Received this in an email
Take a knee . . . .
Take a little trip to Valley Forge in January. Hold a musket ball in your
fingers and imagine it piercing your flesh and breaking a bone or two.
There won't be a doctor or trainer to assist you until after the battle, so
Just wait your turn. Take your cleats and socks off to get a real
experience.
Then, take a knee on the beach in Normandy where man after American man
stormed the beach, even as the one in front of him was shot to pieces, the
very sea stained with American blood. The only blockers most had were the
dead bodies in front of them, riddled with bullets from enemy fire.
Take a knee in the sweat soaked jungles of Vietnam. From Khe Sanh to
Saigon, anywhere will do. Americans died in all those jungles. There was no
playbook that told them what was next, but they knew what flag they
represented. When they came home, they were protested as well, and spit on
or reasons only cowards know.
Take another knee in the blood drenched sands of Fallujah in 110 degree
heat. Wear your Kevlar helmet and battle dress. Your number won't be
printed on it unless your number is up! You'll need to stay hydrated but
there won't be anyone to squirt Gatorade into your mouth. You're on your
own.
There are a lot of places to take a knee where Americans have given their
lives all over the world. When you use the banner under which they fought
as a source for your displeasure, you dishonor the memories of those who
bled for the very freedoms you have. That's what the red stripes mean. It
represents the blood of those who spilled a sea of it defending your
liberty.
While you're on your knee, pray for those that came before you, not on a
manicured lawn striped and printed with numbers to announce every inch of
ground taken, but on nameless hills and bloodied beaches and sweltering
forests and bitter cold mountains, every inch marked by an American life
lost serving that flag you protest.
No cheerleaders, no announcers, no coaches, no fans, just American men and
women, delivering the real fight against those who chose to harm us,
blazing a path so you would have the right to "take a knee." You haven't
any inkling of what it took to get you where you are, but your "protest" is
duly noted. Not only is it disgraceful to a nation of real heroes, it
serves the purpose of pointing to your ingratitude for those who chose to
defend you under that banner that will still wave long after your jersey is
retired.
If you really feel the need to take a knee, come with me to church on
Sunday and we'll both kneel before Almighty God. We'll thank Him for
preserving this country for as long as He has. We'll beg forgiveness for our
ingratitude for all He has provided us. We'll appeal to Him for
understanding and wisdom. We'll pray for liberty and justice for all,
because He is the one who provides those things. But there will be no
protest. There will only be gratitude for His provision and a plea for His
continued grace and mercy on the land of the free and the home of the
brave. It goes like this, GOD BLESS AMERICA.
. I've been wondering all these years about one of our observations when you guys were being marched double time around that huge track. There would be an ambulance following the platoon. Did they run you guys till they tossed two of ya into the ambulance? More? Looked like it to us, Yikes!!! Also there was some scuttlebutt about dumbass sailors going AWOL over that fence. The Marines would keep em for a month or so, when we got em back they would be very well behaved.
Any chance that's a no shitter? Mike
