HELLO AMERICA, HAVE YOU GOT A SECOND?

BUT, BEFORE YOU GET TOO COMFY..................

Today is Labor Day in America. We will grill out, go shopping, watch sports on TV, ride our bikes, run down to the local tap or DQ and enjoy the day off. We will veg, go swimming, golf, take a drive to see the countryside. We will do all of the things we as a people like doing.

But for 68,000 men and women stationed in Afghanistan or however many there are at this moment its a another day of sheer dread, of horror, of fright, of hopelessness, of clinging to whatever a 19 year old clings to when he has seen mangled death upon his friends and having to return fire to a 13 year old enemy.

Sure, we're drawing down. But that's just a made-up term. This is the longest war in American history, and even when we are out in a couple years, we will still be there. And our sons and daughters will still be dying. Give a thought to them today and everyday. No politics, no sermon, just a reminder that this is a nation at war.

Specialist James Justice of the United States Army died last week after being shot in the head by Taliban forces while conducting combat operations in Afghanistan.

Justice was the 2,000th American killed in action in the Afghan War. He was 21 years old.

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Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless. Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001. It was one of those things that can generate crime: two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job. Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things. Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold. But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find. His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead. He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds. He will be paralyzed for life. None of this is pleasant. Reading the f...

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Existing In BFE

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