More from Uncle Sparky

This is a story sent to my uncle by one of his friends.

"As I came out of the supermarket that sunny day, pushing my cart of groceries towards my car, I saw an old man with the hood of his car up and a lady sitting inside the car, with the door open.

The old man was looking at the engine. I put my groceries away in my car and continued to watch the old gentleman from about twenty five feet away.

I saw a young man in his early twenties with a grocery bag in his arm, walking towards the old man. The old gentleman saw him coming too and took a few steps towards him.* ** I saw the old gentleman point to his open hood and say something. The young man put his grocery bag into what looked like a brand new Cadillac Escalade and then turn back to the old man and I heard him yell at the old gentleman saying,'You shouldn't even be allowed to drive a car at your age.' And then with a wave of his hand, he got in his car and peeled rubber out of the parking lot.

I saw the old gentleman pull out his handkerchief and mop his brow as he went back to his car and again looked at the engine.

He then went to his wife and spoke with her and appeared to tell her it would be okay. I had seen enough and I approached the old man. He saw me coming and stood straight and as I got near him I said, 'Looks like you're having a problem.'

He smiled sheepishly and quietly nodded his head. I looked under the hood myself and knew that whatever the problem was, it was beyond me. Looking around I saw a gas station up the road and told the old man that I would be right back... I drove to the station and went inside and saw three attendants working on cars. I approached one of them and related the problem the old man had with his car and offered to pay them if they could follow me back down and help him.

The old man had pushed the heavy car under the shade of a tree and appeared to be comforting his wife. When he saw us he straightened up and thanked me for my help. As the mechanics diagnosed the problem (overheated engine) I spoke with the old gentleman.

When I shook hands with him earlier, he had noticed my Marine Corps ring and had commented about it, telling me that he had been a Marine too. I nodded and asked the usual question, 'What outfit did you serve with?'

He had mentioned that he served with the First Marine Division at Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal. He had hit all the big ones and retired from the Corps after the war was over.

As we talked we heard the car engine come on and saw the mechanics lower the hood. They came over to us as the old man reached for his wallet, but was stopped by me and I told him I would just put the bill on my AAA card.

He still reached for the wallet and handed me a card that I assumed had his name and address on it and I stuck it in my pocket. We all shook hands all around again and I said my goodbye's to his wife.

I then told the two mechanics that I would follow them back up to the station. Once at the station I told them that they had interrupted their own jobs to come along with me and help the old man. I said I wanted to pay for the help, but they refused to charge me.

One of them pulled out a card from his pocket looking exactly like the card the old man had given to me. Both of the men told me then, that they were Marine Corps Reserves. Once again we shook hands all aroundand as I was leaving, one of them told me I should look at the card the old man had given to me. I said I would and drove off.

For some reason I had gone about two blocks when I pulled over and took the card out of my pocket and looked at it for a long, long time. The name of the old gentleman was on the card in golden leaf and under his name.......'Congressional Medal of Honor Society.'

I sat there motionless looking at the card and reading it over and over. I looked up from the card and smiled to no one but myself and marveled that on this day, four Marines had all come together, because one of us needed help. He was an old man all right, but it felt Good to have stood next to greatness and courage and an honor to have been in his presence. Remember, OLD men like him gave you FREEDOM for America."

*Thanks to those who served...and those who supported them. These WWII vets are now dying at about 1,000 a day.

Remember, Freedom isn't Free, thousands have paid the price so you can enjoy what you have today.

Another True Story

The following is from another email from a friend of my Uncle Sparky.

This reminds me of what happened to myself some years ago. I was on the way to K.C. on the turn pike . Needed some gas and as I was about to pay for it there was a bit of a ruckus in the back of the shop. An old man had brought in a flat tire (it was the spare) and the guy in the shop had tore it up with out checking to see if it needed to be fixed. It didn't need any thing but some air. The old man was fuming, you could tell by his clothes he didn't have a lot of worldly goods. He didn't want to pay the charge, which was $5.00. Remember , this was almost twenty years ago that was a lot of money back then. Now it would be ten or fifteen.

The old guy was telling the young guy he didn't think the younger man under stood what was the right thing to do and on and on, really chewing him out about young people didn't care about what was right ect and ect. I intervened, payed the bill, helped the old man load the tire in my trunk telling him I would take him back to his car where he had the flat. It was ten miles back to the old man's car. I wish it had been fifty for he had a story to tell. He was a full blooded NAVAJO who had received the Medal of Honor for his time in ww2. As his story came out I drove slower and slower for he was so interesting, for you see he was a member of the CODE TALKERS. The code talkers had a unwritten language of extreme complexity. It has no alphabet or symbols, and is spoken
only on the Navajo lands of the American Southwest. He said they served from 1942 to 1945 and the Japanese never were able to break the code.

This year, for the first time, the Navajo Code Talkers are taking part in the New York Veteran's Day parade. You can read more about them here.

American Unilateral Moves Are Bad

At least that's what President Obama said yesterday at the UN as he apologized to the whole world for America's sins, real and perceived.

I'm certain the Polish and Czechoslovakian attendees agreed with him, since he had just unilaterally voided an agreement America had made with them regarding missile defense. No wonder Poland has since ordered their troops to stand down in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Greatest Threat We Face

America's greatest threat is not just from a nuclear device, although a nuclear attack would certainly be horrible. Our greatest threat from rogue countries is from ballistic missiles. Such a missile could arrive at its US target within 33 minutes from either Iran or North Korea. It would not only carry a nuclear bomb big enough to wipe out a large city, but also electromagnetic devices that would destroy our entire electrical grid.

Think about it. Suppose Washington, DC and/or New York City destroyed by a bomb and the rest of the country paralysed by lack of electricity. How could we communicate? Carry on business? Take instructions on how to fight back? Get medical care? How long would it take just to get the power back on?

Heritage Foundation has a trailer about their documentary, 33 Minutes. Watch it for more information. Then demand the best possible missile defense system. We need that a whole lot more than we need socialized medicine or yet another "stimulus."

The World View of A Community Organizer

As the Obama presidency continues, he reveals more and more about himself; many observers are less than inspired. Last night he based his sales talk about his health care proposals on “victim hood.” That should surprise no one since it pervaded both his foreign policy and campaign speeches.

The interesting thing about the victims he seeks to rescue and the villains he condemns is that he categorizes them by their status, not by their actions. Thus, he apologizes for the US because it leads the world financially and he ignores the many generous and kind acts the country has done for subjugated people. Who, besides the American soldier, will lay down his life for citizens of other countries and thus put into action Jesus’ words about the greatest love?

In last night’s press conference, he bewailed the insurance companies because they make a profit, ignoring the many needs they fulfill in our economy. Similarly, Wall Street was excoriated because the profit motive underlies their activities. And, like most liberals, he ignores the fact that nearly all Americans are invested in Wall Street, depending on profitability to fund their retirement programs. Wall Street is not just the traders on the floor, but anyone with money in a mutual fund.

He also threw physicians under the bus because they tend to be in the upper middle class once they become established. He ignored the years of exacting preparation, the enormous costs of obtaining degrees and certification, and the 60+ hours of work most perform every week. He also ignored their generous attempts to help patients without regard to payment in order to accuse them of unnecessary procedures that merely enhance their bottom lines.

Then, just in case one might still doubt his status as Whiner-in-Chief, he used a planted question to viciously slander all policemen in the country and defend his friend, Prof. Gates of Harvard. Does anyone other than community organizers and criminals believe that all cops are evil?

Unthinkable, But True

Eric Holder, Attorney General, has quietly (and without notifying any Congressional oversight committee) sent out the directive that FBI agents must inform all detainees of their Miranda Rights when captured in AFGANISTAN.

Of course it was only February when Obama solemnly intoned: “Now, do [enemy combatants and terrorists] deserve Miranda rights? Do they deserve to be treated like a shoplifter down the block? Of course not.”

Maybe that’s why he’s doing it on the sly now.

It doesn’t take an attorney nor a general to understand that treating enemies in war just like criminals is a recipe for disaster. And how many of our brave soldiers died in order to confer the rights of US citizens on people who are NOT citizens and who have repeatedly sworn to kill us all?

According the Andrew McCarthy, when he finally fesses up, Obama will merely explain that he’s following the rules of the McCain Amendment (enacted as part of the 2005 Detainee Treatment Act) signed by then President Bush. We have been betrayed by the very people who promised to defend us.

Some Crimes Are More Equal Than Others

If you read blogs or listen to talk radio, you’re probably quite aware of the growing outrage over the treatment of Tiller’s murder on Sunday and Pvt. Long’s murder on Monday. Or, if you depend on the main stream media, you may not even be aware of Pvt. Long’s death or who pulled the trigger.

The president and "his" media went into over drive condemning the killing of an abortion doctor, tying the perpetrator (before anyone knew who it was) to the entire pro-life movement. Little attention was paid to the pro-life leaders who also condemned the murder.

The very next day, a Muslim extremist fired shots near an Army Recruiting station in Little Rock, Arkansas killing Pvt. William Long, 23, and wounding Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 18. When taken into custody, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, 23, admitted shooting the two men "because of what they had done to Muslims in the past" although he later pleaded “not guilty” to capital murder. He is a young black, formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe, who converted to Islam while in prison. After his release, he traveled to Yemen to study jihad. An anonymous source revealed that information on his computer raised the possibility that he did not act alone, but the incident could possibly be part of a larger operation.

The mainstream media has almost buried the story. Only Fox News has given all of the details. President Obama left the country without issuing any statement about it or supporting the work of recruiting personnel despite the fact he is their Commander-in-Chief.

The government offered the use of Federal agents to protect abortion providers after the Sunday incident, but I’ve heard nothing about Federal agents protecting recruiting offices or even allowing the people inside to protect themselves with side arms.

No Greater Love . . .

"We have sent men and women from the armed forces of the United States to other parts of the world throughout the past century to put down oppression. We defeated Fascism. We defeated Communism. We saved Europe in World War I and World War II. We were willing to do it, glad to do it. We went to Korea. We went to Vietnam. All in the interest of preserving the rights of people.

"And when all those conflicts were over, what did we do? Did we stay and conquer? Did we say, "Okay, we defeated Germany. Now Germany belongs to us? We defeated Japan, so Japan belongs to us"? No. What did we do? We built them up. We gave them democratic systems which they have embraced totally to their soul. And did we ask for any land? No, the only land we ever asked for was enough land to bury our dead. And that is the kind of nation we are." Colin Powell, 2002


Aisne-Marne, France
Ardennes, Belgium
Brittany, France
Brookwood, England
Cambridge, England
Corozal, Panama
Epinal, France
Flanders Field, Belgium
Florence, Italy
Henri-Chapelle, Belgium
Lorraine, France
Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Manila, Philippines
Meuse-Argonne, France
Mexico City, Mexico
Netherlands, Netherlands
Normandy, France
North Africa, Tunisia
Oise-Aisne, France
Rhone, France
Sicily-Rome, Italy
Somme, France
St. Mihiel, France
Suresnes, France