For Veterans Day week, I’m going to try and find a bunch of GREAT stories that will motivate you and inspire you. Our veterans are heroes and many of their actions aren’t well-known. A perfect example of this is the Battle of Attu. In 1942 the Japanese invaded the Alaskan island of Attu – American soil!
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Your boots have endured everything you’ve thrown at them. Drilling. Marching. Combat. Miles upon miles through never-ending plains, scorching deserts, and urban jungles. Whatever your boots’ story may be, we want to see ‘em.
The Converse Military Boots For Life Contest is searching the planet to find the oldest, most worn-out set of boots. The more battered and tattered, the better. Whether you’ve crawled through swamps or scaled mountains, you could own the winning pair…and score a LIFETIME SUPPLY OF CONVERSE BOOTS!
Submit a photo of your boots along with a brief story telling us why your boots are in the world’s worst condition. Send your entry to contest@militaryboots.com by March 31, 2010.
Show the world what it’s been like to walk a mile or 20 in your boots. And be rewarded for your effort!
Win a free pair of Converse military boots every year for the next 20 years, courtesy of Militaryboots.com.
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Although the Apache Indian tribes may be known for their historical conflicts with the Mexicans throughout much of the 17th and 18th centuries, Master Sgt. Gabriel Fierro Sr. is proud of his blended heritage. Tracing his family’s roots back to the Apache and Aztec Indian tribes, his parents’ ancestors set foot on American soil long before the creation of our nation and the Army. His father, who is part Apache Indian and part Mexican, and mother, who is part Mayan and part Aztec Indian, raised Fierro to be proud of his heritage and devoted to the land in which he lived. The Soldier, who is the fourth family member to serve in the Army, uses his blended background to help others, including the younger enlisted Soldiers in his unit and his own children.
The self-proclaimed “cultural chameleon” has been able to use his blended American Indian and Hispanic heritages to better relate with both cultural groups, speaking Spanish to Hispanic Soldiers and discussing the warrior ethos of the Indian tribes with American Indian Soldiers. However, regardless of a Soldier’s heritage, Fierro is committed to helping them prepare for life within the Army. In addition to mentoring and leading the Soldiers in his unit, Fierro is also a dedicated father, striving to instill Army Strong values in his children.
“Everything I teach my Soldiers, I teach my kids, and vice versa. I want everyone to be treated for who they are, not what they look like,” said Fierro.
Drawing on his own blended cultural heritage, Fierro emphasizes to both his fellow Soldiers and children the importance of being open-minded and accepting, as well as teaching them to base opinions on others’ actions, not their race or heritage.
When Fierro enlisted in the Army in the late 1970s, he was following in not only a tradition of excellence for Noncommissioned Officers (NCO), but his family as well. With Fierro’s father and two brothers serving as NCOs in the Army, he joined right out of high school, thinking he would serve for a few years before starting a civilian career. However, he has continued to serve, knowing that his Army service provides him with a meaningful career and enables him to do what he loves most – helping others.
An extension of Fierro’s commitment to helping others, the Soldier deployed to Balad, Iraq in 2007-2008 to serve as a Civil Affairs Team Sergeant. While deployed, the 431st Civil Affairs Team successfully completed more than 130 combat missions working with local provincial government to improve employment options for Iraqis. One of the most notable projects during his deployment was helping to institute the first micro-loan program in the Salah- Ah-Din region, to create economic stability. For meritorious service throughout his deployment, the NCO was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. True to his commitment as a leader and mentor, Fierro took it upon himself to maintain the morale of the unit, frequently sharing care packages with other Soldiers who didn’t have an active support system at home.
Fierro, along with his wife and children, currently lives in Charlotte, N.C., where he serves with the 108th Training Command (Initial Entry Training) as a Human Resources Manager. In that role, he works to prepare Soldiers for mobilization, as well as help them balance their roles as citizens and Soldiers. With more than three decades of Army service, the Reservist has plans to retire in the fall of 2010, and feels confident that the Army has provided him with skills transferable to many civilian occupations.
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I’m not at liberty to discuss the incidents at Fort Hood this week. At the risk of a professional conflict of interests, I’m holding my tongue. However, I do want to share a GREAT article written by Ralph Peters on Friday.
]]>On Thursday afternoon, a radicalized Muslim US Army officer shouting “Allahu Akbar!” committed the worst act of terror on American soil since 9/11. And no one wants to call it an act of terror or associate it with Islam.
What cowards we are. Political correctness killed those patriotic Americans at Ft. Hood as surely as the Islamist gunman did. And the media treat it like a case of non-denominational shoplifting.
This was a terrorist act. When an extremist plans and executes a murderous plot against our unarmed soldiers to protest our efforts to counter Islamist fanatics, it’s an act of terror. Period.When the terrorist posts anti-American hate-speech on the Web; apparently praises suicide bombers and uses his own name; loudly criticizes US policies; argues (as a psychiatrist, no less) with his military patients over the worth of their sacrifices; refuses, in the name of Islam, to be photographed with female colleagues; lists his nationality as “Palestinian” in a Muslim spouse-matching program, and parades around central Texas in a fundamentalist playsuit — well, it only seems fair to call this terrorist an “Islamist terrorist.”
But the president won’t. Despite his promise to get to all the facts. Because there’s no such thing as “Islamist terrorism” in ObamaWorld.
And the Army won’t. Because its senior leaders are so sick with political correctness that pandering to America-haters is safer than calling terrorism “terrorism.”
And the media won’t. Because they have more interest in the shooter than in our troops — despite their crocodile tears.
Maj. Nadal Malik Hasan planned this terrorist attack and executed it in cold blood. The resulting massacre was the first tragedy. The second was that he wasn’t killed on the spot.
Hasan survived. Now the rest of us will have to foot his massive medical bills. Activist lawyers will get involved, claiming “harassment” drove him temporarily insane. There’ll be no end of trial delays. At best, taxpayer dollars will fund his prison lifestyle for decades to come, since our politically correct Army leadership wouldn’t dare pursue or carry out the death penalty.
Maj. Hasan will be a hero to Islamist terrorists abroad and their sympathizers here. While US Muslim organizations decry his acts publicly, Hasan will be praised privately. And he’ll have the last laugh.
But Hasan isn’t the sole guilty party. The US Army’s unforgivable political correctness is also to blame for the casualties at Ft. Hood.Given the myriad warning signs, it’s appalling that no action was taken against a man apparently known to praise suicide bombers and openly damn US policy. But no officer in his chain of command, either at Walter Reed Army Medical Center or at Ft. Hood, had the guts to take meaningful action against a dysfunctional soldier and an incompetent doctor.
Had Hasan been a Lutheran or a Methodist, he would’ve been gone with the simoon. But officers fear charges of discrimination when faced with misconduct among protected minorities.
Now 12 soldiers and a security guard lie dead. 31 soldiers were wounded, 28 of them seriously. If heads don’t roll in this maggot’s chain of command, the Army will have shamed itself beyond moral redemption.
There’s another important issue, too. How could the Army allow an obviously incompetent and dysfunctional psychiatrist to treat our troubled soldiers returning from war? An Islamist whacko is counseled for arguing with veterans who’ve been assigned to his care? And he’s not removed from duty? What planet does the Army live on?
For the first time since I joined the Army in 1976, I’m ashamed of its dereliction of duty. The chain of command protected a budding terrorist who was waving one red flag after another. Because it was safer for careers than doing something about him.
Get ready for the apologias. We’ve already heard from the terrorist’s family that “he’s a good American.” In their world, maybe he is.But when do we, the American public, knock off the PC nonsense?
A disgruntled Muslim soldier murdered his officers way back in 2003, in Kuwait, on the eve of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Recently? An American mullah shoots it out with the feds in Detroit. A Muslim fanatic attacks an Arkansas recruiting station. A Muslim media owner, after playing the peace card, beheads his wife. A Muslim father runs over his daughter because she’s becoming too Westernized.
Muslim terrorist wannabes are busted again and again. And we’re assured that “Islam’s a religion of peace.”
I guarantee you that the Obama administration’s non-response to the Ft. Hood attack will mock the memory of our dead.
MTV will honor young veterans and active duty servicemen and women this Veteran’s Day with the premiere of “Return to Duty” — Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 9 pm ET/PT on MTV, and at 11 pm ET/PT on MTV2 – along with a suite of special programming and links to Veterans resources across all of its platforms. Viewers of “The Real World: Brooklyn” vividly remember the emotional moment when cast member and Army vet Ryan Conklin was unexpectedly recalled for a second tour of duty in Iraq. And now, Ryan himself takes us through the year since that day. In “Return to Duty”, we go to Ryan’s hometown of Gettysburg as he prepares to go back to Iraq, and as he once again has to say good-bye to his family. Once in Iraq and back on parole through the streets of Baghdad, Ryan shows us a view of the war that’s different than anything we’ve seen before.
Recently, MTV research revealed that 74 percent of young people ages 18-29 personally know someone who has fought in Iraq or Afghanistan. With this in mind, MTV, MTV2 and mtvU are featuring a number of public service announcements, short-form features and resources as part of an ongoing commitment to support our newest generation of veterans. This content will focus on the difficult transition these men and women face as they come home to civilian life and how their civilian counterparts can help make this adjustment easier.
Veteran’s Day Programming Includes:
Return To Duty (9 pm ET/PT on MTV; 11 pm ET/PT on MTV2) – Return to Duty is Ryan’s gritty and very personal document of his return as a patrol gunner to the sweltering streets of Baghdad. Equipped with his own video camera, and the addition of a camera crew embedded with his unit, it’s a soldier’s view of America’s changing military presence in the long war in Iraq. His very close-knit family back home must cope with the fear and absence of their son fighting overseas once again; while his new found relationship with Real World: Brooklyn roommate Baya is put to a critical test.
Today’s Student Vets: From War to College (Airing on MTV, MTV2, and mtvU) – Rich, a young veteran, attends a University in Manhattan after his military tour abroad and talks candidly about the difficulties he’s faced since returning to campus – from emotional to academic. This short-form feature will follow Rich and two other young veterans as they make the challenging transition back into college life, delving into the emotional struggles they face, and how civilian students can play a role in helping them adjust back into civilian life. This feature, sponsored by the McCormick Foundation, will be released as part of mtvU and The Jed Foundation’s Peabody Award-winning “Half of Us” campaign, which works to fight the stigma around mental health and encourage help-seeking among college students across the country. Veterans and students can access the campaign’s Veterans resource center at www.halfofus.com/veterans.
Public Service Announcements (Airing on MTV, MTV2 and mtvU)– In partnership with the Bob Woodruff Foundation, mtvU’s Half of Us campaign is releasing three new PSAs addressing the emotional struggles college veterans face when returning to campus and how civilian students can play a role in easing that transition. To view the public service announcements, please head to http://www.halfofus.com/video/.
Brave.MTV.com – All of MTV’s Veterans-related programming will drive viewers to this comprehensive action center, where Vets can access resources, civilians can get involved and support America’s young veterans, and anyone can check out MTV’s acclaimed veterans programming, including “Kanye West: Homecoming” and “A Night for Vets: An MTV Concert for the BRAVE.” The site connects Veterans to online support systems from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) the country’s first and largest nonpartisan, non-profit for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The website also offers a broad range of resources, including information on how to use the new GI Bill, and for those enrolled in college a pathway to join the Student Veterans of America. Civilians are offered opportunities to sign MTV’s B.R.A.V.E. petition — to ensure our returning veterans get the support they need – and to get involved in Vets-related service projects and more.
Here is a preview clip from “Return to Duty”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu-fvgMnpGA
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The Way We Get By, the awesome documentary that we publicized on our radio show a few months ago, will have its national premiere on PBS Veterans Day November 11th at 9pm.
On call 24 hours a day for the past five years, a group of senior citizens has made history by greeting nearly 900,000 American troops at a tiny airport in Bangor, Maine. The Way We Get By is an intimate look at three of these greeters as they confront the universal losses that come with aging and rediscover their reason for living. Bill Knight, Jerry Mundy and Joan Gaudet find the strength to overcome their personal battles and transform their lives through service. This inspirational and surprising story shatters the stereotypes of today’s senior citizens as the greeters redefine the meaning of community.
You can view the trailer here: http://www.pbs.org/pov/waywegetby/
This film already has support from a number of organizations, including Serve.gov, the USO and Operation Homefront. The film demonstrates how important it is to support our troops, and puts a very human face on those who are deployed and returning. I hope that you will tune-in to the PBS broadcast or watch the film online. You won’t be sorry!!
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Soldier’s Angels was on top of things. This was posted to Facebook yesterday — please do what you can.
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Soldiers’ Angels is assessing the needs and–with our founder currently residing in Texas–standing by to offer physical and emotional support to our heroes and their families at Fort Hood.
]]>RIGHT NOW: Collecting encouraging notes and NEW stuffed animals for the families and children of the injured or killed. Please send cards/letters and stuffed animals (and anything NEW that may brighten the life of a child) to:
Soldiers’ Angels4408 PanAm ExpresswaySan Antonio, TX 78218
This is a great interview with someone who is a leading force in the financial blog world and has been a guest speaker at Blog World Expo for three years now. Even after being there three years, this was his first introduction to milblogging and his first time attending the milblog panels. Zac and I talked a lot about how bloggers and milbloggers could help educate each other.
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The post office has posted the APO mailing schedule. If you want to get those packages out on time, follow the guide below. We know there’s never a guarantee, but normally if you follow the calendar your package will arrive in time for the Holidays.
Click to view larger image
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8:20:07 PM: Talking with SFC Greg Stube, http://bit.ly/1Nd8JS
8:22:06 PM: New blog entry: 110509 You Served Show http://bit.ly/1Y6GmC
8:24:04 PM: SFC Stube was hit with an IED, and lost his intestine’s part of his leg and was severly wounded and shot up
8:24:35 PM: The medevac could not get him out for a couple of hours after he was wouded
8:29:43 PM: SFC Stube has had 17 surgeries over 3 years
8:38:37 PM: SFC Stube still hunts and fishes ever after wounded
8:41:45 PM: “Serve something greater than yourself” SFC Stube
8:49:15 PM: Now talking to Tom Neely from Bridge of Sighs, http://www.bosband.com
8:51:24 PM: Steven Crowder is a stand up comedian and is touring with BOS before the show
8:52:01 PM: Tom said he was prepared to drink with the Marines and soldiers this time
9:08:36 PM: Now listening to Bridge of Sighs song, Freedom Stain
9:22:56 PM: Troy and Marcus are chatting
9:31:43 PM: We are talking about the shootings at Ft. Hood
9:45:22 PM: Talking to @TammyMunson who is the current On Loan blogger at YouServed.com
9:45:49 PM: @TammyMunson is a army spouse blogger who’s husband is deployed in Afghanistan
9:59:33 PM: Listening to Mark Wills as the outro musi
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