BETTER LATE THAN NEVER GREAT MESSAGE FROM RANDY GADDO

PRESIDENT BEIRUT VETERANS OF AMERICA

MEMORIAL DAY IN PEACHTREE CITY, Georgia

May 26, 2008

Guest Speaker's Comments

Guest Speaker: Randy Gaddo, Chief Warrant Officer-4, USMC (Retired)

THANK YOU MARINE - AND THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR BEING HERE TODAY… MEMORIAL DAY IS ALL ABOUT REMEMBERING, AND WHEN YOU LEAVE HERE TODAY I WANT YOU TO REMEMBER A FEW VERY IMPORTANT THINGS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN BEIRUT 25 YEARS AGO… THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS I WANT TO TELL YOU BUT WE DO NOT HAVE TIME HERE. BUT, I WANT YOU TO REMEMBER THAT 270 U.S. SERVICEMEN DIED IN BEIRUT BETWEEN 1982 AND 1984. I WANT YOU TO REMEMBER THAT WE KNOW NOW THAT THEY WERE THE FIRST CASUALTIES IN THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR. I WANT YOU TO REMEMBER THAT WHAT HAPPENED IN BEIRUT 25 YEARS AGO HAD A DIRECT CONNECTION TO WHAT HAPPENED ON SEPTEMBER 11^TH, 2001. IT ALSO HAS A DIRECT CONNECTION TO THE WAR WE NOW FIGHT IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN AND ELSEWHERE…

BUT IN ORDER TO REMEMBER WE GENRALLY NEED SOME SORT OF MEMORY TRIGGER, SOMETHING THAT WILL HELP US REMEMBER. FOR THOSE OF US WHO WERE THERE, WE HAVE OUR TRIGGERS AND THERE'S NOT A DAY GOES BY THAT SOMETHING DOESN'T REMIND US.

SO I AM GOING TO SHARE WITH YOU SOME THINGS ABOUT THE DAY OF THE BEIRUT BOMBING, OCTOBER 23, 1983…SOME THINGS I REMEMBER SO THAT YOU ALSO WILL HAVE A MEMORY TRIGGER TO REMEMBER.

I REMEMBER A DAY VERY MUCH LIKE THIS ONE HERE TODAY, PLEASANT, SUNNY, A LITTLE COOL, LIGHT BREEZE, QUIET, VERY QUIET…IN HINDSIGHT, TOO QUIET. IT WAS A SUNDAY. SUNDAY HAD GENERALLY BECOME A DAY OF REST FOR BEIRUT…I DON'T KNOW WHY, MAYBE BECAUSE AFTER CONSTANT FIGHTING THE REST OF THE WEEK EVERYONE JUST NEEDED A DAY OFF. AT ANY RATE, IT HAD BECOME A DAY WHEN U.S. SERVICEMEMBERS WOULD BE GIVEN AN EXTRA RATION OF SLEEP. AND OMLETTES. I REMEMBER WE NORMALLY HAD A HOT BREAKFAST, AND OMLETTES, ON SUNDAYS IN THE MESS HALL THAT WAS IN THE LOWER LEVEL OF THE BARRACKS. NO MORE OMLETTES AFTER OCTOBER 23^RD.

ON THAT OCTOBER MORNING I HAD GOTTEN UP EARLY BECAUSE I HAD WORK TO DO. I HAD EIGHT ROLLS OF FILM I HAD TO DEVELOP AND PRINT BEFORE I HELPED THE REST OF THE MARINES IN MY UNIT WATER PROOF OUR BUNKER BECAUSE WE WERE GOING INTO THE RAINY SEASON. SO AT 6 A.M. I WAS HALFWAY OVER TO THE BARRACKS WHICH WAS ABOUT A MINUTE WALK FROM MY TENT…AND I REMEMBER THE BIRDS WERE SINGING LOUDER THAN I'VE EVER HEARD BIRDS SING. I MEAN IT WAS LIKE A SYMPHONY. MAYBE BECAUSE THERE WAS NO SHOOTING IN THE MOUNTAINS, NO ARTILLERY IN THE DISTANCE. MAYBE THE BIRDS WERE TRYING TO TELL ME SOMETHING. I WAS THE ONLY PERSON MOVING AROUND AT THAT POINT. MOST EVERYONE ELSE WAS SLEEPING, OR ON GUARD DUTY. MAYBE IT WAS THE BIRDS WHO TOLD ME I NEEDED A CUP OF COFFEE BEFORE I WENT TO WORK. SO I TURNED AROUND AND WENT BACK TO THE COMBAT OPERATIONS CENTER AND GOT A CUP OF JAVA AND SAT DOWN AT MY LITTLE FIELD DESK TO PLAN MY WORK. ABOUT 20 MINUTES LATER I STARTED TO PUSH MYSELF OUT OF MY CHAIR TO HEAD BACK TO THE BARRACKS…WHEN I HEARD AN M-16 FIRE TWO OR THREE SHOTS. I STOPPED BECAUSE IT WAS NOT A SOUND I EXPECTED TO HEAR ON SUCH A BEAUTIFUL QUIET MORNING. A COUPLE OF SECONDS LATER I FELT A WARM RUSH OF AIR ON MY FACE, LIKE A BLAST FURNACE, THEN HEARD AND FELT A THUNDEROUS THUD THAT ECHOED OFF THE HILLS AROUND US…AND A SECOND LATER I WAS LIFTED UP AND THROWN BACK SEVERAL FEET LIKE A RAG DOLL. IT FELT LIKE I'D BEEN HIT IN THE CHEST WITH A 2x4. I WAS DAZED BUT I HAD MY HELMET AND FLAK JACKET ON AND THAT PROBABLY ABSORBED A LOT OF THE SHOCK OF THE BLAST WAVE THAT HAD HIT ME. MY COMPATRIOTS IN THE TENT HAD ALL BEEN IN THEIR SLEEPING BAGS ON COTS AND THEY HAD BEEN UNCEREMONIOUSLY THROWN ON THE DIRT AND WERE SQUIRMING AROUND IN THEIR SLEEPING BAGS WONDERING HOW THEY'D ENDED UP ON THE GROUND. I THOUGHT WE'D BEEN HIT BY A ROCKET OR ARTILLERY ROUND SO I GOT THEM ALL IN OUR BUNKER WHICH WAS RIGHT BEHIND THE TENT AND WENT OUTSIDE TO SEE WHAT HAD HAPPENED. I EXPECTED TO SEE A SMOLDERING HOLE OUTSIDE OUR TENT. WHAT I DID SEE IS SOMETHING I'LL NEVER FORGET. OVER IN THE DIRECTION OF THE BARRACKS WHERE I'D BEEN HEADED 20 MINUTES EARLIER, I SAW A MUSHROOM CLOUD RISING SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET IN THE AIR…I REMEMBER IT WAS STILL RISING. I TOOK OFF RUNNING TOWARDS IT AND AS I CAME AROUND THE CORNER OF A BUILDING THAT WAS BETWEEN ME AND THE BARRACKS, I REMEMBER THAT ALL THE LEAVES HAD BEEN STRIPPED FROM THE TREES AND BUSHES EVERYWHERE AND WERE LYING ON THE GROUND. I KEPT RUNNING TOWARDS THE MUSHROOM CLOUD AND AS I CAME AROUND ANOTHER CORNER WHERE NORMALLY I WOULD HAVE SEEN THE BARRACKS, I SAW THE CONTROL TOWER OF THE BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. I STOPPED DEAD IN MY TRACKS BECAUSE THAT WASN'T WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SEEING. I REMEMBER THE FEELING THAT THINGS WENT INTO SLOW MOTION FOR A WHILE THEN. I COULD SEE THE MUSHROOM CLOUD STILL RISING BUT THINGS WERE FALLING TOO…A GRAY, HEAVY DUST WAS DRIFTING DOWN COVERING EVERYTHING LIKE A THICK BLANKET. AS MY BRAIN STARTED ENGAGING AGAIN I FOCUSED CLOSER IN AND BEGAN TO SEE THINGS, HUMAN THINGS, THAT SNAPPED ME BACK TO REALITY BECAUSE..WITHOUT GOING INTO DETAIL… IT WAS OBVIOUS MANY MEN HAD DIED THERE.

I RAN BACK TO THE COMBAT OPERATIONS CENTER TO REPORT WHAT I'D SEEN AND GET HELP. I SAW MY BOSS, MAJOR BOB JORDAN, COMING OUT OF HIS HOOTCH COVERED WITH DUST AND LOOKING DAZED BECAUSE HE'D BEEN BLOWN OUT OF HIS RACK TOO AND I SAID…OR PROBABLY YELLED, I DON'T RECALL…THAT THE BARRACKS WAS GONE. NOW, THOSE WORDS IN BEIRUT IN 1983 WERE AS IMPOSSIBLE TO COMPREHEND AS "THE TWIN TOWERS ARE GONE" WERE IN 2001. THIS WAS A TWO-FOOT THICK REINFORCED CONCRETE FORTRESS THAT HAD SERVED AS HEADQUARTERS FOR THE ISRAELIS, PALESTINIANS AND OTHERS…IT HAD WITHSTOOD ARTILLERY AND HEAVY NAVAL GUNFIRE WITH BARELY A SCRATCH. YET, IT WAS GONE. WELL, LONG STORY SHORT, I GOT THE MAJOR TO UNDERSTAND AND WE GATHERED OUR FORCES AND STARTED RESCUE AND RECOVERY OPERATIONS.

NOW, LET ME REWIND A BIT AND GIVE YOU ANOTHER MEMORY TRIGGER. LET'S GO BACK TO 6 A.M., AND GO OVER TO THE FAR SIDE OF THE FOUR-STORY BARRACKS AND GIVE YOU THE MEMORY OF A MARINE CORPORAL WHO WAS ON GUARD DUTY…THE ONE WHO I HEARD FIRE HIS WEAPON. THIS CORPORAL MANNED A SENTRY POST THAT WAS NEAR THE ENTRANCE ON THAT SIDE OF THE BARRACKS. HE SAW A LARGE TRUCK CIRCLE A PARKING LOT OUTSIDE THE PERIMETER OF OUR AREA, LIKE DOZENS OF TRUCKS DID EVERY DAY AS THEY DELIVERED THINGS TO THE AIRPORT. ONLY THIS TIME, THE TRUCK CIRCLED ONCE, CIRCLED AGAIN, AND THEN CAME SPEEDING DIRECTLY FOR THE CORPORAL. HE REALIZED IT WAS AN IMMEDIATE THREAT BUT BECAUSE OF OUR RULES OF ENGAGEMENT, WE WERE UNDER ORDERS NOT HAVE LOADED WEAPONS. THE BULLETS WERE IN THE MAGAZINE, WHICH WAS IN A POUCH ON HIS EQUIPMENT BELT. OUR RULES OF ENGAGEMENT AS A PEACEKEEPING FORCE ALSO DICTATED THAT WE COULD NOT FIRE ON ANYONE UNLESS WE KNEW THEY WERE A THREAT, AND WERE SUPPOSED TO GET AUTHORIZATION FROM HIGHER HEADQUARTERS FIRST. BUT THE CORPORAL DIDN'T NEED HIGHER HEADQUARTERS TO TELL HIM THIS WAS A DEADLY THREAT, SO HE PULLED OUT A MAGAZINE, LOCKED AND LOADED AND GOT OFF A COUPLE OF SHOTS AS THE TRUCK PASSED. BUT IT WAS TOO LATE. HE SAW THE FACE OF THE DRIVER - WHO WE LEARNED LATER WAS IRANIAN…AND THE DRIVER WAS SMILING AS HE DROVE 12,000 POUNDS OF GAS ENHANCED MILITARY GRADE EXPLOSIVES INTO THE BUILDING AND DETONATED IT. THE FBI INVESTIGATORS LATER SAID THAT IT WAS THE LARGEST NON-NUCLEAR BLAST THEY'D EVER INVESTIGATED. 220 MARINES, 18 SAILORS AND 3 SOLDIERS DIED AS PEACEKEEPERS.

NOW HOPEFULLY YOU'VE PICKED UP A COUPLE OF MEMORY TRIGGERS: QUIET MORNINGS, COFFEE, LOUD BIRDS, OMLETTES, BIG TRUCKS---SO YOU'LL REMEMBER THIS NEXT TIME YOU SEE THEM.

NOW, LET ME GIVE YOU A FEW FACTS WE'VE LEARNED THROUGH VARIOUS INVESTIGATIONS SINCE THE BOMBING THAT CONNECTS THE DOTS BETWEEN THEN AND NOW.

FIRST, WE KNOW THAT THE TERRORIST GROUP HEZBOLLAH, WHICH WAS FORMED AND SUPPORTED BY IRAN, AND STILL IS, WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BOMBING. WE KNOW THAT THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF IRANIAN GOVERNMENT HAD ISSUED ORDERS TO HEZBOLLAH TO TAKE EXTREME ACTION AGAINST THE MULTINATIONAL FORCE IN BEIRUT, CONSISTING OF U.S., FRENCH, ITALIAN AND BRITISH TROOPS. THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE FRENCH TROOPS WAS BOMBED SIMULTANEOUSLY, KILLING 89 FRENCH TROOPS. WE KNOW THAT THESE ATTACKS WERE PLANNED FOR MANY MONTHS, AND THAT THEY DID PRACTICE RUNS, INCLUDING A SMALLER SCALE ATTACK OF THE U.S. EMBASSY IN BEIRUT ON APRIL 18, 1983, KILLING 60.

WE KNOW THAT ONE IRANIAN HEZBOLLAH TERRORIST WAS THE ARCHITECT OF THIS NEW SIMULTANEOUS ATTACK, MASS BOMBING, TACTIC, AND THAT THE ATTACK ON U.S. AND FRENCH TROOPS WAS A DELIBERATE TEST. THE FACT THAT THE MULTINATIONAL FORCE PULLED OUT SHORTLY AFTER THE BOMBINGS VALIDATED THAT TACTIC. NOW, HERE'S ANOTHER THING I WANT YOU TO REMEMBER: AT THAT TIME THERE WAS A YOUNG HEZBOLLAH MAN TRAINING TO BE A TERRORIST, BY THE NAME OF OSAMA BIN LADEN. HE TOOK HIS LESSONS FROM THE DEVELOPER OF THIS NEW TACTIC. AFTER 1983 THEY PRACTICED AND HONED THIS TACTIC FOR YEARS, TESTING IT, IN ATTACKS SUCH AS THE FIRST BOMBING OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER IN 1995. THEY CONTINUED TESTING, IMPROVING. THEN ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, THEY USED IT AGAIN, SIMULTANEOUS ATTACKS, ONLY THIS TIME USING COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT INSTEAD OF TRUCKS. SO YOU NOW SEE THE DIRECT CONNECTION BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 11^TH, 2001 AND OCTOBER 23, 1983. SAME TERRORISTS, SAME TACTIC. THEY'VE BEEN AT THIS A VERY LONG TIME, AND THEY WILL CONTINUE UNLESS THEY ARE STOPPED.

AS I SPEAK, THOUSANDS OF MILES FROM HERE IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD, OUR TROOPS ARE ENGAGED IN A WORLD WAR UNLIKE ANY BEFORE IT…IT HAS BEEN CALLED WORLD WAR III - THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR - A WAR AGAINST A SHADOWY ENEMY WHO HAS THE POTENTIAL TO DEPLOY WORLD WIDE - TERRORISTS - WHO LONG AGO SET A GOAL THEY SAY IS BASED ON THEIR EXTREME INTERPRETATION OF A RELIGION. THE GOAL IS SIMPLE - TO FORCE THE WORLD TO THEIR WAY OF LIFE…AND ANY MEANS JUSTIFIES THAT END. THERE IS NO LIMIT TO THE ATROCITIES THEY WILL COMMIT.

ON OCTOBER 23^RD, 1983, HUNDREDS OF AMERICAN CHILDREN WERE LEFT WITHOUT FATHERS; HUNDREDS OF AMERICAN WIVES WITHOUT HUSBANDS; AMERICAN MOTHERS AND FATHERS WOULD SEE THEIR SON COME HOME IN A CASKET.

I'D LIKE TO TELL YOU ABOUT ONE LITTLE GIRL WHOSE DADDY DIED IN THE BEIRUT BOMBING. THIS LITTLE GIRL WAS A BABY WHEN HER DADDY, A MARINE CAPTAIN, WAS TAKEN FROM BY TERRORISTS. SHE NEVER REALLY KNEW HER FATHER. SHE KNEW THAT HER MOTHER CALLED HIM A PEACEKEEPER, AND A HERO. SHE DIDN'T KNOW IT THEN, BUT HER DADDY AND HIS BUDDIES WERE SUCCEEDING IN THEIR MISSION IN BEIRUT BACK IN 1983, AND PEACE WAS A POSSIBILITY BECAUSE THEY WERE THERE…THAT'S WHY THE TERRORISTS HAD TO KILL HIM….BECAUSE FOR THEM PEACE AND FREEDOM MESSED UP THEIR PLANS. SHE NEVER REALLY GOT TO KNOW HER FATHER - EXCEPT THROUGH THE LETTERS HE WOULD SEND HOME TO HER REGULARLY LIKE A SORT OF DIARY TO LET HER KNOW WHAT HE WAS DOING AND WHY. SHE KEPT ALL THE LETTERS AND READ THEM OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND SHE WANTED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HER FATHER.

I MET THIS YOUNG LADY DURING THE 20^TH REMEMBRANCE OF THE BEIRUT BOMBING BACK IN 2003, AT THE BEIRUT MEMORIAL IN JACKSONVILLE, N.C. SHE HAD COME THERE TO FIND OUT ABOUT HER FATHER FROM THE MEN WHO HAD SERVED WITH HIM. SHE HAD ONE OF THOSE LETTERS WITH HER AND SHE LET ME READ IT. IT WAS, TO SAY THE LEAST, VERY EERIE. THE LETTER WAS DATED SEPT. 10, 1983…REMEMBER THAT DATE. IN THE LETTER, HER DAD SAID THAT PEOPLE BACK HOME WOULD QUESTION WHY THE UNITED STATES WAS INVOLVED IN BEIRUT, AND WHY IT WAS IMPORTANT TO LET THE PEOPLE THERE GAIN THEIR FREEDOM AND STRENGTH. HE TOLD HER SOMETHING IN THE LETTER THAT, AS I READ IT THERE 20 YEARS AFTER HE WROTE IT, SENT CHILLS UP MY SPINE. HE TOLD HER THAT IT WAS FAR BETTER TO CONFRONT THE TERRORIST ENEMY THERE WHERE THEY LIVED RATHER THAN HAVE TO FIGHT THEM 20 YEARS LATER IN THE UNITED STATES. HE WROTE THAT LETTER TO HIS LITTLE GIRL 18 YEARS TO THE DAY BEFORE SEPTEMBER 11, 2001.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE CAPTAIN'S WORDS PREDICTED WHAT WE NOW KNOW. HAD WE STOOD OUR GROUND 25 YEARS AGO, IT IS VERY POSSIBLE SEPTEMBER 11^TH WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED. AND ANYONE WHO THINKS WE CAN PULL BACK INTO A SHELL NOW AND HOPE TERRORISM WILL GO AWAY SIMPLY ISN'T LOOKING AT THE LESSONS HISTORY OFFERS. IF WE DON'T TAKE THE FIGHT TO THEM, THEY WILL BRING IT TO US. PEOPLE ASK IF WE ARE ACCOMPLISHING ANYTHING IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN. I SAY YES. TERRORISTS NO LONGER HAVE A SAFE HAVEN IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN. THEY CAN'T OPERATE WITH IMPUNITY. IN TANDEM WITH OUR HOMELAND SECURITY EFFORTS WE HAVE MADE IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR THEM TO FUNCTION. BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE…AND THEY HAVE PROVEN THAT THEY WILL BIDE THEIR TIME SO WE CAN'T LET OUR GUARD DOWN. IF WE PULL OUT OF IRAQ BEFORE THE TIME IS RIGHT, GUESS WHO MOVES IN…IRAN, AND TERRORISTS WILL ONCE AGAIN HAVE A SAFE TRAINING GROUND. DO WE WANT TO LOOK BACK 25 YEARS FROM NOW AND REGRET NOT HAVING STAYED THE COURSE AGAIN? I HOPE NOT…

TOO MANY AMERICANS ALL TOO OFTEN TAKE FOR GRANTED THE SIMPLE CONCEPT OF BEING FREE - NOT THE PEOPLE HERE TODAY, NOT YOU, BECAUSE THE FACT YOU'RE HERE TELLS ME YOU DO GET IT. YOU DO KNOW THAT FREEDOM IS NEVER FREE - ETERNAL VIGILANCE IS THE PRICE WE PAY. AND YOU KNOW THAT WE MUST REMEMBER AND HONOR THOSE WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE US. WE HAVE MANY DUTIES AS AMERICAN CITIZENS, BUT, THE FIRST DUTY IS TO REMEMBER. THANK YOU AND HAVE A WONDERFUL MEMORIAL DAY…

Flag Day: Four Personal Perspectives

Patriotic Potpourri

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Flag Day: Four Personal Perspectives

President and Nancy Reagan file by the flag-draped caskets of victims of the April 18, 1983, bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon in an April 23, 1983 file photo. Photo courtesy Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

Tomorrow (June 14, 2008) the United States observes National Flag Day, an annual tribute to the American flag, the ideals it stands for and the sacrifices made to preserve them.

President Woodrow Wilson recognized during his first Flag Day address in 1915 that the freedoms the U.S. flag stands for weren't and never would be free.

"The lines of red are lines of blood, nobly and unselfishly shed by men who loved the liberty of their fellowship more than they loved their own lives and fortunes," he said. "God forbid that we should have to use the blood of America to freshen the color of the flag."

But American blood has spilled time and time again to preserve American liberties, most recently in the war against violent extremism. In this year's Flag Day Proclamation, President Bush calls on the nation to remember the troops who carry Old Glory before them "as they defend the liberties for which it stands."

"On Flag Day and during National Flag Week, we remember those in uniform whose courage and sacrifice inspire us here at home," Bush said. "We also remember the rich history of one of our oldest national symbols and reflect on our duty to carry our heritage of freedom into the future."

Four current or retired servicemembers recently shared their personal perspectives about how the flag has inspired them through their proudest as well as darkest days as a symbol of patriotism, strength and resilience.

9/11 Terror Attacks

Few Americans will forget the image of three firefighters raising an American flag over the World Trade Center ruins in New York just hours after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

But for Army Capt. Joe Minning and his fellow New York National Guard soldiers, many of them New York City firemen and police officers, the Ground Zero flag took on a very personal significance as they desperately sifted through the rubble looking for survivors.

"Seeing the flag raised above all of the rubble and ruins of the World Trade Center instilled a new sense of pride in me for our country," he said. "No matter what happens to the United States -- on foreign ground, on U.S. soil -- we, the American people, will always continue to move forward, rebuild and face any challenges that lie ahead"

Three years later, Minning and the "Fighting 69th" Brigade Combat Team would take that inspiration with them to Iraq, where they lost 19 soldiers securing Route Irish and its surrounding Baghdad neighborhoods during their year-long deployment.

Among those killed was Army Staff Sgt. Christian Engledrum, a New York firefighter who, like Minning, worked amid the dust and smoke immediately following the World Trade Center attack. Engledrum, the first New York City employee to die serving in Iraq, became a symbol of the unit that went from Ground Zero to Iraq's Sunni Triangle, and after his death, to the mountains of Afghanistan.

The flag and what it represents continue to motivate unit members during their current deployment to Afghanistan as embedded trainers for the Afghan National Army, he said.

Minning said he recognizes when he sees Old Glory flying at his tiny forward operating base there that he and his fellow soldiers are following in the footsteps of the earliest U.S. patriots and defending the same values they fought for.

"The flag is a symbol of everything the United States stands for -- from our founding fathers up until now, all that we have accomplished, and the hurtles our country has overcome," he said.

As a soldier, Minning said, he and his fellow soldiers recognize that it's up to them to continue carrying the torch forward.

"It is the American soldier who keeps the country moving forward and will never let it be taken down by any adversity. It is what we fight for and, if we fall in battle, what our coffins are draped with," he said. "And it's what we are committed to protecting and defending, no matter what the price."

The Iraq War

When thousands of people gathered in late April at the Cincinnati Red's Great American Ballpark, all eyes were on a platform at the pitchers' mound covered by the flag-draped casket of Army Sgt. Matt Maupin.

The mourners gathered to remember the 20-year-old Army reservist who went missing more than four years earlier when his convoy came under attack in April 2004. Insurgents released a videotape shortly after the incident showing him in captivity, and his whereabouts remained unknown until the Army found and positively identified his remains in March.

Command Sgt. Maj. Leon Caffie, the top enlisted Army Reserve soldier, was among countless people who had hoped and prayed for Maupin's safe return. As he joined the crowd in Ohio to honor and bid farewell to Maupin, Caffie looked out at thousands of hand-held flags waving in the stands, all surrounding Maupin's casket.

"It underscores the meaning and symbolism of the flag when you see it draped over the coffin of this young man who had the world going for him," Caffey said.

Maupin is among thousands of U.S. troops whose lives have been cut short at the hands of terrorists. Back in October 1983, 241 Marines were killed when a terrorist truck bomb struck their barracks in Beirut. In June 1996, 13 airmen died during the terror attack on Khobar Towers in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. In October 2000, 17 crewmembers from USS Cole were killed when a terrorist bomb ripped through their ship at Aden, Yemen.

Then came the September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States and the war on terror they ushered in.

Through it all, the flag has served as an unwavering source of inspiration that's unified America, Caffie said.

"It has endured a lot -- being dragged through streets and burned and disrespected and spit on and stepped on," he said.

"And yet it has survived and served as a nucleus that brings this country together across gender, ethnic and religious backgrounds," he said. "It is the American flag that has united us and will continue to inspire patriotism in this country."

Beirut Embassy Bombing

Back in April 1983, rescue workers picking through the rubble of what had been the U.S. Embassy in Beirut following a terrorist attack uncovered the body of 21-year-old Marine Cpl. Robert V. McMaugh. Beside his body lay the tattered remains of the U.S. flag that had once stood proudly beside his guard post in the embassy's main lobby.

McMaugh's fellow Marine security guards draped their fallen comrade in a fresh American flag and carried him away on a stretcher. A squad of Marines snapped to attention and saluted.

"It was a poignant moment," recalled retired Chief Warrant Officer Charles W. "Bill" Henderson, a spokesman attached to 22nd Marine Amphibious Unit in Lebanon at the time of the bombing. "Everyone had been digging and digging, then suddenly, everything stopped. Not a word was said. Seeing the body of a fellow Marine covered with the American flag, ... it was an electrifying moment."

While stationed in Beirut, Henderson said, he came to appreciate the flag, not just as a piece of material, but as a symbol of courage. "Each Marine (in Lebanon) wore an American flag on his shirt," he said. "It did more than show that we were Americans. It showed that we were representing this country and what it stands for: freedom for all people."

Twenty-five years later, Henderson said terrorist attacks that followed that initial salvo and the thousands of Americans who have died as a result have only deepened the flag's symbolism.

"What's behind it are the blood and tears of hundreds of thousands of soldiers who have sacrificed. The symbolism behind the flag is this long tradition of sacrifice to preserve liberty," he said.

"Yes, it is just a piece of cloth," he said. "But what it represents are the lives of thousands of Americans who have given everything for this nation -- who ask nothing in return but felt an obligation of duty to their country."

Henderson said he doesn't take disrespect for the flag lightly. "When you insult our flag, you insult the lives and the sacrifices of all the men and women who have served this country," he said.

On the other hand, honoring the flag is showing respect and appreciation for all they have done. "You are honoring everything that we, as a nation, have accomplished, what America has done, and what America represents to the world," he said.

Iranian Hostage Crisis

Now-retired Col. David M. Roeder remembers living without the freedoms he had worked to protect when he and more than 50 other Americans were taken hostage for 444 days in Iran in November 1979.

Roeder, assistant Air Force attache to the U.S. Embassy in Tehran at the time, watched helplessly as U.S. flag burnings became almost daily media events. His captors taunted the hostages by carrying garbage from one area of the embassy compound to another, wrapped in the American flag.

Through it all, Roeder said, he never lost faith in his country or the flag that symbolizes its ideals. "When you talk about a flag, whether it's standing in a place of honor at a ceremony or draped over a casket or waving from someone's house, you're talking about a symbol," he said.

"But the importance of that symbolism is monumental. It represents what we are, wherever we are in the world," he said.

"And no matter what anyone else says about it or does to it, the flag never loses dignity. It only gains dignity, because when someone attacks the American flag, it's because they recognize all that it represents and the greatness of this country."

Twenty-seven years after his release, Roeder, now 68, holds on to that symbolism with fervor. He flies a flag at his home in Pinehurst, N.C., and a summer home in Wisconsin every day. His pickup truck has not one, but several, flag stickers on it.

Like many Americans, he was moved by the show of Old Glory nationwide in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks, and said he wishes it had never ended. "Wouldn't it be great if you could keep that going?" he said. "It tells everyone who sees it who we are and what we stand for," he said.

Posted by Fayette Front Page.com at 8:09 AM