An Open Letter to Senator Coleman

Dear Senator Coleman:

I had let some things slide with you before. Despite your RINO tendencies, as a delegate I ultimately had your back and was planning on supporting you in '08.

But I won't let this slide. Not a chance.

"I refuse to put more American lives on the line in Baghdad without being assured that the Iraqis themselves are willing to do what they need to do to end the violence of Iraqi against Iraqi," he said. "If Iraq is to fulfill its role as a sovereign and democratic state, it must start acting like one."

I believe you must have read a few tea leaves this past election cycle, Norm. You probably thought that in order to secure your re-election in '08, you better appease the antiwar moonbat left and do it early and often. And you know what, that may be true. That is, if all you're thinking about is saving your job.

But there comes a time in a guy's life when one has to say, "To hell with the polls" and just do the right thing. This is one of those times.

Mr. Coleman. I know that the dems won the state this last election cycle, and I know you used to be a democrat. But did you have to check your brains at the door to jump on their side on this issue? You say you won't support a troop surge unless you had reassurances that Iraqis would step up to the plate. Well, what part of Bush's speech did you miss last night? Was it this part?

"To establish its authority, the Iraqi government plans to take responsibility for security in all of Iraq's provinces by November. To give every Iraqi citizen a stake in the country's economy, Iraq will pass legislation to share oil revenues among all Iraqis. To show that it is committed to delivering a better life, the Iraqi government will spend 10 billion dollars of its own money on reconstruction and infrastructure projects that will create new jobs. To empower local leaders, Iraqis plan to hold provincial elections later this year. And to allow more Iraqis to re-enter their nation's political life, the government will reform de-Baathification laws - and establish a fair process for considering amendments to Iraq's constitution."

Going off half-cocked and grandstanding on the Senate Floor is something I would expect from the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Jack Murtha, Swimmer Kennedy, (fill in name of favorite democrat here). I might even expect to hear such irresponsible rhetoric from the likes of Chuck Hagel and Arlen Specter. But I never expected to hear it from you, Mr. Coleman.

Oh sure, you tried to couch your rhetoric:

Coleman stressed that the U.S. must succeed in Iraq.

"It is easy to lose sight of the fact that we are in Iraq as part of a global war on terror," he said. "There is no question that Iraq has become the key battleground of this war. Failure cannot be an option in either the overall war on terror, or in Iraq."

A failed state in Iraq, Coleman said, would create a breeding ground for terrorists.

But am I the only one that notices any disconnect here? Norm--you've been to Iraq. You know just as well as I that there are bad guys in Baghdad. Guys who show no compunction against murdering innocent people. Idiots in dirty night shirts who get their jollies by blowing up people waiting in line in Baghdad just trying to get a fucking job.. Islamo fucktards who get their kicks by exploding themselves in crowded markets, and by police stations. People who disrupt life there every day via murder and mayhem. You say that Iraqis need to take responsibility for bringing different factions together. Fine. But how do you do get to that point unless you can provide a stable environment for more than a day? And how can you achieve that stable environment without making those Islamo-fucktards who are causing the chaos assume room temperature?

How, Mr. Coleman, can failure not be an option if you fail to dispatch the bad guys??

Our son is over there, and now his tour has been extended for another 125 days. You think I'm happy about it? HELL NO. Do you think my wife is happy about it? HELL NO. But you know what, Mr. Coleman? I'm happy that the President has made the decision to expand and relax the ROE. I'm happy that the President seems to have chosen the right military leaders for the job. I'm happy that the President is not going to pussy-foot around and will finally allow our soldiers to get down to business. Because the sooner they do that, the sooner they will accomplish their mission, and the sooner they'll get home. For good.

Mr. Coleman, if you were truly serious when you said that failure is not an option in Iraq, then get the hell out of the way and let the military do its job. Your criticism of President Bush's plan yesterday was premature, ill conceived, self-serving and unwarranted.

With you around to open your piehole, Mr. Coleman, who the hell needs Jack Murtha?

I have mixed emotions about this...

Our son's unit's deployment has been extended by up to 125 days (MN National Guard 1st Brigade). Quite the bummer, since we were hoping he'd be home for our eldest son's wedding this May.

You know, and readers of this blog know, I understand that the job needs to be done.

The President says that the generals need to increase troop strength by 20,000.

But I also understand that there are over 1,400,000 active duty soldiers in our armed forces, with around 190,000 of them who are currently in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That leaves a lot of active duty folks who could pick up the slack

What the hell are they still doing in Germany?

Again, I know the job needs to be done, and I understand that.

But it still sucks.

***UPDATE***

More info here.

Democrats smell victory in defeat...

I could have written this headline last May.

Democrats reject Bush's 'way forward'
WASHINGTON — Democrats launched an immediate counterattack against President Bush's new Iraq strategy Wednesday. Rep. John Murtha vowed to try to block Bush's plan from his perch as chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee.

"Escalating our military involvement in Iraq sends precisely the wrong message, and we oppose it," the Democratic leadership in the House and Senate said in a statement released after the speech. (read the rest here)

Bush could have come up with a plan tonight that would literally not only have immediately delivered victory in Iraq and GWOT, but would have simultaneously ended world hunger and cured the problems of AIDS, global warming, and missing socks; but even if he did, democrats, being the defeatist, power-hungry bastards that they are, would have none of it. Far from having the best interest of our nation at heart, they are all too willing to sell it out to our enemies, lest they allow Bush to have a political victory through American victory in the war.

Goddamn it--I WILL CHALLENGE THEIR PATRIOTISM.

Either get on the team and support your nation during a time of war, or move the hell out.

Elitist, self-serving Bastards. The whole lot of them.

Regarding the President's speech tonight...

A great rundown of the speech can be found here.

My favorite part, and the one that gives me the most hope?

"And there were too many restrictions on the troops we did have. Our military commanders reviewed the new Iraqi plan to ensure that it addressed these mistakes. They report that it does."

WOOOT!

Our son has told us that the Rules of Engagement (ROE's) for National Guardsmen are so tight that they cannot fire upon terrorists that are fleeing, even though they had just been fired upon. The only thing they can do is fire a flare over the offender's shoulder.

Support will come for this war when the ROE's are such that it allows our soldiers to do their job.

Support will come with success.

And success will come, despite the democrat party's death wish for disaster in Iraq.

Oversight? Or micromanagement?

True to form, megalomaniacal congressman Jack Murtha, rather than focusing on defeat for our enemies in the GWOT, is trying his level best to engineer our own defeat

(emphases mine):

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rep. John Murtha said Tuesday that he planned to hold hearings on closing down the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and threatened to "cut off the money" to make it happen.

"This is an eyesore to the country," the veteran congressman, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee, said of the facility, where about 400 detainees from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are kept.

Murtha, a Pennsylvania Democrat, said Congress could easily effect the change he seeks.

"We just cut off the money," he said.

An eyesore to the country? Does Murtha think we should house our enemies at the Waldorf Astoria?

As Mark asserted, the Guantanamo Bay argument is just another in a long string of disconnected, inane strawman issues used by the left in their endless attempts to focus attention away from the larger aims of our war effort; as well as to drain support for our troops' mission and the successful prosecution of this war. Charge after charge of abuse at Guantanamo has been leveled, from "Koran flushing" to prisoner abuse. Each charge has been debunked or at worst isolated and non-systematic; and, despite the types of prisoners being housed there, some, rather than abuse, have reported quite the contrary.

Like it or not, we are at war. The fact that our side quits or concedes on any front will in no way assuage our enemies nor hinder their determination to do us harm. In fact, quite the opposite is true. For Murtha to attempt to micromanage and usurp the CIC role, just because he can, suggests the height of extra-Constitutional self-aggrandizement to the absolute detriment of the interests of this nation and of the safety of its citizenry.

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Also posted at Murtha Must Go!! and Blogs for Bush.

Wednesday's Hero Blogburst

This Weeks Hero Was Submitted by Beth

Spc. Jordan William Hess
27 years old from Marysville, Washington
Company C, 1st Battalion, 77th Armor Regiment
December 5, 2006


"Specialist Hess died of wounds received on a battlefield upon which no markers or memorials exist, yet his name will be etched upon the small part of each of our hearts that has hardened to stone by the realization of his passing. I will take Specialist Jordan Hess’ name to my own grave, in the hope that I can somehow preserve the honorable life that he led,” said Capt. Ian Lauer, commander of Company C.

Spc. Hess was a study in contrasts who loved a challenge. He had a warrior's spirit and was thrilled at the chance to serve his county, his parents said from their home in Marysville. He also was content to look for his muse in various forms of art, including glass-blowing, photography and poetry. It was this balance that people will remember most about the 26-year-old who was critically injured Nov. 11 in Ta'Meem, Iraq, when an IED detonated near his combat patrol.

A three-year veteran in the U.S. Army, Hess spent more than a year in Korea as well as time in Germany, always looking for an overseas assignment, Bill and Tammy Hess said. They knew their son was on his way to Kuwait the last time they spoke with him in October, and they suspected he had been deployed to Iraq as part of a tank unit when they didn’t hear from him for several weeks. After his injury, Hess was flown back to the United States and treated for several weeks at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. His parents, as well as his six brothers and one sister, were flown there to be with him.

"None of us wanted to see him hurt like that," Bill Hess said. "But one of the greatest blessings in my life was that we were able to say goodbye."

Hess was an avid wrestler from the time he was young, and news of his death circulated at Lake Stevens High School, where he attended until 1999. "He was a strong-willed, independent young man with a unique sense of humor," the Lake Stevens wrestling coaches said in a statement. "The Lake Stevens wrestling community today feels a strong sense of loss."

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Have Every Right To Dream Heroic Dreams.
Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great country, you can find out how by clicking here.

Just when you thought we might secure the border...

Did you feel more secure after the border fence was initially approved? Well, the hell with border fences, when you have what could amount to be an illegal immigration superhighway:

Bush Administration Quietly Plans NAFTA Super Highway

by Jerome R. Corsi
Posted Jun 12, 2006

Quietly but systematically, the Bush Administration is advancing the plan to build a huge NAFTA Super Highway, four football-fields-wide, through the heart of the U.S. along Interstate 35, from the Mexican border at Laredo, Tex., to the Canadian border north of Duluth, Minn.

Once complete, the new road will allow containers from the Far East to enter the United States through the Mexican port of Lazaro Cardenas, bypassing the Longshoreman's Union in the process. The Mexican trucks, without the involvement of the Teamsters Union, will drive on what will be the nation's most modern highway straight into the heart of America. The Mexican trucks will cross border in FAST lanes, checked only electronically by the new "SENTRI" system. The first customs stop will be a Mexican customs office in Kansas City, their new Smart Port complex, a facility being built for Mexico at a cost of $3 million to the U.S. taxpayers in Kansas City.

As incredible as this plan may seem to some readers, the first Trans-Texas Corridor segment of the NAFTA Super Highway is ready to begin construction next year. Various U.S. government agencies, dozens of state agencies, and scores of private NGOs (non-governmental organizations) have been working behind the scenes to create the NAFTA Super Highway, despite the lack of comment on the plan by President Bush. The American public is largely asleep to this key piece of the coming "North American Union" that government planners in the new trilateral region of United States, Canada and Mexico are about to drive into reality.

Just examine the following websites to get a feel for the magnitude of NAFTA Super Highway planning that has been going on without any new congressional legislation directly authorizing the construction of the planned international corridor through the center of the country.

• NASCO, the North America SuperCorridor Coalition Inc., is a "non-profit organization dedicated to developing the world's first international, integrated and secure, multi-modal transportation system along the International Mid-Continent Trade and Transportation Corridor to improve both the trade competitiveness and quality of life in North America." Where does that sentence say anything about the USA? Still, NASCO has received $2.5 million in earmarks from the U.S. Department of Transportation to plan the NAFTA Super Highway as a 10-lane limited-access road (five lanes in each direction) plus passenger and freight rail lines running alongside pipelines laid for oil and natural gas. One glance at the map of the NAFTA Super Highway on the front page of the NASCO website will make clear that the design is to connect Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. into one transportation system.
• Kansas City SmartPort Inc. is an "investor based organization supported by the public and private sector" to create the key hub on the NAFTA Super Highway. At the Kansas City SmartPort, the containers from the Far East can be transferred to trucks going east and west, dramatically reducing the ground transportation time dropping the containers off in Los Angeles or Long Beach involves for most of the country. A brochure on the SmartPort website describes the plan in glowing terms: "For those who live in Kansas City, the idea of receiving containers nonstop from the Far East by way of Mexico may sound unlikely, but later this month that seemingly far-fetched notion will become a reality."
• The U.S. government has housed within the Department of Commerce (DOC) an "SPP office" that is dedicated to organizing the many working groups laboring within the executive branches of the U.S., Mexico and Canada to create the regulatory reality for the Security and Prosperity Partnership. The SPP agreement was signed by Bush, President Vicente Fox, and then-Prime Minister Paul Martin in Waco, Tex., on March 23, 2005. According to the DOC website, a U.S.-Mexico Joint Working Committee on Transportation Planning has finalized a plan such that "(m)ethods for detecting bottlenecks on the U.S.-Mexico border will be developed and low cost/high impact projects identified in bottleneck studies will be constructed or implemented." The report notes that new SENTRI travel lanes on the Mexican border will be constructed this year. The border at Laredo should be reduced to an electronic speed bump for the Mexican trucks containing goods from the Far East to enter the U.S. on their way to the Kansas City SmartPort.
• The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is overseeing the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) as the first leg of the NAFTA Super Highway. A 4,000-page environmental impact statement has already been completed and public hearings are scheduled for five weeks, beginning next month, in July 2006. The billions involved will be provided by a foreign company, Cintra Concessions de Infraestructuras de Transporte, S.A. of Spain. As a consequence, the TTC will be privately operated, leased to the Cintra consortium to be operated as a toll-road.

Geeze... does anyone besides me feel just a tad bit uneasy with this thing... Ohhh... I don't know. Something about our national sovereignty comes to mind here; not to mention national security. The first checkpoint is supposedly going to be in Kansas City. There's a helluva lot of real estate between Laredo and Kansas City. And of course, with Minnesota being terrorism central as of the past six years, the fact that I-35 runs right through the heart of my home state doesn't work any charms on me either.

If there's one issue I've disagreed heartily with Bush it's immigration. In the words of Ricky Ricardo, there's going to be one helluva lotta 'splainin' to do on Bush's part before I buy into this.

Iraq = Vietnam? Democrats will see to it!

The democrats will go to every length to ensure their personal, twisted victory by ensuring U.S. defeat in Iraq:

The war, he said, "is the overarching issue of our time, and American lives, American values and America's role in the world are all at stake."

Exactly, you blubbering drunken blowhard! Do you really think that American lives, American values, and America's role in the world would be enhanced by cutting and running from the terrorists in Iraq? Do you really think that (after committing genocide) that the terrorists will lay down their arms, sing Kumbaya and stay put?

However, "we cannot simply speak out against an escalation of troops in Iraq," he added. "We must act to prevent it."

With that in mind, Kennedy said he would introduce legislation that would "prohibit the use of funds for an escalation of United States Forces in Iraq above the numbers existing as of January 9, 2007," unless and until Congress approves the president's plan.

If enacted into law, the bill would "reclaim the rightful role of Congress and the people's right to a full voice in the president's plan to send more troops to Iraq," he said.

Hauntingly familiar, eh?

Since when is it the purview of Congress to dictate military strategy? Since when has Congress had the power to usurp the role of Commander in Chief of the United States, you blithering idiot?

"Let us hear the arguments for it and against" Bush's new plan, Kennedy stressed. "Then let us vote on it in the light of day. Let the American people hear - yes or no - where their elected representatives stand on one of the greatest challenges of our time."

Yes, Senator "Swimmer". Let the American people see the democrats for who they are. Let them see the Democrat Party for what it is--the party of surrender to two-bit third world terrorist scumbags.

I welcome it.

Now isn't this precious?

Mother Moonbat will be visiting St. Cloud...

From here:

A spokesman for Non-Violent Alternatives said Sheehan will be in St. Cloud on Jan. 31 to discuss the war in Iraq.

Sheehan's son was killed in Iraq. She vaulted onto the national scene for presiding over a spirited demonstration near President Bush's Texas ranch.

Sheehan will speak in Stewart Hall at St. Cloud State University and sign copies of her book -- "Peace Mom: A Mother's Journey through Heartache to Activism."

You can bet that this Blue Star parent will be there to greet her.

On a note of sweet irony, Lt. Colonel (Ret.) Joe Repya, a pro-troops, pro-mission activist, will be guest-hosting AM-1450s HotTalk with the Ox from 6A-9A CST that very same week. (Bookmark this link for live stream)

This oughta be fun.

The democrats' hero?

From Cindy Sheehan to Danny Glover to Harry Belafonte, to former U.S. Representative Joe Kennedy, to Hollywood liberals, the leftists have been having a love affair with Hugo Chavez, who as much as proclaims himself the second coming of Fidel Castro.

Why the love affair? You got me.

(Read the whole story here)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- President Hugo Chavez announced plans Monday to nationalize Venezuela's electrical and telecommunications companies, pledging to create a socialist state in a bold move with echoes of Fidel Castro's Cuban revolution.

"We're moving toward a socialist republic of Venezuela, and that requires a deep reform of our national constitution," Chavez said in a televised address after swearing in his new Cabinet. "We are in an existential moment of Venezuelan life. We're heading toward socialism, and nothing and no one can prevent it."

Chavez, who will be sworn in Wednesday to a third term that runs through 2013, also said he wanted a constitutional amendment to eliminate the autonomy of the Central Bank and would soon ask the National Assembly, solidly controlled by his allies, to give him greater powers to legislate by presidential decree.

The nationalization appeared likely to affect Electricidad de Caracas, owned by Arlington, Virginia-based AES Corp., and C.A. Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela, known as CANTV, the country's largest publicly traded company.

"All of that which was privatized, let it be nationalized," Chavez said, referring to "all of those sectors in an area so important and strategic for all of us as is electricity."

To all our leftist "friends":

Is this the "utopia" you're looking for?

You talk about "human rights." Yet you choose to support third world tinhorn dictator thugs like Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez.

Are human rights respected when government seizes control of private property in order to "nationalize" it?

Are human rights respected when the only ones who get rich (or even have a chance to get rich) are the few who are in power?

Does a socialist state mean that all are equal? Or are some merely, as George Orwell put it, "more equal than others"?

Is this, the natural extension of leftism in our own nation... what you long for?

Is this the "end game"?

Saddam's beloved cat, Ahmed,...

...was with him to the bitter end.

Shown first on this streaming video:

Now this I (and a baby) can live with...

From here:

SAN FRANCISCO — Scientists reported Sunday they had found a plentiful source of stem cells in the fluid that cushions babies in the womb and produced a variety of tissue types from these cells — sidestepping the controversy over destroying embryos for research.

Researchers at Wake Forest University and Harvard University reported the stem cells they drew from amniotic fluid donated by pregnant women hold much the same promise as embryonic stem cells. They reported they were able to extract the stem cells without harm to mother or fetus and turn their discovery into several different tissue cell types, including brain, liver and bone.

"Our hope is that these cells will provide a valuable resource for tissue repair and for engineered organs as well," said Dr. Anthony Atala, head of Wake Forest's regenerative medicine institute and senior researcher on the project.

It took Atala's team some seven years of research to determine the cells they found were truly stem cells that "can be used to produce a broad range of cells that may be valuable for therapy."

However, the scientists noted they still don't know exactly how many different cell types can be made from the stem cells found in amniotic fluid. They also said that even preliminary tests in patients are years away (read the entire story here)

I am for any stem cell or other research that does not harm or destroy life. I hope and pray that something comes of it.

Paying through the wazoo...for a "better" Minnesota?

So the new democrat majority takes over in the Minnesota State House, we have a $2 billion budget surplus projected over the next three years; a sure sign that Minnesotans are being overtaxed. So what does the new brainless, mind-numbed DFL majority propose as some of their first items on their agenda?

Why, raise taxes, of course!

The glow of opening day had barely worn off when suggestions for tax increases started popping up on Thursday.

Among the first 20 bills introduced in the DFL-led Senate were proposals to raise the gas tax, the sales tax, cigarette taxes, vehicle taxes and more.

Raise taxes? With a $2 billion surplus????

Senate Republicans were quick to see a pattern in the proposals for tax increases.

"Right out of the gate we're seeing Democrats propose tax increases," said Sen. Chris Gerlach, R-Apple Valley. "We have a multi-billion-dollar surplus. That ought to be enough."

The proposals include:

_ A transportation funding package would raise Minnesota's 20-cents-a-gallon gas tax by another dime. It would also increase license tab fees on newly purchased vehicles. And it would let all counties charge up to $20 annually for every car, what's known as a wheelage tax.

Just when we're starting to see some price relief at the pumps, these bozos want to pump up the price another 20 cents per gallon?

_ A constitutional amendment bill would ask voters to raise the state sales tax by 3/8ths of a percent to pay for clean water, the arts and the outdoors. Another variation would boost the sales tax by a quarter of a percent for the outdoors and clean water.

We're already the fifth highest taxed state in the Union, if not higher than that... and the DFL is doing its level best to make it the highest taxed state in the union!

Paying for what? Another Maplethorpe exhibit at the Guthrie?

_ A children's health care bill would raise taxes on cigarettes by anywhere between $1 and $1.20 a pack, according to state Department of Revenue researchers. The tax on a tin of chewing tobacco would go up at least $2.24.

There ya go. Hit the smokers again. And just what are you going to do when the money finally dries up after the smokers finally quit the habit? Why, go after Big Fast Food, of course! Yeah, yeah, I know. It's for the chillldrennn!

_ Another bill would let school districts levy local property owners for the full cost of running ice arenas, instead of the current limit of 90 percent of the cost.

Yaaaaaayyyyy!!! Another property tax increase!!! Wahoooooooo!

Go ahead, DFL--keep on pulling bone-headed stunts like these, and your majority will be toast. The denial that's already going on in the DFL leadership speaks volumes:

Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller said it would be "improper" to conclude that Democrats are pushing tax increases. He said his caucus's top priority is to cut property taxes, and voters would decide whether to approve a constitutional amendment for a higher sales tax.

"This is a tax cut," said Pogemiller, pointing to Senate File No. 1 on a list of bill introductions. "That's a tax cut. No. 1 is a tax cut."

Yeah... "It's a tax cut. Really." Much the same as saying an RPG up the bunghole is nothing but a healthy enema.

Don't you just love it when they piss on your leg; while denying, of course, that they're pissing on your leg?

Well, Minnesotans, you did it! Congratulations. You are indeed going to pay through the wazoo for a "better" Minnesota.

Now bend over and take it like a man.

Johnson v. Schiavo?...just wondering...

Just wondering, that is, how long it would be before those who called for the death of Terri Schiavo, would prescribe the same "cure" for Senator Tim Johnson, should he fall into a similar condition.

Senator Harry Reid thus far has refused to comment about Johnson's condition:

Reid refused to comment on Johnson's medical condition, declining to even answer a question on whether the senator was conscious. "To me he looked very good," Reid said.

Although I suppose any democrat Senator with a heartbeat would look "very good" to Reid at this point; regardless, Johnson's recovery will reportedly take "months." Johnson is at this time purportedly responding to voice and squeezing hands, but so was Terri Schiavo.

Don't get me wrong. I wish for Senator Tim Johnson a full and speedy recovery; and even if he were to fall into a " persistive vegetative state," I would not wish Schiavo's fate upon him.

But if things do go south for Johnson, will all those who were clamoring for Schiavo's demise have a sudden "come to Jesus" moment and pronounce Johnson not only well and cognizant, but capable of carrying on his duties as Senator?

Wednesday Hero Blogburst...

I've joined the blogburst for Wednesday's Hero, an initiative by bloggers to highlight heroes in our Armed forces who valiantly gave all in taking the fight to the enemy. If you have a blog and would like to join this worthwhile effort, click here. This weeks hero was submitted by Jimbailoni Sgt. Brent Dunkleberger 29 years old from New Bloomfield, Pennsylvania 1st Calvary Division, 4th Brigade Combat Team December 11, 2006 Sgt. Dunkleberger was on his second tour of duty in Iraq when he was killed by an RPG when his convoy was attacked while on a security mission.

"We can't put into words right now the grief we feel, but we can put into words how proud we are of Brent. He chose to serve our country and give his life for what he believed in," said William Dunkleberger, Brent's father. "we thank the community for the outpouring of support and ask everyone to continue to pray for us. We also ask the media to respect our privacy during this very difficult time."

Sgt. Dunkleberger graduated high school in 1996 and enlisted in the United States Army in 2003 and became a tank driver for the 1st Calvary Division, 4th Brigade Combat Team. He is survived by his wife and four children.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Have Every Right To Dream Heroic Dreams.

Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look.

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great country, you can find out how by clicking here.