Today's Inspiration--Sgt. Matt Lammers

“Everybody keeps calling me a hero,” he says. “I have a hard time hearing that. I was just a soldier doing his job. The heroes are the men and women still over there. … I got to come back. I didn’t die. That’s a blessing.”

“I keep telling people I’m not the story,” he says. “I was just a soldier doing his job. The story is the men who saved my life.”--Sgt. Matt Lammers

The KC Star highlighted a local soldier who was wounded in Iraq and is recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. The story is very inspirational and I found myself getting choked up several times. Here are some excerpts from the article, Infantryman's Latest Battle:

"Lammers lost both legs and his left arm June 9 when his Humvee hit a buried explosive in Baghdad. Comrades saved his life, and now he’ll lean on other comrades as he begins at least a year of rehabilitation at the Center for the Intrepid, a gleaming, glass-and-metal center that opened this year to treat grievously injured soldiers.
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It was Lammers’ act of generosity that put him in that Humvee. Scheduled for a trip home, Lammers switched places to let another soldier go home for his first wedding anniversary.

Lammers and his men were returning to base in Baghdad when the Humvee drove over the explosive.
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Lammers probably will spend at least another year here, retraining his muscles and mind. He and his wife recently moved to base housing, where their daughters — Jaelen, 1, and Taena, 5 — will join them next month.

The hope is that Lammers will leave Texas in a year on new legs with a new arm. His doctors think he’s a good candidate for a new type of bionic arm that responds directly to a user’s nervous system.
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Peer motivation plays a huge role. Soldiers who lost a leg visit with soldiers who lost two; burn victims meet with burn victims. The idea is that soldiers with grievous wounds benefit from bonding with others facing the same challenges. The message: You’re not alone. You can do this. I can help.

“These guys don’t say to each other, ‘I’m sorry you got hurt,’ or ‘Oh, that’s a tragic injury,’ ” says Mark Heniser, Lammers’ physical therapist. “It’s like a locker room in here. They compete with each other. They tease each other. So we can’t then turn around and tell them there’s something they can’t do.”
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A total of 571 service men and women had lost limbs in Iraq and Afghanistan as of April 1, according to Pentagon statistics.
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Soldiers who lost limbs in Iraq have gone on to run laps with President Bush, take up snowboarding and run for Congress. Just as importantly, they’ve also gone back to work, held their babies and tied their shoes.

The newest devices give amputees unprecedented control and mobility.
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Gary Lammers, principal at Holy Trinity Catholic School in Lenexa, worried like any parent but respected his son’s decision.

Asked now about his son’s service and his attitude, he pauses. His voice thickens.

“I well up with pride,” he says. “And at the same time, I understand that this strength comes from Matt and not me. But I’m so very proud to be his dad.”"

To read the rest of the article, go here!

How to Help:
To contribute to the Sgt. Matt Lammers Medical Fund, send checks made out to the fund to Country Club Bank, 13451 Briar St., Leawood, KS 66209. Contributions made by credit card are accepted by calling 816-751-1470.

UPDATE: To donate to other wounded soldiers, go here!

When you look at men like Sgt. Matt Lammers you can't help but be so thank-ful and so proud of our men and women in the military. There are always some bad apples in the bunch but I think most are like Lammers and deserve our gratitude and support.

Those like John Murtha who would disgrace our soldiers without having all the evidence and without giving them the benefit of the doubt are traitors of the worst kind. Robin has been on top of the story on how the Haditha Marines are being cleared one by one of the crimes that Murtha unfairly accused them of. He owes those men and their families an apology and he owes the Country the decency of resigning.

Sawyer Says...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEE!!!

Wishing you an early Christmas greeting :)

There is always room for more Sawyer on your birthday!

Off To Somewhere Cooler

I am headed out of town for the next week. My kids and I are going to Michigan to visit my family. KC is having temps in the 100's so I am hoping to have some cooler weather there.

Since I won't have much access to the internet while I am gone I have asked Mike from Mike's America, Wordsmith from Sparks from the Anvil and Skye from Midnight Blue & Ancora Imparo to be guest bloggers. They have graciously agreed to fill in and lest any trolls think they will have a free ride my friend Kelli has agreed to monitor the comments' section.

I pre-taped my radio show for next Monday so it won't be live but make sure to tune in. I continued my interview with pro-life leader, Bill Price and it was a great discussion.

Have an awesome week everyone and make sure to check in for the great insights from Mike, Wordsmith and Skye!

Karl Rove

"They are likely to nominate a tough, tenacious, fatally flawed candidate by the name of Hillary Rodham Clinton."--Karl Rove

Karl Rove was loved by many conservatives and hated by the left. Whatever you want to say about him he's been a huge force in the political realm. To be honest I was shocked today to hear the news that he was leaving a year early. I asked my radio guest, Bill Price (who personally knows Rove) if he saw this coming and he said he didn't.

Paul Gigot describes Karl Rove in his column as "relaxed and cheerful". That is amazing to me when you look at the amount of stress he's been under for numerous years and how much he is vilified by so many. Yet, in the brief amount of time that I got to meet him last September that was my impression of him as well.

As Gigot points out, Karl Rove has clearly been extremely influential and I would argue that its been an influence for good.

I love his quote about Hillary at the top, I can't think of a more accurate term for her than "fatally flawed".

Bush and Presidential Nominees Coming to KC for VFW

President Bush, Fred Thompson, John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are all coming to KC next week. They are coming for the six-day national VFW convention that will be held at Bartle Hall. It will run from August 18th to the 23rd. President Bush's date to speak is still to be announced but Hillary Clinton and John McCain will speak on August 20th and Fred Thompson and Obama will speak on August 21st. I will be out of town but it wouldn't have mattered since the convention won't be open to the public.

Also, speaking will be my Governor Matt Blunt and our new KC Mayor, Mark Funkhouser.

The VFW last met in KC in 1999 when Bill Clinton was President. Before that it goes all the way back to 1931 when Harry Truman was a judge and was the general chairman of the convention.

The VFW makes up an important voting block since 91% of veterans vote in presidential elections and when you combine them with their families they make up approximately 75 million Americans.

The VFW members will also get free tours of our World War I Museum which is the nation's only World War I Memorial and Museum.

Source:
KC Star--Bush and presidential wannabes to address VFW convention at Bartle Hall

Cute Boy & the Alligator at The Missouri State Fair

A friend and I and our kids all went on our annual trip to the Missouri State Fair yesterday. It was HOT!!! I don't know what the actual temperature got up to but it was supposed to be 97 degrees and who knows what it really was with the heat index. It felt hotter.

The above picture is of my youngest, ornery son (devil horns boy) that I nicknamed "Cute Boy". I have yet to see a teacher or therapist that has worked with him that hasn't loved him. He has a charm about him and this sparkle in his eye, and he is just cute!!

Well, this cute boy is scared of most animals. He is scared of almost all cats and dogs and doesn't want to have anything to do with them. Yet, yesterday while at the fair we went to "Kachunga and the alligator show" and he was dying to get his picture taken while holding the baby alligator. So the above picture (I'm not sure why the date on it is wrong) is of him with the baby alligator and it cracked me up because he wasn't scared at all.

He was so cute, as we were leaving he asked if I would put the picture of him and the alligator on my blog. I was a step ahead of him, I had already thought of it and here it is!!

Related Articles:
Heat doesn’t keep visitors away from the Missouri State Fair

Family Pics Simpson and South Park Style

My kids all wanted to make South Park versions and Simpsons' versions of themselves. I meant to post a South Park family awhile ago but never got around to it. So now I'm going to post both. These first 2 are my 7 yr. old son (the one with the devil horns).










These 2 are of my 12 year old daughter, soon to be 13 and the attitude to go along with it ;-).














These are of my 9 year old daughter, they really give you a good pic of what she looks like and her personality.














These are of my 11 year old son and are a good representation of him as well.















These final 2 are ones that my oldest daughter made of my husband.










Again, if you want to make your own South Park character, go here! If you want to make your own Simpson character, go here!

Margaret Thatcher Quotes

"I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph."--Margaret Thatcher

I opened my radio show today with some Margaret Thatcher quotes. I was verifying that a quote I attributed to her was indeed one of hers and found a goldmine of good stuff. I thought they were good enough to post.

"In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man; if you want anything done, ask a woman."

"If my critics saw me walking over the Thames they would say it was because I couldn't swim."

"I seem to smell the stench of appeasement in the air."

"If you set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing."

"If you want to cut your own throat, don't come to me for a bandage."

Human-Rights Charade

Toon Credit: Glenn McCoy

"We want a butterfly, we're not going to put lipstick on a caterpillar and declare it a success."--John Bolton talking about trying to reform the UN

I'm not that familiar with the columnist Kevin Ferris but he hits the ball out of the ball park with his latest column entitled, "Human-Rights Charade Continues at the UN". Here are some excerpts:

"Amid much fanfare about reform at the United Nations, the council replaced the U.N. Human Rights Commission, which was widely regarded as a den of dictators, terrorism sponsors and rights abusers interested in hiding their own crimes and singling out Israel for condemnation.

After a year, what’s changed? Only the name.

The dictators, terrorism sponsors and rights abusers remain. Israel is still the only country singled out for condemnation.

“No one anticipated that within one year it would be possible to gut the intended agenda of the council and make a mockery of its stated purpose on the scale that the Human Rights Council has managed to do,” says U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, a Minnesota Republican.

Coleman is sponsoring a bill to ensure that the council gets no part of any U.S. funds sent to the United Nations, at least for the next two years. His criticisms are echoed in reports by human-rights organizations such as U.N. Watch and Freedom House:

•Of the 12 country-specific resolutions the council passed in the last year, nine condemned Israel. The council pretends this is out of concern for the rights of Palestinians, yet it is silent when Hamas slaughters innocents in Gaza.

• Three of the year’s resolutions raised concerns about Sudan, but there was no condemnation of the genocide there.

If the council doesn’t improve, Abrams says, “At some point, we at Freedom House will walk away and encourage the U.S. to do the same.”

When they go, they can say: “We represent the conscience of humanity."

I just read a recent article that says the situation in Darfur is continuing to get worse, yet the UN does nothing. This should be the ideal situation for the UN to deal with, otherwise, why do they even exist?

Norm Coleman may be a moderate Republican who doesn't often impress me but when it comes to dealing with the UN, he gets it right. I'm with him 100% that the UN Human Rights council shouldn't receive a dime of U.S. money until they start ACTUALLY caring and doing something about human rights. The council is a mockery at this stage and until it changes we should not be supporting it in any way.

Courage & Facing Your Fears

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself. 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you cannot do."--Eleanor Roosevelt

God decided I needed a refresher course this past week in facing fear. As I was struggling through it I remembered that quote that talked about how courage isn't the absence of fear but facing it. As I went hunting for the quote I found several other similar ones that were very good. I talked about them on the radio show today and thought they were worth posting. I especially loved the above one by Eleanor Roosevelt.

"Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared."--Eddie Rickenbacker

"Courage faces fear and thereby masters it."--Martin Luther King Jr.

"Courage isn't the absence of fear; it's the conquering of fear."--Donald Trump

"Courage, contrary to popular belief, is not the absence of fear. Courage is the wisdom to act in spite of fear."--John Roger & Peter McWilliams

And here is my theme verse for the week:

2 Timothy 1:7--"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (fear) but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."