Ed Freeman

Received in an email forward that is going around now:

You're a 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley.
November 11, 1965.
LZ X-ray , Vietnam
Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the Medi-Vac helicopters to stop coming in.
You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you're not getting out. Your family is 1/2 way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again.
As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.
Then - over the machine gun noise - you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter.
You look up to see an unarmed Huey. But ... it doesn't seem real because no Medi-Vac markings are on it.

Ed Freeman is coming for you.

He's not Medi-Vac so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway. Even after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come, he's coming anyway.

And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 2 or 3 of you on board. Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses.

And, he kept coming back! He made 13 more trips!!

He took about 30 of you and your buddies out who would never have gotten out.

Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman, died last Wednesday at the age of 80, in Boise, Idaho.

This email will claim that some celeb event covered up Ed Freeman's death in the media coverage. While this might have been true, we should get the date correct. Ed Freeman passed away in August 2008.

He died in August 2008, not around the same time as Chris Brown beating up Rhianna, nor around the same time that Michael Jackson died. He died at the ripe old age of 80. So, just to be clear, while I am sure in 2008, the media did not give this hero his due, there is no conspiracy or pop-icon overshadowing this event.

That being said, we need to address something about Ed Freeman.

Why did this man have to wait until 2001, to be awarded his Medal of Honor? Why am I only now, in a misleading email, learning about this man?

The tragedy is not that the media mismanaged their coverage of Freeman's death to cover some event in pop culture, the tragedy is that this man was a living Medal of Honor winner, and so few people knew about him.

In the midst of a tragic war fought half-heartedly by a hemming and hawing, indecisive President (sound familiar?), here was a man, ignoring danger and near-certain death to do what was right. Unlike so many of us here at home, he refused to abandon and leave behind our soldiers fighting and dying in Vietnam.

So many Americans, many of whom are sitting in Congress and even the White House now, abandoned, in spirit, word, or deed, our troops while in the midst of battle, both then and now. On November 14, 1965, Ed Freeman refused to leave our men behind, and he took action.

From 1965 until 2001, Freeman's 14 separate flights into the heavy firefight went virtually unnoticed and unheralded. He did not mind. Like so many of our soldiers not named John Kerry, he took great pride in his work in the military, and saw his heroism as nothing more than simply doing the right thing. Heroism on the battlefield to him was not something to brag about, to celebrate, or to be rewarded for; it was his duty.

Ed Freeman is a hero. The tragedy is that today, November 16, 2009, is the first time I have learned of his story. Ed Freeman is one of countless stories of heroism that go unnoticed and unappreciated by so many people in this country. It his very sacrifice, and the sacrifice of countless others, that provide the very freedoms that allow those to sit ungrateful and full of apathy.

So, today, when you bow your head to pray for your needs, wants, and desires, take a moment to thank God for men like Ed Freeman. Thank God for men and women who put their lives on the line to do what is right; to risk their lives for the lives of others. Thank God that you are a free person and able to pray without government persecution.

Ed Freeman is a hero. Please remember him and the thousands of other heroes that have protected us from foreign enemies.

Attention Parents: Positive Role Model for Little Girls!!! A True Find!!!

For most of my commentary career, I will periodically rail against someone like Britney "Mother of the Year" Spears, Linsey HO-han...I mean, Lohan, Jessica "Undercarriage" Simpson, or the other bevy of female celebrities who flaunt their 'goodies' with no remorse.

I have attacked morons like Lindsey Lohan for weighing 25 pounds and announcing she is trying to lose a few more pounds. I have questioned the popularity of people like Spears and Simpson and Christina Aguilara...and why so many parents look the other way.

I have verbally fought Eminem, 50 Cent, Kanye, and all these other cRappers for their disgusting lyrics and even worse videos that devalue women, meanwhile teaching all kids that women are only worth how often they share themselves with others, men and or women.

In addition, I have supported positive role models...sadly they are few and far between. I have also stood up for people who are attacked unfairly. A couple years ago, Jennifer Love Hewitt was attacked for being fat when she clearly was not even close to being fat. I think the attacks on Britney's appearance at the MTV VMAs two years ago was unfair and gave even more negative messages to little girls everywhere.

So, out of nowhere, I see this news story. It is about Emma Watson, one of the stars of the Harry Potter series of movies. She recently turned 18, and the sicko paparazzi was right there, and as she admitted, there were members taking full advantage of her now-legal status and trying to snap revealing pictures, including paparazzi lying on their backs attempting an up-skirt shot.

Emma Watson does not want to be classified as "sexy." She refuses to don the revealing low-cut tops and high-cut skirts. She dresses conservative, values education, and wants to continue to work and better herself, even though she could live off the fortune the Harry Potter series made possible.

This blog is not to say she is perfect...I am not Chris Matthews and she is not Obama...no tingly feelings here...I am merely pointing out that it is cool and it is good to have morals, decency, and modesty.

RNC v. DNC...Winners and Losers...

The 2008 Presidential Race is officially on and heading into the final laps.

We now know the players involved. Cue the announcer...

"To my left, in the Blue corner, with zero executive experience combined, Senators Barack Hussein Obama and Joe "Less Than 1% in the Primaries" Biden...

Their opponents, to my right, in the Red corner, with leadership, courage, and a country-first philisophy, Senator John McCain and Sarah "The Baracuda" Palin!"

Let us examine what we have learned from the two conventions.

From the Democratic National Convention we learned...

uh...

We learned about Barack Obama's incredible life story. The details of his time at Harvard. The amazing things he did as Community Organizer. There unbelievable accomplishments Obama reached as an Illinois State Senator. We learned of how Obama single-handedly enacted incredible change as a Senator representing Illinois in Washington.

Not so much.

All we learned is that the Democrats are still on message...the same message of 2004.

The message of the Democrats is George Bush is terrible, the Republicans are terrible the policies of the Republicans are terrible, the country is in terrible shape, and we will do different. They also claim to be the carriers of change and hope. Change. Change. Hope Hope. Change and hope. Bush sucks. Change and hope. Healthcare. Healthcare. Bush and the Republicans did not do enough. John McCain is not the answer. Change and Hope.

In 4 days of the national convention, with all of the voting public watchin, we learnd absolutely NOTHING new about Barack Obama or Joe Biden. They continued their hatred and vitriol against the Republicans, but that was it.

At no time did the Democrats explain how they are going to bring about change. They simply repeated the mantra over and over.

And still, they did not tell Obama's story. We know nothing about his Community Organizer experience. We know nothing of any accomplishments at Harvard, in the state Senate or in the US Senate. They had 4 days to tell the story of Barack Obama and show his qualifications, and they did nothing.

We saw Obama standing on a grandiose stage with huge Greek pillars as if he were on Mt. Olympus, speaking amongst the gods to the peasants. During his speech, he did not present the case for his qualifications to be Commander-in-Cheif.

This week, on the other hand, we learned the details of John McCain's life. For years, we heard brief mentions of his time in a POW camp in Hanoi. We heard generalized statements and empty comments about his time as a POW. We heard small snippets for years that barely scratched the surface of who John McCain is. Then, finally, for the benefit of America, the Republicans did John McCain, as well as the rest of the men and women involved in the Vietnam War due justice.

For four nights, we learned of the incredible pain, sacrifice, indignity, and torture that John McCain and his fellow POWs endured. He is a human being that went through superhuman trials and tribulation. He admitted, on Thursday night during his acceptance speech, that during one of his painful torture sessions, the evil captors that held McCain and his bretheren had broken McCain. Through morse code, tapping on the walls between cells, McCain and fellow soldiers reassured each other.

McCain, Fred Thompson, and the RNC all made sure to point out that the fact of his time as a POW does not in of itself make McCain qualified to be President. However, the character, strength, and love and pride of country he developed in those horrible 5 years do.

We learned the McCain story. We learned of how much hell...pure, unadulterated hell on earth...that this man suffered. Amazingly, 4 of the 5 years that he endured wound up occurring because of his honor and his choice to stay. He was offered a chance to go because of who his father was. However, he honored the pact that American soldiers kept with each other...First in, First out. He suffered brutality that would kill most men in an instant for four more years because he had the character and honor to keep a simple pact with his brothers.

We learned that his character and strong resolve have made him a warrior in the US Congress, as he has fought for nearly 3 decades to slow the growth of government, slow the spending of government, lower taxes, and make America a better place.

We also learned of Sarah Palin's efforts to fight corruption and her other remarkable successes as a Governor. Sarah Palin introduced her family to America, and anyone with a decent heart and soul could see the love, adoration, and pride the Palin famiy shares. Sarah Palin is not an elite, rich, media-driven, poll-driven, politician. She is a real woman, from a real small town, with real small-town values and morals, with a real family who has overcome real life. Basically, Sarah Palin is REAL. She is smart, funny, hard working, and dedicated to America and serving her country.

The differences in the Democratic convention and the Republican convention should be undeniable and unmistakeable.

We learned nothing and there was no attempt to convince us of the qualifications of the Democratic ticket. We know nothing of Obama and Biden as men and as politicians. We should just take their empty words as the gospel and trust in their promises of change. We cannot question them for a definition of the change. We just have to know that they will bring change and take their word for it, asking nothing more.

In the Republican convention, we learned the life stories of the two people on the ticket. We learned of their experience. We learned of their morals and character. We learned not only why we should not vote for Obama, but also why we SHOULD vote for McCain-Palin.

Not only that, but also the mood and atmosphere of the conventions were so different, it was amazing.

At the DNC, there was a hatred, a level of vitriol that could be cut with a knife by folks watching at home. There was anger and disdain. The cheers were done in spite against Republicans. There was not a celebration, it was almost as if it were an angry mob with no real ideals, goals, or objectives, other than destroying the enemy.

At the RNC, there was an unbelievable level of pride, not only in party, but, more importantly, in Country. Pride in being a part of the nomination and election process. Then, as President George W. Bush, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, Rudy Guiliani, Joe Liberman, and Sarah Palin came out to tell McCain's life story, there were amazing levels of reverance and respect and pride combined into a huge celebration. There was such a higher, lighter, happier mood and atmosphere at the RNC. You could enjoy and celebrate the RNC.

I hope more people, especially those open-minded independents, who saw the RNC and came away with the same level of respect and adoration for McCain. I never knew how much he went through for this country. The RNC educated me. I will happily cast my vote for the Maverick Ticket on November 4.

I hope you will join me.

I'm Still a Guy...Part 2 of 2

These days, too many males are shirking their responsibilities as men. They are "men" when its time to get a girl naked, yet they run and bury their head in the sand the second their romp ends up in conception. Males are all but happy to perform the fun part with as many women who are naive enough to participate, yet there are so many biological fathers who run like a 4 year old from a broken lamp to shirk their responsibility.

Any male that is not a strong influence and role model for his children is not a man. No MAN has ever not accepted his duty as a father. Children need a man in their lives. It teaches boys how to be a man, and it teaches girls what a man should be like and what not to accept as a man in her life.

Children need a man in their lives as much as they need a woman. This is not sexist, this is fact. The man is just as influencial in a child's life as is a woman. For balance, security, role-modelling, and structure, a child need its father as much, and in some areas, more than, the mother. However, not just any male can be a father. A father has to be a MAN. A man has to be a stallwart and a person in which children can hold high esteem.

The character of a real man is based in responsiility. A man finds and provides food, shelter, security, and stability for his family. Sometimes, this can involve a woman's help, either financially through her work, or in other ways. However, it is a natural instinct for the man to be the breadwinner. A man needs to be responsible for ensuring a warm plate of food on the table, a sturdy roof overhead, a safe place in which to live and eat, and a strong environment in which the family can grow and prosper.

A man's responsibility is also to model God-fearing, God-serving, and Christ-like practices in all that he does. A boy will watch his father more intently than imaginable in those early formitive years. It is the man's responsibility to model appropriate behavior for the son to model, as well as for the daughter to become accustomed to so that she seeks the same in her mate later on in life.

No MAN has ever hit a woman. Re-read that statement. No one who is a man has ever laid his hands on a woman in a violent manner. If you hit a woman, you are not a man. If you strike anyone in any manner other than legitimate self-defense, you are not a man. No bully can also be a man.

A man must love his wife and his family without equivocation or doubt. The man must devote himself to the happiness and security of his wife and children. The way in which he treats his wife is going to be, in most cases, the way the son treats his wife in the future. If a man loves, honors, and respects his wife, his son will do the same. Just as importanly, his daughter will expect the same and not settle for less. The converse is true as well. If a man disrespects, cheats on, or otherwise does not appreciate his wife, his children will mimmick the behavior in their relationships.

So, to all members of the male species, it is time to reassert ourselves. It is time to fight the feminization of our kind and take our rightful places as real, big, hairy, stinky, sweaty, competitive, risk-taking men. It is time to show all these little boys what a man REALLY is...

God Bless America this Memorial Day

What a beautiful day. The sun is shining. The birds are chirping. The sun is high in the sky, warming the world.

It is gorgeous out today.

While I enjoy the gentle breeze passing through, and admire the robins, cardinals, and other birds flying through the air, there is something I notice. There is something I realize.

I realize, and appreciate, that I am standing in Wytheville. I am in the Commonwealth state of Virginia. Therefore, I am standing safely within the borders of the greatest country God ever blessed with sovereignty.

I am, of course, referring to the most generous, decent, caring, forgiving, and strongest nation in the world today. The lone superpower left on the globe. The world leader.

The United States of America.

How did we get here, to Memorial Day 2008?

How did America become and remain so strong?

For over 250 years we have enlisted the most intelligent, decent, honest, prideful, respectable military personnel in the world. We have the brightest and the bravest wearing an American flag on their shoulder, and have had them for two and a half centuries. Our soldiers fight with honor, bravery, care, respect, and integrity. Our military strives to ensure the safety of the innocent while prosecuting the guilty. Our men and women in uniform are the best.

So, today, if you are working or if you are off for the three-day weekend, take some time to pray for the safety of our military. They give up so much for us to be free to stand on a small grassy knoll, take in a deep breath, enjoy the warmth of the sun, and not feel fear to walk outside. They give up so much for us, let us take today to thank God for them.

Please pray for God to continue to bless our soldiers with strength, intelligence, mercy, decency, proper judgement, and, most importantly, a safe return home after a successful mission.

God bless the United State of America. God bless its military for their decency and integrity. Thank God for all of our freedoms.

Happy Memorial Day!

A New Era in Sports...I Hope!

A new era of sports is merging upon us, and I am loving it.

Ron Artest, Marcus Vick, Latrell Spreewell, and Terrell Owens are all examples of what has been wrong with sports for many years. The spoiled, ME-first attitude of the athlete has been nourished and, at times, encouraged by fans, coaches, agents, and other people of impact. However, the limits of what a star can get away with are becoming more clear and the world will be better for it.

First, Ron Artest. Yeah, he is kind of like Dennis Rodman, who I support and would like to see back with the Bulls. However, I never saw Rodman punch a 16-year-old kid after getting hit with a plastic cup. In no way was Artest in danger. No one would be in danger from that cup. A security guard could have removed the out of line fan. Instead, Artest punches THE WRONG FAN, starting the ugliest fiasco in the history of American sports. In spite of all that, Larry Bird and the Indiana Pacers stood by and supported Artest and welcomed him back with open arms in 2005-06. Then, Artest stabs them in the heart by openly asking for a trade. So, the Pacers did what was painful, but right, and deactivated Artest. They may pay a price financially as well as in victories, but I think the Indiana, and all NBA fans, should applaud the Pacers for their strength and backbone and moral code.

Second, a young man I cheered and booed at times this year. I love my Hokies, but now I, and all Hokie fans, have a big black eye thanks to this spoiled brat. Marcus Vick has had a tough act to follow being in his brother's shadow. However, there comes a time when Michael can no longer baby his little brother and Marcus must grow up. Marcus refused to grow up. He flipped-off WVU fans, elbowed a coach, choked when the season was on the line versus Miami, and then stomped on the leg of Elvis Dumerville in the Gator Bowl. All this caused me to doubt his character and leadership ability, things required to be a successful quarterback. His off-the-field exploits further diminish his attractiveness to fans and NFL scouts alike. And, after Virginia Tech, like Indiana with Artest, gave Marcus one more shot, he stabbed them in the heart by not growing up. So, they, too, had to cut their losses and replace a great talent. With this kind of baggage, the negatives become longer-term than the successes, so Frank Beamer and Virginia Tech did what was hard, but right, and cut him loose.

Now to Spree. Mr. "I-have-a-family-to-feed," turned down $21 million because he couldn't feed his family on that salary. What is he feeding them? Rare 50 lb. lobster and filet mingon everynight? There are millions of minimum wage burger flippers that find ways to feed their family on $150 a week. This guy turned down $150 per breath...so, the Minnesota Timberwolves let their problems and a major contributor to their success go and the rest of the league has stayed away. I applaud the NBA execs for not picking this guy up. He has serious issues and does not deserve the privilege to play in the NBA.

Last but not least, for this blog, is TO. TO got exactly what he deserves. I just feel bad for the town of Philadelphia and Donovan McNabb. McNabb has put up with all sorts of crap and still stands strong and leads. He plays through pain. He tried to maintain a civil lockerroom. However, TO would not allow that. He had to get his dollars. He had to get his, Eagles be damned. So, Andy Reid and the Eagles said, "Adios!" and TO was no mo. TO will play again, but his value is extremely diminished because of his selfish, team-disrupting attitude and behavior.

I applaud these teams and leagues for beginning to turn the tides. Keep turning the tides against these spoiled, selfish athletes. They are by far some of the most overpaid people on the planet, but I won't complain as long as they give 100% on the field to their team. And is it THAT hard to ask these athletes to ACT like they are civilized human beings? Part of the job of pro athlete is the fact you are a role model. It comes with the territory. Its an occupational hazard. If you don't want to be a role model, get a job in an office building somewhere.

So, in being a role model, could you please, as an athlete, set a decent example for the kids who love, adore, and emulate you?