I know all my post lately have been not about my life but about things I have found that I have enjoyed and would like to share with you, and here is another one. I got this email a while ago but didn't open it until yesterday. It is awesome! I will try to catch you up on life soon, but for now enjoy what I did.
Luke AFB is west of
Phoenix and is rapidly being surrounded by
civilization that complains about the noise from
the base and its planes, forgetting that it was
there long before they were.. A certain
Lieutenant Colonel at Luke AFB deserves a big
pat on the back. Apparently, an individual who
lives somewhere near Luke AFB wrote the local
paper complaining about a group of F-16s that
disturbed his/her day at the mall.
When that individual read
the response from a Luke AFB officer, it must
have stung quite a bit.
The complaint:
'Question of the day for Luke
Air Force Base:
Whom do we
thank for the morning air show? Last Wednesday,
at precisely 9:11 A.M, a tight formation of four
F-16 jets made a low pass over Arrowhead Mall,
continuing west over Bell Road at approximately
500 feet. Imagine our good fortune! Do the
Tom Cruise-wannabes feel we need this wake-up
call, or were they trying to impress the
cashiers at Mervyns early bird special?
Any response would be
appreciated.
The response:
Regarding 'A wake-up call from
Luke's jets' On June 15, at precisely 9:12 am, a
perfectly timed four- ship fly by of F-16s from
the 63rd Fighter Squadron at Luke Air Force Base
flew over the grave of Capt. Jeremy Fresques.
Capt Fresques was an Air Force officer who was
previously stationed at Luke Air Force Base and
was killed in Iraq on May 30, Memorial Day.
At 9 am on June 15, his family and
friends gathered at Sunland Memorial Park in Sun
City to mourn the loss of a husband, son and
friend. Based on the letter writer's recount of
the fly by, and because of the jet noise, I'm
sure you didn't hear the 21-gun salute, the
playing of taps, or my words to the widow and
parents of Capt. Fresques as I gave them their
son's flag on behalf of the President of the
United States and all those veterans and
servicemen and women who understand the
sacrifices they have endured..
A
four-ship fly by is a display of respect the Air
Force gives to those who give their lives in
defense of freedom. We are professional aviators
and take our jobs seriously, and on June 15 what
the letter writer witnessed was four officers
lining up to pay their ultimate respects.
The letter writer asks, 'Whom
do we thank for the morning air show? The 56th
Fighter Wing will make the call for you, and
forward your thanks to the widow and parents of
Capt Fresques, and thank them for you, for it
was in their honor that my pilots flew the most
honorable formation of their lives.
Only 2 defining forces have
ever offered to die for you....Jesus Christ and
the American Soldier.
One died for your
soul, the other for your freedom.
Lt. Col. Grant L. Rosensteel,
Jr.
USAF
I am not a huge movie buff and there are not many movies i will spend my money buying or waste my time watching a second time but I found one. The movie is called Taking Chance, based on a true story, its about a man who volunteers to escort the body of a fallen soldier back to his home. It shows the proses and the respect that he got as he was on his way back to his family. I'm not going to lie, I cried but it brought a new perspective to the soldiers who have died and Iraq. If I knew how I would have down loaded the trailer but I couldn't figure it out, so here is the link so you can watch it. http://www.hbo.com/films/takingchance/video/video.html
I don't know how many of you know, but my bestest friend is servings as a soldier in Iraq right now. He emailed this to me and I thought it was really a good point of view.
A Soldier's Take on Michael Jackson's Death
This is written by a young soldier serving his third tour of duty in Iraq. Thought you might find his take on the Michael Jackson news interesting and he's right.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Folks,
Okay, I need to rant.
I was just watching the news, and I caught part of a report on Michael Jackson. As we all know, Jackson died the other day. He was an entertainer who performed for decades. He made millions, he spent millions, and he did a lot of things that make him a villain to many people. I understand that his death would affect a lot of people, and I respect those people who mourn his death, but that isn't the point of my rant.
Why is it that when ONE man dies, the whole of America loses their minds with grief? When a man dies whose only contribution to the country was to ENTERTAIN people, the American people find the need to flock to a memorial in Hollywood, and even Congress sees the need to hold a "moment of silence" for his passing?
Am I missing something here? ONE man dies, and all of a sudden he's a freaking martyr because he entertained us for a few decades? What about all those SOLDIERS who have died to give us freedom? All those Soldiers who, knowing that they would be asked to fight in a war, still raised their hands and swore to defend the Constitution and the United States of America. Where is their moment of silence? Where are the people flocking to their graves or memorials and mourning over them because they made the ultimate sacrifice? Why is it when a Soldier dies, there are more people saying "good riddance," and "thank God for IEDs?" When did this country become so calloused to the sacrifice of GOOD MEN and WOMEN that they can arbitrarily blow off their deaths, and instead, throw themselves into mourning for a "Pop Icon?"
I think that if they are going to hold a moment of silence IN CONGRESS for Michael Jackson, they need to hold a moment of silence for every service member killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. They need to PUBLICLY recognize every life that has been lost so that the American people can live their callous little lives in the luxury and freedom that WE, those that are living and those that have gone on, have provided for them. But, wait, that would take too much time, because there have been so many willing to make that sacrifice. After all, we will never make millions of dollars. We will never star in movies, or write hit songs that the world will listen too. We only shed our blood, sweat and tears so that people can enjoy what they have.
Sorry if I have offended, but I needed to say it. Remember these five words the next time you think of someone who is serving in the military;
"So that others may live..."
About a year ago I gave my aunt a couple of pictures that I had taken at the beach. She grew up I San Diego and then moved to Utah so I thought she would enjoy them. Well she married and cowboy who grew up in Utah and only wears boots when they go. She was redecorating the other day and decided it would be fun if I could take a picture of his boots with the mountains in the background so she could hang the picture up with the beach ones so there was a little of both of them there. Here is what we ended up with.....
The top one was the winner and the bottom one was just one I liked.
I have started working graveyards and they are kind enough to let us listen to our ipods with one headphone. I have found it a great time to listen to the scriptures as I don't have much time to read them these days. I love it!
The other day I was talking to a lady at work who was reading tis book called Mary and Joseph by Robert Marcum. It is historical fiction about the lives of Mary and Joseph, the earthly parents of Jesus Christ. My friend told me that Robert Marcum was doing a ton of research about the culture and all he could about the lives of Mary and Joseph....so I checked it out on CD from the library and put it on my ipod. It took me only two days to listen to it. It was an amazingly informative book! I don't think I ever really thought about Mary and Joseph as real people. This brought them to life for me and helped me to grow to love them. They knew before Jesus was born that He was to be our Messiah but could tell no one. They could not even talk to Jesus about it until he himself realized His call and mission to be the Savior of the world. As it went through their lives, and rituals it made me have a deeper understanding of the Jewish culture as well and a broader understanding of the law of Moses. At the point in the book that was describing the slaughter of the children born in Bethlehem it never crossed my mind that they had no clue what had happened until years later. The point was brought out that so many children and parents had to die so that Jesus would live, but in the end He died so that they could live again. This is a book I recommend. I could feel the Spirit confirm so many things as I was reading it. I love historical fictions and have a ton of time to listen to things, so if anyone has any book suggestions that are on tape let me know.
