Random Thoughts

He’s not the boss of me

I hate that it’s been two months since my last blog. How did that happen?!

I could blame my silence on the frenzy of wrapping up my college courses and student teaching classes, and the labor of finishing the credentialing process, and the traveling and excitement of Eldest Son’s college graduation/commissioning followed immediately by entertaining inlaws followed by an ongoing series of ridiculously futile attempts including one particularly heartbreaking interviewed-but-not-hired episode to find a teaching position in a state that is laying off teachers right and left.

You get the picture. I clearly lack dedication to my writing. Or something.

Speaking of pictures, this one is a keeper:

Eldest Son (first man on left) has been commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. My baby boy, who entered the world 22 years ago a whopping 4 lbs. 6 oz. preemie, is now a man ready and willing to serve his country.

Along with all the discussions we’ve had lately, we’ve talked about his Commander in Chief. Eldest Son reminded me that Obama IS his boss–which ironically makes ME Eldest Son’s boss, as theoretically our elected officials including the President work for us, the voting citizenry (yes, I know, you can stop the cynical laughter, I said “theoretically”).

Eldest Son reminded me of the oath of enlistment that he swore:

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

It’s worth remembering that our soldiers swear first and foremost, above all else, to defend the U.S. Constitution. This does not change, regardless of the current president’s views on that document. While he has agreed to obey the orders of the President, Eldest Son’s loyalty is not to Obama, it is to the U.S> Constitution. That really is a marvelous fact.

Eldest Son also pointed out that he and his fellow soldiers give up their Constitutionally granted right to free speech in order to defend that right for the rest of our country. Obviously that’s something a certain general forgot. Eldest Son has not though, and regardless of what his opinions might be he refuses to engage in dialogue that might be construed as disrespectful to his CINC.

Good man. I could not be more proud of him.

I am not so constrained in my speech however, and I’m frustrated by the willful ignorance that seems to increasingly characterize this administration.

There’s stupid, and then there’s stupid. During his speech on immigration today, President Obama misquoted a line from Emma Lazarus‘ poem “The New Colossus” that appears on a bronze plaque in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. (H/T Gateway Pundit)

I don’t expect Obama to know the poem. I do expect him to have people intelligent enough to look it up and provide the accurate text for him to read off his teleprompter. Obviously they’re neither capable nor concerned about little details like that.

Tunku Varadarajan at The Daily Beast comments  that the entire speech sounded like something penned by an overeager 18 year old:

…one is inclined to conclude that his speech was written by someone who has just graduated from high school and has a young head brimming with social studies. This being President Obama, however, one can conclude that he will have written a fair portion of the speech himself, and, in so concluding, one would be struck forcefully by how banal the speech was. It was, if one can say such a thing, the acme of boilerplate, so utterly conventional was it in its narrative of American immigration.

I’ve taught high school students, and most of the ones I taught were capable of better rhetoric than that speech. They also would quote the Lazarus poem correctly. This administration makes Clinton’s look like Mensa candidates.

What really caught my attention though was this line (see the 16th paragraph) Obama spouted:

…being an American is not a matter of blood or birth.  It’s a matter of faith.  It’s a matter of fidelity to the shared values that we all hold so dear.

Excuse me? Being an American most certainly IS a matter of birth when it comes to citizenship. You aren’t born here, you aren’t an American citizen until you apply for and are given that status. Being an American is spelled out explicitly in the United States Constitution’s 14th Amendment:

1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

I would bet real money that neither Obama nor his people are concerned with the 14th Amendment except insofar as they can completely avoid dealing with it on any level.

Days like this I want to wake up and find it’s 2012 already. I’m just thankful that the people actually running the USAF (and all other branches of the military) aren’t Obama cronies, but rather people who will continue to do their jobs long after this administration is only a bad memory.

Unlikely heroes

Sometimes heroism comes in unlikely packages.

ARLINGTON, Va. – Ray Vivier had been an adventurer, an ex-Marine who explored the country from South Carolina to Alaska, the father of five children.

The 61-year-old also was a man starting to get his life back together after living for years in a shanty beneath a Cleveland bridge. He had struggled with alcoholism, but by November he had a welding job, friends and a place to stay at a boarding house.

He rescued five people from that house when arsonists set it ablaze — but Vivier couldn’t save himself. He and three others died, and two people have been charged in their deaths. Vivier’s body, unclaimed and unidentified for weeks, seemed destined for an anonymous, modest burial.

A soup kitchen volunteer, though, remembered Vivier and heard about his heroism. Jody Fesco and her husband Ernie traveled back to Cleveland from their new home in Pennsylvania to make sure Vivier wasn’t forgotten. They identified his body, found his family and arranged a proper funeral.

On Friday, Vivier’s ashes were inurned at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.

“You can see from what he did that he definitely had a good heart,” said Mercedes Cruz, Vivier’s ex-wife of 23 years, who attended the funeral with the couple’s children. “No matter what our difficulties were in our marriage, I’m very proud of what’s happened.”

For his grown children — who now are scattered around the country — Vivier had been gone for about 15 years. They know of his heroism now — but they don’t know much about the man he was trying to become. They remember their dad’s struggles with alcohol and other troubles.

“What I’m trying to get out of this is to have one good, concrete memory that I can have of him for what he did to save those people,” said his oldest daughter, Elisha Vivier. “I’m proud of the man that he was becoming.”

Vivier’s funeral procession                                                     AP Photo/Kevin Wolf

I’m far too quick to label people in my mind with some sort of limiting descriptor, such as “homeless.” That makes it far too easy to fail to see them as complex people, capable of anything, no matter what sort of life they’ve been living.

As C.S. Lewis said in The Weight of Glory,

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations–these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit–immortal horrors or everlasting splendours.

When character counts…

As we watch Sonja Sotomayor lie her way into a lifetime Supreme Court appointment, it’s all too easy to think that she’s only too typical. She’ll smile and say whatever it takes to get what she wants.

Odd how, for a “wise Latina woman,” she displays a startling lack of wisdom when it comes to difficult issues like late term abortion.

Senator Coburn: Should abortion be legal at 38 weeks?

Sotomayor: “A woman has the constitutional right to terminate her pregnancy under certain circumstances.”

Coburn: Should technology have any bearing on whether or not a child should be aborted?

Sotomayor: “I can’t answer that question.”

Coburn: What about a viability of a fetus? Should that be a standard that we consider?

Sotomayor: “I can’t answer the question because the Court does not reach out to answer the question.”

She’s all too typical of an administration that brings us such gems as John Holdren.

I think about what it means to have people like these setting policy that will affect us for generations to come, and I despair. Then I come across something that reminds me that some people still have souls.

From Confederate Yankee by way of Brutally Honest, comes a portrait of a woman who exemplifies all that is noble about our US military.

JOINT BASE BALAD — The emergency-room trauma call and the medical staff’s immediate action upon his arrival is only a memory to her now; sitting quietly at the bedside of her brother-in-arms, she carefully takes his hand, thanking him for his service and promising she will not leave his side.

He is a critically injured combat casualty, and she is Army Sgt. Jennifer Watson of the Casualty Liaison Team here.

Although a somber scene, it is not an uncommon one for the Peru, Ind., native, who in addition to her primary duties throughout the last 14 months, has taken it upon herself to ensure no U.S. casualty passes away alone. Holding each of their hands, she sits with them until the end, no matter the day or the hour.

“It’s unfortunate that their families can’t be here,” said Watson, who is deployed here from Fort Campbell, Ky. “So I took it upon myself to step up and be that family while they are here. No one asked me to do it; I just did what I felt was right in my heart. I want them to know they are heroes.

“I feel just because they are passing away does not mean they cannot hear and feel someone around them,” she continued. “I talk to them, thanking them for what they have done, telling them they are a hero, they will never be forgotten, and I explain my job to them to help them be at ease knowing the family will be told the truth.”

In general, Watson explains to the patients that the CLT works within the Patient Administrative Department here, acting as a liaison for all military and civilian patients in-theater and initiating the casualty-notification process to the patient’s next-of-kin.

Upon their arrival at the Air Force Theater Hospital, Watson speaks with each combat casualty getting as accurate information as possible about the incident. Once the doctor gives their diagnosis and severity of the patient’s injuries, Watson and her team complete and send a Defense Casualty Information Processing System folder report to the Department of the Army or the patient’s respective service so that their next-of-kin can be notified.

“I make sure we tell their family everything they want to know, so they know everything that’s going on,” said Watson. “[Through the report], we’ll tell the families everything that is going on with their family member … so that they don’t have any questions.”

Furthermore, once the initial report has been sent, the CLT and Watson make hourly rounds to the intensive-care ward or unit to check on the patient’s well-being, or, for the more critical patients, to check on their stability.

“We are constantly communicating and making sure the family knows everything we know,” said Watson. “We want to put the families at ease and let them know that everything is being done for their loved one. From the moment a servicemember is brought in through Hero’s Highway, they are never alone.”

Each month, the AFTH, the equivalent of a U.S. Level-1 trauma center, treats more than 539 patients; more than 101 are trauma cases in the emergency department. Although Watson can never predict if and when her fellow brothers- or sisters- in arms may need her, she is always available here.

“The hospital staff is wonderful,” said Watson. “They know how important it is for me to be there with them and if they know it’s time, someone will come and get me no matter where I’m at.

“I see it as a form of closure, not just for me, but for the families so that they know that somebody was there with their son or daughter,” she added. “My heart goes out to every patient that comes into the hospital, especially my wounded in action Soldiers. I feel like everyone who comes through the door is my brother or sister.”

Not surprisingly, Watson’s dedication to duty and her hard work have not gone unnoticed. She has touched the lives of all those who she has come in contact with, to include the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group commander, Col. Mark Mavity.

“Sgt. Watson’s story is one of the most compelling here in the Med Group,” said Mavity. “She is a Soldier’s Soldier who combines an unparalleled level of compassion and commitment to our most grievously wounded warriors with amazing professionalism each and every day.

“What is truly incredible is that she is a personnelist by training but with the heart of a medic who has taken it upon herself to hold the hand and keep a bedside vigil with every mortally wounded Soldier who has spent their last hours within the AFTH,” continued the colonel. “She will not let her brave brothers or sisters pass alone. This is a heavy burden to bear and at great personal emotional cost to Sgt. Watson, but she is unwavering in her final commitment to these Soldiers. You don’t have to look any further than Sgt. Watson to find a true hero.”

“Angel” and “hero” are only two of the many titles Watson has been given since arriving at JBB; although she is appreciative of the kind words, she remains humble.

“I am far from an angel,” said the sergeant with a smile. “I just do what is in my heart. I guess for me, I think about the family and the closure of knowing the Soldier did not pass away alone. To say I’m a hero … no. The heroes are my guys who come in [through Hero's Highway].”

Reflecting on her time here, Watson said she is extremely thankful for the opportunity she has had to work side-by-side with the Air Force.

“The staff of the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group has done an amazing job since I have been here,” she said. “They are incredible. They have done procedures and saved the lives of the most critically injured Soldiers, and have been some of the most professional people I have ever worked with.

“I want the families to know that their servicemember was a hero,” Watson concluded. “They made the ultimate sacrifice, but before they passed on, they received the best medical treatment, and the staff did everything they could — they were not in pain and they didn’t die alone.”

I’m guessing that Sgt. Watson is likely to be a bit put off by the attention on her. She’s not doing what she does for the accolades, she’s doing it because that’s the kind of woman, and soldier, she is.

It’s called character. Everyone has it. All too few have the kind that Sgt. Watson demonstrates.