June 14: Flag day

Two hundred thirty-six years ago today, the Continental Congress adopted a flag bearing 13 stars and 13 stripes. The stars now number 50, but the red, white and blue design remains a symbol of freedom and democracy.
Flag Day was first observed on June 14, 1916, under a proclamation from President Woodrow Wilson. The annual celebration was written into law in August 1949 when President Harry Truman signed legislation that designated June 14 as Flag Day. In June 1966, Congress passed a joint resolution requesting that the president issue annually a proclamation designating the week in which June 14 occurs as National Flag Week.
So President Barack Obama has proclaimed this week as National Flag Week, saying:
“I direct the appropriate officials to display the flag on all Federal Government buildings during that week, and I urge all Americans to observe Flag Day and National Flag Week by displaying the flag. I also call upon the people of the United States to observe with pride and all due ceremony those days from Flag Day through Independence Day, also set aside by the Congress (89 Stat. 211), as a time to honor America, to celebrate our heritage in public gatherings and activities, and to publicly recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.”
Despite our differences and conflicts, Americans join together to salute the flag. Let us celebrate our common bonds as free and responsible citizens of this great nation as we fly the stars and stripes through July 4.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/opinion/editorial/gazette-opinion/gazette-opinion-fly-old-glory-on-flag-day/article_a8b19e91-d4ba-5964-bfc0-4303ff70205f.html

June 14th: The Birthday of the U.S. Army

The Army’s Birthday: 14 June 1775

When the American Revolution broke out, the rebellious colonies did not possess an army in the modern sense. Rather, the revolutionaries fielded an amateur force of colonial troops, cobbled together from various New England militia companies.  They had no unified chain of command, and although Artemas Ward of Massachusetts exercised authority by informal agreement, officers from other colonies were not obligated to obey his orders.  The American volunteers were led, equipped, armed, paid for, and supported by the colonies from which they were raised.

In the spring of 1775, this “army” was about to confront British troops near Boston, Massachusetts. The revolutionaries had to re-organize their forces quickly if they were to stand a chance against Britain’s seasoned professionals. Recognizing the need to enlist the support of all of the American seaboard colonies, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress appealed to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia to assume authority for the New England army.  Reportedly, at John Adams’ request, Congress voted to “adopt” the Boston troops on June 14, although there is no written record of this decision.  Also on this day, Congress resolved to form a committee “to bring in a draft of rules and regulations for the government of the Army,” and voted $2,000,000 to support the forces around Boston, and those at New York City.  Moreover, Congress authorized the formation of ten companies of expert riflemen from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, which were directed to march to Boston to support the New England militia.

George Washington received his appointment as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army the next day, and formally took command at Boston on July 3, 1775. 


John R. Maass
Historian
US Army Center of Military History

http://www.history.army.mil/html/faq/birth.html

Remember our fallen Heroes this Memorial day

Remember those that served, All gave Some, Some gave All.

Remember what Americans did when they banded together after we lost most of our soldiers, left their families and fought for our independance in the American Revolution

Think of those that lost their Husband, Wife, Father, Mother and their children who live to remember them

Memorial Day, an American holiday observed on the last Monday of May, honors men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades. Unofficially it marks the beginning of summer.

On May 5, 1862, General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance later that month. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed. The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.

Memorial Day, as Decoration Day gradually came to be known, originally honored only those lost while fighting in the Civil War. But during World War I the United States found itself embroiled in another major conflict, and the holiday evolved to commemorate American military personnel who died in all wars.

For decades, Memorial Day continued to be observed on May 30, the date Logan had selected for the first Decoration Day. But in 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees; the change went into effect in 1971. The same law also declared Memorial Day a federal holiday.

More pics and video at http://www.history.com/topics/memorial-day-history

SOCOM Works to Expand Roles for Women | Military.com

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Building Psychological Resilience at Real Warriors

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Pay the good forward, good things will come back to you

US futures drop as jobs report comes up short

Updated: Apr 05, 2013 9:00 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stock market futures are plunging after the Labor Department showed that the economy added just 88,000 jobs in March, the lowest gain in eight months.

Dow Jones industrial average futures are down 130 points to 14,402. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 28.50 points to 2,757. S&P 500 futures slid 17 to 1,537.
Economists expected growth of about 195,000 jobs. The unemployment rate dropped to 7.6 percent, but only because more people stopped looking for work.
The report weighed on world markets as well. Britain's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC all slid nearly 2 percent.
Earlier Japan's Nikkei hit a four-year high, boosted by enthusiasm for that nation's new central bank policies. But worries about bird flu in China and saber-rattling in North Korea weighed on other Asian markets.
http://www.myfoxphilly.com/story/21889339/us-futures-drop-as-jobs-report-comes-up-short

*The article above gives you a more realistic viewpoint

The actual report from Dept. of Labor:
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm