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

Category: Support the troops

  • WWII Rangers meet for last time in Columbus?

    The rumor is that the survivors of the cliff scaling at Pointe du Hoc, the disaster at Cisterna, and the liberation of POWs at Cabanatuan are holding their last reunion this week in Fort Benning, Georgia, the home of today’s modern Rangers. The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer writes;

    Frank E. South lends no credence to the rumor his beloved World War II Rangers will be meeting for the last time when they gather for their annual reunion this week in Columbus.

    The former Army medic who served in the 2nd Ranger Battalion during World War II admitted that because of their rapidly dwindling ranks, Rangers from that era are beginning to discuss the possibility of a final gathering.

    “But on the other hand, there are some of us who say, ‘OK, even if there are a couple of tables of four of us, we’ll sit around the table and drink and talk and be as we always are, old comrades.’ But, I think the prevailing feeling is that we’ll go on as long as we can.”

    I remember meeting some of the original Rangers within the first few months after I joined the Army – listening to their stories and being able to share a few beers with them inspired me for the rest of my career. It’s a shame that there are so few left, but it’s a bigger shame they won’t be around to give inspiration to following generations. I wholeheartedly agree with the young Ranger quoted by WTVM;

    At a previous reunion in Iowa, one young Ranger described the experience of meeting Rangers of an earlier war as “walking among giants”….

    They’re the reason it’s well-known that “Rangers Lead The Way.”

  • On Target and COP Keating

    I have it on good authority that somehow our last post on what you guys did for the troops of COP Keating made it to Target’s CEO Gregg Steinhafel’s computer and he read your comments about shopping at Target to show your gratitude. So now you hafta do it, dammit.

    Maybe we all ought to go to our respective nearest Target on the same day and thank the manager for their corporation’s support? Saturday is good for me. Maybe post pictures of you with your local manager (no names, please)?

  • Combat Outpost Keating Relief Fund update

    In case you’re wondering what happened to the money you guys gave to the COP Keating fund, here’s the latest from the American Legion.

    In less than a week, an American Legion blog site raised more than $50,000, which Target matched with an additional $50,000 contribution, to help U.S. soldiers who were forced to destroy their camp and all of their possessions during a deadly Oct. 3 enemy attack in Afghanistan. In addition, Connecticut-based Computer Sciences Corporation has donated 56 laptop computers to the relief effort to replace those that were destroyed.

    The Combat Outpost Keating Relief Fund sprang to life on The American Legion’s Burn Pit blog site after one of the 56 surviving troops wrote in an e-mail that he believed no one at home had any idea what they were doing there, and that no one cared.

    “The American Legion, Target and all who contributed to the COP Keating Relief Fund have shown these brave soldiers that we do indeed care,” American Legion National Commander Clarence Hill said. “The relief fund contributions will help replace such things as digital cameras, video games, DVDs, books, memory cards, music players, and other personal items that give soldiers a break from the intensity of the war.”

    The early-October attack by Taliban-allied militants in the rugged Nuristan province of Afghanistan claimed the lives of eight American soldiers from Bravo Troop 3-61 Cavalry out of Fort Carson, Colo. The troops were forced to call in an artillery strike on their own position to destroy the camp before it was overrun.

    On Saturday, Oct. 24, members of The American Legion will go to a Target store near Fort Carson and purchase many of the items that will be shipped later in the month to Afghanistan. Also participating in the “packing party” at American Legion Post 209 in Colorado Springs will be members of Fort Carson’s Family Readiness Group. Similar shopping and packing events are planned for Minneapolis on Oct. 27 and Fairfax, Va., on Oct. 29. Target Volunteers will help assemble the packages in Fairfax.

    “Within a month of losing everything other than the clothes on their backs, these soldiers will have replacement items from home and a realization that they are not forgotten at war,” said Hill, who leads the nation’s largest veterans service organization. “It is our duty as a nation to stand by those who go in harm’s way on our nation’s behalf. Visitors of the Burn Pit, Target and Legionnaires across the country understand the importance of that duty.”

    “For years, Target has donated funds and volunteer hours to local and national veterans’ and military organizations,” said Laysha Ward, president, community relations, Target. “It is our hope that our contribution, along with other generous donors’ gifts, will show our thanks to the soldiers of COP Keating who are sacrificing so much for our country.”

    More from MOTHAX at the Burn Pit.

    TSO is on his way to Colorado at this writing to coordinate the delivery of the goods.

    I’m just wondering how dicksmith and Jon Soltz will manage to take credit for this, too.

  • 1st Armored Div soldier killed on leave

    Sporkmaster sent us a link to the story about a 20-year-old soldier named Cody Ryan Patterson, who was murdered while back home on leave from Iraq. The soldier happens to be the nephew of a blogger at The Rag Blog. The Daily Sentinel tells the story;

    Hill County Sheriff Jeffrey Lyons said Pvt. Cody Ryan Patterson, 20, suffered an apparent gunshot wound to his chest at a home in Blum, about 40 miles north of Waco. He was pronounced dead early Saturday morning.

    A Hill County jail spokesman said April Thompson, 25, of Odessa, was charged with manslaughter Sunday after she was arrested in Glen Rose, about 30 miles west of Blum.

    Patterson was assigned to the 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss, TX according to the Associated Press.

    UPDATED: I have added a few more links with more information and obituaries

    I am not sure when this was posted but here is a update in the case that ended in a plea deal

    An Odessa woman makes a plea deal in the shooting death of a central Texas soldier.

    24-year-old April Danielle Thompson was sentenced to six years in prison.

    Thompson says she accidentally shot 20-year old Cody Ryan Patterson in October of 2009.

  • Airmen walk across country to honor their comrades

    batons

    1stCavRVN11B sent us a link to an article in a local Air Force newsletter (here’s a .pdf of the newsletter, the article is on page 4) about two airmen who are walking from San Antonio, TX to Hurlburt Field in Florida to deliver batons representing 12 of their fallen comrades.

    Sergeant Spurlin and Sergeant Malson now have a chance to show just how special their fallen comrades were to them. On Oct. 6, two men loaded down with heavy 50-pound rucks containing memorial batons engraved with the names of 12 fallen teammates will take the first steps on a journey by foot that will span hundreds of miles of coastline. The trek will stretch from San Antonio to Hurlburt Field, and its main goal will be to honor fallen heroes in the war against terrorism.

    This 824-mile crossing begins where it all starts: the combat control selection course at Lackland Air Force Base’s Medina Annex in San Antonio, where all special tactics team members embark on their careers. At 5 a.m., the first duo will take initial steps toward Ft.Walton Beach, and Sergeant Spurlin and Sergeant Malson will be two of the 12 involved in the grueling march.

    In Louisiana, a local TV station taped this report on the duo;

  • Battle of COP Keating

    This is from The Burnpit;

    In the battle for Combat Outpost Keating, the men of Bravo Troop 361 Cavalry lost every possession they had, save for the clothes on their backs. Following this blog posting is information on how to donate to the Combat Outpost Keating Relief Fund. These men have lost friends, their outpost, and all their belongings. One soldier who made it out wrote that “most people back home dont even know, no one gives a ___”. Well, many of us do. And you can prove it by giving whatever you can. These guys need things like running shoes, and other essentials, as well as some comfort items like iPods and DVD players. The American Legion has kicked in $1000 to start the fund, and your humble blogger will be the first to donate $100. I intend to get these items out by the end of next week. ANY amount you can give, no matter how small will help us prove that we care.

    Go read the whole thing and give till it hurts.

  • GI Bill checks on time – finally

    Well, DVA Secretary Shinseki kept his word and started cutting checks for the new GI Bill today. This report from the American Legion in DC;

    eye-street-va-007_web

    “What are all these people doing here?” asked a befuddled worker, struggling through an unusually tightly packed front entrance to her Eye Street office building in downtown Washington, DC this morning. The colleague she queried was equally baffled. A young woman in the hundred–plus person crowd of unfamiliar faces gave them a clue, “We’re here to pick up our checks.”

    The checks to which the young lady referred are the Department of Veterans Affairs G.I. Bill emergency relief payments, designed to help unshoulder the burdens faced by many young veterans and their families suffering hardships due to late VA payments of their newly won educational benefits. Through the VA website and from news stories generated by The American Legion and others, members of the rapidly lengthening Eye Street queue had gotten the word. VA Secretary Shinseki had read the news stories of college-enrolled veterans’ hardships and done the right thing.

    When asked how the hiccup in the issuance of benefits checks had impacted her family, the young woman smiled thinly at her husband, gazed down at her stroller-bound infant, shook her head slowly and said, ”Wow! We’ve had to borrow money and shuffle bills — a lot of bills — around. It’s been really, really rough.”

    “And where are you from?”

    “Virginia Beach. We left at four this morning, but it was really worth the trip.”

    Yes, yes, the VA came through – but it’s the same thing they could have done a month ago without any prodding. Just to be clear, I think the preparations for this should have been started a year ago when President Bush signed the bill. But Democrats were bound and determined to get this bill passed with all of it’s faults, they should have stepped up and got ready to process these folks’ paperwork on time.

    I commend all of the VSOs for getting this stop-gap in place, but they’d better be prepared to put needles down on the DVA every month because you can expect them (the VA) to begin resting on their laurels this weekend.

  • Derek Scholl and Jeremiah Workman

    You can learn about Jeremiah Workman at Blackfive and Stars and Stripes while you listen to Derek Scholl’s song that was inspired by one of Scholl’s hometown heroes;

    An interview with Jeremiah Workman on Fox and Friends this morning;