May the good Lord be with you
  Down every road you roam
  And may sunshine and happiness
  Surround you when you're far from home
  And may you grow to be proud
  Dignified and true
  And do unto others
  As you'd have done to you
  Be courageous and be brave
  And in my heart you'll always stay
  Forever young, forever young

  From "Forever Young" by Rod Stewart

  We Shall Keep the Faith  

      Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
      Sleep sweet - to rise anew!
      We caught the torch you threw
      And holding high, we keep the Faith
      With All who died.

      We cherish, too, the poppy red
      That grows on fields where valor led;
      It seems to signal to the skies
      That blood of heroes never dies,
      But lends a lustre to the red
      Of the flower that blooms above the dead
      In Flanders Fields.

      And now the Torch and Poppy Red
      We wear in honor of our dead.
      Fear not that ye have died for naught;
      We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
      In Flanders Fields.

   by Moina Michael, November 1918

Tonight we remember a marine who was killed in Iraq and a soldier who was killed in Afghanistan

  We Shall Keep the Faith  

      Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
      Sleep sweet - to rise anew!
      We caught the torch you threw
      And holding high, we keep the Faith
      With All who died.

      We cherish, too, the poppy red
      That grows on fields where valor led;
      It seems to signal to the skies
      That blood of heroes never dies,
      But lends a lustre to the red
      Of the flower that blooms above the dead
      In Flanders Fields.

      And now the Torch and Poppy Red
      We wear in honor of our dead.
      Fear not that ye have died for naught;
      We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
      In Flanders Fields.

   by Moina Michael, November 1918

Tonight we remember:

Sgt. Matthew E. Mendoza, 24, of San Antonio, Texas who died June 20 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Du Hai Tran, 30, of Reseda, California who died Jun. 20 in Baqubah, Iraq, of wounds caused by an improvised explosive device.

  May the good Lord be with you
  Down every road you roam
  And may sunshine and happiness
  Surround you when you're far from home
  And may you grow to be proud
  Dignified and true
  And do unto others
  As you'd have done to you
  Be courageous and be brave
  And in my heart you'll always stay
  Forever young, forever young

  From "Forever Young" by Rod Stewart

Tonight we remember two marines. One died in Iraq of undisclosed causes. The other died in the United States from injuries he had sustained in Iraq. Both were only 19 years old.

  We Shall Keep the Faith  

      Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
      Sleep sweet - to rise anew!
      We caught the torch you threw
      And holding high, we keep the Faith
      With All who died.

      We cherish, too, the poppy red
      That grows on fields where valor led;
      It seems to signal to the skies
      That blood of heroes never dies,
      But lends a lustre to the red
      Of the flower that blooms above the dead
      In Flanders Fields.

      And now the Torch and Poppy Red
      We wear in honor of our dead.
      Fear not that ye have died for naught;
      We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
      In Flanders Fields.

   by Moina Michael, November 1918

Tonight we mourn the loss of 4 brave soldiers.

Two lost their lives in Iraq, and two lost their lives in Afghanistan.

Cpl. Christian S. Cotner, 20, of Waterbury, Conn

Spc. James M. Finley, 21, of Lebanon, Missouri

Pvt. Andrew J. Shields, 19, of Battleground, Washington

Spc. Justin R. Mixon, 22, of Bogalusa, La

 
      May the good Lord be with you
      Down every road you roam
      And may sunshine and happiness
      Surround you when you're far from home
      And may you grow to be proud
      Dignified and true
      And do unto others
      As you'd have done to you
      Be courageous and be brave
      And in my heart you'll always stay
      Forever young, forever young

      From "Forever Young" by Rod Stewart

Tonight we welcome home four men who have missing in action since  March 29, 1972, when their plane was shot down over southern Laos

We Shall Keep the Faith  

  Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
   Sleep sweet - to rise anew!
   We caught the torch you threw
   And holding high, we keep the Faith
   With All who died.

   We cherish, too, the poppy red
   That grows on fields where valor led;
   It seems to signal to the skies
   That blood of heroes never dies,
   But lends a lustre to the red
   Of the flower that blooms above the dead
   In Flanders Fields.

   And now the Torch and Poppy Red
   We wear in honor of our dead.
   Fear not that ye have died for naught;
   We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
   In Flanders Fields.

by Moina Michael, November 1918

Tonight we remember Cpl. Jessica A. Ellis

EDIT: Thank you!!! I was so happy when I came home and saw that Sandy's diary is now on the Recommended list!

Please take a moment to remember two brave young solders: Spc. Joseph A. Ford, 23 and Pvt. Matthew W. Brown, 20 over at Sandy on Signal's dairy IGTNT: we remember two more

Those who have lost a loved one to war will never be able to forget.

Please, do not rec this diary, but instead rec IGTNT: we remember two more.

Sandy's diary deserves to be on the recommended list!

[yes, I know I am a day early, but I won't be online much tomorrow because I will be spending the day with my mom and grandmother]

A big happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

With Mother's Day coming up, I've been thinking a lot about my mom, and how lucky I have been to have such a wonderful relationship her. I've known so many people who have had really bad relationships with their parents, so I feel extremely blessed that my mother has always been there for me.

I've also been thinking about the wonderful moms I have met here on Daily Kos.

 May the good Lord be with you
   Down every road you roam
   And may sunshine and happiness
   Surround you when you're far from home
   And may you grow to be proud
   Dignified and true
   And do unto others
   As you'd have done to you
   Be courageous and be brave
   And in my heart you'll always stay
   Forever young, forever young

   From "Forever Young" by Rod Stewart

Tonight we remember Pvt. Corey L. Hicks, a brave soldier who worked to find and destroy improvised explosive devices, saving a countless number of lives

For some unexplainable reason, I am on every Republican mailing list/call list under the sun. I get all sorts of really conservative mailings each election, urging me to vote Republican to stop abortions, gay marriages, and gay abortions (well, okay, maybe not that last one) and other such nonsense.

Before the Republican primary here, I received at least a dozen mailings from the candidates. Oddly enough, when comparing notes with my family members who actually are Republicans, I have learned that I am getting more stuff in the mail from the party than they are. Considering I am a pretty die-hard Democrat, I'm not sure why they are so interested in me.

I also get lots of robo-calls. At times they are annoying, but mostly they are just hilarious. And I figure, hey, if they want to waste their time on someone who would rather have her legs chewed off by a rabid wolverine than vote Republican I say let them waste their time.

Today, April 25, students at schools around the country are observing the Day of Silence

The Day of Silence, a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), is a student-led day of action when concerned students, from middle school to college, take some form of a vow of silence to bring attention to the name-calling, bullying and harassment -- in effect, the silencing -- experienced by LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) students and their allies.

for more info see http://www.dayofsilence.org/

April 25 is an important day for me for another reason as well. On April 25, 2002, I attempted suicide.

We Shall Keep the Faith

Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet - to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.

We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.

And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields.

by Moina Michael, November 1918

Tonight we remember two brave young solders who lost their lives in Iraq.

Tonight we remember Spc. William E. Allmon, 25, of Ardmore, Oklahoma.

From the Department of Defense:

Spc. William E. Allmon, 25, of Ardmore, Okla., died April 12 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.  He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.

Tonight we remember three brave soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq:

Capt. Ulises Burgos-Cruz, 29, of Puerto Rico

Spc. Matthew T. Morris, 23, of Cedar Park, Texas

Pfc. Shane D. Penley, 19, of Sauk Village, Illinois

The title for tonight's diary comes from the governor of Maine, speaking about the loss of Pvt. Tyler J. Smith, but I also think this speaks to how we feel each and every time we learn that another of our brave soldiers has lost his or her life.

Tonight we remember four brave soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq.

Pvt. Tyler J. Smith, 22, of Bethel, Maine

Sgt. Thomas C. Ray, II, 40, of Weaverville, N.C.

Spc. David S. Stelmat, 27, of Littleton, N.H.

Sgt. David B. Williams, 26, of Tarboro, N.C.

Sgt. Thomas C. Ray, II, Spc. David S. Stelmat and Sgt. David B. Williams died together March 22 in Baghdad, Iraq, from wounds suffered when their vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. They were assigned to the 1132nd Military Police Company, North Carolina Army National Guard, Rocky Mount, N.C.