These songs were written by Dane Brown, a Former Marine Vietnam Combat Veteran.....If you THINK you have ever experienced Raw Emotion, then think again !!! Read what some of his listeners are saying............http://cdbaby.com/cd/o127g 

When a soldier comes home, he finds it hard.......

to listen to his son whine about being bored.

....to keep a straight face when people complain about potholes.

...to be tolerant of people who complain about the hassle of getting ready for work.

...to be understanding when a co-worker complains about a bad night's sleep.

....to be silent when people pray to God for a new car.

...to control his panic when his wife tells him he needs to drive slower.

...to be grateful that he fights for the freedom of speech.

...to be compassionate when a businessman expresses a fear of flying.

...to keep from laughing when anxious parents say they're afraid to send their kids off to summer camp.

...to keep from ridiculing someone who complains about hot weather.

...to control his frustration when a colleague gripes about his coffee being cold.

...to remain calm when his daughter complains about having to walk the dog.

...to be civil to people who complain about their jobs.

...to just walk away when someone says they only get two weeks of vacation a year.

...to be happy for a friend's new hot tub.

...to be forgiving when someone says how hard it is to have a new baby in the house.

....not to punch a wall when someone says we should pull out immediately

The only thing harder than being a Soldier..

is loving one.

Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape in the new year.

THE MAN IN THE GLASS"

When you get what you want in your struggle for yourself, and the world makes you King for a day, just go to a mirror and look at yourself and see what THAT man has to say.

For it isn't your father, or mother, or wife whose judgment upon you must pass, the fellow whose verdict counts most in your life is the one staring back from the glass.

Some people might think you're a straight shooting chum and call you a 'wonderful guy', but the man in the glass thinks you're a bum if you can't look him straight in the eye.

He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest, for he's with you clear to the end, and you've passed your most difficult test if the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world, down the pathway of years and get pats on the back as you pass. But your final reward will be heartaches and tears, if you've cheated the Man in the Glass.

The above truism was found on the pages of the March, 2002 issue of "LZ53".



National Commander’s Call to Action

Our troops need your help and they need your help now!

When it comes to funding our troops, we have no time to waste. The clock is literally ticking for our troops in the field.

That’s why I'm inviting every member of The American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary and Sons of The American Legion to contact their congressmen and senators to demand that they pass a clean supplemental appropriations bill: one that funds our troops without artificial timetables for withdrawal.

In both the House and the Senate, majorities have passed supplemental appropriation bills that set deadlines for withdrawal from Iraq and provide billions of dollars for pork barrel projects.

As the president promised in his speech at American Legion Post 177, in Fairfax, Virginia, recently, he will veto the appropriations bill containing provisions for a “timetable for withdrawal.” If Congress fails to pass a bill he can sign by mid-April, then funding for the troops will be delayed and they will face the following consequences:

· Our military leaders will need to take money from military personnel accounts, weapons and communications systems in order to fund programs that protect our soldiers and Marines from improvised explosive devices and send hundreds of mine-resistant vehicles to our troops on the front lines.

· The Army will be forced to consider cutting back on equipment repair and quality of life initiatives for our Guard and Reserve forces.

· The Army will also be forced to consider curtailing some training for Guard and Reserve units here at home, reducing their readiness, and could delay their availability to mobilize for missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

· The Army will be forced to consider slowing or even freezing funding for its depots, where the equipment our troops depend on is repaired. They will have to consider delaying or curtailing the training of some active duty forces, reducing the availability of those forces to deploy overseas.

· The Army may also have to delay the formation of new brigade combat teams, which would prevent us from getting those troops into the pool of forces that are available to deploy.

· In a recent letter to Congress, the Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Pete Schoomaker, warned, "Without approval of the supplemental funds in April, we will be forced to take increasingly draconian measures, which will impact Army readiness and impose hardships on our soldiers and their families."

The United States Senate is back from its spring recess. The House will return next week. When it comes to funding our troops, we have no time to waste. It's time for them to get the job done.

The men and women of the armed forces in the theater of operation are dependent on this emergency funding to sustain and achieve their military missions.

I'm urging every member of The American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary, Sons of The American Legion to contact their Congressmen and Senators to demand passage of a clean bill: one that funds our troops without artificial timetables for withdrawal.

Here is what you need to do.

Go to http://capwiz.com/legion/home/  to see where your Congressmen and Senators stand on the supplemental appropriations that sets an timeline for withdrawing our troops. Call and email them. Tell them you expect Congress to pass a clean war-funding bill now … without the timelines and without the pork.

I am asking all Department adjutants, Auxiliary presidents and SAL adjutants to give this Call to Action the widest dissemination possible. Do it today, do it now, and do it for the troops.