Ronald Reagan was a great president, but before he was President of the United States, he was Governor of California. Before that he was an actor. While he was an actor, he hosted television’s ‘General Electric Theater’. For a long time it was thought that the tapes from many of the GE episodes were damaged or lost. However, they have been found and restored and all 208 episodes of ‘General Electric Theater’ hosted by Ronald Reagan have been delivered to former First Lady Nancy Reagan. She received the GE tapes on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 as part of the two-year celebration of the late president’s 100th birthday.

The ‘GE Tapes’ date from 1954 to 1962. They were recently uncovered in the General Electric/NBC Universal archives. They were restored to broadcast quality so that they can be used in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. During the 1950s Reagan traveled to plants throughout the nation as GE’s goodwill ambassador.

‘The opportunity to represent GE back in the 1950s, and the encouragement he received from the employees he met along the way, really launched Ronnie’s career in public service,’ Mrs. Reagan said in a statement released Wednesday. ‘I know he would be honored by this tribute.’

Jeff Immelt, GE CEO delivered the tapes to Mrs. Reagan at the library yesterday evening. General Electric is spending $15 million sponsoring the Ronald Reagan Centennial festivities. The gift includes $10 million in cash, advertising and promotion in support of the Ronald Reagan Centennial Celebration. That includes refurbishing a museum that will be unveiled on the eve of the president’s 100th birthday. Ronald Reagan was born on February 6, 1911. The museum will include the new General Electric Theater that will focus on Reagan’s career in radio, television and film.

Five million will go to the Reagan Presidential Foundation to launch and support the GE-Reagan Scholars Program. The Foundation will provide 200 four-year college scholarships over the next decade to students who exemplify the vision and values personified by Reagan.

‘President Reagan helped our company expand its reach during a golden age of American technological progress,’ Immelt said in a statement. ‘He embodied the optimistic and innovative spirit of our company, and later successfully carried those qualities with him to the White House.’

Photos: www.wenn.com

Lt. Col. David Hurley, commander of Schweinfurt, Germany’s 15th Engineer Battalion, presents unit coins to two 9th Infantry Division World War II veterans — Charles Aldieri, a former corporal with the 746th Tank Battalion (shaking hands) and Jack Jewell, a former first lieutenant with Company B, 39th Infantry — during a March 8 ceremony honoring the division’s efforts in capturing the famed Remagen Bridge in the closing days of World War II. The commemoration took place in the Remagen Bridge and Peace Museum now housed in the remains of the span, which collapsed 10 days after its capture on March 7, 1945.

Photo Courtesy United States Army

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Mr. Sharp’s daughter, Molly Jenkins of Jacksonville, said he died after falling in his home and striking his head.

A native of Decatur, Alabama, Mr. Sharp was a 19-year-old seaman aboard the USS Indianapolis when it was torpedoed by the Japanese a few minutes after midnight July 30, 1945.

He was one of about 900 men out of a crew of 1,196 who made it into the water before the heavy cruiser sank abut 450 miles from the Philippines. For four days Navy officials were unaware that those men, most left floating in the Pacific without food and water, were surrounded by sharks.

In a 2008 interview with The Florida Times-Union, Mr. Sharp said he began hallucinating by the third day. “Your mind was gone,” he said.

Eventually he was picked up by a Navy seaplane, which was so crowded with survivors they tied him to a wing, Mr. Sharp said.

In the end, only 317 men survived. The ordeal was later recalled in a memorable scene from the movie “Jaws.”

After the war, Mr. Sharp moved back to Decatur and worked a variety of jobs, including as pastor of five churches. He came to Jacksonville in 1976 to teach at Victory Christian Academy and later retired here.

In addition to his daughter, Mr. Sharp is survived by his wife, Faye Sharp, another daughter, Ginger Greer of Pikeville, Tenn., a son, Jeff Ripper of Jacksonville, and five grandchildren.

The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Mandarin Baptist Church, 11244 San Jose Blvd. Interment will follow at the Jacksonville National Cemetery.

The mother’s concerns are certainly legitimate. As she states in the video below, her daughter is in real danger now that she’s been released from jail if she is no longer useful to the terrorists she has been working with. Worse, she has drawn her son into the world of jihad.

Jamie Paulin-Ramirez aka Jihad Jamie is 31-years-old. She was a nursing student before she left Colorado and went to Europe to join a terrorist murder cell, joining a radical islamists group planning to assassinate Swedish cartoonist, Lars Vilks. Vilks had depicted the prophet mohammad with a dog’s body a few years ago and has been the target of a fatwa every since. There has been a $100,000 bounty offered by al-Qaeda for his murder.

Five people, including Paulin-Ramirez were arrested last week in Ireland in connection to the plot to kill Vilks and with recruiting people to commit ‘violent jihad’ throughout Europe.

Paulin-Ramirez mother states that her daughter ‘had no idea what she was getting herself into’ and is a lonely and insecure person. Mott says that all her daughter wanted was to be loved. She blames her daughter being misguided on her Algerian husband. He is her fourth husband. She has told reporters that he had brainwashed her six-year-old grandson to hate Christianity and to embrace radical islam. The family reports that Paulin-Ramirez renamed her son ‘Walid’ and has enrolled him in a radical islamic school in Ireland.

Regardless of whether or not Jihad Jamie is lonely and insure, according to her mother she is an adult. The family expresses more concern for her son who has been taken into this situation. It seems that this is a case of Jihad for Love – sadly.

For The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor (Posthumously) to Corporal Jason L. Dunham, United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Rifle Squad Leader, 4th Platoon, Company K, Third Battalion, Seventh Marines (Reinforced), Regimental Combat Team 7, FIRST Marine Division (Reinforced), on 14 April 2004.

Corporal Dunham’s squad was conducting a reconnaissance mission in the town of Karabilah, Iraq, when they heard rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire erupt approximately two kilometers to the west. Corporal Dunham led his Combined Anti-Armor Team towards the engagement to provide fire support to their Battalion Commander’s convoy, which had been ambushed as it was traveling to Camp Husaybah. As Corporal Dunham and his Marines advanced, they quickly began to receive enemy fire. Corporal Dunham ordered his squad to dismount their vehicles and led one of his fire teams on foot several blocks south of the ambushed convoy. Discovering seven Iraqi vehicles in a column attempting to depart, Corporal Dunham and his team stopped the vehicles to search them for weapons. As they approached the vehicles, an insurgent leaped out and attacked Corporal Dunham. Corporal Dunham wrestled the insurgent to the ground and in the ensuing struggle saw the insurgent release a grenade. Corporal Dunham immediately alerted his fellow Marines to the threat. Aware of the imminent danger and without hesitation, Corporal Dunham covered the grenade with his helmet and body, bearing the brunt of the explosion and shielding his Marines from the blast.

In an ultimate and selfless act of bravery in which he was mortally wounded, he saved the lives of at least two fellow Marines. By his undaunted courage, intrepid fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty, Corporal Dunham gallantly gave his life for his country, thereby reflecting great credit upon himself and upholding the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.

All Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Sgt. Charlie McGowen
August 22, 1921 – December 5, 2009

1940-1945

In 1942 he was drafted into the Army Air Corps. He was sent to England. His trip there took him through Warrior, Alabama, Ft. McClellan, Ft. McPherson, Gulf Port, Mississippi, Chanute, Salt Lake City, El Paso, Alamorgoro, and New York City. Then he took the Queen Mary to the Fifth of Clyde in Scotland. Upon arriving he was sent to the Wending base in England. In his military service he was part of the World War II: 32 Bomb Group 578 and 579 Bomb Squadron Second Air Division, 8th Air Force, ETON 117 Wending, Norfolk, England.

While stationed in Wending, he went to Piccadilly Circus in London. While he was there he visited the American Red Cross Center with friends. The center was Rainbow Corner. While there he was introduced to a lovely English lady named Margaret (Peggy) Johnston. It was love at first sight. They were married on January 13, 1945. They moved back to Alabama after the war and raised six children. They have ten grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Its not uncommon for the liberal host of ‘Countdown with Keith Olbermann’ to make outrageous, idiotic and self-righteous statements about anyone or anything that doesn’t walk in lock-step with his views. Those views are, of course, the same views of anyone who is accepted by the far left of this country. The reason for that is if you don’t have the same views, you aren’t a part of their inner-circle. You see the irony of the left’s claim to having a corner on diversity? They have none.

Olbermann has attacked the Tea Party movement by asking question to his very small audience like, ‘Let me ask all of you who attend these things, how many black faces do you see at these events?’ and ‘Why are you surrounded by largest crowd you will ever again see in your life that consists of nothing but people who look exactly like you?’

In the video below, the Dallas Tea Party called Olbermann out on his comments and questions. They deliver a smack down and invite Olbermann to get out of his ‘bubble’ and come on out to a Tea Party gathering so he can see it for himself. Maybe if he shows up, then he’ll be able to do a report on his show in which he actually has a clue of what he’s talking about.

Mertz Glacier

A huge chunk of the Mertz Glacier Tongue broke off in the Antarctica region. The finger-like iceberg protruded from the glacier and is 985-square miles of ice. It is 48 miles long and 24 miles wide, according to Neal Young, Australian Antarctic Division glaciologist. It is said to be approximately the size of Oahu or Luxembourg. The break happened on February 12th and 13th.

The Times of London reported on Sunday that the split of this iceberg could disrupt global ocean patterns and weather systems for decades to come. It could block the production of cold, salty water gradually leading to colder winters in the North Atlantic over the next few decades. Scientist also say that it could have a negative impact on some of Antarctica’s wildlife, such as a large colony of emperor penguins who live near to where it broke off from the glacier. The break means they will have to travel farther to get food.

The protruding iceberg had already become dislodged from the glacier when it was hit by an older iceberg, known as the B9B, in 1987. That hit left the iceberg ‘hanging like a loose tooth’, according to Benoit Legresy of the Laboratory of Geophysics and Oceanographic Space Research in Toulouse, France. When it was hit again on February 12, 2010, it broke loose. Scientist say this has nothing to do with the global warming theories that have be prevalent in the last few years.

Legresy’s French team of scientists have collaborated with Young and his team of Australian scientists to monitor Mertz Glacier for about a decade.

It is hard to know whether Monday was a very bad day or a very good day for Lance Cpl. Andrew Koenig.

On the one hand, he was shot in the head. On the other, the bullet bounced off him.

In one of those rare battlefield miracles, an insurgent sniper hit Lance Cpl. Koenig dead on in the front of his helmet, and he walked away from it with a smile on his face.

“I don’t think I could be any luckier than this,” Lance Cpl. Koenig said two hours after the shooting.

You can read the rest of Lance Cpl. Koenig’s story here.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Sarah Palin and her daughter Bristol Palin responded to the show for their mean-spirited and insensitive portrayal of Palin’s son Trig who has Downs Syndrome. Now, actress Andrea Fay Friedman is responding to Palin’s response.

Friedman sent an email to the New York Times in which she basically said that Palin needs to chill out.

“I guess former Governor Palin does not have a sense of humor. I thought the line “I am the daughter of the former governor of Alaska” was very funny. I think the word is ’sarcasm,’ Andrea Fay Friedman, who has Down syndrome, said in an email to the New York Times.

The website Gawker alleges that the NYT didn’t print the whole story and added an addition line to the email Friedman sent. Whether or not this is true is left up to you. Gawker is known for satire.

“My mother did not carry me around under her arm like a loaf of French bread the way former Governor Palin carries her son Trig around looking for sympathy and votes.”

The controversial ‘Family Guy’ episode drew the ire of groups who advocate for the rights of the mentally disabled as well as that of the Palins. In response, Friedman denies that her role on ‘Family Guy’ was meant to ridicule Trig Palin. Instead, she says she was making fun of Sarah Palin, not her son.

The skit was in poor taste if nothing else. The left loves bashing Palin and her family and then bashing Palin more when she responds or sets the record straight. Now Andrea Fay Friedman, the Family Guy actress is slamming Sarah Palin. I’m sure this will be more fodder for ridicule from the left.

Elton John is quoted in Parade magazine as declaring the Jesus Christ was gay. Needless to say, his statements have created quite a stir on the internet. John came out years go and has become an activist for gay rights over the years.

Here’s what he had to say about Christianity:

“I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems. On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving. I don’t know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East — you’re as good as dead.”

My reading of that is that Elton John is attempting to say something positive about Christianity and Jesus Christ. As he says himself, try being gay in the muslim world. You don’t live long in Iran if you are gay and can pretty much be assured you’ll be stoned to death or hung if you are gay in most of the muslim world.

The life of Christ was an example of love, tolerance, forgiveness and human kindness (among other things). He did implore his followers to be loving and forgiving. He told us that the way we treat the least among us is the way we treat him. I can fully agree with John on those points.

The only problem I have is why compassion, intelligence, empathy and love equate being gay. Can’t a person have those qualities and be heterosexual? Of course, the evolution of Christianity over the years has implied that Jesus basically asexual. Personally, I don’t think His sexuality is any of our business and doesn’t really have anything whatsoever to do with what He taught us.

Certainly, declaring that Jesus was gay is not based in fact and is a convenient justification for whatever lifestyle Elton John might want to lead. Many people project their own beliefs onto Jesus in order to justify themselves.

So Elton John gets a little buzz of publicity and extra news by making a dramatic declaration that ‘Jesus is gay’. Elton John is a brilliant song-writer and performer, but he’s not a theologian, so I put exactly zero credibility to his thoughts on that.

What he DID get right is that Jesus was about love. That’s the take-away message from the life of Christ. Love one another. If only we all would or could.

Photos: Daniel Deme, Michael Wright www.wenn.com

Prince Frederic von Anhalt

First, you might want to filter the announcement that Prince Frederic von Anhalt is going to run for Governor of California with a few facts about the man. He’s Zsa Zsa Gabor’s much younger 8th husband. Also, he’s not really a prince (per se). He was adopted by Princess Marie-Auguste of Alnhart when he was 37-years-old and gave him the title, Prince Frederic von Anhalt of Munich, the Duke of Saxony. However, European royal families do not recognize him as royalty, his title is not official and most feel he just bought the title. Therefore, he uses the name Frederick Prinz von Anhalt on legal documents.

He apparently loves publicity, as evidenced by his claim that he might have fathered Anna Nicole Smith’s baby when all the news was about the fight over custody of her baby. He was once found by police, naked behind the wheel of his car. He claimed he had been mugged by three women. He also sued the makers of Viagra, claiming the drug had left him unable to perform sexually unless he took it. He later dropped the case. He claims to be part of European royalty, even though there is no evidence that he is other than the previously referenced adoption.

Now that we have that out of the way, today’s announcement is that he will now be a California gubernatorial candidate. His attorney is said to have filed papers at the California Secretary of State Office in Sacramento today. If this proves to be true, he will be the only independent candidate running for governor in California. Currently, other candidates include Republicans Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner and Democratic candidate, Attorney General Jerry Brown.

His slogan is ‘Return the Good Life to California’ (not bad). His platform includes: lifting the import ban on an d taxing Cuban cigars, reduction of vehicle-registration fees, making ‘bad drivers’ pay more taxes to make up for lost revenue on the vehicle-registration fees. He proposes to reduce California’s $20 billion deficit through a ’sin tax’ on alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, marijuana and prostitution (which he proposes to legalize and tax). He proposes to repeal the ban on gay marriage saying, ‘Let them be as miserable as the rest of us’.

Von Anhalt’s real name is Hans Robert Lichtenberg and he is 65-years-old. He married Zsa Zsa Gabor in 1986. It was his seventh and her eight marriage.

He has set up a Prince Frederic von Anhalt for California Governor website.

So will he be ‘Governor Prince von Anhalt’ or ‘Prince Governor Frederic’ or ‘Prince of California’?

In the video below, you can watch him discus Prop 8 with some unfortunate girl who apparently works a drive-thru window somewhere and attempts to discuss politics with celebrities who drive through it.

Kim Kardashian

Last night Kim Kardashian was flying back to Los Angeles from New York when she found out she was seated next to an air marshal. Totally hot! What’s a buxom babe to do with THAT kind of information. Well, tweet it, of course. Take into account that she has over 3 million followers on her tweeter account.

I’m on the airplane…love wifi! I am sitting next to an Air Marshall! Jim the air marshal makes me feel safe!” she tweeted.

Yes, but no one is safe from Kim Kardashian’s twittering.

Some of her twitter followers were not at all impressed with her for revealing the the identity of the air marshal. After all, his ability to keep airline passengers safe is dependent on his ability to remain anonymous. When the not-so-thrilled-with-this-information-being-on-twitter comments started coming in, Kim told them to keep it all quiet.

‘RELAX I just told u guys the Air Marshall is sitting next to me, highly doubt anyone is twittering like me on this flight! shhh,’ she tweeted.

Shhh! That should do it. I’m sure that all of the 3 million people that read her every tweet are upstanding citizens who would never blow someone’s cover and create any problems for her or the air marshal. I take that back, she won’t have problems for sure. The air marshal. Well … that’s likely another story. She did do what she could to make it all better.

‘Air Marshall’s are supposed to keep their identity concealed. He did! I am just a private eye & assumed, so I asked him & he was honest!’ she wrote. ‘OK I hope I don’t get in trouble…logging off now! xo’

Okay. Great. That should do it. I’m sure Jim, the air marshal, is alright now and won’t lose his job or have his identity splashed all over every tabloid in the country. I’m better Perez Hilton is out looking for ‘Jim the air marshal’ even as I type this.

Oh, and aren’t we not supposed to use electronic devises during flight so that they don’t interfere with transmissions between control towers and airplanes? Then again, I guess that rule interferes with tweets.

Below are some photos of Kim Kardashian. They aren’t at the moment she outed the air marshal on the plane via twitter, but they are here for your enjoyment none the less.

Kim Kardashian – Photos

I guess the ‘progressives’ just can’t get enough of seeing how low they can go to make fun of Sarah Palin and her family. While the Obama children of ‘off limits’ for any news coverage, even pictures, the Palin children have been fodder for rumors, smears, insults and down-right meanness from the moment Sarah Palin stepped onto the national scene. It is disgusting at the very least.

On Sunday night’s episode of ‘Family Guy’, the character Chris dates a developmentally disabled girl who is demanding, petulant and an obvious slam at the Palins, ‘My dad’s an accountant, and my mom’s the former governor of Alaska.’

It is nothing new for these types of cartoon shows to mock pretty much everyone and everything. This is the type of ‘humor’ one expects from shows like ‘Family Guy’ and ‘South Park’. The ‘tolerant left’ is defending these types of slams, saying that they Palins are just too sensitive. While they do that, they give these shows a pass for their crude, mean-spirited ‘humor’. They use phrases like its ‘arguably insensitive’. Arguably? Yes, we expect that from those shows. However, its not ‘arguably wrong’. It IS wrong and insensitive. Some sites are even asking how this could possibly hurt her child, he’s just a toddler and is developmentally disabled, after all. THAT is insensitive.

I don’t have a problem with accepting that these shows get their viewers from being as inappropriate and shocking as they can possibly be and still be on the air. I would even defend their repeated slams at Palin if they just passed the outrage around a little. If they have the guts to slam the Obama girls, then I will defend their right to take stabs at the Palins. But we all know that’s not going to happen.

Have the courage to hold the left to the same standards you hold the right or anyone else.

United States ice hockey goalie Jonathan Quick has a ‘Support Our Troops’ slogan on his helmet. That sort of sentiment is not accepted under Olympic rules. The International Ice Hockey Federation has reported that Quick will be told to remove the slogan from his helmet.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules specifically forbid political propaganda or advertisements on the equipment of athletes participating in the games. Other athletes have been told to cover up slogans on their helmets. Ryan Miller is having to cover-up ‘Miller Time’ that he had on his helmet and Tim Thomas has covered up a slogan he had on his mask.

There are avenues to petition the IOC through the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) to be allow to use slogans. One assumes the athlete would have to use an argument that the slogan doesn’t constitute a political statement or propaganda.

I can certainly understand why the Olympic Committee makes every effort to keep politics out of the games. I can also understand how they would need to use a broad brush to make every effort to keep anything out of the games that could be remotely interpreted as political. On the other hand, I think what has concerned me the most are the comments that people are making in regard to this issue.

If you read the comments at the article linked above, you will find an appalling lack of respect for and even vitriolic hatred for American Troops. What’s with that? The name-calling and intolerance for different points of view, coming from the ‘tolerant’ left is appalling. A common theme in many of the comments is that anyone that supports our troops are ignorant, brain-dead, spiritually-dead, gun-toting, uneducated … you get the point. One guy even equates ‘Support the Troops’ with ‘Impeach Obama‘. That’s a real stretch. What kind of mind comes up with that twisted logic?

So the Olympic News is that Support Our Troops is banned in Vancouver. However, it seems that the real news is the deep division in the United States over the ever-increasing political chasm between the left and the right in the country.

Here is a picture of the ‘Support Our Troops’ slogan on Jonathon Quick’s helmet.

Capt. Ferris W. Butler, former platoon leader with D Company, 214th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain, 2nd Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Drum, N.Y., talks to the Soldiers at Morale, Welfare and Recreation east Feb. 5 at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. Butler, a Port Tobacco, Mass., native, participated in Operation Proper Exit, which brings Veterans who were injured in Iraq back to the country to revisit the area and share their stories.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

When Janna Scott called 911 on February 4, 2010, it was her own husband, Chris Scott who answered her emergency call. The couple’s 6-month-old son Jacob was choking. He had stopped breathing and lost consciousness. The couple report that they recognized each others voices, but the dire circumstance didn’t leave them time to chat. They got straight to the business of saving their son’s life.

Janna Scott said she was ‘freaking out’ when she called 911. Jacob’s eyes were rolling back in his head when Chris Scott, 23-years-old, answered her emergency call. The couple live in Lacey, Washington and Scott, an Iraq War Veteran, is training to be emergency dispatcher. Emergency workers are not supposed to involve themselves professionally in cases that involve their families. However, in this incident, there wasn’t time to transfer the call to another dispatcher as the baby had already lost consciousness for about a minute to a minute and a half.

The Thurston County, Washington dispatcher calmly talked his wife through the procedure necessary to clear their infant son’s airway. Tammy Clark, Scott’s supervisor, remarked on how well Scott had handled the call. When she told him that he had saved that boy’s life, Scott responded by telling her, ‘That was my son.’

He later said that he had always dreaded a call like that. He admitted that he was concerned as to how he’d handle something like that, but said, ‘I guess I handled it pretty good.’

Chris Scott returned from his year-long deployment to Iraq in September 2009. The Marine tanker first returned to Germany and then came back to his hometown near Olympia, Washington with his wife and baby in December 2009. Janna Scott is a native of Hanover, Germany. The couple live in Lacey, Washington.

The method used by Chris Scott, the 911 dispatcher who saved his own son, was to instruct his wife to lay Jacob face down on her lap and pat his back. When she did that he coughed up a small piece of plastic that had apparently fallen to the floor from the window seal and Jacob had put into his mouth. Scott sent emergency responders to the home, but they did not have to transport the baby to the hospital.

This weapons demonstration is considered a milestone in the directed-energy project.

“The Airborne Laser Testbed team has made history with this experiment,” said Greg Hyslop, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems, in a statement released Friday. Boeing is the prime contractor for the Defense Department project.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency was equally enthusiastic about the results. “The revolutionary use of directed energy is very attractive for missile defense,” the agency said in a statement, “with the potential to attack multiple targets at the speed of light, at a range of hundreds of kilometers, and at a low cost per intercept attempt compared to current technologies.

At one time the Pentagon had planned to build seven of these one-of-a-kind Airborne Laser aircraft. However, with recent uncertainty as to the continuation of the program and recent financial woes, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has canceled any building any more than the one that was tested last week.

The airborne laser missile is aimed at deterring missile attacks and providing the United States military with the ability to engage ballistic weapons at the speed of light. It’s particularly relevant in light of the current threats from Iran.

Some are questioning whether or not it is prudent to have this information made public as it lets our enemies know that the airborne laser is capable of taking down a missile in-flight. However, the whenever the U.S. successfully tests defense systems, we hope it lets our enemies know that they will be used against them should they attempt an attack against the U.S. or our interests around the world.

You can see photos of the infrared images taken of the test here.