God is still t he answer

If you are paying attention to what is happening all over the Middle East, as I am, especially in Egypt, then you must be just a little afraid of what the future holds in store for us, and when I say “us” I mean mankind. Well, as difficult as it is, I know it is for me, while the picture being painted continues to appear bleaker and bleaker, for some reason I still see a bright spot, a light that has filled my heart from a very young age, it’s called “Faith”. God has a thing for testing man’s faith from time to time, and sometimes the test can be almost overpowering, and a fear can easily creep into one’s heart and cause deep depression to set in, but that’s when that glimmer of light, always present, but sometimes hard to see due to the darkness of the days surrounding us during these times we are truly tested. As bad as it is or sounds in the news, I still see a light, a ray of light cutting through the darkness and nearly blinding me. If you believe, as I do, in a God who will protect us from what many insist is going to happen, then like me, your fears are not as great as those who don’t know what “faith” is or the power of faith.

If you go along with those that say Egypt, and all those countries now in turmoil, means that the world as we know it is about to collapse and “Extremist Muslims” are going to take over the world and we “Christians” will be tortured and mutilated as those of that “Extreme Muslim” religion (if you can call such hatred a religion) enslave us, then I guess we don’t believe in the same God who blessed us, gave us this great country, and guided us to a “Republic” that is unmatched by any other form of government anywhere in the world. No, I am not blind, nor stupid, and I am not ignorant to what is happening, I just have a different view of the outcome. It is possible that God will turn his back on those he blessed, but somehow I don’t see it, I see a light, a ray of light that gives me a peace in side, a belief that my creator however angry he might be for the way so many of us have messed up his gift, his love for his children will result in his forgiveness and a way out of what appears to be hopelessness will come to light, and we will find our way out of the darkness. I have always been “Optimistic” when it comes to our future, if I have been weak, and surely I have, than I ask that God forgives me, and guides me back to the shelter of his love.

I don’t have any answers, and I don’t know how it all ends, but I do know that God gave his only son, who suffered and died for all of us and he only asks that we accept that and we will be saved. As a Christian we either believe in his power or we don’t, and if we don’t, I guess we are not really the Christians we claim to be. I know many will pay a price for the path that those now in “Power” (Governing our country) have chosen to take us down, but their reward will not be forgotten by our creator, we just have to know that he loves us and will be waiting for us should he choose to allow the worst to happen, but I see only goodness if we do what needs to be done and put good Christian Conservatives into place come Nov., 2012, and that includes the Whitehouse!

I can see that a couple of years ago many lost faith and hope, looked for answers in a false prophet, heard “Change and Hope” and voted for something that was not there. Rather than trust in God, many turned to a man, a man called “Obama” and this could not have made our creator very happy after giving so much. We either believe or we don’t, there is no other answer, and the outcome will be determined on what we do as Christians in the coming days. I choose “God”, and I think most of those on this site will choose the same. Glenn Beck has been trying to tell those who still don’t get it, that it is up to us, each of us, individually, and collectedly, we must look for the answer in “Prayer” and our faith in God, who in his wisdom will guide us away from the darkness of where we currently are. There is a light, we just have to look.

So often we have a tendency to look for complicated answers when the answers are often very simple, and usually as simple as a “Prayer”, each of us say sometime during our day. I have always looked to prayer for answers to my challenges, and always, and I mean always, I have found that the answer lay in simple words uttered to “God”. I have always believed that he hears our prayers, and he always answers them, we just fail to understand the answer at times. Well, we must not fail to understand the answer when he gives us them in these times of great need. As a child my prayers were simple and my answers were simple, but always an answer was given, and as I grew older, my prayers became more complex, and so the answers were also at times complex, but always an answer given, and always an answer I could understand. God has been and is now the answer, we just need to realize it, and let him know we believe.

When we lost our youngest son, he was only 36, it was prayer that brought us the peace, and the three doves that came brought with them our needed answer (a whole column was written on the story of my son’s passing and the gift of three pure white doves was told and can be found by going to: http://nowewont.ning.com/group/gregorystwoamericas/forum/topics/when-we-said-goodbye-god-said )Answers are not always that obvious, but one thing obvious to me is that there is always an answer.

So, as I come to an end of this heartfelt thought, I ask that we all keep our faith, and know that God will not let us down, but we must not let him down either, if he gives us the answer we are looking for, it will be up to us to take his “Second Chance” and ensure that we never let him down again, and make sure that we don’t just vote because we think we will gain something for nothing, but vote because our vote will better the outcome of this great nation God blessed us with. I have always felt and known that God was and is the answer, and if you don’t know that, I think you might be on the wrong site. Tonight and every night Val and I will be praying for all those who gave so much so that we might continue to enjoy our freedoms, and we will pray that all Christian Conservatives wake up and all pray together for our country, and know that if we do, God will hear us, and he will give us the answer, one we will be happy with.

Remembering How Good It Was

I love to go back into my mind and recall those days when all those I worked with knew just who they were and what they stood for. Men, like me, who enlisted into what was then the “Army Security Agency” or (ASA), later to become the U.S. Army “Intelligence and Security Command” or (INSCOM). Each of us knew that we were going to be gathering intelligence, analyze intelligence, and providing what was called the “product” to one of the “Agencies”, depending on who was requesting the data that we would protect with our lives, after all, they were “Secrets” then, unlike today when if one of our spineless servicemen did not pass it to one of our enemies, then certainly today someone in our own “Government” would release it! Oh, to relive those good old days when we all knew the bad guys were really bad and we, the “Americans”, and yes, our Allies, who we would never think of betraying, were the good guys, and we all loved being the good guys…..

When I go back into the depths of my mind, I often think of a couple of things that I have written about before, but during times like this, it is worth going back and reliving some of those days again, actually, I miss them, along with those patriots I was so lucky to have worked with over the years. For me, once trained, it all started when I went to England, married my wife, and would soon go to Greece, then Vietnam, and then I think about traveling to East Africa, on the way we had to fly over Beirut Lebanon, now that was something to recall. Even though it was 1968, Israel and Lebanon were not exactly getting along, and I was not allowed to fly over Egypt and other countries due to what I carried with me, but Lebanon, well, we had to land there for some reason and I recall that landing as well as I would flying into Asmara Ethiopia. There were bomb craters in the runway from Israel shelling Beirut in response to taking fire from them. I tried to imagine the pilot trying to maneuver the aircraft around and/or between the craters and all of us were unsure what to expect as the landing was not one of choice but forced by a very unfriendly Lebanon Government, who made us all get off the craft, leaving all of our belongings behind, then crowding us into a small room where we had to wait as the armed Lebanese soldiers searched the plane, then each of us as we reentered the plane. I was more amazed at how calm my wife was, knowing how afraid she had to be. The unknown is always something that will make the bravest of us feel a little fear, and anyone who denies that is someone who fails to know what the truth is or is ashamed of facing it. But we made it out all together without any further incident and were soon back on our way to the land of thirteen months of sunshine, “Ethiopia”.

Looking back on those days when keeping secrets meant not only keeping yours, but your “Allies” who were with you in this fight against terrorism, oh yea, we had a war on terror even back then, we also had a government who did not compromise our secrets, nor give away our friends secrets to win over an enemy’s favor! I fail to understand what has happened that the general population of the United States of America changed in their thinking, changed enough to elect “Progressives” into power, not only in Congress, both house and senate, but the Whitehouse! Where did we go wrong, this is a rhetorical question that need not be answered, for any answer would be wild speculation and I have had enough of that to fill a life time, the truth is what it is and nothing can change that, only further confuse this simple mind of mine. I can recall standing back to back with men who were men, not afraid to give it all to keep our country safe and secure, never consider selling it out as our own President has done by stabbing our best friend and Ally in the back by giving Britain’s nuclear secrets to the Russians to win over their agreement to sign a new SALT agreement. Why, no how could we do that to our friends, again, a rhetorical question that needs no answer. I worked with the Brits in England, Germany, Greece, East Africa, and places I cannot say. I would be to ashamed to look any of those I worked with in the eye today, they trusted us, as we did them, but I would bet my last dollar bill that they have not sold us out, for any reason. That is not the British way, they have honor, and at one time I know we did as well.

I keep hearing about how our “Intelligence” failed to see what was coming in the Middle East, especially “Egypt”, just as “Intelligence” was to blame for Iraq, and many other failures by our Government. I just don’t buy that, I know what we did, could do, and I know how good we were, and I know with every beat of my heart that our Intelligence men and women did not make mistakes like those they are accused of. No one will ever convince me those wonderful, bright and well trained men and women, who give so much to keep our nation free, make those kinds of mistakes. It just does not happen, not when I was in, and I don’t believe that those wonderful heroes are any different when it comes to making sure they get it right the first time, because in that business you seldom get a second chance! Our failures come from a little higher up than those out in the field. It comes from the “Policy Makers” and they pass the buck to those who put their lives at risk to collect, analyze and disseminate that critical information called “Intelligence” with classifications such as “Confidential”, “Secret”, “Top Secret” with Top Secret having caveats such as SI (Special Intelligence) – That is what I was involved with – and that included “Code Word” classifications which I cannot go into. I worked and trained in most of the disciplines, (SIGINT) – (COMENT) – AND (HUMENT), all very specific and required specialized training, and those I knew in that business were all skilled and effective, and we just did not make mistakes, and although we did not get it all, we seldom failed to get what we had to and that is just a fact! How a government can criticize our Intelligence Community when it is our very Government Officials, from the halls of Congress, to the Whitehouse, that compromise what we should hold sacred, safeguard with our lives, as many of us did, but not those in “high places”, they just point the finger, knowing that we took our oaths far more serious than many of them, so we could not confirm or deny any accusations made as to our successes or failures, and I can tell you that in our day, back in the 20 plus years I served, we did not have the kind of failures our young men and women are accused of today, by those high and mighty “Progressives” who sell out our friends, and even our own wonderful patriot heroes.
Yes, recalling those good old days has always been good for me, as so many will never be known for what they gave to protect the interests of our great nation. But I actually don’t like to think about those who have been elected to govern, then like the spineless weaklings that they are, screw things up, then blame those who will not, cannot defend themselves, for they took an oath, an oath to say nothing, suck it up and take whatever is thrown at them. Yes they took their oaths, and they kept the oaths they swore to keep, but did those in “High Places” do the same? I wonder why no one holds them accountable………….?

I do remember how good it was, and it really was!

How Many Times Must The Piper Be Paid For His Song?

The State of the Union! We are going to hear a lot of lies, deceit and misleading rhetoric coming from the same mouth of the President with popularity numbers growing more and more positive with each falsehood that falls from his lips. What has changed that caused so man to see this monster more positively than just a month ago? Our great country continues to be in the same peril that it will be prior to tomorrow night’s speech by our so called “President”, nothing has really changed, if anything, things are worse now than ever before. How can those that saw this man for what he was a month ago, lost sight of who he continues to be today? There is a line from a song that rings in my ears when I think of this Administration and the left over “Progressives” still in the “House” and “Senate” and those words ring as true today and will ring true as long as we have “Progressives in power. That line goes like this: “How many times must the piper be paid for his song”?

Are we so ignorant as to miss the ploy of having the members of congress sit with each other (Republicans and Democrats) so that the general public will miss seeing the huge shift in power that “We the people” caused by voicing our outrage towards this Administration and Congress? Does anyone actually believe that those elected because of the strong and loud outcry from the “Tea Party” will suddenly fall in love with the very “Progressives” who have, are now, and will continue, to do everything they can to destroy our Republic? The maneuvering of this President astounds me, and clearly, demonstrated by the poles, many have fallen for the minutia dribbling from our “Community Organizer” made President, who promised to redistribute the wealth of this country, destroy our Republic and “transform” America into the “Socialist” state envisioned by him and his loyal, manipulative administration. Have we forgotten who he is, who he hangs with, and what he stands for? Are we going to allow him to drill into our brains and make us believe that his far left belief system has suddenly been reborn and is now a “centralist”? Yes, it worked for “Clinton” so I guess if that is what it takes to remain in office, so that he can continue his quest to socialize America, then that is what he will do, he learns from those before him, Marx, Linen, Clinton, Carter, and so many socialists who teach in the colleges and/or Universities the tactics of destruction of democracies, Republics, and free loving government systems that violate suppression of the people governed! If one way fails, just change the words and the minds of the sheep will follow. Well, not all of America are sheep, “We the people” are made up of the stuff of our forefathers and we will not let his deception on the American people go unanswered, and our voice will grow louder (in peaceful disagreement) as we protest with our votes and whatever means we have available, outside of violence, to remind him, this President, and his less than humble followers who think they will win, well, they will not! Think about the words, can you not hear them as well; “How many times must the piper be paid for his song”?


“The State of the Union”, I don’t know what he will say tomorrow as he address congress, but I do know that little of what spews from this man will be honest or meaningful. He will say what he believes will cause the feeble minded and those already transfixed on their idol, to “trust” him, cause those who are less focused on their own value systems to change the negative poles to grow ever more positive, all through a “smile and a lie”, for many, that will be enough, not me my friends, not me! I will see through this transparent, less that honorable, man, and I will do my best to convince as many as I can that we must not fall into the trap of “Socialistic tactics” and refrain from changing who we are by a slick tongue and a smile that hides the poisonous venom that once it enters your flesh will kill the goodness of the person you are. God is enough for me, I don’t need to idolize this Godless person who thinks he can win a man’s soul just by filling the air with hollow, empty words passing on the teleprompter, that a team of “Progressives” have orchestrated for him, in their vain attempt to hypnotize the masses so that they will fall in love with this “false prophet” and turn on those they elected to fight for them, I ask that you read behind the lies that will be told tomorrow night by our “Community Organizer” made President. Again, I ask; “How many times must the piper be paid for his song”?

When the “President” enters the hallowed chamber of congress, to address our elected representatives, I know I will have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, if I observe the “Right” sit with the “Left” to show America they are joined together and are joined at the hip as they govern our great nation. You will know, and so will I, that it will be just for show, nothing about it will be real. I want them to speak respectfully towards each other when working to govern our nation, but I don’t want pretentious “sitting” together be a symbol that will hide what the president does not want America to see, just how divided we really are, we don’t want their “Socialistic” views forced on us, and we don’t want their endless waste of money our country can ill afford to continue, so why the false picture of Right and Left sitting together be the image that the media will use to paint how wonderful this “President” is, “See how he brought the parties together” I say balderdash! It is not real, it is not the truth and if “pretending” is what it takes to win the population over so that they “the Progressives” have a chance to continue their quest to do what this President promised, “Transform” our great nation! I don’t want that to happen, do you? I don’t think so! But it is going to happen and this old Vet will shed a tear knowing that the big lie will continue, and I again will hear the words to that song; “How many times must the piper be paid for his song”?

My years on earth are numbered; God will soon call me home as my body grows older and tired, but if God will only give me enough time to see my country’s “Honor” restored, then I can go home to join those before me knowing “We the people” did not fail our beloved country. We did not allow this “Mistake in judgment” by so many Americans, when they elected a Socialist for a President, and so many more into the sacred halls congress, filling the House and Senate with those who want Socialism to become America. Well, we changed that in the “House” and if we listen to our hearts and minds, we can change it in the Senate, and just as important, in the “White House”! Then and only then we may not have to wonder what those words mean, you know; “How many times must the piper be paid for his song”?

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

As 2010 come to an end and 2011 is about to awaken, my heart and soul fills with hope, not the kind of hope that pours from the hearts of “Socialists” but the kind of hope that fills the souls of Christian Conservatives. Growing up my father always told me “Anything worth fighting for must be worth dying for, and you must always know that if you die when you fight for something, it was worth it. Freedom, son is always worth fighting for, so always be prepared to die for it should the time ever come”. Those were my thoughts as I raised my hand, to take the oath to defend and protect the “Constitution” as well as “America” and all she stands for! It was not a difficult choice to make in my head and it was not an oath I took lightly, it meant everything to me, I took great pride in knowing that I was willing to give my life so that so many others might live. When the time came for me to prove myself it was with little difficulty that I raised the barrel of my M16, aimed and fired at those who would deprive me or those in the country I served in (Vietnam) of the “life or liberty” that we so enjoyed. As this year comes to an end, and the “New Year” begins, I only wish that I had the youth and energy to look my enemies in their eyes and give my life if called on to do so, and it would be as easy a choice today as it was so many years ago.

Tears fill my eyes easily when it comes to patriotism or love of country, just as easily as when I think of those who make my life complete! I can hardly hide my emotions when it comes to those I love, or those who fill my heart with rage when their evil ways pour into any room where my heart might be near anyone who makes me a better person, or has been a part in saving my soul in some small way. My emotions are easily tampered with and have been played with over the years and I try to harden my outer shell when it comes to the painful truths that each of us must face over the years, but so often we bury our heads in the ground in hopes that our soft shells will not shatter from whatever truths we hide from. The answer is always so clear, if we would only listen and pay attention. God is speaking out to us all the time, sometimes in whispers, sometime in thunderous yelling, but his words are deeply embedded into our thoughts as we try to live our lives with always his words echoing what we sometimes hide from, some time welcome, and sometimes just ignore. But in all the lessons learned, the one thing we should never do is ignore the words or calling of the God who created us all. To turn our back our his calling would certainly be a death sentence, one we would never welcome but fear as to ignore our Lord and God is certain death, one of all eternity without the knowledge of knowing God, in that we can only imagine “Hell” would be our sentence! A sentence that there is no coming back from, it is eternal, it is what all man fears and every man thinks he can escape from by just saying what he thinks that God wants to hear. Do not fool yourself or your children’s fate, for God is real, so real that the mistake of ignoring his reality would be a certain sentence to eternity without ever “seeing” God! Think about that, if you fail to find the answer, you fail yourself, and I am certain of one thing, and that is eternity without God, is “Hell” so just don’t take the chance, kneel down and pray that God accepts you as you are (which he will, he is all forgiving you know) do that and you will find that the truths that I spoke of will come to be what you and I fail to understand about the mystery of God, and that is, he just is.

I have always been a simple minded man, with simple needs and wants, which I received all of my simple thoughts through prayer, never has God failed me, but because I am man, I have failed him many times. As the New Year approaches, I will be thinking of the ways I can make amends for my failures to an all forgiving God who knows of my weaknesses and yet continues to bless me and my family, never asking me to understand, only to believe in him and have a certain faith that he is what he promises, he is our savior, our Lord and God, our creator and just believe and you gain your way into his graces, the wish for all believers is fulfilled with the miracle so little asked from man, only that he believes and accepts Christ as your personal savior and son of our creator, the one and only God!

So many years have passed with God being pushed out of our almost all inclusive lives, why is it so difficult to sacrifice so little to gain such? We have a new opportunity to include God into our lives and regaining what we have almost lost, our salvation! God continues to provide us with opportunity after opportunity to bring him back into our lives yet we close our eyes and ears and continue to shut out the one who reaches out to each of us and asks only that we trust in him and take his hand and follow his lead. If not for only yourself, try doing it for your family, those you love or who love you. Most of all, why not do it for the one who sacrificed his only son for, allowed his son to by your personal savior, suffer, die and give up his life so that you might live, you, me, each of us who makes that choice, why is it so difficult for us, to believe in what has been written, what has been foretold, what has been said and done, for each of us?

Just imagine what it would be like for mankind if we would just give in and believe and accept? If you think it is difficult for us to do that, can you at least imagine how difficult it must have been for God to give up his only son, give him over to the cruelties of man and allow him to be punished, enslaved, suffer the crucifixion, the humility of being spat on, mocked and tortured ( and the progressives think “water boarding” is torture?) Consider what God’s only son was subjected to, the pain of the lashings, the crown of thorns, the spear in his side, after being crucified, nails being driven through the flesh into the wooden cross, what Christ went through for us is far more than any man has been subjected to by those who hate us because we believe and accept the truths of our creator! God help us if we don’t open our eyes soon and see that if we don’t find God soon, we will lose more than the Heaven so many still wonder about, but not for this one humble tired old soldier who wants America to only return to what our founding fathers intended, for “We the People” to humble ourselves once again, fear the wrath of a God who gave so much asking so little, only that we believe in him and we will be saved, such a small request for so much reward in return. How can we not see the truths in what is written, we believe so quickly what the progressives throw out there at us and expect us to wallow in their lives, and so many of us do. Why is it so easy for us to believe in their falsehoods, when God’s truths have so much more “meat” to them, filled with the word of God backing them up? How can we go wrong with that?

My father would kneel down with me, at the end of the day, and together we would pray a simple prayer; “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, but if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take”. The premise of the simple prayer is that God will be there when I close my eyes to go to sleep, and should I wake; my God will be there to guide me through the new day. But, should God decide to take my soul if he decides to take it home, my prayer will still be answered, it is a win-win for me, a child of God. So, as we all go to sleep tonight, and ask God to watch over our souls, we must also ask him for tomorrow, should we awake or not, the world will continue, if it is God’s will, then we must continue our lives with the same expectations of a God who entrusted us with the country he blessed, and placed in our trust. He has never failed us, and we must never fail this loving, giving, and caring God who gave us “America”! As the New Year begins, we must continue our fight, a fight worth dying for, as so many have over the years, we too must prepare for whatever pain lay ahead, as it was never meant to be easy! So, as we get up in the morning and find ourselves facing not only a new day but a new year, “We the People” have a goal to attain, to reach and pass on to our children, one that they can be as proud of as we are. 2012 will be the test of our commitment, can we win back and restore the honor of our America, the one our Forefathers” provided us with. As 2012 begins, all of our children should know the bedtime prayer most of us grew up with, “Now I lay me down to sleep”! When we wake up, will we be ready to take on the “Progressives” and their evil and Socialistic ways that if infused into the American way of life, then never again will we ever have to consider the after effects of waking up after whispering the prayer; “Now I lay me down to sleep”. God bless you all and Happy New Year! Lord, please let it belong to “We the People!” Amen

The True Meaning of Christmas At The Gregory House

When Jesus was delivered in the stable in Bethlehem so very long ago, a very special gift was given to the world. Just think, God gave his only son to mankind, allowed him to be born in poverty under horrible conditions, knowing that he would grow up to pay a horrible price so that our sins might be forgiven and we could spend all eternity in the presence of our “Father” the one and only God, but only after the gift of our lives would be blessed and come to whatever end our creator determined. The story of “Christ” and what he would be destined to do for the sake of saving poor souls filled with the sins of mankind, but forgiven, at least those who believed in him is our prerequisite to gain entrance into his house. That’s all God would ask of man, was for them to accept the scriptures as “Truth” and believe in the printed word that although many would question their validity, it would be faith, unconditional faith and love that would prove to be the key to the door that those who lived their lives in a way that a forgiving God would open and receive each who trusted that he was real and not a fairy tale as many would have us believe. Oh, the story of the “Christ Child” and what he would mean is a story of love, unconditional and a blessed love that only God knows how to give. I am a Roman Catholic, and regardless what Christian faith each of you is, as long as your faith is prefaced “Christian” and you know God’s love, we will all see each other on the other side in the safe and loving presence of our creator.

In a few days those of us who know that God is real, knows that he gave his only son to save our souls, forgive our sins, and bless all of his children as they sit around their “Christmas Trees” and tell the story, the greatest story ever told, the story of the Christ Child and the meaning of Christmas, the true meaning of Christmas, the meaning that gives hope to the hopeless, and peace to those who know only pain and suffering. Never forget, no suffering that any of us may consider more than man can stand, will never compare what Christ suffered so our sins are forgiven. There is no way for man to know the pain that God suffered knowing that he sacrificed his only begotten son to pay for the sins we commit, how could we ever know. One thing is for sure, the wonder of the birth of Christ is the miracle that gave us the key to enter the kingdom of heaven when God calls us. Are we teaching our children of this miracle, or are we teaching them of all the gifts they will be expecting under the tree each year, I pray that we are giving our children the gift of knowing the meaning of Christmas, rather than the expectation of receiving material “things” when we owe them the knowledge of the birth of a small child, the Christ Child, who is the reason we have any hope of entering the kingdom of heaven, where the power of being in the presence of our creator when we leave this world and enter his has been paid for by the blood of that small holy Christ Child, who would grow to be first a “Teacher” and then our savior who would suffer the pain of being beaten and spat upon, soon to be nailed to a cross, all so that our sins might be forgiven and allow us to know what it is to be in the holy presence of God, our loving God who waits for us and asks that we share the beautiful, wonderful story of “Christmas”, the day a small baby boy, the son of God, would be born into this world for one reason only, and that is to save us from our own weaknesses and to forgive our sins. This is the story we must pass on to our children, we must teach them to give without the expectation of receiving. If we fail to do this, we fail our children, we fail ourselves, but most of all, we fail our “Lord God” King of a heaven that only those who believe and know that their faith will gain their entry so that we might witness the glory of the God who created the heavens, the earth and all that is of this earth, as we came from dust, we all shall return to dust, but our souls will rise and through our faith and trust, will become a part of a heaven only God can grant us entry into.

Shame on those of us who fail our children by failing to teach them the meaning, the true meaning of “Christmas”, and most important is that all of our children should know the story of a small child born in “Bethlehem”, in a stable as there was no room at the “Inn” so the son of God entered this world with less than most of our children will ever know and never being given the gift of the story of how God gave us his only son, sacrificed him, so that we may know the kingdom of heaven, know the miracle of Christmas, a gift to man, a gift so great no gift will ever compare and to deny our children the story of Christ’s birth would be a sin that only Christ and his heavenly father has the power to forgive. In my heart I know that those who belong to this site (NWW) are blessed with a deep and strong Christian faith and love of God that would never allow the love of “Things” to ever supersede the true meaning of “Christmas”, the act of giving, for to give out of love for one another is to give from the heart, hearts filled with God’s love, a love so special only those who are filled with belief, trust and a love for our creator that we will never forget to pass on to our children the meaning of “Christmas”, the story of Jesus, a baby born into a world who only knew of what was in the holy scriptures, the promise of a savior, a child who not only is the Christ Child, but a miracle that allows three divine and holy pieces that make up the one true God, (The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost or Spirit) and if you know this to be true, and you believe you have been saved by the coming of Christ into this world, who suffered and crucified so that we might live in and know the very presence of God, then we have a chance!

We can disagree here on earth with each other’s political views, but I pray as we enter the season of the Christ Child, Jesus, son of God, that we do not now or ever allow our human differences interfere or influence or deep Christian faith or belief in our one true God, and that our heavenly father in fact gave us his only son to be bone into this world of sin, suffer, and pass from this life on earth into his life as the son of God who is our savior. If we ever forget that, or lose sight of the importance of his coming, we have lost and will be condemned to an afterlife without ever knowing the presence of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit! Our faith must be cause enough to pass on the story of the “Real Meaning of Christmas” to our children, shame on each of us that allows that to happen.

My Granddaughters will spend Christmas eve with us and when they get up in the morning Santa will have been, but I can promise you this, they will have heard the “real story and true meaning of Christmas” before Christmas eve has passed. We, Val, Emma and Sarah (last two are my granddaughters) will sit by the fire, not far from the customary decorated tree, and will listen intensely as the story of our Christ Child is told with the tenderness always delivered, partly by Val (Nana) and partly by me, (Grandpa). Their little innocent faces will glow as the fire reflects off of them, and they will ask questions about our “Savior”, some will go unanswered as they always have a way to find a question far too complex for our simple minds, but we will always leave them with the truth, that we believe and the importance of them to find it in their pure hearts to consider believing in the “Truths”, read from a book filled with pictures of Mary, Joseph, on their journey to Bethlehem, to the Inn where they are turned away, and finally to the stable where the “Christ Child” is born, the star the guided the three wise men to our savior, and the Angle and the Shepard boy, the whole true story of the miracle of Jesus, a small baby boy, who is our savior. Due to their age we will increase the details as they grow older and we grow wiser. Let us all pray that with this year’s celebration of the coming of Christ, a better understanding of who we are, what we stand for and never, ever forgetting that without God’s blessings, without our trust and faith, there is no America, not the way we were blessed with her, so we cannot fail the future of our children, we must give them hope, something to believe in, a truth that God is real, is forgiving, and is “Love”!

Merry Christmas and God bless you all, Milt, Val and our granddaughters, tomorrows future.

From What Rock Did Your Congressman or Senator Crawl Out From?

As I take an attempt to contribute after a period of laying on my back due to surgeries that have caused difficult times due to “Rotting Bones”, I have had plenty of time to reflect on the dangers that lay ahead if people find reasons not to get out to vote and stay home hoping that someone else will take care of business for them. God help us if what I heard on “Hukabee” during his show today. I listened to comments made by fans answering his question are you going to vote in November or not, and why if not? The answers made my hair rise up on the back of my neck, as I heard the lame excuses like, “there are no real choices, so why bother?” You know that person is most likely a conservative or “Independent” (Some of you might recall the question I raised about “Independents” have to make up their mind by now, have to take a stand and not continue to look for reasons to vote one way or another. If you don’t know by now, who or what are you waiting for?

While those who choose to leave it up to someone else to save America from a path to Socialism, there are real and true Americans who have gone to Washington, many twice, to voice their discontent, or join hands, or arms, and pray together for the country to be forgiven and restored to the blessings God so lovingly gave this nation a couple of hundred years ago. While these patriots and heroes of this nation are not sitting on their hands, giving up, or counting on someone else, there will be those who need to go look into a mirror and take a good look at who is looking back at them, “Cowards” who find excuses for every reason to not go down and stand in those lines to vote. I have never missed a vote, and I don’t send mine in, I want to be sure mine is counted, so sometime on crutches, sometimes in a power chair, and back a few years just a cane, I made an effort, with the help of my wife or sons, I made it down to the voting booth and cast my vote. I always cast it for either a conservative, or who I believed was anything but a Progressive! Have I made mistakes in the past over the years, I am certain of that, but that never discouraged me from doing the same thing when it was time to vote, and I have never missed a local, state or General election, ever since I have been old enough to vote, at times, due to reasons I had no control of (you know, Vietnam, being stationed in places I cannot speak of) I cast my absentee ballot, nothing was going to keep me form that “Privilege,” nothing! And then I hear those who look for reasons not to do what failing to do could cost this country everything! Cowards!

I find it incredible that Hukabee not only got a few, but thousands of responses like that, so either we are in serious trouble because I underestimated the backbone of real Conservatives, or there are a lot of “Liberals,” afraid, very afraid of what they see on our side and are trying to convince us that we should stay home, not to go to the voting booth, not to cast that important vote that means so much in November. Yea, like that’s going to happen! No matter how many extra fraudulent votes you cook up, or how many times you enlist the dead or Felons to cast their votes, you will either be exposed or we will just overpower you with pure straight real numbers, it’s called “honesty”, something you know little of, so we don’t count on you to understand that “We the People” will turn over each rock, find your crooked Congressmen and women, and also your corrupt Senators, expose them, vote them out, then drop the rocks back on them as they crawl back from where ever they came from. They will never get back the power they so abused and failed to respect. Say goodbye to them now, you may not have a chance as they run away from their responsibilities, something we are used to. America is fed up with your choices, so we are going to ensure that we have voices in Washington who will either listen to us or they too will know that there are no “Rocks” to hide under, they are all taken by the cowardly “Progressives” who as I write this hide or run form the votes they have already cast they now do not want to be identified with, sorry Charlie, too late, time to face the fact your done, finished, and soon gone, along with any “Progressives” who challenge “We the People” failing to understand who governs this country, your power is limited by us, we loaned it to you and are not taking it back as you failed to provide “We the People” any evidence that you deserve to continue to be trusted or believed in any longer! “Your Fired” or will be come November!

Those Progressives who cast their votes to redistribute what did not belong to them, decided bow down to the most Un-American President ever entrusted to lead this great nation, and who wants to transform America into a Socialist State, one where he can be the “Dictator” he is without the threat of what is about to happen in November. He does not care if he is not reelected, he is counting on America to fail to understand what has happened, oh, how he miscalculated and misjudged “We the People” who are not the dumb hicks he thinks we are (no intended offence to any “hicks”, which I am one, out there, most of you are the America he failed to understand. The America better known as “We the People”! By the time this man of color that all of America believed in, trusted, and voted into office, which could not have happened without the “White Vote” realizes that if America was “Raciest” he would not be the first black president elected in this country. A gift from We the People who trust you, believed in you and gave you America to defend, protect and love, instead you betrayed our America, even though you did not get all our votes, it was not because of your color, it was because of your politics, enough of us trusted that you would be who you could never be, it’s called, “We the People” who trust in God, believe in each other, have “faith” in each other, “hope” in each other, and filled with “Charity” for each other. An America that the first lady could believe in until America gave her husband the trust to do the right thing, sorry First Lady, the America you did not believe in is the same one that will show you and the President to the door in 2012, as they show your cowardly followers in Congress and Senate out the door in Nov of this year and more come 2012, unless they find their evil ways and own up to who they are, failures, failures to defend and protect, failures to honor the pledges they took as they were sworn into office, failures to believe in America (“We the People”) who make up the country so many of you hate so much. If you did not hate her, you would not want to lose her to Progressives of any political party. Well, “We the People” will never give in to your corrupt values, something you will never grasp as you are not one of us, you are Progressives, your are Socialists, Communists, and radical losers from the 60’s and 70’s who tried to change America with bombs, shootings, violence, and rhetoric that tried to divide America, using “Race”, “Religion” and oh yes, “We the People” which backfired and exposed you for who you really are, “Cowards”!

I encourage each of you in Congress and Senate who are exposed and voted out of power, to find that rock you slithered from out under and crawl, like the snakes you are, and return to the darkness you came from, the evil places that only you can know, as “We the People” live in the light, and will bring God back to the front, after all, it is God who blessed America, gave her to us, intrusting the wonder of this great land to “We the People”, never to “You the Progressives” as he understands from where you come, those “Rocks” that should be your hiding place for all eternity so that we can rebuild the America that you have destroyed, or I should say, tried with all your energy to destroy, well, you failed, just as you have failed at all your attempts to “Transform” a country filled with God’s love. My broken body has vented enough for a day or so, I will rest and you will not have to hear me for a while as I heal, God has always brought me back from the edge, and he will again. One, just one of many, Americans who wore one of the Uniforms of this great country’s military services, to do what you pledged to do, from the comfort of your ergonomic “green” chairs, sending our very best to their graves while you plotted on how to transform America, the one our young men and women serve, also pledging to serve and protect, only they do it, they do it with pride and patriotic love for the country our military always have sworn to defend and protect. Medical facilities are filled with the broken bodies of those who gave so much, and cemeteries are filled with those who gave it all, so that you can claim that you are doing it for them, what I want to say right now my respect and love for the God who has protected me over the years, will not allow me to speak my thoughts of anger, accept that you do not now, nor will you ever have the respect of those like me, but then, you really don’t care do you?

Crawl back under your rocks, fade away into the darkness of your minds and consider what you have violated, something called the trust of the people, the respect of those who voted you in, and most of all, you have lost the awareness that it is not you, but “We the People” how govern our country, we lend you the power to represent us, violet that trust, you will lose that power that you so desperately hunger for, wave as you depart, shed your tears that expose you for who you are, cowards who will do anything to keep the power we loaned you. Suck it up and understand, it’s over, you are finished, we are here now and will not easily give you back what you so misused and violated! The rocks you came from will not be hard to find, the odder of your power hungry existence will still be there to help you find your way back. Crawl under those rocks and return to the unholy place from where you came from. Please do us all a favor, stay there, don’t come back out until you truly understand that we do not want you anymore, some of us never did, but honored those who voted you in. We respect each other, something you know little of, honor, respect, and accepting this is “God” America, loaned to us to honor in his name! Don’t come back, we don’t want you anymore. Because we love and accept God, you will be forgiven by us, but that is not who you should worry about, you really need to turn to our creator and beg, as we have, for his forgiveness, and ensure that he knows that you want to restore America to the America he left to us, not the “Transformed” America you want, after all, this is the America God blessed, not the progressives who turned your backs on the only God, the true God, who not only loved us enough to entrust America to us, but expects us to take care of this great gift of love from our creator. In God’s name, this humble, flawed veteran who has found the one true God’s expectations, not a difficult thing to figure out, just check out the very thing you Progressives tried so hard to have removed from every place our founders ensured they were place, they are called the “Ten Commandments” what every human should be guided by, as our forefathers were so deeply a part of setting those commandments as the guide for all of us. Check them out; you might see if you just follow “God’s Law” it really is not so bad. An old tired and broken Viet, God bless you all….. Milt

My Favorite 4th of July

My loving wife was born in a small English town called “Knox”, just down Ripon Road, leading out of “Harrogate”, where I first laid eyes on “My Sweet Val”, as I would call her the rest of our lives. I Met her May 27th, 1965 and would marry her Dec 4th, 1965, where we would start our journey into love and adventures across the world that would include several continents, with Val being born in England, our first son in Turkey, our second son in Ethiopia (East Africa) and I in San Bernardino California.

But it is our first 4th of July together that I am recalling and sharing with my friends on NWW (No We Won’t) and the 9/12 Network Project. Although it is a personal story, it comes from my heart and is filled with why the 4th of July means so much to me, not just another holiday, but a special meaning as my wife eventually would be separated from the birth country and all her friends and relatives for many years once married to me and whisk off to travel with me, my obedient wife, being faithful to what she was taught was her duties to me, her husband. That would all change later when I would leave her and our son in California, with my mother, while I traveled to Vietnam to fulfill my call as a soldier to defend my country. I left the perfect wife and returned to a liberated woman (ruined by my mother) who would still love me, but had a very different perspective on what her duties would be as a military wife. (I would learn to polish my own boots, brass and decorations once my mother finished grooming my once perfect wife, now I would settle with a “Near Perfect” wife.) Oh well, that would always be good enough for me.

As I courted “My Sweet Val” in England, discovering what the difference was between “Puppy Love” which I experienced every other day prior to casting my then 20/20 vision on the most beautiful creature God placed on this earth, at least to me she was. My eyes would never be the same after staring at this vision of God’s perfection, and I would never see 20/20 again, and soon my eyes would grow old and my vision would deteriorate to an imperfect sight, never to regain the once perfect vision of a proud young soldier, who always thought he saw the good in everyone and always able to sort out the bad stuff from the view imprinted into my eye socket each time I gazed at any fair lady of not only England, but just any fair lady who entered my zone of vision. I digress, back to my point.

When I met Val in May, I could not sleep or think of anything other than this near perfect creature of God’s imagination. Her angelic appearance trapped my mind, and soon my body, so that my obsession would grow each day as I felt her closing in on my life, felt her presence, knew of her special gift that only she could emit from her soul, trapping me in a world I did not understand and feared for an extended period of time was being entrapped by a beauty that terrified me, filled me with emotions that I did not understand, nor did I want to. Val was beautiful, she was warm hearted, had the sold of an angel, and the heart only God could have touched, and I felt her love not only through our touch, but though our sight, seeing Val was like peeking through the open door to heaven, a glimpse that God allowed me for reasons known only to him. What I felt is something I am now unable to tell you, unable to give you an image of, just know it was more a feeling than a vision. The warmth of love from this girl was the most intense feeling I have ever experienced, and would know it every time we held each other from that day forward. God would never allow that intense emotion, of love known between a young American soldier and an even younger British girl called “Valerie”, who would cause such intense feelings every time she would touch my hand, hold me, or once my wife, give herself to me in a way that surely was created and blessed by God’s love for two young lovers that he brought together.

So, May passed, June increased our need to be together as one, as God intended, man and wife, so as July entered our lives for the first time, I thought about how “Menwith Hill” would be celebrating the 4th, and I would have to take Valerie to her first experience of how America celebrated our independence from her country. What I did not know at the time is that although she was born in England, this beauty was more American than most girls I dated before I shipped off to England. When I asked her if she would like to see how America celebrated our independence from England, she could hardly hold back her excitement and desire to be a part of an event that would become a part of her life, every July 4th, for the rest of our lives, and a day that we would share together with the exception of one, and that was the one that I was in Vietnam, for our first and only July 4th we ever were a part. She excitedly agreed to join me for the celebration and expressed her desire to be a part of the day that she felt an affinity to already, and neither of us could explain just why or what caused the emotions she felt.

On July 4th, 1965, after getting off my mid shift, I caught the British red and white bus to Harrogate from the “Hill” (Menwith Hill) to pick up Val in Harrogate, just across the Royal Hall, where I observed many British bands just starting up, like the “Animals”, “Rockin Berries”, Beatles, Rolling Stones, etc., etc.. It was dusk, and as I sat on the bus, I could see Val running down the sidewalk in front of the Royal Hall, her blue and white dress bouncing at the knees as he tried to catch up to the buss, afraid she would miss catching it. I could not help but smile as I watched her running alongside the bus and when she saw me, I fell in love with her as I do each time I see her, just as I still do when she comes home from shopping or watching my granddaughters. I guess that’s what makes love special, when those feeling you had when you were young and in love, continue when you are old and in still in love.

She got on the bus and sat next to me, placing her hand in mine, and I was sure she could feel my shaking as I held it, squeezing it to let her know I was happy to see her and glad she was going up to the base (13th Field Station) to enjoy the 4th of July celebration dance at the club, where busses would bring girls in from Leads, Bradford, and Harrogate, to enjoy the dances and parties held for the hard working servicemen who spent most of their time at the club when not downtown with their girlfriends. It was hard not to have a girlfriend from Harrogate; the English girls all enjoyed the “Blokes” from across the pond “Atlantic Ocean”, the “Yanks” who would wind up taking many of those special young ladies home with them, when it was time to go home. There was a special quality about many of those young ladies, but the one I fell in love with had more than a few good qualities, she had a deep goodness about her that would stay with her throughout our marriage. Again, I digress, this is about the celebration of July 4th, our independence day, and I wondered if Val would appreciate me taking her up to celebrate this day America won its independence from her country. Little did I know that down inside, long before I met her, this special beautiful Brit already felt more American than English, something neither of us can now or then explain.

We went inside and found a table and enjoyed a very special night, one we would often talk about and remember as a night that brought us closer to understanding that we would one day be man and wife, although at this time in our relationship neither one of us were brave enough to acknowledge that both of us had the same intentions, to find a way to get the other to agree to share our lives together, forever, and forever is something we both understood was an agreement that that marriage would bind us together for, regardless how anyone else envisioned being married, we knew what it meant, we were just trying to find the way to tell the other that is what we wanted. We had already held hands for the first time. Had our first kiss, walked to her home in the middle of the night, down Ripon Road, then Knox Mill Lane, to Number 2 Knox Mill Lane, where her small, and I mean very small little row house was where I met her step father for the first time. But the words “Will you marry me” were yet to be uttered from my lips, whispered into her ear, fearing that if the words were spoken, the answer would be something that would break my heart, but that was not something that was a possibility as we both felt the same intense emotions, the electricity that sparked between us every time we touched. Oh, this 4th of July was going to be the day, it would have to be, and after all the dancing, holding each other tight, feeling the heat transfer from our bodies to the other as we held each other tighter and tighter with each dance. I could think of nothing else but how to make this a 4th of July that neither of us would ever forget. This had to be the day I would muster up the nerve to force those magic words part from my lips, loud enough to hear, than answer with the only words I wanted to hear, “Yes” and should that word fail to part her beautiful mouth, I could never face myself again, as I would feel a total fool.

Well, after the dance, we all went outside and watched the fireworks and sang patriotic songs, most of the guys not caring if the ladies who were our dates cared or not, we just sang and felt good inside as we understood what the day was and meant to us and only reinforced the reasons we did what we did at that station. I could actually feel and sense a certain pride Val had as we sang songs she never heard before but appeared to understand and appreciate. After that, would she dare to say yes when I asked her to be my wife? I felt uncertain now but knew I was going to go through with it and could hardly wait to get on the bus t take her home and on the way I would go through the traditional kneeling down on one knee, ask her to be my wife and pray that she would answer with one word, the only word that kept echoing over and over in my head as I practiced my lines silently to myself as we got closer and closer to the stop in Harrogate, in front of the Royal Hall, and then I had to decide just where would it be that I would ask Val to spend her life with me, leave her family, give up her citizenship, come with me where ever they sent me, but knew it would not be there as no one who married a foreign national was allowed to remain there, keeping their access to the most sensitive intelligence in the world. I would be giving up what I loved the most, until I met this soft, warm, and beautiful woman who would later mother two wonderful sons and remain with me though some very difficult assignments. Yes, we would both sacrifice a lot to be together, but she would be giving up far more than I and how could I ever thank her for choosing me over everything else that mattered in her life. Love on the 4th of July, 1965, would bring us together in ways known only to lovers found only in the imagination of those who wrote love stories.

Well, my heart was in my throat as the bus bulled up to the stop and I stepped off, holding Val small hand as she slowly stepped down from the bus to the curb, where we just stood and stared into each other’s eyes, now both of us shaking, as she must have known what I was about to ask her, but not there, not at the bus stop, I would have to take her to the park, Valley Gardens, one of the most beautiful gardens in the world, a perfect place to ask the most beautiful girl in the world (to me) to be my wife. But where, where would it be. As we walked towards the park, Val asked where we were going, as it was in the soppiest direction of “Ripon Road” that would lead us to her house down Knox Mill Lane. Instead we were going towards Valley Garden, and she knew by now where and why we were going in that direction, but acted like she was curious as to my intentions. All the while I was shaking more and more inside as I was trying to bring myself to terms to a decision I had made May 27th, the day I first laid eyes on her in Nina’s coffee shop, in Harrogate. It was now or never, I would never feel the way I did at this moment and that made it right, it was the time and any other time would be the wrong time, so I had to go through with it or I would never forgive myself.

As we approached a cross in a part of the gardens that was surrounded by flowering bushes, and it was only right that beneath that cross, a symbol of our savior’s sacrifices to all humankind, that I would do what I set out to do, find out if I was either a very big fool, which I was starting to feel a bit like, or I was going to be the luckiest man in the world and this beauty standing there, looking deep into my eyes, would say the magic word, “Yes” and our world would begin, and little did either of us know that what lay ahead of us were adventures that only fictional books told of. But, here we were, I was shaking even harder now and I felt her start to shake in anticipation of what words were bound to come from my lips, and what she heard is not what I recall saying. She maintains to this day that what I said to her at that magic moment was; “Will you be the mother of our children?” and what I recall saying is; “Will you be my wife?” Very different meanings if you are a young woman hearing the words she claims I spoke rather than the words I know I spoke, either way, she answered “Yes” (praying that what she thought I said was what I know I meant). I stayed on my knees, unable to move, so she knelt down in front of me, looking into my eyes and said “Yes, I’ll be your wife, I’ll marry you, and I’ll have your children, all you want.” And on our knees, hugging so tight I could feel her heart beating against mine, and was sure she could feel the same.

And as we held each other close, kissing, hugging, and whispering sweet nothings in each other’s ears, the fireworks could be seen and heard from Menwith Hill, we had left before they went off and the timing could not have been more perfect. God does watch down on us and he let us know that our love was blessed, after what seemed like hours, not wanting to, but I did promise her mom, or as she would say, her “Mum” that I would have her home by 1:30 AM, after the fireworks. As we walked down Ripon Road, turned onto Knox Mill Lane, and finally arrived at number 2, this Angel’s house, it was just approaching the promised hour and her “Mum” was waiting and met us at the door. She asked me in and told me that I could spend the night, downstairs on the small couch, if I wanted. There was no way I would say no to that. So, as Val and her mother went upstairs, I lay by the fire place down stairs, feeling as happy as I had ever felt in my life, not realizing that the happiest days lay ahead, days that would be burned into our hearts for all time. But for the moment, the 4th of July, 1965, I felt fireworks going off inside my body and they would continue all night long, and into the day as I made my way back to the “Hill” to first tell, who would be my best man, Terry, then everyone I could think of, and finally I called home to tell my parents, and my mother’s response was; “That’s Nice”, and it was, it was very nice. It would be the nicest 4th of July I would ever have, and to marry a girl from England, who would become an American Citizen in order for me to regain my access to Special Intelligence, would make my whole life nice, very nice, and it is still very nice. Happy 4th of July!