As you may or may not know, during military burials, it is tradition for the volunteers to fold the American flag 13 times. For each fold they recite the significance of the fold for the survivors. Folds 11 and 12 have proved problematic recently in that they refer to religious figures. The 11th fold celebrates veterans of Jewish decent and “glorifies the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” The 12th fold is meant to glorify “God the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.”

Unfortunately, complaints about the religious content of the recital have led to the recitation being banned across the country by the Veterans Administration employees and volunteers at all national cemeteries.

It is noted that it took only one complaint to have the recitation banned and the National Cemetery Administration has not yet disclosed the details of the complaint.

Veterans and the honor detail volunteers are livid. Bobby Castillo, 85, a World War II Navy veteran says it’s “a slap in the face of every veteran.” He also added, “When we got back from the war, we didn’t ask for a whole lot. We just wanted to give our veterans the respect they deserve. No one has ever complained to us about it. I just don’t understand.”

Rees Lloyd, 59, has his own ideas about what’s happening. “That the actions of one disgruntled, whining, narcissistic and intolerant individual is preventing veterans from getting the honors they deserve is truly an outrage. This is another attempt by secular fanatics to cleanse any reference to God.”

The spokesman for the National Cemetery Administration, Mike Nacincik, says the new policy is meant to create a uniform service throughout the military graveyard system. The recital is not part of the U.S. Flag Code, nor is it government approved.

Some have decided to ignore the edict. Charlie Waters is parliamentarian for the American Legion of California and says “There are 26 million veterans in this country, and they’re not going to take us all to prison.”

Last week I was afforded a great opportunity to meet many awesome people and true examples of the great young men and women we have in our military today. Last week I was invited to fly to DC, with all expenses paid, by AMU publishing company who is the publisher of the new book called The Sandbox. The Sandbox is a book of the same name as the website which Garry Trudeau of Doonesbury fame started last year. Garry, along with David Stanford (who is titled as the Duty Officer of the Sandbox) started the website as a place to collect and aggregate milblogs from forward deployed milbloggers in any theatre that is part of the Global War on Terror. The Sandbox website has over 300 blog entries today from Afghanistan, Iraq, Walter Reed, and other locations.

Earlier this year Garry, David, and AMU decided to create a book made up of the best blog entries ever posted to the Sandbox website. The book turned into reality on October 15th, 2007 when it went on sale. There are about 93 stories in the book written by over 40 authors. One of the great things about this book is that all the proceeds from the sale of the book are going to my favorite Charity, The Fisher House. The Fisher House provides low to no cost lodging for families of wounded warriors while they are recuperating at a military hospital or VA hospital. Garry has already put out two books that are collections of the Doonesbury cartoon strips which have had the proceeds also benefit the Fisher House. Those two books are specifically portraying his character, B.D. as he went to war in Iraq and was then wounded and became an amputee. B.D. then goes through therapy, prosthetic fitting and training, and then moves on as a amputee in normal life. When those books were released Garry performed book signings at the Pentagon and visits to Walter Reed and the Fisher House.

So it only made sense that when The Sandbox was released it would also benefit the Fisher House and book signings would again happen in the Washington D.C. area. Since this books was essentially written by the bloggers themselves and not by Garry, he wanted some of the contributing authors there. Garry and David asked SGT Owen Powell who is on Active Duty, stationed in Germany and whom just returned from Iraq to participate and they asked me, which I am in the National Guard and have just returned from Afghanistan. This gave them some representation from both war fronts and they also had representation from both active duty and national guard forces.

Needless to say I was thrilled and flattered to be asked to attend and be part of this event. I also just happened to be at my Annual Training at the time of the book signing training up my Brigade Combat Team from NY whom are about to go into Afghanistan themselves next year as almost an entire Brigade. My higher command let me leave for a couple of days in order to be part of this event. So I flew out of Syracuse, NY and right into DC Reagan airport. AMU covered all the expenses and took very good care of us. The itinerary was very packed and busy down to the minute. It started with the first night as a “get to know each other” event with Garry, David, Owen, his wife Barbara, Shelly from AMU, and myself. The next full day started with book signings at a popular DC area bookstore, a visit to the National VA HQ where we had lunch and performed book signings for about two hours. During this time we were also interviewed by the Washington Post. From the VA we moved over to Walter Reed where we toured the new Military Advanced Training Center, which is where many of the wounded warriors recuperate and rehabilitate. From there we walked over to one of the Fisher Houses on the Walter Reed campus, where we had dinner with a group of outstanding young men and their families. We signed a lot more books there and spent quite a bit of time talking to these guys and their families. The second day we went to the Pentagon where we conducted interviews with DOD News, The Pentagon Channel, NPR, and Stars & Stripes. After the interviews, we conducted a short, private tour of the 9/11 memorial chapel (which is where the plane impacted) and then we went to one of the main concourses just beyond the mini-mall inside the Pentagon. There we conducted book signings for over three and a half hours.

We easily signed over 1000 books, but I have no idea what the total number was. Several times I was asked if I was getting writer’s cramp, and almost every time I responded that writer’s cramp is the least of my concerns considering where I was just a few months ago. The book has done very well, apparently selling out of the first 15,000 copies that were part of the first printing. The publisher has ordered a re-print in order to fill all of the requests and restock the shelves of many bookstores.

Overall it was an awesome and surreal experience. To be sitting in a combat zone only a few months ago and now to be hanging out with Garry Trudeau in Washington D.C. and having two-star generals and many other senior officers and NCOs standing in line to get my autograph was quite sobering. However the highlight was truly hanging out at the Fisher House and getting to know these young men who are learning to live through what most American men and women fear the most….being disfigured and disabled for life. Today’s service-members are truly made up of the new Greatest Generation.

This blog entry is just a summary of my trip to Washington D.C. If you would like to read more in greater detail and see the links to all the news stories, check out my Afghan&Military Blog at www.bouhammer.com.

**NOTE, Troy is a 1SG in the New York Army National Guard and writes several blogs on his website at http://www.bouhammer.com**

With much of Southern California currently experiencing the terrible effects of large wildfires, we thought it would be useful to post on the Gov’s disaster information for homeowners. Please be sure to check their list of tips if you are one of the unfortunate persons affected by the circumstances in SoCal. Our prayers are with you.

If you are an avid reader of my military blog, A Soldier’s Perspective, you’ve already seen the story about the Soldier who was injured in Iraq in an IED attack. He was transferred to Brooks Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX. He is stationed at Fort Bliss, TX. On their way to see their father and husband, the family’s van lost control and two of the young Specialists three children were killed and one is still in intensive care.

CJ

There are a lot of “veterans” organizations out there establishing political action committees (PAC) lately. The war in Iraq has become as much of a polarizing topic to vets as it has to politicians and public at large. I find this highly disturbing. Since when did victory at all costs become polarizing? How can people actually disagree that we need to win in order to stay safe and ensure a secure planet? What happens in Iraq after we leave, good or bad, is not going to stay in Iraq. If Iraq fails, other nations will follow suit. If Iraq succeeds, like it is, then other nations will also follow suit.

With that said, I had a choice to make with regards to providing my time and talents (yes, eating copious amounts of Tootsie Rolls is a talent) to a particular group in the form of writing. Being an active duty Soldier, it is difficult for me to be an active advocate or activist on Soldier issues. As someone who has a spark of interest in one day running for public office after my military service, a natural choice would seem to be VoteVets. According to their stated goals, VoteVets is organized to “Elect Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans to public office – regardless of party” (emphasis added). As a matter of fact, it’s listed as their first goal.

So, I found it a bit odd that under their “Our Candidates” section, they only have eight people listed as running or in office as veterans. More interesting is that Major Eric Egland is not one of them. After all, Eric meets the other two stated goals of VoteVets which is to ensure that those “who have failed our troops, Veterans, and nation on matters regarding the war and Veterans’ issues” don’t get supported and to “fight for Veterans in the future”, something that Eric Egland is quite uniquely suited for. He recently wrote a book titled “The Troops Need You, America” and also founded “Troops Need You”, a charity that continues the American wartime tradition of mobilizing citizens directly in support of our troops. He is indeed fighting for veterans NOW.

When one looks more closely at the list of VoteVets candidates, one can easily see that the organization is in violation of its own stated goals. There is not one Republican, Libertarian, Green Party, Independent or other third-party candidate anywhere to be found on the list. They are ALL Democrats. So much for “regardless of party”. Even the VoteVets board of advisors is full of Democrats. Heck, one even ran for president! They’re almost as bad at the VETPAC, um PAC. Their list of fourteen 2008 candidates are running for office “regardless of VETPAC endorsment or party affiliation” are ALL Democrats. No mention of Eric on that site either.

The choice seemed pretty clear to me that if I wanted to align myself to a group with integrity and an eye towards victory, I should contact Vets For Freedom. Vets For Peace SOUNDS like a great name since that SHOULD be the goal of every veteran. War is hell and it sucks. Veterans put their lives on the line every day to maintain peace. We don’t want war. We are the ones that die in them. But, we do it anyway because the result is worth the sacrifice. Don’t get me wrong, every vet in VoteVets has my respect for their military service. I just with they had the integrity to tell the truth about their purposes. Or at least change their stated goals. Naturally, anyone who pays any attention to current events will know the truth anyway, but it would be nice if we didn’t have to.

There was a point back in the day that I was aligned with a similar group as VoteVets called OpTruth. OpTruth ended up changing their name to Iraq Veterans Against War (IVAW) Iraq and Aghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) when it became obvious there was nothing truthful about them either (author’s note: I made a typo in mentioning this organization. IAVA is the successor to OpTruth, not IVAW. Either way, Paul Rieckoff is a partisan hack who tries to silence vets who don’t agree with him - like me! Thanks to Eli for pointing this out while not addressing the point of this post in any way.). I was personally contacted by Paul Rieckoff to join the group and even asked to take part in an interview on Al Franken’s radio show when I was in California. When Paul found out that I was a pro-mission, pro-victory Soldier he pulled me off the interview with some lame excuse about not wanting to hurt my career - even though I made it clear that I had permission from my public affairs officer and every commander in my chain of command to take part in the interview. My profile was constantly edited to basic information. When I commented on the profile of another Soldier who I actually worked with and called him out for outright lying about his experiences, I was reprimanded by Paul for “attacking” another member. I didn’t realize that integrity checks were considered attacks.

As an active duty Soldier, I have a unique perspective about all these so-called troop support organizations. I’m not a big fan of PACs at any level. I cherish my membership in the American Legion and VFW. They put their money where their mouth is. They speak up for the troops - ALL of them. That’s how I feel about VFF as well.

When I got to Afghanistan in May of 2006, the guys we joined up with who had been there for about 10 months were telling us that the past winter was one of the most active ever since 2002. As my tour progressed now during my tour we saw a summer happen with a significant increase in enemy activity. We saw more sophisticated IEDs, more brazen attacks and more civilian casualties happen.
As the winter came on to us we continued to see attacks happen. Not as many direct attacks, but still a rash of IEDs, suicide bombers, and other types of enemy activity continued to plague us through all the winter months.
As the spring approached we knew the enemy activity would pick up and of course it did. The enemy are mostly fair weather fighters, so as the weather got better more of them came in from Pakistan to Afghanistan in order to fight us. Around the time we were leaving we saw the attacks increasing again, which is what we expected. We called it “getting into the hot season” not only because the temperature was getting warmer but also because the enemy activity also increased, hence getting hot.
I follow a lot of the news coming out of Afghanistan, not only on the US media outlets but I also monitor a lot of the news coming from foreign media outlets too. Many other countries like Ireland, China, Australia and Italy to name a few cover Afghanistan like the USA covers Iraq. In addition to watching the media stories, I also stay in contact with some of my terps that worked with me over there and other US soldiers that I worked with whom are still there. Between all of those sources of info I can easily see why they are saying that there is an easy 30% increase of enemy activity this year over any previous year since we went into Afghanistan back in 2001. The reality is that there is an active recruitment effort going on in the Madrassas and in the poor communities to have young men join the anti-coalition movement and attack coalition forces.
For someone that spent a year over there trying to kill as many bad guys as possible and losing a year of life at home, it is especially frustrating to see the situation continually get worse. It makes me question whether I did any good over there. Today I heard that the Marines were thinking about pulling out of Iraq and deploying all of their Marines to A-stan instead. I think that would be a great things since we really need another Brigade sized force in order to take the fight to the enemy over there. Afghanistan is a huge country, and another brigade or two separate brigades might really help make the difference in moving things forward and eliminating the enemy.
As my own brigade gets ready to deploy in 2008 in order to run the Task Force Phoenix mission I cannot help but think about my friends, my former soldiers and even my own son who is deploying with the Brigade and how the fighting continues to get worse. Either we need to get enough forces there or say enough is enough.

My good friend, ConcreteBob, asks a great question in his recent blog.

If a soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine in Iraq were to receive an anonymous care package or letter of support, who likely would have been its sender: a liberal or a conservative?

Please keep in mind we’re not talking about Republicans and Democrats. I don’t want to go there here and I’m sure VAMC doesn’t want me to either. While I was stationed in the DC area recently I noticed this very same thing. The anti-war crowd was setting up at the base of the Capitol in preparation for an upcoming rally. I noticed a bunch of banners that said “Support the Troops - Bring Them Home Now” and “Peace is Patriotic” (coincidentally, I created a counter to that latter one in the form of a bumper sticker that reads “Peace Is Patriotic…That’s Why We Went To War“).

I decided to speak to a few of them about what it means to “support the troops”. I walked their displays trying to find some booth collecting donations, cards, care packages, anything that would be going to troops in combat. Nothing. I found a guy named Evan who would speak to me. Evan was in his mid-twenties perhaps. I wanted to impart a piece of wisdom to this young man who was supporting this misguided effort. I motioned towards his encampment and asked him which of the tents before us were collecting letters, cards or care packages for troops. I asked which tent was asking for donations of shoes, clothing, toys, school supplies or other goods that Soldiers can hand out to the Iraqi people to make their lives better. I told him I don’t have a problem with the peace movement and anti-war movement. But, I DO have a problem with a peace movement and anti-war movement that purports to do it in the name of supporting the troops and yet nothing there makes me feel supported. I told him the reason why his cause will never gain acceptance from Soldiers is because they go about it all wrong. I may feel more inclined to listen to their speeches and read their literature if I actually saw something there that REALLY supported the troops. I asked him when was the last time they went to Walter Reed and brought cookies, movies, music, flowers, letter, cards, drawings, anything to make those Soldiers they supposedly support feel better. NEVER.

And that, my tin foil hat wearing friend, is why I don’t support you and made an effort to thank that ONE lady standing alone on the side of the road with her “I Support Our Troops” sign instead of any of the many people mulling about without deodorant and badly in need of a shower. I also thanked him for the civil conversation and that it’s a rare day that I have a conversation with people like him and don’t get called names or have to deal with screaming and yelling. We shook hands and departed.

There are liberals in the military, but they are few and far between. When was the last time you heard a conservative candidate complain about military absentee ballots. It’s never an issue for them, so they don’t. However, in almost every election you’ll hear about a liberal candidate slamming the military absentee balloting system because it hurts them. The military is more conservative and it’s just a plain fact. I hesitate to say we’re more patriotic. The better way to put it is that we show our patriotism differently - through service to our country instead of constantly complaining about everything.

When you get a chance, check out ConcreteBob’s post and let me know what you think. I’ll wait…

We are homeowners! The closing table is always an interesting hodgepodge of emotion. On one level, you’re happy to have it all over with. On another, you realize that you just made a HUGE purchase and along with it comes all the headaches of owning a home. Thankfully, this isn’t the first house we ever bought.

When I approached VAMC about the possibility of using their services to get a VA loan to purchase a new home, I was a little apprehensive. The VA loan process isn’t the easiest way to get a home loan by any means. However, it does save a veteran a lot money. Of all the benefits of military service, I’m most thankful for the VA loan. Without it, purchasing a home on the kind of income we earn would be difficult. Or better yet, purchasing a home that I would be proud to live in would be difficult. Finding one that fits my family would be difficult.

On the way here, we stopped to stay with some very good friends over the weekend. They are stationed at Fort Knox, KY. We had an opportunity to attend church with them. It was a great experience because I saw other people that I’ve known throughout my years in the military. I saw friends from my time at Fort Irwin, at Fort Stewart, and from Iraq. All in one little town. I also got to see where the nation’s gold reserves are located. We must have come at a bad time because they weren’t giving away any free samples while I was there. We ate at one of my favorite restaurants and probably the best restaurant in the WORLD - The Texas Roadhouse. Speaking of which, I left my prime rib leftovers in Hilary’s fridge!!

Generally, those of us in the military (or living on a military retirement) are almost forced to live paycheck to paycheck. Sometimes, it’s our own fault for failing to properly manage our finances. For example, at my pay grade, if I’m living paycheck to paycheck it is my fault. I think I make pretty good money, but it’s taken more than 13 years of service and seven very difficult promotions to get. We just have to watch that with each pay increase we don’t also increase our lifestyle. That happens all too often in the military. We are so accustomed to doing without that when we get promoted and earn a few extra dollars we tend to get those things we’ve always wanted. We don’t really think about how we were able to live without them. So, we increase our bills and/or debt along with our increase in pay. But, I digress.

It was very important for me to be able to find a home and get moved in before I had to leave again. I’m only going to be here for a few weeks before I have another school I need to be at. I’d hate it if my wife had to do all the unpacking herself while I was blissfully sitting on my butt eight hours a day listening to lectures and learning how to be a more effective senior NCO. I’m sure I’d get over it, but I doubt Emily would.

I cannot say enough about the VAMC process. Our agent, Nathan Long, has been tremendously helpful (in spite of having a little baby at home to deal with) from point A to point B. Reading some of the comments of my previous posts on this topic, I know that this isn’t the case for everyone. To those individuals, I would say that it hasn’t been a one way conversation. I’ve called Nathan just about as much as he called me - probably more! If I didn’t get him, I left a message for him. Then I still called back. It’s probably no secret that there are people in every organization, even VAMC, that are not 100% dedicated to their profession. Unfortunately, customers suffer with those people. If you don’t feel like you’re being kept informed on the loan process, call and speak with someone else. Don’t be afraid to dime that person out. That goes for any business you enter into.

The other side of the coin is that it is incumbent upon the loan applicant to also be speedy on their end. There were a few instances where I was asked for a particular document or letter and didn’t think I was going to be able to get it. Since I’m in the middle of move, I don’t have access to everything I need right away. But, I searched long and hard and made a lot of phone calls and scoured the internet until I found what I was looking for (thank goodness for TurboTax online software). I was generally able to provide whatever document the mortgage company needed within a few days. Having our stuff together initially definitely helps the loan process go much quicker. Nathan was telling me that some people take as long as a month to respond to a request for more information. I really wanted needed this loan quickly, so I went out of my way to get everything done in a timely fashion. I think that Nathan responded to that and did the same thing on his end.

We are now living in a wonderful four bedroom home in a quiet neighborhood. We have wonderful neighbors with children about the same age as mine. Our little cul-de-sac is full of great people. Not only that, but good Christian people. That’s important since I don’t want my kids hanging out with people who are going to try and get them in trouble. We were able to close on the house four days earlier than I had scheduled. We arrived in town on Monday and closed on the house on Tuesday.

For the first time ever, I bought a house almost entirely sight unseen. We found an agent, Ron Tyra, online. We searched for homes online. Ron sent us digital photos. Then he sent more digital photos. He traveled all over the area checking out homes we were interested in. The loan application process was done through email and the post office. I didn’t even meet Ron until the day before closing. It was a very nerve-wracking thing to spend $144,000 on something you’ve never seen. But, when we finally arrived and had the opportunity to walk through the home, we were more pleased than we expected. All the repairs we required were made. The only thing we hated about it were the colors, but we knew that before even arriving. We’ve spent the past three days painting. Thanks to the vaulted ceilings, I decided to go out and purchase a spray gun, which greatly sped up and simplified the process. It also saved us a bunch of paint. Six gallons later of primer and paint, the major painting is over.

It’s been fun working with VAMC on something other than a blog. I’m gonna miss the phone calls and emails. I’m gonna miss hearing Nathan’s little girl in background of some of our phone calls. I’m also gonna miss the regular conversations with Ron (though I’m sure he won’t miss being asked to drive all over the region taking photos of homes we’re interested in). For the record, I don’t encourage anyone to purchase a home they haven’t personally seen with their own eyes, especially if it’s a first home. I got lucky in that I had good friends in the area that I trusted to look at the house for me. I got lucky with a Realtor who told me like it was - good or bad. I spoke at length with my wife and other members of my family about this decision. I’d be lying if they agreed with what I was doing buying a home this way. I went against some pretty good advice. Things just happened to work out for me.

If you ever find yourself coming to the Huntsville, AL area, I highly recommend that you call Ron and Kathy Tyra. They were the best Realtors a buyer could ask for. They were very professional and responsive to my every request. They gave good advice and ensured that I had everything I needed throughout the process. We also got a pleasant surprise at closing, which I won’t reveal. You’ll just have to buy a home through them to find out for yourself. Once we get all our household goods (tomorrow), I’ll post some pictures of the new digs for all to see.

I have mentioned before in previous posts about the great benefits of being in the military and what all they have to offer. I have talked about the discounts at restaurants, hotels, and other establishments. In addition I also talked about the great specialty services that are only available to the military, like USAA insurance. USAA offers a lot of great services like banking, insurance, loans and other similar services. I already use them for homeowners, life and auto insurance so this weekend as I was shopping around for a vehicle I thought I would check them out for a car loan…and boy am I glad that I did.
When I do major purchases like this I tend to get pretty OCD and research the fire out of everything. Besides all the research I did on the vehicle like safety ratings, consumer reviews and critic’s comments I also researched the loan part of the deal. I searched around for all the interest rates in my area and some that are offered here by national companies. I was also on the USAA site at the same time trying to figure out what my insurance would be on this new vehicle. In doing so, I thought I would check them out on the loan rates also. I was able to apply over the web on their site and get approved. I was blown away at the how quick and easy it was. Their rates are as low as 4.95% which beats anyone else that I have looked at. In addition they do not do compound interest financing, which is where the first year or so of payments is all interest and very little principle. Instead they do simple, fixed interest which means the amount of interest in each payment is the same through the life of the loan. So not only is that better if you decide to pay it off early, but also it gives you more and faster equity in the vehicle.
Now I know this may sound like a commercial for USAA, but it is not. This is a customer testimony to what a great company and what great services they provide to only military clientele. You know when you see the progressive or Gieco commercials, they all mention several companies they are cheaper than but USAA is never one of them.
If you are in the military and need any of the services they provide, you are a fool for not looking to them as an option. In the world of car buying, the buyer wields much more power when they can walk in with a check for the amount rather than trying to finance through the car dealer. So as someone is looking at whether they are going to stay in the service or not, measuring these benefits may be tough but should strongly be considered. When the best a bank can do is 8% interest and a place like USAA can do it for essentially half that amount, then I would consider that a benefit not to be overlooked.

**NOTE, Troy is a 1SG in the New York Army National Guard and writes several blogs on his website at http://www.bouhammer.com**

The second installment of our Military Education Scholarship Program here at VAMC launches today. After the overwhelming response we received last May (read about the winners here), we decided to keep the scholarship offerings coming each semester.

This round of scholarships includes more awards and more money to be had - we are offering 5 scholarships worth $1500 each.

We will be accepting submissions to our essay prompt: “How do you project that your military experience will prepare you for your career?” between October 1st and November 12th. For more details on how to apply, view our submission guidelines.

It was incredible to read about all the lives and stories we received back in May and we look forward to much of the same. Working day in and day out with Veterans and their families has proven a rewarding experience for all of those involved with our company, and this scholarship program was conceived to allow us to give back in some small way to the lives of those who serve. With the cost of higher education being what it is today, there’s no shortage of need for financial aid and assistance. Best of luck to all those who apply!