Things I Learned from Watching CSI

The flash mob at Gate 38 of Reagan National Airport

Friends and team members this is what Honor looks like.  There is an interesting article on Mullover.com that will bring tears to your eyes for two reasons; one this group of passengers are honor many of the Greatest Generation who were arriving on an Honor Flight to tour the WWII Memorial in Washington, DC and; two this should give you great faith in America, despite what you hear from America's leaders and those in the Integrity Free Media.

Honor Flight is a very unique and interesting organization.  Honor Flight is a non-profit organization that transports WWII and terminally ill veterans of all wars to Washington DC to allow them to visit the memorials put in place to honor their service.  You might want to consider supporting Honor Flight. Houston is the closet chapter if you are interested.

Enjoy,

Marc

A shining example of the greatness of America

A MARINE'S MARINE

Every now and then, in the middle of the constant barrage of crap that’s just pissing us all off these days,

we come across a story, a feat, an event that just makes us stop in our tracks.

 

Cody Green was a 12-year kid in Indiana who was diagnosed with leukemia at 22 months old. He loved the Marines, and his parents said he drew strength and courage from the Marine Corps. as ...he bravely fought the battle into remission three times. Although he was cancer-free at the time, the chemotherapy had lowered his immune system and he developed a fungus infection that attacked his brain. Two weeks ago, as he struggled to fend off that infection in the hospital, the Marines wanted to show how much they respected his will to live, his strength, honor and courage. They presented Cody with Marine navigator wings and named him an honorary member of the United States Marine Corps. For one Marine, that wasn’t enough ... so that night, before Cody Green passed away, he took it upon himself to stand guard at Cody’s hospital door all night long, 8 hours straight.

Nowhere on the face of this planet is there a country so blessed as we to have men and women such as this. I wish I could personally tell this Marine how proud he makes me to be an American.?? God ... I do so love this country.

Never ever let the ramblings of politicians and the irrational screaming by the media turn you against the Greatest Country in the World.  Visit any college campus, at least in the South, and just sit and watch the young men and women who will be the next generation of leaders and you will know that America is in good hands!  

Marc

God Bless Texas

Take 10 minutes out of your day and watch this video.  If you are not from Texas this ought to inspire you to come.  If you are from Texas and this doesn't make you proud, then you are probably an immigrant from up north, somewhere near Oklahoma or way out west towards Arizona from the east towards Mississippi.

Marc

Sprint to end iDEN service as soon as June 30, 2013

The death of a great technology in North America, although iDEN lives in the international market and few legacy Harmony Systems around the US!


Marc




From FierceWireless today (May 29 2012)

Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) said it will shut down service on its 2G iDEN network as early as June 30, 2013. The sunset of Sprint's legacy Nextel network is part of the carrier's Network Vision network modernization plan. It also serves as a period to Sprint's $36 billion acquisition of Nextel in 2005. Sprint said it will send written notices to iDEN business and government customers beginning June 1 regarding the shutdown, and will offer them a "smooth migration" to Sprint's Direct Connect CDMA push-to-talk service. The carrier said it will continue to send notices to its iDEN customers about the planned shutdown over the next year. Sprint said its CDMA voice and data services on its PowerSource devices (dual-mode iDEN and CDMA devices) will still be available. The shutdown of the iDEN network, which Sprint has been discussing since late 2010, is one piece of its Network Vision upgrade, which centers on the deployment of new, multi-mode base stations. As part of the upgrade, Sprint plans to deploy LTE first in its 1900 MHz PCS spectrum and then later on the 800 MHz spectrum currently reserved for iDEN service. Sprint will also be upgrading its 3G network, reducing roaming and energy costs and deploying 1X Advanced voice services on its 800 MHz spectrum. Sprint has already begun the process of decommissioning iDEN cell sites. Sprint expects to take 9,600 iDEN sites offline by the end of the third quarter. The company has said many of these are sites are no longer needed because they were added when Sprint had roughly 20 million total iDEN Nextel customers; Sprint now has fewer than 6 million iDEN customers. The rest of the iDEN sites will be decommissioned in 2013. Last fall Sprint launched its CDMA Direct Connect service, powered by a new solution from Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), as part of its plan to migrate iDEN customers to CDMA. Sprint said its new Direct Connect service, which rides on Sprint's 1900 MHz spectrum, offers improved in-building coverage and will triple the square-mile reach of its current iDEN-based PTT service. Specifically, Sprint said its new PTT offering will cover 2.7 million square miles and a population of 309 million (with the addition of 1XRTT and roaming coverage), up from the iDEN network's 908,370 square miles covering a population of 278 million.  In addition to the iDEN announcement, Sprint also announced it entered into a new $1 billion credit facility with Deutsche Bank and a syndicate of other banks to finance equipment purchases from Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) for Network Vision. Ericsson, which manages Sprint's day-to-day network operations, is one of the carrier's Network Vision vendors, along with Alcatel-Lucent and Samsung. The Network vision project, which Sprint expects to largely complete by the end of 2013, will cost $4 billion to $5 billion in total.

I am snuggled in this weekend watching the AMC War Movie Marathon, I have seen most of these movies before but I had not seen the Battle of Bulge.  This movie is a testament to the incredible spirit of the American Soldier.

Below is just snippet of the story.  If you have any interest in reading further, click here!  

The Battle of the Bulge

Courtesy The United States Army Center of Military History

"Early on the misty winter morning of 16 December 1944, over 200,000 German troops and nearly 1,000 tanks launched Adolf Hitler's last bid to reverse the ebb in his fortunes that had begun when Allied troops landed in France on D-day. Seeking to drive to the English Channel coast and split the Allied armies as they had done in May 1940, the Germans struck in the Ardennes Forest, a seventy-five-mile stretch of the front characterized by dense woods and few roads, held by four inexperienced and battle-worn American divisions stationed there for rest and seasoning.

. . . . . .

"At the critical road junctions of St. Vith and Bastogne, American tankers and paratroopers fought off repeated attacks, and when the acting commander of the 101st Airborne Division in Bastogne was summoned by his German adversary to surrender, he simply responded, "Nuts!"

The American General who issued that reply was Anthony Clement "Nuts" McAuliffe.  During the Battle of the Bulge he was the acting commander of the 101st Airborne Division, acting for Major General Maxwell Taylor who was in the US at a Commander's conference. 

"Within days (of Genearl McAuliffe's reply to the German's demand for surrender at Bastonge) Patton's Third Army had relieved Bastogne, and to the north, the 2d U.S. Armored Division stopped enemy tanks short of the Meuse on Christmas Day. Through January, American troops, often wading through deep snow drifts, attacked the sides of the shrinking bulge until they had restored the front and set the stage for the final drive to victory."

Thank you God for American service men and their service and dedication!

Marc

Memorial Day - Honoring those who have died in Service to our Nation

Memorial Day (Monday May 28, 2012) is a day for honoring those who died in the service of our country and the best way I know to do that is to also honor and say thanks to our veterans and active duty military.  L&W is blessed to have a host of current and former military members working with us and to them a special thanks from me.

On this Memorial Day when you are barbecuing in the back yard or swimming at the beach, or just relaxing on the couch, take time to remember and to say thanks to someone you know who has served or is serving.  They don't expect it, but they certainly do deserve it because without their service we would not enjoy the freedoms we cherish so much.

For those of you who know or work with the L&W team, please take a special moment this Memorial Day to remember Michael Weger, the son of Greg and Tricia Weger.  Michael gave all that he had to give for America on October 12, 2004 when he and several members of his platoon were killed in action in Iraq.  Greg and Trish no words can ever heal your hurt or thank you enough for Michael's service but please know you and Michael will be in our thoughts this Memorial Day and always.

God Bless the United States of America and the men and women who keep our country free!

This tribute to the American soldier by Lt. Col. Oliver North was done on Veteran's Day, but it is the best expression of honor for our troops I have have ever heard and I share it here for you to watch.  Do me a special favor, watch it this Memorial Day and think about how much we owe these young men and women.

Marc