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I LOVE IT!!!! Not only that the remains can be recycled too. It is Peaceful and it helps save trees too!!!

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sunday, june 26, 2005
We Came, We Saw, We Shredded

Here’s a very creative and perfectly legal way to turn the tables on the anti-war protesters, from a group of LGF readers in Columbia, Missouri:

Memorial Day is a day of remembrance and honor for the majority of people. For a select few, those committed to a “peace at any price” world-view, Memorial Day is a day to protest war, warriors and to hand out printed propaganda. This year in Columbia Missouri, at the Air Show and the Memorial Day Parade the “Peace at any price” propaganda ended up in shreds – literally.

By an earlier federal court ruling, the Veterans group that hosts Missouri’s Air Show was forced to allow the peace groups to hand out their literature and carry protest signs onto the tarmac of the event. The court ruled that protesters had the right to free speech. So, we provided some free speech of our own, by the name of Operation Simply Shred.

A simple concept, legal, moral, and deliciously humorous – Operation Simply Shred provided a polite, free and immediate shredding service for any unwanted political literature or flyer that an Air Show or parade attendee did not care to keep any longer. Small, powerful battery operated shredders in the hands of polite and helpful volunteers allowed any citizen to exercise their own First Amendment right to shred any flyer or propaganda piece handed to them by a “peace at any price” protestor just seconds after they received it. And it was environmentally friendly to boot.

For years, the peace protesters have held their signs and harangued the Military Recruiters. They protest and try to dig holes in the yard at the ROTC building. They set up cardboard coffins fashioned from old “Kerry for President” signs at the Veterans Air Show. One loose cannon peacenik even assaulted a woman one evening as she countered their Wed. spectacle near the recruiters’ office when she refused to take a flyer. Well, they forgot that free speech goes both ways. The peace protesters know the military can’t express an opinion, so they have a captive audience to their street theatrics. Private citizens, however, have no such restraints.

Armed with shredders, signs advertising the Operation, signs supporting our Veterans and Troops, and with no announcement or forewarning we showed up. As the Klingons say “revenge is best served cold.”

The peace protestors appeared like clockwork when the Air Show gates opened and they started handing out their leaflets. They saw us, and at first our signs confused them. We offered to take any unwanted political flyers from any citizen who wanted to give them to us and then shredded them before the eyes of the smiling citizen and in full view of the peacenik who handed it out. The peaceniks were stunned.

When the shock wore off they came to dialog with us. The head peacenik said “its like Nazi book burning, you’re fascists.” We said “you want free speech, well – people who don’t like your propaganda are free to take it from you, give it to us and shred it.” The head peacenik still didn’t get it and walked off muttering about fascists, apparently unable to understand that by shredding his tract, regular citizens were expressing their rejection of his propaganda and affirming their own right to free expression. He could dish it out but he sure couldn’t take it.

The reaction from the regular citizens was astounding. We were thanked, we were given thumbs up, we were offered food and drink (which we declined as we were way too busy), we had veterans of all ages salute us for our efforts and many laughed out loud when they saw us ready and willing to shred a flyer that someone else was handing out just a few feet away.

After two days of working the Air Show, the crowd waiting for the parade, were waiting for The Shredders. As we walked up a side street and folks saw us coming, they started pulling flyers out of their pockets and purses to hand to us, several stating they just knew we’d be there. When one Shredder’s batteries wore out, and she was unable to open it up to replace the batteries, a boy scout stepped forward and switched out the batteries for her. When the shredder was ready to go, he handed her a flyer to shred.

Another Shredder stated that one pamphleteer asked a woman who wanted a flyer if she was going to shred it. The woman said she wasn’t and received a flyer. She immediately turned around, took a couple of steps, and handed it to the Shredder.

The ruling may be appealed and/or reversed by next year. Regardless, Columbia now has an alternate voice when it comes to supporting our Troops and Veterans.

We hope the sting of insult that the peace protesters intended our military to suffer in silence was turned into an enjoyable demonstration, where hurt was assuaged and the anger was diffused.

Thank you Veterans for giving us the freedom we enjoy. Please know, though Columbia has a history of being inhospitable to our military, we are no longer silent.

We came, we saw, we shredded.

ROTFLMAO
Beat at their own game...I love it!

I may be against the ideals behind the war in Iraq, but I wholeheartedly support our troops and pray for success and their safety. What the "peace-at-any-cost" protesters do is just wrong and hypocritical, as evidenced by the head "peacenik's" reaction when he first saw the shredders and failed to realize the shredders were doing the same exact thing the protesters were. (the wheels are churning as a type so follow me here.) Soooooo, by calling the shredders fascists, the protesters are fascists as well, right.

YEP!! I LOVE IT!!! And who would the "faciist" be in this particular case? You hit the nail on the head!!!

It screws the protestors up when they get beat at their own game! I have seen them stop about 100 yards away when they saw what they were facing a line of "OBVIOUSLY pregnant women holding hands. They knew better than to touch any of the women in any manner. It would have definitely have hurt their "cause" and there were tons of cameras around. I have seen them stopped by a base Chaplain that never raised his voice any louder than a normal tone of conversation, I can't say the same for the protestor that confronted him since, he was screaming and yelling and was supposedly a former priest....(Meanwhile what you could not see was the security force personel and others ready to respond at a moments notice) I have seen the prostestors break bad and about a 3 yo keet was thrown over a base fence, what that was suppose to accomplish I do not know. Luckily a security guy saw what was happening and caught the keet and it was unharmed. I don't know what happened with the keet after that, other than it was checked out by medical and reported to be ok.

I know of another protest that took place in the winter time at a base where it was cold and they were asked politely to leave 3 times then told to leave. each tme they refused.... The base C.O. had the base firetrucks hose them down with the mist. No protestors were injured. They did take it to court and tried to claim "cruel and unusal punishment". The judge threw it out of court.
I know at one base, during the night, a protestor managed to get to a former building I worked out of, and chained/handcuffed themselves to a door, and had a box that ended up having what appeared to be burnt bones.
They want to the publicity of being injured and abused to get media attention. You beat them at their own game they don't get the media attention.
No one gets hurt and I LOVE IT!!!! SCORE ANOTHER ONE FOR THE GOOD GUYS!!!!

Sam,

Why are you against peace? That is what it seems when you keep posting things like this. Sure, every movement has wackos, but I think there is nothing wrong with wanting a little peace!

Marvin Gaye - What's Happening Brother Lyrics
(Marvin Gaye/James Nyx)


Hey baby, what'cha know good
I'm just gettin' back, but you knew I would
War is hell, when will it end,
When will people start gettin' together again
Are things really gettin' better, like the newspaper said
What else is new my friend, besides what I read
Can't find no work, can't find no job my friend
Money is tighter than it's ever been
Say man, I just don't understand
What's going on across this land
Ah what's happening brother,
Oh ya, what's happening my man
Are they still gettin' down where we used to go and dance
Will our ball club win the pennant,
do you think they have a chance
And tell me friend, how in the world have you been.
Tell me what's out and I want to know what's in.
What's the deal man, what's happening
What's happening brother
Ah what's happening brother
What's happening my man
Ah what's happening brother
What's been shaken up and down the line
I want to know cause I'm slightly behind the time.

No one in their right mind is against peace. But many of these protesters aren't really for peace, either. Their presence is meant to start trouble.

Until you wear the uniform of a United States Servicemember and have to stand a protective post between one of these demonstrations and the entrance to a military base while the protestors scream "baby killer," "fascist," and worse at you, with you unable to respond, you might not understand just how infuriating they can be, and how they sure don't sound very peaceful.... (been there, done that....)

I'm all for peaceful protest. It's our way of life in this country, and it's practically sacred. But I still LOVE this story about the shredders.

Me, too, Jen. Very environmental to shred and compost!

I support the troops, I just don't agree with the idea of war. I am just sick and tired of Sam always trying to classify people as peaceniks. He just seems too gung-ho about war and fighting. It is as if he sees no other way to settle things. I just keep trying to point out to him that there are other ways to handle things. I can not stand war and that is why I keep posting after him. I do not have my "rose colored glasses on", I know that wars sometimes can not be avoided, but it seems that Sam is to quick to pick up a gun.

tikitatas wrote:Me, too, Jen. Very environmental to shred and compost!

captainjoe wrote:I support the troops, I just don't agree with the idea of war. I am just sick and tired of Sam always trying to classify people as peaceniks. He just seems too gung-ho about war and fighting. It is as if he sees no other way to settle things. I just keep trying to point out to him that there are other ways to handle things. I can not stand war and that is why I keep posting after him. I do not have my "rose colored glasses on", I know that wars sometimes can not be avoided, but it seems that Sam is to quick to pick up a gun.

Roger that, CJ. I'm not taking any sides here. I just get kinda riled up about some of these protesters, since I've been in their sights a time or two and I *sure* didn't like being called a "baby-killer"....

SchoolGirlHeart wrote:

captainjoe wrote:I support the troops, I just don't agree with the idea of war. I am just sick and tired of Sam always trying to classify people as peaceniks. He just seems too gung-ho about war and fighting. It is as if he sees no other way to settle things. I just keep trying to point out to him that there are other ways to handle things. I can not stand war and that is why I keep posting after him. I do not have my "rose colored glasses on", I know that wars sometimes can not be avoided, but it seems that Sam is to quick to pick up a gun.

Roger that, CJ. I'm not taking any sides here. I just get kinda riled up about some of these protesters, since I've been in their sights a time or two and I *sure* didn't like being called a "baby-killer"....

Yeah, that must stink being called that. If everyone would use their brain the Good Lord gave them, everything would be a lot better. If we could get the two sides together for a peaceful conversation, imagine what could be accomplished!

I would never call anyone a "baby killer" or things like to get my point across. I think if they want an example of how peaceful protest should be done, they should look no further than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Look at the progress that he accomplished without resorting to violence.

This is the 21st Century, with no limit on education and the kind of ideas that we can come up with, there is no telling how much we can get done if we stop fighting and start thinking.

captainjoe wrote:I think if they want an example of how peaceful protest should be done, they should look no further than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Look at the progress that he accomplished without resorting to violence.

Agreed!!

captainjoe wrote:Sam,

Why are you against peace? That is what it seems when you keep posting things like this. Sure, every movement has wackos, but I think there is nothing wrong with wanting a little peace!

Marvin Gaye - What's Happening Brother Lyrics
(Marvin Gaye/James Nyx)


Hey baby, what'cha know good
I'm just gettin' back, but you knew I would
War is hell, when will it end,
When will people start gettin' together again
Are things really gettin' better, like the newspaper said
What else is new my friend, besides what I read
Can't find no work, can't find no job my friend
Money is tighter than it's ever been
Say man, I just don't understand
What's going on across this land
Ah what's happening brother,
Oh ya, what's happening my man
Are they still gettin' down where we used to go and dance
Will our ball club win the pennant,
do you think they have a chance
And tell me friend, how in the world have you been.
Tell me what's out and I want to know what's in.
What's the deal man, what's happening
What's happening brother
Ah what's happening brother
What's happening my man
Ah what's happening brother
What's been shaken up and down the line
I want to know cause I'm slightly behind the time.

I am not for war....I am for if your going to war...youfight to win and to prove you are the baddest dog on the block. Screw the media....Screw public opinion..your A$$ is on the line and you do what you gotta do.

If you really read and understood any of my post about use of force, then you would understand. When I say no one wants peace more than a warrior ....I mean that! What is some peacemik offering? I have been called my share of names by them and talked with them up close and personal and one on one.

Anyone that says they believe in peace at any price is an idiot. How many of your loved ones would you allowed to be taken away and continued to be taken away, in the name of peace???
Have you ever taken the "Oath of Enlistment" and worn a uniform? Tell me I am what...?

How many jobs have you ever had and then be told you cannot finnish it and told by the media you are doing wrong every time you turn on the TV?

No one in his right mind likes war....but the people that actually go out and put their A$$es and life and limb on the line....voluntarilly do so.
If we are going to turn our military loose then we must let the big dog eat, and do what is neccessary and not do some half a$$ job of it.

The biased mainstream media ( and several national mainstream media have admitted their bias. Do you need proof of this? ) is more concerned with promoting and announcing enemy attacks here and there, than they are about any mission completes or successes and thus feeding the enemys morale. Tell me how many US and Coalition successes have you heard of on ABC,CBS,CNN,FOX,NBC,or PBS????? HOW MANY?
NOW, Tell me how many enemy attacks you have heard of.....!! HOW MANY??? Care to try and tell me there are none????

Tell me who protects and ensures the Rights that you have today?
Do you even have to think about the answer?

I took the oath and I wore the uniform...I never said peaceniks did not have the Right to peaceful protests and demonstrations.....no matter what you may think or say....Yoiu have your Rights for a reason... and nothing anything any peacenik has done has ever defended or protected those Rights.

I have no problem with peaceful and lawful demonstrations..... tell me have you ever been on the recieving part of a mob of people, throwing various things from human feces or the name calling or taking down any protestors ? Can you please explain to me what the person hoped to accomplish by throwing a young keet over the base fence that has barbed wire outriggers?

You have the Right to express your opine as I do.... that does not mean anyone has to like either opine.

As I clearly said it was peaceful and no one got hurt and I LOVED IT! What part of that donyou fail to understand or comprehend, since you think I am so "Pro war" or however you put it....
You think you feel for the military.... let me know when you actually can claim everyone of the WIA/KIA and the people who are there as brothers and sisters.

Don't screw with me about what they have done and shame their sacrifice and their families and loved ones, losses. They sacrificed knowing what they were risking and doing when they took the Oath...maybe taking an Oath means nothing to you....I do not know. But you can bet your A$$ that they know. They VOLUNTEERED!

I do know that if we and the coalition, brought all of our troops home now, that would mean all the lives and limbs, bloodshed lost, would make those sacrifices in vain...and grant the terrs a victory and a win. Who do you want to win, the terrs or the coalition? Peace at any Price??? Do you understand what that really means? Whose side are you really on?

You may well disagree with the politics of the war..........but please by all means tell us how YOU would conduct and fight the war on terrorism?
NOT FIGHTING IS NOT AN OPTION!!!!!!!
I have asked numerous people this question, and as of yet. have I to recieved a realistic or acceptable answer. Perhaps you will be the first!

Meanwhile I do stand strong with my brothers and sisters.....and I HOPE and PRAY that they are allowed to succeed....Rather than be withdrawn in shame with their tail between their legs.

YOUR DAMN RIGHT I AM STONG IN MY BELEIFS AND SUPPORT OF MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS/ OUR TROOPS!!! YOU CLAIM YOU support them....but just how do you do so??? Stand out on a corner or street, wave a banner and protest the war demanding our troops home now? Just what do you do to support them???

::STANDING OVATION:: to Sam

Thxz prrthd1987. I am not deserving of it.
Here is something I got in an e-mail, that tells a little about those who REALLY DO DESERVE A : STANDING OVATION :

MAY GOD BLESS THEM ALL and keep them safe as possible and allow them to be returned home inact to their loved ones and family!!!

May this help open eyes, and lead to understanding of our troops, instead of the closed minded/one sided BS crap, that they and their families face and are subjected to, every day, day in and day out from the mass media.

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May 27, 2005, 8:05 a.m.
NationalReviewOnline
The Commanders
America's military leaders ..

By Jim Lacey

Last month over 1,500 family members who have lost a loved one in Iraq or Afghanistan gathered at Arlington National Cemetery at the behest of an organization called Faces of the Fallen, which has assembled dozens of artists to paint portraits of those killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. General Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was the keynote speaker. While his speech managed to strike a few emotional chords, it was what he did after speaking that was remarkable. Hours after his speech concluded General Myers was still standing out in a cold drizzle talking at length to any family member who wanted to have a word with him. As the man ultimately responsible for ordering the missions that resulted in many of these American deaths, this must have been an incredibly hard thing for him to endure. Still, he never hurried a single
person and listened as bereaved family members told him about the child, the spouse, or the sibling they had lost.

It would have been an easy matter for General Myers to claim pressing business and escape as soon as his speech concluded. In fact, he could have ordered a subordinate to represent him at the reception and spared himself the pain of meeting these families. Of course, no real leader would do such a thing. Like General Eisenhower, who felt compelled to go visit the paratroops on the eve of D-Day and meet the men who were expecting to take 90 percent losses, General Myers could not send anyone else to do what must be the most difficult part of his job.

I am reliably informed that General Myers starts each workday with a full
briefing on the circumstances of every American casualty in the previous 24 hours. I can think of no more emotionally searing way to begin what are often long, arduous days. This is not something he has to do and I imagine he continues it only because it is a daily reminder that any decision he makes can have a dire consequence for the men and women who make it happen. During World War II, General George Marshall, the first chairman, did much the same thing. Every day he sent the casualty list to the White House to remind the president that real people died as a result of every order given. General Marshall continued this despite a White House request that the practice be discontinued.

This is a brief but telling glimpse at the character of a single man. The
incredible thing is that this pattern reveals itself at every level of the chain of command. For generations, writers, moviemakers, and singers have made fortunes depicting cold, unfeeling officers who callously send young soldiers out to die while sitting safely in the rear. The stereotype still persists today and there is no more horrendous lie perpetrated about the people who lead our great soldiers into combat. Please note that I said "lead" and not "send." The Americans who have entrusted their youth to these leaders deserve to know the character of the men and women in command.

On a recent trip to Iraq I was with a small group of civilians and officers when truck loads of care packages for the soldiers were being unloaded. The boxes were opened for the soldiers to grab what they wanted. Earlier, one of the officers mentioned that he needed to get some razors from the Post Exchange. One of the civilians in our group spotted a shaving kit in a box, grabbed it, and handed it to the officer in need of razors saying, "This will save you a trip." Without a pause the officer threw the kit back in the box and replied, "That stuff was sent over for the troops to use, not me." The civilian mentioned that the officer was also a soldier serving in Iraq and no one would begrudge him the
kit. The officer did his best to explain and then finally said, "That is not how it works. Just watch."

So we stood off to the side and watched. Over the next half hour, while a couple of hundred soldiers took what they wanted from the boxes about two dozen Army and Marine officers came over and looked to see what was in the boxes. Every one of them left empty handed. It was as clear a testament as I could personally imagine that they had internalized the idea that the needs of the soldiers came before their own.

Later that same day I was invited to go on a patrol with some soldiers from the 2nd BDE of the 10th Mountain Division along one of the more dangerous routes in Iraq. The patrol was led by the company commander, who tries to get out on at least one patrol a day with his men. Remarkably, the brigade commander, Colonel Mark Milley was also going along. Milley, despite an awesome workload and responsibility for over 5,000 soldiers, makes time to go on at least two patrols a week. There are a lot of things Col. Milley could be doing rather than sharing
the risks of combat patrols with his soldiers on a regular basis, but he
believes that nothing is nearly as important as being seen by his soldiers at the points of real danger. Also coming along was Brigadier General Anthony Cucolo, who was on a fact-finding tour after spending the previous six months in Afghanistan with the 10th Mountain Division. Colonels and generals carrying rifles out on patrol with infantry squads is a long way from the common perception of senior officers sitting in the rear moving pins on maps, but it is the daily reality in Iraq.

At one point during the night, the patrol pulled up to a checkpoint that was
watching a road intersection, a favorite terrorist target. Col Milley was far
from happy with what he found. In his professional judgment the soldiers at the checkpoint had made so many mistakes that they were inviting an attack. In what
could be called a well-controlled rage, Col. Milley called the company commander on his radio, only to discover he was spending the night at another checkpoint some distance away. Col. Milley admitted that it was a bit harder to be mad at the captain when he is out sharing the danger with his men. Going to the next level of command, the battalion commander, he ordered that the entire checkpoint be replaced in the next 45 minutes and that the leadership currently at the checkpoint be retrained on their duties before they were sent out again. It was
past midnight when he gave this order, meaning a lot of sleepless hours for the battalion leadership.

With that done, Col. Milley turned to BG Cucolo and said, "A lot of people are going to be hating me and cursing my name tonight." As I walked away BG Cucolo commented, "That there is a lot more to loving your soldiers than making sure that they always love you."

That statement brought home something I had already noticed about the military leaders it has been my privilege to know. They truly love the soldiers they lead. While researching a book about the Iraq war I found it imperative that I try and keep any discussion with commanders away from the subject of the men they lost in combat or I would rapidly lose most of whatever time I had to conduct the interview. When the subject of casualties was broached the interviewees would without exception stare away and start recounting every loss their units had suffered in minute detail. It was plainly visible that every one of these leaders felt each loss deep within their souls. A trauma nurse said that the hardest thing she did in Iraq was comfort a burly Marine colonel who was sobbing. Someone in the group said he must have been wounded pretty badly.
The nurse was puzzled for a minute and replied, "He was not hurt. His Marines were." It has been my experience that no commander ever suffers more than when he loses one of the men or women entrusted to his care. That they are able to find the will to carry on despite grievous heartache tells much about the leadership of our Armed Forces. When, as sometimes happens, our commanders fail in combat, it is never because they did not care about their men. Often it is because they cared too much.

For those who have not experienced it, it is almost impossible to explain the depth of feeling that commanders feel for their organizations and the people within them. I have seen infantry commanders who are absolutely fearless in combat break down crying when giving up their commands and moving on to other assignments. I know dozens of officers who have already done one or more tours in Iraq who cannot watch the news because they feel guilty about being safe at home while their comrades are still in danger. I have met dozens of officers who are volunteering for second and third tours in Iraq, simply because young Americans are fighting and dying there and they feel a deep need to be with
them.

Those with no familiarity with America's warriors might say they just like
fighting and killing. Those people have never spoken to an officer who has been in a hard fight. They have never heard the cracking voice as he relates the difficulty of looking at people, whether enemy or ally, killed as a result of his orders. They have never heard the anguish of a leader replaying for the thousandth time the loss of one of his own. They did not hear an armored company commander answer a question about how he felt about having his soldiers rebuild schools after fighting to seize Baghdad literally days before. He said, "I cannot tell you how great it feels to be able to stop killing and start helping people." Such is the overwhelming compassion of those who fight our wars.

- Jim Lacey is a Washington-based writer focused on international and military
issues.