Spc. Travis Williams, a grenadier with the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team, looks through the the sights of his M320 grenade launcher March 24, 2013, at Fort Bragg, N.C. Williams and his team are providing support by fire for another element that is assaulting an objective.
Yeah Bro, Park Your LCAC Anywhere – Lance Corporal Seth Taylor, a field radio operator with Combat Logistics Battalion 24, 24th MEU, communicates over radio with Marines on the USS New York as a Landing Craft Air Cushion transports Marines and equipment assigned to CLB 24 ashore, Djibouti, March 27, 2015. A contingent of MEU Marines went ashore in Djibouti to conduct scheduled sustainment training. The 24th MEU is embarked on the ships of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and deployed to maintain regional security in the U.S. 5th Fleet Area of operations.
Harley-Davidson
The Newark, NJ Police Motorcycle Squad carries on a time honored tradition of upholding justice and keeping our roadways safe. We are proud to supply these motor officers with our motorcycles.
Celebrity patriots a rare breed but Jimmy Stewart more than fit the bill.
Jimmy Stewart’s original attempts to join the Army were rejected because he did not meet the height and weight requirements to become a fighter pilot. Unfazed by the setback, Stewart found an alternative route by joining the U.S. Air Corps, where he would quickly rise through the ranks and become a Colonel in just four years. He won virtually every Medal of Honor available and helped fly crucial missions in Nazi Germany.
While he was building his reputation as an actor, the rest of the world was about to go to war. German occupation in numerous countries in the early part of 1940 led Congress on September 16, 1940 to pass the Selective Service Bill, “the draft”, this bill called for 900,000 men between the ages of 20 and 36 to be drafted each year. Stewart’s draft number was 310. When his number was called and he appeared at Draft Board No. 245 in West Los Angeles in February 1941, the 6’3” Stewart weighed only 138 pounds, 5 pounds under the acceptable weight level. He was turned down. Stewart wanted to fly and serve his country but by May of 1941 he would have been too old to get into flight school. He went home ate everything he could that was fattening and went back and enlisted in the Army Air Corps, he passed the physical with an ounce to spare. While others tried to avoid the draft, he actually wanted to serve in the military. Later he would actually campaign to see combat.
Jimmy was already a licensed pilot. Interested in aviation as a child, he had taken his first flight while still in Indiana from one of the barnstorming pilots that used to travel the Midwest. As a successful actor in 1935 Jimmy was able to afford flying lessons. He received his pilot’s license in 1935 and bought his first airplane. In 1938 he gained his commercial pilot’s license. He often flew cross country to visit his parents in Pennsylvania, navigating by the railroad tracks.
In the military, he was to make extensive use of his pilot’s training. In March 1941 at age 32, he reported for duty as Private James Stewart at Fort McArthur and was assigned to the Army Air Corps at Moffett Field. To comply with the regulations of the Air Corps proficiency board, Stewart required additional 100 flying hours and bought them at a nearby field, at this own expense. He then took and passed a very stiff proficiency board examination. In January 1942 Stewart was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. He was then sent to Mather Field in California as a twin engine instructor this included both the B-17 and B-24. Much to his dismay, Stewart stayed stateside for almost two years, until commanding officers finally yielded to his request to be sent overseas. In November 1943, now a Captain and Operations Officer for the 703rd Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group of the Eight Air Force, he arrived in Tibenham, England. In March of 1944 he was transferred to the 453rd Bombardment Group at Old Buckenham. While stateside, Stewart flew B-17’s (The Flying Fortress). In England he flew B-24’s (The Liberator) and did so for the remaining years of the war. Stewart’s war record included 20 dangerous combat missions as command pilot, wing commander or squadron commander. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters, The Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm. At the end of the war he had risen to the rank of Colonel. After the war he remained with the US Air Force Reserves and was promoted to Brigadier General in 1959. His tuxedo and dress blues with all the correct medals are on display at The Jimmy Stewart Museum. He retired from the Air Force in 1968 (mandatory retirement age) and received the Distinguished Service Medal. When the war was over, Jimmy returned home to a hero’s welcome in Indiana, Pennsylvania, immortalized by Life magazine cover that showed him posing in full uniform on top of a building with the golden cupola of the Indiana County Courthouse in the background draped with a “Welcome Home Jim” banner and a large lighted wooden “V”ictory sign – his father is said to have put these up.
God Bless the Great State of TEXAS!
Texas Governor Greg Abbott declared February 2nd to be “Chris Kyle Day” to honor the Texan who became known the most lethal sniper in American history. Kyle was also recently immortalized in the blockbuster film “American Sniper.”
Kyle was credited with 150 sniper kills during his four tours of duty in Iraq as a Navy Seal. He was tragically shot and killed on February 2, 2013, while trying to help a fellow veteran who was allegedly suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Taya Kyle, the widow of Chris Kyle, was recently honored by the organization AmericanSnipers.org with a donation of $62,000. According to a Breitbart News article by AWR Hawkins, the group raised the money by raffling a McMillan .338 Lapua sniper rifle. She also recently made news by shooting an antelope on a hunting trip taken to honor her late husband.
After his death, Kyle was honored with a memorial service in the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The service along with the miles-long funeral procession were also featured in the movie honoring Kyle.
During that service, then Governor Rick Perry said, “Chris Kyle was the public face of an anonymous breed of American warrior who are handed the hardest missions and assume the largest risks,” Former Governor Rick Perry said. “Chris was among the very best at what he did, and he saved countless American lives in the process. Our state and our nation suffered a profound loss with his passing. I am honored to have known Chris and to have called him my friend. Anita and I send our deepest condolences to his wife, Taya, his children and the thousands of service members that were his extended family.”
