Susan S. and I attended Curlew Hills Memory Gardens Annual Memorial Day Service on May 28, 2007. We attended the memorial service to honor our military, especially those who gave their lives while serving our country. We attended with thoughts of Andy Aviles, who was killed in action on April 7, 2003. We were also thinking about Andy's grieving parents, Norma and Oscar Aviles and how easily we could be in their tragic position. Andy was the same age as my oldest daughter. He would be just 23 years old if he were alive today.
I was also thinking about my military family members and how thankful I am that even though my brother in law only gets to see his 5 month old and 6 year old sons via a web cam once a week, at least both he and my sister are alive and well.
I wasn't sure what to expect but I wasn't prepared for the pompous partisan package decorated to impersonate patriotism. I knew we were in trouble when the Master of Ceremonies, Colonel Jerry F. Custin USAF, (Ret) gushed about Congressman Gus Bilirakis' glowing accomplishments, when in reality, his power ranking is in the basement:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/power_rankings/overall.tt
So as I post this video of Gus Bilirakis reading the GOP script, his words ring painfully hollow as I heard that 10 more U.S soldiers were killed in action on Memorial Day. In my mind is the wounded Iraq War veteran who was interviewed by Anderson Cooper on Memorial Day. Although Anderson Cooper interviewed more than one wounded soldier, this one Iraq veteran's story was particularly heartwrenching. He was not expected to live, but survived in spite of losing most of his blood. His forearm is a mangled mess but he was only receiving a small percentage of his rightful disability benefits. He lost his home and was living in his car. Thankfully by the end of the show, CNN's influence had helped him finally receive the benefits he earned on the battlefield.
With that in mind, I give you the Congressman who represents the Republicans in my district:
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