A Rose by Any Other Name

A Rose by Any Other Name is one of the many military-related blogs that I usually read. It has been in the www since mid 2006 according to its archives but I only became a constant reader of this blog since last year.

Just like Anna(the poster), I’m also patriotic and have sympathy to our country’s heroes. Her posts are truly eye openers and I especially like the blog’s portion of featuring the “Wednesday Heroes”. As a matter of fact, I would like to also make a category for the soldier that have been killed in wars as part of my recognition to them.

Aside from being informative, Anna’s posts are also very sympathetic and full of feelings. You can truly feel a lot from her writings. Her blog was also a finalist of the 2006 Blogs of Summer – a true measure of her significant contribution to the www.

Her last post was last May 7, 2009 and it has never been updated until now. It is actually my immense honor to have “ A Rose by Any Other Name” featured as one of the most influential and inspirational blogs about our veterans.

20th and 21st Century First Ladies of United States

Since it is Mother’s Day, let us commend and honor the first ladies of our country. In history, there have been 44 Presidents who have served in the United States. Along with the presidents are their wives who have been a resident of the Whitehouse and have been mothers of this nation.

And because they are too many to be listed, I would like to list down all the first ladies during the 20th and 21st century of the United States with their pictures. This will be in reverse-chronological order.

MICHELLE OBAMA (b.1964)

LAURA WELCH BUSH (b.1946)

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (b.1947)

BARBARA PIERCE BUSH (b.1925)

NANCY DAVIS REAGAN (b.1921)

ROSALYNN SMITH CARTER (b.1927)

ELIZABETH BLOOMER FORD (b.1918)

PATRICIA RYAN NIXON (b.1912 — d.1993)

CLAUDIA TAYLOR (LADY BIRD) JOHNSON
b.1912 — d.2007

JACQUELINE LEE BOUVIER KENNEDY
b.1929 — d.1994

MAMIE GENEVA DOUD EISENHOWER
b.1896 — d.1979

ELIZABETH VIRGINIA WALLACE TRUMAN
b.1885 — d.1982

ANNA ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
b.1884 — d.1962

LOU HENRY HOOVER
b.1874 — d.1944

GRACE ANNA GOODHUE COOLIDGE
b.1879 — d.1957

FLORENCE KLING HARDING
b.1860 — d.1924

EDITH BOLLING GALT WILSON
b.1872 — d.1961

ELLEN LOUISE AXSON WILSON
b.1860 — d.1914

HELEN HERRON TAFT
b.1861 — d.1943

EDITH KERMIT CAROW ROOSEVELT

b.1861 — d.1948

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to You and the rest of the United States’ First Ladies.

18th Century
Martha Washington
Abigail Adams

19th Century
Martha Jefferson
Dolley Madison
Elizabeth Monroe
Louisa Adams
Rachel Jackson
Hannah Van Buren
Anna Harrison
Letitia Tyler
Julia Tyler
Sarah Polk
Margaret Taylor
Abigail Fillmore
Jane Pierce
Harriet Lane
Mary Lincoln
Eliza Johnson
Julia Grant
Lucy Hayes
Lucretia Garfield
Ellen Arthur
Frances Cleveland
Caroline Harrison
Frances Cleveland
Ida McKinley

Welcome Home Soldiers

I learned this video from a military forum. It was indeed, a very touching video about the return of 19 US marines who have been killed in action on Makin Island in WWII. After 58 years, they have been found and finally took their resting place at Arlington National Cemetery.

I suggest everyone to watch the movie in full listen to every word of the narrator to learn and realize how these men fought for our liberty. Please continue to have them on your prayers.

Let’s All Do our Part

Last April 22, 2009, the world celebrated the Earth Day. It’s a celebration and at the same time, a realization about what’s happening in the world. Many groups, private and government have gathered for this cause.

Global warming is indeed, felt in different parts of the world. While some of us are not yet directly affected by its effect, it’s still not a good reason to just feel relaxed and let the others do their part. We are all residence of Earth and we have obligations to take care of it.

Participation in taking care of the Earth should not be hard for us. We are not super heroes and I bet we can’t fly in the sky like Superman and use our eye to laser and see the problems causing this world to die. We can do our part in our own little ways.

There are many ways to do it but I would like to list down what I’m currently doing.

1.   Conserving water and energy. When I’m in the house or at the office, I always check the faucet if it’s sealed tightly. Also, whenever I leave the room, I always see to it that the lights are turned off and no other appliance is left running.
2.    Putting little trash in my pocket. This is really something worthy particularly when candy wrappers.
3.    Using tote bag. I always have my tote bag for shopping. This minimizes the use of plastic.

These are just ordinary things that I learned to live every day.  If each of us will do these simple things then we can definitely save and make this world live longer. We’ll be all benefiting, after all. Let’s do this for our future children.

Real and Fictional Presidents

If you’re fond of watching movies with terrorism and war themes, then you’ve probably seen many actors who have portrayed as The United States’ respectable presidents. Many of these movies are based on wars and true stories while others are truly fictional. Whatever the theme of the movie is, I can say that the actor who played as the President did well in portraying the role.

One of the most remarkable fictional movies that I watched is the “Air Force One” starring Harrison Ford as President James Marshall. It was really a good story and I assume that it will never happen.

In line with this, I listed other great movies and actors who played the controversial role of being the President of the United States, true and fictional. Here are some of my favorites:

• William Hurt – He played as President Ashton in the Vantage Point movie in 2008 (fictional)
• Jack Nicholson – He played as President James Dale in the Mars Attack movie in 1996 (fictional)
• Robin Williams – He played as President Theodore Roosevelt in Night at the Museum movie in 2006 (real)
• John Voight – He played as President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Pearl Harbor movie in 2001 (real)
• Tom Howard – He played as Lyndon B. Johnson in JFK movie in 1991 (real)
• Anthony Hopkins – He played as Richard M. Nixon in Nixon movie in 1995 (real)
• Michael Douglas – He played as President Andrew Shepherd in The American President movie in 1995 (fictional)
• Gene Hackman – He played as President Alan Richmond in Absolute Power movie in 1997 (fictional)
• James Earl Jones – He played as President Douglass Dilman in The Man in 1972 (fictional)
• Morgan Freeman – He played as President Tom Beck in Deep Impact movie in 1998 (fictional)

How about you? Who’s your favorite?

Online Memorials

As we all know, being in the military is about laying your life on the line. Thus, there are many dedicated sites that are especially built for deceased and missing military personnel. Most of these sites are created by a family member of the military or a group of people who are sympathetic and wants to give honor the country’s heroes.

Civilians are also welcome to join in the sites – giving them an opportunity to know the heroes who have taken by wars and other related causes. This site also accepts donation that will be used to help the families of the departed members of the United States’ armed forces.

For quick reference, I compiled a list of memorial sites for the US military. Please see below:

• www.thewall-usa.com
• www.usmemorialday.org
• www.navymemorial.org
• www.ushmm.org
• www.wwiimemorial.com
• www.odmp.org