Fortunately, there will be no further investigation of Nugent, as the Secret Service has determined that his statement did not constitute a threat. The unofficial backlash, however, is just beginning. The rocker had been scheduled to play a concert at Fort Knox, Kentucky at a concert celebrating the military…along with REO Speedwagon and Styx. Army brass, however, have decided to scratch Nugent from the show. “After Nugent’s recent comments about the President of the United States, Ft. Knox leadership decided to cancel his performance”. This statement was posted on the Fort Knox Facebook page.

Are we to believe that “leadership” decided on their own to cancel a pro-military performance by an artist who expressed his political opinion publicly? Hmm… Believe it if you will, but I strongly suspect that the word came down from the Obama administration, through the Pentagon, to the command staff at Fort Knox. The Secret Service has determined that Nugent’s statements were not threatening…so if he is not a threat, why would his show be cancelled? After all, he is just expressing his opinion.

Did you ever notice that when a Republican president is criticized by a rock star or celebrity, it is called “speaking truth to power”, but when a Democrat is criticized…it constitutes “hate speech”? President George W. Bush was frequently the target of hatred and vitriol from leftist celebrities (Google them…there are too many to list here). If a performance were cancelled as the result of that “free speech”, it would have been decried as censorship, retaliation, and a violation of the first amendment. Why then is a concert by a conservative, pro-second amendment artist (who has the same free speech rights as the liberal rockers) cancelled?

My bet is that this is only the beginning of Ted Nugent’s headaches…The IRS will probably go after him next, or maybe the ATF will investigate his gun collection. I could be wrong. Maybe the Obama administration’s sinking poll numbers will give them more to worry about as the election nears, or perhaps some other crisis will put Nugent on the back burner. After all, the Secret Service has determined that he is not a threat.

Of course, after what we learned about the Secret Service in Colombia last week…Maybe they just want to party with him. I bet they could teach him a thing or two.

It is interesting to note that exactly 44 years ago this week, on March 16, 1968, an incident took place in Vietnam. It came to be called the “My Lai Massacre”. According to some accounts, 504 civilian men, women, and children were killed by American soldiers. The two incidents are very different, and do not compare factually…but it should be noted that the principal person charged in the incident was originally sentenced to life imprisonment, then only actually served three years of house arrest. The United States military has not carried out an execution since 1961. There is one soldier currently on death row, Ronald Gray, who received the death sentence for murder in 2008. He is currently awaiting execution by lethal injection for multiple murders committed off-duty and while stationed in the United States in the 1980′s.

I point out these cases to illustrate a point: In the modern era, military capital punishment is rare. Once an investigation has run its course, and the facts are known, a different picture can emerge, often widely dissimilar to the initial reports. In the Afghanistan case, we do not yet know the soldier’s name, or any real facts. Some news reports state that he has been on multiple deployments and previously received a traumatic brain injury. Other reports claim he was under extreme family pressure as well.

We do know this: The soldier was stationed in Afghanistan during a period of high stress for American personnel, during which multiple murders of servicemen were committed by Afghans serving in a position of trust. These Afghans, allegedly outraged by the burning of some copies of the Koran, opened fire on Americans without provocation. It does not stretch the boundaries of credulity to suggest that after weeks of extreme stress, a soldier could lose the ability to differentiate between murderous traitors and innocent civilians. Especially if that soldier has been on multiple deployments, and has received a brain injury.

I am not excusing the murder of civilians by U.S. personnel. I am, however, cautioning the Secretary and any members of the media that rushing to judgement on this matter will not serve the interests of justice. Wild claims that the soldier be tried in Afghanistan are irresponsible, and fly in the face of established military criminal procedure. Premature statements over the likelihood of capital punishment do nothing but dishearten the men and women serving our country honorably and well…the same men and women we send back, time after time, on repeated deployments; sometimes, until they can stand no more.

We don’t yet know what caused this tragedy. We may never have all the answers. It is time to let the investigation proceed, and allow the military justice system to do its job. When the facts are known, there will be time enough to express opinions one way or the other. And at that time, the picture may be quite different. The presumption of innocence does not only exist in the civilian world.

But the self-aggrandizing fool of the moment is New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. His office has announced that the American flag will be lowered to half-staff in his state, in honor of Houston’s death.

Think about this for a minute. This means that Governor Christie, or someone of influence in his office, believes that Houston, whose illegal drug use was publicly admitted and widely known, is deserving of the same level of honor as our veterans. The assertion is laughable.

The lowering of the flag to half-staff is an honor, and official practice is quite clear on the matter. It is reserved for members of the military, veterans, and certain public servants. It is a solemn event, and is done with deliberation and gravity. To extend this honor to a pop singer, no matter how popular, is a slap in the face to American service members, veterans, and their surviving families. Governor Christie’s action is nothing more than a play to the cheap seats. He is lending official sanction to the singer’s death, in an attempt to attach his name to the endless media coverage, and to momentarily raise his profile among those who believe Houston’s passing to be a matter of national importance.

Whitney Houston’s death, while painful for many, does not rise to the level of official honor. If Governor Christie sees some political expedience in the matter, he has other avenues open to him. He could designate a day of remembrance, or ask the New Jersey legislature for recognition. (Either of these would be more than is done for the combat-related death of a Soldier…but I digress.) The Governor should not, however, extend flag honors to a person who performed no public service, used crack cocaine and other drugs, and whose death is a matter for official investigation.

There will be enough tribute for Whitney Houston in the private sector. The media will be relentless in their coverage. Crowds will gather, candles will be lit, flowers will be placed, and sales of her music and films will skyrocket. Regardless of her failings, she will remain idolized. This is what the public and the media demand.

It is more than enough. Flag honors must remain reserved for those who have served others in life. It is our final tribute to them as a nation and community. Governor Christie’s order is, to say the least, misguided. It sets a disturbing precedent and diminishes the sacrifices made by our military and others who have served the public. It is probably too late to change things…but it shows a side of Christie that I will remember for a long time to come.

Today, I dropped off my Army son at the same airport. He is headed back to Afghanistan in the near future. His unit is deploying again, and as a Medic, he is an important part of the team. When he first deployed in 2009, I was able to tell myself that everything would be all right…that he would be fine. He also had the confidence that youth and good training bring. And he was fine…until he was badly wounded in combat.

This time, I say goodbye to my sons from a different viewpoint. I can’t put my finger on it…but this time I lack the ability to tell myself that it will be all right. I want it to be, with all my heart. I pray every day that it will be. But I can’t wall myself off from the knowledge that they will face danger, face the enemy, and endure hardship. I have, to be honest, lost the ability to tell myself that all will be well, that they will be safe, and return unharmed. I think I became a veteran in my own right. A veteran military parent.

There is no official category for such a thing. But it’s true nonetheless. I’m no longer the parent at the Basic Training graduation, smiling at a pass-in-review. I’m a good ways down the road from that now, and I know what war can do to young men and women. I’m the parent of two of America’s finest, young men who have put their personal safety and comfort aside to serve our nation. But I am also something else. My sons have changed, and I have changed too. I am still bursting with pride, but there is something else there. Perhaps it is a wish for a leap forward in time, to the end of 2012, when the deployments will end.

When I figure it out, I will write about it. Meanwhile, 2012 can’t pass quickly enough. Happy new year to everyone in FOTB, and God bless our troops.

It is truly amazing all of the men and women that served this country through the years and to see just how long Mr. Hope has been there for them. From before Pearl Harbor to Desert Storm. Even longer in our hearts and in our memories.

Senator Susan Collins of Maine correctly criticized this report on Wednesday, in joint hearings of the House and Senate Homeland Security Committee. I don’t often agree with Sen. Collins…but this time she is right on the money. Parsing this atrocity as workplace violence is disingenuous to say the least. To say the most, it is an outright lie. Our military is a target of home-grown terrorism, and the cold truth is that it is often the responsibility of jihadists who have joined the ranks.

According to a Fox News report (here) there have been 33 plots identified against U.S. military personnel since September 11, 2001. These were not acts of workplace violence, but instead were discrete acts of terror, directed against personnel who were either not deployed or not engaged in operations.

The fact that some people in the Department of Defense want to white-wash the situation does not change the ugly fact: Our military is at risk from acts of terror, committed by Islamic extremists, here in the United States. It’s time to take a hard look at this, and to take steps to protect our personnel. Political correctness be damned. It is time to purge our military of those who would attack it from within, and to redouble efforts to keep our people safe. Our men and women in uniform know the risks when they join the military. Those risks should not include home-grown jihad. Those who would commit such acts must be rooted out, and not allowed to hide behind a veil of euphemism. The Fort Hood incident was not workplace violence, it was an act of terror perpetrated by a traitorous murderer. The Defense Department needs to call it what it is…and it needs to get serious about it before another attack occurs.

Senator Collins, you did the right thing by throwing the “B.S.” flag on this. Thanks.

Narrated by Jerry Kristafer for Fathers of the Brave
“A Soldier’s Christmas Poem”
(written by Michael Marks in 2000)
“The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know, Then the
Sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
“What are you doing?” I asked without fear,
“Come in this moment, it’s freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!”

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire’s light
Then he sighed and he said “Its really all right,
I’m out here by choice. I’m here every night.”

“It’s my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I’m proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ‘ Pearl on a day in December,”
Then he sighed, “That’s a Christmas ‘Gram always remembers.”
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ‘ Nam’,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I’ve not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he’s sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue… An American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.”

“So go back inside,” he said, “harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I’ll be all right.”
“But isn’t there something I can do, at the least,
“Give you money,” I asked, “or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you’ve done,
For being away from your wife and your son.”
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
“Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we’re gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.”