Patriotism, Texas and Chris Kyle

This was sent to me in email. I have seen credit given to a Dallas paper for it, but I’m not sure of the origin.

I just wanted to share with you all that out of a horrible tragedy we were blessed by so many people. Chris was Derek’s teammate through 10 years of training and battle. They both suffer/suffered from PTSD to some extent and took great care of each other because of it. 2006 in Ramadi was horrible for young men that never had any more aggressive physical contact with another human than on a Texas football field. They lost many friends. Chris became the armed services number #1 sniper of all time. Not something he was happy about, other than the fact that in so doing, he saved a lot of American lives. Three years ago, his wife Taya asked him to leave the SEAL teams as he had a huge bounty on his head by Al Qaeda. He did and wrote the book The American Sniper. 100% of the proceeds from the book went to two of the SEAL families who had lost their sons in Iraq . That was the guy Chris was. He formed a company in Dallas to train military, police and I think firemen as far as protecting themselves in difficult situations. He also formed a foundation to work with military people suffering from PTSD. Chris was a giver not a taker. He along with a friend and neighbor, Chad Littlefield, were murdered trying to help a young man that had served 6 months in Iraq and claiming to have PTSD.

Godspeed, Iron Lady!

Sad news, as Margaret Thatcher has passed away. She was one of the world’s great politicians, bring Great Britain back onto the forefront of the world’s countries. She dragged Great Britain back to the right, and consequently back to prosperity. And she did it being positive.

Why is Clear and Present Danger my favorite Tom Clancy book?

Thanks ISU Men’s Basketball Seniors 2012-2013

You made this year a special one in the history of ISU athletics. Yours was a class of castoffs and transfers, and you managed to come together and make a run in the NCAA tournament, when most figured you would spend the postseason viewing it from home. Shows how much they know.

You had the heart, the will, and the ability to win a lot of games, and managed to win a couple more that they handed you an L in. My thanks to you, for making this season enjoyable.

The future is bright for ISU Basketball, and you helped to start that out.

You also took the time to take some pictures with a young Cyclone fan after the game against Ohio State in Dayton, and you made his day (my nephew).

Sgt. Stubby, the Heroic War Dog

From an email. Links about the story follow.

In honor of all our Veterans I thought this little bit of history was interesting to share.

Meet America’s first war dog, a stray Pit Bull/Terrier mix, named Stubby. He became Sgt. Stubby, was the most decorated war dog of World War I and the only dog to be promoted to sergeant through combat.
One day he appeared at Yale Field in New Haven, Connecticut; while a group of soldiers were training, stopping to make friends with soldiers as they drilled. One soldier, Corporal Robert Conroy, developed a fondness for the dog. He named him Stubby because of his short legs. When it became time for the outfit to ship out, Conroy hid Stubby on board the troop ship. In order to keep the dog, the private taught him to salute his commanding officers warming their hearts to him.

Got your Christmas Decorations Up? Beat this one.

“Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever. Great stories. But two things made me take it down.”

Church AND State?

Maybe this is the proper “church and state” relationship?

RIP, Uncle Roland! I miss you already.

Anyone who would give me an ear, please include my Uncle Roland in your prayers today. He passed away last night, from advanced Parkinson’s. It was expected, as he hasn’t been able to eat for a while now. He was at peace, and he’s in a better place.

Of all the people I know, he is the one that no one had a bad word about. Everyone in town remembers him as the guy that no one ever got in a fight with, and that’s in the good way. I already miss him, and I’m glad I got to see him last week. It was hard seeing the strong farmer that I’ve known all my life so weak, but he remembered me, and I got to hold his hand. He is surely with God today, as there aren’t many on this earth that are as strong in their faith as Roland.

Act of Valor, highly recommended!

Act of Valor is a different kind of movie. I’m biased completely, but it was an awesome movie, when you take context into account. But even if you don’t, a couple of things really stood out.

1) The photography was absolutely beautiful. I mean literally stunning. Colors. Contrast. Sharpness. No filtering. Excellent cinematography, and excellent scene selections.

2) People have commented about the acting. I didn’t find it that stilted. In fact, they acted more like real people than actors ever do.

3) The action sequences are expertly done. Factor in using live ammunition, and the boat scene takes on a whole new level of awesome. The river scene was my favorite in the movie, followed closely by the car chase.

The decision to use real SEALS was a show stopping great decision. No one else could pull that off, and give it authenticity. People are going to say that it is hyped up, and nothing like that ever happens. I will just sadly shake my head at them, and walk off.

This is a must see. Seriously, it’s really good.

Excellent Music:

The Sithy Challenge

LC Aggie Sith had a challenge for her friends in the blogosphere: let’s have a short story contest. I didn’t think I had it in me. Maybe I don’t, but here’s my shot at it. After drawing a complete blank on ideas, inspiration hit me, as I was listening to the latest of many books on tape that entertain me on the way home from work.