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

Category: Support the troops

  • February Updates from the South Pacific

    From USPACOM.mil, some current updates:  http://www.pacom.mil/Media/News/Year/2018/

    USS Rushmore recently concluded its participation in Operation Iron Fist, a cooperative exercise between US and Japanese military forces off the coast of southern California.

    http://www.pacom.mil/Media/News/News-Article-View/Article/1436114/uss-rushmore-concludes-exercise-iron-fist-2018/

    VP Pence spent some time at Yokota Air Base, Japan, addressing the troops, highlighting the range of US military capabilities in regard to common defense of our allies, as well as the issue of North Korea and its current leader, Kim Jong-un.

    Regarding health care in Pago Pago, Samoa for American Samoan vets, the VA has only an outpatient clinic available, no emergency care, so they’re going to Hawaii for VA care. It’s a 17-hour trip on an island-hopping tourist plane, which can be hard on anyone with a serious health issue. https://www.hawaii.va.gov/locations/pago_pago_american_samoa.asp

    This does need to be fixed. If there is a hospital with emergency services on these islands, these vets should not be required to make an arduous, painful and debilitating trip to get help.

    http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/ID/20504/Congress-to-Investigate-Lack-of-VA-Care-in-Pacific-Island-Territories.aspx

    Out in the middle of nowhere:

    You may remember that Wake Island was an important launch point and base for USAAF pilots doing bombing runs in the Pacific. The Japanese attacked the island from a base on Kwajalein on Dec. 8, 1941.

    A garrison of 449 U.S. Marines, several dozen navy personnel, and a handful of army radio operators also were stationed on Wake. That force had nearly 2,100 fewer troops than American strategists had deemed necessary to properly defend the atoll. The island’s defenders were equipped with six 5-inch (127-mm) coastal artillery pieces, 12 3-inch (76-mm) antiaircraft guns, 12 F4F Wildcat fighter planes, and an assortment of machine guns and small arms. Forty-five Guamanian men, employed by Pan American Airways as part of its transpacific Clipper service, rounded out the atoll’s human population. – Source: https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Wake-Island

    Prior to the attack, the Wake Island group had been a stopover for tourists and vacationers going  to and from the Orient.

    Right now, the population consists of about four U.S. military personnel and some contractors. Their big deal is the shanty they use as a bar and the karaoke that goes with it. They also have a Facebook page. Stuck out there in the middle of nowhere, they feel like they’re in their own little country.

    https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1431996/wake-island-embodies-reality-of-america-as-pacific-power/

    So when USMC GEN Dunford paid a visit to Wake Island in January, it was part of his tour to visit US bases in the Pacific. Other people would probably just bypass it, but he stopped there.  I think they’d welcome visitors at any time, and that was a thoughtful thing for him to do. No, I don’t know exactly what construction is going on there, but the old guns that were installed are still there on the beachhead.

    The island was an excellent spot to view the last eclipse.There’s a schedule of future lunar and solar eclipses that can be viewed from the island. It’s also a bird sanctuary for birds that make trans-Pacific migration with the Wake Islands atoll en route as a rest stop.

    And finally, you may also remember Tinian. It was that little spit of an island in the Marianas that was used as the launch point for delivering The Bomb to tell Japan we meant business.

    For Tinian’s affairs today, here’s something from the Marianas Variety about Tinian. They’re looking for how to best present historic material to the public.

    http://www.mvariety.com/cnmi/cnmi-news/local/101299-air-force-seeks-public-input-for-tinian-interpretive-plan

    Any suggestions (no snarkking, please) can be sent to the address in the article.

  • Goodell: NFL has already done enough to honor veterans

    The Daily Wire reports that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell explained that the reason the NFL rejected the AMVET ad entitled #Please Stand that we talked about last week, because they’ve done enough to honor vets.

    “It’s not an indication of any lack of support,” Goodell told media after being questioned about the AMVETS ad. “We have a VFW ad that talks about, celebrates the important work that our veterans are doing, and of course you all know we’re going to have 15 Medal of Honor winners that we’re bringing together at the Super Bowl, which I think is the largest number of Medal of Honor winners ever brought together at any event other than their annual national gathering.”

    I don’t know what a “Medal of Honor winner” is, but apparently their presence is good enough to make up for the sad spectacle that the NFL has become in the last year or so.

  • AFN viewers victims of Schumer shutdown

    AFN viewers victims of Schumer shutdown

    Stars & Stripes reports that troops overseas have lost some of their programming on the Armed Forces Radio and TV networks.

    Classical music was playing on its radio and television stations and the network posted a message online that said AFN services were not available due to the government shutdown.

    The loss of AFN programming means U.S. military personnel overseas would have to find another way to watch the NFL’s NFC and AFC football championship games. The network received some angry comments on Facebook from viewers about the timing, though some of the ire was directed at members of Congress.

    “No NFL divisional championship games … perfect timing … I bet members of congress are gonna watch it,” someone wrote on AFN Europe’s Facebook page.

    I hope that they’re still running those great advertisements that made AFRTS the programming giant that it is. Otherwise, how would the troops know to shut off the lights when they leave a room?

    It wasn’t immediately known Saturday why AFN went off the air completely. In October 2013, the last time the federal government shut down, AFN maintained news and some radio services.

    My son told me that they have satellite TV in many areas now, so, I’m not sure how the AFN shut down affects the troops overseas.

  • Thanks to CVMA Colorado for their support

    Thanks to CVMA Colorado for their support

    I want to thank Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association for supporting my son’s small unit some place where there is a lot of sand. One of the doctors built a pizza oven and CVMA Colorado sent them some pizza fixin’s. Here’s the result;

    It’s nice to see that some folks haven’t forgotten our troops are still fighting a war.

  • Chick Donohue’s “greatest beer run” to Vietnam

    Chick Donohue’s “greatest beer run” to Vietnam

    The Daily Caller recounts the story of Chick Donohue’s “greatest beer run” which began as a conversation with a bartender. Chick was discussing the anti-war demonstrations when the bartender quipped that someone should go to Vietnam and give the troops a pat on the back and a beer.

    Mr. Donohue took these words seriously and got a job as an oiler on the Drake Victory, a merchant ship taking ammunition from New York to Vietnam. He shipped out with beer and any information he could find regarding his friends stationed overseas.

    He arrived in Qui Nhon harbor, where his friend Tom Collins was stationed. “Chickie Donohue, what the hell are you doing here?” Collins said when he saw Donohue get off the boat. Donohue replied, “I came to bring you a beer.”

    “[Donohue] came through at a time when society didn’t want us and the protesters were on us … but that’s Chickie,” Collins said. “He’s one of the nicest but craziest guys you ever want to meet.”

    Then Donohue hitched a ride on a mail plane to Khe Sanh to make a delivery to Rick Duggan, his friend who was with the 1st Cavalry Division there.

    “When he showed up, I felt like I was in ‘The Twilight Zone,’” Duggan said. “All my guys were flabbergasted, asking, ‘You mean he’s here voluntarily?’”

    Needless to say, everyone called BS on Chick when he told the story, so he wrote a book about his adventure; “The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A True Story of Friendship Stronger Than War”

    Thanks to Mick for the link.

  • The battle for Camp Nett

    The battle for Camp Nett

    My old Ranger buddy, Jack Hennessy, is a state legislator in Connecticut these days and according to the New Haven Register, he’s working an issue he has concerning the naming of a National Guard Training Center. Connecticut has two Medal of Honor recipients who served in Connecticut National Guard units, Robert B. Nett and Lee R. Hartell. Lieutenant Hartell was awarded his Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions in Korea and the Connecticut National Guard has named Camp Hartell in his memory.

    Robert Nett earned his Medal of Honor in the Pacific during World War II also as a member of the Connecticut National Guard and as lieutenant. He later went on to serve in the Korean War and eventually the Vietnam War serving for 33 years. Before he retired as a colonel, he was listed in the Officer Candidate School and Ranger Halls of Fame because of the work he did with those two programs. He passed away in 2008 at the age of 86 years.

    Jack Hennessy, at the request of military and veterans’ groups, wants to rename “Camp Niantic” to “Camp Nett” in his honor. Niantic is named for the town outside the gates. From what I am told, the process to honor Nett is being blocked by a local state representative, Holly Cheeseman, who prefers the camp named after the town it resides in, rather than honor a true hero like Col. Nett.

    Two of Nett’s supporters from New Haven’s 102nd Infantry Regiment, which Nett joined in 1940 as a 17-year-old Hillhouse High School student, don’t understand why the issue has become politicized. The roadblock also frustrates state Rep. Jack Hennessy, D-Bridgeport, co-chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, who sponsored House Bill 6285 at the request of military and veterans groups.

    They point out that Nett is one of just two Connecticut-native Medal of Honor winners who served in the National Guard. The other, Lt. Lee “Jack” Hartell, has a camp named for him in Windsor Locks.
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    “It’s a slap in the face to anybody who served, anybody who’s serving and to anybody who’s serving in the future,” said retired Brig. Gen. Dan McHale of Avon, who has been on a mission to honor Nett since the camp’s name was last changed in 2010. “This is probably the most decorated Connecticut veteran, a leader and a mentor.

    I think it is time to spread the word to bombard Holly Cheeseman’s office with emails/calls letting her know just what we think of her efforts to prevent a Medal of Honor recipient from this honor that he deserves in order to save her own political skin. Her direct office line is (860) 240-8761 and her email is Holly.Cheeseman@cga.ct.gov.

    House Bill No. 6285 reads;

    AN ACT RENAMING THE STATE MILITARY TRAINING FACILITY IN NIANTIC AS CAMP NETT.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

    Section 1. Section 27-39a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2017):

    The state military training facility in Niantic shall be named Camp [Niantic] Nett.

    From Colonel Nett’s MoH citation;

    Rank and organization: Captain (then Lieutenant), U.S. Army, Company E, 305th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Cognon, Leyte, Philippine Islands, 14 December 1944. Entered service at: New Haven, Conn. Birth: 13 June 1922, New Haven, Conn. G.O. No.: 16, 8 February 1946. Citation: He commanded Company E in an attack against a reinforced enemy battalion which had held up the American advance for 2 days from its entrenched positions around a 3 story concrete building. With another infantry company and armored vehicles, Company E advanced against heavy machine-gun and other automatic weapons fire with Lt. Nett spearheading the assault against the strongpoint. During the fierce hand to hand encounter which ensued, he killed 7 deeply entrenched Japanese with his rifle and bayonet and, although seriously wounded, gallantly continued to lead his men forward, refusing to relinquish his command. Again he was severely wounded, but still unwilling to retire, pressed ahead with his troops to assure the capture of the objective. Wounded once more in the final assault, he calmly made all arrangements for the resumption of the advance, turned over his command to another officer, and then walked unaided to the rear for medical treatment. By his remarkable courage in continuing forward through sheer determination despite successive wounds, Lt. Nett provided an inspiring example for his men and was instrumental in the capture of a vital strongpoint.

    From the New Haven Register;

    On Feb. 8, 1946, Nett received his Medal of Honor at the Goffe Street Armory in New Haven “because he knew that the men in his company didn’t have the money to take the train down to D.C.,” McHale said.

  • Senate report on Wounded Warrior Project

    AW1Ed sends us a link to the story of Senator Chuck Grassley’s report on the Wounded Warrior Project. You might remember that they fired their Chief Executive Officer, Steven Nardizzi last year;

    The charity had said it spent 80 cents of each donor dollar on programs for veterans, but Grassley says that included donated media, advertisements and “educational” fundraising solicitations to reach that number.

    And Grassley’s nearly 500-page report to the Senate Judiciary and Finance Committees found Wounded Warrior Project was spending only about 68 percent of donor dollars on programs for veterans.

    It also found the charity:

    lacked “sufficient policies and procedures to manage the organization…”
    misled donors about more than $65 million placed in a long-term trust that had not yet been spent on veterans.
    spent “excessive amounts” of money on travel, as well as fundraising and staff events.

    WWP responds that they have made necessary changes to their policies. A responsible veterans’ charity probably wouldn’t need a Senate investigation to spur them into compliance.

  • Walmart fills military pay gap

    Donald sends us a link to Walmart in which the company announced their intention to fill the gap differential for their military employees who find themselves called to active duty and taking a pay hit between the military and Walmart’s wages;

    Today, Walmart announced expansions to its military leave of absence policy, offering differential pay to all eligible military associates taking on assignments lasting more than three days and through the duration of leave – including basic training. With the enhancements going into effect June 24, Walmart has offered differential pay since 2008, meaning that if an associate’s military salary is less than what they were making at their job at Walmart, the company will pay them the difference while they are on a military leave of absence. In 2016, Walmart associates took more than 4,400 military leave of absences.

    The announcement continues;

    According to the U.S. Department of Defense, in 2016, more than 200,000 men and women serving in the military transitioned to civilian life, and many find it difficult to navigate multiple agencies offering job placement and other services. To date, Walmart hired more than 170,000 veterans since it announced its Veterans Welcome Home Commitment in May 2013*. Of those veteran hires, more than 22,000 have been promoted to jobs with higher pay and greater responsibility.

    On Memorial Day 2013, Walmart introduced the Veterans Welcome Home Commitment, which guaranteed a job offer to any eligible, honorably discharged U.S. veteran who was within 12 months of active duty. The initial goal was to hire 100,000 veterans by the end of 2018.

    Walmart says they’re also giving $100,000 to the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) which helps the survivors of troops who are killed on active duty. Good corporate citizenship.