Archive for the ‘US Army’ Category

Article: Memorial Day…

Posted: 24 May 2013 in Coast Guard, Hero, Memorial Day, Military, US Air Force, US Army, US Marines, US Navy, Veterans
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Memorial Day seems to be forgotten for its original intent. Now people think it’s a long weekend signifying the start of summer and a time to break out the BBQs.

Please remember our fallen brothers and sisters this weekend. Fly the flag. Remember that your weekend BBQ came at a great price. Freedom is never free.

Memorial Day

By RU Rob

While Memorial Day in the United States often induces thoughts of the beginning of summer, BBQ’s and a long holiday weekend, it is not celebrated as intended. Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being its birthplace but was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

Traditional observance of Memorial Day has sadly diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day as well as its importance to many who have lost someone in the service to the country. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected and have fallen into a state of disrepair. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country.

There are a few notable exceptions. Since the late 50′s on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day. More recently, beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye’s Heights.

via Memorial Day – Rhino Den | Military Stories, MMA News, Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy.

Accused Fort Hood Shooter Paid $278,000 While Awaiting Trial…

Posted: 21 May 2013 in Axis of Idiots, Buyers' Remorse, Comarade Obama, Democrats, Domestic Terrorist, Failure, Government, Military, Obama, Politics, SCOAMF, Terrorism, US Army, WTF Files
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This is an absolute failure at the highest levels of government. 

This whole affair is a disgrace.

Accused Fort Hood Shooter Paid $278,000 While Awaiting Trial

Injured soldier outraged suspected shooter receives salary while his family financially struggles in recovery

The Department of Defense confirms to NBC 5 Investigates that accused Fort Hood shooter Major Nidal Hasan has now been paid more than $278,000 since the Nov. 5, 2009 shooting that left 13 dead 32 injured. The Army said under the Military Code of Justice, Hasan’s salary cannot be suspended unless he is proven guilty.

If Hasan had been a civilian defense department employee, NBC 5 Investigates has learned, the Army could have suspended his pay after just seven days.

Personnel rules for most civilian government workers allow for “indefinite suspensions” in cases “when the agency has reasonable cause to believe that the employee has committed a crime for which a sentence of imprisonment may be imposed.”

Meanwhile, more than three years later soldiers wounded in the mass shooting are fighting to receive the same pay and medical benefits given to those wounded in combat.

via Accused Fort Hood Shooter Paid $278,000 While Awaiting Trial | NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth.

Soldiers Slighted…

Posted: 14 Mar 2013 in Congress, Democrats, Failure, Government, Health Care, Lies, Military, Politics, US Air Force, US Army, US Marines, US Navy, Veterans, WTF Files
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…in any way the politicians can get away with.

Are you wondering what this Administration has done to the military? How about what they’ve done to benefits for the military?

Tricare, tuition assistance and many other programs that are used for retention and quality of life get stripped from the military whenever there is a budget crisis.

Instead of cutting the waste out of the budget as they should, they cut the very programs that are meant to retain soldiers in the military.

Our Armed Forces are heading towards a hollow shell that will be rife with morale and discipline issues very soon if not already.

Promises made are seldom kept when it comes to the military, veterans and retirees.

The voters in this country are supposed to look out for the military.

Politicians just see it as low hanging fruit in Washington and will hack away at it until it is no longer a viable force.

American Journal March 11, 2013 Soldiers Slighted
J.D. Pendry

Recently, my wife and I received our letters. They were signed by W. Bryan Gamble, M.D., FACS, Brigadier General, US Army. His signature block identifies him as the Deputy Director of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Health Affairs.

“Beginning October 1, 2013, TRICARE Prime [our healthcare insurance] coverage will not be available where you currently live…”

The letter tells us that we may still be able to enroll in TRICARE Prime at a military treatment facility. I mention that for the benefit of our Congressional representatives from the state of West Virginia who should know that there are no military treatment facilities in our state. I do not recall any of them raising a ruckus.

The General, whose letter was signed with an illegible electronic pen scribble, also instructed us:

“As you prepare for this change, you should look carefully at your health care options, such as using TRICARE Standard and TRICARE Extra or obtaining insurance through a spouse or an employer.” [because the country you and your family served is finished with you]

All of those options are more expensive than TRICARE Prime. Not to worry about my wife or me. We will survive. We always have. We left the military with about the same as we had when we entered it. Enlisted military families who serve a lifetime in uniform do not have much opportunity to build wealth. Our pensions are never enough to live on, so regardless of the years in uniform work after service remains a necessity. Health care coverage offered through TRICARE Prime is a significant retirement benefit. There will be no increase in pensions to make up for the added costs. Some of us caught in the window where work is ended and age 65 has not yet arrived must just suck it up.

via American Journal March 11, 2013 Soldiers Slighted « JDs Bunker.

Bradley Manning Pleads Guilty…

Posted: 28 Feb 2013 in Military, US Army
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I think it’s a hanging offense.  How many Soldiers died as a result of this asshole?

But I’m no lawyer.

Bradley Manning pleads guilty in WikiLeaks case

FORT MEADE, Md. – The Army private arrested in the biggest leak of classified material in U.S. history pleaded guilty Thursday to 10 charges that could send him to prison for 20 years, saying he was trying to expose the American military’s “bloodlust” and disregard for human life in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Military prosecutors said they plan to move forward with a court-martial on the 12 remaining charges against Bradley Manning, including aiding the enemy, which carries a potential life sentence.For the first time, Manning directly admitted leaking the material to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks and detailed the frustrations that led him to do it.

via Bradley Manning pleads guilty in WikiLeaks case | Fox News.

Lt. Gen Boykin Must See Video!

Posted: 3 Feb 2013 in Axis of Idiots, Buyers' Remorse, Comarade Obama, Communism, Constitution, Control, Democrats, Government, Gun Rights, Guns, History, Media, Media Bias, Military, Neo-Marxists, Obama, Politics, SCOAMF, Socialism, UN Small Arms Treaty, United Nations, US Army, Veterans, Video
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This is a must watch!
This is LTG Boykijn (retired):

…was the United States Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. He has played a role in almost every recent major American military operation over the past four decades, serving in Grenada, Somalia, and Iraq.

Facts About Medal of Honor Recipient Clinton Romesha…

Posted: 17 Jan 2013 in Hero, History, Meddal of Honor, Military, Military History, US Army, Veterans
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…is well worth your time.

11 Facts About Medal of Honor Recipient Clinton Romesha

BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff
January 17, 2013 3:59 pm

Former Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha (ROE-muh-shay), 31, will receive the Medal of Honor next month for heroic actions during the day-long attack on Combat Outpost Keating in Afghanistan.

More than 300 Taliban attacked Keating early in the morning of Oct. 3, 2009, from all four sides and from higher ground. Armed with recoilless rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, machine guns, and rifles, the Taliban swarmed the site, occupied by only 53 Americans and two Latvians. A score of Afghans stationed there had abandoned the site. Mortars hit Keating every 15 seconds during the first three hours of the attack. Taliban breached the site and destroyed 70 percent of Keating with a fire.

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Today in History…

Posted: 7 Jan 2013 in Military, Military History, US Army
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…in 2006, a UH-60 Blackhawk crashed near Tal Afar.

12 souls perished that day.

Why is it significant? Well, it’s significant because my friend was killed in that crash.

And as I do every year since then, I honor his memory and those of the other 11 that were lost that day.

Doug was my friend. He was my son’s godfather. He was an honorable man. He is sorely missed all the time. He was my last platoon leader that I had in the Army. He was the best of the bunch. And I don’t say that lightly.

Jan. 7, 2006: A Black Hawk helicopter carrying eight U.S. troops and four American civilians crashed near the northern city of Tal Afar, killing all aboard.

Here’s the names of the souls lost that day: Maj. Stuart M. Anderson, 44, of the 3rd Corps Support Command; Maj. Douglas A. LaBouff, 36, Capt. Michael R. Martinez, 43, and 1st Lt. Joseph D. deMoors, 36, all of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment; and 1st Lt. Jaime L. Campbell, 25, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Chester W. Troxel, 45, Spc. Michael I. Edwards, 26, and Spc. Jacob E. Melson, 22, all assigned to the Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment. From Dyncorp International, Arsenio Domingo, 40, and Robert Timmann, 49, were killed in the crash. Both were members of a Civilian Police Advisory Training Team working with Iraqi police officers. I don’t know the names of the other two civilians lost in the crash.

A salute to my friend and those that died with him.

MAJ Doug LaBouff Scholarship Flyer 2012

This is Doug. He was just promoted to Major.

Rest easy, sleep well my brother.
Know the line has held, your job is done.
Rest easy, sleep well.
Others have taken up where you fell, the line has held.
Peace, peace, and farewell…

I still cry when I think about it too much.

RIP General Schwarzkopf…

Posted: 28 Dec 2012 in Hero, Military, US Army, Veterans
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…rest in peace General.

They’ll be standing at attention at Fiddler’s Green as you roll in. Job well done General.
Desert Storm commander Norman Schwarzkopf dies

WASHINGTON (AP) — Truth is, retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf didn’t care much for his popular “Stormin’ Norman” nickname.

The seemingly no-nonsense Desert Storm commander’s reputed temper with aides and subordinates supposedly earned him that rough-and-ready moniker. But others around the general, who died Thursday in Tampa, Fla., at age 78 from complications from pneumonia, knew him as a friendly, talkative and even jovial figure who preferred the somewhat milder sobriquet given by his troops: “The Bear.”

That one perhaps suited him better later in his life, when he supported various national causes and children’s charities while eschewing the spotlight and resisting efforts to draft him to run for political office.

He lived out a quiet retirement in Tampa, where he’d served his last military assignment and where an elementary school bearing his name is testament to his standing in the community.

Schwarzkopf capped an illustrious military career by commanding the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Kuwait in 1991 — but he’d managed to keep a low profile in the public debate over the second Gulf War against Iraq, saying at one point that he doubted victory would be as easy as the White House and the Pentagon predicted.

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Daniel Inouye (Medal of Honor) Dead…

Posted: 17 Dec 2012 in Hero, Meddal of Honor, Military, Senate, US Army, Veterans
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…at the age of 88.

H/T Ace of Spades.

Rest in peace sir.

He was a highly decorated WWII veteran. His Senate career started in 1963.

His Medal of Honor citation:

Second Lieutenant Daniel K. Inouye distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 21 April 1945, in the vicinity of San Terenzo, Italy. While attacking a defended ridge guarding an important road junction, Second Lieutenant Inouye skillfully directed his platoon through a hail of automatic weapon and small arms fire, in a swift enveloping movement that resulted in the capture of an artillery and mortar post and brought his men to within 40 yards of the hostile force. Emplaced in bunkers and rock formations, the enemy halted the advance with crossfire from three machine guns. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Second Lieutenant Inouye crawled up the treacherous slope to within five yards of the nearest machine gun and hurled two grenades, destroying the emplacement. Before the enemy could retaliate, he stood up and neutralized a second machine gun nest. Although wounded by a sniper’s bullet, he continued to engage other hostile positions at close range until an exploding grenade shattered his right arm. Despite the intense pain, he refused evacuation and continued to direct his platoon until enemy resistance was broken and his men were again deployed in defensive positions. In the attack, 25 enemy soldiers were killed and eight others captured. By his gallant, aggressive tactics and by his indomitable leadership, Second Lieutenant Inouye enabled his platoon to advance through formidable resistance, and was instrumental in the capture of the ridge. Second Lieutenant Inouye’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.

He loved America.

Pearl Harbor Day, 2012…

Posted: 7 Dec 2012 in History, Military, Military History, US Army, US Navy, Veterans
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…December 7th, 1941 a day that will live in infamy.
Today is the 71st anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Imperial Navy.

If you have a flag, fly it, if you have a flag pole fly it at half staff today.
Honor those that gave their all.

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