Coach DeCristofaro

Coach D 👨🏻🏈 🏋🏻‍♂️ follower of Jesus

[Joe Weil @RealJoeWeil]

Today should be Richard Best Day. Piloting a Dautless dive bomber, he sank two japanese carriers in battle of Midway.

He led his squadron in the attack despite an oxygen system malunction that burned his lungs and permanently disabled him. Hall of Fame American Hero. Unbeatable.

[Coach DeCristofaro @CoachHowieD]

Best thing I’ve seen all day

[Coach DeCristofaro @CoachHowieD]

How can our congressmen and women be so stupid? Why do they waste the American people’s time with questions like these?

[Coach DeCristofaro @CoachHowieD]

I read the book about Chapman. Awesome individual. Thank God for men such as these.

[Crazy Vibes @CrazyVibes_1]

Takur Ghar Mountain, Afghanistan. March 4, 2002. Before dawn.
The mountain was frozen and dark and full of al-Qaeda fighters.
Technical Sergeant John Chapman was an Air Force Combat Controller — one of the most elite and highly trained special operations specialists in the American military. He directed airstrikes. He operated in environments where everything that could go wrong usually did. He had been chosen for this mission specifically because, in a career field of exceptional men, he stood out.
The mission had already gone badly before it started.
During the initial helicopter insertion onto Takur Ghar, a Navy SEAL named Neil Roberts fell from the aircraft into an entrenched group of enemy fighters below. Chapman's team immediately turned around to rescue him. They flew back into a known enemy stronghold in the dark to bring one of their own home.
What they did not yet know was that Roberts was already dead — killed by the al-Qaeda fighters in the thirty minutes it took the team to return.
When their helicopter landed back on the mountaintop, they flew into an ambush. Enemy fire came from multiple directions at once. Chapman moved immediately toward the closest threat — charging uphill through the darkness and snow toward a fortified enemy bunker, closing to within ten feet, and killing both fighters inside.
He kept moving. He kept fighting. He pushed forward to protect his teammates as the firefight intensified around them.
Then he was shot. Multiple times. He went down.
In the chaos and the dark, his teammates believed he was dead. Under overwhelming fire and taking casualties, the remaining team was forced to withdraw from the mountain. They left behind what they were certain was a body.
They were wrong.
Somewhere in the dark on that frozen ridge, John Chapman regained consciousness.
He was alone. He was bleeding from several gunshot wounds. Enemy fighters were on three sides of him. His team was gone. No rescue was coming. By every rational measure, there was nothing left to do but die.
He started fighting.
For nearly an hour — alone, wounded, surrounded — Chapman engaged the enemy fighters closing in around him. What happened during those minutes in the dark would not be fully understood for sixteen years.
Then a Chinook helicopter carrying Army Rangers began its approach to the mountain.
As it descended, a group of al-Qaeda fighters moved into position with rocket-propelled grenade launchers, aiming at the incoming aircraft and the men inside it.
Chapman saw them.
He exposed himself to their fire to draw attention away from the helicopter. He attacked their position, giving the Rangers the seconds they needed to land.
His autopsy report later showed a broken nose and cuts and bruising consistent with ferocious hand-to-hand combat — evidence of just how close the fighting had become in those final minutes. Air Force Times
Chapman was killed in the last exchange of fire.
The Rangers landed. They survived.
For years, the full story remained incomplete. Chapman had received the Air Force Cross — a high honor — but the complete picture of what he had done after the team withdrew was not known. The drone footage existed, but analyzing it with enough precision to reconstruct his movements took time and technology and sixteen years of careful work.
When the Air Force finally completed its review, the conclusion was clear.
On August 22, 2018, President Trump posthumously awarded John Chapman the Medal of Honor — the first Air Force recipient since the Vietnam War. Chapman's widow, Valerie Nessel, stood in the White House to receive it on behalf of the man she had married in 1992, the father of their two daughters, the man who had gone to Afghanistan and never come home.
He was also posthumously promoted to Master Sergeant.
His was the first Medal of Honor action in history to be extensively documented by drone surveillance video — footage that showed, frame by frame, what one man had chosen to do when he had every reason to stop. Soldier of Fortune
What makes Chapman's story different from so many acts of battlefield courage is not the violence of it. It is the choice.
When he regained consciousness on that mountain, alone in the dark, he had no audience. No commanders watching. No teammates who knew he was still alive. No one who would have blamed him for staying down.
He chose to stand up anyway.
He chose to fight for men he could hear approaching in a helicopter but could not see.
He chose to draw fire onto himself so that others would live.
Those men came home. They had children. Their children grew up. Entire futures exist today because one man woke up alone on a frozen mountain and decided that the mission wasn't finished.
John Chapman was 36 years old.
He died on Takur Ghar before the sun came up.
And for nearly an hour before he did, alone and unseen, he fought like he knew the whole world was watching.
It just took the world sixteen years to catch up.

[Coach DeCristofaro @CoachHowieD]

Hundred percent agree with you.

[Miles Commodore @miles_commodore]

I’m annoyed that I have like 500 different shows available at any given time, and nothing as good as what was on the 4 channels I used to have when I was a little kid.

[Joey Jones @Johnny_Joey]

Were you a reservist?

[Coach DeCristofaro @CoachHowieD]

Outstanding, that should be celebrated and not diminished in anyway

[pigwithwings @PigWithWings82]

So 22 just joined the Army National Guard and will be doing Officer Candidate School after basic. Made the announcement to family, and quickly found out who values politics first. Father in law immediately went on an anti-Trump tirade. 🤦🏼‍♂️ No good luck wishes, hey we’re proud of him, send us his mailing address, nothing. Guess who’s not coming to OCS graduation? I’ll STFU and just take some slings & arrows for the sake of family tranquility, but I’m not gonna sit back and let that roll off my shoulders. Fucking democrats. I’m super proud of my boy, and if you can’t join in that, go sulk in the corner. IN ANOTHER STATE, cause you aren’t gonna see it, feel it or even know what his success is like. Read about it via email, boomers.

[Coach DeCristofaro @CoachHowieD]

So very true. I was around and it was miserable.

[Cynical Publius @CynicalPublius]

Anyone who claims the lack of joy about the 250th is a function of a rough economy was not alive in 1976.

The country rocked in its 200th celebration and the economy was a FREAKING MESS.

There is this Gen Z misconception that the '70s and early '80s were some sort of economic golden age of readily available, well-paying jobs, low cost housing and an all around sense of prosperity.

WRONG.

Google "Stagflation." Google "gas lines." Google "mortgage interest rates in the 1980s."

Our economy today is a golden age by comparison, without exaggeration.

Yet somehow in 1976 we could gleefully celebrate our nation's birthday without Democrats turning it into a Howard Zinn-inspired anti-history hatefest.

[Old Salty Marine @BamaSaltyMarine]

HISTORY LESSON ON YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY CARD:
Just in case some of you young whippersnappers (& some older ones) didn’t know this. It’s easy to check out, if you don’t believe it. Be sure and show it to your family and friends. They need a little history lesson on what’s what and it doesn’t matter whether you are Democrat or Republican. Facts are FACTS.

Up until the 1980's, Social Security cards expressly stated the number and card were not to be used for identification purposes.
Since nearly everyone in the United States now has a number, it became convenient to use it anyway and the "NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION" message was removed.

Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program. His promises are in black, with updates in brackets.

1.) That participation in the Program would be completely voluntary [No longer voluntary],

2.) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual Incomes into the Program [Now 7.65% on the first $90,000, and 15% on the first $90,000 if you’re self-employed],

3.) That the money the participants elected to put into the Program would be deductible from their income for tax purposes each year [No longer tax deductible]

4.) That the money the participants put into the independent ‘Trust Fund’ rather than into the general operating fund, and therefore, would only be used to fund the Social Security Retirement Program, and no other Government program [Under Johnson the money was moved to the General Fund and spent]

5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income [Under Clinton & Gore up to 85% of your Social Security can be taxed].

Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are now receiving a Social Security check every month — and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of the money we paid to the Federal government to ‘put away’ — you may be interested in the following.

Q: Which Political Party took Social Security from the independent ‘Trust Fund’ and put it into the general fund so that Congress could spend it?

A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the democratically controlled House and Senate.

Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?

A: The Democratic Party.

Q: Which Political Party started taxing Social Security annuities?

A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the ‘tie-breaking’ deciding vote as President of the Senate, while he was Vice President of the US

AND MY FAVORITE:

Q: Which Political Party decided to start giving annuity payments to immigrants?

A: That’s right! Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party. Immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65, began to receive Social Security payments!

The Democratic Party gave these payments to them, even though they never paid a dime into it!

Now, after violating the original contract (FICA), the Democrats turn around and tell you that the Republicans want to take your Social Security away!

And the worst part about it is uninformed citizens believe it!

If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe changes will evolve. Maybe not, though.

Some Democrats are awfully sure of what isn’t so but it’s worth a try.

How many people can YOU send this to?

[Coach DeCristofaro @CoachHowieD]

Of course

[Rose Smith @itsrosesm]

Do you think it’s appropriate for the military to serve soldiers luxury foods such as steak, lobster, and crab using taxpayer money?

[Coach DeCristofaro @CoachHowieD]

No. Would do it again.

[Joel Feldman Ph.D. @JoelFeldmanPhD]

Military

Do you regret the time you spent/are currently spending in the military?

👍 or👎?

[Coach DeCristofaro @CoachHowieD]

@BuzzPatterson 30 pounds

[Coach DeCristofaro @CoachHowieD]

Army

[Joel Feldman Ph.D. @JoelFeldmanPhD]

Military

What branch of the service would you join if you could be a soldier again?

[Coach DeCristofaro @CoachHowieD]

Outstanding discipline and commitment

[𝕃𝕚𝕖𝕦𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕒𝕟𝕥 ℂ𝕠𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕝 ℙ 🪖 @TheLtColUSMC]

Extremely proud of how these young Marines carried themselves at LA Fleet Week. 💚

Find them and recognize them. 🪙

Lady: “I can’t believe nobody here has been to war.”

Marine: “No, ma’am.”

Lady: “How can you be representing war if you haven’t seen war?”

Marine: “We are not representing war. We are representing what you can do for our country and our people.”

Lady: “You can hear my opinion, but I don’t want your opinion.”

Lady: “If you haven’t been to war, that’s why you guys are here. If you were they would’ve never brought you guys here.”

Lady 2: “When you say, ‘What can we do for our country?’ what about the homeless?”

Marines: “Have a nice day.”

Not a single raised voice.
Not a single ounce of disrespect.
Just young men and women standing in uniform, choosing discipline over anger and honor over ego.

In a world that rewards outrage, they showed restraint.

In a moment designed to provoke them, they answered with dignity.

These Marines may not have seen war yet — and we should pray they never have to — but they already understand sacrifice, service, and what it means to put something greater than themselves first.

That’s the kind of character this country is built on. 🇺🇸

Semper Fi.

[Coach DeCristofaro @CoachHowieD]

And still get up at 4:00 am

[Christopher Wipper @SGTWipper1Each]

Things I learned to do in the Military that still bug my wife today:

1. Show up unreasonably early to appointments.
2. Finish my meal in 180 seconds.
3. Respond to her questions with "Roger that"
4. Back into EVERY parking space.
5. Take off my hat when I enter a building.

[Coach DeCristofaro @CoachHowieD]

Why is it always the rich who want everyone else to give their money away. But don’t touch my pile.

[Gunther Eagleman™ @GuntherEagleman]

Nothing says trust me about socialism quite like a millionaire actor who made his fortune through capitalism.

If Mark Ruffalo is so concerned about wealth inequality, he can start by giving away his own money.

Until then, spare us the economic revolution speeches!

[Coach DeCristofaro @CoachHowieD]

Agreed. How did they ever get elected.

[Matt Van Swol @mattvanswol]

All right, I’m just gonna come out and say it…

Some of the dumbest human beings to ever walk the face of the earth are currently representing us in Congress.

How on earth did this happen?

[Coach DeCristofaro @CoachHowieD]

If they were combat veterans, they would have the same resolve because they would know the horrors of war

[John @MagaGrunt1]

🇺🇸You won’t find Heroes is Washington, they’re not in Congress.

You can find them on the battlefield, exhausted and hungry, hoping to make it home to the country they love.

They defend our nation with dignity and honor. If only Politicians had the same resolve.🇺🇸

[Coach DeCristofaro @CoachHowieD]

Amen

[W.H.Grampa @WHGrampa0]

May God protect our troops say AMEN

W.H.G

[Coach DeCristofaro @CoachHowieD]

Agreed

[Tommy Reamon Jr. @tommyreamon]

With all due respect, winning a HS state championship holds less and less weight every year to me.

Not because winning is easy, because it’s not.

I understand people are only doing what they’re allowed to do, I get it. But because roster movement, transfers, recruiting culture, and talent stacking have completely changed what high school football looks like.

Beyond grateful I grew up in what felt like the golden age of HS football. It created morals and values in me that I still carry today.