Obviously, Mohammed Jawad, an Afghan detainee charged with attempted murder at Guantanamo, doesn’t have any kids. The poor guy is complaining that Soldiers at GITMO won’t let him sleep. I say, “you’ll sleep when you’re dead.”

“Day and night, they were shifting me from one room to another,” Jawad said.

Here ya go, Jawad. Play me a sad, sad song:

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Well tomorrow is a very important day in our country, but if course because Hallmark doesn’t make a big stink about it and because the patriotism that used to be alive in this country continues to dwindle, it isn’t recognized like it should be. It is actually a very important day for two reasons. One is that it is Flag Day, and the other is because it is the birthday of the US Army. Two important events on one day, and you barely see mention of it.

No doubt it is important to me and my family as it is to millions of others across the country, but just not everyone. The importance to my family was demonstrated this morning as I attended a Flag Day ceremony at my youngest (6 year old) son’s school. This is the elementary school that my 15 year old also attended and where my wife helps out tutoring, supervises recess, etc. So this morning my youngest son, Hunter, was adamant that he has to wear his ACU camouflage pants and shirt. He knew I was attending in uniform today so he wanted to be in “uniform”.

After I put him on the bus, I came inside to get dressed on don the ACUs for this morning event. When we walked into the school I was glad to see another Dad there in uniform. He is in the Navy Reserves and also came in uniform at the request of the school. The ceremony was very nice and a lot longer with more content then I remember in the past when my 15 year old went to school there. At one point in the middle of the ceremony the principal called anyone forward that is in uniform or is a vet. So I and the other dad went up the front and were recognized, which was good for the kids I guess. I know Hunter loved it as I had to say who my child was and he loved being pointed out like that. As I was talking, I looked over at him and he was ear to ear with a smile. After I walked back to where I was standing, Christine leaned over to another parent and said “if he knew they were going to call him up like that, he would not have worn a uniform”. Oh my wife knows me way too well.

As the ceremony was drawing to a close the principal was saying some last words when I noticed from the corner of my eye that Hunter was up and talking to his teacher. I then saw them walking up to the center where the principal was standing. Christine was filming and did not see them yet, so when I saw that Hunter was carrying a picture of his brother Jon, who is currently deployed to Afghanistan too I knew it was about to be a tissue alert moment. I asked Christine to hand me the camera as I would film, and I think she was thankful for me to do it so she could watch what was left of the ceremony. I don’t think she had seen Hunter yet since she was watching through the viewfinder of the camera with its limited scope of view. As I took the camera from her, she saw Hunter with the picture and so did every other parent and teacher in the gym. The tears started flowing at this moment and many teachers and parents came up afterwards to give Christine and hug and shake my hand.

Since my 15 year old son, Jordan went to 1-5th grades here we know many of the teachers personally and they know about our family history. Jon never went to school here but many of them know him or of him. As Hunter and his teacher approached the principal, she looked puzzled and leaned over to listen to what Hunter’s teacher had to say. The principal then announced that we had one more special person to recognize. With Hunter standing up in front dressed in all ACU camouflage, one of the teachers held of Jon’s photo as high as she could and showed Jon’s picture to the entire gym full of people. The principal then said something to the effect of “well you all just met Hunter’s dad who is in the Army, but Hunter wanted you to also know about his brother who is also in the Army and currently in Afghanistan.” The entire gymnasium of kids, parents, teachers and administrators erupted in applause for Hunter’s brother Jon in Afghanistan. It was a special moment for a little boy who has put up with so much missing out of his life over the last 2+ years with his Dad deployed and now his big brother.

As his Dad it also made me proud to see my six year old son with so much pride and patriotism not only for his Dad and brother, but also for his country. He knows all about the flag, draws flags all the time and always gives them the utmost respect. So regardless of how anyone else in the country feels I know in my household Flag Day will always be remembered and recognized as will the birthday of the US Army.

It’s about time. I’ve written about the need for a USO on my military blog. I’ve also contacted my Congressional and military leaders as well as sent letter to the USO itself. And now, it’s finally a reality:

Dear Friend of the USO:

The USO has opened its first center in Iraq, right in the heart of the combat zone at our big air base near Balad.

General David Petraeus, the Commanding General of Multi-National Forces in Iraq, stood shoulder to shoulder with Ned Powell, the USO’s president and CEO, to open this new center, which will serve our troops right where they need our services the most.

While cutting the ribbon to open the door to the USO’s newest center, General Petraeus remarked, “The troopers at Balad Air Base and LSA Anaconda will flock to this facility to feel a little touch of home and to be in touch with home… USO Balad will enable our troopers to stay connected with those they love at home.” (For more coverage of the Center’s opening ceremonies, click here.)

The new center is located just north of Baghdad, in an area that our soldiers have dubbed “Mortaritaville” because of its history of frequent mortar and rocket attacks. The 2,300 square-foot facility offers our men and women in uniform a comfortable lounge where they can forget about the war for a few precious moments and enjoy entertainment from home, such as video games, DVDs, movies and more.

There’s also a Cyber Café with free Internet and email access, plus telephone service with prepaid phone cards, so our troops can call home for free to hear the delightful sound of their child’s voice or to have a comforting chat with a friend or loved one. There is also a library where they can lose themselves in a book, and supporting it all—a kitchen stocked with goodies… because everyone wants a snack with a movie.

USO Balad is also one of the centers participating in the United Through Reading® Military Program, which helps military families stay connected. (For more information on United Through Reading, click here.)

The USO’s new Balad center was made possible, in large part, by thousands of donations from individual Americans who want to show their support for our troops. And as May is Military Appreciation Month, it’s also a good time to make a tax-deductible contribution to help us supply this new center, plus our 130 other centers around the world. In fact, many donors to the USO celebrate Memorial Day with a gift “in honor of” or “in memory of” a relative or friend who is serving, or has served, our country. It’s a great way to say “Thanks.”

The men and women of our armed forces risk their lives – every day – for us. Please help the USO fulfill our mission to support these magnificent Americans by making a donation of whatever you can afford today.

As Americans, we count on them. They count on us. I hope we can count on you.

Thanks to Anthony, who has also worked tirelessly on this issue for bringing the news to my attention.

It’s about time I set the record straight - again - about this whole “stop-loss” business since the media, Hollywood, and anti-war advocates like to use it at every opportunity. Many call the stop loss program a “backdoor draft” when that simply isn’t true. Now, Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey has introduced legislation that would pay Soldiers affected by stop loss $1,500 per month beyond their ETS date. This is WRONG!! So, get comfortable, sit back, relax, and prepare to be educated.
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Check the news lately and you will see it. Afghanistan is a war zone in case anyone did not realize it. The man himself, The Chairman of the JCS whom I met with back in December is asking and looking for more embedded trainers to be with the Afghan Army and Police. You can read the story at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2004468688_apusafghanistan.html. In addition to that, there are now daily reports of all types of actions going on. From my experience only 1 in 75 TICs (aka firefights) between Coalition Forces and the enemy is reported in the news. If you head over to http://www.afghanistansun.com you will see the a better scope of all that is happening in country right now.

One of the latest stories to come out is this one, http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/211642,us-airstrikes-kill-33-civilians-says-afghan-lawmaker–summary.html which talks about a US airstrike that killed 33 people. Of course the media is pushing the Taliban propoganda and saying it is all civilian. Let me reassure you that every control measure is taken to positively ID any enemy before calling in something as destructive as an airstrike. In fact, it would get most Americans pissed off to know what we have to go through in order to call in an airstrike (something just short of a congressional act and permission from God himself). What caught my attention about this airstrike is that it is in Mata Khan District which is a place that I was in a lot. The boundary of Mata Khan is only a few miles from the FOB I stayed in and was a place I conducted many, many missions of my tour.

Many at higher levels considered this a “safe” place because they never got shot at there, and took safety in stride when sending soldiers into this area. See, even military members in country don’t even know there is a war going on half the time….and they are stationed there.

I came across this video over at Blackfive.net. It is described as the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Afghanistan performing a medevac mission of 3 “heroes” at night in the mountains. I encourage you to head over to http://www.blackfive.net/main/2008/05/memorial-day–1.html and check out the video and text that goes along with the video. Blackfive does a good job and explaining the risks and factors that go into a mission like this. I could do a cut and paste, but I don’t want to steal from a fellow milblogger without giving them the credit.

So take 4 minutes out of your day and watch the very powerful video below, showing selfless service and bravery my pilots and medics to extract and save some war-fighters.

5. We don’t serve lobster tails and caviar at military dining facilities.
4. The Army beret reminds her too much of Monica Lewinsky.
3. She’s been offered the coveted position of being the first female Secretary of Defense (God help us!).
2. It would take longer than eight years to remodel the Pentagon.
1. Pant suits don’t come in digital camouflage.

For the final five reasons Hillary Clinton won’t be Commander In Chief, visit A Soldier’s Perspective.

I’m used to being asked for my military ID. I need to get on post, shop at the PX, and pick up my meds at the hospital. I also have to use my ID card to access my computer at work (we’re a 21st century military!!)

Today is Anissa’s 12th birthday. That means a lot in our church. For the first time, she will be in the Young Women’s program instead of the Primary children’s program. She can start babysitting younger kids (though I don’t think she’s quite ready for that responsibility). 12 is about the next best thing to Sweet 16 I think, though I may just be a man and wrong about that.

For Anissa’s birthday cake, she wanted a Cold Stone Creamery cake. For dinner, I took her to one of our favorite restaurants, Red Robin, and then we went to CSC for the cake. I was still in my uniform since Emily picked me up from work and we went straight to the restaurant to beat the crowds.

I’m not shy about asking for a military discount. If a business is willing to give one, I’m willing to take. Every dollar saved can go towards something more important - like more CDs!! So, I asked the guy if they had a military discount, knowing full well they do since we go there about once or twice a month. He was a new employee so he had to ask and went into the back of the store. I quickly shoved my hands into the Peanut Butter Ice Cream tub and plowed into my face while he wasn’t looking…just kidding. Anyway, he comes back and says that they have a 10% military discount.

“Can I see your military ID?” he asked me. I simply stared blankly at him for about five seconds in my nicely pressed camouflage uniform and clean shaven face. Through the corner of my eye, I saw Emily suddenly look up and turn to me with that “did he just ask for your ID?” look in her eyes.

I got a good laugh out of that as he realized what he had just said and then applied my discount. I asked him if he was sure he didn’t want to see my ID. After all, I could have stolen this uniform, gotten a military style haircut, and just be pretending to be this worn out and tired!

I wrote a little about my experiences flying TO DC earlier. It was a very frustrating experience. However, on the way back, things weren’t so bad.
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This last memorial day I took part in a Memorial Day parade and memorial ceremony in a little town called Millbrook, NY. I along with Stefan Ralph (who is another contributor to The Sandbox book), both were invited here by the VFW and the owner of Merritt’s Bookstore to participate in the parade and conduct a book-signing of The Sandbox. Millbrook is small town that embodies everything I think Norman Rockwell would think of when he was painting. The main street is shrouded in huge trees on both sides that provide a ceiling for the street. Small shops and businesses flank both sides of the street. At the end of the street is a huge park built on soft, rolling hills that has several memorials in it for the Veteran’s of this country. The park, called Tribute Garden is the centerpiece of the town as well it should be. It is truly something to be proud of. It was built after WWI as a tribute to all that fell in that war and the monument to WWI veterans is the centerpiece of the park.

The parade was nice as Stefan and I walked in the lead with the local VFW members. At the end of the parade, we marched up into the park where an entire high school band was seated. There the band played the National Anthem, God Bless America and other songs. They had a local High School student sing the National Anthem and the Valedictorian read the poem “In Flanders Field”. The local NY Assemblymen spoke who was an amazingly young looking guy. Of course I found out why when they read his bio and it was explained that he was elected to his first office at the age of 18 and at the age of 19 became the youngest mayor ever. He was a sharp guy who gave a very good speech about what this Memorial Day meant to him and all in this country. I wish I had some time to talk to him one on one as he was very impressive. The VFW also did a 3 gun salute while Taps was played by a trumpet player from the High School band. It was all of these things that made the ceremony so pleasant and made me glad that we did the six hour drive across the state to take part in this.

As I stood there during all of the ceremony at the park, looking out at hundreds of perfect strangers, but patriotic Americans I just kind of imagined how many ceremonies were happening like this all over the country at about the same time. There were probably more happening than I could even imagine or guess. For those few moments I felt like I was in the heart of America. To me, this is what America is all about and even more importantly this is what Memorial Day is all about. Hundreds of people took time out of their day, got the kids ready, brought them to the main street and then walked them up to the park to stand in reverence as they watched a ceremony in remembrance. Some probably had family present or past that were in the military, some probably didn’t know anyone in the military. However they all came out, and they didn’t come for a raffle, or rides, or fireworks. They came to watch some old vets, some new vets, and their political leaders pay tribute to all the great Americans who gave up their life in defense and honor of this country. I was glad to see so many people be willing to give up their time, their busy schedules, etc. to honor those that gave up so much more.

After the ceremony was over, Stefan and I walked down the bookstore and conducted the book-signing. There was not a huge turnout, but the people we met were really nice and truly appreciative of us being there. We spent a lot of time talking to them, answering questions and of course signing books. David then introduced both Stefan and I. We said a few words about blogging or about our deployment and then we both read a story from the book. Since Owen (Roy Batty) could not make it, David read one of his entries and then David asked me to read one of Ben’s as Ben also had to cancel at the last minute. Since Ben and I were on the same team together I was honored to read one of my favorite stories of his called Decency and Honor.

It was a long weekend, but something I was glad I did and worth every minute of it. I was able to see many old friends and meet many new ones. My wife and I both agreed that we could easily move to the Millbrook/Amenia area and really enjoy it. It is too bad there is not a nice sized airport close by, as that would be all that I need in order to do my work. The trip was outside of our norm, but that is ok because sometimes that is what you just need to do…get outside of the norm.