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

Category: Military issues

  • WWII POW helps match service dogs with warriors

    Susan sent us this story about a World War II veteran who was shot down and captured by Germans then returned home to continue serving by matching service dog’s with this generation’s wounded warriors (Fox News link).

    “It is a shame.” Stovroff says about the lack of an official federal program that pairs up battle-injured veterans with guide and therapy animals that can greatly improve their rehabilitation. “I wanted to do something about it.”

    Stovroff has raised nearly $2 million dollars to help train and match up service canines with wounded combat vets. Stovroff is also pushing lawmakers for federal funding to finance the program that he says has received lots of bi-partisan praise.

    Stovroff is not someone who shirks away from a tough mission.

    Stovroff is not just a World War II vet, but a Distinguished Flying Cross recipient whose own personal tale reads like a Hollywood movie.

    You should read the whole story because I can’t do it justice here.

  • World Can’t Wait protests NAACP

    It seems that the World Can’t Wait and their attendant affiliates got angry at the NAACP “Diversity Career Fair” at their annual convention earlier this month. In the post-racial era, the Left decided that people of color shouldn’t be allowed the opportunity to serve their country and reap the benefits of the service. And who is surprised that Matthis Chiroux was on hand;

    The demonstration was a follow up to a press conference held on Saturday July 11th, the opening day of the convention where Benjamin Jealous, CEO and President of the NAACP, was asked by a high school student and a military mother why military recruiters were invited to recruit, given that the NAACP had come out against the Iraq war. Benjamin Jealous refused to disinvite the Army Strong Recruitment Tour and said that the recruiters would not be recruiting.

    At the press conference this afternoon Debra Sweet, representatives of the Ya Ya Youth Network, revolution youth, war resister Mathis Chiroux, and Barbara Harris all spoke very eloquently as to why the NAACP should not allow military recruiters into its convention. The main points driven home were that the wars/occupations decided to go inside the convention to see what the Army Strong Tour was doing. What we found was appalling. Over 60% over the Diversity Career Fair was military.

    That’s horrible – unless you factor in that the military is the most color-blind facet of our society and has been for decades. In fact, one Black recruiter got a first hand look of the racist attitude of the writer of this piece;

    The recruiter tried to defend recruitment by going into what the navy had done for her. My activist friend began to tell her she understood that this recruiter felt that the navy had done a lot for her but … This was when the conversation was cut short by another Black male recruiter approaching us and demanding to know what we were doing there. He demanded that we leave and that if we didn’t we would be escorted out. My friend asked why. We were told we were being loud and disruptive.

    The Black female was obviously so stupid that she didn’t realize that the Navy had abused her somehow and it took a white loudmouthed Leftist to tell her how her life wasn’t really better.

    All WCW and the others will accomplish is convince more impoverished Blacks to be left out of the economy. According to the Stars and Stripes this morning, the basic training stations are jam-packed with new recruits;

    A sagging economy, declining casualty rate in Iraq and a resurgence in the U.S. military’s popularity appear to have contributed to a strong recruiting year, Army leaders said.

    And the steady training schedule at Fort Jackson is likely to continue into next year as recruits find themselves on a waiting list to report for duty.

    “Shipping dates are anywhere from six weeks to two to three months out,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jay Jenkins, who works at the Army’s downtown Columbia recruiting station.

    So instead of helping minorities out their poverty, WCW and Matthis Chiroux are content to leave them mired in their unfortunate circumstances. Oh, and here’s a little bit about World Can’t Wait from Discover the Networks;

    Founded in June 2005 by Charles Clark Kissinger, a longtime leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party, World Can’t Wait (WCW) is a direct action movement seeking to organize “people living in the United States to take responsibility to stop the whole disastrous course led by the Bush administration.”

    I guess that’s where the money is, huh, Matthis? Did it suddenly dry up in Alabama?

    Thanks to Navy Brat for the link.

  • 40-year-old C-rat pound cake still “good”

    col-moak

    I watched a short clip on Fox News last night that made my mouth water a little. It was about Colonel Henry A. Moak, Jr. who retired from the Army yesterday. According to the story, while he was a helicopter pilot, someone gave him a C-ration pound cake that he vowed to eat when he retired.

    For anyone who doesn’t know, the pound cake was the most prized item out of all of the C-rations’ delights. Second was a can of peaches. If you had them both at the same time, you knew you were in for a real treat when you mixed them later on – out of sight of the rest of your squad, of course.

    Anyway, Col. Moak cracked open the can of heavenly sweetness in the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes after his retirement ceremony and pronounced it “good”. I’ll bet it was.

    But what do I know – I look forward to my Saturday morning SOS breakfast at the messhall – and lament that the eggs aren’t dehydrated.

  • Stupid Bush news

    The New York Times tries to make us believe that President Bush was tempted to send US troops into the streets to arrest the Lackawanna Six with this headline;

    bushnazi1

    Of course, according to the article, Darth Cheney advocated for the US of Federal troops to round up the terrorists. It was a proposal that was never acted upon. I wonder how many people know these discussions go on every day as every administration engages in legal navel-gazing. But now this’ll become the standard answer to everyone who asks themselves if they should vote for a Republican.

    Decades after Nixon ruminated over sending the IRS after his enemies, it is part of the “Evil Nixon” caricature the Left likes to put forward. Nixon never used the IRS against his enemies – he merely asked the question once. Bush never sent troops to take out the Lackawanna Six, but a year from now that’s not what the conspiracy nuts will be saying.

    Still, at least one high-level meeting was convened to debate the issue, at which several top Bush aides argued firmly against the proposal to use the military, advanced by Mr. Cheney, his legal adviser David S. Addington and some senior Defense Department officials.

    Among those in opposition were Condoleezza Rice, then the national security adviser; John B. Bellinger III, the top lawyer at the National Security Council; Robert S. Mueller III, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Michael Chertoff, then the head of the Justice Department’s criminal division.

    The discussions did not proceed far enough to put military units on alert.

    And yet, somehow, it’s news.

    Actually, it makes no sense to use US troops the way law enforcement these days are trained and equipped almost exactly like the military. The only feasible reason is to make a political statement. And I don’t think the American people want to hear that political statement.

    If it was the Obama Administration having this discussion (and who says they aren’t) The New York Times would be applauding him for keeping a cooler head. So where’s the applause for Bush making the right decision?

  • Caregiver care

    As many of you know, I’m blessed by geography because every Saturday morning I get to have my favorite breakfast (Army SOS on scrambled eggs and a biscuit) with my favorite people (those young people who’ve paid the price for my freedom) at the Walter Reed messhall. No matter how I feel when I get there, my spirits are raised by the great attitudes I encounter there.

    No matter what their injuries are, they always have a smile, they always have a firm hand shake and they’re always humble about their injuries and optimistic about their futures.

    The hardest part, though, is to look into the eyes of 20-something wives faced with an uncertain future of caring for the men they love unconditionally. I just want to give them all a hug if it didn’t make me look like a dirty old man (mostly because I’m unclean and an old man).

    Well, the good news is that Congress is considering a bill to improve the support for family caregivers next week in House Resolution 3155 – Caregiver Assistance and Resource Enhancement Act (you can see it at thomas.loc.gov). I’m no lawyer, but looking at the resolution and the U.S. Code that it modifies (38 U.S.C. 111, 1720B , 1720G, and 1782) it provides for training, counseling and lodging and subsistence for family caregivers.

    According to the email TSO sent me;

    The July 2007 report of the President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors (Dole-Shalala Commission) found that of the 1,730 injured OEF/OIF veterans surveyed, about 21 percent of active duty, 15 percent of the reserve, and 24 percent of retired or separated service members had friends or family who gave up a job to be a caregiver.

    This bill, by no means a panacea, goes a long way towards making a down payment on the debt we owe these wonderful young people.

    The bill’s sponsor is Rep Michaud, Michael H. [ME-2] and the co-sponsors are;
    Rep Brown, Corrine [FL-3] – 7/20/2009
    Rep Crenshaw, Ander [FL-4] – 7/20/2009
    Rep Donnelly, Joe [IN-2] – 7/9/2009
    Rep Halvorson, Deborah L. [IL-11] – 7/9/2009
    Rep Klein, Ron [FL-22] – 7/21/2009
    Rep Rodriguez, Ciro D. [TX-23] – 7/9/2009
    Rep Smith, Christopher H. [NJ-4] – 7/20/2009
    Rep Teague, Harry [NM-2] – 7/9/2009
    Rep Wolf, Frank R. [VA-10] – 7/21/2009

    So I’m calling my uber-Leftist Congressman Chris VanHollen Monday and find out why he’s not a co-sponsor. I’m sure it’s not his fault.

  • Hero Care on Beck

    In case you missed it, Blackfive was on Glen Beck this afternoon talking about Veteran Care.

    If you care, click the Warrior Legacy Foundation button in the top right corner of this blog, join and donate.

  • On Bowe Bergdahl

    Some of you may have been waiting for me to write something more about PFC Bowe Bergdahl, the captured soldier who appears to be held by the Taliban. I’ve got some opinions, but I’d rather hold off until he gets recovered. In the meantime some folks who are much better informed than I are writing some brilliant stuff at their own places.

    First you should read Greyhawk at Mudville Gazette. And someone who seems to know more than he’s telling us is Bouhammer. He also has the complete 28-minute video.

    Speaking of videos, this one of LTC Ralph Peters on Fox News was absolutely uncalled for. Peters may know something the rest of us don’t know, but he should just shut up until Bergdahl is back in our custody;

    But I understand why he calls Bergdahl a liar – I’d say stupid shit if I was talking to Julie Banderas, too.

    Added: Jimbo says it’s time for the media to have a nice hot, steamy cup of STFU.

    Michelle Malkin has updates to her post that make references to a note and desertion.

  • Video of captured troop in Afghanistan discovered

    captive-dog-tags

    The Washington Times reports that a video has been discovered of the person they’re calling “the US soldier” who went missing on June 30;

    It was the first time the soldier has been seen since he went missing from his base in eastern Afghanistan on June 30. The Taliban announced July 6 that it had captured the soldier.

    The Associated Press, which first reported on the video, said two Pentagon officials have confirmed that the man in the video was the missing soldier.

    So here’s part of the video from ABC (thanks to Greyhawk).

    There’s also six minutes of the video on YouTube from CNN. watch it while it lasts;

    According to the Associated Press story on the subject, the soldier tells a different story than the Pentagon regarding the circumstances of his capture;

    He said the date was July 14 and that he was captured when he lagged behind on a patrol.

    But according to DoD;

    On July 2, the U.S. military said an American soldier had disappeared after walking off his base in eastern Afghanistan with three Afghan counterparts and was believed to have been taken prisoner.

    I lean towards the DoD’s version, because I find it hard to believe that an NCO would let a straggler in his unit lag so far behind that he could be captured.

    Asked how he was doing, the soldier said on the video:

    “Well I’m scared, scared I won’t be able to go home. It is very unnerving to be a prisoner.”

    He begins to answer questions in a matter-of-fact and sober voice, occasionally facing the camera, looking down and sometimes looking to the questioner on his left.

    He later chokes up when discussing his family and his hope to marry his girlfriend.

    Whatever the circumstances of his capture, I hope he’s returned safely and uninjured and that many Taliban die horrible, excruciating deaths when he’s rescued.