We went to San Miguel’s in McKinney for some good Mexican food and a few friends dropped in to join us.
Bill’s birthday dinner
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Author Archives: Joyce Godwin
Happy Birthday Bill Godwin
November 19.
To the friends of Billy Wayne
Check out the article called “Heroes” in July 2007
Psalm 145
Psalm 145: 4-13
One generation shall praise Your works to another
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of Your majesty
And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts,
And I will tell of Your greatness,
They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness
And shall shout joyfully of Your righteousness.
The Lord is gracious and merciful;
Slow to anger and great in loving kindness.
The Lord is good to all,
And His mercies are over all His works,
All Your works shall give thanks to You, O Lord,
And Your godly ones shall bless You.
They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom
And talk of Your power;
To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts
And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom,
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
Which things about God and His work in the world would you relate to a friend or family member?
Special quotes from Tommy Franks
For complete story see www.heralddemocrat.comSpecial quotes from Gen. Tommy Franks Nov. 8 for “Salute to Service” at the Tommy Franks Leadership Institute and Museum, Hobart, Okla.
“… we as Americans have never done the best job we could have done, and we didn’t do what we should have done, when we should have said ‘welcome home’ to all those who served over there, a long time ago, in a place called Vietnam.”
“… young men and women serving a long way from home in Afghanistan and Iraq, not for the purpose of celebrating war but for the purpose of guaranteeing peace and freedom, and the ability for you and me … to be able to live in the land of the free because of the brave.”
“It’s time this time of year for us to recognize our veterans, recognize their families, recognize those who served, and raise our heads up and not be ashamed that we are the land of the free, home of the brave, and if you don’t believe that, just try to take it away from us.”
Gen. Tommy Franks, Retired with Four Stars
Speech by Gen. Tommy Franks Nov. 8 for “Salute to Service” at the Tommy Franks Leadership Institute and Museum, Hobart, Okla.:
You honor us by being here. All of you honor us by being here. You gentlemen (motioning toward veterans) honor us by what you did.
Isn’t it amazing, one nation under God. (Members of the crowd could be heard saying amen followed by applause).
How many of you are either veterans of service or family of veterans of service or love those who served? (Everyone in the crowd raised a hand).
This is a special day for us because we get a chance to open the doors on a little interim — kind of a museum. Some of y’all who went to OU are wondering what that word means — interim. Now, all the people from Oklahoma State would be able to tell you that interim is somewhere between where you start and where you’re going. That’s what we are opening today just for you. We want you to be able to walk through there and think about where you were, when.
And think about our kids, grandkids and all the things that made this country what it is. We have more than 230 years of American history and if you were anywhere around my wife at any particular time in your life, she would have given you an education about history because she’s a history teacher. She’s been giving me an education on history for a lot of years, going on 40 of them. She has had a lot to do with what you see when you go walking through the little exhibits next door.
What a wonderful community we have here that opened their arms to an outsider and said “come on down.”
You can think back a long, long time. Think back to Lexington and Concord more than 230 years ago when Americans first stood up and said “hey, hey, hey, we’re Americans and we’re going to live in a country that’s free.”
And you can go from there to Gettysburg and Vicksburg while we were all trying to figure out as a young nation what we were ultimately going to be.
And you can go from there to remember places like the Muse and the Argonne in World War I a long time ago, when none of us were here to see it, but the fact is that these young men and women, who wore uniforms like that one standing over there (pointing to a service man in uniform) didn’t come home until it was over, over there.
Then you can go from there to Omaha Beach, Pearl Harbor, the greatest generation, and you can think about those who served. You can go to Inchon, the Frozen Chosin and think about all those who served. and you can go from there ….. pause …. and An Loc and you can go to the Highlands and the Delta and recognize that we as Americans have never done the best job we could have done, and we didn’t do what we should have done, when we should have said “welcome home” to all those who served over there a long time ago in a place called Vietnam. (Applause).
You can go from there in 1983 in Beirut, Lebanon where we lost our Marines and you can go to 1993 in a place called Mogadishu, Somalia where we left so many of our dead in the streets and didn’t even bring them home — Mogadishu, Somalia.
Then you can go from there to 1996 to Kobart Towers, Saudi Arabia and in the middle of that you can go to Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 and 91 and you can go on, all the way through where we are today, with young men and women serving a long way from home in Afghanistan and Iraq, not for the purpose of celebrating war but for the purpose of guaranteeing peace and freedom, and the ability for you and me and my family and my daughter and her husband and our grandkids standing right over there (motions in the direction of his family) to be able to live in the land of the free because of the brave.
It’s time this time of year for us to recognize our veterans, recognize their families, recognize those who served, and raise our heads up and not be ashamed that we are the land of the free, home of the brave, and if you don’t believe that, just try to take it away from us.
That’s enough bawlin‘ and everything like that. I get a little emotional when I talk about this kind of stuff and when I look in the eyes of people who really and truly care about what they are doing like my son-in-law who, as we speak, serves in our military and I’m honored that you are No. 1 part of my family, and No. 2 that you are here.
So what we are fixin‘ to do is some of us are going to eat donuts over here and drink coffee and whatnot; some of us are going to go through that little trailer and see what kids at 130 schools in Oklahoma are going to see this year because what we do is we drive it up to the school grounds and kids and their teachers get a chance to go through to see things they’ve never seen before about a part of the world that’s very important to our country. And some of us will go down and go through the little museum. And I encourage you not to get in there and get in a rush. Take your time. There are some exhibits and stuff to look at but there’s lot of words and I encourage you to just slow down a little bit on this day and read some of the words and things about some of these wonderful people that serve this country.
Thanks for being here on this most magnificent day and for holding your head up and being proud to be an American. God bless all of you, and God bless America.
Tommy Franks Museum – Veterans’ Day Service
General Tommy Franks Leadership Institute and Museum
Tommy Franks, retired four-star Army general who led the entire military forces that entered Iraq in 2003 and beyond, points to veterans in uniform as he speaks to the crowd gathered at the “Salute to Service” for veterans, military personnel, service individuals, their families and guests in Hobart, Okla. Saturday morning. The event took place at the General Tommy Franks Leadership Institute and Museum which will open formally in May. Franks ended his speech with “It’s time to recognize those who served, raise our heads up and not be ashamed that we are the land of the free, home of the brave, and if you don’t believe that, just try to take it away from us.” At right are Trapper Heglin, museum coordinator, and Hobart Mayor Tom Talley.
Vote Vote Vote Vote
For any who remain undecided on how to vote Nov. 4, check out some Biblical direction. For any who may have decided to vote the wrong way, perhaps this advice will cause a change.
“A wise man’s heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish man’s heart directs him toward the left.” …Ecclesiastes 10:2
Michael Williams comes to Sherman
Sherman was one stop in a 35-city tour across Texas touting clean-fuel use, a re-election campaign and stumping for Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
Michael Williams, the chairman of the Railroad Commission of Texas, is running for re-election to the post he’s held since 1999. He was first appointed to the RRC by then Gov. Bush and then elected to the job for a six-year term in 2002.
The propane-powered bus carrying Williams around the state is only one
example of the Commissioner’s plan to help Texas and the U.S. see its way out of the current energy crunch. He wants to see buses, especially school buses, convert to propane power. “There are 37,000 school buses in the state,” he said. “One-third are new; two-thirds are older than 1990. They can run 83-99 percent cheaper — about $1.20 to $1.50 per gallon cheaper — and it’s ours so no sending money over seas.”
There are State, Federal and private incentives in place for those schools that take advantage of the program. Williams said the cost of a propane bus is about $8,000 more than a diesel but the sales company Is currently rebating $7,000 per sale for the first 1,000 sold in Texas. Also, there is Federal rebate money available to the schools for using propane buses.
Williams said, $391,000 was given to the Denton ISD and $1.3 million to Dallas ISD and there is rebate money available on fuel as well. One more thing he mentioned is a school district will get additional credits for building a fuel system for the buses.
One of the purposes of Williams’ bus tour is to remind Texas about the energy sources. The Commissioner who grew up in Midland, Texas said Texas can lead the nation in energy use
We can lead the nation and show the rest of the country how to do it. “ When we work, we win,” he said.
Williams has been backing McCain since the beginning and gave a rousing nomination speech at the National Republican Convention.
We will come up with a balance, he said. “We will find the right balance.”
Williams, the first black person in Texas history to hold an executive statewide, elected post and is the highest ranking African American in Texas state government, mentioned he’d like to be able to vote for Obama but Obama is just wrong on all the issues. Then he briefly itemized that Obama is wrong on gun control, the economy, taxes, health care, his international policy and so much more. He said McCain is a tried and true leader and he’s ready to be president of the United States.
In his speech to nominate McCain, Williams said, “Change is just a slogan when the ideas are as old as McGovern, Carter … and dare I say, here in St. Paul … Mondale, too. This election is a choice between a siren song of change without true demonstration, and an independent maverick with a real record of reform.
“John McCain is ready to lead.
“John McCain has always put his country first. He put America ahead of his campaign when he advocated the right surge for an unpopular war. He put his comrades and country ahead of his personal comfort during the Vietnam War.
“That’s why I’m so glad to know that when John McCain travels to foreign lands as President he will not apologize for America’s strength, but assert it.”
Chairman Michael Williams is pro business and wants the best for Texas. In his “Vision for a Prosperous Texas” found on the Railroad Commission Web site, he mentions how energy is essential to economic activity and it must be affordable and reliable. Economic growth leads to prosperity, jobs and higher wages.
Williams’ interests and involvements don’t stop at energy. He wants to see a renewed focus in our schools on science, technology, engineering and mathematics in Texas classrooms.
During a 2005 visit to Sherman, Williams said he sees an importance in strengthening families and feels faith to be an important ingredient in doing so.
Anyone wishing to learn more about Michael Williams, his endeavors and political views should visit one of his Web sites: www.rrc.state.tx.us or www.williamsfortexas.com.