SamKat: 10/22/17

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Ft. Walton Beach, FL ... Thx Paul C!

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Ft. Walton Beach, Fl ... A Military town ... Thx

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Sam Kegley skegley.kegley@gmail.com

2:48 PM (3 minutes ago)

to Frank, Paul, bcc: Sarah, bcc: Du, bcc: Phyllis, bcc: James, bcc: Judi, bcc: M, bcc: Marge, bcc: Nita, bcc: Paul, bcc: Paul, bcc: Pidge, bcc: Ralph, bcc: Ron, bcc: ronald, bcc: Tom, bcc: Blaine, bcc: Dave, bcc: Denny, bcc: Don, bcc: Graydon, bcc: Greg, bcc: Howard, bcc: Jim

Ft Walton Beach, Florida … A Military Town

Eglin Joint Base Command located near Ft. Walton Beach, Florida, encompasses a large contingent of Air Force units, Naval Warfare units, and the 7th Army Special Forces, and 6th Army Rangers.

Most folks in the USA don't live in a Military Town, with lots of guys in uniform walking the streets and jets overhead daily. They go on with their lives unaware of what a Military Town is all about. And that's OK... but I want to share with you what it's like to live in a Military Town. We see guys in uniform all the time, we have state of the art, high performance aircraft in the air nearby all day long. We hear the SOUND OF FREEDOM when an F-22, or F-35 streaks over the house.... and we read in the local paper, sometimes weekly, of the loss of one of our own in combat or training. And that is what brings me to the reason for this email.

Staff Sergeant Mark DeAlencar was killed on April 8th. He was an Army Special Forces soldier stationed in the Fort Walton area. He had a family. In January he deployed, again, to Afghanistan. He promised His adopted daughter Octavia that he would be home for her High School Graduation. He didn't make it. But she went to graduation yesterday anyway. And in the audience, were eighty (80) US Army Special Forces soldiers from her dad's unit in full Parade Dress Uniform.

Additionally, they brought THEIR FAMILIES to be with them as well. And as Octavia ascended the steps to the stage to receive her diploma THEY ALL SILENTLY STOOD UP. And when she was presented her diploma they ALL CHEERED, CLAPPED, WHISTLED ... and YES CRIED. Everyone in attendance then stood up and cried and cheered. Octavia had graduated and yes, she had lost her Dad... but she had 80 other DADS to stand there with her and take his place.

I just wanted to share this.... and remind you that this is what it’s like to live in a military town. This is what America is, the America we love. God bless our men and women in uniform and their families who give so much.

Our Flag and our National Anthem are to be respected. Yes, there are buffoons who occupy space in America, and there are things to be protested and corrected. It is still a free country, but showing disrespect to the symbols that represent freedom and liberty, even the right to protest, is not the way to correct society’s ills. Isn’t it interesting that television crews focus their cameras on the disrespectful few rather than the overwhelming majority standing with their hats off and singing with their hand over their heart.

Take a second to pass this along to someone you know. It's the least we can do for Octavia and the late SSgt Mark DeAlencar, 7th Special Forces, United States Army.

Chuck Riggin, PM

U.S. Army Retired

Alee Shriners Legion of Honor

PC, Adjutant Emeritus

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TO THE NFL AND ITS PLAYERS
To:

“The Best E-mail, this year!”

Many touching photos as well as well written points of views 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

open Letter to the NFL and Its Players

I say “Hoorah” to whoever put this message together.

To the NFL and its players,

If I have brain cancer, I don’t ask my dentist what I should do. If my car has a problem, I don’t seek help from a plumber! Why do you think the public cares what a football player thinks about politics? If we want to know about football, then depending on the information we seek, we might consult with you, but even a quarterback doesn’t seek advice on playing his position from a defensive tackle!

You seem to have this over inflated view of yourselves, thinking because you enjoy working on such a large scale stage, that somehow your opinion about everything matters. The NFL realizes the importance of its “image” so it has rules that specify the clothes and insignia you can wear, the language you use, and your “antics” after a touchdown or other “great” play. But somehow you and your employer don’t seem to care that you disgrace the entire nation and its 320 million people in the eyes of the world by publicly disrespecting this country, its flag, and its anthem! The taxpaying citizens of this country subsidize your plush work environments, yet you choose to use those venues to openly offend those very citizens.

Do you even understand what the flag of this country means to so many of its citizens before you choose to “take a knee” in protest of this “country" during our national anthem?

You may think because you are paid so much that your job is tough, but you are clueless when it comes to tough. Let me show you those whose job is really tough.

You are spoiled babies who stand around and have staff squirt GatorAid in your mouths, sit in front of misting cooling fans when it’s warm, and sit on heated benches when it's cold. That’s not “tough” that's pampered.

You think that you deserve to be paid excessively high salaries, because you play a “dangerous" game where you can incur career ending injuries. Let me show you career ending injuries!

You think you that you deserve immediate medical attention and the best medical facilities and doctors when injured... Let me show you what it’s like for those who really need and deserve medical attention.

You think you have the right to disrespect the flag of the United States, the one our veterans fought for, risked limbs and mental stability to defend, in many cases died for. Let me show you what our flag means to them, their families, and their friends.

You believe you are our heroes, when in reality you are nothing but overpaid entertainers, who exist solely for our enjoyment! Well, your current antics are neither entertaining nor enjoyable, but rather a disgrace to this country, its citizens, all our veterans and their families, and the sacrifices they have made to ensure this country remains free. You choose to openly disgrace this country in the eyes of the rest of the world, yet with all your money, still choose to live here rather than in any other country. People with even the slightest amount of “Class” will stand and respect our flag. Where does that put you? You want to see heroes… here are this countries heroes!

You can protest policies, the current government, or anything else you choose, that is your right. But when you “protest” our flag and anthem, you are insulting the nation we all live in and love, and all those who have served, been injured, or died to keep it free. There is nothing you can do or say that can make your actions anything more than the arrogance of classless people, who care about themselves more than our country or the freedoms for which our veterans and their families have sacrificed so much, to ensure you have the “right” to speak freely. Our country is far from perfect, but if you can point to any other country where your freedom and opportunities are better than they are here, then you just might want to go there and show respect for their flag!

If you respect America and all those who have sacrificed so much to keep her free, please forward this to your friends and relatives. Eventually, it should end up in the mailboxes of those who choose to disrespect our country, its service members, our veterans, their families, and all of us who appreciate the freedoms America represents.