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05-29-2013, 09:10 PM
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Administrator
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 26,997
Likes: 8,976
Liked 48,746 Times in 9,253 Posts
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This email from Flora Van Orden gave me the news:
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As you all may know, my brother George (Col. George Mason Van Orden) was killed by a 'high' driver in a stolen car being chased by the police in Midlothian, VA the day before Easter.
I would like to invite you to come to Arlington National Cemetery at 1 p.m. on June 19 to share our grieving and our celebration of his life, his accomplishments with a S&W, his family, his dedication to his country, and his legacy of bravery calling for a congressional investigation in order to get the M-16 into a shape where it would not jam in combat conditions. It made him really depressed when he saw his dead men in Vietnam have their boots and watches stolen, but no enemy wanted our M-16 because they knew their Russian weapon was superior. Now, the M-16 is safe, but he sacrificed shooting in the Olympics and being the captain of the MC rifle and pistol team in order to stand up and be counted as the requestor of the investigation. We are all proud of him. It takes cohones to give up the glory for the lives of your men, but he gave the act no second thought because he's part of a 125 year tradition of putting safety first, starting with George Mason from Virginia, for whom he was named, who penned the Va. Articles of Declaration, which turned into the Bill of Rights. He wrote, "All men should have life, liberty, pursuit of happiness and safety" and George Washington took off the word "safety" and prevented Mason from passing any more bills because Mason and other men who believed in safety boycotted the signing of the Constitution. Hope to see you there
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Whereupon, I asked her:
"Would it be permissible for me to post the memorial service and M-16 data on the forum?"
Her reply:
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Thank you so much for doing so. Anyone who wishes to come will be welcomed. I hope they identify themselves to me and to my brother's wife, Mimi
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__________________
Regards,
Lee Jarrett
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