Drew

The answer really was 42...

[Boone Cutler 🦬🇺🇸 🦅 @boonecutler]

Senior Chief Shannon Mary Kent served as a Navy Cryptologic Technician Interpretive across nine deployments during the Global War on Terrorism — five of them in active combat zones. Fluent in seven languages including Arabic, she did not work from behind a desk. She embedded directly with clandestine Special Operations units tasked with locating the most dangerous terrorist networks in the world. Her mission was to find ISIS cells, confirm their positions, and deliver that intelligence to Delta Force and SEAL Team 6 for precision strikes.

On January 16, 2019, Kent was among a small team of operators moving through the crowded streets of Manbij, Syria, scouting a location to meet an intelligence source, when a suicide bomber detonated a vest inside a nearby restaurant. The blast took the lives of eleven Syrian nationals alongside Kent and three others: Chief Warrant Officer Jonathan Farmer, civilian interpreter Ghadir Taher, and former Navy SEAL Scott Wirtz. ISIS later claimed responsibility. Shannon was 35 years old, a wife and the mother of two young sons named Colt and Josh.

Her posthumous Bronze Star citation credited her with inventing methods that integrated open-source technology into traditional intelligence collection, extending operational coverage far beyond previous regional capabilities — contributions described as having a lasting and measurable impact in combating enemies of the United States. Her name is now etched into the National Cryptologic Memorial at NSA Headquarters at Fort Meade, and the U.S. Post Office in her hometown of Pine Plains, New York, bears her name permanently. Her husband Joe later wrote a book, Send Me, preserving her story for their sons — so they would know not just her valor, but her love.

Senior Chief Kent was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. Alongside her perished CW2 Jonathan Farmer, Scott Wirtz, and Ghadir Taher — four individuals whose presence in that street that morning reflected the multinational human cost of the fight against extremism. Their sacrifice represents lives fully devoted to a mission greater than themselves, carried out far from home, in silence.

#ShannonKent #SeniorChiefKent #USNavy #SpecialOperations #CryptologicWarfare

@joekent16jan19

https://t.co/x2MhQOdSkp

[Buzz Patterson @BuzzPatterson]

If you’ve ever had the privilege of this tremendous American military service, you feel the profound impact of this picture.

This soldier is serving as the escort for SSgt Michael Swinton as he returns to Fort Bragg, NC.

I don’t know this soldier…but I know the words he spoke to our fallen hero. I’ve said the same.

Honor our fallen, America, whether you love our government or not. When we’re in uniform, we don’t get that choice. 🇺🇸❤️

[Bud Gibson @TheReconCast]

Former Delta Force B and D Squadron dog handler Sergeant Major (Retired) Jeremy Knabenshue and his Military Working Dog, Weblo. Weblo started his life as a beaten down Belgian Malinois from Holland that flinched at every sudden movement. In Jeremy’s hands, he would become one of the most decorated combat K9s in modern U.S. Special Operations history. Together, the pair deployed seven times to Iraq and Afghanistan alongside America’s Tier 1 operators. On Halloween night 2007, Weblo was shot through the abdomen while clearing a building in Iraq. Jeremy was the only man on target carrying a K9 first aid kit. He treated Weblo in the dirt under fire, saved his life, and watched his partner make a full recovery and return to duty. Weblo went on to save countless American lives across multiple deployments, once catching an enemy combatant hiding in wait with an AK-47 at a breach point, something no operator or aircraft above had spotted.

Weblo retired in 2012 and lived out his days as a family protector. On March 8, 2016, Jeremy gave him a final helicopter ride over the airfield, the wind in his fur one last time, before letting him go peacefully. Warriors come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them have four legs.

[Digitized User @DigitizedUser]

TRON (1982)
Concept Art VS Final Design

🎨: Syd Mead

[Drew @chrome_ghost]

@calel_327 @ClassicGIJoe I have both those as well, such a great character. I really wish they'd give him the Classified release he deserves

[Rep. Brian Mast @RepBrianMast]

One of my favorite days on Capitol Hill, EOD Day. As a former Army bomb tech, it’s always great to spend time with my brothers and sisters-in-arms.

[cinesthetic. @TheCinesthetic]

TRON was released 44 years ago today.

The Academy refused to nominate TRON for Best Visual Effects after deciding its groundbreaking use of computer-generated imagery was “cheating.” The techniques it pioneered would soon become the future of filmmaking.

[Drew @chrome_ghost]

@DuneInfo @BFI @dunemovie I mean, conclusion....?

[MotoGP™🏁 @MotoGP]

Can we please get these emojis asap? 🥺 🧵

#MotoGP #WiredDifferent

[Drew @chrome_ghost]

@SerpentorsLairX I didn't see you playing with your dolls sir!

[Drew @chrome_ghost]

@NicholosPoma @Super70sSports Mine too, no better feeling then sending that disc through the eye of the Recognizer and watching it limp off while shorting out

[Arnold Schwarzenegger @Schwarzenegger]

Happy Independence Day!

There’s a story from the end of the Revolutionary War I want to tell as we celebrate America’s 250th Birthday, and it’s one everyone in the world can learn from.

George Washington, at that moment, after commanding the American forces to victory, was the most powerful man in the new country. Many people talked about making him King of America.

Across the ocean, King George was sitting with an American painter, and asked what he thought Washington would do now that the war was ending. The painter said he believed he would go back to his farm.

The King said, “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.”

As the war officially ended, Washington came to speak to Congress and said, “Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theater of Action.” He returned his commission they’d given him in 1775 - after more than 8 years of leading the Americans to victory without pay, and he was home at Mount Vernon for Christmas.

Of course, he was elected as our first President a few years later, and after two terms, showed the same selflessness again when he willingly gave up his power and went back to Mount Vernon again.

That’s true greatness. He had all the power in the world. But power, alone, does not make you great.

Washington’s greatness came from being a true servant - to a cause much bigger than himself. His greatness was his complete lack of selfishness.

The whole story of American Independence is a story of selflessness. It’s a story of people who set their self-interest aside and worked for each other.

We’ve all heard the line about “We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”

Apparently, Ben Franklin might have actually never said that.

But that’s fine, because the same mentality is right there in the last line of the Declaration of Independence, published on this day 250 years ago:

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

We mutually pledge to each other.

No one was in this alone. No one was in it for themselves. This was a group of people with different backgrounds who were in it for each other.

Today is a reminder: greatness comes from what we do for each other, never what we do for ourselves.

That’s a lesson that applies no matter what country you call home.

It’s a lesson that doesn’t require any law passed by a politician, because, let’s be honest, if you’re waiting for selfless politicians, I really hope you are not holding your breath.

All of us have the power to be there for the people around us. For our families and friends. For our neighbors. For everyone.

All of us can reach for greatness.

It’s as simple as looking beyond yourself, seeing past the mirror, picking your eyes up from your phone, and pledging to be there for each other.

Happy Fourth. May you all find your own version of greatness today by lifting each other up.

Lift up your neighborhood. Lift up America. Lift up the World.

[Drew @chrome_ghost]

@brian_shearer That's truly awesome!

[Brian Shearer @brian_shearer]

I’m surprised battle damaged Snake Eyes didn’t sell at JoeFest. Anyway he’s available in my Whatnot store. https://t.co/Qrgu3xv8GZ

[Drew @chrome_ghost]

@IGN This is one of my favorite books, but didn't the last movie set in the Sprawl end up with Keanu Reeves yelling "I WANT ROOM SERVICE!!!" in the general direction of Ice T?

[Drew @chrome_ghost]

@SteveGilbert77 @TheFullForce Thinking exactly the same thing

[Classic Horror Films @HorrorHammer1]

Boris Karloff, New York, 1960

[Drew @chrome_ghost]

@OhSnap17860397 Different than "good"

[Super 70s Sports @Super70sSports]

Throw up a hand if you remember when this sweet bastard was one of the most important objects in your entire life.

[Drew @chrome_ghost]

@EODstu @SandyofCthulhu @B30_603 The ridiculous fireball every weapon makes... The lack of shock waves generally... Outrunning explosions... All so dumb