Motivation

Added a link to the RSS feed from The Military Motivator over at the right.

Here is a copy of one of their latest:


I have to say that it really torques me that the media devote all of two column inches, if that, to the fact that a bona fide hero has been recognized.

Here's a link to a (kevlar tip to Blackfive) piece by Weekly Standard editor William Kristol about an interview he did with President Bush, mostly off-the-record.

I mentioned to the president a conversation I'd had with a couple of brigade commanders recently returned from Iraq. This led the president in turn to a discussion (off the record) about his many conversations with soldiers and Marines, and their families. He commented on the private meeting he had held Tuesday with about a dozen Iraq and Afghanistan vets from the group Vets for Freedom, which he enjoyed. But he mentioned in particular Tuesday's Medal of Honor ceremony for Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor, the Navy SEAL who threw himself on a grenade to save his comrades in Ramadi in September 2006.

I told the president that I had choked up watching the ceremony on television. I'll violate the off-the-record rules in order to convey the tenor of the president's lengthy response. He explained how difficult it had been for him to keep his composure. This was especially the case, he said, when he was congratulating and comforting Petty Officer Mansoor's parents (this was evident on television). What wasn't evident on the telecast was that when the president was reading his remarks and looked up at the audience, he saw the Navy SEALs assembled in the East Room, to a man, weeping. That's when, the president said, he really had to steel himself to retain his composure. The president had a catch in his voice yesterday, 24 hours later, talking about the ceremony.

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I wrote the above several days ago, saved it as a draft and resolved to come bakc and finish it later.

I think I'll leave it at that, so as not to cheapen the memory of a man who literally threw himself on a hand grenade to save the lives of his comrades.