Wednesday Hero

This Week's Post Was Suggested By Cindy

1st Sgt. Jose San Nicolas Crisostomo
59 years old from Spanaway, Washington
August 18, 2009


Sorry for the presentation of this post, but haven't been feeling well and don't feel much like typing. You can read Sgt. Crisostomo's story here and here.

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.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

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Man arrested in alleged attempt to bomb Dallas skyscraper

07:21 AM CDT on Friday, September 25, 2009

WFAA-TV report

DALLAS - Police arrested a man Thursday after he allegedly placed an inactive car bomb near Fountain Place at 1445 Ross Avenue in downtown Dallas.

Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, a 19-year-old Jordanian citizen who has been living and working in Italy, Texas illegally, was charged with “attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction,” authorities said.

Alleged Dallas Terror Plot

Man arrested in alleged attempt to bomb Dallas skyscraper
September 24, 2009 View larger E-mail Clip More Video Smadi allegedly drove a truck down into the parking garage below Fountain Plaza Thursday believing it was packed with ammonium nitrate fertilizer, which was the same material used to blow up the federal building in Oklahoma City.

He left the site in a vehicle driven by an undercover FBI agent. They then drove several blocks away, which was where Smadi used a cell phone that he thought would remotely activate the bomb, authorities said. However, that call went directly to the FBI.

Authorities said Smadi had been under FBI surveillance for some time after expressing “his desire to commit violent jihad” numerous times while talking with a group of extremists online. Authorities said he stood out because he said he wanted to serve Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda.
Warrant of arrest for Hosam Maher Husein Smadi

Video Slideshows Blogs After learning of Smadi, undercover FBI agents were introduced to him as “sleeper cells,” read a statement released by James T. Jacks, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas. The three agents swapped messages with Smadi.

“By God who created me, there will not be a retreat at all, even if they take me go to Guantanamo for the rest of my life,” a report alleged Smadi wrote under the name “19 Smadi” in March. “I will never forget Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, or any land where the call of ‘There is no God but God, Muhammad is God’s Messenger is raised.”

By May 12, agents said Smadi wanted to take action, writing “I want to destroy targets, everything that helps America on its war on Arabs will be targeted.”

During several months with the 19-year-old, authorities said they learned he had no connection to other terrorist organizations but was intent on a “self jihad” despite efforts of agents to “reevaluate his interpretation of jihad.”

Description Goes Here

In June, Smadi allegedly listed a group of potential targets in the Dallas area. He considered a Dallas-area airport, although the warrant didn’t say whether he meant Love Field Airport or Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Regardless, Smadi found security too tight and settled on a bank, the report stated.

Agents said in July he began to set his focus on a Wells Fargo Bank located inside Fountain Place.

“SMADI stated the credit card is what drives America and he desired to attack one of the main locations,” the report read.

“God willing, the strike will be certain and strong,” Smadi allegedly wrote on July 16.

Hosam Maher Husein Smadi
Five days later, an undercover agent took Smadi to Fountain Place to look over the area. Believing the agents were terrorists who would give him the truck bomb, Smadi met them to plan the attack that he wanted to take place on September 11th. But, the reports said Smadi decided to postpone the bombing until after September 24.

Smadi planned on using a vehicle improvised explosive device (VBIED) to bomb Fountain Place at the end of Ramadan. Authorities said agents worked to ensure “the VBIED contained only an inert/inactive explosive device, which contained no explosive materials.” The FBI said the public was never in danger.

“I will plant it in the foundations exactly under the building,” Smadi allegedly wrote on August 26. “When it explodes, it will shake the foundations so that the building, if it is heavy in weight, tons, all that will come down.”

Last Sunday, Smadi wrote he was ready, agents said.

“I’m glad they caught him and I’m glad that I’m still alive,” said Bonnie Braganzn, an employee who works inside Fountain Place.

With 60 floors, Fountain Place is the fifth tallest building in Dallas and the 15th tallest building in Texas. The building was designed by I.M. Pei and Partners and completed in 1986.

WFAA-TV’s Brad Watson and WFAA.com’s Marjorie Owens contributed to this report.

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Wednesday Hero

Lt. John Madea


Lt. John Madea holds his daughter as she is baptized with holy water from the ship's bell of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Tortuga (LSD 46). This is the fourth person baptized aboard Tortuga since the ship's christening in 1988, and her name will be inscribed inside the bell as a tradition of the U.S. Navy.

Photo Courtesy U.S. Navy
Taken By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Geronimo Aquino

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.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

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Obama Awards Medal of Honor to Fallen Soldier

President Obama awarded the highest military honor to a soldier who died trying to save his wounded comrade in Afghanistan — saying Sgt. First Class Jared C. Monti personified the values of honor and heroism.

Obama presented the prestigious Medal of Honor award to Monti's parents during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House.

Monti of Raynham, Mass., died in Afghanistan on June 21, 2006, while trying to save a young private who was wounded. Obama said the fallen soldier "did something no amount of training can instill."

In an interview with FOXNews.com Thursday, Monti's mother, Janet, said the award is a "tremendous honor," but she called the ceremony "bittersweet."

"We're very proud of him, but we're also very sad," she said.

Monti's platoon — part of the 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment — was on an intelligence-gathering patrol when it was ambushed by more than 60 insurgents in Afghanistan's Nuristan province. After calling in artillery support and directing his men’s return fire, Monti braved withering enemy fire to try to pull the comrade to safety from an exposed position. Monti, who was 31, was mortally wounded on the third attempt.

Janet Monti described her son's innate selflessness and desire to help others, saying he "would always stick up for the underdog." She recounted a story in which her son rescued a group of children who were being taunted by Albanian youths while he was stationed in Kosovo.

"He picked the children up in his Humvee and drove them to school," she said. "He had so much compassion."

Embattled U.S. troops in northeastern Afghanistan also paid homage to Monti Thursday by officially rededicating their isolated outpost in the Hindu Kush Mountains in his name.

Thursday’s ceremony in Afghanistan, at Combat Operations Post Monti in Kunar province, was attended by about 50 soldiers not on duty. It was preceded by artillery fire on nearby mountain ridges to ward off Taliban gunmen who mortar and rocket the post.

“Most of us didn’t know him personally and most of us will know him only by his citation,” Maj. Pete Granger, executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, said before a large plaque was unveiled in Monti's honor.

But “We honor his memory by continuing to fight for the same things he believed in: his soldiers, his family, his friends and his country.”

Nuristan Province, like Kunar province, earned a reputation as the “cradle of Jihad” in the 1980s’ mujahideen war against Soviet occupation forces. And the reputation sticks. Taliban insurgents use the rugged regions close to the Pakistan border as transit areas to and from central Afghanistan.

“He was a real hard-nosed NCO (non-commissioned officer),” Staff Sgt. Matthew Wolfanger, who was a member of Monti’s unit, told FOXNews.com. “He really demanded a lot out of his guys … but in the end we loved him for it because he took us from soldiers who were kinda just going through the motions doing our jobs to guys who were passionate about what we were doing.

“He brought the best out of us. We wanted to be the best because of him. He absolutely loved what he did, and he loved us, his soldiers.”

Wolfanger, 25, the keynote speaker at Thursday's Afghanistan ceremony, said he wasn’t tasked to go on Monti’s fatal mission, but he and others listened in on the radio traffic.

“I knew it was bad from what they were saying, but it didn’t really go through my mind that my friends were out there and could actually be hurt. But at the end of it, when they said they had wounded and a KIA (killed in action) … you know … and they gave the roster numbers (of casualties) ….”

Wolfanger never finished the sentence.

The Medal of Honor, he said in prepared remarks, is “final confirmation of something that he had been to his soldiers all along, a hero.”

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Proposal removes 'Christmas' from sixth grade lessons, replace with Hindu festival

If this is allowed to happen, I guess all hope is lost.

08:18 AM CDT on Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas — A proposal for new social studies curriculum in Texas public schools removes a mention of Christmas in a sixth-grade lesson, replacing it with a Hindu religious festival, a change that has riled conservatives who say it's another battle in the "war" against the Christian holiday.

"It's outrageous that the war on Christmas continues in our state and in our nation," said Jonathan Saenz, a lobbyist for the conservative Free Market Foundation. The draft proposal being considered by the State Board of Education won't be formally adopted until May for the 2011-12 school year.

The standards now instruct sixth-grade students to be able to explain the significance of religious holidays such as the Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and the Jewish holidays of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah.

The proposal, which is set to be debated during a hearing this week, removes Christmas and Rosh Hashanah from the listing. Diwali, a Hindu festival, is added.

In a note explaining the change, members of a review committee wrote, "the examples include the key holiday from each of the five major religions."

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Wednesday Hero

This Week's Post Is Via Gazing At The Flag

PFC Thomas Lowell Tucker
24 years old from Madras, Oregon
B Company, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division
June 16, 2006


Flag Gazer has a great post up on the dedication of the PFC Thomas Tucker memorial.

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.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

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One Year Ago Ike HIt Us In Houston

I can't believe it's been a year now since Ike paid a vist to Houston. We in my area were hit pretty hard, and were without power for 11-13 days. Trees were blocking our street and there were hundreds of homes damaged by wind and fallen trees. It was amazing to see how Texans come together in a time of need and take care of one another. I know other states would do the same, but I live here and am very pround of the actions of many to aid othere. We ran out of food after a week, and were down to eating ramin noodles. There was no gas, no water and no ice to be had. After day 5 ended food became available in Humble at a church. We made our way there and it was kinda like a drive through that the church had set up. Drive through and there were church folks there who would load your trunk, or truck with 4 bags of ice, caned food and snacks. This was a life saver. Later we were able to get MRE's. Well I didn't like the storm and what it did to us, but I did like to see the way everyone in my neighborhood helped out. I don't want to see that again.

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Wednesday Hero

This would have been with last weeks post, but Kathi, who's done these for the past three years without even being asked to do so, was super busy and wasn't able to get to it. So after you view it, head over to her site and thank her.

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Obama Regulation Czar Advocated Removing People’s Organs Without Explicit Consent

Obama Regulation Czar Advocated Removing People’s Organs Without Explicit Consent
Friday, September 04, 2009
By Matt Cover


Cass Sunstein speaking at Harvard Law School. (Photo: Matthew W. Hutchins, Harvard Law Record.)
(CNSNews.com) – Cass Sunstein, President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), has advocated a policy under which the government would “presume” someone has consented to having his or her organs removed for transplantation into someone else when they die unless that person has explicitly indicated that his or her organs should not be taken.

Under such a policy, hospitals would harvest organs from people who never gave permission for this to be done.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/53534

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Quanell X listens to concerns about cops

Funny how this asshat shows up, kinda like superman. What a joke. Perhaps if he had the balls to suit up and go through what our cops go through on a daily basis he could better understand real life. My hats off to our Law Enforcement personnel no matter where you are. (Quanell X, leader of the New Black Panther Nation and New Black Muslim Movement in America)Hummm
03:13 PM CDT on Sunday, September 6, 2009

By Hayley Kappes / The Daily News Correspondent

GALVESTON — A group of residents already had gathered at a house near Avenue O 1/2 and 28th Street on a humid Saturday morning, ready to share their stories. Moments later, a black SUV pulled up, and out emerged the man whom the group eagerly awaited.

Also Online
More Galveston County news

Video Slideshows Blogs Quanell X, leader of the New Black Panther Nation and New Black Muslim Movement in America, made the drive down Interstate 45 from Houston on a “fact-finding mission.”

He said residents in the neighborhood have contacted his office for weeks, alleging Galveston Police Department officers repeatedly have used excessive force against African-American residents.

He listened as residents took their turns explaining their problems with the police.

Barbara Graves said her son, Ernal Mayberry Jr., was at one point arrested and booked into county jail for a bicycle violation.

Mayberry, 34, was arrested Aug. 31 and charged with possession of less than a gram of a controlled substance and less than 2 ounces of marijuana, according to the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office Web site. He is in the Galveston County Jail on a $60,000 bond.

Police officials would not comment on the allegations. Lt. D.J. Alvarez said he has not heard of any formal complaints filed regarding excessive force against Galveston’s African-American community.

Quanell X said the residents are organizing a protest for Nov. 8 in front of police headquarters, but plans have not been completed.

“I believe that the Galveston Police Department has a systemic history of using excessive force when dealing with or coming into contact with the African-American community,” he said. “I don’t think it’s in the city’s best interest for the police chief, city council or mayor to continue to ignore this issue.”

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Not Much Going On Around Here

I actually have had time to get on the blogs today for a change. I miss it. I am time constrained lately, and I suppose that is a good thing work wise. I am enjoying this long weekend, the first I have had in a long time. I supervised my son pull the head off of his car because I would not have a clue how to do that. He has a blown piston and has not driven it for a month. He and a friend of his got the head off and that took all day. It's hard working on these small high performance machines, with not a lot of wiggle room. I am doing as little as possible today, been on the internet for most of the day on farmtown and farmville etc. Been having some strange events with my heart which prompted me to go to the doctor. Seem I have palpataions my heart beats a few times then stops and restarts, now I know most people have this at one time or another, but this is a first for me, and it happens all the time, hence the doctor visit. Got sent to Hermon Memorian Hospital to a cardio specialist ( glad Uncle Sam is paying for it) and he talked with me and checked me out, did an ekg and said there were a couple of blips he didn't like, so I had to wear a monitor for 24 hours. It is not easy to sleep with wires attatched to your chest, but I managed. I am scheduled for a stress test on tuesday and we will go from there. I feel fine, just when your heart skips a beat to often it tends to make you a little cautions. We are getting ready to bbq some Texas steak (chicken and sausages) and wife is making salid and tater tots along with some bbq beans.. Well more later.

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Wednesday Hero Year Three

Today marks the third anniversary of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. Not the actual Wednesday Hero posts. Those posts were started in 2005. This marks the third year of when these posts went public for anyone to post them. And it's taken off like gangbusters. People have signed up and wanted to take part in honoring those who do what they do in the name of freedom. At one point reaching over 100 participating sites. Thank you all who have signed up and those of you who read and comment on these posts. These people, whether they're actually in the military or are just doing something to aid those in the military, deserve to be remembered.

Christopher Lee
Right-Wing & Rightminded

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.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

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