Friday, August 31, 2007

The One Year Anniversary of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll

Today is the one year anniversary of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll

and the founder of the Blogroll, Indian Chris at Right-Wing and Right Minded, has an anniversary post up that I hope you will check out

 
It's been an honor and a privilege, for me to be a small part of this.Thank you, Chris, for letting us all join you in remembering so many heroic men and women.
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And you may remember that I briefly posted this SlideShow earlier this week. I decided it was more fitting to post it here
 
(but Chris very kindly included a version of this that is much better, but I was unable to upload to YouTube, in his post on his blog. )
 
 
 

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Labor day, and Fallen Heroes

Although I'll be off of work on Labor Day itself, I'll be working this weekend. So, I'm posting this a little early, to wish everyone a Happy Labor Day!

 

I'm also unsure if I'll be able to get up a Soldiers Angels Web Surfing post, as tomorrow is going to be very busy for me, with a doctor's appt and then work. Possibly Saturday I can post that? If not, that 'meme' may just have a week off:)

We Were thinking of 'chillaxin" (as the 'young people' say,LOL:) by the pool on Labor Day itself....but we have an opportunity to participate in a Patriot Guard Riders mission near here, and we have decided that we would rather do that, as we have so few opportunities to honor our fallen with the PGR, between our work schedules and the distances sometimes involved in getting to a mission.

S.W.A.C. Girl has a post up about that fallen hero here

 
and,sadly, we had another fallen Marine from our area, who died in a training accident
 
 
Our thoughts and prayers are with their families.
 
(As far as I know, we will be attending the PGR mission honoring Pfc. Wilson, unless the PGR has a mission to honor Lcpl.Harris)
 
Since I may not make it online too much until after Labor Day, I also wanted to share a video that the VFW has put together
 

P>

I wish each of you a safe Labor Day weekend.

 

 

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

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 Post Was Suggested By Randy Thorsvig

Ken Leonard

Ken Leonard (On The Right) From High Point, North Carolina
 
 Every once in a while you run across one of those "feel good stories". Those stories that show us just what a person can do when they really want it bad enough. And Ken Leonard has one of those stories.
 
 
 In 2005, Ken Leonard left his job as a police officer in High Point, North Carolina to go to Iraq to work with a private security firm. In December of that year, Ken, along with five other men in his vehicle and six others in the vehicle behind him, was hit by a roadside bomb outside of Baghdad.
 
 
"After the bomb went off, I knew exactly what had happened," Leonard recalled. "My feet got jarred, so I knew they were hit."
 
 
While others in his vehicle were injured, he had received the worst of it. He had lost both his feet. The vehicle behind them pushed Leonard's to a safer area. But flames were coming out of the air conditioning vents and they had to get out. Leonard crawled from the car and fell to the pavement.
 
 
"That’s when I saw my feet," he said. "I could tell they were gone. They were still attached, but they were shredded."
 
 
On July 19, 2007, Ken Leonard went back to North Carolina to get his job back with the police force. To do that he needed to pass the Police Officers Physical Abilities Test, which, among other things, consisted of a 200-yard run to be finished in under 7 minutes, 20 seconds.
 
 
 And he did just that with 24 seconds to spare. "Somebody told me one time they said, 'You know, what you've lost is just bone and muscle. You've still got heart, and you've still got, you know, what's up here,'" Leonard said, pointing to his head.
 
 
 

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.

 

Monday, August 27, 2007

Soldiers Angels Web Surfing (A Bit Late,sorry)

My apologies. Between work last week, and getting my daughter ready for school? the week just kind of got away from me without me being able to post the

Soldiers Angels weekly web surf feature until today.

(on a side note,lol, I'm up for the 'evil mom' award, as I had the wicked idea of posting on the dry erase board in our kitchen "5 Days till School Starts",etc.etc, counting down the days....mostly so I could hear my daughter scream "Auggghhh!" every time she walked into the kitchen:)

And on a more somber note? It's also been a difficult week for the

Soldiers Angels Living Legends Team 

as,after a brief respite from receiving any names of the families of fallen soldiers to send condolence cards to, we sadly received far too many names at once following the helicopter crash.

Aimee, as always, remembers our fallen here

Click here: Yahoo! 360° - Life In The Northeast - Remember. . .

We hold their families and friends in our prayers.

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For other news by and about  Soldiers Angels  last week?

Soldiers Angels Texas reminds us that Christmas is coming

 
 
The Middle Ground has a great post about Soldiers Angels Kansas City at a VFW convention
 
 
 
Darn it! I missed posting about "Be An Angel Day" on Aug.22, but someone else had that covered:)
 
 
I also missed Mary Ann at Soldiers Angels Germany sharing a birthday with someone very special
 
Click here: SOLDIERSANGELSGERMANY.ORG  (and, I can't seem to permanently link to the post this morning, so please scroll down to her Aug.23 post.)
 
  Happy Belated Birthday wishes  to both Mary Ann and DJ Emory!
 
(ArmyWifeToddlerMom remembered Mary Ann, at least!Along with touting writing to our wounded troops at Landstuhl, as a nice way to honor Mary Ann's birthday.)
 
 
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There's a nice post here about one of the many ways Soldiers Angels gets involved, from a blogger I've featured before
 
 
 
And Soldiers Angels and the Patriot Guard Riders are joining forces to help a wounded soldier and his family
 
 
 
Soldiers Angels New York went off on a well-deserved break. Hope you enjoyed your vacation,Laurie!
 
 
 
The inestimable Willie in Germany posts about a Thank You at a 'new to me' blog,
German-American Friendship Bracelet
 
 
(How many places ARE you posting now,Willie? LOL. )
 
Speaking of Germany?  I received a nice email from another German member of Soldiers Angels, and you can check out her blog here
 
 
 
Jim at Thinking Right had a great update on Project Letters from Home (and Soldiers Angels are involved in that,too:)
 
 
 
Here's another new Angel:)
 
 
This is a great site, that has links to patterns
 
 
Lastly, Valour IT has a new website address
 
 
and, Fuzzybearlioness was featured on VAJoe.com
 
 
Well, that's the (belated) post.
(and maybe once we get back into the swing of things after school starts,I can be more timely with my posts,lol:)
 
Hope everyone has a good week!
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

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 Post Was Suggested By Kasee

 

SSgt. John Self
Click Image For Full Size
 
 
SSgt. John T. Self 29 years old from Pontotoc, Mississippi 314th Security Forces Squadron May 14, 2007
 
 
 
 
 
 A kindhearted patriot. That's how SSgt. John Self was described by those who knew him.
 
"John was a good boy, a good boy who loved his country and who loved Christ and for that he’ll move on to a better place," said Laron Self, Sgt. Self's grandfather, fighting back tears.
 
 
 SSgt. Self was killed, and three other airmen wounded, when an IED hit the Humvee they were traveling in while on his 79th patrol in Baghdad, Iraq.
 
"John volunteered for this deployment while he was deployed to (Southwest Asia)," said Chief Master Sgt. Keith Morris, 314th SFS security forces manager. "We discussed this deployment via e-mail. He said he made his decision to deploy again to gain experience."
 
"He could always find the humor in anything regardless of the situation," said Senior Airman Daniel Hunsperger, a member of Self's fire team. "He believed in everything he did. This was obvious to us after learning he had only spent two weeks home between his last deployment and volunteering for this one."
 
 
On May 23, SSgt. Self was laid to rest with a crowd of hundreds to pay their respects. People lined both sides of the highway for more than 5 miles waving flags as the hundred-car procession traveled to the burial. Shouts of, "We love you John," and "Thank you, John, could be heard as the train of cars passed by.
 
"That’s a hero," Susan Chambers, one of the many mourners, said to her son as she pointed at Self's casket.
 
 
 

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.

 

 

Monday, August 20, 2007

So, If you want to know what your letter means to a soldier?

Well, you can get one opinion here:)

Click here: Hard Soldier: Sleep is for suckers!

and, if his post inspires you to maybe write a letter of your own?  He's one of the

Bad Voodoo Platoon   soldiers, and their address is:

<Soldier's Name>

B Co 1/160TH INF

APO AE 09327

(and if you're wanting to write to him specifically, he's  Baker . But heck, I'm sure

Any  of the Bad Voodoo guys would appreciate some mail. 

This is, of course, the Platoon of the illustrious   JP of Milblogging.com  fame :)  

And,sadly, one of them has suffered a recent loss in his family

Click here: Ranger Sid: Home....  

My sympathy and prayers, to Sid and his family.

---------

If you maybe want to write a few more letters?  You can check out this post

Click here: Semper Fi, Sayce: Monday Morning News

(and Sayce's address is in the sidebar, why not send he And LCPL Sweeney a note?:)

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If you'd still rather email than snail mail? Please remember the "Letters from Home" project

It's an email project for the 1rst Battalion,1rst Marine Regiment, and you just put "Letters from Home" in the subject line of your email, and send it to

letters@thinking-right.com

So, won't you please consider sending some messages of support, one way or the other, to our troops?

(And, as always, if you want to get involved on a more long-term basis, please check out)

Soldiers Angels

where you can  Adopt A Soldier

or join one of the many other Teams

Thanks! for whatever way you'd like to show support or get involved:)

 

 

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Milblogging news

JP of  Milblogging.com (via a tip from reader Rachel) posts a link to yet another article from the most excellent Noah Shachtman

What bloggers are saying: Army Reports Brass, Not Bloggers, Breach Security

Following up on that, I went by Wired's Danger Room blog

Click here: Danger Room - Wired Blogs

where Shachtman has updates on his blog post that are of interest, and also a listing at the bottom of all the pertinent blog posts related to this topic.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Soldiers Angels Web Surfing

In which I pick out various mentions of and by Soldiers Angels around the blogosphere. Before I start this post, I want to mention that I came across something Extremely disgusting in my search both this week and last week for mentions of Soldiers Angels.

It seems that there is what they call a 'splog' (spam blog) which lists links to pornographic sites, and the scum that have set this up link to anything that mentions...."Angels". So, for the last two weeks, this 'splog' has turned up in my Google alerts for 'Soldiers Angels, and it has links to articles By Soldiers Angels members.

I figured out this week how to report this 'splog' to Google, and hope that they will soon be removing this 'splog' from the web entirely, but it really nauseates and incenses me that pornographers would set something like this up to drive traffic to their web sites. The seamy underbelly of the web, yuck.

Enough of that, in the 'good news' department, once again there's lots of great stuff around the web by and about Soldiers Angels.

New (or 'new-to-me':) Angels and Angel blogs

 
 
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What Angels are doing
 
This Sunday, Holly Aho will be guest hosting   Talking with Heroes
 
 
This is going to be a DO NOT MISS show! The Guest list is here
 
So make sure you set aside some time Sunday to listen in!
 
(and if you won't be able to listen on Sunday, you can always go to the main page of Talking with Heroes  and there's a link down the page to listen to 'Previously Aired Shows'.)
---------
ArmyWifeToddlerMom  has a post up about sending donations to the Soldiers Angels Operation: SOS Kids
 
 
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Last weekend, Laurie of Soldiers Angels New York exhibited for Soldiers Angels at an air show (great pics and video:)
 
(And,she has another noteworthy post up)
 
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Other Posts by Angels
 
Kat at Yikes! has a post up with remembrances from Robert Stokely, the father of Sgt.Mike Stokely, who was honored this past week as the Wednesday Hero
 
 
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Texas Soldiers Angels features the Texas VA Hospital of the Week
 
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Greta has an update on the Chili Cookoff
 
 
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And this is a biggie, FuzzyBear Lioness has an update on Valour IT
 
 
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Well, that's the post for this week:) This is by no means a definitive listing, just what I came across in the various searches I do for Soldiers Angels mentions, and I pass it on for you to check out the links.
 
So, enjoy the 'surf'!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Back to School (and other links to check out)

Friend CJ has a post up that's worth a read over at the VA Mortgage Center Blog

 
(and by the way, that's another blog just added to my blogroll...they have great guest bloggers posting some really good reads over there.)
 
 
If YOU perhaps might like to go 'back to school'? here's a blog for 'a human services class taught at Columbia college"
 
 
Class starts Monday the 20th, folks :)
 
Friend Lisa had a post up that nicely fit in with my Back-to-School theme :)
 
 
Finally, Transformation Tracker has finished and released the paper he was working on, and it's worth a read,too. Be aware that it's "an academic paper meant for an academic audience"
 
 
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For other links I think are worthy of a mention? LL over at Chromed Curses is involved in a new charity and I want to pass on the site for it
 
 
I'm still blogging over at the Independence Fund blogsite periodically
 
 
And this is just a cool story:)
 
 
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For 'news on the home front", I spent more time worrying about Hurricane Flossie and it's effect on 'our young man in the military" who's stationed in Hawaii than HE did,lol, and in the event, I worried for nothing, as it didn't even Rain where he was!
 
We don't hear from him too often, but hey...if you were 20 and in HAWAII, would You call home that often? Nah...too busy enjoying life when he's not working, I'm sure:)
 
Well, that's my post for today:)
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

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 Week's Soldier Was Suggested By Kat

 

 Sgt. Michael J. Stokely

Sgt. Michael J. Stokely 23 years old from Sharpsburg, Georgia 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment, 48th Brigade Combat Team August 16, 2005
 
 
 
 
Next Saturday, August 25, the town of Peachtree City, Ga. will be holding it's inaugural Ride To Remember for Sgt. Michael Stokely who lost his life two years ago tomorrow in Baghdad, Iraq when an IED detonated near his position.
 
The patrol he was with had stopped and the NCO in charge had everyone take a rest while he walked back down the road with a Corporal to check out something suspicious. Sgt. Stokely refused to to rest, and instead took up a flanking position at the rear of his truck to watch their backs. Which, as a Cav Scout dismount, he saw as his job.
 
The NCO and Corporal heard cracking noises and made their way to the sound when they were hit by an explosion. The NCO was seriously wounded but the Corporal made it through without a scratch. Sgt. Stokely, however, wasn't so lucky. You can read more about Sgt. Michael Stokely here and 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.

 

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Another Email project, and Random updates

A fellow  Soldiers Angel  alerted me to this email project for some more Marines

(and he's got two updates)

Click here: Thinking Right » Blog Archive » Project: “Letters From Home” Update

 
(Update 3 now)
 
 
I love these types of projects:) because you can just take a few minutes of your time to type an email (for those who might not want to write a 'snail mail' letter) and you can make some Marine's day!
 
The email address again is  letters@thinking-right.com  and he asks that you put
Letters from Home in the subject line.  Please consider taking a few moments to do this (yes,I already did:) and also spread the word...they want 1,000 emails!
-----------
 
Yikes, I missed passing this blog challenge on!
 
(sorry,Greta, work has been too busy lately for me to log on during the night, and I didn't see this until this evening.) But there's still a few hours left in the day here, so there's still time for you to get in on this:)
-----------
 
I'm also Way late on passing this on. Remember the  virtual baby shower  that a friend of mine washaving for one of her former adopted soldiers?
 
Trish posted a Thank You here  Click here: blog.myspace.com/trishy_girl    Folks responded to this awesomely! so go check her post out.
----------
 
CJ has another post up about his late grandfather
 
which IMHO is another 'do not miss' post.
----------
 
Well, I went by today and found out they won't announce the winner until Sept! So, I'll try and remember(those darn 'senior moments') to check back on that.
--------
 
Another post I went back to check about
 
arghh! says the same thing "please check back soon" to find out who wins the grand prize.
 
(so I guess my updates are that you're still waiting on updates on those two contests,lol:)
-------
Speaking of coffee? I came across this today
 
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And for yet another Project I've come across? I came across this post because of a mention of  Soldiers Angels
 
 
which led me back to the original post about their project
 
 
seems like a very worthy effort!
------
And I've changed the Featured Blog of the Week (at the beginning of the week for once!) Soldiers Angels Texas always has tons of great stuff, so I'm featuring them for this week
 
Well, it's about time for me to wrap this up. Hope everyone has a good week!!
 
 
 
 
 

Thursday, August 9, 2007

SOLDIERS ANGELS WEB SURFING

I'm going to be busy tomorrow, so decided to post this today. Good thing! There's LOTS out there this week thus far:)

Things to send

You could send a get well card to a Marine

 

Via Spousebuzz, SHOES are needed!

Click here: In Focus: Operation Good Shoes - SpouseBUZZ

(and,by the way, Andi of Andi's World is closing down her blog and devoting her blogging time to SpouseBUZZ, you can check out her post about it here

Click here: Welcome To Andi's World: Bittersweet

Andi is, of course, the coordinator of the annual Milblog conference,also. I can understand her reasons for having to let something go, with ALL that she does...but it still makes me sad to see her having to close her blog down. Wishing her all the best in the future!)

 

You could send chili-fixin's :)

Click here: Kiss My Gumbo » Anyone want to be in a chili cook-off in Afghanistan?

and there's an update on that here

Click here: Soldiers’ Angels Louisiana » Labor Day Chili cook-off update in Afghanistan

 

Or,you could send a stuffed bear(from a 'new-to-me' Angel blogger)

Click here: One Healthy Sucker: Do Some Good

and a MySpace Angel friend mentions this,too:)

Click here: blog.myspace.com/SoldiersAngelSusan

Lastly in this category, you can send up prayer...for this Marine and his family, who came to my attention during one of my searches for mentions of  Soldiers Angels

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

Soldiers Angels Texas has Many good posts, but I particularly liked this one

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Over on Yahoo 360 (another of the web 'communities' I belong to) there are Angels you should check out

The Australian Angel I've mentioned before, who includes news about her "3 Amigos" in her letters to soldiers

 

Aimee ALWAYS remembers our fallen

Click here: Yahoo! 360° - Life In The Northeast - Remember. . .

(and she blogs about many other things,too!)

 

And Larry is with the Soldiers Angels Riding Club of Pa (did you know they had a riding club?:)

Click here: SARC of PA

And he's blogged about one of the rewards of being an Angel

Click here: Yahoo! 360° - LARRY S MSN LIVE PAGE - August 02, 20007--This is Why I Do What I do.The Rewards

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More updates from the recent SA convention in San Antonio

Click here: blog.myspace.com/tracyvolena

Click here: Mudville Gazette

---

A new Angel blogger:)

Click here: American Girl: A Little Bit of Life

----

And, if you haven't gotten enough Soldiers Angels news from these links? There's plenty of great news in the August Soldiers Angels newsletter

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Hope everyone has a good weekend!

 

 

 

 

And how is Your weather?

Here's today's forecast:

VALLEY- High pressure to our south is providing plenty of heat and high humidity for the week. It won't be quite as hot as yesterday when we high 99, setting a new record, look for a slight break with lower 90s for your daytime highs.

Click here: WHSV - Weather WHSV - Harrisonburg, VA Weather

(   A "slight break of  Lower 90's"????? ROFL.)

 
I ended up working 3-11 yesterday evening, instead of 11-7.  We had the delightful (?) experience while serving supper last night to the resident's that, in the middle of this heat wave we're having.....the HEAT came on in the dining room!! Yikes!
 
I have much more sympathy for 'limp dishrags' after that,LOL.
 
April has been a counselor this week again at  Camp Kaleidoscope  . Darn hot week to be doing it!!
 
School starts Aug.28, and we're going to pay school fees today after Counselor April is done at camp, so I see the end of the summer looming large.
 
Life. It just goes so fast sometimes,doesn't it?
 
Well, the new kitten just jumped from the back of the couch to the back of the computer chair, and clawed my arm when I screamed and jumped....so I think I'll go tend to my wounds,lol.
 
KEEP COOL,everyone!!
 
 
(crossposted from my   family blog   ,because sometimes I just want to share the excitement of  'watching paint dry' :)
 

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

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 Week's Soldier Was Suggested By Gary

 Col. James W. Harrison Jr.

Col. James W. Harrison Jr. 47 years old from Missouri U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Combined Forces Command Afghanistan May 6, 2007
 
 
 
 
Duty, Honor, Country. Col. James Harrison Jr. embodied that ethos, said his family. He was committed to the mission of the United States in Afghanistan and spoke with great pride about the accomplishments of the men and women with which he served
 
 
Col. Harrison was killed on May 6 when a Taliban fighter, dressed as an Afghan police officer, shot him at point blank range at Pul-e-Charkhi prison near Kabul. Also killed along side Col. Harrison was Master Sgt. Wilberto Sabalu Jr. and two other soldiers were wounded.
All four men were working as mentors to Afghan troops providing external security for the prison.
 
 
Harrison graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1981. He also graduated from the Military Police Basic and Advanced courses, the Combined Arms and Services Staff School, the Command and General Staff College, the Army Inspector General Course, and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
 
 He earned a Master of Business Administration from Syracuse University and a Master of Science degree in national security and strategic studies from the National Defense University.
 
 
 Before going to Afghanistan in December 2006, he was assigned to Fort Leavenworth as director of the School for Command Preparation at the Command and General Staff College. He is survived by his wife and three sons. To read a letter from the Afghan general in charge of the detention facility, visit Amy Proctor's site.
 
 
 

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.

Cpt. Maria I Ortiz-April 24,1967-July 10, 2007

 

This Thursday, Aug.9, the first active duty Army nurse to be killed in combat since the Vietnam War will be laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetary.

Cpt. Maria I. Ortiz died on July 10, 2007 in Baghdad,Iraq of wounds suffered during a mortar attack while she was serving at the 28th Combat Support Hospital in the Green Zone. She died while tending to Iraqi wounded.

As a nurse myself, and as the niece of an Army nurse Captain who served in Vietnam

Click here: For My Aunt...A Thank You to an Army Nurse Corps Vietnam Veteran

learning of this death had a huge personal impact for me.

(I regret to say that I missed the announcement of her death in July, as this was when the boyfriend's son was home on leave and I didn't spend much time on the computer then. )

I learned of Cpt. Ortiz's death last night through a posting on the Patriot Guard Riders forums

and I immediately set out to do a search to find out more about this fallen hero.

I found the story of a woman who was living out her calling, and who died doing what she felt she was born to do--caring for others.

 Over and over again, in the stories about her that I found on the web, people mentioned her smile, and her caring heart.

I found a myriad of links honoring and remembering Cpt. Maria Ortiz, and rather than synopsize them all, I'm going to list them at the end of this post, and urge you to take a moment to read through them, and learn more about this woman and nurse who was greatly beloved by family,friends, and patients.

I am not in any way saying that any one death in the wars that our service men and women are currently fighting is more important than any other death. Each death is a loss, each death deserves to be honored and remembered.

But as a woman and a nurse, this death hits home for me. And I felt it was important to highlight the memory of Cpt.Maria Ines Ortiz.

Please take a moment this Thursday to remember Maria Ortiz's family in your prayers, as they lay her to rest.

And here is a link to her Guestbook on Legacy.com, if you'd like to leave your condolences.

Click here: Guest Book - Capt. Maria I. Ortiz

RIP CPT. Maria Ines Ortiz.

And to her family and friends, may I respectfully offer my heartfelt sympathy for your loss.

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

Click here: Popular Army Nurse Is the First Killed in Combat Since Vietnam

Click here: Army nurse killed in Iraq - MilitaryWoman.org

Click here: María Inés Ortiz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Click here: Memorial this week for slain Army nurse

Click here: delawareonline ¦ The News Journal, Wilmington, Del. ¦ Army nurse killed in Iraq had ties to Md., N.J.

Click here: Nurse killed in Iraq remembered -- baltimoresun.com

Click here: wjz.com - Memorial Held At APG For Army Nurse Killed In Iraq

Click here: In Memorium Walter Reed celebrates the life, service of Capt. Maria Ortiz

Click here: Maria Ines Ortiz, Capain, United States Army

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Blogging Here,There, and Everywhere

Beside's blogging here, I also did some blog posts this week and last week for

Independence Fund 

over at the Independence Fund blog  

 
as did the founder, Steve.
 
Please stop by there, and check the blog out :)
 

I LOVE Brad Paisley's video "Online" :)

Go check it out Here

 
I just think this song says it all, doesn't it?
We're all 'so much cooler Online".
 

Friday, August 3, 2007

Soldiers Angels Web Surfing

Finally, I'm actually getting this up on a Friday:)

News of and by Angels seems to be lighter this week, but that could be because the Annual SA Conference is going on.

Speaking of the conference? I came across this news article on My SA.com (the "SA" stands for "San Antonio", but still cool serendipity,huh? :)

Music Helps Soothe Soldier's Soul by Tunette M. Callis,Express News

and in the article, it says that the rap group 1223 (twelve twenty-three) were going to be special guests at the convention when they met at Brooke Army Medical Center on Aug.1, and were going to entertain wounded soldiers and hand out CD's.

For yet more serendipity (can you tell I like that word,lol? April is lucky she wasn't Named 'Serendipity', but I thought that was going a bit too far:) I am familiar with 1223 via MySpace, and had blogged about them before.

If you would like to hear the song the article above mentions? their MySpace page is here   http://www.myspace.com/1223music   and the song is called "Drive On".

I also found a posting about the first night of the convention from another 'new-to-me' blogger who has pictures up:)

 
 
Soldiers Angels Texas has good news
 
 
And Congratulations! are in order for Angel Shelle Michaels
 
 
Holly Aho is getting back into blogging after vacationing
 
and Aunty Brat at Tanker Brothers (and she got this via Soldiers Angels Germany ) reminds us to Mark Our Calendars for the Mike Stokely Foundation 1rst Annual Ride to Remember
 
 
Well, that's the  Soldiers Angels  Web Surfing post for this week! Hope all the Angels at the Convention are having a wonderful time :) and hope all of You have a good weekend!
 
 

Thursday, August 2, 2007

A Marine She Never Met Changed Her Life

(Trying to post this again, I had a little trouble with the link this morning)

On July 31, I saw a MySpace bulletin that led me to this blog post by a fellow Soldiers Angel member

Gone but in my heart forever!

I simply think this is a post you must not miss. And, my condolences to the family of Cpl. Sean A. Stokes. You are in my prayers.

 

An Angel Issues an August Challenge

Please go check it out

 
and Thank You, for whatever you can do to help meet the challenge:)
 
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Her blog has been my 'Featured Blog of the Week' for about a week and a half (obviously I have issues with time,LOL)
 
I'm passing on the above to make sure you see it partly because I'm going to change the 'Featured Blog of the Week' tonight.
 
If you have not been reading  West Coast Notorious ? you are missing a great blogger.
 
So I figured it was time to start featuring him, and his excellent writing.
 

The Dork Adventures Continue

Yesterday, I  mentioned that April and I were going to go swimming.

Several things happened that, sadly, I know fall into the category of "it could only happen to me."

(but, on the bright side? it's more material for letters to soldiers,LOL:)

First of all, we had gotten the air pump back from the person who borrowed it, and the top part of the pool needed some more air. I hooked up the air pump and happily stood there for several minutes enjoying the sunshine :)

Until, of course, I realized that I had hooked up the air pump Backwards, and so I wasn't putting air Into the pool......I was letting air OUT!

But wait....there's more!

I had recently spoken with the neighbors next door, who have a little girl, and told them I'd invite them over next time we swam. So, I did, and the mother and daughter came over.

We had a nice time swimming....it all turned ugly when they went to Leave.

We have locks on both the gates on the fence since we put the pool in, and so to get to the pool you have to go down the stairs and out through the basement. When they were ready to leave, April and I walked up the steps with them and discovered....we couldn't open the doorknob on the door at the top of the steps!

(we'd been having more and more difficulty using this doorknob prior to this.)

April ran back downstairs as I unsuccessfully kept trying to turn the doorknob and get the door open. We couldn't use our keys to unlock the fence gates as, you guessed it...the keys were on the Other side of the stubborn basement door.  So, April (Miss Resourceful:) was getting the pool ladder out of the pool, to use it to try and climb over our fence...when, thank goodness, her Dad drove up.

She hollered over the fence at him and tried to explain that he needed to come let us out. I'm not sure he understood exactly what she was trying to say? since 'we're trapped in the basement,come let us out" yelled over the fence didn't really seem to make much sense to him? :) but,eventually, he understood and came inside to open the door.

Only, it wouldn't open for Him,either!!

Now, he was going back out to the truck to get tools to try and turn the doorknob, my neighbors are looking more panicked, and I am disgusted at this point, calling out to April "Just tell your Dad to throw the keys to you, and we're going out the fence gate!" because I have just given up on ever getting out the door.

We got out the fence gate, and my neighbors left. (do you think they'll ever come back?LOL) and as it turned out, Tony never could get the doorknob turned and finally had to take it completely Off in order for us to be able to use the door.

After he did, he turned to me and said "Between you getting locked  in the shed like you did back in Feb, and now getting locked in our own basement? I'm not sure it's safe to let you go ANYWHERE, even in our own House!!"

And that was my latest dork adventure :)

(crossposted from my ' family blog ', thought y'all might enjoy it )

 

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

MN Bridge Collapse-How to Donate to the Twin Cities Red Cross

Someone asked if all my family in MN were OK, and yes, thank God, they are.

If you'd like to donate to the Twin Cities Red Cross? From their website

http://www.redcrosstc.org/

 

Twin Cities Red Cross Responding to Hwy. 35W Bridge Collapse

Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the 35W bridge collapse tragedy.

 

The Twin Cities Red Cross is responding to the this disaster by providing mass care, mental health counseling and more to those affected.

 

NOTE - Due to call volume, we are currently experiencing difficulties with our phone systems.

 

Register as SAFE and WELL

To register yourself as SAFE and WELL or to search for information on a loved one - please visit www.safeandwell.org. Concerned family and friends can search the list of those who have registered.

 

To Donate Money and Blood

The best way to help those affected by this and other disasters is to donate money and/or blood.

 

To make a financial donation - CLICK HERE.  You can also call 612-460-3700.

 

You can also mail financial donations to:

 

American Red Cross - Twin Cities Area Chapter

NW 5597

P.O. Box 1450

Minneapolis, MN 55485-5597

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My thoughts and prayers are with all those who lost loved ones yesterday, all those injured or affected by this, and with all those still working on rescue/recovery efforts.

 

Thinking Christmas in August:)

Since April and I want to get a little swimming in this afternoon

I'm just going to opt for the 'lazy way' to post this,LOL, and send y'all to my 'family blog' on AOL for why I have Christmas on my mind

 
 

Passing this link on..Please help spread the word!

A friend on Yahoo 360 has This post up

 
that I wanted to pass on. Please forward it, post it, and can we help spread the word for this Mom?
 
Thanks! for whatever you can do to pass this on.
 

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 Cynthia

Master Sgt. Michael Wert

Master Sgt. Michael Wert (Left) 35 years old from Saginaw, Michigan 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing May 5, 2007
 
Master Sgt. Michael Wert, an intelligence chief for the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing at Cherry Point in Havelock, N.C., was vacationing on an early May weekend with his family at the beach when he saw two boys struggling in the surf. His wife, Debbie, said her husband rushed into the water to help while she went to call 911.
 
 Their daughter, Katrina, grabbed a boogie board and followed Wert into the water. She managed to help the boys onto the board, but didn't see her dad with them. One of the boys told her that he (Wert) had to let them go and had died.
 
The rescue team found Wert, brought him to shore and tried to revive him. As they worked, strangers prayed with the family and comforted the Wert children.
 
Wert was six days shy of celebrating his 36th birthday.
 
Wert joined the Marines in 1989 after graduating from Alma High School, in Saginaw, MI, where he was a cross-country runner. He served in Operation Desert Storm and supported Operation Iraqi Freedom.
 
As the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing intelligence chief, he gracefully accepted the role as the go-to guy for his Marines. He was the one who helped his major’s son build a pinewood derby car while the officer was deployed. He knew when babies were born in the command. He kept up with birthdays and anniversaries. He was the first to greet Marines getting off the plane after a tour in Iraq.
 
 "He was always there to help," Lt. Col. William Conley, commander of Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 2 said at a memorial service for Wert. "Master Sergeant Wert responded to the need for help. As always, he didn’t hesitate — he went to help. He tragically lost his own life in doing so."
 
"I admired him for his commitment to service and the Marine Corps," said Col. Kathy Tate. "We know he was a hero every day."
 

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.