Memorial Day 2012 - Video Tribute

Not a Memorial Day passes by without my greatest admiration being stirred up for these men and women who serve to protect our country's freedoms. We remember all those who have given their lives for the sake of their fellow man

Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

So on this day, let us remember the life of Medal of Honor recipient, Staff Sergeant Robert Miller, who died saving 22 of his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan in 2008. There aren't very many like him who received the Medal of Honor posthumously. May we emulate his character and values in our own lives. Here's his video tribute from the Pentagon Channel now:

 Happy Memorial Day!

Field Trip a Success

Last Friday, February, 24, forty-nine students, parents and grandparents drove an hour and twenty minutes to Simi Valley to attend the Medal of Honor speaker series at the Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.  Four Medal of Honor recipients shared their stories and spoke to the 900 students from around Southern California for almost an hour and a half.  They shared their hearts with us and we were all touched and were given several principles for life success and how to face our own battles ahead with courage and conviction.  I'll just let you listen to the program yourself to hear it all since it is now available as an archived video here:  Watch Now

We had so many blessings that day worth mentioning, besides reserved parking behind Air Force One!  In the video you'll see at 1:39:40 the only tweeted question that they took (due to time constraints) out of 900 kids, came from our own group's Louise Naumann who is a 6th grader.  So proud of Louise's very thoughtful questioning and she had two more that she was ready to ask had she made it to the front of the in-person line at the mic!  She was so patient waiting and it got cut-off right before her to take the 'online' question so imagine her surprise!  I'll update this blog later with some photos -- having technical difficulties at the moment.

We also were so surprised when our docent, Bill, who was assigned to us from 9:30-2pm managed to get ALL of our group in.  Originally we were permitted 25 students and 2 chaperones.  I appealed for 7 more kids, but the Foundation insisted only 2 adults. So we were all prepared for this.  Once there, my other chaperone asked Bill if he'd allow the rest of our families.  When he asked how many I figured he might let the five adults standing there in, but surely not the 10 others which were mixed with parents and young siblings.  Well he said sure, let all fifteen in and then I called back two grandparents who had already gone off to the museum to purchase $75 tickets for the public viewing area!  Caught them in the nick of time!  They came right down and joined our pack.  So all in all, there were forty-nine of us together that day, my own thirteen-year-old not included since he came down ill the night before!  He was able to watch it live from home though thanks to the webcast.

A few of us are members of the Reagan Museum and Library so with our memberships, the parents who weren't were able to attend the Museum that day for free and of course all our students received a free tour of the museum that day.  We toured the regular museum rather quickly as the place was packed with all the students from all over the region!  Then a quick run through the Air Force One and Pavillion, outside to view Reagan's resting place and then we were allowed to take a more leisurely tour of the George Washington exhibit which was FANTASTIC!  I highly recommend a visit before it leaves in May!

Two of our students grandparents, Bob and Nancy Ulmer, had the privilege of pre-purchasing a Medal of Honor book and meeting all four Medal of Honor recipients, getting their book signed by each of them after the presentation.

I love the Reagan Library and look forward to visiting again (hopefully today or tomorrow) to bring my kids to see the George Washington exhibit (again!) since it is just that interesting, Adam missed our tour and our membership expires tomorrow!

Medal of Honor Class Summary plus three vignettes!

Meeting MOH recipient, Patrick Brady

We had a filled class last Friday with a bunch of new attendees and parents despite many high schoolers missing due to a class conflict.  Janet Tran, Manager of the Annenberg Education Center of the Reagan Presidential Library and Museum came to give the students an overview of the Medal of Honor, the rarity of it all and the importance of these heroes.  She shared a vignette of Patrick Brady and taught the kids how to text in their questions of the recipients in advance as the speakers will answer some of them.

Here is everything you need to know about that including how to ask appropriate questions and avoid inappropriate questions.  Remember to text your name and school or city when asking because they will say who posed the question when responding.

I'll update vignettes tab when I have time later. Here's the link to the wiki-page for your convenience:
Medal of Honor Panel wikispace

Brief History of Medal of Honor and a Hero: Sammy Davis

Yesterday about 25 students and 6 adults attend the first Medal of Honor class in a 2-part series which will culminate with a trip to the Reagan Library in Thousand Oaks to meet four Medal of Honor recipients who will be speaking directly to junior and senior high schools around Southern California.  We were fortunate enough to be selected in a lottery and my odds were good since I had partaken in the Reagan Library's teacher training for the Portrait of Valor curriculum they conducted last October.  I'm very excited to introduce our homeschooled students to this living history and meet true heroes, the best we have in our nation!

I gave them a brief history of the medal of honor, that it dates back to 1861, given to men and one woman in the Civil War.  Back then the requirements were not as stringent so even the pallbearers of Lincoln's casket received one.  Charles Lindberg even received one for his aviation accomplishment, and then they tightened up the qualifications.  One must be in active military, in a conflict and perform an inconspicuous act of valor, above and beyond the call of duty, putting his own life at risk for the sake of others, and there must be a witness who recommends them for this medal.  Recipients prefer not to be called winners because it is nothing they could have earned or tried for, and they consider their over and above the call of duty just doing their job.   They wear the medal for all those who didn't have a witness and those who didn't have the privilege of returning home.  As, Sammy Davis says in his video, "if there was one of these given that night there should be at least forty-two of them because if any one of us had not done their job, there would be none of us alive today."

On that note, I encourage you to watch the short, 12-minute, documentary-style interview under the Vignettes tab above or click here.  Sammy Davis served in Vietnam and I think you'll be surprised and touched by what he gained and learned from his experience.  You can read more about him after watching the video above at MSNBC. A little movie trivia for you:  The footage of Sammy Davis receiving his Medal of Honor by Linden Johnson was used in the movie Forrest Gump.  When Forrest Gump receives a Medal of Honor for his service in Vietnam, they used Sammy Davis's real footage with Tom Hank's (Forrest Gump) face on his body.  

After viewing it and let me know what you think, and have your kids reply in the comments section of this post with what stood out to them about this video.  What did he say or what in his story demonstrates a character trait that represents the Medal of Honor which are Courage, Sacrifice, Commitment, Integrity, Citizenship and Patriotism?