A Memorial Day Message

While I was on my way to work this morning and listening to talk radio, as always, I was hearing them talked about how far away many of us have gone from how we should celebrate Memorial Day. Many see today as the official kick off to summer. Many have the day off from work, so they take that opportunity to maybe do some late spring cleaning, getting the house ready for summer. Many people use this day to get their boats and swim gear out and head out to the local lake or to the ocean. For others, it is a great day to go to the local park and have their first big picnic of the summer. Also, it could be the day you can finally get out your old BBQ, clean it up from being dormant over the winter, and invite your family and friends over to have a good old fashion grilling of burgers, hot dogs, bratwurst, steaks, etc.... But I think many of us don't take enough time on this day to recognize its real purpose.
From the moment settlers came to this nation, and when this nation was born, they and their children and their children's children and so forth, have left their homes and family, took upon themselves their arms, and went forth with so much bravery and dedication to protect this nation. They fought for the freedoms that were written by an iron pen, upon that great document we call our Constitution. And many of them gave their lives in the process. The lives they gave, gave us the ability and freedom to have that boat to go to the lake with, to have a local park for our picnics, and to have a good old fashion BBQ grilling feast with family and friends. Thank you, the men and woman that gave their lives to protect our great nation and the freedoms that make it so great!When I got to work today, I notice the American Flag we have on a post in the middle of the mall I work at. I paused for a few minutes, and decided to bring the flag down at half staff. As I was doing this I pondered over the meaning of our flag and it name, The Star Spangled Banner.
It was the morning of September 13, 1814. We were at war with the British. They just finished taking control of Washington, D.C, and just arrived at the shores of Baltimore. British ships continued throughout the day and the long rainy night, hurling bombs toward Fort McHenry. Then there was a lawyer, from Washington, D.C., named Francis Scott Key, who was there that day. He went to a British ship to help secure the release of a doctor from Maryland, who was previously captured by the British as they left the capitol to Baltimore. He was successful in having him released, but he had to wait with the doctor on a boat, that was not involved in the battle, about eight miles away from Fort McHenry.

Throughout the night, Mr. Key heard the gun fire from the ships and the occasional return fire from the fort. By dawn, the gun fire had faded away, and made Mr. Key wondered if the fort had be captured. He got out his telescope, focused it towards the fort's flag pole, and there he saw the morning breeze blow right through a large garrison flag. With great excitement and relief to see the sight of that flag, showing him that the fort had not fallen and been captured, Mr. Key immediately began writing some words in a poem on a piece of paper he had in his pocket.

The British gave up and left, it was safe for Mr. Key and the doctor to return to Baltimore. Mr. Key went to a local hotel and completed that poem. The poem soon was put to music, and the song and the flag became known as The Star Spangled Banner. Some of us have a hard time remembering the one verse of the poem we sing as our nation's anthem, but take some time to read the whole poem from Francis Scott Key. May you come to a better understand more about our flag, The Star Spangled Banner. After reading the poem, I started to wish for us to sing the whole poem as our National Anthem.

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

-Francis Scott Key, 1814


In God we trust that our Star Spangled Banner shall always wave, for we are the land of the free and the home of the brave!
I also want to share a letter, from Glenn Beck, giving a message for America this day, enjoy!


Throughout the year, there are plenty of holidays you might like to celebrate more than once. Kids would probably like a couple extra days of Christmas presents and Halloween candy…two Valentine’s Days for your wife…and I would give plenty of thanks for an extra day of pie, turkey, stuffing and…well, more pie. But more than any of those, the one day I say deserves as much repeating, reverence and recognition as it can get is today—Memorial Day. Unlike most holidays, the sentiment behind Memorial Day isn’t abstract—it’s as concrete and immediate as today’s headlines.

Officially speaking, Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. Now, you don’t need a history lesson to understand the sacrifice made by those who wear an American flag on their arm and put themselves in harm’s way—just watch tonight’s news.
We didn’t start celebrating Memorial Day until after the Civil War, but it was during that conflict, November of 1863, that President Abraham Lincoln gave his historic Gettysburg Address and eloquently laid out the simple yet profound idea that lies at the heart of this day:

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

“The last full measure of devotion”—a beautiful phrase describing a tragic consequence. And while the fight has moved from within our own country to conflicts overseas, the giving of your life in service to your country remains a uniquely sacred act. American soldiers are fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the sad reality is those are not the last two wars that will ever need fighting. On this Memorial Day and all the days before and after it, we must remember those in our military who bravely served and never made it home.

As a way of keeping the spirit of Memorial Day alive the whole year through, I hope you’ll join me for my Restoring Honor Rally at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 2010. For this event I’ve partnered with the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides immediate financial assistance to severely wounded special operations personnel and their families, as well as full scholarship grants and family counseling to the surviving children of special operations personnel who die in operational or training missions. You can find out more about their incredible work HERE and more about the Restoring Honor Rally HERE.

Just as we aren’t just Christians on Christmas or patriots on the 4th of July, we owe more to the fallen than just remembering them on Memorial Day. Let today mark the beginning of your year-round remembrance, and never forget that the price of living free to celebrate this day with your family was paid by those who wore a uniform, carried a gun, and gave “the last full measure of their devotion.”

God bless you, your family, and the United States of America.

Revisionist History

There is many things I learned back in the day when I first taught about American History and the people that were involved, but over the last couple years I have been learning a lot from Glenn and from my own personal research, and I have been amazed of what had been put in our history books. It is amazing to find how much had been left out and how much has gone so far away from the Truth. I have never accepted everything that comes out of Glenn's mouth to be truth, in fact Glenn has for a long time tell everyone not to accept everything that comes out of his mouth. What he does ask is that we take in the facts, do our own research, and make the decision through our own intellect.

Here is a video segment from Glenn's TV show talking about what facts have been left our of American History. Enjoy!

George Washington, The Indispensable Man

George Washington was called the indispensable man. I didn't even know why until — until — I mean, I've read a lot of books on George Washington. This is the best book ever written on George Washington, "The Real George Washington." It's the first in a series. And I love it because it's mainly his words and you get to know who he was.

I didn't really know why he was called the indispensable man.

Sorry, I like George Washington an awful lot. And he's the kind of guy that I've been looking for. And I think we all have — we've been looking for a guy who is just honest and doesn't want to serve, you know?

People who say — all the time — "Well, I want to be president." You do? Why exactly? I can't imagine a worse job. I can't imagine — especially now, the next guy who serves, even this president, what's left of our country? How do you knit this all back together?

Well, quite honestly, it wasn't much different back when George Washington was around. Things were a mess. And he was the indispensable man because nobody trusted anybody. All the states were arguing with each other. Nobody — you couldn't sell anything across the border. The whole thing was falling apart.

Here is George Washington, a man who at 16 was out surveying land for his country, which was then Great Britain. All he wanted to do was go to Mount Vernon and be a farmer. His countries, Britain and then the United States of America, had him serving for year after year after year after year.

After he won the Revolutionary War, he went back to be that farmer in Mount Vernon. And things started to fall apart. And they came knocking at his door and said, George, we need you, because the whole thing is falling apart. I'm paraphrasing, but I think it was pretty close to — "Have I not yet done enough for my country?" No.

He went back and he didn't say very much during the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention. He didn't say much. He didn't have to.

He was a revered figure. He was — that's my favorite painting of him. He was a revered figure. He was a guy — this was actually a painting done on the, just on the words of one of the — I think it was a farmer if I'm not mistaken. A farmer came into the field one day, and heard some noise and heard him standing there, in the field and he just watched him as he got down in Valley Forge on one knee and he prayed all by himself.

He's a guy that in the end could have been made king. He could have been made a ruler. He's a guy who could have been really upset at Congress. Boy, oh, boy.

Valley Forge — I mean, when you think of Valley Forge and how many times, it wasn't just one year they were cold and didn't have shoes. They didn't have pants. And it was year after year after year. I used to live near Valley Forge. It's not that far from Philadelphia.

And yet, Congress just — they wouldn't even — they just wouldn't help our troops. And he stuck with them. In the end, they weren't going to pay the troops.

And — you know, I think my most telling moment of George Washington's power, the soldiers were going to a revolt. They had just won against the most powerful army on the planet, Great Britain. And then they found out the United States of America, what a surprise, weasely Congress wasn't going to take care of the troops, wasn't going to pay them.

Well, they went nuts. They went nuts.

And they said, you're in the going to pay us? We've just defeated Great Britain! We're afraid of you?

And they made a plan and they knew Washington wouldn't go it with. And they made a plan to go and kill everybody in Congress. Washington heard about it. He said let's not replace one tyrant with another.

They didn't listen to him. They had a secret meeting. He wasn't invited to it.

He knew what was going on. He went to Congress and he got a letter from a member of Congress that said, OK, guys. I'll do my best. Please, give me more time. I'll do my best.

He found out about this meeting and he walked in, in the middle of it. All heads turned and it became silent. They didn't know what to say. He said — again, paraphrasing — "Gentlemen, I know what you're doing. Don't do it. Don't do it. We didn't work this hard."

He said, "I have a letter in my pocket," and he reached into his pocket. And he opened up the letter and he was going to read it. But he needed his glasses.

This is a guy who used to sit on top of a white horse in the middle of a battle and he never got shot. They thought this guy was god. And when he put his glasses on, he said, "I am sorry. But I have grown old and gray in the service of my country."

Nobody had ever seen him with his glasses on. It seems like such a silly story, but it goes to the power of George Washington. He took his glasses off, folded the paper up. Never read it and walked out.

They decided not to storm Congress. But they were mad at George Washington. In the end, a lot of his troops didn't — weren't real happy with him, didn't want to stand with him.

I think what I like about George Washington is most of the choices he made, he didn't want to make. Most of the things he did, he didn't want to do. He was revered for it. He was revered.

And I think it's because they knew that in the end, he didn't matter to him. It was just doing the right thing. That's what mattered.

(http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/40426)

Founders' Fridays: Samuel Adams

Glenn Beck has started this week to dedicate every Friday to talk about a founding father. This Friday was Samuel Adams. A great man and the one that started the founding. Here is a portion of it, enjoy!




Our Founding Fathers were once revered in this country as divinely inspired, courageous visionaries. But now, after the past 100 years of "enlightenment," we've come to realize that they were nothing but old, white, racist, heathens. The "myth" of our Christian founding has been obliterated and, at best, we now know that they were no more than "deists" at best.

That's what the progressives have had to do to the memory of those great men. Men who — while not perfect, certainly, men with flaws — were in fact, mostly Christian and nearly all believers.

In order to restore the country, we have to restore the men who founded it on certain principles to the rightful place in our national psyche.

I want to start with the man known at the time as "the father of the American Revolution," but now has become all but forgotten.

We start with Samuel Adams. I want to tell you a story about him with the help of a man named Stephen McDowell, a historian from the Providence Foundation.

In the first two years of the War for Independence, the Americans had seen a few successes but many more defeats. If you ever get frustrated or down in your life, remember that George Washington lost every single battle he fought for over a year during the opening stages of the war.

By 1777, prospects were grim with little hope of overall victory in the war. By September, the army had been driven out of New York and New Jersey and had lost the strategic Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York.

On September 11, Washington was defeated at the Battle of Brandywine in Delaware; Americans had 200 soldiers killed, 500 wounded and 400 captured. Keep in mind that Washington only had about 14,000 troops. With the defeat, his troops deserted and numbers fell to only 6,000.

Ten days later in Pennsylvania, another 300 soldiers were killed or wounded and 100 captured at the Paoli Massacre.

By now, only 20 members of the Continental Congress even remained together and they met to decide whether they should even continue the struggle for liberty or if it was now a lost cause.

One of those present was Samuel Adams, a delegate from Massachusetts who had been involved in the cause of independence from the beginning. In fact, he had earned the title, "Father of the American Revolution" for his leadership since even before the Stamp Act in 1765.

King George was well aware of Adams' leadership in the rebellion, placing a bounty on his head and sending troops to capture him and kill him. In fact here is what the British order said as reported by the British officer in charge: "Our business was to seize a quantity of military stores and the bodies of Messrs. Hancock and Adams."

Samuel Adams suffered greatly for the cause. The British virtually destroyed his home; he had to leave his family for long periods of time and he was in continual danger of capture and death.

But Adams' faith in God and the cause of liberty were greatly needed that day in late September 1777. He spoke to his fellow congressmen, telling them "Gentlemen," he said, "your spirits appear oppressed with the weight of the public calamities."

He then told them that they could not show it to the American public. He told Congress: "Our affairs, it is said, are desperate! If this be our language, they are indeed. If we wear long faces, long faces will become fashionable. The eyes of the people are upon us."

Sam Adams knew that if Congress openly showed their fear to the people, the cause of liberty would be over. He also told them, "We have proclaimed to the world our determination 'to die freemen, rather than to live slaves' ... we have appealed to heaven for the justice of our cause, and in heaven have we placed our trust. Numerous have been the manifestations of God's providence in sustaining us."

Then he said, "In the gloomy period of adversity, we have had 'our cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.' We have been reduced to distress, and the arm of omnipotence has raised us up... Let us still rely in humble confidence on him who is mighty to save. Good tidings will soon arrive."

His confidence and faith in God convinced them.

Adams' statement also turned out to be prophetic, as it wasn't long after this that one of the most significant battles in history took place — one of the seven most important battles of all time happened after that. British General John Burgoyne was defeated by colonial forces under the command of Horatio Gates at Saratoga, New York. General Washington called it a "signal stroke of Providence. The arm of Omnipotence" was evident in the victory.

Afterward, Congress approved a resolution, which included Adams' call for a national day of "Thanksgiving." But Sam Adams did not intend the day to be set aside for eating turkey and pie while watching football and parades. Instead, it was set aside for "solemn thanksgiving and praise."

Here's the way he described that praise: "With one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts and consecrate themselves to the service of their Divine Benefactor ... and that together with their sincere acknowledgments of kind offerings they may join the penitent confession of their manifold sins, whereby they had forfeited every favor, and their humble and earnest supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance; that it may please him graciously to afford his blessing on the Governments of these States respectively, and prosper the public councils of the whole; to inspire our commanders both by land and sea, and all under them, with that wisdom and fortitude which may render them fit instruments, under the Providence of Almighty God, to secure for these United States the greatest of all blessings: independence and peace; that it may please him to prosper the trade and manufactures of the people and the labor of the husbandman, that our land may yield its increase; to take schools and seminaries of education, so necessary for cultivating the principles of true liberty, virtue and piety, under His nurturing hand, and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consists in righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Ghost."

Oh my goodness, call the ACLU. Where were the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State? The PSCS? Or the NSA, the FBI or the CIA? They were nowhere at our founding. That twisted, perverted, nonsense came over 100 years later. Check the Constitution, you'll find no mention of it — zero.

What you will find is protection from the state for religion. Look up the Constitution of Massachusetts — a constitution that Sam Adams helped write. It is the world's oldest constitution, still in use. Take a look at how perverted our thinking has become on this issue.

Samuel Adams was there at the beginning. There's a reason this man is only known now for beer.

by Glenn Beck