Some pics of inspiration

[Wayne Little]

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

 

[mikewint]

Mere words fail

 

[Njaco]

Robert James "Rick" Monday, Jr. is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball and played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1977–84). On April 25, 1976, during a game at Dodger Stadium, two protesters, William Thomas and his 11-year-old son, ran into the outfield and tried to set fire to an American flag they had brought with them. Monday, then playing with the Cubs, noticed they had placed the flag on the ground and were fumbling with matches and lighter fluid; he then dashed over and grabbed the flag from the ground to thunderous cheers. He handed the flag to Los Angeles pitcher Doug Rau, after which the ballpark police officers arrested the two intruders. When he came up to bat in the next half-inning, he got a standing ovation from the crowd and the big message board behind the left-field bleachers in the stadium flashed the message, "RICK MONDAY... YOU MADE A GREAT PLAY..." He later said, "If you're going to burn the flag, don't do it around me. I've been to too many veterans' hospitals and seen too many broken bodies of guys who tried to protect it." On August 25, 2008, Monday was presented with an American flag flown over Valley Forge National Historical Park in honor of his 1976 rescue. Monday is still in possession of the flag he rescued from the protestors; he has had offers to sell it (for up to $1 million) but has declined all offers.

Rick Monday - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[wheelsup_cavu]

I had forgotten about that play by Rick Monday.

Wheels

 

[RabidAlien]

Not a big baseball nut (basically...I know what a baseball looks like), but ya just gotta respect the guy for this. Hope those two nuts got a looooong time in prison to ponder the errors of their ways.

 

[Messy1]

Great story and a awesome action taken by Monday!!

 

[muller]

Don't know if you guys know about this place, it's near where my parents live in Kildare. A memorial to those members of the FDNY and NYPD who gave their lives in the WTC on 9/11.

It's two granite towers engraved with all the names of those that died.

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

I did not know of this Muller. Thanks for posting sir.

 

[Njaco]

Thanks Muller!

 

[RabidAlien]

Thanks for posting, Muller.


**********************

Got this in an email today.

GOLD STAR MOTHER
By Keo R. Gathman

As she stands beside his grave
On yet another Memorial Day,
She remembers the boy she sent away
And how he became the man resting here today.
His heroes didn't become famous playing ball.
In fact most of their names were never well known at all.
They went to work wearing camouflage green and desert brown,
Earning their reputation as the toughest warriors around.
When he first saw them in dress blues
The heart within her little boy knew,
That nothing short of becoming one of them would do.
Time all too quickly passed by
As childhood things were put aside,
And his heart's desire would not be denied.
"I love you, Mom" he said one day
"But the time has come for me to go away,"
And she knew his decision she couldn't sway.
Through tears she tried so hard to keep inside
She told her baby boy goodbye.
Writing him letters nearly every day
She often took the time to pray,
"Lord be with my boy today."
"Help him clearly see the man I know that he can be,
Grant him his most cherished dream,
Let him come home, a United States Marine."
When the time came for him to go to war
She feared as she had never feared before,
Prayed there would be no knock on her front door.
They came that day dressed in their blues
And though in her heart she already knew,
She cried out "No, it can't be true."
The man child she had sent away
Was at last coming home to stay.
He never doubted what they did was right,
And he never wavered in the fight.
Forever and always as in his childhood dreams,
Her boy remains a United States Marine.

Copyright 2006 Keo R. Gathman ( [email protected] ).
Permission is granted to send this to others, with attribution, but not for commercial purposes.

 

[Njaco]

U.S. Army Pfc. Kyle Hockenberry is tended to by medics after being wounded in a blast from an improvised explosive device on June 15 in Afghanistan in this picture taken by a Stars and Stripes photographer. Photo courtesy of the Hockenberry family to the Marietta Times. On his body is the tattoo "For Those I Love, I Will Sacrifice".

Purple Heart - MariettaTimes.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Ohio, Community Information - The Marietta Times

 

[RabidAlien]

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

 

[vikingBerserker]

That's just fricken awesome!

 

[RabidAlien]

My wife found this while browsing the Internet today, I couldn't find any sources.

The hardest MOS in any branch of the military: The Military Spouse.

Yeah. I had to wipe the tears away, too.

 

[Njaco]

Marine Lance Cpl. Andrew P. Carpenter 27, of Columbia, Tenn.; assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Feb. 19 in Helmand province, Afghanistan, of wounds received Feb. 14 while conducting combat operation. But the one person who couldn't be there was his wife, Crissie. She is nine-months pregnant with their first child and couldn't make the flight to Germany. Doctors said Andrew wouldn't survive a flight to the U.S. Carpenter's wife, Crissie, gave birth to their son, Landon, about three weeks after his funeral. U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais addressed the slain Marine's newborn son in a tribute on the House Floor.

"Landon, no words can sufficiently express the gratitude or repay the debt that we owe your father for his selfless service," DesJarlais said. "He laid down his life so that we may all be blessed with our nation's most fundamental tenets: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Your father, simply put, is a true American hero."

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

 

[vikingBerserker]

Dam.................

 

[RabidAlien]