I'd like to take a moment to pause this morning and acknowledge Charles W. Lindberg, last of the men who were involved raising the flag on Iwo Jima (recently renamed Iwo To). Charles W. Lindberg died on Sunday, June 24th 2007 at the age of 86.

Lindberg was involved in the raising of the first flag atop Suribachi, the highest point on Iwo To. Once the commander from the Marine beach head saw how tiny the flag was, he ordered a larger flag from one of the ships sent up the hill to replace it. The second flag and it's placement has been recorded in history as a symbol of the war in the Pacific.

It saddens me to see these people disappearing so rapidly. I can only imagine how it must have felt for my grandfather, a military veteran as well, to have experienced the death of the last Civil War veterans in his youth. My father seeing most of the WWI veterans pass away. Unfortunately for them, there was no way to collectively and massively put their memories to paper (or e-paper, as it were). The sad part about today is that we have the ability to record these stories, record their heroic moments, document their trials and tribulations...but so few people today seem interested. So few people seem to realiize we're losing a national treasure right before our very eyes. Most veterans of WWII are at least 85 years old...many (that are still alive, anyway) are in their 90s. We are facing an extinction in the next few years and it is something we will NEVER get back. Once they're gone, all our children will have is OUR memories....which too will fade into obscurity in the next generation.

~Dubya

Well, I can't say that I'm sad to see her go, but Cindy Sheehan is hanging up her protesters belt. Her protest against her sons death because a twisted, bitter rant against anyone who did not share her skewed view of the world...including former allies and friends. She ruined her health, ruined her marriage, and is now nearly capsized in debt because of her 3-year tirade against the government.

 Even in her exit letter, appropriately titled "Good Riddance Attention Whore" (no kidding, that's really the title), she still fired a parting shot at the Bush administration stating that her son did indeed "die for nothing". She even takes a stab at the democrats and the public, specifically stating that the county is more concerned about who the next American Idol will be than the death of her son.

 That is sad to me. I have lost two friends now, a third is an amputee and none of their parents feel as though they died (or were wounded) for "nothing". Their deaths were horrible events in their lives, but they know that their sons died fighting for a cause they personally believed in.

 I don't want to come across as though I'm fully supporting the way with which this crisis has been handled, but the men on the ground do see they are making a difference, despite the media's attention to only the violence. It is sad to me that Sheehan will go to her grave not seeing that...blinded her tunnel vision of a war without meaning.

 I don't want this war, but I can see it does have meaning to those people who are able to make a difference. I can see that it will help the Middle East IF we can improve management of the situation (Iraqi, Afghani and Coalition). Afghanistan has regular education again with women actually being able to learn to read and write. I can see that despite the awful toll of American deaths (3400+), we are doing a great deal more than we have ever been able to in order to protect our soldiers. More people will die from cigarettes in the US over the next few days than we've lost to enemy fire in 4 years in Iraq.

 Your son didn't "die for nothing", Cindy. He died for a cause he believed in. He died doing what he believed was the right thing. Remember him as a hero, not a victim.

 ~Dubya

Army officials said the searches last May of 58 New Mexico National Guardsmen in a unit called Task Force Cobra were proper and legal.

But Brig. Gen. Kenny Montoya, head of the state National Guard, said he believes ethnicity played a role in the episode - the unit is 55 percent Hispanic.

"I said something wrong was done there, and it was because of race, and I want to make sure it will not happen again," Montoya said.

The search was prompted by an unsubstantiated allegation from a Soldier in another unit who complained about gang activity among Soldiers in Kuwait. The Soldier claimed to have seen gang tattoos among members of Task Force Cobra's parent unit.

The search, conducted by an agent with the Army Criminal Investigation Division, turned up no gang tattoos. The Army forbids extremist, racist, sexist or vulgar tattoos and prohibits membership in any extremist organization, though the regulations do not specifically mention gangs.

After the incident, the Army recommended discipline against three New Mexico Soldiers who objected to the searches. Maj. Kenneth Nava, a spokesman for the New Mexico Guard, said those three were counseled but not otherwise punished.

After the Albuquerque Journal reported the incident this week, New Mexico's congressional delegation demanded a full investigation from the Army. Gov. Bill Richardson, the nation's only Hispanic governor and a Democratic presidential hopeful, said he supports an investigation into the "degrading searches."

The New Mexico chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens also expressed outrage.

"This is no way to treat our troops that are sacrificing their lives for the cost of our freedom. Racial profiling is reprehensible and should not be condoned," said Paul A. Martinez, the group's executive director.

Maj. Anne Edgecomb, an Army spokeswoman at the Pentagon, said in an e-mail Wednesday to The Associated Press that the Army had just received the call for a full investigation and had yet to respond.

"The U.S. Army, one of the most ethnically diverse organizations in our nation, provides equal opportunity to all our Soldiers regardless of race, ethnicity or gender," she said.

The military previously looked into the incident and cleared the Army of any wrongdoing. It said that before the searches were conducted, the Army was advised by a military attorney that having Soldiers remove their shirts to check them for gang tattoos would be legal.

One officer who knew the search was going to be conducted, Lt. Col. Broc Perkuchin, told investigators he thought agents would investigate individuals, not the entire unit.