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My good friend, RN Clara Hart has done it again. Brought big old alligator tears to this tough old war-torn soldier’s eyes. It is one thing to see dead Afghans and feel no compassion. However there is no way to read this and not have your tears roll down your face and have your heart opened up.
This story is just one example of hundreds of real-world scenarios that are happening as you read this. Don’t let the patriotism you felt on 9/12/01 or in the days following the toppling of the Taliban or the toppling of the Iraq government fade. Keep that patriotism in your heart just as strong today and always keep the soldiers (past and present) and especially their families in your hearts and prayers.
The latest war wounded Doonesbury character, Toggle, is back in the strip this week. For those that have followed Doonesbury in the past or followed the strip after I talked about Toggle last time on this blog, check out news.yahoo.com/comics/uclickcomics/20080121/cx_db_uc/db20080121 and see the latest updates on his evac out of Iraq after he hit an IED. It started on Monday and should run through Saturday.
I have seen several videos from SGT Freedom, but this one is the best. This is his 24th episode and is his top 10 things he would like to see happen 2008.
Take the 10 minutes it takes to watch this, as it puts across some great messages in a rant.
Well my old unit (the 2/101 Cavalry,) and in fact my entire Brigade has started their journey that will take them all to Afghanistan and hopefully back in one piece. I will never be able to communicate to all of them how much I worry about all of them and how much I will worry about them while they are gone. Will I worry about my son? Sure I will, I love him and I will miss him and of course I will worry about him. I also have many good friends, ex-soldiers, and comrades that I have known for over seven years that will also be in harmÂ’s way. I worry about all of them and will have all of them in my prayers that they come back safely. I also am worried about the leaders at all levels and pray they donÂ’t have to experience the tasks of dealing with a fallen soldier. Some of them read this blog and some donÂ’t. I am in no way excluding any one in particular if I forget to mention them here.
However if Dave P., Mike L, Gary Y, Paul F, Pat T, Don C, Paul H, Paul C, Nick T, Tom Mc, Matt R, Matt B, Sonny N, Bill S, Paul H, Chris J, Mike M, David W, or any of the hundred or so others that I know whom are deploying read this, please know you will be in the prayers of my family every day.
Lou, from the Buffalo News who has written several articles on me in the past called me two days ago to talk. I had no idea it was going to be an interview initially. However after a few minutes of talking, he told me that he wanted to include a few quotes in a story he was doing about the deployment ceremony that happened yesterday for 2/101 Cavalry. Lou mainly wanted to know what advice I had for all the soldiers going, and since he caught me off-guard in the middle of work I was in not in the mindset to effectively answer his questions. You can read the story on the Buffalo News website at www.buffalonews.com/home/story/253660.html. Let me take this opportunity to use my blog to expand on the advice I will be giving these guys as they get on the bus this Saturday.
“Yes, you will need patience and an open-mind when deploying to Afghanistan to train the ANA and ANP, but on those days when the ‘suck meter’ has pegged out and you are so frustrated that you are not sure why you are there or what good you are doing, all you need to do is close your eyes and do one thing. Think back to the morning of September 11th, 2001 and remember the images, the sounds, the smells, the anger, the sadness, the helplessness, the fear and the patriotism that you felt on that day and the days following. Think about how in the hours following, as tears ran down you face and your pulse was pounding; how you were willing to throw everything aside and do whatever it took to defend your country and avenge the deaths of over 3000 people in NYC, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania. If on the days that your deployment seems the darkest, you take a few moments and do what I say then you will open your eyes with a new drive, a new focus and a renewed motivation to do your part, accomplish the mission in front of you, and then get home safely.”
God Speed the 27th Brigade Combat Team of the New York National Guard.
Popular blogger Badger6 over at the milblog Badger’s Forward has done a nice write up on the book the fighting 69th. The Fighting 69th is the nickname given to the 1st BN of the 69th INF out of NYC. The BN is part of my Brigade, but at the time of their tour they were under the 42nd Division from NY. The write up portrays what seems to be a great story written from the inside out. I will be adding this to my Valentine’s wish list. If you have a few minutes head over to badgersforward.blogspot.com/2007/12/ultimate-embed-fighting-69th.html and check it out.
If you want to order the book from Amazon rather than heading to the book store, CLICK HERE.
KUOW 94.9 Radio over in Seattle WA held a one hour radio show profiling milbloggers that wrote entries for both the Sandbox website and the Sandbox book. I talked to David Standford a while back about this after he told me that he was lining up bloggers to be part of this interview. I am glad he tapped into some of the other bloggers of the Sandbox and not just the same ones that have been interviewed before, like me.
I was glad to hear several of my friends involved in this one hour radio show. Cpt Ben Tupper was on my team from NY and was with me in Afghanistan. I have known him for over six years. Cpt Doug Traversa is someone I met in Kabul after reading his blog and we were able to link up and meet over there and develop a friendship. Army Girl is someone I have written about before after we met in Washington D.C. while I was on the book signing tour for the Sandbox book. Last, but not least, David Stanford who is the Duty Officer of the Sandbox website and is someone I talk to on almost a weekly basis. When you have a little bit of time, head over to www.kuow.org/defaultProgram.asp?ID=14097 and listen to the archive of the show.
