It’s Time for Mexico to Act Like a Civilized Nation

“Americans are so enamored of equality, they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.” — ― Alexis de Tocqueville

On May 28, U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, who is being held in a jail in Tijuana for crossing into the country with firearms, appeared before a Mexican judge for what was supposed to be his first evidentiary-type hearing. It wound up being delayed until June 4 because on Wednesday of this week Tahmooressi fired his initial attorney Alejandro Osuna.

On March 31, Tahmooressi was arrested by the Mexican border patrol after he accidentally drove across the San Ysidro checkpoint and into Mexico with his three legally owned guns. It is a crime to knowingly enter Mexico with firearms and ammunition. The sentence can be up to 30 years in prison.

Tahmooressi's arrest has reignited the debate about Mexico's legal system. Based on my conversation with a former State Department official who spent 15 months on the border handling numerous border issues including the arrests of U.S. citizens, the hearing on June 4 will be “very cut and dry.”

The judge will determine basic facts. There will be questions such as did Tahmooressi violate Mexican law by entering the country with guns? Can Tahmooressi read? Can he see? Were the international border signs properly posted, warning that it is illegal to enter Mexico with firearms?

According to a spokesman for Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), the judge will also determine if Tahmooressi really does suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), as he has alleged. Mexican prosecutors are apparently conducting an independent psychological analysis. Tahmooressi’s attorney is in possession of his Department of Veteran's Affairs mental health records to prove his claims about his condition.

There is no dispute that Tahmooressi violated Mexico's gun-control laws, even though it was an accident. According to the Mexican Consulate General's website, "Claiming not to know about the law will not get you leniency from a police officer or the judicial system."

But legal procedure is not the only issue in this case. Tahmooressi’s “honest mistake” defense invokes an equally important issue of politics.

According to the former U.S. official, Mexico takes its sovereignty seriously and feels as if the United States does not respect its laws and independence.

For example, the U.S. and Mexico have inherent differences in criminal sentencing. Mexico does not have a death penalty; it views such punishment as cruel and unusual. Texas, on the other hand, does have the death penalty.

At the time Tahmooressi was arrested, Mexico was pleading with Texas not to execute convicted murderer and rapist Ramiro Hernandez, a Mexican citizen. Texas disregarded Mexico’s request and executed Hernandez on April 4th.

The Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry opposed Texas’ decision, stating, “This is the fourth case of a Mexican being executed in clear violation of the judgment of the International Court of Justice. The Government of Mexico expresses its most vigorous protest at the failure to comply.”

Mexico might be thinking, “You did not listen to us (about Hernandez) so why should we listen to you (about Tahmooressi)? You want us to respect your right to prosecute and punish. Now you must respect our right to prosecute and punish.”

Mexico may also be upset because our agencies and officials have a decades-long pattern of entering its country to fight the War on Drugs without its permission or knowledge.

In the nineties, U.S. Customs agents carried out Operation Casablanca, a money-laundering sting, without Mexico’s knowledge. This operation caused great friction between the two countries. “Casablanca was a hard punch to mutual cooperation and trust because it implied, in some ways, the violation of bilateral and international agreements,'' said then-foreign ministry official Miguel Ruiz Caba Mfas.

According to a report on Fox News Greta Van Susteren, a crusader for the release of Tahmooressi the officer found him guilty of crime from beginning.

This week past week we were reminded of the sacrifices of our military heroes on numerous TV shows. Today we are reminded of by a high-profile story in the news right now. We have an explosive international incident developing over the false imprisonment of a U.S. Marine hero in Mexico. Remarkably, our President and Secretary of State have not even chosen to bring this issue up with Enrique Peña Nieto, the President of Mexico.

I believe the United States would have great leverage in this situation – if we had a real leader running this country. Unfortunately, we have the weak, feckless, neutered, bowing Barack Obama. Our President doesn’t understand American exceptionalism. Our fearful leader doesn’t believe in the greatness of our military. He certainly doesn’t understand what Donald Trump would call “the art of the deal.” It’s time to explain the situation to our southern neighbor. It’s time to make an offer he can’t refuse. This is the letter a real leader of the United States would send to the President of Mexico to rescue a true American hero and patriot, who is languishing in a filthy, dangerous Mexican jail under false pretenses. Here is what I would tell the President Obama if he were to ask me for my advice.

“Dear President Enrique Peña Nieto:

Greetings from the United States of America — you know, the great Nation just above your crime-ridden country, who has taken in millions of your citizens and spent hundreds of billions of dollars in welfare, food stamps, housing allowances, healthcare, education, police and prison costs, free meals at school, and income tax credits on your citizens here in our country illegally. I think you owe it to us to listen to what we have to say.

I write you today because you’re holding one of our citizens hostage in one of the hellholes that you call a federal prison. The citizen you are holding is my Marine. His name is Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi. He is an American hero. During the four years he served in the U.S. Marines, he did two tours in Afghanistan. While on the battlefield, he saved the lives of eight Marines from the Taliban; and in a separate incident he saved a Marine from bleeding to death after that soldier lost both legs from an improvised explosive device explosion. This American hero is now languishing in your prison in Tijuana, Mexico.

What crime did he commit? Murder? Robbery? Kidnapping? Drug smuggling? No those are the things that happen to law-abiding citizens in your country every day. But Tahmooressi didn’t do any of those bad things. He accidentally drove across the border in his own vehicle with three legally owned guns. Yes, that’s his “crime.” Bad driving and getting lost. This American hero entered your country because of poor signage leading to your border outside San Diego (possibly combined with confusion from his post-traumatic stress disorder).

As a result of that honest mistake, my Marine has been under constant death threat from Mexican drug gangs in your prison. Because you can’t control your own violent prisoners, my Marine has been isolated in a filthy prison cell, chained to his bed for weeks. This is called torture, and it is a violation of his civil (and human) rights.

I want to make sure you understand the gravity of this situation. Your Mexican citizens enter our country illegally, and we let them live and work here. Our citizens are kindhearted enough to oppose deportation of millions of your citizens for fear of breaking up their families. We hire your citizens and provide them with a better life than they ever had in Mexico. They send money home to Mexico that keeps your economy afloat. That money comes from our citizens and taxpayers. Even Mexican felons are treated better in our prisons and legal system than they are in your country. That’s why your citizens are willing to die to escape to our country.

Let’s also discuss your military. This U.S. Marine hero made a mistake wandering into your country. But your military has purposely wandered onto U.S. soil many times, which is a violation of U.S. laws. But we have chosen not to arrest your soldiers. We’ve given our neighbors the benefit of the doubt. Is this how you treat us in return?

Let’s review the direct military aid we’ve gifted to your country. Between 2008 and 2011, the Department of Defense gave $428.7 million worth of equipment to Mexican security forces, including planes, Black Hawk helicopters and scanners. Last year alone, we trained more than 3,000 Mexican troops. All this money came from U.S. taxpayers — like Tahmooressi’s parents.

My Marine was armed with three firearms because he has the Constitutional right to own and possess those firearms in the United States. I understand that your country does not have those same rights. That’s too bad for you and your citizens. I’ve noticed that even though you have disarmed your citizens, gun violence is out of control in Mexico. It’s strange how in your “gun-free” country, there are incredible numbers of gun murders. It appears that taking guns away from law-abiding citizens has not worked out very well for your disarmed citizens.

I understand that you have “issues” keeping your citizens from crossing over into our country and keeping drug lords from smuggling drugs into our country. Until now, we have never properly addressed these issues with you. I think that time has come. But we will deal with those issues at a later date. Right now, we have only one issue on the plate. Rest assured, the future of American-Mexican relations depend on the resolution of this issue.

I hope you will consider this a formal (but friendly) request, as one neighbor to another. As the Commander in Chief of Tahmooressi, I’m giving you until 5 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time tomorrow to return my Marine (along with his truck and weapons) to the U.S. border crossing in San Diego.

I will have the appropriate U.S. officials and military officers waiting there at precisely 5 p.m. to inspect the condition of my Marine and to report his physical and mental condition to me immediately. I expect him to be in perfect health.

If you choose to disregard my simple and reasonable “friendly” request, please be aware that I have already ordered the U.S. Marine Corps commandant at Camp Pendleton to have his 100,000 Marines “stand to” and ready to proceed into Mexico to retrieve my Marine.

One way or another, my Marine is coming home — whether you send him home or we have to come get him. We leave no man behind. If we are forced to retrieve Tahmooressi at great effort and expense to the United States, we will also send you a bill for the $500 million or so we’ve spent on training and equipment for your military since 2008.

I’ll deal with the hundreds of billions of dollars we’ve spent on housing your citizens illegally in the United States at a future date — after this incident has been resolved to my satisfaction.

This is not a threat. This is a promise. I pray, for your sake and for your citizens’ safety, that you choose to do the right thing, neighbor. But know one thing: One way or another, my Marine is coming home by tomorrow evening at 5 p.m.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama

The President of the United States of America

P.S. Semper Fi.

No doubt this letter will never be sent by our sitting President. Remember President James Madison went to war in 1812 with the greatest power in the world over British attempts to restrict U.S. trade and the Royal Navy’s impressment of American seamen. It’s about time for President Obama to step up the plate and protect not only his citizens, but those who he commands.

Remembering Vince Flynn

“It's this upside-down world that we live in where we afford political correctness to the most intolerant group of individuals on the planet.” — Vince Flynn

Last month (June 19) Vince Flynn passed away after losing his battle with prostate cancer. The 47-year old author of the famous Mitch Rapp series of political thrillers is survived by his wife and three children.

I first became acquainted with Flynn’s writing in 1998 with “Term Limits”, his first book. Term Limits was a novel about a group of ex-Navy SEALS who were assassinating U. S. Senators and government officials in retribution for their leaking information about a raid where several SEALS were killed. In this book Flynn, like Tom Clancy and, Brian Haig, Brad Thor, were a bit ahead of the curve. (See Extortion 17)

This was quite a radical novel at the time as it portrayed the SEALS as the heroes of the book who were eventually given cover by the CIA for their actions. The book was on the New York Times best seller list for several weeks.

It was in his second book, Transfer of Power, that Flynn introduced us to his iconic anti-terrorism operative, Mitch Rapp, and his boss at the CIA Irene Kennedy. The stories in his next 11 books were centered around these two characters.

The fifth of seven children, Vince Flynn was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on April 6, 1966. He graduated from the Saint Thomas Academy in 1984, and the University of St. Thomas with a degree in economics in 1988.

After college he went to work for Kraft General Foods where he was an account and sales marketing specialist.

In 1990 Vince Flynn left Kraft to accept an aviation candidate slot with the United States Marine Corps. However, one week before leaving for Officers Candidate School, he was medically disqualified from the Marine Aviation Program, due to several concussions and convulsive seizures he suffered as a child following a car accident. While trying to obtain a medical waiver for his condition, he started thinking about writing a book, an unusual choice for Flynn since he had been diagnosed with dyslexia in grade school and had struggled with reading and writing all his life.

Having been turned down by the Marine Corps, Flynn returned to the work force and took a job with United Properties, a commercial real estate company in the Twin Cities. During his spare time he worked on an idea he had for a book. After two years with United Properties he decided to devote himself full time to writing: he quit his job, moved to Colorado, and began working full time on what would eventually become his first novel, Term Limits.

While writing Term Limits, Flynn supported himself by bartending at night. After five years and more than sixty rejection letters, he decided to self-publish, which was not as common at that time as it is today. Term Limits went to number one in the Twin Cities area, and within a week Flynn had an agent and garnered a two-book deal with Emily Bestler of Pocket Books, a Simon & Schuster imprint.

First Published by Pocket Books in 1997, Term Limits was a New York Times bestseller in paperback. Since then, his books became perennial bestsellers in hardcover, paperback, and electronic editions, and since the publication of Protect and Defend in 2007, have regularly been #1 New York Times bestsellers. Flynn’s novels have been praised for their extensive research and prescient warnings about the rise of Islamic Radical Fundamentalism and terrorism. His books have been read by current and former presidents, foreign heads of state, and intelligence professionals around the world, and are admired for their authenticity and imagination: one high-ranking CIA official told his staff, “I want you to read Flynn's books and start thinking about how we can more effectively wage this war on terror.”

Motion picture rights to Flynn’s character Mitch Rapp have been optioned by CBS Films with the intention of making a character-based, action-thriller movie franchise. Flynn was also an advisor for the Fox series 24 and in some was Kieffer Sutherland’s character, Jack Bauer, had a lot of Mitch Rapp in him.

The Survivor, Vince Flynn’s planned release this fall, is being postponed indefinitely. Vince had not yet completed the manuscript at the time of his passing last month. The reason it is “postponed indefinitely” as opposed to “canceled” is because it is too soon to know how much of the book was written or if Vince had plans or provisions in place in the event that he could not complete the book. This book may be published due to Flynn’s collaboration with best-selling author Brian Haig.

Here is a list of all of the books in the Mitch Rapp series:

Transfer of Power (1999)

The Third Option (2000)

Separation of Power (2001)

Executive Power (2003)

Memorial Day (2004)

Consent to Kill (2005)

Act of Treason (2006)

Protect and Defend (2007)

Extreme Measures (2008)

Pursuit of Honor (2009)

American Assassin (2010)

Kill Shot (2012)

The Last Man (2012)

The Survivor (2013 — unpublished)

You can read summaries of these books by clicking here I think you will find them interesting if you haven’t read the books and see how the character of Mitch Rapp evolved.

I have read all of the Vince Flynn books and each year I looked forward to his next novel about the adventures of Mitch Rapp and Irene Kennedy. Over the years I have seen Rapp and Kennedy more as real life people than as characters on the pages of a book. Flynn’s writing made them so.

Each book was an out-and-out page-turner. If you were reading a Flynn novel on a flight you were disappointed when the seat belt light came on an you were told you were about to land. You wanted your flight to last a little longer so you could get a few more chapters in. If you were reading the book at home you would find yourself looking at the clock and seeing it was 3 o’clock in the morning and telling yourself just one or two more chapters.

Mitch Rapp was the consummate American hero and terrorist hunter. He did not countenance politicians who were more concerned with their own image and power that the people of the United States. He was someone I hope we have on the government payroll somewhere. Irene Kennedy was Rapp’s governor and the intellectual and political half of the team. She could keep him under control while allowing him to carry forth his missions and protect him from the politicians. In the novel Protect and Defend Irene Kennedy is kidnapped by terrorists and Rapp will spare no one or waste one minute in his search to find her. And when he does — oh well you will have to read the book.

Rather than attempt to describe Mitch Rapp or Vince Flynn here are three videos of Vince Flynn describing himself and his character in his own words.

The first video has Flynn explain how Mitch Rapp became the terrorist-fighter be is.

In this next video Flynn talks about his 2008 book In Pursuit of Honor.

In this final video Flynn discusses Protect and Defend and talks a bit about himself.

Vince Flynn and his characters of Mitch Rapp and Irene Kennedy will be missed by millions of readers. It is now up to authors such as Brad Thor, Brian Haig, and Tom Clancy to carry on.

May God keep and bless Vince Flynn and his wife and children.

Remembering the March King

“Love your neighbor as yourself and your country more than yourself.” — Thomas Jefferson, letter to Thomas Jefferson Smith — 1825

It is certainly appropriate and fitting to remember those who sacrificed their life and limb in the service of the United States from Valley Forge and Gettysburg to Iwo Jima and Helmand Province. It is also fitting to remember those patriots who gave much to our culture and heritage on this Memorial Day weekend.

I have posted two previous blogs honoring our fallen heroes; The Meaning of Memorial Day and how to make the perfect burger and Another Memorial Day. This Memorial Day I would like to allow the TV networks to run their specials and old and tired war movies while I remember John Philip Sousa in words and his music.

John Philip Sousa was born in 1854 in Washington, D.C. and died in 1932. He worked as a theater musician and conducted the U.S. Marine Band before starting his own civilian band in 1892. Sousa toured with his band for 40 years and was indisputably the most famous musical act in the world. He composed 136 marches, 15 operettas, 70 songs and many other pieces

Sousa was born in Washington, D.C., on November 6, 1854, to John Antonio Sousa, who was of Portuguese ancestry, and Maria Elisabeth Trinkhaus, who was of Bavarian ancestry. Sousa started his music education by playing the violin as a pupil of John Esputa and George Felix Benkert for harmony and musical composition at the age of six. He was found to have absolute pitch. During his childhood, Sousa studied voice, violin, piano, flute, cornet, baritone horn, trombone and alto horn. At the age of 13, his father, a trombonist in the Marine Band, enlisted Sousa in the United States Marine Corps as an apprentice to keep him from joining a circus band.

On December 30, 1879, Sousa married Jane van Middlesworth Bellis (1862–1944) a wife he would remain with until his death. They had three children: John Philip, Jr. (April 1, 1881 – May 18, 1937), Jane Priscilla (August 7, 1882 – October 28, 1958), and Helen (January 21, 1887 – October 14, 1975). All were buried in the John Philip Sousa plot in the Congressional Cemetery.

Several years after serving his apprenticeship, Sousa joined a theatrical (pit) orchestra where he learned to conduct. He returned to the U.S. Marine Band as its head in 1880 and remained as its conductor until 1892. Sousa led "The President's Own" band under five presidents from Rutherford B. Hayes to Benjamin Harrison. Sousa's band played at two Inaugural Balls, those of James A. Garfield in 1881, and Benjamin Harrison in 1889. The marching brass bass, or sousaphone, a modified helicon, was created by J. W. Pepper – a Philadelphia instrument maker who created the instrument in 1893 at Sousa’s request using several of his suggestions in its design. He wanted a tuba that could sound upward and over the band whether its player was seated or marching. The sousaphone was re-created in 1898 by C.G. Conn and this was the model that Sousa preferred to use.

He organized The Sousa Band the year he left the Marine Band. The Sousa Band toured from 1892–1931, performing at 15,623 concerts. In Paris, the Sousa Band marched through the streets including the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe – one of only eight parades the band marched in over its forty years. The band played for sold-out crowds both in America and around the world, including at the World Exposition in Paris, France.

The Timeline for Sousa’s life:

1854: Born Washington, DC, Nov. 6. John Philip was 3rd of 10 children of John Antonio Sousa (born in Spain of Portuguese parents) and Maria Elisabeth Trinkhaus (born in Bavaria). John Philip's father, Antonio, played trombone in the U.S. Marine band. He grew up around military band music.

1860: Began musical study around age six, studying voice, violin, piano, flute, cornet, baritone, trombone and alto horn.

1867: His father enlisted him in the Marines at age 13 as an apprentice after he attempted to run away to join a circus band.

1872: Published first composition, "Moonlight on the Potomac Waltzes".

1875: Discharged from Marines. Began performing (on violin), touring and eventually conducting theater orchestras. Conducted Gilbert & Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore on Broadway.

1879: In February, met Jane van Middlesworth Bellis during Pinafore rehearsals; they were married December 30, 1879.

1880: Returned to Washington in September to assume leadership of the US Marine Band.

1880-1892: Conducted "The President's Own", serving under presidents Hayes, Garfield, Cleveland, Arthur and Harrison. After two successful but limited tours with the Marine Band in 1891 and 1892, promoter David Blakely convinced Sousa to resign and organize a civilian concert band.

1892: The first Sousa Band concert was performed September 26 at Stillman Music Hall in Plainfield, New Jersey. Two days earlier, bandleader Patrick Gilmore had died in St. Louis. Nineteen of Gilmore's former musicians eventually joined Sousa's band, including Herbert L. Clarke (cornet) and E. A. Lefebre (saxophone). The original name of the band was "Sousa's New Marine Band", but criticism from Washington forced the withdrawal of the name.

1895: Sousa's first successful operetta, El Capitan, debuts.

1896: Sousa's promoter David Blakely dies while Sousa and his wife are on vacation in Europe. On the return voyage, Sousa receives the inspiration for The Stars and Stripes Forever.

1900: The Sousa Band tours Europe.

1901: Second European tour.

1905: Third European tour.

1910: World Tour: New York, Great Britain, Canary Islands, South-Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji Islands, Hawaii, Canada.

1917: During World War I, Sousa joins the US Naval Reserve at age 62. He is assigned the rank of lieutenant and paid a salary of $1 per month.

1919-1932: After the war, Sousa continued to tour with his band. He championed the cause of music education, received several honorary degrees and fought for composers' rights, testifying before Congress in 1927 and 1928.

1932: Sousa dies at age 77 on March 6th, after conducting a rehearsal of the Ringgold Band in Reading, Pennsylvania. The last piece he conducted was "The Stars and Stripes Forever".

Sousa is not so much remembered for his life but for the patriotic marches he gave us. He wrote 136 marches, published by the Sam Fox Publishing Company beginning in 1917 and continuing until his death. Some of his notable ones are:

• The Gladiator March, (1866) Sousa's first hit.
• "King Cotton", a 1895 Sousa military march.
• "The Gallant Seventh", was in the 1920s and is distinguished as his only march with two breakstrains.
• Sousa's The Thunderer (1889), performed in 1896 by the United States Marine Band
• Sousa's Fairest of the Fair (1908), performed by the United States Navy Band
• "Semper Fidelis" (1888) (Official March of the United States Marine Corps)
• "The Washington Post" (1889)
• "The Thunderer" (1889)
• "High School Cadets" (1890)
• "The Liberty Bell" (1893) (later used as credits theme for Monty Python's Flying Circus TV series)
• "Manhattan Beach March" (1893)
• "Stars and Stripes Forever" (1896) (The National March of the United States)
• "El Capitan" (1896)
• "Hands Across the Sea" (dedicated to the band of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets – the Highty-Tighties) (1899)
• "Hail to the Spirit of Liberty" March (1900)
• "Invincible Eagle" (1901) (Dedicated to Pan-American Buffalo Exposition)
• "Fairest of the Fair" (1908)
• "Glory of the Yankee Navy" (1909)
• "U.S. Field Artillery" (1917) (Modified version The Army Goes Rolling Along is the official song of the U.S. Army)
• "Who's Who in Navy Blue" (1920) (Composed at the request of the United States Naval Academy class of 1920 and dedicated to Tecumseh, a bronze reproduction of the figurehead of the U.S.S. Delaware that occupies a key place at the Academy)
• "The Gallant Seventh" (1922)
• "Nobles of the Mystic Shrine" (1923)
• "The Black Horse Troop" (1924) (Written in honor of Troop A, 107th Cavalry, Ohio National Guard.
• "Pride of the Wolverines" (1926)
• "Minnesota March" (1927)
• "New Mexico March" (1928)
• "Salvation Army March" (1930) (dedicated to The Salvation Army's 50th anniversary in the USA)

Sousa wrote marches for several American universities, including University of Illinois, University of Nebraska, Kansas State University, and Marquette University.

A few notes of Sousa’s more famous marches:

In his autobiography, Marching Along, Sousa wrote that he composed the march on Christmas Day, 1896. He was on an ocean liner on his way home from a vacation with his wife in Europe and had just learned of the recent death of David Blakely, the manager of the Sousa Band. He composed the march in his head and committed the notes to paper on arrival in the United States. It was first performed at Willow Grove Park, just outside Philadelphia, on May 14, 1897, and was immediately greeted with enthusiasm. It was first performed in Augusta, Maine on May 1, 1897 at the New City Hall.

”The Stars and Stripes Forever" follows the standard American military march form. The march begins with a four-bar introduction, which is followed by a dotted, playful melody. Its trio is the most famous part of the march. Most bands adopt the Sousa Band practice of having one or three (never two piccolo players play the famous obbligato in the first repeat of the trio (the one after the breakstrain). In the final repeat of the trio (grandioso), the low brass joins the piccolo players with a prominent countermelody. The official version, as played by the United States Marine Band, is performed in the key of E-flat.

"Semper Fidelis", which was written in 1888 by John Philip Sousa, is regarded as the official march of the United States Marine Corps. This piece was one of two composed in response to a request from United States President Chester Arthur for a new piece to be associated with the United States President. The words Semper Fidelis are Latin for "Always Faithful."

In an October 1927 interview published in the Independent (Nebraska), Sousa claimed "I wrote "Semper Fidelis" one night while in tears after my comrades of the Marine Corps had sung their famous Hymn at Quantico.

"The Washington Post" is a march composed by John Philip Sousa in 1889. Since then, it has remained as one of his most popular marches throughout the United States and many countries abroad.

In 1889 the owners of The Washington Post newspaper requested that John Philip Sousa, the leader of the United States Marine Corps Band, compose a march for the newspaper's essay contest awards ceremony. Sousa obliged; "The Washington Post March" was introduced at the ceremony on June 15, 1889, and it became quite popular. It led to a British journalist dubbing Sousa "The March King". Sousa is honored in The Washington Post building for his contribution to the newspaper and his country.

The composition is now in the public domain in the US, as its copyright has expired

This recognizable march is written in standard form: IAABBCCDCDC. Written in 2/4 meter, it is suited as an accompaniment to the two-step, a new dance introduced in its time.

The first strain of the march (above) is famous and familiar to many. The march is played in a stately march tempo (110-120 beats/m; rarely over).

March enthusiasts have argued that the trio section's mellow and moving phrases are amongst Sousa's most musical. Six sudden eighth notes move the melody along, and its unusually calm breakstrain is a simple adaptation of the trio melody. It then moves on to the first trio repeat, where the low brass begins an even more mellow countermelody.

In 1952 Hollywood released a somewhat corny, but very entraining biopic about the life of John Phillip Sousa called “Stars and Stripes Forever.” The film is a biography of the composer John Philip Sousa, from his early days in the Marine Corps Band through the Spanish-American War in 1898. It stars Clifton Webb as Sousa and Ruth Hussey as his wife Jennie (Jane).

A few of the reviewers give the film very high marks, not so much for the acting but for the music:

“Clifton Webb does a fine work as the great band-master and composer of memorable marches who, on the 1890's, when he leaves the Marines Corps., forms his own concert band and travels around the world.

With the sensitive and beautiful Debra Paget as the singer-dancer, and the sympathetic and good-looking Robert Wagner as the horn player, the loving couple shares a real and firm part of the 'imagined' tale.

The great highlights of the picture are when a black choir is singing "The Battle Hymn Of The Republic," and the outstanding performance of "Dixie," played by Philip Sousa and his Orchestra as they enter the Cotton States Exposit John Philip Sousa was not only America's "March King," he was a skilled organizer and entertainer who also composed much music now thoroughly unknown to most Americans (and fans elsewhere). His life spanned the era of an optimistic, brash America where live music was the only music to the burgeoning and eventually triumphant victory of an insatiable technology that even in Sousa's lifetime was employed to record almost everything. Sousa benefited from the new world of recording and he can be heard on compact disc in his later years conducting his famed quasi-military band.

20th Century Fox enlisted a cadre of fine performers for a seamlessly entertaining biopic of John Philip Sousa with a nice, anachronistically innocent, fictional romance interwoven with the band leader/composer's story.

As Sousa Clifton Webb brings to life a character who was, as in reality, ambitious and driven to succeed. Sousa left the Marine Corps, where he led The President's Own, to start his hand-picked band. In uniforms which the leader designed, the outfit mirrored great military bands (of which the U.S., as opposed to England, had a clear shortage during Sousa's life). Sousa understood the importance of touring and he was light years ahead of the twentieth century's pops ensembles in making his musicians - and his music — as ubiquitous as travel of his day allowed. ion in Atlanta.”

I have seen this film several times with the latest last year on Turner Classic Movies. I found in very enjoyable — especially the music. It harkens me back to a time when people believed that this country was a place where you could make of yourself what you could out for the effort for.

On December 24, 1910, the Sousa Band embarked on a world tour. Although not the first group to travel around the world, the publicity generated was immense (although the financial rewards were only modest). Sousa's reputation, marches and recordings preceded him; he and the band were welcomed as conquering heroes at every port.

Sousa was in poor health at the beginning of the tour, having contracted malaria during hunting trip in the fall of 1910. After spending two weeks in the hospital, he met the band in mid-tour in Montreal and finished a series of "farewell" concerts before sailing from New York on December 24.

Here is a summary of their itinerary (for a complete list of tour stops, consult Paul Bierley's The Incredible Band of John Philip Sousa):

• Jan 9-Mar 3 1911: England, Ireland
• Mar 24-Apr 21: South Africa
• May 12-Aug 23: Tasmania, Australia, New Zealand
• Sep 10-Oct 15: Hawaii, Western Canada & U.S.
• Oct 23-Dec 1: Midwestern U.S. (TX, OK, KS, MO, NE, IA, WI, MN, MI, IL, OH)
• Dec 4-Dec 10: NY

In 1985 my wife and I traveled with my daughter’s high school band to Europe. One of the stops on the tour was in Lugano, Switzerland. Lugano is in the Italian speaking part of the Swiss Confederation. The band gave a concert on the Piazza della Riforma in the center of the town. It was a beautiful June evening and the cafes lining the Piazza were filled with patrons sipping their coffees or campari and listening to the concert. For their final number the band played Sousa’s Stars and Stripes. It took no time for the crowd to break out in rhythmic clapping to the beat of the march. I can still remember one of the band’s flute players who doubled on the piccolo flawlessly playing the famous trio. After the march was concluded the assembled crowd rose to their feet in a standing ovation. It’s difficult to say if it was the band’s performance or he familiarity of the tune. Perhaps it was a little of both.

Sousa, the child of immigrant parents gave this country a heritage of march music that will live as long of the stars and stripes fly above our capitol For this he should be remembered as a child of America and true patriot.

Mr. Smith Returns to Washington

"There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily." — George Washington

You may not be old enough to remember the Frank Capra’s great movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” starring Jean Arthur and Jimmy Stewart, but I do. It was one of those films that affected me in my early years. It’s about one man's effect on American politics. For those who have never seen the film here is a brief synopsis:

Naive and idealistic Jefferson Smith, leader of the Boy Rangers, is appointed on a lark by the spineless governor of his state. He is reunited with the state's senior senator--presidential hopeful and childhood hero, Senator Joseph Paine. In Washington, however, Smith discovers many of the shortcomings of the political process as his earnest goal of a national boys' camp leads to a conflict with the state political boss, Jim Taylor. Taylor first tries to corrupt Smith and then later attempts to destroy Smith through a scandal.

Smith comes up with legislation that would authorize a federal government loan to buy some land in his home state for a national boys' camp, to be paid back by youngsters across America. Donations pour in immediately. However, the proposed campsite is already part of a dam-building graft scheme included in a Public Works bill framed by the Taylor political machine and supported by Senator Paine.

Unwilling to crucify the worshipful Smith so that their graft plan will go through, Paine tells Taylor he wants out, but Taylor reminds him that Paine is in power primarily through Taylor's influence. Through Paine, the machine accuses Smith of trying to profit from his bill by producing fraudulent evidence that Smith owns the land in question. Smith is too shocked by Paine's betrayal to defend himself, and runs away.

However, Smith's chief of staff, Clarissa Saunders (Jean Arthur), has come to believe in him, and talks him into launching a filibuster to postpone the Works bill and prove his innocence on the Senate floor just before the vote to expel him. While Smith talks non-stop, his constituents try to rally around him, but the entrenched opposition is too powerful, and all attempts are crushed. Due to influence of the Taylor "machine", on his orders, newspapers and radio stations in Smith's home state refuse to report what Smith has to say and even twist the facts against the Senator. An effort by the Boy Rangers to spread the news results in vicious attacks on the children by Taylor's minions.

Although all hope seems lost, the senators begin to pay attention as Smith approaches utter exhaustion. Paine has one last card up his sleeve: he brings in bins of letters and telegrams from Smith's home state from people demanding his expulsion. Nearly broken by the news, Smith finds a small ray of hope in a friendly smile from the President of the Senate (Harry Carey). Smith vows to press on until people believe him, but immediately collapses in a faint. Overcome with guilt, Paine leaves the Senate chamber and attempts to kill himself with a gun. When he is stopped, he bursts back into the Senate chamber, loudly confesses to the whole scheme, and affirms Smith's innocence.

The political world changed its orbit Wednesday as Rand Paul seized the spotlight in his March 6 filibuster. Rand Paul is probably now the 2016 front-runner for president and shown the GOP’s old guard what courage and principal mean.

How can one day be that big of a deal? Because Rand Paul demonstrated a reproducible, winning formula. It was as if Ronald Reagan were granted just one day to come back to Earth to remind the Party of Lincoln of "how it's done." Rand demonstrated a repeatable formula that all Republicans can copy. It is the template that is significant.

But was March 6 "Republicans' Last Stand" or "Rand's First Stand?" What is most optimistic as the basis for this analysis is that Republican senators started showing up. The Senate floor was more crowded at 10:00 and 11:00 PM than it was at 6:00 PM. They felt it. They saw it. They "got" it. (Excepting one aged senator from Arizona who the next day stood on the floor of the Senate and viciously attacked Senator Paul personally and politically. It clicked. In other words, Republicans might possibly do more of same. If Rand disappears back into the woodwork, then March 6 will have meant nothing and Senators like John McCain will drag the GOP down to insignificance. It was McCain who said that Paul’s filibuster did not serve the American people and he was appealing to libertarian college students in their dorms. Perhaps if Mr. McCain had appealed to those libertarian college students Barack Obama would not be President today. But that is history.

Freshman Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz "got it." Cruz was all over it. Cruz gave voice to the moment best of all. Cruz threatened to go way over the top, reading from the movie "Patton" and Henry the Fifth's St. Crispin's Day speech on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt. Yet somehow, flirting with serious rhetorical dangers, Cruz captured the moment just right. Like a roller coaster, you gripped the car fearing Cruz was going to fly off into mid-air, yet to our great surprise Cruz hit his mark. He grasped the significance, to put it mildly. Cruz praised the raw bravery of "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers" rather than those who die a thousand deaths in the thicket of their own worried thoughts.

Rand Paul unveiled a conservative answer to the Left's Saul Alinsky tactics:

• Rand Paul shoved Obama's agenda off the public stage. Just getting the political world talking about Republicans' message instead of Obama's means Republicans are winning and Obama is losing.
• Rand picked his issue very carefully. He chose the hill he wanted his opponent to die on. Rand showed what happens when you wisely pick the right issue to defeat your opponent with.
• Yet Rand's issue seamlessly fit within his larger philosophy. He didn't just take a cheap shot. Rand chose an example that proves his larger point. As a caller to the Chris Plante show on Washington's WMAL said, "the biggest minority in America is the individual." Rand's filibuster fit within Rand's overall defense of individual liberty — the liberty espoused by our Founders in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The specific point created an effective argument supporting his larger theme.
• Rand advanced his strategic goal. The entire filibuster episode portrayed a radically different image of Barack Obama. Even among low information voters, Obama's public image just took a serious hit. Instead of being the cool guy who loves you, Obama is now the tyrant who reserves the right to kill you any time he feels like it. On an emotional level, Rand Paul undid in one day years of spin about Obama.
• Rand had a sense of the role of theatrical drama. Conservatives are rightly wary of selling an invalid argument. But even to promote the truth, one must understand that humans are emotional beings. Communicating a message in a crowded, busy world requires a feel for the dramatic — just ask Henry V.
• So Rand did this in a way difficult for the news media to ignore. In politics, if a tree falls in the forest and the news media doesn't report it, it never happened.
• Rand then hammered the issue perfectly. Who can defend U.S. Government drones assassinating American citizens inside America if they are not engaged in any violence? The issue is a blinding searchlight leaving the critters nowhere to hide. You can't say it doesn't matter. And there's no defense.
• Rand focused like a laser beam, anticipating the misrepresentation and caricatures he knew would be attempted. He repeatedly emphasized, probably a dozen times an hour, how modest his request was. He understood how his actions would be lied about, and cut the scoundrels off at the pass. He repeated what he wasn't demanding, what he wasn't arguing. He emphasized how he had voted for Obama's other nominees.
• Rand wasn't careless. His argument withstood scrutiny. And it got scrutiny. Yet he had a solid argument. Democrat Senator Dick Durbin asked about killing Osama Bin Laden. But Seal Team 6 was trying to arrest Bin Laden. It was Bin Laden's violence in resisting arrest that got him killed. Rand repeatedly emphasized that inside the USA the government should arrest people and question them, not assassinate them.
• Rand was nimble. He admitted that he hadn't planned the filibuster. But when the Obama Administration repeatedly confirmed that they believe the president has the authority to murder U.S. citizens inside the USA when they are not actively attacking anyone, Rand saw an opening and pounced. But he had the wisdom to know if it was a good opportunity or not.
• Rand Paul had guts.

Yet the GOP will be lost if it does not learn the lesson and follow Rand Paul's brilliant "teachable moment" example. Winston Churchill quipped: "Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time he will pick himself up and continue on." We will see how thick-headed Republicans are if they miss the point. John McCain and Lindsey Graham certainly did.

On the same day that Rand Paul showed us how it's done, Republicans in the U.S. House impersonated over boiled cauliflower and caved in to Obama's massive overspending. The U.S. House skipped the chance to slow out-of-control spending. The Republican House passed a Continuing Resolution at the same $3.6 trillion level — $700 billion per year higher than Federal spending in 2008. Republicans could have passed a Continuing Resolution at a lower level, especially while objecting that the U.S. Senate has not passed any budget.

I have often criticized Ron Paul on some issues, while agreeing with him on others. When Papa Paul is right, he's right, when he's not, he's not. So Senator Rand Paul really had to earn the favorable opinion of Americans, let alone Republicans. But on March 6 he surely did. McCain and Graham please step aside and let the new GOP blood rise. Welcome back Mr. Smith its be a long time.

Letter from Sgt. Eddie Jeffers

"Blessed be the Lord my Strength, who teaches my hands to war, and my fingers to fight." — Psalm 144:1

This is a different blog than a usually write. It’s about a young American soldier and a letter he wrote home. Eddie Jeffers was a 23-year old Sargent serving in the U.S. Army Infantry in Ramadi, Iraq when he died due to an accident on September 20, 2007.

Eddie was one of those unique young people who had a sense of duty to God and country and an ability to cogently write down his thoughts and beliefs. Unlike so many 23-year olds who are still floundering in college and interested only in “self” or “trying to find themselves” Sgt. Jeffers was already a leader of men — men in battle.

Eddie sent many letters home to his parents. Shortly before he died he sent the letter I am quoting below to his parents. I heard the letter read aloud on the Marl Levine show and could not resist sharing with my readers:

“I stare out into the darkness from my post, and I watch the city burn to the ground. I smell the familiar smells, I walk through the familiar rubble, and I look at the frightened faces that watch me pass down the streets of their neighborhoods. My nerves hardly rest; my hands are steady on a device that has been given to me from my government for the purpose of taking the lives of others.

I sweat, and I am tired. My back aches from the loads I carry. Young American boys look to me to direct them in a manner that will someday allow them to see their families again...and yet, I too, am just a boy....my age not but a few years more than that of the ones I lead. I am stressed, I am scared, and I am paranoid...because death is everywhere. It waits for me, it calls to me from around street corners and windows, and it is always there.

There are the demons that follow me, and tempt me into thoughts and actions that are not my own...but that are necessary for survival. I've made compromises with my humanity. And I am not alone in this. Miles from me are my brethren in this world, who walk in the same streets...who feel the same things, whether they admit to it or not.

And to think, I volunteered for this...

And I am ignorant to the rest of the world...or so I thought.

But even thousands of miles away, in Ramadi, Iraq, the cries and screams and complaints of the ungrateful reach me. In a year, I will be thrust back into society from a life and mentality that doesn't fit your average man. And then, I will be alone. And then, I will walk down the streets of America, and see the yellow ribbon stickers on the cars of the same people who compare our President to Hitler.

I will watch the television and watch the Cindy Sheehans, and the Al Frankens, and the rest of the ignorant sheep of America spout off their mouths about a subject they know nothing about. It is their right, however, and it is a right that is defended by hundreds of thousands of boys and girls scattered across the world, far from home. I use the word boys and girls, because that's what they are. In the Army, the average age of the infantryman is nineteen years old. The average rank of soldiers killed in action is Private First Class.

People like Cindy Sheehan are ignorant. Not just to this war, but to the results of their idiotic ramblings, or at least I hope they are. They don't realize its effects on this war. In this war, there are no Geneva Conventions, no cease fires. Medics and Chaplains are not spared from the enemy's brutality because it's against the rules. I can only imagine the horrors a military Chaplain would experience at the hands of the enemy. The enemy slinks in the shadows and fights a coward’s war against us. It is effective though, as many men and women have died since the start of this war. And the memory of their service to America is tainted by the inconsiderate remarks on our nation's news outlets. And every day, the enemy changes...only now, the enemy is becoming something new. The enemy is transitioning from the Muslim extremists to Americans. The enemy is becoming the very people whom we defend with our lives. And they do not realize it. But in denouncing our actions, denouncing our leaders, denouncing the war we live and fight, they are isolating the military from society...and they are becoming our enemy.

Democrats and peace activists like to toss the word "quagmire" around and compare this war to Vietnam. In a way they are right, this war is becoming like Vietnam. Not the actual war, but in the isolation of country and military. America is not a nation at war; they are a nation with its military at war. Like it or not, we are here, some of us for our second, or third times; some even for their fourth and so on. Americans are so concerned now with politics, that it is interfering with our war.

Terrorists cut the heads off of American citizens on the internet...and there is no outrage, but an American soldier kills an Iraqi in the midst of battle, and there are investigations, and sometimes soldiers are even jailed...for doing their job.

It is absolutely sickening to me to think our country has come to this. Why are we so obsessed with the bad news? Why will people stop at nothing to be against this war, no matter how much evidence of the good we've done is thrown in their face? When is the last time CNN or MSNBC or CBS reported the opening of schools and hospitals in Iraq? Or the leaders of terror cells being detained or killed? It's all happening, but people will not let up their hatred of President Bush. They will ignore the good news, because it just might show people that Bush was right.

America has lost its will to fight. It has lost its will to defend what is right and just in the world. The crazy thing of it all is that the American people have not even been asked to sacrifice a single thing. It’s not like World War II, where people rationed food and turned in cars to be made into metal for tanks. The American people have not been asked to sacrifice anything. Unless you are in the military or the family member of a servicemember, its life as usual...the war doesn't affect you.

But it affects us. And when it is over and the troops come home and they try to piece together what's left of them after their service...where will the detractors be then? Where will the Cindy Sheehans be to comfort and talk to soldiers and help them sort out the last couple years of their lives, most of which have been spent dodging death and wading through the deaths of their friends? They will be where they always are, somewhere far away, where the horrors of the world can't touch them. Somewhere where they can complain about things they will never experience in their lifetime; things that the young men and women of America have willingly taken upon their shoulders.

We are the hope of the Iraqi people. They want what everyone else wants in life: safety, security, somewhere to call home. They want a country that is safe to raise their children in. Not a place where their children will be abducted, raped and murdered if they do not comply with the terrorists demands. They want to live on, rebuild and prosper. And America has given them the opportunity, but only if we stay true to the cause and see it to its end. But the country must unite in this endeavor...we cannot place the burden on our military alone. We must all stand up and fight, whether in uniform or not. And supporting us is more than sticking yellow ribbon stickers on your cars. It's supporting our President, our troops and our cause.

Right now, the burden is all on the American soldiers. Right now, hope rides alone. But it can change, it must change. Because there is only failure and darkness ahead for us as a country, as a people, if it doesn't.

Let's stop all the political nonsense, let's stop all the bickering, let's stop all the bad news and let's stand and fight!

Isn't that what America is about anyway?”

How many men and women like Eddie Jeffers are serving in our military today in hell holes like Afghanistan and Iraq? There are plenty of them. They are looked down upon by the academic and journalistic elites who think they have all of the answers and monopoly on the truth. They go on deployment after deployment and the ones who make it home whole in body are not always whole in spirit. Many suffer horrible physical wounds and PTSD, a mental condition that will affect them for years to come. When these returning soldiers who are fortunate enough to go on to college how will they be received by their peers and professors in academia? Will they be able to understand their patriotism, their self-sacrifice, and their dedication to their brothers and sisters in arms? I doubt it. It will be a hard road for them to travel as they try to reenter today’s Anti-American society.

How far in life would Sgt. Jeffers gone had he lived. Would he have become a successful businessman? Would he have had a loving wife and family? Would he have entered politics and become a Congressman, Senator, or even President? Certainly when you read his eloquent prose you can see his fearless ability to move men with his thoughts and words — something most 23-year olds are incapable of. The world is a lesser place without Sgt. Jeffers while we suffer on with lesser people — especially in politics, academia, and the media.

I will close with this short video tribute to Sgt. Jeffers.

A Tribute to a Hero

"Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them if we basely entail hereditary bondage on them." — Thomas Jefferson

On Saturday I had the privilege of attending the 90^th birthday party for a World War II hero. Ed “Doc” Pepping turned ninety on July 4, 2012 and the party, hosted by his family, was to honor the longevity and accomplishments of this once paratrooper and medic for the 101^st Airborne.

Ed, a talented musician, was a member of the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra and an avid opera fan before the war. He enlisted in September, 1942 and like the other members of the 506^th he volunteered for the paratroopers. When I asked Ed why he volunteered for the paratroopers he said he did so because of the extra pay and the excitement. In 1942 a PFC was paid a grand total of $54 dollars per month ($760 in today’s dollars) and paratroopers received an additional $50 dollars per month.

After his basic training he was assigned to “Easy” Company, 2^nd Battalion, 506^th PIR of the 101^stAirborne Division at Camp Taccoa, Georgia. If read the book Band of Brothers or watched the HBO series of the same title you would have seen a true depiction of paratrooper training at Camp Taccoa and the rigorous training regime these troopers went through. They were the finest trained Army troops in World War II.

One of the exercises these troopers had to do war run up and down a Curahee Mountain, a 1,740 foot peak outside of the camp, touch the geodetic survey monument, and then run back to camp. This exercise was used to get the troopers in mental and physical condition for what they would encounter in the battles to come.

Ed liked to note that he ran up and down Curahee Mountain some 33 times amounting to a total of 198 miles. Even though Ed was the third best marksman in his Company he volunteered for a Medical Detachment where he became the company’s medic. Ed had doubts as to whether or not he would be able kill someone and believed he could serve his nation and his fellow troopers better by saving lives. Medics were important elements of a company as they were the ones who risked their lives to save the lives of their fellow troopers and were right in the middle of the fight.

After the 506^th completed their training in Georgia they boarded a ship and sailed to England where they went through more training in the English country side as they prepared for the invasion of France and their D-Day drop over Normandy. Of course they knew nothing of the mission at that time and were pretty sick and tired of all the training. They were ready to go and anxious to get into the fight.

On the night of June 5, 1944, after they had waited through two days of bad weather while in full gear, they boarded their C-47 transport planes in groups of 18. These groups were called “sticks” and each trooper was assigned a number for his position on the plane. They were loaded down with over 100 pounds of gear including a M1 Grand rifle or carbine, ammunition, mines, hand grenades, knives, ropes, and a cricket clicker for identification in the dark of night. One click was to be followed by two clicks by friendlies. These clickers were only minimally successful as a German Mauser rifle made two clicks when the bolt inserts a bullet in the chamber.

It was a dark night over Normandy in the early hours of June 6, 1944. As a defensive measure the Germans had flooded many of the low lying fields to thwart paratroopers and tanks. They wanted to keep the tanks on the narrow roads so their anti-tank guns could pick them off. Many of these fields had water deep enough for the troopers to drown in especially as they were loaded down with so much equipment. Many of the troopers did in fact succumb to the water in the fields.

When the C-47 carrying Ed and the other 17 troopers arrived over the Sainte Mére Eglise drop zone they should have been flying about 700 feet above the ground at a speed of 95 miles per hour. In fact, due to the German flak and the evasive maneuvers of the pilots, they were doing 160 MPH at just over 300 feet. When Ed jumped the force of the high speed air racing by the plane forced his medical gear off of his body and when he hit the ground his steel helmet cracked down on his neck cracking 3 vertebrae.

Ed continued to serve in the field administering to the needs of the wounded troopers for fifteen days until he finally collapsed during the assault on Carentan and was evacuated to England. During the time Ed received the Bronze Star for pulling a wounded officer from a burning tank turret where he had been shot and fallen on top of the tank commander. This had caused the tank to stop and halt the movement of the entire column subjecting them to German fire. Ed climbed up on the tank, and under fire, pulled the wounded man to safety allowing the column to proceed. This action took place at a crossroads nicknamed “Dead Mans Corner” just outside of Sainte Marie du Mont.

Finally Ed was evacuated back to England where, after his neck healed, he served as a medic in an Army hospital tending to the wounded soldiers that were being evacuated from France.

Ed returned to France after his wounds healed but he did not resume his duties as a Medic. Instead he was assigned to a communications unit where he served as a switchboard operator connecting calls with officers. He said he enjoyed disconnecting the calls when the officers were talking to their “sweeties.”

He believed it was an honor to serve in a hospital extreme trauma ward where he could tend to the most seriously wounded. During his tenure with the 506^th he earned many decorations including a Bronze Star, Purple Heart, 2 Presidential Unit Citations and the French Croix de Guerre. He also received the Army's Legion of Merit medal and is a holder of the Combat Medic and Combat Infantry Badge.

In 2002 when Band of Brothers won an Emmy Award Ed was invited to attend the awards ceremony as a guest of Steven Spielberg. Here he was united with Col Dick Winters, his old company commander, and several of the troopers he served with the 506^th. Ed was driven to the ceremony by one of the reenactors of the 101^st, who he now refers to as his bodyguard.

Ed now resides in Whittier, California where he spends his time with his books and giving lectures to high school students on the values of honor, service, integrity, and patriotism. He is also active with the Boy Scouts serving as a mentor.

I met Ed in 2008 when I was acting as a photographer for the World War II Research and Preservation Society and the reenactors of the 506^th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), Second Battalion of the 101^st Airborne Division. The WWII RPS is a California nonprofit corporation that has been active in historical research and Living History Reenacting for over a decade. Members come from all walks of life, ranging from active military duty & retired military personnel, law enforcement, doctors, lawyers, artists, students, and business executives all with a passion for World War II history and a common goal of preserving our nation's part in that war. Part of that preservation entails depicting not only U.S. soldiers from that era, but also their Allies as well as their opponents.

At that event I also meet other members of the 506^th including Bob Noody, Bob Janes, Don Malarkey, and Bill True. All of these men were heroes for what they did. You can view a gallery of photos from that event by clicking here.

It was a privilege to share Ed’s birthday with his family and close friends. It said that these WWII vets are passing away at a rate of 1,000 per day. I can say that while having a few physical problems Ed is a sharp as ever and a great person to spend some time with. He is beloved by his family and all who know him. I can only pray that Ed sees his 100^th birthday and that his contributions to this nation and our society are not forgotten. God bless Ed.

For a gallery of photos from Ed’s party please click Here.

Celebrating The Fourth Of July

“I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.” — John Adams in a letter to his wife Abigail after the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Tomorrow we will celebrate this Republic’s 236^th birthday. (I am writing this on the eve of the Fourth of July). No doubt many of you will partake in family get-togethers, BBQs, time at the beach or pool, lazing about and enjoying time off from work, and of course watching one of the numerous fireworks displays. All off this was recommended by John Adams, one of the authors of the Deceleration, to his wife Abigail after the Declaration was signed.

America’s Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson said, was the product of “the American mind.” Our Constitution was made with the same purpose as the Declaration—to establish a regime where the people are sovereign, and the government protects the rights granted to them by their Creator.

The word “constitution” means “to ordain and establish something.” It also means “to set a firm thing strongly in place.” It is linked to two other words: statute and statue. All three words—constitution, statute, and statue—connote a similar idea of establishing something lasting and beautiful.

The Constitution, then, is a work of art. It gives America its form. To fully know the “cause,” or purpose, of America, one must know the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson, its author, mentioned four thinkers for their contribution to molding “the American mind”: Aristotle, Cicero, Algernon Sidney, and John Locke.

It is important to recognize the profound influence Locke’s Second Treatise had on the Founders, especially Jefferson. Locke writes:

“The constitution of the legislative is the first and fundamental act of society, whereby provision is made for the continuation of their union, under the direction of persons, and bonds of laws, made by persons authorized thereunto, by the consent and appointment of the people, without which no one man, or number of men, amongst them, can have authority of making laws that shall be binding to the rest. When any one, or more, shall take upon them to make laws, whom the people have not appointed so to do, they make laws without authority, which the people are not therefore bound to obey; by which means they come again to be out of subjection, and may constitute to themselves a new legislative, as they think best, being in full liberty to resist the force of those, who without authority would impose any thing upon them.”

Locke is not only underscoring his earlier point about man’s right to resist the illegitimate, arbitrary power of government, particularly to his property rights; he is going further — that is, no government, including one established by the consent of the governed, has the authority to violate man’s inalienable rights.

Locke explains that he laws of nature exist above all else, and all men are required to obey it, including those who hold public office “Thus the law of Nature stands as an eternal rule to all men, legislators as well as others. The rules that they make for other men’s actions, must, as well as their own be comfortable to the law of Nature, i.e., to the will of God, of which that is a declaration, and fundamental law of nature being the preservation of mankind, no human sanction can be good, or valid against it.”

The first sentence of the Declaration encapsulates Locke’s view of the preeminence of natural law and the right to disobey and, indeed, throw off a government that abuses its power. It states:

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

Celebrating the Fourth of July is one of the best parts about summer. You get to barbecue with your family, watch fireworks, go to a parade—take part in all the fun summer activities.

But another reason why July 4th is so special is because it’s Independence Day, a holiday celebrating the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In 1776, founding father and soon-to-be president, Thomas Jefferson wrote what is now the United States’ most famous and cherished document to give a list of grievances against King George III of England. It was written to justify the colonies breaking away from the mother country and becoming an independent nation. Revised by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, the Declaration of Independence was signed by our founding fathers and accepted by Congress on July 4, 1776.

But the spirit of Independence Day is not only about the United States officially becoming a country. It’s about celebrating the values that the country was founded upon. The Declaration of Independence was written with the theory that every person has inherent rights, called “self-evident truths” in the official document. It reads: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Abraham Lincoln deemed the Deceleration as an “Apple of Gold set in the silver frame of the Constitution.” He believed the Declaration was the most important document ever written by the hand of man and the very foundation of this Republic.

The soul of the American founding is located in the universal political principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence. The meaning of equality and liberty in the Declaration is decisively different than the definition given to those principles by modern Progressivism.

Liberty is the right to be free from the coercive interference of other people. It is derived from nature itself, and is a natural right—something possessed simply because one is a human being,

Equality means no one is by nature the ruler of any other person. Each human being is equal in his right to life, liberty, and property, which the Declaration calls “the pursuit of happiness.”

Equality, liberty, and natural rights require a certain form of government: republicanism, based on consent of the governed. Legitimate government, based on the consent of the governed, must accomplish three things: the establishment of civil laws that protect man’s natural rights; the punishment of those who infringe on others’ natural rights; and the protection of natural rights through a strong national defense.

The people themselves also play a vital role in protecting their rights. They must be educated in “religion, morality, and knowledge, as expressed in the Northwest Ordinance passed enacted in by Congress on July 13, 1787. Article III of the Ordinance states:

“Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and in their property, rights, and liberty they never shall be invaded or disturbed unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity shall, from time to time, be made, for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them.”

Modern liberalism uses the same language of “liberty” and “equality” as the Declaration of Independence. Yet modern liberals mean something other than what the Founders meant by those words. For the Progressives, “equality” means equal access to resources and wealth, while “liberty” means the ability to utilize a right, rather than the right in itself. Both of these ideas necessitate government programs that help mankind liberate itself from its “natural limitations.”

The Declaration of Independence and modern Progressivism are fundamentally opposed to each other. The modern misunderstanding of “equality” and “liberty” threatens not just the Declaration of Independence, but the whole of the American constitutional and moral order.

In a letter to Henry Lee Thomas Jefferson wrote on May 8, 1825, a little more than a year before he died, answering a query about the Declaration of Independence, explaining that it drew upon a long political and philosophical tradition and reflected principles widely understood by Americans of the founding era. In the letter Jefferson said:

“....But with respect to our rights, and the acts of the British government contravening those rights, there was but one opinion on this side of the water. All American whigs thought alike on these subjects. When forced, therefore, to resort to arms for redress, an appeal to the tribunal of the world was deemed proper for our justification. This was the object of the Declaration of Independence. Not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said before; but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent, and to justify ourselves in the independent stand we are compelled to take. Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion. All its authority rests then on the harmonizing sentiments of the day, whether expressed in conversation, in letters, printed essays, or in the elementary books of public right, as Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, Sidney, etc....”

As victory in the Second World War looked more and more likely, President Roosevelt turned his attention to postwar America. In this speech he proposes a “second Bill of Rights.” In his annual speech to Congress on January 11, 1944 Roosevelt proclaimed:

“As our Nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.” People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.

Among these are:

• The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the Nation;

• The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

• The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

• The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

• The right of every family to a decent home;

• The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

• The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

• · The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

America’s own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens. For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.”

Roosevelt’s proposal was antithetical to the thinking of Jefferson and our founders in 1776. His was an expression of the new progressive thinking that was sweeping the country, a thinking that would lead us down the path to the coercive government and the increasing class warfare we live with today.

On the other hand on Independence Day of 1986 Ronald Reagan gave a short address to the people of the United States from an aircraft carrier in New York Harbor. The video of that speech is shown below.

When you are enjoying your burgers and hot dogs, a day at the beach, and watching the fireworks displays take a few moments to reflect on the words of Ronaldo Reagan and the words of our Declaration of Independence adopted 236 years ago.

The Declaration of Independence

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.—Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighboring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”