Tag Archives: cowardice

Two Stories of Courage to Ponder

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Jennifer responded to this soldier’s story with this reply:

Jennifer says : January 1, 2012 at 10:47 pm

"hi there, I just want to say to you that all these civilians that find it necessary to blindly judge you on the choices you have made in your life, have not been where you have been, or felt the fear of arriving somewhere like that and knowing there is no turning back. You took an oath and you stuck with your word and your beliefs/morals, and that’s a true man in my eyes. I am a 27yr old female and my sons father is in the Canadian military, my son was born in 07 and his father just met him over this past Xmas holiday, I went 4 years without any contact not knowing if he was dead or alive or what to tell our 4yr old son as to who and where his daddy is. Keeping in mind that in the beginning of his training I will be the first to admit i did not understand as to why he was doing what he was doing, and leaving his family, and most of all me, but as I in the last year obtained my own career in law enforcement I only now know why he chose to do what he did. Over the last week he has met his son for the first time, and every time we meet I look at him with such respect, admiration, and love for what he has done for our country and for civilians similar to the ones on your forum having no problem throwing in their opinion and disrespecting your courageous choices, but….you ask these such people to step up and do what you and others such as my sons father have done, and I can guarantee you that they would be terrified and refuse, and yet they can throw such judgment on those who have risked their own lives to save theirs. It sickens me. My sons fathers whole persona is so different from the last time I saw him in 07, and I only wish that I stuck at his side over the last 4 years instead of running based on my own fear of him making the wrong choice and “abandoning” us so to speak. He has told me stories similar to yours and i see the pain and fear in his eyes as he sits across the table from me holding our son for the first time, and my heart melts not only for him but for all of you. I still love him very very much but 4 years is a big gap to fill in two weeks holidays and he is off again. What I am trying to say is not everyone will understand why you guys are out there, and they may never will, but never forget that behind one uneducated close minded civilian, follows thousands that stand tall behind all of you and for what you stand for. The lack of respect from these people makes me wish we could take them and throw them out on the front line and see how fast they coward. The saying stands true “If you don’t stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in front of them.” I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart to you, my sons father, and all other brothers and sisters that stand together…thank you for risking your life for us, civilians, who actually care and respect what you are doing….and for the ignorant, mindless, self centered civilians such as those I have read on your forum…I will thank you for them….because one day they will see….and they to will be educated when situations such as the ones in  Iraq come knocking at their door.  They will be begging for superior, courageous, selfless, soldiers..MEN..such as yourself and my sons father. And Kudos to you for replying to these negative comments in such a calm, mature, respectful manner, once again in my opinion you are demonstrating the difference between a MAN and a man-child, is what we call them here :) God bless to you and your family and friends ."

Black Rednecks and White Liberals

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Attorney General Eric Holder’s remarks at a Justice Department ceremony Feb. 18, 2009,  commemorating Black History Month:

“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial, we have always been, and we, I believe, continue to be, in too many ways, a nation of cowards. Though race-related issues continue to occupy a significant portion of our political discussion, and though there remain many unresolved racial issues in this nation, we, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about things racial.”

Cowards come in all colors.  Cowards usually are incapable of facing the truth about themselves.  The blame for their problems are foisted on any but the obvious.   Case in point: the dysfunctional social patterns leading to the tragic dissolution of black families.  In itself it’s sad, but what makes it even sadder are the black leaders perpetuating and defending this behavior as part of the Black Culture. That to me is cowardly and for the black family it is disasterous, ending in them being victimized for political points.

In Thomas Sowell’s book:     Black Rednecks and White Liberals missing pieces of the Black mystique are researched, revealed, and make for some riveting reading.  This is the history you never read when dealing with slavery and it’s aftermath in this country.

Thomas Sowell is a Black man who has faced the struggles himself.  He makes no excuses and holds no one responsible for his destiny but himself. Town Hall.com includes in Sowell’s bio:

Thomas Sowell was born in North Carolina and grew up in Harlem. As with many others in his neighborhood, he left home early and did not finish high school. The next few years were difficult ones, but eventually he joined the Marine Corps and became a photographer in the Korean War.

After leaving the service, Sowell entered Harvard University, worked a part-time job as a photographer and studied the science that would become his passion and profession: economics.After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University (1958), he went on to receive his master’s in economics from Columbia University (1959) and a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago (1968).

In the early ’60s, Sowell held jobs as an economist with the Department of Labor and AT&T. But his real interest was in teaching and scholarship. In 1965, at Cornell University, he began the first of many professorships. His other teaching assignments include Rutgers University, Amherst University, Brandeis University and the University of California at Los Angeles, where he taught in the early ’70s and also from 1984 to 1989.

Attorney General Holder might do well to note that Black History is best served by scholars and honest men without agendas.