Words & Pictures & Sacred Honor

D.C. Wright

So I got the email from my friend Wally, about Doug Todd’s article on his website at talkinfreedom.com. Now, Wally and Doug are Brothers of mine, Marines who also served in Vietnam and whose battalion my helicopter squadron supported, the always hard-fighting, hard-luck First Battalion of the Ninth Marine Regiment (1/9), the Walking Dead. I’m telling you, these Marines learned the cost of freedom the REAL hard way. Most Marines only have to learn the HARD way. Anyway, when I got Wally’s email and got the link, I was right there. Doug has a way with words that I would stack up against ANYONE else, even me, your never to be humble correspondent. So as soon as I read what you will be privileged to read momentarily, I was on the phone to Doug and got his blessing to make it part of this column. He gave me the go-ahead, so let me introduce Doug Todd, Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps. He’s writing to veterans, in the main, with the references to the Oath we took to protect and defend our Constitution (and by extension, the American People), so if you’re a non-veteran keep that in mind.

Words & Pictures & Sacred Honor

A Veteran's Pledge

by

Doug Todd

I dreamed that dream again last night. That same old dream I have dreamed so many times down the years – same picture – same jumbled up mess of words and feelings – waking in the same cold sweat to the knowledge that I would not sleep any more tonight.

In this dream I always see the same picture but I wake thinking of the words and the picture is usually just background.

Words are important to me. Words mean things. I have always been impressed by the words we started with (as a country, I mean) “We hold these truths…” and you know the rest of it right down to that part about Divine Providence and the pledge of “our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor.”

“We hold these truths to be self-evident” – by my seventeenth year I had read them so many times I could read them with my eyes (and the book) closed.

In that year we had a young President who spoke other words – words that were, in their own way, just as impressive. Yes I know they were not his words but were written for him by a man named Sorensen who was paid to write – but he made them seem to be his own.

He may have been somewhat less “Great” than some of us believed him to be at the time; he may have been a womanizer and other things he has been accused of but, on that cold and snow-covered January morning he was the man who took Mr. Sorensen’s words and made them live!

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. This much we pledge--and more.”

Something reminded me of that other pledge of “our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor” and I felt then that anyone hearing these words as he delivered them with such clarity and conviction – such force – would know immediately that these too were words that would be remembered and repeated long into the future.

Many of us (I mean us old Veterans) were young then and idealistic and some of his words (Liberty – Freedom – Democracy) left a good taste in our mouths. Some of us seemed to know instinctively that we held the future in our young hands and that we could shape it into something better than the world had ever seen before!

Some of us pledged our own “Lives and Fortunes” holding up our right hands and swearing our oath:

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

These were the words we started with – words written for us by someone whose name we didn’t know – but we made them our words. The words we started with when we were such young men (boys becoming men) and setting out to change the world.

We tried. We took up our burden, we fought where they sent us to fight and did what we could do to assure the survival and success of Liberty. Some of us lived through it and are still here in a “Future” that none of us could have imagined.

I dreamed that dream again last night. It was the same dream although some of the details were slightly altered.

In this dream I always see a picture of a young man in uniform – he is emerging from a rice paddy carrying a body (his best friend I always think) across his chest. A heavy blanket of smoke hangs over the whole scene but there is a thin place in the smoke where you can see a helicopter hovering over a tree line behind him. He is of indeterminate age; in that time and in that place young men became old men very quickly. The body is cradled in his arms with the face turned away from me so that I can’t even see what he may have looked like. There is a lot of blood.

The young man’s face is turned slightly skyward and the smoke and grime that covers it are streaked with what must be tears. He wears a flak-jacket with no shirt under it so that the bulge of his biceps is clearly visible. He may have been a weight lifter or an athlete in some other life in some other far away world. The over-all look is simply inexpressible anguish.

The words are there almost like a caption but now they are a question; “Any Price? Any Burden?”

Could he have known? Back on that cold January day so long ago could he have known it would come to this?

Could they have known when they pledged their “several lives and fortunes” that it would always come to this? That it would always be two strong young friends – one to pay the price and one to bear the burden? Did they know, did anyone/everyone ever/always know?

Could we have known? Could we -- maybe if we had been less idealistic, if we had felt less invincible, if we had not been so sure that the future was ours to shape and to mold and that we could leave the world better than we found it?

If we could have known – would the words have been the same?

Now that we do know, now that we have lived through it and know beyond any doubt that it will always come to the same place – where does that leave us now?

What of that Pledge we pledged – that Oath we swore?

I dreamed that dream again last night but this time it ended differently. In this dream (always before) I am standing on slightly higher ground at the edge of a paddy and he comes toward me with his friend’s body in his arms and that look of unspeakable anguish on his face. I can’t say anything to him. I have no words to speak. The only words I can find are questions “These truths? Our lives and fortunes? Any price, any burden?”. As I continue to wake slowly I realize that it is only a dream and that I am not standing at the edge of the paddy (or anywhere) but am lying on my back in bed and the picture is slowly dissolving in the darkness above me. The words are a jumbled mess of The Declaration, The Inaugural and The Oath and they are the last to go and before I am fully awake and aware that I will not be able to go back to sleep.

This time was different. He has never looked at me before but this time he made eye contact. He looked straight at me and nodded “Yes”. I was jolted out of bed.

Yes! I knew instantly what he meant and knew that he was absolutely right! Yes! They were right – the words we started with. They were right and they still mean what they always said!

The pledge still holds – the Oath is still binding! We still hold these truths to be self-evident! We still pledge our several lives and fortunes!

Yes! "Bearing True Faith & Allegiance” to the one who died in our arms and to the countless others who died in other arms on other fields of fire. Keeping faith with those who still wake feeling the weight of his body in their arms and the grief of his death in their hearts…

The pledge still holds… our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor to assure the survival and the success of Liberty – let the word go forth from this time and place -- that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe… to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;

This much we pledge-- and more – so help us God!

This is for Veterans' Day, 2009... and the Marine Corps' 234th Birthday as a memorial to those who will grow no older and who can no longer celebrate with us, the living.

"There was a girl who gave me (Leo Buscaglia speaking here) a poem, and she gave me permission to share it with you, and I want to do that because it explains about putting off and putting off and putting off - especially putting off caring about people we really love. She wants to remain anonymous, but she calls the poem, "THINGS YOU DIDN'T DO" and she says this":

== == == == == == == ==

Things You Didn't Do

Remember the day I borrowed your brand new car and I dented it?
I thought you'd kill me, but you didn't.

And remember the time I dragged you to the beach, and you said it would rain, and it did?
I thought you'd say, "I told you so." But you didn't.

Do you remember the time I flirted with all the guys to make you jealous, and you were?
I thought you'd leave me, but you didn't.

Do you remember the time I spilled strawberry pie all over your car rug?
I thought you'd hit me, but you didn't.

And remember the time I forgot to tell you the dance was formal and you showed up in jeans?
I thought you'd drop me, but you didn't.

Yes, there were lots of things you didn't do,
But you put up with me, and you loved me, and you protected me.

There were lots of things I wanted to make up to you when you returned from Viet Nam.

But you didn't.

CEASE AND DESIST

To: Barack Hussein Obama, an employee of We, the People of these United States of America

To: All persons employed at agencies, cabinet departments and other entities NOT SPECIFICALLY AUTHORIZED by the Constitution for the United States

To: The Members of the Senate, employees of We, the People of these United States

To: The Members of the House of Representatives, employees of We, the People of these United States

To: Judges, Justices and other members of the Judicial branch, employees of We, the People of these United States

We, the People of these United States of America, the sole bedrock and source of authority for you, our employees, to work and to have certain powers to act in our names and on our behalf, do hereby order you to CEASE AND DESIST any and all activities which are not FULLY AND COMPLETELY IN ACCORD with the VERY LIMITED grant of authority we gave you in the Constitution for the United States.

We hereby instruct you to READ the Founding Documents of this nation: The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and understand and RESPECT the source of your limited authority. We further order and instruct you to begin at once the process of vetting ALL PRIOR legislation ever passed, enforced or ruled on for its STRICT adherence to Constitutional limits on authority. We then expect that any and all legislation, executive orders, cabinet posts, agencies and other appurtenances of government not found in compliance to be repealed, excised and removed from existence.

We further require that ANY AND ALL legislation or executive orders or judicial rulings have as their first words the specific section and paragraph which authorizes them, We have grown exceedingly weary of the weight of government you have placed on us over the years and decades, virtually ALL of which is contrary to the LIMITED authority we granted you. Now We, the People of these United States are RECLAIMING our birthright, OUR inheritance, bought and paid for by the blood and sacrifice of untold men and women, whose bootstraps you are unworthy to kiss. You have, with so few exceptions as to be almost none, brought such shame and disgrace to the offices to which we hired you that we no longer trust you with the reins of authority.

We, the People of these United States, hereby rescind any authority you have to act in our names and on our behalf until such time as you have PROVEN by action, not words; by DEEDS, not by sugary oratory, that you finally understand the relationship you have with us. You are our EMPLOYEES, NOT our rulers. We, as a free and independent People, have NO ruler save Almighty God.

Tea Party Day
By D.C. Wright

(Author’s note: Sorry for the delay in writing. I’ve had some things going on, primarily issues with my ISP, that are (hopefully) on the way to being resolved. I will definitely do what I can to not let this stop me in the future. Thanks for waiting for me!)

Today, September 12, 2009, is Tea Party Day, with at least one observer (foreign) calling the attendance at some TWO MILLION. I am also told that C-SPAN covered it live. Certainly Fox News network had coverage, including live with Glenn Beck. It was, in a word, OUTSTANDING!

Think about it: in Washington, D.C., an unmatched (that I recall) outpouring of the same caliber people who founded this nation came peaceably together in massive numbers to tell our political “leadership” to pay attention. And I do believe that we GOT their undivided attention. Especially when there were corresponding Tea Parties at state capitols and other cities across the land. Amazing.

But will it do any good whatsoever? Of course, only time will tell, but surely by now we realize that the Left sees only what it wants to see. Amazing, huh? Yet, the hopelessly romantic optimist in me wants to think that they WILL pay attention to us, finally; that they will have to EAT the “Astroturf” label that Nancy Botox has given patriots. So we shall see.

One sure thing: there were apparently ZERO untoward incidents caused by the good guys. I can be sure this is so, because the MSM has carefully ignored us the best they can; if someone “on our side” had misbehaved, it would be screamed all OVER the networks and lefty blogs. I haven’t yet heard of anything, ergo, the organizers managed to keep our folks behaving as they should.

What lessons do WE need to take from this? Well, for openers, we need to keep in mind that we CAN organize when there is a real need; we can turn out far more people than the Left has ever been able to at any similar gathering that I can recall… and, having come of age in the mid sixties, I recall THOSE turbulent times. I became one of their enemies then, after I voluntarily enlisted in the Armed Forces (more specifically, I was a draft dodger. But I dodged it far differently than Billy Jeff Clinton did. Instead of being drafted into the army for two years, I enlisted in the Marine Corps for four).

We have learned that we do NOT need politicians to get us to turn out; in fact, during the April Tea Parties, politicians were not even allowed to speak, for the most part. I was disappointed (in a minor way) that some politicians were allowed to give speeches today, though having one of them be Jim DeMint did mollify me somewhat.

We learned once again that Obama is a coward. That when resistance showed up to his plans and it was credible, HE got out of town. I’m sure that a lot of the RINO and Democrat congressional “leadership” ducked out as well. Gee, I wonder why! I wonder why none of these individuals had the stones to come out and talk personally with the Partygoers. I wonder why Nancy Botox or Barbara Bouncer couldn’t be bothered to turn out to meet the California delegation. (I do know that FreeRepublic founder Jim Robinson was there; why couldn’t Babs or Nan come over to chat with him? Or why couldn’t Juan McLame come out to talk with the Arizona delegation, or Dingy Harry Reid visit the Nevadans that came to deliver a message to him? What is it about the Left that they don’t want to meet INDIVIDUALS who oppose them?

I think it may have something to do with the simple fact that the Left (at the TOP) does not want to actually see or put faces, names and situations to those who will be most adversely affected by their evil machinations. They love the NUMBERS but let their minions be the ones to deal with the actual PEOPLE. Someone wrote an article to that effect, but I can’t put my hand to it at this moment to actually quote from.

All in all, my impression is that today was a marvelous success for those of us who believe in liberty and the Constitution. Time will tell just how marvelous, but I think it may well be a bigger success than we can imagine just now.

On another topic, how many of you are “Three Percenters”? For that matter, how many of you know what that means? Let me tell you, in the words of the movement “founder.”

Here is the Doctrine:
The Doctrine of the Three Percent.
We will not disarm.

You cannot convince us.

You cannot intimidate us.

You can try to kill us, if you think you can.

But remember, we'll shoot back.

And we are not going away.

Your move.


(taken from http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/)

Here is the history:

What is a "Three Percenter"?
During the American Revolution, the active forces in the field against the King's tyranny never amounted to more than 3% of the colonists. They were in turn actively supported by perhaps 10% of the population. In addition to these revolutionaries were perhaps another 20% who favored their cause but did little or nothing to support it. Another one-third of the population sided with the King (by the end of the war there were actually more Americans fighting FOR the King than there were in the field against him) and the final third took no side, blew with the wind and took what came.

Three Percenters today do not claim that we represent 3% of the American people, although we might. That theory has not yet been tested. We DO claim that we represent at least 3% of American gun owners, which is still a healthy number somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 million people. History, for good or ill, is made by determined minorities. We are one such minority. So too are the current enemies of the Founders' Republic. What remains, then, is the test of will and skill to determine who shall shape the future of our nation.

The Three Percent today are gun owners who will not disarm, will not compromise and will no longer back up at the passage of the next gun control act. Three Percenters say quite explicitly that we will not obey any further circumscription of our traditional liberties and will defend ourselves if attacked. We intend to maintain our God-given natural rights to liberty and property, and that means most especially the right to keep and bear arms. Thus, we are committed to the restoration of the Founders' Republic, and are willing to fight, die and, if forced by any would-be oppressor, to kill in the defense of ourselves and the Constitution that we all took an oath to uphold against enemies foreign and domestic.

We are the people that the collectivists who now control the government should leave alone if they wish to continue unfettered oxygen consumption. We are the Three Percent. Attempt to further oppress us at your peril. To put it bluntly, leave us the hell alone. Or, if you feel froggy, go ahead AND WATCH WHAT HAPPENS.

This time we are ALL Davidians. This time, we are all Jews, Kulaks, "counter-revolutionists" and "enemies of the state." We are now a despised minority within a country no longer our own BUT WE WILL NOT BE DESPISED.

(The link is the same. Go ahead and check them out. I did and I am now proud to call myself a Three Percenter!)

Till next time!

Celtic Woman and O America... a MOST outstanding video!

Get your hankies out, people. This WILL make you weep for your country!
Semper Fi
DC

Morality

By

D.C. Wright

All right, gather ‘round, people. Today we get to talk about MORALITY. Morality is, in my view, widely misunderstood, much like the meaning of our Constitution. Yet, morality is a vital component of a free society. The United States were founded on the moral principles of Judeo-Christian beliefs. No matter what some revisionist might want us to swallow, THAT is the plain fact of the matter. These Biblical beliefs were ingrained in this country from the beginnings. My own ancestors, on the Mayflower, came in the hope of religious freedom, that is, freedom from the dictates of the Church of England, which they felt did not properly reflect the Biblical truths that my ancestors believed. I agree, but I digress.

The Massachusetts colony set up as a “collective,” probably not unlike those of the old Soviets or what some would turn US into. They almost starved to death. Eventually, before it was too late, they came to their senses and established property rights and private property. Then, and only then, did they succeed. Because “collectives” are not, that I have ever been able to tell, Scriptural. Nor do they work in any form or fashion. The Judeo-Christian tradition is strong on the WORK ETHIC. In fact, it was written, (paraphrasing) “He who will not work, let him not eat.” (the Apostle Paul) To me, this says that if one is not willing to labor for his food, he does NOT have any call on someone ELSE’S labor to feed him. That makes perfect sense to me.

Other principles are laid out in the Scriptures: that of property rights, of not committing murder, of not lying, cheating on your husband or wife, and so forth. These things are really the underpinnings of our morality, as they should be. They are God-given, God-inspired universal truths. HOWEVER, having said that, they also must be voluntarily accepted by each individual in society in order to truly be a MORAL code. Except that, of course, LEGAL prohibitions on crimes, such as murder, rape, theft, and so forth, with appropriate provisions for restitution and punishment, are universally valid in civilized nations. The other things, adultery, lying, sex outside of marriage, eating and drinking, things which should not rise to the level of CRIME, may rise to the level of SIN, if you believe the Bible or the Torah. Generally speaking, while sins may extract a higher punishment from God, they do not belong in our penal codes.

As I said, each individual must adopt a MORAL CODE, because MORALS are what you live by when you’re ALONE. It should be taught by the families and by the churches and synagogues. Morality is not the province of government, and the reason is simple. Especially today, when we have those of the Left working overtime to destroy the influence of families and religion (excepting the Religion of Peace, it seems) and substituting laws and prohibitions for morality, we need to fight this tooth and nail. For they mean to control every aspect of our lives and the only way it can be done is if they control what to them passes for morality: promiscuity, perversion and hedonistic pleasures to tempt our children coupled with prohibitions against these very things in the law, so that they can create a nation of LAWBREAKERS, who then can be controlled. As most of us know, a FREE man or woman cannot be controlled; at most they can be killed. But a hedonistic society, plagued by the guilt of breaking laws that were never intended to be UNBROKEN, can be controlled as readily as a horse to a bridle. (But without as much sense as the horse, speaking from 40+ year-old experience.)

I am a Christian. In a nutshell, I believe that God created the heavens and the earth; I believe that sin came into the world; I believe that God chose the Israelites as His people; I believe that later, He sent His Son into the world to preach, to die, to rise from the dead and to bear the burden of my sins so that I might, believing and accepting that, spend my eternity with Him. So I accept what the Bible says as God’s truth. And I equally believe that in order to WORK, all of these things must be accepted individually and voluntarily. Now, not everyone is going to accept everything I do. OK. But the parts that we can all agree on, the MORALITY, that you should be able to accept: respecting the rights of others and never, ever initiating an act of aggression against another, and so forth. These are the main components of a voluntary moral code. And these are the things those of the Left are so adamantly against. Theirs is a top-down, CONTROLLED society, with them (the elite) rising to the top, sort of like pond scum. With some exceptions (notably the notion that people who had dark skin, like my wife, could be bought and sold like cattle), our society WAS a voluntary society. And it worked, for the most part. But there was no TOP DOWN CONTROL over We, the People. That it was designed that way doesn’t matter to the elitists. They want US to do THEIR bidding.

You do recall Animal Farm, I’m sure. Where all animals were equal, but some were more equal than others. That’s what the Left wants; Soros and Pelosi and Reid and Jackson-Lee and Obama and Holden. They’re the pond scum that’s risen to the top and because of it they seem to feel (the Left FEELS; it seldom THINKS) that they know so much better than we how OUR lives should be run. And many on the Right are letting them get away with it, to the detriment of ALL THE REST of us. The Right is OK with prohibiting certain behaviors because they contradict what these people believe. This fits right in with the schemes of the Left, because it helps create another class of guilt-ridden dupes. And, of course, the ultimate result is the further shredding of our Constitution and our Republic.

That’s today’s lesson. It’s late and I’m tired, so we’ll continue this later. Your comments will be appreciated, because I do a much better job when I’m challenged and have to THINK about WHY I believe what I do. Then I can break it down better and do a much improved job for you. Just so you know, writing and philosophizing in a vacuum is nigh on to impossible; this is a two way street, not me preaching at you and you accepting it. So KEEP those comments and emails coming. I need to know how you are reacting to what I have to say. Am I clear enough? Do I get too confusing?

When I was the Training NCO for a Marine Helicopter Squadron, back during the ‘80s and even as Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (Network warfare) Defense Chief, my job was to make what I needed to impart UNDERSTANDABLE to my Marines. This meant that they had to make it clear, was I or was I not getting my message through and how could I do better. THAT is what I need from you, dear readers. I have a LOT to say, some of it even worthwhile. But if I cannot make it clear to YOU, I’m wasting our time and your bandwidth in downloading me. We can have some fun, tweak the Statists’ noses and learn from each other. So let’s do it! (And if you ask me nice, I’ll even tell you all about my grandkids, the absolute finest in the known universe!) Sometime soon, we’ll also talk about ETHICS, which is how you deal with others.