I liked this from Military.com:
Navy SEALs Order More ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ Patches
The U.S. Navy is ordering more “Don’t Tread on Me” flag patches eight months after it was reported that Navy SEALs had stopped wearing them because the Tea Party used a similar flag. [Ridiculous.]
The U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command ordered the patches in an official announcement posted June 3 that was first reported by Dan Lamothe with the Washington Post.
Known as the First Navy Jack, former Navy Secretary Gordon England authorized it in 2002 as the Navy’s official jack for the Global War on Terrorism. Sailors and SEALs have since often worn the symbol as a patch on their left shoulder when deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Last November, Carl Higbie, a former Navy SEAL, reported for the Daily Caller that SEAL commanders had told their units to stop wearing the Navy Jack patches because it looked similar to the flag that Tea Party leaders have adopted.
Navy officials denied the story to multiple news outlets and sailors have continued to wear the patch since.
Of course, the Tea Party most often uses the Gadsden flag, not the First Navy Jack. Both have the words “Don’t Tread on Me,” but one has stripes and the other is yellow. The Gadsden flag also features a coiled snake while the First Navy Jack’s snake is elongated.
The Gadsden flag was flown during the Revolutionary War and used at times by the Continental Marines.
I am reminded of the opening credits of the series John Adams:
Also, the biography of John Adams, by David McCullough is quite simply one of the best biographies I have ever read.
Father Z, you have definitely be reinvigorated – in a good way – since coming back home from the Acton U. conference.
be = been above
Is that worth seeing? I have never heard of it, but I don’t watch movies put out by liberal outlets like HBO. That was a splendid opening for a film.
Kathleen10, I highly recommend the dvd …especially if you are interested in the founding of our country, USA. It is based on the biography of John Adams by David McCullough who has written many highly acclaimed books on historic events.
It is not known with certainty that the actual first US Navy Jack flag of the Revolutionary War had this appearance. However, this excellent design was adopted for universal US Navy jack use during the US Bicentennial Year of 1976. It flew on all US Navy ships that year, including very proudly on my USS Daniel Boone SSBN-629. It was with deep regret that we returned to the traditional jack after 1976, when only the oldest commissioned ship in the USN was allowed to fly this jack. Post-911 events encouraged a welcome return of this jack to all US Navy ships…overdue for 25 years.
The report of SEALs or any US Navy organization rejecting this treasured emblem, the official US Navy Jack, has the sound of total nonsense.
Since I left the service 35 years ago, I have flown a First US Navy Jack that is identical to that flown on my ship in 1976. In recent years, it flies alongside the Gadsden flag…proudly.
In case people don’t click through the link where it’s noted, John Adams is currently streaming free for Amazon Prime members! I’ve added it to my watch list, but haven’t gotten to it yet. I’ve heard it’s excellent.
I concur. The John Adams bio was very excellent! I felt I had gotten to know him and Abagail so thoroughly. I just cried when she died. Adams was a very good and conscientious man. I dare call him holy. I like reading about his and George W’s experiences at the Catholic Church in Philly.
I agree, Father. The John Adams biography by David McCullough is great.
Serving one’s country is a just and seemly thing, but our military has become such a petri dish of Leftist social engineering, that it is hard to encourage my children to opt for it. The exception would be the elite units (SEALS, Recon, Delta, etc.) where the missions are so risky that they can’t afford Political Correctness. But the kids are still at least seven years from military age. Who knows how far the destruction will be then.
John Adams was and always will be my “favorite” Founder. Of all of them, IMHO, he had the clearest vision for what this nation could aspire to. While not Catholic (no one’s perfect!), he seemed to have a deep sense of Christian values and a love for God – and thoroughly understood the dependency we needed to have on God to keep us on the right path, personally and as a people and a culture.
Sadly, that’s just about all gone now, and again, IMHO, explains all the difficulties we are facing.
I wear a desert Navy Jack on my tan flight suit. I was issued the two of them with the Green newer Type 3’s for the Navy (called the guacamoles) as pictured in the first pic above, when I got deployed. I ran into some SEALs out here and they were wearing theirs. I have not had any problems. Actually, I have had a lot of compliments from Air Force guys.
The Navy is nothing if not proud of its traditions.
For Fishwrap: Facts are stubborn things:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v9prVDvr5o
Let us pray that the next meeting between the SSPX and the Vatican will be this diplomatic. John Adams had signed a document that called King George a tyrant, and the King thought that Adams should be hanged. Pretty much what John Adams and King George actually said to each other, though George wasn’t as good looking a dude as the actor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YHl_0P2EJ4
I think the book, John Adams, is one on my all time favorites. John and Abigail Adams left such a valuable gift to America with the letters they wrote back and forth. The way they describe Thomas Jefferson is so vivid, I really feel like I knew all of them. It brings tears to my eyes to think of Jefferson and Adams dying on the same day, 50 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed.
It beings tears to my eyes to think of how the country they helped nurture in its infancy is dying. So sad.