Archive for November, 2009
November 20, 2009 By Claire
Posted in Spouse and Family
I checked the submission site out and you can submit a note with or without a picture. You have a week to get it to them! It’s easy and free! You can submit to have your message online or in print. I submitted one for my son this morning.
Stars and Stripes Holiday Messages are now open for submissions!
Visit the Stripes Holiday Messages website to submit a Holiday Message to a loved one.
Messages submitted before Nov 27th will appear in the newspaper according to their publishing schedule.
H/t Brat at Assoluta Tranquillita
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November 19, 2009 By Troy
Posted in MilBlogger Interviews
8:10:22 PM: We are talking with LTG Ben Freakley
8:12:19 PM: LTG Freakley’s bio is at http://bit.ly/3pWQre
8:13:29 PM: New blog entry: Nov 19th You Served Radio Live Blog http://www.vamortgagecenter.com/blog/?p=3637
8:14:59 PM: LTG Feakley is the CG of the US Army Accessions Command
8:19:04 PM: LTG Freakley says every year of his 34 years is the Year of the NCO
8:22:05 PM: the LTG just said TIVO was one of the best inventions ever
8:22:39 PM: LTG Freakley is talking about twitter, facebook, yahoo, myspace and ArmyStrongStories.com
8:29:14 PM: LTG Freakley is talking about impressive young troops he has led
8:32:38 PM: LTG Freakley is talking about the lack of MoH live award recipients
8:36:55 PM: LTG Freakley is talking about the current situation in Afghanistsan
8:42:07 PM: Now listening to James Hooker’s song
8:48:22 PM: Talking to James Hooker
8:50:12 PM: Here is the link to James Hooker’s website, http://bit.ly/zdwqO
8:51:49 PM: James met Pres. GW Bush in March 2011
8:51:56 PM: I mean March 2001
8:54:13 PM: For 20 years James was the music director for Nancy Griffin
8:59:19 PM: James’s new album is free for download on his site. He only asks for donations
9:02:50 PM: James considers the new media outlets help him get his music out.
9:16:58 PM: We are talking with Larry Pratt from Gun Owners of America, http://bit.ly/2vRF11
9:28:31 PM: Larry is talking about the Veteran’s Disarmament Act which Pres. Bush signed into law that keeps soldiers with PTSD from having guns
9:30:43 PM: We are now talking about Ft. Hood with Larry
9:37:34 PM: We are talking about how the Act to take guns from soldiers contradicts the Army’s no-stigma message
9:47:11 PM: Larry is the Exec Director of Gun Owners of America
9:52:43 PM: Just wrapped up with Larry and now Marcus is talking to Emily about the school board issue
10:46:00 PM: Listen to Episode #65 – LTG Freakley, James Hooker and L… on You Served anytime on BlogTalkRadio. http://tobtr.com/s/745809 #BlogTalkRadio
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November 18, 2009 By CJ
Posted in Uncategorized
On November 5, 2009, a religious extremist entered a Soldier processing facility and opened fire, killing or injuries 43 people. There’s some controversy over who exactly felled Hasan that day. The point is that ultimately, it doesn’t matter. Sergeant Kimberly Munley went charging up to protect those troops and civilians in the building, whether she fired a shot or not. She placed herself in harm’s way without knowing exactly what the threat was. Her valor and heroism should still be commended and used as an example.
Great Americans has a blog tribute up to SGT Munley.. Please take a moment to read it and leave a comment. I also wanted to share this great video they have on their site as well.
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November 17, 2009 By Troy
Posted in MilBlogger Interviews, Video
This interview is with another expo booth floor member. She was at a booth behind the milblog lounge. I wanted to see what her knowledge was of milblogs in general.
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November 16, 2009 By CJ
Posted in Uncategorized
Vision Strike Wear, purveyors of coolness and style, have designed an awesome t-shirt to commemorate the lauching of the new USS New York (or LPD-21).
And right now, if you buy this shirt or any others from Vision Strike Wear, donations will be made to the Fort Hood Chaplain’s Fund.
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November 15, 2009 By CJ
Posted in Charities/Contests
A few months ago, we interviewed Don Hays, owner of Maide Brigade. Don was giving away a franchise and starter money to some veterans on Veterans Day.
Bronze Star Medal with Valor Honoree. Recipient of a Purple Heart, campaign medals for Kosovo and Iraq and numerous Meritorious Service Medals. Those descriptions all apply to Major Philip Thomas Piaget. Now one more honor has been added: Gold Award in the Maid Brigade Veterans Franchise Giveaway. Piaget, of Crestview, Fla., won the company’s contest in time for Veterans Day 2009. The father of four retired from the Army in September after serving 20 years as an Airborne Ranger and entered the franchiser’s national contest the same month, noting that his life as a leader of infantrymen and that of a quality Maid Brigade franchisee have much in common. Compared to his daunting combat and diplomatic assignments surrounding the efforts to quell sectarian violence and insurgent attacks on Coalition Forces in Iraq, his road to franchise ownership was smooth.
Piaget and the five other veterans who made it to the final phase of the contest underwent intensive scrutiny on Nov. 4 and 5 at Maid Brigade headquarters in Atlanta. Throughout the contest, the company evaluated leadership, management and interpersonal skills, financial capabilities and behavioral profiles. The final phase also included one-on-one and group interviews with a judging panel of four seasoned professionals who earned their own stripes in the military and business arenas. The process was in-depth and sometimes emotional.
Piaget convinced each judge independently that he deserved the Gold Award, valued at more than $45,000, including working capital, equipment, waived franchise fees, training and support — everything he needs to establish a franchise operation in his hometown near Pensacola, Fla., by early first quarter.
“More than 100 veterans entered the contest, and although many would make excellent franchisees, Tom Piaget set a new gold standard for our program,” said Maid Brigade Chairman Don Hay. Along with military veterans and fellow judges Rear Admiral Michael Miller, Vet Jobs Inc. President Ted Daywalt and Maid franchisee Ray Toombs, Hay selected Piaget based on his demonstrated leadership and commitment in the U.S. Armed Forces, which are traits shared with successful franchise owners.
This year’s Silver and Bronze Award winners are, respectively, Thomas McWhorter of Fort Worth, Texas, a former Air Force captain who served for 10 years, and Gerald Zeigler of Virginia Beach, Va., a former chief petty officer who served 20 years in the Navy. They won second and third place versions of the Gold Award, with graduated levels working capital of $10,000 and $5,000, and will open their businesses early next year in their home markets.
The judges deemed the remaining finalists, former Air Force Captain Steven Buchanan of Lantana, Texas, and Air Force Major Michael Braibish of Salem, Ore., also highly qualified to own a Maid Brigade franchise. In addition to waiving these honorable veterans’ franchise fees as indicated in the contest rules, Maid Brigade is awarding them with $3,000 equipment packages when they open their Maid Brigade operations.
Maid Brigade will offer the contest again next year and broaden the eligibility to include the National Guard and the Reserves. After Veterans Day 2009, and until next year’s giveaway contest, Maid Brigade will continue to honor veterans by discounting its franchise fees 25 percent for all qualified and honorably discharged veterans. The program Web site, www.MaidBrigadeGiveaway.com, includes additional information about the contest, finalists, judging panel and award-winning 25-year-old franchiser Maid Brigade Inc.
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By CJ
Posted in Top Posts, Top Posts - My Post, Top Posts - Shared
I’m fed up with the reluctance or outright lack of desire to call what happened at Fort Hood an act of terrorism. This was brought up in a Facebook discussion and a journalist – a member of the media – said “it’s not our job to read into things. we can analyze, and find the “why,” but we can’t say it’s terrorism.”
I find that interesting considering all the media ever does is read into things. When was the last time the media waited until the results of an election were certified before declaring a winner? They didn’t have any problems blaming PTSD as soon as it was discovered that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan worked with troops suffering from the disorder. Yet, they ignored the facts of PTSD which are obvious that it isn’t contagious.
Militant and extremist Islam has declared war not only on this country, but on our military specifically. Recently, it started in March 2003 when SGT Akbar tossed a grenade on Camp Pennsylvania and killed his fellow 101st Airborne Troops. Akbar was a Muslim and didn’t kill those troops because he snapped, but because of his religion.
Two years ago, six Muslim extremists were charged in a plot to kill Soldiers at the Army’s Fort Dix military installation in New Jersey. The plot involved “assault rifles” and grenades with the intent to kill as many Soldiers as possible. Because these guys weren’t Soldiers and didn’t fall under the political correctness of coddling extremist religious views, this plot was thankfully foiled before any Soldiers were killed or injured.
In June of this year, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad – a 24-year-old Little Rock resident formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe – killed one Soldier and injured another in a shooting that took place at an Army recruiting center. Police said that based off interviews with the killer, he executed the shooting because he was angry with the military’s supposed treatment of Muslims. A young Soldier – Pvt. William Long whom had nothing to do with the cause of Muhammad’s anger – was killed. Muhammad stated to police that he would have killed more if they had been outside at the time.
Now, we have the case of Maj. Nidal Hasan, in which he killed 13 people (including a pregnant Soldier) and wounded over 30 others earlier this month at Fort Hood. The media continues to pound the drum beat that he just “snapped.” A man who had never deployed in his military career somehow snapped and that is why he killed those brave warriors and Americans. They are painting HIM as the victim of this because he was “teased” in his military career. (Side note: will a Soldier of any faith who has never been teased please send me an email. That is worthy of a story in itself.) The media is further eroding their credibility by ignoring statements and evidence that prove this was an extremist ideological attack and not a mere case of stress.
The media is searching far and wide for so-called mental health professionals to support their biased positions of a Soldier broken by a failed war policy. They refuse to interview prominent Muslim scholars and religious leaders who could easily diffuse the religious backlash being heaped upon Muslims. These scholars could explain that this man was no Muslim in the strictest terms, but a radicalized terrorist who bent the teachings of Islam. But, that’s not the slant the media wants us to believe. Instead of reporting on the elephant in the room, they’ve taken the easy road of expounding upon the terrible tragedy that war brings to our troops, either real or made up.
They ignore the more than 34 clues as to why Hasan REALLY committed those premeditated murders and attempted murders of 43 Americans. Never mind that he visited websites espousing radical Islamist ideas. Never mind that he was disciplined for proselytizing about his Muslim faith with patients and colleagues. Never mind that he wrote an internet posting defending suicide bombers: “…..Suicide bombers whose intention, by sacrificing their lives, is to help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers. If one suicide bomber can kill 100 enemy soldiers because they were caught off guard that would be considered a strategic victory…..”
And yet the military is expending great deals of energy to ensure that the rest of us don’t unfairly blame the religion of peace for what is happening to our troops around the world and in this country at their hands. They are worried that Muslims will be victimized, not that more troops will be victimized by Muslims. They are expending resources – at least publicly – in the hunt for more radical Islamic extremists within our ranks, but the the radical non-Muslim elements that may be seeking revenge, whoever these people are. They can continue to spout their rhetoric free of consequences until Soldiers die.
Political correctness is the friend of the extremist Islamic radical. They know that we have no backbone to seek out more potential perpetrators and will use that against us. The military is so publicity shy, that they don’t want to risk being called bigots for searching the ranks for more like-minded extremists. Instead, the rest of us who are concerned about the impact of all these attacks against us by a religious philosophy that doesn’t value life but exalts martyrdom will be treated like racists, bigots, and extremists in our own right. They will get away with it, but if you’re not a Muslim, don’t you dare stand up for anything you believe in. The military will attack you for it.
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November 13, 2009 By Claire
Posted in Spouse and Family
Please take a moment to listen to the interviews I did with Mil-Spouse bloggers and Blog World Expo participants Tammy Munson and Delta Whiskey. I had a lot of fun interviewing both of them. Tammy’s interview was back before her husband deployed, so we will have her back on again soon for an update.
CLICK to LISTEN
Stay tuned. I have a special guest interview coming up soon with Derek McGinnis, Veteran author or Exit Wounds.
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By CJ
Posted in Video
Alice In Chains bandmembers talk about entertaining wounded warriors and the Vietnam War influence of one of their songs.
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By Claire
Posted in Spouse and Family
I know we all felt so helpless as the events of November 5th unfolded before our eyes and ears through various news channels. Maybe you live on Ft. Hood and they unfolded for you in real time. Maybe you are like me and have several friends who live there and the events unfolded for you over the phone with very frightened friends.
There are many ways to help out during this time, and the need is great. Please see what you are able to do. This time of year is usually very focused on shopping and doing — maybe you can cut one thing out and give a donation to the Ft. Hood families this year. Do what your conscience directs you to do.
Some of the events below have already occurred, but the fundraisers will be ongoing for a while.
How You Can Help the Fort Hood Family
[11/9/2009]
Source: Army Well-Being and combined sources
The Central Texas community is rallying in support of those who died in the mass shooting at Fort Hood Thursday. Some events going on around town in memorial of the victims are:
• President Obama has ordered that all flags be flown at half-staff until Veteran’s Day in honor of the victims of the Fort Hood tragedy on November 5.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9
• A local grassroots organization is asking everyone to drive with their headlights on to honor those directly or indirectly affected.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10
• Fort Hood will host a memorial service for those lost on November 5. More details to follow.
FUNDRAISERS
• Barton Creek Square and Killeen Mall will support the recent tragedies at Fort Hood by hosting a fundraiser at Kay’s Hallmark. Both Hallmark locations will sell wooden roses for $1. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Families of the victims at Fort Hood.
DONATIONS ACCEPTED
If you would like to help by donating funds, consider these worthy organizations helping the Fort Hood Family:
AUSA The Central Texas-Fort Hood Chapter of Association of the United States Army has set up a Community Response to 11/5 Fund for anyone wishing to make monetary donations to help support the Families of the victims involved in Thursday’s shooting at Fort Hood.
Checks should be made payable to:
The Central Texas-Fort Hood Chapter
Association of the US Army
ATTN: Community Response to 11/5
P.O. Box 10700
Killeen, Texas 76547
Donations are tax deductible. The tax identification number is 530193361.
The Fisher House at Fort Hood In this time of national sorrow and grief, many Families may need the services of The Fisher House. Please make donations to:
Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center
36000 Darnall Loop
Fort Hood TX 76544
254.286.7927
The Fisher House on Facebook
Operation Homefront Operation Homefront has established an “Emergency Tragedy Fund” for the Families of the injured and deceased Soldiers at Fort Hood. We are saddened by this tragedy and will provide emergency financial assistance to the Families.
If you are a Family directly affected, please contact Operation Homefront Texas at 1-800-779-5921.
If you would like to donate to this Fund, please use the Donate Now feature. Be sure to indicate “FORT HOOD” on the donor form.
You can also send donations to:
Operation Homefront Texas
10157 IH 35 North, Suite A
San Antonio, Texas 78233.
100% of the funds collected will be designated for the Families at Fort Hood. Thank you for your generosity and support.
Friends of TAPS, Fort Hood Friends of TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) provides immediate and long-term grief support for anyone who has lost a military loved one, regardless of the circumstance or location of the death. These Fort Hood Families will need a safe haven to process their grief and suffering for the weeks, months and years to come – and with your help we will be able to care for all of the Families affected by this terrible event.
Soldiers’ Angels, Fort Hood Project Soldiers’ Angels is assessing the needs and is standing by to offer physical and emotional support to our heroes and their families at Fort Hood.
RIGHT NOW: Collecting encouraging notes and NEW stuffed animals for the Families and children of the injured or killed. Please send cards/letters and stuffed animals (and anything NEW that may brighten the life of a child) to:
Soldiers’ Angels
4408 PanAm Expressway
San Antonio, TX 78218
Plans are still developing, but the goal is to give these Families and injured heroes something big to smile about when Christmas rolls around. It starts with the $2,000 gift certificate for Christmas for an experience on Christmas Day that will make them forget about it all for at least a little while. To contribute to the effort, click the donation button in the upper left and add type “For Fort Hood” in the comment box that pops up (donations marked this way will be used only for Fort Hood survivors).
The American Legion Those touched by the Fort Hood event seeking assistance from The American Legion are invited to call 1-800-504-4098 or emailfamilysupport@legion.org .
Chapel’s Tithes and Offerings Fund Checks can be mailed to:
Chaplain’s Fund Office
Bldg. 44, 761st Tank Battalion Ave.
Fort Hood, TX 76544-5000
Checks should be made payable to “CTOF” (Chapel’s Tithes and Offerings Fund) with a note on the memo line stating “Nov. 5 Tragedy.”
Killeen Red Cross Killeen Red Cross
208 W. Avenue A
Killeen, Texas 76541
You can contact the Killeen Red Cross by phone at 254-200-4400.
USO Fort Hood USO Fort Hood
Building #1871, 50th St.
Fort Hood, Texas 76544
You can also contact the USO by phone at 254-768-2771.
Combat Warrior Crisis Network The Combat Warrior Crisis Network is accepting donation to support the Families in the aftermath to help them pick up the pieces and help them move forward. When making a donation please annotate “FORT HOOD” on the donation.
For PayPal or Credit Card please visit: Donate to The Combat Warrior Crisis Network
Checks may be mailed to:
Combat Warrior Crisis Network
3450 FM 1829
Gatesville, TX 76528
USA Cares
USA Cares has set up an Emergency Fund for the victims of the Fort Hood shootings. Call USA Cares at 800-773-0387 and ask for Frank or Forrest. Let them know that you are wanting to donate to Fort Hood. USA Cares exists to provide military Families with financial support and other critical resources in their time of need.
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