Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Wednesday Hero

Petty Officer 2nd Class Adam F. Kinney Petty Officer 2nd Class Adam F. Kenney    U.S. Navy    Petty Officer 2nd Class Adam F. Kinney, a Navy Corpsman with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, gives an Iraqi Child a shot during a routine patrol. Kinney is assigned to Echo Co. for their seven-month deployment and will return to his parent command, 4th Tank Battalion in Fort Knox, Ky., upon his arrival.    

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

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

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

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Sunday, June 1, 2008

Bad News for a Bad Voodoo Soldier

Was very distressed yesterday to come across this post on Milblogging.com

Army punishes Soldier for participation in Bad Voodoo’s War

(FRONTLINE)  Sfc. Nunn reports to FRONTLINE that the Army punished him for his participation in the film "with a letter of reprimand in my permanent record so that I cannot be promoted or reenlist."  He says that "nothing illegal happened and proper protocol was followed" and that he is appealing the Army's decision to ensure that "I leave with an honorable discharge instead of a general discharge and I am trying to clear my name and record as well."

Read the entire story here on FRONTLINE PBS, including a letter to PBS from SFC Nunn.

Stay updated on SFC Nunn’s blog over at TobyNunn.net

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If you haven't watched PBS Frontline Bad Voodoo's War ? I urge you to take the time now to do so, you can find the link to watch the entire story online HERE

I haven't seen too much discussion yet online of the repurcussions for SFC Nunn (of course, I could be using the wrong search terms?) but I did come across this thoughtful post here (even though the writer sometimes refers to SFC Nunn as "SFC Dunn")

The Costs of War

and the most excellent Troy Bouhammer weighs in here  Why the Army ticks me off sometimes

With my husband's son currently deployed? it meant a great deal to both he and I, to be able to watch the PBS Frontline Bad Voodoo's War  to try and gain some insight into what his son may be going through.

My husband (an Army veteran himself) made the comment as we watched the show that "the Army is Not going to like" some of what SFC Nunn was saying, and in the event, he seems to be proved right with that comment.

I tend to agree with the blogger at Only Wonder Understands , in his comment that "While the military is not commenting publicly on this, it is much more likely that Sfc. Nunn’s punishment is due to his honesty in the program......being honest about the good and bad of his job" (paraphrase mine)

and I can only hope, for SFC Nunn's sake, that as Troy Bouhammer says "I really hope the military leadership who’s deplorable actions imposed this punishment thinks twice or reverses their decision."

For whatever my humble opinion is worth? Discussion of this story, and the repurcussions it has wrought for Toby Nunn, should be going viral.....particularly on milblogs.

And also, to SFC Nunn (as I sit here wearing my "Bad Voodoo" t-shirt while I type this post :).......I'd like to say.......you have the utmost support and admiration of folks like my husband and I, and we wish you well, in your attempt to clear your name and record. You spoke the truth as you saw it, and we thank you for doing so and regret what that has cost you.

 

 

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Soldiers Angels Web Surfing

Welcome to another weekly edition of Soldiers Angels Web Surfing, for news by, and about, Soldiers Angels

Starting out this week with Soldiers Angels of Alabama , who tells us What Soldiers Angels means to me

Then Life in the Northeast , who always writes the Remember… posts, talks about what a difference Soldiers Angels can make to the deployed soldier Soldiers Angels

Hooah Wife and Friends inestimable ‘Princess of Positive’ has a link to the video of the opening of the Big Easy Cafe on Kiss My Gumbo

and then here is the link to the interview she mentions on WWLTV in the above blog post Mother helps bring taste of N.O. to son in Iraq

Other great posts!

Check out A new angel gets her wings by Greta on Soldiers Angels Louisiana

and also A simple thank you means so much

Soldiers Angels Network posts about the Soldiers Angels Cookie Book

gives a book review

and reminds us about writing patients in Germany

Soldiers Angels Texas has the Texas Garden Flag Design Winner!

Ballseye’s Boomers has adopted a new soldier

and The Bells and Whistles of Me started out adopting one soldier , has picked up 2 more, and is spreading the ‘adoption bug’ to friends!

A Soldiers Angel in Bakersfield posts Be an Angel for a Marine here in B-town on the Southwest Voice website.

and lastly, mr.blackandwhite posts,among other things, about the need for cooling scarves in Help somebody this weekend

That’s the ’surf’ for this past week!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Thank You!

Tony and I would like to say a heartfelt THANK YOU, to anyone who has supported Dustin by sending cards, letters, and/or care packages thus far in his deployment!

We know there are many of you out there that we probably don't even know about? and we just wanted you to know how grateful we are, for folks like you who are supporting him.

Wednesday Hero

Gen. Benjamin S. Griffin

 Gen. Benjamin S. Griffin

 General Benjamin S. Griffin, commanding general, U.S. Army Materiel Command, talks with Brig. Gen. Shallal Abdul Rasool Habeeb

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

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

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

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Monday, May 26, 2008

World War ONE: A War Forgotten?

My intention when starting this blog post was to feature links to blog writings about the various wars in history. The idea came because of the gentleman who is featuring his grandfather's letters from WW I

WW1: Experinces of an English Soldier

 

However, I became sidetracked from that idea when I came across This blog post

Tueting's AP US History:World War One Veterans

Go read it. It's a reprint of an article at washingtonpost.com , by Edward G. Lengel, titled   Why Didn't We Listen to Their War Stories?

The article starts out speaking about a visit by Frank Buckles to the World War I memorial in Washington,D.C.  Frank Buckles is the last U.S. veteran of World War I, and you can read about Mr. Buckles here  Frank Buckles, 107, old-school survivor

I have followed stories about Mr. Buckles since the Patriot Guard Riders had a ride to honor him in Sept 2007

and I have been to the DC World War I memorial, and cried over the condition it is in.

AVisit to the Wall, and Other Memorials

Our visit to that Memorial in Feb.2007 led me to read  A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918 by G.J. Meyer  which was an excellent history of a war I had previously known very little about.

I cried again today, reading the article about the last surviving U.S. veteran visiting the Memorial pictured above, which is not even a National memorial....there is no National Memorial for World War I.

Mr. Lengel says in his article that he has been told World War I has "poor entertainment value"   (Mr. Lengel has written a book  To Conquer Hell: The Meuse-Argonne,1918 )

and he asks at the end of the article

"Do we honor our veterans for all their sacrifices, or do we care only if they can tell us a good story?"