Remembering the Service and Sacrifice of Our Veterans on Their Special Day

Governor Palin posted this image and comment on her Facebook page today:

Sarah Palin

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Happy Veterans Day! If you love your freedom, thank a Vet!

Move America Forward e-mailed this letter from Gold Star mother Debbie Lee:.

A Veteran’s Day Message from  Debbie Lee, Gold Star Mother

It is with great respect, admiration and deep understanding that I write this letter to honor each and every Veteran that has served or is serving our blessed Country! I understand and appreciate all who have given so much for me, so that I could enjoy my daily freedoms.

I was able to sleep well in the safety of my bed last night, because you served.

I was able to pray before my meal this morning in a public place without fearing arrest, because you gave.

I am able to freely speak my mind and voice my opinion without fear of retaliation against me or my family, because you cared.

I am able to stand up for what I believe in and not have a Dictators thoughts and opinions forced down my throat, because you stood up to the call to defend.

I am free to worship the one true God who created me in His image, because you were selfless in your actions.

To each one of you I speak from the bottom of my heart when I say Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!! You are my Heroes and I want to remember and honor you this Veterans Day. Not a single day goes by that I don’t think of the sacrifices you and your families have given!

My son Marc Alan Lee was laid to rest on Aug 2nd 2006.  I also remember him today as I do everyday and the sacrifice he made.

Thank you son!  His headstone says “Loved deeply, Deeply loved.” The love doesn’t go any deeper than that! He loved deeply!

He loved his brothers he served with, he loved me, he loved his family, he loved this nation, he loved his freedoms, he loved God, and he gave.

He gave it all! “Greater love has no one than this, that he laid down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) That’s what a hero does. They are willing to give their lives for others if it’s required.

I also think of my son Kris who served in the Marines, my son-in-law Christopher who served in the Army and my brother Jim who is serving in the Air Force! Thank you!

Each one of you have deeply loved this country and were willing to give your life if required for this country. Thank you!

Many of you have given your blood, and been wounded for this country. Thank you!

Many of you have  friends, family and brothers at arms who paid the ultimate sacrifice just like my son Marc! Thank you! We will never forget our fallen heroes or their families.

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Please join me today as a grateful nation chooses to collectively remember, thank and celebrate our Vets, who they are and what they have selflessly given. I choose to do that every day because they are my HEROES and I am so grateful!

Happy Veterans Day and God bless each one of you!

Debbie Lee
Gold Star Mother and Proud American

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Chuck Heath, Jr. also posted a Veterans Day greeting on his blog:

Thank you, Veterans!

Never can enough thanks be given for the sacrifices made by servicemen and women and their families. We honor them today and remind ourselves that their commitment and courage is never to be taken for granted or forgotten.

At this very moment, while some of you are preparing for church, getting ready to sit down for some football, or tending to your Sunday chores, there are men and women thousands of miles away putting it all on the line for us.

They’re rubbing the sand out of their eyes, trying to stay alert, scared (but brave), homesick, wondering if you’re thinking about them, and hoping for a letter from home today.

Don’t take them for granted… especially today.

Happy Veteran’s Day to all that serve and sacrifice.

If you’re a veteran, you may want to check out the 2012 Veterans Day Free Meals and Discounts list on the Military Wallet website.

Again, thank you so much for your service. We salute our nation’s finest!

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And And here is a video salute to all branches of our military:

A Message From Sarah Palin: “Happy Veterans Day! If you love your freedom, thank a Vet!”

 

 

Sarah Palin

4 hours ago

Happy Veterans Day! If you love your freedom, thank a Vet!

Governor Palin’s Hometown Newspaper Interviews the Heaths About ‘Our Sarah’

Robert DeBerry at the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman apparently interviewed the Heaths for this interesting article, which was posted on Thursday.  (Confirmed here by Chuck Heath, Jr.)

Sarah Palin’s father, brother share family insight in new book

Posted: Thursday, November 8, 2012 10:28 pm

• by Robert DeBerry

WASILLA — You can fill a small library with the books that have been written about former Wasilla mayor, Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Some were penned by journalists, others by friends. Some were produced by business colleagues and some by Palin herself. So what sets apart a new book written by her father, Chuck Heath Sr., and her brother, Chuck Heath Jr.?

For starters, it is a more intimate and inside look at Sarah Palin, her family and what shaped her growing up in Alaska. According to Chuck Heath Sr., “it’s the true Sarah Palin as told by others.”

“Basically it tells the true story, not from Chuck and not from me, but other people,” he said. “What they have seen. What they have experienced growing up with her.”

Heath said there are 46 different voices throughout the book. They interviewed coaches, teachers, pastors, preachers, classmates and teammates — “All those people that knew the real Sarah. They supplied the material and we used what they said.”

Originally, Chuck Heath Jr. wanted to write a book about his gold mining and hunting experiences. Chuck Heath Sr. said his son has kept a journal for years, so the idea was to write about his experiences in Alaska. But after thinking about it, they decided to write a book about Sarah.

“He put two and two together and he decided he better include Sarah in there,” Chuck Heath Sr. said of his son’s original idea. “So about a year and a half ago, he really started in earnest on this.”

Chuck Heath Jr. wanted to show people the real Sarah: what formulated her philosophies, what gave her a strong work ethic and her perseverance.

The father said they wanted to interview people who knew her best, and “that is basically what we did. We talked to the people that really knew her.”

Outside of the foreword, Sarah had nothing to do with the book, Heath Sr. said. “It is stuff from our memories. Nothing in the book has to do with interviewing Sarah.”

When they first approached Sarah with the book idea, she said she didn’t care to be involved, he said.

“She said, ‘You guys go for it. Make sure it is factual and truthful, but I want you guys to do it. I don’t want to do it,’” Heath Jr. said. “She gave us the green light, but she didn’t want anything to do with it.”

For the Palin and Heath families, the book serves as kind of a historical road map to where they are now and where they came from. But also as important, Heath Sr. said, is that it be seen as the real story.

“There are a lot of books written about Sarah,” he said. “Some of them are so totally unfactual it is beyond belief.”

Some are also very humorous, he said, referring to one written by a guy from Sports Illustrated called “Sarah Palin and the Wasilla Warriors.”

“In that book, there is so many errors it is beyond belief,” Heath Sr. said. “Nothing that really slams her, but he compares her to Jason Kidd. Sarah was a good basketball player, but she wasn’t a Jason Kidd.”

Heath Sr. said the writer had her playing against teams like East High and Service High in the state finals and he made up names for the other team’s members, and they were all Eskimo names. He said the writer also had Todd winning the Iron Horse Snowmachine Race.

“Some of these things some of these characters have written, Oh my,” the elder Heath said. “You know, if I didn’t know her I’d hate her, too.”

The Heaths say they aren’t out to change anyone’s opinion of their daughter and sister. People have already made up their minds about Sarah, Heath Sr. said.

“We just wanted to tell the true story, and Sarah said, ‘Make sure it is all true, because they are going to go through it with a fine-toothed comb,’” he said. “So we were very careful that everything we put in there was the truth.”

For both Heaths, writing the book was a learning experience, especially for Heath Sr. He said he came away knowing his son a bit better, too.

“When we went on a book tour for three weeks, I got to room with him side by side. I think I got to know him better now than I knew him in high school,” he said. “I really enjoyed that part.”

He also said he really enjoyed writing and relating the parts that talk about the trips the family went on.

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Roxanne Roberts and Amy Argetsinger at the Washington Post also posted these “tidbits” from the Heaths’ book last month:

Chuck Heath Senior and Junior penned a family memoir about the future conservative heroine who, in this telling, never did anything wrong — and anyone who says she did is mistaken. A few tidbits:

• “When Sarah was born she was round and pink with a shock of black hair. Dad commented that she looked like a bulldog.”

• She did read papers: “When she was in elementary school, Dad would bring in the newspaper and take out the sports section. . . Sarah was busy reading the front-page articles about world events.”

• Her years playing basketball revealed the future politician: “Her aggressive style of play more than made up for her lack of size and shooting ability. She simply outhustled her opponents and wore them down”

• She competed in the Miss Wasilla pageant when Geraldine Ferrarowas on the ticket: “Yes, I think a woman could be vice president,” she said. “I think a woman could be president.”

• At the debate against Joe Biden, campaign aides tried to “micromanage her responses” and threw Palin off her game — the same Republican aides who later blamed her for the election loss. “All those times they mismanaged Sarah in the campaign were twisted afterward into evidence that she was indifferent, uninformed and disinterested. . . They couldn’t bear the thought of acknowledging that she had political instincts at least equal to their own.”

Palin clearly approved of this message because she wrote the forward: “Having written books of my own, I know how exhausting producing a manuscript can be. . . I hope you’ll be inspired by their stories and by the warm Alaskan spirit they reflect.”

“Hunting and fishing trips that helped formulate their work ethics and honesty,” he said. “These trips are where we got to know our kids pretty well.”

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