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

Author: Sporkmaster

  • Small and Strange World this is.

    I found out that one of the people that I went to Basic training at Fort Lenard Wood is/was part of the IVAW. I had found here back in 2007 when we had the exact same video about our Basic on MySpace. She was part of the 82d as a truck Driver. She went to Iraq in December 2006 at FOB Summerall with the Easy Company 1-505th, 3rd Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division. She stayed there until about May of 2007 when she was put on Rear Detachment for medical reasons. Later she gets outs and joins the IVAW’s 53 Chapter in Las Vegas. But this is were it starts to get interesting.

    She made a post on June 18, 2008 in the IVAW members speak out that could be seen in two ways. See for yourself.

    So this is the email I recieved today on Myspace from A guy that was in the Army back in the 90’s and has never deployed….

    “I’m deleting you from my friends list. I don’t dislike you, but I don’t need rubbish like this video being brought to my attention. It’s unfortunate you are so naive, even after all you have seen. It seems, after all, that some are unteachable.”

    So funny how he calls me “unteachable” yet he is the one who has never been to Iraq and doesn’t know anything other than what is in the news. He seems to think he knows so much about what is going on over there. Give me a break, he is just ignorant like a lot of Americans that think this War is for the better. I wish there was some kind of a program like a foreign exchange type deal where we can send these ignorant people to Iraq so they can see first hand what is exactly going on. My Own husband is on the fence on this subject he thinks that the war was started on lies which we all know it was. Yet he isn’t sure if we should leave yet or not….Now I love my husband but he was a 25 F and he spent a year in Iraq stuck on a Fob he wasn’t going out and doing missions in the city so he never saw the things most of us saw and I think that is why he thinks the way he does. I am trying to get it across to him that we need to end this occupation, maybe with some time he will be with me on this. If not oh well. I just pray that Iraq doesn’t end up like Kuwait that is now a duty station. If they ever turn Iraq into a duty station I am moving to Canada!

    Kinda takes it’s own perspective when considering the people in IVAW who have never seen Iraq. But this is the part that is confusing to me. In her blog she is very vocal about her dislike of the Army and her excitement about getting out with her new Husband. Not to mention that she was against the Iraq War in a comment she left to Casey Porter in August 31st of 2008.

    Thanks for the Add!! I Love your videos and the way you speak out against the occupation! IVAW all the way!

    So it is surprising that when I looked her up on AKO that it showed her being in the Army Reserves for Nevada. Her Blog also confirmed that her and her husband had re-enlisted in November of 2008.

    I am back in the Army reserves and that is going well, everyone in my unit is really nice. Nate joined to hahaha he couldn’t stay away. So I am changing my MOS from 88M truck driver to 42A Human resource spc….thank god because I don’t wanna drive anymore damn trucks lol.

    I just thought it odd considering that with the IVAW is vocal about supporting troops that do not want to deploy, why would you join the Army reserves? I mean the IVAW’s Las Vegas is using your photo as a poster picture for it’s MySpace page. The second thing is how was she able to get back in the Military if she was Med-Boardedout for a heart condition? I just do not get it.

    What a strange World.

  • This is starting to smell like a scam.

    A Fallen Hero: How an Insurance Company Profited

    A headline like that kinda gets your attention. Long story short it seems that when Sgt. Ryan Baumann, killed in Afghanistan his mother was unable to bring herself to seek the money. But when she tried to use it 6 months later she ran into problems.

    She eventually filed, electing to receive a lump sum of $400,000. But the check never came. Instead, she received a check book and a packet from Prudential saying the money had been placed in its “alliance account” where it was “available immediately” and would “begin earning interest” right away.

    Everything seemed fine, until she tried using the checks.

    “I was told that the check could not be verified,” she said.

    But here is where is it gets interesting. It seems that the Government was giving the money to a private third party to handle giving the money out. But not quite.

    Evans’ six-month investigative report, appearing today in the magazine’s September issue, reveals that Cindy Lohman’s money was being held in Prudential’s general corporate account — accruing interest –most of it going to the insurance giant.

    So if I understand this correctly the Government is giving SGLI money to third parties that are not only restricting handing out the money to the survivors while making a profit off the interest? (A rate of 5% compared to the .5% that Cindy Lohman account was being credited.)

    I really do not want to jump the gun on this one but I have a bad feeling that I am right about this one.

  • Oh look at the Current Suspect.

    Yep the same guy, Bradley Manning that leaked the video about the 2007 firefight, is one of the main suspects in finding who leaked the new documents to the press.

    The Wall Street Journal reported that military investigators are checking computers used by Manning to see if he is the source of the trove of documents released by WikiLeaks.

    Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told Fox News the department wants to find out who originally leaked the information to “make sure there’s not any more coming.” He said it remains to be seen whether any action will be taken against those involved in the leak.

    So not only has these additional documents have been leaked there is a possibility that more might be on the way. Great, this is getting better and better. Perhaps we should bring these back again.

    ADDED: Sporkmaster

    Seems that there is more info about him that is coming out.

  • Wikileaks leaks part 2.

    Since it worked out so well the last time, they decided to try it again.

    A huge cache of secret US military files today provides a devastating portrait of the failing war in Afghanistan, revealing how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents, Taliban attacks have soared and Nato commanders fear neighbouring Pakistan and Iran are fuelling the insurgency.

    But given how many things were ignored out of the 2007 video from Iraq, just think of all the possible discrepancies that could be present with 90,000 records? Some of the claims have been as such:

    • How a secret “black” unit of special forces hunts down Taliban leaders for “kill or capture” without trial.

    • How the US covered up evidence that the Taliban have acquired deadly surface-to-air missiles.

    • How the coalition is increasingly using deadly Reaper drones to hunt and kill Taliban targets by remote control from a base in Nevada.

    • How the Taliban have caused growing carnage with a massive escalation of its roadside bombing campaign, which has killed more than 2,000 civilians to date.

    Yea except that if you look at each one there is not much there to see? We uses our troop to capture/kill any enemy leaders that we can. It is not the troops job to take that person to trial. Second the Taliban had Singer Missile launchers for awhile now paired with what weapons were left over during the fight with the Soviet Russia. Third we used them to provide air support and can stay in the air longer then any manned aircraft. Finally do you really think that the Taliban will reduce this if we were to leave?

    Oh this one is a keeper.

    2007 Polish troops mortared a village, killing a wedding party including a pregnant woman, in an apparent revenge attack.

    Apparent? Yea and that almost got three SEALs jail time, Apparent my ass,

    But don’t worry about double checking, Rethink Afghanistan is already running this and it is doing it’s paces around the net. Of course there is no one is even thinking about how this will effect those that are fighting in Afghanistan.

    ADDED Sporkmaster

    The White House has condemned the release stating what we already know.

    “The United States strongly condemns the disclosure of classified information by individuals and organisations which could put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk and threaten our national security,” he said in a statement.

  • Battle of Wanat revisited.

    Since the removal of the letters of reprimand there is been some protests. This one caught my eye that was posted by Thomas E. Ricks.

    He has been posting articles about the families of those who where involved.

    Scores of men who were at Wanat have testified that they were down to one bottle of water. When they did get resupplied at the end, the water was so laced with iodine it was almost impossible to drink in the 100 degree weather. Yet because the commanders, trying to save their own skin, told Campbell that the troops had enough water, he took their word for it. In his sham investigation Campbell apparently interviewed only the three commanders being charged. That’s not an investigation, it’s a whitewash.
    Part 1

    “Was it absolutely necessary that Wanat be occupied given the economy of force mission, terrain and obvious scarcity of resources? Did the Battalion and Brigade allow themselves to become overextended, continuously putting their soldiers in unduly high-risk situations?”

    Part 2

    Part 1

    Part 2

    Part 3

    There too much without quoiting the entire website. But the one on part three is something else. It was claimed that it was written by the father of one of the Soldiers that was killed in the battle, Cpl Pruitt Rainey. Yea it is one of those that you have to read it for yourself.

    Now trying to figure out the truth in any of this is going to make finding a needle in a haystack a cake walk.

  • Add two more Fakes to the Wall of Shame.

    We have two more examples to show off on how low people are going for attention. I would like to introduce to you MCCUNE, ROBERT CHARLES.

    He is claiming two purple hearts, Vietnam service with the 82nd Airborne Division, and A Warrant Officer. But his DD-214 says that the highest rank he got was a SFC with no combat deployments.

    But the next person make him look like a saint. Let me introduce to you Worden, Christopher James.

    Claims that he finished as Platoon Sergeant, but his DD-214 says otherwise. Also he was using laws that are meant to help Vets in succeed in the workforce.

    The said part is that this is just from last month and I have not covered all of the POW site for June.

  • Water, Water Everywhere.

    Normally what we have seen from the VFP is annoying antics and pointless protests. So this is why this is very interesting for me. It seems that there is a water project that is trying to get several treatment plants up and working and VFP seems to be running it. See for yourself.

    Veterans for Peace managed to raise close to $200,000 to repair six water treatment facilities which serve a population of more than 85,000 people. Plus, in a public display exhibiting support for the civilian population of Iraq, three teams of US service veterans traveled to Iraq on their own expenses and worked alongside the Iraqi laborers who are fixing the water facilities.

    I mean if this project is actually works it is a good thing, yet if they are running things like this then why are they bothering with useless actions like posting a banner on a empty building with a photo op?

  • A reply from Mrs Shelton

    Seems that Billy Shelton better half responded to the post about her husband’s military history.

    Billy is my husband and I just came across this website. I know him very well. He spent endless hours and days training Marcus and Morgan. He loves them like a his own, and they are not the only guys he trained. He did not charge a dime for his time and mental and physical training. How many of you out there give a d…. or would take hours out of your busy week to train young men, half of you don’t spend an hour a day with your own children.

    Yes, a few things he did say was wrong. When he was asked to do a book, he told the writer he wanted it to be about the workout, but that wasn’t good enough, they wanted more, more of what would sale a book, so he did say the wrong things, but never to make money, they are just p…. because they paid hime $35,000.00 and didn’t get to publish the book. Now he has been asked to pay it back.

    Morgan and Marcus were hurt, yes, but they still care about him, and talk to him, you all don’t know the whole story. Every book you read has been beefed up and every little detail is not the truth. So please before you criticize, have you ever made a mistake and been forgiven. He was never trying to make money off the book, the other people insisted on pushing for more on Marcus so they could sale the book. Even when he wanted to try and put together a ranch for wounded soldiers, they said they had to have Marcus envolved or it would not take off. People thrive on drama, the truth is Billy is a very loving compassionate man who cares very much for his family and the men and women who serve his country. He has spent hours physically and mentally training young men, no money paid, because he had the ability to do so and wanted to. His work out is very different from any other.

    You spend one day in Viet Nam back in the 60’s, rather combat or not, tell me how you liked it, and how did it effect you? We have lots of pix from over there and yes men in his group where killed. I could go on and on, but this person is trying to discredit a man who did a lot for those boys and others and they don’t hate him. Ask them yourself.

    My reply;

    Except that this is not a simple lie or mistake. This is him pretending to be something he is not and lie about being some place that he was not.

    While his actions in helping people is commendable and should not be ignored. It should not be ignored that he pretended to be a Special Forces Sergeant and claim extra tours that he did not do. Also regardless what they wanted it is still a lie. A lie that he was about to make 35,000 dollars on the the blood sweat and tears of those who passed and served as real Special Forces. Those who served multiple tours as combat vets. All of gain with none of the suffering. Again this is not just a “simple” mistake.

    I spent 14 months in Iraq, while not Vietnam I can tell you that is has not caused me to inflate my military service. Again while he served honorable with one tour, consider this. What about the people that where still in Vietnam when your husband claimed he was there when in reality was home safe in the United States doing a job that he never was qualified to do. If he was such a hard charger then why did he not go to Q school?

    Yet despite all of this you want us to view this as a simple white lie like when a kids gets caught eating cookies before supper.

    All in all it can be argued that he did good things but just because I agree with his other actions compared to those that i do not for example Jesse Macbeth is not a excuse for not calling on someone lying about their military service. More so to this extent.

    I mean I still caught grief trying to add my second Star to my Iraqi Campaign medal even when I brought in proof along with my ERB and deployment orders saying that I could add it.

    To the point the good is not enough for us to overlook the mistakes made by this man.