Posted on 12/08/2009 7:13:40 AM PST by mnehring
2nd Lt. Emily J.T. Perez, U.S. Army 1983 – 2006
It was written of Lt. Perez in 2006:
An academically driven, athletically gifted and deeply religious Medical Service Corps officer from Fort Washington was killed Sept. 12 when an improvised explosive device detonated near her Humvee in Kifl, Iraq.
Army 2nd Lt. Emily J.T. Perez, 23, a member of the 204th Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, followed in the footsteps of her father and grandfather, both of whom served in the Army, when she was deployed to Iraq in December 2005.
“Emily Perez had a spirit akin to what we saw in the life of Mother Theresa, what we’ve read about in terms of courage as a soldier . . . of Harriet Tubman,” said Rev. Michael T. Bell, Perez’s godfather who, in addition to being her pastor, was kind of like “a second dad,” he said.
Born in Heidelberg, Germany, Perez moved to Fort Washington in 1998 with her family. She graduated in the top 5 percent of her class from Oxon Hill High School in 2001. And she graduated in the top 10 percent of her class from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
After receiving her commission May 28th, 2005, 2nd Lt. Perez attended the Army Medical Department Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. She then took command as Charlie Company’s Treatment Platoon Leader of the 204th Support Battalion at Fort Hood, Texas. Perez was a proud member of the “9/11″ class of cadets entering West Point in September of 2001 and graduating in May of 2005.
When she was killed in Iraq, 2nd Lt. Perez received the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon and the Combat Action Badge.
Emily Perez was the highest ranking black and Latina woman USMA cadet to ever be killed in combat and the first female West Point officer to lose her life in Iraq. A larger percentage of West Point graduates have been killed in the line of duty in the Global War On Terror than in any other conflict in American history. The latest available figure I found was 69 officers as of June 2009.
She is buried here at West Point Cemetery overlooking the banks of the Hudson River in upstate New York.
Last night in Open Comments, commenter Good Job Tim observed, regarding the Obama administration’s attitude towards the military, ” Not trying to be cute here, but I truly believe it’s a world they don’t understand.”
My first reaction was perhaps that is a bit too harsh.
But I woke up this morning and saw this:
Yes, Chris Matthews actually said that – West Point, the United States Military Academy, is the enemy camp.
No major nation in history has gone to such great lengths and struggled so mightily as America to maintain its constitutionally mandated civilian command of the military and to insulate that military from the political realm. It has not been a perfect effort, but it is without peer.
The grandest irony is while imbecilic buffoons like Chris Matthews prattle on in public about our fighting men and women, using them as props, alternately, for their counterfeit patriotism, conspicuous compassion or pacifistic fetishes, the heroine, 2nd Lt. Emily J.T. Perez might very well have voted for Barack Obama. Of course, if she had been alive and not giving her life to preserve the right of feckless fools to humiliate themselves in front of the nation.
2nd Lt. Perez’s fellow soldiers named a road after her at the Forward Operating Base where she served in Iraq. Their enemy is trying to kill them day and night. They managed to kill Emily Perez.
Chris Matthews has no earthly idea what real enemies are or what they can do, but there 23 year old women out there dying to protect him and others like him who will never know the true meaning of valor, sacrifice and honor.
What up Anon.
Que?
I said.
What Up.
Anon.
that makes more sense with the space.. :->
Good.
Don’t get me started,
:)
Music? plox
Thanks.What a wonderful young woman.
Very sad. We have wonderful people in our US military.
Rest in Peace, Emily, and thank you for your courage and faith.
And it’s appalling that the most of the “intelligentsia” of this country probably shares Matthews feelings about the military.
HHRMMMMMM
Hey Anon.
My blood is boiling.
Matthews is a fatuous ass. But you knew that.
Chris Matthews is the real enemy of we the people. He is part of the fifth column enemedia destroying America via his ability to lie to the American people with impugnity due to his protected status in the commie-media heirarchy.
U.S. Commander tells troops to prepare to die.
Mullen expects casualties to rise in Afghanistan
By KEVIN MAURER and KRISTIN M. HALL
Associated Press Writers
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — The nation’s highest-ranking military officer told soldiers and Marines on Monday that the insurgency in Afghanistan has grown in the last three years and he expects casualties to rise next year as additional U.S. troops pour into the war.
“This is the most dangerous time I’ve seen growing up the last four decades in uniform,” Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told about 1,000 Marines at Camp Lejeune.
Many attending Mullen’s talks at Camp Lejeune and Fort Campbell, Ky., will be sent to Afghanistan in President Barack Obama’s plan announced last week.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_US_AFGHANISTAN_MULLEN?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME
The best commentary i've seen on this story yet. Thanks for posting mnehring. And thank you for your service and the ultimate sacrifice 2nd Lt. Emily Perez and family. RIP.
“Chris Matthews actually said that – West Point, the United States Military Academy, is the enemy camp.”
Wish there was some way to get this guy off the airways. I know that boycotts don’t work very well. Maybe someone could create some kind of blocking software so that any form of media that promotes this kind of anti-American garbage might be flagged and filtered.
“What if they had a broadcast and no one watched?”
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