Election Integrity Fiasco in Maryland

Facing a crisis, the Maryland State Board of Elections opted to flood the upcoming primary with over 500,000 replacement ballots.

*Article published by American Thinker on June 23, 2026

Maryland election officials are facing a serious test of public trust after a vendor coding error reportedly caused some voters to receive incorrect mail-in ballots during the 2026 gubernatorial primary.  The error involved ballots mailed before May 14, 2026.

Maryland State Board of Elections (SBE) administrator Jared DeMarinis said at the May 28, 2026 state election board meeting that more than 563,000 voters were included in the affected mailing but that the “vendor could not accurately identify” which voters had received the wrong ballot.  DeMarinis further clarified that there were “over 447,000 voters” whose ballots may have been affected.  The board identified the error and attempted to correct it by sending out hundreds of thousands of replacement ballots.  President Trump commented on the matter shortly after the issue became public.

Kate Sullivan, director of the SecuretheVoteMD, a volunteer election integrity organization, believes that the election board likely chose a remedy that was not only unnecessarily chaotic, but legally questionable under Maryland law:

The State Board of Elections had a simple, legal solution sitting right in front of them. They should have complied with Maryland Election Law §11-303.2 — the “first ballot” rule, which requires them to verify the original ballots as they come in, count the correct ones, and cure the incorrect ones while there was still time.

That is exactly what the law requires. Instead, they flooded the system with replacement ballots, locked the originals in a vault until certification day, and issued guidance that overrides the “first ballot” statute entirely. One has to ask, when an election authority ignores an obvious lawful remedy and chooses a legally questionable path that potentially disenfranchises voters, it is no longer sufficient to call it a mistake. Marylanders deserve a full accounting of why this approach was chosen — and by whom.

Now SecuretheVoteMD is demanding that the Maryland State Board of Elections take five concrete steps before the November 3, 2026 general election to protect voters from disenfranchisement.  In sum, the organization is asking election officials to address key questions on the record: how the original erroneous ballots are being identified, what adjudication standard is being applied, how many original-batch ballots were received, how many were rejected, what notification process will be used for affected voters, and how the chain of custody was maintained from receipt through counting.

SecuretheVoteMD is also adamant that every voter whose ballot is rejected should be affirmatively notified within ten days of primary election certification.  The organization contends that if a citizen’s ballot is rejected because of an error generated by the election system, the voter has a right to know.

Sullivan says DeMarinis and the Maryland State Board of Elections have resisted SecuretheVoteMD’s demand that affected voters be directly notified.  At the May 28 SBE meeting, DeMarinis appeared to minimize the seriousness of the error, telling board members that the matter would be addressed as part of a post-primary “lessons learned” review, rather than through an independent investigation or additional voter notification beyond what the board had already done or posted on its website.

 According to reporting from Maryland Matters, Nikki Tyree, executive director of the League of Women Voters, agreed with SecuretheVoteMD, stating that the General Assembly should “look into this.”

[Expletive] “lessons learned.” This is so far beyond their lessons learned. This is a situation where we need an independent investigation, whatever that means. The General Assembly needs to be looking into this.

SecuretheVoteMD’s Demands

In addition to demanding that the board notify voters of their rejected ballots, SecuretheVoteMD is demanding that the July 6 “Original Ballot” canvass be conducted live, in public, open to credentialed observers, and streamed online with a clear camera angle on the actual ballot-review process.  The group also asks that party representatives, citizen accountability organizations, counsel, local press, and bipartisan local board members be present and visibly engaged.

Upon certification, SecuretheVoteMD is also asking for a full accounting of the canvass results, including “exact” auditable counts of

• First Ballot and Replacement Ballot
• Fully accepted ballots
• Partially accepted ballots
• Fully rejected ballots for reason of wrong party
• Fully rejected ballots for reason of wrong precinct
• Fully rejected ballots for reason of wrong ballot style

Additionally, SecuretheVoteMD seeks preservation and production of records concerning the coding error, the decision to reissue ballots, and instructions for ballot handling.  The group wants to review emails, texts, internal memos, written directives, vendor specifications, error logs, legal opinions, local board instructions, voter-level ballot tracking data, quarantine counts, and a reconciliation report identifying voters who returned both an original and a replacement ballot.

According to Sullivan, without a court order, SecuretheVoteMD would be required to pay $17,000 to obtain that information.  Sullivan said she is worried the board will “sweep it under the rug if no one says or does anything,” and that “the only way we're going to fix this problem is if there’s a full autopsy of how all this broke down and how it happened.”  The exact wording of SecuretheVoteMD’s Maryland Public Information Act request (PIA) is pictured below:

Finally, SecuretheVoteMD is seeking a court-ordered, independent third-party audit of Maryland’s election administration process after the 2026 primary, completed in time to implement corrective recommendations before the September 3, 2026, general election ballot-printing deadline.

Wealth Creates Good

Continuing Dad's Legacy- June 2, 2026

AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM: GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE,FOR THE PEOPLE -- ECONOMIC FREEDOM BASED ON FREE MARKET INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURISM -- WEALTH CREATION AS A SOURCE OF GREAT GOOD FOR THE DISADVANTAGED -- IMMIGRANTS PROVIDING UNPARALELLED ETHNIC, RELIGIOUS, RACIAL DIVERSITY -- OUR MILITARY PROVIDING AND PROTECTING WORLDWIDE INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM.

Our father, Charles Scureman Strauch, died peacefully in his home on May 10, 2026 just short of his 91st birthday. This blog was his creation and provided a small but significant window into his mind, his convictions, and his deep love for this country. He and our mother, Nan, were magnificent parents. It is impossible to put into words the extraordinary legacy they created. 

In some ways, this blog was Dad's way of having a conversation with the world beyond his family. He used it to remind us all of what is most precious about our nation and its people. He wanted to ensure that future generations would never take our freedoms for granted. 

Through this blog, he reflected upon the things that threaten America's greatness and exceptionalism, as written so eloquently in the "About This Blog" sidebar accompanying his blog. Through his commentary and his sharing of various writings, he sought to push back against the ingratitude and smallness of mind that too often lead people to forget the blessings of freedom and the abundant opportunities this magnificent nation makes possible.

Above all else, Dad was a man with uncommon common sense who had a profound appreciation for the ordinary man. It was one of the most extraodinary things about him. 

We would like to continue his expression and his legacy through this blog. You may see posts from me, Wendi, his eldest daughter, or from his other four children from time to time. My hope is that this blog will be continued through time with generations to come, carrying forward the ideas, principles, and love of country that meant so much to him. One thing is undeniably true, this world was a much better place with our father and mother in it. Now it is our privilege and responsibility to continue the spectacular legacy they left behind. 

Please find below the obituary I wrote on behalf of my four siblings Laura, Charley, Amy, and Kate below. It seeks to capture our father's life, but it will never replace the things we saw, heard, knew, and loved about him. He and Mom truly broke the mold, and they will be sorely missed. 

Charles Scureman Strauch

May 21, 1935 - May 10, 2026

Hilton Head Island

Charles Scureman Strauch, a visionary leader, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and devoted family man, passed away peacefully just short of his 91st birthday on May 10, 2026, in his home on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. 

Born into the generation that helped shape modern America, Charles built an extraordinary career marked by leadership, innovation, and perseverance. A 1957 graduate of Lehigh University with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering, he spent much of his professional life leading and revitalizing technology companies. His career included service as Chairman and founder of GAServices, Chairman and CEO of PairGain Technologies, President and CEO of MSI Data, Chairman and CEO of Magnusson Computer Systems, President of Memorex, and Executive Vice President of Gould Inc. For the last 30 years of his life, he dedicated himself to providing lines of credit to small businesses, continuing his lifelong commitment to small business entrepreneurship and economic opportunity. 

Beyond his education and career, Charles was a passionate advocate for education and school choice, supporting initiatives aimed at providing opportunity for disadvantaged communities, often with little fanfare or desire for public recognition. He was a founding Trustee, major benefactor, and Chairman Emeritus of Landmark College, the internationally recognized institution dedicated to the education of young adults with learning differences.

His life was guided by a deep love of country and an abiding faith in the character, resilience, and potential of everyday Americans. He had an uncommon respect for the ordinary man; the workers, teachers, parents, veterans, and community leaders who steadfastly build and sustain our great nation. Throughout his life he expressed profound gratitude for his wife of 60 years, his family, and the abundant opportunities this country provided to him and other individuals willing to work hard, take risks, and persevere through adversity. 

To his children and grandchildren, he credited his success to the fortune of having been born, not to privilege or circumstance, but to the values instilled by his parents, the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation, and God’s abiding, watchful eye. He frequently shared his guiding philosophy: “If it is to be, it is up to me.” 

 His vibrant and beloved wife, Nan, predeceased him in 2018. Charles is survived by their five children, 16 grandchildren, and three great grandchildren who will carry forward his legacy of determination, resilience, optimism, and service.

Wendi Strauch Mahoney

Nashville, TN

June 1, 2026

Kamala Harris Is Much Worse Than Anyone Thought

Leaving aside political ideological opinions, it is quite difficult to argue against any of this. 

The underlying theme of this article is a classic example of Diversity Equity Inclusion at work. Among the normal leadership principles of a successful enterprise dictates that an individual whose title includes the word "President" would have a track record of managing a team to address problems and fix them. Kamala Harris has no such record. Biden selected her as his running mate in his successful 2020 campaign only because she is a woman of color. 

There is an absence of leadership in the Biden administration. Biden is a absent from his duty as President. Harris is absent from her duty as Vice President. The unelected bureaucracy has taken over the leadership of our Country until January 2025. 

If Harris is elected as our next President, we should all hope that she will prove that the opinions expressed here are wrong. 

Read the entire article:

https://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2024/09/15/kamala-harris-is-much-worse-than-anyone-ever-thought-n2644768?

Highlight link; right click; Select Go to Townhall

Excerpts:

There are plenty of people in politics who just do not stand for anything other than their own glory – the not bright, not quite stupid who lean one direction or another, but don’t really believe in anything as a principle, only as a means to an end. That end is always their own glory, their own power. 

These people will do anything, say anything, to obtain power. They like the trappings – the people sucking up, the power of God on a small scale, the ability to reward or punish.

Harris does not have any core beliefs and has not done the work to even form them. 

It’s easy to claim accomplishments as an Attorney General, but the work is actually done by prosecutors across the state. 

Given the chance at some responsibility as Vice President, Harris balked. Don’t call her Border Czar! Things don’t just happen; someone has to take a risk and the responsibility of things don’t work out. She is not capable of articulating any vision. 

When asked the basic question about how she is feeling about her chances in Pennsylvania, Harris responded  “I am feeling very good about Pennsylvania. because there are a lot of people in Pennsylvania who deserve to be seen and heard." 

Kamala doesn’t do the work because she’s never had to do the work.

The Star Spangled Banner That You Have Never Heard - The Story of Francis Scott Key

 

Highlight the following link; Right click; Select Go to https://youtu.be/YaxGNQE5ZLA  

https://youtu.be/YaxGNQE5ZLA  

Destruction Exclusion Divisiveness

Wendi Mahoney - UncoverDC

 In the wake of Trump's assassination attempt, many are speculating on how his Secret Service detail could have possibly allowed for the glaring security lapses that allowed a man to come within inches of killing the former president. The lapses were absurd, leading many to believe this had to be a purposeful attempt on his life. No one knows at this point. However, one of the criticisms floating around the internet was the presence of several short women in the security detail who, sorry to say, looked like a Melissa McCarthy character playing a Secret Service agent straight out of a goofy buddy cop comedy like The Heat. Except this time, it was not funny. 

Enter Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). It turns out a Jill Biden pal, Kimberly Cheatle, is the Secret Service director, appointed in 2022. On a show yesterday, Cheatle told ABC News that the sloped roof occupied by the shooter was too steep to deploy security detail. It wasn't steep, but never mind. Security was then "secured from inside," a vantage point that failed to prevent a shooter on the roof from hitting his target. Cheatle is a diversity hire with a DEI mindset, and that DEI mindset helped set the stage for some very critical decisions that were tragic and could have been history-altering. 

This type of "safety-first" thinking is one of the hallmarks of the DEI mindset. It is the same mindset that "protects" transgender children from mean parents who reject gender-affirming surgeries—because, you know, feelings. It is the same mindset that caused millions of Americans to wear masks that were never going to protect them from a virus while crushing our constitutional rights. It is the same mindset that puts military males in harm's way by putting women in combat. It is the same mindset that sacrifices the security of a former president for the comfort of agents who are hired and trained to die for a protectee.

Also coming to the surface is that Trump allegedly got the "B-team" of security that day. It accounts for the Melissa McCarthy schtick. Reportedly, many assigned to Trump's security detail were DHS temps. I don't know much about the difference in training between a DHS agent and a Secret Service agent, but I hear that the differences impacted the outcome on Saturday.

Secret Service agents are chosen and trained in particular ways to clear the venue before an event and guard their protectees during. One of the known pieces is what is called a "body bunker." A body bunker is what you see when Secret Service agents swarm the protectee, arguably to take a bullet for him. The men assigned to the task are supposed to be as big or bigger than the protectee so they can adequately shield him or her. That was not the case in some instances. DHS agents are not trained in the same way. 

DEI is pervasive in the federal government, and DHS is no exception. Not only do we have a diversity hire in command at the Secret Service, but we also have one at DHS.

Sharon Wong was hired by DHS in 2023 as the executive director of strategic talent recruitment, inclusive diversity, and engagement (STRIDE). Wong believes that people who are included and "feel they have a voice"...go out and accomplish the mission for you." She allegedly shared the statement in a discussion called Government Modernization Unleashed: Workforce.  Wong's diversity hire strategy includes the use of "jump teams" who meet with employees in the field and use focus groups to gauge employee morale. One can argue that employee morale might indirectly affect job performance. However, it seems the Biden administration consistently prioritizes DEI over a focus on safety in nearly every major governmental endeavor: the border, the military, the FBI—you name it. 

Finally, let's look at the overarching policy that drives an agency to focus on DEI instead of being single-mindedly focused on the safety of American citizens. DHS's Inclusive Diversity (ID) Strategic Plan was conceived in 2021. It would, according to the document "Elevate the Human Experience,"—whatever the heck that means.

Angela Bailey, the DHS Human Capital Officer, states in the strategic plan that the agency is committed to "inclusive diversity as a top priority to ensure we operate as one team, one DHS in taking care of each other during these difficult times." Kumbayah, My Lord. 

The strategic Homeland Security mission document is rife with phrases like "unleashing the power of our shared human spirit," "everyone deserves a chance," the need to "embed ID principles" in all facets of the organization, and "empowerment at the individual level." The inset and page below from the document seem to represent the core intention of DHS's mission accurately, whether it is the border or, now, the protection of a former president. According to the document, "DHS's inclusion index is improving," with its "DHS workforce diversity averaging 45% in the past three years, almost double the federal workforce benchmarks." I'm sorry, but a Homeland Security agency focused on diversity is not focused enough on what should be the central focus of its mission, Homeland Security.

A Harsh Lesson for Other Blue States

 Read the entire article:

https://townhall.com/columnists/victordavishanson/2024/06/21/how-californias-paradise-become-our-purgatory-n2640772

Excerpts:

"Newsom was endowed with two of the wettest years in recent California history. Yet he and radical environmentalists squandered the water bounty -- as snowmelts and runoff long designated for agricultural irrigation were drained from aqueducts and reservoirs to flow out to sea."

"Newsom transferred millions of dollars designated by a voter referendum to build dams and aqueducts for water storage and instead blew up four historic dams on the Klamath River. For decades, these now-destroyed scenic lakes provided clean, green hydroelectric power, irrigation storage, flood control, and recreation."

"Twenty-seven percent of Californians were born outside of the United States. It is a minority-majority state. Yet California has long dropped unifying civic education, while the bankrupt state funds exploratory commissions to consider divisive racial reparations."

"Almost nightly, the nation watches mass smash-and-grab attacks on California retail stores. Carjackers and thieves own the night. They are rarely caught, even more rarely arrested -- and almost never convicted."

"Gas prices are the highest in the continental United States, given green mandate formulas and the nation's highest, and still raising, gasoline taxes -- and are scheduled to go well over $6 a gallon."

"The Bidens Are a Horrible Bunch of People" - Published by Town Hall

Editor's Note: It is most likely that the Jury in Hunter Biden's trial in Delaware will find him not guilty yet again confirming the double standard. If so, the truth about the Biden family will not be known to independent voters who have no interest in following the Trump and Biden trials. This article will certainly be viewed as repugnant to Biden supporters who have no problem with publishing repugnant   stuff coming from the likes of porn star Stormy Daniels and liar Michael Cohen in Donald Trump's trial. The author of this article is very careful in only citing facts that have been disclosed and published - many of these facts came out in the course of the trial by both the prosecution and defense in Hunter Biden's trial. As the old saying says "What goes out eventually comes around." 

Town Hall by Derek Hunter June 9, 2024

Is there anyone in the Biden family who isn’t repugnant? The only people associated with the family who run risk of not being total sleaze, and therefore run risk of having any redeeming qualities are the two women who are disconnected, maybe even excommunicated from it: Hunter’s ex-wife and his youngest illegitimate child.

Those two just so happen to be the ones the rest of the family seeming hold in contempt. 

First is Hunter’s ex-wife, Kathleen. She ditched the Biden name soon after her divorce from the junkie hooker-loving scumbag, after he’d not only been cheating on her with prostitutes but also her own sister-in-law. Gross. 

Speaking of the gross sister-in-law, Beau’s widow Hallie, who got a surprise witness-tampering visit from President Biden a week before testifying about how big of a sleazeball the man who got her hooked on crack was, just got remarried last weekend. I bet having to testify about stealing your dead husband’s brother from your sister-in-law while, smoking drugs while he’s screwing every hooker human trafficked from eastern Europe while still picking the wedding rice from your hair is a healthy way to start a marriage. 

The whole Biden family should enter an endorsement deal with penicillin. 

Joe broke up Jill’s first marriage, Jill was a willing participant. Then they both lied about it, which is an acknowledgement of them being aware of how gross they are.

Joe showered with their daughter well past whatever very young age that might have been considered appropriate, which screwed her up to the point that she had her own addiction issues, not to mention how disgusting that is 

Hunter used his young cousin to try to procure women as much as 25 years younger than he is to “get over” losing his sister-in-law, the one he got hooked on crack and cheated on constantly, including impregnating a stripper and denying paternity for as long as it was humanly possible. 

Then Hunter fought to prevent that child from getting his last name, which is probably the best thing to happen to her in her short life, so far.

This family is sick, this family is perverted. 

This family not only shunned that little 6-year-old daughter of Hunter’s, only ever acknowledging her once – in a written statement – then never so much as saying hello, they shunned Hunter’s ex-wife too. 

Kathleen made the mistake of thinking she was part of a family, only to see her and her kids abandoned when Hunter went whoring and sister-in-lawing. According to Axios, once details of Hunter’s piggish behavior during their marriage became public, the “family privately blamed Buhle (Kathleen) for the details becoming public.”

More than that, “friends thought the Bidens were enabling Hunter's behavior by appearing more angry at the revelations becoming public than at Hunter for what he'd done.” 

Curiously, Joe (who is magically filthy rich after a lifetime in “public service”) doesn’t appear to have helped Hunter pay the millions in child support he owes Kathleen, but he did dish him a lot of cash for things like a $50,000 “loan” for truck when he already owned 2 other vehicles. That $50,000 cash “loan” is alleged to have happened when Hunter was a full-blown junkie, because everyone knows good parents give their strung-out kids sweaty wads of cash all the time, since getting them help is for suckers.

You’d think they wanted Hunter dead, but for that you’d have to believe there was a loan. There’s only the claim of a loan made after the discovery of a $50,000 check from Hunter to Joe the same day he received a half million-dollar payment from a Chinese “investor.” It’s just a coincidence, I’m sure, that it works out to “10% for the Big Guy.”

The whole family is disgusting, beyond disgusting. But what do you expect from a kid-sniffing, credibly accused rapist who has the exclusive means to exonerate himself by releasing his Senate personnel records now sealed under his orders, but won’t? People with nothing to hide would not hide things until long after their death. At least, no one with a Tara Reade in their past would.

History will not be kind to Joe Biden, as he has supplanted Jimmy Carter as the worst President in history.  But it should also be unkind because he’s a horrible person, and the head of a horrible family. For that, history need only accurately describe them as people and the things they did while alive.

More Stories Like This Story Need To Be Told

 Starlee Coleman -- Charter Schools Now making a difference in Texas:
 

• The primary elections are officially behind us. 71% of the candidates Charter Schools Now PAC supported went on to win their primary elections. That's a solid win rate and our exit polling is showing us that our campaign strategy continues to be effective in motivating the charter community to vote for pro-charter candidates. But, we did have a couple heartbreakers, too. If you weren't able to attend the debrief session this week and want details, let me know.
• I know I have previously written about the importance of the primary elections for us. Because most legislative districts are drawn to greatly favor one party over the other, the primaries are almost the whole game. If we want to improve the bipartisan, pro-charter vote count in the State Legislature and State Board of Education, we have to win primary elections. There will be a small number of competitive general election races this fall, but by and large, we know what the legislative landscape looks like.    
• After this primary election cycle, we are estimating that our bipartisan vote count in the State House has increased from 72 to 91! The pro-charter vote count in the State Senate will remain a strong 21. We’ve picked up one vote on the SBOE, and will be at 7. These election gains put us in a strong position to continue to win for public charters in Austin; including on the big ask we’re going to make to increase charter school facilities funding.
• The new official numbers are out from TEA and the funding gap between charters and ISDs – which is driven entirely by facilities funding – continues to grow. It was $1300 during this school year that just wrapped and is projected to be $1700 next school year. That’s an unacceptable position to put charter schools in and lawmakers need to fix it. It’s one thing to ask charters to be scrappy, and another entirely to create a structural disadvantage that makes it so they simply can’t compete – especially with a private school choice program coming – and that’s where we are headed. Our efforts to inform lawmakers about this structural imbalance are underway and we’ll be giving you lots of opportunities to help over the next several months.
• At the end of June, the State Board of Education will consider five new charter school applications. We’ve been underwater on our vote count at the SBOE for years (but making progress on our slow march back to a pro-charter majority with each election cycle) and that makes the approval of new charters tenuous every single year. With the election dynamics this year, we expect it will be even more difficult than normal. I’ll circle back once the votes are over to let you know what happened.

Not looking good in Biden country

 Today's message from the Democrat Fund Raising machine.

Charles, in exactly three weeks, Donald Trump – a convicted felon – will step in front of a national television audience to rile up his fanatical donor base at the first presidential debate.

After Trump and his cronies raised a whopping $141 million last month, this debate will be another big moment for right-wing donors to flood Republicans with cash – and if they dump even a fraction of that into state-level races, Democrats won’t stand a chance.

You gotta' love the Dems characterization of Republicans as “fanatical”. It is indeed a great honor for me to be on the Dems mailing list 

  

 

Primer On The American Military of 1944 - We Live in Peace Because of Their Sacrifices

Editor's Note: On June 6, 1944, I was 9 years old living in Jenkintown PA , a Philadelphia suburb. I was a "paper boy" for the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. Mr. Bradley, my boss, called me that morning- asking me to come to his office at 11 AM. I went to the office to learn that I had been assigned to put a load of an Evening Bulletin special edition front page and back page only newspapers in my canvas paper bag, go to the corner of the busy intersection at York Rd and Greenwood Avenue, flag down passing vehicles, and hand the drivers The Evening Bulletin. (Remember "Extra, Extra Read All About it".) That childhood memory reminds me of why I am living in freedom in the greatest Country in the history of mankind. God Bless America!!!!!

A Strauch family requirement has been for all sons, daughters and grandkids to travel to Normandy Beach with my wife and I paying the cost. Our last family trip was on June 6, 2010.  A few days after our return, we received a letter from our 18 year old grandson thanking us for the trip stating at the end "I will never forget standing looking out on those grave sites with so many kids my age buried there. It was the first time that I cried out loud and not being physically hurt".  

American Enterprise Institute Kori Schake | AEIdeas

We talk easily and often about the Greatest Generation—the 10 million Americans who fought to defeat Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. This week we celebrate what will likely be the last commemoration with the living of those men who stormed the beach at Normandy in 1944 and endured the privations of Guadalcanal. But who were they? Those of us who live in peace because of their sacrifices know too little of them. So in honor of the 80th anniversary of D Day, here’s a little primer on the American military of 1944.

The Selective Service Act requiring all men ages 21 to 45 to register for the draft passed by a single vote in 1940. It was the first peacetime draft in American history. A year later, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the declaration of war against Japan and Germany passed with just one dissenting vote in the Houses of Congress. 

Once in the war, men were drafted for the duration. 50 million American men were registered, ageing from 18 to 65. 39 percent of them—more than six million—were volunteers; it was relevant for many that if you volunteered, you could choose your branch of service. 6,500 local draft boards examined draftees, aided by 30 thousand local doctors.

Standards were rigorous, in part because the government was still recovering from the unanticipated costs of veteran’s benefits in World War I, which exceeded a billion dollars. There were four categories: 1A was fit for service; Class 2 were able-bodied men deferred from military service because their jobs were important either for the war effort or the economy; Class 3 were men with family obligations as single parents or, in some cases, lone sons; and category 4F designated men unfit for service for physical or psychological reasons. Those reasons included dental problems, flat feet, eyesight, and venereal disease. By 1942, these “remediable defects” were corrected with glasses, dental care, or other treatments.

Still, 40 percent of draftees were judged ineligible. A full quarter of the ineligible suffered from malnutrition, the long shadow of food scarcity during the depression. There were 43,000 conscientious objectors, mostly from Quaker or Mennonite pacificist religions; those men did civilian service as firefighters and even participated in medical tests, like a study of the effects of starvation.

In 1935, there were 119,000 soldiers in the US Army, and 20,000 Marines. At the height of the war in 1945, the Army had grown to eight million soldiers, and the Marine Corps to 476,000 Marines.

On average, the duration of their service was 33 months. 73% percent of them served overseas, on average for 16 months. The casualty rate was surprisingly low: only 8.6 combat deaths per 1,000 men and only 18 non-fatal wounded per thousand. Still . . . that added up to 407,316 Americans killed in action and 671,278 wounded. The unit with the highest casualty rate was the 8th Air Force, which suffered 65 percent wounded or killed.

There were 50,000 deserters from the American military during the war. General Eisenhower ordered the only execution; during the Battle of the Bulge, given the casualties fighting forces were suffering, he felt he needed to make an example.

900,000 African Americans served. 350,000 American women served as WAVEs and WACs, nurses, and pilots. 33,000 Japanese Americans served, 6,000 of whom were recruited from internment camps. The 442nd Infantry, a unit comprised of Japanese Americans, was the most decorated Army unit of the war. 

These are the Boys of Pont du Hoc that Reagan extolled in his exquisite commemoration from 1984 and whose courage saved the Free World. Spare a thought for them on this 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings. 

Spare a thought for Charles Canham, who joined the Army in 1919, was made Sergeant in 1921 and sent to West Point to become an officer. He served in the Philippines and Shanghai in the inter-war years. Commanding the 116th Infantry Regiment, he was among the first to land at Omaha Beach. He was shot through the wrist and refused to be evacuated, walking upright on the beach to set an example. A soldier in the 116th said, “I got the hell out of there and moved forward. I was more afraid of Colonel Canham than I was of the Germans.” 

Commanding the 8th Infantry Division during the Battle of the Bulge, he went to accept the German surrender. He showed up muddy in combat fatigues, escorted by a Corporal and a Sergeant, rifles slung over their shoulders.  The Wehrmacht officers were resplendent in their mess dress, asked to see his credentials. Brigadier General Canham gestured at his soldiers and replied “these are my credentials.” It remains the motto of the American Army’s 8th Infantry still.

Thank you, Woody Williams, for your service, the last surviving Medal of Honor recipient from WW2.

 

May God bless America on this day and always!

 

Charlie Kirk Turning Point USA   Each Memorial Day, we honor those who gave their lives to protect the United States of America, their countrymen, and our freedoms. These heroes—known and unknown—deserve our perpetual gratitude as we remember their selfless sacrifices, unparalleled courage, and perseverance when all hope seemed lost.   America owes its existence to the fallen heroes who firmly believed our great country was worthy of every affliction suffered in her defense. Our liberty exists because of the blood, sweat, and tears shed by each brave defender of our country.    On behalf of all of us at Turning Point USA, I would like to recognize the brave men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice for America—and the loved ones they left behind in their service to the land of the free and the home of the brave. You have my promise that Turning Point USA will never forget those who dutifully defended our homeland, and we will never surrender in the fight for freedom.   Gratitude for our heroes has faded as many Americans lost sight of our nation’s guiding principles. But the words of Founding Father Thomas Paine bring us hope: “Though the flame of liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire.” Our great country will prevail as long as there are patriots to stand together.   Memorial Day is a time for solemnity when all Americans are called to carry on the fight and rekindle the flame of liberty that shines upon our nation. Let us recall the sacrifices of these fallen soldiers with hearts full of gratitude for the gifts of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness they protected with their lives.

 

Uh Oh - Liberals' Hope For Phony (So Called) Bipartisan Immigration Legislation Killed By Senate Democrats

 

The Senate failed to advance a border bill backed by some Democrats and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Thursday, seeing the measure garner less support than it did in February when it was first considered. 

By a vote of 43-50, senators chose not to advance the bill, which was negotiated in a bipartisan nature by Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and James Lankford, R-Okla.

Both Lankford and Sinema sided against their own legislation, a departure from their previous votes.