'My dad was a soldier. He's in heaven now'

'My dad was a soldier. He's in heaven now':
Touching note of thanks that the eight-year-old son of dead Iraq veteran handed to soldier in restaurant along with $20 note
Myles Eckert, eight, found the cash in the parking lot of Cracker Barrel on February 7
Instead of buying a video game, he gave it to Lt. Col. Frank Dailey who was eating at the restaurant He said in a note that Dailey reminded him of his deceased dad who was a soldier and his family liked to 'pay it forward'

Army Sgt. Andy Eckert was killed in Iraq, just five weeks after Myles was born

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 01:53 EST, 1 March 2014

Touching: Myles wrapped the $20 in this handwritten note and gave it to Lt. Col. Frank Dailey

 When eight-year-old Myles Eckert found $20 in a Cracker Barrel parking lot, he didn't spend it on a video game - he gave it to a soldier to thank him for his service.

Myles was just five-weeks-old when his father, Army Sgt. Andy Eckert was killed in Iraq.

In honor of his dad's memory, the Ohio boy wrapped the money in a touching handwritten note and handed it to Lt. Col. Frank Dailey who was eating lunch at the restaurant:

'Dear Soldier - my dad was a soldier. He's in heaven now. I found this 20 dollars in the parking lot when we got here. We like to pay it forward in my family. It's your lucky day! Thank you for your service. Myles Eckert, a gold star kid.' read more here

Freedom of Religion

Freedom of Religion
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 1, 2014

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Genesis 1

I am free to believe. To believe that God started all of it, no matter how much we get wrong. Even Albert Einstein said "There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.

I am free to believe that Jesus was the Son of God and that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit live within me and I walk with them, no matter how many times I stumble, fall, lose my way and sin, I am forgiven. Forgiven, not because of me or anything I did, but because of what Jesus did.

I am free do love and to do good just as much as I am free to hate and do selfish things. I am not free of guilt if I do those things to someone else instead of for someone else.

I am free to walk into any house of worship as I see fit to attend but I am not free of their rules. If I decide to attend, then I am obligated to live within their rules.

I am free to walk away from what I do not believe in as much as I am free walk toward where my soul pulls me.

I am free to hold private that which I choose to leave between my soul and God, who knows all I am, just as I am free to speak and make public that which I will. I am not free to stop someone else from doing the same.

In this country we are all supposed to be free to believe what we want, do as we will, say what we want and go where we want, but all of this comes with an obligation.

If we seek to retain these freedoms, we must defend the rights of those we do not agree with. It is not our right to take away the freedoms of someone else.

I refuse to trivialize freedom. I refuse to hear fools speak of their rights being taken away simply because someone does not agree with them. I refuse to defend anyone attempting to take rights away from someone else because they do not like the way they live, the way they think or what they do with their own lives.

God did not give me the right to do anything other than make my own choices and leave the choices others make up to them. He gave me the right to freewill but freedom is something men and women risked their lives to retain.

I refuse to allow one religious denomination to force their beliefs on anyone else. To legislate their beliefs while they are supposed to be elected to represent everyones ability to make their own choices.

We have all heard far too much from people screaming their rights are being taken away because they have been prevented from taking the rights of others away.

If everyone is not free to believe, then no one is.

Military Women's History Month

Department of Defense Women's History Month

PROFILES IN LEADERSHIP

Navy Vice Adm. Michelle J. Howard

Howard is poised to become the service's first woman and the military's first African-American woman to achieve four-star rank. She will be assigned as the vice chief of naval operations.Profile

Retired Army Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody

Until her retirement in August 2012, Dunwoody was the commanding general of the Army Materiel Command, the culmination of more than 30 years of service in which she served at every command level.Profile

Air Force Lt. Gen. Janet C. Wolfenbarger

Air Force Gen. Janet C. Wolfenbarger, the Air Force's first female four-star, serves as Commander, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Profile

Army Maj. Gen. Patricia D. Horoho

Army Lt. Gen. Patricia D. Horoho, the first nurse and first woman appointed, became the Army's 43rd surgeon general in a ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall.Profile

Army Maj. Gen. Marcia M. Anderson

Army Maj. Gen. Marcia M. Anderson is the current deputy chief of the Army Reserve. She has commanded at the Company level through General Officer. Profile

This is a video I did a few years ago.

Military Social Media Idiots Facebook Group Responds to Fools

Fort Carson's soldier's selfie spawns Facebook page on military social media missteps
The Gazette
By Tom Roeder
Published: February 28, 2014

Pfc. Tariqka Sheffey is far from alone among soldiers who post pictures online that they - and their commanders - may regret.

Fort Carson's Sheffey, who caused an Internet hurricane this week by posting a "selfie" on a website with the claim that she was hiding in her car to avoid saluting the flag, is likely the best known at the moment. But a Facebook group may change that. Military Social Media Idiots, which has more than 15,000 followers, features soldiers in, and notably out, of uniform.

The group was formed Monday when Sheffey's picture went viral, and she's the first addition to the group's timeline. But dozens of selfies later, the site has gathered a platoon of others in Sheffey's boot steps.
read more here

Help veterans remember what they did, they did for love

Help them remember what they did for love

When Jesus said "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (John 15:12-13) and it should be added that level of love also comes when a man or woman is willing to lay down their lives.

Point Man International Ministries never charges veterans for the spiritual and emotional support they receive. While you see what is done on Wounded Times everyday, you do not see or hear about the veterans receiving this vital help to heal what has claimed the lives of far too many. PTSD does not win when the spiritual wounds are healed. They go on to live a better quality of life. Help them remember that what they did, they did for love. It was about the guy next to them. It was about their friends. That depth of love is what caused them to feel so much pain. Help them heal by helping Point Man of Winter Park. I am state of Florida coordinator of Point Man and we really need your help. There are only a few days left to help this ministry do more during a time when the need has never been so great.