MAIL CALL!Supporting the Troops

July 23rd--3 Family Birthdays!

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:53:38 GMT

Happy birthday to....Sue!

Happy Birthday to....Ben!

Happy birthday to....Dustin!

Hope you each have a wonderful day!

Wednesday Hero

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:41:26 GMT

(posting this early , Wednesday will be reserved for another post this week.)

This Weeks Hero Was Suggested By Toni

1st LT. Frank B. Walkup, IV 23 years old from Woodbury, Tennessee 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division June 16, 2007 Toni already has a great post up on her site, so I'll just link to it.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Tags: Wednesday Hero, US Army

More about the Afghanistan Outpost Attack on 7/13/08

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:51:04 GMT

For more about the battle that killed 9 soldiers in Afghanistan.......I came across this link, those losses hit home in a personal way for a Soldier's Angel

Click here: Fuzzilicious Thinking: CPL Jonathan R. Ayers

FBL went on to post an update

Click here: Fuzzilicious Thinking: "Normal Humans Wouldn't Do That"

which linked to a Stars and Stripes article with an interview with some of the wounded from that battle

Soldiers recount deadly attack on Afghanistan outpost

For more on the battle, another Soldiers Angel friend has a very good post up, and it got featured on Milblogging.com

In the Blogs: Not for Nothing, And Knowing It: A Special Thanks to Milbloggers (Again)

Those left behind continue to be held in our thoughts and prayers.

Soldiers Angels Web Surfing

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:54:46 GMT

My weekly surf of the web for news by, and about Soldiers Angels

This past week, Soldiers Angels Louisiana told us Reason #gazillion why I’m an angel

Soldiers Angels Texas asked us to Give a Veteran Some Tank Support

Stacy at Keep My Soldier Safe, a/k/a G.R.I.T.S.

Got the Mississippi Soldiers Angels VA Website up and running,hurray!

And then Willie at A German-American Friendship Bracelet keeps us updated on

News and stories around "Landstuhl regional Medical Center"

and

News and stories around "Brooke Army Medical Center"

That's all for the 'surf' this week!

Tags: Soldiers Angels

America's Freedom Broadcast Radio

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:14:22 GMT

Gotta give a shout-out to the wonderful folks at

America's Freedom Broadcast Radio

America’s Freedom Broadcast Radio is dedicated to the men and women who carry on the fight for our freedom and liberties and to those that precede them in defense of Freedom and Democracy World Wide. Our goal is to give our Military, their families, Veterans and first responders a place to listen in from any where in the world so they can connect to their loved ones through music and messages of support. Our Staff is dedicated to letting everyone serving this country know we here at home are supporting them and their families, no matter where they are deployed to in the world.

They found out through a mutual friend that Dustin's 21rst birthday is coming up on July 23

and go click on their page, to see what they did!

America's Freedom Broadcast Radio

Thanks a million,AFB radio!!! You guys are awesome!!

A Chilling Prescience by Michael Yon

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:38:01 GMT

When the sad news first came out about the deaths of 9 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan on July 13 U.S. troops died in Taliban attempt to storm base

I recalled that Michael Yon had predicted something like this attack on this outpost would happen.

I went back and found the two quotes of his that I recalled.....and, though he was off by a year in his original estimate, his words seem chillingly prescient now.

From an October 30,2006 article in The Weekly Standard, in his article Censoring Iraq

the pertinent quote by Yon is: (emphasis mine)

"Early this spring, when I reported from Afghan farms about this year’s bumper opium crop, people thought I was using that opium. Now it is common knowledge that the opium trade is fueling a Taliban comeback. Mark this on your calendar: Spring of 2007 will be a bloodbath in Afghanistan for NATO forces. Our British, Canadian, Australian, Dutch, and other allies will be slaughtered in Afghanistan if they dare step off base in the southern provinces, and nobody is screaming at the tops of their media-lungs about the impending disaster. I would not be surprised to see a NATO base overrun in Afghanistan in 2007 with all the soldiers killed or captured. And when it happens, how many will claim they had no idea it was so bad and blame the media for failing to raise the alarm? Here it is: WARNING! Troops in Afghanistan are facing slaughter in 2007!"

and here, in his 3 part series on a visit to Afghanistan in 2006

The Perfect Evil, Part I of III

Perfect Evil Part Two of Three

The Perfect Evil, Part III of III

is this quote:(again,emphasis my own)

"There is a widespread notion that Afghanistan is safer for our troops than Iraq, yet Coalition and NATO combat deaths in Afghanistan are per capita nearly identical to those in Iraq. In 2007, per capita combat deaths will–-in my opinion–-likely be significantly higher in Afghanistan than Iraq. Why? There are many reasons, but one of the most important is that after years of neglect and dawdling, our European allies are awakening to the reality that a monster really is under the bed. But this awareness is not keeping pace with the threat. Our European friends are still not providing their people with proper equipment, all while the Taliban is getting stronger from the billion-dollar narcotics backwash that floods enemy coffers. As in Iraq, troop numbers are also dangerously low in Afghanistan, where the handfuls of friendly forces additionally lack sufficient air power to stretch their security resources."

In searching for the quotes, I came across this post on The Captain's Journal:

Nine U.S. Soldiers Killed in Kunar, Afghanistan: What Can We Learn?

which seemed a well-reasoned summary of the possible lessons to be learned from this tragedy, to prevent a recurrence.

And then, I was appalled to come across this article in the Military Times

U.S. pulls out of attacked Afghan base

Barely have the families of the 9 fallen soldiers begun to mourn, when they find that the outpost their loved ones died fighting in has already been abandoned.

-------------------------

I close this post by remembering those 9 fallen heroes.

I have included a link with each soldier's name, for you to learn just a little bit about them individually.

From the DOD website:

The Department of Defense announced the death of nine soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They diedof wounds suffered when their outpost was attacked by small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades from enemy forces in Wanat, Afghanistan, on July 13. They were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503d Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy.

Killed were:

1st Lt. Jonathan P. Brostrom, 24, of Hawaii.

Sgt. Israel Garcia, 24, of Long Beach, Calif.

Cpl. Jonathan R. Ayers, 24, of Snellville, Ga.

Cpl. Jason M. Bogar, 25, of Seattle, Wash.

Cpl. Jason D. Hovater, 24, of Clinton, Tenn.

Cpl. Matthew B. Phillips, 27, of Jasper, Ga.

Cpl. Pruitt A. Rainey, 22, of Haw River, N.C.

Cpl. Gunnar W. Zwilling, 20, of Florissant, Mo.

Pfc. Sergio S. Abad, 21, of Morganfield, Ky.

Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and friends and their fellow soldiers.

Visit to Arlington National Cemetary

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:23:15 GMT

This past weekend, we visited Arlington National Cemetary for the first time. I've put together a slideshow of the pictures that Tony took.

What I don't think our pictures, or any pictures I've ever seen, convey....is the Vastness of Arlington. It's just immense.

We walked to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and JFK's memorial, and could see the Pentagon in the distance in one section we were in.

It was a quiet and reverant place to visit.

It's also the place where the Run for the Fallen will finish up the cross-country run to honor our fallen heroes from OIF on Final Day Event: Sunday August 24

We hope to make it up to Arlington again, for that final day of the run, but I also noticed last evening on the Run for the Fallen website that on Day 63,August 16, the Run will be quite close to us here

RFTF.Day63.Aug16.Waynesboro, VA to Shannon Hill, VA (49.81 mi.)

and there is a link on Flickr to the fallen heroes that the Run will be honoring that day HERE

If you haven't checked out the Run for the Fallen Website? take some time to look over it HERE

Tags: Run for the Fallen , Arlington National Cemetary

Wednesday Hero

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:17:48 GMT

Spc. Kisha Makerney 23 years old from Fort Towson, Oklahoma 120th Engineers, Oklahoma Army National Guard

Spc. Kisha Mackerney isn't being profiled today because of something she did on the battlefield. She's being profiled because her spirit and determination.

In 2002, Makerney joined the Oklahoma Army National Guard out of a sense of patriotism, because, as she put it, "I love our country and our people." Between 2004 and 2005, she served in Iraq as a gunner and helped provide battalion security.

She returned home in early 2005 and was in a terrible motorcycle accident on June 25, 2005. The front wheel of her brand new bike had blown out and sent her flying into a highway sign. She looked up at her now mangled bike and was angry.

That's when she noticed that her left leg below the knee was missing. The first thing she thought of when she saw her leg was that her military career was over. Makerney pulled herself out of the ditch that she had landed in and was able to flag down a passing motorist. She was taken a hospital in Hugo, Oklahoma before being flown to Dallas, Texas.

As soon as word spread about her accident, her fellow soldiers, her second family, rallied and rushed to her bedside. "Even before I was out of surgery they were waiting in the halls," she said. Continue reading Spc. Kisha Makerney's story here.

(There are some despicable comments by a few readers on the story. Just ignore them. )

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Have Every Right To Dream Heroic Dreams. Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Tags: Wednesday Hero, US Army, Military

I met 'The Webmaster'! :)

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:58:54 GMT

The 'webmaster' of Milblogging.com ,that is. (And, you know what? he looks more like a Boohbah than I thought he would :)

This past weekend, my husband and I had the pleasure of meeting JP and his family, and also seeing his mother again,( whom I'd met at the 2007 Milblog conference.)

(yes, JP temporarily lifted the restraining order, lol......however, he Did make sure that we met in a public place :)

Back in 2005 when I sent my first email to a blogging National Guard soldier stationed in Afghanistan, I had no clue that I'd become one of those legions of ladies who are JP's fans.....affectionately referred to as 'Crackheads', or 'Crackhead Hausfraus'.

And I could never have imagined that we'd stay in touch online over the years after his first deployment,while JP went on to found Milblogging.com and become a megastar in the Milblog world.

(I was not paid to write that....heck, JP's such a wheeler-dealer that I had to Pay, to get a Milblogging.com T-shirt :)

Seriously, when you spend several years online chatting with someone, and following the adventures of he, and his family, and his Platoon on his second deployment......and praying for him, and worrying about he and his family and platoon......I don't think I can quite describe what it feels like, to finally meet your online friend in person and give him a big ole Hug.

My husband and I had a wonderful time at the meeting, and it was a meeting filled with laughter, and talking, and More talking,lol. My husband and JP both share a snarky sense of humor, so they got along as well as I always thought they probably would.

JP and his family are just plain 'good folks'. His wife is every bit as beautiful in spirit as well as person, his sons are adorable (and yes, his youngest child Is a 'Care Bear':) and his mother has been just as supportive of Me over the past months of my stepson's deployment, as I had tried to keep her spirits up, also, while Her son was deployed.

I always say I love the Internet......but this past weekend was the real reason why I do. It's all about the People that the Internet gives you an opportunity to become close to.

It was Great, meeting the 'Webmaster of Milblogging.com" and his family:)

Thanks,JP!..... as always...dude, you rock!

Soldiers Angels Web Surfing

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 02:15:15 GMT

My weekly surf of the web for news by, and about, Soldiers Angels

I start out with very sad news today, via Soldiers Angels Germany

Recovered

The news that the bodies of Sergeant Alex Jimenez and Private Byron W. Fouty(who were kidnapped along with PFC Joseph Anzack during an ambush in May 2007),have been recovered.

Anzack's body was recovered earlier this year.

Our thoughts and prayers are with their families.

---------------------------

Life in the Northeast posts the names of other recent Fallen Heroes in her July 5th Remember... post.

Keeping the families and friends and fellow soldiers of all our Fallen Heroes in our prayers,also.

--------------

Before continuing with the 'surf', I wanted to remind you that you can always find the latest major blog posts by members of Soldiers Angels anytime at blognetnews.com/soldiersangels

and so I have lately been altering my Soldiers Angel Web Surf to try and highlight the posts I come across by lesser known Angel bloggers.

For instance, an Angel whose blog I've mentioned before has heard from her Adopted Soldier :)

Penny Sanford blogs Yippee! We heard from our Adopted Soldier!

A 'new-to-me' Angel blogs about becoming a member of Soldiers Angels in this post New Button on her blog All About Kimberly and she has a brother who is currently serving in Iraq.

It turns out that July 12 is his Birthday! as she posts here on His blog http://tommienotes.com/?p=44

So why not stop by and wish her brother a Happy Birthday!

Quilts and a quilting Angel were the subject of this news article from an online TN news outlet: Woman seeks volunteers to make quilts for wounded soldiers

and then a quilting Soldiers Angel who is retired from the Air Force and a current military wife blogs on Sew Bee It Quilts for the Troops

Lastly, 'Brat', posting at Soldiers Angels New York introduces us to a 109 year old Every Day Hero

That's the 'surf' for this past week, thank you, as always, for taking the time to stop by and check out the links.

Tags: Soldiers Angels