Friday, August 13, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Vernon Baker
Our country is broken.
If you don't believe me... read this.
Now... read this.
Here, folks... let's all read (re-read) the news from Boise, Idaho:
U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick is donating his frequent flier miles to the widow of Medal of Honor recipient Vernon Baker so she can attend his burial at Arlington National Cemetery.
Now no disrespect to Congressman Minnick, but while it's... er... nice of him to be willing to share his frequent flier miles (accrued via his official flights courtesy of the taxpayer I'm assuming) with the widow of an American hero, call me crazy, but I'd like to think that it would be standard operating procedure for the Pentagon to provide transportation in a case such as this.
Let's recap:
Vernon Joseph Baker's official Medal of Honor citation reads --
For extraordinary heroism in action on 5 and 6 April 1945, near Viareggio, Italy.
Then Second Lieutenant Baker demonstrated outstanding courage and leadership in destroying enemy installations, personnel and equipment during his company's attack against a strongly entrenched enemy in mountainous terrain.
When his company was stopped by the concentration of fire from several machine gun emplacements, he crawled to one position and destroyed it, killing three Germans. Continuing forward, he attacked an enemy observation post and killed two occupants. With the aid of one of his men, Lieutenant Baker attacked two more machine gun nests, killing or wounding the four enemy soldiers occupying these positions. He then covered the evacuation of the wounded personnel of his company by occupying an exposed position and drawing the enemy's fire.
On the following night Lieutenant Baker voluntarily led a battalion advance through enemy mine fields and heavy fire toward the division objective.
Second Lieutenant Baker's fighting spirit and daring leadership were an inspiration to his men and exemplify the highest traditions of the Armed Forces.
You'd think... you'd hope... that a grateful nation could at least provide the man's wife, daughter, and grandson with appropriate transportation - and meals, lodging, and incidental expenses - so as to allow them to attend Vernon Baker's internment at Arlington.
God help this once great nation...
I'm literally trying - and failing - to hold back the tears as I type this...
Now... read this.
Here, folks... let's all read (re-read) the news from Boise, Idaho:
U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick is donating his frequent flier miles to the widow of Medal of Honor recipient Vernon Baker so she can attend his burial at Arlington National Cemetery.
Now no disrespect to Congressman Minnick, but while it's... er... nice of him to be willing to share his frequent flier miles (accrued via his official flights courtesy of the taxpayer I'm assuming) with the widow of an American hero, call me crazy, but I'd like to think that it would be standard operating procedure for the Pentagon to provide transportation in a case such as this.
Let's recap:
Vernon Joseph Baker's official Medal of Honor citation reads --
For extraordinary heroism in action on 5 and 6 April 1945, near Viareggio, Italy.
Then Second Lieutenant Baker demonstrated outstanding courage and leadership in destroying enemy installations, personnel and equipment during his company's attack against a strongly entrenched enemy in mountainous terrain.
When his company was stopped by the concentration of fire from several machine gun emplacements, he crawled to one position and destroyed it, killing three Germans. Continuing forward, he attacked an enemy observation post and killed two occupants. With the aid of one of his men, Lieutenant Baker attacked two more machine gun nests, killing or wounding the four enemy soldiers occupying these positions. He then covered the evacuation of the wounded personnel of his company by occupying an exposed position and drawing the enemy's fire.
On the following night Lieutenant Baker voluntarily led a battalion advance through enemy mine fields and heavy fire toward the division objective.
Second Lieutenant Baker's fighting spirit and daring leadership were an inspiration to his men and exemplify the highest traditions of the Armed Forces.
You'd think... you'd hope... that a grateful nation could at least provide the man's wife, daughter, and grandson with appropriate transportation - and meals, lodging, and incidental expenses - so as to allow them to attend Vernon Baker's internment at Arlington.
God help this once great nation...
I'm literally trying - and failing - to hold back the tears as I type this...
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Barker's Newsbites: Monday, August 9. 2010
This is our America... please, God, don't let us lose it...
* Please Note: There's apparently a technical glitch effecting comments posted on certain Blogspot blogs - including mine. Please bear with me...
** OK... I may have found a fix. Note, there are (or at least should be!) nine Barker Newsbites within the Comments Section of this thread. None have the customary links to the original source material attached. Apparently the links themselves are causing the glitch - causing comments to simply disappear shortly after being posted. My "fix" is therefore to post the links here on the thread post itself in the same order as you'll find the comments.
Comments 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
Barker's Newsbites: Friday, August 6, 2010
Do you remember when America was... America?
I do.
I miss it. I miss my country.
Remember when competence, the "can do" spirit was the norm... simply expected?
I do.
As you watch and listen to today's Newsbites theme video, ask yourself... have we lost something... is something missing?
I remember watching Man first walk on the moon back in '69.
(Thank you Uncle Art and Aunt Fran making sure 7 year old "Billy" was out of bed and seated on the floor in front of the console color TV in the living room of your Mt. Marion home so as to witness the historic event broadcast live!)
Think about it, folks... July 20th, 1969... forty-one years ago!
Folks... we were supposed to be spreading throughout the solar system by now - bases on the Moon, manned missions to Mars, perhaps mining the moons of Jupiter...
Instead... we have the iPhone.
(*SIGH*)
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Barker's Newsbites: Wednesday, August 4, 2010
So... it's been almost a week since my last post!
Well... a weekend with Ted and Mary will do that...
(*GRIN*)
Wow... what would the brewery, distillery, and winery industries do without us - never mind butcher shops, grocery stores, bars and restaurants!
I've gotta tell ya... yeah, it's good to be us... but, man, it's exhausting...!!!
So, anyway... happy Wednesday to you all; back to the grind.
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