Anyone Near Atlantic City, This is my Nephew.

Atlantic City's Continental holding fundraiser for chef to visit son, Marine Cpl. Rory Hamill, at Walter Reed hospital in D.C.

By JOEL LANDAU Staff Writer | Posted: Wednesday, March 23, 2011 5:43 pm

Marine Cpl. Rory Hamill knew he lost his right leg the moment he stepped on an explosive pressure plate during a mission in Afghanistan. 

But the first concern for the 22-year-old veteran of three combat tours was the fellow Marines in his unit.

Hamill’s unit had information of an Improvised Explosive Device in an abandoned compound Feb. 13. Hamill, who had served one tour in Iraq and was serving his second tour in Afghanistan, volunteered to inspect the area. 

“The IED turned out to be a hoax. I came back outside and stepped on a pressure plate. It blew me 8 feet into the air,” he said Monday from his hospital room at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. “My teeth went through my lower lip. I knew I lost my leg as soon as the blast went off. I looked at it and saw it was gone.” 

The Brick Township native and 2006 graduate of Brick Memorial High School said he was conscious during the whole ordeal but spent his time joking around.

The Marine smoked a cigarette as the medics attended to him. He couldn’t remember the exact jokes but said he used “Marine humor,” which he explained can be a little vulgar.

“I was trying to keep the guys in good spirits so they wouldn’t freak out,” he said.

Hamill first was treated at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., where President Barack Obama awarded him with the Purple Heart on Feb. 23. 

“He shook my hand and thanked me for my service,” he said. “We just had general banter.”

Hamill was transferred to the Reed center March 14. The Marine of five years wants to stay in the military and said his family is keeping him in high spirits as he goes though physical therapy and is gets fitted with a prosthetic leg.

“I’m doing good. I’m hoping to get out of here soon,” he said. “I was pretty (angry) at first, but I’m happy I’m alive. It’s whatever. I’ve got to get used to the situation and learn to walk with a prosthetic leg.”

But it has put a huge financial burden for his family as they have visited him for the past few weeks. 

“The government tries to take care of it as much as they can but they don’t account for everyone in the family dynamic,” said Rory’s father, Tim Hamill, of Mays Landing. 

Rory’s wife of four years, Kristal Hamill, and two children, Keira, 2, and Liam, 1, have to pay for expenses to see him in the hospital and maintain their home in North Carolina.

Local residents will have the opportunity to support the family of the Brick Township native through a special fundraiser Tuesday at The Continental in Atlantic City. 

The restaurant, where Tim Hamill serves as executive chef, will host a fundraiser in an attempt to raise about $10,000 for the family, said Cara Rice, Continental’s director of sales and marketing.

The staff was compelled to do something after they saw Tim Hamill leave every day after work and make the trip to Washington. 

“So many people have said, ‘What can we do?’” she said. “This is a special event for Rory. It’s the Continental’s version of a beef and beer.”

Rory Hamill will not be able to attend but his father said the family has been greatly humbled by the outpouring of support. 

“It’s been amazing. I never realized how many people out there are capable of this much compassion,” he said. “You feel like everything will be all right. It’s a great feeling to have.”

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If you go

The benefit for Marine Cpl. Rory Hamill is scheduled for 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 29, at The Continental at The Pier Shops at Caesars in Atlantic City. Tickets are $25 and include a buffet dinner, wine, beer and admission to Dusk Nightclub at Caesars. RSVP by Friday to Cara Rice by calling 609-344-3615, texting 609-271-0549 or e-mail cara.rice@starr-restaurant.com.

Hamill asks that in lieu of sending him flowers to send donations to his unit in Afghanistan. Items such as batteries, tube socks, boxer briefs (size medium), cigarettes, Slim Jims, beef jerky, toiletries or baby wipes are appreciated. Send the items to 1st Squad (c/o Sgt. Moulder) 2nd Battalion 8th Marine Regiment Golf Co. 3rd Platoon Unit 73240 FPO AE 09510-3240. 

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Contact Joel Landau:

609-272-7215

jlandau@pressofac.com

Jane Fonda memorial

Every town should have one so no one forgets her contribution during the Vietnam War. 

JANE FONDA MEMORIAL---VERY HEARTWARMING.

After more than 40 years the Viet Nam Veterans of the United States of America raised a phenomenal amount of money to memorialize another one of Hollywood ’s loyal American citizens who went out of her way to aid and abet the enemy and congratulate them on their treatment of US. POW's. This memorial says it all!

CAUTION!!! VERY GRAPHIC

And they try to convince us it is only a glob of tissue.
God have mercy on us!!

Absent

Have not been posting for a while.  Have been sorting out my emotions.  It is much harder than I thought it would be.  It did not come as a surprise at all but I am still having more trouble sorting out how I feel than I ever expected.
Topping that off with all of the horrible happenings in Japan and I have a very heavy heart.
Maybe I need a little sunshine in my life, get out of the rain.  That might help:)

Low on Oil

  

 A lot of folks can't understand how we came  to have an oil shortage here in our country so we have to buy it from people who hate us. 

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 Well, there's a very simple  answer.  
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 Nobody  bothered to check the oil.  
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 We just didn't know we were getting low..  
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 The reason for that is purely geographical.  
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 Our OIL is located in:  
 ~~~  
  ALASKA  
 ~~~  
  California  
 ~~~  
 Coastal Florida  
 ~~~  
 Coastal Louisiana

~~~   

Montana
 ~~~  
  North Dakota  
 ~~~  
  Wyoming  
 ~~~  
  Colorado  
 ~~~  
  Kansas  
 ~~~  
  Oklahoma  
 ~~~  
 Pennsylvania  
 and  
  Texas  
 ~~~  
    
 Our dipsticks are located in DC 
Any  Questions?

An interesting article from The Patriot Post.

Libyan Revolution Portends Middle East Meltdown

Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's ossified regime is following in the footprints of Hosni Mubarak's Egyptian dynasty. At least two of Gadhafi's military pilots defected to Malta on Monday rather than bomb their countrymen as Gadhafi ordered. Various regime ministers have resigned in protest, and Gadhafi has had to refute rumors that he'd already fled to Venezuela. Gadhafi still vows to fight to the end -- to the "last bullet" -- and die as a martyr, but his ability to do so appears weaker by the hour. That's no thanks to the UN, though. The Security Council issued a press statement -- its weakest possible option short of saying nothing -- to condemn violence against civilians perpetrated by the Libyan regime. Libya's seat on the Human Rights Council, the UN's top human rights body, seems secure as well.

Curiously, Obama has been much quieter about Gadhafi's bloody regime than he was in his support for Mubarak's ouster. Perhaps that is because, by extension, Obama has ties to Gadhafi that he would like to leave in the closet. As you may recall, Obama's spiritual mentor, Jeremiah Wright, has long been tied to Gadhafi and the U.S. organization he sponsors, Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam. In the 2008 election campaign, Wright even noted, "When [Obama's] enemies find out that I went to Tripoli to visit [Gadhafi] with Farrakhan, a lot of his Jewish support will dry up quicker than a snowball in hell." Of course, at the time, his sychophants were so focused on "hope and change" that nobody noticed.

Libya's oil industry came to a virtual halt this week, and oil and gas prices predictably spiked. Libyan crude, long the benchmark due to its clean, easily refined composition, provides less than 3 percent of the world's oil, and even a total loss could probably be made up by increased Saudi production. However, its loss, even the threat of its loss, has driven up prices worldwide, as seen when oil approached $120 a barrel this week. Europe will be especially hard-hit by any prolonged stoppage of Libyan oil exports for two reasons: Much of Europe's oil is provided by Libya, and many of Europe's largest oil companies, most notably British Petroleum, are heavily invested in developing Libyan oil fields -- a double whammy of higher gas prices and lost economic activity.

Pan Am 103 -- Lockerbie

It appears that the favor of the Scottish and UK government's release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi in 2009, is not going to pay much dividend. Al-Megrahi is the terrorist convicted in the murder of 259 people aboard Pan American flight 103 on their way home for Christmas in 1998, and 11 Scottish citizens when the bombed plane crashed in their village of Lockerbie. Yet another great moment in BP history...

In related news about vulnerable Arabic regimes, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah returned from three months abroad on Wednesday and promptly cracked open the royal piggy bank, clearly hoping simply to pay off any of his subjects who might be getting ideas about revolt. According to differing news reports, the king doled out between $34 and $37 billion worth of cheer in different subsidies. Abdullah and his very extended ruling family have good reason to worry. Saudi Arabia provides free college education to its young men and women but cannot provide them with jobs. Outside the oil industry, which is largely run by foreigners, and a limited number of government jobs, the ordinary Saudi has little opportunity to move up in the world or to support a family.