26 posts tagged “army”

JP has opened the nominating process for the 3rd Annual Millblog Awards.

Here's the link Milbloggies.

Now go nominate your favorite milblog by service, and/or status.

One Marines View A SoldiersPerspective, This Aint Hell

This is 30 minutes of music and pictures memoralizing over three years of continuous

Friday night gatherings at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington DC.

It has been my honor and a privilege to have been a small part of this trubute to our brave

soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen serving.

Please allow time to view the whole thing and allow as many of your team to see it as possible.

From the DC Chapter of FreeRepublic and the DC Chapter of Protest Warrior please accept our sincere thanks for your service.

Never forget that you are always in our thoughts and prayers.

http://www.military.com/news/article/soldier-gets-silver-for-killing-bomber.html?col=1186032325324

FORT LEWIS, Wash. - It took Sgt. Michael Espejo Jr. a moment to realize that the injured Afghan policeman he was dragging away from a burning truck was no policeman at all.

He had one of the man's arms draped over his shoulder and felt an odd bulk under his Afghan National Police shirt. Some new body armor, maybe?

And then he noticed the wire coming out of the sleeve and the switch device in the man's hand.

A suicide bomber -- in his arms.

"I threw him off of me, and started backing away from him," Espejo recalled Monday.

He and another Soldier took turns falling back and covering each other, yelling at the man in English and in Pashto to put his hands up.

There were four other U.S. Soldiers, a couple of State Department agents and a number of Afghan policemen all within range of the ball bearings, nails or whatever else might come flying out of the bomber's vest.

Espejo kept moving back. The man didn't seem to be all there. And when he started moving his hands together to work the switch, Espejo shot him dead from about 30 yards away.

Coby Dillard is the new State Captian for Virginia Vets for Freedom. He's also a good friend.

On July 9, 2008, Vets for Freedom (VFF) kicked off a nationwide campaign entitled “Four Months For Victory.” This grassroots effort, combined with a $1.5 million media buy, will remind Virginians of the importance of success in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the War on Terror as a whole.

VFF was founded two years ago by combat veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Today, our organization carries membership of 25,000 in all fifty states. The Virginia organization has 350 registered members, as well as countless supporters. We represent the courage, conviction and commitment of the thousands of service members in the Commonwealth, many of whom are still on the front lines working every day to complete their mission-defeating al-Qaeda and Iranian backed militias in Iraq, and helping to stand up a stable, democratic, and allied Iraqi government.

Our country’s strategic victory in Iraq is essential to our national security. A premature withdrawal will have severe consequences and endanger-if not completely end-the progress being made by the Iraqi government and military. Evidence of this progress is seen in the following facts:

§         Civilian casualties in Baghdad have decreased by 90%  since June 2007

§         Overall attacks in Iraq have dropped by 70% since June 2007

§         The month of May 2008 marked an 86% decrease in American casualties as compared to May of 2007 - the lowest since 2003

We are not advocates for an indefinite military presence in Iraq. We know our brave servicemen and women will return home with the honor befitting their service. However, any withdrawal must be done carefully, and as conditions on the ground in Iraq permit. Our service members understand the grave consequences of a hasty withdrawal based on arbitrary timelines, and Virginia Vets for Freedom is their voice in the Commonwealth.

It is important to note that we are not an attack organization, nor are we affiliated with any political campaign or party. Supporting our troops is not a political or partisan issue. We are advocates on only one issue: our nation’s victory and success in the War on Terror. While we will-and should-question those elected officials who do not support this goal, Virginia Vets for Freedom will stand with anyone who is an advocate for our military and their mission.

Our first television ad, "Finish the Job," is airing in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia, and can be viewed at http://www.vetsforfreedom.org/multimedia/details.aspx?id=305. I also invite you to our Virginia webpage, http://www.vetsforfreedom.org/states/VA/. Over the next four months, we will combine additional advertisements with grassroots recruitment and other events. Together, Virginia Vets for Freedom will stand with the people of Virginia to send a clear message to our national leaders: Let Us Win!

Coby W. Dillard

Virginia State Captain

Vets for Freedom

A huge H/T to Tankerbabe for the phone call today telling me about this.

Three of our little group here on Vox have been mentioned and given kudos on Blackfive.

First is Long Island Girl for her pictures of Navy SEAL Mike Murphy's memorial in NY.

Next, Uncle Jimbo has received the BBQ sauce I sent and now we have a Sauce-off between TankerBabe and yours truly. Kev says the sauce isn't that spicy. He's correct. It's not. I want as many people as possible to enjoy it.

Those of you familiar with my sauce will not be surprised by Kev's reaction.

The video is called a Free-Fly and it's two Army buddies shooting the bull about anything and everything.

In this case, it happens to be B.Hussein Mohammed Obama (mama mama help help.)

"We don't have enough troooops"

"NATO is mad at us."

"We don't have enough translators"

BAWWWWAAHAHAHAHHAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

Well,as a matter of published record, the Army has reported that it has met its' recruiting goals, and the Marine Corps reported yesterday that they had met their recruiting goals, FOR THE YEAR!!!!

We have plenty of troops. They may not be in the right place right now, but we ain't hurting for dedicated men and women willing to make the hard choice and give a portion of their life in defense of their country. In all the whining you never hear B.Hussein Muhammed Obama say how appreciative he is for the men and women we do have serving; and for the love of Pete, will you make up your mind about the flag pin. You don't wear it while (obstenibly) doing the country's business for fear of offending your butt buddies in Congress, but you slap it on when you visit the middle of America because you know damn well if you don't, someone will notice. Well, guess what? We noticed. So is it symbolic patriotism, or is it jingoism, or..... hell, I give up.

NATO has troops in Iraq and Aghanistan. Spain doesn't cause they have no balls and folded when AQ set off some bombs and influenced elections. France doesn't because they have no balls, although Sarkozy is looking more and more like DeGaulle lately, so there still may be hope. I doubt they will ever put troops in Iraq or Afghanistan. NATO is pissed, but it ain't at us.

Translators. Don't know, but for the love of Mike, if thats what you think, stop whining and fix it. Offer some incentives to students to becoame translators. Take the ones you do have and put them where they'll do the most good. You're a sitting Senator, you can write a bill.

Yes America, by all means elect this elitist, whining, Muslim with the jingoistic, elitist, seperationist wife to be CIC and the leader of the free world. You deserve it.

My first post as an associate blogger. Its about taxes and the military. Just an idea I had when a buddy of mine who had done two tours, one in the Stan and one in Iraq, had to file his tax return on top of all the other BS paperwork the Army is so fond of finding.

Oh and Michelle has an update on that despicable ad the DNC is running. Seems they can't get enough footage of soldiers being blown up, and you know they only want whats best for the jihadis, er, soldiers. Sorry, Freudian slip

Re-posted from Blackfive via MaryAnn SA Germany

Different But Important: Testicular Cancer

UPDATED & BUMPED

MaryAnn asked me if I would do this post, and I am glad to copy her post here so that the information can get downrange to the troops. Her site is often blocked (Blogspot), and while Blackfive is in some places as well, the thought is that it will reach places her's can't. If anyone else wants to copy this, please feel free to do so as caught early this is a very treatable cancer -- just ask Lance Armstrong. Copy for post, copy to mail, just help get the word downrange.

LW

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2008

Important information about testicular cancer and self-exams

Ok, this is an unusual post. But it's really important because we see quite a few cases of testicular cancer at Landstuhl due to the gender/age group of the patients.

Please help raise awareness about the importance of deployed men doing testicular self-exams.

There's very high awareness for breast cancer and the need for women to carry out self-exams.

However, there's much less awareness about testicular cancer (TC), which is the most common type of cancer affecting guys between the ages of 15 and 35.

Most often, TC is found by men themselves. The thing with being deployed is that you don't want to look like you're playing with yourself in the shower or whatever while checking yourself out. Also, back home, it's often found by wives/girlfriends.

But a monthly self-exam of the testicles is the best way of becoming familiar with your body and thus enabling detection of TC at an early - and highly curable - stage.

Information about self-exams. [http://tcrc.acor.org/tcexam.html]

General information about TC. [http://tcrc.acor.org/index.html]

Important to Know:
- TC has a VERY high cure rate.
- Treatment usually involves removal of the affected testicle and follow up.
- Having one testicle is almost always sufficient to keep everything "working".

Finally, embarassment is a poor excuse for not having things checked out. If you think there is something wrong or something has changed, get your butt to sick call!

Please help by passing this information on to those you know in the sandbox. Thanks.

Update: In the comments Mrs. G shares this cancer prevention tip ;-)

UPDATE: An example is given below the fold, may not be family friendly (especially if you are this idiot & his moronic co-sponsors), can cause Aunt Minnie to blush, palpitations in the susceptible, etc.

Even the ancients checked for testicular cancer, and here we see one having checked himself is keeping a firm grip on his continued good health. Go thou and do likewise.

Check yourself. In fact, if you have a wife or SO, make it a monthly joint check so that you have a future of good health together. Testicular and breast cancer, caught early, have a good range of treatment options.

Image shamelessly stolen from Roger and I have no idea from whence he may have acquired it.

LW