DATE: 03/01/2008 10:44:22 / MOOD: bored

its harder than it sounds 

You must hold the left mouse button down to go  up...release to go down

 

http://www.hurtwood.demon.co.uk/Fun/copter.swf

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DATE: 02/07/2008 22:25:44 / MOOD: full of life

In the chaotic, intense house-to-house gun battles with insurgent fighters during the 2004 Battle of Fallujah, the point man of Lima Company’s 1st Platoon barreled his way through gunfire and exploding grenades.

 

Then-Pvt. Sean Stokes, with his wide grin and sparkling eyes, seemed to relish the role he readily assumed as his unit, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, pressed through the city’s notorious Jolan District, which was teeming with al-Qaida fighters.

 

Several times during missions from Nov. 9-11, 2004, Stokes braved enemy fire — “fearless in the face of danger,” according to the Marine Corps — to kill insurgents and enable his platoon to gain control of houses.

 

On Nov. 17, 2004, after a grenade exploded near him, wounding him, the private managed to continue to use his weapon so the fire teams could reassemble and launch a counterattack.

 

For his actions during the intense week of close-in urban combat, the Marine Corps bestowed on the corporal the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest award for combat valor.  His family received the medal and citation yesterday during a ceremony at Camp Pendleton , Calif. , on what would have been Stokes’ 25th birthday.

 

According to the award citation, Stokes “fought through Fallujah with the resolve of closing on the enemy, while protecting the Marines around him at all costs.”

 

But on July 30, 2007, Stokes, then a corporal and on his third deployment to Iraq , paid the ultimate price when a buried roadside bomb detonated while he was scouring a road as a member of 3/1’s personal security detachment.

 

The news of Stokes’ death devastated his family and friends.  “We didn’t know he was in Iraq when he was killed,” said his aunt, Laura Leupp, of San Diego .

 

As far as they knew last summer, Stokes was on the assault ship Bonhomme Richard, the lead ship in an expeditionary strike group carrying members of 3/1 and the rest of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit.  But the MEU had received orders to Iraq ’s Anbar province.

 

“To protect his family from worry, he told them before he left and during his third tour that his ship, the Bonhomme Richard, was stopping at different ports around the world and was not going to go to Iraq,” Leupp said by e-mail.  “He had already been through so much during his first two tours.  Sean was supposed to just see the world by stopping at different ports.  So we thought he was safe during his third and we hoped his last deployment.  But not the way we hoped.”

 

His former 3/1 platoon commander, Lt. Jeffrey Sommers, wrote a poignant story online about Stokes’ early days at the battalion, where he had been reassigned from a sister battalion, 1/1, at Camp Horno.  Stokes had encountered some trouble — a positive urinalysis pop for smoking pot and deserting the unit — that got him busted down two ranks to private, Sommers wrote in his Web blog.

 

“It’s tough being a private in an infantry deployed unit,” he wrote.  But Stokes “took it all in stride, and his composure in operations on top of all the bull---- of being a private impressed me; he was a solid, dependable Marine.  His work ethic and attitude prompted us to ask, almost beg, for his promotion.”

 

But that didn’t happen, he wrote, and Stokes “would remain a private for the rest of the deployment no matter what he did or was capable of.”

 

Then came the battle of Fallujah, where “nobody worked harder than Pvt. Stokes,” who led point for his squad, Sommers wrote, retelling the young Marine’s actions.  “Time again, he was the one to get shot at first, he dodged death so many times as that point man over the course of the battle.”

 

Even when the grenade wounded him, Stokes kept firing his weapon at enemy fighters before he was later evacuated, Sommers wrote.

 

Stokes’ actions in that battle weren’t forgotten when the dust settled.  “We returned home, and the mantra of not being able to promote a drug pop Marine carried into the awards process,” Sommers wrote.  “[He] was never awarded for his actions.”

 

During the subsequent deployment, though, Stokes was promoted to corporal, and he eventually deployed again.

 

But on his third Iraq deployment, he met death in the IED blast.  “Stokes was walking point, again, he always led from the front,” noted Sommers

 

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DATE: 02/04/2008 20:45:08 / MOOD: happy

A minister passing through his church> in the middle of the day,> Decided to pause by the altar> and see who had come to pray. > > Just then the back door opened,> a man came down the aisle,> The minister frowned as he saw> the man hadn't shaved in a while. > > His shirt was kind a shabby> and his coat was worn and frayed, > > the man knelt, he bowed his head, > > Then rose and walked away. > > In the days that followed,> each noon time came this chap,> each time he knelt just for a moment,> A lunch pail in his lap. > > Well, the minister's suspicions grew,> with robbery a main fear,> He decided to stop the man and ask him, "What are you doing here?" > > The old man said, he worked down the road. > Lunch was half an hour. > Lunchtime was his prayer time,> For finding strength and power. > > > > "I stay only moments, see, > because the factory is so far away; > as I kneel here talking to the Lord, > This is kind a what I say: > > "I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD, > HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHERS FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK> AWAY MY SIN. DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU> EVERYDAY. > SO, JESUS, THIS IS JIM CHECKING IN TODAY." > > The minister feeling foolish, > told Jim, that was fine. > He told the man he was welcome > To come and pray just anytime > > Time to go, Jim smiled, said "Thanks." > He hurried to the door. > > > The minister knelt at the altar, > he'd never done it before. > > His cold heart melted, warmed with love, > and met with Jesus there. > As the tears flowed, in his heart, > he repeated old Jim's prayer: > > "I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD, > HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHERS FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK> AWAY MY SIN. I DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU> EVERYDAY. > > > SO, JESUS, THIS IS ME CHECKING IN TODAY." > > Past noon one day, the minister noticed > that old Jim hadn't come. > As more days passed without Jim, > he began to worry some. > > At the factory, he asked about him, > learning he was ill. > > The hospital staff was worried, > But he'd given them a thrill. > > The week that Jim was with them, > Brought changes in the ward. > His smiles, a joy contagious. > Changed people, were his reward. > > The head nurse couldn't understand > why Jim was so glad, > when no flowers, calls or cards came, > Not a visitor he had. > > The minister stayed by his bed, > He voiced the nurse's concern: > No friends came to show they cared. > He had nowhere to turn. > > Looking surprised, old Jim spoke > up and with a winsome smile; > "the nurse is wrong, she couldn't know, > that he's in here all the while > > > everyday at noon He's here, > a dear friend of mine, you see, > He sits right down, takes my hand, > Leans over and says to me: > > > > "I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, JIM, > HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND THIS FRIENDSHIP, AND I TOOK AWAY> YOUR SIN. ALWAYS LOVE TO HEAR YOU PRAY, > I THINK ABOUT YOU EACH DAY, AND SO JIM, THIS IS JESUS CHECKING IN> TODAY."

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DATE: 01/21/2008 21:15:48 / MOOD: happy

The best kind of friend

 Is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with,

Never say a word, and then walk away

Feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had .

It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it,

But it's also true that we don't know

What we've been missing until it arrives.

Giving someone all your love

 Is never an assurance that they'll love you back!

Don't expect love in return;

Just wait for it to grow in their heart

But if it doesn't, be content it grew in yours.

It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone,

An hour to like someone,

And a day to love someone,

But it takes a lifetime to forget someone.

Don't go for looks; they can deceive.

Don't go for wealth; even that fades away.

Go for someone who makes you smile

Because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright.

Find the one that makes your heart smile.

May you have

Enough happiness to make you sweet,

Enough trials to make you strong,

Enough sorrow to keep you human,

Enough hope to make you happy.

Always put yourself in others' shoes.

If you feel that it hurts you,

It probably hurts the other person, too The happiest of people

Don't necessarily have the best of everything;

They just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

Happiness lies for those who cry,

Those who hurt, those who have searched,

And those who have tried,

For only they can appreciate the importance of people

 Who have touched their lives. When you were born, you were crying

 And everyone around you was smiling.

Live your life so that when you die,

You're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

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DATE: 01/02/2008 19:53:07 / MOOD: down

DANG IT!!!!!!

back to school........when do y'all start again??? 

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DATE: 12/30/2007 17:22:25 / MOOD: bored

I am bored out of my mindand i don't know what to do any suggestions??

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DATE: 12/24/2007 11:53:34 / MOOD: excited

Hey everyone just wanted wish you all a merry christmas have a good one

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DATE: 12/06/2007 22:02:01 / MOOD: lonely

why?????

i don't get why do i feel  like this i just feel like no one cares which i know ppl do but why do i feel like this though i don't get it i feel like theres no one worth living for theres an empty spot in my life and i don't know how to fill it

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DATE: 11/29/2007 17:19:16 / MOOD: full of life

> One day a woman's husband died, and on that clear, cold morning, in the> warmth of their bedroom, the wife was struck with the pain of learning> that sometimes there isn't anymore. No more hugs, no more special> moments to celebrate together, no more phone calls just to chat, no more> "just one minute." Sometimes, what we care about the most gets all used> up and goes away, never to return before we can say good-bye, say "I> love you."> > So while we have it, it's best we love it, care for it, fix it when it's> broken and heal it when it's sick. This is true for marriage ... And old> cars. And children with bad report cards, and dogs with bad hips, and> aging parents and grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it,> because we are worth it.> > Some things we keep -- like a best friend who moved away or a classmate> we grew up with. There are just some things that make us happy, no> matter what.> > Life is important, like people we know who are special. And so, we keep> them close!> > I received this from someone who thought I was a 'keeper'! Then I sent> it to the people I think of in the same way. Now it's your turn to send> this to all those people who are "keepers" in your life, including the> person who sent it if you feel that way. Suppose one morning you never> wake up, do all your friends know you love them> > And just in case GOD calls me home ....> > I Luv YA!!!

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