Keeping Apace

IN MEMORIAM

Byron D. "Jug" Varner
Commander, U.S. Navy (Retired)
1923-2006

Dear Friends,

Our beloved Byron passed on peacefully on November 17th, 2006. We hope you will join his family in celebrating his life and character, and what he has meant to so many people throughout the years.

Byron's passion was this Web site and the research and writing that provided information and perspectives for military active and retired families.

In his honor we will keep the site active and each day present a random article from the archives.

Bonnie Varner, Vickie Varner Johnson, Roy Varner, and Gary Varner

GITMO: Thirty-One Years Later

The old saying, "you can hardly get there from here," is true of Guantanamo Bay. First of all, one must obtain permission from the Navy Department. That requires time-consuming coordination and approval by various commands. Then, one must go to Norfolk Naval Air Station. "Gitmo," as it is also known, is not a direct flight from most airline terminals.

I served on the Admiral's Staff there from 1963-1965 as Public Affairs Officer, and Officer-in-charge of the Armed Forces Radio and TV Station. My son Roy, who accompanied me on this trip as photographer, graduated high school there the year we left.

Read the full article on a visit to Guantanamo Bay...Thirty-One Years Later...

From the archives:
GRASSFIRE ALLIANCE vs. ACLU

By Steve Elliott, alert@grassfire.net, 5-10-06.
Forwarded by Don and Beth Waterworth

Just a few months ago, the multi-million dollar machine, known as the ACLU, strong-armed and raided the school budget for one of the poorest counties in the land.

A few years before, the ACLU had won a court order to have Ten Commandment monuments removed from three Adams County, Ohio high schools. It didn't matter that the monuments were unanimously approved by the school-board, and privately funded.

Once they were removed, the ACLU then had the audacity to return to federal court to demand that the school board (one of the poorest in the nation) cough up $80,000 for legal bills - and the judge agreed!

Another non-reported fact about the ACLU “shakedown” in Adams County was the fact the ACLU raised millions from the Adams County case - so they can fight similar cases - perhaps even in your town!

This is why Grassfire Alliance is taking action against the ACLU, and why we launched our nationwide petition to expose and ultimately defeat them. Our goal is to expose the kind of travesty and heartache they are bringing to the communities of our nation, and educate citizens to the real truth and motivation of the ACLU.

As part of plan to defeat the ACLU, we needed to find a legal organization dedicated to protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens, with a proven track record against groups like the ACLU.

We found the Liberty Counsel, one of the nation's foremost legal defense organizations established to preserve our First Amendment Rights.

As the ACLU founder Roger Baldwin said, “We [the ACLU] are for socialism, disarmament and ultimately for abolishing the state itself… we seek the social ownership of property… and the sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal.”

This is the real ACLU, and we need you to help us enlighten a nation of people who have been deceived.

Please sign our national petition.

With your help, we can expose and defeat the ACLU so that they cannot terrorize Americans with their “storm-trooper” tactics.