http://www.mudvillegazette.com/ en-us 2012-05-16T10:19:42-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/034557.html "US veterans to return war medals in protest""I think it's something that many of us are conflicted about, but we also feel like this is the right action to take," he noted, adding that there was a lot of consensus on the returning of the medals. "It is a sacrifice, but it's one that we feel is worth it."Actually, it's a sacrifice worth about five bucks on ebay. They're "giving back" something you can pick up in a surplus store.... Greyhawk 2012-05-16T10:19:42-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/034556.html Unhappy senator:[Senator Feinstein] said the leak to AP "jeopardizes" the agent and that it could not have come from Congress since she and House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) had not been briefed on the operation.Unhappy representative:Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said Obama did not "play [it] straight" with him. "They [did] not notify Congress, which is, by the way, law, under the National Security Act of 1947," he said on CBS's Face the Nation. "They're obligated to do it."Meanwhile,... Greyhawk 2012-05-14T09:53:29-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/034552.html ...is like sending sand, sez I. (But I doubt anyone ever had the heart to tell "Big Hy" that. "Thank you, sir" is a better response.)... Greyhawk 2012-05-01T11:22:27-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/031311.html My good friend Robert Stokely sent an email update to this story from a few years ago: "Now a 1st LT and on Friday, April 27, 2012 at 1300 hours, Elijah Carroll will graduate Ranger School at FT Benning. I hope to be there.... Mike would expect me to go." Congratulations, Lt Carroll. And thank you, Robert, for all you've done and been through over the years, too. I'm more than proud to call you friend. Robert's 2008 story... Greyhawk 2012-04-26T16:05:43-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/034551.html "But next week's visit is an official one as commander-in-chief..." sez "A White House official speaking on background..." His Fort Stewart visit provides an opportunity for the president to try to shape news about his handling of the military in Afghanistan in light of recent events. His administration has been apologizing for the murder of 16 citizens there by an American soldier on a rampage, reports that copies of the Koran were burned and the recent revelation of 2-year-old... Greyhawk 2012-04-25T10:01:15-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/034550.html How the LA Times explained their decision to publish gruesome photos in the "Bush era": These days they've found other reasons:He said the photos point to a breakdown in leadership and discipline that he believed compromised the safety of the troops. He expressed the hope that publication would help ensure that alleged security shortcomings at two U.S. bases in Afghanistan in 2010 were not repeated.The bigger reason for those (or any other examples through the years) is that snuff... Greyhawk 2012-04-19T09:26:27-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/034326.html (A tale originally published in June, 2011...) Prologue: On a recent morning in Boston, at the Old North Church...The governor's entourage pulled up around nine... Fifteen or twenty media people materialized seconds after. The first to greet the Governor was Dino DiFronzo of Parziale's Bakery, who encouraged the governor to stop by for coffee and pastry after her visit to Old North. So says the Vicar, who then proceeded to give Sarah Palin a tour of the building from which... Greyhawk 2012-04-16T09:09:07-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/034549.html ...was a Marine - and one who "became the youngest Marine drill instructor ever. A boxer and devoted Harley rider, Dunagan served three tours in Vietnam and was wounded several times." He now offers this thought on animals:"If these animals I was leading had ever found out about Bambi -- as much affection as I had for it -- they'd have ridden me out on a rail."... Greyhawk 2012-04-12T08:53:23-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/034548.html I note with sorrow the death of legendary newsman (and World War II-era US Navy veteran) Mike Wallace. I'm sure he meant many things to many people, but when I hear his name I'm reminded first of this panel discussion on ethics, from 1987 - in which Wallace dresses down fellow newsman Peter Jennings for declaring he would do what he could to save American soldiers from an enemy ambush rather than simply "get the story."Moderator: So if you... Greyhawk 2012-04-09T14:40:43-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/034547.html For those curious about the motive behind his four five six seven (not going to bother counting any more) facebook attacks on a great organization, here's why Mike Yon doesn't like Soldiers' Angels.... Greyhawk 2012-03-23T08:56:30-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/034546.html I'll tell you something I noticed about Lex, but it's at the end of this ramble. First, a confession: I used to tell lies about Neptunus Lex. I'd call him "One of the best writers in milblogs," but the truth is, he was the best. No shocker there, I think everyone who read his blog knows that. It's hardly fair for me to say it now, when he can't humbly deny it. Of course it's hardly fair that he could... Greyhawk 2012-03-09T15:46:22-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/034042.html "December 7th, 1941. Just a normal Sunday," my mother recalls. "Until Dad came home and said "better oil up your guns boys, the Japanese just bombed Pearl Harbor". He had heard it on his car radio." He might have heard something like this... ...and if he changed channels after that sudden interruption, maybe this: He was too old to go to war himself, but that hadn't always been the case. "Dad had been in France just 23 years before, and... Greyhawk 2011-12-07T12:42:00-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/034536.html Sunday, October 20, 1861: Nothing but ten miles of road separated the men of Colonel Nathan Evan's Brigade, Confederate States Army, from Brigadier General George McCall's Division of Union troops to their east. Even closer to hand was Brigadier General Charles Stone's Division - ten thousand or so more Yankees, just across the Potomac. All totaled there were six Union infantry brigades in the vicinity of one Confederate; to call the situation confronting the southerners a tight spot would... Greyhawk 2011-12-01T10:28:00-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/034534.html Touched with fire One: Lieutenant Holmes believed himself a dying man... Two: Charles Carleton Coffin rode into camp in the immediate aftermath of a battle lost, when visible evidence of the disaster included corpses laid out in line awaiting burial, and the memory of their first defeat at the hands of Johnny Reb was still fresh in the minds of the young men who'd fought it. Three: "...Lt Putnam is dead Capt. Putnam lost his right arm. Hallowell fought... Greyhawk 2011-11-30T09:23:05-05:00 http://www.mudvillegazette.com/034544.html Mudville, November, 2008:Thanksgiving in America, and in Iraq the Parliament approved the Status of Forces Agreement. The news was scarcely noted on our shores as coverage of our national day of plenty gave way to that of the busiest shopping day of the year...All United States combat Forces shall withdraw from Iraqi cities, villages, and localities ... no later than June 30, 2009.... And the total withdrawal (also Article 24) must indeed be accomplished "no later than December 31,... Greyhawk 2011-11-24T13:15:15-05:00