Lee Greenwood's Latest Rendition of "God Bless the USA"

I attended high school during the first part of the 1980's.  The popular music back then, including new wave, was an affront to my hearing.  I always liked the classic rock songs and country, but it was the rise of the 80's pop music that had me pretty much turning the radio dial exclusively to the local country music station.  My buddies and I would always try to get tickets to whatever country artist came to town.  We saw a lot of great ones, like Charlie Pride, The Judds, Mel Tillis, Ronnie Milsap, Alabama, Sylvia, Glen Campbell and of course, Lee Greenwood.  

 

I have always loved Mr. Greenwood's songs and his somewhat raspy and always recognizable voice.  He was one of the last entertainers I saw before graduating high school and leaving to join the United States Navy.  And of course, his wonderful anthem, God Bless the USA, was always one of my favorites.  They even played the song at boot camp graduation. A friend I met in boot camp, who grew up in the 'hood in Detroit, was listening to the early rap music that was just beginning to come out.  He loved Greenwood's song as we practiced marching for boot camp graduation and asked me to teach him the lyrics.  Needless to say the song was outside of his typical musical genre but the sentiments of it crossed over all cultural lines for us Americans.

 

Years later into my enlistment, I was stationed just outside the gargantuan Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan.  While I loved the beautiful island, its people, and their culture, I was missing the United States a little after being there for six months.  It was then that I saw that the USO was having a concert on base.  I was excited as could be when I learned that the performer was none other than Lee Greenwood. 

 

Lee performed all of his hits and even did an absolutely amazing saxophone solo, at the conclusion of which he stated that he'd "like to see Randy Travis do that," as Travis was wildly popular at that time. Of course, nothing could compare when Mr. Greenwood ended his concert with God Bless the USA.  There were few dry eyes in the house as all of the airmen, sailors, and Marines stood up and sang along with Lee. It was a memorable moment for sure.

I was quite excited, consequently, when I heard that Mr. Greenwood had recently released a new version of this wonderful anthem with accompaniment on the song by active duty military members.  The end result of the song is wonderful!  I figured I would share it with all of you good folks accordingly.  

 

Here's hoping you all have a terrific Labor Day weekend as we all stop for a moment to realize that we are indeed a blessed nation with untold opportunities, despite some of the major problems we are currently facing.  God bless the USA!

 

 

 

The Radical Left's Social Experimentation and Weakening of the U.S. Military

Most of the men in my family have had a long and proud tradition of volunteering to serve and defend the United States of America in its armed forces.  This goes back for many generations.  Dad ran down at the end of World War II to sign up in the Navy.  He was only 17 at the time, and evidently the recruiter was more afraid of my grandmother than of his commanding officer when she “explained” the situation to him.  The Navy immediately discharged Dad and said to try again when he was 18.  Dad did try again… in the Army, where he served during the Korean War. 

When I graduated from high school, my dad had long since passed on from cancer.  My mom had remarried to a hard working but greedy man.  He dearly wanted me to go to his alma mater of the University of Southern California.  I applied to it and half a dozen other colleges and was accepted by all of them.  When the time came to make a decision, I decided I didn’t want my arrogant step-father paying for my college and decided to join the U.S. Navy as an enlisted man so I could pay my own way for college.  Mom was heart-broken and my step dad was angry.  It was the best decision I had ever made up to that point in my young life.

I joined in 1984 and served through 1992.  Some of the friends I made and lessons I learned have served me well into my advanced middle age.  One of my mentors as a young sailor was Equipment Operator First Class Petty Officer Earl Hanson.  Earl was a Vietnam veteran who had seen more than anyone should ever have to witness about the horrors of war.  He was an honorable no-nonsense man who had problems with authority figures that were foolish or stupid with their orders that put other men needlessly in harm’s way.  Earl had attended a couple of non-judicial punishment proceedings as the guest of honor throughout his career in front of his captain where he was summarily reduced in rank.  He had been in the service nearly twenty years when I first met him and was at his terminal career rank, one rank above me after being in only six years.

To say Earl was old-school is a laughable understatement.  He was politically incorrect long before the term was ever invented.  Earl would school us younger sailors about the “God-damned new Navy” and how it was headed straight to hell.  For example, Earl would posit that women-folk were supposed to be protected by men and had no place in the military other than in certain non-combatant fields such as hospital corpsmen or as yeomen working in offices.  They sure as hell didn’t need to be anywhere near the front lines.  Like I said, Earl was old school.  He was also the first guy I wanted to be around in the event of actual hostilities.  I learned more from him about fighting tactics then I did the Marine Corp gunnery sergeant attached to our Seabee battalion.  When we deployed to the beautiful sandy beaches, without the ocean views, of the Middle East during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, I took comfort in knowing that our skipper was a good and solid leader and Earl was in charge of our platoon. 

Today our armed forces seem to be in complete disarray.  For far too long leftist politicians have decided via their policies to do social experimentation amongst the ranks.  NONE of it has help build morale, unit cohesion, or the can-do spirit that is needed when the feces hits the fan.  The military’s ONLY function, as was continuously reiterated by Earl, was to break things and kill people in defense of our greatest nation on earth.  Our mission was to fight and win our nation’s wars.

Fast forward thirty years and we have screamed way past the then-controversial “don’t ask; don’t tell” policies of the Clinton administration.  Today, the Pentagon, which is so busy grand marshalling President Biden's Pride parades that it barely has time for real work, recently announced that it might consider allowing rainbow flags to be flown on installations along with Old Glory.  Needless to say, this is a drastic departure in protocol where only the stars and stripes and perhaps the POW/MIA colors were ever flown on federal military installations.  Evidently, this White House thinks adding political controversies to the military with a divisive flag is what is needed to further divide armed forces members.

In 2020, under Trump's DOD, the policy was simple: "The flags we fly must accord with the military imperatives of good order and discipline, treating all our people with dignity and respect, and rejecting divisive symbols," Defense Secretary Mark Esper said. Now, with Biden launching a full-scale rainbow offensive, some members are pushing back. The idea of turning our flagpoles into an LGBT endorsement is so contentious that Congressman Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) introduced a bill called the Old Glory Only Act. "The United States flag is the single greatest symbol of freedom the world has ever known, and there's no reason for anything but Old Glory to be flying..." he insisted.

It is demonstrably destructive to unit morale and cohesion to have gay military members living in the really close quarters with other military members which are found in barracks and ships, let alone in combat situations.  There is enough stress for military members without adding a potential sexual attraction component to the situation.  For the record, this is also why having women in combatant or forward posting roles is also a serious problem for unit readiness.

Sadly, our national flag isn’t the only target of Biden's. The militant leftists with their social experimentation are also taking aim at the military chaplaincy.  Many of these leftist radicals are calling for the ouster of anyone in a religious role who doesn't affirm the sexuality or identity of any soldier. "I believe the Army Chaplain Corps has failed to safeguard the wellbeing, dignity, and value of our LGBTQI+ soldiers," wrote Major David Evans in the Army Times. "A chaplain is not a government-paid missionary, and an individual chaplain's right to religious freedom cannot override any soldier's right to be valued and cared for."

It used to be that people who identified as LGBT had to hide their illicit sexual relationships in the military. Now, this administration thinks it's time for chaplains to hide theirs -- with God. "This is all about having a woke military," Lt. General (Ret.) Jerry Boykin said. "From the beginning of the chaplain's corps in our military -- which started all the way back in the Revolutionary War -- chaplains have never been asked as a policy of the Department of Defense or of the military to violate their own conscience or to compromise on fundamental issues of their faith, regardless of whether they were Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, or whatever they were. And now, because we're bringing in this Marxist theology, we're taking away the spiritual tools these men and women need to do their jobs.”

Just this past month, a group of nearly 40 leftist House Democrats introduced a piece of legislation that would stop the DOD from stationing military members with trans-identifying children in any state or country that doesn't give them access to mutilating surgery or hormone treatments. That would include places like Arkansas, where they've outlawed experimentation on minors. In other words, the Pentagon would let a son or daughter's LGBT preferences get in the way of a servicemember's deployment. How on earth does that improve military readiness?  Now the left wants to pay for service members’ surgeries for transitioning to their identified sex.  With all due respect and compassion towards these good folks, there are numerous serious psychological issues and instabilities that are typically associated with these tortured folks with gender dysphoria.  They have no business being a part of the military with such disqualifying issues, let alone having tax payers cough up the money for their surgeries as their units get ready to deploy.

Then there is the issue of Critical Race Theory (CRT) being shoved down the throats of military members.  Many on the left try to gaslight the unwoke who criticize CRT as if they were supporting racism.  There is a distinct difference between CRT and racism, however.  In a Slate interview published June 12, Ibram X. Kendi, director of the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University and author of such racist tomes as How to Be An Antiracist, outlined critical race theory, which divides people into oppressors and the oppressed, and said he was “inspired” by the perspective and by individuals who have furthered it.  More objective observers say critical race theory casts whites as oppressors and minorities as their victims.

If one were to accept Kendi’s argument that America, and by extension, its armed forces are fundamentally racist, how does one expect that to increase morale and unit cohesion, let alone recruiting rates?  Kendi says the answer to previous racism is more racism. “The only remedy to past discrimination,” he says, “is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.”

In typical leftist hyperbolic fashion, he wants severe punishments for even small acts he deems unacceptable. “What other people call racial microaggressions, I call racist abuse. And I call the zero-tolerance policies preventing and punishing these abusers what they are: antiracist.”

When the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, came to testify on the latest defense budget, a handful of Republicans took the opportunity to put the country's top general on the hot seat over the wildly unpopular move to teach CRT in the ranks, which starts with America's service academies.  Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) vehemently stated that Republicans aren't manufacturing this firestorm. "This isn't something we're raising. This came to me from cadets, from families, from soldiers with their alarm and their concern at how divisive this type of teaching is that is rooted in Marxism, that classifies people along class lines, an entire race of people as oppressor and oppressed."

Recently Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier was relieved of his command as commander of a U.S. Space Force unit for speaking the truth about critical race theory’s rapid inroads among America’s armed forces as he published a book entitled Irresistible Revolution: Marxism's Goal of Conquest & the Unmaking of the American Military.  For blowing the whistle on this pernicious anti-American ideology being promulgated in our military’s ranks, Lt. General Stephen Whiting removed Colonel Lohmeier from his command.  Imposing anti-American racial ideologies on our troops directly threatens our national security, by spreading ideas that undermine confidence in the principles underpinning our Constitution, trust in our system of government and traditional values that promote unity, cohesion and equality among service members. That’s classic CRT.  (And I highly recommend reading the excellent article at this link about CRT.)

According to Ibram Kendi, “in order to truly be antiracist, you also have to truly be anticapitalist.”  In other words, identity is the means; Marxism is the end.  These are the unspoken goals of CRT when it comes to fruition as Colonel Lohmeier was attempting to bring to light.

All of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines take an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution and all that it stands for. Instructing them that our Constitution, and the beliefs incorporated into it by the Founders, were meant to perpetuate white supremacy is reprehensible; it cries for urgent congressional examination and pushback. Yet that’s precisely what troops are being taught, according to Lohmeier.

Lohmeier described to radio host Steve Gruber the “intensive teaching that I heard at my base—that at the time the country ratified the United States Constitution, it codified white ­supremacy as the law of the land. If you want to disagree with that, then you start [being] labeled all manner of things, ­including racist.”

On another show, Lohmeier shared more concerns that motivated him to speak out, saying that “the diversity, inclusion and equity industry and the trainings we are receiving in the military” are further examples of Marxist ideas that included critical race theory.

Consider the Navy’s Professional Reading Program. It includes books that portray America as systemically racist and promotes the view that the Constitution was written to perpetuate white supremacy. That the Space Force has now relieved a unit commander for expressing his concerns about this type of education and training material within his service suggests this is no isolated case and more is to come.

In just five months since Biden's "election", the culture of our fighting force is changing quickly. Under Joe Biden, one of the last bastions of American patriotism is on a collision course with a radical Marxist agenda that isn't just threatening our servicemembers -- it's threatening America.  But then the left often associates American patriotism with racism.

The only reason this administration is so intent on teaching critical race theory, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) insists, is so it can rip apart our military at the seams. "Our military's strength depends on the unity of our troops and the knowledge that America is a noble nation worth fighting for. Critical race theory teaches that race is a person's most important characteristic, and that America is an evil, oppressive place." Forcing commanders to preach that the country they're serving is racist has already led, as the far-Left hoped it would, to more good men and women leaving the service.

Retired Army Lt. General Jerry Boykin warned that the Pentagon is actually encouraging people to turn others in; to snitch on the men and women they serve with if they think they're an extremist (a conservative, in other words.)  And the sad thing about it is, Boykin went on, "all this is doing is driving a wedge between members of the military. And there's nothing more important on the battlefield -- not weapons, not the technology -- [than] the cohesion and the morale of those men and women who are out there fighting. They make the difference. That's how you win on the battlefield."

Seemingly inexplicably "They want to weaken our military," Boykin insisted. "Well, it doesn't make sense to you and me, but it does if you're a Marxist... It makes sense if you want to reduce the readiness of our military so that there is no propensity, no desire to use our military again." Marxists want a one-world government, he warned. And our troops are in their way.

If you’re going to promote such ideas which paint America as a racist republic that shouldn’t be defended but overthrown, why have a military at all, unless you’re planning to use it to stage a Communist revolution?

Senator, and veteran, Tom Cotton stated, “They should be focused on teaching about how to win real wars, not culture wars." In advancing race-baiting, divisive theories, the Biden administration has lost sight of the fact that the military has a critical mission, to fight and win wars. And America has major geopolitical rivals that would like nothing better than to undermine our ability to project force to defend our national interests. "I suspect if China and Russia, if they wanted to try to undermine unit morale and unit cohesion, they would probably not think of a much better strategy," Cotton pointed out.

“What happens if it harms unit cohesion and morale in our military? Then we literally are risking our freedom,” Cotton said. “That’s why it’s so important that the U.S. military’s priority should remain what it always has been—to fight and win real wars, not to get distracted by culture wars.”

“They don’t just play a kids’ game for money or sell sugary beverages. They are the institution that keeps us free and safe,” stated Cotton. “They make almost everything else possible in our country in protecting our way of life. So, it’s the most corrosive place where you can teach these small, specious doctrines.”

The military has always had issues, and it had its issues when I served in the 1980’s and early 90’s, but adding women in combatant roles, championing gay and transgender issues, squelching and punishing any detractors of LGBTQ lifestyles (including by the chaplaincy), and service-wide indoctrination and division via critical race theory are rapidly tearing apart the very fabric of our military.  Such divisions, if continued, WILL cause our military to be unable to respond and answer the call when our adversaries in the world take advantage of our weakness and act against us.  I can almost hear Earl Hanson concernedly and bitterly complaining once again, “God-damned new Navy!”

Obama and Admiral Mullen to Find Cuts in Spending Via Military Pay

I read an article at Military.com today that has absolutely infuriated me.  It seems that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest ranking officer in the military, Admiral Mike Mullen  was quoted as saying yesterday that members of the armed forces will very likely see cuts in pay and benefits over the next twelve years as the military tries to come up with $400 billion in cuts to meet President Obama’s proposed budget spending cuts that are expected to largely come from the Department of Defense.

Admiral Mullen told reporters yesterday that expenses must be trimmed and that, “"Two of the big places the money is, is in pay and benefits, and so when I say all things are on the table, all things are on the table.”

Despite the fact that our Commander in Chief seemingly has at best an apathetic attitude towards our military, and at worst an outright disdain for them, I would hope that he would see the necessity of providing for and taking care of those heroic folks that have sacrificed so much in their lives by volunteering to serve and protect our nation in the military.  It is not like such men and women are getting rich from their government paychecks they receive for military service.  Further, these folks are sometimes put in harm’s way or support those good folks that are.  They damned well earn every cent they receive and every few benefit they are afforded.  They have truly earned these already pitifully inadequate paychecks and benefits.

Our President wouldn’t dream of making cuts to the welfare rolls and social safety net, despite the fraud and abuse that is rampant throughout the system there.  No, these folks are all reliable Democratic constituents by a large margin.  Never mind that there are many folks not working that could be doing so that receive any variety of tax payer funded benefits.  Cutting out the waste and fraud in this venue is taboo and strictly off the table to President Obama and the Democrats evidently.

On the other hand, since the military has traditionally been far more conservative in its voting predilections, cuts made there won’t come back to haunt President Obama and the Democrats as badly in the long run.  Never mind that we have THREE wars going on in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Libya that is severely straining our military as it is.  Far be it to fund one of the few items that the federal government is actually CONSTITUTIONALLY mandated to fund. 

Indeed, I am certain there is some waste and unnecessary things that can be cut in the Department of Defense, but it strikes me as a slap in the face to those very folks protecting us to now tell them that their meager pay and benefits will be cut.  Why don’t we start with cutting all civilian government employees’ pay first?  Why don’t we cut pay and benefits for each and every one in the Executive Branch, including the president, and everyone in the legislative branch?  If one wants to further save money from cuts to the DoD, why don’t we start by stopping the asinine social engineering the left has championed and the millions upon millions of dollars that will have to be spent to accommodate folks in our new gay-friendly military?

The military is there to protect and defend America and its freedoms and to ensure that its interests that make those freedoms possible in the world are never put in jeopardy.  It is an insult of the highest caliber to deny those sacrificing to do so with even less than what they already are given in exchange for a honorable life of service.  President Obama and Admiral Mullen should be ashamed of themselves accordingly!

Utah Artist Memorializes Our Fallen Heroes With Her Paintings

An incredible lady named Kaziah Hancock is a remarkable artist who typically would charge up to thousands of dollars for her landscape pictures.  She now has a new subject that she is so very fond of painting. She paints portraits of our fallen men and women of the United States armed forces.  These portraits she then sends to the family of the fallen member.  She won't accept money for her beautiful work.  She does it as an act of love for those that served and the families that raised them.  She does this as a part of Project Compassion.  May God bless her for her kindness and may He bless the heroes whom she paints and their families that they have left behind!

Thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law for sending me this link!

The Persecution of Those Protecting Us

I am way past the point of angry at our federal government's apparent crusade to prosecute, or perhaps persecute is a more accurate word, those in uniform that are fighting to protect our nation from terrorists. It would seem that they are going out of their way to provide U.S. Constitutional rights to these terrorists while not giving our American heroes the same.

There are two great articles on Blonde Sagacity that do a far better job than I could with the details. See here and here for the specifics of how three of our SEALs are being court martialed for trumped up charges, and also regarding the arrest of Lt. Michael Behenna for shooting a captured al Qaida terrorist that tried to take his weapon away. Evidently evidence on behalf of Lt. Behenna was not allowed to be introduced at this trial. The evidence clearly shows that the killing of this terrorist was in self defense.

Finally, Governor Palin summed up my feelings on the subject with her latest Facebook posting, which I have re-printed below:

Today at 12:50pm

First the Obama Administration opened up the possibility of prosecuting CIA interrogators doing their jobs seeking information from terrorists. Then they tried to go after the Bush Administration lawyers who acted in good faith to protect us in the months after 9/11. Now some of the military brass are court-martialing three brave Navy SEALs for allegedly throwing a single punch at Iraqi terrorist leader Ahmed Hashim Abed. This is wrong. The Washington Times got it right: Save the SEALs.

These brave warriors belong in combat, not in the courthouse. They captured the most wanted terrorist in Iraq. We may never know how many other heroic missions they undertook on behalf of our country. The charges should be dropped, and they should be returned to their unit – with our gratitude for their service.

Stand up for the SEALs who are standing up for us!

- Sarah Palin

Let's hope this current trend of protecting our enemies and prosecuting those sacrificing for us comes to an end with these two travesties of justice!

Obama's Repealing of Don't Ask, Don't Tell

This issue has been beaten to death already, so I won't get into it very much. There is an attached link to a pretty good summation of what is at stake here though via Military.com's website. http://www.military.com/news/article/clock-starts-ticking-to-end-gay-ban.html?ESRC=dod.nl

Personally, I think the danged federal government should let the military do what it was designed to do; break things and kill our enemies. The military should NOT be used for congress' or the President's social engineering programs or to try and rectify what they see as politically correct injustices. The military is greatly harmed by the repeal of this policy that President Clinton put in place. Just like everything else though, Obama just can't leave something that is working fine, well enough alone.

Well, why not? He has already made the country less safe with his fighting of the war on terror now being a massive criminal investigation. He also has made our weak intelligence services even weaker by hamstringing them with asinine and dangerous rules. Why not further erode our ability to even defend our country with our military to top it off? So how does everyone else out there like this "change you can believe in"? I never thought I'd say it, but I actually am starting to miss that old school Democrat, George W. Bush.