OUR MILITARY.

CAMP LEJEUNE TAINTED  DRINKING WATER.....  The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's (ATSDR) Mortality Study Results Released

Dear Sir or Madam:



On February 19, 2014 the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry's (ATSDR) "Evaluation of mortality among Marines and Navy personnel exposed to contaminated drinking water at USMC Base Camp Lejeune: A retrospective cohort study" was published (http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/lejeune/mortalitystudy.html).



The purpose of this study was to determine whether exposures of Marine and Naval personnel to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune increased risk of mortality from cancers and other chronic diseases. The study focused on 154,932 Marine and Naval personnel who began active duty service during April 1975 to December 1985 and were stationed at USMC Base Camp Lejeune anytime during this period. A comparison cohort consisted of 154,969 Marine and Naval personnel who began active duty service during April 1975 - December 1985, were stationed anytime during this period at USMC Base Camp Pendleton, but were not stationed at Camp Lejeune during this period. The study relies on ATSDR's previous water modeling estimates (http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/lejeune/watermodeling.html) of past exposures to a class of chemicals known as "volatile organic compounds" (VOCs) in water.



This study is one of several health initiatives that ATSDR is expected to complete in the next several years. For more information about these studies, visit http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/lejeune/ or call (800) 232-4636.



Since 1991, the Marine Corps has supported the health initiatives conducted by various scientific agencies. We are also working diligently to identify and notify individuals who, in the past, may have been exposed to the chemicals in drinking water. For more information about these efforts or to update your contact information, please see: http://www.marines.mil/clwater/, call (877) 261-9782 or e-mail clwater@usmc.mil.



To contact Veterans Affairs to learn more about health care benefits, please visit  http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/camp-lejeune/ or call (877) 222-8387 (Healthcare) or (800) 827-1000 (Benefits).


Sincerely,
The Camp Lejeune Historic Drinking Water Program



 
We would like to Honor the memory of these men and women who
recently lost their lives, and Remember them each specifically by name.
Please pray for these families as they begin their journey of healing through this unimaginable devastation.





January 2014 Heroes

We remember these seven heroes who gave their lives for freedoms cause and the families they left behind.

Sgt. Jacob M. Hess, 22, of Spokane, Wash.,
Sgt. First Class William K. Lacey, 38, of Laurel, Fla.,
Chief Warrant Officer Andrew L. McAdams, 27, of Cheyenne, WY,
Sgt. Drew M. Scobie, 25, of Kailua, Hawaii,
Sgt. Daniel T. Lee, 28, of Crossville, Tenn.,
Spc. Andrew H. Sipple, 22, of Cary, NC,
Chief Warrant Officer Edward Balli, 42, of Monterey, Calif.,

December 2013 Heroes

Lance Cpl. Matthew R. Rodriguez, 19, of Fairhaven, MA,
Petty Officer 1st Class James L. Smith, 38, of Huffman, Texas,
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Randy L. Billings, 34, of Heavener, OK,
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Joshua B. Silverman, 35, of Scottsdale, AZ
Sgt. Peter C. Bohler, 29, of Willow Spring, NC
Sgt. 1st Class Omar W. Forde, 28, of Marietta, GA
Spc. Terry K. D. Gordon, 22, of Shubuta, MS
Staff Sgt. Jesse L. Williams, 30, of Elkhart, IN,
Sgt. Daniel M. Vasselian, 27, of Abington, Mass.,
Capt. David I. Lyon, 28, of Sandpoint, Idaho.

November 2013 Heroes

Sgt. 1st Class Forrest W. Robertson, 35, of Westmoreland, Kan.,
Staff Sgt. Richard L. Vazquez, 28, of Seguin, Texas,
Staff Sgt. Alex A. Viola, 29, of Keller, Texas, died Nov. 17, in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

October 2013 Heroes

Lance Cpl. Christopher O. Grant, 20, of Richwood, La.
Sgt. Lyle D. Turnbull, 31, of Norfolk, Va.
Staff Sgt. Patrick H. Quinn, 26, of Quarryville, Pa
Spc. Angel L. Lopez, 27, of Parma, Ohio
1st Lt. Jennifer M. Moreno, 25, of San Diego, Calif.
Sgt. Patrick C. Hawkins, 25, of Carlisle, Pa.
Sgt. Joseph M. Peters, 24, of Springfield, Mo.
Pfc. Cody J. Patterson, 24, of Philomath, Ore
Lance Cpl. Jeremiah M. Collins, Jr., 19, of Milwaukee, Wis

September 2013 Heroes

Staff Sgt. Thomas A. Baysore, Jr., 31, of Milton, Pa
Lt. Cmdr. Landon L. Jones, 35, of Lompoc, Calif.
Chief Warrant Officer Jonathan S. Gibson, 32, of Aurora, Ore.
Staff Sgt. Liam J. Nevins, 32, of Denver, Colo.
Staff Sgt. Timothy R. McGill, 30, of Ramsey, N.J.
Spc. Joshua J. Strickland, 23, of Woodstock, Ga
Spc. James T. Wickliffchacin, 22, of Edmond, Okla.
Sgt. William D. Brown III, 44, of Franklin, N.C.
Staff Sgt. Randall R. Lane, 43, of Indianapolis, Ind
Staff Sgt. Robert E. Thomas Jr., 24, of Fontana, Calif
Staff Sgt. Todd J. Lobraico Jr., 22, of New Fairfield, Conn
Staff Sgt. Joshua J. Bowden, 28, of Villa Rica, Ga

August 2013 Heroes

Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, 24, of Staten Island, N.Y.
Sgt. 1st Class Ricardo D. Young, 34, of Rosston, Ark.
1st Lt. Jason Togi, 24, of Pago Pago, American Samoa
Spc. Kenneth Clifford Alvarez, 23, of Santa Maria, Calif
Pvt. Jonathon Michael Dean Hostetter, 20, of Humphreys, Mo.
Master Sgt. George A. Bannar Jr., 37, of Orange, Va
1st Lt. Timothy G. Santos Jr., 29, of Helena, Ala
Staff Sgt. Octavio Herrera, 26, of Caldwell, Idaho,
Sgt. Jamar A. Hicks, 22, of Little Rock, Ark.
Spc. Keith E. Grace Jr., 26, of Baytown, Texas
Spc. Nickolas S. Welch, 26, of Mill City, Ore
 
SSG Michael H. Ollis - New Dorp, Staten Island - US Army KIA - Silver Star and Bronze Star




Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis

Died August 28, 2013 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom


24, of Staten Island, N.Y.; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light), Fort Drum, N.Y.;died Aug. 28 in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, of wounds caused by an improvised explosive device, small-arms fire and indirect fire.


Drum soldier who saved Polish officer tapped for Silver Star

By Joe Gould

A Fort Drum, N.Y., soldier killed in Afghanistan died shielding a Polish soldier from a suicide bomber during an assault on their base that involved grenades, mortars, rockets and a 3,000-pound bomb.

Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, of the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light), stepped into the path of an unnamed Polish officer, blocking him from the suicide vest of an insurgent who had raided Forward Operating Base Ghazni.

?In emotional interviews with investigators, the Polish officer repeatedly praised SSG Ollis and credited him with saving his life,? according to an Army account of the Aug. 28 action obtained by Army Times.

The 24-year-old from Staten Island, N.Y., has since been nominated for a Silver Star, the third highest military decoration for valor, according to an Army source. The nomination is working its way through Ollis? chain of command in Afghanistan.

?Unfortunately, we lost a great American there from 10th Mountain Division in that attack, but the defenders did extraordinarily well,? said Army Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, the No. 2 commander for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. Milley is a former commander of the 10th Mountain Division.

Milley called the Ghazni defense a ?tough fight,? but said, ?the enemy completely failed in achieving any kind of operational or strategic effect.?

In a ceremony on Sunday at the base, four American and two Polish army soldiers were recognized for valor in the attack, which began when a car bomb breached the base?s eastern perimeter wall, allowing 10 insurgents in suicide vests to infiltrate the compound.

The attack
The massive blast from the car bomb reverberated across the post at 3:54 a.m. on Aug. 28, kicking off an assault from the east, west and north sides, as insurgents rained mortar shells, shoulder-fired rockets and hand grenades from outside the post, according to Army accounts.

Though it?s highly unlikely insurgents would have been able to overrun the base, it holds strategic importance as ISAF?s local headquarters and a traffic hub to Gardez and Khost to the east.

Troops who headed to the blast site to aid the wounded found insurgents in suicide vests with assault rifles who had poured through the breach.

The two sides locked in 10 minutes of close combat as coalition troops fought through gunshot and shrapnel wounds.

Meanwhile, Ollis ? who first accounted for his men in a bunker ? raced toward the bomb blast?s massive white smoke plume and the sound of gunfire.

Ollis linked up with a Polish officer he did not know and then with a team of special forces soldiers who had killed eight of the insurgents wearing suicide vests.

A ninth suicide bomber emerged from behind a group of containers, threw a grenade and was killed.

A 10th emerged from behind some other containers near the Polish officer and Ollis, who was the closer of the two.

?As Staff Sgt. Ollis stepped toward the insurgent, he stepped in front of the Polish officer, thereby blocking him,? when the insurgent?s vest detonated, according to the Army?s account.

In the attack, Ollis and a Polish soldier were killed. Ten Polish soldiers and dozens of Afghans were reportedly wounded.

Afghan forces averted a larger tragedy by finding and neutralizing a second car bomb near the base, according to the Army. Two Afghan soldiers received certificates of appreciation for rendering the second car bomb safe.

Ollis? comrades told Army Times they were not surprised that Ollis, who joined the Army in 2006 and had previously deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, died saving the life of another soldier.

They praised Ollis as courageous and diligent, and said he felt a genuine sense of responsibility for keeping his soldiers safe.

?That was the way he was brought up, and I think it would make everybody proud to know that he went out there to take the fight to the enemy,? said Sgt. 1st Class Tim Sireno, who served with Ollis in Afghanistan in 2010.

?He still protected his men and was leading from the front,? said Sireno, now with the 4th Ranger Training Brigade. ?You couldn?t ask for anything more.?

'Significant offensive'

Milley, the ISAF commander, said coalition and Afghan forces should expect more complex ?high-profile? attacks, which are carried out by suicide bombers and fighters on foot against fixed targets of political significance.

Enemy forces have replaced some less aggressive commanders and are planning a ?significant offensive,? he said.

Ollis was one of 35 people killed in four attacks around Afghanistan on Aug. 28, and there have been more than a dozen high-profile attacks against ISAF or Afghan facilities in the Kabul area since early May.

?So I don?t think their intent was to hold anything back,? Milley said.

Milley characterized these attacks as a ?resounding failure.?

?I would not call those attacks anything that demonstrates any kind of viable capability on the part of the enemies of Afghanistan, except the fact that they?re terrorists and they?re murderers,? he said.

Honored soldiers

Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter recognized the following American, Polish and Afghan troops in the Sunday ceremony at the base:
Polish 2nd Lt. Karol Cierpica, U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Lester Edwards, U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Nate Abkemeier and U.S. Army Staff Sgt. DaRelle LaMarque received the Bronze Star Medal for valor.
Polish Lt. Col. Krzysztof Slomski, Polish 1st Lt. Tomaz Sobanski and U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Michael Clemens received the U.S. Army Commendation Medal for valor.

?What these soldiers showed was not only acts of extreme courage and bravery, they displayed tremendous acts of skill, initiative and fortitude all wrapped up in one event,? said U.S. Army Col. Patrick Roberson, commander of Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan.

?Most people probably would not have taken the risks they did ? exposing themselves to the enemy in the open with no cover. But they were only thinking about engaging the enemy, not their personal safety.?



http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/new-york-city-soldier-michael-ollis-24-killed-afghan-rebels-article-1.1441501

Honored by Polish Government for heroism saving life of Polish soldier:
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/11/photosvideo_staten_island_sold.html
 
That's  a true hero I just wish that more people were aware of the sacrifice that is still going on so we can safely live the way we do.
 
2nd-most decorated WWII soldier won't get MoH

Lt. Garlin Murl Conner earned four Silver Stars, four Bronze Stars, seven Purple Hearts and the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions in WWII
? Thursday, March 13, 2014

By Brett Barrouquere
Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. ? Lt. Garlin Murl Conner left the U.S. Army as the second-most decorated soldier during World War II, earning four Silver Stars, four Bronze Stars, seven Purple Hearts and the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions during 28 straight months in combat.

But despite backing from congressmen, senators, military veterans and historians, he never received the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military distinction, awarded for life-risking acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty.

Now a federal judge in Kentucky has ended his widow's 17-year quest to see that her husband received the medal.

U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell, in an 11-page opinion issued late Tuesday, said a technicality will prevent Pauline Conner of Albany, Ky., from continuing her campaign on behalf of her husband, who died in 1998. Russell concluded that Pauline Conner waited too long to present new evidence to the U.S. Army Board of Correction of Military Records, which rejected her bid to alter her husband's service record.

Russell praised Conner's "extraordinary courage and patriotic service," but said there was nothing he could do for the family.

"Dismissing this claim as required by technical limitations in no way diminishes Lt. Conner's exemplary service and sacrifice," Russell wrote.

Richard Chilton, a former Green Beret and amateur military historian who has researched Conner's service, said Conner deserves the Medal of Honor. Chilton pledged to get resolutions from lawmakers and veterans' groups in all 50 states in an attempt to get Congress to act on Conner's behalf.

"I want to make sure they can't walk away from this," Chilton told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "He's a man worthy of this."

Roughly 3,400 people have received the Medal of Honor since it was created in 1861, including actor Audie Murphy, the most decorated U.S. soldier in World War II. Murphy fought in the same areas as Conner and went on to star in dozens of Hollywood films, most of them Westerns and war epics.

Conner served with the 3rd Infantry Division, which fought in France and Europe in 1945. The Army in 2001 named Eagle Base in Bosnia-Herzegovina after Conner, who died in 1998 in Clinton County, Ky., where he lived after his fighting days and served 17 years as president of the Clinton County Farm Bureau.

"He was a real hero," said attorney Donald Todd of Lexington, who represents Conner's family.

Conner's citation for the Distinguished Service Cross states that on Jan. 24, 1945, near Houssen, France, he slipped away from a military hospital with a hip wound to rejoin his unit rather than return home to Kentucky and unreeled a telephone wire, plunged into a shallow ditch in front of the battle line and directed multiple rounds of fire for three hours as German troops continued their offensive, sometimes getting within five yards of Conner's position.

The board first rejected Conner's application in 1997 on its merits and turned away an appeal in June 2000, saying at the time no new evidence warranted a hearing or a new decoration despite more than a dozen letters of support for Conner.

In the years that followed, lawmakers in Kentucky, Tennessee and three other states passed resolutions backing the effort to see Conner receive the Medal of Honor. After Chilton found three eyewitness accounts to Conner's deeds in 2006, Pauline Conner resubmitted the case to the board in 2008 ? two years after the statute of limitations expired.

A bipartisan group of current and former members of Congress has backed Conner's application in the past, including retired Sen. Bob Dole, a Kansas Republican and World War II veteran; retired Sen. Wendell Ford, a Democrat from Kentucky; current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky; and Whitfield, who represents Conner's home town near the Tennessee line. Noted World War II historian Steven Ambrose, who died in 2002, wrote in November 2000 to support Conner's application, saying his actions were "far above the call of duty."

The review board remained unmoved by Conner's submission.

"The most recent information received 22 December 2008 is not new evidence and does not warrant granting an exception to the above cited regulation and a formal hearing," wrote Conrad V. Meyer, the director of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records on Feb. 9, 2009.

While the military board has upgraded other recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross to a Medal of Honor, the action is rare. As of 2012, the last year available, 178 Distinguished Service Crosses had been elevated to Medal of Honor status out of 13,000 issued since 1917. Military policy dictates that the first decoration must be re-examined, re-justified and then re-evaluated with new evidence before any action can be taken.

The military can also conduct a review at the behest of Congress.

In February, the Pentagon announced that President Barack Obama will bestow the Medal of Honor on 24 other veterans after a decade-long congressionally mandated review of minorities who may have been passed over for it because of prejudices. The unusual mass ceremony, scheduled for Tuesday, will honor veterans ? most of Hispanic or Jewish heritage ? who already had been recognized with the Distinguished Service Cross.

Conner's commander in World War II, retired Maj. Gen. Lloyd B. Ramsey of Salem, Va., filed an affidavit saying Conner's work, while injured, provided valuable intelligence.

"There is no doubt that Lt. Conner should have been awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions," Ramsey wrote. "One of the most disappointing regrets of my career is not having the Medal of Honor awarded to the most outstanding soldier I've ever had the privilege of commanding."

Conner's fellow soldiers also filed affidavits crediting Conner with helping not only save the lives of fellow soldiers but being key to defeating the Germans in the battle.

Retired Lt. Harold Wigetman, a member of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry, said that between the artillery strikes Conner called in and spray from his own machine gun, he killed at least 50 German soldiers and wounded twice as many.

"His heroic and entirely voluntary act saved our battalion," Wigetman wrote. "If he hadn't done what he did, we would have had to fight for our lives."
 
Iran is building a mock-up of the USS Nimitz-class nuclear carrier near Bandar Abbas

DEBKAfile Special Report March 23, 2014, 1:48 PM (IST)

Tags:  Iranian Navy,  Aircraft carriers,  US Fifth Fleet,  drones,

At the same time as President Barack Obama was sending New Year greetings to the Iranian people Thursday, March 20, US satellites snapped shots of a mockup of Iran?s first aircraft carrier under construction at the Revolutionary Guards naval base of Bandar Abbas. After decoding the images, US intelligence experts were astonished to find it was a replica of a US Nimitz-class super-carrier. debkafile reports that the construction work was first picked up by drones from the US Navy's 5th Fleet, which operates in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and Arabian Sea.

In his message, the US president challenged Iran?s leaders to ?take meaningful and verifiable steps to assure the world that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only? for the sake of "a new beginning," including ?a better relationship with the United States and the American people, rooted in mutual interest and mutual respect.?

Of the US Navy?s 10 operational Nimitz-class carriers, two - the USS George H.W. Bush and the USS Harry S. Truman ? are currently deployed in the Middle East. Each is 330 meters long and carries on is decks up to 3,000 naval and air crew and 85-90 fighter craft and helicopters.

The Pentagon?s first response to the discovery was uncertain: "We are aware that Iran has constructed a floating barge that resembles a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier near Bandar Abbas,'' spokesman Lt. Col. Tom Crosson said Saturday. "Commercially available imagery shows its construction. We are not sure what tactical value Iran hopes to gain by building a mock-up of a US aircraft carrier.?

Since the disclosure, Iran experts have been speculating on that question. Some have suggested that it was a crude model which the Iranians were planning to destroy as a propaganda stunt during a naval training exercise.

However some military experts are taking it more seriously and warn that the mock-up carrier signaled a new level of sophistication in the use of unconventional doctrine and capabilities for confronting superior US naval power."
Obama?s message of friendship for Nowraz was not exactly reciprocated: At a speech in Mashhad the next day, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the US the "enemy" and a "dictatorial and arrogant" power. Khamenei said the Americans ?used rhetoric and language that was less courteous and more aggressive? and insulting to the people.?

debkafile?s military experts offer six points of interest about Iran?s attempt to replicate a US carrier:

1. The discovery of this project was not random. Its construction has been going on for more than two years, but the Obama administration preferred to keep it dark so as not to spoil the climate of d?tente it was striving to build with Tehran. And indeed, the first response to the disclosure from the senior Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Eliot Engel was that the mock-up ?demonstrates Iran?s continued lack of good faith.?

2.  The Iranians deliberately exposed the project by placing air force fighter jets on the deck of the fake Nimitz to make sure they were detected by US surveillance.
3.  Its purpose is neither for propaganda nor for show in a training exercise. Iran?s method for its most ambitious military projects is to start from scratch and advance step by step until their goal is reached, our Iran experts sources report. Their UAV program began with primitive models, which were perfected stage by stage over a period of years, with the help of Chinese, Russian and North Korean experts. The drone project has by now advanced enough for Iran to hand the Lebanese Hizballah a fleet of drones with high-grade technological and surveillance capabilities.
4.  The mockup vessel program is adjusted to the long-term prospects of nuclear diplomacy - in Iran?s estimation. Tehran is certain that negotiations with the six powers are going nowhere, fated to be dragged out to bar any diplomatic or military solution of their nuclear controversy forthcoming before the end of Barack Obama?s presidency. By 2017, when his successor takes office, Iran?s policy-makers calculate that their mockup will have been developed into a full-scale operational aircraft carrier ready to go from Bandar Abbas.

5. On various occasions in the past year, officials associated with Iran?s nuclear program and senior commanders of its Navy and Revolutionary Guards have said that high-grade nuclear fuel will be needed for their nuclear-powered naval vessels and submarines ? which they don?t possess.  Iranian negotiators will for the first time be able to present a complete aircraft carrier to support their claim when they are confronted by skeptical world powers.
6. Iran obviously lacks the capacity to build an aircraft carrier to US standards. Nor does it possess advanced fighter jets comparable to US or Israeli air force aircraft; or the technology for constructing and operating the sophisticated military electronic devices installed in American warplanes and carriers.

At the same time, Tehran has surprised the world by its strides in drone and cyber technologies, while at the same time demonstrating the military and tactical mastery for turning the tide of the Syrian civil war from Bashar Assad?s almost certain defeat to success. Iran?s aggressive ambition to outperform its enemies should therefore not be underestimated.
 
HAPPY BAND OF BROTHERS DAY.....  HAPPY BAND OF BROTHERS DAY........
About 9% of the US population has served in the military. Just under one percent are serving on active duty today. These numbers are small but often it is the small things that nurture greatness. As our government is headed towards a most drastic reduction in our military capability at a time when we may be facing a growing worldwide threat from Russia, China and the Middle East, I worry that our culture has come to denigrate the contribution and sacrifice of those who serve. Bless you all.


You may have served in Combat or in non-combat.
You may have retired out or you may have served for a short time.
You may have been a draftee or a volunteer.
You may have served in the Corps, Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard or
the Merchant Marines,

BUT YOU SERVED. YOU DID YOUR JOB HONORABLY and for that I am PROUD to call
you Brother.

You may have served during Korea, WWII,. Vietnam, Persian Gulf, Iraq or
Afghanistan, But you served, you did not run.


You have a DD 214 with those words "HONORABLY DISCHARGED" two of the most
noble words in the world.


Again I am proud to know each and every one of you.

* Today is Band of Brothers' Day* ; send this to all your brothers,
fathers, sons and fellow veterans you know. Happy Brothers' Day!

To the cool men that have touched my life: Here's to you!! I was never a
hero, but I am thankful and proud to have served among them.

A real Brother walks with you when the rest of the world walks on you.
 
To reply. Honorably Discharged are two words that mean a lot to a vet. You called and we picked up the phone.But to see vets begging on the street while we  piss money away is just not right. How was your Christmas, loved the Super Bowl, our son celebrated his birthday. There was someone doing his job. What makes me proud: Being a vet, 2 tours in Nam, to all my brothers, Welcome Home. Father of a vet, 2 tours in Iraq, his wife was 101st Airborne "Screaming Eagles" And to those who did not serve, sorry, we want the real deal!
 
68jk09 said:
HAPPY BAND OF BROTHERS DAY.....  HAPPY BAND OF BROTHERS DAY........
About 9% of the US population has served in the military. Just under one percent are serving on active duty today. These numbers are small but often it is the small things that nurture greatness. As our government is headed towards a most drastic reduction in our military capability at a time when we may be facing a growing worldwide threat from Russia, China and the Middle East, I worry that our culture has come to denigrate the contribution and sacrifice of those who serve. Bless you all.


You may have served in Combat or in non-combat.
You may have retired out or you may have served for a short time.
You may have been a draftee or a volunteer.
You may have served in the Corps, Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard or
the Merchant Marines,

BUT YOU SERVED. YOU DID YOUR JOB HONORABLY and for that I am PROUD to call
you Brother.

You may have served during Korea, WWII,. Vietnam, Persian Gulf, Iraq or
Afghanistan, But you served, you did not run.


You have a DD 214 with those words "HONORABLY DISCHARGED" two of the most
noble words in the world.


Again I am proud to know each and every one of you.

* Today is Band of Brothers' Day* ; send this to all your brothers,
fathers, sons and fellow veterans you know. Happy Brothers' Day!

To the cool men that have touched my life: Here's to you!! I was never a
hero, but I am thankful and proud to have served among them.

A real Brother walks with you when the rest of the world walks on you.
Click to expand...

Chief - Thanks for your military service.

"From now until the end of the world,  we and it shall be remembered.
We few, we Band of Brothers.
For he who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother."
- William Shakespeare ("King Henry V")
 
Medal of Honor Recipient Rejoins Army as Officer

The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash.|Apr 10, 2014|by Adam Ashton


Medal of Honor recipient Capt. William Swenson has rejoined the Army and been assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord's I Corps, the corps spokesman said Wednesday.

Swenson's appointment to the corps plans office means that three of the six living military service members who have received the Medal of Honor for actions of Afghanistan are now assigned to Lewis-McChord.

Swenson, Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry and Staff Sgt. Ty Carter are the only Medal of Honor recipients still on active-duty.

The three of them were recognized last week at a ceremony in Olympia in which their names were added to the state's Medal of Honor monument. Petry and Carter wore dress uniforms to the event while Swenson wore a civilian suit.

I Corps spokesman Col. Dave Johson said Swenson joined the Lewis-McChord headquarters on March 14 as a captain.
Swenson of Seattle left the Army in 2011, two years after he repeatedly risked his life to recover the bodies of ambushed Marines and Afghan soldiers in Kunar Province. Five U.S. military service members and nine of their Afghan partners lost their lives in the battle.
During the battle, Swenson coordinated combat aviation and helicopter assets. He fought to rescue a wounded comrade, and delivered first aid under enemy fire.

He received the nation's highest military honor in an October ceremony at the White House, two years after Marine Dakota Meyer received a Medal of Honor for his role in the same battle.

A McClatchy investigation by reporter Jonathan Landay, who was embedded with the troops during the ambush, showed that Swenson's nomination for the medal was delayed because the Army lost his paperwork.

Carter serves in Lewis-McChord's 7th Infantry Division. Petry soon is expected to retire from his 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.

 
Soldier to Receive MOH for Afghan Battle

Apr 15, 2014|by Richard Sisk

In the worst moment of the brutal firefight in Afghanistan, a 20-year-old soldier was faced with a terrible decision that he knew could mean his death.

Platoon Radio Operator Kyle Jerome White paused briefly to gauge his chances of reaching a badly wounded Marine.

"I knew he needed help and there was a lot of fire coming in, but it really didn't matter at that point, but by then I already had known, well, s--, we're not gonna' make it through this one,? Ryan later said.

"It's just a matter of time before I'm dead," White said. "I figured, if that's going to happen, I might as well help someone while I can."

White, who left the Army as a sergeant in 2011 and now lives in Charlotte, N.C., would survive that battle in Afghanistan's in northeastern Nuristan province on Nov. 9, 2007, that killed six of his Army and Marine comrades.

The White House announced Tuesday that on May 13 President Obama would award White the Medal of Honor, making him the seventh living recipient of the nation's highest award for valor from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Army's account of White's actions, written by J.D. Liepold for the Army News Service, follows:

White will receive the Medal of Honor for his disregard of his own life while trying to save the lives of a Marine and two fellow Soldiers after his team of 14 U.S. Soldiers and squad of Afghan National Army soldiers were set up and ambushed by a much larger and more heavily armed Taliban force who engaged in a three-prong attack from elevated ground.

Ambush at Aranas

On Nov. 8, 2007, Soldiers of 1st Platoon, Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173 Airborne Brigade, left Combat Outpost Bella by foot to visit the large village of Aranas, Afghanistan, for a Shura meeting with village elders. The American Soldiers weren't thrilled about the mission because the villagers had been suspected of collusion which resulted in a major attack months earlier on COP Ranch House which resulted in 11 wounded and the closure of the outpost.

Under cover of a pitch-black sky, the team made for the American-built schoolhouse on the edge of the village where they would bunk for the night.

At daybreak, Nov. 9, the group prepared for the late morning meeting at the mosque, but villagers delayed the get-together, saying the elders were praying for several hours. The meeting was put off until early afternoon, about 1:30 p.m.

White recalled that village turnout for the Shura was unusually large as were the number of questions being asked. The Soldiers were hopeful about the level of interest from the young village males of fighting age. Then the 20-year old White said the interpreter was receiving radio traffic in a language he didn't understand. The lone Marine and embedded training team member Sgt. Phillip A. Bocks then advised platoon leader 1st Lt. Matthew C. Ferrara, it was best leave the area.

"There was one shot, you know, down into the valley, and then it was two shots, and then it was full-automatic fire and RPGs ... it was coming from multiple directions," White remembered. Carrying a fully-automatic M4A1, White emptied his 30-round magazine, then loaded another, but he didn't get a chance to fire.

"An RPG hit right behind my head and knocked me unconscious ... it was just lights out ... when I woke up, I was face-down on a rock," he said, recalling that as he was awakening, an enemy round fragmented near his head sending a shower of broken rock chips and debris into the side of his face. "I didn't feel pain at all, just numb like when you go to the dentist."

More shots, more booms, more chaos ... then White realized 10 of the 14-man American element and the ANA soldiers were gone. With no cover, the remainder of the patrol had been forced to slide more than 150 feet down the side of a rocky cliff.

The only ones remaining up top were Spc. Kain Schilling, Ferrara, Bocks, the interpreter and White. Then White looked around and saw Schilling had been shot in the upper right arm and was dodging and weaving and running toward the cover of shrubs and the umbrella canopy of a single prickly tree. White made for the tree which provided just enough shade to make the two Soldiers nearly invisible.

White pulled out a tourniquet and asked Schilling, who was grimacing with pain, if he could apply it. White could see where the bullet entered and the blood was flowing from, so he slipped the tourniquet on and instead of cranking down too hard, White said he tightened it just enough to stop the bleeding.

"As I was working on him, I had the radio on, then I rolled over and sat next to Schilling just to take my pack off, that's when I got that metallic taste, then that burning in my lungs," White said, adding that he and Kain covered their mouths with their shirts to filter whatever it was.

"Initially, I thought we were the first unlucky bastards to have chemical weapons on us ... that's what we thought initially, but then I saw a stream of smoke over my shoulder and I realized my pack was smoldering -- it was the battery from my radio burning up," he said.

White checked his radio, then grabbed Schilling's radio, but both were out of the fight. Then White saw Bocks, who was badly wounded, lying out in the open, about 30 feet from the shade of the tree. He began encouraging the Marine to use all the strength he could, but Bocks couldn't make any progress.

"I knew he needed help and there was a lot of fire coming in, but it really didn't matter at that point, but by then I already had known, well, %$@*, we're not gonna make it through this one; it's just a matter of time before I'm dead," White said. "I figured, if that's going to happen, I might as well help someone while I can."

White sprinted the 30 feet to Bocks as rounds skipped around his feet and snapped past his head, but he made it to Bocks unscathed, but remembered thinking, his wounds were severe. He looked over at Schilling and yelled at the interpreter to attend to the Soldier, but the interpreter was pinned down and couldn't move.

"At that time, I can remember thinking he wasn't going to make it, but I knew I wasn't going to stop trying," White said. "No matter what the outcome, I'm going to do what I can with what I have."

White grabbed the buddy carry handle on the back of Bocks' vest and began pulling the 200-pound plus Marine toward cover. He realized that the enemy was now shooting directly at him and further endangering Bocks, so he ran back to cover, waited until fire died down, then ran out again repeating the process four times until Bocks was under cover.

White saw that Bocks' leg was bleeding badly, so he grabbed another tourniquet out of his pack, slipped it around Bocks' leg and tightened down until the bleeding stopped. Next he tore Bocks' shirt open, saw another wound, but it wasn't until he rolled him over that he saw the large exit wound. "Stop the bleeding" is all he thought as he stuffed bandages, clothing, whatever he could to stop the bleeding. No matter what White did, the bleeding wasn't stopping and the Marine succumbed to his wounds.

No sooner had White realized Bocks had passed than he looked over to see Schilling get hit again by small-arms fire, this time in the left leg. White scrambled to Schilling. Out of tourniquets, White pulled his belt from his ACUs and looped it around Schilling's leg.

"Hey man, this is going to hurt," he said to Schilling who replied, "'Just do it,' so I put my foot on his leg and pulled the belt as hard as I could until the bleeding stopped."

White next looked around for the lieutenant and noticed his platoon leader, Ferrara, was lying still, face-down on the trail. Again, White exposed himself to fire, this time crawling to Ferrara's position. The lieutenant was dead, so White moved back to Schilling where he began to use Schilling's radio until an enemy round zipped right through the hand-mic blowing it out of his hand. Now both Soldiers' radios had been destroyed.

The paratrooper moved to Bocks and found that his radio was still operational, so he established communication with friendly elements and rendered a situation report. He understood the situation well enough that he was able to bring in mortars, artillery, air strikes and helicopter gun runs to keep the enemy from massing on friendly positions.

"I heard a hiss, just a second of a hiss and then a big, big explosion and that one brought me to my knees," he said. "It scrambled my brains a little bit."

That was concussion No. 2 for the day, caused by a friendly 120-mm mortar round that fell a little short of its target.

After nightfall, White began giving the interpreter commands to relay to the ANA to establish themselves as a security perimeter. Medevac was still a few hours away, so White kept telling Schilling to stay awake as he consolidated sensitive items -- radios and weapons in a central location to ensure no equipment would be lost to the enemy.

While trying to keep Schilling from falling asleep, White battled his own multiple concussions. He knew if he passed out, the helicopters wouldn't be able to find them or the two wounded ANA soldiers who White had also treated.

Eventually, White marked the landing zone and assisted the flight medic in hoisting the wounded into the helicopter. Only after all wounded were off the trail did White allow himself to be evacuated.

While many ANA and fellow Soldiers were injured on that autumn day nearly seven years ago, five American Soldiers and one Marine died during the battle which White and Schilling say they have never forgotten and never will.

Each of the surviving Soldiers of the Battle of Aranas wears a stainless steel wristband with the names of those who didn't come home: 1st Lt. Matthew C. Ferrara, Sgt. Jeffery S. Mersman, Spc. Sean K.A. Langevin, Spc. Lester G. Roque, Pfc. Joseph M. Lancour and Marine Sgt. Phillip A. Bocks.

Aftermath and Life Today

The only child of a Vietnam era Special Forces Soldier and his wife, White first wanted to join the Marine Corps in 2006. His father convinced his 19-year-old son -- who grew up hunting, fishing and snowboarding -- to go Army and to be a paratrooper. In February 2006, he signed on as an infantryman.

Following airborne training at Fort Benning, Ga., White was assigned to Vincenza, Italy, with 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry as a grenadier and rifleman. While with the 503rd, White was deployed to Afghanistan as a platoon radio telephone operator from May 2007 until August 2008. He next served as an opposing forces sergeant with the Ranger Training Battalion at Fort Benning.

He separated from the Army on July 8, 2011, and used his G.I. Bill to attend the University of North Carolina at Charlotte from which he received a bachelor's degree. Today, he works as an investment analyst at The Royal Bank of Canada in Charlotte.

Former Spc. Kain D. Schilling who was shot twice, credits White with saving his life. He said before White patched him up with two tourniquets, he didn't think he had a chance of getting out of the ambush.

Today, he's well and serves as an armed security officer in Palo, Iowa. Like White, he was also just 20 at the time of the battle. While White and Schilling were friends before the battle, they've become even closer friends who experienced a major trauma and the horror of war.

"Kyle still comes up once a year because he knows I have a family and it's hard for me to break away, so he comes to me ... that's really cool," Schilling said, adding that he'll be at the ceremony. "I consider him my best friend. We're still very close after these seven years."

Schilling said that while White didn't actually get hit by any enemy rounds, his pack was shot up and his weapon was also shot more than a few times.

"I just want people to know, the fire he moved through was just absolutely ... I can't even describe how intense it was, that's what amazed me, how he went to get Bocks so many times -- faster than a speeding bullet -- he's definitely lucky and so am I."
 
April 30, 1975 ? Fall of Saigon: Communist forces gain control of Saigon. The Vietnam War formally ends with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Duong Van Minh.
North Vietnamese forces under the command of General Văn Tiến Dũng began their final attack on Saigon, with South Vietnamese forces commanded by General Nguyễn Văn To?n, on April 29, suffering heavy artillery bombardment. This bombardment at the T?n Sơn Nhứt Airport killed the last two American Servicemen to die in Vietnam, Charles McMahon and Darwin Judge.....CONTINUED RIP TO ALL...NEVER FORGET !
 
WELL DESERVED MOH......  WASHINGTON ? Former Army Sgt. Kyle J. White will be awarded the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony on May 13, 2014, the White House announced late Tuesday afternoon.
White, 27, will receive the nation's highest military award for his actions during a dismounted movement in mountainous terrain in Aranas, Afghanistan, on Nov. 9, 2007.

White was serving as a Platoon Radio Telephone Operator assigned to C Company, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, when his team of U.S. and Afghan National Army soldiers were set up and ambushed by a much larger and more heavily armed Taliban force after a meeting with Afghan villagers.

"There was one shot, you know, down into the valley, and then it was two shots, and then it was full-automatic fire and RPGs ... it was coming from multiple directions," White later recalled, according to an Army news release.

White was knocked unconscious by a rocket-propelled grenade that landed near him. When he woke up, 10 of the 14-man American element and the ANA soldiers were gone. To avoid the enemy fire, they had been forced to slide 150 feet down the side of a rocky cliff.

White noticed that his teammate, Spc. Kain Schilling, had been shot in the arm. After White and Schilling found cover under a tree, White put a tourniquet on Schilling and stopped the bleeding. Then White saw Marine Sgt. Phillip Bocks lying out in the open, badly wounded.

White sprinted 30 feet across open ground under a hail of bullets to reach Bocks. White made four runs out in to the open to drag Bocks out of the line of fire. He succeeded, but Bocks eventually succumbed to his wounds. Soon afterward, Schilling got hit in the leg by small-arms fire. White again saved his life, using his belt as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

Then White noticed his platoon leader, 1st Lt. Matthew C. Ferrara, lying face-down on the trail, motionless. White again exposed himself to fire and crawled to Ferrara's position. After he realized Ferrara was already dead, White returned to Schilling?s side and began using his radio, until an enemy round blew the hand-mic out of his hand and disabled the radio. White grabbed Bocks? radio and used it to bring in mortars, artillery, air strikes and helicopter gun runs to keep the enemy at bay. Friendly fire gave him his second concussion of the day when a mortar round landed too close and knocked him off his feet.

After nightfall, White marked the landing zone and assisted the flight medic in hoisting the wounded Americans and Afghans into the helicopter. White would not allow himself to be evacuated until everyone else was in a position to leave.

Six American servicemembers died in the battle.

White, a native of Seattle, separated from the Army on July 8, 2011, and used his G.I. Bill to attend the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He now works as an investment analyst in Charlotte.

White, whose father was a Special Forces Soldier during the Vietnam era, will be the seventh living recipient to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. He and his family will join President Barack Obama at the White House for the presentation ceremony
 
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