May 13, 2013:
Seal Team Six is best known for its very successful mission to get Osama Bin Laden. But it did something equally impressive a little over a year ago in a very different effort. In this case it was to simply to save an American who had been kidnapped by Somali bandits. I saw this story on CBS 60 Minutes last night and felt that is was a story I would like to recount here.
May 10, 2013:
"I still miss my team." David, an Army Recon Vietnam veteran had been wounded and was receiving treatment at a hospital in Vietnam when his team went out on patrol and never came back.
May 8, 2013:
Today, May 8, 2013 is the 68th anniversary of V.E. Day. The long and terrible war was over in Europe. That continent was devastated by the aggressive attempt of Nazi and fascist forces to conquer it under their dark cultures of death. The forces of freedom had won out and the celebrations were immense and fervent.
May 6, 2013:
CBS 60 Minutes presented a very powerful piece last night, May 5, 2013, on traumatic brain injuries (TBI's) as real, and this is important, physical wounds. TBI is not the same as PTSD. It is something completely separate from PTSD, but can be an extremely debilitating factor if both are being experienced by the same person.
May 5, 2013:
It has been 45 years since I left Vietnam. Much has happened during that time, of course. I married, had two daughters and now, two, soon to be three, grandchildren. I got an education and had a career in teaching at both the high school and university levels. And now, I am very pleasantly retired.
May 4, 2013:
This story is being repeated more and more these days. The Joint POW/MIA Command organizes 90-100 missions each year all over the world trying to recover the remains of service members listed as missing from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the Cold War. Every month they positively identify six to eight of the MIA's and take them off the list.
May 3, 2013:
The private sector has been making commitments to hire veterans for some time now. For example, Walmart, UPS, and others have been doing this for some time. The White House has recently announced a "significant new effort to reduce unemployment and improve job prospects among veterans." They say that they are "enlisting the support" of U.S. companies to hire 435,000 veterans and military spouses over the next five years. I am pleased to see a coordinated effort by both the public and private sectors in this effort. All such efforts are to be welcomed, and might I add, encouraged. It is after all, the right thing to do.
May 2, 2013:
This is a powerful video of a wife speaking about her Vietnam veteran husband's struggles to recover from the debilitating effects of PTSD. Her love and understanding, as well as that of fellow veterans brought him to recognize his need for help.
May 1, 2013:
This is a video of an outdoor concert for the Vietnam Veterans of San Diego. The musicians range in age from the Vietnam era to the present, and they know how to jam and have some fun.
Apr 30, 2013:
A lot has transpired in the two weeks that have passed since the bombings at the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 14, 2013. The cowardly, destructive intent of terrorism made it through the fire walls of our national security and tried, once again, to cause fear and panic among us. Once again, it has failed. The people of Boston showed the world that Americans do not scare easily. That freedom will not be cowed by the cowardly forces of terror.
Apr 29, 2013:
This young U.S. Navy veteran has a very important message for all veterans. "Don't wait if you are having problems." If you are recognizing that you are having problems, or are hearing that from others, don't wait to go see the local VA. You have earned those benefits. They are there for you. Don't hesitate to use them.
Apr 25, 2013:
This Army medic veteran says it better than most. He gives as clear an insight into the difficulties of transitioning from war experiences back into civilian life as anyone I've seen in these videos before. He knows the problems, because he has not only experienced them, but he had faced them head-on, looked at them for what they are, and has found the most useful tools to be put to use in handling them in the healthiest, most effective of ways.
Apr 24, 2013:
Eddie Agosto joined the Marines at age 19 to escape the mean streets of Brooklyn. In 1980, President Carter sent a small force into Iran to try to liberate the American Embassy hostages that were being held by revolutionary Iranian element. It ended in a disastrous crash in the desert during a sandstorm. Eddie was on that mission. He was in another helicopter. He and his comrades had to rescue the injured and hastily bag the ruined bodies of the deceased and get out of there before their failed mission was discovered by Iranian revolutionary forces. What he saw and experienced, and what he had to do for his comrades, sent him on a downward spiral into the darkness of PTSD on his return home.
Apr 16, 2013:
A few days ago, the Medal of Honor was awarded to a man who stood by his fellow troops through the toughest moments of battles in the Korean war. He was an Army Chaplain who was captured along with others of his unit and died in a Chinese POW camp.
Apr 15, 2013:
This young Marine veteran is a very articulate spokesman for the experience of coming home and leaving the brotherhood of the Corps, and reenter the new environment of civilian life.
Apr 12, 2013:
One-hundred-forty-eight years ago, a union private by the name of Levi Schlegel, who had been serving with the 198th Pennsylvania Regiment, Company G, passed through Fredricksburg, Virginia, on his way home after the cessation of the Civil War.
Apr 7, 2013:
This article is based on and heavily quoted from an article written by Charles W. Sasser for the June 2013 edition of Vietnam Magazine. I had known about this battle when I was in Vietnam. It was legend among the Marines. The article brought the memory back and I found it very moving. So, I thought I would share some of the main elements of it with readers of this blog.
Apr 4, 2013:
In April of 2003 Marines with Lima Company 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines were among the 'first boots on the ground' at the start of the Iraq war. Marines from the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, played an integral role in the U.S. invasion and the taking of Baghdad.
Apr 3, 2013:
In an article from USA Today, the new Defense Secretary, Chuck Hagel, announced his intent "...to 'reform and reshape' the military--from paying personnel to buying weapons--to deal with the deep budget cuts the Pentagon faces."
Apr 2, 2013:
This program at the Vale Ski Resort has been going on for ten years now. The number of veterans who are being served in the program has grown dramatically over those years. The volunteer efforts of this program have grown in both importance and value over these past ten years. These volunteers have been helping severely wounded veterans learn that they can still enjoy such things, just differently. it also gives them a freedom that they thought they would never enjoy again. They help these wounded warriors begin to think about the future in ways they thought were gone to them forever.
Mar 25, 2013:
This was sent to me by a friend who is a former Navy fighter pilot. He served in Vietnam about the same time I was there. This is a virtual tour of the Vietnam Memorial and is as in depth as anything I have seen.
Mar 25, 2013:
This veteran had to fight hard to get his life back together. He had to fight through alcohol issues, substance abuse, and the very clear symptoms of PTSD. He was taught to not share his problems. He learned to keep things in and it effected his ability to work, and his relationships.
Mar 25, 2013:
I happened to catch an NBC evening new report tonight and I could not help put sit down and write an article in response to it. According to the report, we currently have over 900,000 post 9/11 war veterans who have applied for disability benefits with the Veterans Administration and are having to wait for those services that they deserve and need for, on average, over 270 days, or almost a full year. In major cities, like New York City, that waiting time skyrockets to over two years.
Mar 25, 2013:
The Air force Academy held a funeral service for its first African-American graduate last Saturday. He was a man of consequence throughout his entire life, as a military man and as a civilian businessman.
Mar 25, 2013:
The video you will see here is a trailer for a new film that will be released soon. It is about a subject that I am intimately familiar with as well. The film is Called, "Bravo! Common Men, Uncommon Valor." It centers on the experiences of the Marines of Bravo Co., 1/26 who were at Khe Sanh for the Tet Offensive of 1968.
Mar 18, 2013:
One of the strange things about PTSD is that it can arise, or be triggered at times quite separate from the events that caused it. This is especially true when the early symptoms are not dealt with properly at the time that they first arise.
Mar 18, 2013:
The Ides of March was a Roman festival, somewhat like the celebration of the New Year. It was the beginning of spring and planting season. But it is also famous for being the day in 44 B.C. on which Julius Caesar, the great general of the Legions who had been victorious in the wars against the Gauls and in the civil war against the rebellious general, Pompey, was assassinated by his friends and Senators, Brutus and Cassius.
Mar 12, 2013:
"Is this the way you want to live?" This is a very important question for any of us, but for a military, combat veteran, it is a life and death question in search of real answers.
Mar 12, 2013:
Working your way back into the family is one of the challenges of returning veterans. This video is from the point of view of one of the counselors who works with families in helping them through the struggles to recover each other. But she is also one who has served in uniform.
Mar 7, 2013:
The poem below is written by Gary Bryson. It is a poetic handling of what it means to be a warrior, both on the battlefield and on your long journey to "get back home." It identifies thoughts and feelings that are going to be familiar to many warriors. The poem honors those who have gone to war, those who have been wounded, and to those who continue the struggles related to the experiences warriors go through.
Mar 6, 2013:
This film is taken from last night's NBC Nightly News program. Daniel "Doc" Jacobs is the first U.S. Navy veteran to return to active duty after surviving and IED in Iraq, and over 50 surgeries over two years. This video covers his effort to try out for the L.A. Dodgers. He made it to the last session.
Mar 5, 2013:
This is a very important reflection on the price that our military families often pay for their service to all of us. Though the costs are great, not just on the battlefield, but at home on their return, there is real hope and healing that happens as well. Those who have been tested and come though are always stronger, more mature, better than they were before. You can see this in this beautiful young woman who talks about her experiences in this video.
Mar 4, 2013:
The veteran honored in this video is the greatest war hero horse in American history. This is a great story in video form. She was the pride of the Marines. Named for the 5th Marines Recoilless Rifle unit. The weapon's nickname was "Reckless," hence our hero's moniker. This video recounts Reckless' actions during one particularly heavy battle during the Korean War This amazing horse continued to do what she was trained to do, bringing supplies up a hill and taking wounded Marines down the hill, 50 times. on her own, without human guidance, all of this while under heavy fire. Amazing.
Mar 1, 2013:
There is a place called American Lake, near Tacoma, Washington. It is a unique place. There is a golf course there, the only golf course in the United States that was created and designed expressly for disabled veterans. Young and old veterans find this place magical. They find there the mutual support of fellow veterans, and a place where they can forget their problems for a few hours, playing a round of golf, just like any body else.
Feb 27, 2013:
This Marine veteran of Vietnam tells a story that is very familiar to me. I think that much of what he says here is familiar to many Vietnam veterans. He gives us an honest picture of his post war experience, his coming home experiences and how he responded to them.
Feb 25, 2013:
"War is hell." No one knows that better than those who have been to war and survived it, but came home with feelings of guilt, or even shame that were related to the experiences they had in the environment of war. Because war is hell, it can have effects on the warrior that go beyond those of physical, or psychological injuries. The conscience can be injured too.
Feb 22, 2013:
We pay a great deal of attention to the post 9/11 veterans, and rightly so, but there are still some World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Grenada, Panama, and Desert Storm veterans still with us who need the continued care of the Veterans Administration.
Feb 21, 2013:
I was sent this piece of Marine Corps humor by a Marine who I served with in Bravo Co., 3rd Recon Bn, 3rd Marine Division in Khe Sanh and Quang Tri Vietnam in 1968. Like all good pieces of humor it is good for a hearty laugh, but that's because there is a certain core of truth to it. Though I was a FMF Corpsman, a Navy guy who, because he was trained as a Corpsman, was given the privilege to serve with the Marines, I can be faulted for identifying more with my Marine Corps comrades. The piece below then is for my Marine brothers and sisters. Semper FI, Marines! Enjoy! And please, don't forget to hit the blue, "Click Here to Donate, It's Free" button. By doing this you help us here at the Veterans Site feed thousands of homeless veterans. Thank you.
Feb 21, 2013:
This is a story that needs to be told. It is not easy to write about. But imagine how much harder it is for these military women who have been through this to even talk about it. That rape happens to these women is truly troubling, but their stories need to be told, so that the military and the VA can respond to it more readily and more respectfully than they have in the past.
Feb 21, 2013:
The risk to our nation will go up precipitously. Our ability to field troops, and to supply them with the necessary equipment will be reduced severely. The National Guard's ability to respond to national disasters here at home, or to respond to call-ups in support of anti-terrorism efforts will be reduced to such a degree that it will be crippled. The VA will have to cut back on its services to our veterans. Our abilities in all of these areas would be called into doubt here at home and abroad.
Feb 20, 2013:
These videos, one from the wife's perspective alone, the other from the perspective of both and other family members, are very powerful statements about the effects of PTSD on the warrior as well as those around him. It shows the power of relationships to heal, even though the process is difficult for all involved. These videos are examples of the efforts involved in recovery from the devastating realities of war.
Feb 14, 2013:
The wreck of the ironclad U.S.S. Monitor was found on the sea bottom off of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina in 1974. In 2002 a salvage team, attempting to recover the ship's gun turret found the remains of two of the 16 U.S. Navy sailors who went down with her during a storm off of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina on New Year's Eve 1862.
Feb 11, 2013:
The video today is by a young veteran Tank gunner who, like so many, has struggled mightily with PTSD. He found a different way to deal with it. He is a Hip-Hop singer and writer. He has written a song that has become very popular among young veterans and their families.
Feb 7, 2013:
Leon Panetta gave a speech at Georgetown University today, one of his last acts before leaving his Defense Department leadership position. Panetta served his California district in Congress for eight terms, 16 years before he was called to be the Defense Secretary.
Feb 6, 2013:
This past weekend we heard the news that Chris Kyle, the Navy Seal sniper and author of the book, "American Sniper" was shot and killed, along with another man, by a young former active duty Marine that he was trying to help get through the effects of PTSD. There is enough sadness to write a book about on this. It covers so many realities.
Feb 4, 2013:
This video is a great example of the great service our National Guardsmen and women give to our local communities. They are trained in all of the necessary skills of their military units, but they are there to serve in times of natural disaster too.
Feb 1, 2013:
It was all over the news yesterday, on every network and cable outlet, in all of he papers, and for the best of reasons. It is a story that shows us all the character and courage of one young man, but more too. It shows us that our humanity is greater than our failures, more powerful than our losses, more noble than we usually imagine.
Jan 29, 2013:
These U.S. Marines are pioneers. They giving a whole new meaning to the efforts that the Marine Corps can bring to its efforts in Afghanistan. These women are making contact with the locals in ways that fighting units are not able to do and are not trained for. This is a very special unit with a very special mission.
Jan 28, 2013:
Jan 28, 2013:
If you have time, you need to watch this video documentary of the USS Virginia Submarine. The technology is as incredible as it is complex. Submariners are a rare breed as it is, but this machine has abilities that make the mythical qualities of the submarines of the past look like playthings in comparison.
Jan 28, 2013:
I received this in a forwarded message from a friend. He says that this "gesture" was started by someone in Seattle, Washington and that it is becoming a universal way to communicate our thanks to our servicemen and women when we see them in public.
Jan 23, 2013:
How many of our veterans have PTSD, in mild, yet enduring forms for many years after their time in a war zone? Of course, it would be hard to know this for sure, because these veterans have gone into civilian life and managed to make somewhat meaningful and valuable lives for themselves and their families despite their unacknowledged symptoms of PTSD.
Jan 18, 2013:
This is a beautiful video about the Pearl Harbor Memorial, the Arizona. The U.S.S. Arizona has been resting on the bottom of the harbor since that terrible day December 7, 1941
Jan 17, 2013:
War is the most fundamental failure of men and women. It is a failure to see and to believe in the infinite worth, even if flawed, of every human person. Our troops did not seek out this war. They know that they have been asked to place themselves in immediate danger, and they know that the source of their strength is God. At the same time, their faith challenges them to remain moral, even when they are in the midst of the man-made hell of war.
Jan 16, 2013:
One of the great elements of the GI Bill is the financial support it affords to veterans who wish to further their education at the college level. According to the Post 9/11 GI Bill, the federal government will pick up the full in-state cost for any honorably discharged service member to attend a public college or university.
Jan 15, 2013:
It's been a while since I've posted welcome home videos. They are always a thrill and I always end up with tears of joy in my own eyes. So, It's time to show some of those great moments again.
Jan 14, 2013:
This video is dedicated to all those who have, and who are now serving in the war in Afghanistan. You will get a clear picture of the landscape, the troops, the conditions they have lived with, and the material and personal costs of war.
Jan 11, 2013:
"It was a matter of inches." This geometric view of war and the realities of injury and death is often thought about and talked about by those who have been to war. They talk about it in real terms, "If it hadn't been for the inch of body armor, or for that tree deflecting the bullet by an inch, I might not be here." Or, "That shrapnel that got my friend went through my shirt first." Or, "I was so close, it could have been me."
Jan 10, 2013:
I first heard about this group while watching the news on NBC a while back. When I heard what they are doing for our troops, I was both heartened and disturbed. In the end, though, I'm glad that this group exists and is doing what it is doing for our troops still in Afghanistan.
Jan 8, 2013:
The video in this article is very important for veterans who are experiencing one of the more difficult elements of PTSD, depression. If you are a friend, or a family member of a veteran who is struggling with this issue, this is something that you will want to look at and understand, in order to help your service member, or veteran, get through this often temporary, but deeply troubling and disabling reality.
Jan 4, 2013:
This is a great video about the meaning of service to the nation. In reality, we all owe the country service, but only the few answer that call. Even fewer are those who have won the Medal of Honor. Two of those MOH winners are Major General Pat Brady and Lt. Col. Bruce Crandall.
Jan 3, 2013:
While this video's theme is full of sadness, it is also full of the deep love and respect that is owed to those who have given the full measure of their love in service to us all. They have fallen on the field of battle, but they will not be forgotten. They have given their lives, like so many before them, to keep this country free from the threats and actions of those who wish to do us harm.
Jan 2, 2013:
We spend a great deal of time here thinking about, and reflecting on the sacrifice and the valor of our troops in the battlefields of Afghanistan. We do so because it is important to keep them in our minds, to honor them for their courage and sacrifice, to give them our respect. They deserve that and more.
Dec 31, 2012:
The annual Rose Parade on January 1st will have a float in it this year. The title of the float is "Canines With Courage" and it is being sponsored by Natural Balance Pet Foods. It is inspired by the military Working Dog Teams National Monument that will be dedicated in San Antonio, Texas in 2013.
Dec 31, 2012:
Stormin' Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. was born in Trenton, New Jersey in 1934. He graduated from West Point in 1956, 43rd in his class.
Dec 27, 2012:
Marine combat veteran Jon Hammar Jr. who has been held in a Mexican prison since August is finally out of that prison and home in Florida just in time for Christmas.
Dec 27, 2012:
This is how a unit of our military on the front lines in Afghanistan celebrated Christmas. They are at Out Post Mustang and the war is never far away. In fact, their brief, simple celebration is broken up by a minor exchange of fire with the Taliban.
Dec 20, 2012:
You want to see a real hero. For all who were involved in Vietnam, the information here will bring home memories. This Master Sergeant's actions are almost beyond belief, but he lived these events and because he did many of his comrades survived to live long lives as well. For his actions he received the Medal of Honor.
Dec 19, 2012:
This is a wonderful, simply stated statement about being American and all the things that being an American means. I like this little video because it's plain spoken and hits the center of the target.
Dec 18, 2012:
Daniel Inouye has been representing Hawaii in both the House and the Senate since it became a state in 1959. But before that he already had a powerful biographical story worthy of a true American hero.
Dec 17, 2012:
This young Belgian teenager, Antoine Brisbois, 16, grew up listening to his grandfather's stories about the American soldiers who liberated his country. The stories must have meant an awful lot to his grandfather. That grandfather's memories of those American soldiers, their bravery and their kindness, shaped this young boys view so profoundly that his greatest wish was to be an American soldier.
Dec 14, 2012:
This is a homemade video done by the Marines who were involved in this fire fight. It is personal and will give you a sense of the sound and the fury of a battle, as well as the chaos. At one point grenades come in and there are a couple of casualties.
Dec 13, 2012:
Recently I received an email from a fellow member of the 3rd Recon Association that got my attention. Why? Well, because it was about a fellow Recon Marine serving with 3rd Recon Battalion, 3rd Marines in Afghanistan. While on a patrol in the Upper Sangin Valley of Helmund Province, Afghanistan, Sgt David Gerardi and his Recon Team, was ambushed and came under heavy machine gun and rocket-propelled grenade fire from four different enemy positions. The article covered the award ceremony where Sgt. David Gerardi, 22, was awarded the Silver Star for his actions on that day, June 6, 2010.
Dec 11, 2012:
This video is from NBC News and covers the death of the Navy Seal, Petty Officer Nicholas Checque, 28, a decorated combat veteran who died on Sunday in a hostage rescue mission in Afghanistan. He was a member of Navy Seal Team 6 and was involved in an assault on the Taliban hostage takers of Dr. Dilip Joseph, an American doctor who works with Morning Star Development provided medical aid, advice and training to Afghan doctors and the Afghan people.
Dec 10, 2012:
This video remembers the Apollo 17 mission to the moon. It was the last mission to the moon by the United States. It is an amazing account of American technology and courage.
Dec 7, 2012:
In memory of the attack on Pearl Harbor today, Dec. 7, 2012, the 71st anniversary of the attack, watch this wonderful video including personal memories of actual survivors.
Dec 6, 2012:
I was made aware of this story when my daughter emailed me the audio of an NPR story about the Enterprise. I have known about her since she was launched and was, on at least one occasion, protected by fighters off of her decks while serving in Vietnam. So there is a certain nostalgia to this story for me. I'm sure it carries a much deeper sense of nostalgia for those who served on her over the last 51 years.
Dec 4, 2012:
Our Coast Guardsmen and women, whether we know it or not, are on the front lines of a war as dangerous as the one our other military forces are engaged in in Afghanistan. This fact was made very evident yesterday, Sunday, December 2, 2012 off the coast of Southern California.
Dec 3, 2012:
In April of 1966 I entered Hospital Corps School at Naval Station Great Lakes, after completing boot camp at the Naval Training Center there. I had entered the Navy with the guarantee that I could get into Hospital Corps School and I was happy to be there. The schooling was focused and intense and I enjoyed the challenge it gave me intellectually and skill-wise. I knew, too, that my eventual destination would be with the Fleet Marine Force to serve with the Marines, most likely in Vietnam.
Dec 3, 2012:
The Silver Star is being awarded posthumously to a Marine and in person to a Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class for conspicuous bravery in the line of fire in Afghanistan. It speaks for itself. It shows the unique relationship between Marines and the Navy Hospital Corpsmen who serve with them in combat.
Nov 29, 2012:
Duty, Honor, Country. These are the values that are common to our military. These are the virtues that they develop and live by, both at home and under fire. It is with and through these virtues that our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen and Marines, carry out their oaths to protect and defend the Constitution of The United States of America.
Nov 27, 2012:
This very brief film tells of the heroic action of Spc. Ross Andre McGinnis while serving with his unit in Iraq. While on patrol a grenade was thrown into his humvee. He was in the roof gun turret when It flew past him and into the truck. He shouted, "Grenade! It's in the truck!" then jumped over it, placing himself between the grenade and his team members. He could have exited through the gun turret he was in, but chose rather to protect his brothers. He saved all of their lives at the cost of his own.
Nov 26, 2012:
One of the most difficult and unjust consequences of modern warfare is the existence of land mines. They are set in great numbers; numbers far greater than most are able to keep track of, so that when the wars are over, they are left in place to continue to kill and maim far after the wars are over.
Nov 26, 2012:
A recent story on the local NBC news affiliate KING 5 News, by Zahid Arab, covered the efforts of two wounded veterans to bring more public attention to the lack of services available to our returning veterans.
Nov 21, 2012:
This is the kind of event that truly breaks our hearts. We are overwhelmed with the terrible irony that this celebration, in the American tradition of a parade, with all the pride, and joy, and relief that we naturally associate with such events, ended so suddenly and terrifyingly, as the result of a bizarre accident.
Nov 20, 2012:
This is a powerful film recounting a coordinated attack on a small base in the mountains of Afghanistan. Several of the Army troops that were there are interviewed. It is not an easy one to watch. It reveals the character and bravery of the American troops under the pressure of superior numbers.
Nov 19, 2012:
Soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen and Marines who have been deployed know the feeling of great longing to return to that place we call 'home.' Home means more than a house, a particular street, or group of family and friends. It's all of that, of course, and so much more
Nov 16, 2012:
The following poem is based on my experience as a Hospital Corpsman serving with Bravo Co. 3rd Recon Bn, 3rd Marines in Vietnam from January of 1968 to February of 1969. The exclamation "Corpsman Up!" was shouted when a Marine was wounded and in need of medical aid. We were trained, like the Marines, to run toward the action when we heard that call. The poem captures some of the internal reality that will be recognizable to any veteran who has been in combat.
Nov 15, 2012:
Michael Reagan is a Marine Vietnam veteran himself. He does these portraits, not as an artist, or for money. He has made this the mission of his retired life. He does it because, as a combat veteran, each of these fallen heroes and their families are his brother, his sister, and therefore, his family.
Nov 14, 2012:
This film is about George Washington' s escape, with his army of 9,000 men, their cannons, horses and supplies, across the East River after being defeated in battle in Brooklyn. This escape may very well have been the most important action of the Revolutionary War.
Nov 13, 2012:
A few days before Veterans Day, I wrote and article about it and suggested some things that you might do this holiday weekend to remember our veterans beyond the rest and relaxation of a three day weekend. I took up the challenge myself and for the first time since I left Vietnam and active duty service, I attended a Veterans Day ceremony at Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery here in Seattle, Washington.
Nov 12, 2012:
There is a neighborhood in Tacoma, Washington, hard up against Puget Sound, that for a few minutes every evening, at sunset, comes to attention, or quiet contemplation. You see, at the exact moment of sunset each evening, an older gentleman, a neighbor, by the name of Don Brittain, steps out onto his back deck and begins playing the slow, plaintive notes of "Taps" out over the darkening neighborhood and the waters of Puget Sound.
Nov 8, 2012:
When a young man, or woman, decides that they want to serve their country as a soldier, sailor, airman, Coast Guardsman, or Marine, they do so for many reasons. But no matter the reasons of the individual recruit, there is one thing that unites them in everything that they will do in the uniform service to the country; The Oath of Enlistment.
Nov 7, 2012:
In November of 1919 President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of what was called Armistice Day back then. Wilson said, "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations..."
Nov 6, 2012:
This Saturday, November 10, 2012, the United States Marine Corps will celebrate its 237th birthday. They were founded as the Continental Marines on November 10th, 1775, nine months before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, to conduct ship-to-ship fighting, to provide shipboard security, and to assist in landing forces.
Nov 2, 2012:
This old aphorism captures the true meaning of American military service. We have never fought for what we hated before us, but for all those people and values behind us that depended on our courage and commitment to defend and protect them from those who would want to harm, or even destroy them. This was as true for the Revolutionary soldier, as it is for those who fight today in Afghanistan.
Nov 1, 2012:
The massive events of Nature that swept over huge portions of our nation, especially the Northeastern coast line, has humbled us again. The forces of nature are beyond our science and our technology to prevent. The destructive power of Sandy has brought one of the world's greatest cities almost to a halt.
Oct 31, 2012:
I live in a community that looks down on Puget Sound near Whidbey Island. We watch the usual comings and goings of the Edmonds/Kingston Ferry every day, all day long and well into the evening. We can also see the ferries going back and forth between Mukilteo on the mainland to Clinton on Whidbey Island to our north. Nothing could be more regular, except maybe the Sounder commuter trains in the morning and evening.
Oct 29, 2012:
This story has been covered in the news lately and so it should have been. A photo of Frank Tanabe voting from his deathbed in Honolulu, Hawaii has made its rounds on the internet as well. The story has so many dimensions to it that it is hard to know where to start.
Oct 29, 2012:
The Oak Ridge Boys sing a very personal ballad here in this video. Listen to the words. They are simple and they tell a simple story, a story about two people who find each other and start a new life together.
Oct 26, 2012:
At last night's second game of the 2012 World Series in San Francisco there was a tribute to all of our servicemen and women before the game. The people in the stadium and the TV audience were treated to something very special too.
Oct 25, 2012:
Nick Staback is a young man from Scranton, Pennsylvania. He's also an Army veteran of the Afghanistan War. Nick is also Maria Stabacks son. This is their story. I heard about Nick and his mother through a recent NPR story.
Oct 22, 2012:
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Oct 10, 2012:
Oct 8, 2012:
This is a great story. The newest U.S. Navy destroyer is not going to be named after some ex-president, or some former, distinguished member of Congress, but after a fallen Navy Seal, Michael Murphy.
Oct 4, 2012:
The Marines have had women serving in the Corps for some seven decades, but never before have they been so close to combat as they have been in Iraq and in Afghanistan. (Much of the information in this article is borrowed from a site called, "MarinesBlog", which is the official blog of the United States Marine Corps.
Oct 3, 2012:
Last night, while channel surfing, I came across the program, "History Detectives" on PBS. I stopped there to listen for a moment, because on the screen was an older gentleman wearing a Vietnam Veteran baseball cap, and his wife sitting on their couch talking to an interviewer. The veteran's name is Bob Frazure. He was wearing a nasal cannula, breathing heavily as he told he story. It was in only a matter of seconds that I was captured by the story he and his wife were telling, and by what the History Detectives were doing with it.
Oct 1, 2012:
The one, overriding reason to watch this video, especially for those who have not experienced the daily environment of war, is to at least see how vastly distant it is from daily life back here at home. War, for most Americans, is "over there". For most, war has a kind of fictional quality to it. They are not touched by it at all, save for a brief story on the news, or the internet. Given a choice they would rather watch something that amuses them, than to deal with the very real threat that is terrorism.
Sep 28, 2012:
For those of us who have fought in war, the greatest fear was not so much getting injured, even killed, but rather being captured and possibly killed or tortured by the enemy, never to be seen or heard from again--dead, or alive.
Sep 27, 2012:
Though the battlefield part of the war in Afghanistan is coming to a close, there is still much to be done. Certainly there is much left to do in terms of training the Afghan military to be able to defend itself, but there is also the immense complexity of the logistics necessary to repatriate, not just our troops, but all of our equipment and supplies. They are almost incomprehensible.
Sep 26, 2012:
This story is about character. It is an untold story in many ways, because it is not just about the wounded warrior, the soldier's sacrifice for the nation, it's also about the character of those who our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines come home to.
Sep 24, 2012:
CBS Sunday Morning's cover story yesterday was about Dakota Meyer, the Marine who received the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony last September. They were following up on him to see how he was fairing now that he has been home for awhile.
Sep 21, 2012:
Those who fall on the field of battle deserve our greatest respect, while at the same time, their loss tears at our hearts. These flights bring our fallen heroes home to us and those who fly them do so with great honor and profound respect.
Sep 21, 2012:
Last night's NBC Evening News ended with an inspiring story about a doctor, an orthopedic surgeon, that you need to know about. His name is Dr. Lawrence Bone. Yes, that's the name of this bone doctor. He has been directing the Orthopedic Surgery Department at the University of Buffalo School of Medicine most recently, and has practiced his art for some 35 years.
Sep 20, 2012:
These words are simple, yet strong. They offer a picture of the ethics and the commitment that our soldiers learn and appropriate to themselves through their training. These are noble ideals and we can see that they are the product of common sense and an awareness of what a soldier commits his or her life to in service of a higher cause than their individual selves.
Sep 19, 2012:
Idealism is a profound human reality. It is rooted in hope, and in the faith that things, not only can be better, but should be better. The truth is that ideals are possible, but they are much more difficult than they appear. The other truth to remember here is that ideals must be approached through the realm of reality.
Sep 17, 2012:
Today is the 150th anniversary of the Battle at Antietam in Maryland between the Confederate forces of General Robert E. Lee and the Union forces under General George McClellan. That day, September 17, 1862 was a turning point in this nation's history.
Sep 14, 2012:
This was the title of an article by Caroline Alexander for the Sunday Opinion section of the New York Times. In it she compares the homecoming of Odysseus, Homer's hero of the "Odyssey" who, for a number of reasons that are out of his control, takes 10 years to get home from the Trojan war. When he gets home he finds that everything has changed and he has to find ways to "get back home" to his family, and to the people of his island kingdom.
Sep 13, 2012:
Another of the diminishing number of WWII veterans has left us this week. His name was Glen Lane. He was just a man, an ordinary guy, but like so many of his generation, he was extraordinary in his service to his country and to his family.
Sep 12, 2012:
The injuries of war are always devastating, physically and emotionally. The kinds of wounds caused by bullets, shrapnel, and heavy explosives often change the lives of injured warriors dramatically and for the rest of their lives. As a result, medicine and medical practices often advance very rapidly because of the immediate needs and realities of the wounded servicemen and women returning home from war with these devastating injuries.
Sep 10, 2012:
A recent article by Robert Burns, for the Associated Press, points out a very troubling fact concerning the nation's "war weariness" in relation to the continuing casualty counts coming out of Afghanistan. He suggests that we are no longer paying attention, that we have grown "numb to the sting of losing soldiers..." in Afghanistan.
Sep 6, 2012:
Sep 5, 2012:
Thousands of our troops who have been in harm's way, especially in the most recent wars with the ubiquitous IED, have been injured, but have not received Purple Hearts for their injuries. Why is this? It's because the injuries received are not the commonly accepted injuries whose results can be seen visibly.
Sep 5, 2012:
During WWII, Japanese-Americans, as we all know, were put into internment camps as a result of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Those Japanese were more American than Japanese, but the fear and the anger of those days immediately after December 7, 1941, proved to be more powerful than our deeper sense of justice.
Aug 30, 2012:
The following is a poem that comes from my teaching of the ancient Greek war poem called, "The Iliad". It is also inspired by a reflection by Thomas Cahill, on the difference between the two brothers, Paris and Hector, in his book, "How The Irish Saved Civilization." My poem begins with a quote from the American 20th century philosopher, George Santayana.
Aug 30, 2012:
On August 20, 2012 we lost another of the Vietnam era's brave Chaplains. Fr. Philip J. Lucid, S.J. died at 90 years of age. Yes, you read that correctly. He was born in Everett, Washington on May 6, 1922. He graduated from high school in 1940. After receiving college degree and his Jesuit training, he was ordained a priest in 1955. He taught for several years at Gonzaga University.
Aug 30, 2012:
My wife and I were visiting one of our favorite places this week, Leavenworth, Washington, a bavarian-styled village nestled into the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains. There is a Starbucks there with a book store right next door and I go there every time I'm in Leavenworth.
Aug 29, 2012:
Can you imagine being a military veteran, a Purple Heart recipient, having served your country with distinction, finding yourself back home in the land of the free and the brace, the land of opportunity and equality for all, "diving" daily into the dumpsters of grocery stores near where you sleep in the bushy corners of a local park, for your daily bread? Well this is the reality for an impossible to believe number of American war veterans.
Aug 23, 2012:
Most of you will not know him by name. He was not great in the way that we usually think of that term today. He was not famous. He was not rich. His life was, if you will, common in the everyday sense of that word. But he was still a great man, a man who made a difference, whose life was connected to moments of historical import in the history of this nation and its military history.
Aug 21, 2012:
Aug 21, 2012:
The "Screaming Eagles" were deactivated after WWII, but were reinstated as a unit in 1957. During the 1950s, the 101st Airborne Division was called on by President Eisenhower domestically, to protect and defend the Civil Rights efforts that began in that decade with desegregation of the public schools.
Aug 21, 2012:
Frank Spink was, like so many others of that era, drafted into the Army. Forty-two years ago he was in the field with his unit, at watch in the middle of the night, when he spotted enemy troops trying to sneak up on his unit.
Aug 20, 2012:
Aug 16, 2012:
According to John Register, the associate director of community and military programs for the U.S. Olympic Committee's Paralympics division, "After devastating [battlefield injuries], especially after people lose parts of their bodies, they often ask: 'Who am I now? Am I still that husband to my wife, or that wife to my husband? Can I still be employed? Those are the questions. Through sports, they search for answers.
Aug 14, 2012:
Some 20,000 Army and Marine veterans of the Iraq and Afghan Wars are finding themselves in a kind of limbo in terms of being able to receive medical care from the Veterans Administration. Many are being denied the right to obtain Veterans Administration healthcare outright.
Aug 13, 2012:
Aug 10, 2012:
That question arises often enough when the military are asked by the press, or the political opposition to the post 9/11 wars about their efforts in Afghanistan. Well, there are answers to that question, good answers.
Aug 7, 2012:
The day that I was at the cemetery was not so sunny as in the video attached here, but the emotional impact under gray and windy skies was overwhelming. There were not so many people there because of the weather, which has been poor for a long time in this part of the world.
Aug 3, 2012:
I found a small historical article in the International Herald Tribune this morning while having a coffee and croissant at a local cafe in the village of Carnac in Brittany, France. The article was a reprint from an edition of the Herald Tribune written on this day in 1937. It was concerning a memorial that had just been completed in the town of Montfaucon, France in honor of those who had died in the horrifying battle of Meuse-Argonne that took place in and around its environs between September 26 and November 11, 1918.
Aug 2, 2012:
While visiting my cousins in Ireland I met the boyfriend of one of my cousin's granddaughters, Keith Walsh. He is an intelligent, witty, full-of-life young man and he is a Lance Corporal in the Royal Irish Regiment of the British Army.
Aug 2, 2012:
On July 27, 2012, Republican Senator Dean Heller of Nevada offered Senate Bill 3308 before the Veterans Affairs Committee. This is a very important effort to meet the growing needs of women veterans who are, for whatever reason, finding themselves temporarily homeless.
Jul 27, 2012:
Next week I will be visiting the landing beaches along the northern coast of Normandy. I have long wanted to see those beaches where so many brave men went ashore under the intense killing fire of the German defenses to begin the final push against the Nazi war machine.
Jul 26, 2012:
On July 23, 2012 Sally Ride, the first woman to go up into space, died at home after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
Since the 1960s we have been fascinated with space and space travel. From the first flight by John Glenn riding that small, claustrophobic capsule, perched on top of a huge "roman candle" filled with highly explosive fuels we have held our breaths and shouted for joy at the successful launches, then waited anxiously and excitedly for their safe return. We watched in shocked horror when the Challenger blew up before our very eyes on live TV. Another of the Shuttles ended its mission burning across the sky like a shooting star and we were made aware again of what kind of risks and the kind of bravery that is needed to be an astronaut.
Jul 26, 2012:
The events of Iwo Jima were among the bloodiest of the war in either theater. The landing on Iwo was preceded by several days of bombing, Naval gunfire from the big 16 inch guns on the battlewagons and rocket fire from aircraft as well as other Navy ships. It was so intense that it was thought that very few Japanese would have been able to survive it. What they didn't know was that the Japanese had constructed a very lengthy, deep and elaborate tunnel system to be safe beyond the reach of such bombardments.
Jul 24, 2012:
Though I've come to a little village on the southwest coast of Ireland, a place so far out of the way that most have never heard of it, even in Ireland, I have not been able to distance myself enough from the world to be ignorant of the terrible event that took place in Aurora, Colorado last week. It is all over the TV news and in the papers here in Ireland too.
Jul 23, 2012:
Jul 20, 2012:
I happened to catch one of those documentary programs a while back that was a collection of videos concerning extreme rescues caught on tape. You know the kind of programing I'm referring to here. But it was one of the rescues that caught my attention for its difficulty and bravery.
Jul 20, 2012:
In the dawn's early light of April 19, 1775, the hearts and minds of farmers and merchants, craftsmen of every kind, even ministers heard the call to arms and met on the hill above the Old North Bridge, formed their ranks and awaited the greatest army in the world at the time, all for the hope of their own freedom.
Jul 18, 2012:
You will meet a remarkable individual in this video. His name is Ken Pridgeon and he is a painter. He is also a Texan. In his retirement he has taken on a job like no other, a job that he loves and to which he dedicates as many as 14 hours a day.
Jul 18, 2012:
In Monday's Irish Times I found an article that gives a perspective that we don't often hear in our American papers. The title of the article was "Village militia drives out Taliban for closing school." It was written by an Irish Times reporter, Nicola Smith, from Kabul, the Afghan national capital.
Jul 16, 2012:
It is my luck at the moment to be writing in the wild environs of a very small village on the Atlantic coast of Ireland. My mornings and early afternoons are taken up in writing, then I go to the small shop in town, get a copy of the Irish Times and go to the pub to read the news over a pint of Guinness.
In the Sunday Times, I found two small articles about WWII veterans who had died in the past week. One is known to most Americans and the other, is a British hero.
Jul 13, 2012:
A new project is underway at this time designed to tell the story of U.S. women veterans who have been in combat in both Iraq and Afghanistan. It is called, The Lady Warrior Project.
Jul 12, 2012:
When I arrived in country in January of 1968, Vietnam was on the verge of the Tet Offensive. I was in Quant Tri awaiting a flight to a Marine forward air base called Khe Sanh. The night before I left for Khe Sanh I saw "Spooky" in operation for the first time and I found that its name was very apt.
Jul 11, 2012:
Those who have been to war know this intimately. In the heat of battle, when a soldier acts courageously, it is not for reward, nor is it for country, nor is it for the Constitution, but it is for something more intimate, more innate, more basic; it is out of love for the friends who are under fire beside him or her.
Jul 10, 2012:
The war in Iraq is over and now our troops are coming home, finally, from Afghanistan. There will yet be sacrifices made and we will not let our guard down until the last of them are home. Now we have to shift our focus and pay attention to the needs of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines as they return to their bases and to civilian life.
Jul 9, 2012:
Jun 30, 2012:
Jun 26, 2012:
Jun 22, 2012:
Jun 18, 2012:
Jun 12, 2012:
Jun 8, 2012:
Jun 7, 2012:
Jun 5, 2012:
Jun 5, 2012:
Jun 4, 2012:
Jun 4, 2012:
Jun 1, 2012:
May 31, 2012:
May 31, 2012:
May 31, 2012:
May 30, 2012:
May 30, 2012:
May 30, 2012:
May 17, 2012:
First Lady Michelle Obama has called on America's nurses to offer world-class care our returning veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries, and post-combat depression. This is wonderful news.
May 16, 2012:
May 16, 2012:
On May 16, 2012 President Obama presented a posthumous Medal of Honor to Army Specialist Leslie H. Sabo. Accepting the award, his wife Rose Mary said "A piece of metal won't bring back my husband, but my heart beams with pride."
May 16, 2012:
Who are the real 1%? The ones who really matter? Every American needs to support the true elite, the men and women who have fought for our freedom over the last ten years.
May 15, 2012:
"Troops to Teachers" is a program sponsored by the Department of Defense aimed at assisting eligible military personnel in achieving their goals of becoming teachers in the public schools, from grades K-12. It's a great program for our veterans, utilizing the skills, the discipline and the desire to serve that they already have.
May 11, 2012:
Many homeless are veterans who have fallen through the cracks. Most are Vietnam era veterans, but many are veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. They are men and, for the first time in our history, too many of these homeless veterans are women. It's a shame that we haven't found a way to care for them.
May 10, 2012:
A stirring poem by Dan Doyle.
May 9, 2012:
"Stand down." This is the order every soldier, sailor, Marine, and airman waits to hear after a long hard battle. But it isn't always easy for veterans to stand down when they've finished their military service. Veterans Village was founded to provide homeless vets with rehabilitation centers, housing units, sober living centers, and apartments to help them re-enter civilian life.
May 8, 2012:
Sgt. Nicholas Dickhut died last Monday from wounds received in an enemy attack in Afghanistan.
May 8, 2012:
Today, May 8th, 2012, is the 77th anniversary of the allied victory over fascism in Europe. Let's remember those who fought and died to end the horror of that war. Let us also thank those who survived, who shaped the America we know today. They were the Greatest Generation, and we owe them more than we can repay.
May 4, 2012:
Unscrupulous "advisers" are convincing veterans to transfer assets from their bank accounts, or retirement investments, into an "irrevocable trust" in order to "appear impoverished" and qualify for that VA, in-home assistance benefit. But such a move could tie up assets for a decade or more.
May 4, 2012:
May 4, 2012:
The U.S Marines' Darkhorse Battalion was "literally in a race for their lives. They were trying to adjust their tactics to outwit Taliban fighters, who had killed more coalition troops here than in any other area of Afghanistan." In one month, the battalion lost 15 Marines, and 50 were wounded.
May 3, 2012:
Our returning troops need us now more than ever. We will have to continue to fund veterans programs at the highest levels possible in order to avoid the problems that Vietnam era veterans encountered after their war.
May 1, 2012:
May 1, 2012:
May 1, 2012:
We often make the mistake of using a particular expression to categorize an entire group of people. It’s called stereotyping, or prejudice. It’s something we are all capable of and often do.
May 1, 2012:
The U.S. Marine Corps has begun reducing troop numbers in Okinawa, Japan. History has shown that onetime enemies can become lasting friends.
May 1, 2012:
Online for-profit diploma mills are targeting veterans who want to use their GI Bill funds to earn a college degree. Thanks to the Obama administration, measures have been taken to safeguard veterans and their families against these predatory schools.
May 1, 2012:
Many returning service members who have come home with varying levels of PTSD as a result of multiple tours of duty are finding it difficult to get the medical and psychological care that they need at our Veterans Administration Hospitals. This must change.
Apr 25, 2012:
Apr 25, 2012:
Most people probably haven’t a clue about the fact that the National Guard and Reserves make up almost one half of our national military forces. National Guard and Reserve troops are our modern Minutemen, our Citizen Soldiers.
Apr 23, 2012:
The history of the Civil War and its importance in the shaping of this country remains for most of us a distant, if sometimes interesting event that happened a long time ago.
Apr 19, 2012:
I heard about this organization through a conversation with an active duty soldier while on a recent trip. It struck me that this concept bore all of the marks of an American sense of what is right.
Apr 16, 2012:
Apr 16, 2012:
It has taken me a long time to come to some peace about my Vietnam experience; forty-four years to be exact. Surprisingly, it was a matter of serendipity that began the transition for me.
Apr 2, 2012:
Apr 2, 2012:
On March 22, 2012, a twenty-nine-year old soldier from Providence, Rhode Island, Spc. Dennis Weichel, Jr., died in Afghanistan. But it was the way that he died that makes us proud of him, and of the person he was.
Apr 1, 2012:
Apr 1, 2012:
On a recent weekend, I attended my brother-in-law's wedding in Fort Walton Beach, FL. The ceremonies took place on Hulburt Air Force Base near there. Most impressive to me was the genuine welcome we experienced, and the hospitality of both the base chapel and of the hotel personnel. Everyone on base looked you in the eye and offered a greeting of one kind or another.
Mar 26, 2012:
Mar 26, 2012:
An awful thing happened in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, and now we must muddle our way through the horror of it to try to find answers, and the possibility of some kind of reconciliation for all the parties involved.
Mar 9, 2012:
Mar 9, 2012:
I want to focus on a book I just finished entitled Band of Sisters, by Kirsten Holmstedt. It brings the reader into the real lives and experiences of some dozen or so women who fought with a variety of military units during the Iraq War.
Feb 28, 2012:
Feb 28, 2012:
Life is a constant struggle with paradox. One of the greatest of these paradoxes is the ever present threat of war. The paradox of war is that while we are engaged in it, those who fight the wars are expected to remain moral.
Feb 22, 2012:
Feb 22, 2012:
I was at my local Starbucks with my granddaughter. As I sat there with her, I partially overheard a conversation between a couple of gentlemen about veterans issues. When one left, I initiated a brief conversation with the other. And I'm glad I did.
Feb 13, 2012:
Feb 13, 2012:
I am moved deeply by this young Marine. Watch Survive. Recover. Live. (The Rob Jones Story). Do it. You, too, will come away from it with a better sense of life and how to live it.
Feb 3, 2012:
It was written to a Mrs. Bixby, living in Boston, Massachusetts on November 21, 1864 to acknowledge the deaths of her five sons while serving in the Union Army during the Civil War. Let it speak to you in our time and to those who have lost members of their families in the wars fought in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Jan 30, 2012:
Jan 30, 2012:
We will have to watch what happens over the coming weeks in the debate about military budget cuts. It is hoped that when the final decisions in this matter are fully and honestly debated that our active military, our military retirees and their families will not find themselves rejected by those they so willingly served at war and at home.
Jan 26, 2012:
Jan 26, 2012:
When the firefighters arrived they found the frightened mother and her children suspended in the seriously mangled car that was unbelievably hanging precariously from the bridge. Well, along comes a unit of U.S. Navy Seabees...
Jan 24, 2012:
Jan 24, 2012:
On this winter morning, I am thinking about our servicemen and women in Afghanistan, many of whom are enduring the winter fierceness of the Afghan mountains where the Al Qaida and Taliban fighters hide, plan, and initiate their strikes against the NATO forces.
Jan 17, 2012:
Jan 17, 2012:
The title of this article has two levels of meaning. The first, of course, is that sense that all who fight the enemy on the front lines are brothers-in-arms, caring for each other and watching each other's back. The other is the reason for this article.
Jan 6, 2012:
Jan 6, 2012:
This is not the usual military story. This is about a one-of-kind soldier, an officer, who wears the fatigues of a combat warrior, who enters the danger zone with his troops – unarmed: the military chaplain.
Jan 4, 2012:
Jan 4, 2012:
A new year has come, as it must in the passage of time. Our troops have left Iraq after a nine-year involvement. Many are still in harm's way in Afghanistan...
Dec 30, 2011:
Dec 30, 2011:
The number of women serving in the armed forces in the last decade has increased dramatically. There are some 1.9 million women veterans today, many of whom, like no other time in our history, are also counted as combat veterans
Dec 22, 2011:
Dec 22, 2011:
Today, Dec. 22, 2011 is the day that the sun begins its journey north again, bringing more length and light to our days. It is also the time to celebrate the festival of lights, Hanukkah, and Christmas...
Dec 21, 2011:
There are so many good things being done on behalf of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines these days. One of these good things is a program called Operation Gratitude.
Dec 19, 2011:
Sometimes strange, unaccountable things happen, and because of them, the course of history is changed. This is the story of a natural disaster that helped stop a potential tragedy.
Dec 16, 2011:
The news out of Dover Air Force Base this month has really caught me up short. According to a variety of news sources, it has recently come out that some of the cremated remains of some 274 of our fallen heroes were unceremoniously disposed of in a landfill in Delaware.
Dec 8, 2011:
It is the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the infamous surprise attack on the Pacific Fleet then anchored at the huge Naval base outside of Honolulu, Hawaii.
Dec 6, 2011:
Dec 6, 2011:
I stopped at my local Starbucks for coffee and the morning paper, but I was not be able to enjoy the solitude of that morning cup of Joe and the leisure of reading the news of the day...
Dec 2, 2011:
Dec 2, 2011:
What makes a young man or woman today want to serve in the military? That question has probably been asked in every generation since the founding of the city-state, if not earlier.
Nov 29, 2011:
With the national unemployment rate hanging around 9% and the economy acting like a drugged three-toed sloth, barely moving at all, the immediate prospects for employment are challenging for everybody, but particularly for our returning veterans.
Nov 10, 2011:
Nov 10, 2011:
President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed an Armistice Day to be celebrated on November 11, 1919. He declared, "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and the gratitude for the victory...
Nov 7, 2011:
Nov 7, 2011:
Since 2003, American troops have fought, suffered, died, and built infrastructure in Iraq, in an effort to help create something the Iraqi people have never experienced: political freedom. It is up to the Iraqi people to do the rest now.
Oct 31, 2011:
Oct 31, 2011:
On Saturday October 22, 2011 Sgt. First Class Kristoffer Domeij, 29, was killed by an IED, along with two others, First Lieutenant Ashley White, 24 and Ranger Private First Class Christopher A. Horns, 20, who was on his first combat deployment.
Oct 29, 2011:
Oct 24, 2011:
Oct 24, 2011:
On November 11, 1921, an unidentified soldier was laid to rest in the Memorial Amphitheater in Arlington National Cemetery, and The Tomb of the Unknowns was created. The ceremonies you may have been privileged to witness at that site have been going on there twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year ever since 1937.
Oct 19, 2011:
Oct 19, 2011:
These are hard times for everybody. The economy is tenuous, the unemployment rates, the numbers of people on food stamps have grown to unprecedented highs, and there is political gridlock in Washington, D. C.
Oct 13, 2011:
Oct 13, 2011:
On September 15th, 2011 Sergeant Michael Prince gave his all for each and every one of us. He was serving with his Oklahoma National Guard Unit in Afghanistan when he was felled by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Oct 4, 2011:
Oct 4, 2011:
On Friday, Oct. 30, 2011, Admiral Mike Mullen retired as the seventeenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He served both Presidents Bush and Obama, and under two Secretaries of Defense, Robert Gates and Leon Panetta.
Sep 28, 2011:
Sep 28, 2011:
Sep 20, 2011:
Sep 20, 2011:
National POW/MIA Recognition Day was last Friday, the 16th of September. Of course I've known about the POW/MIA issue and have seen its flag flying beneath the Stars and Stripes on many occasions, but I did not know the history of the movement, or of its flag...
Sep 15, 2011:
In two years we will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, which was fought in the fields and hills outside of a small southern Pennsylvania town. One event began on the heights of a knoll called Little Round Top.
Sep 9, 2011:
Sep 9, 2011:
On September 11, 2011 the new 9/11 Memorial will be publicly dedicated. That place is now, and will from here on be sacred ground.
Sep 7, 2011:
Sep 7, 2011:
I went to a funeral last spring for a woman of great humility, culture, and generosity. During the funeral mass I learned some things about this wonderful woman that I had never known before. Among these I found out that she was a WWII veteran, a unique veteran, in more ways than one.
Sep 5, 2011:
Aug 9, 2011:
Sadness is deep in us today, but we are not bowed. We are not broken. We hurt, and we sorrow, but we are proud of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us. And we hope from the deepest well of our hearts that the day will come when this kind of sacrifice will no longer be needed.
Aug 9, 2011:
Aug 8, 2011:
Aug 8, 2011:
I am so glad to see that the returning veterans of this generation are being welcomed home so openly, so positively, and so sincerely. It is going to be just as tough for them to re-enter civil society as it was for my generation of warriors, but they are coming home to the respect and care that they deserve.
Aug 4, 2011:
Aug 4, 2011:
We are about to say goodbye to a venerable military icon. The Walter Reed Army Medical Center has been in service and on duty for over a century, but will soon be closing its doors due to its age and deteriorating conditions.
Jul 29, 2011:
The way this project is structured at every stage is, to my mind, a model for how to both care for those who have temporarily gotten lost on the road of life, and how to empower them to make themselves into the persons they were meant to be. This program is about freedom.
Jul 18, 2011:
The annual Stand Down event to give veterans a three-day weekend chance to get cleaned up, have a few good meals, get basic medical and dental health care, and maybe get into rehab programs, or find work. A Stand Down occurred this weekend, from July 15th through 17th.
Jul 15, 2011:
Jul 15, 2011:
On June 30, 2011 Secretary of Defense Robert Gates retired from one of the most storied careers of public service in modern times. Secretary Robert Gates is a leader of exceptional character, who held the men and women who serve this nation with their lives close to his heart.
Jul 13, 2011:
Jul 13, 2011:
Eugene Krueger is an unusual veteran of two wars, the Vietnam war and the War on Terror in Afghanistan. His admirable four decades of service have more than earned the thanks of a grateful nation.
Jul 12, 2011:
One Tuesday evening I happened to watch the PBS program Frontline. One of the issues covered was a story about the proliferating for-profit, online colleges and universities and their relationship to our returning veterans. It was a very disturbing piece.
Jun 28, 2011:
Jun 28, 2011:
As I write this blog article this morning, some 250 women and men wearing blue are running together in the Seattle "Rock 'n' Roll" Marathon. These brave Americans run, not just to prove themselves, but to honor and remember their fallen heroes, and to support one another through another day.
Jun 17, 2011:
Jun 17, 2011:
On July 12, 2011, Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Arthur Petry will be awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barak Obama at the White house. He is one of nine who have been awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions in the Iraq-Afghanistan campaigns.
Jun 8, 2011:
Jun 8, 2011:
It took me four days to get up the nerve to approach that wall. As I finally drew near and saw "The Wall" for the first time, tears, tears that I had held back for two decades, came suddenly and uncontrollably.
Jun 6, 2011:
Jun 6, 2011:
On May fourth, two families, the nation, the State of Washington, the Yakama Tribe of White Swan, WA, and the Gila River Tribe of Blackwater, AZ, buried yet another son and veteran killed in Afghanistan.
May 26, 2011:
May 26, 2011:
This Memorial Day, let us honor all of the sacrifices made in service to the Constitution of the United States with a renewed vigor.
May 23, 2011:
Today, we have a distinguished guest at Notes from a Veteran to share her thoughts: Senator Patty Murray, the first woman to chair the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and a national advocate for the rights of veterans.
May 4, 2011:
May 4, 2011:
On September 11, 2001, the world changed for all of us. Since that day we have been at war with the mindless, irrational terrorism initiated by Osama bin Laden.
Apr 29, 2011:
Governor Chris Gregoire of Washington State signed a bill that allows private businesses to give hiring preference to veterans. With the current unemployment rate for Gulf-War era veterans standing at 10.9 percent (the average is 8.8 percent), this is good news for veterans in Washington...
Apr 25, 2011:
Apr 25, 2011:
This is a project that finds its foundations in the love that veterans, who have seen the worst of war, have for one another.... It is clear what it has meant and continues to mean to the families that get these portraits, but for Mike, it has welcomed him home to himself.
Apr 15, 2011:
Apr 15, 2011:
The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. We can no longer afford to be indifferent to the suffering of those who are poor, homeless, and lost among us. So many of them are veterans...
Apr 8, 2011:
Apr 8, 2011:
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been going on for a 8 and 10 years now. With the media's attention concentrated on more sensational current events, we can lose sight of the fact that our young veterans are still serving, getting wounded, and, sadly, dying in those countries.
Mar 26, 2011:
Mar 26, 2011:
Letters from home were a life-line to what was real for us. They connected us to sanity when we were so often caught in the midst of insanity.
Mar 17, 2011:
Mar 17, 2011:
There are two kinds of heroes: those who go and offer their lives, and those who stay behind, faithful, hopeful and strong. We know and honor the heroism of our warriors, but we too often forget about those who stay at home, who sacrifice with their fear, their longing, and their loneliness.
Mar 8, 2011:
Mar 8, 2011:
Let's face it. We all want to be seen as courageous, but courage is a virtue. It must be practiced over and over again until it becomes a habit, something you no longer have to think about, you just do. Even then...
Mar 4, 2011:
Mar 4, 2011:
We who have fought, who have known the incomprehensible sacrifice of war, will remember Captain Freeman's actions and devotion to duty as long as we take breath. The nation must not forget either.
Mar 2, 2011:
Mar 2, 2011:
Frank Buckles was a Missouri, Oklahoma farm boy looking for adventure in 1917. Or, as he said himself in an NPR interview three years ago, "Adventure was looking for me." The Great War was going on and he'd followed its progress, itching to go to the war that the whole world was involved in. He wanted, in his youthful idealism, to be a part of that world.
Feb 28, 2011:
Feb 28, 2011:
The idea of going home was never too far from the thoughts of those fighting in war zones. The desire to get home was understandable, but there was a fear that was associated with our coming home too.
Feb 22, 2011:
Please join us in this effort to make a small but meaningful difference in the lives of homeless veterans. In helping others we help ourselves.
Feb 22, 2011:
Dan Doyle is a husband, father, grandfather, Vietnam veteran, and soon-to-be-retired professor of Humanities at Seattle University in Seattle, WA.
