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

Category: Support the troops

  • Colorado town to replace hero’s gravestone

    David Chacon was killed in Vietnam more than forty years ago and his gravestone was vandalized soon after he was returned to his family. Now his hometown is holding a fundraiser to restore the gravestone of their Silver Star hero;

    His citation from the U.S. Marines states that he was in Quang Tri Province in Vietnam on Feb. 22, 1969 when they were attacked by hundreds of Vietcong soldiers. David Chacon charged a machine gun nest and took out the enemy, but was shot and killed by another enemy soldier. “His heroic and timely actions inspired all those who observed him,” the citation states.

    So, on Saturday, friends and family are having a breakfast fundraiser at the Valley High School cafeteria in Gilcrest, the same building where the flag that draped David Chacon’s coffin is on display. Also in front of Valley High is a stone memorial, dedicated to David Chacon.

    If you can stop by tomorrow, here are particulars;

    WHERE: Valley High School cafeteria, 1001 Birch St. Gilcrest

    COST: $8 for adults, $4 children under 10

    MENU: Chorizo and eggs, potatoes, tortillas, menudo.

  • Baccardi, the USO and the troops – a great mix

    The folks at Baccardi wrote me yesterday and admitted that they wanted to help the troops by giving $100k to the USO and asked me to tell you about their 60-Second Cocktails;

    Civilian and military readers alike understand the USO’s important mission to raise morale for soldiers overseas. From Operation Enduring Care to the Celebrity Entertainment Tour, the USO has been providing a home away from home for American servicemen and women since World War II. As (editor/author/contributor) for one of the most popular military blogs on the internet, we need your help spreading the word: please encourage your readers to visit the fan page and contribute to the USO!

    On the “60 Second Cocktails” Facebook page, your readers will find easy grilling and cocktail recipes using Bacardi products from celebrity chef John Besh and seasoned mixologist Bryan Stowe, both former Marines. The “60 Second Cocktail Program” is a great resource for summer BBQ, and an easy way to give to the USO.

    Flattery will get you everywhere, Baccardi. So all you have to do is click the picture above which will take you to the Facebook page and click the “Donate” buttons and Baccardi will make your donation for you. And, oh, drink some Baccardi.

    They also sent me some recipes for some drinks you can practice making this weekend. I put them below the jump;
    (more…)

  • Better late then never.

    Every once and a while I look up Fort Benning to see if anything comes up. Well today I found this.

    Richard Dion can tell the story of his service in Vietnam with a few specific numbers. There’s the number of times he was shot during his service: three. The number of years he served: three. He can finally put a number on another chapter of his story after an awards ceremony at the Paramus Memorial Veterans Home Monday. It’s the number of years it took to receive the medals he earned for his sacrifice: 43.

    I figured that we have been talking about losers and scumbags that we change subject.

    “It’s an honor,” said Dion, 66, who served in Vietnam from 1965 to 1967, including at the Ia Drang Valley battle, and lives at the Veterans Home. “It’s a long time coming, for one. I’m just proud to be able to have served and earned them.”

    Dion received five medals in a ceremony his family said was overlooked when he returned home from the war. Each medal was pinned on his chest by Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, who traveled from Washington, D.C. for the occasion. At the end, his 95-year old mother, members of his extended family and a crowd of residents and local veterans’ representatives shouted the word that, in the Army, covers everything from ‘Congratulations,’ to ‘Yessir,’ to ‘I’m at a loss for words:’ “Hooah!” they said.

    It is nice to see stuff like this get fixed. Seemed that this is more common then one would think. But it is not just about the awards, pins and medals. These are the things that represent the things the each person faced in war.

    … her father struggled with nightmares and asked his wife to help remove the shrapnel that periodically surfaced from a wound in his neck…

    It is something that fakes and phonies will never get. So going out with with a fitting quote I will have to go with this one.

    “This was not the reception he got when he came home, she said. “This was our time to do it right.”

  • Nine month deployments?

    Some of you may have seen that story in the Army Times about a planned reduction from twelve to nine and have at least two years dwell time. The proposed plan would go into effect in two years.

    “We know 12 months is too long to sustain repeatedly, and we know that six months is too short for the operational environment,” he said, adding “so once we get demand down to about 10 brigade combat teams, we’re looking to revert to nine-month deployments,” Casey said.

    I wonder is this possible with the fact the it took a extension of three months to have the number of troops needed for Iraq. Even with the draw down in Iraq, would we be able to maintain a nine month deployment cycle for such combat zones like Afghanistan?

    It seems like a good idea on paper with any people going on multiple tours with dwell time being a year or shorter before going again.

    “We’re not going to get there, I don’t think, in the next two years, but shortly after that I think we’d be able to do something,” Casey said. “Right now, the volume of the deployments is just too fast, too much.”

    But that is the whole point of a reduce deployment cycle is to be used to reduce the stress from a multiple deployments. So if the face that we cannot do it with the high level of deployments now what is going to change in two years if the tempo is the same.

    I mean over all a nice thought, but I do not think that is is possible. I mean for a while the twelve months was not enough. So expect this policy to not last very long or being postponed all together.

  • Worthy of note.

    Well I am back from EFMB, I got a no go on the land nav so I plan on going again in 2011 when it comes to Fort Richardson. But before I start talking about someone before anything else.

    I would like to introduce to you then PV2 Philip Canafax a medic for the 1st Armored Division 1st Infantry Division. I found out about him from his Sgt Romano(sp?) his immediate supervisor.

    I would talk about the fact that when Canafax arrived at the unit there was not enough time to train him as he would have liked. So he gave him three medical books to study in the two weeks before they where going to Iraq. Every time he saw Canafax he would demand him to show the books and prove that he was actually reading them.

    Also he drove a point to never let anyone go without medical treatment. The results of his actions should be proof enough that he took it to heart. Another medic that was there said that they had to restrain him because he wanted to drive the injured to the base even though he was also wounded.

    EDIT
    Philip Canafax : “I’d say restrain was a strong word, strongly convince maybe.”

    So after December 2008, he was at a WTB unit for about six months recovering, during that time Sgt Romano said that he was getting worried about him getting too thin. He even thought about breaking him out of WTU. But he found out that he was working at the hospital and was being well fed. He said that Canafax was loving life and just recently purchased a Harley-Davidson bike.

    So I promised Sgt Romano that I would write about him when I got a chance.

    I will write about how the EFMB went shortly.

    EDIT

    I wrote to him and got a reply

    Cool, I haven’t talked to Sgt Romano for a bit. I ended up being in the WTU at BAMC for a year unfortunately but now I have returned to full duty and work at the hospital full time. No Harley for me though, people drive too crazy in San Antonio, rather not temp fate another time.

  • WLF supports veterans pending deportation

    The Warrior Legacy Foundation is lending their support to two brothers who are facing deportation despite the fact that they are veterans, one served in Vietnam. From KRDO.com;

    Manuel and Valente Valenzuela, brothers and Vietnam Veterans, They continue to fight against impending deportation, but now they have the support of a national organization.

    “What we’ve done for America, we are proud of it, and it isn’t going to hurt to stand up,” said Manuel

    The men were born in Mexico to an American mother, and may be deported for minor crimes committed years ago. Manuel is a Marine and Valente a Soldier. After NEWSCHANNEL13’s interview the pair in, many called their claims fake.

    The Warrior Legacy Foundation decided to work with the Valenzuelas to determine the authenticity of their story. The foundation is tasked with preserving the history of people who individuals that truly served.

    “Everything we were able to pull matched what they had,” said John Wagner of the Warrior Legacy Foundation.

    Manuel said the support has renewed his belief in the America he defended.

    ”These people stepped in to help me, and it’s been building me back up to say ‘thank God I served the country.’”

    I know TAH has a reputation for tearing into phony soldiers and we did our best to tear into these brothers, but we haven’t found anything wrong with their records, with the help of POW Net.

    We’re proud of the small part we’ve played in this case so far, and unless the government can come up with a better case against the Valenzuelas, I think their resources would be better employed against real illegal immigrants instead of these two brothers – they’ve earned their place in this country.

  • Elks bring generations of Vets together

    Will C. sent us this link to an article about an Elks Lodge which is hosting wounded soldiers from Walter Reed next month and they’re inviting World War II veterans to meet with the younger generation.

    The Rocky Mount Elks Lodge #1038 is inviting area World War II veterans for lunch with about 50 wounded soldiers from Walter Reed Army Medical Center at noon June 1 at the lodge at 2750 N. Church St.

    Transportation and special accommodations will be available.

    The wounded soldiers are traveling from Washington, D.C., to Myrtle Beach courtesy of the Myrtle Beach Elks Lodge, leaving on May 27. Wilson Elks Lodge will feed travelers dinner on the way down to Myrtle Beach.

    When the soldiers stop in Rocky Mount, the Elks Lodge will host a luncheon for the soldiers traveling back to D.C. Planners said they hope the luncheon draws more than 100 World War II veterans and area leaders combined to the luncheon.

    Despite the decades and the technology that separate these two amazing generations of soldiers, I’m sure there are things they share – things every soldier shares with every other soldier. I know that meeting WWII veterans in my early career influenced me in the coming years.

  • Honor in the Valley of Tears

    Iron Knight sends this link of a band of Vietnam “brothers” led by their father figure;

    The documentary, Honor in the Valley of Tears, recalls the event and the lives of the men affected.

    “They have such a profound respect and love for him,” said New York City filmmaker John Ponsoll, whose father served under [1st Sgt. David H.] McNerney. “My dad lights up like a Christmas tree when he gets to talk of one of his war buddies.”
    Band of brothers

    Wanting to learn more about his father’s time in Vietnam, Ponsoll and filmmaker Eric Dow crisscrossed the country interviewing veterans. The two quickly dis covered not many enjoyed discussing their own experiences, instead always circling back to McNerney, who was their trainer at Fort Lewis, Wash., and then signed on to lead them in the field.

    “I kind of felt they needed all the help they could get, and they were my boys,” McNerney said.

    Read the whole story and take a box of tissues.