Kapaun Family Accepts Posthumous Medal Of Honor – Wichita KS News

Medal of Honor Bestowed To Fallen Chaplain – Father Kapaun of Pilsen KS

I get these ads in my driveway every week or so and many times (most of the time) I plop them in the recycle bin. I had one laying just inside the front door and picked it up this morning on my way to the kitchen. For some reason, I pulled it from the bag; unrolled it and read the headlines in the “Eastside Eagle. (dated April 24, 2013)”

WOW – I think I might start reading these things in the future. Several very interesting stories that I would have missed were there and the very best one is a story I’d like to print here word for word, but that would be uh, stealing copyrighted content. So instead, I’ll just pass along a few words and as many links as I could find.

IF you are like me, you truly love the stories that represent our military, common soldier, in a heroic light. I guess it’s the human interest; bravery, courage and all that entails, which not only fascinate me but often bring tears. But THIS guy is being considered for Sainthood too. Yeah, really.

So far, the best story I read is the one I had in hand by Roy Wenzl (The Wichita Eagle Writer) but there are many others on the web. Just as compelling but for some reason, the free Eastside Eagle article is the one I did not find online. If you have the 20:18 worth of time don’t miss the While House Video – truly inspiring!

President Obama Awards Chaplain Emil Kapaun the Medal of Honor (White House Video 20:18)

Kapaun’s Medal of Honor to go to Pilsen (The Wichita Eagle)

‘Quiet hero’ Kapaun receives posthumous Medal of Honor (The Marine Corps Times)

Father Kapaun timeline

April 20, 1916 – Born Emil Joseph Kapaun in Pilsen KS USA

June 9, 1940 – Ordained a priest at what is now Newman University in Wichita

June 20, 1940 – Celebrates his first Mass at St. John Nepomucene in Pilsen

1943 – Appointed auxiliary chaplain at the army air base in Herington

November 1943 – Named pastor of St. John Nepomucene Parish

August 1944 – Enters the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps

March 1945-May 1946 – Serves in India and Burma

Jan. 3, 1946 – Earns promotion to captain

July 1946 – Leaves the chaplain service

October 1946 – Does graduate work at Catholic University in Washington, D.C.

September 1948 – Rejoins the Army’s chaplain service

December 1949 – Makes final visit home to Pilsen

July 1950 – Ordered to Korea from Japan, a month after North Korea invades South Korea

Aug. 2, 1950 – Earns Bronze Star for heroism in action

November 1950 – Captured near Unsan, North Korea

May 23, 1951 – Dies in a prison camp in Pyoktong, North Korea

Aug. 18, 1951 – Posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions at Unsan

1993 – Named Servant of God by the Roman Catholic Church, the first step toward possible canonization

Oct. 1, 2009 – Recommended for the Medal of Honor

April 11, 2013 – Awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously by President Obama

So Wonderful – Isaacs Live Dub Marriage Proposal

Source: youtube.com via Alex on Pinterest

Happy New Year – Reflections

Hello Folks.

First thing this FIRST morning of a new year, I went to Ron Edmondsons’ Blog as it is one of my favorites when I need my spirit uplifted. His messages are simple but always make me think, in a good way, of what our blessings truly are on this earth.

His first entry for the new year is “My 50 Favorite Words of All Time.”  I put in my .02 on that and wondered why this might be his first post of the year.  Then I realized this is his way of reflection into what makes his life and the lives around him happy.  What better way to start any new year.

I think many of us do this, count our blessings so the world around us, which looks more bleak each and every day, can be held at the door and pushed back, as “out of our conscious” mind as possible.  After all, the world as a whole is quite depressing, when looked at in regards to politics, wars, famine and etc. (that could be a very long list).

Not everyone out there knows how to count their blessings. Perhaps this would be a good subject for Pastor Ron to tackle.

As I look around here this morning, I realize I could do better and have even more blessings to count.  After all, our own efforts, on our own behalf can be what is uplifting in many ways on any given day.

If I can do more for ME, perhaps I will also manage to do more for others as well.  My response to Ron’s blog entry was to add a few more words and express what they mean to me.  He asked for that, so I gave it to him.  As I typed out my response, I realized that the words I added did mean more to me than just as words on a page.  Aha! There was my uplifting message of the day!  As it turns out, it was my own thoughts that waved away the worries of the world that some of us try to carry on our own shoulders.

So, I managed to spread “good on me” for myself.  Heh.  Probably not a bad start for a New Year.

 

Twitter – Negative Tweets vs. Positive Tweets

Negative Tweets.

Just lately I’ve been seeing a lot of negative tweets.  Perhaps it’s because I tend to follow positive thinkers but managed to throw in a few negatives by mistake.  OR, some people decided to denigrate those of us who, for whatever reason, decide to unfollow a particular tweeter.

The tweets themselves look like this:

UNFOLLOWED ME: @whoever, @anotherwhoever, @andsoon,

And some of those say they blocked you too or say something like “good riddance” or “good-bye” or some such.

Why would someone want to slander another twitter account because they unfollowed?  This, in and of itself, is simply bad business.

Whoever started this little bit of unflattering activity should be ashamed of themselves.  I bet they get more unfollows because of those tweets too.

I did a thing this morning that after it was done, I thought I might have made a negative tweet myself.

“@un-named  Stop sending so many PM ADs! PLEASE! Your tweets are advertisement enough for cripe’s sake. One more and I will UNFOLLOW.”

I did not go back and delete it either.  I thought about it though.  It is a public admonition but I was simply miffed off about all the PM those folks were sending me at twitter.  They were all “sixfigureincome” crapola.

I now feel like perhaps I should delete that entry.  THEN, I think well, IF those folks pay attention to the tweet and don’t send anymore PM ads, I might not unfollow, right?   Otherwise, they are not paying attention to their followers, at all.  I am probably gonna unfollow anyhowsen, as I am not interested in “sixfigureincome” as they purport to know all about.

And then of course there are the out and out hate mongers who seem to have sprung up too.  Luckily, I’ve not been privy to any of those tweets but some folks I follow have drawn attention to those, so I do know about them.  You probably do too, so no need to go there and draw more attention to those types of folks.

Positive Tweets.

We all see these everywhere – nice folks who are getting to know each other through tweets.  Unlike FB, G+ and many other social media sites, Twitter leaves us to our own to follow and unfollow whom we please.  AND they make it so easy for anyone to understand. OK, so those other places do too, but so much information is there that it takes much longer to decide who to follow, you know? Plus, it can be hard to find out how to unfollow folks at many other social media sites.

Positive tweets – I really don’t think I have to go into much detail here.  I tweet for business but I also pay attention to all the @ mentions and reply as is required by nice web etiquette.  Or just etiquette in general.  Tweets don’t take long to type out and any personal touch should be noticed fairly easily.

Some folks have made a whole career out of tweeting positive messages.  I like those too.  You know the ones I mean, so no explanation is necessary here either.

What do you think?

Have you seen the negative tweets I mentioned?

Do you follow only positive folks?

Sound OFF and I’ll join the conversations you nice folks start.  :)

Christmas Gift – Web pages with the spirit of Christmas

Creating web pages for holidays is a labor of love. Especially during the Christmas Season.  Businesses can direct clients or customers to a web page that may or may not include links.  At any rate it does help to show off the Christmas Spirit just to put up these pages and direct friends, family, and customers to them.

Tweeting them can also bring heretofore unknown potential clients to the fold as some folks DO remember this kind of thoughtfulness.

Here is the first of many to start us off for 2011:

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

There should be a list of these coming up, as there is each year.  We’ll just tack them on to this post.

Note: If you would like a Christmas Page created for you or your business, write to buddyservices care of gmail.com.  Sound, audio files and videos you provide may be added to any page.

Have a great Holiday Season – Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Our normal tag this time of year —

Addition NOTES:

12-02-11 Christmas Cheer Web Page

12-03-11 Christmas Birthday Wishes

Where Were You When Kennedy Was Shot?

OF course, those of us who were alive and lived in even lightly political households, know exactly where we were at the exact moment.  Just a minute, back up the truck Chuck…

I did live in a very politically aware household.  <Fact.  However, because of the incredible popularity of the “Camelot Couple,” people who were completely unaware politically followed what Jack and Jackie did almost on a daily basis.  This kind of popularity stemmed from the growth of the real “baby boomers,” into teens and young adults.  And from those happy, carefree days after WWII when the parents of those boomer babies saw an economical boom.  Even with Vietnam on the horizon (unbeknownst to many) times were very, very good for American citizens.

I was reminded, just today, of where I was at the time JFK was shot and died; eighth grade home economics class.  I was already younger than peers in the class but much more aware of politics, in general.

• An announcement over the PA system about the event was first.
• Shocked, I was not sure what I had heard.
• All us little sheep were herded into other classrooms and actual classes were cancelled.
• Updated news, of a sort, was channeled through the same PA system.
• I was the first, and to my knowledge, the only child in my school to cry, sob and wail.
• By the time I was picked up by my Mom, I was a real wreck.
• She was not much better, and driving a car, no less.

I remember other students pointing, and joking about my behavior.  Humiliation, at that point, did not matter.  The teacher told those students I must have had some connection to JFK, to be so upset.  I remember trying to say, but not managing to get all the words out, that JFK was MY PRESIDENT as well as theirs and didn’t it make a difference to them(?).  Apparently not. Even the teacher did not have (in my child’s minds eye) all that much of an adverse reaction.  I was not stunned by this until much later.  I had no idea that everyone did not think JFK was something like the greatest man to ever live.  Yeah, I was a child.

That was then and this is now. My reminder came by way of a blog entry here:

http://politicalvelcraft.org/kennedy/

Just 4 days short of 48 years ago —

“John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time (18:30 UTC) on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was fatally shot while traveling with his wife Jacqueline, Texas governor John Connally, and the latter’s wife, Nellie, in a Presidential motorcade.”

Still brings tears to MY eyes.  Hope the 22nd., in just 4 days, is a busy day and reminders of this American Tragedy, are far away.

I served my grief today, by actually crying again while writing this entry.  Some of us never seem to grow up, eh?

Inspiring Blogs – The Positive and The Dark

Hello Folks – No, it is not Sunday but you should not be surprised that surfing the web takes place on other days of the week as well.

Met a very nice lady in the past couple of days at Twitter and thought it might be time to add something inspiring here.  The lady is Yvonne Anderson, who lives in Ohio and has changed careers in the past eight years or so.  I think that if you are a Christian you will love her blog entries here:  http://yswords.com/.  Inspiring and light, “Questions For Thought” tackles a subject we can all relate to (us Christians, that is) and that is the existence of a higher entity.

You can also find a little more about Yvonne here: http://www.independentauthornetwork.com/yvonne-anderson.html.

SO that is the positive side of this post, but there is another side too.  The darker side is this blog: http://undergroundmonk.wordpress.com/. Here you will find some very deep and often disturbing reading material.  But wait, what this guy says is usually also good news or at least, good to those of us who believe as he does, that there are rights and wrongs in the world.  This fellow simply hypothesizes in print what some of us might be thinking to ourselves.  VERY interesting reading, but yes, a tad on the dark side.

That’s all for today – a couple of places for Christians to lay an eyeball on some other folks OH!pinions.