Below are a few more nuggets from the upcoming book I told you about in an earlier post - "America - United We Stand."

Andy Bullock, with VirtuServe, has asked me to let you all know that you are welcome to submit items for consideration. You can email to: america@virtuserve.org


William Young, Federal Judge
On January 30, 2003, U.S. District Court Judge William Young made the following statements during his sentencing "shoe bomber" Richard Reid to prison.

"This is the sentence that is provided for by our statutes. It is a fair and just sentence. It is a righteous sentence.

Let me explain this to you-- We are not afraid of any of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid. We are Americans. We have been through the fire before.

You are a terrorist. And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We don’t sign treaties with them. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice.

What I have as honestly as I know how tried to grapple with is why you did something so horrific. What was it that led you here to this courtroom today? We have all listened respectfully to what you had to say, and I ask you to search your heart and ask yourself what sort of unfathomable hatred led you to do what you are guilty and admit you are guilty of doing.

I have an answer for you. It may not satisfy you, but as I search this entire record it comes as close to an understanding as I know. It seems to me you hate the one thing that is most precious in all the world. You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we individually choose.

Here, in this society, the very winds carry freedom. They carry it everywhere from sea to shining sea. It is because we prize individual freedom so much that you are here in this beautiful courtroom. So that everyone can see, truly see, that justice is administered fairly, individually, and discretely.

It is for freedom's sake that your lawyers are striving so vigorously on your behalf and have filed appeals, and will go on in their representation of you before other judges. We are about it because we all know that the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own liberties. Make no mistake though-- It is yet true that we will bear any burden; pay any price, to preserve our freedoms.

Look around this courtroom, Mr. Reid, and mark it well. The world is not going to long remember what you or I say here. Day after tomorrow it will be forgotten. But this, however, will long endure. Here in this courtroom and courtrooms all across America, the American people will gather to see that justice, individual justice-- not war-- justice is, in fact, being done.

See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America. That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten. That flag stands for freedom. You know it always will.”


John Glenn, United States Senator
Note: Some people still don't understand why military personnel do what they do for a living. This exchange, on the Floor of the United States Senate, between Sen. John Glenn and a fellow senator is worth reading. Not only is it an impressive impromptu speech, but it is also a good example of one man's explanation of why men and women in the Armed Services do what they do for a living. The opposing senator in question made the mistake of challenging Senator Glenn as follows—

"How can you run for the Senate when you've never held a "real job?"To which Senator Glenn replied—

"I served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps, serving through two wars. I flew 149 missions. My plane was hit by antiaircraft fire on 12 different occasions. I was in the Space Program. It wasn't my checkbook; it was my Life that was on the line. It was not a nine-to-five job, where I took time off to take daily cash receipts to the bank.

I ask you to go with me as I went the other day... to a Veterans Hospital and look those men-- with their mangled bodies-- in the eye, and tell them they didn't hold a job. Come with me to NASA and visit, as I have visited, with the widows and orphans of Ed White, Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee... and look those wives and kids in the eye and tell them that their husbands and dads didn't hold “real” jobs.

Come with me on Memorial Day and stand in Arlington National Cemetery, where I have more friends buried than I'd like to remember, and watch those waving flags. Stand there, and think about this nation, and tell me that those people didn't have a job…

I will tell you that you should be on your knees every day of your life thanking God that there were some men-- SOME men-- who held REAL jobs. And they required a dedication to a purpose, and a love of country and a dedication to duty that was more important to them than life itself. And their self-sacrifice is what made this country possible.

I HAVE held a “real” job, my friend--What about you?"

Please remember that all of the excerpts posted here are the property of VirtuServe, and should not be republished or reposted without their consent.

OLD GLORY — An F/A-18F Super Hornet pilot, assigned to the "Black Knights" of Strike Fighter Squadron 154, waits with "Old Glory" for his turn to take off from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in the Persian Gulf for a mission over Iraq, April 7, 2005. The flag is owned by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Eric Hofmann, who bought the flag when he enlisted in the Navy. The flag has been on every deployment he has been on since he enlisted. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Joseph Wilson

JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Bush warns Sharon on settlement growth
India, China to form strategic partnership
U.S. contractor kidnapped in Iraq
Bolton pledges to help strengthen U.N.


Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
American contractor kidnapped in Iraq
U.S.: Iraq insurgent push in north waning
Israeli Holocaust museum honors Nazi
Hezbollah flies spy drone over Israel
U.S. sends envoy to talks on aiding Sudan
Disputes delay naming of Lebanese Cabinet
U.S.-Iraqi forces launch big Baghdad raid
Egypt: Bomber was student turned extremist


The US News: Iraq News
U.S.-Iraqi raid nets dozens of suspects
Groups provide disabled Iraq vets housing


Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraq refugee camp drama wins film award
Bomb kills at least two in Iraqi market
Defense: GI couldn't plan Kuwait attack
Two Car Bomb Blasts in West Iraq -Witnesses
Pentagon sees possible troop reduction in Iraq by 2006
Pakistani Kidnapped in Iraq Safe, Pakistan Says


Fox News
American Kidnapped in Iraq
Iraq Troop Levels May Drop
Grenade GI 'Mentally Ill?'
Bush: Return to Road Map
Hezbollah Spy Craft Over Israel
Gas Hits Record for 4th Week
Cops Tackle Man at Capitol
Video: Takedown at the Capitol


Department of Defense
New Iraqi President Discusses Coalition — Story
Military Confronts Stress at Front Lines — Story
Engineer District Chief Updates Projects — Story

ON THE GROUND
Joint Fuels Effort Keeps Airlift Airborne — Story
Battalion Gets a New Look at Insurgents — Story
Civil Affairs Sergeant Organizes Donations — Story
Recon Soldiers Scout Desert, Meet Locals — Story
Marne, Rainbow Soldiers Get Combat Patch — Story

IN IRAQ
U.S. Soldiers Awarded for Hostage Rescue
Troops Deliver Donated School Supplies

IN AFGHANISTAN
Deployed Airmen Adopt a Village, or Two
Medal of Honor Recipients Visit Troops

FACE OF DEFENSE
Civil Affairs Soldier Accepted into U.S. Military Academy — Story

Company Donates Comfort Insoles — Story

TOP NEWS
SPECIAL REPORTS
Medal of Honor
Two Years in Iraq
Gitmo Detainee Camp

IN IRAQ
Baghdad Fall Marks New Beginning
Government Moves Forward
Bush Praises New Iraqi Government
Success in Iraq - DoD Fact Sheet
Iraq Daily Update
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps
Weekly Progress Report (pdf)

IN AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan Daily Update
Maps
Afghan Reconstruction Group Recruiting

WAR ON TERRORISM
Department Goal: More Linguists
Adaptability Key to Success
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
Partnership Helps at Tax Time
Moroccan Frigates Guide Kearsarge
National Guard, Reserve Update

CASUALTIES
Officials Identify Army Casualties — Story


Today in History
1713 - The Treaty of Utrecht is signed, ending the War of Spanish Succession. France cedes Maritime provinces to Britain.
1783 - Congress proclaims a formal end to hostilities with Great Britain.
1814 - Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba.
1898 - President William McKinley asks Congress for declaration of war with Spain.
1941 - Germany bombs Conventry, England.
1942 - In Burma, detachment 101 of the OSS--a guerrilla force--is activated.
1945 - The Red Army finally takes the Seelow Heights north of Berlin.
The U.S. Army liberates Buchenwald concentration camp.
1951 - President Truman removes General Douglas MacArthur from command of the United Nations forces in Korea.
1961 - Israel opens the trial of Adolf Eichman for war crimes during WWII.
Hooker.
1968 - President Johnson signs the 1968 Civil Rights Act - a week after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
1972 - American B-52's attack North Vietnamese positions.
1974 - The Judiciary committee subpoenas President Richard Nixon to produce tapes for an impeachment inquiry.
1981 - President Ronald Reagan returns to the White House after recoving from an assassination attempt.
1991 - The U.N. Security Council issues a formal cease fire with Iraq.
1996 - Forty-three African nations sign the African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty.

Birthdays
1770 - George Canning, British Prime Minister.
1794 - Edward Everett, governor of Massachusetts / statesman / orator.
1862 - Charles Evans Hughs, 11th Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
1893 - Dean G. Acheson, U.S. Secretary of State; helped create NATO.
1925 - Ethel Kennedy, wife of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.