have a tendency to put off doing something until I'm sure it's going to be my absolute best effort. To that end, I've mentally built and rebuilt my layout several times. I'm hoping to actually start building after we finally buy a home and I know I won't be moving again, but that's probably not for a couple more years. In the mean time, I have my vivid imagination and (thanks to my sister) I have a subscription to Model RailRoader magazine to help me learn.
So, there it is. The whole battalion is home now and we're getting ready to start our much deserved post-deployment leave block next week. Hopefully by then I'll be able to figure out time to make more timely entries on my blog. Have a great week and let me know what's up.
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