Memorial Day.

It’s more than just another day off, a day to go shopping or enjoy a barbecue.

Take a moment to remember our fallen heroes.

Michelle Malkin has a great post about Memorial Day.

Teach your kids about it.

As a veteran myself, I salute those who have fallen and those who are still in harm’s way today.

God bless them and their families and keep them safe.

“Rick Duncan” of Colorado Springs was a prominent anti-war activist who claimed to have served in Iraq on three tours of duty AND survived the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon. He has now been unmasked as a lying mental patient.

Michelle Malkin also notes he’s not the first. This dude had been quoted by media extensively as an authority on veterans’ issues and he was a fake. No doubt it happened because the so-called “journalists” he spoke to wanted to believe he was who he said he was. Finding an anti-war vet, even a fake one, is a like winning the lottery for the left.

Doug Powers filling in for Michelle Malkin notes that it was all for… a photo op.

Gateway Pundit has video.

Meanwhile, we have the following exclusive photo (well, okay, photoSHOP):

O Farce One buzzing the Statue of Liberty for a lousy photo op.

Captain Richard Phillips, who had been held hostage several days by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, was freed today. As Michelle Malkin notes, it appears that Captain Phillips escaped a second time and this time, the US Navy moved in and killed at least three of the pirates.

Word is one of the pirates was captured. No word on whether or not he will be waterboarded (or worse).

It turns out Captain Phillips had basically allowed himself to be captured to buy time for his crew to lock themselves into a cabin and avoid capture themselves. What a hero.

I’m surprised Barack “America is not a Christian nation” Obama allowed this to happen. I won’t be surprised if when he tries to take credit for the rescue, though.

Also, don’t miss Michelle Malkin’s Veteran’s Day post, it’s loaded with links to a bunch of good sites commemorating our veterans.

To all veterans and our troops, thanks for your service.

The Moving Wall banner.

A close look at the center of the Moving Wall, with both the US and MIA-POW flags in the background.

A wider look at the center of the Moving Wall.

An even wider look at the center of the Moving Wall.

A look at the Moving Wall from the west, facing east.

A look at the Moving Wall from the east, facing west.

A row of US flags at the Moving Wall.

This fallen serviceman’s name stood out at me for obvious reasons.

This woman’s name, Pamela Donovan, also stood out at me. She was one of the eight American women who died in the Vietnam War. More information and a memorial web page on Second Lieutenant Pamela D. Donovan can be found here.

First Lieutenant Sharon Lane’s name also caught my eye. Her memorial page is here.

Guess who our troops support by a nearly 4 to 1 margin? Awwww, c’mon, guess!

That’s right: McCain. Let me say that again: our troops support McCain for President an overwhelming 68 percent to a paltry 23 percent for Obama.

Surprise, freaking surprise.

Now let’s see how many mainstream media outlets pick up this story. Try not to laugh too hard thinking about it.

Hat tip to Gateway Pundit.

I know a young man who is in desperate need of help. His name is PFC Hunter Levine. He is 20 years old and hails from Houston, TX.

He was in my company and was wounded on 9 May, 2008 while conducting combat operations in East Baghdad. He received a very serious injury to his face, resulting in the loss of his entire bone structure, mouth, nose, and vision.

He was evacuated to Walter Reed Hospital where the doctors performed numerous surgeries to repair his face. I was fortunate enough to attend a Purple Heart Ceremony at Walter Reed while I was home on leave in June. I was also able to meet with Hunter’s father Beau.

PFC Levine is now in the VA hospital in Palo Alto California, but he’s seriously depressed. A care package, card, or letter would be nice. Find out how to help at the very excellent ParentsZone blog for military families.

Hat tip (and happy birthday) to Michelle Malkin.

Army Specialist Stephen Fortunato gave his life a few weeks ago fighting the bad guys in Afghanistan. He blogged when he had some spare time and his mother released his August 30, 2008 entry to the Boston Globe (I know, I was shocked too that they’d actually publish it).

Here’s an excerpt:

I am a proud American. i believe that my country allows me to live my life more or less however i want to, and believe me, i have seen what the alternative of that looks like. i also believe that our big scary government does way more than it has to to help complete [expletive deleted]-ups get back on their feet, a stark comparison to places where leaders just line their own pockets with gold while allowing the people who gave them their power and privilage to starve. I have chosen my corner. I back my country, and am proud to defend it against aggressors. Also, if you dare accuse us of being inhumane, or overly aggressive because we have rolled into someone else’s country and blown some [expletive deleted] up and shot some people, let me remind you of just how inhumane we COULD be in defending ourselves. Let me remind you that we have a warhead that drops multiple bomblets from the stratosphere which upon impact, would turn all the sand in Iraq to glass, and reduce every living thing there to dust. Do we use it? No. Instead we use the most humane weapon ever devised: the American soldier. We send our bravest (and perhaps admitably craziest) men and women into enemy territory, into harms way, to root out those whom we are after and do our best to leave innocent lives unscathed.

There’s a lot more where it came from on the Boston Globe or Michelle Malkin’s blog (which, by the way, I give a tip of the hat to for putting this out there).

• The President’s speech from Arlington National Cemetary today.
• Video of the President’s speech.
• Arlington National Cemetary official website.

Tonight, while surfing the web with NBC News on in the background, what did I see? Why, a promo for a PBS Frontline piece tonight on Haditha! The piece is titled Rules of Engagement: What Really Happened in Haditha. If I were a betting man, I would NOT wager so much as a penny that the Marine intel report gets mentioned (let’s just say the PBS reporter called Haditha “Iraq’s My Lai” on camera).

Anywho, here’s video, first from NBC and then two previews from PBS Frontline: