" You know you’re at the front when your being shot at

by small arms and RPG's and there are NO BUNKERS

to seek shelter in!

You know you’re at the front when you encounter

a superior enemy force and THEY have BUNKERS

and you forgot to bring yours! "

In The Company of Brothers.

       'I'll tell you what war is all about; you've got to kill people, and when you've killed enough they stop fighting.'

Everyone should find quiet time to read this. As far as We are concerned, it is exactly the direction we should go and the consequences of not doing so are well thought out.

John R. ( Jack ) Farrington, Major General, USAF (Retired)

This is one of the most profound articles that we have ever read about this Presidency, this era, and this so-called war. No matter your politics, you owe it to yourself to read this. Another assessment of where the US stands in relation to the Middle East problems, this one is from the guy who had his finger on the  nuclear trigger for three years as head of our defense and response complex buried under Cheyenne Mountain at Colorado Springs.

 He was the only person who could initiate a nuclear attack after advising the sitting president of a missile launch by our enemies and our need to respond. No political or civilian type in the US had more knowledge about day to day military actions around the world.

Middle East Imperative:

I wrote recently about the war in Iraq and the larger war against radical Islam, eliciting a number of responses. Let me try and put this conflict in proper perspective.

               Understand; the current battle we are engaged in is much bigger than just Iraq. What happens in the next year will affect this country and how our kids and grand kids live throughout their lifetime, and beyond. Radical Islam has been attacking the West since the seventh century. They have been defeated in the past and decimated to the point oftaking hundreds of years to recover. But they can never be totally defeated. Their birth rates are so far beyond civilized world rates, that in time they recover and attempt to dominate again. There are eight terror-sponsoring countries that make up the   grand threat to the West. Two, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan just need firm pressure from the West to make major reforms. They need to decide who they are really going to support and commit to that support.

              That answer is simple. They both will support who they think will hang in there until the end, and win. We are not sending very good signals in that direction right now, thanks to the Democrats. The other six, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, North Korea and Libya will require regime change or a major policy shift.

Now, let's look more closely.

                Afghanistan and Iraq have both had regime changes, but are being fueled by outsiders from Syria and Iran We have scared Gaddafi's pants off,   and he has given up his quest for nuclear weapons, so I don't think Libya is now a threat. North Korea (the non-Islamic threat) can be handled diplomatically by buying them off. They are starving. That leaves Syria and Iran. Syria is like a frightened puppy. Without the support    of Iran they will join the stronger side. So where does that leave us? Sooner, or later, we are going to be forced to confront Iran, and it better be before they gain nuclear capability.

              In 1989 I served as a Command Director inside the Cheyenne Mountain complex located in Colorado Springs, Colorado for almost three years. My job there was to observe (through classified means) every missile shot anywhere in the world and assess if it was a threat to the US or Canada. If any shot was threatening to either nation I had only minutes to advise the President, as he had only minutes to respond.

              I watched Iran and Iraq shoot missiles at each other every day, and all day long, for months. They killed hundreds of thousands of their people. Know why? They were fighting for control of the Middle East and that enormous oil supply. At that time, they were preoccupied with their internal problems and could care less about toppling the west. Oil price were fairly stable and we could not see an immediate threat.

           Well, the worst part of what we have done as a nation in Iraq is to do away with the military capability of one of those nations. Now, Iran has a clear field to dominate the Middle East, since Iraq is no longer a threat to them. They have turned their attention to the only other threat to their dominance, they are convinced they will win, because the US is so divided, and the Democrats (who now control Congress and may control the Presidency in 2008) have openly said we are pulling out. Do you have any idea what will happen if the entire Middle East   turns their support to Iran, which they will obviously do if we pull out? It is not the price of oil we will have to worry about. Oil WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE to this country at any price. I personally would vote for any presidential candidate who did what JFK did with the space program---declare a goal to bring this country to total energy independence in a decade.

             Yes, it is about oil. The economy in this country will totally die if that Middle East supply is cut off right now. It will not be a recession. It will be a depression that will make 1929 look like the 'good-old-days'. The bottom line here is simple. If Iran is forced to fall in line, the fighting in Iraq will end over night, and the nightmare will be over. One way or another, Iran must be forced to join modern times and the global community. It may mean a real war---if so, now is the time, before we face a nuclear Iran with the capacity to destroy Israel and begin a new ice age.

        I urge you to read the book 'END GAME' by two of our best Middle East experts, true American patriots and retired military generals, Paul Vallely and Tom McInerney . They are our finest, and totally honest in their assessment of why victory in the Middle East is so important, and how it can be won. Proceeds for the book go directly to memorial fund for our fallen soldiers who served the country during the war on terror. You can find that book by going to the Internet through Stand-up America at
http://www.standupamericaradio.com/?page_id=481
($16.95)
                         On the other hand, we have several very angry retired generals today, who evidently have not achieved their lofty goals, and insist on ranting and raving about the war. They are wrong, and doing the country great harm by giving a certain political party reason to use them as experts to back their anti-war claims.

   You may be one of those who believe nothing could ever be terrible enough to support our going to war. If that is the case I should stop here, as that level of thinking approaches mental disability in this day and age. It is right up there with alien abductions and high altitude seeding through government aircraft contrails. I helped produced those contrails for almost 30 years, and I can assure you we were not seeding the atmosphere. The human race is a war-like population, and if a country is not willing to protect itself, it deserves the consequences. 'Enough - said!'
Now, my last comments will get to the nerve. They will be on politics.

      I am not a Republican. And, George Bush has made enough mistakes as President to insure my feelings about that for the rest of my  life. However, the Democratic Party has moved so far left, they have made me support those farther to the right. I am a conservative who totally supports the Constitution of this country. The only difference between the United States and the South American, third world, dictator infested and ever-changing South American governments, is our US Constitution. This Republic (note I did not say Democracy) is the longest standing the world has ever known, but it is vulnerable. It would take so little to change it through economic upheaval. There was a time when politicians could disagree, but still work together. We are past that time, and that is the initial step toward the downfall of our form of government. I think that many view Bush-hating as payback time. The Republicans hated the Clinton's and now the Democrats hate Bush. So, both parties are putting their hate toward willingness to do anything for political dominance to include lying and always taking the opposite stand just for the sake of being opposed.

JUST HOW GOOD IS THAT FOR OUR COUNTRY?

                In my lifetime, after serving in uniform for President's Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush I have a pretty good feel for which party supported our military, and what    military life was like under each of their terms. And, let me assure you that times were best under the Republicans. Service under Jimmy Carter was devastating for all branches of the military. And, Ronald Regan was truly a salvation.

      You can choose to listen to enriched newscasters, and foolish people like John Murtha (he is no war hero), Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, Michael Moore, Jane Fonda, Harry Reid, Russ Feingold, Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy, and on-and-on to include the true fools in Hollywood if you like… You do, your conclusions will be totally wrong. The reason that I write, appear on radio talk shows, and do   everything I can to denounce those people is simple.

THEY ARE PUTTING THEIR THIRST FOR POLITICAL POWER AND QUEST FOR VICTORY IN 2008 ABOVE WHAT IS BEST FOR THIS COUNTRY.

        I cannot abide that. Pelosi clearly defied the Logan Act by going to Syria, which  should have led to imprisonment of three years and a heavy fine. Jane Fonda did more to prolong the Vietnam War longer than any other human being (as acknowledged by Ho Chi Minh in his writing before he died). She truly should have been indicted for treason, along with her   radical husband, Tom Hayden, and forced to pay the consequences.

    This country has started to soften by not enforcing its laws, which is another indication of a Republic about to fall. All Democrats, along with the Hollywood elite, are sending us headlong into a total defeat in the Middle East, which will finally give Iran total dominance in the region. A lack of oil in the near future will be the final straw that dooms this Republic. However, if we refuse to let this happen and really get serious about an energy self-sufficiency program, this can be avoided. I am afraid, however, that we are going in the opposite direction. If we elect Hillary Clinton and a Democrat controlled congress, and they carry through with allowing Iran to take control of the Middle East, continue to refuse development of nuclear energy, refuse to allow drilling for new oil, and continue to do nothing but oppose everything Bush, it will be over in terms of what we view as the good life in the USA.

               Now, do I think that all who do not support the war are un-American..?...of course not. They just do not understand the importance of total victory in that region.

              Another failure of George Bush is his inability to explain to the American people why we are there, and why we MUST win. By the way, it is not a war. The war was won four years ago. It is martial law that is under attack by Iranian and Syrian outside influences, and there is a difference.

            So, what do I believe? What is the bottom line? I will simply say that the Democratic Party has fielded the foulest, power hungry, anti-country, self absorbed group of individuals that I have observed in my lifetime. Our educational system is partially to blame for allowing the mass of America to be taken in by this group. George Bush has done the best he can with the disabilities that he possesses. A President must communicate with the people. And, I would tell you that Desert Storm spoiled the people. Bush Senior's 100-hour war convinced the people that technology has progressed to the point that wars could be fought with no casualties and won in very short periods of time.
        I remember feeling at the time, that this was a tragedy for the US military. To win wars, you must put boots on the ground. When you put boots on the ground, soldiers are going to die. A President must make the war decision wisely, and insure that the cause is right before using his last political option.

HOWEVER, CONTROLLING IRAN AND DEMOCRATIZING THE MIDDLE EAST IS THE ONLY CHOICE IF WE ARE HELL-BENT ON DEPENDING ON THEM FOR OUR FUTURE   ENERGY NEEDS.

Jimmy L. Cash, Brig. Gen., USAF, Ret.
Lakeside, Montana 59922

 DRտլGrafiX

The Wall

I walked along that long black wall, with names as far as I could see.
Friends I knew in childhood now etched in memories.
I've touched their names so many times, remembered them with love.
I walk along, the rain pours down, tears from heaven above.

I watch a Vet, deep in thought, pain across his face.
He walks a mother to the wall; he's taken his friend's place.
She reaches out to touch a name, the one that was her son.
They pause together in the rain, their memories a bond.

The men who fought, the men who died, their names for all to see
Their lives so brief, fallen short, a page in history.
We can't forget what they had done, so many years ago.
Sacrifices they have made the bravery they showed.

I walked along that long black wall, crying in the rain.
For all those men who've touched our lives, we'll never see again.

MILITARY DEATHS FOR TWENTY YEARS---

 Military losses Over 20 years~

                   Here are some rather eye-opening facts: Since the start of the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, the sacrifice has been enormous. In the time period from the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 through now, we have lost over 3000 military personnel to enemy action and accidents. As tragic as the loss of any member of the US Armed Forces is, consider the following statistics:  The annual fatalities of military members while actively serving in the armed forces from 1980 through 2006:

              
1980 .......... 2,392
1981 .........  2,380
1984 .......... 1,999
1988 .......... 1,819
1989 .......... 1,636
1990 .........  1,508
1991 .......... 1,787
1992 .......... 1,293
1993 .......... 1,213
1994 .......... 1,075
1995 ...........2,465
1996  ......... 2,318        Clinton years @13,417 deaths
1997 ..........    817
1998 .........  2,252
1999 .......... 1,984
2000 .......... 1,983
2001 ..........    890
2002 .......... 1,007        7 BUSH years @ 9,016 deaths
2003 .......... 1,410
2004 .......... 1,887
2005 .........     919
2006..........     920

If you are confused when you look at these figures...so was I.   Do these figures mean that the loss from the two latest conflicts in the Middle East are LESS than the loss of military personnel during Mr. Clinton 's  presidency; when America wasn't even involved in a war? And, I was even more confused; when I read that in 1980, during the reign of President (Nobel Peace Prize) Jimmy Carter, there were 2,392 US military fatalities! These figures indicate that many of our Media & Politicians will pick and choose.   They present only those "facts" which support their agenda-driven reporting. Why do so many of them march in lock-step to twist the truth. Where do so many of them get their marching-orders for their agenda? Our Mainstream Print and TV media, and many Politicians like to slant; that these brave men and women, who are losing their lives in Iraq, are mostly minorities!  Wrong AGAIN--- just one more media lie! The latest census, of Americans, shows the following distribution of American citizens, by Race:

European descent (White) ....... 69.12%
Hispanic ................................ 12.5%
Black..................................... 12.3%
Asian ...................................... 3.7%
Native American ..................... . 1.0%
Other ......................................  2.6%

Now... here are the fatalities by Race; over the past three years in Iraqi Freedom:

European descent (white) ..... 74.31%
Hispanic ............................. 10.74%
Black ................................... 9.67%
Asian ................................. . 1.81%
Native American .................... 1.09%
Other ....................................  . 33%

You do the Math! These figures don't lie... but, Media-liars figure...and they sway public opinion!  (These statistics are published by Congressional Research Service, and they may be confirmed by anyone at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf ) Now ask yourself these two questions: "Why does the mainstream Print and TV Media never print statistics like these?" and "Why do the mainstream media hate the web as much as they do?"

 

A Thank You to Vietnam Vets from a

Marine in Iraq

This letter was included in a friends recent Veterans of Foreign Wars post newsletter Reveille and I want to pass it on to all my Nam Vet brothers out there on behalf of a Marine officer in Iraq:  

Marine Major writes:

             A guy gets time to think over here and I was thinking about all the support we get from home.  Sometimes it's overwhelming.  We get care packages at times faster than we can use them.  There are boxes and boxes of toiletries and snacks lining the center of every tent; the generosity has been amazing. So, I was pondering the question: "Why do we have so much support?"

       In my opinion, it came down to one thing: Vietnam. I think we learned a lesson, as a nation, that no matter what, you have to support the troops who are on the line, who are risking everything.  We treated them so poorly back then. When they returned was even worse. The stories are nightmarish of what our returning warriors were subjected to. It is a national scar, a blemish on our country, an embarrassment to all of us.

After Vietnam, it had time to sink in. The guilt in our collective consciousness grew. It shamed us.

However, we learned from our mistake. Somewhere during the late 1970's and into the 80's, we realized that we can't treat our warriors that way. So, starting during the Gulf War, when the first real opportunity arose to stand up and support the troops, we did.  We did it to support our friends and family going off to war. But we also did it to right the wrongs from the Vietnam era. We treated our troops like the heroes they were, acknowledged and celebrated their sacrifice, and rejoiced at their homecoming instead of spitting on them.

                        And that support continues today for those of us in Iraq. Our country knows that it must support us and it does. The lesson was learned in Vietnam and we are better because of it.

Everyone who has gone before is a hero. They are celebrated in my heart. I think admirably of all those who have gone before me. From those who fought to establish this country in the late 1770's to those I serve with here in Iraq. They have all sacrificed to ensure our freedom.

But when I get back, I'm going to make it a personal mission to specifically thank every Vietnam Vet I encounter for their sacrifice. Because if nothing else good came from that terrible war, one thing did. It was the lesson learned on how we treat our warriors. We as a country learned from our mistake and now treat our warriors as heroes, as we should. I am the beneficiary of their sacrifice. Not only for the freedom they, like veterans from other wars, ensured, but for how well our country now treats my fellow Marines and I. We are the beneficiaries of their sacrifice.

Semper Fidelis,

Major Brian P. Bresnahan

United States Marine Corps

BROTHERS IN ARMS

           As my time here in Iraq grows shorter and shorter I find myself growing more and more restless.  However this does not come as a surprise to me.  I have had a lot more time lately to talk to my wife on the phone, so that has helped out a whole lot.  During my recent reenlistment speech, I spoke about not only making friends and brothers in arms, but also belonging to a family.  I used to wonder what people talked about when they would say how war bonds men faster than anything in the world.  Now I know first hand what this experience is truly like.  I have learned to rely on and trust the men to my left and right in a way I never knew possible. 

     I know without a hint of hesitation that when the bullets are whizzing, the RPG’s are flying, and the IED’s are exploding that I can trust my brothers in arms to do their part without fear of failure.  I have come to respect each and every one of these men as brothers, and trust them with my life every time we engage the enemy.  We are bonded in such a way because of the experiences of battle.  Once you’re in this environment you have two things: your comrades and the enemy.  Through out the course of this year the trials that we have faced have served as building blocks in our development into a smooth functioning fighting team.  We now go into battle calm, collected, and confident that we are the better fighting force and will come out victorious.  As I reflect on the events of this past year I know that this experience has indeed changed me.  I will never be the same person that I was before I fought in this war.  However, I also do not feel that this is a bad change. 

     See before, war was just something I heard about, read about, saw in a movie or played on a video game.  War was action and adventure.  War was not personal to me.  Now I have a bit of a different view of things.  I now understand that war is not something to take lightly.  No matter how it is looked at, war takes human lives.  War is not Hollywood glamour or something to seek after.  When the cameras are off the people don’t get up and dust themselves off. The blood that is spilt isn’t simply washed away until the next scene.   No, the bodies are carried away and the blood, all too real, is etched into your memory.  The hardships that are faced each and everyday are unknown and sometimes a bit overwhelming.  I have been asked on several occasions how a soldier does it.  How we can continue on despite the causalities and images that will forever follow us.  And while I can`t speak for anyone but myself, I know that many soldiers feel the same way I do.

         So let me shed light on the subject for all that are interested to know.  I can go into battle and fight with every fiber of my being simply because of the men that surround me.   I know that each one of the guys I am with are depending on me, just as I am depending on them, in order to complete the mission at hand.  We as individual soldiers did not ask for war, but we agreed to fight if the occasion ever arose.  We each raised our hands and swore and oath to God and Country.  And at the end of the day simply knowing that I have done a not so glamour’s task is made easier because of the guys that were right there beside me.  I tell myself before every battle to stay sharp and shoot straight because each man wants to get home to their families.  It is this strong sense of brotherhood that only someone who has been in similar situations can fully understand.

     You either relied on each other, or somebody is going to die, that draws us so close to each other.  Battle makes groups of men become closer than brothers, and builds bonds that will withstand any enemy attack.  People ask me what makes our soldiers so effective in combat, and this is my answer. 

EACH OTHER!!!

 SGT(P) Jason D. Folmar,

 Iraq 2004-2005

Marine 1st Sergeant Brad Kasal (in the middle).

This photo is from the most recent major offensive in Fallujah.

Sgt. Kasal sacrificed his own safety to save a room full of fellow

Marines. He ended up taking several AK rounds in the leg. Most of his

lower leg was blown away, but you can't tell it from this pic.

He took rounds in the back which his armor saved him from. He took one

round through his butt which passed through both cheeks leaving 4

holes in him. And he also took the brunt of a grenade blast.

He jumped on top of a younger Marine to cover him from the fire.

He killed the terrorist who did most of the damage to him and his men,

and despite a massive loss of blood, he never stopped fighting. Notice

that he's still holding his pistol.

He has been put in for the Medal of Honor for his actions on that day.

He already has several Purple Hearts for previous battles throughout

his career and he has turned some down so that he could stay with his

unit.

While in the hospital he has met President Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and

several other celebrities. He said that President Bush came in by

Veterans Find Some Things Hard To Chu

Thomas D. Segel

Tomsegel@joimail.com

Guest Column: No Relief in Sight for the Lincoln
By Ed Stanton                 

           It has been three weeks since my ship, the USS Abraham Lincoln, arrived off the Sumatran coast to aid the hundreds of thousands of victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami that ravaged their coastline. I'd like to say that this has been a rewarding experience for us, but it has not: Instead, it has been a frustrating and needlessly dangerous exercise made even more difficult by the Indonesian government and a traveling circus of so-called aid workers who have invaded our spaces.

         What really irritated me was a scene I witnessed in the Lincoln's wardroom a few days ago. I went in for breakfast as I usually do, expecting to see the usual crowd of ship's company officers in khakis and air wing aviators in flight suits, drinking coffee and exchanging rumors about when our ongoing humanitarian mission in Sumatra is going to end. 

What I saw instead was a mob of civilians sitting around like they owned the place.   They wore various colored vests with logos on the back including Save The Children, World Health Organization and the dreaded baby blue vest of the United Nations.   Mixed in with this crowd were a bunch of reporters, cameramen and Indonesian military officers in uniform. They all carried cameras, sunglasses and fanny packs like tourists on their way to Disneyland. 

My warship had been transformed into a floating hotel for a bunch of trifling do-gooders overnight.

As I went through the breakfast line, I overheard one of the U.N. strap-hangers, a longhaired guy with a beard, make a sarcastic comment to one of our food servers.  He said something along the lines of "Nice china, really makes me feel special," in reference to the fact that we were eating off of paper plates that day. It was all I could do to keep from jerking him off his feet and choking him, because I knew that the reason we were eating off paper plates was to save dishwashing water so that we would have more water to send ashore and save lives. That plus the fact that he had no business being there in the first place.

My attitude towards these unwanted no-loads grew steadily worse that day as I learned more from one of our junior officers who was assigned to escort a group of them. It turns out that they had come to Indonesia to "assess the damage" from the Dec. 26 tsunami.  

Well, they could have turned on any TV in the world and seen that the damage was total devastation. When they got to Sumatra with no plan, no logistics support and no five-star hotels to stay in, they threw themselves on the mercy of the U.S. Navy, which, unfortunately, took them in. I guess our senior brass was hoping for some good PR since this was about the time that the U.N. was calling the United States "stingy" with our relief donations. 

 

       As a result of having to host these people, our severely over-tasked SH-60 Seahawk helos, which were carrying tons of food and water every day to the most inaccessible places in and around Banda Aceh, are now used in great part to ferry these "relief workers" from place to place every day and bring them back to their guest bedrooms on the  Lincoln at night. Despite their avowed dedication to helping the victims, these relief workers will not spend the night in-country, and have made us their guardians by default. 

When our wardroom treasurer approached the leader of the relief group and asked him who was paying the mess bill for all the meals they ate, the fellow replied, "We aren't paying, you can try to bill the U.N. if you want to." 



     In addition to the relief workers, we routinely get tasked with hauling around reporters and various low-level "VIPs," which further wastes valuable helo lift that could be used to carry supplies. We had to dedicate two helos and a C-2 cargo plane for America-hater Dan Rather and his entourage of door holders and briefcase carriers from CBS News. Another camera crew was from MTV. I doubt if we'll get any good PR from them, since the cable channel is banned in Muslim countries.  We also had to dedicate a helo and crew to fly around the vice mayor of Phoenix, Ariz., one day. Everyone wants in on the action. 

As for the Indonesian officers, while their job is apparently to encourage our leaving as soon as possible, all they seem to do in the meantime is smoke cigarettes.  They want our money and our help but they don't want their population to see that Americans are doing far more for them in two weeks than their own government has ever done or will ever do for them. 

 

 

To add a kick in the face to the USA and the Lincoln, the Indonesian government announced it would not allow us to use their airspace for routine training and flight proficiency operations while we are saving the lives of their people, some of whom are wearing Osama bin Ladin T-shirts as they grab at our food and water. The ship has to steam out into international waters to launch and recover jets, which makes our helos have to fly longer distances and burn more fuel.


       What is even worse than trying to help people who totally reject everything we stand for is that our combat readiness has suffered for it. 


An aircraft carrier is an instrument of national policy and the big stick she carries is her air wing. An air wing has a set of very demanding skills and they are highly perishable. We train hard every day at sea to conduct actual air strikes, air defense, maritime surveillance, close air support and many other missions - not to mention taking off and landing on a ship at sea. 


       Our safety regulations state that if a pilot does not get a night carrier landing every seven days, he has to be re-qualified to land on the ship. Today we have pilots who have now been over 25 days without a trap due to being unable to use Indonesian airspace to train. Normally it is when we are at sea that our readiness is at its very peak. Thanks to the Indonesian government, we have to waive our own safety rules just to get our pilots off the deck. 

 
            In other words, the longer we stay here helping these people, the more dangerous it gets for us to operate. We have already lost one helicopter, which crashed in Banda Aceh while taking sailors ashore to unload supplies from the C-130s. There were no relief workers on that one.

 

          I'm all for helping the less fortunate, but it is time to give this mission to somebody other than the U.S. Navy. Our ship was supposed to be home on Feb. 3 and now we have no idea how long we will be here. American taxpayers are spending millions per day to keep this ship at sea and getting no training value out of it. As a result, we will come home in a lower state of readiness than when we left due to the lack of flying while supporting the tsunami relief effort. 


      I hope we get some good PR in the Muslim world out of it. After all, this is Americans saving the lives of Muslims. I have my doubts. 

Army looks to retirees to bolster forces...

The Army, stretched thin by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, is dipping into one of its last resources for wartime duty: retirees on a military pension.

       The Army is expanding a little-known program to bring back retired officers and enlisted soldiers who expressed a willingness to join again, particularly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

At least 320 retirees signed up last year under this program. Probably more than 500 will go back on active duty this year, says Lt. Col. Karla Brischke, an Army personnel manager. Ages range from mid-40s to late 60s and possibly older, and each has at least 20 years of military service.

"It doesn't mean that we're scraping the bottom of the barrel," says Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, a spokesman for the Army personnel department. "It means that we're doing a prudent thing with American resources."

After 9/11, about 15,000 retired soldiers contacted the Army to offer their services. From that group, the Army last year assembled a list of 4,500 who completed the application process.

                               In a separate program, Hilferty says, the Army compiled a list of 3,000 retired soldiers and began asking whether they would volunteer to be recruiters or civil affairs officers. The Army has found 616 retirees willing to fill 442 jobs as civil affairs officers in and around Iraq. They would help rebuild schools, hospitals and roads. At least 10 agreed to rejoin as recruiters.

The Marines has a similar program and has rehired 66, 1st Lt. Darlan Harris says.

Activating retired soldiers is the latest step by the Army to bolster troop levels. Other efforts include extending overseas tours from 12 to 15 months, tripling bonuses for new enlistees and National Guard members who re-enlist, and mobilizing about 4,000 soldiers from the Individual Ready Reserve. The IRR is an infrequently used pool of former troops who still have contractual obligations to the military.

"I'm no spring chicken," says James Barren, 54, of Detroit, who is rejoining the Army to train Iraqi police. "I think training is something that I can have some impact on. If I can do something to save one person's life, that's my motivation."

The Army told the retired Detroit policeman last month that his skills are valuable now in Iraq. "If they have that much confidence in me, I thought I would give it a shot," Barren says. He could be in Iraq as early as February.

"I think it's just another signal that the Army is stretched very, very thin, if not overextended," says Bob Scales, a retired Army major general and former commandant of the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa. "It's amazing how creative everybody has been lately in trying to sort of patch this Army of ours together."

The 4,500 retirees fall into three categories. The most valuable to the Army are 1,000 healthy retirees who have been out of service less than five years. A second group of 2,000 are in good health, out of the military no more than 10 years and 60 or younger. The third category of 1,500 retirees are older than 60 or have disabilities.

Retired soldiers who rejoin would serve up to a year, although they could agree to more or volunteer for another assignment.

"Here I am, in the golden years of my life at 70, still hoping that I can help somehow," says Gerald Garcia of Spokane, Wash., a retired chief warrant officer in the National Guard. "I want to be part of it, before it's too late for me."

Garcia - 5-foot-10 and 155 pounds, about the same as when he was a soldier - volunteered last year and is on the Army's list but hasn't been called up. "I still do my 25 push-ups every night. I do a lot of walking and get a lot of exercise," he says. "Hopefully, I can get involved.

Medal Hogs

            Sir,
 
             Last time I checked awards such as the Bronze Star,
 Silver Star, or any other award for that matter could be awarded to ANY serviceman or woman who rated it. Well apparently the upper echelons of the 1st CAV division, in their infinate wisdom, dont see it that way.

      We are being told, unofficially of course, that unless
 you are a PLT SGT, PL or higher that the highest award that you will recieve, no matter how valorous your actions in combat, is an ARCOM with a V device! This enrages me! Do they think that their medals, which were probably pencil whipped for a paper cut anyway, wont look as cool if a private is wearing the same silver star as a colonel is?

                 This is a slap in the face to those of us who actually go out and do the fighting. I personally know a sniper who has over 20 confirmed kills, and many more probables who was instrumental in denieing the enemy freedom of movement in our AO, and, naturally, to the success of our unit. Several of the situations in which he got confirmed kills were harrowing indeed. He was put in for a silver star, which he most certainly rates, and it was downgraded to an ARCOM with a V!

And this is not an isolated case by any means, it is division wide.

                  Someone needs to take these glory hogging, badge and tab protectors to task over this. It is simply disgraceful that these people would deny these soldiers awards that they fully deserve.
 
                                  A Grunt squad leader 

"He's a grenade with the pin half-out,"

      I'm so mad about this dirty deal on a marine I could spit. 

                      This e-mail helps me vent a little.
George

           Good Morning Everybody.

           The following is an email from my son regarding the NBC report (with embedded reporter Kevin Sites), concerning the Marine who is being investigated for "murdering" the insurgent in Fallaja. I will be sending his mail to every news program's email I can find. I find it sickening that this Kevin Sites is even allowed to be embedded with our Marines, as this isn't the first report I've heard from him that took on a decidely unfriendly tone. My son also gave me permission to release it to anyone that wants to pass it on, as long as it remains unedited.
-- Darlene
PMM LCPL Gus
TS DET

                    This is one story of many that people normally don't hear, and one that everyone does.

                                 This is just one most don't hear:
        
              A young Marine and his cover man cautiously enter a room just recently filled with insurgents armed with Ak-47's and RPG's. There are three dead, another wailing in pain. The insurgent can be heard saying, "Mister,  mister! Diktoor, diktoor (doctor)!" He is badly wounded, lying in a pool of his own blood. The Marine and his cover man slowly walk toward the injured man, scanning to make sure no enemies come from behind. In a split second, the pressure in the room greatly exceeds that of the outside, and the concussion seems to be felt before the blast is heard. Marines outside rush to the room, and look in horror as the dust gradually settles. The result is a room filled with the barely recognizable remains of the deceased, caused by an
insurgent setting off several pounds of explosives. The Marines' remains are gathered by teary eyed comrades, brothers in arms, and shipped home in a box. The families can only mourn over a casket and a picture of their loved one, a life cut short by someone who hid behind a white flag.

                But no one hears these stories, except those who have lived to carry remains of a friend, and the families who loved the dead. No one hears this, so no one cares.

                                       This is the story everyone hears:

              A young Marine and his fire team cautiously enter a room just recently filled with insurgents armed with AK-47's and RPG's. There are three dead, another wailing in pain. The insugent can be heard saying, "Mister,mister! Diktoor, diktoor (doctor)!" He is badly wounded.   Suddenly, he pulls from under his bloody clothes a grenade, without the pin. The explosion rocks the room, killing one Marine, wounding the others. The young Marine catches shrapnel in the face.
             The next day, same Marine, same type of situation, a different story. The young Marine and his cover man enter a room with two wounded insurgents. One lies on the floor in puddle of blood, another against the wall. A reporter and his camera survey the wreckage inside, and in the background can be heard the voice of a Marine, "He's moving, he's moving!"
             The pop of a rifle is heard, and the insurgent against the wall is now dead.

            Minutes, hours later, the scene is aired on national television, and the Marine is being held for commiting a war crime. Unlawful killing.
             And now, another Marine has the possibility of being burned at the stake for protecting the life of his brethren. His family now wrings their hands in grief, tears streaming down their face. Brother, should I have  been in your boots, i too would have done the same.

            For those of you who don't know, we Marines, Band of Brothers, Jarheads, Leathernecks, etc., do not fight because we think it is right, or think it is wrong. We are here for the man to our left, and the man to our right. We choose to give our lives so that the man or woman next to us can go home and see their husbands, wives, children, friends and families.
             For those of you who sit on your couches in front of your television, and choose to condemn this man's actions, I have but one thing to say to you. Get out of you recliner, lace up my boots, pick up a rifle, leave your family behind and join me. See what I've seen, walk where I have walked.

                 To those of you who support us, my sincerest gratitude. You keep us alive. I am a Marine currently doing his second tour in Iraq. These are my opinions and mine alone. They do not represent those of the Marine Corps or of the US military, or any other.

       Sincerely,

LCPL Schmidt
     USMC

                        Howdy Mom,

           Glad to hear you are doing better.  I know how it is when your don't feel to good, and the doctors tell you nothing is wrong.  If only they could feel your pain, then they would sing a different tune.  Glad to hear that Don is feeling better too.   And you say I get hurt to much.  Smile....

            Things are going good over here.   We are still fighting but we are not quiting.  A few days ago my unit suffered our first death since we arrived here in Iraq.  I can't talk much about it just yet, but I can tell you that it wasn't one of my tank guys.  I did however know the guy pretty well.  He and I go to the archery range alot over here.  But I know that he loved the Lord so he is in heaven right now.
            My new tank is doing well.   It was made in Sept. 01, which for a tank is pretty much brand new.  Bout time we got an 8.2 million dollar machine that works like it is supposed to. (Smile)

      Right now we are supposed to be at a peace treaty.  This means that we back off our aggresive attacks and go to a watching mode.  Weird thing is that the treaty started bout 4 days ago, and 2 days ago we lost our first soldier from my unit.  Some treaty huh.   We quit fighting but they keep blowing up
IED's.  Not to sure of the logic in that deal but then again I don't make that call.   Other than that our moral is pretty high right now.

      We are scheduled to leave here at the  end of Feb, and be back home by the end of March.  It will take us about a month to prepare the tanks for re-entry to the U.S.  Anyhow I guess that is about it for now.  We are just waitin for the elections to get over.  We are being told that as soon as the Presidential election is over we will go back to being really aggresive and hopefully finish cleaning out all the trash.  The RPG's and IED's won't last forever, but the heart of American Soldiers in battle will.

Talk to ya'll later.
Love ya',

Jason

            A letter from a Marine Corps Battalion Commander re: the loss
            of one of his Marines.

            Weekly Update 15 Oct 04

           It is with the deepest sadness and most profound grief that I
            must report to  you the loss of Daniel Wyatt, LCpl, Fox Co, 2nd Bn, 24th
            Marines, USMC. Daniel was killed in the line of duty, while conducting foot
            patrolling operations in Yusufiyah Iraq. Daniel was killed by a command
            detonated improvised explosive device. He died instantly, suffered no    
            pain and was immediately recovered by his fellow Marines.

            My command security element and I personally recovered Daniel's
            body and escorted him back to the forward operating base, and then onto
            the  helicopter for the beginning of his final ride home. I cannot
            even begin to express to you the soul touching sight of combat hardened
            Marines, encrusted with weeks of sweat and dust, who have daily been engaged
            in combat, coming to complete and utter solemnity and respect in the handling              of the body of one of their own. It puts on display a level of brotherly love
            you just cannot see anywhere else.

            We conducted a memorial service for Daniel in the battle space
            owned by his fellow Marines, as well as one the following day at the
            battalion forward operating base. I have spoken with his fianc饦amp;nbsp;and expressed
            the sorrow and sympathy of the entire Battalion.

            If I might for a moment, I hear and see some of the media
            coverage. I hear the accusations and charges. I hear what could almost be
            labeled as hysteria over the situation in Iraq. Let me tell you something from
            ground level. The town of Yusufiyah that Daniel and his fellow Marines seized,
            had not seen government structure or security forces for over 8 months.
            FOREIGN FIGHTERS, TERRORIST AND THUGS have had free reign and have routinely
            murdered people  in the market for no reason other than one day they MIGHT
            support a democratic process and speak for themselves. For nothing more
            than they MIGHT choose a version of religion even slightly different than
            the  terrorists and foreign fighters. They live in squalor and fear.

            The Marines of Daniel's unit have not had a shower since seizing the town.
            They have eaten MREs day in and day out. They live a Spartan existence
            that few can imagine. And, on all my trips to their position for planning,
            coordination and command visits, I ask them if they want to be relieved. To
            a man, they look me in the eye and tell me NO WAY. Why? Well, I am not
            going to soften it for anyone, the primary reason why is to kill terrorists.
            Please remember, that is what they are trained and paid to do. But,
            they also tell me, they want to help the people of Yusufiyah. They want to
            show all of Iraq that they can stand on their own feet, push back against
            extremism, and with our help live the life of freedom that all men yearn for. Yes,
            from the mouths of these young and hardened warriors, this is what they
            tell me. And then...and then...they ask me how I am doing! Un-freaking
            believable! They worry about everyone else but themselves.

             So believe what you want. That is your right as Americans. But
            I am telling you, there are no heroes on any football fields, basketball
            courts or halls of government. There are honorable and decent people all over
            America. However, the heroes are on the battlefields of Iraq. Suffering,
            killing and DYING that others might live, and live in FREEDOM. Americans
            free from terror, Iraqis free from oppression and tyranny.

            I am an under-educated gun-toter from Indiana who is just lucky
            there is an organization like the USMC where a half-wit like myself with
            some rudimentary combat skills can succeed. But I do know heroes! I
            am surrounded by over a thousand of them. And I am not the least bit ashamed
            to tell you I have wept like a baby for Daniel Wyatt. Because when one of
            these heroes falls, it is if an Angel of God himself has fallen from heaven!

This photo is a composite of American soldiers who have died

in Iraq over the last year.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Or in this case, hundreds of lives.

And growing daily.

2032 ~

      Howdy Mom,

        How's it going?  Sorry, it's been awhile since I last wrote.  We are now in Kuwait.  We are working nonstop on cleaning and preparing the tanks for the return trip home.  So we are not having much down time.  However it is necessary so that we can get the tanks on the ship on time.   You know how those Navy folks are about their schedules. *Smile* 

      Anyhow this is gonna be pretty short.  I enclosed a letter I wrote about a week ago.  I thought you might be interested to read it.   You know how I get when I start writing. So here ya go.  More thoughts from the mind of Jason. 

Always your baby,    Love U,           Jason

~Y0ur storie THeRe~

Any0ne Out there Still Airborne ?      Send  us Y0ur stories~

Exit FromIraq

Navy Combat Doc.  

“ Best first hand account I have read. “                  Semper Fi,      Greetings all from hot, hot, hot Iraq, We are short indeed...although not quite as short as we had originally thought. our flight home has been posted and is showing up 3 days later than planned.  The good news is that we leave in the middle of the night and arrive (all admin complete, including turning our weapons into the armory) around dinner time at Pendleton on the same day we leave (eleven hrs time difference).  The other good news is it appears we've got commercial contract air carriers taking us home...so we don't have to worry about sleeping on the cold steel deck of an Air Force C-17.      So... we turned over authority of the surgical company last week to our replacements, who had a serious trial by fire here in multiple ways, including multiple traumas, surgeries, increased risk to their personal safety, power outages, water outages, and camel spiders in the hospital... all in their first 4 days.  But a few days ago, we heard the helicopters coming and knew they were dealing with multiple traumas, several of which were going to the OR...and we sat in our barracks and waited for them to call us if they needed us.  They never did.  Last week was the ceremony to mark the official end of our role here.  Now we just wait.     As the days move very slowly by, just waiting, I decided that one of the things I should work on for my own closure and therapeutic healing...is a list.  The list would be a comparison:  "Things That Were Good" about Iraq and being deployed with the Marines as one of the providers in a surgical company, and "Things That Were Not Good."  Of course, it's quite obvious that this list will be very lopsided.  But I thought I would do it anyway, hoping that somehow the trauma, the fear, the grief, the laughter, the pride and the patriotism that have marked this long seven months for me will begin to make sense, through my writing.  Interestingly, it sort of turned into a poem… To be expected, I guess. Most of all it's just therapy, and by now I should be relatively good at that. Hard to do for yourself though. So here goes...in reverse order of importance... Things That Were Good Sunset over the desert...almost always orange, Sunrise over the desert...almost always red. The childlike excitement of having fresh fruit at dinner after going weeks without it. Being allowed to be the kind of clinician I know I can be, and want to be, with no limits placed and no doubts expressed. But most of all, The United States Marines, our patients... Walking, every day, and having literally every single person who passes by say "Hoorah, Ma'am..." Having them tell us, one after the other, through blinding pain or morphine-induced euphoria..."When can I get out of here?  I just want to get back to my unit..." Meeting a young Sergeant, who had lost an eye in an explosion...he asked his surgeon if he could open the other one...when he did, he sat up and looked at the young Marines from his fire team who were being treated for superficial shrapnel wounds in the next room...he smiled, laid back down, and said, "I only have one good eye, Doc, but I can see that my Marines are OK." And of course, meeting the one who threw himself on a grenade to save the men at his side...who will likely be the first Medal of Honor recipient in over 11 years. My friends...some of them will be lifelong in a way that is indescribable. My patients...some of them had courage unlike anything I've ever experienced before. My comrades, Alpha Surgical Company...some of the things witnessed will traumatize them forever, but still they provided outstanding care to these Marines, day in and day out, sometimes for days at a time with no break, for 7 endless months. And last, but not least... Holding the hand of that dying Marine. Things That Were Not Good Terrifying camel spiders, poisonous scorpions, flapping bats in the darkness, howling, territorial wild dogs, flies that insisted on landing on our faces, giant, looming mosquitoes, invisible sand flies that carry leischmaniasis. 132 degrees. Wearing long sleeves, full pants and combat boots in 132 degrees. Random and totally predictable power outages that led to sweating throughout the night. Sweating in places I didn't know I could sweat...like wrists, and ears. The roar of helicopters overhead. The resounding thud of exploding artillery in the distance. The popping of gunfire... Not knowing if any of the above sounds is a good thing, or bad thing. The siren, and the inevitable "big voice" yelling at us to take cover... Not knowing if that siren was on someone's DVD or if the big voice would soon follow. The cracking sound of giant artillery rounds splitting open against rock and dirt. The rumble of the ground. The shattering of the windows. Hiding under flak jackets and kevlar helmets, away from the broken windows, waiting to be told we can come to the hospital to treat the ones who were not so lucky. Watching the helicopter with the big red cross on the side landing at our pad. Worse... watching Marine helicopters filled with patients landing at our pad, because we usually did not realize they were coming. Ushering a sobbing Marine Colonel away from the trauma bay while several of his Marines bled and cried out in pain inside. Meeting that 21-year-old Marine with three Purple Hearts and listening to him weep because he felt ashamed of being afraid to go back. Telling a room full of stunned Marines in blood-soaked uniforms that their comrade, that they had tried to save, had just died of his wounds. Trying, as if in total futility, to do anything I could to ease the trauma of group after group that suffered loss after loss, grief after inconsolable grief. Washing blood off the boots of one of our young nurses while she told me about the one who bled out in the trauma bay and then the one who she had to tell, when he pleaded for the truth, that his best friend didn't make it. Listening to another of our nurses tell of the Marine who came in talking, telling her his name,about how she pleaded with him not to give up, told him that she was there for him...about how she could see his eyes go dull when he couldn't fight any longer. And last, but not least... Holding the hand of that dying Marine. Thank you Sisters..        all of you, for being there for all of us in our hours of darkness.   Your patriotism has not gone unnoticed by those of us that returned and certainly by those that did not. we wish we could take away some of your pain the way you have done for so many of us!!! Say a prayer on your way home tonight for the Marines in Iraq.

 Stars and Stripes

Kerry lies…

 September 30, 2004

                I was humbled and led to tears when I read your [Joseph Farah's] column dated Aug. 6, "Kerry's toast." I am Carol Gell Crowley, youngest daughter of Sgt. Jack Gell, who died in the Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam in 1965. His dying words were heard in the movie "We Were Soldiers," starring Mel Gibson and Sam Elliott: "Tell my wife ... I love her." Your column made me feel that maybe people are finally listening to the truth.
 

       Since 1992, when the book, "We Were Soldiers Once and Young," came out, I have met countless vets who have taken me "under their wing" and are proud to have met their fallen comrade's family. I have experienced a love and healing in progress with each year I attend the reunions. I have met men who have told me stories that will forever stay with me, and many are horrific and hard for them to re-live. NONE have EVER told me the lies I have heard from John Kerry.
 
       When this book came out, and then a movie, I witnessed incredible healing of men and families, and someone others never thought about ... the children and widows. Now, I see the scars reopened. It breaks my heart.
 
       I was asked to speak at the "Kerry Lied" rally in D.C. on Sept. 12 (CSPAN aired it live.) I have no motive other than to expose Kerry and defend the honor of the names on The Wall from the hurtful lies Kerry told. I met an unexpected speaker, Steve Pitkin, who admitted he lied at the Winter Soldier hearings and was ashamed at the hurt he caused the vets. He apologized and asked the 2,000 or so at the rally, for their forgiveness. It was an incredible thing to witness.
 
       As you said, these vets have no reason to lie ... do the math and you will see countless numbers who are fighting for morality and the truth. (See Steve Pitkin's affidavit.)
 
       I thank you for your article. I think you will continue to see vets and families fight for the truth.
 

       Carol Gell Crowley

Vietnam deja vu

          John Kerry is finally returning to his roots, which got him worldwide attention, especially from the communists. Kerry is doing exactly the same thing he did on returning from Vietnam. He's trying to turn the American people against our efforts in Iraq just the same way he turned Americans against the war in Vietnam. We still had troops in Vietnam and in captivity and still Kerry attacked our leaders and this country. We still have troops in Iraq and Americans are being beheaded, and still Kerry is attacking our leaders and this country.

                             This man wants to “report for duty”?

From:                                      Owen West
Subject:            A Ghost Is Born
Wednesday, July 28, 2004, at 9:07 AM PT

     Every infantry unit has ghosts. They are conduits to the heartbreak of war, reminders of the brutal individual sacrifice often required so that others might live. The infantry is a guild. So what happens when there are no knights to emulate? Tears of anger dry, days pass, and the ghosts—and war itself—become mythical.

Before arriving in Fallujah this February, the 1^st Marine Reconnaissance Battalion had produced no ghosts since the storied days of Vietnam, when recon Marines operating in small teams had clashed with entire North Vietnamese battalions. In 1974, the fallen were not mythical creatures but fathers and husbands and sons and friends. Alongside emulation came bugles and flags and sobs. Thirty years later, their achievements stood tall. But their collective sacrifice had dimmed.

On April 7, 2004, the ghosts returned. One gave his hands. One gave his legs. One gave his arm. And one gave his soul. Those men are no longer in-country, but Marine units are like giant families, and families do not dismiss tragedy. They embrace it. There's a sweet-and-sour mix of pride and despair that accompanies the memory of bravery under fire.

Capt. Brent Morel had missed Iraqi Freedom I. Not that the men in his platoon really cared. Yes, most of them had seen combat, but they valued decisiveness as much as experience. And Morel had plenty of pluck. If inexperience made him a bit eager on the battlefield, that was just fine with them.

The recon platoon was traveling in the first five Humvees of a convoy, each man watching a sector of landscape. The terrain was perfect ambush territory—the road was elevated and exposed, it was paralleled by a series of chest-high berms, and there was even a canal that could act like a moat if the insurgents picked a fight. Some of the Marines hoped they would. A week earlier, Fallujah had erupted when four American contractors were murdered. The desire for contact was not driven by revenge, however. It was something innate that was swelling even as Fallujah deteriorated, a mix of adrenaline sprinkled with just enough dread to make it confusing. There was going to be a big fight.

Might as well start today.

The lead vehicle was hit first. A rocket-propelled grenade sailed over a berm and slammed into the machine gun Corp. Eddie Wright had mounted on his door. "Grenade" is really the wrong term for this weapon; its warhead is the size of a football. When it exploded, all five men in the lead vehicle were wounded. Wright lost both hands. Shawn Talbert, standing behind the machine gun on the roof, was raked with metal below the knees. Something broke Eric Kocher's arm. The other two men took minor injuries—"minor" for Marines meaning bits of tumbling steel burrowing into the skin like hornets. Concussions, blown eardrums, and non-arterial blood flow. Minor.

The enemy—insurgents, mujahideen, Syrians, Fedayeen, who cares?—opened fire with machine guns and rifles from the safety of the berms, 100 to 150 meters away. In Marine infantry school, this is known as a close ambush. And the only way to escape a close ambush is to attack it. The last part always elicits a few chuckles:

Who would be crazy enough to charge a machine gun?

      Capt. Morel was in the second vehicle. "Stop and dismount," he said, already running toward the enemy position. Those other Marines in the bullet-swept column that could follow him did so, racing toward the berms before their brains caught up with their legs.

Sgt. Michael Mendoza was one of them. He hadn't seen combat in the first war either. Now bullets were sailing all around his head, cracking like whips as they snapped through the sound barrier. When he reached the first berm (alive!) he took cover, pumping some rifle grenades into the enemy position. That's when he noticed the guys were moving again. Hell, he thought, I'd better go too.

Morel had practically hurdled the first berm and was now scrambling across the second. Sgts. Dan Lalota and Willie Copeland wondered if he was ever going to stop. They were providing cover fire, then sprinting to catch up. The incoming fire was thick now. It was a big ambush. Maybe 50 people. All five Marines followed Morel into the canal and started to wade across. It was chest deep and had a sinkhole bottom. None were aware that a second element of the platoon was rolling up the right flank.

Seeing the first three vehicles in the kill zone, Gunnery Sgt. Dan Griego had turned the last two platoon Humvees and rumbled up a road to provide a flanking element. When they crested the hill, the Marines saw dozens of Iraqis scrambling around behind the ambushers. They opened fire, killing a few Iraqis and disabling two vehicles that looked to be shuttling soldiers into the ambush and taking bodies out. The Iraqis shifted their attention and fired on them with a machine gun, but the Marines kept pouring it on.

Across the canal, the band of attacking Marines paused behind the final berm. "Cover me. We're assaulting through," was all Morel said.

"You want to assault through?" asked Lalota.

"Yes."

"Roger that."

Brent Morel crested the hill and shuffled down into the open ground. He was struck by a bullet that penetrated his arm and disappeared under his armpit. The exit wound was found on his lower back. It was likely an armor piercing round.

Lance Cpl. Maurice Scott was the first to reach Morel. He dragged him across the open ground into a small culvert, 18 inches deep. Other Marines piled in to help, terribly exposed to fire, shocked that their leader had fallen. By some miracle, no Marines were shot as they gently stripped their captain's gear free and applied battle dressings. Maybe it was Griego's crew pounding the ambush position. Maybe one brave Marine—and another's hands, and another's legs, and 30 Iraqi lives—was all the war required that day.

A press release would be drafted reading: "Captain Scott Morel was killed while conducting security operations in the Al Anbar Province, Iraq." It would be sent after the personal notification of his wife by the casualty assistance team.

"I thought about Capt. Morel a lot," says Michael Mendoza, who was sent spinning by a rocket-propelled grenade that exploded at his feet as he crested the final berm. "What we could have done differently. Could he still be alive if we said, 'Sir! Stop!'? Maybe others wouldn't be. We don't know."

From: Owen West
Subject: Dispatches from Fallujai

         In the United States, we've become so accustomed to high-tech weaponry, so assured of our own power, that we've become blind to who actually does the fighting and dying. Bomb-mounted cameras were the stars of Operation Desert Storm. Special Operations soldiers directing airstrikes with lasers were the stars of Operation Enduring Freedom. Jessica Lynch and invisible weapons of mass destruction were the stars of Operation Iraqi Freedom I. In Operation Iraqi Freedom II, however, the protagonists are throwbacks: Infantrymen. Twenty year old men who hunt other men with rifles. The problem is that unless that place of the American rifleman can be taken by his Iraqi counterpart, this war is not winnable.

           The biggest mistake of Operation Iraqi Freedom I, was not the decision to send young men and women into the breach to remove a despot who possessed illegal weapons. As it turns out, he did not. Yet Saddam managed to convince everyone… the Bush’s, the Clintons, John Kerry, France, the New York Times… that he had them. Even Saddam's own soldiers thought he would employ them. Here at 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, they tell the story of enemy soldiers snared in the initial invasion who were carrying gas masks. When asked if they really thought the United States would employ chemicals, the Iraqis responded, "United States? We're worried about Saddam firing them at you."

         The biggest mistake of the war was disbanding the Iraqi army and subsequently disenfranchising the Sunnis. Iraq did not have a large recruiting pool of bona fide warriors to begin with. This is a skittish population that has practiced acquiescence for 25 years. To toss those few Iraqis who actually relished the duty of soldiering out onto the street with no paycheck was to hand them over to the other side. Now we're struggling to find other men willing to grab AK-47s, level their sights on Iraqi insurgents hell-bent on killing them, and pull their own triggers.

         It's proved difficult thus far. When an American-trained Iraqi battalion was dispatched to Fallujah in April to aid the Marines in their attack, the unit crumbled and then imploded. Word is that the new battalions are looking better, but we won't know until they taste the despicable ultraviolence our soldiers and Marines have been swallowing for a year now. The sad truth is that Iraq's warrior class is already fighting for the other side. Let's hope that we can overcome a tepid martial spirit with good pay, good benefits, and a vision of a free Iraq that will be dependent on deep personal sacrifice at the outset.

             Who are we looking for? Let's take a look at the infantrymen of 1st Recon Battalion. They have volunteered three times—for the Marines, for infantry, for recon—so that they might one day end up in a place like Fallujah, where they could serve their country and test themselves in the ultimate crucible. That may sound insane for most.

           According to the military historian John Keegan, infantrymen are a different breed. They rarely question orders; to do so in battle can mean death. Their definition of self-worth hinges on the opinion of their peers. The only recognition they seek is from each other. No one else understands the acidic mania that eats away at them if other riflemen are fighting battles from which they've been excluded.

           They hail from across the socio-economic spectrum, tilting toward the middle class. Don't dare imply, as Michael Moore and others do, that they're here because they had no other options. Even the poorest of them—especially the poorest—will immediately let you know that he's here because he, too, felt that patriotic call of the wild. To pity these men is to spit on them.

          Their worldview trends toward action. As the operations officer for 1st Recon, Maj. Brian Gilman, puts it, "Marines get restless if they're sitting around for more than two days. They're happiest out on patrol." What of the inherent dangers? "Well," he says, "you don't really think about that side of it. You just focus on the next mission."

           They hate politics. They don't question their value in Iraq. They never fire first. They're here because they were sent here, and they're killing insurgents because insurgents are doing everything they can to kill them. It's a black-and-white world.

           This morning Bravo Company rolled outside the gates of the compound and headed toward a Fallujah suburb. Their mission: to locate and destroy enemy mortar men who have been harassing a brother infantry battalion for a week now. In their ranks were several Iraqi soldiers on loan from an Iraqi general-turned-contractor.

           Children smiled and waved, chirping, "Mistah! Mistah!" as they always do. Men either ignored them or tossed venomous stares down-range, as they always do. Marines are associated with death. If they stop the patrol, it's best to go inside.
          When the vehicles reached the edge of bad-guy country, where improvised explosive devices can flip a vehicle and end a life in a heartbeat, they slowed to 10 mph, scanning the side of the road with their optics. Their posture was aggressive. It was clear that if an insurgent decided to detonate a bomb, he had better be ready for a fight afterward.

          An hour later, they had their first bomb discovery: a fat, encased explosive buried under a hump of sand. It was a particularly satisfying removal; each bomb destroyed is another brother soldier or Marine saved. On its face, approaching roadside bombs is insane. What if it detonates as they are de-arming it? Why don't they call the experts—explosive ordnance disposal—and wait for them to arrive? Time, they said. They still had mortar men to hunt.

          Then it was the Iraqis' turn to contribute. They spotted two burn marks on the side of the road. They claimed they were signposts for a weapons cache. They were right. The whole country is a giant ammunition dump, but it was an encouraging sign, Iraqis and Marines working together in the hinterland.

          But what would happen when the shooting started? Would the Iraqis follow the cool-headed examples of Cpl. Eddie Wright and Sgt. Leandro Baptista?

          Though he had lost both hands in the RPG ambush on April 7, Cpl. Wright was able to calmly correct his buddies when they tied faulty tourniquets to his dripping arms. Satisfied that they were holding, he then asked if there was anything he could do to help in the fight.

                After the fire petered out that day, Sgt. Baptista was tasked with leading a three-man team back across the ambush area in search of lost Marines. The Marines in question were actually safe on the road, but Baptista did not know that. He negotiated the long obstacle course that Capt. Brent Morel had sprinted that day. Approaching the ambush site, Baptista noticed an IED. Without regard for himself, he sprinted up and yanked the detonator free. It was the third IED in three months that he had de-armed by hand.

Cresting the berm, Baptista saw 11 Iraqi fighters crouching on the other side, 20 meters away. Baptista directed his two Marines to shoot the six to his right. He then dispatched those on his left.

Baptista, Morel, and Wright were fighting on instinct that day. Here's hoping that the Iraqis will fight as hard with their own country in

the balance!

         There I was at six thousand feet over central Iraq, two hundred eighty knots and we're dropping faster than Paris Hilton's panties.   It's a typical September evening in the Persian Gulf; hotter than a rectal thermometer and I'm sweating like a priest at a Cub Scout meeting..
 
                          But that's neither here nor there. 

     The night is moonless over Baghdad tonight, and blacker than a Steven King novel.   But it's 2004, folks, and I'm sporting the latest in night-combat technology.   Namely, hand-me-down night vision goggles (NVGs) thrown out by the fighter boys.   Additionally, my 1962 Lockheed C-130E Hercules is equipped with an obsolete, yet, semi-effective missile warning system (MWS).  The MWS conveniently makes a nice soothing tone in your headset just before the missile explodes into your airplane.  Who says you can't polish a turd?   At any rate, the NVGs are illuminating Baghdad International Airport like the Las Vegas Strip during a Mike Tyson fight.   These NVGs are the cat's ass.  But I've digressed.

    The preferred method of approach tonight is the random shallow.  This tactical maneuver allows the pilot to ingress the landing zone in an unpredictable manner, thus exploiting the supposedly secured perimeter of the airfield in an attempt to avoid enemy surface-to-air-missiles and small arms fire.  Personally, I wouldn't bet my pink ass on that theory but
the approach is fun as hell and that's the real reason we fly it.
 
We get a visual on the runway at three miles out, drop down to one thousand feet above the ground, still maintaining two hundred eighty knots.  Now the fun starts.  It's pilot appreciation time as I descend the mighty Herk to six hundred feet and smoothly, yet very deliberately, yank into a sixty degree left bank, turning the aircraft ninety degrees offset from runway heading.  As soon as we roll out of the turn, I reverse turn to the right a full two hundred seventy degrees in order to roll out aligned with the runway.  Some aeronautical genius coined this maneuver the " Ninety/ Two-Seventy." Chopping the power during the turn, I pull back on the yoke just to the point my nether regions start to sag, bleeding off energy in order to configure the pig for landing.
 
"Flaps Fifty, Landing Gear Down, Before Landing Checklist!" I look over at the copilot and he's shaking like a cat shitting on a sheet of ice. Looking further back at the navigator, and even through the NVGs, I can clearly see the wet spot spreading around his crotch.  Finally, I glance at my steely-eyed flight engineer.  His eyebrows rise in unison as a grin forms on his face.  I can tell he's thinking the same thing I am.  "Where do we find such fine young men?" "Flaps One Hundred!" I bark at the shaking cat.

         Now it's all aimpoint and airspeed.  Aviation 101, with the exception there's no lights, I'm on NVGs, it's Baghdad, and now tracers are starting to crisscross the black sky.
 
Naturally, and not at all surprisingly, I grease the Goodyear's on brick-one of runway 33 left, bring the throttles to ground idle and then force the props to full reverse pitch. Tonight, the sound of freedom is my four Hamilton Standard propellers chewing through the thick, putrid, Baghdad air.

The huge, one hundred thirty thousand pound, lumbering whisper pig comes to a lurching stop in less than two thousand feet.  Let's see a Viper do that!
 
We exit the runway to a welcoming committee of government issued Army grunts.  It's time to download their beans and bullets and letters from their sweethearts, look for war booty, and of course, urinate on Saddam's home.
 
Walking down the crew entry steps with my lowest-bidder, Beretta 92F, 9 millimeter strapped smartly to my side, I look around and thank God, not Allah, I'm an American and I'm on the winning team.  Then I thank God                   I'm not in the Army.

Knowing once again I've cheated death, I ask myself, "What in the hell am I doing in this mess?" Is it Duty, Honor, and Country?   You bet your ass!
 
Or could it possibly be for the glory, the swag, and not to mention, chicks dig the Air Medal.  There's probably some truth there too.  But now is not the time to derive the complexities of the superior, cerebral properties of the human portion of the aviator-man-machine model.  It is however, time to get out of this shit-hole . "Hey copilot clean yourself up!  And how's 'bout the 'Before Starting Engines Checklist."

 
                                            God, I love this job!
 
Joel Richard Owens, Lt Col, USAF

173rd Airborne Brigade      0ur New England Veterans

~Group~

 Stars and Stripes
European edition,

Special setup at Hohenfels helps soldiers train for deployments to mountainous regions.

               HOHENFELS, Germany — Nature takes thousands, even millions, of years to form caves. At the Army’s Combat Maneuver Training Center in Hohenfels recently, it took just four months.

               The center’s staff constructed four caves up to 100 feet long. Planning began in June, and construction on all four caves was complete by Sept. 15.

         The center continuously works to improve its training facilities. That includes its urban warfare training villages, where soldier and civilian role-players from the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment at Hohenfels buy furniture and other items at garage sales and flea markets to add to the authenticity, said Lt. Col. Darin Blancett, deputy operations officer for CMTC Command Group.

           While the urban training sites replicate villages in theaters such as Afghanistan, operating in an urban environment is not the only concern.

           “USAREUR has been deployed to locations like [Afghanistan], and [U.S. Army Europe commander] Gen. [B.B.] Bell directed that we replicate these environments — not specifically for Operation Enduring Freedom, but for any location where soldiers may need cave-clearing skills,” Blancett said.

          Although the center based its caves somewhat on the model of manmade caves at the National  Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif., the caves in Hohenfels are much more elaborate. The design had to be tweaked to match the terrain and climate of Hohenfels.

        At a cost of $541,000, the caves were made with pieces of 5-inch-thick concrete sewage pipe that range in diameter from about 5 feet to 6 feet, according to Knut Ogaard, master planner for the center who came up with the original design of the caves.

        The insides of the caves were painted in earth tones with a stucco effect that creates a texture similar to natural cave walls, Blancett said.

             Numerous escape hatches with manhole covers were built into the caves to provide easy exit access for soldiers in case of an emergency, Ogaard said.

             The caves twist and turn with several openings inside the caves that lead to dead ends.

            “We put in dividers, because natural caves are not a straight shot; you have to maneuver around in them,” Ogaard said. “The dividers help with the training because someone could be hiding behind one of them.”

                 Opposing forces will likely be hiding in the caves and stockpiling weapons that units must find as part of the cave-clearing training, Blancett said.

           A company from the 173rd Airborne used the caves for training on Monday, said Sgt. 1st Class Eric Volk, an observer-controller from the training area.

             “They can use any means available to provide light in the cave,” Volk said. “Some will use flashlights, others use [night-vision goggles]. They may want to limit the number of flashlights they use in case an enemy is waiting for them inside the cave.”

            Volk added that observing the trainees in the cave is no more difficult than observing their training in the buildings and on the streets of the mock villages.

             “One observer will already be in the cave, and another follows the soldiers in to observe how they enter the cave,” Volk said.

             For units such as The 82nd airborne and the 173rd Airborne Brigades,

which deploy to Afghanistan next spring, the manmade caves in the training area could save lives.

             “It is better that they practice clearing a cave here under these conditions than encounter it for the first time downrange,” Blancett said.

“We are proud to have served with the Best Unit of Sky Soldiers in the Republic 0f Vietnam. Any Veteran from Our Era knows of Struggles and hardships in conforming to an Unfriendly society, so we are happy to hold our own when it comes to our Brother Veterans and                  

           Carrying on the Tradition of Remembrance to those Brothers is our

       Only destiny. Your individual efforts give us a sense of satisfaction and a

Brotherhood like nothing else in this world.                                    

Ricr0c ~

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