I love people like this, they have the strength of their jackass convictions.

A National Guardsman who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay has sued a woman he tried to rent from, after she told him his war service and her peace activism presented a “conflict of interests” and suggested he seek housing elsewhere — though the Dorchester landlady insists his veteran status “would not impede his chances to rent from us.”

She is lying as the VM the guy has proves. This will hopefully cost her dirty, nasty, patchouli-smelling, wrinkled, hippie ass a bunch of money.

Sgt. Joel Morgan, 29, said the two-bedroom $1,220-a-month Savin Hill apartment that property owner Janice Roberts, 63, showed him in April was perfect. But he claims Roberts told him in an April 9 voicemail that renting to him would be a conflict, saying, “We are very adamant about our beliefs.”

“It just is not going to be comfortable for us without a doubt. It probably would be better for you to look for a place that is a little bit less politically active and controversial,” Roberts told Morgan, according to his complaint. The voicemail was played for the Herald during an interview with Morgan last week at the Boston office of his lawyer, Joseph L. Sulman.

Peace out, Bee-Yotch!

A 9-year-old Massachusetts boy who earned an all-expenses-paid Disney World vacation through an innovative Facebook experiment gave the trip away to the family of a soldier killed in Afghanistan.

Brendan Haas created the "Soldier for a Soldier" Facebook page in February. Inspired by the story of the guy who, through a series of trades, turned a paper clip into a house, Haas started with a toy soldier and eventually traded up to $900 worth of Disney gift certificates, airfare and hotel credits.

On Memorial Day, Haas gave the trip to the family of U.S. Army Lt. Timothy Steele, a 25-year-old soldier killed in Afghanistan last year. According to NBC's WHDH-TV affiliate, Haas pulled the name of Liberty Hope Steele, the fallen soldier's now-2-year-old daughter, out of a hat and surprised the Steele family at their Duxbury, Mass., home.

Go read the rest, watch  the video and have a hanky ready.  Lot’s a dust in the air today.

~McQ

Twitter: @McQandO

A picture of Breanna Bradley Manning on it's own is lame. A picture of him photoshopped to look like he is receiving the Medal of Honor is disgraceful and anyone associated with it should be ashamed. The ass-clown who posted this is not self-aware or decent enough to know this, so a can of medical grade whoop ass is applied by Doc Bailey. I met the Mad Medic at Milblog conf, good dude well putting aside his association with a certain Jonn Lilyea of course.

I'm not even sure where to begin at the level of retardation at this picture.  I'm not even sure where to begin at the level of retardation at this picture. Photoshopping a piss ant Traitor's face onto Leon Petroy as he received the Medal of Honor, is beyond disrespectful it is just plain stupefying. The Nation's highest award for courage "given" to a whiny mopey kid who put nearly all soldiers in the CENTCOM AO in danger, and potentially set back our efforts by months or years. . . That's not to mention all the informants that were named by name. . . Are you S***TING ME?!?!?! People have literally died because of Manning's actions. Not because of direct action, not because he was being attacked, but because he was pissed off that his boyfriend left him. What lives has he saved? Even though the War has gone one, his leaks haven't made anything better if anything his leaks have made things worse. It did not showing us anything we didn't already know. So why is this "heroic"? More than that, this photo shows a complete lack of respect for real life heroes. shoping a piss ant Traitor's face onto Leon Petroy as he received the Medal of Honor, is beyond disrespectful it is just plain stupefying.  The Nation's highest award for courage "given" to a whiny mopey kid who put nearly all soldiers in the CENTCOM AO in danger, and potentially set back our efforts by months or years. . . That's not to mention all the informants that were named by name. . . Are you S***TING ME?!?!?!  People have literally died because of Manning's actions.  Not because of direct action, not because he was being attacked, but because he was pissed off that his boyfriend left him.  What lives has he saved?  Even though the War has gone one, his leaks haven't made anything better if anything his leaks have made things worse.  It did not showing us anything we didn't already know.  So why is this "heroic"?  More than that, this photo shows a complete lack of respect for real life heroes.  

Amen Brother.

One of the most effective groups helping our troops is Spirit of America. They provide vital assistance right at the pointy edge of the spear, getting our warriors the non-war material they need to fight for hearts and minds.

A US Army team told our field rep about two Afghan men that needed help. These men have been going from school to school teaching Afghan children about the threats from IEDs. These men started doing this on their own initiative, without any pay, because they don't want Afghan children to be killed or maimed from IEDs. They are especially effective teachers because both men have lost limbs, finger and toes to IEDs they encountered fighting the soviets. They tell children what these bombs could look like, and that if they see one they have to tell the Afghan police or an American. We have learned that American lives have already been saved due to their efforts. An Afghan child who they spoke to spotted an IED planted at a bridge that US troops used, and reported it to the military. They were able to disable the bomb without loss of life.

These men needed our help because once the Taliban learned of their efforts they immediately targeted them. These two amputees had been traveling around the region by motorbike, which meant they were traveling in the open, and were highly recognizable due to their missing limbs. They didn't want protection, they didn't want someone else to do the job for them, they didn't want to be paid, they just wanted to be able to keep protecting Afghan children. So all they asked for was a car that looked like a taxi so that they could travel anonymously. Using contributions from our donors we purchased it for them. Our field rep Mike Press explains why this project is so important, especially as the U.S. looks to withdraw from Afghanistan.

"They were doing good before but now they can continue doing good. I think that's the best kind of project Spirit of America can do. We helped them but they did it on their own. We're just the catalyst, making sure it continues".

The full story is here.

 

This has really got to stop.

I understand this is an election year.  Once again, though, we have "participants in the program" giving an account to the New York Times of the conditions of the Presidential situation room.  Once again we are left exposed, so that the President can look strong and decisive.

Do you understand what you are doing?  Have you thought this through?  Do you not care about the cost, or have you simply never stopped to consider it?

Medevac crew reacts to dangerous call
June 1, 2012

By Capt. Richard Barker, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs , and SGT Daniel Schroeder, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs. Photo Credit: Navy Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Summer M. Anderson (Photo from 2007)

CAMP DWYER, Afghanistan (June 1, 2012) -- In the midst of combat, acts of valor and bravery are performed so often they are sometimes overlooked. This was almost the case with the story of the Soldiers who rescued Marine Lance Cpl. Winder Perez.

On Jan. 12, 2012, a call was passed over the radios to a medical evacuation, or medevac, crew to rescue a 3-year-old Afghan girl who had suffered from a gunshot wound and shrapnel to the back. After dropping off personnel and equipment from their current mission, they headed back out to the location for pick-up.

Upon contacting the ground crew on the directed frequency, the pick-up location had moved. After verifying the medevac request and landing safely to retrieve the patient, the landing zone controller came over the radio with a loud, frantic voice, "the patient has (unintelligible) unexploded ordnance!"

The patient was no longer the girl, but Perez who had a rocket-propelled grenade embedded in his leg extending to his lower abdomen. The RPG had not detonated yet, meaning the slightest wrong move could set it off.

"That call will be in my mind all my life," said Sgt. Robert Hardisty, a crew chief with C Company, 1st Battalion, 171st Aviation Regiment, New Mexico National Guard, who was attached to 25th Combat Aviation Brigade. "First you land thinking it's a little girl and the next thing it is a Marine with an unexploded RPG embedded in his body."

Spc. Mark Edens, a flight medic with C/1-171, was the first to see the RPG round visible in Perez. At this point the crew had to make a decision.

"Because of the level of danger, if the crew left Perez on the ground and decided not to take him, no one would have ever blamed them. We all would have understood," said Maj. Christopher Holland, C/1-171 commander.

Capt. Kevin Doo, the pilot-in-command for this mission, the pilot of the crew decided they would only take Perez if the entire crew agreed.

"There was no doubt to anyone that we were going to take this Marine and get him the medical attention needed to save his life," said Doo. "When dealing with this, not knowing that any moment could be your last. Eighteen inches from the patient's legs was about 360 gallons of aviation fuel."

The crew transported Perez as quickly as they safely could, landing at Forward Operating Base Edinburgh only 24 minutes from the time the RPG hit Perez.

"After Lance Corporal Perez was loaded on the Black Hawk, it was a total of 11.2 minutes of flight time where every minute felt like an hour," Doo said. "During that time, we were on the radio coordinating with our escorts, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, and medical personnel who were going to treat Perez."

The crew's coordination paid off. The coordination included telling the armed escorts of the medevac helicopter to stay a good distance away for their safety, calling the EOD team to handle the disposal of the RPG, and ensuring medical personnel were aware of and prepared for the situation they were about to handle.

Upon hearing the news of the RPG, the medical team set a plan in motion to properly remove the round as they gathered necessary supplies and met the medevac at the landing zone. When Perez arrived at FOB Edinburgh, he was transported to a safe area to extract the round with only the necessary personnel present.

Lt. Cmdr. James Gennari, department head, Surgical Company B, 2nd Supply Battalion, noticed the wounds Perez received were life threatening. If he had not been transported by the speed of medevac, then he would have died of those wounds.

After removing the round and closing up the wounds, Perez was transported to Bastion Hospital for further care. The same crew who evacuated him from the battlefield were the ones who transported him to the next higher medical facility.

Although the RPG round was now miles away from Perez, other issues arose for him and the crew. His ventilator failed during the flight prohibiting his oxygen flow. At this moment, Edens and Hardisty acted rapidly manually giving oxygen and bringing the Marine back to a stable condition.

"After stabilization, I witnessed Specialist Edens and Sergeant Hardisty work in a calm, cool and professional manner ensuring the safety of this patient who suffered a second near catastrophic event with the loss of the oxygen ventilation machine," said Gennari. "I distinctly remember thinking that if Dustoff could risk their lives to bring this patient to us, the least I can do is take some risk and get that thing out of his leg."

Gentle readers:  I'm really not sure what to make of this... for those of you that have been on the South/North Korean Border, I"m going to guess it is not quite this ornate.

Border Closing Ceremony

It's a whole-lotta...um...something.

Enjoy. 

h/t Hot Air

The official White House photo of the day for Memorial Day was:

A. a tasteful shot of Arlington Cemetery

B. A pic of a Gold Star Mom at her son's grave

C. An image of an inverted rifle and empty boots signifying the death of a soldier.

NOPE! None of those pay homage to the true hero of the day.

The answer and an F- for the Campaigner in Chief was:

A picture of Barry O reflected in the Vietnam Memorial with a halo around his noble warrior, gutsy-call-making head.

In addition to the F-, he gets a D for Disgrace. The entire purpose of Memorial day is to honor those who laid down their lives in defense of our freedom. Obama didn't serve and since his coronation has used the military as a tool to obfuscate the fact that he is the weakest leader we have had since Jimmy Carter. His gutless, politically-driven policies have put in peril a victory in Iraq won by those who should be remembered on this day. And his sorry, election-driven, faux surge into Afghanistan has added many hundreds of names to the list of those this holiday memorializes.

But who does he think the day is about? You guessed it, BHO. He ought to be on his knees begging forgiveness for the lives he spent like they were so many campaign contributions.

UPDATE: Jonn Lilyea of the badass blog This Ain't Hell sends another beauty of the AF Academy cadets celebrating Obama deigning to visit them by sending their sombreros skyward.

Gang-

As a continuation of the new "Category" "Every Day is Memorial Day, I bring you the story of Taylor Morris. A warrior that defines the word "Fighter."

Taylor Morris learned at an early age he was hooked on the outdoors, adventurous, the middle of 4 children and always the last one inside for dinner at his home in Cedar Falls, Iowa. His mother Juli recalled, "Our family took a camping trip from Niagra Falls down the East Coast one summer. Taylor set up the tents every night, started the fires, cooked the meals. Taylor was only 8 years old." As Taylor grew older and took to extreme water sports and rock climbing, Taylor discovered he was also very calm under extreme pressure. This quality would later make him the perfect candidate for the Navy's EOD, Explosive Ordinance Disposal.

Explosive ordinance disposal specialists were made famous in Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker. They are the preeminent tactical and technical explosives experts. Nicknamed 'The Shield', OED specialists always lead, the first to put themselves in harm's way to tackle unexploded ordinance and IED's.

Less than one month ago near the Kandahar province in Afghanistan, Taylor was doing his job, right out in front.

Leading a team of Army Special forces to a classified location, Taylor stepped on an IED. It exploded underneath him and blew off all four of his limbs. Taylor recalled the moment to me over the phone,

"As soon as I stepped on it, I knew. There was a moment, then I heard the blast. I felt the heat. I knew I had lost my legs. As I summersaulted through the air, I watched my legs fly off."

Taylor landed back in the blast crater. This is where the story of Taylor's bravery goes next-level.

After the explosion, Taylor didn't lose consciousness, he didn't go into shock. His thoughts immediately crystalized. Even though Taylor was bleeding to death, he called to the oncoming medics NOT to come get him, putting their safety in front of his own life.

"I recounted the moment of the explosion. There was no visual on the mine and no sound ID on my mine detector. That told me the mine was old. If there were other mines out there, the medics wouldn't see them or detect them unless it was cleared properly. I knew I had arterial bleeding from all 4 limbs and I was bleeding out fast. I told my buddies to stop, it would only have hurt me more if somebody stepped on another one."

The area around Taylor was finally cleared by the second EOD and the medic finally administered combat casualty care. Taylor remained conscious through the ordeal.

Three days later on May 6th Taylor landed back in the States and was transported to Walter Reed hospital in Washington D.C. to begin the long and painful rehab process. Upon his arrival, Taylor became only the 5th person at Walter Reed to ever survive a four limb amputation. His physical progression in the last three weeks has defied everybody's expectations, "My body is responding well. I'm already sitting up. I'm very fortunate." Just yesterday, the stitches in his arms were removed and he was fitted for prosthetics.

I asked Taylor if he's been given a time frame to return home to Iowa.

"Nobody really wants to give me a time frame, I understand that. The doctors here are amazing but I don't know when I'll go home. I've got goals though, personal goals, and I intend on achieving them."

As our conversation drew to an end I asked Taylor if he needed anything medically, "No, I'm fully covered by the Navy for my medical needs." I asked, "Ok, Taylor, if you could have anything in the world, what would it be?"

Read more here: http://www.onemarinesview.com/one_marines_view/2012/06/a-warrior-that-defines-the-word-fighter-every-day-is-memorial-day.html#more

Over at Command Posts (St Martin's Press's blog for military history, current events, and fiction), Gold Star child of the Viet Nam era, Tony Cordero, writes about Sons and Daughters in Touch:

...June 22, 1965, my father became missing in Vietnam. There were pocket communities in the Washington, D.C., area that offered some support, but for most of us, the support came later, in the form of helping other generations...

There's a lot of information there about how the group started to fill the void after Viet Nam. 

Now, as you all are aware, there are more children to support: 

...In the past ten years, SDIT has provided support to Gold Star families that have lost a parent since September 11, 2001, and has reached back through earlier generations to embrace sons and daughters of WWII and Korea, too.

Our message to other Gold Star children is:

This will be with you your entire life. If you want this to be an anchor, it will weigh you down. If you use it as a springboard to inspire you, to empower you, you will be ok.

Go check it out and see how you can support the message and mission of SDIT.

Matty O highlighted the NY Times puff piece about President O and his "Kill List" previously. It really is a nauseating read. But there are a couple of things that just jump off the page and show the true colors of the gutsy caller. The first is this tid bit about the fact that O personally approves all the extra-judicial killings.

But the control he exercises also appears to reflect Mr. Obama’s striking self-confidence: he believes, according to several people who have worked closely with him, that his own judgment should be brought to bear on strikes.

That is not particularly difficult to believe. Although there are other ways than "striking self-confidence", to describe that like oh, maybe narcissistic arrogance. But here is the real peach

David Axelrod, the president’s closest political adviser, began showing up at the “Terror Tuesday” meetings, his unspeaking presence a visible reminder of what everyone understood: a successful attack would overwhelm the president’s other aspirations and achievements.

Again not tough to believe, but sad nonetheless. Axelrod is a disgusting, reprehensible example of all that is foul about the political process. He is in that room because politics is what runs that operation and that is a shame. Men live or die based on the benefit or danger to the reelection prospects of Barack Obama.That is so far from right you couldn't see it from there. Sadder yet is the fact that we have stopped even attempting to capture and interrogate terrorists, again that could be messy for the Campaigner in Chief. We need to move this guy out to pasture this November. I hear Jimmy Carter is hiring at the Disgraced Ex-Presidents Society.

On my weekly segment on Frank's radio show we talk about announcing the last offensive in Afghanistan. The last offensive, really? Is that because we won? or lost? or what? Then we discuss sequestration and the defense budget and a chip is used on military systems that turns to have a back door engineered into it.

You can listen to today's show here and on our Podbean [ 53:00 ] Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download (7)