Chairman’s Thoughts

Donate to Catholic Relief Services Today and Make A Donation & Help Save Lives.

Please help the people of Haiti with your support of CRS as we respond in the aftermath of a massive earthquake that struck near the capital of Port au Prince. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and was still recovering from deadly 2008 hurricanes when the quake struck.

Go to Catholic Relief Services Today and Make A Donation.

Homes Toppled, Bodies Piled in Streets After Devastating Haiti Quake

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti —  Haitians piled bodies along the devastated streets of their capital Wednesday after a powerful earthquake crushed thousands of structures, from schools and shacks to the National Palace and the U.N. peacekeeping headquarters. Untold numbers were still trapped.

President Rene Preval said he believes thousands of people were dead from Tuesday afternoon’s magnitude-7.0 quake.

“Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed,” Preval told the Miami Herald. “There are a lot of schools that have a lot of dead people in them.” Leading senator Youri Latortue told The Associated Press that 500,000 could be dead, though he acknowledged that nobody really knows.

The Roman Catholic archbishop of Port-au-Prince was among the dead, and the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission was missing.

The International Red Cross said a third of Haiti’s 9 million people may need emergency aid and that it would take a day or two for a clear picture of the damage to emerge.

President Obama promised an all-out rescue and humanitarian effort, adding that the U.S. commitment to its hemispheric neighbor will be unwavering.

We have to be there for them in their hour of need,” Obama said.

SLIDESHOW: Devastation in Haiti (Warning: Graphic)

FAST FACTS | FOX NEWS’ FULL COVERAGE

Other nations — from Iceland to Venezuela — said they would start sending in aid workers and rescue teams. Cuba said its existing field hospitals in Haiti had already treated hundreds of victims. The United Nations said Port-au-Prince’s main airport was “fully operational” and open to relief flights.

Aftershocks continued to rattle the capital of 2 million people as women covered in dust clawed out of debris, wailing. Stunned people wandered the streets holding hands. Thousands gathered in public squares to sing hymns, as detailed of the extent of the suffering and devastation trickled out to the outside world:

People pulled bodies from collapsed homes, covering them with sheets by the side of the road. Passers-by lifted the sheets to see if loved ones were underneath. Outside a crumbled building, the bodies of five children and three adults lay in a pile.

The prominent died along with the poor: the body of Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot, 63, was found in the ruins of his office, said the Rev. Pierre Le Beller of the Saint Jacques Missionary Center in Landivisiau, France. He told The Associated Press by telephone that fellow missionaries in Haiti had told him they found Miot’s body.

Preval told the Herald that Haiti’s Senate president was among those trapped alive inside the Parliament building. Much of the National Palace pancaked on itself.

Even the main prison in the capital fell, “and there are reports of escaped inmates,” U.N. humanitarian spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said in Geneva.

The international Red Cross and other aid groups announced plans for major relief operations in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country.

Many will have to help their own staff as well as stricken Haitians. Taiwan said its embassy was destroyed and the ambassador hospitalized. Spain said its embassy was badly damaged.

Tens of thousands of people lost their homes as buildings that were flimsy and dangerous even under normal conditions collapsed. Nobody offered an estimate of the dead, but the numbers were clearly enormous.

“The hospitals cannot handle all these victims,” said Dr. Louis-Gerard Gilles. “Haiti needs to pray. We all need to pray together.”

An American aid worker was trapped for about 10 hours under the rubble of her mission house before she was rescued by her husband, who told CBS’ “Early Show” that he drove 100 miles to Port-au-Prince to find her. Frank Thorp said he dug for more than an hour to free his wife, Jillian, and a co-worker, from under about a foot of concrete.

An estimated 40,000-45,000 Americans live in Haiti, and the U.S. Embassy had no confirmed reports of deaths among its citizens. All but one American employed by the embassy have been accounted for, State Department officials said.

Even relatively wealthy neighborhoods were devastated.

An AP videographer saw a wrecked hospital where people screamed for help in Petionville, a hillside district that is home to many diplomats and wealthy Haitians as well as the poor.

At a destroyed four-story apartment building, a girl of about 16 stood atop a car, trying to see inside while several men pulled at a foot sticking from rubble. She said her family was inside.

“A school near here collapsed totally,” Petionville resident Ken Michel said after surveying the damage. “We don’t know if there were any children inside.” He said many seemingly sturdy homes nearby were split apart.

The U.N.’s 9,000 peacekeepers in Haiti, many of whom are from Brazil, were distracted from aid efforts by their own tragedy: Many spent the night hunting for survivors in the ruins of their headquarters.

“It would appear that everyone who was in the building, including my friend Hedi Annabi, the United Nations’ secretary-general’s special envoy, and everyone with him and around him, are dead,” French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on RTL radio.

But U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy would not confirm that Annabi was dead, saying he was among more than 100 people missing in its wrecked headquarters. He said only about 10 people had been pulled out, many of them badly injured. Fewer than five bodies had been removed, he said.

U.N. peacekeeping forces in Port-au-Prince are securing the airport, the port, main buildings and patrolling the streets, Le Roy said.

Brazil’s army said at least 11 of its peacekeepers were killed, while Jordan’s official news agency said three of its peacekeepers were killed. A state newspaper in China said eight Chinese peacekeepers were known dead and 10 were missing — though officials later said the information was not confirmed.

The quake struck at 4:53 p.m., centered 10 miles (15 kilometers) west of Port-au-Prince at a depth of only 5 miles (8 kilometers), the U.S. Geological Survey said. USGS geophysicist Kristin Marano called it the strongest earthquake since 1770 in what is now Haiti.

Video obtained by the AP showed a huge dust cloud rising over Port-au-Prince shortly after the quake as buildings collapsed.

Most Haitians are desperately poor, and after years of political instability the country has no real construction standards. In November 2008, following the collapse of a school in Petionville, the mayor of Port-au-Prince estimated about 60 percent of buildings were shoddily built and unsafe normally.

The quake was felt in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, and in eastern Cuba, but no major damage was reported in either place.

With electricity out in many places and phone service erratic, it was nearly impossible for Haitian or foreign officials to get full details of the devastation.

“Everybody is just totally, totally freaked out and shaken,” said Henry Bahn, a U.S. Department of Agriculture official in Port-au-Prince. “The sky is just gray with dust.”

Edwidge Danticat, an award-winning Haitian-American author was unable to contact relatives in Haiti. She sat with family and friends at her home in Miami, looking for news on the Internet and watching TV news reports.

“You want to go there, but you just have to wait,” she said. “Life is already so fragile in Haiti, and to have this on such a massive scale, it’s unimaginable how the country will be able to recover from this.”

Source: www.foxnews.com

Donate to Catholic Relief Services Today and Make A Donation & Help Save Lives.

Please help the people of Haiti with your support of CRS as we respond in the aftermath of a massive earthquake that struck near the capital of Port au Prince. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and was still recovering from deadly 2008 hurricanes when the quake struck.

Go to Catholic Relief Services Today and Make A Donation.

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President Obama’s “Safe Schools Czar,” already a target of social conservatives for his past drug abuse and what they say is his promotion of homosexuality in schools, is under fresh attack after it was revealed that the pro-gay group he formerly headed recommends books his critics say are pornographic.

The group under fire is the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which Kevin Jennings, now the assistant deputy secretary for safe and drug-free schools in the Department of Education, founded and ran from 1990 to 2008.

GLSEN says it works to create a welcoming atmosphere for homosexual students in schools, and that effort includes recommending books for students of all ages.

But critics say many of the books, particularly some that are targeted for children between Grades 7 to 12, are inappropriately explicit. A full list is available at the blog Gateway Pundit, which has published dozens of controversial passages from the books.

One recommended book is titled “Queer 13: Lesbian and Gay Writers Recall Seventh Grade.” On pages 43 through 45, writer Justin Chin tells of how as a 13-year-old, he went along with “near-rapes” by older men, but “really did enjoy those sexual encounters.” Chin also recounts each sexual action he performed with an “ugly f*** of a man” he met on a bus.

In another book, “Passages of Pride,” the author writes about a 15-year-old boy’s relationship with a much older man.

“Near the end of summer, just before starting his sophomore year in high school, Dan picked up a weekly Twin Cities newspaper. Scanning the classifieds, he came upon an ad for a “Man-2-Man” massage. Home alone one day, he called the telephone number listed in the ad and set up an appointment to meet a man named Tom…. Even though Tom was older, almost twice Dan’s age, Dan felt unthreatened by him. Dan admits Tom was a ‘troll’ in every sense of the word — an older closeted gay man seeking sex with a man much younger. But Dan says he was not intimidated by the discrepancy in their ages. ‘He kind of had me in a corner in that he knew I didn’t have access to anything I wanted.’ says Dan. ‘But everything was consensual.’”

On Page 13 of a third book, “Reflections of a Rock Lobster,” the author recounts his sexual encounters in first grade.

“By first grade I was sexually active with many friends. In fact, a small group of us regularly met in the grammar school lavatory to perform fellatio on one another. A typical week’s schedule would be Aaron and Michael on Monday during lunch; Michael and Johnny on Tuesday after school; Fred and Timmy at noon Wednesday; Aaron and Timmy after school on Thursday. None of us ever got caught, but we never worried about it anyway.”

“Reflections of a Rock Lobster” was recommended in 1995, the year Jennings became GLSEN’s first executive director; “Passages of Pride” made the list in 1997 and “Queer 13″ in 1999. Those are just three out of over 100 books that GLSEN has recommended for students in grades 7-12 since 1990, and all three remain on GLSEN’s recommended reading list.

Peter Sprigg, a senior fellow at the Family Research Council, says the content of the books is shocking, and it raises concerns about Jennings’ judgment.

“The graphic sexual content of these books is so extreme that I think any average parent or citizen, regardless of how they feel about homosexuality, would be shocked at these books being recommended to young people,” Sprigg said.

GLSEN Executive Director Eliza Byard defended her group’s recommendations, telling FoxNews.com in a written statement:

“Some of the books that might be used with young adult audiences contain mature content, as is true of many memoirs and works of literature. Because of the presence of mature content in some of the works, GLSEN provides very clear guidelines throughout, recommending that adults review each book to make sure the book is suitable.”

Those guidelines, listed on each book recommendation page, read: “All BookLink items are reviewed by GLSEN staff for quality and appropriateness of content. However, some titles for adolescent readers contain mature themes. We recommend that adults selecting books for youth review content for suitability.”

But critics say the guidelines themselves are damning, because they confirm that GLSEN staff have checked the books for appropriateness. And Jennings, they point out, was in charge at the time.

“It’s like Jennings just doesn’t realize he’s working with kids here…. You need a totally different set of rules when you’re working with kids,” said Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality.

LaBarbera said the books should be seen in light of other recent controversies surrounding Jennings.

In September it came out that, when he was a teacher in Massachusetts, Jennings did not report an incident in which a 16-year-old boy told him that he was having sexual relations with an older man he met in a bus station bathroom. After that, 53 Republican members of the House publicly called for Jennings to be dismissed.

But Alvin McEwen, who runs a blog called “Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters” and has commented extensively on the Jennings case, said GLSEN’s book recommendations should be seen in a different light.

“GLSEN is saying that parents should decide. They are saying these books may be a good idea to read, but ultimately it is up to parents,” he told FoxNews.com.

McEwen said that even though Jennings was the director of GLSEN when the books were recommended, there was no evidence that he personally selected the books.

“This is ridiculous guilt-by-association … just another moral panic thought up by people who don’t have any legitimate reason to oppose Jennings, so they’ve made a mountain out of molehill,” he said.

Department of Education spokesman Justin Hamilton declined to comment about Jennings’ role in recommending the books.

But critics say Jennings, as GLSEN’s first full-time employee and first executive director, must be held responsible.

“He was at GLSEN from the beginning and was in charge during the time when these books were approved,” said Warren Throckmorton, a professor at Grove City College.

The blogger at Gateway Pundit, Jim Hoft, wrote elsewhere concerning a “black book” that contains a gay bar guide and explicit sexual references that was handed out at a GLSEN event.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/14/obamas-safe-schools-czar-tied-lewd-readings/

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I want to take a moment to encourage you to listen to Monday’s Focus on the Family^® radio broadcast. On this program, Dr. Dobson will be joined in the studio by his friends Chuck Colson and Dr. Robert George to discuss an important new document called the Manhattan Declaration.Crafted by Mr. Colson and Dr. George along with Timothy George, Dean of the Beeson Divinity School, the Manhattan Declaration rallies Christians to work to preserve the sanctity of human life, the sacredness of marriage, and the vibrant culture of religious liberty. This historic document also calls followers of Christ to examine their own hearts and lives to ensure that they’re doing all they can to reflect these God-ordained values. The interaction between Drs. Dobson and George and Mr. Colson promises to be both challenging and inspiring, so I hope you’ll tune in.Once again, you can hear the program on Monday, Nov. 23, either on your radio or on our Web site at focusonthefamily.com. Also on our Web site, you’ll have the opportunity to read the Manhattan Declaration in its entirety and to add your name to the growing list of individuals who have signed on to it.

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Here are the deals:

The American Medical Association (AMA) was facing a 21 percent cut in physicians’ reimbursements under the current law. Obama promised to kill the cut if they backed his bill. The cuts are the fruit of a law requiring annual 5 percent to 6 percent reductions in doctor reimbursements for treating Medicare patients. Bravely, each year Congress has rolled the cuts over, suspending them but not repealing them. So each year, the accumulated cuts threaten doctors. By now, they have risen to 21 percent. With this blackmail leverage, Obama compelled the AMA to support his bill…or else!

The AARP got a financial windfall in return for its support of the healthcare bill. Over the past decade, the AARP has morphed from an advocacy group to an insurance company (through its subsidiary company). It is one of the main suppliers of Medi-gap insurance, a high-cost, privately purchased coverage that picks up where Medicare leaves off. But President Bush-43 passed the Medicare Advantage program, which offered a subsidized, lower-cost alternative to Medi-gap. Under Medicare Advantage, the elderly get all the extra coverage they need plus coordinated, well-managed care, usually by the same physician. So more than 10 million seniors went with Medicare Advantage, cutting into AARP Medi-gap revenues.Presto! Obama solved their problem. He eliminates subsidies for Medicare Advantage. The elderly will have to pay more for coverage under Medigap, but the AARP — which supposedly represents them — will make more money. (If this galls you, join the American Seniors Association, the alternative group)The drug industry backed ObamaCare and, in return, got a 10-year limit of $80 billion on cuts in prescription drug costs. (A drop in the bucket of their almost $3 trillion projected cost over the next decade.) They also got administration assurances that it will continue to bar lower-cost Canadian drugs from coming into the U.S. All it had to do was put its formidable advertising budget at the disposal of the administration.

Insurance companies got access to 40 million potential new customers. But when the Senate Finance Committee lowered the fine that would be imposed on those who don’t buy insurance from $3,500 to $1,500, the insurance companies jumped ship and now oppose the bill, albeit for the worst of motives.The only industry that refused to knuckle under was the medical device makers. They stood for principle and wouldn’t go along with Obama’s blackmail. So the Senate Finance Committee retaliated by imposing a tax on medical devices such as automated wheelchairs, pacemakers, arterial stents, prosthetic limbs, artificial knees and hips and other necessary accoutrements of healthcare.So these endorsements are not freely given, but bought and paid for by an administration that is intent on passing its program at any cost.

SOURCE: http://www.newsmax.com/morris/healthcare_reform_bribe/2009/11/08/283349.html?s=al&promo_code=905C-1

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The Obama Administration is working to erase respect for conscience from health insurance and the law in general Don t believe me?

In his address at the University of Notre Dame, Obama talked a good game about respecting conscience on abortion rights. He did the same thing when he met the Pope. But that was all it was — talk.

The Obama Administration s attack on Belmont Abbey College proves that.

Belmont Abbey College is a small, private, Catholic college located in North Carolina. For 130 years, it and the Benedictine monks who run it have been dedicated to handing on the Catholic faith.

But the Obama Administration is now trying to force them to abandon that faith or go out of business.

You see, the Administration at Belmont Abbey College removed contraception, abortion, and voluntary sterilization from its faculty’s health care policy after discovering it had accidentally been a part of existing plans.

Employees of the school who objected to this change in policy brought a complaint against the school accusing them of gender discrimination.

This accusation against Belmont Abbey College couldn t be further from the truth.

Belmont Abbey College was not discriminating against women. Unlike many believers in name only the college was adhering to the principles of its faith.

At first, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) found no evidence of gender discrimination by Belmont Abbey College ..

After a few weeks, the EEOC mysteriously reversed course and announced, in effect, that the college had better toe the Administration s line, or else.

They are now demanding the school go against the very principles it exists to serve.

Don t be fooled.

Killing or funding the killing of unborn children has nothing to do with promoting human health. And including these atrocities in every health care plan — no matter how shrewdly hidden or diplomatically stated violates the consciences of Catholics everywhere.
No Catholic college or other religious institution should ever be required by the government to violate its moral beliefs …

… Which is why I m asking for your help today.

Your immediate support for the defense of Belmont Abbey College is VITAL, not only for Belmont Abbey, but for all religious institutions in America.

Too many were silent when Obama went to Notre Dame. As a result his Administration has been emboldened to attack all Catholic institutions. Now, they are shamelessly picking on a small Catholic college Belmont Abbey.

Tomorrow it could be your local church, the parochial school you send your kids to, it could be the Jesus bumper sticker on your car

If Obama is given the opportunity to attack even the oldest and most respected religious establishments across the country, what will be next?

The President of Belmont Abbey College has bravely stated that he would rather close the school than go against the church s most fundamental teachings …

I commend him for his moral conviction, but I m afraid for the future of religious freedom in our country.

Think I m overreacting?

The impact of even one Catholic college knuckling under or closing would be a catastrophe for all religious institutions.

Which is why I am asking for your help.

Will you stand with me against the Obama Administration s war on conscience?

Luckily, the Belmont Abbey College has enlisted the help of a law firm that specializes in defending against this type of travesty. It s called the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

The Becket Fund has a solid reputation for being the best in the business.

I know first hand how effective the Becket Fund is in preserving our freedom of religion. I ve known them for years.

Way back in the Clinton Administration when Clinton threatened to court-martial military chaplains who followed their consciences by preaching against Clinton s veto of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban, it was the Becket Fund that filed suit in federal court and got that gag order struck down.

And just this past week, when the Freedom from Religion Foundation sued to strike under God from the Pledge of Allegiance, it was the Becket Fund that intervened in the case and successfully defended the Pledge.

In between they have successfully defended all sorts of believers and religious institutions.

Archbishop Chaput knows them well too. As he likes to say, The work of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is more than good. It s vital.

By contributing to the Becket Fund, you can directly support religious freedom for Belmont Abbey and every other religious school or institution in the country.

Make no mistake, this will not be easy. The Obama Administration is relentless about silencing religious believers.

Will you do me a personal favor, in the name of religious freedom, and contribute today — to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty s fight for Belmont Abbey College and for all other religious institutions?

Time is of the essence. Belmont Abbey College stands for the moral teachings and principles of the Catholic Church — it stands for life.

… You and I simply cannot allow the radical leftists in this country to succeed in demanding Belmont Abbey College turn its back on the most basic and fundamental teachings of the church or else close.

Belmont Abbey President William Thierfelder recently said, “All of us need to have moral courage in today’s world.” He added. “We are so resolute in our commitment to the teachings of the Catholic Church that there is no possible way we would ever deviate from it, and if it came down to it … we would close the school rather than give in …

…. Will you exercise your moral courage and help me defend Belmont Abbey College with an urgent and immediate contribution of $500, $250, $100, $35, or whatever you can afford, to prevent religious freedom from becoming a thing of the past?

I’m counting on you to act TODAY!

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You Can Change A Life
Give Water, An Education, & Faith to the Poor Children of Ethiopia
Click Here to Give Water, Education & Faith to an Ethiopian Child.Dear Friends,On a recent visit to see little Marin, a young girl recently adopted from Ethiopia. She showed me a picture for me of her home in Ethiopia. She pointed to the stick figure she drew and said it was her, and the black circle in the picture was the water she drank that gave her “bugs in her tummy.”

So, why am I telling you about this?

After spending time with Marin I felt compelled to do something. We are now asking for your help to give water, education and faith to the children of ethiopia. We are doing a two week mission trip to several villages in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2010. The Cleveland Catholic Forum, is helping to sponsor my mission trip to Ethiopia. The money raised through tax deductible donations to the Cleveland Catholic Forum will help provide for the following:

Click Here to Give Water, Education & Faith to an Ethiopian Child.

Week One of Our Mission Trip:
Providing for education for the children of Chuko and Awassa:

• The law in Ethiopia requires students to wear uniforms to school. Without a uniform, students cannot go to school. (Uniforms cost $7)
• Tuition must be paid to attend kindergarten. Regardless of age, many students still haven’t had enough money to go to kindergarten. (Tuition costs $60)
• No school supplies or books are provided for students. They must buy their own. (Supplies typically cost around $8)

Week Two of Our Mission Trip:
Digging a well in the Oromia region to provide clean drinking water for the people of this village (We are partnering with Water 1st International).  In Ethiopia, only 24 percent of the population has access to safe drinking water. The lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitary latrines is the top public health problem and the number-one killer of children. Water-related diseases also cause the deaths of over 5 million people each year. Half of the victims are children under age five. Please consider making a tax deductible donation to this mission trip. We will use all money received to directly purchase uniforms and tuition for the students in need. The remainder of the donations will go to provide an additional well in the neighboring village.

Your donation can be made by Visa, MasterCard or Discover online or by mailing a check to the Cleveland Catholic Forum, P.O. Box 45293, Westlake, OH 44145. If you have any questions, please contact Amy Sabath at (440) 796-8802.

Click Here to Give Water, Education & Faith to an Ethiopian Child. Thank you so much for your prayers and generosity!

May God Bless you!

Amy Sabath,
Board Member, Cleveland Catholic Forum

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Join The Cleveland Catholic Forum & Patty Schneier
For Two Powerful Talks
Parents Get Real! Talk to your Teen about Love!
&
True Love. . . How Will I Know?

Join the Cleveland Catholic Forum and speaker and radio talk show host Patty Schneier on Sunday, October 4th at St. Basil in Brecksville for two powerful talks, the 1st talk Parents Get Real! Talk to your Teen about Love! is for parents, the 2nd talk True Love. . . How Will I Know? is for teens.

When:
Sunday, October 4th
Parent Talk 4:00-5:00
Teen Mass 5:30 to 6:30
Teen Talk: 6:30 to 7:30Where:
St. Basil the Great
8700 Brecksville Rd.
Brecksville, OH 44141

Talk Overviews:
Parents Get Real! Talk to your Teen about Love!
In As a current mother of teenagers and a former high school teacher, Patty has a heart and a passion for teens—and their parents. Parents, Get Real is a message of hope for parents who sometimes struggle for the right words to say regarding love, life, dating, sex, and marriage. She offers practical tips and suggestions to help parents discuss the Truth about love and the many counterfeits in our culture.True Love. . .How Will I Know
In this talk Patty Schneier invites teens to learn the meaning of real love. With Christ as the supreme example, Patty explains how we are called to love one another as Christ loved us, in and through our bodies. True love, the “real thing,” speaks to the deepest desires of our hearts. We want it; we were created for this authentic love. But it is only when we know what true love is—and what true love communicates—that we can recognize a counterfeit. This talk is filled with personal stories and real-life examples. But most of all, this talk will help teens decide for themselves that the “real thing” is worth the wait!

This event is free to attend and open to the public. Youth groups are especially invited to attend.

There will be ample parking at the church for the event.

Questions? Please contact the Cleveland Catholic Forum at 440-623-9183.

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The fact is that huge budget deficits undermine the foundation of the United States and global economy.  Responsible fiscal policy is the only way to give America a prosperous future.

See How The Federal Deficit With Hundreds of Trillions of Dollars in Unfunded Liabilities Puts Us At Risk. This is a moral issue as a free world needs a prosperous America.

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On August 22nd, at the Center for Pastoral Leadership, the Cleveland Catholic Forum will present the Cleveland Catholic Forum Award of Service & Valor to Sergeant Randolph Kloos.  Here is his amazing story:

Sergeant Randolph Thomas Kloos is an American hero, right from our own backyard in Cleveland. He serves his country and God with love, courage, and strength throughout his enlistment in the United States Army.

Randy volunteered for the United States Army after the September 11th terrorist attacks. He loved his country and he wanted to defend it. He talked a lot about this decision with his family, in particular his mom, Janet. She feared terribly for her son and was resistant to the idea of him enlisting, but given his drive to serve, she was moved to bless her son’s enlistment. Randy Kloos’ family fell to their knees to beg for God’s protection of their son.

In his first tour of duty in Iraq, he served in the 1st Infantry Division. He saw some of the bloodiest fighting in the war, going house to house, looking for terrorists with orders to capture or kill them. He was shot at and threatened with death from rockets, suicide bombers, or roadside bombs on a daily basis. He exercised extreme restraint and courage; not firing shots at the enemy if there was a very real possibility of harming innocent civilians. He saw the worst of war: murdered innocent Iraqi citizens and children, dead friends, killed brothers in arms. He used his faith and his love of God and country to get through these difficult times.

In LCpl Andrew S. Kloos’, US Marine Corps (Ret.), Randy’s brother, words:

“He always carried himself as a representative for our culture to the Iraqi people. He proved his loyalty to helping the Iraqi people by defending their neighborhoods, training Iraqi soldiers and giving medical treatment to wounded Iraqis. He also cared for the needy in Iraq by giving them food and water. He even reached out to the Iraqi children giving them candy and soccer balls. Before Randy left for Iraq my father told him that no matter what happens in Iraq - God will decide when you will meet him and nothing else. I believe these words of wisdom enabled Randy to show courage under fire and the ability to save his fellow soldiers when by doing so put himself in peril.”

Yet, his love of country and his courage to serve it and protect the men under his command is only one-half of the story. His faith, personal sacrifice, and character is the rest of the story.

Randy trained at a U.S base in Germany for his fighting in Iraq. During this time he met a woman by the name of Chantel and he fell deeply in love with her. He then served his 1st tour of duty in Iraq, and afterward, got engaged. Then before returning to Iraq, he got married at an old Catholic Church in Bavaria that escaped the ravages of World War II. His son, Dean, was born on December 27, 2008. He got to see his wife and newborn son for 2 weeks, and then he headed back to Iraq. He never really complained about this, despite the drag on his heart of not being able to physically be there for his wife and son. He is also deeply missed his family back home in America.

Amidst all of this, Randy went into combat zones daily. His father, Jim Kloos, told us a story how when out on a mission, his son saw that an Iraqi woman was bleeding to death. Randy then put his life at risk to administer first aid to her and he saved her life. Had he not done so she would be dead. He risked his life to save hers. It is acts of love such as this that show the true magnitude of his character.

Faith is what has sustained Randy through these difficult times. He takes his Catholic faith seriously. He is a graduate of St. Edward High School and a member of St. Mark’s Parish. Even as a kid, if his classmates were goofing off during Mass or saying negative comments about the faith, he would correct them. While serving in Iraq, Randy has carried a small pocket-sized Bible with him into combat. He has read from it in the midst of war, giving himself courage and giving courage to the men around him. On Sundays he often had to go into combat and wasn’t able to go to church, his pocket-sized Bible was the next best thing. He read from it for courage, love and inspiration.

He often talks with his brothers in arms about faith and God’s love. There is a young man in Randy’s unit who does not believe in God. The soldier was spared on six occasions coming within inches from death. The sixth time the soldier dodged death, Randy screamed to him shortly after, “Do you believe in God NOW?!”

Randy served his 1st tour of duty in the First Infantry Division. Today he is serving his second tour of duty in Iraq in the Alpha Company 1-2, Task Force 366, in the 174th Brigade.

He is a man of tremendous courage, faith, and love. He embodies what a United States solider is and should be. He gives hope to all of us for a better America through his sacrifice and the magnitude of his character. For his service, leadership and sacrifice, he is highly deserving of the Cleveland Catholic Forum Award of Service and Valor. We at the Cleveland Catholic Forum look forward to giving him this award, through his family, on August 22nd, while he is still valiantly serving our country in Iraq.

When is The Event:
Saturday, August 22, 2009
6:30 PM - Open Bar & Silent Auction Start
7:00 PM - Dinner & Music
After Dinner - Award Ceremoney & Keynote Address by Archbishop Timothy Broglio

Where:
Center for Pastoral Leadership Founder’s Room 28700 Euclid Avenue Wickliffe, OH 44092

How to Reserve Seats:
Tickets are $50 per person, a 100% tax-deductible donation, and may be reserved by going to ClevelandCatholicForum.com, or by calling Joe Soltis at 440-623-9183.

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I, myself, have never been in battle, or seen the horrors of war. Yet, in the process of searching for the recipient of the Cleveland Catholic Forum’s Award of Service & Valor, I have talked with several soldiers, several brothers and sisters, and many moms and dads, who have sent their beloved off to war. Many of the stories have moved me deeply and ignited in my heart a more fervent respect for the American solider. Here are some questions to ask ourselves to show us how grateful we should be.

Did you enlist in the war simply because you wanted to defend your country after 9/11?

Have you accepted, willingly and knowingly, that daily you could lose your life in service of your country and loved ones?

Have you put yourself in the line of fire, and put yourself in more risk than truly necessary simply to better protect the lives of the soldiers under your command?

Did you see your friends blown up around you?

In the midst of a battle, with explosions around you, did you stop fighting to save the life of an Iraqi woman, who would have been killed by extremists?

Have you been to hell for months at a time, and kept your faith in God and helped to strengthen the faith of those around you?

These questions reflect the hard truth of what really has happened in this war on terrorism. All of them inspiring. You won’t really find a word about it in the press - maybe only if they had lost their own life in battle. Yet these are the real daily lives of tens of thousands of men and women who have been valiantly doing their duty for our country, while we have enjoyed the peacefulness of our daily lives and the richness that America provides.

Most Americans have a deep thankfulness in their hearts to the men and women of the United States military. My friends, it’s time to let that be known. Say thank you to a soldier, for I tell you this: you owe them your life, your job, your home, your faith, and your freedoms. They are protecting you. At a minimum, you owe them a thank you, a prayer, and maybe a nice cold beer!

So with gratitude deep in my heart, I say:

Dear American Solider,

May God Bless you. May God protect you and our beloved nation. My beloved wife and kids sleep in peace at night because of you. I owe you my life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Yours,

Joe Soltis, An American

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