Poland’s great Romantic composer and favorite son

By Rick Steves, Tribune Content Agency

 

Warsaw, the capital of Poland, doesn’t appear at the top of many European travelers’ wish lists. But that’s just one reason you may want to visit. With evocative sights, an epic history, and low prices, Warsaw is a diamond in the rough.

 

If you’re looking for Old World quaintness, head for Krakow. If you’re tickled by spires and domes, get to Prague. But if you want to experience a truly 21st-century city, Warsaw’s your place. Huge, famous, and important, Warsaw is the country’s cosmopolitan business hub.

 

Warsaw has good reason to be a city of the future: The past hasn’t been very kind. Since becoming Poland’s capital in 1596, Warsaw has seen wave after wave of foreign rulers and invasions — especially during the last hundred years.

 

But in this horrific crucible, the enduring spirit of the Polish people was forged. As one proud resident told me, “Warsaw is ugly because its history is so beautiful.”

 

The city’s darkest days came during the Nazi occupation of World War II. First, its Jewish residents were forced into a tiny ghetto. They rose up … and were slaughtered. Then, its Polish residents rose up … and were slaughtered. In retaliation, Hitler ordered the block-by-block destruction of the city.

 

While the Nazis destroyed the city, the approaching Soviets sat across the river, watching and waiting. As the smoke cleared and the Nazis retreated, the Red Army marched in and claimed the pile of rubble that was once Warsaw. It would be another 45 years before the Soviets would leave and the Poles could freely govern their capital and their country.

 

After the war they almost gave up on re-creating old Warsaw, but ultimately the Poles decided to rebuild, constructing a city of contrasts, with painstakingly restored medieval lanes, pedestrian-friendly parks, and sleek skyscrapers. Today’s Warsaw is safer, wealthier, and happier than ever (they even dodged the Great Recession). You’ll encounter stylishly dressed locals, sophisticated shopping boulevards, and thoughtful museums covering World War II, Jewish history, hometown composer Frederic Chopin, and Polish art.

 

The city has two historic districts: the 13th-century Old Town and the 15th-century New Town. Both are nearly complete 20th-century reconstructions, right down to the higgledy-piggledy charm of the colorful buildings. Just two generations after the war, it is amazing to see vacationing Germans and Russians stroll through the Old Town Square — joking, enjoying ice cream cones, and snapping photos.

The countless restaurants in the historic district provide a good introduction to Polish cuisine — and the national drink, vodka. Many traditional dishes — herring, cold cuts, pickles, steak tartare — pair naturally with chilled vodka. I learned that Poles don’t sip their vodka. It’s bottoms up (that way it only stings once on the way down).

 

For me, the pleasure of Warsaw is just connecting with its big-city people, who are as warm and charming as small-town folk. Poles love Americans — they think of us as big brothers and sisters from across the Atlantic. When the communist government gave the people a small shot at representative government in 1989, the “get out the vote” poster showed Gary Cooper from “High Noon” — holding not a gun, but a voting card.

Remnants of Warsaw’s earlier magnificence show up in the huge, idyllic Lazienki Park. It’s sprinkled with neoclassical buildings, peacocks, and young Poles in love. Poland’s very last king built the park in the 18th century for his summer residence and as a place for his citizens to relax.

 

A monument to Chopin, Poland’s great Romantic composer and favorite son, graces the park’s rose garden. Even though Chopin left Warsaw for Paris, his final wish was to have his heart brought back to his native Poland. And so it was, after his death in 1849. It now lies buried in a pillar in Warsaw’s Holy Cross Church (the rest of him is interred at Paris’s Pere Lachaise Cemetery).

Locals still proudly celebrate the composer’s music. On a recent visit, I attended an informal Chopin salon — an intimate evening of beautiful music, wine, and cheese hosted by my bed-and-breakfast. Joining a group gathered around a shiny grand piano, listening to young artists performing Chopin’s etudes, felt “very Warsaw.”

Besides listening to Chopin, eating apples has become a patriotic act here. Reacting to international sanctions brought on by the conflict in Ukraine, Russia has halted fresh produce imports from the European Union — including Poland. Now Poland is awash in apples grown for export to Russia. Standing on Warsaw’s Old Town Square, knowing how the Red Army had watched from across the river as the Nazis leveled the city, it’s particularly poignant to see feisty Poles eating apples to irritate Putin.

 

The resilience of Poland’s culture and the warmth of its people inspire me. Thankfully, these are good times in Poland, a nation with a rich past and an exciting future.

GOD Bless America – on American Story

God Bless America!

 

TEXAS GOODBYE

 

This is why America will remain strong.  We take care of our own as well as others who may not deserve taking care of. I just wanted to share with you all that out of a horrible tragedy we were blessed by so many people.

 

Chris Kyle was Derek’s teammate through 10 years of training and battle.  They both suffer/suffered from PTSD to some extent and took great care of each other because of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fwd: TEXAS GOODBYE

People

4420@comcast.net

To

erika & mike Tengler me

Feb 23 at 10:22 PM

 

 

 

Sent: Monday, February 23, 2015 2:00:46 PM

Subject: Fwd: TEXAS GOODBYE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLINT EASTWOOD PRODUCED THE MOVIE “AMERICAN SNIPER” ABOUT CRIS KYLE. I BELIEVE IT

WILL BE OUT THIS MONTH.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take the time to read this one….

 

 

.

 

 

Subject: TEXAS GOODBYE

 

 

God Bless America!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEXAS GOODBYE

 

This is why America will remain strong.  We take care of our own as well as others who may not deserve taking care of. I just wanted to share with you all that out of a horrible tragedy we were blessed by so many people.

 

Chris Kyle was Derek’s teammate through 10 years of training and battle.  They both suffer/suffered from PTSD to some extent and took great care of each other because of it.

 

2006 in Ramadi was horrible for young men that never had any more aggressive physical contact with another human than on a Texas football field.

 

They lost many friends.  Chris became the armed services number #1 sniper of all time.  Not something he was happy about, other than the fact that in so doing, he saved a lot of American lives.

 

Three years ago, his wife Taya asked him to leave the SEAL teams as he had a huge bounty on his head by Al Qaeda. He did and wrote the book “The American Sniper.”  100% of the proceeds from the book went to two of the SEAL families who had lost their sons in Iraq .

 

That was the kind of guy Chris was.  He formed a company in Dallas to train military, police and I think firemen as far as protecting themselves in difficult situations.  He also formed a foundation to work with military people suffering from PTSD.  Chris was a giver not a taker.

 

 

 

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Fwd: TEXAS GOODBYE

People

4420@comcast.net

To

erika & mike Tengler me

He, along with a friend and neighbor, Chad Littlefield, were murdered trying to help a young man that had served six months in Iraq and claimed to have PTSD.

 

Now I need to tell you about all of the blessings.

 

Southwest Airlines flew in any SEAL and their family from any airport they flew into

…free of charge.

 

The employees donated buddy passes and one lady worked for four days without much of a break to see that it happened.

 

Volunteers were at both airports in Dallas to drive them to the hotel.

 

The Marriott Hotel reduced their rates to $45 a night and cleared the hotel for only SEALs and family.

 

The Midlothian, TX Police Department paid the $45 a night for each room.  I would guess there were about 200 people staying at the hotel, 100 of them were SEALs.  Two large buses were chartered (an unknown donor paid the bill) to transport people to the different events and they also had a few rental cars (donated).  The police and secret service were on duty 24 hours during the stay at our hotel.

 

 

 

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Fwd: TEXAS GOODBYE

People

4420@comcast.net

To

erika & mike Tengler me

Feb 23 at 10:22 PM

 

 

 

Sent: Monday, February 23, 2015 2:00:46 PM

Subject: Fwd: TEXAS GOODBYE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLINT EASTWOOD PRODUCED THE MOVIE “AMERICAN SNIPER” ABOUT CRIS KYLE. I BELIEVE IT

WILL BE OUT THIS MONTH.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take the time to read this one….

 

 

.

 

 

Subject: TEXAS GOODBYE

 

 

God Bless America!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEXAS GOODBYE

 

This is why America will remain strong.  We take care of our own as well as others who may not deserve taking care of. I just wanted to share with you all that out of a horrible tragedy we were blessed by so many people.

 

Chris Kyle was Derek’s teammate through 10 years of training and battle.  They both suffer/suffered from PTSD to some extent and took great care of each other because of it.

 

2006 in Ramadi was horrible for young men that never had any more aggressive physical contact with another human than on a Texas football field.

 

They lost many friends.  Chris became the armed services number #1 sniper of all time.  Not something he was happy about, other than the fact that in so doing, he saved a lot of American lives.

 

Three years ago, his wife Taya asked him to leave the SEAL teams as he had a huge bounty on his head by Al Qaeda. He did and wrote the book “The American Sniper.”  100% of the proceeds from the book went to two of the SEAL families who had lost their sons in Iraq .

 

That was the kind of guy Chris was.  He formed a company in Dallas to train military, police and I think firemen as far as protecting themselves in difficult situations.  He also formed a foundation to work with military people suffering from PTSD.  Chris was a giver not a taker.

 

He, along with a friend and neighbor, Chad Littlefield, were murdered trying to help a young man that had served six months in Iraq and claimed to have PTSD.

 

Now I need to tell you about all of the blessings.

 

Southwest Airlines flew in any SEAL and their family from any airport they flew into

…free of charge.

 

The employees donated buddy passes and one lady worked for four days without much of a break to see that it happened.

 

Volunteers were at both airports in Dallas to drive them to the hotel.

 

The Marriott Hotel reduced their rates to $45 a night and cleared the hotel for only SEALs and family.

 

The Midlothian, TX Police Department paid the $45 a night for each room.  I would guess there were about 200 people staying at the hotel, 100 of them were SEALs.  Two large buses were chartered (an unknown donor paid the bill) to transport people to the different events and they also had a few rental cars (donated).  The police and secret service were on duty 24 hours during the stay at our hotel.

 

At the Kyle house, the Texas DPS parked a large motor home in front to block the view from reporters. It remained there the entire five days for the SEALs to congregate in and all to use the restroom so as not to have to go in the house.  Taya, their two small children and both sets of parents were staying in the home.

 

Only a hand full of SEALs went into the home as they had different duties and meetings were held sometimes on a hourly basis.  It was a huge coordination of many different events and security.  Derek was assigned to be a Pall Bearer, to escort Chris’ body when it was transferred from the Midlothian Funeral Home to the Arlington Funeral Home, and to be with Taya.  A tough job.

 

Taya seldom came out of her bedroom.  The house was full with people from the church and other family members that would come each day to help.  I spent one morning in a bedroom with Chris’ mom and the next morning with Chad Littlefield’s parents (the other man murdered with Chris).  A tough job.

 

George W Bush and his wife Laura met and talked to everyone on the Seal Team one on one.  They went behind closed doors with Taya for quite a while. They had prayer with us all.  You can tell when people were sincere and caring

 

 

 

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Fwd: TEXAS GOODBYE

People

4420@comcast.net

To

erika & mike Tengler me

Feb 23 at 10:22 PM

 

 

 

Sent: Monday, February 23, 2015 2:00:46 PM

Subject: Fwd: TEXAS GOODBYE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLINT EASTWOOD PRODUCED THE MOVIE “AMERICAN SNIPER” ABOUT CRIS KYLE. I BELIEVE IT

WILL BE OUT THIS MONTH.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take the time to read this one….

 

 

.

 

 

Subject: TEXAS GOODBYE

 

 

God Bless America!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEXAS GOODBYE

 

This is why America will remain strong.  We take care of our own as well as others who may not deserve taking care of. I just wanted to share with you all that out of a horrible tragedy we were blessed by so many people.

 

Chris Kyle was Derek’s teammate through 10 years of training and battle.  They both suffer/suffered from PTSD to some extent and took great care of each other because of it.

 

2006 in Ramadi was horrible for young men that never had any more aggressive physical contact with another human than on a Texas football field.

 

They lost many friends.  Chris became the armed services number #1 sniper of all time.  Not something he was happy about, other than the fact that in so doing, he saved a lot of American lives.

 

Three years ago, his wife Taya asked him to leave the SEAL teams as he had a huge bounty on his head by Al Qaeda. He did and wrote the book “The American Sniper.”  100% of the proceeds from the book went to two of the SEAL families who had lost their sons in Iraq .

 

That was the kind of guy Chris was.  He formed a company in Dallas to train military, police and I think firemen as far as protecting themselves in difficult situations.  He also formed a foundation to work with military people suffering from PTSD.  Chris was a giver not a taker.

 

He, along with a friend and neighbor, Chad Littlefield, were murdered trying to help a young man that had served six months in Iraq and claimed to have PTSD.

 

Now I need to tell you about all of the blessings.

 

Southwest Airlines flew in any SEAL and their family from any airport they flew into

…free of charge.

 

The employees donated buddy passes and one lady worked for four days without much of a break to see that it happened.

 

Volunteers were at both airports in Dallas to drive them to the hotel.

 

The Marriott Hotel reduced their rates to $45 a night and cleared the hotel for only SEALs and family.

 

The Midlothian, TX Police Department paid the $45 a night for each room.  I would guess there were about 200 people staying at the hotel, 100 of them were SEALs.  Two large buses were chartered (an unknown donor paid the bill) to transport people to the different events and they also had a few rental cars (donated).  The police and secret service were on duty 24 hours during the stay at our hotel.

 

At the Kyle house, the Texas DPS parked a large motor home in front to block the view from reporters. It remained there the entire five days for the SEALs to congregate in and all to use the restroom so as not to have to go in the house.  Taya, their two small children and both sets of parents were staying in the home.

 

Only a hand full of SEALs went into the home as they had different duties and meetings were held sometimes on a hourly basis.  It was a huge coordination of many different events and security.  Derek was assigned to be a Pall Bearer, to escort Chris’ body when it was transferred from the Midlothian Funeral Home to the Arlington Funeral Home, and to be with Taya.  A tough job.

 

Taya seldom came out of her bedroom.  The house was full with people from the church and other family members that would come each day to help.  I spent one morning in a bedroom with Chris’ mom and the next morning with Chad Littlefield’s parents (the other man murdered with Chris).  A tough job.

 

George W Bush and his wife Laura met and talked to everyone on the Seal Team one on one.  They went behind closed doors with Taya for quite a while. They had prayer with us all.  You can tell when people were sincere and caring

 

Nolan Ryan sent his cooking team, a huge grill and lots of steaks, chicken and hamburgers.  They set up in the front yard and fed people all day long including the 200 SEALs and their families.  The next day a local BBQ restaurant set up a buffet in front of the house and fed all once again.  Food was plentiful and all were taken care of.  The family’s church kept those inside the house well fed.

 

Jerry Jones, the man everyone loves to hate, was a rock star.  He made sure that we all were taken care of.  His wife and he were just making sure everyone was taken care of….Class… He donated the use of Cowboy Stadium for the services as it was determined that so many wanted to attend.

 

The charter buses transported us to the stadium on Monday at 10:30 am.  Every car, bus, motorcycle was searched with bomb dogs and police.  I am not sure if kooks were making threats trying to make a name for themselves or if so many SEALs in one place was a security risk, I don’t know. We  willingly obliged.  No purses went into the stadium!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fwd: TEXAS GOODBYE

People

4420@comcast.net

To

erika & mike Tengler me

Feb 23 at 10:22 PM

 

 

 

Sent: Monday, February 23, 2015 2:00:46 PM

Subject: Fwd: TEXAS GOODBYE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLINT EASTWOOD PRODUCED THE MOVIE “AMERICAN SNIPER” ABOUT CRIS KYLE. I BELIEVE IT

WILL BE OUT THIS MONTH.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take the time to read this one….

 

 

.

 

 

Subject: TEXAS GOODBYE

 

 

God Bless America!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEXAS GOODBYE

 

This is why America will remain strong.  We take care of our own as well as others who may not deserve taking care of. I just wanted to share with you all that out of a horrible tragedy we were blessed by so many people.

 

Chris Kyle was Derek’s teammate through 10 years of training and battle.  They both suffer/suffered from PTSD to some extent and took great care of each other because of it.

 

2006 in Ramadi was horrible for young men that never had any more aggressive physical contact with another human than on a Texas football field.

 

They lost many friends.  Chris became the armed services number #1 sniper of all time.  Not something he was happy about, other than the fact that in so doing, he saved a lot of American lives.

 

Three years ago, his wife Taya asked him to leave the SEAL teams as he had a huge bounty on his head by Al Qaeda. He did and wrote the book “The American Sniper.”  100% of the proceeds from the book went to two of the SEAL families who had lost their sons in Iraq .

 

That was the kind of guy Chris was.  He formed a company in Dallas to train military, police and I think firemen as far as protecting themselves in difficult situations.  He also formed a foundation to work with military people suffering from PTSD.  Chris was a giver not a taker.

 

He, along with a friend and neighbor, Chad Littlefield, were murdered trying to help a young man that had served six months in Iraq and claimed to have PTSD.

 

Now I need to tell you about all of the blessings.

 

Southwest Airlines flew in any SEAL and their family from any airport they flew into

…free of charge.

 

The employees donated buddy passes and one lady worked for four days without much of a break to see that it happened.

 

Volunteers were at both airports in Dallas to drive them to the hotel.

 

The Marriott Hotel reduced their rates to $45 a night and cleared the hotel for only SEALs and family.

 

The Midlothian, TX Police Department paid the $45 a night for each room.  I would guess there were about 200 people staying at the hotel, 100 of them were SEALs.  Two large buses were chartered (an unknown donor paid the bill) to transport people to the different events and they also had a few rental cars (donated).  The police and secret service were on duty 24 hours during the stay at our hotel.

 

At the Kyle house, the Texas DPS parked a large motor home in front to block the view from reporters. It remained there the entire five days for the SEALs to congregate in and all to use the restroom so as not to have to go in the house.  Taya, their two small children and both sets of parents were staying in the home.

 

Only a hand full of SEALs went into the home as they had different duties and meetings were held sometimes on a hourly basis.  It was a huge coordination of many different events and security.  Derek was assigned to be a Pall Bearer, to escort Chris’ body when it was transferred from the Midlothian Funeral Home to the Arlington Funeral Home, and to be with Taya.  A tough job.

 

Taya seldom came out of her bedroom.  The house was full with people from the church and other family members that would come each day to help.  I spent one morning in a bedroom with Chris’ mom and the next morning with Chad Littlefield’s parents (the other man murdered with Chris).  A tough job.

 

George W Bush and his wife Laura met and talked to everyone on the Seal Team one on one.  They went behind closed doors with Taya for quite a while. They had prayer with us all.  You can tell when people were sincere and caring

 

Nolan Ryan sent his cooking team, a huge grill and lots of steaks, chicken and hamburgers.  They set up in the front yard and fed people all day long including the 200 SEALs and their families.  The next day a local BBQ restaurant set up a buffet in front of the house and fed all once again.  Food was plentiful and all were taken care of.  The family’s church kept those inside the house well fed.

 

Jerry Jones, the man everyone loves to hate, was a rock star.  He made sure that we all were taken care of.  His wife and he were just making sure everyone was taken care of….Class… He donated the use of Cowboy Stadium for the services as it was determined that so many wanted to attend.

 

The charter buses transported us to the stadium on Monday at 10:30 am.  Every car, bus, motorcycle was searched with bomb dogs and police.  I am not sure if kooks were making threats trying to make a name for themselves or if so many SEALs in one place was a security risk, I don’t know. We  willingly obliged.  No purses went into the stadium!

 

We were taken to The Legends room high up and a large buffet was available.  That was for about 300 people.  We were growing.

 

A Medal of Honor recipient was there, lots of secret service and police and Sarah Palin and her husband.  She looked nice, this was a very formal military service.

 

The service started at 1:00 pm and when we were escorted onto the field I was shocked.  We heard that about 10,000 people had come to attend also.  They were seated in the stadium seats behind us. It was a beautiful and emotional service.

 

 

 

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Fwd: TEXAS GOODBYE

People

4420@comcast.net

To

erika & mike Tengler me

Feb 23 at 10:22 PM

 

 

 

Sent: Monday, February 23, 2015 2:00:46 PM

Subject: Fwd: TEXAS GOODBYE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLINT EASTWOOD PRODUCED THE MOVIE “AMERICAN SNIPER” ABOUT CRIS KYLE. I BELIEVE IT

WILL BE OUT THIS MONTH.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take the time to read this one….

 

 

.

 

 

Subject: TEXAS GOODBYE

 

 

God Bless America!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEXAS GOODBYE

 

This is why America will remain strong.  We take care of our own as well as others who may not deserve taking care of. I just wanted to share with you all that out of a horrible tragedy we were blessed by so many people.

 

Chris Kyle was Derek’s teammate through 10 years of training and battle.  They both suffer/suffered from PTSD to some extent and took great care of each other because of it.

 

2006 in Ramadi was horrible for young men that never had any more aggressive physical contact with another human than on a Texas football field.

 

They lost many friends.  Chris became the armed services number #1 sniper of all time.  Not something he was happy about, other than the fact that in so doing, he saved a lot of American lives.

 

Three years ago, his wife Taya asked him to leave the SEAL teams as he had a huge bounty on his head by Al Qaeda. He did and wrote the book “The American Sniper.”  100% of the proceeds from the book went to two of the SEAL families who had lost their sons in Iraq .

 

That was the kind of guy Chris was.  He formed a company in Dallas to train military, police and I think firemen as far as protecting themselves in difficult situations.  He also formed a foundation to work with military people suffering from PTSD.  Chris was a giver not a taker.

 

He, along with a friend and neighbor, Chad Littlefield, were murdered trying to help a young man that had served six months in Iraq and claimed to have PTSD.

 

Now I need to tell you about all of the blessings.

 

Southwest Airlines flew in any SEAL and their family from any airport they flew into

…free of charge.

 

The employees donated buddy passes and one lady worked for four days without much of a break to see that it happened.

 

Volunteers were at both airports in Dallas to drive them to the hotel.

 

The Marriott Hotel reduced their rates to $45 a night and cleared the hotel for only SEALs and family.

 

The Midlothian, TX Police Department paid the $45 a night for each room.  I would guess there were about 200 people staying at the hotel, 100 of them were SEALs.  Two large buses were chartered (an unknown donor paid the bill) to transport people to the different events and they also had a few rental cars (donated).  The police and secret service were on duty 24 hours during the stay at our hotel.

 

At the Kyle house, the Texas DPS parked a large motor home in front to block the view from reporters. It remained there the entire five days for the SEALs to congregate in and all to use the restroom so as not to have to go in the house.  Taya, their two small children and both sets of parents were staying in the home.

 

Only a hand full of SEALs went into the home as they had different duties and meetings were held sometimes on a hourly basis.  It was a huge coordination of many different events and security.  Derek was assigned to be a Pall Bearer, to escort Chris’ body when it was transferred from the Midlothian Funeral Home to the Arlington Funeral Home, and to be with Taya.  A tough job.

 

Taya seldom came out of her bedroom.  The house was full with people from the church and other family members that would come each day to help.  I spent one morning in a bedroom with Chris’ mom and the next morning with Chad Littlefield’s parents (the other man murdered with Chris).  A tough job.

 

George W Bush and his wife Laura met and talked to everyone on the Seal Team one on one.  They went behind closed doors with Taya for quite a while. They had prayer with us all.  You can tell when people were sincere and caring

 

Nolan Ryan sent his cooking team, a huge grill and lots of steaks, chicken and hamburgers.  They set up in the front yard and fed people all day long including the 200 SEALs and their families.  The next day a local BBQ restaurant set up a buffet in front of the house and fed all once again.  Food was plentiful and all were taken care of.  The family’s church kept those inside the house well fed.

 

Jerry Jones, the man everyone loves to hate, was a rock star.  He made sure that we all were taken care of.  His wife and he were just making sure everyone was taken care of….Class… He donated the use of Cowboy Stadium for the services as it was determined that so many wanted to attend.

 

The charter buses transported us to the stadium on Monday at 10:30 am.  Every car, bus, motorcycle was searched with bomb dogs and police.  I am not sure if kooks were making threats trying to make a name for themselves or if so many SEALs in one place was a security risk, I don’t know. We  willingly obliged.  No purses went into the stadium!

 

We were taken to The Legends room high up and a large buffet was available.  That was for about 300 people.  We were growing.

 

A Medal of Honor recipient was there, lots of secret service and police and Sarah Palin and her husband.  She looked nice, this was a very formal military service.

 

The service started at 1:00 pm and when we were escorted onto the field I was shocked.  We heard that about 10,000 people had come to attend also.  They were seated in the stadium seats behind us. It was a beautiful and emotional service.

 

The Bagpipe and drum corps were wonderful and the Texas A&M men’s choir stood through the entire service and sang right at the end.  We were all in tears.

 

The next day was the 200-mile procession from Midlothian, TX to Austin for burial.  It was a cold, drizzly, windy day, but the people were out.  We had dozens of police motorcycles riders, freedom riders, five chartered buses and lots of cars.  You had to have a pass to be in the procession and still it was huge.  Two helicopters circled the procession with snipers sitting out the side door for protection. It was the longest funeral procession ever in the state of Texas.  People were everywhere. The entire route was shut down ahead of us, the people were lined up on the side of the road the entire way.  Firemen were down on one knee, police officers were holding their hats over their hearts, children waving flags, veterans saluting as we went by.  Every bridge had fire trucks with large flags displayed from their tall ladders, people all along the entire 200 miles were standing in the cold weather.  It was so heartwarming. Taya rode in the hearse with Chris’ body so Derek rode the route with us.  I was so grateful to have that time with him.

 

 

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God Bless America!

 

The service was at Texas National Cemetery. Very few are buried there and you have to apply to get in. It is like people from the Civil War, Medal of Honor winners, a few from the Alamo and all the historical people of Texas.  It was a nice service and the Freedom Riders surrounded the outside of the entire cemetery to keep the crazy church people from Kansas that protest at military funerals away from us.

 

Each SEAL put his Trident (metal SEAL badge) on the top of Chris’ casket, one at a time.  A lot hit it in with one blow.  Derek was the only one to take four taps to put his in and it was almost like he was caressing it as he did it.  Another tearful moment.

After the service Governor Rick Perry and his wife, Anita, invited us to the governor’s mansion.  She stood at the door,  greeted each of us individually, and gave each of the SEALs a coin of Texas.  She was a sincere, compassionate, and gracious hostess.

 

We were able to tour the ground floor and then went into the garden for beverages and BBQ.  So many of the Seal team guys said that after they get out they are moving to Texas.  They remarked that they had never felt so much love and hospitality.  The charter buses then took the guys to the airport to catch their returning  flights.  Derek just now called and after a 20 hours flight he is back in his spot, in a dangerous land on the other side of the world, protecting America.

 

We just wanted to share with you, the events of a quite emotional, but blessed week.

 

Punch-line:

 

To this day, no one in the White House has ever acknowledged Chris Kyle.

However, the President can call some sport person and congratulate him on announcing to the world that he is gay?  What the hell is happening to our society, our honor and our pride??

March In Hollywood Immigration Rally

 

Tens of thousands to turn out to the rally, which was among some 150 demonstrations on a day billed as the “National Day for Dignity and Respect.”

 

 

Oct 05, 2013

LOS ANGELES (AP)

 

On Saturday as part of rallies nationwide to push for congressional action, while California’s governor signed a series of bills on the topic, saying he was not going to wait on Washington.

 

The Los Angeles demonstration called “March of the Stars” kicked off shortly after Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation that included a bill prohibiting local law enforcement agencies from detaining people for deportation if they are arrested for a minor crime and otherwise eligible to be released from custody.

 

“While Washington waffles on immigration, California’s forging ahead,” Brown said. “I’m not waiting.”

SUMMER 2013 – Shakespeare

Chicago Shakespeare

Hi Ladies and Gentleman: Shakespeare in the Parks – FREE

.

See you at,

Frank J. Wilson Park

Friday, August 23, 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, August 24, 6:30 p.m.

4630 N. Milwaukee Ave.