Vets For Freedom are hitting the road and may be coming to a town near you!! We all hear about the anti-war caravans as they tour the nation in search of the elusive bar of soap and bottle of shampoo.

The bus tour kicks off in San Diego on March 14 and will include 22 stops in 16 states over three weeks, culminating on the steps of Capitol Hill on April 8th, for another “Vets on the Hill” event. The tour will bring together veterans from across the country to tell their stories and highlight their sacrifices, as well as rally support for successfully completing the missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Let’s help spread the word about this one. And if you’re nearby, take the time to meet the heroes that will be traveling with the caravan. For those near the Fort Campbell stop, look me up. I’ll be meeting the tour when they stop up there. Here are a few of the heroes that will be featured on the tour:

David Bellavia-recipient of the Silver Star, and nominee for the Medal of Honor and author of House to House (a memoir about house-to-house combat in Iraq).

Marcus Luttrell-recipient of the Navy Cross and sole survivor of a mission in which four Navy SEALS were sent into a Taliban stronghold on the Afghan-Pakistan border; Luttrell was badly injured yet managed to escape enemy capture and later author the New York Times best-selling book Lone Survivor.

Marco Martinez-recipient of the Navy Cross for heroic action on the battlefield in Iraq and author of Hard Corps, Martinez was involved in gang activity in Los Angeles and joined the Marine Corps to straighten out his life.

Steve Russell-recipient of the Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device for his actions in Iraq; Lieutenant Colonel Russell led the battalion responsible for the capture of Saddam Hussein.

Jeremiah Workman-recipeient of the Navy Cross for his heroic actions in Fallujah; Corporal Workman’s actions, under fire and while injured, led to the death of over 24 enemy insurgents and saved fellow Marines from being ambushed.

The veterans on the National Heroes Tour represent the courage, conviction, and commitment of our men and women in the U.S. armed forces. These highly decorated veterans-as well as local heroes-will tell their personal stories directly to the American public through local media, rallies, speeches, debates, and personal meetings. Hope to see you there!

Carhartt, the work/outdoor clothing giant, maker of the best work clothes in the known world, has done something amazing. Carhartt will be sending 750 pairs of their extra thick ECWCS (Extreme Cold Weather Clothing System) thermal underwear and 5,000 pairs of wool socks to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team “The Rock” of the 173rd Airborne Infantry Brigade (Sep) “Sky Soldiers” currently serving in the Kunar Province of western Afghanistan.

About three weeks ago one of the volunteers from Keystone Soldiers was able to obtain the name of Mr. Prewitt who retired as an executive from Carhartt, Inc. and currently serves on their Board of Directors. Mr Prewitt is also a retired Colonel of the Army National Guard. Through Mr. Prewitt we were able to contact the President of Carhartt, Inc., Mr. Valade, who was instantly open to our request and asked that we send something in writing. Within twenty four hours of receiving our written request Mr. Valade’s office contacted us. Now, about one week later, we have learned that Carhartt, Inc. is donating 750 pairs of heavy weight thermal underwear and 5,000 pairs of wool hiking socks to the 173rd, 2-503. Their donation exceeded our requested amounts.

I’m not a paid employee of the company, but if you’re in the market for something they sell, perhaps you can give them some patronage.

So, two nonprofit journalism organizations (hmmm, journalism organization, eh?) released a report recently that the Bush administration “issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.” Naturally, CF was all over the story but again didn’t offer any FACTS. Let’s take a look back in time shall we?

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To wrap up “Honor Your Hero,” we’ve put together a Q & A with our winner, Sergeant Brian Horn.

You Served: What was your inspiration for AnySoldier.com?
Brian Horn: The inspiration for Anysoldier.com was a simple need to take care of my team in a tough situation. A few of my guys weren’t getting anything in the mail, and here I was getting excessive amounts of food, etc from my parents to supplement a less than ideal feeding situation. As I requested more and more support from my parents to help more and more soldiers, the idea of anysoldier.com came through a rare, chance phone call home to my Dad. We believed that as many troops needed help, there had to be some way of getting them connected to the outstanding supporters who had no idea just how to send their support. Seeing as how my parents financially couldn’t support our entire fighting force, we needed to come up with a vehicle to connect the supporters to our troops. Thus, Anysoldier.com was born.

You Served: What do you feel has been your greatest accomplishment through AnySoldier.com?
Brian Horn: My greatest accomplishment through the duration of Anysoldier.com is simply knowing that my Dad and I have had a lasting impact on so many lives, be it soldier or civilian. Thanks to the tireless supporters, Any Soldier has become a true force multiplier. And to think that we’ve really only just begun…

You Served: What was your most memorable experience as a Soldier?
Brian Horn: I had alot of memorable experiences as a soldier, but in the end there is really only one true goal of any war or deployment. Ask anyone in a leadership position and they should tell you the same. It is to bring all of your men home safely. No matter the cost, it was not an option to ensure that everyone found their way home.

You Served: What are your plans for the future?
Brian Horn: My future plans are to complete my degree in business while continuing to further promote and establish the Anysoldier.com organization. A book is also in the works!

You Served: Any plans for your award?
Brian Horn: I plan on donating a portion of this award money to anysoldier.com, as this organization is a non-profit website and stays alive strictly on donations alone.

In closing, I would just like to send a very heartfelt THANK YOU to all who voted for me and to the VA Mortgage Center for holding such an honorable ordeal! Thanks again guys, and please be sure to check out www.anysoldier.com if you haven’t already. All you have to do is try the site once, and I promise you will be hooked, and know that you are doing a great thing.

We also wanted to share this statement from Brian’s proud father, Marty Horn:

WOW! Thank you!!!!

It is really hard for me to put into words the pride we have in what Brian is and has done. His time in the military was full of action. He experienced a wide range of events, from terribly horrible to the very touching.
He has grown a lot and we appreciate every day that he is with us.
Our hearts go out to all the families who have lost a loved one. We are the fortunate ones, and we know it. We pray that this continues as Brian now has a sister in the war. She has a tough act to follow, and she knows it, and we do believe she is up to that challenge.

We thank everyone who shared their pride in Sergeant Horn and voted for him.

Something very life-altering happened on January 18, 1995. It changed the way I would look at life, live MY life, and what my future would look like. On that date thirteen years ago, Private CJ Grisham joined the Army and shipped off to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Yup, Missouri in January. Push-ups in more than a foot of snow!! Come along as I take you through a chronologically arranged, pictorial journey of my last 13+ years (prior to blogging)…
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My local hometown newspaper, The Buffalo News, recently published an article on what I consider to be one of the hero’s of the local military community. The Article is located at http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/buffaloerie/story/236956.html. They wrote an article on my VA representative, Ms. Tracy Kinn. Tracy was the VA rep I ran into at my local Amherst, NY City Hall one day not long after getting back from Afghanistan. I am not even sure why I was in city hall that day, but I just remember looking down the hall and seeing a sign that stated “Veteran Affairs”, which of course caught my eye.

I thought to myself “well let’s go check that out” and I walked in to meet Tracy and her brand new starting-that-day secretary. I asked Tracy what she did and she told me what her role was, that she worked for the VA in this remote location and that one of her jobs was to help veterans to apply for benefits to include disability benefits. Since I have collected medical disability since I got out of active duty in 1996 and I needed to start it back up after getting back from Afghanistan, I was pretty happy to run into her. I had been planning to go to the VA offices in Buffalo directly and try to navigate the red tape and paperwork myself to do that. After Tracy told me that it was he job to help with that, help with getting medical appointments set up and several other things that I know I needed to do, I knew that God had led me into her office. This was the lady I needed to talk to as I was sure she could help me with the whole process.

I have written on this blog a few times about my experiences at the local VA hospital and how it has not been the typical slow, painful bureaucratic process as it has been in the past. What I have never mentioned on here was that it was Tracy who helped kick-start me into moving forward. On those times when we talked and I said things like “I will get around to it” or “one day” it was her, the bulldog as I like to call her, who said “bullcrap, you need to do that now…”. She motivates and (as a female civilian and not a weathered old senior NCO) it catches you off guard when she tells it like it is. She is the voice of many a veteran and just like a good platoon sergeant or first sergeant, she keeps the pressure on all of the vets she helps to keep moving forward and not to procrastinate.

Hero is a very over-used word and unfortunately in today’s world clichéd so much that it has demeaned the true value of the word. However it is not one I throw around that often or use in any context. So it means a lot to me and to anyone who knows me when I say that Tracy Kinn is a Hero to me. She did not have to serve on a battlefield, pull anyone from a burning Humvee or throw herself on a grenade to be that either. She throws herself on the grenade of bureaucracy everyday for guys and gals she has never met before.

The good news keeps coming.

Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army’s chief of staff, said yesterday he hopes to shorten the 15-month tours in Iraq and Afghanistan this summer. The move would end a policy, required by the buildup of nearly 30,000 U.S. troops in Iraq last year, that has placed significant stress on soldiers and their families.

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When we were in the planning stages of the American Hero Award, we decided it would be perfect to have our theme be “Honor Your Hero.” We called on visitors to the site to honor their heroes by nominating them for the award. Nominations came flooding in and with each story we read, we knew our task of choosing ten finalists would be a difficult one. Not only were the nominees’ stories inspiring, but so was the support and pride shown by those who had nominated them. Some soldiers were nominated by friends and families, others by people they had never met in person.

After a lot of reading, thought and discussion, we selected our ten finalists. Our staff can’t express enough how hard this part was. In the end, we chose ten Veterans whose stories, deeds, and courage stood out to us. Here is a quick recap of our finalists:

• Gregory Anton – an Iraq Veteran raising a family, working full time, and completing college
• Daniel Ashe – an Iraq Veteran who now cares for his young children while his wife is away at basic training
• Steve Clark – an Iraq Veteran who has spearheaded grassroots efforts to arrange a “Small Town Send-Off” for troops and sends 15-20 packages a month to the troops
• CJ Grisham – an Iraq Veteran who runs the blog “A Soldier’s Perspective” as well as the site “They Have Names,” which is devoted to honoring fallen soldiers
• Brian Horn – an Iraq Veteran who started the site “Any Solider.com,” which has provided support for nearly 1 million troops in 4 years
• Todd Parisi – an Iraq Veteran who is the youngest Sniper Instructor in the history of the Marine Corps and has been awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service to the Marine Corps and country.
• Brandon Rork – an Iraq Veteran who disarmed an attempted suicide bomber planning to detonate a dump truck filled with enough explosives to blow up his entire base
• Eddie Ryan – an Iraq Veteran who survived two gunshot wounds to the head and continues to defy the odds with his amazing recovery
• Steve Stephens – an Iraq Veteran who founded “Soldiers Helping those in Need,” who, along with Blankets.com, provided Iraqis with over 3,000 blankets
• Richard Tibbetts, Jr. – an Iraq Veteran with more than 25 years of military service to the United States through the Marine Corps

It’s clear that we had ten remarkable finalists on our hands and each was awarded a finalist prize of $500. There have been few personal or professional situations that can compare to the wonderful experience we had contacting the soldier’s and those who had nominated them.

Individuals who submitted nominations were thrilled to hear their heroes were being honored and each were ready to heap more praise on their nominees. Even though they were not receiving a prize, it was clear that having the Veterans they knew recognized was a prize in and of itself. As for the Veterans themselves, their stories were touching and their gratitude and humility was the most genuine we’ve ever witnessed.

These men, many who had no idea they had been nominated, expressed surprise that they had been chosen. One even called our offices to see if it was a joke. No, we assured him, no joke. Each of them deserves this prize more than they will know and we hope this inspires others to honor their heroes.

As wonderful as all of our finalists are, only one could be named the VA Mortgage Center.com American Hero. Visitors to the site voted once per day online from December 21, 2007 – January 11, 2008. We are proud to announce the $5,000 winner as…

Brian Horn
Founder of AnySoldier.com
Congratulations to Brian and all of our finalists! Thank you to all who participated.

The President made the following speech to members of Coalition Forces at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait earlier today:
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I recently wrote a post about the security situation in Iraq over at my own blog, A Soldier’s Perspective, called Pushing Pulling Prodding. I wrote the post on my laptop while sitting in my bed with my laptop (I’m being lazy today).

As I finished the post, I looked over at my wife who is peacefully lying next to me not feeling too well. The kids are downstairs watching cartoons and/or playing. Outside, the Cardinals and Blue Jays are taking turns pecking seeds out of the feeder we have set up for them under the awning of our back yard. The sun is gently seeping through the curtains of our windows and there is still and quiet in the surrounding neighborhood.

Pleasantly absent is the sound of gunshots, explosions and tracked vehicles rolling down the streets in response. We live in a comfortable freedom in this country. It is a net that is guaranteed to us by people from all walks of life and through many different areas. Our shores are relatively safe from the threats of terrorism because we have Soldiers who are willing to put their lives on the line in the name of freedom. Some sacrifice that life for complete strangers and families are left behind to find ways to deal with their loss.

Here at home, we have police officers who put on their uniforms daily to brave the streets of these neighborhoods to provide us with a more localized feeling of safety and comfort. They also put their lives on the line in the accomplishment of their duties and ensure that we are able to feel secure in our own homes. When we are threatened or violated, they are usually quick to do what they can to find those people. Many times they are also called to sacrifice their own lives in the pursuit of these individuals. And they are forgotten and taken for granted in the process.

I would also like to take a moment to recognize our EMT and firefighting personnel, both paid and volunteers, for all they do at all hours of the day and night to keep us alive and our possession safe. It is so easy in today’s volatile international climate where Soldiers are at war to forget these individuals unless you directly benefit from their services. For many of us, our only interaction with the police is when we are pulled over for speeding or some other meaningless violation. Remember, as frustrating and idiotic as it is to have a police force dedicated to writing parking tickets, these people are just doing their job. In some way we are better for it. Soldiers aren’t the only “heroes” in the war against violence.