Hello,
Website----www.517prct.org
Mail Call---Ben517@aol.com
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Subj: Fwd: FW: A Texas Funeral for a Soldier serving in Iraq]
Date: 8/15/2003 10:04:39 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: rdenham-sperry@stpegs.com ( Dr. Al Sperry )
To: Ben517@aol.com
File: Part.zip (413664 bytes) DL Time (TCP/IP): < 1 minute
Ben,
I have wondered if Patriotism and Respect are becoming things of the past. Then I get this...it's beautiful.
This will make you proud to be a Texan (and an American) or make you wish you were a Texan.......
Subject: A Texas Funeral for a Soldier serving in Iraq
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What follows is a message from Vicki Pierce about her nephew James' funeral (he was serving our country in Iraq):
I'm back, it was certainly a quick trip, but I have to also say it was
one of the most amazing experiences of my life. There is a lot to be said for growing up in a small town in Texas. The service itself was impressive with wonderful flowers and sprays, a portrait of James, his uniform and boots, his awards and ribbons. There was lots of military brass and an eloquent Baptist preacher. There were easily 1000 people at the service, filling the church sanctuary as well as the fellowship hall and spilling out into the parking lot. However, the most incredible thing was what happened following the service
on the way to the cemetery. We went to our cars and drove to the cemetery escorted by at least 10 police cars with lights flashing and some other emergency vehicles, with Texas Rangers handling traffic. Everyone on the road who was not in the procession, pulled over, got out of their cars, and stood silently and respectfully, some put their hands over their hearts, some had small flags. Shop keepers came outside with their customers and did the same thing. Construction workers stopped their work, got off their equipment and put their hands over their hearts, too. There was no noise whatsoever except a few birds and the quiet hum of cars going slowly up the road. When we turned off the highway, suddenly there were teenage boys along both sides of the street about every 20 feet or so, all holding large American flags on long flag poles, and again with their hands on their hearts. We thought at first it was the Boy Scouts or 4F Club or something, but it continued ...! . for two and a half miles. Hundreds of young people, standing silently on the side of the road with flags. At one point we passed an elementary school, and all the children were outside, shoulder to
shoulder holding flags ... kindergartners, handicapped, teachers, staff, everyone. Some held signs of love and support. Then came teenage girls and younger boys, all holding flags. Then adults. Then families. All standing silently on the side of the road. No one spoke, not even the very young children. The last few turns found people crowded together holding flags or with their hands on their hearts. Some were on horseback. The military presence...at least two generals, a fist full of colonels, and representatives from every
branch of the service, plus the color guard which attended James, and some who served with him. It was very impressive and respectful, but the love and pride from this community who had lost one of their own was the most amazing thing I've ever been privileged to witness. I've attached some pictures, some are blurry (we were moving), but you can get a small idea of what this was like. Thanks so much for all the prayers and support."
Notice the UPS man standing outside his truck with his hand over his heart.
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Pictures are in attatched download.-Ben
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Subj: Fwd: shoe bomber
Date: 8/15/2003 10:39:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: RCooper663
Ben
I don't know if anyone has seen or heard this before but I think it is noteworthy.
I am still recuperating from my recent surgery but coming along.
Robert R, Cooper "D" CO.
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Forwarded Message:
Subj: shoe bomber
Date: 8/14/2003 4:20:54 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: RChrist150
To: RCooper663
Bob thought you might like this!
Remember the guy who got on a plane with a bomb built into his shoe and tried to light it? His trial is over. How much of this Judge's comments did you hear on TV? Everyone should hear what the judge had to say. U.S. District Court Judge William Young made the following statement in sentencing "shoe bomber" Richard Reid to prison. It is noteworthy, and deserves to be remembered far longer than he predicts. I commend it to you and to anyone you might wish to forward it to.
January 30, 2003 United States vs. Reid.
Judge Young: "Mr. Richard C. Reid, hearken now to the sentence the Court imposes upon you. On counts 1, 5 and 6 the Court sentences you to life in prison in the custody of the United States Attorney General. On counts 2,3,4 and 7, the Court sentences you to 20 years in prison on each count, the sentence on each count to run consecutive with the other. That's 80 years.
On count 8 the Court sentences you to the mandatory 30 years consecutive to the 80 years just imposed. The Court imposes upon you each of the eight counts a fine of $250,000 for the aggregate fine of $2 million.
The Court accepts the government's recommendation with respect to restitution and orders restitution in the amount of $298.17 to Andre Bousquet and $5,784 to American Airlines. The Court imposes upon you the $800 special assessment. The Court imposes upon you five years supervised release simply because the law requires it. But the life sentences are real life sentences so I need go no further.This is the sentence that is provided for by our statutes.
It is a fair and just sentence. It is a righteous sentence. Let me explain this to you. We are not afraid of any of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid. We are Americans. We have been through the fire before. There is all too much war talk here. And I say that to everyone with the utmost respect. Here in this court, where we deal with individuals as individuals, and care for individuals as individuals, as human beings we reach out for justice. You are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist. To give you that reference-to call you a soldier- gives you far too much stature. Whether it is the officers of government who do it or your attorney who does it, or if that happens to be your own view, you are, nevertheless, a terrorist. And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not deal with terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice.
So war talk is way out of line in this court. You are a big fellow. But you are not that big. You're no warrior. I know warriors. You are a terrorist. A species of criminal guilty of multiple attempted murders. In a very real sense Trooper Santigo had it right when you first were taken off that plane and into custody and you wondered where the press and where the TV crews were and he said, "you're no big deal". You're no big deal. What your counsel, what your able counsel and what the equally able United States attorneys have grappled with and what I have as honestly as I know
how tried to grapple with, is why you did something so horrific. What was it that led you here to this courtroom today? I have listened respectfully to what you have to say. And I ask you to search your heart and ask yourself what sort of unfathomable hate led you to do what you are guilty of and admit you are guilty of doing.
And I have an answer for you. It may not satisfy you. But as I search this entire record it comes as close to understanding as I know. It seems to me you hate the one thing that is most precious. You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom. Our individual freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we individually choose.
Here, in this society, the very winds carry freedom. They carry it everywhere from sea to shining sea. It is because we prize individual freedom so much that you are here in this beautiful courtroom. So that everyone can see, truly see that justice is administered fairly, individually, and discretely. It is for freedom's sake that your lawyers are striving so vigorously on your behalf, have filed appeals and will go on in their representation of you before other judges. We are about freedom. Because we all know that the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own liberties. Make no mistake though. It is yet true that we will bear any burden, pay any price, to preserve our freedoms. Look around this courtroom. Mark it well. The world is not
going to long remember what you or I say here. Day after tomorrow it will be forgotten. But this, however, will long endure. Here in this courtroom and courtrooms all across America, the American people will gather to see that justice, individual justice, justice, not war, individual justice is in fact being done.
The very President of the United States through his officers will have to come into courtrooms and lay out evidence on which specific matters can be judged, and juries of citizens will gather to sit and judge that evidence democratically, to mold and shape and refine our sense of justice. See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America. That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten. That flag stands for freedom.
You know it always will.
Custody Mr. Officer. Stand him down."
How much of this Judge's comments did you hear on our TV sets? Please
pass this around. Everyone needs to hear what the judge had to say
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Subj: Re: MAIL CALL NO 526 517TH PRCT August 15, 2003
Date: 8/16/2003 10:25:25 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From: Wild bill 517
To: Ben517
Boom Boom said it well. Surely the fighting of many
small units had its effect. I think of Manhay, Soy-Hotton
as well as St, Vith and Bastogne, and perhaps other
unnamed spots.
Bill Boyle
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Subj: BoomBoom's Dragoon D-Day
Date: 8/16/2003 1:59:04 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: rcoleman8@satx.rr.com
Ben, BoomBoom reported the identical feeling i had, except I pushed the stick in my plane and had to boot out a frozen British Lt. Laison trooper. Too, instead of ending up in the vineyard among the grapes, I hooked up on a pole put there to block out glider landings. Once hooked up, and the weight off my chute, it collapsed, and I fellabout 15 feet to the ground, and for a few minutes, thought I had broken every bone in my body. Then, as BB says, the rest is history. Randolph Coleman F. Co.
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Subj: RE: Speech Prior to Our Jump
Date: 8/16/2003 2:05:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: Ge517ne
Ben, I could not retrieve the message which we received before the jump. I think that I have seen it and remember the words "use your deads and get the job done" or something like that. I know that the word deads was used. I'm quite sure when we received the talk that the word heads was used, but somehow the word deads amused me. Must be because of my old age because there is nothing amusing about the word.
Gene Brissey