One of the best campaign videos EVAH!

I do believe that Jib Jab has outdone itself with their latest video. View it here and enjoy ….

JibJab’s Time for Some Campaignin’ video is everything you want it to be and more. The 2008 election is upon us and JibJab is jabbing all the main actors, Bush, Obama, McCain, Hill and Bill. They’re all part of the fun.

Give it a look-see cause its Time for Some Campaignin’!

Spc. Kisha Makerney
23 years old from Fort Towson, Oklahoma
120th Engineers, Oklahoma Army National Guard

Spc. Kisha Mackerney isn’t being profiled today because of something she did on the battlefield. She’s being profiled because her spirit and determination. In 2002, Makerney joined the Oklahoma Army National Guard out of a sense of patriotism, because, as she put it, “I love our country and our people.” Between 2004 and 2005, she served in Iraq as a gunner and helped provide battalion security. She returned home in early 2005 and was in a terrible motorcycle accident on June 25, 2005. The front wheel of her brand new bike had blown out and sent her flying into a highway sign. She looked up at her now mangled bike and was angry. That’s when she noticed that her left leg below the knee was missing. The first thing she thought of when she saw her leg was that her military career was over.

Makerney pulled herself out of the ditch that she had landed in and was able to flag down a passing motorist. She was taken a hospital in Hugo, Oklahoma before being flown to Dallas, Texas.

As soon as word spread about her accident, her fellow soldiers, her second family, rallied and rushed to her bedside. “Even before I was out of surgery they were waiting in the halls,” she said.

Continue reading Spc. Kisha Makerney’s story here. There are some despicable comments by a few readers on the story. Just ignore them.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Lance Corporal Martyn Compton of the Household Cavalry is someone well worth knowing. His service to his country and his fight to recover from injuries he sustained in Afghanistan have been acts of true heroism. Read more about him and see photos below.

Martyn Compton

Lance Corporal Martyn Compton got married over the weekend, on July 12th. He married Michelle Clifford in Kent, England. The couple met and became engaged in 2006. They were engaged only two weeks before he was deployed to Afghanistan.

Their marriage was beautiful on a whole lot of levels. Primarily, it was beautiful because it represented his long struggle to regain his life following catastrophic injuries while serving his country in Afghanistan.

On August 1, 2006, five weeks into his deployment, his convoy was ambushed. The vehicle he was driving hit a roadside bomb, killing the other passengers and engulfing him in flames. He was burned over 70 percent of his body. He broke his arm as he jumped out of his vehicle. He contracted flesh eating bugs as he rolled in the sand attempting to put out the fire that was covering his body. As he tried to pull himself to cover, a Taliban sniper shot him in the leg. When his comrades found him, he was close to death. He died and was revived three times en route to the hospital. He was in a coma for three months. Michelle sat by him everyday that he was unconscious. She decorated his room with pictures of loved ones. She talked to him and let him know she was there.

He credits her with giving him the strength to live through his ordeal.

Even though the doctors had told Michelle that he might never be able to walk, on Saturday he walked down the aisle to marry his bride. That was a victory in and of itself. There is still a long way to go. He has undergone over 60 hours of surgeries and is facing more. The doctors are working to reconstruct his face that was burned off.

But with a remarkable lack of self-pity and a strength that surpasses all understanding, he has begun the long walk to recovery. Best of all, he walked down the aisle to marry his bride.

He is definitely a hero and someone worth knowing.

Martyn Compton - Photos

The video below was produced by the Vets For Freedom. The message is one I’ve heard from many Soldiers who are fighting in the Global War on Terrorism. Very simply, Finish the Job!

The video’s message is ‘no matter who is president’. I agree. Unfortunately, it does matter who is president especially in an election year in which the differences between the two candidates are as stark as night and day. One will honor our military and the other will decimate our military. One is clear about winning the war on terrorism and the other is building his campaign on loss, surrender and appeasement.

We must finish the job.

Sgt. Kenneth J. Schall
22 years old from Peoria, Arizona
2nd Battalion, 70th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division
May 22, 2005

“It was very tough not to be touched by him in some way,” said Terri Schall, Sgt. Kenneth Schall’s mother.

Kenneth Schall was enrolled at Glendale Community College and was studying to become a history teacher when the country was attacked on September 11, 2001. The event spurred him to join the Army. He served a four and a half month tour in Iraq in 2004 and returned in February of 2005.

Terri Schall last spoke to her son on Mother’s Day in 2005. “He sounded great — tired — but he said he was doing OK”, she said. Sgt. Kenneth Schall died when the Humvee he was riding in was involved in an accident in Yusafiyah, Iraq.

Along with his mother, Sgt. Schall is survived by his father and two younger siblings.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

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We watch the Boston Pops every 4th of July and this year was no exception. Actually, I didn’t watch it this year because I was at a party, but we usually do. It really is magnificent. If this doesn’t make you feel a swell of pride for our great country then you have something seriously wrong with your swell of pride genes.

Enjoy the 2005 video of the Boston Pops Symphony Orchestra. The video includes the National Anthem and the Boston Pops rendition of the 1812 Overture, bells, fireworks and firing of Civil War era cannons ….

There was a huge ceremony in Baghdad today in which the American military celebrated Independence Day by reenlisting. Read about it below and see photos and a video.

Independence Day Reenlistments

You know things are better in Baghdad when soldiers who are current deployed choose to reenlist. When the reenlistment ceremony consist of 1,215 soldiers, then its a pretty good guess that things are a whole lot better.

Historically, when soldiers are deployed they tend to gripe and complain. That’s the nature of the beast. Its not that they don’t agree with the reasons we are at war. Its not that they wish they hadn’t joined the military. Its just that they gripe and complain. I’ve often heard that its when they aren’t griping and complaining that you need to worry about morale. I imagine that the men of Roman Legions griped their way across Europe. The Vikings probably griped and complained the entire trip across the sea on their way to pillage England and spread their DNA throughout Europe. Its just the way it is. The fact that so many soldiers chose to reenlist while they are deployed … a phenomenon that is not that common … tells us that morale is pretty good. Usually, they think about reenlisting once they are back home and comfortable again and able to look back on their experience at war with a clearer perspective.

Well, that’s what happened today in Baghdad. The enlistment ceremony was held at Al Faw Palace rotunda at Camp Victory, Baghdad and was performed by General David Petraeus.

You and your comrades here have been described as Americas new greatest generation, and, in my view, you have more than earned that description. It is the greatest of honors to soldier here with you.

HOOAH!!!!

Independence Day Reenlistments - Photos

Today is the 4th of July, Independence Day. A day American’s celebrate the day our forefathers declared independence from Britain. Its certainly a time in which we expect statements from our leaders. Generally they make a statement to the country about their love of our country and about the importance of remembering this day in our history.

Since this is an election year, we certainly expect that the presidential candidates would put out a statement on America’s Independence Day.

Here’s what the presidential candidates had to say …..

John McCain

John McCain’s 4th of July statement from his website:

As Americans, we are blessed to live in a free country that affords its citizens liberty and prosperity that people in other countries will never know. John McCain is proud to be an American and is constantly inspired by people he meets around the country who share in his love of our nation and all it represents.

During this Independence Day weekend, please take a moment to honor America and all that we are. Also, remember our military servicemen and women who are protecting our freedom across the globe and fighting for those who do not have the liberty our great country provides. Let us never forget those who have sacrificed before us to protect the United States and the values we hold dear.

4th of July

Barack Obama’s 4th of July statement:

Barack Obama

****cricket****cricket****cricket****cricket****cricket****cricket**** cricket****cricket****cricket****

He must be too busy campaigning to make a 4th of July statement.

….. but don’t question his patriotism.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Wife

Finally, a photo of the Islamic Republic of Iran President Ahmadinejad’s wife!!! We still don’t know her name, but we finally have a picture of the woman who actually married the Aha-mama-jihad!! We do know that she has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and teaches in a university. We know that she likes traveling with her husband in the official presidential airplane all over the world and that she has influenced her husband on women’s rights in Iran. I’ve noticed how open-minded he is in regards to women’s rights - haven’t you?

So here she is. Isn’t she lovely?