13 Hands

Each year I am hired to go to Washington , DC , with the eighth grade
Class from Clinton , WI where I grew up, to videotape their trip. I greatly
Enjoy visiting our nation's capitol, and each year I take some special
Memories back with me. This fall's trip was especially memorable.

On the last night of our trip, we stopped at the Iwo Jima memorial. This
memorial is the largest bronze statue in the world and depicts one of
the most famous photographs in history -- that of the six brave soldiers
raising the American Flag at the top of a rocky hill on the island of Iwo Jima ,
Japan , during WW II.

Over one hundred students and chaperones piled off the buses and headed
towards the memorial. I noticed a solitary figure at the base of the
statue, and as I got closer he asked, 'Where are you guys from?'

I told him that we were from Wisconsin . 'Hey, I'm a cheese head, too!
Come gather around, Cheese heads, and I will tell you a story.'

(James Bradley just happened to be in Washington , DC , to speak at the
memorial the following day. He was there that night to say good night to
his dad, who had passed away. He was just about to leave when he saw the
buses pull up. I videotaped him as he spoke to us, and received his permission
to share what he said from my videotape. It is one thing to tour the
incredible monuments filled with history in Washington , DC , but it is quite
another to get the kind of insight we received that night.)

When all had gathered around, he reverently began to speak. (Here are
His words that night.)


'My name is James Bradley and I'm from Antigo, Wisconsin . My dad is on
that statue, and I just wrote a book called 'Flags of Our Fathers' which
is #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list right now. It is the story of the
six boys you see behind me.


'Six boys raised the flag. The first guy putting the pole in the ground
Is Harlon Block. Harlon was an all-state football player. He enlisted in
The Marine Corps with all the senior members of his football team. They were
off to play another type of game. A game called 'War.' But it didn't
turn out to be a game. Harlon, at the age of 21, died with his intestines in his
hands. I don't say that to gross you out, I say that because there are
people who stand in front of this statue and talk about the glory of war. You
guys need to know that most of the boys in Iwo Jima were 17, 18, and 19
years old - and it was so hard that the ones who did make it home never even
would talk to their families about it.


(He pointed to the statue) 'You see this next guy? That's Rene Gagnon
From New Hampshire . If you took Rene's helmet off at the moment this photo
Was taken and looked in the webbing of that helmet, you would find a
photograph... a photograph of his girlfriend. Rene put that in there for
protection because he was scared. He was 18 years old. It was just boys who won the
battle of Iwo Jima . Boys. Not old men.


'The next guy here, the third guy in this tableau, was Sergeant Mike
Strank. Mike is my hero. He was the hero of all these guys. They called
him the 'old man' because he was so old. He was already 24. When Mike would
motivate his boys in training camp, he didn't say, 'Let's go kill some
Japanese' or 'Let's die for our country.' He knew he was talking to little boys..
Instead he would say, 'You do what I say, and I'll get you home to your
mothers.'


'The last guy on this side of the statue is Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian
From Arizona . Ira Hayes was one who walked off Iwo Jima . He went into the
White House with my dad. President Truman told him, 'You're a hero' He
Told reporters, 'How can I feel like a hero when 250 of my buddies hit the
Island with me and only 27 of us walked off alive?'

So you take your class at school, 250 of you spending a year together
having fun, doing everything together. Then all 250 of you hit the
beach, but only 27 of your classmates walk off alive. That was Ira Hayes He had
images of horror in his mind. Ira Hayes carried the pain home with him and
eventually died dead drunk, face down at the age of 32 (ten years after
this picture was taken).


'The next guy, going around the statue, is Franklin Sousley from
Hilltop, Kentucky . A fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. His best friend, who is now 70,
Told me, 'Yeah, you know, we took two cows up on the porch of the Hilltop
General Store. Then we strung wire across the stairs so the cows
couldn't get down. Then we fed them Epsom salts. Those cows crapped all night.' Yes,
he was a fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. Franklin died on Iwo Jima at the age of 19.
When the telegram came to tell his mother that he was dead, it went to
The Hilltop General Store. A barefoot boy ran that telegram up to his
mother's farm. The neighbors could hear her scream all night and into the
morning. Those neighbors lived a quarter of a mile away.


'The next guy, as we continue to go around the statue, is my dad, John
Bradley, from Antigo, Wisconsin , where I was raised. My dad lived until
1994, but he would never give interviews. When Walter Cronkite's producers or
the New York Times would call, we were trained as little kids to say
'No, I'm sorry, sir, my dad's not here. He is in Canada fishing. No, there is no
phone there, sir. No, we don't know when he is coming back.' My dad
never fished or even went to Canada . Usually, he was sitting there right at
the table eating his Campbell 's soup. But we had to tell the press that he
was out fishing. He didn't want to talk to the press.


'You see, like Ira Hayes, my dad didn't see himself as a hero. Everyone
thinks these guys are heroes, 'cause they are in a photo and on a
monument. My dad knew better. He was a medic. John Bradley from Wisconsin was a
caregiver. In Iwo Jima he probably held over 200 boys as they died. And
when boys died in Iwo Jima , they writhed and screamed, without any medication or
help with the pain.


'When I was a little boy, my third grade teacher told me that my dad was
A hero. When I went home and told my dad that, he looked at me and said,
'I want you always to remember that the heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys
Who did not come back. Did NOT come back.'


'So that's the story about six nice young boys. Three died on Iwo Jima ,
and three came back as national heroes. Overall, 7,000 boys died on Iwo
Jima in the worst battle in the history of the Marine Corps. My voice is
Giving out, so I will end here. Thank you for your time.'


Suddenly, the monument wasn't just a big old piece of metal with a flag
sticking out of the top. It came to life before our eyes with the
heartfelt words of a son who did indeed have a father who was a hero. Maybe not a
hero for the reasons most people would believe, but a hero nonetheless.


We need to remember that God created this vast and glorious world for us
to live in, freely, but also at great sacrifice

Let us never forget from the Revolutionary War to the current War on
Terrorism and all the wars in-between that sacrifice was made for our
freedom..


Remember to pray praises for this great country of ours and also pray
For those still in murderous unrest around the world.

STOP and thank God for being alive and being free at someone else's
sacrifice.


God Bless You and God Bless America .


REMINDER: Everyday that you can wake up free, it's going to be a great
day.


One thing I learned while on tour with my 8th grade students in DC that
Is not mentioned here is . . that if you look at the statue very closely
And count the number of 'hands' raising the flag, there are 13. When the man
who made the statue was asked why there were 13, he simply said the 13th
hand was the hand of God.

“The key is to get to know people and trust them to be who they are. Instead, we trust people to be who we want them to be- when they're not, we cry"

Trust is funny, I love how everyone makes it all seem so easy to trust and be open with someone. "Talk to me," "You can trust me," "it won't be like that." but it always is like that especially when you put your heart on the line. Every time you open up yourself to someone your giving that person a part of you. You making and effort and taking a risk, the question you need to ask next time is this person really worth the risk? I have met few people I have learned to trust. I have met many who have asked for my trust, recieved it, only to throw it all in my face later...next time I wanna be "bullet proof" I have made mistakes yes, and I understand my choices but a little honesty after lectures of honesty is only fair...

The Positive Side of Life

• Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year.
• How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on.
• Birthdays are good for you; the more you have, the longer you live.
• Happiness comes through doors you didn't even know you left open.
• Ever notice that the people who are late are often much jollier than the people who have to wait for them?
• Most of us go to our grave with our music still inside of us.
• If Wal-Mart is lowering prices every day, how come nothing is free yet?
• You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
• Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
• Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened.
• We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box.
• A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

A Goal Worth Fighting For!

I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.

I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.
I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk's lawn.
I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children.
I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.
I want to be there with the children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.
I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.

Marjorie Pay Hinckley

I Break Things

I've heard this song a few times...it's kinda how I feel right now ugh I know it's the right thing but it doesn't make it the easy thing...

I broke most of Mama’s dishes
She banned me from the kitchen when I was a kid
I tore Daddy’s truck to pieces
Left it in a heap that no mechanic could fix
You don’t believe me I can see you laughin’
But trust me I’m an accident waiting here to happen

Cause I break things
Anything I touch I just get around and then I’m bound to tear ‘em up
Yeah, I make things
Snap and fall apart
So if you wanna hold me boy, you’d better watch your heart
Cause I break things

You say I’m nothing you can’t handle
You’re tougher than an anvil
Well baby we’ll see
I’m like a wrecking ball coming
You’re better off running far away from me
Don’t get me wrong now baby I adore ya
It’s only right that I give you fair warning

Cause I break things
Anything I touch I just get around and then I’m bound to tear ‘em up
Yeah, I make things
Snap and fall apart
So if you wanna hold me boy, you’d better watch your heart
Cause I break things

Rain is wet
The desert is dry
That’s the way it’ll always be
Fire is hot
It’s dark at night
The sun comes up in the east
And I break things
Anything I touch
I just get around and then I’m bound to tear ‘em up
Yeah, I make things
Snap and fall apart
So if you wanna hold me boy, you’d better watch your heart
Cause I break things

I break things

Sack lunches

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought. Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me. 'Petawawa. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Afghanistan After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time... As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to base.' His friend agreed. I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier in Iraq; it's almost like you are doing it for him.'
Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best - beef or chicken?' 'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. 'This is your thanks..'
After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane,heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars. Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand and said, 'I want to shake your hand.' Quickly unfastening my seat belt I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.
Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm. When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!
Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base.. It will be about time for a sandwich.God Bless You.'Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers.
As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little...

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America ' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.'

The Interview With God

Check out this website video! It really makes you think I loved it!!!

http://www.theinterviewwithgod.com/popup-frame.html