Move America Forward: Troopathon

Support the troops with donations for care packages--Michelle Malkin has the background, Andrew Breitbart is co-hosting, special guests (like Rush Limbaugh and Jon Voight) will appear throughout the eight hour live webcast, and the goal is $1 million:

Colorado Student Stands Up For Old Glory--"Duty, Honor, God And Country"

**Welcome Michelle Malkin readers . . . scroll to find a way to help out

"I stand for duty, honor, God and country"--Jeffrey Sahli


Jeffrey Sahli, 14, has been raising and lowering the American flag each school day for the past two years at Evergreen Middle School. (Photo by Brian Lehmann/Special to the Rocky)

Every now and then, the daily political grind and the latest news from around the world can turn even the most optimistic of bloggers just that much more cynical.

But then, this is America, and there are still patriots, like Jeffrey Sahli of Evergreen, Colorado:

Jeffrey Sahli noticed the faded, fraying U.S. flag outside Evergreen Middle School soon after he started eighth grade last year.

"I thought the flag wasn't being treated with flag etiquette. I thought I needed to do that," the 14-year-old said. "I wanted to serve my country and I thought, heck, I'll start right here."

With the principal's permission, he began taking care of Old Glory. Every school day he carefully hoists the U.S. and Colorado flags before classes and takes them down before heading home. He folds the Colorado flag into a neat square, the U.S. flag into a triangle, and places them in a cabinet in the office. He keeps them inside on stormy days.

That isn't the whole story, however:

Susan Roy didn't know Jeffrey but saw him every time she dropped off her son at Evergreen Middle and picked him up.

"Jeff would be out there - rain or shine - it didn't matter," she said. "He just wasn't taking it down, throwing it over his shoulders and taking it inside. He was very purposeful about it."

"As simple as it is to some people, it really is a big deal. He doesn't do it for an attaboy. He just does it because it's right."

Roy was so impressed that she told a family friend stationed in Iraq about Jeffrey. First Sgt. Timothy Horan serves with the Kentucky National Guard's 138th Fires Brigade.

"You don't hear of kids taking that kind of responsibility especially with something like that," he said. "A lot of younger kids think it's corny."

Or even unpatriotic. Just ask the "patriots" at Recreate '68.

Horan was moved by Jeffrey's patriotism:

Horan bought a flag at the military store and hung it above Camp Liberty near the Baghdad airport on Jan. 30 in Jeffrey's honor.

The next day, he was flown out of the country for emergency heart surgery. Friends sent the flag to Horan this spring. He got it to Roy who gave it to Evergreen Middle School Principal Jane Sutera.

Sutera arranged a surprise ceremony Thursday at the school where a shocked and grateful Jeffrey received the flag and a certificate from the Army recognizing his patriotism.

"I've never been recognized for doing something as simple as that," he said. "It was one of the best feelings I've had in my life."

He said he wasn't embarrassed by the attention because he wants people to see what he stands for.

"I stand for duty, honor, God and country."

Something "as simple as that"--uncommon valor in an era without virtue.

And yes, Jeffrey plans to serve:

Jeffrey doesn't come from a military background, though he hopes to attend West Point.

He wears a cross and a dog tag on a chain under his shirt. The bands on his braces are red, white and blue.

Outside Evergreen Middle School, the flag is clean and bright.

Jeffrey said the flag reminds him of the soldiers serving in Iraq.

"When they're coming home, I wanted them to see the flag flying high."

My father, a Marine, and my brother-in-law--due to ship to basic for the U.S. Coast Guard in two weeks--send their thanks and salute you Jeffrey.

**Update: Feeling inspired? Here's a way to help out--a fellow Colorado blogger is once again conducting a Project Letters from Home campaign (see contact info below):

This post will stay on top for awhile, so please check below for newer posts. I’ve got the email address for Project Letters from Home up and running, and have already recieved several letters. Thank you to those of you who have already emailed and/or posted about this on your blogs.

Once again, I’m collecting letters of support for the men and women aboard the USS Russell - DDG-59. I’m aiming for about 250 letters, so it will be a smaller project than last time. I’ve received word back from the Marines who we sent the letters to late last year, and I can’t emphasize enough how important these letters are to them. It’s really not all that much to ask to sit down and write a short note of support to those putting it all on the line for us.

Please send the emails to letters@thinking-right.com

MSM Frenzy As War Toll Hits 4000; Profiles Of Colorado's Lost Heroes

With each name I say a prayer--for the soldiers and their families--and praise their sense of honor and duty to country.

Here are a few of the many names, from the earliest part of the war to the end of December, 2006 (from the Rocky Mountain News)--the bios paint a small but touching picture of each soldier's life, and the link includes a list of those from Colorado killed in the line of duty, as well as those stationed at Fort Carson:

Thomas Slocum, 22, Thornton

Rank: Marine Lance Cpl.

Died after an ambush near Nasiriyah, March 23, 2003.

Bio: "He had no fear," said his mother, Terry Cooper. "He was ornery and always pushing the envelope." Slocum grew up in Thornton and graduated from Skyview High School in 1998. Asked to name his favorite subject in high school, Cooper said, Slocum answered without hesitation: "Girls. Definitely girls."

Randal K. Rosacker, 21, Alamosa

Rank: Marine Cpl.

Died after an ambush in Nasiriyah, March 23, 2003.

Bio: As a boy, Rosacker explored the outdoors, returning home with his pockets filled with new friends.

"He used to catch everything in the river near our house," said his father, Navy Command Master Chief Rod Rosacker, of San Diego.

When he turned 18, the stocky football star had a U.S. flag and bald eagle tattooed on his bicep.
. . .
David R. Staats, 30, Colorado Springs

Rank: Army Staff Sgt.

Died after an explosion in Taji, Dec. 16, 2006.

Bio: Staats' first tour in 2002 was spent in Kuwait. The next year he was sent to Iraq. He then left the military but decided to re-enlist.

"He didn't like civilian life," said his sister, Bethany Staats. "He liked the military; that was his life. It was in his blood." Staats leaves behind a wife and two children.

Seth M. Stanton, 19, Colorado Springs

Rank: Army Pfc.

Died after a bombing near Baghdad, Dec. 17, 2006.

Bio: Stanton had been in Iraq only eight weeks when he was killed. "He could have chosen to go to college. He could have chosen to get a better job, but he chose to stand in harm's way for the sake of others," said the Rev. Mel Waters, a Vietnam veteran who presided at Stanton's service.

The NY Times has an interactive listing of all those killed. A tour of Denver's Fort Logan National Cemetery elicits a quiet understanding and appreciation of the sacrifice of the soldiers who keep this country free:

A world away, dogs bark and traffic hums along city streets. Geese fly overhead, honking and wheeling over Memorial Lake. Beneath their wings all is still, as it always is. Nothing moves but the wind because stillness — motion and quiet — is the way of Fort Logan National Cemetery.

But in that stillness, 93,000 simple eulogies are whispered from the headstones. Especially the newer ones, the headstones that mark the final resting place of 17 men killed in the Iraq War — 17 who are part of the 4,000 men and women whose lives have been taken in combat. It is the latest milestone of staggering loss. Until another, sadder milestone replaces it. And it will. That is the way of war.
. . .
The ground between the graves is mottled with patches of dirty snow, precocious nubs of green grass, and pine cones. All sound — geese honking, cars moving, earth-moving equipment sculpting the land into new burial ground — is gently absorbed by a calm that isn't so much vacuum as vessel. Periodically, the vessel tips and the sound is poured out.

Particularly one sound. A sound that has free rein.

Most days there is an average of 15 funerals at Fort Logan. Old warriors and young warriors. During those funerals, the saddest song in the world is played. And no matter where you are among the sprawling 214 acres, you can hear each trembling note. Some days only minutes separate the end of one Taps and the start of another, as if the air is pausing to clear its throat before allowing a new ceremony of death with honor to commence.

The headstones fan out in all directions in strict military dress- right-dress formation. No matter which way you look, they are perfectly aligned. Marble carved from the earth. Shaped by hand. In rows of manmade precision.

Gateway Pundit brings the disgusting story of anti-war moonbats desecrating an Easter Mass by screaming and spraying fake blood on the churchgoers.

Iraq War Anniversary--Colorado Recruitment Levels Remain High, "Duty To Country" Cited As Top Reason

Of course, there are the famous soldiers like Navy SEAL Danny Dietz, killed in Afghanistan and remembered in the excellent book "Lone Survivor" by fellow SEAL Marcus Luttrell, whose commemorative statue caused a stir last year when moonbats felt that the representation of the brave Coloradan using the last known photo of him "glorified violence" because he was holding a gun.

But the sacrifice has been felt by many others less well-known, but equally deserving of praise and thanks, including Marine Jon Lujan, injured the first week of battle:

Colorado has lost more than 50 of its own since the war in Iraq began five years ago and Fort Carson has lost more than 200, according to the Department of Defense. The DOD says nearly 500 Coloradans have been injured.

Lujan is among those that were injured, but his wounds started to heal over time.
. . .
Five years after he went into Iraq, Lujan looked back on the protests, the reunions, the battles and the funerals.

"It's a day with mixed emotions. I woke up today and realized what today was and there's anxiety, there's sadness, there's a whole gamut of emotions," he said.

He says the best thing anyone can do for any Iraq War veteran is just to say "thanks."

"I don't want 'em to react any different than they would for anyone else," he said.
Lujan says he has no regrets.

"For me, I was just doing my job," he said.

Despite the MSM's best efforts, Coloradans are signing up for what seems a very old-fashioned reason--a sense of honor and duty--but the MSM wants you to believe it is only for economic reasons that recruitment remains high:

A sense of "duty to country" is cited as the top reason for enlisting, but a struggling economy back home makes Army jobs look attractive. Cale Margheim, 40, lost his banking job and has a wife and child.

"They're supportive," Margheim said. "Of course they don't' want to see me deployed, but they are supportive of me."

The Army is meeting recruiting goals in part by offering big incentives -- up to $73,000 for college, up to $65,000 to pay off existing student loans, up to $40,000 in sign up bonuses and family medical benefits.

"I needed to get out of debt and I started paying for school," Army enlistee
Justin Owens said.

At the recruiting office in Denver, quotas are not only being met, but exceeded.

You don't exceed quotas merely with a flagging economy.

But then that doesn't fit their neat little narrative of our soldiers, now, does it? Coloradans are not alone, as reenlistments across the nation continue to soar.

The hardest job at home--casualty notification--follows Marine Maj. Steve Beck and the families of fallen soldiers.

Fort Carson has seen a lot of loss, including Staff Sgt. Michael D. Elledge:

Elledge, 41, of Brownsburg, Ind., and Cpl. Christopher C. Simpson, 23, of Hampton, Va., died Monday during an operation to locate and clear insurgent bombs from a road in northeast Baghdad.

Their unit, 1st Battalion, 68th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, is working to police neighborhoods near Sadr City.

Their deaths bring the number of Fort Carson soldiers killed in Iraq to 235, including eight members of the brigade who have died since the unit left in December for its third tour in Iraq.

Elledge was considered an old man in his company. The two-tour Iraq veteran was a teenaged Marine, left the military, but joined the Army a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.

"When 9/11 hit, he felt a real need to re-enlist," his sister, Marsha Johnson, said by telephone from Detroit. "He was a real patriot."

While he loved his country, Elledge managed to put his wife and three children first in his life, Johnson said.

"The biggest thing for him was his family," she said
. . .
His dedication to duty had earned him the Army Commendation Medal.

And a reminder of the folks who hold "peace" vigils and claim to support the troops by wanting to "bring them home":


Link: sevenload.com

March 2008 Denver Anti-War Rally; Poet Calls To "Burn Down Lockheed Martin," Crowd Cheers

Scroll for pics . . .

Poet "SUZI motherf#@*in' Q" calls for Lockheed Martin to be burned down--"I'm not saying I'd like to kill the president"--crowd cheers (around 3:40 in):



Final estimate--300 anti-war moonbats, plenty of anger and rage, and a very "musical" rally overall.

The Drunkablog has an extensive collection of photos from the rally--and an interesting encounter with Ward Churchill acolyte Glenn Spagnuolo, one of the heads of Recreate '68.

Correspondent "randomridge" was also there, and has a warning: ¡Peligro: Moonbattismo! The captions are priceless.


The calm before the storm--a foot of snow expected by Monday evening


While the rally gets set up, I took the time to remember those who have served


What would a rally be without bongos drums?


AFSC had a few of these banners around


The only torture in Denver was the overwhelming sense of smugness


Peace flags a-flyin', while a mournful cello played


Raging Grannies serenaded the early arrivers


A little tai chi to warm up for today's activism


Alternate party supporters were out in force--all three of them!


The rally started a little late, waiting for everyone to show up


An inflatable George W. Bush doll says "Impeach Me"


Keffiyehs and Palestinian flags were in abundance


Ah, good ol' Che!


Israoil--how clever

Colorado Department Of Higher Education Targets Free Tuition Bill For Decorated Veterans

**Update--Combat veteran tuition waiver opponents like David Skaggs called for in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants just last year

---

"We have an obligation to care for our veterans"--Rep. Rafael Gallegos, sponsor of the free tuition bill for decorated combat veterans



Sick. Just sick--the Colorado Department of Higher Education aggressively trying to kill the tuition bill through back-door channels:

The Colorado Department of Higher Education has quietly called on lobbyists for the University of Colorado system to persuade lawmakers to kill a bill that would grant free tuition to decorated combat veterans.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Rafael Gallegos, D-Antonito, sailed through the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on a 9-2 vote last week. But opponents say the state's colleges and universities can't afford it.

In an e-mail Monday to two dozen Capitol lobbyists, Cathy Wanstrath, a lobbyist for the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, laid out a plan to kill the measure when it is heard by the Appropriations Committee on Friday.

"I think you all agree we need to kill this bill, and (the Colorado Department of Higher Education) has been happy to take the lead," according to the memo obtained Tuesday by the Rocky Mountain News. "However, we need your help in the next couple of days to count the votes to kill it in committee."

Gallegos said that Wanstrath already had contacted him.

"I understand we're talking about money here," he said. "I have done my best to explain the benefits of this. We have an obligation to care for our veterans."

The provisions of the bill:

HB 1068

The bill would provide free state tuition to individuals who were legal Colorado residents at the time of the military action for which they received the Purple Heart or a higher combat service medal. Veterans also would have to meet the one-year state residency requirement prior to enrolling at school.

Making excuses for an inability to fund this program, David Skaggs scrapes the bottom of the barrel:

David Skaggs, director of the state Department of Higher Education, said that as a Marine Corps veteran of Vietnam, he has empathy for what veterans who have been decorated for combat action have gone through.

"Our position on this is taken with enormous regret because of this, but we simply have no idea what the price tag on that would be," Skaggs said.

The Legislative Council staff has said that accurate information does not exist on how many potential recipients might benefit from the bill.

But the staff noted that if 10 undergraduates took advantage of the tuition waiver at CU-Boulder for four years, it would cost the school $216,720.

A "hugely constrained" budget has no room for such a waiver, Skaggs said, adding that it also would force CU's medical school to waive its $25,000 tuition for each decorated veteran.

Well, with Ward Churchill on his way out, that should free up some money to fund the tuition waiver.

The free tuition for decorated combat veterans is a small price to pay in comparison to what these brave Americans paid for our freedom.

Here is the link to the Colorado Department of Higher Education, as well as the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.

Have a message for David Skaggs? (keep it polite)--executivedirector@cche.state.co.us