This is the speech Tiger Woods gave on Sunday, Jan. 18, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. during the festivities for the presidential inauguration.. He didn’t make Obama’s handlers happy with this one.
I grew up in a military family — and my role models in life were my Mom and Dad, Lt. Colonel Earl Woods.
My dad was a Special Forces operator and many nights friends would visit our home. They represented every branch of service, and every rank. In my Dad, and in those guests, I saw first hand the dedication and commitment of those who serve. They come from every walk of life. From every part of our country. Time and again, across generations, they have defended our safety in the dark of night and far from home.
Each day — and particularly on this historic day — we honor the men and women in uniform who serve our country and protect our freedom. They travel to the dangerous corners of the world, and we must remember that for every person who is in uniform, there are families who wait for them to come home safely.
I am honored that the military is such an important part, not just of my personal life, but of my professional life as well. The golf tournament we do each year here in Washington is a testament to those unsung heroes. I am the son of a man who dedicated his life to his country, family and the military, and I am a better person for it.
In the summer of 1864, Abraham Lincoln, the man whose memorial we stand, spoke to the 164th Ohio Regiment and said:
“I am greatly obliged to you, and to all who have come forward at the call of their country.”
Just as they have stood tall for our country — we must always stand by and support the men and women in uniform and their families.
Thank you, and it is now my pleasure to introduce the U.S. Naval Glee Club.
Mr. Woods is a class act by recognizing our military heroes and their contributions. Somewhere over that cold, gray Washington sky, old Earl Woods was smiling down on his beloved son.
I want to take a moment to bring attention to some of the other heroes in this country – our firefighters. I have a deep respect for these individual heroes. Not because I’ve ever been saved from a fire or even been involved in one, but because I know what they do.
Off duty fire fighter Ray Caballero rescues his neighbor while his skin physically melts off his body. Ray says in the hospital when they had to scrub off the dead skin 2 to 3 times a day that he’d rather have died in the fire than go through that pain.
This one is dedicated to my friend Chris! My son still wears the Firefighter shirt Chris gave him (as matter of a fact, he wore it for his Spring photo at school).
Spc. Erik Oropeza has received the Distinguished Service Cross for saving the lives of three soldiers while deployed to Iraq with a Fort Lewis combat brigade.
The decoration is the nation’s second-highest award for combat valor, only surpassed by the Medal of Honor. It is awarded for extraordinary heroism in action.
Oropeza, 22, of Los Angeles, is the 21st soldier to receive the decoration since the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in October 2001.
He is the second soldier to earn the award while stationed at the Army post during that time. In October, staff Sgt. Christopher Waiters, a graduate of Timberline High School, received the award for his heroism in April 2007 while deployed to Iraq with another Stryker combat brigade. He has transferred to Fort Wainwright, Alaska.
Lt. Gen. Joseph Peterson, deputy commanding general and chief of staff of Forces Command, pinned the medal on Oropeza during a Feb. 13 ceremony at Fort Irwin in California, where Oropeza since has transferred. His family and one of the soldiers injured in the incident attended.
“Spc. Oropeza is the epitome of the warrior ethos,” Peterson said during the ceremony, according to a story by Army Public Affairs.
On the morning of May 22, 2007, he was driving one of two Stryker armored vehicles securing Main Supply Route Tampa, 10 miles north of Taji. He was an infantryman assigned to the 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
A firefight ensured, and a bomb detonated underneath the vehicle. Oropeza said he saw a flash of white light and the next thing he knew, he was looking at his feet. The second Stryker vehicle was undamaged.
Uninjured, he pulled himself out of the driver’s hatch and crawled into the vehicle’s passenger compartment through a hatch at the top of the vehicle as insurgents shot at him.
The force of the explosion had blown a hole in the floor of the vehicle. Staff Sgt. Kristopher A. Higdon, 25, of Odessa, Texas, and Pfc. Robert A. Worthington, 19, of Jackson, Ga., were killed. Three other soldiers were seriously wounded, including one who Oropeza thought at the time had also been killed.
I found this at Villainous Company, and submitted some of my favorite recipes. Please take a look at the project and send in your favorites. It’s a great project and another way to reach out in a practical and tangible way to support our troops.
Honor Their Service, inc., the home of such great projects as Operation Fresh Air and Operation Santa at the Hospitals, is putting together a Milbloggers’ Cookbook.
The cookbook proceeds will go to helping us support wounded/injured servicemembers and their families with fishing events as well as some soon to be announced projects.
We need submissions from milbloggers and commenters alike in all categories (appetizers, sides, salads, soups, main dishes, desserts, drinks, etc.) If you have a recipe (or two) that you are particularly proud of, we’d love to put them in the book.
In addition, you can submit pictures if you like. I ask only that you don’t submit pictures of people in speedos. Speedophobia is not a joking matter, people.
We will also be featuring favorite recipes as well as memories from some Gold and Silver star families. These folks, as well as our active duty (Blue star) folks, are the very reason why Honor Their Service exists.
Here are the details:
Send your recipes (and any questions you might have) to HTScookbook@yahoo.com. OR
conserv00@yahoo.com
Some folks are getting their emails bounced back from the first email address and other are not.
Weird.
We are accepting recipes from today until March 9th.changed to March 16th, on the OP at the blog. -Claire
The cookbook will be made available for sale after we negotiate and have them printed. The price is going to depend on how many recipes we are including and what type of binding we want. Just as our events are modest proposals ($500 for an Operation Fresh Air event), we will make sure that the cost of the cookbook will reflect the same attitude.
Regional security agents from the Department of State race toward the scene of a simulated improvised explosive device attack during a joint training exercise on Ali Air Base, Iraq, Feb. 28, 2009. The exercise tested search and rescue procedures of U.S. Air Force and Army and Department of State agencies in response to a terrorist attack. (DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Marasky, U.S. Air Force)
Tonight, starting at 7PM EST, we will speak with Jesse Loren, editor of Bombshells: War Stories and Poems by Women On The Homefront. We’ll also speak with Missy Martin, who wrote one of the stories in the book, along with her brother who just returned from Iraq. Clint Van Winkle, author of “Soft Spots: A Marine’s Memoir of Combat and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”. SOFT SPOTS moves effortlessly back and forth across time and continents as war scenes in reality are intermixed with war ravages remembered. Van Winkle desperately sought help from the Veteran’s Administration, but each trip to a VA facility would be another maddening adventure into bureaucratic red tape and ineptitude. He discovered it was an indifferent system that gives lip service about their concern for veterans but in reality seems to abandon them.
We stand some 5 years from the centennial of the beginning of World War I, and WWI vet Frank Buckles may be around to commemorate it.
He is (incredibly) one of 2 remaining WWI survivors who certifiably served in the US forces in the first ‘Great War’. Our brave 2 join some 21 other surviving service members around the world who are still with us today.
It’s incredible to consider that these people are still with us today, and perhaps one of the reasons they are is that many of them were extremely young when they served. For instance, Harry Landis was eighteen when he signed up for service. While he never saw combat in World War I (having signed up near the end of the conflict), he did attempt to enlist again in 1941 in order to fight in World War II and was rejected as being too old.
Frank Buckles himself was only sixteen when he joined the United States war effort after lying about his age. He was turned down several times and finally was able to join in 1917, though he also never actually saw combat. He was later captured by the Japanese during World War II and held for more than three years.
Harry Patch, who is currently 110 years old, won seven medals for his service with the British Armed Forces during World War I. Echoing sentiments expressed often in recent years, he has stated “Too many died. War isn’t worth one life”.
World War I
Fought from 1914 to 1918, World War I was a major conflict that drew nearly the entire planet into the fray before it was over and left nearly ten million dead and another twenty million wounded. But despite seeming like ancient history, World War I is still very much a memory for between 23 and 34 people living today.
Stats
23 living people today have verifiably served during World War 1. Seven more men served after the Armistice or in other conflicts during the time period (like the Russian revolution), and four more people claim to have served but cannot fully verify their service. Breaking it down in terms of country, there are
•Three veterans in Australia
•One in Canada
•Four in France
•Two in Germany
•Four in Italy
•One in Poland
•One in Turkey
•Three in the United Kingdom
•Four total, 2 official service members, in the United States
Recap
While it is, at first thought, incredible that there are still survivors of the first World War amongst us, these amazing men and women should be appreciated for the incredible glimpse they offer into a facet of our history.
But moreover, they should be lauded for their sacrifice and bravery in the face of what was, no doubt, an incredibly difficult struggle. A salute to Frank and to all from You Served!
An F/A-18C Hornet aircraft flies above guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) prior to landing on the flight deck of aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), under way in the Gulf of Oman, Feb. 21, 2009. The aircraft carrier and embarked Carrier Air Wing 8 are conducting operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Wilyanna Harper)
