MEMORIAL DAY 2008 MESSAGES TO THE TROOPS + 4TH OF JULY CARDS
SHOW THESE WOUNDED SOLDIER'S YOU CARE
MESSAGES FROM THE SUPPORTERS OF OMFH
TALKING WITH HEROE'S RADIO SHOW
| NEWS + STORIES YOU WON'T SEE ON THE NEWS A Free Banner Day For Those Coming Home Courtesy of Chuck Z., comes news of a company that wants to do right to our military families. Build-A-Sign is giving away 10,000 free customized banners to families that want to welcome home their loved ones from overseas. To make it even better, they are also going to donate 15% of any purchases made at that site to Disabled American Veterans. Please check it out, and help get the word out to our military families. Those with a soldier deployed I would jump on this before they run out. I believe its a 4th of July promo. Free custom welcome home banner just pay the $7.50 shipping. these are normally $57 before shipping They are the nice ones you can have a picture of your soldier on and stuff :) Hope this helps someone http://www.buildasign.com/troops If your soldier won't be home for a while just get it and put it away :) John OMFH ************************************************************* At NY Airport, a Room for the Troops July 15, 2008 Associated Press SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Weary Soldiers traveling through Syracuse's airport will soon have a special room to pass the time while waiting for rides and flights - thanks to some local veterans. Hancock International Airport officials will establish a special hospitality room at the airport, which is frequently used by Soldiers from the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division who are stationed 75 miles to the north at Fort Drum. "These guys put their lives on the line, and they sometimes find themselves stuck here for hours and hours, with nothing to do, no place to go. We just didn't think that's how our military men and women should be treated," said Loren Davies, a former Marine who spent nearly nine years working at the airport. The "Gregory J. Harris Military Courtesy Room " - named to honor a Marine listed as missing in action in Vietnam - will open July 29. While spokesmen at airports in Albany, Buffalo and Rochester said they go to great lengths to accommodate the needs of military travelers, the Syracuse airport is apparently the first in upstate New York to have a hospitality room exclusively for their use. The room - a converted lost baggage claim office - won't be anything fancy, said Davies, 66, the commander of the Chittenango detachment of the Marine Corps League. It will be furnished with some comfortable furniture. Free snacks, bottled water and soft drinks will be provided. Maybe even razors, shaving cream and toothbrushes so travelers can freshen up. Eventually, Davies said he hoped to have a computer set up in the room so traveling military personnel can use the Internet. "The only requirement is that they be active duty or active reservists - Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen. We don't care if they're being deployed or just traveling," Davies said. Davies came up with the idea, along with friends Leroy Bowen, an Army veteran who still works at Hancock, and Gene Leimer, a former city policeman and retired Navy submariner. Working at the airport, Davies and Bowen said they were troubled by the way Soldiers had to sleep on the airport floor, using their backpacks for pillows, or curl up uncomfortably on hard benches. Because it's a smaller airport, with no flights coming or going between midnight and 5:30 a.m., restaurants and newsstands close down by 9 p.m. or so, added Syracuse Aviation Commissioner Anthony Mancuso. Airport employees, and even city police, often volunteered to run out for coffee and doughnuts for the Soldiers. But Davies felt there ought to be a permanent, reliable service. The plan was embraced by Mancuso and Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll. Last week, the Syracuse Common Council approved renting the room to Davies' group for $1 a year. "It's a place where they can go with their buddies, guys with the same interests. It gives them a little _privacy_ , a place to rest, relax. We think it will work out well," said Mancuso, a veteran of the Navy Reserve. http://www.military.com/news/article/at-ny-airport-a-room-for-the-troops. html?wh=news# **************************************************************** HBO will donate....doesn't cost you anything but you must go to this webpage: http://www.hbo.com/generationkill/ In honor of the Marines in the HBO mini series "Generation Kill", you can pick an item for HBO to ship in their care packages. Please pass this link to anyone and everyone you want. The more we get to participate, the more our troops will receive. http://www.hbo.com/generationkill/ When you get to the site, look at the top, and click on Troop Drive. *********************************************************
***************************************************************************************** 11/16/2007 I just received this from Move America Forward. Please call or e-mail the Wicked Witch + tell her how you feel about her decision + pass it on to everyone you know. John OMFH ************ We couldn't believe this despicable story when we first heard it and neither could the folks at television station WFXT in Boston, MA. Local Boy Scouts in Boston were collecting care package items to send to the troops during this holiday season - that is until city officials stepped in, called law enforcement and shut down their care package collections for the troops. The mean, cold-hearted woman who shut down the Boy Scouts efforts is a city official named Marsha Weinerman of Boston, Massachusetts who was appointed to her post July 1, 2006. You can contact Ms. Weinerman at this email address: mWeinerman@cambridg Or call her at: (617) 349-4363 Here are the media stories about Ms. Weinerman's atrocious conduct: http://www.breitbar http://www.bostonma **************************************************************** E-Mail I Received From One Of The Scout Leaders Thank You John for all your support. Our boys and girls really appreciate all the positive reactions from the community they have received over the last few days. We are still collecting donations and there are boxes located in the lobby of WBZ1030 Radio, 1170 Soldiers Field Road, Boston, MA or donations may be mailed to: Troop 45, P.O. Box 381241, Cambridge, MA 02238. Please let anyone you know who would be interested. Once again, Thank You for your support! Jamisean Patterson Committee Chairman Troop 45/Ship 45 P.S. Keep up the good work. WE are also giving people the opportunity to send along cards and notes. ********************************************************************************************Father of Marine Killed in Iraq Sues Church for Cheering Death, Appeals to Public Online for HelpFriday , October 26, 2007
The family of a Marine killed in Iraq has sued a Baptist church for picketing their son's funeral and is turning to the Internet to drum up support. Albert Snyder, the father of fallen Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, took the stand this week in the Baltimore trial against the Westboro Baptist Church and testified that protesters waving signs at Matthew's burial made him nauseous. He'd wanted a private service for his son. "They turned this funeral into a media circus and they wanted to hurt my family," Snyder said on the stand Wednesday. "They wanted their message heard and they didn't care who they stepped over. My son should have been buried with dignity, not with a bunch of clowns outside." The Snyder family's suit against the church - whose members have picketed the funerals of military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, claiming the deaths are punishment for the country's tolerance of homosexuality - could cost close to $100,000, the law firm representing them said. That's why Albert Snyder is asking for the community's help on the Web site www.matthewsnyder.org. "This would be a significant financial drain on them," George Werner, a spokesman for the Barley and Snyder law firm (no relation to Matthew Snyder's family), told FOXNews.com. "They're looking for support both emotionally and financially to fund the case against the church. The family concluded that reaching out to the public would help in both ways and be very beneficial." Werner said it isn't known how much the litigation will cost but estimated it will be somewhere under $100,000. If the trial drags on or there are appeals, it could be more. "Any excess money will go to benefit veterans returning from the war in the form of a scholarship. No donations will be paid to me," Albert Snyder writes on the Web site. "Your money will be put to good use." The result to date has been good, said Werner - in part thanks to the Web campaign - though he couldn't provide specific numbers in terms of donations and traffic to the site. "It's another way of getting their message out," he said. "From a very broad perspective, (the response) has been very, very encouraging." Albert Snyder, of York, Md., is seeking unspecified monetary damages for invasion of privacy and intent to inflict emotional distress as a result of the Topeka, Kan., church's protest at his son's funeral in Westminster in March 2006. The church's protests have inspired several state laws and a federal law about funeral protests, but the Maryland suit is believed to be the first filed by the family of a fallen serviceman. Matthew died March 3, 2006, at age 20 from a non-combat-related vehicle accident in Anbar province, Iraq. His father said in press interviews at the time that his son was killed when the Humvee he was traveling in rolled over. He'd served with the 1st Marine Logistics Group in the Marine Expeditionary Force in Twentynine Palms, Calif. Asked Wednesday about a sign that read "Thank God for dead soldiers," Albert Snyder said he thinks about it daily. "I see that sign when I lay in bed," Snyder said. Asked about statements issued by the group that his son was raised to support the "Roman Catholic monstrosity" and then sent to fight for the "United States of Sodomy," Snyder said "they have no right to do this to people they didn't know." During cross-examination, defense attorney Jonathan Katz focused on obituaries and death notices and questioned Snyder on whether they said the funeral services were private. Snyder replied that the notices said friends and family were welcome, but admitted that he did not know all of the 500 or so people who attended. The case tests the limits of the First Amendment right to free speech. U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett instructed jurors at the start of testimony Tuesday that the First Amendment protection of free speech has limits, including vulgar, offensive and shocking statements. Bennett said the jurors must decide "whether the defendant's actions would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, whether they were extreme and outrageous and whether these actions were so offensive and shocking as to not be entitled to First Amendment protection." Church members said they are motivated by the fear of God and their need to warn America about its moral decay, rather than a desire to hurt anyone. Katz told jurors Tuesday the protests took place 1,000 feet away from St. John Catholic Church, where the funeral was held, down a hill and out of sight and hearing from participants. Snyder said American military personnel are in Iraq fighting for freedom of speech; "they're not fighting for hate speech." One photo showing a child holding a sign at the funeral protest was particularly disturbing, the father said. "I pray for their children. Their children need help. To be brought up with that kind of hatred," Snyder said. "My God is a loving God," Snyder said, adding later, "I don't look for hatred in the Bible." The church's founder and pastor, Fred Phelps, took the stand after Snyder and prompted a strong admonition from Bennett when the pastor said he had not considered whether children would see a sign carried by protesters with the words "Semper Fi Fags" and two stick figures that appear to be engaged in sodomy. "No, it's an irrelevancy," Phelps said. Bennett then interjected sharply. "Just answer the question, sir. Don't determine what's relevant or not relevant. You just answer the question," Bennett said. Phelps said he chose to use the term "fag" in the group's signs because it comes from scripture, but could also have used Sodomite or dog. When asked by Katz why the group made a "Semper Fi Fags" sign, Phelps said it was in response to the need for a warning to the country "that your wicked ways are going to be your doom shortly."
**************************************************************************** Metagenerosity - One woman goes one-on-one to support servicemen and women. Today it was my privilege to meet Theresa Neurauter of Westminster, CO. While many people claim to Support the Troops. This lady has turned her energies to corresponding with hundreds of men and women in our military in addition to sending them all regular care packages from her own shopping cart. The packages she sends fall into two categories: toiletries, and edibles along with some special requests that she takes care of when the cost isn¢t prohibitive. Over several years now she and her husband have quietly financed this hurculean effort of hers from their household income amounting to about $400 a month for things to send to her soldiers. (a term that she uses frequently but includes all branches of the service not just the Army) This month she is reaching out for a little help and contacted Dale because of his connection to Gathering of Eagles. We filmed her story after lunch today, and would like to have you give a look at what she is doing and perhaps you will think of a way to assist her. 20070926144741.mpg
She is making military themed fleece two layer tied throw blankets to send her soldiers for Christmas. (Please see examples of her work, there are Navy, Marine, and Air Force themes as well) Due to cost she has decided to sell some at $50 per blanket, which will fund the postage, and materials to make and mail two more. She does not use any of this modest profit for herself only to provide funds to send more gratefully received boxes and blankets for her passion, our troops. If you do not see a need for the blanket in your household, how about sending her a gift card from Wal-Mart when you go there next time? (where she shops for the contents of the boxes she sends, as well as her sewing supplies). Of course cash contributions, or gift cards from other stores would be welcome. Maybe you have merchant or manufacturing contacts that would consider donating a few items a month to help fill her love-filled boxes. Our son is in the Army just completing Basic Combat Training, and I know first hand how much time it takes to send multiple letters every week to him. I am awed that she can correspond by email and letters, to 149 (at this time) weekly or more and still send out regular gift boxes. Not just for Christmas but year round. If you want to know more about what Teresa is doing, how to get started writing to individual members of our military and sending them boxes of goodies, please email her, or write to her. One final note from Teresa, if you know of someone who really needs someone to take time to write to him or her in support for their service, let her know:
***************************************************************************************************** Blue Star Mother WRAMC Reqest by sdrescher Hi All- The message below is a request from a Blue Star Mother in Washington State. Can anyone help this family out in any way?? If so, please e-mail me for more info. Thanks!! Original Message: Thank you Suzan, What we have is a family of 6 in one room there at the Mologne house. The father Sgt. Jeff B. did 3 tours in Iraq and had been in 5 IED incidences and is now suffering from TBI, PTSD and other injuries. This family has 4 wonderful children aged 13, 10, 7 and 5 (all boys except the 5 year old) and the mom of the wife is out here in WA. State and can not get out there to help and of course the family is going to stay together there at WRAMC through this as they have the last 6 months. They came here from Germany so their home and everything is still there. What I was hoping to find was people that could give this family a break, mom and dad have not had any time alone since they have been there, the children have not had anytime to enjoy life as everything is about dad getting better of course but children need to be children and mom and dad need to be a couple now and then. This is all a part of the healing process to. I was hoping to find people that could be adopted grandparents, aunts or uncles, or just friends that can take the children site seeing or on picnics, maybe to a museum or even to the park. Maybe some of the groups can set up a special picnic for date for Jeff and Amy (mom and dad) or a candle light dinner as this mom out here is so worried about her daughter because she has not stopped since her husband got injured she is afraid she I going to get sick. I wish I was out there or knew people out there, but I am here where other mothers are and all I can do is reach out through people like you. Thank you Merinda To view the complete thread and reply, please visit: http://www.patriotguard.org/ALLForums/tabid/61/view/topic/postid/543707/ptarget/543707/Default.aspx ***************************************************************************************** Soldiers in Iraq view troop surge as a lost cause http://www.rawstory.com/showarticlephp?src=http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16616389.htm *************************************************************************************************************** RESULTS ON ARTICLE BELOW Thanks to alot of caring people who are not affraid to speak their piece the news media got involved with the story below which usually doesn't happen very often I'm sad to say. John OMFH
********************************************************************************************************** 1/16/2007
REPLYS Hi John. I cannot believe it. That is terrible. If it wasn't for the troops, that company would not have the freedom is does. I cannot believe this company is located in Wisconsin. Wisconsin has lost at least 50 soldiers in Iraq. Most of Wisconsin strongly supports the troops. Thanks for sharing. I would never do any business with this un-patriotic company. Take care and have a great weekend. Becky Sherman ******************************************************************************* WHY NOT DO ALL I CALLED AND EMAILED AND PASSED THIS ON TO A FRINED OF MINE WHO IS ON OTHER MARINE BOARDS AS WELL. THANKYOU Mary ********************************************************************************** John, Thank you for this info!! I may be calling you on this for a bit more info. I am looking at putting this on the show. Judi/Stardust *************************************************** I COULD NOT BE MORE DISGUSTED AT THE IDEA THAT ANYONE COULD MAKE A COMMENT TO ANY OF OUR SERVICE PEOPLE THAT WOULD GIVE THEM THE IDEA THAT NO MATTER WHAT WE ARE BEHIND THEM. THEY ARE FOLLOWING ORDERS JUST AS ANYONE DOES AT ANY JOB THEY HAVE. GOOD OR BAD, RIGHT OR WRONG, NO MATTER WHAT OR HOW WE FEEL ABOUT THE WHYS THAT TOOK US THERE, THE FACT IS WE ARE, AND WE NEED TO PRAY FOR, SUPORT AND BE REASURRING TO EVERY SINGLE PERSON THERE. I TRYED TO E-MAIL THE COMPANY AND THIER PAGE NO LONGER OPENS, I WILL HOWEVER KEEP TRYING. THANK YOU AND AS ALWAYS, GOD BLESS. MICHELE ********************************************************************************* That's horrible! Linda *************************************************************************************************************************************************** I will definitely send an email. I am horrified. Mrs. Allen ****************************************************************************************************************************** hey there hope your new year is great i called this company and left a message they are shamefull they ought to move thier company to iraq teri ************************************************************************************ That really sucks. I sent the company a letter. Also copied your note Kat ******************************************************************************************************* *DEAR DISCOUNT MATS, IT UTTERLY AMAZES ME THAT AN 'AMERICAN HOUSED BUSINESS' WOULD WRITE SUCH A THING TO A WELL TRAINED, WELL ARMED, PROTECTOR OF OUR RIGHTS, FREEDOMS AND LIBERTIES. THOSE MEN AND WOMEN ARE OVER THERE BECAUSE THEY ARE FOLLOWING ORDERS OF THE COMMANDER AND CHIEF. APOLOGIZE TO SGT. HESS AND ALL OUR TROOPS AND ADDRESS YOUR ISSUES TO PRESIDENT G.W. BUSH @ 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, WASHINGTON, DC. PS. DON'T BE SURPRISED NOW WHEN YOU GO OUT OF BUSINESS, CAUSE IF I HAVE MY WAY, YOU WILL, AND ASAP!!!* ********************************************************************************************************** John just wanted you to know that I have just emailed the company and will give them the benefit of the doubt to see if this is for real. I told them that if I do not hear from them I will asume it is and prepare for the actions and I meant actions because I have many connections. You have no idea the havoc I can cause them. I am really pissed off. Tania ******************************************************************************************************** Hi, You recently sent me an email concerning the Wisconsin Company responding to SGT Hess concerning mats. Well, thankyou, I am in the Milwaukee area, and sent this email on to many people who called the company. As of this morning, Fox 6 a local news station for the Milwaukee area reported the story and said the company responded by saying it was an employee who had responded to SGT Hess. This employee was stating his opinion about the war, and as of today this employee is NO longer employed with this company. Many phone calls does work, the company got a lot of calls concerning this situation. I don't know the status now with the SGT, but I am sure that he will be getting mats. I wanted to contact you in case you hadn't heard the latest of this situation. Proud Army Spouse and Navy Mom, Debbie Darrah South Milwaukee, WI ********************************************************************************************************* Post this see the power of numbers works wonders theres one for our boys Mary DaleAnn wrote: From: "DaleAnn" To: "Mary Pantelias" Subject: *Hey Faisal Khetani;* I just found out you are a bodybuilding guru and the owner of the sorry ass business below. Why am I surprised with your low-class attack on an American soldier in Iraq that your name was not Joe Smith or Dan Jones, but Faisal Khetani? Rub your little bottle of baby oil on your ripped and muscled, testicle-shrunken body, make lots of money with your mats, body magazine, articles you write, and fitness enterprises, Faisal, and understand that it has been through the blood and sacrifice of American fighting men and women that you can make such money and enjoy such freedoms. I don't know if you are an American-born muslim, but I believe I read you were born and raised in the UAR. * * I just want to give you my personal opinion as the father of 2 American soldiers and Vietnam veteran myself. I feel you are a sorry piece of shit and should be given a one-way ticket to any muslim country, where you can dare to run your mouth about their military and see if you don't end up with a well-cut headless torso, but with great definition, man.* * If you are not an American citizen and are in my country running your mouth about our military, know this Faisal, somebody will light your ass up. I am not making threats. I just know American human nature.* *De Oppresso LIber,* *Don* Bendell * * * * * * *Dear IQ-challenged management at discount-mats.com and Bargain Suppliers;* *I checked with snopes.com and found out that you were actually arrogant and stupid enough to respond to a SGT Hess writing you from Iraq saying that you would never ship any mats to soldiers in Iraq, and if he were smart he would leave there and come home. I am BCCing this email to many and emails are already going around the web about your treasonous remarks. Yes, treasonous! You do not say things like that to an American fighting man or woman in harm's way who is risking their life so you and others could have the right to be so damned ignorant. I have horses and would not even wipe their shit on one of your mats, as I do not want to denigrate what comes out of my horses' asses. It has much more substance and class than what comes out of you.* *Since your actual name and address is:* *Bargain Suppliers 3259 S.106th Street West Allis, WI 53227* *I sincerely hope that some of my fellow Vietnam veterans and other vets in your area visit your location and express their views in person, or better yet, organize boycotts of your business. You are allowed to be against the war or even speak out against it, but you don't disrespect our men and women when they are off fighting in a foreign land. Nobody is going to attack you physically, but you sure can get a message by having a lighter wallet because of boycotts. I hope others see that it happens. In fact, I also addressed this to Martin Kaiser senior editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Gerise LaSpisa, President of the West Allis COC, *and I think the West Allis Star might also be interested to hear how you have put that part of the country on the map. Also, people need to hear about your refusal to apologize to our soldiers and veterans for your totally inappropriate remarks, and you not even answering inquiries from snopes.com. From my point of view, I guess you have shown us all a new San Francisco mindset and I will be defensive if anybody wants me to do business not only with your company but any business in your part of the USA. *De Oppresso Liber,* *Don** Bendell** * *Bendell Enterprises PO Box 276** Canon City, Colorado 81215-0276 (719) 269-3929* ########################################################################
****************************************************************************************************** Officer's Invention Saves Lives *****************************************************************************************************
Dear Friend,
Vet Centers were created after the Vietnam War to give combat vets a place to get counseling from fellow veterans. They helped hundreds of thousands of veterans cope with their experiences. Join us in calling for better funding for these vital centers. ****************************************************************************************************** Nat'l Guard Units to Be Sent Back to Battle in Iraq Again By Lolita C. Baldor The Associated Press Friday 10 November 2006 Washington - The Pentagon is developing plans that for the first time would send entire National Guard combat brigades back to Iraq for a second tour, the Guard's top general said in the latest sign of how thinly stretched the military has become. Smaller units and individual troops from the Guard have already returned to Iraq for longer periods, and some active duty units have served multiple tours. Brigades generally have about 3,500 troops. The move - which could include brigades from North Carolina, Florida, Arkansas and Indiana - would force the Pentagon to make the first large-scale departure from its previous decision not to deploy reserves for more than a cumulative 24 months in Iraq. For some units, a second tour would mean they would likely exceed that two-year maximum. The planning was described by Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, who commands the Guard, in an Associated Press interview this week. In a related move, the Pentagon is preparing to release a list of active units - and perhaps reserves as well - scheduled to go to Iraq that would largely maintain the current level of forces there over the next two years, another senior defense official said on Thursday. There are about 152,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. That official requested anonymity because the plan has not been made public. The Pentagon routinely notifies units to prepare for deployment, knowing it is easier to cancel a move overseas than to suddenly make such a large troop movement. It was not clear whether this week's resignation of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld would affect deployment plans. President Bush has selected former CIA chief Robert Gates, who has criticized U.S. policy in Iraq, to replace Rumsfeld, but he has not yet been confirmed by the Senate. "We are doing contingency planning for one or two (units), and we have contingency plans for more than two if necessary," Blum said on Wednesday. The North Carolina brigade, he said, is being considered since it was one of the first to go to Iraq after the war began in 2003. Blum also said defense officials have been discussing whether they need to adjust their policy that limits the deployment of reserves in the war to 24 months. "When that policy was originally formulated, I seriously doubt anyone thought we would be where we are today, at the level of commitment that is necessary today," he said. Just last month, defense officials said the Marines are drawing up similar plans that would for the first time send some reserve combat battalions back to Iraq for a second tour. Under the authority by which Bush ordered a call-up of the Guard and Reserve after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, troops could be mobilized an unlimited number of times as long as each mobilization is no longer than 24 consecutive months. Until now, Pentagon officials have interpreted that as 24 cumulative months. While the ultimate goal for the National Guard is to deploy one year overseas and spend six years at home, Blum said the current demands could force soldiers to deploy as often as one year every three or four years. Blum said he believes that Guard combat brigades are prepared and willing to make a second trip to Iraq if needed. Blum said the first units to deploy in the war - such as the 30th Infantry Brigade from North Carolina, the 76th Infantry Brigade from Indiana, the 53rd Infantry Brigade from Florida, and the 39th Infantry Brigade from Arkansas - would likely be among those first called for a second tour. "Logic would lead you to go back to the ones that went first, and start going around again," said Blum. "But that's probably not exactly how we'll do it" because the decision will depend partly on what types of units are needed. Blum also said the Pentagon will no longer break up the brigades and send them to war in smaller units. He said the Guard wants to keep brigades together because they are more effective working as a team. All of the National Guard's combat units have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan as a full brigade except South Carolina's 218th Infantry. Smaller groups of its soldiers have been mobilized periodically for homeland defense and numerous missions abroad, including Iraq. Blum said the remainder of the 218th is preparing to go to Afghanistan next year, if needed. SEE UPDATE BELOW ********************************************************************************************************************** Pentagon abandons active-duty time limit - here we go... Robert Burns AP Military writer Thu, 11 Jan 2007 18:15 EST Long standing limits on combat time served have been removed for National Guard and Reserve units. By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer 33 minutes ago WASHINGTON - For the first time since President Bush mobilized the National Guard and Reserve after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Pentagon is abandoning its limit on the time a citizen-soldier can be required to serve on active duty. Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Thursday that the change would have been made even if Bush had not ordered an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq, further straining the Army and Marine Corps. The Pentagon also announced it is proposing to Congress that the size of the Army be increased by 65,000, to 547,000 and that the Marine Corps, the smallest of the services, grow by 27,000, to 202,000, over the next five years. No cost estimate was provided, but officials said it would be at least several billion dollars. Until now, the Pentagon's policy on the Guard or Reserve was that members' cumulative time on active duty for the Iraq or Afghan wars could not exceed 24 months. That cumulative limit is now lifted; the remaining limit is on the length of any single mobilization, which may not exceed 24 consecutive months, Pace said. In other words, a citizen-soldier could be mobilized for a 24-month stretch in Iraq or Afghanistan, then demobilized and allowed to return to civilian life, only to be mobilized a second time for as much as an additional 24 months. In practice, Pace said, the Pentagon intends to limit all future mobilizations to 12 months. Members of the Guard combat brigades that have served in Iraq in recent years spent 18 months on active duty ��" about six months in pre-deployment training in the United States, followed by about 12 months in Iraq. Under the old policy, they could not be sent back to Iraq because their cumulative time on active duty would exceed 24 months. Now that cumulative limit has been lifted, giving the Pentagon more flexibility. The new approach, Pace said, is to squeeze the training, deployment and demobilization into a maximum of 12 months. He called that a "significant planning factor" for Guard and Reserve members and their families. A senior U.S. military official who briefed reporters Thursday on Iraq-related developments said that by next January, the Pentagon "probably will be calling again" on National Guard combat brigades that previously served yearlong tours in Iraq. Under Pentagon ground rule, the official could not be further identified. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, appearing with Pace, announced several other changes in Guard and Reserve policy: _Although the Pentagon's goal is to mobilize Guard and Reserve units no more frequently than one year out of six, the demands of wartime will require calling up some units more often than that. They provided no details on how many units would be remobilized at the faster pace or when that would begin to happen. Army officials had been saying for some time that more frequent mobilizations were necessary because the active-duty force is being stretched too thin. Gates' announcement is the first confirmation of the change. _Extra pay will be provided for Guard and Reserve troops who are required to mobilize more than once in six years; active-duty troops who get less than two years between overseas deployments also will get extra pay. Details were not provided. _Military commanders will review their administration of a hardship waiver program "to ensure that they have properly taken into account exceptional circumstances facing military families of deployed service members." As part of Bush's plan for boosting U.S. troop strength in Iraq, a brigade of National Guard soldiers from Minnesota will have its yearlong tour in Iraq extended by 125 days, to the end of July, and a Patriot missile battalion will be sent to the Persian Gulf next month, the Army said Thursday. Maj. Randy Taylor, a spokesman for the 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, at Fort Bliss, Texas, said the Patriot unit was aware of the announced deployment. He said no formal order had been received Thursday. The dispatching of a Patriot missile battery, capable of defending against shorter-range ballistic missile attacks, appeared linked to Bush's announcement Wednesday that he ordered an aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East, which would be in easy reach of Iran, whose nuclear program is a U.S. concern. Navy officials said the carrier heading to the Gulf region is the USS John C. Stennis, which previously had been in line to deploy to the Pacific. It was not clear Thursday how the Pentagon intended to compensate in the Pacific for the absence of the Stennis in that region, where a chief worry is North Korea. The Marines announced that two infantry units ��" the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, and the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment ��" will stay in Iraq 60 to 90 days longer than scheduled. That will enable the Marines to have a total of eight infantry battalions in western Anbar province, instead of the current six, by February. Once the 60- to 90-day extension is over, an additional two battalions will be sent in early from their U.S. bases. Also, the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which combines infantry with a helicopter squadron and a logistics battalion, totaling about 2,200 Marines, will stay in Anbar for 45 more days. Those extensions conform with Bush's announcement that he was ordering 4,000 more Marines to Anbar. The military tries to avoid extending combat tours and sending forces earlier than planned because it disrupts the lives of troops and their families and makes it harder for the services to get all troops through the education and training programs they need for promotions. But in this case it was deemed unavoidable. ************************************* Saw this article in the 18 Dec issue of Marine Corps Times. John OMFH ***************************************************************************************************************************** THE COST OF THE WAR IS SLOWLY TAKING ITS TOLL ON OUR MILITARY WASHINGTON - During a recent visit to a military family center at Fort Hood in Texas, Joyce Raezer was dismayed to find a sign in a stall in the ladies' room. It asked women to clean up because janitorial service had been cut back. "What message does that send to a family member when they walk into a family center?" asked Raezer, the director of government relations for the National Military Families Association. At Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, swimming pools closed a month early this fall, and shuttle vans were sharply curtailed in an effort to trim spending. At Fort Sam Houston in Texas, unpaid utility bills exceeded $4 million, and the base reduced mail delivery to cut costs. Belt-tightening at the bases is only the beginning. As the United States spends about $8 billion a month in Iraq, the military is being forced to cut costs in ways big and small. Soldiers preparing to ship to Iraq don't have enough equipment to train on because it's been left in Iraq, where it's most needed. Thousands of tanks and other vehicles sit at repair depots waiting to be fixed because funds are short. At the Red River Army Depot in Texas, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported in October that at least 6,200 Humvees, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, trucks and ambulances were awaiting repair because of insufficient funds. There's a virtual graveyard of tanks and fighting vehicles at the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama. Depot spokeswoman Joan Gustafson said that the depot expects to repair 1,885 tanks and other armored vehicles during the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1. That's up from the 1,169 and 1,035 vehicles repaired in the prior two fiscal years. Some of the depot's private-sector contractors haven't been able to supply enough parts in time to make all the repairs, she said. The depot is trying to reduce the time it takes to get repair and replacement parts from 120 days to 60 days. Tanks and helicopters are one thing; the toll on America's warriors and their families is another. More than 73,000 soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and with problems such as drug abuse and depression. That's enough people to fill a typical NFL stadium. Internet blogs written by soldiers or their wives tell of suicide attempts by soldiers haunted by the horror of combat, civilian careers of reservists who've been harmed by deployment and redeployment, and marriages broken by distance and the trauma of war. "Back-to-back war deployments has changed both of us - to where it's as if a marriage does not exist anymore," wrote a woman calling herself Blackhawk wife on an Iraq war vets Web site. "We just go through the daily steps of life and raising children as best we can." A mother of a returning soldier posted this: "Since he has been back, he has had 3 DUIs, wrecked his truck, attempted suicide, been diagnosed with PTSD" and is being kicked out of the Army. The length of the war in Iraq has strained all aspects of the armed forces, said Dov Zakheim, who was the Pentagon's chief financial officer from 2001 to 2004. "In 2003, I don't think anybody predicted it would go as long as World War II and the wear and tear on equipment would be as intense," said Zakheim, now a vice president for global strategy consultant Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. "When I left the department, we were spending less than $4 billion a month on Iraq. Now it's pretty much doubled." The length of the Iraq war surpassed that of World War II last month. The costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the global fight against terrorism are expected to surpass the $536 billion in inflation-adjusted costs of the Vietnam War by spring. That's more than 10 times the Bush administration's $50 million prewar estimate. Through the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, Congress authorized about $436 billion in war spending, according to the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. In October, President Bush signed legislation that tacked on $70 billion, bringing the total to more than $506 billion. That number will rise again once Congress appropriates Iraq stabilization and reconstruction funding. The armed services, seeking to replace aging equipment and address quality-of-life issues for military families, are believed to be seeking $100 billion to $160 billion in a supplemental spending bill for spring. If that's approved, war funding - three-quarters of it going to Iraq-related operations - would reach nearly $700 billion. If U.S. troops remain in Iraq through 2010, it will approach $1 trillion. In January, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz released a study that said the true costs of the Iraq war could exceed $1 trillion and perhaps reach $2 trillion. "When I saw that figure, I thought it was an exaggeration. I no longer think it's an exaggeration," said Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a decorated Vietnam veteran who's criticized how the war has been fought and funded. The Stiglitz report focused on hard-to-measure things such as lifetime care for injured soldiers and the economic effect of higher oil prices as a result of the war. But his final numbers for unofficial costs are on pace to be matched by the official costs - which don't add the intangibles. "We were very conservative on the numbers, and the numbers have repeatedly come in higher than we estimated," said Stiglitz, a former chief economist of the World Bank, in a telephone interview from Spain. "Those costs continue to pile up: the health care costs, the disability costs, the replacement costs - and there's obviously an open question now if we ever reconstruct" Iraq. Here's a look at some of the costs: -RESET Until recently, little of the authorized war funding went toward reset, the military term for replacing fighting vehicles, tanks, helicopters and other equipment that are wearing out from heavy use. "We have a backlog of maintenance work to reset, fix, retool all our equipment, and at the same time we have to take care of our civilian soldiers," said Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas, who in January will become chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on readiness. "Many of the units in the United States Reserve or National Guard do not have any equipment because their equipment stayed in Iraq ... Humvees, weapons, trucks, tanks. You name it, they need it." Gary Schmitt, a defense expert for the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, said the problem existed before 2001. "The war has obviously made that much worse," he said. "People would be surprised, but the reality is the increases in defense spending have been personnel and operational," not for upgrading or modernizing the armed forces. The October bridge funding, which bridges the gap that occurs when the fiscal year begins before funds have been appropriated, included $24 billion for reset costs across the armed services. The Army's deputy chief of staff, Lt. Gen. David Melcher, told Congress in March that he expected reset costs of at least $12 billion a year while troops are in Iraq and for two years after withdrawal. In the 2006 fiscal year, the Marine Corps' reset request was three times bigger than its regular procurement budget. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated a $60 billion reset price tag through 2016, assuming a reduction in U.S. troops in Iraq by 2010. "As long as the current level of intensity is maintained in Iraq operations, there's not going to be enough money to meet all the services' needs," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute, a military think tank. "We're really burning up money over there at a furious pace." Policymakers are stymied in their efforts to predict war costs, partly because the Department of Defense provides only vague estimates of future costs. "DOD has provided little information about overall requirements to replace worn equipment or to upgrade capabilities, or how war requirements relate to ongoing peacetime investment," Amy Belasco, a defense budget analyst for the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, said in a September report. As the chief economist on President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers in 2002 and director of the CBO from 2002 until last year, Douglas Holtz-Eakin wrestled with that same problem. "It was hard to get actual cost data," he said. -HEALTH Between Oct. 1, 2001, and June 30, 2006, 35 percent of returning active-duty soldiers and 31 percent of Army reservists and National Guardsmen sought medical care from Veterans Affairs health centers. That figure from the Veterans Health Administration doesn't include treatment at VA hospitals. In that period, more than 33,000 returning troops received preliminary diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder. Others experienced depression and drug abuse. "The wear and tear on soldiers and the wear and tear on their families have been immense," said John Grady, a spokesman for the Association of the United States Army, a nonprofit group that lobbies on behalf of active and retired soldiers. Problems are getting corrected, he said, "but they're getting corrected very slowly because the money is very slow in arriving." In the first Gulf war, in which 700,000 U.S. soldiers were involved, 44 percent filed for some sort of disability compensation. More than 1.4 million U.S. soldiers have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since late 2001, and about 26 percent have filed disability claims, according to raw data provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs. That percentage could grow as soldiers leave the armed forces. "I see the whole thing as a mini-Medicare, another huge entitlement program which is going to be sprawling out over the course of our lifetimes and our children's lifetimes," said Linda Bilmes, a Harvard University public finance professor and co-author of the Stiglitz study. "The big costs come when they get back ... they stand a good chance of being really underfunded and not taken care of properly." Veterans groups worry that they'll be forced to compete with other government programs for funds. Not enough attention is being given to the future mental health and medical needs of Iraq and Afghanistan war vets, they say, especially given how those wars differ from previous ones. "First, they are deployed to war longer. Second, they are being deployed to the war zone two or three times. The combat there is more intense than the Gulf War for nearly every one deployed," said Paul Sullivan, a Desert Storm veteran and director of programs for Veterans for America. "There are no rear-area jobs. Everyone is on the front lines ... cooks and clerks and truck drivers ... the entire country is a war zone." -FUTURE READINESS Military commanders complain that they've been forced to fight a war on the cheap, despite its large costs. That's because military spending totals about 4 percent of the broader economy, a historically low level. Some critics, including Murtha, want to see more funds dedicated to the military's long-term needs. "As the ships get older, the airplanes get older, we won't have the deterrent capability that we need," Murtha said. Big-ticket U.S. military programs have been delayed since the 1990s, said Schmitt at the American Enterprise Institute. There are now so many unfunded replacements and upgrades scheduled in the years ahead that the nation faces a "procurement bow wave" that could swamp the federal budget. A "spasm of endless spending in Iraq and Afghanistan" threatens future Air Force readiness, said Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, the incoming chairman of the House Armed Forces subcommittee on air and land. Zakheim, the Pentagon's former CFO, said diverting money from acquisition programs is akin to "eating our seed corn for the future." *********************************************************************************************************************** A Marine Mother Responds to Kerry (UNCLASSIFIED) She tells it like it is. God Bless her! ******************************************************************************* Complimentary Admission to Knott's Berry Farm for Vets
During its tumultuous past, Afghanistan has been coveted by the British, occupied by the Soviets and ruled by the Taliban.
And as with those previous installments, the current U.S.-led intervention in the country is being watched through the thick glasses of Noor Mohammed, who claims to be 112 years old.
''I like the Americans because they say they are not here to occupy us, but they better not change their minds,'' the leathery-skinned Mohammed said Thursday at a U.S. base in far-eastern Afghanistan's village of Naray, in mountainous Kunar province.
''I might not be strong enough to pick up an AK-47, but I can still hit them with my cane,'' he quips with a grin before his toothless mouth opens wide with laughter.
The frail, white-bearded former fabric-maker walks each day about two miles from his village of Jaba Nari to the base in Naray, where American forces provide him a nominal salary to do little more than sit in the shade and watch other locals build troop dormitories and lay cement for a new helipad.
Mohammed says he was 25 in 1919 when he, along with thousands of other tribesmen, attacked British soldiers garrisoned in Chitral, more than a day's march across the Hindu Kush mountains. Today, Chitral is part of Pakistan, but early last century was being contested over by Britain — then rulers of the Indian subcontinent _ and Afghanistan's King Amanullah.
Mohammed says he has no official documentation verifying his age. Birth certificates and other pieces of identification were not issued in this remote corner of the country at the time of his birth, which he suggests was in 1894.
The Chitral campaign, part of what was known as the Third Afghan-Anglo War, kept Mohammed away from home for 10 months.
''The British came to Afghanistan and fought with our people, so I fought against them and shot dead five soldiers with my own rifle,'' said Mohammed.
When he returned home, he found that his first wife and four of his children had died from an unknown sickness. He later married three other wives, one of whom is still alive, and has had 22 children in all. Mohammed has outlived 16 of them.
Mohammed also opposed the 1979-89 Soviet occupation, which he said was marked by hardship and violence against the Afghan people ''who were forced to wage jihad (holy war) against the Russians.''
When the hard-line Taliban regime emerged from southern Afghanistan and Islamic schools in neighboring Pakistan in the mid-1990s, Mohammed said Afghans initially welcomed them because they ended the violent 1992-96 civil war that killed more than 50,000 people.
''But we did not like their harsh policies and soon felt that they were not Afghans because they had come to this country with support from Pakistan,'' he said.
For Mohammed, things changed for the better after the American-led coalition toppled the Taliban in late 2001 for harboring Osama bin Laden, orchestrator of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
''If the Americans keep their promises to make schools, clinics, irrigation systems and hydroelectric stations, Afghanistan will develop well in the future,'' said Mohammed, who attributes his longevity to regular walking and a daily diet of a glass of vegetable oil, two pounds of meat and variety of vegetables.
''I have good feelings about the future of Afghanistan.''
The Guinness World Records lists a French woman who died in 1997 at the age of 122 years as the world's oldest person. It also lists an 113-year-old American as the world's oldest living man and a 116-year-old Ecuadorean as the oldest living woman. **************************************************************************************************************************** MISSING SOLDIER REPLY DIRECTLY TO MOONBEEMER@BUCKEYE-EXPRESS.COM FOR INFORMATION. THIS WAS SENT TO ME, AND I FELT IT IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO ALERT ALL MEMBERS TO BE AWARE + WATCH OUT FOR THIS VETERAN. THINGS AREN'T GOOD FOR A LOT OF SOLDIERS RETURNING FROM WAR. MANY CAN'T HANDLE THE NIGHTMARES AND THE PAST HAUNTS THEM TERRIBLY. I SUSPECT THIS IS ONE OF THOSE CASES. IF YOU SEE GARRY JONES, PLEASE FORWARD THE WHEREABOUTS TO EITHER THE HAMILTON POLICE DEPT. OR PHONE HIS MOTHER. THANK YOU PATRIOTS FOR KEEPING YOUR EYES OPEN. IF HE NEEDS HELP, MAYBE WE CAN HELP HIM GET IT. Bob "Tater" Smith American Legion Rider Patriot Guard Rider Ohio State Captain My name is Carrie Tucker I am a friend of the family of Garry Jones. Also owner of Soldiers Mom on yahoo and Public Affairs Office for Silver Star Families of America. - Thank You Please Help find Garry Jones, 24 of Hamilton Ohio. Garry has been missing since July 29, 2006 and his family is frantic. He was in Iraq with the Stryker in 2003/2004. He went missing from Hamilton Ohio. He didn't take anything with him, his computers, clothes everything is still in his home. He has had no contact with his family since his disappearance and he is usually in contact with his family on a daily basis. He went missing on his mothers birthday. Please help. * MISSING* *SGT.GARRY JONES Veteran Iraq war* *Last seen driving a late 1980's maroon* *Chevy Cavalier leaving his work/home* *(American Self Storage)Eden park drive* *Hamilton Ohio **on early Saturday morning July 29th.If * *you have any information please contact* *HAMILTON P.D or his mother Janice Jones@ 513-892-4311 ****************************************************************************************** 5th Annual Holiday Love Campaign We are ready once again for this year's 5th Annual Holiday Love Project where we send cards, letters and packages to our troops. Each year is bigger and better than the last! Would you like to send a postcard, card or letter to our troops? How about sponsoring an entire package of correspondence for just $5.00? We're kicking off this year's Mail Our Military "Holiday Love" project beginning October 1st. Send your cards, letters or notes to eMail Our Military and we will send them out in our holiday care packages. We welcome everyone to participate! This is a great inexpensive project for schools, corporations, libraries, church groups, boy scouts, girl scouts, women's groups, sororities, fraternities, clubs, etc. Teachers, this is a super class project! Check out some of the adorable homemade cards from schools across the country along with our boy scouts, girl scouts, brownies and cub scouts. They are precious! (And they mean the world to our troops!) Visit the Holiday Love Campaign at - http://www.emailourmilitary.com/holidaylove.htm Place a drop box in your office or place of business and get everyone involved! Get everyone to bring in cards, postcards or write short notes. Remember, the more the merrier. Try to get everyone to contribute at least 3 cards, postcards, notes or letters. Have your kids make their own holiday cards for our troops! Kids have the greatest and most creative ideas. This is a fun, family project you can enjoy together. Try stamping or using scrap booking items to create fantastic unique cards home made by you! Get your children's classrooms or schools involved. This is a great class project and the student drawings and cards can be shipped to us for distribution to our troops. We had hundreds of schools participating last year. Feel free to send postcards, cards or letters. Please don't limit yourself to sending just one card or letter. The more you send the more military service members we can support. Try sending at least 3 (some places sell them 5 for a dollar) Again, the more the merrier! To get even more ideas for this year's project and to participate visit the Holiday Love Campaign at - http://www.emailourmilitary.com/holidaylove.htm Share this with everyone you know. ****************************************************************************************************************
******************************************************************************************************************* ACTION ALERT ACTION ALERT ACTION ALERTJune 14, 2006 June 14, 2006 Contact Army to Demand: On Wednesday, June 7th U.S. Army First Lieutenant Ehren Watada became the first U.S. commissioned officer to publicly speak out in opposition to the Iraq War and occupation. Lt. Watada outlined why he believes the war to be illegal, and why he would have to refuse to obey any future order to participate in it. The following day, Thursday, June 8th Lt. Watada's commanding officer moved to prosecute Lt. Watada for nothing more than his protected free speech. Lt. Watada was read his rights and declined to make a statement without a lawyer present. Although the Fort Lewis military public affairs officer has stated that Lt. Watada “hasn’t done anything wrong” so far, an official investigation into his public speech is underway. When soldiers join the military they swear to uphold our Constitution. They do not give up their basic right to freedom of speech. Outlined in Department of Defense Directive 1325.6, members of the military have the right to say what they think and feel about the military, and even participate in peaceful demonstrations, as long as they are off-duty, out of uniform, off-base, and within the United States. Please Write and Call: "Dear Col Stephen Townsend; Please drop the investigation currently underway against First Lt. Ehren Watada of 3-2 SBCT for his protected free speech in opposition to the war in Iraq. Respectfully," TO: CC: For background information: Military attempts to stop Lt. Watada from speaking against illegal war When soldiers refuse to fight: Is the US Army try | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
