Another parent here started a discussion looking for advice regarding her new young daughter-in-law's accusation that it was all the mom's fault her son joined the Marines.  Only married for a short time, first deployment hits, it's no surprise that in her panic and fear the young woman wants to blame somebody.  A dad popped into the discussion and said that his wife blamed him for all of their kids joining dangerous careers, said, I think, in…

Just as it is today, the United States of America was facing dark and troubling times in January of 1941 when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appeared before a joint session of Congress to deliver his state of the Union address. It was in that speech that FDR summed up four basic rights which every citizen of the U.S. enjoys:

1.) Freedom of Speech,

2.) Freedom of Worship,

3.) Freedom from Want, and

4.) Freedom from Fear.

Each of those…

My son is in Afghanistan.  He'll be there through Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, possibly his 21st birthday and his first wedding anniversary.  At times, I feel a terrible sense of loss, since our family celebrates every holiday with joy and abandon, and every holiday is just one more excuse for a family party, for one of us to polish up our home, open our front door, and invite the whole family in, with whatever hangers-on there are at the moment. And…

Selflessness, "the act of sacrificing ones own interest for the greater good".  That describes each and every one of our Marines.  Our sons and daughters standing on those yellow footprints is truly an act of selflessness. 

As we have celebrated the Marine Corps' 236th Birthday and then Veteran's day these past 2 days, I can't help but stop and think about our son's and daughter's selfless acts.  Some of us may have had the perfect…