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.

Perry called his supporters patriots. Later, answering news reporters’ questions, Perry suggested Texans might at some point get so fed up they would want to secede from the union, though he said he sees no reason why Texas should do that.

“There’s a lot of different scenarios,” Perry said. “We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we’re a pretty independent lot to boot.”

Holy moley! I’m suddenly thinking about moving to Texas…

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.

Suddenly, it may be cool to be an American again

Real Americans don’t worry whether or not being American is “cool.” And we don’t give a rat’s you-know-what about approval from foreigners for our “Americanness.”

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).

Joe Biden, Democrat, says paying higher taxes is patriotic. Okay, check.

Meanwhile, Charlie Rangel, Democrat, fails to pay taxes on rent money he’s collecting on his villa in the Dominican Republic. Check.

So, therefore, Joe Biden has just called Charlie Rangel unpatriotic.

Sounds logical to me!

If that’s not enough heroism for one lifetime, he gave his life on September 11, 2001, helping to save the lives of nearly 3,700 of his co-workers from the firm Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. Think about it: the number of dead on 9/11 might well have been double had it not been for Rick.

I posted about Rick on my other blog, Castro Death Watch. But you can read more about him here and here.

We owe it to Rick and others like him to remember 9/11.

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