Archive for January, 2007

Jan 24 2007

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Wednesday Hero~Michael E. McLaughlin

Filed under Wednesday Hero

This Weeks Hero Was Suggested By Kathi

Lt. Col. Michael E. McLaughlin
Lt. Col. Michael E. McLaughlin
44 years old from Mercer, Pennsylvania
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania Army National Guard
January 4, 2006

Sitting in the car with Lt. Col. Michael E. McLaughlin’s 18-year-old daughter, her father’s friend of 21 years had just broken the news of his death.

During years of friendship and service in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, Lt. Col. McLauglin and retired Capt. Brad Mifsud had a bond so close that they promised each other if something were ever to happen to either one of them, they would be there for the other’s family.

Lt. Col. McLaughlin died when a suicide bomber rushed through a crowd of Iraqi police recruits in Ramadi and detonated a bomb that also killed a Marine and nearly 80 Iraqis. The day before the attack, Lt. Col. McLaughlin said he was fully confident that Ramadi had finally turned a corner in the insurgency. As hundreds of local men streamed into the Ramadi Glass Factory on Wednesday to join the city’s long-defunct police force, a wide grin spread over a pinch of tobacco stuffed into the 44-year-old’s lower lip.

“This may not look like much, but it’s history,” McLaughlin told a reporter. “We’re making history right here.”

With a significant wound to the back of his head, Lt. Col. McLaughlin turned to his injured personal security detail officers and inquired about their well-being. Waving off medical attention, he asked them to check on the soldiers under his command.

“In an act of extreme selflessness, he stated that he was OK, but to concentrate on saving the lives of his men,” said Col. Grey Berrier, a close friend of Lt. Col. McLaughlin.

Lt. Col. McLaughlin died shortly after giving that instruction, according to the Guard.

A long-time artillery officer in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, McLaughlin was assigned to Task Force 2-222 Field Artillery and was the primary liaison between the 2-28 Brigade Combat Team and local tribal and government leaders in Ramadi. His efforts were instrumental in getting local sheikhs to support the recruitment drive and encourage more than 1,000 area men to volunteer for the force, commanders said.

“Mike is a true hero in every sense of the word, and he died while doing his job the only way he knew how - out front and with great enthusiasm and courage,” said Col. John L. Gronski, commander of the 2-28 BCT. “This loss only strengthens our resolve to carry on and complete the mission in order to honor his memory.”

A gregarious wisecracker, McLaughlin said his hope was to one day return to a peaceful Iraq, where he planned to walk the streets of Ramadi in a traditional Arab “man dress,” or dishdasha, and sip coffee and chai with those sheikhs he had met during the war. McLaughlin said that one particular tribal leader he had developed a close relationship with dubbed him “The Sheikh of Sheikhs” - a nickname that was soon picked up by fellow officers in the brigade.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
It Is Foolish And Wrong To Mourn The Men Who Died. Rather We Should Thank God That Such Men Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great country, you can find out how by clicking here.

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Jan 23 2007

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Happy Birthday Ziah

Filed under Faith, Life

Today
I wipe away my tears as
they fall down upon
my face
trying hard to smile
thru the old old tears
a grief that never ends.

I Remember all the times we shared, the laughter and the tears
as I sit and think, of you my child,
your look, your eyes, all the ways you smiled

As the years keep adding up, that time cannot
erase. Still just like yesterday it seems
I held you in my arms as the rocker swayed.

Then off to heaven you were taken
Abrupt you left without goodbye,
a child of God going home.
Our Lord had made the call.

I still pull your pictures out.
Sometimes when I cry…

Your memory will never fade, nor just pass away,
you who were my darling girl
You still are that today.
I will not let your memory go
You will not fade away!

I’ll remember you in the laughter
of the kids who’ve come along
Your nieces and your nephews
as they learn your songs…

In all the joys that come along
I’ll share all the good, you did,
all the kindness, without
end.
Happy Birthday My daughter
until in heaven when we will meet again!

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Jan 21 2007

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Timi

Filed under Critters, News..

We have adopted a Chausie kitten( A Chausie is a hybrid of the domestic cat Felis catus and Felis chaus, the Jungle Cat) Who is at this moment very shy..

TheMasterOfTheUniverse and I have decided to name him Timi.. short for timid one..

Timi

Dont forget the carnival of cats is hosted by the charming Gato this week at enrevanche

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