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A Tradition of Sacrifice, From Yorktown to Ramadi

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Photo Credit: Getty Images In 2006, my SEAL Task Unit deployed to Ramadi, Iraq. Among the rubble-pile buildings, bomb craters and burned-out hulks of vehicles, we experienced firsthand the harsh realities of war. We fought alongside the U.S. Army’s Ready First Brigade of the First Armored Division to take Ramadi back from a brutal and determined insurgency.

Combat is hard. It is alarmingly violent, ear-shattering, dirty, exhausting and ugly. It is marked by chaos and confusion and self-doubt. But combat also highlights the determination and sacrifice—and courage—of those who persevere. Through such times, an unbreakable bond is formed with brothers-in-arms.

Those bonds were tested greatly as our task unit suffered the first SEAL casualties of the Iraq War: Marc Lee and Mike Monsoor. Later, Ryan Job died of wounds received in combat. These men were three of the most talented and capable SEALs I have known. They were also loyal friends. Their loss is deeply personal to their families and to their SEAL teammates. As Marc’s and Ryan’s platoon commander, I bear the crushing burden of responsibility. I will forever wish that I could somehow take their place.

As a result, Memorial Day is deeply personal—to me, as it is to any veteran, to any military family. It is a time of mixed emotion: solemn reflection and mourning, honor and admiration for those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country.

Let’s remember on Memorial Day—and every other day, for that matter—that America did not become a nation without a fight.

Read more from this story HERE.

Where’s the Global Warming? Upstate New York Gets 3 Feet of Snow

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Photo Credit: APA Memorial Day weekend storm has dropped three feet of snow on a New York ski mountain near the Vermont border.

Whiteface Mountain spokesman Jon Lundin says 36 inches of white powder has blanketed the nearly 5,000-foot tall mountain in the Adirondacks. That has forced the Olympic Regional Development Authority to close Whiteface Veteran’s Memorial Highway on the backside of the

Lundin says the snow began lightly falling Saturday and steadily dropped Sunday, finishing in the evening.

Read more from this story HERE.

Boston Community Cancels Veteran’s Day Parade Because of Lack of Veterans (+video)

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Photo Credit: mrsdkrebsThis Sunday, the streets of Beverly will look just like they always do. And that’s the problem, some veterans say. The city has cancelled its annual Memorial Day parade for what’s believed to be the first time since the end of the Civil War.

Many veterans who were gathered at the Herman A. Spear American Legion Post on Friday night are upset by the decision.

“It’s not right to me,” says Ron Innocenti. He is a Vietnam veteran who has not only marched in the city’s Memorial Day parade in the past, he says he has also been its grand marshal.

He hates to cancel because of the message it sends to men and women serving now.

“It’s a slap in the face to them that we’re not doing it,” he says. “But on the other hand, I can see why we’re not doing it because of the age of the veterans we have now.”

Read more from this story HERE.

The Irish Should be Remembered by America this Memorial Day for their Great Military Service

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Photo Credit: Irish Central When the Romans first visited Ireland, they called it Hibernia, the sleeping land…See Hibernia. But soon, to their dismay, they found the people were not at all a sleeping group.

In the early 1st century, Roman and Greek knowledge of Ireland was thin, but the geographers Strabo and Pomponius Mela describe “a cold land populated by extremely fierce inhabitants.” In lore of combat between Romans and native Irish, the Romans feared the Irish and their woman warriors most for the fierceness of their attacks and utter lack of fear.

Invasions by warlike foreigners left their mark on Ireland and mixed their blood with the Irish. In the late 700’s the Vikings attacked and tried to establish permanent settlements See history of Vikings invading Ireland. The Vikings were eventually defeated, but many of them stayed and intermarried with the native population. Later the Normans came and went and then the British appeared.

The unique blend of the Irish and their invaders created a hybrid of warrior that has filled the ranks of many armies around the world.

Many Irish immigrated to the “new lands” of the American continent to find the opportunity and freedom that they couldn’t find in their native land. They took up arms to defend their adopted countries and to fight for what they believed to be battles for freedom and justice.

The influence Irish had in Latin America over the past 200 + years is historic. The Irish fought alongside their brothers and sisters in their new homelands. They shed their blood in many wars to help free millions from the tyranny of colonialism. See Irish in Latin America

But when the Irish found their way to North America, their presence was felt immediately in the armed forces battling for freedom in every step of the way.

The Irish played an integral part in the Revolutionary war, when a fledgling country had to win its freedom by force from British rule. Names like John Barry, the founder of our navy, Jeremiah O’Brien, Timothy Murphy, Molly Pitcher, John Sullivan and thousands of other Irish, who fought and died to form the new country of the United States.

The Irish stepped forward again, when the English returned and tried to re-conquer our young country in the war of 1812 and threw them back at the Battle of New Orleans.

Tragically when our country was torn apart by its civil war, Irish Americans fought on both sides to play key roles in the major battles that finally saw a divided country, unite again. One of the most famous units in all of American military history was a brigade known during the American Civil War as simply “The Irish Brigade.” See Irish Brigade; Heroes of the Civil War.

When the United States stepped into the 1st World War, the Irish Americans distinguished themselves in many memorable battles and astonished the Germans with their fierceness and valor. Especially noteworthy when they fought and brawled hand to hand with German crack troops as members of the famed “Lost Battalion.”

World War II saw another generation of Irish Americans push their way forward to defend their country against one of the greatest axis of evils the world had seen. Irish Americans were over represented in the awarding of Medals of Honor in the field of battle, with Audie Murphy becoming one of the most decorated soldiers in American history.

Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq, Afghanistan…Wherever and whenever the country needs to be defended and fought for, Irish Americans have a long history of being right there at the tip of the spear, where the greatest fighting occurs.

In war as well as peace, our country has benefited from the valor of its warriors of Irish descent. It is good to remember our “fighting” Irish American warriors on this Memorial Day weekend.

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Ed Farnan is the conservative columnist at IrishCentral, where he has been writing on the need for energy independence, strong self defense, secure borders, 2nd amendment, smaller government and many other issues. His articles appear in many publications throughout the USA and world. He has been a guest on Fox News and a regular guest on radio stations in the US and Europe.

Veteran Suicides Outpace Combat Deaths, Child Gun Deaths

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Photo Credit: The U.S. ArmyMemorial Day commemorates the U.S. soliders who lost their lives in service. It’s also a time to recognize a growing but less visible group of fallen soliders who chose to end their own lives while serving or after returning from war.

There are about 22 veteran suicides each day, a rate higher than previous estimates, based on a report released by the Department of Veterans Affairs earlier this year. Many veterans who take their own lives are over 50, but the hundreds of thousands of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan also struggle to adjust to civilian life while dealing with the mental and physical effects of war on top of a weak job market.

Photo Credit: Jan Diehm

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Memorial Day Reflections

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Dear Fellow Patriots,

All of us recognize that our nation faces grave challenges.  Whether it’s the crushing national debt, unemployment, an upside down housing market, or the extreme crisis of leadership in D.C., it’s easy to despair of these formidable problems.  No elected official or candidate has the apparent courage and ability to lead us back to our constitutional foundations of limited government.

But on this Memorial Day, I encourage you to think back to the other challenges our great nation has confronted.  Our extraordinary people have stood up to a world super power with a fledgling, ragtag army in the Revolutionary War.  Only several decades later, we faced down that same power again in the War of 1812.  In the next half a century, Americans fought a devastating Civil War that threatened to rip us apart.  Other exceptional challenges followed, including World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War.

At each challenge, our nation’s veterans answered the call.  From the patriots of Lexington-Concord to the Greatest Generation, it was our military that selflessly sacrificed their blood to protect the God-given freedoms that our sacred Constitution was designed to protect.

On this 2011 Memorial Day, please remember that this same Patriot spirit is alive and well, represented by the hundreds of thousands serving in the U.S. armed services.  Endless deployments, constant danger, and spilled blood mark their exceptional sacrifice.

Let us join together in seeking God’s Providence for their protection.  Let us be encouraged that this warrior spirit will see this nation through its current struggles.  And let us never forget that the United States is the bright Shining City on a Hill, exceptional amongst the nations.

Warmest Regards,

Joe Miller