Quit Pussyfooting Around With Terrorism

For some time now, authorities have been reluctant to label anyone as a terrorist until it has definitively been proved that they are affiliated with a known terrorist group.  They would rather be as politically correct and simply label them as a deranged person acting alone. They feel safer doing this I guess. Safer for their reputation, safer for their voting base, safer in that it won’t offend any particular group, and thus causes division in the logical masses that know terror when they see it.

From serial killers to gang warfare to random acts of violence, all of them instill a sense of terror in law abiding citizens.  Terrorism is the old boogeyman reincarnated.  In case you are young enough to not remember who this character is, I’ll educate you.  The bogeyman was a mythical creature used by adults to frighten children into good behavior.  He or it could take on most any appearance and would get you if you went where you shouldn’t.

Bill de Blasio

Anyone who hides bombs or goes on a shooting/stabbing spree represents the kind of threat which disrupts the government’s ability to maintain law and order, and thus is terrorism by definition.  New York City’s mayor was so reluctant to call it what it was that he wiggled around the subject.  He has since safely announced that it was indeed an act of terror to his feeble credit.  Hillary Clinton took the same cautious approach and our President, although is quick to point out the smallest injustice to Muslims and people of his own race, was silent as a Texas oyster.  He was also silent and absent when Louisiana flooded, choosing golf and pleasure over domestic issues.

US Army Major Nidal Hasan

Remember when the militant Muslim US Army Major Nidal Hasan began shooting unarmed soldiers at Fort Hood and shouting Allahu Akbar?  Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, he should have been shot and shot again until he looked like a colander.  But where is he now?  “Investigators in the FBI and U.S. Army determined that Hasan acted alone and they have found no evidence of links to terrorist groups. They are satisfied that his communications with Awlaki posed no threat at the time.” Wiki

The traitor is incarcerated at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas on death row and will probably gain about 40 pounds of fat eating more than he can exercise off until he is eventually put to death, if ever.  “On August 28, 2014, his attorney said Hasan had written a letter to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (head of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). In the letter, Hasan requested to be made a citizen of the Islamic State and included his signature and the abbreviation SoA (Soldier of Allah)” wiki

It is sad that so many of us down here in blue collar America plainly see terrorism for what it is and our leaders are more interested in side-stepping the issue than making the call. It simply adds to the list of reasons we would like to clean house in Washington.  When the US Army cannot enforce the UCMJ on something as monstrous as Nidal Hasan, there is little hope for America as it was fifty years ago.  Under George Washington’s command, he would never have left that cafeteria alive and the 13 people he murdered would be at peace, as would their families. 

Abu_Bakr_al-Baghdadi

Terrorists are the ultimate proxy bullies and the apex of cowardice. They lurk in the shadows for the most part and then kill randomly and this scares law-abiding citizens and it should. The only way to stop them is to fight back and when they are caught red-handed, justice should be swift and brutal.  When they pull these acts in Russia, their punishment is immediate and it sends a very strong message to the next guy or gal who enlists in this aberrant and perverted behavior.

The list of Islamic terrorist acts around the world is staggering and growing every single day. One fellow on the BaytownTalks.net forum noted that there is a deliberate attempt by our government to salve over these incidents as normal every day acts and nothing to worry about. What? Tell that to someone who lost a family member to a bomb or a knife. It all becomes real when someone you know is killed or maimed.

In the White House we apparently have a President who is hell bent on bringing in more Islamists than care for military Veterans or seniors on Social Security in this country. Almost every day we read where he is demanding we flood the country with more Muslims and yet, the huge bulk of terrorism around the world is being caused by people with that religious belief. He doesn’t make the connection or maybe he does.

We Texans don’t want a police state, we want freedom. We don’t want to fear for our lives at the hands of terrorists, as we already have that with criminals. We will continue to arm ourselves and go about our business with the same caution we’ve learned to accept as normal. In the meantime, our leaders need to call terrorism for what it is and quit pussyfooting around.

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Spc. Keith E. Grace Jr. Baytown Son KIA

Spc. Keith E. Grace Jr., U. S. Army, 26, of Baytown was born February 18, 1987 in Houston. He was a 2006 Graduate of Robert E. Lee High School and enlisted in the U. S. Army on January 18, 2012. He was Combat Lifesaver Certified and had completed the Dari Language Class. He was killed in action Sunday, August 11, 2013 in Paktia Province, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, KY. He was awarded the Army Service and Global War On Terrorism Service Ribbons and National Defense Service, Purple Heart, and Bronze Star Medals.

Ken the Dauber Pridgeon has already painted his portrait.

He is survived by his parents, Mike and Mary Lou Davis of Beach City, Cheryl Barnes of Houston, and Keith Erin Grace, Sr. of Gainesville, FL; brothers, Garland Davis, Allen Vasquez, Spc. Jeff Lee, U. S. Army, James Leslie Hardy, Jr., and Cody Ray Barnes; sisters, Tara Krystal Grace, Stormy Cheyenne Barnes, and Ashley Nichole Hardy; nephews, Dawson, Chris, and Landon Brady; and numerous other brothers, sisters, and friends.

Joyce Moody and Baytown Bert

Paul & Rebecca Vickers and Baytown Bert

Ren Fitts brings up the rear defense.

His family will receive friends at Navarre Funeral Home Thursday from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Funeral services will be Friday, August 23, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. at First Baptist Church, 505 Rollingbrook, Baytown, TX 77521. Burial with full military honors will follow at Houston National Cemetery.

February 18, 1987 - August 11, 2013     Resided in Baytown, TX

Jim McDonnel Represents Baytown Texas

Presenting pictures at the WTB Command at Fort Hood.

 Local pencil artist Jim McDonnel recently left his home in Baytown Texas and traveled to Fort Hood, near Killeen Texas to present the commanding general of the post with an original pencil drawing of a US combat soldier in full battle dress.  Jim is a staunch advocate for Wheelers for the Wounded also.  You may read more about this fine Baytown artist here.

This is Jim and Mike Thornton. He is a Navy Seal and Medal of Honor recipient.
He was a member of Seal Team One and a founder of Seal Team six.

WFTW banner at Fort Hood.

Jim McDonnel with Command soldiers of Fort Hood

Branan Towers Resident Chased Pancho Villa in 1916

 

This is the transcript of the 1982 Atlanta Journal article about my paternal Grandfather,

Thomas Franklin Marshall

Branan Towers Resident Chased Pancho Villa in 1916

      Tom Marshall, tall and erect at 85, still remembers in vivid detail being dispatched from the University of Kentucky to the Texas-Mexican border in 1916.

      He was part of an organized signal company as a student. The whole company was sent to the border when President Wilson responded to a raid by Pancho Villa, the Mexican bandit and revolutionary who crossed the U.S. border in March 1916 with 400 men, raiding and burning Columbus, New Mexico, killing 16 citizens.

      “Black Jack Pershing was sent down to go into Mexico and apprehend Pancho Villa,” Mr. Marshall recalled in his Branan Towers Apartment. “Pershing took a lot of the national guard troops with him. They were all mounted, including our Signal Corps outfit.”

      There was a remount station at Ft. Bliss, Texas where the soldiers drew their horses and mules from some 150,000 animals kept there.

      A Kentucky farm boy used to horses and mules, Mr. Marshall chuckled out loud at his mental picture of the city boys in his outfit trying to ride horses for the first time.

      “Our officers had us gather our horses, saddle and bridle them and lead them out. He told us to walk around the prairie with our horses and get acquainted with them. Then he blew his whistle and told everybody to mount up. I knew my horse, he had been broken. A lot of those horses had never been broken. It was the most ridiculous sight you ever saw, arms and legs pinwheeling all over the place.”

      Fortunately the commanding officer was a good professional who “straightened us out and made a good outfit in no time,” Mr. Marshall said.

      At that time the Signal Corps used, among other things, a strange device called a heliograph by which they could telegraph signals using the sun’s rays reflected by a mirror. The area where west Texas borders New Mexico provided two perfect spots to break the world’s distance record for heliographing.

      “From Mt. Franklin we could see the Sacramento Mountains far in the distance at Alamogordo, New Mexico, about 150 miles,” Mr. Marshall recalled. His detail was assigned to take a heliograph to the Sacramento Mountains and make contact with Mt. Franklin.

      Eighteen mounted men and a wagon pulled by six mules made up the expedition. The two extra mules were added because the desert sand made pulling difficult. Their route took them through the white sands of New Mexico later famous as a testing site for the nation’s first atomic bomb.

      We went at night to avoid the heat, riding 40 minutes, dismounting and leading our horses 10 minutes and resting 10 minutes,” he said, describing the vivid whiteness of the sand and the brilliance of the stars in the dry desert night, as if he had seen it last night instead of 66 years ago.

      “It was chilly at night because of the altitude and the dry air,” he said. “We would light the tops of those dried out yucca plants in the desert to warm the night air.”

      Alamogordo was [illegible], it had a city park in the center and cottonwood trees planted along the streets with a ditch alongside carrying water to keep the cottonwoods alive, Mr. Marshall remembered.

      They made it to the mountains through sands so white an early film company had just used them for a snow scene. At a mountain peak they set up the heliograph and made contact with Mt. Franklin, setting a distance record at the time.

      He never did see Pancho Villa. It wasn’t long before the U.S. entered World War I and Tom Marshall’s unit was torpedoed on a Dutch ship named The Princess, after Queen Juliana of Holland. They did reach France, but that’s another story.

      Mr. Marshall was in charge of the machine shop at the federal penitentiary in Atlanta for many years before his retirement in 1963. He still attends the Sunday School class he taught for two decades at Lakewood United Methodist Church.

      One son is vice president of a steamship company and lives in New Jersey. His daughter lives in Cleveland, Ohio, and a second son is with a major construction company in Texas. 
 

The Uniform Code of Military Justice - Malik Nadal Hasan

When a young man or woman raises their hand and are sworn into the US Military, they effectively and voluntarily surrender their Constitutional rights. They now belong to the US government, which has its own military constitution. This is known as the UCMJ or Uniform Code of Military Justice.

I was sworn into the United States Air Force November 23, 1970 and verbatim, my oath was this: "I, Gilbert S. Marshall Jr., 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." (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).

As an 18 year old native son, I took this very seriously and still do to this day. As an 18 year old, even in my naivete state of immaturity and experience, I knew I was suspending my personal views to enforce the will and policies of the US Government, whether I agreed with the policies or not. Our military depends on this subservience. I want to say this again. Our Country’s stability and military depends on this subservience.

Now mind you, I was 18 years old when I raised my right hand and I understood my obligation with uncharacteristic clarity, for a teenager anyway. I was enlisting as an Airman Basic, not accepting a commission as college graduate into the ranks of leadership, which by definition is an officer and a gentleman (woman).

Officers have a different version when sworn in and held to higher standards. This is the oath our shooter took: "I, Malik Nadal Hasan (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God." (DA Form 71, 1 August 1959, for officers.)

Major Malik Nadal Hasan has not only committed premeditated murder on his own soldiers, but voluntarily performed the most heinous form of treason known in the military. He has violated his oath of office with extreme prejudice. In civilian terms this is akin to a mother or father killing their own children – or (in a bizarre coincidence) a doctor killing his patients. The death toll now stands at 13 dead and 30 wounded and this at the bloody hand of a man who had never been in combat and was an expert at helping those suffering from the ghosts of war.

His vicious and deliberate act of violence was of the most cowardly sort also, as soldiers are unarmed on Post, unless they are military police. He was like a man with a club in pen full of baby seals.

As a Vietnam Veteran, I personally would like to strangle this fellow with my bare hands.

Take note that I have not mentioned his religion, but if I were the Commander in Chief, I would order a mass security clearance reevaluation of every person in our military this day, which has the word(s) Muslim/Islam on their dog tags.

We as a country, especially in our military, cannot give every Muslim serving in the military the simple benefit of the doubt, when we have officers killing their own men as acts of faith. What chance of survival did Major Hasan think he would have at Fort Hood? I’ll answer that one – none. He saw himself as a suicide bomber or an IED. He was going for the 70 virgins…, but he survived.

Nope, we need to pull in every soldier, Marine, airman, sailor, etc (especially those serving in our Embassy’s) who has the word(s) Muslim/Islam on their dog tags and under the UCMJ, make them re-swear allegiance and fidelity to this country or resign their commission or general discharge their butts out of the service.

Enough is enough.