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

Category: Support the troops

  • The Warrior Legacy Foundation

    How many times have you guys and gals read from all three of us here that aside from a very few VSOs, no one is really looking out for veterans and our troops in the field beyond their short-term political goals? We’ve all railed and commiserated about the so-called non-partisan veteran groups which have clearly chosen their political party.

    Now it seems that none other than Blackfive Himself, Matt Burden, has taken up the challenge to fill that gap with his latest creation; The Warrior Legacy Foundation.

    I won’t slobber all over Blackfive trying to sell this to you (Lord knows, I slobber all over him enough when he’s buying the beer), Matt explains better what is behind his vision of the Foundation than I ever could. And, oh, by the way, The Warrior Legacy Foundation is under the direction of a homeboy of mine you might have heard of before; David Bellavia.

    You’ve all asked me from time-to-time what we can do about the piss-poor treatment veterans get from all politicians, and I’ve never been able to give any of you a satisfying answer – until now. If anyone can pull this off, it’s the folks at the Blackfive Empire – and you know I don’t ask you to do anything until I’ve done it myself.

    So go over, sign up and flip a saw buck or two or three in the jar and let’s get this show on the road.

  • Vietnam Vet killed in Iraq

    Sad, sad news;

    Maj. Steven Hutchison, of Scottsdale, Ariz., decided to re-enlist after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the death of his wife, his brother said.

    Richard Hutchison told The Associated Press on Thursday that his older brother wanted to re-enlist immediately after the 9/11 terror attacks, but that his wife was against it.

    He signed up again in July 2007 after she died, according to his brother and the Army.

    “He was very devoted to the service and to his country,” Richard Hutchison said. “I didn’t want him to do it, but he had a mind of his own and that’s what he wanted to do.”

    The Pentagon said Steven Hutchison was killed in Iraq on Sunday.

    From the Army Times;

    Steven Hutchison served in Afghanistan for a year after he re-enlisted and went to Iraq in October as a team leader of about a dozen soldiers who would train Iraqi soldiers how to fight. But, he said his brother’s mission changed and that he was working to secure Iraq’s southern border instead.

    Now you know why I named that whole generation of servicemen as my heroes – they keep giving until there’s nothing more to give.

    Richard Hutchison said his brother will be buried next to [his wife] Candy in Scottsdale, and that a funeral is tentatively planned for Tuesday.

    Hutchison was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, at Fort Riley, Kan.

    He’ll be glad to be with the woman he loved again.

  • Come for the charity, stay for the…….um…..D cups?

    Dude, are you kidding me?

    A Night of Sexy Patriotism

    We are proud to announce that on Saturday May 16th 7pm-1am 2009 the grounds of the Playboy Mansion will be coming alive with an evening of decadent sexy patriotism with the spectacular event Stars and Stripes!

    This is your invitation to take part in this exciting event Hosted by Playmates Victoria Fuller and Jessica Burciaga along with co hosts Sarah Stage, Masumi Max, Metal Sanaz, Maria Venus, Mindi Smith and Kina Tavarozi! Enjoy the sights and sounds of Live entertainment and top D.J’s spinning hit music, also partake in a live auction and silent that includes rare and fascinating items from around the world!

    This is your chance to party amongst sexy GOGO dancers, hot body Painted ladies, beautiful models and stunning Playmates.

    All this while rocking out to a surprise celebrity guest band!!!

    This exclusive engagement benefits an extremely well worthy charity

    The Wounded Warrior Project

    At what point does it cease to be charity? All wounded warriors are reminded to contact their doctor should *it* last more than 4 hours.

    H/t To Hawkeye (not Iowahawk, sorry) Again, who is on Fire!

  • Tweet to ReMIND and my heroes

    I’m sure you all remember Bob Woodruff, the TV anchor who was seriously wounded by an IED along with his cameraman, Doug Vogt while embedded with the 4th Infantry Division in Iraqon January 25, 2006. His folks at the Robert Woodruff Foundation, the organization he and his wife formed after his laborious recovery to support the troops asked us to participate in their latest campaign, Tweet to ReMind.

    I’m supposed to write a post about who is my hero – I really can’t. My hero is a whole generation – those guys who went to fight the war in Vietnam. Hated when they left, hated when they returned and ignored by their government as well as their neighbors. They did what needed to be done whether they liked it or not and then were shamed into keeping it inside themselves for decades.

    They passed on what they learned in their war to my generation so we could pass it on to the current generation of warriors and defenders. They didn’t feel sorry for themselves, they’ve just always done what they needed to do without the parades and the fanfare. Now so many are dedicated to the simple goal of preventing what happened to them from happening to this newest generation in yet another selfless sacrifice. I’m proud to count many of them among my readership.

    So, you can leave a comment about who your hero is here, or Twitter about it, but at least send $5.25 to the Bob Woodruff Foundation so they can reach their goal and help support our troops.

  • Obama: Keep those stinkin’ tourists away from me

    Rurick emailed me this link to a Big Hollywood story about the State Department demanding that France keep those pesky tour buses away from the Normandy landing memorials while he’s there next month. You know, those tour buses that might contain actual veterans of the conflict who don’t have that many visits left in ’em. Well, I had some thoughts on it, but Deebow at Blackfive did a much better job than I could have done. But I’d add this from the Big Hollywood story;

    Compare that with 2004. Security was tight as President Bush and other world leaders were in attendance, but the event was still open to all. A friend relayed the story of waiting in line to use a port-a-potty (a French port-a-potty no doubt, yuck, believe me.) She looks to her left and who he is in the next line waiting patiently? President Bush. Sure he had Secret Service nearby, but he waited like everyone else.

    Some of us miss President Bush – but I will enjoy the excuses the Obama crew make up for this one. Completely blog-worthy, I’m sure.

    While you’re at B5, check out the post Uncle Jimbo did about the Best Ranger Competition (he’s been doing them all weekend, if you hadn’t noticed).

    In the latest post, Jimbo writes;

    On a lighter note it will amuse many of you that the two Special Forces guys driving around in their pink Hummer spent approx. an hour and a half cruising Victory Drive incapable of finding the front gate of Ft. Benning or a BBQ joint. We are complete muppets.

    That reminded me of Mech Week at ANCOC (coincidentally at Fort Benning, too) when I tried to warn the SF and Rangers in my squad that reading a map from a moving M113 is different than when they’re on their feet. They laughed me off and told me to get my mech ass in the track and let the pros do the map reading. After driving in circles for an hour, they finally handed me the map.

    While I’m posting links, go read about tankerbabe’s day with Evan Pertile. Make sure you leave a comment so she’ll stop accusing us of not reading her blog.

    It’ll take your mind off of that arrogant prick in the White House.

  • A family who fights together

    I just thought this story in the Washington Post is interesting;

    No wonder Chandra and LaShawn Miller, specialists with the D.C. Army National Guard, balked when their mother announced that she was transferring to their unit, the 547th Transportation Company, and deploying to Iraq with them.

    The news was worse than having her chaperone a first date.

    “I told her to stay home and bake cookies,” Chandra Miller said. Even more worrisome was the prospect of losing their mother, Sgt. Marcia Reid, in combat, which would be like “losing my whole world,” Chandra Miller said.

    Reid had considered staying home and spending the year doting on her grandchildren and working her safe IT job. But Reid is a soldier — and a mother. And two of her four daughters were headed for Iraq. “If they were to get hurt I would much rather be with them,” she said.

    It’s a nice story (I’m sure someone will find something to grouse about, though) and I thought I’d post it for y’all. I understand how Sergeant Reid feels.

  • AP perpetuates lies about Walter Reed

    Yeah, this is getting very tiring. TSO called me this morning to tell me that Associated Press is still clinging to the lie that Walter Reed Army Medical Center was at the center of controversy over the way they treated soldiers. I wrote about it back in July and nothing has changed. They have an article in the Washington Times this morning about Walter Reed celebration it’s 100th year (which I also wrote about back in March).

    Kamala Lane writes;

    But many of these new features were made after published reports revealed in 2007 that Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans at the site were receiving substandard treatment.

    Kamala, it was NEVER about treatment – if you did even rudimentary research, you’d know the only real complaint was about TWO ROOMS in the OUTPATIENT TRANSIENT BARRACKS. There have never been complaints about the medical treatment that soldiers received at Walter Reed.

    Of course, this is just more Bush-bashing, the AP’s favorite sport – especially now that the Bush Administration is gone.

    Lane makes it sound like somehow the media is responsible for the outstanding care that the troops get at Walter Reed – nothing could be further from the truth. Many of the journalists who write about Walter Reed have never set foot on the campus, they’ve never talked to soldiers who won’t complain to them and they don’t want to hear success stories.

    One mother of a wounded soldier told the Washington Post that no one at the hospital could help her find her way around the city or tell her the condition of her son because she didn’t speak English. She claims she had to use a taxi driver as a translator.

    First of all, there are no Spanish-speaking taxi drivers in DC. Pakistani? Somali? Sure – but no Spanish. Secondly, her son was in my wife’s ward – my Panamanian wife who helped the woman even when my wife was off duty. But did the Washington Post check her story? Nope.

    Now the Associated Press uses the Walter Reed fantasy as a foregone conclusion. That’s what passes for journalism these days – legends and faerie tales.

  • Legion “forgives” Napolitano

    According to Audrey Hudson at the Washington Times, David Rehbein National Commander of the American Legion accepted an apology from Janet Napolitano in a private meeting yesterday;

    “We connected meaningfully about the important issues that have emerged over recent days, and I offered him my sincere apologies for any offense to our veterans caused by this report,” Ms. Napolitano said. “I pledge that the department has fixed the internal process that allowed this document to be released before it was ready.”

    David K. Rehbein, commander of the veterans group, told Fox News he has forgiven the department for the report, but he will not forget it happened.

    “[Ms. Napolitano] said the report was not worthy of the department or the veterans of this country,” Mr. Rehbein said. “She gave us some explanation of how the report went out before it should have been released, before it was properly vetted by the senior leadership of the department.

    The key is: Napolitano needs to know that we veterans won’t forget what that report said. We also won’t forget that the Administration thought of making troops with service connected disabilities pay for their own treatment and that the Presidentblew off the Medal of Honor recipients.

    Fox News quoted Mr. Rehbein;

    “She was very sincere,” he said. “She distinctly used the words ‘I’m sorry.’ And to me, that says that’s sincere apology. Her body language, everything about those first few minutes of the meeting told me this was a real apology coming from her heart.”

    Not enough apologies in the world for having thoughts like her office expressed, but we’re all watching.