Thursday Travels around the 'Net

Short trip,lol, but we go all the way to Iraq along the way.

Speaking of trips, I am horribly late in passing this on:

Hero to Hero is already halfway into their yearly road trip (you can see the first post about it Here  Click here: The countdown begins ...  ) and I just can't say enough good about these folks :)

Their main website is here  Hero to Hero US  What they do is collect shirts from First Responders and police, and send them to the troops.

Seeing as how I have a son who is in the Sheriff's dept here,lol, maybe next year I can get my act together in time before they start, to see if our local police and fire departments might want to get involved.

At any rate, don't miss the rest of the blogging about their National Tour road trip.....these folks are awesome!!

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The 40th Edition of CarnivAOL came out this past Tuesday  

Click here: The 40th Edition of CarnivAOL!!!!

 

and I got to it late, but there's some good submissions there. It was hosted by Sharon at  Golf and Other Stuff... , and if you check out her blog further, she has a really great blog!

 

I had a blast when I hosted the CarnivAOL myself not too long ago, and now that it's a 'traveling show', I highly recommend it for you to consider hosting it yourself....it's not only a good way to get more exposure for your own AOL journal, it also introduces you to other really cool AOL journalers :)

 

Paul is still looking for guest hosts, and if you're an AOL journaler? Please go read what he has to say   

Click here: Breaking News: CarnivAOL #40 published!

 

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In late-breaking Memorial day posts? I came across this blog, where this gentleman did a series of posts about  American Heroes heading up to Memorial Day.  What a wonderful idea!  Figuring it's never too late to pass something like this on, I send you to his Memorial Day post, and if you look to his sidebar on the right of that post, it lists all the Heroes he featured     Click here: The Bill T Blog: Memorial Day 2007

 

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Yankeemom has a great post up about the trip Soldiers Angels took to Walter Reed after the Milblog Conference    Click here: Yankeemom

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And now, for Iraq news?

 

One of my favorite deployed milbloggers is

coming home,Yay!!  

Click here: Half a World Away: Good News, More Souvenirs

 

AND going to be published   Click here: Half a World Away: Hard to Believe, but I'm Getting Published

 

(I didn't even know the book was coming out)

Click here: Amazon.com: Doonesbury.coms The Sandbox: Dispatches from Troops in Iraq and Afganistan: Books: G. B. Trudeau

 

and lastly.....he needs money.  NO,lol, NOT for himself...but, as if he won't have enough to do with redeploying, And preparing to run in the Chicago Marathon....he's also registered 'Team Sack" as he calls it, in a race he found out about from the Fisher House web site.

Now, he wants to raise $1,000.00 in the next 18 weeks. You can read about it here

Click here: Half a World Away: Please Give Me Money

 

I have seen the power of the Internet together with the giving hearts of so many great folks time and time again in the past, and I don't know...I'm just thinking that spreading the word about this can probably end up helping Sack raise WAY more than $1,000.00.

What do you think?

 

So, please feel free to copy and paste, and spread the word. Post it on your blog, and/or email your friends (heck, email your enemies,too,lol:)

 

One of America's finest, who's just given over a year of  service in a war, is wanting to still give More. I think that all you fine folks who read this, and I ,can help him out:)

 

Thank you, for any help you can give in spreading the word!!

Go,Team Sack!! :)

 

 

WEDNESDAY HERO

Welcome to this week's installment where all the member bloggers of Wednesday Hero collectively honor many of the real hero's found in this country who's names and bio's have been provided to us for these humble tributes by blogroll creator Indian Chris @ Right Wing and Right Minded.

Many of them are those that have paid the ultimate price for our country protecting it both here and abroad from the many threats we face from our enemies wishing us and them harm, some are not. In either case they are the real American heroes of today and we now both salute and offer our prayers. To join us if you wish to please start by reading the post below.(Introduction courtesy of  Chicago Ray )

 

 

This Weeks Soldier Was Suggested By Kathy

 

Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie 41 years old from Ann-Arbor, Michigan

 

     

 

 Specialist Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie is a Iraqi American U.S. Army linguist soldier, from Ann-Arbor, Michigan who was kidnapped on October 23, 2006 in Baghdad and has not been seen since.

 

  al-Taayie joined the Army in 2004 to help not only his country, the United States, but also his birthplace of Iraq and was deployed in 2005.  

 

 On October 23, 2006 he was visiting his wife in the Karrada Shiite neighborhood in central Baghdad when he and his cousin were kidnapped by a group calling themselves Ahel al-Beit Brigades. His cousin was released shortly after.  

 

 On November 2, 2006 al-Taayie's uncle received a ransom demand of $250,000 for his return. Along with the ransom came a grainy video that showed a man beaten up who was identified as al-Taayie. No more has been heard from al-Taayie or his captures.  

 

 For more information on Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie you can go here

   

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. To find out more about Wednesday Hero, you can go here.

 

Tags: Wednesday Hero, US Army, POW, MIA, Military, War on Terror

Sites I want to pass on

My work schedule the past few days has sort of knocked the blogging out of whack for me,lol, but I wanted to pass on a few sites I've bookmarked recently to pass on.

First off, nothing to do with supporting the troops, but this was just a very interesting take on an interesting meme that I found over at The Wandering Author.

The meme was "If the blogosphere were coming to an end 24 hours from now, what would your final post be?"

 and I think what the Wandering Author came up with in response to that will give you food for thought.

Click here: the Unending Journey of the Wandering Author

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Next, Anysoldier.com has a forum up now, thought you might want to check it out

Click here: Forum.AnySoldier.com - Forums

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Memorial Day was spent quietly here, I was coming off of night shift and trying to catch up on sleep, and I actually went the entire day without going near the computer (I know, unbelievable,huh,Mom? :)

But there were still some posts regarding Memorial Day that I wanted to pass on for you to check out.

Mom sent me this in an email   Click here: 50,000

Wait-Not Yet has another beautiful set of photos up  Click here: Memorial Day - Remember

(and actually, her whole photo blog is a treat:)

MaryAnn of Soldiers Angels Germany, had a photo up with a link to a photo essay

Click here: Soldiers' Angels Germany: Remember

 

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I received an email about a site to "Adopt A Troop in Prayer"

 

Click here: http://www.presidentialprayerteam.net/adopt_our_troops_in_prayer.php

 

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And,lastly, the Big News in the world of Soldiers Angels is This Book

 

"May No Soldier Go Unloved" Book 1

 

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That's all for now, I hope everyone has a great week.

 

God Bless Our Troops, and God Bless Their Families.

 

(P.S. Oh, and Paulette from  My Rambling Mind is back posting again!)

 

Click here: Yahoo! 360° - My Rambling Mind

 

She is an absolutely stellar blogger and troop supporter, and I've really missed hearing what she had to say. So, welcome back! Paulette :)

 

 

 

 

WEDNESDAY HERO POST FOR MEMORIAL DAY

A special thanks to Greta and Silke of Hooah Wife for their help. To every man and woman who has served and is serving in the United States military, thank you for everything that you do and have done. And every man and woman who's given their life for the cause of freedom will never be forgotten.

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. To find out more about Wednesday Hero, you can go here.

Tags: Wednesday Hero

Memorial Day

My work schedule has kept me from blogging too much the past few days. But I did want to take a moment to pass on a link that was sent to me by a veteran.

http://www.llerrah.com:80/sacrifices.htm

and also to remember the three young men from our area who gave their lives in service to our country in the War on Terror.

Lance Cpl. Jourdan L. Grez

Lance Cpl. Daniel Scott R. Bubb

Lance Cpl. Jason C. Redifer

and, also, while not from our immediate area, the young Lance Corporal whose funeral we had the honor and privilege to attend while standing with the Patriot Guard Riders

Lance Cpl. Daniel T. Morris

To all their families....we are holding you close in our thoughts and prayers this weekend. And we will not forget their sacrifice.

And to the families of those fallen in previous wars, we have not forgotten the price that your loved ones paid, and we honor and remember all the fallen this Memorial day.

 

Top News - U.S. Military IDs Missing Soldier's Body - AOL News

Top News - U.S. Military IDs Missing Soldier's Body - AOL News :

Godspeed, Pfc. Joseph Anzack,Jr.

We are holding your family and friends close in our thoughts and prayers today.

 

 

 

 

And continuing to pray for those who are still missing, and the troops searching for them.

 

(The graphic is courtesy of  a fellow Soldiers Angel member  )

 

Card Shower :)

Hey all, I have decided to have a card shower for my boyfriend's son, who is graduating from Army Basic training in June.

If you'd like to send him a card congratulating him on his graduation? Please send me an email at   kasee267@aol.com  . I'll need the cards by June 8th.

Thanks so much!

 

More about This Week's Wednesday Hero,Spc. Joseph A. Jeffries

 

I hope the Wednesday Hero posts encourage you to want to know a little more about the Hero being featured each week?

I think Indian Chris of   Right-Wing & Right Minded , the founder of the Wednesday Hero blogroll, does a great job of finding Heroes to be featured and getting the information out to the members of the Blogroll to post.

But I think the posts have to necessarily be just basic information, as the intent of the posts is to remind us that we have heroes among us, and point out who they are.

I have often done searches to try and find out more about the Hero being featured each week, and sometimes it isn't always possible to find out much more than what was posted on the Wednesday Hero blogroll post for that week.

In the case of this week's Hero, featured in the post below, something in the smile of Joseph A. Jeffries made me want to see what else I could find out about him. (And maybe it's also partly because I have a 21 year old son,myself.)

When I did a further search about Spc. Jeffries, this is what I found.

The first thing I came across was the tribute to him below, posted on a friend's MySpace profile

Heroes

My Hero Is My friend Joseph Allen Jeffries who died in Afghanistan fighting for our country. He was apart of the special forces of military. He always wanted to be in the army ever since he was little. He died at the age of 21 leaving behind his wife and son(joey allen jeffries jr.) and other members of his family who i am close with. He loved helping people and being around children. He is a true American Hero i miss him so much. At his memorial service alot of people came to show their respect at sunset high school. At his funeral about 200 people came. The Military and police did a good job of supporting his family by blocking off highway inorder for people to get to one place to another.

and his friend had also written a poem to him  here

I found out that he was the first Oregonian killed in Afghanistan in this article here

Click here: Oregonlive > Oregonian > Farewell to the Fallen

I found some words by his wife,Betsy, in this article from 2005 here, which says that she was 5 months pregnant with their first child when Joseph was killed.

Click here: DefenseLink News Article: Widows of Combatants Killed in Iraq, Afghanistan Meet

and in the same article I found a picture of Betsy, and the son that Spc. Jeffries never met, Joseph A. Jeffries,Jr.

Unexpectedly, I found some words by his father here  Click here: Sgt Hook - This We’ll Defend » Blog Archive » Vote

And lastly, I found more tributes to him on his Legacy.com page

Click here: Guest Book - Joseph Jeffries

The quote by Gen. George S. Patton that is featured each week on the Wednesday Hero blogroll

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

I think best sums up how I feel now, after finding out more about this week's Wednesday Hero. While I am saddened by the death of this young man, who was obviously loved by so many, in the serviceof our country.......I am also thanking God that someone like him lived,

and that I had the opportunity and privilege to find out more about him, because of the Wednesday Hero post.

My deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Spc. Joseph A. Jeffries.

Tags:  Wednesday Hero

WEDNESDAY HERO

Welcome to this week's installment where all the member bloggers of Wednesday Hero collectively honor many of the real hero's found in this country who's names and bio's have been provided to us for these humble tributes by blogroll creator Indian Chris @ Right Wing and Right Minded.

Many of them are those that have paid the ultimate price for our country protecting it both here and abroad from the many threats we face from our enemies wishing us and them harm, some are not. In either case they are the real American heroes of today and we now both salute and offer our prayers. To join us if you wish to please start by reading the post below.(Introduction courtesy of  Chicago Ray )

 

 

Pfc. Joseph Allen Jeffries
21 years old from Beaverton, Oregon
Army Reserve’s 320th Psychological Operations Company
May 29, 2004

 

 

Below is all the information that could be found on Pfc. Joseph Jeffries.

 

 

 Pfc. Jeffries was killed with two fellow soldiers, Capt. Daniel W. Eggers and Sgt. 1st Class Robert J. Mogensen, and an unnamed sailor, when their vehicle drove over an IED in Kandahar, Afghanistan. All four service members were attached to the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force – Afghanistan. He is survived by his wife, Betsy, and his parents Mark and Linda Jeffries.

 

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. To find out more about Wednesay Hero, you can go here.

 

Tags: Wednesday Hero, US Army, Military, War on Terror

Monday Web Wanderings

Above are my pics ( all five of them,LOL) that I took with my disposable camera at the Milblog Conference . I didn't take more, because I felt like a dork using a disposable camera,lol. And hmmm...seems like I took most of these at the luncheon? I guess that gives away my priorities :)

I have been floating around the Internet this morning,bookmarking sites to put in this blog post, while waiting to hear that my Mom was back home from some surgery she was having. Just heard from Dad, and Yay! they are back home!!!:)

Now, for Mom, comes the hard part.....the surgery was on her vocal cords, and now she CANNOT TALK FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK!! Being as how we are a family of 'talkers', I think this will be torture for her. (and I cannot imagine it for myself,either)

But,thank God, the surgery is over, and Mom came through fine. (and my thanks to all my friends and Mom's friends, who were sending up prayers. That is So much appreciated!)

We had a lazy weekend, watching movies this weekend,since my back was kind of acting up. Watched Blood Diamond (awesome movie,IMHO), and then, because the Third movies are  out and I'm always behind in my movie watching,lol....watched Shrek 2 and Pirates of the Caribean:Dead Man's Chest

If my back Hadn't been bothering me, we could have gone to This event, which S.W.A.C. Girl blogged about, with some great pics 

 Click here: SWAC Girl: Back from 1864 ... the Battle of New Market

And speaking of the Civil War? one of the guys from  Bad Voodoo Platoon had some words about another battlefield

Click here: Northern Disclosure: ….all he got was a number!

Those guys are getting ready (or already are) to go on block leave,before deploying, and another one of them had their blog post listed in The Dawn Patrol at The Mudville Gazette  Click here: Mudville Gazette  (which I think The Dawn Patrol by Mrs. G is THE definitive listing of what's out there to read in Milblogs. )

I came across this post  Click here: Nara Vincent Blog  this past weekend, and it's a wonderful post, but I could find out nothing about the author (a civilian embed?) nor did I see any other posts on there. Just thought I'd pass it on, if anyone knows anything about this author? I'd love to know more.

A Soldier's Perspective had a good post up  Click here: Noble Duty Milblogger Coalition - A Soldier's Perspective » Blog Archive » Marine's Last Request Inspires Charity 

 (and that entire blog is always a good read:)

and one of my Fave milbloggers also had a good post, about another book I need to add to my 'must read' list  

 Click here: From My Position... On the way!: My Decision to Live

(and I can't believe this, but Chuck seems to want some Traffic , so I hope y'all will 'show him some luv',as they say. I Saw him at the Milblog conference, but never had the chance to approach him and say "Wow, I'm a huge fan!"....although I Did get to speak to his wife,very briefly.)

Another of my fave milbloggers has a post up about his current training for a marathon run( which I highly admire as I don't think I could even run a Block! let alone a marathon)    Click here: Half a World Away: [U] Pre-Marathon Update Weeks 6-13

Lastly, let's see if this will work....came across this video on MySpace, looks like My War Diary on the Military Channel is going to be having some new episodes, and this was just too cute Not to share.

 

"My War Diary" - Dancing With Myself

(well, looks like it worked,LOL.)

And now, while I am writing this, I am both coloring my hair, cooking supper for the fam,since I'll be working this evening, and doing laundry.

Which can either be considered 'organized multi-tasking' or, (more possible in my case) "trying to do too much at once, and Something will go horribly awry",LOL.

So,hope everyone has a good day! :) Time for me to sign off!

 

 

Tags: milblog, milblogging, My War Diary

Outraged over a game based on the Virginia Tech shootings

I read the other day that a 21 year old from Australia (apparently born in the US) has come up with a game that is based on the Virginia Tech shootings

Click here: Outrage over Virginia Tech game - Games - Technology - theage.com.au

He posted it on both his personal website, and onto a US based gaming website called newgrounds.com . When people worldwide began reacting with outrage? He posted that he would remove it if a 'ransom' of several thousand dollars was paid.

I have no words fit to print for what I think of this...person.

While I saw today that his personal website has been shut down

Click here: Offensive online game goes offline - Technology - brisbanetimes.com.au

The game is still posted at newgrounds.com

Click here: NG Search - v tech rampage

 

If you'd like to let the newgrounds staff know what you think about this?

The contact information is here

Click here: Contact the Newgrounds Crew!

 

And please feel free to pass this on.

 

Tags: Virginia Tech shootings, blogplugs

Another Flag Furor

Received a message from a  MySpace friend  about another flag furor, this one between a Marine veteran and another HMA

Click here: Land of the Free Home of the Brave!

found this news story about it here  Click here: wltx.com | Flags Of Our Bothers

and for more information about the veteran involved in this

Click here: Mark Cerney - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Click here: DefenseLink News Article: Emergency Registry Helps Locate Family Members, Friends

I think y'all know what to do:)

 

Armed Forces Day

Happy Armed Forces Day! to all our military men and women.

God Bless the Men and Women serving our country.

(sorry, I had a video posted with this, but someone contacted me and said they felt it was possible copyright infringement, so I removed it.)

 

Tags: Armed Forces Day

Soldiers Angels Web Surfing

Well, Friday is almost over, but I am trying to make this a weekly feature,passing on mentions of Soldiers Angels that I find around the web.

The  Soldiers Angels Network  blog and PR Director Shelle Michaels is doing a great job of  keeping us current on mentions of Soldiers Angels in the news media, so I'm going to direct you to that blog to keep up on that side of things

and I'll just pass on blog posts by New members of Soldiers Angels (Yay!New 'Angels"!  ) and blog posts by other members of Soldiers Angels.

NEW ANGELS

Members of  Soldiers Angels can be found in every corner of the world, and from all sides of the political spectrum, and I'm always happy to see a post by someone who has just joined. I got an alert from two such blog posts this past week.

Click here: Life in the Sprung: 14 May 2007

Click here: free heart reflections: The World is Bigger Than Me and My Family

Welcome! to both these new members  Happy "Angeling",as we say!

Blog Posts

This is by no means a definitive listing of posts,  but here are a few of the posts I wanted to pass on, by other members of Soldiers Angels.

Blogging about what happened After the  Milblog Conference  (and oh, how I wish I could have stayed in DC to attend this!) is Laurie from Soldiers Angels New York

Click here: Soldiers Angels New York: Sunday at Walter Reed

Also blogging about Soldiers Angels presence at the Milblog Conference (AND just doing some great blogging in general, check out her post about "Anatomy of a Care Package") is an Angel that I had the privilege of meeting when we volunteered at the 2007 Face of America Bike ride a few weeks ago.

So, check out this post by Lisa

Click here: View from the 8th Floor: Flock of Angels in DC

and then just go check out her whole blog

Click here: View from the 8th Floor

Two posts about disturbing incidents, one is from "Cat" (I got to meet HER, too, at the Conference:)

Click here: Cat is my co-pilot: OIF Hero SGT Mark England beaten & tased by Las Vegas Police at McCarran Airport

and this post, not specifically from a member of Soldiers Angels (I don't think? sorry, not enough time to research this) but Soldiers Angels Members ARE getting involved in this.

Click here: Wake up America: War Memorial Destroyed: HELP Needed

Lastly, I have been remiss in not mentioning this sooner, but Kat at Yikes! finally has up the link to the Home Team show about the house they were given

Click here: Online Video: Entire Episode of Atlanta: Jeff and Kathy Orr | Veoh Video Network

and she and her husband are also getting ready to take a very special trip

Click here: YIKES!: ROAD TRIP to Honor a True Hero: CAPT. HERBERT C. CROSBY

 

As I said, this is not a definitive list, there are many other great posts by members of Soldiers Angels, but time gets to be a precious commodity for me, plus there are other members of my family here who "want computer time! get off the computer,already!"(which seems to be what they are saying,lol, I'm trying to ignore them:)

 

One place you can go to 'surf' blogs by members of Soldiers Angels is my 'still-in-progress' list of blogs 

Click here: Blogs By Members of Soldiers Angels

 

There are a lot of great blogging Angels, and those posts listed above are just a few samples.

 

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Before closing, I wanted to express my condolences to the family of  Sgt. Anthony J. Schober, who was listed as the 4th 'whereabouts unknown" soldier earlier this week, until his remains were identified with DNA testing

Click here: AHN | Military ID's Fourth Victim In Southern Iraq Ambush, Anthony J. Schober -23, DNA Used | May 18, 2007

 

Our thoughts and prayers are with them, and also continue for the 3 missing soldiers, their families, and the soldiers searching for them.

 

 

Tags: Soldiers Angels , missing soldiers

Bullrun Road Rally Pictures

As promised in an earlier post this week , above are the pictures from the

2007 Bullrun Road Rally

that made a stop Monday in Staunton,Va, which is near our town.

 

Tags: 2007 Bullrun Road Rally

WEDNESDAY HERO

Welcome to this week's installment where all the member bloggers of Wednesday Hero collectively honor many of the real hero's found in this country who's names and bio's have been provided to us for these humble tributes by blogroll creator Indian Chris @ Right Wing and Right Minded.

Many of them are those that have paid the ultimate price for our country protecting it both here and abroad from the many threats we face from our enemies wishing us and them harm, some are not. In either case they are the real American heroes of today and we now both salute and offer our prayers. To join us if you wish to please start by reading the post below.(Introduction courtesy of  Chicago Ray )

 

 

This Weeks Soldier Was Suggested By Cindy

 

Lance Cpl. Steven Chavez 20 years old from Hondo, New Mexico 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force March 14, 2007  Tears ran down cheeks and strong men choked back emotion as the city of Hondo, NM payed tribute to fallen Marine, Steven Chavez.    LCpl. Chavez lost his life on March 14, 2007 in a non-combat incident in which he was accidentally shot.   Chavez enlisted in the Marine Cops. right after he graduated in 2005.   "You pray and you pray that the day never comes, and then it does," said Novelda Chavez, Chavez's mother. "Your emotions are mixed — it’s not true, it’s a bad dream, a bad dream you never wake up from."   In a letter Chavez wrote before he was sent to Iraq, he wrote: "First of all I would like to thank everyone for your support. When I'm home on leave and when I'm away. That is so important to me. Thank you for your kind, supporting words in your letters and for the packages I've received. Those are awesome. I've been through some pretty hard times, in the short time I've been in the Marine Corp. None harder then what I'm about to face. Yes I'm scared; nothing is scarier than the uncertainty of what your future holds for you. I'm prepared to face whatever lies ahead. I put my life in the hands of the Lord. And pray that He guides my fellow soldiers and I down a safe path, that He will calm our fears, and give us the strength to do the job we have been trained to do, and to do that job well.   There are many lonely nights, when you're lying in your bunk thinking of family and friends, wondering what they are doing at that very moment. Wondering what mom is cooking for supper. I can almost taste the tortillas on the griddle. I want to say to all of you tonight, I wouldn't change one thing about my life. I've never been more proud of the choices I made in my life than the day I graduated from basic drill instructor placed that Anchor, Globe and Eagle Pin in my hand I knew then I was a UNITED STATES MARINE! I'm Proud to protect and serve My Country I'm Proud to protect and serve My Community I'm Proud to protect and serve you Thank you so much for your Support. Keep those letters coming. Mail is a precious commodity when you're so far from Home.   YOUR U.S. MARINE LANCE CORPORAL STEVE CHAVEZ"    

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. To find out more about Wednesay Hero, you can go here.

 

Tags: Wednesday Hero, US Marines, Military, War on Terror

The DOD today announces Four Soldiers as Missing

 

Click here: DefenseLink News Release: DoD Announces Army Soldiers as Whereabouts Unknown

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

No. 591-07 May 15, 2007

DoD Announces Army Soldiers as Whereabouts Unknown             The Department of Defense announced today the identities of four soldiers listed as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN) while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They have been unaccounted for since May 12 in Al Taqa, Iraq, when their patrol was attacked by enemy forces using automatic fire and explosives. They are assigned to the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.               Reported as DUSTWUN are:               Sgt. Anthony J. Schober, 23, of Reno, Nev.               Spc. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Mass.               Pfc. Joseph J. Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, Calif.               Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Mich.               Search and recovery efforts are ongoing, and the incident is under investigation.               For more information in regard to this release the media can contact the Coalition Press Information Center-Baghdad at (703) 270-0299 or (703) 270-0320.

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Apparently, there is a 4th missing soldier.

Our prayers continue, for those missing, their families, and for those who fell the day they went missing:

  The Department of Defense announced today the death of three soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died May 12 in Al Taqa, Iraq, of wounds suffered when their patrol was attacked by enemy forces using automatic fire and explosives. They were assigned to the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.

 

            Killed were:

 

            Sgt. 1st Class James D. Connell Jr., 40, of Lake City, Tenn.

 

            Pfc. Daniel W. Courneya, 19, of Nashville, Mich.

 

            Pfc. Christopher E. Murphy, 21, of Lynchburg, Va.

 

Click here: DefenseLink News Release: DoD Identifies Army Casualties

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and also, our prayers continue for those searching for them.

 

 

Tags: missing soldiers

Hosting the 39th Edition of CarnivAOL :)

What a GREAT response to  CarnivAOL  being hosted here today, Thank You SO much to all the people who sent in entries!!

I'm not clever enough to come up with a whole 'theme' to present the entries in 'Carnival' style to go along with the graphics, so here are this week's entries, in the order I received them.

From  Marti at Porch Stories  comes a very moving post, using both pictures and the words to a Bruce Springsteen song, about a post-Katrina trip to....Mississippi....one of the 'forgotten' places affected by the hurricane.   

Click here: Bay St Louis, Mississippi

 

 

 

From Gerry at  Daughters of the Shadow Men  comes a very disturbing memoir.

 

Click here: I am taken in custody under armed guard and remanded to the madhouse...Memiors 76

 

 

 

And from Paul of   Aurora Walking Vacation  (who is also the founder of  CarnivAOL )

comes a post about how easily fooled people are, along with a video illustration....and why scientists who don't remember that can be 'woo-woo's'.

 

Click here: The "amazing" colour changing card trick

 

 

Russ, at  Inner and Outer Demons had a Mother's Day post with some memories of his mother, who is passed away, that will make you smile.

Click here: happy mother's day

 

 

Linda from  Linda's World  recently took a 35 day, over 4,000 mile post-retirement trip with her partner,Bob, and took Lots of Pics.  She sends the link to entry #1 about her trip here 

 

Click here: Part One of a 35 Day Journey

 

(and I believe is now up to entry #7 :)

 

 

Dawn  of   CarpeDiem  sends an entry about a 'Communication Breakdown' and also includes  a meme of "7 things you don't know about me."

 

Click here: Communication Breakdown

 

Win at  The Woman in the Glass Box  sends a post with some deep and moving thoughts about love, sex, and the sadness hiding 'behind the smile.' 

 

Click here: Behind the Smile

 

 

And Kelli at  noonmom  posts about welcoming friends home from the war.

 

Click here: everyone is home

 

 

 

Well, that 'wraps up' the 39th Edition of  CarnivAOL ! Splendid posts, I think, sent in by some great AOL journalers here in "J-Land", as the Journals community is called.

 

It was a lot of fun to host this!:) 

 

My thanks to Paul, for the opportunity to  be a Guest Host  and, if you are interested in doing this yourself?

This is what Paul has to say:

 

If you are interested in hosting an edition of CarnivAOL send me an email to PLittle@aol.com and let me know when you are available to do so. For open dates, look at the CarnivAOL upcoming editions page. For a description of just what is involved in hosting an edition of CarnivAOL, read the hosting guidelines, and visit some of the past editions.

 

 

I hope you all enjoy reading the posts!! :)

 

 

Tags: CarnivAOL, blogplugs

Bullrun Rally,Prayers Continue, and "Fake Gun Attack" on Schoolchildren

I was off work today, and we decided to head a half hour down the road to Staunton ,as the

Bullrun Road Rally  

was making a stop there, at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel .

(And there's a Bullrun Blog here  Click here: BULLRUN 2007  )

I had seen this article about it in the  Daily News-Leader , one of our area newspapers,

Click here: The News Leader - www.newsleader.com - Staunton, Va.

and we just thought it would be something fun to do  (and hey, wouldn't it be great if one of the celebrities mentioned Did show up? I'M thinking "Dr.McDreamy" Patrick Dempsey of Grey's Anatomy,LOL)

Well, we didn't see any celebrities, as far as I know (or else we just didn't know who they were if we did,ha ha!)

But we did see a lot of cool cars! and there was a large group of folks there,and it was a gorgeous day, the sun was shining in a blue sky and it was not too hot.

We took a lot of pictures of cars (yes, with a disposable camera once again,lol) and I'll post them once we get them developed.

A nice way to spend time with the family on my day off :)

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

Our prayers continue for the missing soldiers in Iraq,and for their families

Click here: Top News- Group Urges U.S. to End Hunt for Troops - AOL News

----------

and,what do you think of this?

Click here: ABC News: Teachers Stage Fake Gun Attack on Kids

the update to that story is that the lead teacher and the assistant principal were suspended for the last 3 weeks of school,without pay

Click here: ABC News: Educators Suspended for Gunman 'Prank'

I found the school website here 

Click here: Scales Elem Homepage

 

and their earlier news release concerning the 'prank' (?!) had disappeared from their web page, but I was able to find a posting of it    HERE

 

thanks to this post on KnoxViews blog  Click here: Assaulting Our Children "Responsibly" | KnoxViews

 

(and be sure to check out one of the links on the post, to the blogger at VolunteerVoters.com who has a differing point of view about the whole incident

Click here: Volunteer Voters » Did You Order The Code Red?  )

 

 

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

 

My personal response to the incident is that it was totally inappropriate, particularly in light of the recent Virginia Tech shootings, and especially because it was originally presented as a 'prank' on a school field trip.

 

There is no way I, as a mother, would ever consider it a 'prank' for any of my children to believe....even for 'just 5 minutes',as supposedly happened.....that they were possibly going to die at the hands of a gunman.

 

 

My question to you is.....is a three week suspension without pay an appropriate action to take against the teachers involved?

 

Or do you think stronger measures should have been taken as disciplinary action?

 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

 

 

 

Tags: Bullrun, Scales Elementary School, missing Soldiers

Three Missing Soldiers...Prayers are Needed.

Click here: Top News- Five Dead, Three Soldiers Missing in Iraq - AOL News

 

and bless Mary Ann at  Soldiers Angels Germany, who posted this to remind us that prayers are needed.

 

Click here: Soldiers' Angels Germany: Light Three Candles

 

My heart goes out to the families waiting for some news,

 

 and also to the families of the five fallen soldiers.

 

We are holding you close in our hearts, thoughts, and prayers.

 

 

Tags: missing soldiers

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the Mothers,Grandmothers, and Mothers-To-Be that are in my family, or that I know:)

Wishing you all a wonderful day!

 

Soldiers Angels in the News, and Blog Posts by or about Soldiers Angels

It's been a hectic week (when is it not?lol) so it just ocurred to me today that....ONE MONTH FROM MONDAY....we will be in Missouri to see  OYMBT (Our Young Man in Basic Training:) GRADUATE!!!!   WOO HOO!!!!

I get different 'alerts' for  Soldiers Angels  from Technorati, Google, etc. as I wanted to start a weekly post (hopefully weekly:) of  mentions of  Soldiers Angels in the news, and on blogs. The alerts have kind of been piling up, so I just wanted to pass on a few of them, and then next week try to get my act together a little better to make this a  weekly feature of links for you to check out.

I recently saw a comment on the AOL Journals Editor blog  About Soldiers Angels (which means the word is getting out, YAY!!) but the commenter only mentioned Adopting A Soldier....and while that is surely a wonderful thing to do! (And something I've never been able to afford to do myself. Except now, of course, we have a soldier in our own family we need to support!)  

 Soldiers Angels is so much MORE than just about adopting.  There is really 'something for everyone' available, if you join Soldiers Angels . There are all kinds of  Teams available for you to join!

In my case, I unfortunately have had to take a  break for a time from the

Living Legends Team

due to financial reasons. It's a wonderful team,that does very important work, but sometimes you have to take a look at whether or not you're Overextended in certain areas, and sadly, make decisions that you might not really wish to make about what it's resonably possible for you to do.

This is a team that I believe in with all my heart, as the feedback I have gotten from families that I have sent condolence cards to as a member of the team has assured me that it Does matter to the families of the fallen, to know that even strangers they don't know are thinking of them, and holding them in their hearts and prayers during their time of mourning.

However, with the cost of postage going up Monday and with preparing for a trip across the country in a month, I had to take a look at whether I could still continue to meet my obligations as a member of the  Letter Writing Team , a member of the  Cards Plus Team  , and as a member of the  Wounded TLC Team , and Also Still meet my obligations as a member of the  Living Legends Team ?

And,sadly, with the past few months sometimes having a very high number of  War Casualties ? I had to do the math, and face the reality of what I could and couldn't do. Almost $30 in postage alone for the month of April for sending cards for just one team is just a little too much for me right now, never mind the cost of the cards for that team, and not even including the cost of cards or postage for any of the other teams I belong to. Something had to 'go' in our budget for right now, and it was a question for me of either committing to just this One team? or committing to continue to meet my obligations on the other Teams I've been a part of for the past two years?

I hope in a few months to be able to once again be a part of the Living Legends Team , but I had to accept that I just can't Do everything I wish I could, financially.

Well, that's enough about that. Moving on, here are some of the links I wanted to pass on.

Click here: The Middle Ground: Soldiers' Angels Kansas City and Talking With Heroes

 

Click here: Welcome To Andi's World: The Days Are a Blur: A Summary of Events

 

 

Click here: Standard Speaker - Freeland Borough Councl, riding club bid farewell to police officer deployed to Iraq

 

Click here: Soldiers' Angel - Holly Aho - Soldiers' Angels gets it done - Donate today!

 

Click here: Soldiers Angels New York: DC Recap

 

Click here: ArmyWifeToddlerMom: Building bridges and getting your hands dirty....

 

Click here: Soldiers' Angels Germany: Into the light: A wounded Marine and his Vietnam Veteran father

 

Click here: My side of the puddle: The Reason

 

Click here: Soldiers Angels Network: I dreamed about my angels- says Scott Lilley

 

Click here: Soldiers Angels Network: May 17 Grand Forks Event TalkingWithHeroes.Com / and Caring for Military Families"

 

Click here: Pundit Review » Blog Archive » This is what it’s all about

 

One more team I wanted to mention is  The Sewing Team . I myself am NOT a 'sewer',LOL, I recently asked the boyfriend for "a thread and needle" and he commented to me "Ya know, Most people who sew at all call it 'a Needle and Thread!'":) But since I know that there ARE 'crafty' people out there (who perhaps read my blog?) I just wanted to bring that Team to your attention. Not all of us are letter writers or cards-senders,but  Soldiers Angels has myriad ways to make it possible for you to Support Our Troops:)

 

That's all for today. God Bless Our Troops, and God Bless their Families.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: Soldiers Angels , support the troops

The CarnivAOL deadline approaches....Please send your submissions!

The deadline is fast approaching for submissions to next week's edition of CarnivAOL , which I will have the honor and pleasure of hosting here on this blog Tuesday,May 15.

Please send those submissions in before this Sunday, May 13, at midnight, to kasee267@aol.com 

Thanks!

 

Tags: CarnivAOL, blogplugs

Update on the Post asking to Help the Christopher Cooper Family

An update on the post below this one:

CavMom  has set up a page here  

 Click here: Christopher Cooper Funeral Fund: Easing the mind of a Soldier

and there is a PayPal donation button on the page.

 

Tags: US Army, Military, support the troops

Please Spread the Word to Help a Soldier and His Family in Need

From Lone Star Pundit , a fellow member of the  Wednesday Hero Blogroll ,comes this story of a soldier and his family in need:

http://lonestarpundit.wordpress.com/2007/05/09/support-the-troops-help-a-local-soldier/

(Reposting here:)

For six years now we have seen the bumper stickers and heard the sound bites from both sides of the aisle: “We support the troops!” (Whether or not they support their mission normally depends on which side of the aisle the individual leans toward.)

Well, now it’s time to put up or shut up. One soldier from Magnolia, Texas — just 20 minutes up the road from here — needs our support, both with prayers and if possible with a little financial relief:

A Magnolia man serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq recently had to take out a loan which is debited from his check to help pay for his father’s funeral expenses.

According to his mother, Laura Cooper, her son barely made it before her husband died, but is now having to sacrifice even more.

Christopher Cooper Jr., 23, came home to attend his father’s funeral but only had five days to grieve with his mother and younger brother before having to head back to Iraq to take part in the Untied States’ military campaign in the Middle East. His brother, Justin Cooper, 20, is attending Texas State College.

Chris Cooper Sr., 47, died April 9, only months after finding out he had lung cancer in November. His widow, Laura Cooper, works part-time for A+ Autos in Pinehurst and was already struggling to work and take care of her disabled mother who went blind due to diabetes.

Laura Cooper has worked for the auto shop for eight years. When her husband developed cancer, her struggle to care for her ailing family and work got harder and it left her with little funds.

With one son in college and the other in Iraq, there was no one for her to turn to. She said her son is already sacrificing so much for his country, but he offered to sacrifice even more by taking out a loan against his military pay to help cover his father’s funeral expenses.

This young man is doubly a hero, sacrificing both to serve and protect his country and at the same time to care for his family back home.

The family’s church, led by pastor Gerald Sadler, has already done what it could to raise money to help the Cooper family, but this is a small church within a small community. According to the pastor,

… funeral expenses alone amount to $7,200. So far, $1,200 has come in from various donations. Sadler said that unless the community can help, the rest will be being taken out of Christopher Cooper’s son’s military pay for the next two years.

An account has also been set up at Woodforest National Bank under the name “Funeral Fund for Chris Cooper.”

If you are able and would like to help the Cooper family with the funeral expenses and lingering medical bills, you can either email me or call Pastor Sadler at his place of business (A+ Autos) at 281-356-5100.

And whether you can contribute financially or not, please be in prayer for this brave young soldier and his family.

Lone Star Pundit has a picture and update on his site that I didn't copy, again the post is here

http://lonestarpundit.wordpress.com/2007/05/09/support-the-troops-help-a-local-soldier/

and now another fellow member of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll  has gotten involved.

CavMom has a post up here  A Soldier could use our Prayers  and she has taken the step of contacting Mrs. Cooper directly. Please go by her site for more details.

And please feel free to spread the word about this!

 

 

Tags: US Army, Military, support the troops

WEDNESDAY HERO

Welcome to this week's installment where all the member bloggers of Wednesday Hero collectively honor many of the real hero's found in this country who's names and bio's have been provided to us for these humble tributes by blogroll creator Indian Chris @ Right Wing and Right Minded.

Many of them are those that have paid the ultimate price for our country protecting it both here and abroad from the many threats we face from our enemies wishing us and them harm, some are not. In either case they are the real American heroes of today and we now both salute and offer our prayers. To join us if you wish to please start by reading the post below.(Introduction courtesy of  Chicago Ray )

 

Spc. Josiah H. Vandertulip 21 years old from Irving, Texas 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division October 14, 2004       Louise Vandertulip fussed at her son about his spending. He bought wild, overpriced hats that had flames on them or horns coming out of the top, she said.    While in Army basic training, he bought portraits of himself. His mother told him to save his money. She's glad he didn't listen. The hats and the pictures are all a part of her memories now.   Spc. Josiah H. Vandertulip was killed in Baghdad when his patrol came under small arms fire.    Josiah Vandertulip joined the Army right after his graduation from Irving High School in 2002. He spent a year in South Korea before being stationed at Texas' Fort Hood in February.    Against his mother's advice, he volunteered to go to Iraq. She told him to wait, to go to college.    "When he was determined to do something in his heart, he would do it and hell or high water couldn't keep him from it," she said By going, he knew someone else with a young family could be saved from serving, relatives said.    He always had the important things right, Louise Vandertulip said. "There's a lot of rest in knowing that he died doing what he believed in and doing what he thought was right," she said. "We have a much more real sense of the cost for the freedom that we enjoy now," said his father, Robert Vandertulip.   "Josiah was the first brand new soldiers I recieved as a dismounted team leader in Korea. He was one of the Best soldiers I have had the honor to train and work with. He loved being a soldier as much as any guy I have met. He was a great leader in the absence of his superiors. I could always count on him to make sure the mission was accomplished. I watched him change over the year I had him from a goofy kid, to a hard charging soldier." Sgt. Nickolas Faul    

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. To find out more about Wednesay Hero, you can go here.

Tags: Wednesday Hero, US Army, Military, War on Terror

Hey,I'm hosting a carnival!.....CarnivAOL, that is:)

As you can see on the CarnivAOL blog  here

on May 15, I will be hosting CarnivAOL here on this blog.

So today is the day I'm supposed to write a post asking for submissions to be sent to kasee267@aol.com   

Here are  'The Rules' for submissions to this blog CarnivAOL   

(as posted by Plittle on the CarnivAOL blog )

1) The entry must be original writing. We're not interested in entries that simply link to neat things around the Internets. Well, we might be, but I'm not going to post them here. We'll have to find other avenues to find those.

2) The entry must be posted in an AOL or AIM journal. I know there are many former participants who now blog exclusively on other services. I'm sorry, but I can no longer accept your submissions. Nothing personal. Just one of those I-made-up-the-rule-at-the-beginning-and-now-I-have-to-stick-to-it things.

3) I will not link to any entries that I feel may transgress the AOL terms of service agreement. I have no intent to censor your writing, nor do I think AOL should, but the cold hard reality is that they do. Linking to "inappropropriate" material can result in a TOS violation, so I won't do it.

4) One entry per person, per week. 

So,let's get this CarnivAOL for May 15th started! All entries must be mailed to me by midnight on Sunday, May 13th, at  kasee267@aol.com  for inclusion :)

(And if you'd like to host this blog CarnivAOL yourself? Plittle is actively looking for more Guest Hosts. Just go   HERE  tocheck out the openings for upcoming editions of the CarnivAOL, and send him an email at plittle@aol.com  :)

 

 

 

 

Tags: CarnivAOL, blogplugs

Mentions of Soldiers Angels in the news,FOA pictures, and a friend on CNN

I finally had a moment to put together an AOL pictures album of my Face of America bike ride pics above, and on Saturday Lynette from Soldiers Angels also told me about this website where tons of people are posting their FOA pictures

http://picasaweb.google.com/lukerval

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

I found this past week a few notable mentions of Soldiers Angels in the news that I wanted to pass along

Click here: Army nurses in Iraq work out a way to build charity, muscle - Cleveland.com

Click here: Montgomery Newspapers - House of Heroes gets some guardian 'Angels'

Click here: cbs4denver.com - Students 'Pay It 4ward' To Troops In Iraq

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

And Sean "I'm Not Famous" (LOL) from  Doc in The Box made it onto CNN....way cool!:) You can see the video here  Click here: CNN.com Video

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I suppose everyone (hey, all ? of my readers,lol) is wondering why I haven't blogged about the new Army regs regarding Milblogs? Especially after the Milblog Conference .

Well, I'm just still unsure of what the heck it all means, and how it will affect milbloggers, even after attending the conference.

I think the most well-informed person I've seen speaking about it is Army Lawyer

but I also saw this post from Sack in Iraq 

Click here: Half a World Away: I'm Still Here

So, I think everyone is just in a 'wait and see' kind of mode. Only time will tell how this is going to affect milblogging.

And it's of even more interest to me now, because we have  the boyfriend's son  in Army Basic training....I started out blogging simply as a member of  Soldiers Angels but now that I have a tie to someone in the military....what does these regs mean for me as a blogger,because what effect will it have for Dustin ?

I still don't know, but if and when I ever have a more definitive answer, I'll pass it along:)

 I'm getting ready to move onto the dreaded midnight shift for some of my shifts at work, so I will most likely be confused the rest of the week,LOL.

Which reminds me. I hardly ever mention it here, but I Am a nurse.....so hey! don't forget it's 

 National Nurse's Week 

Have a great week,everyone!

 

 

 

 

Tags: 2007 Face of America Bike Ride, Soldiers Angels, milblogs, milblogging

The Most Meaningful Moment for me from the Milblog Conference

Without a doubt, the chance to hear Robert Stokely, father of  Sgt. Mike Stokely  who was killed in Iraq in Aug.2005, was the most meaningful moment for me of the 2007 Milblog Conference .

With the boyfriend's son in  Army Basic Training , certainly it is a thought in the back of our minds (that we try not to talk or think about) that someday we could be facing the news that Robert Stokely received, of the death of your child.  Every parent's worst nightmare, and this man is living it. So,when Mr. Stokely got up to speak, I think you could have heard a pin drop. And I know I was not the only one hanging on his every word, nor did there seem to be a dry eye in the room by the end of his eloquent speech.

Here are his words (courtesy of Mary Katharine Ham )

I had a chance later that day to speak briefly with Robert Stokely, who impresses me mightily as a towering man of faith, and very compassionate and caring even in the midst of the most devastating grief a parent could face, and express to him how much it had meant to me to hear his words, and why.

When I told him that, while  Our Young Man in Basic Training  was not my child, but I have always loved him like one of my own, Mr. Stokely simply said to me,"You don't have to be a biological mother to love a child like one."

Which was yet another reason for me to respect and admire this man. He didn't know me from Adam, but he 'got' the feelings in my heart, and was able to express that in a single sentence.

While I hope and pray that we never have to face what Mr.Stokely has?  There is a calmness and sense of peace about him, even in the midst of his grief, that can't help but give someone like me hope and strength.  I'm not all that good with words, but the atmosphere around this man just tells you that here is someone who is walking closely with God, and I walked away from my brief conversation with him feeling a deep sense of comfort.

I came home from the conference with a lot of thoughts in my head, and a lot of special moments that I'll be recalling for some time to come.......but I feel like the greatest blessing I received from attending this conference was hearing this father's words, and having the chance to speak with him. Thank you, Robert Stokely.

 

Tags: 2007 Milblog conference , milblogs, milblogging, Robert Stokely