<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Greetings to all!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Each year, I forward the following with hopes we all will reflect the gratitude and love we have for our service men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for us to enjoy the fruits of America!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>This year, Memorial Day has brought memories that I have hidden for many years.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Reading the words and listening to the music demonstrates my love for my fellow veterans, past, present and future!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Respectfully,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Joe<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings. God Bless You All!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>****<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Memorial Day Opinion Article<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Written by a Navy SEAL, so I think we should listen. Listen not because he's a famous Navy SEAL, but because he's a member of our Armed Forces, and along with all those men and women who've more than earned our respect and our ear, this day should belong to them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>--------------<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Opinion: SEAL who shot bin Laden: Don't wish me a happy Memorial Day<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Don't wish me a happy Memorial Day. There is nothing happy about the loss of the brave men and women of our armed forces who died in combat defending America. Memorial Day is not a celebration.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Memorial Day is a time for reflection, pause, remembrance and thanksgiving for patriots who gave up their own lives to protect the lives and freedom of us all - including the freedom of generations long gone and generations yet unborn. We owe the fallen a debt so enormous that it can never be repaid.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Memorial Day is a time to honor the lives of those who would rather die than take a knee when our national anthem is played. But they will fight and die for the rights of those who kneel.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>This holiday is a time to think of young lives cut short, of wives and husbands turned into widows and widowers, of children growing up without a father or mother, of parents burying their children.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Memorial Day is a time to think of might have beens that never were. Of brave Americans who put their country before themselves. Without these heroes, America would not be America.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Unfortunately, for many Americans this solemn holiday might as well be called Summer Day - marking the unofficial start of the season of barbecues,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>days at the beach, time spent on baseball fields and golf courses, hiking<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>and enjoying the great the outdoors. All those things are great - we all appreciate them and they are some of the best things in life.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>But Memorial Day is not Summer Day. Nor was the holiday created as a way to promote sales of cars, furniture or clothes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Another Memorial Day brings with it a whole lot more than the start of summer. Since last Memorial Day, grass is now growing above the final resting places of many young men and women whose lives were taken too soon while defending our country in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and other far-off places many Americans have rarely heard of.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>When Army Sgt. La David Johnson, Staff Sgt. Bryan Black, Sgt. 1st Class<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Jeremiah Johnson and Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright were killed last October in an ISIS ambush in Niger, many Americans asked: We have troops in Niger? These<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>unknown soldiers lost their lives protecting you - every one of you reading these words.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Think about this: Millions of high-school seniors are walking across auditorium stages this season, receiving their diplomas. Most will go on to college or jobs, but some will choose a career of military service, joining the second generation of American warriors fighting in the Global War on Terror - a war that began with the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>took the lives of almost 3,000 people in our homeland.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Most of these new recruits - who were not even born or who were just infants when the 9/11 attacks took place - will make it home just fine. But some will not. I pray that I am wrong, but the sad truth is that the number of American war dead on Memorial Day in 2019 will be higher than it is on this Memorial Day.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>On Memorial Day, I salute my brothers and sisters-in-arms who have served beside me in War on Terror. My heart especially goes out to the families of those who did not return home. In fact, I think about all those who served<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>and those who have given their lives fighting for America from our country's earliest days in the Revolutionary War. They all have my gratitude.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>We think we are strong, but in war any of us can be turned into just a memory in an instant. And war seems to have been the universal experience of just about every society on the planet at one time or another, for as long<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>as there have been human societies.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>How do we stop the wars resulting in such tragic waste of lives? How do we stop the number of American war dead and war dead in other nations from growing? I wish I knew the answer. But battle lines are being drawn and redrawn, and wars and terrorist attacks just keep going on and on. Weapons<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>are getting bigger. Bombs are becoming smarter and more lives are being lost every day all over the world, leading to more death, more anger and more war.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Some are so loyal to their cause that they strap bombs on their bodies or fly passenger jets into buildings. They conduct beheadings. They set prisoners on fire. How do we find common ground with them? Do we even try to find common ground, or do we finally take the gloves off and start landing punches intended to take our enemy out for good?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>I've been on over 400 Army combat missions and have seen more war than most Americans. More than I care to remember, but cannot forget. There is never a shortage of war. War spreads faster than fire and like fire it leaves destruction in its wake.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>It hurts my heart as an American every time I see another service member's body being brought home draped in an American flag. But it hurts my heart as a human being with every act of war we are all unleashing against each other around the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>This Memorial Day, I urge all Americans to remember all the fallen sailors, soldiers, airmen, Marines and Coast Guard members who have so bravely served our country, as well as their families.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>And I urge all Americans to join me in the hope and prayer that somehow, someday people around the world will focus more on our similarities than our differences and that we will move closer to a time when war is just a memory<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>- part of our past but not our future.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Robert O'Neill is a Fox News contributor and ex-Navy SEAL best known as "the man who killed Usama bin Laden." O'Neill joined the Navy in 1996 and deployed as a SEAL more than a dozen times, participating in more than 400 combat missions across four different theaters of war.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>C2018 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Veterans poem<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>It’s the veteran<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>not the preacher<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Who has given us the freedom of religion.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>It’s the veteran<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Not the reporter<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Who has given us the freedom of the press.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>It’s the veteran<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Not the poet<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Who has given us the freedom of speech.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>It’s the veteran<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Not the campus organizer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Who has given us the freedom to assemble.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>It’s the veteran<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Not the lawyer<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Who has given us the right to a fair trial.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>It’s the veteran<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Not the politician<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Who has given us the right to vote.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>It’s the veteran who honors the flag<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>It’s the veteran who serves under the flag<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>No matter where they serve,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>God Bless Them All!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>God Bless America!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'><a href="https://wwww.youtube.com/watch?v=nz_js_aMaV0" target="_blank"><span style='color:#3C61AA'>https://wwww.youtube.com/watch?v=nz_js_aMaV0</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>God bless the USA<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65KZIqay4E" target="_blank"><span style='color:#3C61AA'>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65KZIqay4E</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Kate smith with the orchestra<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TnQDW-NMaRs?rel=0" target="_blank"><span style='color:#3C61AA'>https://www.youtube.com/embed/TnQDW-NMaRs?rel=0</span></a> Virus-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Frank Sinatra considered Kate Smith the best singer of her time, and said that when he and a million other guys first heard her sing "God Bless America" on the radio, they all pretended to have dust in their eyes as they wiped away a tear or two. Here are the facts... The link at the bottom will take you to a video showing the very first public singing of "GOD BLESS AMERICA". But before you watch it, you should also know the story behind the first public showing of the song. The time was 1940. America was still in a terrible economic depression. Hitler was taking over Europe, and Americans were afraid we'd have to go to war. It was a time of hardship and worry for most Americans. This was the era just before TV, when radio shows were HUGE, and American families sat around their radios in the evenings, listening to their favorite entertainers, and no entertainer of that era was bigger than Kate Smith. Kate was also large; plus size, as we now say, and the popular phrase still used today is in deference to her, "It ain't over till the fat lady sings". Kate Smith might not have made it big in the age of TV because of her size and appearance, but with her voice coming over the radio, she was the biggest star of her time. Back then, music was more important than appearance or the “program”. Kate was also patriotic. It hurt her to see Americans so depressed and afraid of what the next day would bring. She had hope for America and faith in her fellow Americans. She wanted to do something to cheer them up, so she went to the famous American song-writer, Irving Berlin (who also wrote "White Christmas") and asked him to write a song that would make Americans feel good again about their country.When she described what she was looking for, he said he had just the song for her. He went to his files and found a song that he had written but never published, 22 years before -- way back in 1917. He gave it to her and she worked on it with her studio orchestra. She and Irving Berlin were not sure how the song would be received by the public, but both agreed they would not take any profits from “God Bless America”. Any profits would go to the Boy Scouts of America. Over the years, the Boy Scouts have received millions of dollars in royalties from this song. This video starts out with Kate Smith coming into the radio studio with the orchestra and an audience. She introduces the new song for the very first time and starts singing. After the first couple verses, with her voice in the background still singing, scenes are shown from the 1940 movie, "You're In the Army Now." At the 4:20 mark of the video you see a young actor in the movie, sitting in an office, reading a paper: it's Ronald Reagan. To this day, “God Bless America” stirs our patriotic feelings and pride in our country. Back in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>1940, when Kate Smith went looking for a song to raise the spirits of her fellow Americans, I doubt whether she realized just how successful the results would be for her fellow Americans during those years of hardship and worry..... And for many generations of Americans to follow. It has been suggested that this song replace the “Star-Spangled Banner” as our national anthem because it’s easier to sing, and most folks already know the words.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Now that you know the story of the song, I hope you'll enjoy it. Many people don't know there's a lead in to the song since it usually starts with “God Bless America“....." So, here's the entire song as originally sung..... ENJOY!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Kate smith with the orchestra<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'><a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TnQDW-NMaRs?rel=0" target="_blank"><span style='color:#3C61AA'>https://www.youtube.com/embed/TnQDW-NMaRs?rel=0</span></a> Virus-<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Keep Smiling,<br>Janie Degenshein<br>Happiness isn't having what you want, but wanting what you already have!<br>Facilitator of ECHO (Eyes Closed Hearts Open)<br>state affiliate board member<br>President of the senior division of the National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey<br>to join the senior list serve:<br><a href="https://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbnj-seniors_nfbnet.org" target="_blank"><span style='color:#3C61AA'>https://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbnj-seniors_nfbnet.org</span></a><br>President of the Technology division of the National federation of the Blind of New Jersey<br>To join the tech div list serve:<br><a href="http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/njtechdiv_nfbnet.org" target="_blank"><span style='color:#3C61AA'>http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/njtechdiv_nfbnet.org</span></a><br><br>NFBNJ Newsline co-ordinator<br><a href="mailto:jdegen16@comcast.net" target="_blank"><span style='color:#3C61AA'>jdegen16@comcast.net</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>