So, on Sunday night, a bunch of my friend's were at my house watching Dinner for Schmucks. About half way through, Cagney got a text from someone about Osama Bin Laden. His first thought was to text his recruiter to make sure he still had a job...
 
Unfortunately, he does. There's always gonna be someone out there willing and ready to take Bin Laden's place. Our troops are always going to have a job somewhere to do. However, I think that the death of Bin Laden helped bring closure to the families who have lost loved ones because of his actions, marking the victory for America.

“I congratulated him and the men and women of our military and intelligence communities who devoted their lives to this mission. They have our everlasting gratitude...The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done.”
George Bush

Imitation Writing: Harper Lee

Harper Lee's Style:

• Her writing in this passage is very simplistic and descriptive
• The language she uses matches the time period she is writing about

Original Passage:

"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. When it healed, and Jem's fears of never being able to play football were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious about his injury. His left arm was somewhat shorter than his right; when he stood or walked, the back of his hand was at right angles to his body, his thumb parallel to his thigh. He couldn't have cared less, so long as he could pass and punt."

Context:

     Jem overcame his obstacles to be able to do what he wanted, even though he still had challanges.

Imitation:
     Five months after the accident, he still had the ugly scars as proof. At first, he was terrified that he would never wrestle again. After all, how many people can wrestle with one arm? But he was determined. After months of vigorous training and therapy, he was ready to try his favorite sport again. Walking onto the mat, he could sense the stars from the people in the stands and the other wrestlers, doubting his abilities, but he just kept on walking with his head held high.


Original Passage:
"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do."
Attitus Finch, Chapter 11.

Context:
     Atticus wants his children to know what real bravery is, not a false sense of security provided by weapons.

Imitation:
     When I think of bravery, I think of soldiers as the best example. Not because of the guns and the tanks and the bombs. Because of their willingness to go out everyday and risk their lives for us, go out and know there is a chance they might not come back. They know what they are getting into when they enlist, but they do it anyway, to defend our freedom to the best of their ability.

Hannah's Surprise Visit

My older sister showed me a video of soldiers coming home and surprising their loved ones. The first clip was of a ten year old, Hannah Myer. Her dad had been in Iraq for over a year, missing her fourth grade year. While he was gone, she helped her mom around the house. She got up in the middle of the night to take care of her baby sister so her mom could sleep, she cooked and cleaned, and she had to go to school and do her homework like all the other kids.

The next-to-last day of her fourth grade year, a visitor came to her class. Her dad walked in the room and asked "Where's my daughter?" When Hannah saw her dad, she was immediately in tears and she walked up to hug him.
Hannah's Surprise Visit

It's hard to imagine what soldiers and their families have to go through every day. All I can say is that I wish I was a strong as they are. Every single one of them inspire me to try to be more brave and overcome my much smaller obstacles in life.

Peter Courcy

     This is Peter Courcy. I never knew him but he went to high school with my older brother and sister. Two years ago, he was killed while serving in Afghanistan, two weeks before his scheduled return. I can remember my mom and sister getting back from his funeral. They told me about his wife with their five month old son and how devastated she was. Everyone that knew him, and people that had heard of him, were all there to show their support. The part that still makes me cry when I hear about it is the funeral proccession. People that saw his story on the news or heard through friends were parked all along the side of the highway, holding American flags and posters for Peter. They had been waiting there for a couple hours for the procession to honor a hero they didn't even know.

     It reminds me alot of the movie Taking Chance, where a voulunteer military escort officer takes the body of a fallen soldier,Chance, back to his family to be burried. As he's driving behind the hearse into town, people join the procession to show their respect. It's really good to see that the people who fight to give us our freedom every day are given the apprectiation they deserve.

Taking Chance Video

My Indestructible Best Friend

The person you'll hear the most about on my blog is my best friend, Cagney. I met him my freshman year and I was scared to death of him. He's as tall as I am, but ten times stronger. He's the guy that you see walking around the street with the sleeves of his T-shirt cut off because his arms are too big to fit. After I started talking to him and realized that he wasn't going to break me in half, we became really good friends. I learned how much he had to go through in his life; his parent's divorce, his mom's remarriage, his dad's death, and he was only fifteen. He saw things growing up in Queens that I would never be able to deal with, but he is the most amazing person I've ever met.

One of the first things he told me was that he wanted to join the Army. At the time it seemed so far away, like he would change his mind before he was old enough to enlist. But, at the end of his junior year he enlisted. This past November he was sworn in. Until then, I don't think it really registered in my mind that he was going to leave. Well, he's leaving in July for Basic Training. Everytime he talks about leaving, he tells me not to worry because he's "indestructible" and he won't let the tough Army guys change who he is. I know that, even if he has to experience the horrors of fighting in a war, he will always be my best friend; the one person I can count on for anything. Now, his "indestructibilty" is what scares me...

(He's the one with the LSU hat on his stomach)