the 13 folds

[gunman1911]

Thanks TWYACHT, These colors don't run and neither do I!

[tombogan03884]

Thanks TWYACHT, These colors don't run and neither do I!

Take note TAB, that's how Americans think .

[DDMac]

Tom, a national referendum on the accuracy of your observation is coming in November. I hope you are right.
Mac.

[Teresa Heilevang]

First  year cadets at the Air  Force  Academy  are allowed to leave the Academy without penalty up through the end of  first-year Christmas break. Those who came back were assigned to write a paper on why they chose to return. Here  is one young cadet's masterpiece, which has begun to be widely  publicized...
____________________________________________________
 
Why  return  to the  Air  Force  Academy  after  Winter  Break?
 
So  after our sunburns have faded and the memories of our winter break have  been reduced to pictures  we've  pinned on our desk boards, and once again we've exchanged T-shirts and  swim suits for  flight  suits and camouflage, there still remains the question that every cadet at  U.S. Air Force Academy  in  Colorado Springs has asked themselves at some point: Why did we come back?  Why, after  spending  two weeks with our family would we return to one of the most demanding  lifestyles  in  the country? After listening to our 'friends' who are home from State or  Ivy League schools chock  full  of wisdom about how our war in Iraq is unjust and unworldly, why would we  return? And after  watching  the news and reading the papers which only seem to condemn the military's  every mistake and shadow every victory, why would we continue to think it  is worth the sacrifice of a normal  college  life?
 
 Is  it because the institution to which we belong is tuition-free? Anyone  who claims this has forgotten that we will, by the time we graduate, repay  the US  taxpayer  many  times over in blood, sweat, and tears. Is it because the schooling we are  receiving is one of the best undergraduate educations in the country?  While the quality of the education is second to  none,  anyone who provides this as a main reason has lost sight of the awesome  responsibility that awaits those who are tough enough to graduate and  become commissioned officers in the  U.S.  Air Force.
 
I  come back to the Academy because I want to have the training necessary so  that one day I'll have the incredible responsibility of leading the sons  and daughters of America  in combat. These men and women will never ask about my Academy grade point  average, their only concern will be  that  I have the ability to lead them expertly; I will be humbled to earn their  respect. I come back to the Academy because I want to be the commander who  saves lives by negotiating with Arab leaders... in their own  language.
 
I  come back to the Academy because, if called upon, I want to be the pilot  who flies half way around the world with three mid-air refuelings to send  a bomb from 30,000 feet into a basement housing the enemy... through a  ventilation shaft two feet wide. Becoming an officer in  today's  modern  Air Force is so much more than just command; it is being a diplomat, a  strategist, a communicator, a moral compass, but always a warrior  first.
 
I  come back to the Air  Force  Academy  because, right now, the United  States  is fighting a global war that is an 'away  game'  in Iraq  - taking  the fight to the terrorists.
 
 Whether  or not we think the terrorists were in Iraq  before our invasion, they are unquestionably there now. And if there is  any doubt as to whether this is a global war, just ask the people in  Amman,  in London,  in Madrid,  in Casablanca,  in Riyadh,  and in Bali.
 
This  war must remain an away game  because we have seen what happens when it becomes a home game... I come  back to the Academy because I want to be a part of that  fight.
 
I  come back to the Academy because I don't want my vacationing family to  board a bus in Paris  that gets blown away by  someone who thinks that it would be a good idea to convert the Western  world to Islam.
 
I  come back to the Academy because I don't want the woman I love to be the  one who dials her last frantic cell phone call while huddled in the back  of an airliner with a hundred other people seconds  away from slamming into the Capitol  building.
 
I  come back to the Academy because during my freshman year of high school I  sat in a geometry class and watched nineteen terrorists change the course  of history live on television. For the first time,  every  class currently at a U.S.  Service  Academy  made the decision to join after the 2001 terror  attacks.
 
Some  have said that the U.S.  invasion of Iraq  and Afghanistan  only created more terrorists... I say that the  attacks of September  11th, 2001  created an untold more number of American soldiers; I go to school with  4,000 of them. And that's worth more than missing a few frat  parties.
 
Joseph  R. Tomczak Cadet, Fourth  Class  United  States  Air  Force  Academy 
 
 (U.S.  Senator Wayne Allard (R-Colorado) had Cadet Tomczak's essay read into the  Congressional Record, and at a meeting of the Air  Force  Academy  Board of   Visitors  he presented Cadet Tomczak with a framed copy of the  essay.)

[gunman1911]

Sounds like the Air Force Academy has some dam fine cadets that we all can be proud of.

[Sponsor]

[twyacht]

Sounds like the Air Force Academy has some dam fine cadets that we all can be proud of.

Plus, if you can prove it, you get to do this,..the ultimate performance vehicle, WITH GUNS!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-esQFe-6wJw&feature=related

only 24 seconds,...

[Teresa Heilevang]

Love to watch 'em.. but I would hate to be in the plane. 

[tombogan03884]

Tom, a national referendum on the accuracy of your observation is coming in November. I hope you are right.
Mac.

I'll tell you something similar to what I told TAB some where else. Just because there are a lot of them does not mean they are right, or are REAL Americans. Either Madison or Mason, (I forget which ) said "The majority ? The majority is an ass sir."
But yes, I hope so too.

[gunman1911]

Plus, if you can prove it, you get to do this,..the ultimate performance vehicle, WITH GUNS!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-esQFe-6wJw&feature=related

only 24 seconds,...

OOOHH YEA!

[Teresa Heilevang]

The National Anthem is played before every movie shown at a military theater.

From a Chaplain in Iraq :

I recently attended a showing of 'Superman 3,' here at LSA Anaconda. We have a large auditorium we use for movies, as well as memorial services and other large gatherings. As is the custom back in the States, we stood and snapped to attention when the National Anthem began before the main feature. All was going as planned until about three-quarters of the way through The National Anthem the music stopped.

Now, what would happen if this occurred with 1,000 18-22 year-olds back in the States? I imagine there would be hoots, catcalls, laughter, a few rude comments; and everyone would sit down and call for a movie. Of course, that is, if they had stood for the National Anthem in the first place. Here, the 1,000 Soldiers continued to stand at attention, eyes fixed forward. The music started again. The Soldiers continued to quietly stand at attention. And again, at the same point, the music stopped.
What would you expect to happen? Even here I would imagine laughter, as everyone finally sat down and expected the movie to start.

But here, you could have heard a pin drop. Every Soldier continued to stand at attention. Suddenly there was a lone voice,
then a dozen, and quickly the room was filled with the voices of a thousand soldiers, finishing where the recording left off:
'And the rockets red glare,
The bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night
That our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free
And the home of the brave.'

It was the most inspiring moment I have had here in Iraq . I wanted you to know what kind of Soldiers are serving you here.
Remember them as they fight for you! Pass this along as a reminder to others to be ever in prayer for all our soldiers serving us here at home and abroad. For many have already paid the ultimate price.

Written by
Chaplain Jim Higgins
LSA Anaconda
Balad Airport in Iraq , north of Baghdad