Honor Flight is an organization, funded completely by donations, that sends World War Two, Korea, and Vietnam war veterans to Washington D.C. to visit their respective memorials. The trip I tagged along on, Honor Flight 19, was particularly unique. We departed Columbia on July 3rd, and returned on Independence Day. The guardians and staff escorted 64 vets to the nation’s capital, making it the largest trip of its kind from Columbia. In addition, temperatures reached record highs in D.C., which caused for some troublesome delays. All these factors added up for an adventure I won’t soon forget.

When I had a second to breathe, I was able to meet and talk with some of the 64 men and women who defended our country. These people are incredible and I’m humbled to have participated in their excursion.

Korea Army Veteran Louis Kendrick waits in the terminal before going through security at Lambert Airport on the morning of the flight. Many veterans have not been on a plane for as many as 20 years.

World War Two Army Veteran Chester Redmon boards the plane to Baltimore.

One of 64 veterans looks out the plane window mid-flight.

Colonel Matthews embraces his son, Jack Matthews, after surprising him at Baltimore/Washington International Airport.

A long line of Navy personnel welcome the Honor Flight veterans to Baltimore.

Five-year-old Michael Guzman waves an American Flag beside his grandmother, Nellie Rivera, as the Navy prepares to salute the veterans. Michael’s mother is a member of the Navy.

World War Two Marine Corps Veteran Helen Grahl stands in front of the Missouri pillar at the World War Two Memorial in D.C.

World War Two Navy Veteran Jack McAteer and Korea Veteran Pete Eveler laugh after getting off the bus near the Korean and Vietnam War Memorials in D.C.

World War Two Army Veteran Jack Beamer visits the Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

A group of war veterans watch the Changing of the Guard at Arlington Cemetery. After the presentation, one of the guards met with the veterans and talked about his service, an experience that occurs very rarely on Honor Flight.

Marine Corps Veteran Bill Graves gets emotional after spending time at the Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington, D.C. Graves says he was on the island and witnessed the raising of the American Flag.

A group of veterans and Honor Flight guardians take pictures at the Air Force Memorial in washington D.C.

World War Two Army Veteran Marshall Jones takes a nap before boarding the plane back to to St. Louis Mo. The experience lasted longer the 24 hours, making it the longest in Honor Flight history.

Navy Korea War Veteran Jim James reads a letter from a loved one on his trip back to Missouri.

A massive amount of supporters welcome the Honor Flight veterans back to Columbia, MO. Flight Director Steve Paulsell says this was the largest welcoming party they have ever seen in Columbia.

Air Force World War Two Veteran Ed Pavlovich is welcomed back to Columbia, MO.

The legislation would reduce lottery prize funds by about 3.5 percent and put the money toward early childhood education programs that currently get funds from the Missouri Gaming Commission. Gaming Commission money now used for early childhood education would instead go to veterans’ homes.

That could increase funding for state-run homes by about $27 million. Veterans’ groups say more homes are needed to accommodate aging Vietnam War veterans. But a fiscal estimate included with the legislation says cutting lottery prize money could hurt ticket sales.

The measure must be approved once more before it goes to the Senate.

© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Achilles is used as the main example throughout the text because Shay argues that he suffers exactly the same types of trauma that Vietnam War veterans were put through, albeit in a modern war and not a historical one.  Achilles was betrayed by Agamemnon, his social horizons shrunk and he became concerned only with his immediate companions. On top of this, when Achilles lost his beloved friend Patroclus to the enemy it became impossible to maintain rationality and compassion for human life.  Achilles felt isolated, betrayed, and hopeless — the only way to alleviate this pain was to remove his emotional mind from the present.  Instead Achilles reverted to a man-killing, thoughtless machine –not because he was ruthless necessarily, but because all hope for humanity in his eyes had been dashed away in a moment.  Shay believes that many soldiers in Vietnam were placed in similar circumstances – oftentimes captains and commanders gave poorly planned and careless commands which soldiers found incomprehensible given the horrors they witnessed as a result.  Their standard-issue weapons were poorly constructed and failed to work, which resulted in many deaths and magnified the sense that “nobody really cared what happened to them” deep in the jungles of Vietnam.  This caused the same narrowing of social horizons that Achilles held, limiting human concerns to only those immediate to the person.  If at any point a close companion were to be killed, Shay would argue that a soldier’s berserker state would be the only sensible thing left to try.  The inability to remove yourself physically from Vietnam forced soldiers to turn their emotional minds off, due to the fact that their experiences were beyond rationalizing in any possible way whatsoever.

In a sense this flipping of a switch “allowed” for these very men to behave in ultra-violent, inconceivable ways toward the enemy.  In one sense they were completely numb, and in another they were exacting revenge however they felt they could…to somehow punish something, or someone for triggering the emotional switches which caused a transformation outside their control.  A transformation into an animal.

2.7.12 Giants in NYC’s The Canyon of Heroes: The Day ‘The Politische Klasse Killed Amerika’

New York, New York — February 7, 2012 will be officially known as ‘The Day’ the Politische Klasse killed America.  It is to be written in history as the day that ‘Hope and Change’ brought us Amerika.

“A nation that fails to Honor the Sacrifices of its Heroes will worship anything at all. No one denies the right to celebrate and recognize the NY Giants Super Bowl win but we focus on the fact that our nation’s political class Obama, Boehner, Reid, Bloomberg  et al have defecated on our Brothers/Sisters-in-Arms, their sacrifices and families.” -Greg Kelly

The American of today is a Citizen of Rome, with pro sports replacing the bloody Gladiator events as the opiate of the masses, to keep them distracted, docile and propitiated.

Let us take a look back at a similar historical timeline event involving those that fought and died in Iraq:

“Former Mayor Edward I. Koch, who in 1981 was the host of a “ticker-tape” parade for American hostages released from Iran over the objection of Alexander M. Haig Jr., then secretary of state, said he thought a parade for Iraq veterans was important and timely. Mr. Koch, who also hosted a belated parade for Vietnam War veterans in 1985, said the Pentagon was making “a political decision” that he termed “ridiculous.”

“It’s not premature,” he said. “I believe that a parade is required, is necessary, and New York City is the place to have it.” – Veterans of Iraq War Also Deserve Parade in City, Some Argue By KATE TAYLOR

Today, I weep for what has become of America…Amerika The Ugly.

About:

Greg Kelly is a combat veteran having served in the United States Army with the rank of Sergeant in the “America’s Guard of Honor”  82nd Airborne Division (Grenada) and “Second-2-None” 2nd Infantry Division (Korea).

His professional experience includes specializing in public relations, international relations, public/government affairs, corporate communications, and relationship building from the local-to-international level. He has worked as an assistant to Benjamin A. Gilman, former Chairman of the House International Relations Committee and a member of Congress from 1973 to 2003. He is also the former Manager of Public Relations, Marketing and Advertising for the Korea National Tourism Organization where his duties included speech writing for senior Korean government officials and establishing and maintaining working relationships with various foreign and domestic companies, government agencies and media outlets.

Mr. Kelly graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from State University of New York at Potsdam where he majored in political science and minored in communications.

Memberships: ALL-AMERICAN MEMBER 82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION ASSOCIATION

© K2 GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC and CLIENTS. 2010-2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to K2 GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC and CLIENTS with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Front page of the Jerusalem Post's website, 1.22.11

The piece is about Vietnam War veterans that later immigrated to Israel. I did interviews with two of them and their stories are very moving, especially regarding trauma. They are both interviewed for a new documentary in Israel about Israeli-Americans that fought in Vietnam, which airs tonight on Israel’s History Channel.

Arthur Regev, Interviewee

Dr. Jack Pastor, Interviewee

Let me know what you think.

The ground was loamy and wet and smelled of metal. With every step, his feet would resist being released from its grasp. There was a technique to walking through a rice field, so that mamasan (mother) and papasan (father) couldn’t hear you coming. His boots became living sculptures and socks became more trouble than they were worth, but they don’t call it jungle rot for nothing, so protect your feet, was the mantra. The sandy soil got underneath his clothes and cut like glass, with every move. The tiny droplets of blood became scabs, which begat blisters and eventually, became callused. The calluses were welcomed, because it actually meant relief from where weapons and packs found there resting place on a two-week, unwashed body. LUS liked to walk ‘point’ (lead his unit), because it gave him a sense of control, when in actuality, he knew there was none. They approached the village stealthily, always from the right. Always going to the right meant good luck. Watching the hooch (hut) draw closer into view on its bamboo stilts, they could see mamasan and papasan carrying over-sized baskets of rice–too much for a small family, so he now knew, that they were feeding the Vietcong (his enemy). They had to be silenced.

“Killing was doing America good”, he was told. They were taught that gooks (Vietcong) were dirty, disgusting animals who hate Americans and the idea of freedom. These were the recordings that played in his mind whenever it was time to ‘take-out’ the area. As part of the Walking Dead 1/9, they would leave their calling card, the ace of spades, at the front and back of every village, to let all know that the Walking Dead had come calling.

LUS and the other soldiers continued to approach the hooch, until they were within striking distance. He prefered to sneak up on them and use the butt of his rifle as his weapon to crack-open their skulls. Being the demolition engineer, LUS took the C4 he carried and blew-up the hooch and over-sized rice baskets, to prevent the enemy from benefiting from what mamasan and papasan obviously wouldn’t be needing anymore.

Walking around a hut, he sees a little girl, under 5 years of age, crying out in agony and speaking her native tongue of which he could only feel the intent of her words, but not the meaning. She lay on her back, still alive, with a machete wound, that had cut her from underneath her right hip to her left shoulder. She looked at him with pleading, tearful eyes, as he shooed away the pig that had been feasting on her intestines. He knew that a Vietcong unit had just been through the area, but why would they butcher one of their own children? This was one of many inconsistencies LUS would face. Even being captive in the living nightmare of war 24/7, seeing a child suffer was not something from which he could walk away. So he shot her in the head in the hopes of giving her peace, even if at the cost of his own torment.

“That child still haunts my dreams; I can see her like it was yesterday, even though it was almost a lifetime ago.”  The guilt associated with having to kill, especially a child, no matter the reason, exacts its toll for 45 years and counting. “Several of my buddies have committed suicide and I still think about it…I just want the bees to stop in my head.” LUS revealed that there were MIA‘s that remained (willingly) in Vietnam, because they were too addicted to drugs (to suppress the memories) to come home and face their new reality. They instead, befriended the ‘friendlies’ (south Vietnamese mountain farmers) and taught them how to automate their farm equipment in exchange for drugs and anonymity.

Which begs the question, how do you come home from an experience that is life-altering and be expected to be the person you were before you left? How can you just flip the switch from having no rules (then, there were no rules like today), expected to integrate back into society, as if nothing had happened? Vietnam veterans are husbands, fathers and employees, that go about life, suppressing all the anger [of the war experience] that has now disguised itself into self-loathing, anxiety and depression because it has no place to call home in a civilian environment. It puts on a cloak of deception, fearing revelation in the mind of the soldier it infects. Are the bees in LUS’s head a summation of the guilt he carries or the displaced anger that has never had a chance to be neutralized? I don’t have the answers, I wish I did, but I do hope his bees are set free someday.

.

Mr. President the Chinese want their Money Back! All the eloquent speeches from the Anointed One will not improve our economy nor is it in any way shape or form going to create jobs. We now have a President that is so full of himself that America is suffering another financial setback that all the Kings men and all the Kings Czars cannot put back together again. The good news is that America is waking up and we have put real American Patriots in … Read More

via Voting American

Friday marks six months since the Tucson shooting which severely injured Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the White House is now hinting it’s prepared to add its own voice to the gun control dialogue that tragedy reignited. “As you know, the President directed the Attorney General to form working groups with key stakeholders to identify common-sense measures that would improve Americans’ safety and security while fully respecting Seco … Read More

via Voting American

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When most civilians think of Independence Day, we envision spending time with family and friends, barbecuing and setting off fireworks while celebrating a day off from work. We might say grace for the soldiers lost, but what about the one’s still living, still coping? On an intellectual level, sure, we know what Independence Day is, or do we? Do we truly understand the cost of our freedom?

The inspiration for this series comes from a man who has elected to stay anonymous for many valid and understandable reasons, but most of all, until he can make peace with himself. From candid interviews with our unknown living soldier, we will explore the psyche of a Vietnam veteran who is still trying to reconcile his past, still suffering from a war that many have forgotten and replaced with the ‘war of the week’ headline mentality. His account is a first-hand, in-depth perspective of a Marine who served nineteen months, from 1969-1971, deployed to Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam and operated from the DMZ (demilitarized zone) of Da Nang, Dong Ha, Quang Tri, Hue, Khe Sahn and Caviet.

Our unknown, yet living solider was part of the famous 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, the so-called, ”The Walking Dead.” This title was given to the one-nine (1/9) when Ho Chi Minh declared he would, “kill them all, so just consider themselves dead walking,” announcing over a loud-speaker (in English), just before the siege near Song Nu Yi River in 1966. After that infamous siege, “Di bo Chet” (the Walking Dead) name stuck. As foreshadowed, the Vietnam one-nine infantry battalion suffered the most casualties in marine corp history. Based on a typical battalion strength of 800 Marines and Navy hospital corpsmen, 93.63% (747) were Killed In Action (KIA) and 0.25% (2) were Missing In Action (MIA).

Always Faithful –– ©1997 Doug Todd

Here are those who have borne the battle

Those, in the crucible of combat, tried.

Tempered and turned of the finest mettle,

These were The Sons of America’s Pride!

The First Battalion of The Ninth Marines,

Hammered and forged in the fires of Hell;

Built of their blood and their broken dreams,

A legend for scribes, unborn, to tell.

They fought like Warriors and they died like men

‘‘Till their page of history was stained blood-red;

And they earned from foe as well as from friend

That Honorable title, “The Walking Dead”!

These were the Sons who stepped forward bravely–

Courage and Strength and Faith un-tried;

To fight as the Valorous “Always Faithful”.

These are The Sons of America’s Pride!

The following video contains mature content:

Our soldier, who we will call, LUS (living unknown soldier) to protect his identity throughout this series, started out like many others, wanting to serve his country and protect his and his family’s rights–freedoms. Economic times were hard and the prospects for a seventeen year old then, were slim. The opportunity to help his family through the difficult times and to serve his country by ‘saving it’ from communism, seemed like a win-win. He saw the images of gallantry on TV, along with the ads and was inspired to follow in the footsteps of his father: to make a difference for his family and country. Is there any more noble cause (to an American) than to fight for freedom? Freedom is a founding principle of our country and is a vein that runs very deep in the psyche of an American soldier and particularly, a Marine.

So at seventeen, LUS enlisted September 2, 1968 (his birthday) and headed for boot camp on November 5, 1968 at Camp Lejeune as a demolition engineer. Little did he realize the full impact of that decision, where it would take him or the cost of freedom for which he would be fighting. In the coming few months, we will tell you in detail about his personal journey and hopefully, you will have a better understanding of the impact of freedom on our lives that we now enjoy through a day off, eating BBQ, baked-beans and potato salad.

Please do enjoy a wonderful celebration and as you do, try to think not only of the ones lost in war, but also of those who are still fighting the living soldier’s battle. The battle for independence from personal guilt, the external pressure to justify their experience to those who never served and the understanding of the price veterans pay daily for our freedom. Happy Independence Day and deepest thanks to all soldiers: past, present and future for the freedom we enjoy today.

AMERICA’S  GOT  TROUBLE You fought bravely and sacrificed much to stop the expansion of Communism in South East Asia. How can it be that we find ourselves fighting it once more and this time, In Our Own Country! How is it that we missed all the warning signs and ignored those who tried to warn us of what was happening in Our America? From Paul Revere to President Ronald Reagan there have always been Great Patriots who stood tall to warn us. [yout … Read More

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Even as pessimism surrounding the War on Terror rises, the House passed an $80 billion bill that would continue funding the United States’ war in Afghanistan, including $10 billion in pork that would be redirected towards a teachers unions-imposed plan to supposedly help local school districts avoid layoffs of teaches and other government workers.

The original bill passed by the Senate totaled only $60 billion, but House Democrats padded the bill with an extra $20 billion in an effort to once again kick start several failed job-creation initiatives.  The Senate bill already included pork spending on foreign aid packages, “disaster aid accounts” and additional disability spending for Vietnam War veterans.

“The Democrat majority is treating this troop-funding bill like a cash cow for their election-year wish-list,” said Rep. Jerry Lewis of California.

The added education measure was hotly debated, as it includes a $500 million cut to Obama’s “Race to the Top” initiative, a program aimed at financially rewarding top performing school districts from around the country.  States like Tennessee and Delaware have already received some reward funds.  $3 billion still remains to be spent.

The war spending measure of the bill is aimed at paying for the additional 30,000 troops that Obama will deploy into the Afghan theater.

An associated measure that would have required the president to conduct a fresh intelligence review of the Afghanistan conflict, and to detail a precise exit strategy from the region, was soundly rejected by the House.  A measure that would have placed added restrictions on the funding also failed.  Those restrictions would have required the funds to be spent only on a draw-down of the conflict rather than an increase or sustainment of current war initiatives.

“We need to get out of Afghanistan in a way that’s as timely and efficient as possible”, said Rep. John Larson of Connecticut who supported those measures.

“Every dollar we spend in Afghanistan, every life we waste there, is a waste,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, who ended up supporting the bill anyway.  ”An intelligent policy is not to try to remake a country that nobody since Genghis Khan has managed to conquer. What makes us think, what arrogance gives us the right to assume that we can succeed where the Moguls, the British, the Soviets failed?”

The bill will head back to the Senate for further debate.

Article taken from SmallGovTimes.com – http://www.smallgovtimes.com
URL to article: http://www.smallgovtimes.com/2010/07/house-passes-80-billion-war-budget-pork-ridden/

By: Mike Ludwig,

July 28 2010

For years, the government has denied that depleted uranium (DU), a radioactive toxic waste left over from nuclear fission and added to munitions used in the Persian Gulf and Iraq wars, poisoned Iraqi civilians and veterans.

But a little-known 1993 Defense Department document written by then-Brigadier Gen. Eric Shinseki, now the secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), shows that the Pentagon was concerned about DU contamination and the agency had ordered medical testing on all personnel that were exposed to the toxic substance.

The memo, under the subject line, “Review of Draft to Congress – Health and Environmental Consequences of Depleted Uranium in the U.S. Army — Action Memorandum,” makes some small revisions to the details of these three orders from the DoD:

1. Provide adequate training for personnel who may come in contact with DU contaminated equipment.

2. Complete medical testing of all personnel exposed to DU in the Persian Gulf War.

3. Develop a plan for DU contaminated equipment recovery during future operations.

The VA, however, never conducted the medical tests, which may have deprived hundreds of thousands of veterans from receiving medical care to treat cancer and other diseases that result from exposure to DU.

The Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center recently reported that ten years of data confirm that service members tend to have higher rates of certain cancers compared to civilians, according to the Army Times. While researchers suspected that service members are diagnosed with cancer more often and at a younger age because they have guaranteed access to health care and mandatory exams, the data does not explain the disparities in diagnosis among branches of the military. For example, the rate of lung cancer among sailors is twice that of other branches, while Marines have much lower cancer rates across the board.

On Tuesday, the VA’s ongoing failure to treat and diagnose Gulf War related illnesses came up during a House Veterans Affairs subcommittee hearing where a veterans advocacy group urged Shinseki to undertake comprehensive research on the correlation between chronic illness and exposure to DU in munitions during the Gulf War.

Armed with Shinseki’s August 19, 1993 memo, Veterans for Common Sense (VCS), said the VA, and Shinseki in particular, have “a rare opportunity for a second chance.”

“In military terms, VCS asks VA for a ceasefire,” said Paul Sullivan, the executive director for VCS. “VCS urges VA leadership to stop and listen to our veterans before time runs out, as VA is killing veterans slowly with bureaucratic delays and mismanaged research that prevent us from receiving treatments or benefits in a timely manner.”

Sullivan, himself a Gulf War veteran, told the subcommittee that the VA has refused to listen to scientists and veterans who are concerned about DU, leaving thousands of veterans suffering from chronic illnesses related to the conflict unsure if they will ever receive a solid diagnosis to justify the benefits and treatment they need.

Of the 697,000 men and woman who served in Gulf War operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield between 1990 and 1991, about 250,000 suffer from symptoms collectively known as “Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses.” The symptoms include fatigue, weakness, gastrointestinal problems, cognitive dysfunction, sleep disturbances, persistent headaches, skin rashes, respiratory conditions and mood changes, according to the VA.

The VCS also petitioned Shinseki to investigate the 2009 termination of a $75 million research project on Gulf War illnesses at the University of Texas medical center. Last year the VCS filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records of the “internal sabotage” of Gulf War Veterans Illnesses research and the intentional delaying of research and treatment, according to Sullivan. The VA has yet to release any documents about the impeded research, and VCS filed a FOIA appeal on June 29.

Sullivan said the VCS simply wants the government to support independent testing on veterans exposed to DU, but the Department of Defense prefers a “don’t look, don’t find policy.”

“As a Gulf War veteran, I have watched too many of my friends die without answers, without treatment, and without benefits,” Sullivan said. “In a few cases, veterans completed suicide due to Gulf War illness and the frustration of dealing with VA.”

Sullivan testified as disturbing reports have emerged in recent months from Fallujah, Iraq, about the skyrocketing rates of birth defects and cancer,  which are being blamed on DU-laced bombs and munitions used by US and British forces during a brutal coalition assault on the city in 2004. Iraqi human rights officials are reportedly planning to file a lawsuit.

DU is a dense metal added to munitions and bombs to pierce tanks and armor, and the military seems to chose unrestricted use of the radioactive substance over its soldiers’ safety. Sullivan told Truthout that original medical tests ordered in a 1993 memo, which also called for personnel to be trained in dealing with contaminated equipment, were canceled after a training video scared soldiers.

“It was pulled after [the training video] was seen by some soldiers who became upset when they saw soldiers in moon suits holding Geiger counters, and the military realized that the training could present a problem in the battlefield where soldiers need to disregard exposure issues while trying to kill the enemy,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan said that the DU “follow-up” program the VA consistently references was inadequate as it consisted of sporadic studies on only a small fraction of estimated 400,000 veterans exposed to the radioactive heavy metal.

“The VA does not listen to expert scientists. The VA does not even listen to Congress,” Sullivan said in his testimony. “Two decades of inaction have already passed. Gulf War veterans urgently want to avoid the four decades of endless suffering endured by our Vietnam War veterans exposed to Agent Orange.”

Sullivan said it took 40 years and an act of Congress to fund and sanction independent studies that proved the VA was responsible for providing benefits to soldier suffering from Agent Orange-related diseases.

The VA now recognizes that exposure to Agent Orange, an herbicide sprayed across Vietnam to kill foliage and expose guerrilla fighters, has plagued veterans with several deadly diseases and disorders.

VCS also advocated for the research on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that became the foundation of new PTSD rules, making it easier for veterans to receive benefits.

Last week, the VA announced $2.8 million worth of research on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses, a sum Sullivan called “paltry.” A VA press release announcing the research does not mention DU. The release references a recent Institute of Medicine report that identified the quarter million veterans affected by various symptoms associated with Gulf War illness, which “cannot be ascribed to any psychiatric disorder and likely result from genetic and environmental factors, although the data are not strong enough to draw conclusions about specific causes.”

Popular medical science holds that kidney damage is the primary health problem associated with exposure to high amounts of DU. The heavy metal is 60 percent as radioactive as natural uranium, and is also linked to lung cancer in some cases and leukemia in even fewer cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Some critics have claimed that the WHO and governments have suppressed links between DU and cancer.

The debate over the use of DU in conventional warfare will rage on as the Fallujah fallout continues, but according to Sullivan, there is only one way for thousands of Gulf War veterans at home to know the truth and receive the relief they deserve.

“After 20 years of waiting, we refuse to wait on more empty promises from VA. The first step is for Secretary Shinseki and Chief of Staff Gingrich to immediately clean house of VA bureaucrats who have so utterly and miserably failed our veterans for too long,” said Sullivan, vowing to petition Congress if the VA refuses to respond. “Our waiting must end now.” Source

Related

Soldiers, Mental illness, Drugs and Suicide

Another Gulf War Syndrome? Burn Pits

Depleated Uranium Information

War “Pollution” Equals Millions of Deaths

The Brits do not treat their veterans well either.

Traumatised British troops get payout pittance after Afghanistan and Iraq

Canadian Forces not tracking incidence of brain injuries, hearing loss

Wars are not to help anyone just for world domination and Soldiers are nothing but cannon fodder. Leaders send them off to war and could care less if they are killed,maimed or sick when they return home. They are treated like garbage just to be thrown in the trash.

200,000 War Veterans homeless in US

US-NATO Using Military Might To Control World Energy Resources

More than half of British public against UK mission in Afghanistan

(Afghanistan 1) A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

Did Contractor Expose Troops To Toxin?

These guys get away with  murder,  authorizing torture and sending soldiers to die for Corporations interests and personal profits due from war. They are traitors to their country and are responsible for every death due to the wars they authorized. So they can murder millions of people and walk away rich and untouched by law. How sick. They are gutless, cowards and should be in prison for the rest of their lives as well as those who helped orchestrated the fabricated lies to start wars. They an anyone one who started unjust wars should be in prison. They are not doing this to protect Americans or help people in war torn country have a better life. They could care less who dies. They do not work for the American people they work for personal  profits and corporations.

Senate Report Links Bush to Detainee Homicides; Media Yawns

Cheney admits authorizing detainee’s torture

US-NATO Using Military Might To Control World Energy Resources

U.S. acknowledges it held 12 juveniles at Guantanamo Bay prison

• Devastation in Iraq
• Images if Iraq Democracy
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• Iraq Freedom!!!
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• Iraq War Images
• Iraq: USA Terror On Al Falluja ( 7 days = 850 killed more than 1500 wounded )
• Afghan Massacre Convoy Of Death

Why: War in Iraq and Afghanistan

‘Peace won’t cost the earth’ but it might save the environment

Recent

Another oil spill in Gulf of Mexico

The attack on the Gaza relief flotilla jeopardizes Israel itself

Nobel Peace Prizes ‘are being awarded illegally’

US House Vote on Afghan War Funding a Disgrace

Fourteen Examples of Systemic Racism in the U.S. Criminal Justice System

The CIA: Beyond Redemption and Should be Terminated

US occupation not for “liberation of Iraqis

Mental illness rising among US troops

Republicans in the US House of Representatives want Israel to attack Iran

Major Dan Cherry (right) and Lieutenant Hong My, in Vietnam in 2008. (photo by John Fleck)

In 1971, the U.S. Air Force offered a checkout in the McDonnell F-4 to Republic F-105 drivers who had completed a 100-mission combat tour and were willing to volunteer for a second tour. I dearly loved the Thud, but with its numbers dwindling due to combat losses, its future was bleak.

I checked out in the F-4 at Homestead Air Force Base in Florida and in June arrived at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand. The usual mission of the 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron was two-ship bombing flights under forward air control in Laos and an occasional reconnaissance escort into southern North Vietnam. By protecting the recon guys from MiGs, aircrews felt they were really doing something productive and, according to the rules of engagement, if the recce airplanes were fired at, we could drop bombs.

In 1972, combat missions grew more challenging. More reconnaissance escorts were dropping bombs and more F-4s were sent on multiple-flight missions against specific North Vietnam targets. On April 15, the air tasking order for the next day called for 20 airplanes to fly MiG patrol in the Hanoi area for bombing flights taking off from other F-4 and F-105 bases. The gloves were coming off.
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(A Choctaw sings songs in Choctaw with his wife in remembrance of Mr. Hopson)

Mr. Hopson’s mother, center, salutes his tombstone along with veterans and family members.

His grandson, wife, daughter, granddaughter and son-in-law stand before his grave.

Anyways (as we continue to destroy the Queen’s English), sometimes you see a story that makes you realize how much the military helps and supports it’s own – even after they are no longer members, are retired, etc. One showed up today on www.triblive.com and is well worth mentioning. Click Here for the actual article.

When I grew up I had family in the military, so occasionally we went to the local VFW for Christmas parties, etc. I always remembered the camaraderie, and closeness of the families and friends there. It was a great place for ex-military friends and family to keep in touch, along with a place for healing from what soldiers are exposed to if they have gone into active duty.

I always though VFW posts were a great way to continue showing our military the appreciation they deserve for protecting out country. Lately many of those posts (now very old) have gone into disrepair, etc. The article mentioned about shows how current military and retied military got together the help spruce up one of those old posts. So, if you think all these soldiers do is shoot guns – think again.

-SWB

PS – Although SWB supports the military, I’m not sure I’d wanna give them a nail gun – too many of those soldiers are good shots and still hunt small game like weasels