Upon My Son’s Acceptance into the United States Marine Corps Officer Candidate School
My son Pat got the news this morning that he has been waiting almost a year for. He has been accepted into Marine Corps Officer Candidate School.
For the first 21 years of Pat’s life he ate, slept, talked and breathed soccer and football. Friday nights in the fall at the Cronin household were spent at Lyon Field on the campus of Kirkwood HS, under the lights, in the stands, with quilts, blankets, red cowbells for offensive drives, hot chocolate and fully charged mini DV camera trained on the Quarteback, #15, Pat Cronin. Now, Pat has a new love, the United States Marine Corps.
Pat just doesn’t hold the Marines in high esteem. He loves the Corps. The history, the spirit, the camaraderie, the service to country. Now he has his “slot.” The chance to go to Quantico, Virginia for 10 weeks, to train with the best of the best.
All the weight training, crunches, pull ups, six mile runs at 6 AM, the target practice at the range, going to school full time, holding down a job at Webster University and keeping his grades up and working out with the Marines of the St. Louis Officer Selection Office as paid off, big time.
When he came home this evening with his Certificate of Acceptance, he had a different bearing. Not prideful; determined. Now the young man who threw touchdown passes when he had a man open and took off up the middle when his receivers were covered, will be repelling down the side of buildings, learning how to throw a hand grenade and firing assault rifles. And most importantly, learning how to take good care of his men.
Hers is part of what the certificate said: “The defense of our country and our freedoms is the duty and privilege of every citizen. The MARINE CORPS has a proud tradition of leadership in service to our country during peace and war. Voluntary membership in this elite military organization is a clear demonstration of the American qualities of patriotism and loyalty.”
Congratulations to Pat and all the fine young men and women who serve in our military. We can’t thank you enough for what you do.
The next time you see a service member in a restaurant, make arrangements to pick up their check. If you see them walking through an airport with a duffel bag, tell them how much their service means to you. Before you go to sleep tonight, pray for all of them to come home safe.
Semper Fi!
~~John Cronin~~
November 3rd, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Great news, I’m sure you are both mutually honored. I wish your son the best in his endeavor. Hoo Rah
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Congratulations! May your son serve under a honorable Commander in Chief!
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Wow, congratulations to him! God bless him for entering the marines to defend our country!
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:12 pm
‘Hear, hear!’ Good wishes to Pat Cronin on his new endeavor at Marine Corp Officer Candidate School! Congratulations to the entire Cronin family!
I look forward to hearing updates on Pat’s progress.
Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don’t have that problem. - President Ronald Reagan, 1985
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Congratulations John to you and Pat. I served in the USMC for 6 years, and I can say that it was a great experience that changed my life and my way of thinking. It has had a profound affect on my life in a most positive way. Good luck.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:29 pm
yay for pat! because of great men like you, i am able to be my kids’ mom and live in freedom and safety here in the great USA. thank you so much for your patriotism and willingness to serve! we’ll be forever grateful, and we’ll keep you in our prayers always.
November 4th, 2008 at 7:46 am
Congratulations to John and his family!
November 4th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Congrats, your son will always be in my prayers.
November 5th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
http://www.slate.com/id/2203800/entry/2203878/
The Conservative Crackup
A Return to Reaganism Won’t Be Enough
By Jim Manzi
“Most conservatives who propose a return to “Reagan conservatism” don’t understand either the motivations or structure of the Reagan economic revolution. The 1970s were a period of economic crisis for America as it emerged from global supremacy to a new world of real economic competition. The Reagan economic strategy for meeting this challenge was sound money plus deregulation, broadly defined. It succeeded, but it exacerbated a number of pre-existing trends that began or accelerated in the ’70s that tended to increase inequality.”
“International competition is now vastly more severe than it was 30 years ago. The economic rise of the Asian heartland is the fundamental geostrategic fact of the current era. In aggregate, America is rich and economically successful but increasingly unequal, with a stagnating middle class. If we give up the market-based reforms that allow us to prosper, we will lose by eventually allowing international competitors to defeat us. But if we let inequality grow unchecked, we will lose by eventually hollowing out the middle class and threatening social cohesion. This rock-and-a-hard-place problem, not some happy talk about the end of history, is what “globalization” means for the United States.”
November 5th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2008/11/05/david-frum-republicans-face-choice-between-two-paths-to-revival.aspx
David Frum: Republicans face fraught choice between two roads to revival
Posted: November 05, 2008, 7:45 AM by Kelly McParland
“In the wake of yesterday’s bruising result, the Republican party faces an excruciating and divisive choice between two very different futures.
The first choice is the choice on display at the excited rallies that cheered Sarah Palin all through the fall. This is a choice to fall back on the core base of the Republican party. The base is almost entirely white, almost entirely resident in the middle of the country, moderately affluent, middle-aged and older, more male than female, with some college education but not a college degree. Think of Joe the Plumber and you see the core of the Republican party.
Republicans have won a string of elections thanks to Joe.” . . .
. . . “generation ago, Republicans dominated among college graduates. In 1984 and 1988, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush won states like California, Pennsylvania and Connecticut – states that have been “blue” for a generation. (America’s least educated state, West Virginia, went for Michael Dukakis in 1988.)
Those days are long gone. Since 1988, Democrats have become more conservative on economics – and Republicans have become more conservative on social issues.
College-educated Americans have come to believe that their money is safe with Democrats – but that their values are under threat from Republicans. And there are more and more of these college-educated Americans all the time.”
November 5th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
http://www.newsweek.com/id/167581
“NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin’s shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain’s top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent “tens of thousands” more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as “Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast,” and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.
A Palin aide said: “Governor Palin was not directing staffers to put anything on their personal credit cards, and anything that staffers put on their credit cards has been reimbursed, like an expense. Nasty and false accusations following a defeat say more about the person who made them than they do about Governor Palin.”
McCain himself rarely spoke to Palin during the campaign, and aides kept him in the dark about the details of her spending on clothes because they were sure he would be offended. Palin asked to speak along with McCain at his Arizona concession speech Tuesday night, but campaign strategist Steve Schmidt vetoed the request.”
November 5th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Congratulations to the Cronin Family. Pat, enjoy your venture, we need more young men like you. God speed.
November 5th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Congratulations and best wishes!
November 5th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
John , Congratulations to you and your family , your son is truly a Great American , may God bless him.