Quick links

I want to highlight the site of Bill Rollins, who is training to run an Ironman, and using the event to raise money for the Fisher House Organization. "Fisher House provides temporary lodging in a caring environment that allows military and veterans' families to face a medical crisis together. This program has served more than 100,000 families and saved them more than $80 million since it began in 1990." If you want to keep up with Jack Army these days, you need to check two sites. He is now guest posting at the VAJoe site as well. Check out his post Will We or Won't We? And here's a site that lets you send a brew to deployed troops ... Six Packs for Soldiers. Heck - this way even a MWD (Military Working Dog) can get in on the donating!

Way to go, Terry!

It's interesting to find someone you know pictured on the front page of the newspaper. I met Terry Harder last year at one of the bridge support / counter-protest events, to counter the Watada supporters. Terry is featured on the front page of the Sunday Seattle Times: Terry Harder: "I had seen the Vietnam War, and I did not like what it did to our country." Terry Harder was never an activist or politically aware. To this day, he votes for the person, not the party. But he's always remembered how badly his military friends were treated when they returned from Vietnam — how they were spit on and called baby killers. "It just really sat poorly with me." ... Good work, Terry, and everyone at Operation Support our Troops.

Perspective on Walter Reed

Go visit Castle Argghhh, and read the letter from Chaplain (Major) John L. Kallerson - the senior Chaplain at Walter Reed. I have had enough and am going to give my perspective on the news about Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Please understand that I am speaking for myself and I am responsible for my thoughts alone. The news media and politicians are making it sound like Walter Reed is a terrible place and the staff here has been abusing our brave wounded soldiers; what a bunch of bull! Go. Read.

Interesting things

No theme, just random links to things that caught my eye. My blogson explains the parallel between policing the ghetto and being a Marine in Iraq, in Defense of the Defenseless. @WR shares what would be a joke, except for being the truth. Check out the letter from Marine SSgt Farrar, posted at HughHewitt.com. He is part of the Semper Fi Society at the Citadel, and needs some help with a project. In other odd happenings, ... Jack points out the illogic of certain folks regarding Daylight Savings Time. ... Lex takes wicked pleasure in the reaction to the movie "300". ... Bad Cat Robot would be reading Physics Today ... and blogging about it. ... Wayne wants to know if he can have some of your willows. Finally, John Donovan shows his warrior poet side in memory of his mother, a woman who obviously took great joy in her life and family.

Spreading the word

Who is @WR? Chuck isn't telling. And you (and I) aren't on the Need To Know list. What you do need to know is that @WR needs to write, and he's serving it up at WalterReed.blogspot.com. He's earned the right to speak, even though he has to do it from behind a blog. Go now. Read. Spread the word.

Good start, Secretary Gates

Among the DoD press releases yesterday, I was glad to see this from Secretary Gates: Defense Secretary's Message to the Troops: Care for Wounded Soldiers By Robert M. Gates, Secretary of Defense Special to American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, March 8, 2007 – When I was nominated to take this post just over three months ago, I said that the patriots who have volunteered to serve in our armed services have no equal in the world. I made a solemn commitment to the Congress, to the nation, and to you to keep the welfare of men and women in uniform uppermost in my mind at all times. Like most Americans I was dismayed to hear reports about substandard outpatient care and facilities at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. When you join the military, you become part of a family, and it is unacceptable for any member of our family to be treated this way. President Bush has since appointed a bi-partisan panel - the Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors - that will comprehensively review the treatment our government is providing recovering servicemen and women. The Independent Review Group I established will take a broad look at all of our rehabilitative care and administrative processes at Walter Reed and at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. The latter effort has a very short deadline - next month - to make sure we identify additional flaws in the system and fix them as soon as possible. This Department, however, will not wait for reports by outside panels before taking action on problems that we know about right now. To that end, the Under Secretary of the Army Pete Geren briefed me today on the Army's action plan to deal with Walter Reed outpatient care. I expect to receive progress reports every two weeks. In addition, Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness Dr. David Chu and Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs Dr. William Winkenwerder will undertake a comprehensive, department-wide review of military medical care programs, facilities, and procedures. I have told the senior military and civilian leadership of this Department that money will not be an issue. After the war itself, we have no higher priority than caring properly for our wounded. We empower leaders with the responsibility, authority, and resources necessary to carry out their mission. With that responsibility comes accountability. As we learn more about these issues, let me be clear: Any individual, regardless of rank - officer or enlisted, military or civilian - will be held accountable when servicemen and women are not treated as they should be. You deserve no less, as do your families who also serve. It is the family that takes on extra duties at home while servicemen and women are away. The family also suffers when their loved one is injured in battle. And it is the family who is there every step of the way as their wounded soldier, sailor, airman or Marine undertakes what can be long and painful recovery. The injured troops at Walter Reed and in other military hospitals have paid a high price for putting their lives on the line for America. Like you, they volunteered to serve knowing full well the risks and dangers involved. They deserve our respect and gratitude and the very best that our great country can provide. We owe this to them, and we must deliver. I am totally committed to doing so. God bless you and your family. He's talking the talk, and so far he's walking the walk. There is much to accomplish, and I know I'm not alone in concern that some new bright, shiny thing will take the media spotlight off and the bureaucratic machine will take over again. One suggestion, Mr. Gates. If you haven't done so already, create a panel of wounded soldiers like Chuck who will tell you the real story, and make sure that they are included in the checkpoint process. If you aren't listening to the men and women who have been in the system in the past 4 years, you won't hear all that you need to.

An Inconvenient Chart

Sorry, Al -- the data is in ... Chart created with this template in Excel 2007.

Medal of Honor awarded to Bruce P. Crandall

Citation For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Major Bruce P. Crandall distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism as a Flight Commander in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Company A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). On 14 November 1965, his flight of sixteen helicopters was lifting troops for a search and destroy mission from Plei Me, Vietnam, to Landing Zone X-Ray in the la Drang Valley. On the fourth troop lift, the airlift began to take enemy fire, and by the time the aircraft had refueled and returned for the next troop lift, the enemy had Landing Zone X-Ray targeted. As Major Crandall and the first eight helicopters landed to discharge troops on his fifth troop lift, his unarmed helicopter came under such intense enemy fire that the ground commander ordered the second flight of eight aircraft to abort their mission. As Major Crandall flew back to Plei Me, his base of operations, he determined that the ground commander of the besieged infantry batallion desperately needed more ammunition. Major Crandall then decided to adjust his base of operations to Artillery Firebase Falcon in order to shorten the flight distance to deliver ammunition and evacuate wounded soldiers. While medical evacuation was not his mission, he immediately sought volunteers and with complete disregard for his own personal safety, led the two aircraft to Landing Zone X-Ray. Despite the fact that the landing zone was still under relentless enemy fire, Major Crandall landed and proceeded to supervise the loading of seriously wounded soldiers aboard his aircraft. Major Crandall's voluntary decision to land under the most extreme fire instilled in the other pilots the will and spirit to continue to land their own aircraft, and in the ground forces the realization that they would be resupplied and that friendly wounded would be promptly evacuated. This greatly enhanced morale and the will to fight at a critical time. After his first medical evacuation, Major Crandall continued to fly into and out of the landing zone throughout the day and into the evening. That day he completed a total of 22 flights, most under intense enemy fire, retiring from the battlefield only after all possible service had been rendered to the Infantry battalion. His actions provided critical resupply of ammunition and evacuation of the wounded. Major Crandall's daring acts of bravery and courage in the face of an overwhelming and determined enemy are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army. Congratulations, sir ... and Thank You!

War and Weariness

Fellow Denizen Ry started something over at Castle Argghhh, with his views on what it is exactly that we 'normals' (ie., civilians) have to feel tired about regarding Iraq, in response to Murdoc's post America is at the mall. Be sure to read the responses to Ry, as the comments generated cover some interesting ground. As I wandered about, exercising the new links in my sidebar, I was intrigued by the viewpoint from Joel Maxwell on the whole debate in Washington. From his position in Afghanistan, where he is deployed, Joel ponders on the politics, and has some good questions ... which don't have clear cut answers. On her own blog, his wife Amy was kind enough to point to several posts by military Chaplains. I was especially intrigued by Chaplain Christian's post The Dichotomy. His words are worth reading in their entirety, but this bit resonated strongly with me... I am called to nourish the living, care for the wounded, and honor the dead. I can do that regardless of what I think about the politics behind the war. Yet, I also happen to think the war is the right thing to be doing. That doesn’t make my job worthwhile, but it certainly makes it more worthwhile. I hope that makes sense. It would be much more difficult to do my job if I thought what we were doing was wrong, or evil. Yet, this is what the public projects on us. If you say the war in immoral, and that we came for the wrong reasons, and that we’re doing the wrong thing, you have to understand that it will affect those actually conducting the war! I added my own thoughts to each of these conversations. But I'd rather leave you with the thoughts of Kat-Missouri, who nailed it (again) better than I could. I'll sum it up: War sucks. Death sucks. Seeing mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, wives crying over a flag draped coffin sucks. Looking at pictures of 18 year olds who will never see 19 sucks. Knowing you can't be there to help them carry the load sucks. Trying to figure out what's going on and not getting the whole picture sucks. Knowing that all of this sucks and you still believe we should do it because, while it all sucks, what you imagine happens next sucks more. Knowing that tomorrow, our representative republic could decide to leave either or both fronts and leave hundreds of thousands of people to die (if not millions - some of who have become friends through organizations and internet) sucks. It all sucks. Tomorrow, here and there, we will wake up and do it again like an ugly groundhog day. Sometimes I am angry, sometimes I am sad, sometimes I am energized. It is those ups and downs that make me weary. Still, most days I only feel resolute. I suck it all in and add it to that resolution, because we aren't done until the mission is done. Still, it sucks.

Milbloggies - Pick your favs

I've logged my Milbloggie votes -- now it's your turn. Go vote for your choice in each of the categories. The voting closes on the 27th, so don't waste any time! Yes, you will need to register with Milblogging.com in order to cast votes. After I finished selecting my choices, I scanned the Recently Updated list to see what was new. And wandered right into two blogs owned by Amy and Joel Maxwell. Joel is an officer in the Army Reserve, currently activated and deployed in Afghanistan, and just barely arrived in country. His post on separating from his family went straight to my heart. I couldn't help but grin as I read his wife Amy's blog post describing herself and their family, especially as I read her 'Lessons Learned'. I have the feeling that Chaplain Candidate Maxwell is going to bring comfort to many a soldier in her career! But first, she and the children must make it through Joel's Deployment. This is the kind of spirit and service that both humbles me, and makes me incredibly grateful. Thank you, Amy and Joel.

Vietnam Vet to be awarded MOH

As highlighted in the H&I post at Argghhh and at the Dumb Ox Daily News... Major Bruce P. Crandall A Company, 1, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) MAJ Bruce P. Crandall will receive the Medal of Honor during a White House ceremony February 26, 2007 for his heroic actions in the Battle of Ia Drang. If you've read the book We Were Soldiers Once, and Young, or watched the movie We Were Soldiers, you may recognize the name as that of the helicopter pilot / commander who brought in troops and evacuated the wounded during the battle of Ia Drang. As I read more about this hero, I learned that he's a Washington native and current resident. I also found the terrific web site that his family created for him as a Father's Day surprise in 2001 -- all about Bruce "Snake" Crandall the Soldier, as well as the Husband, Hero, Leader, and more. Congratulations, LTC (ret) Crandall. It's about time!

Supporting the Troops

Walt Gaya has a must read about a Tacoma woman who works glass to make art and touch hearts. Go read his Hearts of Hope post, and find out why she has a huge PG&E gas bill to pay. [Cross-posted at the Castle H&I Fires post today.] I've also been catching up on Michael Yon's latest dispatches, of which there are many: The Hands of God Desolate Roads - part 1 of 2 Desolate Roads - part 2 of 2 Walking the Line Part 3 Walking the Line Part 2 Walking the Line Part 1 Mike is doing important work ... as an independent. If you have a few bucks, he can use the bump in his donation bucket.