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REQUIEM

Below are the two final essays to be posted on Allegiance and Duty Betrayed. The first one is written by a friend -- screen name 'Euro-American Scum' -- who, over the past four years, has been the most faithful essayist here. He has written about everything from his pilgrimage to Normandy in 2004 to take part in the 60th–year commemoration of the invasion, to his memories of his tour in Vietnam. His dedication to America’s founding principles ... and those who have sacrificed to preserve them over the past 200+ years ... is unequaled. Thank you, E-A-S. It has been a privilege to include your writing here, and it is a privilege to call you my friend.

The second essay is my own farewell. And with it I thank all of the many regular visitors, and those who may have only dropped in occasionally, for coming here. I hope you learned something. I hope a seed or two was planted. But, even if not, I thank you for stopping by ... 25 March, 2010

10/26/2006

Greater Love Has No Man Than This, That He Lay Down His Life For His Friends … John 15:13


Each day, as you read the headlines in your local newspaper, or listen to what passes for ‘news’ on your radio or television … and, during these perilous times when, more than ever before in human history, decent freedom-loving people are facing the most evil, ruthless, conscienceless enemy that has ever walked this planet … contemplate what the major news outlets deem ‘newsworthy’.

I was in Washington DC recently, for the first time in several years, and was stunned by the ‘new climate’ I sensed there. The people who are there every day seem to exhibit a kind of quiet resignation that affects their quality of life, but around which they work … oblivious … as if things had never been otherwise. Refusing to acknowledge that our nation's capital is just a hollow shell of its former self. Some conversations I had with locals affirmed that they are intent on going about their daily lives in the belief that it's just a matter of time before they are once again in the terrorists’ cross-hairs. A young fellow I ran into at the new World War II memorial expressed this philosophy best: ‘We need to get used to living as though we are in the jungles of Vietnam. To do otherwise would amount to painting a target on our chests and saying 'come and get me.' I don't know that I agree with him, but I understand his perspective.

I, too, have felt recently as if we are experiencing 'the calm before the storm,’ and have been trying, without much success, to ignore that feeling.

'Everyday normalcy' is a method for maintaining order -- for retaining a sense of emotional continuity. Simple 'normalcy' has a solidity and a security about it. It provides a practical, hopefully moral, foundation upon which people depend in order to live their lives with some semblance of peace of mind. 'Normalcy' is a kind of continuously flowing parchment on which both everyday events, and history, are inscribed. With the dramatic increase in terrorist activity – and the ever-present threat of more to come -- the depended-upon characteristics of everyday life have become windswept, undermining our ability to feel content and at ease. Non-stop violent images of brutality and destruction from around the world have undermined our ability to provide that sense of continuity. We don’t really comprehend who the social and political actors today really are, from day to day. We are getting a good idea about what values they represent, and what they are fighting for (or against), but somehow that doesn’t remove the sense that we always seem to be waiting for the other shoe to drop.

They have invaded our living rooms and our psyches. They have provoked deep moral questioning at every level of social life. They have affected the way we perceive time and space, how we walk down the street, who we trust, who we respect, how we look at other people in general, how we view and make sense of our own lives. And they make us think about pain … and death.

Yet contemplate, for a moment, what the major news outlets deem ‘newsworthy’, and worthy of constant, drumbeat repetition, day in and day out.

Sexually suggestive e-mails sent to congressional pages by a sitting congressman.

The fact that New Jersey will grant homosexual unions ‘rights’.

The latest antics of Anna Nicole Smith.

… and countless other ‘newsworthy’ stories that will be rendered eternally meaningless once our attention is forced, of necessity, to realistically (as opposed to embracing contorted media-fed propaganda) focus on those historically unprecedented forces that seek to destroy freedom throughout the world, and the lives of those who will fight to defend it.

I ask you: Which of the three ‘headline stories’ above, and the countless others that find their way into the mainstream media’s propaganda/bread-and-circuses agenda, deserves more attention than the one below?

And then I ask you: Why have the three ‘headline stories’ above, and countless others, been relegated infinitely more news-room than the one below (which has found itself virtually ignored)?

The answers to both questions are every bit as disturbing as any threat we will face from any enemy outside of our borders, because those whose charge it is to 'inform' us stopped doing so decades ago. Instead, their focus has shifted to implementing successful diversionary propaganda techniques.

~ ~ ~

Excerpted from an article in the Orange County Register last week:


Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Monsoor

A Navy SEAL gave his life to save his comrades by throwing himself on top of a grenade that Iraqi insurgents had tossed into their sniper hideout, fellow members of the elite force said.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor of Garden Grove [CA] had been near the only door to the rooftop structure Sept. 29 when the grenade hit him in the chest and bounced to the floor, said four SEALs who spoke to The Associated Press this week on condition of anonymity because their work requires their identities to remain secret.

He never took his eye off the grenade. His only movement was down toward it,’ said a 28-year-old lieutenant who suffered shrapnel wounds to both legs that day. ‘He undoubtedly saved mine and the other SEALs' lives, and we owe him.

Monsoor, a 25-year-old gunner, was killed in the explosion in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. He was the second SEAL to die in Iraq since the war began.

Two SEALs next to Monsoor were injured, and one who was 10 to 15 feet from the blast was not hurt. The four had been working with Iraqi soldiers providing sniper security while U.S. and Iraqi forces conducted missions in the area.

Monsoor's heroism did not surprise those who knew him, said Patrick Barnes, one of his best friends in Orange County.

That's just the kind of guy he was,’ Barnes said. ‘That's how far he would go to protect the lives of his friends and teammates.

At one level, Barnes said, he wished Monsoor hadn't done it.

It's just a selfish thought. I want my friend back,’ he said. ‘But the thought that he did this to save the lives of others gives me comfort.

Barnes said the reaction of Monsoor's fellow SEALs at the funeral service Thursday in San Diego was touching.

The men Mike had saved were married and had families,’ Barnes said. ‘(Monsoor) had no doubts about what he had to do although it cost him his life.

In an interview at the SEALs' West Coast headquarters in Coronado, four members of the special force remembered ‘Mikey’ as a loyal friend and a quiet, dedicated professional.

Other SEALS described the Garden Grove native as a modest and humble man who drew strength from his family and his faith. His father and brother are former Marines, a 31-year-old petty officer second class said.

Monsoor had demonstrated courage under fire in another incident as well. He has been posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his actions May 9 in Ramadi, when he and another SEAL pulled a team member shot in the leg to safety while bullets pinged off the ground around them.

Monsoor's funeral Thursday was at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego. He has been submitted for an award for his actions the day he died.

Monsoor's fellow SEALs will remember his heroism as long as they live, said Cmdr. Greg Geisen, spokesman for the Naval Special Warfare Command.

His self-sacrifice goes to show the strength of his character and commitment to his mission and teammates,’ he said. ‘He will be missed.

Monsoor took great pride in being a SEAL – an honor he had to struggle to achieve, his friends said. He was crushed when he failed the training the first time, but he passed in his second attempt, they said.

~ ~ ~

Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends … John 15:13

The next time you hear the mention of Abu Ghraib, or Haditha, or the manufactured abuses at Guantanamo, ask yourself why the name of Michael Monsoor, and countless other duty-bound genuine American heros, are not afforded equal media time. And then don’t be afraid to allow your disdain for the leftist, anti-American mainstream media to compel you to speak out about the injustice of it all.

Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you: Jesus Christ and the American military. One died for your soul; the other for your freedom. Don’t allow the powerful forces that seek to divert our attention from either of those facts succeed in doing so.

~ joanie

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful story. Beautiful analysis.

Anonymous said...

God bless Michael Monsoor!

Anonymous said...

A true hero in an age when we don't often hear of many.

I agree with your analysis of what passes for news.

It is humbling to hear of such courage.

Without referring to the rights and wrongs of the current conflicts, I would say that any nation or society can only expect to survive in the long term when its citizens are willing to pay the ultimate price in its defence. Clearly the US (whatever the various faults) is blessed to be able to inspire such dedication in its children. Let's hope and pray that not too many more have to pay so high a price.

Anonymous said...

Well said, Joanie.

And well said, Luis.

Anonymous said...

The media are despicable. I'm so tired of hearing fluff stories while they ignore important ones like this. Monsoor should be in our new history books, but they'll be filled with people like Marilyn Monroe and Mia Angelou (sp?)

Disgusting.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure there an many of these stories of heroism but all we hear about is our solders' abuses of prisoners of war, etc. Half of those abuses are made up and the other half are committed by such a small percentage of our people that it isn't even worth reporting.

I'm sick of the media and sick of the politicians trying to demoralize our men in uniform. They are all traitors in my book.

Anonymous said...

A Navy SEAL gave his life to save his comrades by throwing himself on top of a grenade that Iraqi insurgents had tossed into their sniper hideout, fellow members of the elite force said.

Yeah, but we make prisoners of war wear underpants on their heads. So it all even out in the end. < /sarc >

Anonymous said...

God bless Michael Monsoor and all of the brave men and women who are fighting in Iraq!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this.

Anonymous said...

Gold cross is removed from William and Mary chapel altar

Moving the icon acknowledges the increasing use of the Wren Building for nonreligious events.

BY SETH FREEDLAND October 28, 2006

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-64824sy0oct28,0,2492475.story?coll=dp-news-local-final

WILLIAMSBURG -- College of William and Mary officials removed a 2-foot-high gold cross from the altar of the Sir Christopher Wren Building chapel this week, in an effort to modify the historic chapel into a nondenominational space.

The cross is now kept in a nearby storage closet, near communion wine bottles and other religious articles.

It can be returned to the altar if desired by chapel patrons, officials said.

Making Wren Chapel less faith-specific recognizes the increasing number of nonreligious events held there, according to an e-mail sent by college President Gene Nichol to the William and Mary community.

"Our chapel," he wrote, "like our entire campus, must be welcoming to all."

The campus landmark is used in some of the school's biggest ceremonies. Freshmen take the college's honor pledge in the chapel during orientation. Seniors march through on their way to their commencement ceremony.

The oldest college building still in use in the United States, the Wren Building was finished in 1699.

The chapel was restored to its Colonial decor in 1931, during the restoration of Williamsburg's Historic Area.

Nichol's e-mail ends by welcoming a "broader college discussion of how the ancient chapel can reflect our best values."

School officials declined to comment beyond Nichol's e-mail.

William and Mary was founded as an institution of the Anglican Church, but in 1906, it became publicly supported by Virginia.

Anonymous said...

Sandra Day O'Connor just replaced Henry Kissinger as Chancellor at W&M. That should tell us something.

Anonymous said...

We visited the campus of William and Mary about ten years ago on a trip to Williamsburg. We expected to experience a college that held fast to its proud American traditions, but we found otherwise. Simply reading the listings of upcoming events on campus made us realize that this was somewhere we didn’t want to be. We left after less than half an hour.

The post of Chancellor (now occupied by Sandra Day O’Connor, as you pointed out, Dave) is an historically important one, especially at William and Mary. For more than a century from its founding in the late 1600s that position was held by esteemed English subjects, but after the Revolution the first American chancellor was appointed. It was none other than George Washington.

The evolution from Washington to O’Connor is pathetic. And this once proud American college is now nothing more than a politically correct institution of leftist indoctrination that has turned its back on God.

Anonymous said...

At this point the world is an indoctrination chamber, with particularly the youth targeted.

Your experience at Wm & Mary is typical of any US "college."

They get government money and approval by doing what you observed.

The US schools are indoctrination chambers for future generations of "Americans."

The children are indoctrinated in homosexuality, hatred of the US and its history, and celebration of enemies of the US from pre-school onward.

The Middle East is a vast indoctrination chamber for muslim children, who are soaked in a "kill, slaughter" mental outlook from birth.

And back in the US the "populace" soaks it up while Opera Winfrey has programs celebrating the parents and families of mideast "suicide" bombers who have killed Jews and others.

Anonymous said...

HERE IS ANOTHER US "university" DANCING FOR THE ENEMIES OF THE US

CAIR vs. DePaul (The university surrenders to Sharia law)

www.frontpagemag.com ^ | November 14, 2006 | Thomas Ciesielka

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=25435

Newly released evidence has revealed that the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) worked privately to pressure DePaul University to fire adjunct professor Thomas Klocek for telling Muslim activist students that their views on Middle-East issues were wrong.

According to a letter to DePaul’s President from CAIR’s executive director M. Yaser Tabbara, “In light of …Mr. Klocek’s biased remarks, we are requesting that the University…reprimand Mr. Klocek for his conduct by permanently dismissing him from any teaching post at DePaul University.” (Exhibit # DPU 945).

At a student fair on September 15, 2004, during the same month that DePaul launched its Islamic World Studies Program, Professor Klocek engaged several Muslim students in a heated discussion about the Arab-Israeli conflict. He strongly disputed their assertions that Israeli treatment of Palestinians was equivalent to the Nazi treatment of the Jews. He also cited a Chicago Sun-Times columnist who was quoting an Aljazeera writer to the effect that although not all Muslims are terrorists, today most terrorists are Muslim. Later, in another connection between DePaul and the Muslim community, a DePaul Trustee, Michael Murad, wrote to DePaul’s president asking, “What steps have been taken to ensure that DePaul programs in the Middle East are not undermined by this incident?” (#DPU 003174)

According to documents furnished by DePaul in response to document discovery in the lawsuit between Klocek and DePaul, less than a month after the student fair incident, on October 12, 2004, CAIR’s Tabbara sent an email to those who opposed Klocek, stating, “…we [CAIR] will be ready to file a formal complaint with the Illinois State Board of Higher Education… This will also be accompanied by a press release, a press conference or both.” (DPU 003493)

Tabbara’s email also referred to a letter sent to DePaul’s president the next day in which Tabbara made the following demands of DePaul, “In light of the grave implications of Mr. Klocek’s biased remarks, we are requesting that the University take appropriate and immediate responsive action…including:
1. Provide a formal written apology to the students who experienced the incident firsthand.
2. Reprimand Mr. Klocek for his conduct by permanently dismissing him from any teaching post at DePaul University.”

CAIR continued its campaign against Klocek when, according to another just released document (DPU 000763), on December 16, 2004 CAIR wrote Prof. Klocek’s Dean, Suzanne Dumbleton, and said, “The gravity of Mr. Klocek’s actions towards the students should result in his permanent dismissal as a matter of policy. Any alternative action will set a dangerous precedent…”

John W. Mauck, attorney for Thomas Klocek, said, “These documents confirm our suspicions. Rather than protect academic freedom or even treat Thomas Klocek, a professor with a 14 year spotless track record at DePaul, the university surrendered to behind-the-scenes Muslim activist pressure. At DePaul academic freedom has been subjugated to Sharia.”

To see copies of documents cited in this press release, please visit

http://freedepaul.blogspot.com or contact TC Public Relations at 312-422-1333.