Past You Served Radio guest and true Soldiers’ Soldier, GEN Peter Chiarelli retired today. As is said in this video clip he did do more than another other leader to help our soldiers, combat soldier suicides and help remove the stigma of PTS and PTSD from our ranks.

I don’t know who will be stepping in to fill his shoes but I hope they can live up to the task and the high bar GEN Chiarelli has set by his service. I have no doubt that he will continue to serve our country in other way and am excited to see where he will end up. He has done more than his fair share, but he will be missed in the ranks.

This is a great program that I never even thought about or considered as a need. I wonder how wide-spread this is or if it is just based on the time volunteered at each hospital.

It was this day 70 years ago when war was first brought to our shores. Unfortunately it would not be the last time it would happen. It happened in 1993 at the World Trade Center and again in 2001.

Map of Pearl Harbor with my son pointing to USS Arizona

For many young people I am afraid that the significance of Pearl Harbor has been lost on them. Besides seeing a movie about it or just hearing about it, I don’t think the up and coming generations of today realize what a significant day this really is. It was 9/11 times 1000 in my opinion. It was not a rogue bunch of idealogical terrorists, but rather a nation-state that deliberately planned and executed an attack against us unprovoked. Our might pacific fleet sat almost defenseless as the Japanese unleashed wave after wave of attack against them and the civilians of Hawaii.

The spot where the USS Arizona was moored up to

It was as noted, “a day that will live in infamy”. I really hope that holds true and does not become a day forgotten and ignored. May God Bless all of those that endured that attack and their families who have and probably still suffer today.

The oil still coming up from the USS Arizona. Also known as the tears of the Arizona

The wall of names of those lost which is inside the memorial

I remember back when military Contractors were revered and respected. Back when they would step up and go into the worst places on this planet, risking their lives so young American warfighters wouldn’t have to.

Yes they got paid more than Soldiers or Marines, but they also did not usually have as much protection, supporting forces or even as powerful weapons as the warfighter. Yet they were right there, on the left and right. Contractors also performed then and still do today many jobs that soldiers can be freed up from in order to perform their jobs and focus on the functions they came in the service to perform.

Contractors were and still are more of subject matter experts in their area of work. Many that I know are also veterans themselves, even though I know there are many that aren’t. However for those that are, they bring with them a wealth of experience and knowledge that they can bestow on young and eager warriors.

So I am trying to figure out when did being a “contractor” become a bad thing? When did calling someone “one of those contractors” become the same as calling them a four-letter word? Was it when Blackwater had four of its employees (all were vets I believe) tortured and hung from a bridge in Fallujah? Or was it when some other Blackwater contractors were accused of killing 17 “innocent” Iraqis in Baghdad (by the way, they were all cleared of those charges).

Maybe it was when they were deployed to Afghanistan to help mentor and train Afghan Police because they German military failed miserably at that task after agreeing to do it in 2001.

I have seen contractors around the Army for years, and well before the attacks on 9/11. They perform vital and necessary functions, which are needed by our military in order to perform their missions. Just like Department of the Army (DA) civilians do. I once heard in the ‘90s that it took twelve soldiers from all the non-Infantry jobs in the Army combined to support one Infantryman. I have no idea how many DA Civilians and Contractors it takes in addition but I would imagine it would be close to another twelve.

Bottom line is it seems to me that as of late, Contractors are blamed for many of the military’s woes (from budgets to fatal accidents). JFCOM was just disbanded because it was noted that Contractors out-numbered government personnel (military and DA civilian both) like 3-1. I have seen other reports of government agencies trying to cut back or rid themselves of contractors like we are a cancer or something.

I spent 22 years serving this country in the Army and am now serving her as a military Contractor. I am proud of all my service and I hope other Contractors feel the same way. I am not saying there are not bad people out there that give contractors a bad name, there are. Just like there are bad DA civilians and military members in uniform.

As the saying goes, “don’t hate the player, hate the game”. Government Contractors did not develop the need and positions themselves, the government determined the need and came to the civilian industry to help fill the gap. Contractors are serving this country we all love. They do it without all the job security and plentiful benefits that DA civilians and the Military enjoys. They also are more commonly called to perform their jobs in hazardous locations much more often then DA Civilians are.

Our good friend Gina Elise has teamed up he organization, www.pinupsforvets.com with www.warriorgateway.org to raise a lot of money for our returning and wounded veterans.

Last year Gina was given a brand-new 2011 VW Beetle by Oprah Winfrey and rather than keep it and use it herself, she is auctioning it off to raise money for our troops. She has the car listed on ebay where you can see many pictures of it, read all the specs about the car and even make a bid on it. You can check it out at http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=ViewItem&_rdc=1&item=170712491084#ht_793wt_1167

Also be sure and watch the video below where Gina explains what she is doing and why she is doing it. We here at You Served are very proud to call Gina a dear friend.

Congress may be in the doghouse with the American public, but a new poll suggests the military, gets high marks for keeping the nation safe and secure.  The public’s contempt for Congress exceeds that of other American institutions, including banks, major corporations and the media.  The military earned the most respect in the survey, with 54 percent of responses saying they are deeply confident in the institution.  To read more about the public trust in our military, please go to: http://news.yahoo.com/poll-americans-trust-military-not-congress-165344167.html

This week’s show on You Served Radio is another one you don’t want to miss. Hey I serious here, tell your friends, family, co workers, everyone. You are missing out if you don’t listen to this show. First up we have Special Forces Major Rusty Bradley who a Special Forces ODA Team Commander in the Kandahar area in 2006 amongst many other years. Rusty wrote a book about this one particular tour titled the Lions of Kandahar that I am currently reading and I can tell you it is a must-read if you want to even have an idea about what our operators do on the battlefield in the Global War on Terror.

In the second hour we have a Mr. Vic Freudenberger. Vic joined the Marines 73 years ago this month in 1938. Vic was with the detachment of marines sent to Montevidewo Uruguay when the German Battleship Graf Spee had been damaged and chased into Montevideo Harbor. The president of Uruguay feared the German crew, almost a thousand men now ashore in Montevideo, would try to stage a coup. Since Uruguay was pro German President Roosevelt sent Marines to prevent it aboard the Cruiser Witchita.

While in the Marines, Vic found out  they began experimenting with Paratroopers because of the success the Germans were having pre-war and then in 1940 when they took the low countries and used paratroopers to storm the impregnable fortress of Eben Emul. Being a paratrooper was considered very elite then and paid an extra 50 per month hazard duty pay.

Vic was then in the attached along with the other paratroopers to the 1st Marine Division and were sent to the Solomons an enemy airfield on Guadalcanal. This airfield was a threat to the sea lanes to Australia much the way U boats were threatening the US lifeline to England in the North Atlantic.

Gavutu was a seaplane base for the Japanese. It was a tiny island across Sea Lark Channel from Guadalcanal. 397 Marine paratroopers of which Vic was part of landed on Guvutu with fighter and fighter bomber support from the Enterprise along with one cruiser and two destroyers. When the fight was over, 31 Marines were KIA. 55 were WIA for a total of 86 men lost. Vic was one of the casualties.

Not just a veteran of WWII, Vic was also a veteran of the Korean War. He was an XO of a company that took part in the Inchon landing and was involved in the battle at the Chosin Reservoir.

So as you can see this is not a show you want to miss. We have battle-hardened warriors from WWII to Afghanistan. Come join us Tuesday night at 8PM EDT at www.youservedradio.com

With all the embarrassment of the screw-ups at Arlington National Cemetery it is amazing to think that some technology company has achieved in a few months what our Federal Government couldn’t even do right over many, many years.

Arlington-based information technology service provider Segue Technologies Inc. has developed a free smartphone app that helps locate grave sites at the Arlington National Cemetery. The app, available free-of-charge for both iPhone and Android phones, lets the user identify the location of a specific grave using first, last and/or middle name as well as dates of birth or death. A map is provided  in addition to the grave’s location .To find the app for the iPhone, please go to: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/arlington-national-cemetery/id455238628?ls=1&mt=8.

This final clip in the Remembering 9/11 series that has run here on the You Served Blog is from National Geographic TV. This is from the interview they aired recently of President Bush. This particular clip is of the former President talking about that morning and what he thought and felt as he was told about the first plane hitting the World Trade Center and then the second one.

This video clip is of Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld holding his first press briefing in the Pentagon on the day of the attacks. In fact this briefing happened just hours after the SecDef was outside helping evacuate wounded from the Pentagon.

As a reminder, we will have Mr. Rumsfeld on You Served Radio this week on Tuesday, 9/13 at 8PM EDT as our first guest of the evening. Be sure to tune and not to miss it.