This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: Hondo

  • James Gandolfini – RIP

    For those of you hoping for a “Sopranos” revival – bad news.  James Gandolfino, the actor who played Tony Soprano, has died.  He was in Italy on vacation and a apparently had a massive heart attack.

    Gandolfini was not a veteran (his father was, and earned the Purple Heart in World War II).  However, unlike many in the entertainment business he also doesn’t seem to have been anti-military.  After the Sopranos, Gandolfini produced two acclaimed military documentaries:  Alive Day Memories and Wartorn 1861-2010.  The former focused on 10 veterans returning from Iraq with serious injuries and their recovery (and, obviously, their struggles while recovering).   The latter focused on PTSD among US soldiers – from the Civil War to today.  Both documentaries appear to have been evenhanded, apolitical studies of their subject.  (Disclaimer:  I haven’t seen either, so I’m basing the above on published reviews.)

    RIP, James Gandolfini.  Another who ended up  Done Too Soon.

  • Soliciting USMC Personnel and Historical Expertise

    I’ve received a FOIA that I could use some help in evaluating.  It concerns a Marine who served during the early days of the Vietnam War.

    The individual has made a couple of claims elsewhere that sound a bit odd – but it’s possible they’re legit.  I simply don’t have the USMC-specific expertise or historical background to evaluate either his claims or his FOIA well enough to determine if the guy is telling the truth.

    If any of our regular TAH readers are current or no-longer-active Marines with (1) a strong personnel background, (2) excellent knowledge of the USMC’s history in Vietnam, (3) excellent knowledge of the history of USMC Recon, and (4) would be willing to help, please leave a short comment below so advising.  I’d also ask that you put a contact e-mail in the appropriate comment box (the one below the website block) and give me explicit permission to contact you via e-mail.  I’ll be able to see the contact e-mail address, but will not disclose it to others without your explicit permission.

    Thanks in advance to any who are willing to help out.

  • Microsoft to Military Gamers: Thanks for Playing, Now You’re SOL

    Microsoft has unveiled its follow-on to the Xbox 360 – the Xbox One.  Some of its new “features” are nothing short of a swift kick in the “package” for military gamers.

    • Stationed somewhere with spotty Internet connectivity?  Well, you can still use your Xbox One – for all of 24 hours.  After that, you’ll need to wait until you can reconnect to the Internet to use it again.
    • Stationed overseas and get a new game mailed to you from someone in CONUS?  Sorry.  Games will be region-locked, and can only be activated in the region in which they’re designated.  You’ll have to wait until you get back to the US to play that one.
    • Stationed in Japan, Kuwait, or Afghanistan?  Again – sorry.  You can only use that new Xbox  One in the 21 countries included in Microsoft’s Xbox server network.  If you’re elsewhere, that’s just too bad.
    • Oh, and the built-in microphone?  It cannot be turned off.  Security folks shipboard are gonna just love that one!

    Microsoft says they “empathize”.  And they do have a work around for those in the military who, you know, deploy.  According to Don Mattrick, President of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Division, “Fortunately we have a product for people who aren’t able to get some form of connectivity, it’s called Xbox 360.”

    That’s right, folks:  Microsoft’s “military friendly” solution is to continue to use their older, soon-to-be-obsolete-and-unsupported product.

    I wish I was kidding above – but I’m not.

    I’m not a gamer.  But many soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines are.  And this action by Microsoft – and their truly crappy attitude here – is a slap in the fact to all military gamers.

    Mattrick’s e-mail address appears to be  “ donm@microsoft.com “.   His boss is Steve Ballmer; his e-mail address appears to be “ SteveB@microsoft.com “.  Perhaps they’d like to hear from military gamers what they think about the new Microsoft Xbox One.

    Added by Sporkmaster:

    Oh and it seems that it is getting worse for Microsoft when it turns out that the Demos for the Xbox One at the E3 convention were being run on high end PCs.

  • PFC Christopher F. Dona – RIP, Ranger

    We lost a fine soldier last Thursday.

    PFC Christopher P. Dona, 1st Bn, 75th Ranger Regiment, was killed Thursday. He died in a training parachute jump.

    In one of life’s cruel ironies, PFC Dona had returned from his first combat deployment to Afghanistan last month.

    The incident is under investigation. Initial reports were that PFC Dona’s parachute appeared to work normally during the jump. However, he was also reportedly dragged for a considerable distance (approx 100m) on the ground post-landing, and was also reportedly found entangled in his chute’s static suspension lines and straps from a “harness” used during the jump.

    Military training is often high-risk, with little margin between safety and injury. This is another reminder that when things go wrong, even routine training can be deadly.

    RIP, my brother-in-arms. May God comfort your surviving family and friends.

  • About That Proverbial “Bag of Ass” . . .

    Most regular TAH readers probably remember this guy – based on his rather hosed-up uniform, our proverbial “bag of ass”:

     

    NPRC found his records.   Here’s the unredacted photo.
    (more…)

  • The Monkress References – a Service for TAH Readers

    Jonn’s closed comments on the original article about Phillip Dale Monkress; phony SEAL in FL.  At approaching 1,900 comments, the article was simply too unwieldy and took to long to load.  The discussion has moved to the new article entitled “Paul Wickre; your one stop shopping for information” (more about the reason for that title below).

    However, newcomers to TAH might need some background.  So I’ll give a brief recap, with links, to the article themselves, of Monkress-related articles here at TAH.

  • In Case You Missed It

    Al Qaeda’s leadership has publicly called for Sunni Muslims to “rise above their differences” and back the Syrian rebels.  The call came from Ayman al-Zawahri himself.

    al-Zawahiri also called for jihad in Syria and the establishment of an Islamic state.  Both of those would certainly be in the US national interest, wouldn’t they?

    So much for the claim that al Qaeda isn’t supporting the Syrian rebels, or that their goals aren’t one and the same.  Tell me again why the current US Administration wants to help al Qaeda’s leadership attain its goals?

    Shakespeare had it right:  “A plague o’ both your houses.”  In that fight neither side is what anyone with even one working brain cell would call “the good guys”.  We need to stay the hell out.

  • Oh, #$@&!, Not Again

    Looks like we have another senior military official possibly involved in a sex-related problem.

    The US Army-Japan (USAJ) commander – MG Michael T. Harrison – has been suspended from his duties by the CSA, GEN Raymond P. Odierno and Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh.  Allegations have been made that MG Harrison failed to report and did not properly investigate an alleged sexual assault within his command.  MG Harrison’s actions concerning the incident are now being investigated.  Further details have not been released.

    MG Harrison had been scheduled to leave command of USAJ next week.  His next assignment was to be as Deputy Commanding General, US Army Component, US Central Command (ARCENT).  That’s obviously now on hold.

    If the allegations against MG Harrison are true, they’re serious enough IMO to warrant disciplinary action for dereliction of duty.  If they’re unwarranted, just as obviously MG Harrison’s career should not be affected – though I’d guess it will be to some extent anyway.

    There’s certainly more to follow on this one.