Category Archives: Blog

Happy Birthday, America!

July 4th, Independence Day.

In 1776, 56 men pledged “our lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor” by signing a document that would change the world.

declaration-of-independece

The Declaration of Independence

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, 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 shewn, 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 endeavoured 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 harrass 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 offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring 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 compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & 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 endeavoured 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.

The fifty-six signers of the Declaration represented the new states as follows (from north to south):

New Hampshire:

Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:

Samuel Adams, John Adams, John Hancock, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:

Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:

Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:

William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:

Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:

Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:

George Read, Caesar Rodney, Thomas McKean

Maryland:

Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:

George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:

William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:

Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward Jr., Thomas Lynch Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:

Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

===

56 men…

…we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Enjoy YOUR Independence Day, America. We have much to be grateful for…

Respectfully,

Jane

Memorial Day 2019

 

“Flags In”, May 23, 2019.

Flags In 2019, Arllington National Cemetery
Soldiers from the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) place U.S. flags at headstones as part of Flags-In at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, May 23, 2019. For more than 55 years, soldiers from the Old Guard have honored our nation’s fallen heroes by placing U.S. flags at gravesites for service members buried at both Arlington National Cemetery and the U.S. Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery just prior to the Memorial Day weekend. Within four hours, over 1,000 soldiers place 245,000 flags in front of every headstone and Columbarium and niche wall column. (U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery)

How true…

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same. ~Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States of America

“Thank you” doesn’t seem adequate for the sacrifices made on our behalf, our Nation’s behalf, but I’ll say it anyway for lack of anything better.

Thank you.

Respectfully,

Jane

Temporary changes announced regarding the VA’s Assistance Program for Family Caregivers

This article from the Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs was originally posted on the VA website  21 December, 2018.

VA announces moratorium on discharges and decreases from comprehensive caregiver program

December 21, 2018, 10:00:00 AM

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today that it will temporarily suspend discharges and decreases in level of support from its Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers because of continued concerns expressed by Veterans, caregivers and advocates about inconsistent application of eligibility requirements by VA medical centers.

“It is essential that we get this right,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “This affects one of our most vulnerable Veteran populations and we need to make sure we have consistency on how we process and evaluate benefit applications across VA.”
Continue reading Temporary changes announced regarding the VA’s Assistance Program for Family Caregivers

Christmas 2018

Merry Christmas

Here’s hoping your Christmas was peaceful, relaxing and merry merry!

Tugging at this mom’s heart this Christmas, besides the Reason for the Season, have been our Gold Star Moms. Love and respect for our Gold Star Families. Always.

Rick Springfield - Christmas with You

And then there are the families whose loved ones are far from home over the holidays. Or in a hospital…

It isn’t easy, is it, Mommas?

Keep your loved ones close and make good memories.

And remember the Reason for the Season.

Isaiah 9:6: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the : government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

In Gratitude to those who serve our country, past and present, and their families…

Love you, Janelle.

Love and Hugs,

Jane

Happy Birthday, United State Marine Corps! 243 Years!

Perhaps one of the things a Marine Mom will never forget was when their son or daughter told them they joined the Marines.

Oh my.

And so the new journey began…

And if I knew then what I know now, I would still say, “You have to do what is right for you.” I think there is a “Warrior Spirit” inside of a Marine that was there at birth.  It isn’t for everyone, is it?

Today is the 243rd Birthday of the United States Marine Corps.

So celebrate, Marines!

“Some people wonder all their lives if they’ve made a difference. The Marines don’t have that problem.”

– President Ronald Reagan

And we agree.

Thank you for being a part of something greater than yourselves. Thank you for serving this great Nation.

And Families, thank you for supporting your Marine. It means so much to them.

With Respect,

Jane

2018-usmc-cake-cutting

Each year the Commandant of the Marine Corps shares a Birthday Message with his Marines.

The 2018 CMC Birthday Message
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWDdC-D68Uo

A Message From the Commandant of the Marine Corps

Happy Birthday, America!

Happy INDEPENDENCE Day!

declaration-of-ndependence
Declaration of Independence
Photo Credit: The National Archives

A good day to refresh our memory of what the Declaration of Independence says…

Wishing all a peaceful and relaxing day as we celebrate the birth of our Nation. We live in the Land of the Free BECAUSE of the Brave. Thank you to all who serve, and have served, our country!

Happy Birthday, America!

1821 September 12. (Thomas Jefferson to John Adams).

“And even should the cloud of barbarism and despotism again obscure the science and liberties of Europe, this country remains to preserve and restore light and liberty to them. In short, the flames kindled on the 4th. of July 1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism. On the contrary they will consume those engines, and all who work them.”

The Declaration of Independence

In Congress, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, 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 shewn, 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.  Continue reading Happy Birthday, America!

Calling All “Elfs” – “Holiday Cheer at Walter Reed 2017”

Marine Moms-Bethesda's "Holiday Cheer @ Walter Reed-Bethesda 2017"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The original post for “Holiday Cheer” was published 27 September 2017.  Bumping this up to today, 14 December 2017 to keep our “Elfs” in the loop.

14 December 2017 “Holiday Cheer” Update:

When “Plan A” doesn’t work, move on to “Plan B”. (And have Plan C, D, and E in the background, too!)  Continue reading Calling All “Elfs” – “Holiday Cheer at Walter Reed 2017”

242 Years, Happy Birthday, MARINES!

242 Years!

This came to us in an email the morning of the 242nd USMC Birthday from one of our Marine Dad “Elfs”.  He’s a private person,  likes to stay in the background… and when he speaks, we listen.  He has a special gift of saying so much in so few words.  And he has a very deep respect for Marines.

“On this, the 242nd birthday of the Marine Corps, I, like all Corps parents have deep emotions about our sons and the battles they fought and some still fight.”

Reading the battles our sons fought during active duty listed along with some of the most hard- fought battles in the history of the United States Marine Corps – Guadalcanal, Chosin, Khe Sanh and so many more in the Commandant’s 2017 Birthday Message… yes… we have deep emotions.

And we’re very proud of our Marines – every single one of them, whether they’re a 96 year old Iwo Jima Warrior or a PFC at the Recruit Depot on Family Day, we are proud of them, and we are grateful for their service.

Thank you for serving.

You can read the Commandant’s Birthday Message here:

10 November 2017
A MESSAGE FROM THE COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS

or watch his video message here:

2017 Birthday Message
“Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Robert Neller and Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Ronald Green speak to Marines and Sailors about the importance of teamwork to the success of our Corps.”

And then there is this:

“Be a man of principle.  Fight for what you believe in. Keep your word. Live with integrity.  Be brave. Believe in something bigger than yourself.  Serve your country. Teach. Mentor.  Give something to back to society.  Lead from the front.  Conquer your fears.  Be a good friend.  Be humble and self-confident.  Appreciate your friends and family.  Be a leader and not a follower.  Be valorous on the battlefield. Take responsibility for your actions.”

These words from Marine Major Douglas Zembiec were taken from his combat journal under the title “Principles My Father Taught Me”.  Major Zembiec was killed in action March 11, 2007, during his 4th tour of duty in Iraq, during a raid against insurgent forces.

The “Lion of Fallujah”.

242 Years, Happy Birthday Marines!

 

Happy Birthday, Marines!