Echoes in Eternity

My wife and I watched a fantastic movie this past weekend called "Taking Chance." The film, originally made for HBO but also released on DVD, depicts the true story of the escort home of the body of PFC Chance Phelps, a Marine killed in Iraq in 2004. It is very moving to see the care and respect and honor attended to the corpse throughout the trip home, both by his escort, LtCol Mike Strobl (played by Kevin Bacon), and by random airport baggage handlers and flight attendants along the way. Part of the greatness of this film is that it truly wants to honor the military dead rather than make a political or ideological point. Not once do we hear a politics-laden statement, nor does the movie indicate any position on the Iraq war. Instead, the focus, as it should be, is entirely on Phelps, his escort, and the thankfulness of a nation. Check it out!

I'm sure the mainstream media is doing all it can to avoid mentioning this story.

The leader of the nation's largest veterans organization says he is "deeply disappointed and concerned" after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases.
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The Commander, clearly angered as he emerged from the session said, "This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ' to care for him who shall have borne the battle' given that the United States government sent members of the armed forces into harm's way, and not private insurance companies. I say again that The American Legion does not and will not support any plan that seeks to bill a veteran for treatment of a service connected disability at the very agency that was created to treat the unique need of America's veterans!"

Even I, who saw the evil coming this way long before Obama won in November, am amazed and shocked at how inept, incompetent, and even heartless Obama has been in his first two months. I guess I shouldn't be, since ultimately the worldview makes the man, and Obama's worldview has laid many in their graves. But still...

So Obama became the first president to snub the Medal of Honor Ball.