No matter what happens, no matter what is decreed,…We Will NEVER Forget!!!The Terrorists behind this will pay the price no matter what the liberals say!
Forgive their sins that their soul may be cleansed, but their acts will send them straight to Hell!
This cause is to help ensure that all who have fought or served for our freedom are not forgotten. It is for our Grandfathers, our fathers, uncles, aunts, cousins, brothers, sisters or friends. We must never forget or take for granted the freedom we enjoy that they helped preserve for us. This cause is not just limited to those in uniform. There were many who did their part wether it be
the underground freedom fighter, the Red cross worker, or the the civilians who stood on the shores ready to fight. Almost everyone of us who lives in a Free Democratic society is related to or knows someone who has served this cause. This is for them.
WE MUST NEVER FORGET!
Sept 11 2009
Exactly 8 years ago today the world virtually came to a standstill as we watched the incredible and unprovoked attacks unfolding on US soil.
In shock we watched as that first plane hit the Twin Towers, then the second . Then another plane went down in a field in Pennsylvania….. how could this be happening?
How hearts sunk in disbelief as the towers crumbled to the ground. We held our breath and prayed that many would survive and be found.
Sadly that was not the case. Nearly 3000 people perished that day. This was not just attack on the United States. It was an attack on the free world.
Through most of the casualties were American, many other countries also suffered casualties. Canada, Britain, Australia to mention a few.
However in one of Americas darkest hours it also showed us the incredible resolve America has.
Within minutes people from all walks of life rallied together to help their fellow Americans.
Countries across the globe stood along side America offering there help in whatever means possible.
Although this Cause is mainly directed towards Soldiers who have served and are still serving, it has from the start included everyday civilians who did what they could in past conflicts to preserve are freedom.
Sept 11 2001 was no exception. There were the brave men and women from the New York fire department who without any hesitation entered those buildings to rescue others, the police the paramedics and of course the passengers on United flight 93 who fought the terrorist, willingly giving their own lives to spare the lives of many more.
So on this day I ask you to please take the time to remember all those who lost their lives due to a cowardly foe who attacked the innocent.
And also remember the people who gave their lives and are still giving their lives to protect the innocent….you and me.
Sept 11 2001 was a rude awakening to a complacent society reminding us how precious and fragile our freedom is.
So please, I urge you, at 8:46 a.m. the time when the first plane hit the tower, stop whatever you are doing and take a moment of silence to remember!
This is not about heroes. This is about our children and our families. When we were growing up it was just drunk or careless drivers. Now, with cell phones and texting, it opens up a whole new dimension of sadness.
Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (on May 25 in 2009). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War (it is celebrated near the day of reunification after the civil war), it was expanded after World War I to include American casualties of any war or military action.
Many people observe this holiday by visiting cemeteries and memorials. A national moment of remembrance takes place at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Another tradition is to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff from dawn until noon local time. Volunteers often place American flags on each gravesite at National Cemeteries. Many Americans also use Memorial Day to honor other family members who have died.
Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars take donations for poppies in the days leading up to Memorial Day; the poppy’s significance to Memorial Day is the result of the John McCrae poem "In Flanders Fields."
In addition to remembrance, Memorial Day is also used as a time for picnics, barbecues, family gatherings, and sporting events. One of the longest-standing traditions is the running of the Indianapolis 500, which has been held in conjunction with Memorial Day since 1911.
Some Americans view Memorial Day as the unofficial beginning of summer and Labor Day as the unofficial end of the season (with the 4th of July as the very hot middle). In the Northern United States, it is the traditional weekend in which people reopen pools that had been covered for the winter. The national "Click It or Ticket" campaign ramps up beginning Memorial Day weekend, noting the beginning of the most dangerous season for car accidents and other safety-related incidents. The United States Air Force’s "101 Critical Days of Summer," marking the period that statistically has shown an increase in accidents, begin on this day as well.
Memorial Day formerly was observed on May 30. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) advocate returning to this fixed date, although the significance of the date is tenuous. The VFW stated in a 2002 Memorial Day Address:“ Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed a lot to the general public’s nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.”
Since 1987, Hawaii’s Senator Daniel Inouye, a World War II veteran, has repeatedly introduced measures to return Memorial Day to its traditional date.
Following the end of the Civil War, many communities set aside a day to mark the end of the war or as a memorial to those who had died. Some of the places creating an early memorial day include Sharpsburg, Maryland, located near Antietam Battlefield; Charleston, South Carolina; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; Richmond, Virginia; Carbondale, Illinois; Columbus, Mississippi; many communities in Vermont; and some two dozen other cities and towns. These observances coalesced around Decoration Day, honoring the Union dead, and the several Confederate Memorial Days.
According to Professor David Blight of the Yale University History Department, the first memorial day was observed in 1865 by liberated slaves at the historic race track in Charleston. The site was a former Confederate prison camp as well as a mass grave for Union soldiers who died in captivity. The freed slaves re interred the dead Union soldiers from the mass grave to individual graves, fenced in the graveyard and built an entry arch declaring it a Union graveyard. This was a daring action for them to take in the South shortly after the North’s victory. On May 30, 1868, the freed slaves returned to the graveyard with flowers they had picked from the countryside and decorated the individual gravesites, thereby creating the first Decoration Day. A parade by thousands of freed blacks and Union soldiers from the area was followed by patriotic singing and a picnic.
The official birthplace of Memorial Day is Waterloo, New York. The village was credited with being the place of origin because it observed the day on May 5, 1866, and each year thereafter. The friendship between General John Murray, a distinguished citizen of Waterloo, and General John A. Logan, who helped bring attention to the event nationwide, likely was a factor in the holiday’s growth.
Logan had been the principal speaker in a citywide memorial observation on April 29, 1866, at a cemetery in Carbondale, Illinois, an event that likely gave him the idea to make it a national holiday. On May 5, 1868, in his capacity as commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, a veterans’ organization, Logan issued a proclamation that "Decoration Day" be observed nationwide. It was observed for the first time on May 30 of the same year; the date was chosen because it was not the anniversary of a battle. The tombs of fallen Union soldiers were decorated in remembrance.
Many of the states of the U.S. South refused to celebrate Decoration Day, due to lingering hostility towards the Union Army and also because there were relatively few veterans of the Union Army who were buried in the South. A notable exception was Columbus, Mississippi, which on April 25, 1866 at its Decoration Day commemorated both the Union and Confederate casualties buried in its cemetery.
The alternative name of "Memorial Day" was first used in 1882. It did not become more common until after World War II, and was not declared the official name by Federal law until 1967. On June 28, 1968, the United States Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill, which moved three holidays from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend. The holidays included Washington’s Birthday, now celebrated as Presidents’ Day; Veterans Day, and Memorial Day. The change moved Memorial Day from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May. The law took effect at the federal level in 1971.
After some initial confusion and unwillingness to comply, all fifty states adopted the measure within a few years. Veterans Day was eventually changed back to its traditional date. Ironically, most corporate businesses no longer close on Veterans Day, Columbus Day, or President’s Day, with the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and/or New Year’s Eve often substituted as more convenient "holidays" for their employees. Memorial Day endures as a holiday which most businesses observe because it marks the beginning of the "summer vacation season." This role is filled in neighboring Canada by Victoria Day, which occurs either on May 24 or the last Monday before that date, placing it exactly one week before Memorial Day.
Waterloo’s designation as the birthplace took place just in time for the village’s centennial observance. The U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate unanimously passed House Concurrent Resolution 587 on May 17 and May 19, 1966 respectively, which reads in part as follows: "Resolved that the Congress of the United States, in recognition of the patriotic tradition set in motion one hundred years ago in the Village of Waterloo, NY, does hereby officially recognize Waterloo, New York as the birthplace of Memorial Day…"
On May 26, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a Presidential Proclamation recognizing Waterloo as the Birthplace of Memorial Day.
Today, take a few minutes out of your busy schedule and say a prayer of thanks for each and every man, woman and child who has made the ultimate sacrifice while in service to our country.
Dad wishes to thank Wikipedia and all it’s supporters for this ongoing work in support of Memorial Day. Thank You!
12 year old Lexxi Saal has written a song as a tribute to the Men & Women serving in the United States Armed Forces. Lexxi Saal is a 12 year old vocal talent climbing the ranks of the music industry with the desire and dedication to continue improving on her gift that many believe will to take her to the top!
Lexxi has written and recorded this moving tribute to the men and women in the military now. "From the mouths of babes"..comes a truth and passion that we, as adults, could certainly benefit from if only we believed as strongly as they do. Please watch this video with an open and receptive heart and say a prayer for those serving in the military as this memorial day approaches. Pray for their strength and survival.
Here are a few of the comments that accompany this new YouTube video:
…"I think that this is a great tribute and we should all stop and say "Thank You" to every Servicemen and every Servicewomen"
…"This beautiful tribute touched the deepest part of my soul. It was created by a young lady with the voice of an angel. Forward it on as it may play a significant role in lifting our soldiers morale. To my cousin Sgt. Robin Smith who is currently serving in Iraq., to all soldiers, and veterans, We salute you! You NEVER forgot what Honor, Courage and Committment means to you. May God protect you wherever you are!"
…"Thank you Lexxi!! I am an Army veteran who served in 3 combat tours between1989-1997. I appreciate this as I know all who are graced by your blessed message. I know as a veteran when you are called to perform your duty, you have to do what you are sworn in to do. I am sure your gifts from God will continue to be a blessing to not only our troops but all who get a chance to listen and learn as well. So Thank You lil’ maam!! God Bless you and your family continually."
…"Lexxi, I am a soldier in the army. I served eleven months in Iraq and it is people like yourself that keep us strong and remind us exactly what we are fighting for. I was very touched by your song and i thank you from the bottom of my heart. Not many people are as talented and as compassionate as yourself, I hope nothing changes. God bless and have a wonderful year."
Dad has always said you don’t have to support the war or the administration, but you certainly owe a debt of gratitude to the men and women who serve in the military to protect our freedom. Additionally I wish not only to say "Thank you" to all of them who are currently serving, or ever have, but also to the many thousands of people who are brave enough to stand up and show their thanks and gratitude with their own tributes.
Thank You Lexxi!
Today is a special day to pay tribute to all our veterans. We love them dearly. We respect them with all our might. We are ever grateful for the personal sacrifices they made for us. Please take a moment to say a prayer of thanks for all our veterans and enjoy the videos paying tribute to them.
Happy Veterans Day!
Amazing Grace Veterans Day Tribute
A montage honoring U.S. war veterans from World War 1 to present day. Pictures and clips together with “America the Beautiful,” performed by Lee Greenwood.
We forget that everyday, they are veterans, and too many of them are homeless.
A video trailer of a final piece that will be aired on November 11, 2008. Created by a middle school teacher to be used during an annual Veterans Day Program sponsored by the school each year
This is a commercial that has been airing on Veterans day. It is a very special commercial because they used actual veterans, including myself to do the run. A tight salute to Boeing for this one… Thank you Veterans…. God Bless you all American Valor salutes the veterans of America and offers up to them a full Military Tribute for all time!
By William H. McMichael and Karen Jowers – Staff writers
Posted for the Army-Times: Wednesday Sep 17, 2008
The nation’s first memorial to the 9/11 terrorist attacks was dedicated Thursday during a ceremony at the Pentagon, where American Airlines Flight 77 crashed seven years earlier, killing 184 people.
“We gather to dedicate this ground where a great building became a battlefield, where stone became dust, steel became shrapnel, where flames, smoke and destruction stole the lives of 184 men, women and children,” said former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, one of hundreds of dignitaries in a huge throng of onlookers who gathered on a cool, cloudy morning on the Pentagon’s south side for the official unveiling of the memorial.
“From this time forward, the Pentagon will be more than a symbol of government, more than a seat of military power, said Rumsfeld’s successor, Robert Gates. “It will also be a place of remembrance.”
The memorial, a two-acre field on the Pentagon’s west side, is a place for reflection: a series of 184 steel-and-granite benches, each with its own glowing light pool, set in a gravel field interspersed with paperbark maple trees, all aligned in the direction Flight 77 took on its final fateful path.
Keith Kaseman, who along with his wife, Julie Beckman, designed the memorial, has called it an “invitation to think.”
In addition to a procession of speakers, including President Bush, Gates and Pentagon Memorial Fund board chairman Jim Laychak, the program was marked by solemn moments, such as a lone bagpiper playing “Amazing Grace” while walking between the memorial benches, and the reading of the names of all 184 victims, each marked by the ringing of a ship’s bell.
The reading was gently interrupted at 8:46 a.m. for a moment of silence to mark the instant when another terrorist-piloted airliner crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, and to remember those who also died both in New York and in a grassy field in Pennsylvania.
When the speeches were done, Bush walked onto the site and officially dedicated the memorial, stopping first at the bench of 3-year-old Dana Falkenberg, the youngest victim.
The benches, covered in blue sheeting, were unveiled by troops wearing crisp dress uniforms — first Dana’s, then the rest in a rapid-fire sequence that had the effect of a large sheet being pulled back over the entire field. The thousands in attendance stood to applaud, and the air was filled with the fanfare of the U.S. Air Force Band and a full-throated chorus provided by the U.S. Army Chorus and the U.S. Naval Academy Chorus.
“The ceremony absolutely took my breath away,” said Meg Falk, who, at the time of the attack, was the director of the Pentagon’s office of family policy. After the attack, she set up the Pentagon’s assistance center to help victims’ families, and spent countless hours with them.
Falk, who has since retired, called the memorial “such a wonderful tribute to those whose lives were lost.”
One of those lives lost was retired Army Staff Sgt. Jimmie Holley, a Pentagon accountant who was in the building when it was struck. His stepson, Daniel Jackson, said the dedication was a “long time coming” but added that he was thankful for the effort made to put it together.
“I’ll never get over it,” he said of Holley’s death.
Later, after visiting Holley’s memorial bench, Jackson’s mood was serene. “It was beautiful,” he said. “It’ll be open 24 hours, so I’ll go to the bench and just sit and think about him. It’s so quiet and nice.”
Holley is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, and his grave overlooks the Pentagon wall that was struck by Flight 77.
Rumsfeld said the proximity of Arlington makes the memorial’s location particularly fitting.
“Here beneath these sloping fields of Arlington National Cemetery, fields that hold our nation’s fallen, this building stands as a silent monument to the resolve of a free people,” said Rumsfeld, who was in the building during the attack and helped assist victims.
“And so, too, this memorial in its shadow will stand not only as a symbol of a nation’s grief, but as an eternal reminder of men and women of valor who saw flame and smoke, stepped forward to save and protect the lives of their fellow Americans on September 11.
“Let it also remind each of us of those who have volunteered to serve in our nation’s armed forces before and every day since,” Rumsfeld said. “Our nation’s military has stood strong in this new age of peril, determined that what happened here seven years ago must not happen again.”
We have include several clips of the service:
911 Pentagon Memorial
A Day to Remember
President Bush Speech "Remembering 9/11"
Dad and American Valor give special thanks to all those who have contributed in the remembrance of those who have fallen. God Bless!
The day has come that Dad has gone over the top. He’s actually starting to get into music besides Elvis Presley and Little Anthony & the Imperials. I’ve really come to appreciate the music of these young men. You can catch a glimpse of them this September at the Break Away II Sports Lounge, in Hagerstown, Maryland.
vs. the earth is a rock act from the mid-atlantic region that has a unique sound. They combine guitar-driven rhythm, real lyrical content, and infectious hook and melody to make a musical style unequaled in the region. Their exciting stage presence and high energy live set make them an act not to be missed.
And no I haven’t completely lost it. I fell in love with the music of these young men when I heard them play their original hit song "Still Remember You", a tribute to 9/11 wittten by the groups own Adam Marino.
Here’s a clip of one of their concerts playing their award winning tribute to 9/11 "Still Remember You"
Baltimore native Adam Marino of vs the Earth recently received the honor of being named a Finalist by the Song of the Year ( http://www.songoftheyear.com/ ) songwriting contest. Song of the Year is an international songwriting contest supporting VH-1’s Save the Music Foundation. The Song of the Year judges are some of the biggest names in music including
many Grammy Award winners.
Song of the Year is excited to recognize Adam for his exceptional songwriting ability for the song Still Remember You. Adam competed against songwriters from all over the world for this honor. When asked what inspired the song Adam commented that “9/11 was his inspiration”. “I just wanted to give something back to those who had lost so much”. “I went out on the porch on September 11th and the song just wrote itself”.
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