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1.5 million Americans have served in Iraq and Afghanistan

In combat and at home, they've faced serious problems - from serious shortages of equipment to long waits for counseling. Click on the links to learn more on the following topics:

Mental Health Problems among Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans

Veterans Waiting for Care and Benefits

Traumatic Brain Injury

A New GI Bill:

Rebuilding Troop Strength By Providing an Affordable Education for Veterans

Honoring the Fallen

A Broken Military: Iraq War Threatens Readiness

Better Health Care for National Guardsmen and Reservists

Coming Home: Education, Employment and Homeless among

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On each page, you'll find a quick, easy-to-read summary of the issue, plus links to download our more comprehensive report on each issue. These IAVA reports are fully sourced and regularly updated.

Mental Health Problems Among Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans

Veterans Waiting for Care and Benefits

Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI, is the signature wound of the Iraq War. For troops near a grenade attack or roadside bomb, the blast can cause the brain to hit the inside of the skull - leading to vision problems, hearing or speech problems, dizziness and memory loss.

A New GI Bill: Rebuilding Troop Strength By Providing an Affordable Education for Veterans

Honoring the Fallen

A Broken Military: Iraq War Threatens Readiness

Better Health Care Coverage for National Guardsmen and Reservists

Wounded veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are waiting months for medical appointments and disability claims processing. In some cases, the waits have stretched into years. Veterans with serious mental health problems have committed suicide waiting for emergency counseling, and injured veterans unable to work have fallen into debt awaiting government compensation for their injuries.

Since 2001, 1.5 million American service members have served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As of June 2007, about 26,000 troops were serving in Afghanistan and 154,000 troops were serving in Iraq. The forces currently in Iraq or deploying in the next few months represent half of the Army's combat brigades.

According to military experts from General Colin Powell to former Defense Secretary Lawrence Korb, years of war and the current "surge" in Iraq have pushed our military to the breaking point. Retired Major General Robert Scales has said simply, "We're running out of soldiers faster than we're running out of warfighting missions." And General Peter Schoomaker, the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, warns:

While our Soldiers are responding with extraordinary commitment, particularly in the face of adversity and personal hardships, we cannot allow this condition to persist.

In recent weeks the shortfalls have become apparent even within Iraq. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, who commands US troops in northern Iraq, has admitted he does not have enough troops to complete missions in Diyala.

Facing serious problems with recruitment, the military has been forced to lower age, education, and aptitude standards for new recruits, as well as increase enlistment bonuses. The costs of retention have sky-rocketed. The military has also held 70,000 troops on active duty beyond their expected contract end-dates and has called up more than 10,000 veterans who have not put on a uniform in years.

The military now regularly requires troops to serve multiple, extended combat tours. Over 449,000 troops have served more than one combat tour, and many have returned to war with only a few months rest. Active-duty Army combat tours are now 15 months long, with only half the recommended "dwell time" at home between tours. According to an Army survey, "soldiers are 50 percent more likely" to suffer from a mental health problem if they serve multiple tours. For more information about the mental health effects of war, see the IAVA report: "Mental Health Problems among Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans."

Equipment shortages are also a serious issue, contributing to the plummeting readiness ratings of Army and Marine units. As of September 2006, "Roughly one-half of all Army units (deployed and non-deployed, active and reserves) receive the lowest readiness rating any fully formed unit can receive."

The overuse of the Guard and Reserve are threatening our ability to cope with domestic emergencies. About four-fifths of Army Guard and Reserve units not mobilized received the lowest possible readiness rating. State officials have expressed grave concerns about the damage done to our national security. As Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius said after her state was devastated by tornados:

Fifty percent of our trucks are gone. Our front loaders are gone. We are missing Humvees that move people. We can't borrow them from other states because their equipment is gone.

It's a huge issue for states across the country.

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Iraq: What Went Right

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The New York Post

By Ralph Peters

November 21, 2007

The situation in Iraq has improved so rapidly that Democrats now shun the topic as thoroughly as they shun our troops when the cameras aren't around.

Yes, Iraq could still slip back into reverse gear. And no, we're not going to get a perfect outcome. But the positive indicators are now so strong that the left's defeatist lies are losing traction among the American people.

Attacks of every kind are down by at least half - in some cases by more than three-quarters. A wounded country's struggling back to health. And our mortal enemies, al Qaeda's terrorists, have suffered a defeat from which they may never fully recover: They've lost street cred.
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Our dead and wounded have not bled in vain.

What happened? How did this startling turnabout come to pass? Why does the good news continue to compound?

Some of the reasons are widely known, but others have been missed. Here are the "big five" reasons for the shift from near-failure to growing success:

We didn't quit: Even as some of us began to suspect that Iraqi society was hopelessly sick, our troops stood to and did their duty bravely. The tenacity of our soldiers and Marines in the face of mortal enemies in Iraq and blithe traitors at home is the No. 1 reason why Iraq has turned around.

Without their valor and sacrifice, nothing else would've mattered. Key leaders were courageous, too - men such as now-Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno. Big Ray was pilloried in our media for being too warlike, too aggressive and just too damned tough on our enemies.

Well, the Ray Odiernos, not the hearts-and-minds crowd, held the line against evil. Only by hammering our enemies year after year were we able to convince them that we couldn't - and wouldn't - be beaten. If the press wronged any single man or woman in uniform, it was Odierno - thank God he was promoted and stayed in the fight.

Gen. David Petraeus took command: Petraeus brought three vital qualities to our effort: He wants to win, not just keep the lid on the pot; he never stops learning and adapting, and he provides top-cover for innovative subordinates.

By late 2006, mid-level commanders were already seizing opportunities to draw former enemies into an alliance against al Qaeda. Petraeus saw the potential for a strategic shift.

He ignored the naysayers and supported what worked.

Oh, and under Petraeus our troops have been relentless in their pursuit of our enemies. Contrary to the myths of the left, peace can only be built over the corpses of evil men.

The surge: While the increase in troop numbers was important, allowing us to consolidate gains in neighborhoods we'd rid of terrorists and insurgents, the psychological effect of the surge was crucial.

Pre-surge, our enemies were convinced they were winning - they monitored our media, which assured them that America would quit. Sorry, Muqtada - that's what you get for believing The New York Times.

The message sent by the surge was that we not only wouldn't quit, but also were upping the ante. It stunned our enemies - while giving Sunni Arabs disenchanted with al Qaeda the confidence to flip to our side without fear of abandonment.

Fanatical enemies: We lucked out when al Qaeda declared Iraq the central front in its war against civilization. Our monstrous foes alienated their local allies so utterly that al Qaeda in Iraq is now largely a spent force - the hunted, not the hunters. The terrorists have suffered a strategic humiliation.

Religious fanatics always overdo their savagery - but you can't predict the alienation time-line. Al Qaeda's blood-thirst accelerated the process, helping us immensely.

The Iraqis are sick of bloodshed and destruction: This is the least-recognized factor - but it's critical. We still don't fully understand the mechanics of black-to-white mood shifts in populations, but such transitions determine strategic outcomes.

What we do know is that, when tyrannical regimes collapse in artificial states such as Iraq (or the former Yugoslavia), a lot of pent-up grudges play out violently. People seem to need to get suppressed hatreds out of their systems.

The peace-through-exhaustion mood swing happened abruptly in Iraq. Suddenly, the people have had their fill of gunmen and gangsters who claim to be their defenders. Heads-down passivity has morphed into active resistance to the terrorists and militias.

We're all sober now, Americans and Iraqis. And peace is built on sobriety, not passion.

As Thanksgiving approaches, consider a vignette from Baghdad:

As part of its campaign to eliminate Iraq's Christian communities, al Qaeda in 2004 bombed St. John's Christian church in Doura, in the city's southern badlands. By last spring, local services had stopped completely.

Our Army's 2nd Battalion of the 12th Infantry stepped up. Under Lt. Col. Stephen Michael (a Newark native), our soldiers methodically cleaned up Doura - no easy or painless task - and aided the reconstruction of the church.

Last week, a grateful congregation returned for a service that was, literally, a resurrection. Fifteen local Muslim sheikhs attended the Mass to support their Christian neighbors. Could there be a more hopeful symbol?

Those long-suffering Iraqi Christians will celebrate Christmas in their neighborhood church this year. "Peace on earth" will mean more to them than mere words in a carol.

As for the grunts of 2-12 Infantry who made it all possible, their motto is "Ducti Amore Patria," or "Having been led by love of country."

On Thanksgiving Day, be thankful for such men.

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Vets With A Mission is announcing its next scheduled

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This humanitarian medical mission team will serve in Da Nang City, Da Nang Province, September 18 - October 3, 2008. We’ll be working out of a medical clinic built by VWAM in 2000. It’s in Hoa Hai Commune near Marble Mountain. Then the team will work for two days in Lien Chieu District at a Red Cross clinic in Hoa Minh and close out our work at a medical clinic in Hoa Ky Cam Le District the last day.

Please note that there is a role for everyone to fill on these humanitarian teams regardless of professional training or lack thereof. You do not have to be a doctor or nurse to participate, and both Vietnam vets and non-vets are welcome J.

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Trip price of $3,299 per person based on double occupancy includes round-trip are from San Francisco (economy-class) and one round-trip air in Vietnam (also economy-class), all hotels in Vietnam with daily breakfast (4 or 5 Star hotels), all airport-hotel-airport and team ground transportation, one dinner, visa and processing.

If you are like most vets, including myself, you have probably thought about returning to Vietnam at some point. I'd be surprised if you said the thought had not crossed your mind at least once. But I know what you're thinking, probably even what you just said, because I've been in your shoes. Only it was about 15 years ago! Many vets are going back for the first time since the war ended. The country is totally transformed and completely different than when we were there back in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s.

During the past seventeen years Vets With A Mission (VWAM) has taken over 1,150 volunteers both vets and non-vets back to that part of the country we all knew to be the Republic of South Vietnam. Most of the veterans have been Marines, Soldiers and Sailors with a few Air Force and Coast Guard. They returned on a "Reconciliation Tour" trip or on a "Mission, Humanitarian Medical, or Project Team" trip. We take primary health care services to the poorest of the poor, build Habitat For Humanity homes, offer medical/health training, or construct small rural health care stations and/or medical clinics/communes in the city.

If you have ever thought about going back to Vietnam there isn't a better way to do it, in my opinion. Then again I'm kind of biased about the whole thing J. I would be happy to put you in touch with any team member who has experienced a trip with us. I still have not had one Vietnam veteran tell me he regretted going back to Vietnam! Many of the vets stay up to another week to visit their old bases or AO's upon completion of the humanitarian work.

Why do we do this? We do it in memory of those who didn't comeback or made the ultimate sacrifice; for the ally our country abandoned; in honor of all who served; for the women, children and elderly; and because it's the right thing to do :-). We were the best and brightest then and continue to be so even today.

If you want to see Vietnam during peace instead of war, and do something that will bring a smile to your face and a sense of satisfaction, you may want to consider this fall 2008 humanitarian medical team trip to Da Nang. You can participate on a planned team trip as an individual or one can be tailored to a group of vets like some of your buddies or a former unit. Please don't hesitate to contact me for additional information or to be placed on our mailing list. You can do this by forwarding your POB or street address.

I want to "thank you" for your service in Vietnam should you be a vet during the "American War," as the Vietnamese call it. I can say without reservation that should you decide to go over with us, you will not regret the experience. That goes for those of you who are non-vets. It is a great trip and experience. Please don’t hesitate to contact me for any additional information or with your questions...

"Chuck"

From: Chuck Ward

USNR, B549649, Attack Squadron One Ninety-Five (VA-195) the "Dambusters," USS Oriskany '69, USS Kitty Hawk & Da Nang (Republic of South Vietnam) '70-'71, Kitty Hawk again spring '72.

PS: The next available trip after this 2008 Da Nang team trip is one to Dong Ha, Quang Tri Province, September 17 – October 2, 2009.

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On Sunday, December 7th, 1941 the Japanese launched a surprise attack against the U.S. Forces stationed at Pearl Harbor , Hawaii .

By planning his attack on a Sunday, the Japanese commander Admi ral Nagumo, hoped to catch the entire fleet in port. As luck would have it, the Aircraft Carriers and one of the Battleships were not in port.

(The USS Enterprise was returning from Wake Island, where it had just delivered some aircraft… The USS Lexington was ferrying aircraft to Midway, and the USS Saratoga and USS Colorado were undergoing repairs in the United States.)

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In spite of the latest intelligence reports about the missing aircraft carriers (his most important targets), Admiral Nagumo decided to continue the attack with his force of six carriers and 423 aircraft. At a range of 230 miles north of Oahu, he launched the first wave of a two-wave attack. Beginning at 0600 hours his first wave consisted of 183 fighters and torpedo bombers which struck at the fleet in Pearl Harbor and the airfields in Hickam, Kaneohe and Ewa. The second strike, launched at 0715 hours, consisted of 167 aircraft, which again struck at the same targets.

At 0753 hours the first wave consisting of 40 Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" torpedo bombers, 51 Aichi D3A1 "Val" dive bombers, 50 high altitude bombers and 43 Zeros struck airfields and Pearl Harbor Within the next hour, the second wave arrived and continued the attack.

When it was over, Carrier1.gif (18867 bytes) the U.S. losses were:

Casualties
USA : 218 KIA, 364 WIA.
USN: 2,008 KIA, 710 WIA.
USMC: 109 KIA, 69 WIA.
Civilians: 68 KIA, 35 WIA.
TOTAL: 2,403 KIA, 1,178 WIA.

Battleships
USS Arizona (BB-39) - total loss when a bomb hit her magazine.
USS Oklahoma (BB-37) - Total loss when she capsized and sunk in the harbor.
USS California (BB-44) - Sunk at her berth. Later raised and repaired.
USS West Virginia (BB-48) - Sunk at her berth. Later raised and repaired.
USS Nevada - (BB-36) Beached to prevent sinking. Later repaired.
USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) - Light damage.
USS Maryland (BB-46) - Light damage.
USS Tennessee (BB-43) Light damage.
USS Utah (AG-16) - (former battleship used as a target) - Sunk.

Cruisers USS New Orleans (CA-32) - Light Damage.
USS San Francisco (CA38) - Light Damage.
USS Detroit (CL-8) - Light Damage.
USS Raleigh (CL-7) - Heavily damaged but repaired.
USS Helena (CL-50) - Light Damage.
USS Honolulu (CL-48) - Light Damage.

Destroyers
USS Downes (DD-375) - Destroyed. Parts salvaged.
USS Cassin - (DD-37 2) Destroyed. Parts salvaged.
USS Shaw (DD-373) - Very heavy damage.
USS Helm (DD-388) - Light Damage.

Minelayer
USS Ogala (CM-4) - Sunk but later raised and repaired.

Seaplane Tender
USS Curtiss (AV-4) - Severely damaged but later repaired.

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Repair Ship
USS Vestal (AR-4) - Severely damaged but later repaired.

Harbor Tug
USS Sotoyomo (YT-9) - Sunk but later raised and repaired.

Aircraft
188 Aircraft destroyed (92 USN and 92 U.S. Army Air Corps.)

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Have you begun to question the ruler`s regime ?

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Reflect on their actions

and admit Them to blame ?

Subject: FW: Iraq War--Other Facts U Need to Know…

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 a total of 3,140 soldiers. As tragic as the loss of any soldier is, consider this: below is a list of deaths of soldiers while actively serving in the armed forces from 1980 through 2004:

FIGURES ARE CONFIRMED ON DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE WEBSITE

1980      2,392

1981      2,380

1982     2,319

1983     2,465

1984     1,999

1985     2,252

1986     1,984

1987     1,983

1988     1,819

1989     1,636

1990     1,507

1991      1,787

1992     1,293

1993     1,213

1994     1,075

1995     1,040

1996        974

1997        817

1998        827

1999        796

2000      758

2001       891

2002      999

2003    1,410        534*

2004    1,887      900*

2005       919*

2006      920*

*Figures are Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom
fatalities only

NC.jpg (1914 bytes) Does this really mean that the loss from the two current conflict in
the Middle East are LESS than the loss of military personnel during King
Clinton's presidency? Were we at war?

Now, are you confused when you look at these figures? I was. Especially
when I saw that in 1980, during the reign of President "Nobel Peace
Prize" himself, there were 2,392 military fatalities of U.S. soldiers.

What this clearly indicates is that our media and our liberal
politicians pick and choose. They choose NOT to present the facts.

Another fact our left media and politicians like to slant is that
these brave men and women losing their lives are minorities. The latest
census shows the following:

European descent (white)    69.12%

Hispanic                            12.5%

African American               12.3%

Asian                                  3.7%

Native American                  1.0%

Other                                  2.6%

Now, the fatalities over the past three years in Iraqi Freedom are:

European descent (white)    74.31%

Hispanic                            10.74%

African American               9.67%

Asian                                  1.81%

Native American                  1.09%

Other                                 2.33%

The next time you are subject to left-wing propaganda, you are equipped
with the facts. Pass the facts on.

For all that has happened…

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there must be a cause,

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To find it ... aniflag.gif (17089 bytes) the answer,

We can’t sit back and pause.

Somehow America has become a country that projects everything that it is not and condemns everything that it is.

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Something like that.

Somehow we were sent to invade a nation because it was a direct threat to the American people, or to the world, or harbored terrorists, or was involved in the September 11 attacks, or received weapons-grade uranium from Niger, or had mobile weapons labs, or WMD, or had a need to be liberated, or we needed to establish a democracy, or stop an insurgency, or stop a civil war we created that can’t be called a civil war even though it is.

Somehow our elected leaders were subverting international law and humanity by setting up secret prisons around the world, secretly kidnapping people, secretly holding them indefinitely, secretly not charging them with anything, secretly torturing them. Somehow that overt policy of torture became the fault of a few “bad apples” in the military.

Somehow back at home, support for the soldiers meant having a five-year-old kindergartener scribble a picture with crayons and send it overseas, or slapping stickers on cars, or lobbying Congress for an extra pad in a helmet. It’s interesting that a soldier on his third or fourth tour should care about a drawing from a five-year-old; or a faded sticker on a car as his friends die around him; or an extra pad in a helmet, as if it will protect him when an IED throws his vehicle 50 feet into the air as his body comes apart and his skin melts to the seat.

Somehow the more soldiers that die, the more legitimate the illegal invasion becomes.

Somehow American leadership, whose only credit is lying to its people and illegally invading a nation, has been allowed to steal the courage, virtue and honor of its soldiers on the ground.

Somehow those afraid to fight an illegal invasion decades ago are allowed to send soldiers to die for an illegal invasion they started.

Somehow faking character, virtue and strength is tolerated.

Somehow profiting from tragedy and horror is tolerated.

Somehow the death of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people is tolerated.

Somehow subversion of the Bill of Rights and The Constitution is tolerated.

Somehow suspension of Habeas Corpus is supposed to keep this country safe.

Somehow torture is tolerated.

Somehow lying is tolerated.

Somehow reason is being discarded for faith, dogma, and nonsense.

Somehow American leadership managed to create a more dangerous world.

Somehow a narrative is more important than reality.

Somehow the most reasonable, trusted and respected country in the world has become one of the most irrational, belligerent, feared, and distrusted countries in the world.

Somehow being politically informed, diligent, and skeptical has been replaced by apathy through active ignorance.

Somehow the same incompetent, narcissistic, virtueless, vacuous, malicious criminals are still in charge of this country.

Somehow this is tolerated.

Somehow nobody is accountable for this.

In a democracy, the policy of the leaders is the policy of the people. So don’t be shocked when our grandkids bury much of this generation as traitors to the nation, to the world and to humanity. Most likely, they will come to know that “somehow” was nurtured by fear, insecurity and indifference, leaving the country vulnerable to unchecked, unchallenged parasites.

Luckily this country is still a democracy. People still have a voice. People still can take action.

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Feel what you’re thinking

investigate all.

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Think what you’re feeling

"YOU WORRY ME!"
   By: American Airlines Pilot - Captain John Maniscalco

         I've been trying to say this since 9-11, but you worry me. I wish you didn't.
I wish when I walked down the streets of this country that I love, that your
color and culture still blended with the beautiful human landscape we enjoy in
this country. But you don't blend in anymore. I notice you, and it worries me.
         I notice you because I can't help it anymore.
        People from your homelands, professing to be Muslims, have been attacking and
killing my fellow citizens and our friends for more than 20 years now. I don't
fully understand their grievances and hate, but I know that nothing can justify
the inhumanity of their attacks.
        On September 11, nineteen ARAB-MUSLIMS hijacked four jetliners in my country.
          They cut the throats of women in front of children and brutally stabbed to death
others. They took control of those planes and crashed them into buildings
killing thousands of proud fathers, loving sons, wise grandparents, elegant
daughters, best friends, favorite coaches, fearless public servants, and
children's mothers.

         The Palestinians Celebrated and the Iraqis were overjoyed, as was most of the Arab
world. So, I notice you now. I don't want to be worried. I don't want to be
consumed by the same rage and hate and prejudice that has destroyed the soul of
these terrorists. But I need your help. As a rational American, trying to
protect my country and family in an irrational and unsafe world, I must know how
to tell the difference between you, and the Arab/Muslim terrorist.

         How do I differentiate between the true Arab/Muslim-Americans and the
Arab/Muslim terrorists in our communities who are attending our schools,
enjoying our parks, and living in OUR communities under the protection of OUR
constitution, while they plot the next attack that will slaughter these same
good neighbors and children?
         The events of September 11th changed the answer. It is not my responsibility
to determine which of you embraces our great country, with ALL of its religions,
with ALL of its different citizens, with all of its faults. It is time for
every Arab/Muslim in this country to determine it for me.
          I want to know, I demand to know, and I have a right to know, whether or not
you love America. Do you pledge allegiance to its flag? Do you proudly display
it in front of your house, or on your car? Do you pray in your many daily
prayers that Allah will bless this nation, that He will protect and prosper it?
Or do you pray that Allah with destroy it in one of your Jihads?
        Are you thankful for the freedom that only this nation affords?
         A freedom that was paid for by the blood of hundreds of thousands of patriots
who gave their lives for this country? Are you willing to preserve this freedom
by also paying the ultimate sacrifice? Do you love America ?
         If this is your commitment, then I need YOU to start letting ME know about it.
Your Muslim leaders in this nation should be flooding the media at this time
with hard facts on your faith, and what hard actions you are taking as a
community and as a religion to protect the United States of America.
            Please, no more benign overtures of regret for the death of the innocent
because I worry about who you regard as innocent. No more benign overtures of
condemnation for the unprovoked attacks because I worry about what is unprovoked
to you. I am not interested in any more sympathy. I am only interested in
action.
          What will you do for America - our great country - at this time of crisis, at
this time of war?
           I want to see Arab-Muslims waving the AMERICAN flag in the streets. I want to
hear you chanting "Allah Bless America " I want to see young Arab/Muslim men
enlisting in the military. I want to see a commitment of money, time, and
emotion to the victims of this butchering and to this nation as a whole.
          The FBI has a list of over 400 people they want to talk to regarding the WTC
attack. Many of these people live and socialize right now in Muslim
communities.
         You know them. You know where they are. Hand them over to us, now! But I have
seen little even approaching this sort of action. Instead I have seen an
already closed and secretive community close even tighter. You have disappeared
from the streets. You have posted armed security guards at your facilities.
You have threatened lawsuits. You have screamed for protection from reprisals.
         The very few Arab/Muslim representatives that HAVE appeared in the media were
defensive and equivocating.
They seemed more concerned with making sure that the United States proves who
was responsible before taking action. They seemed more concerned with
protecting their fellow Muslims from violence directed towards them in the
United States and abroad than they did with supporting our country and
denouncing "leaders" like Khadafi, Hussein, Farrakhan, and Arafat.

         If the true teachings of Islam proclaim tolerance and peace and love for all
people, then I want chapter and verse from the Koran and statements from popular
Muslim leaders to back it up. What good is it if the teachings in the Koran are
good, and pure, and true, when your "leaders" are teaching fanatical
interpretations, terrorism, and intolerance?
          It matters little how good Islam SHOULD BE if huge numbers of the world's
Muslims interpret the teachings of Mohammed incorrectly and adhere to a
degenerative form of the religion. A form that has been demonstrated to us over
and over again… A form whose structure is built upon a foundation of violence,
death, and suicide…And A form whose members are recruited from the prisons around
the world. A form whose members (some as young as five years old) are seen day
after day, week in and week out, year after a year, marching in the streets
around the world, burning effigies of our presidents, burning the American flag,
shooting weapons into the air. A form whose members convert from a peaceful
religion, only to take up arms against the great United States of America, the
country of their birth. A form whose rules are so twisted, that their traveling
members refuse to show their faces at airport security checkpoints, in the name
of Islam.
        We will NEVER allow the attacks of September 11, or any others for that
matter, to take away that which is so precious to us:

Our rights under the
greatest constitution in the world.
I want to know where every Arab Muslim in this country stands and I think it
is my right and the right of every true citizen of this country to demand it. A
right paid for by the blood of thousands of my brothers and sisters who died
protecting the very constitution that is protecting you and your family. I am
pleading with you to let me know.
I want you here as my brother, my neighbor, my friend, as a fellow American.
But there can be no gray areas or ambivalence regarding your allegiance and it
is up to YOU, to show ME, where YOU stand.

Until then … "YOU WORRY ME!"

grow to stand tall.

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Quick Infantry Advances…

which should close all doors,

Show`in clearly afflictionand to cause so much more.

War	Dates	Served	Battle Deaths	Other Deaths	Wounded
American Revolution	1775 - 1783	217,000	4,435	Unknown	6,188
War of 1812	1812 - 1815	286,730	2,260	Unknown	4,505
Indian Wars	1817 - 1898	106,000	1,000	Unknown	Unknown
Mexican War	1846 - 1848	78,718	1,733	11,550	4,152
Civil War (North)	1861 - 1865	2,213,363	140,414	224,097	281,881
Civil War (South)		1,050,000	74,524	59,297	Unknown
Spanish-American War	1898 - 1902	306,760	385	2,061	1,662
World War I	1917 - 1918	4,734,991	53,402	63,114	204,002
World War II	1940 - 1945	16,112,566	291,557	113,842	671,846
Korean War	1950 - 1953	5,720,000	33,686	20,560	103,284
Vietnam War	1964 - 1975	9,200,000	47,410	42,788	153,303
Gulf War	1990 - 1991	2,322,332	148	1,194	467

Totals		42,348,460	650,954	538,503	1,431,290

aniflag.gif (17089 bytes) The inevitable direction…Heading north to Bagdad,

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Hello All,

I talked to Mathew again today and he sounds great. If I had not known about some of the things he has been through, I would have thought he wasn't hurt at all. It is quite the contrary though. I guess when you are not there with him you tend to think of the best rather then the worst that it could be. I had told of his right leg being blown away and his left foot and ankle and that he had a compound fracture of his right arm. Now that sound traumatic by it's self. Well, talking with his father and Mathew today changes some of the conditions. The legs were like I had been told but the right arm wasn't what I call a compound fracture. In actuality, his right wrist was blown away and they have an "X Fix" installed to keep the
hand attached to the arm. Mathew tells me today that they are getting close to removing the X Fix and putting a plate in there so he will be able to use his fingers. It was brought to my attention that an electric wheel chair would be nice for him to get around in and I found out today that the Army has provided one for him to use for a while but the goal is to get him into a regular wheel chair.

    They want him to get the exercise to help him be more mobile by himself. He will have a wheel chair the rest of his life, I am told. He can not start with the prosthesis until the burns completely heal and they are coming along fine, I am told. I don't want to get any more "detailed" then I have already but he is lucky
he is talking to us today, I think and he seems to know that also.
     He gets together with other patients, like himself, every night and talk. His father told me that all of them are still "all Army" in their talking.

       I guess the bottom line is Mathew is doing great and has his spirits very high with nothing but positive goals in his sights. Airborne Trooper!

    Thanks to all who have sent cards, as they are a good part of his therapy too, I think.

Harvey Lewis

BAMC MAILROOM
PFC Zajac, Mathew Dept 1000
Brooks Army Med Ctr.
3851 Roger Brooks Dr.
Dept. 1000
Fr. Sam Houston, TX 78234-6200

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Change results of the negative with the power of flight.

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We all know the curse...

Agent Orange Still Haunts Vietnam, U.S.

Associated Press | June 15, 2007

DANANG, Vietnam - More than 30 years after the Vietnam War ended, the poisonous legacy of Agent Orange has emerged anew with a scientific study that has found extraordinarily high levels of health-threatening contamination at the former U.S. air base at Danang.

"They're the highest levels I've ever seen in my life," said Thomas Boivin, the scientist who conducted the tests this spring. "If this site were in the U.S. or Canada, it would require significant studies and immediate cleanup."

Soil tests by his firm, Hatfield Consultants of Canada, found levels of dioxin, the highly toxic chemical compound in Agent Orange, that were 300 to 400 times higher than internationally accepted limits.

The report has not yet been released, but Boivin and Vietnamese officials summarized its central findings for The Associated Press.

Earlier tests by Hatfield, which has been working in Vietnam since 1994, showed that dioxin levels were safe across most of Vietnam. But until the study of the old air base at Danang, the consulting firm had never had access to some half-dozen "hotspots" where Agent Orange, a defoliant designed to deny Vietnamese jungle cover, was stored and mixed before being loaded onto planes.

The study is the product of a new spirit of cooperation between Washington and Hanoi - after years of disagreement - toward resolving this contentious leftover of the war that ended in 1975.

On a visit to Vietnam last fall, President Bush and Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet agreed to work together to address dioxin contamination at old Agent Orange storage sites. They are expected to discuss the issue further when Triet visits Washington next week.

The worst contamination in Danang is confined to a small section of the 2,100-acre base, the former Agent Orange mixing area.

The dioxin poses no immediate threat to the vast majority of the city's nearly 1 million people or the Danang International Airport terminal, which sits on the sprawling site and is widely used by tourists headed for Danang's beaches.

But blood tests found elevated dioxin levels in several dozen people who regularly fished or harvested lotus flowers from a contaminated lake on the site.

Tests also confirmed that rainwater has carried dioxin into city drains and into parts of a neighboring community that is home to more than 100,000 people, Boivin said. The levels there are only slightly elevated, but could rise if the dioxin isn't properly contained.

The levels fall off dramatically outside the base, said Charles Bailey, Vietnam representative of the Ford Foundation, which financed Hatfield's study. "Nevertheless, it's a public health threat, and it's a risk."

The United States is paying $400,000 for an engineering study of how to clean up the site. Ford, a New York-based charitable organization, is also paying for temporary containment measures, which will begin this summer, before monsoon season.

For some, though, the effort comes too late.

Nguyen Van Dung, 38, and his family have lived just outside the air base since 1990. Dung used to bring home fish he caught in Lotus Lake.

At about age 2, his daughter began manifesting grotesque health problems.

Now 7, Nguyen Thi Kieu Nhung's shin bones curve sharply and appear to be broken in several places, as though smashed with a hammer. Her right shoulder bone protrudes unnaturally, stretching her skin. She has only two teeth, her right eye bulges from its socket and she has sores on her face. She can't walk; she can only slide around on her rear end.

When her mother, Luu Thi Thu, changes her daughter's shirt, Nhung screams in pain.

"If they had acted before, we wouldn't have been exposed," Thu said. "I'm angry, but I don't know what to do. I go to the pagoda twice a month to pray that my daughter will get better."

Her doctors say she won't.

The Vietnamese military has taken some steps to contain the dioxin, but Le Ke Son, Vietnam's top Agent Orange official, said cleaning up Danang and other Agent Orange hotspots is likely to cost at least $40 million, far more than the developing country can afford.

"We have asked the American side to be more active, not just in doing research into the effects of Agent Orange but in overcoming its consequences," Son said. "Until we resolve this issue, we can't really say that we have truly normalized relations."

The U.S. Congress recently set aside $3 million to address dioxin contamination in Vietnam, and U.S. Ambassador Michael Marine said some of it could be used to help pay for a cleanup.

He said other donors, including the United Nations Development Program, might contribute.

Boivin said the U.S. should take the lead. "There's a real need for the U.S. to step up to the plate here and fund the clean up of these sites," he said.

During the war, U.S. troops stored Agent Orange in 48-gallon barrels at a loading station on the base and diluted it with water before loading it on planes. In the process, the herbicide often spilled onto the ground.

Dioxin attaches itself to dirt and sediment and stays for generations, posing danger to people who touch it. Although not absorbed by crops such as rice, it remains in the fat of fish and other animals that ingest it and can be passed to humans through the food chain.

Rainwater drains across the old mixing area and into Lotus Lake on the northern side of the site, where sediment tests showed dioxin levels 50 times the international limit.

The water sometimes also runs off into a city drain, carrying dioxin with it, Boivin said.

In Thanh Khe district, just over the 3-foot-high wall that surrounds the lake, Hatfield found dioxin levels that were slightly elevated but generally within accepted limits. Levels in a neighborhood three miles away were normal.

The company said blood tests of 55 residents found safe dioxin levels for those who lived away from the base, and elevated levels among those who had regularly visited Lotus Lake.

One had dioxin levels 175 times above the safety limit.

There are no warning signs at the northern edge of the lake, in a lush and wild area by a crowded neighborhood. On a recent day, a man stood at the lake with a fishing rod.

The Danang project marks a significant change in the U.S. attitude toward Agent Orange, said Chuck Searcy of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

"For years, the official U.S. position was basically denial," Searcy said. "Now the U.S. wants to demonstrate that we will consider all possibilities and try to agree on ways to approach this problem."

The findings of the U.S.-funded engineering study, conducted by New Jersey-based BEM Associates, could also be applied to other Agent Orange hotspots, including the former Bien Hoa Air Base in Dong Nai province and the former Phu Cat Air Base in Binh Dinh province.

Vietnam and the United States have long disagreed about Agent Orange's impact on human health.

Vietnam says up to 3 million of its 84 million people have birth defects or other health problems related to dioxin. The United States says the number is much lower and that more scientific study is needed to prove a link to Agent Orange.

The U.S. compensates American war veterans who say they were exposed to Agent Orange if they have certain health problems that have been linked to the herbicide.

A lawsuit seeking compensation from Agent Orange manufacturers, filed by the Vietnam Agent Orange Victims Association, is to be heard by a U.S. appeals court on Monday.

Ambassador Marine said in an interview that the U.S. does not plan to provide direct compensation. But he noted that, on top of the $3 million Congress approved, Washington has spent $43 million since 1989 helping Vietnamese with disabilities, regardless of their causes.

"I think we've made progress in the last couple of years in our joint work to try to understand this issue better and find a constructive way of dealing with it," Marine said.

Some of the U.S. money could go toward caring for people such as Nguyen Thi Trang Ngan, 17.

Ngan's mother, Nguyen Thi Thuy Lieu, grew up next to the base and used to enter it regularly to get candy from the U.S. troops. The family fished in Lotus Lake and drank water from a nearby well.

Now her daughter can't speak, sit up, walk, feed herself or get dressed. She makes strange, uncontrolled grunting sounds and sucks her thumb.

"War always brings suffering," her mother said. "I don't blame anyone for it. This is my fate."

Sometimes, when she comforts Ngan, her daughter laughs. "That's my greatest happiness," Lieu said.

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How do you feel about this issue?
Tell your elected officials what you think.

The subject is BeYond

what the protestors detect,

BunKer ~ Brothers:

I received this note from Ms. Niki Martin, brother of Sky Soldier 1st Sgt. Michael S. Curry, Jr., KIA Afghanistan, in reply to the report I wrote about the memorial service for her brother. Ms. Martin gave me permission to share it with everyone.

Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:10:00 -0500
From: Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
To: rto173d@bellsouth.net

Hello Mr. Smith,

      Thank you so much for attending the Memorial Ceremony for my brother, 1SGT
Michael Curry. For me I don't know which is harder, believing it or accepting
it and sadly I choose not to do either of the two. My emotional roller coaster
won't allow it, so I go on being strong for those that need words of strength,
when in fact I am dying on the inside.

       There were once four children, 3 girls and 1 boy. The boy was undoubtedly Michael. We lost our Mom at the ripe age of 44 (massive heart attack), our dad at 51
(blunt force trauma to the head) due to a car accident, and although life has
never been remotely easy because pain had always been a friend, I never knew
how deep it ran until now.

      Some of the easiest daily things are now the hardest things to even consider
doing. I'm like, what's the point? As I read your letter, I made pause after
pause and repeatedly had to catch a grip. It was amazing how you had never had
the pleasure of meeting Michael nor he you, yet you knew him so well. Michael
was all that and I only say this because it's true.

      Sometimes when we attend funerals we feel the need to pacify the person's image
as to what we feel is appropriate. In some cases the Pastor (?) speaking on
that person's behalf has never even met the guy or gal. I am proud to say that
all you learned about Michael was the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

      I truly enjoyed your letter and my family and I would love to attend the
Sky-Soldiers reunion in 2009. Please keep me informed and again, thank you.

Sincerely,
Niki Martin

Those beyond this illusion

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are there to provide,

The Rape of Europe
By Paul Belien
The German author Henryk M. Broder recently told the Dutch Newspaper "DeVolkskrant" that young Europeans who love Freedom, better emigrate. Europe as we know it will not exist twenty years from now.

While sitting on a terrace in Berlin , Broder pointed to the other customers and the passers-by and said, "We are watching the world of yesterday." Europe is turning Muslim.. As Broder is sixty years old he is not going to emigrate. "I am too old," he said. However, he urged young people to get out and "move to Australia or New Zealand. That is The only option they have if they want to avoid the plagues that will turn the old continent uninhabitable."

Many Germans and Dutch, apparently, did not wait for Broder's advice. The number of emigrants leaving the Netherlands and Germany has already surpassed the number of immigrants moving in. One does not have To be prophetic to predict, like Henryk Broder, that Europe is becoming Islamic.

Just consider the demographics.
- The number of Muslims in Contemporary Europe is estimated to be 50 million.
- It is expected to double in twenty years. By 2025, one third of All European children will be born to Muslim families.
- Today Mohammed is already the most popular name for newborn boys in Brussels , Amsterdam, Rotterdam , and other major European cities.

Broder is convinced that the Europeans are not willing to oppose Islamization. "The dominant ethos," he told De Volkskrant, "is perfectly voiced by the stupid blonde woman author with whom I recently debated. She said that it is sometimes better to let yourself be raped than to risk serious injuries while resisting. She said it is sometimes better to avoid fighting than run the risk of death."

In a recent Op-Ed piece in the Brussels newspaper De Standaard the Dutch(gay and self-declared "humanist") author Oscar Van Den Boogaard refers to Broder's interview. Van den Boogaard says that to him coping with the islamization of Europe is like "a process of mourning." He is overwhelmed by a "feeling of sadness."

"I am not a Warrior," he says, "but who is? I have never learned to fight for my freedom. I was only good at enjoying it." Consider that in all of Europe no one under the age of 65 has picked up arms in defense of their country. That task has been borne by the United States since Hitler surrendered in 1945.

As Tom Bethell wrote in this month's American Spectator: "Just at The most basic level of demography the secular-humanist option is not Working." But there is more to it than the fact that non-religious people tend not to have as many children as religious people, because many of them prefer to "enjoy" freedom rather than renounce it for the sake of children.

Secularists, it seems to me, are also less keen on fighting. Since they do not believe in an afterlife, this life is the only thing they have to lose. Hence they will rather accept submission than fight. Like the German feminist Broder referred to, they prefer to be raped than to resist.

"If faith collapses, civilization goes with it," says Bethell. That is the real cause of the closing of civilization in Europe. Islamization is simply the consequence. The very word Islam means "submission" and the secularists have submitted already. Many Europeans have already become Muslims, though they do not realize it or do not want to admit it.

Some of the people I meet in the U. S. are particularly worried about the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe. They are correct when they fear that anti-Semitism is also on the rise among non-immigrant Europeans. (The latter hate people with a fighting spirit). Contemporary Anti-Semitism in Europe (at least when coming from native Europeans) is related to anti-Americanism. People who are not prepared to resist and are eager to submit, hate others who do not want to submit and are prepared to fight. They hate them because they are afraid that the latter will endanger their lives as well. In their view everyone must submit. This is why they have come to hate Israel and America so much, and the small band of European "Islamophobes" who dare to talk about what they see happening around them. West Europeans have to choose between submission (Islam) or death. I fear, like Broder, that they have chosen submission - just like in former days when they preferred to be Red rather than dead.

Europeans apparently never read John Stuart Mill: "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing is worth a war, is worse."

"A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

GOD BLESS AMERICA

To: Edwards, Jill (student, UW)

Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs

     Miss Edwards, I read of your "student activity" regarding the proposed
memorial to Col. Greg Boyington, USMC and a Medal of Honor winner.  I
suspect you will receive a bellyful of angry e-mails from conservative folks
like me.

You may be too young to appreciate fully the sacrifices of generations of
servicemen and servicewomen on whose shoulders you and your fellow students
stand.  I forgive you for the untutored ways of youth and your naivete.  It
may be that you are, simply, a sheep.  There's no dishonor in being  a
sheep - - as long as you know and accept what you are.

William J. Bennett, in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November
24, 1997 said:  "Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind,
gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident."  We
may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still
remarkably rare.  This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who
are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme
provocation.  They are sheep.

Then there are the wolves and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy.
Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without
mercy?  You better believe it.  There are evil men in this world and they
are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not
so, you become a sheep. There is no
safety in denial.

Then there are sheepdogs and I'm a sheepdog.  I live to protect the flock
and confront the wolf.  If you have no capacity for violence then you are a
healthy productive citizen, a sheep.  If you have a capacity for violence
and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive
sociopath, a wolf.  But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep
love for your fellow citizens?  What do you have then?  A sheepdog, a
warrior, someone who is walking the unchartered path.  Someone who can walk
into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out
unscathed.

We know that the sheep live in denial, that is what makes them sheep. They
do not want to believe that there is evil in the world.   They can accept
the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers,
fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids' schools.
But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed  police
officer in their kid's school.  Our children are thousands of times more
likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but
the sheep's only response to the possibility of violence is denial.  The
idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so
they chose the path of denial.

The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog.  He looks a lot like the wolf.
He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that
the sheepdog must not, can not and will not ever harm the sheep.  Any sheep
dog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and
removed.  The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a
representative democracy or a republic such as ours.  Still, the sheepdog
disturbs the sheep.  He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the
land.  They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go, or give them
traffic  tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports, in camouflage
fatigues, holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog
cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, "Baa."  Until the wolf
shows up. Then the  entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely
sheepdog.

The  students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high
school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had
the time of day for a police officer.  They were not bad kids;  they just
had nothing to say to a cop.  When the school was under attack, however, and
SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to
physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them.

This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at
the door.  Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf
pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt
differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel?
Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog;
it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny
critter:  He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the
breeze, barking at things that go bump in the  night, and yearning for a
righteous battle.  That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous
battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the
sound of the guns when needed, right along with the young ones.

Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently.  The sheep pretend
the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the
attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in
America said, "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes."  The sheepdogs,
the warriors, said, "Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those
planes.  Maybe I could have made a difference."  You want to be able to make
a difference.  There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the
warrior, but he does have one real advantage.  Only one.  And that is that
he is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent
of the population.

There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of
violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory crimes of
violence:  assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers.  The vast
majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language:
slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness.  They chose their
victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd
that is least able to protect itself.  Some people may be destined to be
sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs.  But
I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I'm
proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs.

Seven months after the  attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was
honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey  Todd, as you recall, was
the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert
an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When they learned of
the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd and the
other passengers confronted the terrorist hijackers.  In one hour, a
transformation occurred among the passengers - athletes, business people and
parents --  from sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves,
ultimately saving an unknown number of  lives on the ground.

"There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of
evil men." - Edmund Burke.  Here is the point I like to emphasize,
especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each
year.   In nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep.  Sheepdogs are
born that way, and so are wolves.  They didn't have a choice.

But you are not a critter.  As a human being, you can be whatever you want
to be.  It is a conscious, moral decision.  If you want to be a sheep, then
you can be a  sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you
pay.  When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there
is not a sheepdog there to protect you.  If you want to be a wolf, you can
be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have
rest, safety, trust or love.  But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the
warrior's path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day
to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive
moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.

This business of being a sheep or a sheep dog is not a yes-no dichotomy.  It
is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice.  It is a matter of degrees, a
continuum  On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep and on the other
end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the
other.  Most of us live somewhere in between...

Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away
from denial.  The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating
their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously.
It's ok to be a sheep, but do not kick the sheep dog Indeed, the sheep dog
may just run a little harder, strive to protect a little better and be fully
prepared to pay an ultimate price in battle and spirit with the sheep moving
from "baa" to "thanks".

We do not call for gifts or freedoms beyond our lot.  We just need a small
pat on the head, a smile and a thank you to fill the emotional tank which is
drained  protecting the sheep.  And when "There is no safety for honest men
except by believing all possible evil of evil men." - Edmund Burke.  Here is
the point I like to emphasize, especially to the thousands of police
officers and soldiers I speak to each year.   In nature the sheep, real
sheep, are born as sheep.  Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves.
They didn't have a choice.

And when our number is called by "The Almighty", and day retreats into
night, a small prayer before the heavens just may be in order to say thanks
for letting you continue to be a sheep.  And be grateful for the
thousands - - millions - - of American sheepdogs who permit you the freedom
to express even bad ideas.

"This letter was written by Charles Grennel and his comrades who are veterans of the Global War On Terror. Grennel is an Army Reservist who spent two years in Iraq and was a principal in putting together the first Iraq elections, January of 2005.

It was written to Jill Edwards, a student at the University of Washington who did not want to honor Medal of Honor winner USMC Colonel Greg Boyington.

Ms. Edwards and other students (and faculty) do not think those who serve inthe U.S. armed services are good role models.

“Herd” protection and relief

from the Northern desert side.

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tried it once,

Now we’re trying again.

Should have got him the first time

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Lynch is angry about the portrayal of her rescue

Lynch Slams Rescue 'Lies'

Updated: 16:13, Friday November 07, 2003

US hero Private Jessica Lynch has slammed the American government for exaggerating the account of her 'rescue' from Iraqi captors.

The 20-year-old said "it hurt" for the Pentagon to make claims about the rescue operation that were not true.

And she said it was "wrong" for the US government to use her as a "symbol" for the war.

The outspoken criticism came during an interview on a US news network to promote her book I Am a Soldier Too.

"They used me as a way to symbolise all this stuff," she told the ABC network.

She continued: "It hurt in a way that people would make up stories that they had no truth about."

The slight blonde also said it was wrong for the American military to film the rescue.

The Pentagon initially produced a dramatic account of how Lynch was rescued.

It claimed she had been beaten and stabbed by her Iraqi captors.

"I don't think it happened quite like that," Lynch told ABC.

Sceptics dismissed the original account as wartime propaganda and a BBC documentary alleged the 'rescue' had been staged.

She told ABC she was not involved in any shootout because her rifle had jammed.

Military officials later acknowledged that Lynch wasn't shot, but was hurt after her Humvee utility vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and crashed into another vehicle.

American media reported on Thursday that the book, which will be released in the US on Tuesday, would contain allegations that she was raped by Iraqis.

"Even just the thinking about that, that's too painful," she told ABC.

But this time They’ll Win.

Compensation:

What's a Military Family Worth?

aniflag.gif (17089 bytes) I think the vast differences in compensation between the victims of the September 11th casualty, and those who die serving the country in uniform, are profound. No one is really talking about it either because you just don't criticize anything having to do with September 11th. Well, we just can't let the numbers pass by because it says something really disturbing about the entitlement mentality of this country.

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If you lost a family member in the September 11th attack, you're going to get an average of $1,185,000. The range is a minimum guarantee of $250,000, all the way up to $4.7 million.

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If you are a surviving family member of an American soldier killed in action, the first check you get is a $6,000 direct death benefit, half of which is taxable. Next, you get $1,750 for burial costs. If you are the surviving spouse, you get$833 a monthuntil you remarry. And there's a payment of $211 per month for each child under 18. When the child hits 18, those payments come to a screeching halt.

Now Keep in mind that some people that are getting an average of $1.185 million up to $4.7 million are complaining that it's not enough. We also learned over the weekend that some of the victims from the Oklahoma City bombing have started an organization asking for the same deal that the September 11th families are getting. In addition to that, some of the families of those bombed in the embassies are now asking for compensation as well. You see where this is going, don't you?

Folks, this is part and parcel of over fifty years of entitlement politics in this country. It's just really sad. Don’t forget the UH-60s that were shot down over Iraq by a USAF jet. The American civilians on board were awarded $500,000 and when the families of the 2 Arabs on board found out they also asked for and received $500,000. The max the crewmembers were able to ask for was the $200,000 SGLIthey had paid for.

We hear these lawyers and family members of the deceased asking how the government can put a price tag on their suffering? Hell, the government has been doing that for years. Like the families of the Soldiers that died in Viet Nam, Korea, WWII, and other wars suffered less when they learned their loved ones died in some far away rice paddy.

Give us a FreAkin break.

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Everyone will make a buck off of this except the GI. You’ll never get rich, a digging a ditch,

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your in the Army salute.gif (10908 bytes) now.

(an Interesting perspective and hard to argue with.) Peace 0ut!