Again I wanted to share Bad Ass Marine.

This still has the same effect on me as the first time I saw it. I wish President Obama would listen if he hasn't. This poem refueled the fire that I thought had kindled down after 2 deployments and leaving the Army life behind and seemingly to get the cold shoulder from others.
I know my passion to serve never died. I have wanted to join the military since I was 18 and tried to join three branches of service myself. 9/11 was what made me stop actually in all honesty I was going to MEPS the next day.
What is your opinion on the poem?



Lyrics (from BadAssMarine.com):
Free

and She called...
Blacks, Whites...wait
African Americans and Caucasians, Asians, excuse me.
Vietnamese, Philipenes, Koreans and Jamaicans or
Haitans, waitin' Hispanics y'all.

Please be paitent
Mexican, Puerto Ricans, Venezualean, Cuban, v Dominican, Panamanian Democrats
I beg your pardon, you partied with the late, great Reagan?
Republican, Independent, Christian, Catholic,
Methodist, Baptist, 7th Day Adventist, 5 Percenters,
Hindu, Sunii Muslim, Brothers and Sisters who never seen the New York city
skyline when the twin towers still existed.
But still She called.

From the bowels of Ground Zero she sent this 911 distress signal.
Because She was in desperate need of a hero,
and didn't have time to decipher what to call 'em,
so she called 'em all Her children.
The children of the stars and bars who needed to know nothing more than the fact that she called.
The fact that someone attempted to harm us
this daughter who covered us all with her loving arms.
And now these arms are sprawled across New York City streets.
A smoke filled lung, a silt covered faced,
and a solitary tear poured out of her cheek.
Her singed garments carpets Pennsylvania Avenue and the Pentagon was under her feet.
As she began to talk, she began to cough up small particles of debris
and said, "I am America, and I'm calling on the land of the free."
So they answered.

All personal differences set to the side
because right now there was no time to decide which state building the Confederate flag should fly over,
and which trimester the embryo is considered alive,
or on our monetary units, and which God we should confide.
You see, someone attempted to choke the voice
of the one who gave us the right for choice,
and now she was callin.
And somebody had to answer.
Who was going to answer?

So they did.
Stern faces and chisled chins.
Devoted women and disciplined men,
who rose from the ashes like a pheonix
and said "don't worry, we'll stand in your defense."
They tightened up their bootlaces
and said goodbye to loved ones, family and friends.
They tried to bombard them with the "hold on", "wait-a-minute's", and "what-if's".
And "Daddy, where you goin?".
And, "Mommy, why you leavin?".
And they merely kissed them on their foreheads and said "Don't worry, I have my reasons.
You see, to this country I pledged my allegience
to defend it against all enemies foreign and domestic.
So as long as I'm breathin, I'll run though hell-fire,
meet the enemy on the front lines,
look him directly in his face,
stare directly in his eyes and scream,
"I AM AMERICA! WE WILL NOT BE TERRORIZED!
WE WILL NOT BE TERRORIZED!
I REFUSE TO BE AFRAID!
I'LL FIGHT YOU ANY COUNTRY, ANY CONTINENT, ANY TERRAIN.
I'LL FIGHT TO MY LAST BREATH!"

And if by chance death is my fate,
pin my medals upon my chest,
and throw Old Glory on my grave.
But, don't y'all cry for me.
You see, my Father's prepared a place.
I'll be a part of his Holy army standing a watch at the Pearly Gates.
Because freedom was never free.
POW's, and fallen soldiers
all paid the ultimate sacrafice
along side veterans who put themselves in harms way.
Risking their lives and limbs just to hold up democracy's weight,
but still standing on them broken appendages anytime the National Anthem was played.
You see, these were the brave warriors that gave me the right
to say that I'm Black. Or white.

Or

African American or Caucasian,
I'm Asian, excuse me.
I'm Vietnamese, Philipene, Korean, or Jamaican.
I'm Haitan, Hispanic

Y'all, Please be paitent.
I'm Mexican, Puerto Rican, Venezualean, Cuban,
Dominican, Panamanian, Democrat
I beg your pardon, you see I partied with the late, great Reagan.
I'm Republican, Independent, Christian, Catholic,
Methodist, Baptist, 7th Day Adventist, 5 Percenters,
Hindu, Sunii Muslim,

Brothers and Sisters We're just Americans.
So with that I say
"Thank You" to the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines,
for preserving my rights
to live and die for this life
and paying the ultimate price for me to be...FREE!

BadAssMarine.com

Thoughts on Military Life

There are some Americans (Military and Civilian) that get fired up with a debate about Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp. I am open minded and I kinda get pensive with my thoughts. I've come to the conclusion that I feel the way I do because I am still an Angry American like Toby Kieth talks about I guess. I fully support our troops. I am angry about 9/11. I am angry our innocent civilians were beheaded its one of the cruelist things in humanity imho.. They dragged my hero's through the streets of Iraq... OH no they not being just insurgents but being Iraqi citizens too. Yes sooo I feel that way. Anyways...

I support our troops by supporting those who support them. Rick and I were in Nashville at the Opry Mills mall. There is a sweet shop or a nut shop in there that sends their products over to the troops in the form of care packages. All you gotta do is go in there and buy a few things and hand them to the cashier and she sends them overseas to our soldiers. We didn't mind spending some money on our fellow soldiers.

I used to be a bigger fan of Subway subs if I couldn't talk the family into getting their at Publix.... after a bad run in with Subway employee's Rick is more prone to go across the street to Firehouse subs. Guess what they noticed we were a military couple and gave us a military discount! We will go there from now on. Nah not because of the discount but thats why they offer it to bring in more customers. Its a Thank You back for serving us the way they know how. Do you do the same thing? Do you try to buy American? Do you donate money to those serving troops? Do you go into business's that offer a military discount EVEN if you aren't military? Maybe you should think about it and THANK them.. Gratitude means everything.

In Support of Our Troops

Rick and I were talking online the other day. He shared and article about the bombing of the USS Cole. That happened before 9/11 months before 9/11. Al-Qaida is responsible for that as well. Yemen where the bombing took place free's our prisoners and the FBI and CIA aren't having an easy time cooperating with the Yemen's government.

I have heard people say we were roped into this war in Iraq because the President fed on our Patriotism after 9/11. My opinion is its untrue. I see the kind in people till they show me the ugly. After reading this article I think its late coming on our attack on al-Qaida.

You can not like who's running for office or who is currently in office. Since our President has the lowest approval in history. But there is no excuse for not having patriotism. Sometimes we support family members we don't approve of. Sometimes we support each other not in the best situations. Sometimes we find things we like in an un likeable situation. You can find ways to Support the person(s) in office even though we don't approve. You can ALWAYS support the troops. There is no reason not to. That's not coming from an Army Wife, Mom and an Air Force Brat that's coming from a logical thinker.

Theme Care Packages

Someone in LJ land (no I haven't been cheating) posted about Theme'd Care Packages. Anyone do this? Like things for holidays? If so I need more inspiration and explanation... Give me some ideas and get a surprise!

Love Bella
T.I.A. **Thanks in advance

Red Shirt Fridays

This came by email:

Last week, while traveling to Chicago on business, I noticed a Marine sergeant traveling with a folded flag, but did not put two and two together.

After we boarded our flight, I turned to the sergeant, who'd been invited to sit in First Class (across from me), and inquired if he was heading home.

"No", he responded.

"Heading out", I asked?

"No. I'm escorting a soldier home".

"Going to pick him up"?

"No. He is with me right now. He was killed in Iraq, I'm taking him home to his family".

The realization of what he had been asked to do hit me like a punch to the gut. It was an honor for him. He told me that, although he didn't know the soldier, he had delivered the news of his passing to the soldier's family and felt as if he knew them after many conversations in so few days.

I turned back to him, extended my hand, and said, "Thank you. Thank you for doing what you do so my family and I can do what we do".

Upon landing in Chicago the pilot stopped short of the gate and made the following announcement over the intercom.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to note that we have had the honor of having Sergeant Steeley of the United States Marine Corps join us on this flight. He is escorting a fallen comrade back home to his family. I ask that you please remain in your seats when we open the forward door to allow Sergeant Steeley to deplane and receive his fellow soldier. We will then turn off the seat belt sign".

Without a sound, all went as requested. I noticed the sergeant saluting the casket as it was brought off the plane, and his action made me realize that I am proud to be an American.

So here's a public Thank You to our military Men and Women for what you do so we can live the way we do.

Red Fridays.

Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing Red every Friday. The reason? Americans who support our troops used to be called the 'silent majority.'We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers. We are not organized, boisterous or overbearing.

Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast majority of America supports our troops. Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday -- and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that .. every red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar, will wear something red.

By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the United States on every Friday a sea of red much like a home coming football game in the bleachers.

If every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, coworkers, friends, and family, it will not be long before the USA is covered in RED and it will let our troops know the once 'silent' majority is on their side more than ever, certainly more than the media lets on.

The first thing a soldier says when asked "What can we do to make things better for you"? is; "We need your support and your prayers". Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example, and wear something red every Friday.

Pssst! Pass it on!

Chris Lights

I got two flameless candles won't you join me?

Light a Small Light for a Big Reason     

In thousands of homes across the nation, a single light shining in a window has quickly become a universal symbol of love and support for the men and women in the US Military and our Allies deployed overseas to protect us and our country.

Put a light in your window and leave it shining night and day. No matter when our men and women in uniform come home, the lights will be on.

This is not a political issue. It is very simply about people who perform a job for us and letting them and their families know we are thinking of them.

Click on the links below to find out more about this project:
  How Did This Project Get Started?
  What You Can Do
--> -->-->  Sign our Guest Book-->

How Did This Project Get Started?

This project started in January, when our son Chris, a Lance Corporal in the US Marine Corps, left for the Middle East aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard. The day he left, we received an electric holiday candle with this note attached:

Once a Christmas light, now a Chris light. This candle is given to you by the neighborhood you have given so much to. We each have a candle just like this one. Starting tonight we will all put this light in our window and leave it on 24 hours a day until Chris returns home. The light it puts out is small, but the message is not. We are thinking of and praying for all of you, especially Chris. Please let him know that whenever he comes home, day or night, the lights will be on.

When we looked up, we saw the candle lights shining in the windows of each of our neighbors. These "Chris Lights" have continued to shine non-stop ever since-and will continue to do so until our son comes home.

But this isn't just about us. There are hundreds of thousands of men and women either on their way or already in the Middle East and other locations overseas.

Wouldn't it be incredible to support each and every one of them with a light in the window of every house, in every neighborhood, in every town across the country?

This is not a political issue. It is very simply about people who perform a job for us and letting them and their families know we are thinking of them

When we told our friends what our neighbors had done for us, they, too, put lights in their windows. From the original eight lights shining in our neighbourhood, there are now hundreds shining in our town and thousands shining across the country.

Stories of the "Chris Lights" have been featured on all of the major television stations in Boston, on National Public Radio and in major newspapers, including The Boston Globe and our local Needham Times.

We have received hundreds of phone calls, emails and letters from people across the country who have placed the small lights in their windows. We have also heard directly from military personnel around the world who say this gesture has meant so much to them in showing that we are united as a country in praying for the safe return of our troops, even if we remain divided in our political views.

It seems like such an easy thing to do, but it means so much to anyone who has a family member or friend overseas.

Help spread the news and spread the light.

What You Can Do

• First, put an electric candle or small light in your window and leave it shining 24 hours a day!
  
• Tell your family, friends and neighbors.
  
• Encourage your local hardware and home stores to stock electric candles, which are normally only sold during the holiday season.
  
• Contact your local television stations, newspapers and other media to encourage them to pick up the story.
  
• Click here to send us an email and share your story. If you want to hear the stories of other families and servicemen and women, let us know - we'll add you to our mailing list and send out a regular collection of messages we've received.

Nancy and Dan Wright
Needham, Massachusetts USA

Patriotism

Wow so I found quite a bit of blogs basically expressing the same thing as I wrote yesterday. In case you didn't see it here is a direct link to my main blog on blogger."Did you REALLY Remember?" Then there are a few that are let us mourn and move on. To me that's a direct representation of the future of repeating history because we didn't listen to the past. Such as December 7th Pearl Harbor Day and some say thats the reason why we were vulnerable on September 11, 2001. I personally remember and still feel the void today when I looked at disgust of our "Patriotism" when Hurricane Katrina turned two states in the south into a 3rd world country. We didn't have near the Patriotism following the days of the Terrorists attacked on us on 9/11. Ground Zero is all cleaned up ready to rebuild 6 years later but what about the south? Are there still tons of homeless there? Unidentified bodies? parts of cities left in ruins? Is it going to take 6 years to get it to sink in with you? Yes even the Government failed alot in the south.. Its sad. When I still read articles about the troubles hurting the south.

Rick and I had a discussion on the Anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing. Lets not forget that because that was an American that attacked us. What pictures of the 9/11 Attacks stick out in your mind, What about OKC Bombings? & Katrina? Does any one picture stick out in your mind?

This is my 100th Blog Post on This blog

If I say I didn't understand now I understand better

Whoa this is good!

IF YOU DON'T REMEMBER OR DIDN'T SEE IT THE FIRST TIME AROUND THE VIDEO IS AT: http://youtube.com/watch?v=vBflQLa75C8



THE WORDS FOR THE WORD POETRY IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS MARINE'S STORY...

Mystery Marine Poet Revealed
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293615,00.html

The mystery Marine who touched the hearts of hundreds of thousands with his YouTube patriotic poem has come forward.

He is 30-year-old Marine Staff Sgt. Lawrence E. Dean II, stationed at the Cherry Point base in North Carolina. The Conway, S.C., native writes and performs rap-style poetry using the stage name "Life." And he is known all over North Carolina, where he is an inspiration to countless friends and strangers alike.

When the YouTube video of Dean reciting the poem he wrote about defending America's freedom garnered close to 400,000 views in just two days earlier this week, he decided to reveal his identity and speak to FOXNews.com.

"It almost leaves you speechless," he said on Wednesday of the reaction to his poetry. "Just to see it affected that many people — if it made that many people think, it was worth every bit of that three minutes. It wasn't about me solely. It pretty much said what we live. It's touching people the way I intended it to."

Dean, who works on aviation electronics for the Marines, has never served in Afghanistan or Iraq, though he said he'd go "this second" if asked. But the poem he wrote — which begins, "And she called …" — isn’t about the experience of fighting a war. It's about what the armed forces do.

"It's about the military service and the reason we do things," he explained. "We just defend the country, no questions asked. As a family, we do it. The poem was just utmost admiration and respect for the individuals that are there. ... They've answered the country's call."

He was compelled to write the poem about two-and-a-half years ago, he said, when his grandmother asked him one day what would make him go to war.

"The answer I can give is just, 'Because she called,'" said Dean, referring to America. "That was the best answer I could give that day."

But he was also deeply affected by a visit to Ground Zero, where the Twin Towers once stood in lower Manhattan and where all that's left is a vast, gaping pit. In his poem, he refers to "911 distress signal" the United States sent from the World Trade Center site on Sept. 11, 2001.

"TV doesn't do it any justice," he said. "It came about from being there and seeing the magnitude. It wasn't your front yard or your school or where your parents came from. When you see Ground Zero, you realize these are actual people. This could have been your neighborhood."

The Marine Corps, where Dean has built his career for the past 12 years, has been amazed at the response to the poetry reading of one of their own.

"All the Marines I know who have seen the video have been very impressed by it," said Mike Barton, the deputy director of Cherry Point's joint public affairs office. "We're waiting to see what happens next."

The video that ultimately wound up on YouTube was shot spontaneously about a year ago, when a young Marine whose room Dean was inspecting asked him to recite his poem on camera so that he could send it to his family to explain why he was going off to war.

Dean never intended for it to be posted on the Internet — and isn't sure who first put the clip up last year (the user's screen name is studman20673), though he guesses it was the young Marine who filmed him. He didn't even know the video had been on YouTube until he read about it on FOXNews.com.

The clip was picked up by Birmingham, Ala., resident Matthew Denton, who put it on his own YouTube page. Denton was so inspired by Dean's poem that he did what he could to track him down — with no luck, until Tuesday, when the two finally had the chance to speak on the phone.

Poetry and music have been Dean's passions for years.

"That's what I do when I'm not at work," he said.

And many have been moved to tears by the words Dean wrote that day his grandmother challenged him to explain why he serves his country.

"She called," Dean says in the videotaped poem as he stands before a U.S. Marine Corps crest hanging on the barracks wall. "From the bowels of Ground Zero/she sent this 911 distress signal/because she was in desperate need of a hero/and didn’t have time to decipher what to call 'em/so she called 'em all her children/and said, 'I am America, and I’m calling on the land of the free.'/So they answered ... /You see, someone attempted to choke the voice/of the one who gave us the right for choice/and now she was callin'./And somebody had to answer./Who was going to answer?/So they did."

But it's not only through his writing that Dean — who has an 8-year-old daughter — manages to make an impact on people. It's in his everyday life, according to those who know him.

"Everybody loves him," said one of his close friends in the Marines, who asked not to be identified. "He has got to be the most motivated and inspirational person I have ever met in my life. He speaks from the heart."

As for the response to his poem, well, Dean is uncharacteristically at a loss for words to describe it.

"How do you explain the unexplainable?" he said. "It's a blessing. A lot of people that have to answer that call appreciate it. That's bigger than me."

BAD ASS MARINE words and lyrics
http://www.badassmarine.com/free.php

She called...

Blacks, Whites...wait
African Americans and Caucasians, Asians, excuse me.
Vietnamese, Philipenes, Koreans and Jamaicans or
Haitans, waitin' Hispanics y'all.

Please be paitent
Mexican, Puerto Ricans, Venezualean, Cuban, Dominican, Panamanian Democrats
I beg your pardon, you partied with the late, great Reagan?
Republican, Independent, Christian, Catholic,
Methodist, Baptist, 7th Day Adventist, 5 Percenters,
Hindu, Sunii Muslim, Brothers and Sisters who never seen the New York city
skyline when the twin towers still existed.
But still She called.

From the bowels of Ground Zero she sent this 911 distress signal.
Because She was in desperate need of a hero,
and didn't have time to decipher what to call 'em,
so she called 'em all Her children.
The children of the stars and bars who needed to know nothing more than the fact that she called.
The fact that someone attempted to harm us
this daughter who covered us all with her loving arms.
And now these arms are sprawled across New York City streets.
A smoke filled lung, a silt covered faced,
and a solitary tear poured out of her cheek.
Her singed garments carpets Pennsylvania Avenue and the Pentagon was under her feet.
As she began to talk, she began to cough up small particles of debris
and said, "I am America, and I'm calling on the land of the free."
So they answered.

All personal differences set to the side
because right now there was no time to decide which state building the Confederate flag should fly over,
and which trimester the embryo is considered alive,
or on our monetary units, and which God we should confide.
You see, someone attempted to choke the voice
of the one who gave us the right for choice,
and now she was callin.
And somebody had to answer.
Who was going to answer?

So they did.
Stern faces and chisled chins.
Devoted women and disciplined men,
who rose from the ashes like a pheonix
and said "don't worry, we'll stand in your defense."
They tightened up their bootlaces
and said goodbye to loved ones, family and friends.
They tried to bombard them with the "hold on", "wait-a-minute's", and "what-if's".
And "Daddy, where you goin?".
And, "Mommy, why you leavin?".
And they merely kissed them on their foreheads and said "Don't worry, I have my reasons.
You see, to this country I pledged my allegience
to defend it against all enemies foreign and domestic.
So as long as I'm breathin, I'll run though hell-fire,
meet the enemy on the front lines,
look him directly in his face,
stare directly in his eyes and scream,
"I AM AMERICA! WE WILL NOT BE TERRORIZED!
WE WILL NOT BE TERRORIZED!
I REFUSE TO BE AFRAID!
I'LL FIGHT YOU ANY COUNTRY, ANY CONTINENT, ANY TERRAIN.
I'LL FIGHT TO MY LAST BREATH!"

And if by chance death is my fate,
pin my medals upon my chest,
and throw Old Glory on my grave.
But, don't y'all cry for me.
You see, my Father's prepared a place.
I'll be a part of his Holy army standing a watch at the Pearly Gates.
Because freedom was never free.
POW's, and fallen soldiers
all paid the ultimate sacrifice
along side veterans who put themselves in harms way.
Risking their lives and limbs just to hold up democracy's weight,
but still standing on them broken appendages anytime the National Anthem was played.
You see, these were the brave warriors that gave me the right
to say that I'm Black. Or white.

Or

African American or Caucasian,
I'm Asian, excuse me.
I'm Vietnamese, Philipene, Korean, or Jamaican.
I'm Haitan, Hispanic

Y'all, Please be paitent.
I'm Mexican, Puerto Rican, Venezualean, Cuban,
Dominican, Panamanian, Democrat
I beg your pardon, you see I partied with the late, great Reagan.
I'm Republican, Independent, Christian, Catholic,
Methodist, Baptist, 7th Day Adventist, 5 Percenters,
Hindu, Sunii Muslim,

Brothers and Sisters We're just Americans.
So with that I say
"Thank You" to the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines,
for preserving my rights
to live and die for this life
and paying the ultimate price for me to be...FREE!