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New Saint Michael Archangel Protector T-Shirt - 2XL - Ships in 24 hours

The Archangel Saint Michael is the protector saint of Warriors, Paratroopers, and Police Officers.

When the idea for this shirt came to us from one of our fans in Law Enforcement, I immediately thought of the Saint Michael pendant I carried with me every day of my military career. My grandmother gave it to me right before I went to Airborne School and I carried it with me until the day I hung up the uniform. Shortly thereafter, I asked the rest of the guys on Team Ranger Up if I was alone in doing this, and found out that every single one of us carried Saint Michael with us.

We knew this had to be a shirt and we poured our hearts and souls into this one. Here's hoping Saint Michael looks over you as well as he did us.

I lived in Utah most of the first 34 years of my life. During that time I never visited Antelope Island. I heard it was dry, desolate, covered with swarms of bugs, and boring.

I visited the island for the first time in 2000, during a trip after my separation and when I needed to "escape" North Carolina for a few days.

I wanted some solitude. I decided I would find it at a "dry, desolate, bug infested, and boring" place. I fell in love with the island. I have visited Antelope Island five more times since 2000.

On those visits I'd seen the marker for this memorial but I had never stopped. The memorial is at the end of the causeway just as you drive onto the island. I didn’t know why, but when I saw the sign on this visit I had to pull over.

I was not familiar with the history of the memorial. I started reading the plaques at one end and worked my way to the other end of the memorial reading each side of the markers.

It was built to honor five US Army Rangers and seven Air Force officers who died after crashing into the Great Salt Lake on the evening of October 29, 1992. They were doing test maneuvers over the lake and caught up in a bad storm. There was one survivor. The rescue operation itself was heroic due to the weather conditions.

As I read the different markers and looked at the names of the men who died, I thought, "This is interesting."

I was on the island side when I reached the last and largest marker. When I walked around the other side of the marker, I saw the bottom photo - the pictures of the men who died.

Suddenly, this memorial became very personal. I started to cry. A few visitors were driving on & off the island, but I had the memorial to myself.

Given my interest in history, I can't say how many memorials I have visited, but I'm sure it exceeds 100. There comes a point when one memorial seems to run into another memorial.

There aren't that many places or memorials where I have cried. Appomattox, Antietam, The Vietnam Memorial and the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, and the Sixth Floor Museum (at the Texas Book Depository in Dallas) were the only memorials where I previously cried.

On July 15, 2009, this U.S. Army Ranger and Air Force Memorial was added to that list.

I went to Antelope Island to buy a t-shirt. I left the island with a t-shirt, some photos, and a deeper appreciation for the service people of all eras who have given their lives so I can be free.

My recommendation this month involves a "guilty pleasure." Admittedly, these books are not going to be appearing in the "Mostly Literary" book discussion group, but I love them anyway.

A few years ago, I spotted a pocket-book called Persuader by Lee Child on a table in a bookstore. For some reason, it caught my eye so I picked it up, read the back cover and decided to buy it. It resided on my "to read" shelf for a couple of years. Then probably about a year ago I decided to read it. WOW what an adventure!

Since that time I have "devoured" all the Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child. Renee at the Book shop has been very helpful finding mostly used copies of the entire series for me.

On March 25th the latest title, Bad Luck and Trouble, was released in paperback. Renee called me, I picked it up that afternoon and in two days it was done! She tried to convince me to savor it, after all I had been waiting a year for it to be released in paperback, but I couldn't do it. Once I start a Jack Reacher novel, I can't resist burning through the pages until it is done.

Jack Reacher is 6'5" tall and weighs about 240 pounds, his hands are like two hams hanging at the end of a pair of two by fours. He was an MP in the army which means he had to be tougher than the Rangers, the Green Berets and all the other special forces soldiers. Now he is retired and he lives off the grid, no ID, no driver's license, no address, no phone. He periodically buys new clothes and throws the old ones away. The only possession he has is a folding toothbrush he carries in his shirt pocket. In most of the stories he wanders into a new town and somehow gets involved in some big conspiracy of very bad people and by the end of the book they usually don't exist anymore. Then he usually just walks out of town. There are lots of guns, and explosions, and violence as I said a guilty pleasure. There is just something about Jack Reacher that I can't resist. He is intelligent, and has his own very strong sense of ethics. He has a very heightened second sense about combat, and seemingly no fear.

The Library has most if not all of Lee Childs novels in print and audio version and The Book Shop is always willing to help one find used copies. Often they are available at FRIENDS Booksales as well!

- Excerpted from Friendly Footnotes, April 2008.

The Oath of Enlistment - rarely does a person utter a more powerful statement - one that he knows he may have to back up with his life. For some it was at the plain at West Point. For others it was a recruiter's office. No matter where it happened, you remember the day you took that oath, heels locked at attention.

I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.