I am out of town on business and wound up alone in the hotel fitness center, on the treadmill, late at night. The fitness center is quite a high-tech workout room, with small television sets attached to every exercise machine. I switched my set on and happened to find a History Channel documentary on Easy Company, the men of the Parachute Infantry Regiment, E Company, 101st Airborne Division.

These are the men of the HBO series "Band of Brothers." This was not a dramatized episode; it was a set of brilliantly-edited interviews with the survivors of that group, now old men. Here's how the History Channel Web Site describes the show: "This documentary, executive-produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, tells the remarkable story of 'Easy Company' (the men in 'Band of Brothers') in their own words.

Featuring recent interviews with the real-life company members, whose deeds are dramatized in the miniseries, combined with rare and archival photographs and film footage. The men are pretty old now, bless them; but their memories are sharp; they still know the names of the men they served with, even (perhaps especially) the names of those who lost their lives in the war and exactly how those men were killed. If you get a chance, watch this documentary.

If you are like me, you'll be riveted to it. (Hey, I had planned a 45-minute workout, and stayed on that stupid treadmill for an entire hour because I didn't want to turn off the show!) The show lasts ninety minutes, and I saw about an hour of it.

Watch it with your families, children and grandchildren (and granparents, if you are lucky enough still to have them). The men are just "ordinary Joes" who ended up in the Army at around age 20. Throughout the documentary they reminisce through D-Day, Holland, the Battle of the Bulge, the "liberation" of Hitler's mountaintop retreat (Brechtesgaden?

) in the Alps, the end of the war and the German surrender. They speak matter-of-factly of the almost unbelieveable sacrifices they made and the extreme difficulty of their service. (Imagine, for example, living out doors for 70 days in the dead of the Northern Europoean winter.

) Again, it is gripping. Then, at the end, one after another, each man very emotionally insists that he is not heroes; that the true heroes are those men who did not come back from the war and whose bodies still lie there in Europe. I'm not so sure about that.

These elderly but magnificent men look like heroes to me. posted by The Hedgehog at 9:21 PM A Warning to the Islamofascists Now Holding A Kidnapped Marine I saw the following on Hugh Hewitt's excellent blog, and am posting this in hopes it will eventually be seen by the eyes for which it is intended. It is an e-mail Hugh received from a friend who is a retired Marine: "This letter is for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, 'Islamic Response,' and the rest of the so-called 'insurgents' in Iraq.

I obviously do not have an e-mail address for these vermin, so I am forwarding this letter to my entire address book in the hope you good people will forward it to as many people as possible, and that eventually through the miracle of the internet it somehow ends up in the hands of the intended recipients. Thank you all for your assistance. "This is from my good friend and fellow 3/4 vet.

It sums up my feelings as well. 'To the terrorists currently operating in Iraq, 'I see that you have captured a U. Marine, and that you plan to cut off his head if your demands are not met.

Before you carry out your threat I suggest you read up on Marine Corps history. The Japanese tried the same thing on Makin Island and in a few other places during World War Two, and came to regret it. Go ahead and read about what then happened to the mighty Imperial Army on Tarawa, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

They paid full price for what they did, and you will too. 'You look at America and you see a soft target, and to a large extent you are right. Our country is filled with a lot of spoiled people who drive BMWs, sip decaf lattes and watch ridiculous reality TV shows.

They are for the most part decent, hard working citizens, but they are soft. When you cut off Nick Berg's head those people gasped, and you got the media coverage you sought, and then those people went back to their lives. This time it is different.

We also have a warrior culture in this country, and they are called Marines. It is a brotherhood forged in the fire of many wars, and the bond between us is stronger than blood. While it is true that this country has produced nitwits like Michael Moore, Howard Dean and Jane Fonda who can be easily manipulated by your gruesome tactics, we have also produced men like Jason Dunham, Brian Chontosh and Joseph Perez.

If you don't recognize those names you should. They are all Marines who distinguished themselves fighting to liberate Iraq, and there will be many more just like them coming for you. 'Before the current politically correct climate enveloped our culture one of the recruiting slogans of our band of brothers was "The Marine Corps Builds Men.

" You will soon find out just how true that is. You, on the other hand, are nothing but a bunch of women. If you were men you would show your faces, and take us on in a fair fight.

Instead, you are cowards who hide behind masks and decapitate helpless victims. If you truly represented the interest of the Iraqi people you would not be ambushing those who come to your country to repair your power plants, or sabotage the oil pipelines which fuel the Iraqi economy. Your agenda is hate, plain and simple.

'When you raise that sword over your head I want you to remember one thing. Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun is not alone as he kneels before you. Every Marine who has ever worn the uniform is there with him, and when you strike him you are striking all of us.

If you think the Marines were tough on you when they were cleaning out Fallujah a few weeks ago you haven't seen anything yet. If you want to know what it feels like to have the Wrath of God called down upon you then go ahead and do it. We are not Turkish truck drivers, or Pakistani laborers, or independent contractors hoping to find work in your country.

We are the United States Marines, and we will be coming for you.'" posted by The Hedgehog at 1:20 PM I am out of town on business and wound up alone in the hotel fitness center, on the treadmill, late at night.