Semper Fidelis 

One American Marines View

UNTIL I DIE ..This a poem being sent from a Marine to his Dad.For those who take the time to read it, you'll see a letter from him to his Dad at the bottom. It makes you truly be thankful for not only the Marines, but ALL of our troops. This says it all. Too good not to forward. THE MARINE We all came together, Both young and old. To fight for our freedom, To stand and be bold. In the midst of all evil, We stand our ground, And we protect our country >From all terror around. Peace and not war Is what some people say. But I'll give my life, So you can live the American way. I give you the right To talk of your peace. To stand in your groups, And protest in our streets. But still I fight on, I don't bitch, I don't whine. I'm just one of the people Who is doing your time. I'm harder than nails, Stronger than any machine. I'm the immortal soldier, I'm a US MARINE! So stand in my shoes, And leave from your home. Fight for the people who hate you, With the protests they've shown. Fight for the stranger, Fight for the young. So they all may have, The greatest freedom you've won. Fight for the sick, Fight for the poor. Fight for the cripple, Who lives next door. But when your time comes, Do what I've done. For if you stand up for freedom, You'll stand when the fight's done. By: Corporal Aaron M. Gilbert,US Marine USS SAIPAN, PERSIAN GULF Hey Dad! Do me a favor and label this "The Marine"; and send it to everybody on your email list. Even leave this letter in it. I want this rolling all over the U.S.A I want every home reading it. Every eye seeing it. And every heart to feel it. So can you please send this for me? I would, but my email time isn't that long and I don't have much time anyway. You know what Dad? I wondered what it would be like to truly understand what Bush said in his inaugural speech. "When the time comes to lay down my life for my country, I do not cower from this responsibility. I welcome it" Well, now I know. And I do. Dad, I welcome the opportunity to do what I do.

I don`t know for a fact that any of this is true but I do know that it speaks to and from my heart. I know what this warrior is feeling ,I know because I felt the same oh so many years ago. The only difference is that he has someone who cares . The American public hated the Viet Nam era warriors ..........for good or bad........ the press was succesfull at turning our countrymen against us ............. it is a pain that has never left and more than likely never will. Please support our troops. If you run into one thank him for his/her service. If you know one send them a letter. If you have a few extra dollars, send it to a group that will turn it into a care package and forward it to whoever needs it. Please people support these people don't allow what could be their dying thought to be one that their country isn`t 100 % behind them.

Pristene Beauty

It snowed again yesterday which in and of itself is no suprise but overnight we also got some freezing rain. This morning when the sun rose it looked like a crystal palace. Nature has so many faces ranging from abject horror to one of the most breathtaking scenes I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. It looked like a giant snow crystal this morning and it made all the shoveling and salt spreading worthwhile. If it would always look this beautifull I would have no objection to living above the Mason- Dixon line. I don`t suppose that will ever occur though so someday maybe I can get where the weather and the people are so much gentler and easier on my fragile pysce.

Uncommon Valor

Time Line---- 19 Feb 1945--- Under the over all command of Lt. General H.M. Smith's Expeditionary Troops headquarters, VAC's 4th and 5th Marine Divisions Lead the amphibious assult on the southeast coast of Iwo Jima. The 28th Marines reaches the western shore and seals off Mt. Surabaxhi before the end of the day,while the 27th and the 23rd Marines make it to the edge of Airfield #1. Heavy Japenese artillery,morter fire,rocket fire aided by mines and machine guns inflict over 2,400 casualties.
20 Feb. 1945--The 28th Marines begin the assault on Mt. Surabachi. The 4th Marine and the remains of the 5th Marines capture airfield #1
21 Feb 1945-- VAC commits the 21 st Marines of the 3rd Marine Division from corps reserve to reinforce the 4th Marine Division. That night the Japenese launch the one and only kamikaze attack of the campaign on the fleet off the bloody shores of Iwo Jima.
23 Feb 1945-- Elements of the 28th Marine division seize the crest of Mt. Surabachi and hoist a American Flag over its heights. Soon After five Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman replace it with a larger ensign. Joe Rosenthalls photo of this flag raising electrifies the United States and becomes the symbol for the 7th War Bond drive.
24 Feb 1945-- The rest of the3rd Marine Division (less the 21st Marines that are already there) deploy.
27 Feb 1945-- The 9th Marines complete the siezure of Airfield #2 and also takes Hill Peter and Hill199 Oboe key terain overlooking Airfield #2
4 March 1945-- Although Marine gains have been measured in yards on Iwo Jima, at this point in the battle VAC has blasted and bled its way through most of the Japenese defensive lines. The first B29 damaged on a strike on Japan lands on Iwo Jima.
11 March 1945-- The 3rd and 4th Marine Divisions drive to the coast in their respective zones leaving on a few pockets of resistance remaining on the island.
14 March 1945-- As the official flag raising is held at the VAC command post ,the flag raised on Mt Suribachi is lowered.
25 March 1945--The 5th Marine Division wipes out the last resistance in Death Valley. This marks the end of of organized Japenese control on any terrain on Iwo Jima.
27 March 1945-- The 3rd and 5th Marine Divisions begin departing the island. Total Marine casualities during the battle are 5,931 dead and 17,272 wounded. Losses among attached Navy personel are 209 dead and 641 wounded.

And so the bloodiest battle of the pacific theater ends Nearly six weeks of unmittigated Hell. There is a lot more to the story than the raising of the flag. That is what the public sees and that is what they remember. To those that were there it was just one more example of America`s Uncommon Valor. At least that is the way I see it here at Arathorns Alley

Uncommon Valor 

The Hardest Question Ever

Dear Pro-Life Friend,
I’m taking the unusual step of emailing the entire pro-life blogs mailing list because of a critical situation that has developed in the case of Terri Schiavo.
Today, the courts rejected the pleas of Terri’s parents to stop her husband, Michael, from withholding food and water from her. He has promised to begin starving her tomorrow at 1 pm.
Most of you are aware that Terri is not a "vegetable" or "brain-dead" as Michael and his lawyers claim, but responds to others and is aware of her surroundings. She laughs, smiles and, according to her nurses, has a small vocabulary.
Terri is not on life support and is healthy. She needs help eating and is fed through a tube (helping someone eat and drink who is impaired has never been considered artificial life support).
While Michael asserts he is carrying out Terri's wishes, he waited until after he received a large sum of money from a lawsuit against her doctors before making this claim. During the lawsuit, he alleged negligence and motivated a financial award with the potential cost of Terri’s rehabilitation.
However, Terri has been denied rehabilitation that experts testify could allow her to eat and talk. The courts in Florida have consistently blocked appeals to give Terri proper tests and therapy that would improve her life.
Terri may not have the capabilities she once had, but she is no less valuable and no less a person.
Here is what you can do to help Terri:
1. Pray for Terri and her family.2. Blog - communicate the truth about what is going on and rally support for Terri and the Schindlers.3. Visit BlogsforTerri for information and to join the team of blogs for Terri.4. Deluge Gov. Jeb Bush with emails and phone calls. He has the power to intervene. Here is his contact information:
Governor Jeb Bushjeb.bush@myflorida.com850 / 488-4441850 / 487-0801 (fax)
5. Support HB701(click here). 6. Important - Bypass the Mainstream Media - pledge support a paid advertisement in the St. Petersburg Tribune to inform its 450,000 paid subscribers about what is really happening to Terri.
Your participation in help is desperately needed.
Thank-you for standing-up for Life.
Tim
prolifeblogs[at]gmail[dot]comhttp://www.prolifeblogs.com
P.S. I’ve set-up a special aggregator that displays only posts about Terri Schiavo. You can see what our 200+ members are saying here.
More Information at TerrisFight.org

I Saw this at another blog and it evoked such emotion from me I felt like I had to post it in case someone would somehow or another stray upon it. When we cheapen life to the point where someone else decides that they no longer want to bother taking care of you it is inherently wrong. Whatever happened to death do we part or am I only one of a handfull of people who still take my vows seriously. I am a fat guy and it would kill me to see my lovely wife starve to death because I was no longer willing to feed her GEEEEEEEEEEEEZE What the Hell is this man thinking?

A Sensible Law ?????

Arathorns Alley
Finally a law was enacted that makes sence believe it or not. The Arizona legislature has made a law that simply stated enables whoever rescues someone from winning the Darwin Award is able to recoup up to $2000.00 towards the cost of the rescue. It seems that folks would ignore warnings not to cross a swollen stream and get swept away by raging waters must now re-imburse the rescuers for their efforts. Way To Go Arizona ....if they wanna be stupid at least let them py the frieght. At least that is the way I see it here on Arathorns Alley.

Scales Of Justice 

Still Traumatized

I would like to begin by saying that I am sorry for not posting for some time but I have been or am still under the weather with a really bad head cold,but today I saw something that FORCED me to get off the couch and post this somewhat dubious picture. I was forced into watching the View because I was too lazy to get up and get the remote and as a fitting punishment, the Gods allowed this to be one of their segments. I have seen things that would reduce the most hardened of us weep uncontrolably. I have seen things that would make you laugh so hard as to make you pee your pants, but in my long and varied life I have never seen anything as bizarre and revolting as Bridget Nielson and Flava Flave makin out on the public airwaves. Just what in the hell is this world comming to? When I could not believe my eyes any longer , my ears (as tratorious as they may be) heard that not only is this man with boobs stringing along ol Flava,she,it,him,shim or whatever is stringing along some poor fella in Europe and was bold enough to state unequivocably that it was fine and he didn"t mind at all. Please people please I beg of you do NOT assault my eyes and ears in this manner again. I am soooooooooo revulsed that I may never ever fantasize about Star Jones again.

Unfreakinbelievable 

Hello ...............You Have Reached...........

Hello, you have reached the mega giant, nameless,faceless, heartless utility company. If you would like to speak with a customer representitive please enter in your 13 digit account number........grumble, grumble ok lets see oh here it is 45839 ------ 5510062----1 . You have entered 45839-------5510062------1 if this is correct please press # 1 or #2 if it isn`t. # 1 If you would like to continue this call in English please press # 1 Se hablo grrrrrrrrrrr why don`t they make the wetbacks speak english .....after all this is America #1 Please listen to our menue selections carefully as the selections may have been changed. To become a new subscriber please press the # 1. To speak to our commercial division please press the # 2. To speak to our award winning repair department please press the # 3. To report the theft of services please press the # 4 To speak to someone in our billing dept please press the # 5 or the # 6 if it is concerning a commercial account.To make a payment arrangement please press the #7 and if you wish to report a emergency such as downed wires or a gas or water leak please press # 8 All others please hold and a customer representitive will be with you as soon as possible. Alright lets see what I wanted to do .........oh yeah make a payment arangement so I press # 7 and I hear ring.................ring..................ring............. Hello all our customer service representitives are currently helping our other valued cusomers so please hold and a customer service representitive will answer your call in the order it was recieved. There will be a 27 minute wait from this point. tic toc tic toc tic toc time goes sooooo slowly when you are on hold...........Hello this is to remind you that our representitives are still busy and will be with you as soon as possible. There will be a approximately a four min wait from here. tic toc tic toc tic toc ring ............ring..........ring...........damn these last few minutes are the longest ones ..............Hello my name is Achmed and you have reached the billing dept, how may I help you? Oh hiya Achmed I want to make a payment arrangement on my act. Ok sir may I have your 13 digit act number? grrrrrrrr Hey Achmed I had to enter that in in order to speak to you..... Oh I see ,its policy, ok all right hang on ......ok here it is45839-------5510062-------1 O K sir may I please have the service address for confirmation oh and I must tell you sir that this call may be recorded and used for training purposes Oh all righty then Achmed, it s 1313 Mockingbird Lane ,Why On Earth Do I Bother, New Mexico 19537-4421 All right Sir May I have the answer to your secret question in order to confirm your identity? Damn Achmed I didn`t have to go throught this much crap when I was cleared for top secret gubmint werk back in the 60'S , well if I gotta I gotta......... the answer is my teddybear.All right Sir How may I help you? I already told you Achmed I want to make a payment arrangment on my account. Well Sir you have not told me what you would like the arrangement to be.Oh......... I would like to make a payment over the phone Oh ok sir would you be using a credit card or a check by phone............I think I will use my credit card Achmed if that is all the same to you. Oh yes sir that is fine. I must put my supervisor on the line with us to confirm your card numbers and that it is ok to place a charge on your card. Please hold Sir. Click.........Tic Toc Tic Toc Tic Toc Helo Sir my supervisor is on the line with us now her name is Janiqua . Hello sir my name is Janiqua and I am Achmeds immediate supervisor and the reason I am on the line is be sure that all proper proceedures are being followed. Would you please answer your secret question for me sir so that i know it is you? Again ????I just gave it up to Achmed . Yes sir I know that but I am sure you understand that these procedures are for your personel safety sir ........ Well ok Janiqua..... teddy bear ( I swear I can hear a very tiny snort and a little giggle come from ol Janigua ) All right you may proceed Achmed everything seems to be in order All righty Sir could you tell me what credit card you are using today........... Sure it would be my Bank Of Bagdad ops sorry I mean Bank of America. Oh no problem sir what is your card number lets see it is 5218742-66832-001. Ok its 5218742-66832-001 is that correct. Yes Achmed. Ok sir when does it expire? Ah lets see June of 2007. Ok sir june of 2007 What is your code on the back of the card sir? lets see 992 Ok and whose name is the card in sir? Ah It is my wifes the lithe and lovely Esmerelda Oh sir is your name not on the card? No it is only hers. I see Sir is she there? Uh no she is werking that is how we have credit cards....... she werks and gives me money to pay the bills.......... I see sir but I can`t allow this transaction because the card is not in your name. Oh achmed andJaniqua your telling me you wont accept my payment cause I am using my wifes card is that right? yes sir that is the case ..... well then Achmed how am I supposed to make this payment Oh sir you can use your checking account but there is a $9.95 fee for check processing would you be interested in that sir? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr yes Achmed I gotta get this bill paid before they turn off my service. Ok sir I`m gonna put you on hold till I can get the checking supervisor on line with my self and Janiqua and of course you sir. Please hold. click. Tic Toc Tic Toc Tic Toc CLICK WHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR If you would like to make a call please hang up and try again.............wrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr If you would like to make a call please hang up and try again...................................wrrrrrrrrrrrrr if you would...........At this point I ,well so they tell ,me threw the phone so hard against the wall it bounced back and put a goose egg on my forehead and knocked me out coder than Theresa Hienzes heart. What ever happened to ring..........ring....hello you have reached the Acme utility company how may I help you. Wanna know why the economy seems to be failing at times? Because people should be having these jobs not some ultra- sophisticated computer system answering the phones and sooner or later (usually later) hook ya up with a human in calcutta cause when you live in the black hole of calcutta any job looks good Damn i loved it when you went to town and paid cash to a clerk in the utility payment center. How radical........ pay all your utilities in one place to one clerk at one time. New never means better does it?

Arathorns Alley

Arathorns Alley
I salute you General Mattis, You deserve a medal for saying what is on your mind as opposed whatever it is that is thought to be P C When I went to war I was proud I had people with your attitude beside me I can only pray that every man or woman that goes into combat in defense of freedom has the honor and privledge of having their back watched by a warrior like you.

This Man Deserves A Salute From Us All 

Lest We Forget..........

This is the aniversery of the day the music died.......... no sensible person could say it wasn`t a unparraled tradgedy when that plane crashed. He remains sadly missed by this fan.

A Mother And Father Say It All

During the State of the Union address last night, the parents of a marine sargent who had lost his life during his second tour of Iraq were featured. The were seated close to a Iraqi woman who lost her father in one of Sadam's temper tantrums. This woman had the index finger of her right hand stained purple......significant that she had voted in the first ever election in Iraq. They later on interviewed the marines parents and asked perhaps the tackiest question ever.....was it worth losing your son to bring freedom to a oppressed people? The father answered......... My son lost his life attempting to help wounded marines and I am sure that any of them would of done the same thing for him. I think if you asked them they would all say yes it was definately worth their sacrifices. This is what a lot of Americans don`t understand freedom is prescious and is worth any price you could be required to pay. I understand why most don`t understand this basic concept because they have always been free to do as they wished, to go anywhere they wanted,at any time they wanted, and to say anything they wanted. Perhaps if most of Americans were deprived of their God given rights for a few days they would appreciate what they have more.No that wouldn`t be right either, let them think what they will I know what is right. I have seen with my own eyes, I and so many others have paid the price for us to walk around shooting off our collective mouths with little or no thought as to who may hear it or even more importantly that word might get back to those very souls that are fighting to keep the world free. God bless our troops and their endevors.

Got One Joe ......Get Some Moe

Not even Al Jazira could hope to believe that we would buy a G.I. Joe action figure as a real life captive. I haven`t laughed so hard since they locked up the Iraqi Information Minister. What is this supposed to prove? I am sure anyone with eyes would recognize the "captive" as being a childs toy. Not only did it make the terrorists look pathetic in our eyes, it made them look foolish in the eyes of the people they are trying to convince that terrorism and intimidation is a way of life they can all embrase. If this is as good as it gets turn in yer gear the freakin war is over .......damn dumb towel heads

A Peacefull Town? Not

In Mink La. they came to celebrate this day. Lousianna Bell spent some astronomical ammount of monet finaly providing phone service to the residents of this rural community. Now mind you they have not had phone service ever never ever. The first call was made by the Honorable Govenor to the towns most senior citizen and all was well in Mink La. Now here is the catch, not 15 minutes after the aforementioned call was made, another phone sounded off..........you guessed right ......a telemarketer damn will they ever learn that if someone wants to buy the product they are selling ,chances are they will call the sales staff. I just pray they never call me again.