Shannon could lose U.S. troop transfers to Germany

Shannon could lose U.S. troop transfers to Germany

Shannon Airport, long seen as teetering on the brink, could face the loss of hugely valuable U.S. troop transfers after Germany’s Leipzig airport tabled a major bid for the multi-million euro business.

The Co. Clare airport has recently seen devastating cutbacks by major carriers such as Ryanair, and is expected to next year face a 60pc drop in passenger throughput compared to 2006 figures. Ryanair, to this point Shannon's major carrier, recently cut its operations at the airport after failing to secure a discounted landing charges deal, and its presence at the hub will shortly drop to just a single plane.

It is estimated that over one million U.S. troops have passed through Shannon en route to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2006, with nearly 250,000 passing through in 2009. The business generated by the troop transfers was said to be worth in excess of €9 million last year alone.

With Operation Iraqi Freedom ending on August 31st and the non-combat Operation New Dawn in effect from September 1st, the numbers of military personnel coming through Shannon were expected to drop sharply even before the Leipzig bid surfaced.

The Dublin Airport Authority, which effectively controls both Shannon and Cork, is under mounting pressure amidst rapidly worsening trading performances at what are Ireland's two key regional airports.

From a high of 3.6 million passengers in 2006 and 2007, Shannon’s figures decreased to 3.2 million in 2008 before dropping to 2.8 million last year. It is anticipated this year's number will drop by almost half to 1.5 million.

The downturn has led to immense frustration from business and tourism leaders in the region, with the airport’s board accused of failing to outline clearly the future plans for the hub.

The news will be well-received in some circles however, as the U.S. military’s use of Shannon is seen by many as a violation of Ireland’s neutrality. Since the transits began, the Irish Anti-War Movement and other groups have held a number of protests at the airport, which is also thought to have been used for so-called extraordinary rendition flights by the CIA and U.S. military.

In September 2008 the UN Human Rights Committee expressed its concerns about allegations that Irish airports were being used as stop off points for flights carrying persons to countries where they risk being tortured.

Labour Transport spokesman Joe Costello, speaking recently at a foreign policy conference organized by the Irish Anti-War Movement, said:

"There is need for a…statement that the Island of Ireland, its people, resources and facilities will not be involved actively or passively in external aggression."

Comment:

Let's make no mistake about it. If the vast amount of income and hundreds of jobs at Shannon Airport are transferred to Germany, much of the blame can be attributed to the misguided far left "whackos" who conducted the despicable demonstrations against our valiant American troops. First of all, these grossly misguided demonstrators continue to labor under the illusion of "Irish neutrality" which is not enshrined in the Irish Constitution and exists only in the minds of those who wish that it was. Secondly, the only difference between our American troops passing through Shannon and any other passengers is the camouflage uniforms they wear.They carry no arms nor do the aircraft that they travel in. Indeed, most of the aircraft are owned by commercial carriers under contract to the U.S. government. Thirdly, it is nothing short of stupidity for a country on the brink of complete financial disaster to throw away multi millions of Euro and much needed jobs to support a policy of "Irish neutrality" which, in fact, does not even exist. God Bless our Troops and God Bless America!

Proudly posted by,

Jack Meehan, Past National President

Ancient Order of Hibernians in America

Government unveils new plan to create 300,000 jobs

Taoiseach Brian Cowen launches a major new integrated plan aimed at generating up to 300,000 jobs

LUKE CASSIDY – Irish Times – 28 September 2010

Taoiseach Brian Cowen has announced a major new integrated plan for trade, tourism and investment in Dublin today that is aimed at generating up to 300,000 jobs.

The Trading and Investing in a Smart Economy strategy also intends to boost Irish exports by one third.

The plan will promote overseas trade, tourism and investment and be integrated across a range of Government departments.

It aims to create over 150,000 new jobs in manufacturing, tourism and internationally trading services directly, with another 150,000 generated through spin-offs.

Unveiling the plan, the Taoiseach said international trade, tourism and investment are 'crucial' to the creation and protection of jobs.

“This new integrated action plan will ensure a sharp focus across the entire Government system on opening new markets for Irish firms, creating many thousands of new jobs, repositioning Ireland in the international marketplace and bringing a new business focus to our diplomatic missions abroad," the Taoiseach said. "To recover from the current unprecedented economic crisis, we need new thinking about our country and her place in the world.”

He said the 21st century will see new powers of Brazil, Russia, India, China, in the Middle East and Africa emerging and Ireland must seize these opportunities.

The five-year plan hopes to increase the number of overseas visitors to the country to eight million and attract an extra 780 foreign investment projects through IDA Ireland. Agency-assisted indigenous exports totalled almost €13 billion last year, and the plan aims to increase this by €4 billion by 2015.

It will also see the establishment of a new Foreign Trade Council comprising all relevant departments and agencies to implement the plan.

The roles of the council will be to devise new common "brand Ireland" initiatives, exploit marketing platforms such as St Patrick’s Day and trade missions, open new markets for Irish enterprises, align visa policy with business interests and maximise the effectiveness of overseas diplomatic and agency representatives.

Mr Cowen talked about tapping into the “huge and willing resource” of the Irish diaspora and using the immigrant community within the country to help build up trade and investment abroad.

The Taoiseach was joined at the launch this morning by the Minister for Enterprise Batt O’Keeffe, Minister for Tourism Mary Hanafin, Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith and Minister for Trade and Commerce Billy Kelleher.

Mr O’Keeffe said the plan would strengthen Ireland’s trade links through a joined-up approach and by increasing the destination of indigenous exports into new high-growth target markets such as Brazil, China, India, Russia, Japan and the Gulf States.

In terms of tourism Ms Hanafin said the short term focus will be on growing numbers in markets such as the United States, United Kingdom and Germany. However, she added that the Asia Pacific region will present the fastest growing outbound markets over the next 15 years.

Mr Smith said the strategy will help agencies such as Bord Bia and Bord Iascaigh Mhara to expand their market share overseas.

Comment:

This seems like a plan that is more ambitious than it is workable. But, given the deplorable economic and employment situation in Ireland today, anything to possibly improve them is certainly worth consideration. The Irish people are on the verge of being subjected to what has been described as “savage cuts in government services” when the budget is announced in early December. Maybe news such as this can provide them with some degree of hope that better days may lie ahead.

Northern leaders turned down papal invitation

GERRY MORIARTY and MARK HENNESSY - Fri, Sep 17, 2010

NORTHERN IRELAND’S First and Deputy First Ministers Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness did not accept invitations to meet with Pope Benedict XVI in Edinburgh in an effort to avoid causing difficulties for either of them, both men confirmed last night.

Up to now, because of their opposing political and religious allegiances, there was an unspoken protocol whereby Mr Robinson and before him, former DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley, would deal with British royal business, while papal matters would be left to Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Mr McGuinness.

The invitation posed particular difficulties for Mr Robinson, who would have attended the Holyroodhouse reception with the pope and Queen Elizabeth, while his predecessor-in-office, Ian Paisley, was in the city protesting at Pope Benedict’s state visit.

Meanwhile, the German cardinal who caused a diplomatic flurry just hours before the pope’s visit has refused to apologise for describing the UK as an “aggressively atheistic society” and for saying that Heathrow airport looks like something from the Third World.

Leading British clerics, led by the head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, had issued several calls for an apology for the “intemperate remarks” of Cardinal Walter Kasper, a confidante of the pope.

Standing by the comments, the cardinal’s spokesman claimed that he had merely highlighted the UK’s ethnic make-up: “Kasper meant to say there are people there from all around the world and you could be in Mumbai, Kinshasa, Islamabad or Nairobi,” said Msgr Oliver Lahl.

“It was not a negative connotation, it was the opposite of racism. He meant the UK is no longer a mono-ethnic or mono-religious state, and can be a positive example for Europe,” said Msgr Lahl.

The cardinal is particularly standing by his charge that the Catholic Church in the UK faces an “aggressive new atheism”, particularly from writers such as Richard Dawkins, whose work is not simply academic and whose books sell out, said Msgr Lahl.

“Christianity is no longer protected like other religions in the UK and it is easier for journalists and writers to attack Christians. Atheism is returning after 20 years off the radar with a very aggressive agenda,” he said.

Pope Benedict will today meet with the global head of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, following months of tensions between the Vatican and the Anglicans over the future of conservative priests in the Anglican Church.

The two men met briefly yesterday at a reception hosted by Queen Elizabeth at Holyroodhouse Palace in Edinburgh, but they will be joined by some of their bishops for this evening’s meeting in Lambeth Palace in London.

Last October, the Vatican caused dismay among many Anglicans when it offered to recruit Anglican priests unhappy with the direction their church was taking, without them having to give up Anglican traditions, including the right for clergy to be married.

The second day of the pope’s visit will concentrate in London, beginning with a speech to 3,000 students and teachers at St Mary’s University in Twickenham outside London to celebrate Catholic education.

The highlight of his trip will be tonight’s Westminster Hall speech to political and civic leaders, which is expected to focus strongly on the need for a religious influence in society at large and the need for religious organizations to play a vocational role in society.

Comment:

God forbid that their presence at the historic visit of our Holy Father to the UK would cause any undue difficulties for the First and Deputy First Ministers of the N.I. Assembly. If Catholicism is synonymous with Republicanism and Protestantism is synonymous with Unionism as we have been taught for so many years, I fear that we still have a very long and rocky road to travel before we see a true “shared society” in the North of Ireland.

GET YOUR FLAG READY!

GET YOUR FLAG READY!

Please join us in this FLY THE FLAG campaign and PLEASE forward this Email immediately to everyone in your address book asking them to also forward it.

If you forward this email to least 11 people and each of those people do the same ... you get the idea.

THE PROGRAM:

On Saturday, September 11th, 2010, an American flag should be displayed outside every home, apartment, office, and store in the United States . Every individual should make it their duty to display an American flag on this ninth anniversary of one our country's worst tragedies. We do this honor of those who lost their lives on 9/11, their families, friends and loved ones who continue to endure the pain, and those who today are fighting at home and abroad to preserve our cherished freedoms.

In the days, weeks and months following 9/11, our country was bathed in American flags as citizens mourned the incredible losses and stood shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism. Sadly, those flags have all but disappeared. Our patriotism pulled us through some tough times and it shouldn't take another attack to galvanize us in solidarity. Our American flag is the fabric of our country and together we can prevail over terrorism of all kinds.

Action Plan:

So, here's what we need you to do ...

(1) Forward this email to everyone you know (at least 11 people). Please don't be the one to break this chain. Take a moment to think back to how you felt on 9/11 and let those sentiments guide you.

(2) Fly an American flag of any size on 9/11. Honestly, Americans should fly the flag year-round, but if you don't, then at least make it a priority on this day.

Thank you for your participation.

God Bless You and God Bless America !!!

Why the State and church feared acting against priest

Why the State and church feared acting against priest

Fears over a huge escalation of sectarian warfare ensured that the authorities chose not to take any action against Father James Chesney, writes Malachi O’Doherty

Tuesday, 24 August 2010

When Secretary of State William Whitelaw met Cardinal Conway to discuss James Chesney, the bomber priest, an appalling prospect loomed before them.

It was that the public disclosure that a Catholic priest was an IRA bomber would confirm the prejudices of loyalism against the Catholic Church and make all priests legitimate targets.

Chesney was a nasty piece of work, in the view of both the police and the church. He had directed the bombing of the village of Claudy on the day of Operation Motorman, when the Army moved against the no go areas. He had killed nine people, three of them children. And he had shown himself up as an incompetent.

He had not, presumably, wanted to kill children, but the bombers looked around after they'd left the bomb to find a working phone to make a warning call. They couldn't find one because the IRA had bombed the exchange the day before.

Neither police, nor government, nor the Catholic Church was ready for radical action against Chesney.

The police asked the NIO to talk to the cardinal, and Cardinal Conway transferred Chesney to a parish in Donegal, where he might continue to lead the faithful in prayer and administer the sacraments to them.

It was the only solution any of them had the stomach for in those dangerous times, though the Chief Constable, Graham Shillington, aired the view that it would have been better if Chesney had been sent to Tipperary. Donegal was hardly out of range of the IRA command structure.

The potential that they all had reason to fear was of a massive escalation of sectarian warfare, triggered by the disclosure that a priest was a suspected IRA killer, and this at just the moment when it seemed as if the mayhem was coming under control and political negotiations were starting.

This fear may never have been realised, of course. Loyalists often talked as if they believed that the Catholic Church was their enemy but they did not conduct their backlash against the Catholic community primarily on that premise.

Some priests had been killed, but not by loyalist paramilitaries. Two were shot by the Army, by soldiers who perhaps had no idea that their targets were clergymen.

But loyalist rhetoric said that the church was the enemy and Chesney might have appeared to many as embodied proof of that.

Rev Martin Smyth, later a Grand Master of the Orange Order, is reported as having told an Ulster Vanguard rally in spring

of 1972, that all the Troubles would come to an end if the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, would put his house in order. An absurd notion.

And the greatest champion of the idea that the Catholic Church was conspiring to absorb Ulster into a Catholic Ireland was the firebrand preacher Ian Paisley, later to be our First Minister.

There have been reports and rumours of other priests aligning themselves with the IRA.

The novelist Brian Moore painted a plausible picture of an unctuous Provo priest in Lies Of Silence.

Sean O Callaghan, the police agent inside the IRA, wrote of meeting a priest who helped IRA operations in the North, and there was a widely believed understanding that IRA activists in the early days, when terrorist leaders were religious men and women, would receive confession and communion before going to shoot people.

There have been priest activists and agitators and rumours of other real Provo priests, but the tricky line that campaigning priests like Des Wilson, Raymond Murray and Denis Faul trod was in opposing the methods of the state without endorsing the IRA.

Fr Wilson pointedly repeatedly refused to condemn the IRA, while criticising the actions of the Army and blaming the state for creating circumstances in which people would understandably express their wrath with violence.

Raymond Murray, when in Armagh, was a campaigner against the SAS and had documented, along with Denis Faul, numerous cases of attacks on republicans.

Denis Faul himself was a long-time campaigner for prisoners and argued the eccentric case that easing life for those inside would reduce tension on the streets. He fell out with the Provisionals over the hunger strikes campaign, which he believed was prolonged for Sinn Fein political advantage.

None has been the headache than James Chesney was. It is now clear that the police, the Secretary of State and the Catholic Church authorities believed that he was, in Cardinal Conway's words, “a very bad man”.

The compromise that the Cardinal and William Whitelaw reached was that Chesney be posted to Donegal. This is the same strategy the church used until recently in removing the embarrassment of a priest caught sexually violating children.

The outstanding injustice is that Chesney was never charged, Claudy victims were denied truth and Chesney himself never given a chance to clear his name.

But what is almost grisly too contemplate is that this man, whom the Cardinal accepted was a mass murderer, a slayer of little ones, was sent to a Donegal parish to hear children’s confessions and mediate God's forgiveness to them for their own peccadilloes.

The Ombudsman indicts the RUC of collusion in seeking to address the Chesney problem through the Government and the church rather than arresting him.

One of the shocking findings of the report is that it was the police themselves who initiated the process by which this suspect was transferred across the border.

The Ombudsman gets the point that there might have been serious consequences after the arrest of a priest. He doesn't spell them out.

The first is probably that the loyalists would have turned on the Catholic Church.

Another is that a campaign might have rallied around Chesney, seeking to portray him as an innocent victim of an anti-Catholic state.

Whitelaw would have worried that, just having taken over from Stormont to rule Northern Ireland in a conspicuously non-sectarian fashion, he would have been branded as having failed to curtail bigotry in the RUC.

And with the SDLP being gently coaxed towards talks at Darlington and Sunningdale, Whitelaw may have feared that the arrest of a priest would have raised a popular issue that would have mobilized opinion against its participation, especially if Chesney had been interned, an option at the time.

The RUC, of course, may have judged that interning Chesney or charging him and then seeing him acquitted would have done worse damage than merely ushering him away.

They may even have been just at the end of their tether in the face of the charge that they were a sectarian force and lost all hope of being able to pursue a case like this and be trusted to be acting from good motives.

They hadn't the credibility in the Catholic community to carry it off; it is probably as simple as that.

Comment:

I think that it has been fairly well established that collusion did, indeed, take place between the “security forces” and certain loyalist paramilitary organizations during the armed conflict in Ireland. However, is it not true that collusion is collusion no matter who the colluding parties might be? Why then is the silence so deafening now from the groups that usually seize any opportunity to speak out loud and clear on the issue of collusion?

There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's...

There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's...

Irish embassy staff are living it large and running up massive bills on everything from lavish meals in top restaurants to furniture from upmarket stores. Ken Foxe, Public Affairs Correspondent, finds out how ambassadors are spoiling themselves, at our expense

They are our representatives abroad and have the privilege of working in some of the most desirable cities in the world. Now it seems that our ambassadors and embassy staff have learned a trick or two from their political bosses when it comes to the expenses system.

Hundreds of thousands of euro have been charged to government-issued credit cards by our men in Havana, and elsewhere.

Meals costing over €2,000, NBA basketball tickets, wine at off-licences, home furnishings, pictures and congestion charges were all paid for by credit cards, with the bill inevitably picked up by the taxpayer.

The credit cards were held at a selection of embassies abroad including Brussels, London, the Hague, Chicago, New York and Paris.

The largest bills were run up at the embassy in Chicago, where the cost of official entertainment frequently ran to several thousand dollars a month.

In February 2007, a credit-card statement listed a $690 (€530) transaction for tickets to see the Chicago Bulls basketball team in action.

A month later, embassy officials travelled to Texas for St Patrick's Day, where one dinner at the Café Annie cost $767 (€590).

Several of the most exclusive restaurants in Chicago saw plenty of business coming from the Irish government.

One restaurant, the Greek Islands, was visited month after month, with one meal there in August 2007 costing $837 (€643).

On another occasion, diplomats chowed down at Rosebud Prime Steaks in Chicago and ran up a bill of $1,398 (€1,075).

St Patrick's Day routinely witnessed massive expenditure, with the festivities of 2008 resulting in a $6,290 (€4,837) bill from the Westin Michigan Hotel.

Another frequent addition to the credit-card bill was Binny's Beverage Depot, an upmarket Chicago off-licence, where the bill in June 2008 was $1,876 (€1,443).

October of that year also proved costly, with a $5,018 (€3,860) bill charged to the card, which included a $2,485 (€1,911) tab at Antoine's Restaurant in New Orleans.

Also charged to a separate card that month was the purchase of a sofa for $1,600 (€1,230).

Two days in Houston in November 2008 came with a price tag of more than $4,000 (€3,076), which included a $2,064 (€1,587) bill at the swish Pesces restaurant.

Bills of more than £13,000 (€15,000) a month were run up at the embassy in London where £10,124.20 (€12,228) was spent at the Radisson Hotel in Liverpool for a suite of rooms in June 2008.

Monthly transactions, listed only as "The Labour Party" and "www.conservativeparty.com", were also charged on a monthly basis at £272 (€328) each.

The card was also used for the upkeep of embassy cars with £1,063 (€1,283) charged at BMW Battersea, £309 (€373) at Kwikfit the following month, and £1,696 (€2,048) on the city's congestion charge.

A stereo or other sound equipment was also charged to the taxpayer at a cost of £975 (€1,777) and purchased from Bose Samsung in the centre of London.

Significant home furnishing bills were run up at the embassy in New York, where in September 2007 almost $7,000 (€5,383) was spent at two major retailers.

Bills of $1,530 (€1,176) and $2,409 (€1,852) were charged at Bloomingdales while two more transactions of $1,552 (€1,193) and $1,259 (€968) were made at exclusive interior design store Scully & Scully on Park Avenue.

The following month, another $2,205 (€1,695) was charged at Scully & Scully for "residence furniture" with another $2,487 (€1,912) spent the next month on "kitchen goods".

The home-improvement bills did not end there and the following May another $1,500 (€1,153) was spent at Gracious Home New York.

In September 2008, one of the largest charges of all was made for $5,380 (€4,137) at Polo New York, the famous clothing store.

A year later, the embassy spent close to $9,000 (€6,921) in a single month, with $6,000 (€4,614) paid out to tigerdirect.com, a computer firm, and another $2,991 (€2,300) paid to Amazon.com.

In Paris, details of payments for 2009 have only been made available, with €10,673 spent, more than half of which went on home furnishings.

At the Irish embassy in Ottawa, Canada, significant bills were also accrued, with around CA$1,500 (€1,107) spent at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto in May 2007 and another CA$620 (€457) spent at the "flag shop" in Ottawa.

The embassy also paid for two hotel stays in Jamaica.

The first charge was made on 20 December for CA$780 (€575) at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel with another CA$778 (€574) paid out on 9 January. A further charge of CA$136 (€100) was made at the Cable Beach Resort in the Bahamas on 22 January.

A sum of almost CA$30,000 (€22,000) was spent on furnishing the new ambassadorial residence in November and December of last year, with CA$2,737 (€2,020) spent at Sears and a further CA$7,989 at Jordash, a kitchen supplier.

Embassy staff kept in shape at the Fitness Depot in Ottawa, spending CA$3,082 (€2,275) on membership fees.

The cards at the Embassy and Permanent Representation in Brussels were frequently used to purchase flights back and forth to Dublin, as well as rail tickets, including a €645 trip on the Eurostar through the Channel Tunnel to London.

Significant fuel bills of up to €600 a month kept the embassy limousine on the road with regular car-wash costs of €252 also billed to the taxpayer.

The card was also used for the purchase of flowers in Ireland and in Belgium at a cost of €107.95.

Other more significant items of expenditure were also charged, with a €2,263 bill from an electronic appliance store in Brussels.

One of the smallest bills was on the official card in Berlin, where two transactions at Ikea were logged costing €758.80 and €358 each. Another charge of €103 at a pharmacy was also billed to the official account.

A statement said: "The Department of Foreign Affairs operates a restrictive policy for the use of corporate credit cards for official expenditure.

"The use of credit cards in making payments is subject to the same authorization and control procedures as other forms of payment.

"While the credit card companies require that the accounts be operated by named authorized signatories, it must be stressed that they are used exclusively for official, rather than personal use."

Comment:

These abuses of the public trust are nothing short of obscene! In a recent article featured in this blog I highlighted similar abuses by former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and his predecessors in that office. I thought at the time that, regardless of having held that esteemed office, they were afforded privileges far beyond what they should receive in retirement. This article proves that those in public office and, indeed, many others in government positions in Ireland are truly “a privileged class”. We read each day in the Irish papers of the deplorable state of the economy there following the collapse of the Celtic Tiger and yet these abuses continue unabated while Irish taxpayers and their families are expected to shoulder the burden of their excesses. Have they no shame?

Jack Meehan, Past National President

Ancient Order of Hibernians in America

THE OLD MAN!

THE OLD MAN!

As I came out of the supermarket that sunny day, pushing my cart of groceries towards my car, I saw an old man with the hood of his car up and a lady sitting inside the car, with the door open.

The old man was looking at the engine. I put my groceries away in my car and continued to watch the old gentleman from about twenty five feet away..

I saw a young man in his early twenties with a grocery bag in his arm, walking towards the old man. The old gentleman saw him coming too and took a few steps towards him.

I saw the old gentleman point to his open hood and say something. The young man put his grocery bag into what looked like a brand new Cadillac Escalade and then turn back to the old man and I heard him yell at the old gentleman saying,

'You shouldn't even be allowed to drive a car at your age.' And then with a wave of his hand, he got in his car and peeled rubber out of the parking lot.

I saw the old gentleman pull out his handkerchief and mop his brow as he went back to his car and again looked at the engine.

He then went to his wife and spoke with her and appeared to tell her it would be okay. I had seen enough and I approached the old man. He saw me coming and stood straight and as I got near him I said, 'Looks like you're having a problem.'

He smiled sheepishly and quietly nodded his head. I looked under the hood myself and knew that whatever the problem was, it was beyond me. Looking around I saw a gas station up the road and told the old man that I would be right back... I drove to the station and went inside and

saw three attendants working on cars. I approached one of them and related the problem the old man had with his car and offered to pay them if they could follow me back down and help him.

The old man had pushed the heavy car under the shade of a tree and appeared to be comforting his wife. When he saw us he straightened up and thanked me for my help. As the mechanics diagnosed the problem (overheated engine) I spoke with the old gentleman.

When I shook hands with him earlier, he had noticed my Marine Corps ring and had commented about it, telling me that he had been a Marine too. I nodded and asked the usual question, 'What outfit did you serve with?'

He had mentioned that he served with the first Marine Division at Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal ...

He had hit all the big ones and retired from the Corps after the war was over. As we talked we heard the car engine come on and saw the mechanics lower the hood. They came over to us as the old man reached in his wallet, but was stopped by me and I told him I would just put the bill on my AAA card.

He still reached for the wallet and handed me a card that I assumed had his name and address on it and I stuck it in my pocket.. We all shook hands all around again and I said my goodbye's to his wife.

I then told the two mechanics that I would follow them back up to the station. Once at the station I told them that they had

interrupted their own jobs to come along with me and help the old man. I said I wanted to pay for the help, but they refused to charge me

One of them pulled out a card from his pocket looking exactly like the card the old man had given to me. Both of the men told me then,that they were Marine Corps Reserves. Once again we shook hands all around and as I was leaving, one of them told me I should look at the card

the old man had given to me. I said I would and drove off.

For some reason I had gone about two blocks when I pulled over and took the card out of my pocket and looked at it for a long, long time. The name of the old gentleman was on the card in golden leaf and under his name.........

'Congressional Medal of Honor Society.'

I sat there motionless looking at the card and reading it over and over. I looked up from the card and smiled to no one but myself and marveled that on this day, four Marines had all come together, because one of us needed help. He was an old man all right, but it felt good to have

stood next to greatness and courage and an honor to have been in his presence.

Remember, OLD men like him gave you FREEDOM for America ..

Thanks to those who served....& those who supported them.

America is not at war. The U.S. Military is at war. America is at the Mall.

If you don't stand behind our troops, PLEASE feel free to stand in front of them!

Remember, Freedom isn't Free, thousands have paid the price so you can enjoy what you have today.

Here is short prayer that can be said each day in honor of those who preserve our freedom.

GOD OUR FATHER, WALK THROUGH MY HOUSE AND TAKE AWAY ALL MY WORRIES; AND PLEASE WATCH OVER AND HEAL MY FAMILY AND PLEASE PROTECT OUR FREEDOMS AND WATCH OVER OUR TROOPS WHO ARE DEFENDING THOSE FREEDOMS. AMEN

"A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'

God Bless our Troops and our veterans, young and old.

Jack Meehan, Past National President

Ancient Order of Hibernians in America