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

Author: StrikeFO

  • Why The Military Times Is A Joke

    At the Military Blogging Conference a few weeks ago, Jonn made the case (rightly so) for going after the media and calling them out when they do wrong. Well what happens when the media is supposed to be “our media.” The publications and press that cover the military exclusively?

    We’ll call them out too.

    This is the latest cover of the Marine Corps Times, which falls under the umbrella of the Military Times. Take a good look. It’s not Weekly World News, Star Magazine, or the National Enquirer. It’s a publication that is sold at every Marine Corps installation and read by Marines worldwide.

    The most important story, or lead, is about a “swinger couple”. That’s the attention grabber. That’s the one that’s supposed to make you pick this up and take it to the register and put down three dollars and fifty cents.

    Now look to the right: 2 Navy Crosses, which they then term, “Legendary Badassery”. Yeah, that was certainly the case. Then right below that, the Faces of the Fallen. Apparently the fact that two Marines earned our nation’s second-highest award isn’t exciting enough.

    During the engagement, Wooldridge snatched a machine gun from the hands of an enemy fighter and, following a tense struggle on the ground, killed his opponent by striking him in the head with the weapon’s butt stock. The remaining Taliban then retreated, ending a potentially deadly ambush against Wooldridge’s platoon, according to an account of the battle provided to Marine Corps Times in late 2010.

    This must be a pretty boring story, according to Military Times. The rest of the media will not cover these amazing acts of heroism — at least not enough. They are brushed aside as one-minute segments at the end of the broadcast, pushed to page D12 of the newspaper and forgotten. Politics, the economy, and what Lady Gaga is wearing is much more important.

    And Military Times has fallen in line.

  • More on the Parade In Richmond

    I’m sure Jonn will be back soon with some good photos from the event, but just wanted to pass along that the parade was a success and had some media coverage as well. From the Military Times:

    Thousands of people turned out for the parade, which ended with a free outdoor concert and what organizers call a veterans’ resource exposition. Active-duty personnel and veterans from all military service branches marched in the parade alongside high school marching bands, Army and Air Force units and the Marine Band.

    “I’m absolutely thrilled that everybody took the time out to support the military,” said Army Staff Sgt. Jason Harich, a parade participant who has served two tours each in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    “In my 17 years, I have never seen an event like this, and I am honored and thrilled that it is being done,” Harich said. “This is how I like to see our community, together as one.”

    There are also some photos at the Richmond-Times Dispatch.

     

  • Posthumous Medal of Honor Awarded To Leslie Sabo for Actions In Cambodia

    Jonn wrote about the announcement of this award back in April, but I just wanted to highlight this hero once again who was awarded the Medal of Honor yesterday, albeit over 40 years late due to the loss of his paperwork.

    From Military Times:

    Spc. Leslie H. Sabo Jr. of Elwood City, Pa., was serving with U.S. forces near the village of Se San in eastern Cambodia in May of 1970 when his unit was ambushed and nearly overrun by North Vietnamese forces.

    Comrades testified that the rifleman charged up from the rear, grabbed an enemy grenade and tossed it away, using his body to shield a fellow soldier. And shrugging off his own injuries, Sabo advanced on an enemy bunker that had poured fire onto the U.S. troops — and then, pulled the pin on his own grenade.

    “It’s said he held that grenade and didn’t throw it until the last possible moment, knowing it would take his own life but knowing he could silence that bunker,” Obama recounted. “And he did. He saved his comrades, who meant more to him than life.”

    There’s more info and video at the link.

  • StrikeFO Goes To Washington (MilBlogCon From Another Angle)

    So apparently everyone on here likes to introduce themselves. My name is Paul, I’m a Marine infantry vet, and I DO have a DD-214. My call sign is StrikeFO. Instead of blathering on about where I’ve been and what I’ve done, I figured I’d write a story about the conference. This one is going to be a long one, but I think it’s fairly entertaining. Enjoy.

    I showed up to D.C. around 11am on Thursday. My best friend from my first infantry battalion (3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, 81s Platoon) picked me up. We hadn’t seen each other in about 4 years, but we talk on the phone every so often. He had a sign like he was a limo driver making a pickup that said, “Munson, Roy E.” With this, I knew it was the start of a great trip.

    So we left the airport and headed over to another friend from 3/3’s house in Alexandria — Shawn. I hadn’t seen him in over 6 years. We took a drive to get something to eat in Old Town. Within about 5 minutes, we were back to telling the same old jokes, calling each other dipshits, and telling stories we hadn’t told in years. The military bond truly is amazing.

    After lunch we dropped Shawn off and Chris and I went into D.C. (via Metro) to be tourists for the rest of the day. We got off at the National Archives and walked up the Mall. We had a brief departure over to the Korean War Memorial, which is truly amazing. If you haven’t been — it’s a small wall with the faces of soldiers etched into it looking out on a platoon on patrol. The most important part of the wall states that “Freedom Is Not Free.” We took some pictures then headed to the Lincoln Memorial. We got to say hi to Abe, read the Gettysburg Address, sit on the steps of the memorial like we were in Wedding Crashers, and then we moved on. We also saw a group of kids on a tour who were forced to wear reflective belts. Looks like Army and Marine Corps regs are spreading.

    We pulled out the iPhones to figure out the best route to get to the Marine Corps Memorial. We were going to take the Arlington Bridge but we thought we found a better way. We were wrong. We ended up literally running through traffic and then playing the “if you can dodge traffic, you can dodge a ball” game. We miraculously survived and then made it to the memorial. We took some photos at the base and then we thought we would head back.

    We were planning on going the following day but since we were so close, we decided to go to Arlington Cemetary. It was around 6:30pm so (luckily) most of the dipshit tourists that don’t understand what hallowed ground means were not there. We walked to Section 60 together – myself for the third time, him for the sixth – retelling stories of our friend and mentor, Staff Sergeant Jason Ramseyer. (more…)