Monthly Archives: May 2010

Vision Strike Wear wants to Rock for Vets

Posted on May 6, 2010 by Troy| Leave a comment

Good Friends of You Served, Todd and Derek over at www.vision-strike-wear.com (VSW) are wanting to give a little back to Veterans and send them to a Rock Concert this Memorial Day free of Charge. VSW tries in a lot of ways to support military charities and help troops out. This is just their latest venture and I must say it is a really good one.

Full Details at http://vision-strike-wear.com/-rock-for-vets–benefit-concert-memorial-day-2010.html

Send a Veteran to a rock concert free of charge this coming Memorial Day!

Vision-Strike-Wear.Com was thrilled when contacted by Rock FOR VETS and asked to participate in this very worthy cause. The benefit concert located in Long Beach, CA has been created especially for Veterans.
The ROCK FOR VETS benefit is to raise funds for the following:

• Create a music rehabilitation wing in the VA Long Beach with musical instruments and coaches.

• Assist the needs of returning soldiers on our own doorstep.

• Create an Education and Awareness Campaign in the community regarding the VA Health Care System in Long Beach and its surrounds.

Vision-Strike-Wear.Com and The Rock Club have now partnered up with the VA Healthcare Voluntary Services Long Beach to create a fundraising concert, that will feature such artist as El Chicano, Danny Seraphine (CTA, Chicago), David Elliott (of Dionne Warwick), Mumtaz Morris (of Stevie Wonder), Manny Lagod (of Don Ho), Ed Roth, Ronnie Ciago, Mike Pachelli, Bob Luna, Blue Steel, Assisted Living, Jeff Leland, Blind Ruby, Jason Diaz plus many more special guests.

Venue: CSULB Walter Pyramid on Memorial Day, Monday, May 31, 2010. Doors open at 4 p.m., the show runs till 8 p.m. Vision-Strike-Wear.Com is sending a Disabled Veteran to the “Rock For Vets” concert and for every $100 purchased at Vision-Strike-Wear.Com a ticket for a Disabled Veteran is purchased. $100 purchased sends 1 Veteran to the concert. $200 purchased and 2 tickets are purchased and $300 spent results in 3 tickets being purchased for a Veteran. Tickets cost $35.00 each so for every $1.00 spent 35 cents of every dollar buys a Veteran a ticket and gives them a night to remember on Memorial Day. Our customers receive wonderful military items to include military t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, decals, gift items, patches, coins.html”>challenge coins and more and a Veteran goes to a concert and receives a wonderful experience guaranteed to create memories for a very long time.

We realize that you have a choice of who you support throughout the year. Please join us in this great collaboration to make this event a huge success.


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Posted in Charities/Contests, Veteran Benefits

Wire A Cake and Army Wife Magazine Sponsoring a Father’s Day Cake Giveaway!

Posted on May 6, 2010 by Claire| 1 Comment

FATHER’S DAY GIVEAWAY

APRIL/MAY 2010

SOURCE LINK

Army Wife Magazine in conjunction with Wire A Cake, is sponsoring Father’s Day Cake Giveaway to honor and recognize the soldier who is also a father. The publication is looking for loved ones to write in about their Active Army, Guard or Reserves soldier. A pie, cookies or even a cake (with a personalized inscription), can be sent to a soldier, in the states or overseas. To participate in this promotion, simply tell us just what your loved one means to you in a 200-500 word summary. Submissions can be posted any of the following three ways: email to jdavies@armywifemagazine.com, post at www.armymagazine.com or www.strongarmywives.com. The deadline to submit your write-up is May 17, 2010, at 11:59 PM EST.

The submission with the most votes by our readers will determine the winning entry. (Army Wife Magazine/MOCHA Enterprises’ staff and contributors are excluded from entering). The winner, along with the submitted write-up, will be announced in the June Issue of Army Wife Magazine, www.ArmyWifeMagazine.com. For complete contest rules, please visit www.armywifemagazine.com/contests.html.

If you are thinking of sending a Father’s Day surprise, be sure to order early. Shipping to APO/FPOs should be done by June 1st. There will be a 5% discount off any order if you mention Army Wife Magazine, during this promotional time only. So even if you do not win the prize, take advantage of this great offer to send something delicious and personalized. Place your order by visiting www.wireacake.com or call 1-800-WireACake (1-800-947-3222).

“As a civilian, I can’t know firsthand the life of a military wife. But now through my business, I have come to understand and appreciate the deep sacrifice each family makes. If my cakes can put a smile on a soldier’s face, then that is my way of supporting them,” stated Debbie, Founder/Owner of WireACake.com.

You only need to fill out an online form to enter to win.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO FORM

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Posted in Charities/Contests, Spouse and Family

2010 Milbloggie Winner-Coast Guard

Posted on May 6, 2010 by Troy| Leave a comment

2010 Milbloggie Winner-Coast Guard from You Served Radio & Blog on Vimeo.

This year’s winner of the coveted Milbloggie award for the Coast Guard is An Unoffical Coast Guard Blog (http://cgblog.org/).

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Posted in Milblog Conference, Video

Too Late to Apologize: A Declaration

Posted on May 6, 2010 by Marcus the Redshirt| Leave a comment

 

This is a great reminder of why America declared independence from the crown over 230 years ago. Great parody of an actual song with a great historical message and a bit of comedy mixed in!

Halfway across the globe
And we’re standing on new ground
Screaming ‘cross the waves
You can’t hear a sound
There’s no fair trials, no trade, no liberties
No tea
We’ve colonized America; we won’t stand for tyranny,
Oh king

And it’s too late to apologize
It’s too late
I said it’s too late to apologize
It’s too late

We’ve paid your foolish tax, read the acts
And they just won’t do
We want to make it clear, we believe this much is true
All men were created with certain

Unalienable rights
Among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit
Of happiness

And it’s too late to apologize
It’s too late
I said It’s too late to apologize
It’s too late

It’s too late to apologize
It’s too late
I said it’s too late apologize
It’s too late

I said it’s too late to apologize, yeah
It’s too late
I said it’s too late to apologize, yeah

Halfway across the globe
And we’re standing on new ground

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Posted in Video

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Disgruntled Mothers Can Learn From The Pennsylvania Tax Agency

Posted on May 6, 2010 by Claire| 1 Comment

If you have not heard already this past week a very creepy, thinly veiled threat a la Orwell was released by the Pennsylvania Tax Agency.

From Foxnews.com:

A threatening TV commercial appearing in Pennsylvania has residents of the state spooked by its “Orwellian” overtones, and critics are calling it a government attempt to scare delinquent citizens into paying back taxes.

In the 30-second ad, ominous mechanical sounds whir in the background as a satellite camera zooms in through the clouds and locks onto an average Pennsylvania home. The narrator begins her cold and calculating message:

Your name is Tom … You live just off of 5th Street … Nice car, Tom — nice house. What’s not so nice is you owe Pennsylvania $4,212 in back taxes. Listen Tom, we can make this easy. Pay online by June 18th and we’ll skip your penalty and take half off your interest because Tom, we do know who you are.

The satellite snares its target — Tom’s house — and the screen flashes another menacing line as the ad peters out:

FIND US BEFORE WE FIND YOU

***********************

I found it very creepy and manipulative, but then I thought about moms. What if the Disgruntled Aghast Mothers National Organization came up with an ad to get those young soldiers to call home when they have a little phone time (other than when they need something sent to them).

So in celebration of Mother’s Day and in empathy for those Mothers who are not getting the calls they deserve, I have constructed the following ad.

Your name is Tim. I gave birth to you. I raised you. I sacrificed my health, sanity and financial security to make sure you would grow up into a responsible and caring young man.

Nice barracks Tim. What’s not so nice is that you have failed to call your mother since you entered into training. You can say that you haven’t been allowed to, but your girlfriend is bragging on Facebook that you call her three times a week.

Tim, it’s in your best interest that you call me no later than May 9th, by 9:00 pm.  I’ve heard that Drill Sargents do not like to get calls from crying mothers, Tim. Call me before I call him.

This ad was paid for by the Disgruntled Aghast Mothers National Organization.

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Posted in Spouse and Family

Fair Winds, Following Seas Captain Fellowes

Posted on May 6, 2010 by Marcus the Redshirt| Leave a comment

Earlier this week, Navy Captain Jack Fellowes passed away in Annapolis. Captain Fellowes was an amazing American sailor and Naval Aviator having been shot down over Vietnam and spent over six years in the Hanoi Hilton.

The US Naval Institute interviewed Captain Fellowes as part of their American at War Series, and while short, the video is great. Please take a few moments to travel over and view the video. You will also find this article is well worth the read.

On the morning of 7 March 1973, I was suddenly awakened by the quietness in my room. Everything seemed so still. I opened my eyes, stared at the ceiling and blinked again. No mosquito net? Not here, you lucky dog. Light filtered in the window from the sun just rising over the Chesapeake Bay. The room was glowing warmly. My wife was asleep beside me.

It seemed so long ago that I had been flying my A-6 Intruder from the deck of the USS Constellation (CVA-64). We’d been located in the Gulf of Tonkin for two months when I flew off on that fateful mission to dive-bomb a pontoon bridge in the Vinh area. Approaching the target, the airplane suddenly rocked with two explosions. My right wing was torn from the airplane, and I had to eject. I landed in a small hamlet in the middle of a workday. Surrounding me, almost immediately, were scores of Vietnamese-soldiers, peasants,and women with hatchets.

For the next six and one-half years I lived in five different prisoner of war camps in North Vietnam. I was luckier than some. I had to endure only 15 months solo compared to as much as four years for others. My lowest point during those years was 10 September 1966. After a 12-hour torture session in which I resisted my captors’ attempts to force a statement condemning my country, I lost the use of both arms for the next four months.

Take a few moments and bid farewell to an American hero in the comments at USNI.

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Posted in Wall of Honor

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President Obama Signs Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act

Posted on May 5, 2010 by Claire| 1 Comment

This was first posted at Christian Military Wives by my dear friend Patti Katter who is a wife of a wounded warrior.  I am no fan of Obama, but I am proud that he did sign this and what it means to our wounded warriors and their families.

From the Wounded Warrior Project:

Washington, D.C. (May 5, 2010) – Wounded Warrior Project applauds President Obama for signing into law a measure that, for the first time, will ensure that families of veterans severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan receive comprehensive, coordinated financial and other support that will enable them to provide these warriors with needed home-care.  Enactment of the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 has been the highest legislative priority for the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), which worked with Congress for more than a year to win its passage.

“Today brings hope for the families around the country who have dedicated their lives to caring for their wounded warriors at home and keeping them out of nursing homes,” said Wounded Warrior Project Executive Director Steven Nardizzi. “We’ll now shift our focus to ensuring that the Department of Veterans Affairs faithfully and quickly implements this law.”

Passage of caregiver-assistance legislation came in response to recognition of the physical, emotional, psychological and financial toll that care-giving takes on the families of our country’s most gravely wounded warriors.

Family members make great personal sacrifices to provide daily care to their loved ones, often giving up careers and putting their own lives on hold to be long-term, full-time caregivers. Approximately 2,000 of these wounded veterans have injuries so severe that they require help with everyday needs such as bathing, toileting and eating, or require constant watchful protection.

Under the new law, the Department of Veterans Affairs is responsible for providing family caregivers of the most severely injured veterans with help in meeting some of their own basic needs – including training and technical support, respite care, counseling, health coverage, and modest financial support.  The caregiver-assistance provisions of the new law become effective in nine months, giving the Department of Veterans Affairs time to work with stakeholders to develop an implementation plan.

“While we celebrate today, this is not the end of the road. The real celebration begins only when these families get the assistance they deserve,” said Nardizzi. “This is Day 1 and every day that passes without implementation is another day these families will suffer. The clock is ticking.”

Wounded Warrior Project is grateful to Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and Senator Richard Burr (R-North Carolina) for their strong stewardship of this legislation throughout the process.

The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act was supported by a broad coalition of veterans and military service organizations and Wounded Warrior Project was proud to work with groups like The American Legion, Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), National Military Families Association (NMFA), Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) on bringing awareness to the need for passage.

About Wounded Warrior Project

The mission of the Wounded Warrior Project is to honor and empower wounded warriors.  Its purpose is to raise awareness and to enlist the public’s aid for the needs of severely injured service members, to help severely injured men and women aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs. WWP is a national, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Jacksonville, FL. To get involved and learn more, visit www.woundedwarriorproject.org.

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Posted in Spouse and Family

2010 Milbloggie Winner- US Navy

Posted on May 5, 2010 by Troy| Leave a comment

2010 Milbloggie Winner- US Navy from You Served Radio & Blog on Vimeo.

The very popular and influential US Navy Milblog, US Naval Institute (http://blog.usni.org/) which is a blog written on by several authors was the 2010 Milbloggie Winner for the US Navy. Several of those authors were present at the Conference and they were able to all come to the podium to accept.

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Posted in Milblog Conference, Video

Dump The Beret!

Posted on May 5, 2010 by CJ| 29 Comments

The cover story to this week’s Army Times says it all: “Dump the Beret”!! I couldn’t agree more. I’ve hated this infernal wool contraption since it was invented.

When I first joined the Army, I was assigned to the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (OPFOR) at the National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, CA. I spent six years wearing the black beret and was so excited when, in 2001, I would be going to another unit where I could wear the patrol cap. Then, General Shinseki, Army Chief of Staff at the time, had the biggest brain fart in military history and decided the entire Army should look as good as the 11th ACR (or Rangers, if you want to pretend they also wore it) and mandated that on the Army’s birthday in 2001 we would ceremoniously switch to hot, black wool from the more comfortable (and utilitarian) patrol cap! Why? “The black beret will be symbolic of our commitment to transform this magnificent Army into a new force – a strategically responsive force for the 21st century.” No, really, that’s a quote from General Shinseki!

Everyone hated the idea. Sure, you had the required leadership “praise” and “support” for the beret, but that is what we’re supposed to do. We were told that the Army will learn to accept it and all the bellyaching will go away. Well, here we are ten years later and Soldiers STILL hate it from the lowest ranks to the highest. Troops come up with all sorts of excuses to wear the patrol cap and bend the rules. EVERY SINGLE DAY I find myself correcting someone about wearing the patrol cap in a Garrison environment. The only good thing about the beret is that since its inception, Soldiers actually LOOK FORWARD to going to the motor pool because they can wear their patrol cap there. Then they try to extend the boundaries of the motor to wear it longer. “Sergeant, I’m just walking to my car from the motor pool.” Never mind that they parked 20 miles away so they could walk longer in it!

The Army should be embarrassed that we’ve carried on this charade as long as we have. Hell, we’ve gone through two other uniform changes since the beret was introduced and not ONE change to our embarrassingly ridiculous headgear. The patrol cap provided a standard of wear. Look at this photo:

All the Soldiers are uniform in their wear and appearance of the patrol cap. There’s a single way to wear the thing and it doesn’t involve shaving or forming and doesn’t change shape depending on the wind into the Swedish Chef hat!!

Now, look at this photo:

I don’t know if you can tell or not, but as an NCO, I sure can. Everyone is wearing the damn beret differently! It’s an eyesore in formations. It doesn’t mean they’re wearing it wrong, it’s just that they come made so different – even with the same manufacturer – that you never know what you’re getting.

When I first got to Fort Hood, I needed a new beret (because I accidentally packed all mine!). I now have five berets in my car because they were all crap in some way. One looks like a woobie blanket for my head, keeping my ears nice and tucked in case of a freak Texas snow storm. One doesn’t even fold past the leather liner of the rim. One simply won’t form and looks like something the balloon boy floated away in. I ended up paying a LOT of money for a pre-shaped, pre-shaved beret from one of those Korean seamstresses scattered all over military towns.

I can’t find a Soldier who likes the beret that actually has a real job in the Army! I’m not talking about someone that never sees beyond his desktop pen organizer and paper clip magnet box, I mean anyone that actually has to wear the damn thing more than 20 minutes a day. It doesn’t keep the sun out of your eyes. It doesn’t keep your head warm. It’s hot in the summers and causes heads to break out. I’m convinced its responsible for impotence in men and lack of estrogen in women. The one thing it DOES do good is take away the attention from those awful Army BCGs.

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Posted in Life in the Military

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2010 Milbloggie Winner-Foreign Military Blogger and Spouse

Posted on May 5, 2010 by Troy| 3 Comments


2010 Milbloggie Winner-Foreign Military Blogger and Spouse from You Served Radio & Blog on Vimeo.

This clip combines two of the 2010 Milbloggie Winners. The winner for Foreign Military Blogger, DoubleTapper (http://doubletapper.blogspot.com/) and the Spouse Blogger, A Little Pink in a World of Camo (http://alittlepinkinaworldofcamo.blogspot.com/). If you haven’t heard of A little Pink, then I suggest you check it out and be ready to be moved by one strong woman. Mrs. Greyhawk accepted the milbloggie on behalf of Ms. Porto.


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Posted in Milblog Conference, Spouse and Family, Video