AllMilitary.com

Back in May, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ruth. Ruth is a recent recipient of President Bush’s Volunteer Service Award. She is a life long volunteer and troop supporter extraordinaire. In the interview linked above, Ruth shares her memories of being a little girl during World War II, and watching the changes in culture through the years.

Ruth’s love for our soldiers is contagious and inspiring.

Ruth received her service award in a ceremony where she had asked some Vietnam Vetearns to participate. Below is an excerpt of her award ceremony and some pictures:

Local volunteer honored
By Dustin Pangonis
Monday, June 22, 2009 9:27 AM

EDTSCHUYLKILL HAVEN — When Ruth Ray, 71, of Port Carbon, was given the President’s Volunteer Service Award on Sunday, she held it for just a few seconds before changing the focus and presenting a gift of her own.

“Thank you for serving, Vietnam vets,” Ray said as she handed a statuette of an American flag and a bald eagle to the Veterans of the Vietnam War Post 29.

Ray, whose history of volunteer work on behalf of U.S. troops stretches back to World War II, was honored in a short ceremony at the Schuylkill County Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

She said her first priority, even when accepting the award, was to thank the troops. Her second priority: to spread the message of volunteerism.

Most recently, Ray has been sending small care packages to soldiers. She gave a “shout-out” to the Pottsville and Port Carbon post offices, which must fill out five pages of customs paperwork for each package.

David Fessler, of both the Veterans and the Schuylkill County Veterans Affairs Office, presented Ray with the award, which is given through the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation established by President George W. Bush.

“One of the reasons we’re having it at the Vietnam Memorial is because this leads to what we’ve been saying all along,” Fessler said. “We’re not going to let the troops go through what we did. We’re going to take care of them.”  LINK to entire story

Here are a few pictures:

Bookmark to:

You need to know Jim Spiri. Jim is a combat photographer but he is not a member of the media elite. The elite offer us sympathy to sell ad space. Jim offers us empathy to soothe the soul. The difference is more than faint. Read on.

The old adage goes “a picture is worth a thousand words.” It’s a great parallelism that illuminates two things: 1) A picture can tell the content of a story faster and more complete sometimes than a thousand words crafted by even a gifted writer, and 2) A picture can evoke an emotion (affect) that a writer may have to write a thousand words to evoke (and may still not fully capture).

I find this angle to picture taking interesting since the parallelism is drawing on two components of communication — content and affect. In my past-life I had to study many models of human behavior and relationships. When you study to be a therapist (or really even study to decide if you will become a therapist) you have to learn many angles of effective communication. My favorite model for therapeutic communication has been the Empathy Scale model by Carkuff and Truax. This model is complimentary to and part of the neo-Freudian movement and transanalytical therapeutic models.

Now, before you go ‘huh?’ and decide to not read any further, let me explain. This is going somewhere — it’s leading us to combat footage, trust me.

The Empathy Scale is based on the fact that little can ever be achieved in analytical therapy without a trusting relationship between client and therapist, and without the therapist knowing how to listen and knowing how to offer feedback that is empathetic. People get enough sympathy in this world. Everyone feels sorry for someone at one point or another. Sympathy is often expressed as a form of pity. It is sometimes necessary to feel, but it is not sufficient to truly comfort a burdened heart.

While sympathy is sometimes necessary, any therapist worth her weight in salt will tell you that people don’t want someone to feel something “for” them. What we all crave and want is empathy. Empathy provides our human souls a richer and more personal connection with others. You can have sympathy for someone and never really understand (or try to for that matter) what they are really feeling or going through. When you have empathy for another person you understand both the content of what they are telling you, and you feel on a personal level the emotion they are communicating. You do not feel for the person, but rather you feel with the person. You don’t walk a mile in their shoes, but rather you walk a mile hand in hand with them. When you have experienced empathy you know immediately the difference between that and when someone feels sympathy for you. The two are very distinguishable.

Even though professionally I went on to do non-profit administration and social research, I had to spend some time in the therapeutic trenches. It is the nature of the social work profession for its members to experience direct client work for at least a season.

One of the most beautiful moments as a therapist is when you have a client who has shared a very painful and lonely experience, and at some point through the course of therapy you (the therapist) finally understand what she is feeling. When you communicate your insight to her you see her face light up like you’ve never seen before. Suddenly she knows she is no longer alone on her journey. This is often when healing begins.

Empathy is hard for the giver. It forces you to let your guard down, and it forces you to embrace a level of vulnerability. As humans we naturally brace against such feelings — not embrace them. It is not easy walking toward a black storm of pain, and voluntarily walking right in and experiencing the storm with another. It does take a form of courage.

I have prefaced the following with all of that so that I could make a point about the work of Jim Spiri. His work is a labor of love and a beautiful act of empathy for parents and loved ones of deployed soldiers. His pictures are worth a thousand words - actually his pictures are worth much more than that.

Being a Blue Star mom and knowing many Blue Star families, I can testify that when your son or daughter enters the battlefield you are taken from the ranks of the “normal” experiences of parenthood. You are thrust into a world that your non-Blue Star friends have a very hard time relating to. Actually you are thrust into a world that they sometimes abhor. You are suddenly the reminder to them of the evil that lurks in the streets of Baghdad. You are the reminder that if your soldier was not there defending this Country voluntarily, then their son or daughter may have been forced to go.

More than once I have been engaged in a conversation with friends who ‘accidentally’ have said something like “Well it’s better that Johnny works at the gym since he doesn’t want to go to college. At least he’s not being sent to Iraq!” The couple of times this sentiment has slipped out they suddenly look at me, red faced, and I get ‘the look.’ You know what I’m talking about. The look that says “You poor dear! You poor woman!”

Sympathy sucks. I don’t want their sympathy. I want them to know that although I am scared when my son deploys, that I am so intensely proud of him at the same time. I am not pitiful. I am painfully proud! They don’t get it, and I guess maybe I should pity them in return for not understanding — more so for their not wanting to understand.

I had to endure months of photographs from our mainstream media showing me the daily goings on at Berkeley. Our brave Marines were harassed constantly by Code Pink. I am sick and tired of the pandering the MSM does for the antiwar crowd, and then once in a great while we, the Blue Star families are thrown an occasional bone. Typically the only time I see something in the MSM about either war zone is when they are gleefully reporting a set back. I have watched the patterns of their reporting for more than 2-solid years now, and they have made their intentions on reporting this war very clear.

Jim Spiri is a combat photographer. His intentions are also very clear. Jim and his wife Candi, have buried one of their sons, a Marine Officer. Their youngest son serves in the Army as a combat helicopter pilot on his 5th deployment. The Spiris know exactly what I mean when I say that I am painfully proud of my own son. Jim and Candi have comforted our wounded soldiers while they helped load those soldiers for transport from Balad in the early days of the war. The Spiris have stood in the dust of history where our sons and daughters stand. They have stood in the gap between our sons and daughters in harms way, and the fires burning on the home front.

Jim is a combat photographer with some very rich experiences that afforded him the privilege and opportunity to walk the streets of places like Fallujah and Mosul. Jim has stood at the front lines with our Marines and Soldiers. He is a combat photographer veteran. He has served in the silent ranks as a proud father, a proud American and a man who held an instrument of empathy.

Jim has sent his pictures back to the US to other painfully proud parents. He told me that he has sent these pictures back home proudly proclaiming to anxious parents “Look at what your son is doing! Look what he did on this day!” Jim’s message is plain and simple — he has a love for America’s sons and daughters, and for their families. He is not a therapist, so he offers another very powerful tool of communicating his empathy. He offers heartfelt photographs of our sons and daughters doing their jobs. The jobs that put them at risk for losing their health, well being, and sometimes their very lives.

Jim wants to go back to the middle east. He wants to photograph our bravest and finest in Afghanistan. I want to help him do that. I would love for the parents of young, brave men and women in that combat zone see pictures of their children defending this Country against the tyranny of Islamic terrorists. The sons and daughters of military parents, have surpassed us in life experiences and we know it. We simply want to see them doing their jobs so we can proudly show those around us that we don’t need their pity.

We are not pitiful.

My husband, a dear Marine friend of ours, and myself are committed to supporting Jim’s trip.

Stay tuned to my entries here to see how you can participate.

My husband will be offering an original piece of art work for auction. The landscape will be an original painting done from one of Jim’s photographs off the Iraq battlefield.

I will also have Jim’s contact information below so that donations can be sent to Jim directly to help fund this trip. Jim acts as an independent agent. If he didn’t then he would have to have an angle outside of simply wanting to share those priceless pictures of our sons and daughters with their families.

Here’s one link to some of Jim’s work: http://blogs.phillynews.com/philly/spiri/

Additionally, Jim can be contacted at jimspiri@yahoo.com

We will keep up a continuing series on how Jim is doing and how he is advancing toward his goal. If you are interested in sponsoring Jim and his trip to Afghanistan, please contact him directly or contact me here at Allmilitary and I will get the message to him.

Thank you!

Bookmark to:

Join me today, Monday May 25, Memorial Day (observed) at 1:00pm EST for a special You Served Blog Talk Radio show.

Bob Parks, a Navy Veteran, owner of the website Black & Right.com, an “African American leader” according to the Washington Times, conservative activist, and co-founder of New Media Alliance Television will join us Monday to talk about Memorial Day, what it means to him and any how we can observe it respectfully.

Also joining me on the show is Jim Spiri. Jim and his wife of 35-years, Candi, are both Gold and Blue star parents. The Spiri’s lost their beloved son, 2nd Lieutenant Jesse James Spiri to a brain tumor. Lt. Spiri served in the USMC.

A battle with Tri-Care followed the death of their son that led them to Congress and the passing of the “2nd Lt. Jesse James Spiri Military Medical Coverage Act of 2004″ signed by former President George W. Bush, on November 25, 2003.

The Spiri’s youngest son joined the Army in 2000 and is currently serving in his 5th deployment. He is an Army Aviator flying CH47 helicopters. Jim and Candi have joined their son in Iraq on several occasions filling various jobs and roles. Jim traveled with the USMC Infantry and US Army Infantry as a combat photographer during the Surge.

Jim will join us and talk about the trips he has been on to Iraq, his love for America’s sons and daughters who are in harms way in that war zone, and what he is doing to try and go back again.

I also have a few Memorial Day write ups submitted by listeners and readers that I will read off at the end of the show.

It’s sure to be a great show! Please join us if you can. I will have the chat room open right before the show. I hope to see you there!

Bookmark to:

I posted this at KDH, and I wanted to post it here with the citation from Joe Hooper’s Arlington page.I am a little bit overwhelmed by the whole article. I posted clips from it below. I am deeply saddened that this man fought so hard and so bravely for our Country, and yet we did not fight equally as hard and bravely for him.

We have let our Veterans down in this Country. It’s a shame. It’s outright immoral. You do not send a man in to fight for you, and then fail to extend your hand and heart to him when he comes back from defending you and protecting your freedom.

If thank you feels inadequate then “I’m sorry” feels outright shameful.

God help us.

Most decorated soldier died without any public notice

Taken from the December 1989 Issue #20, Delta Raider Newsletter

Reprinted from the Seattle Times.

EXCERPT

Joe Hooper was the most decorated soldier in the Vietnam War, earning more decorations than World War II’s Audie Murphy or World War I’s Sgt. Alvin York.

…

Hooper was just 40 years old when he died in a hotel room in Kentucky, where he had gone to learn about raising race horses. In his own way, Hooper was an appropriate hero for the Vietnam War and the millions of men and women it touched. He was a good soldier, but a troubled civilian.

Hooper had been awarded 35 medals, including the Congressional Medal of Honor, two Silver Stars, six Bronze Stars and eight Purple Hearts. He was credited with killing 115 North Vietnamese, but the number was probably higher. He used to say he could smell the enemy.

Hooper knew that heroes from other wars would be remembered long after him. In 1977, Hooper summed up his fleeting fame and the war in Vietnam.

“It’s sort of like the war itself,” he said. “So many people wanted to forget it when I was fighting it. Why would they want to remember us now?”

…

On Feb. 21, 1968, during the Tet offensive and some of the hardest fighting of the war, Staff Sgt. Joe Hooper was leading a recon squad near the northern city of Hue. “We stumbled across what turned out to be the North Vietnamese divisional headquarters,” he recalled later. “It was six of us against maybe 140 of them. It was hand to hand and the main battle lasted 6 1/2 hours and it seemed like a long time before other companies got there to help.”

“In all we killed 85 and captured 13. I was credited with 22 killed.”

When Hooper used to talk about the day for which he won the Congressional Medal of Honor, he told the story matter of factly. The telling wasn’t much different than the way it is told on the official citation that went with the award.

Hooper and his men came on a heavily defended North Vietnamese position and were hit by machine-gun fire, rockets and automatic weapons. Hooper was wounded four times, but kept up the attack.

At one point, Company D was coming under enemy fire from four bunkers. Hooper gathered an armful of hand grenades and ran down the line of bunkers, tossing the grenades inside. Then he ran across an open field and rescued a wounded soldier. While rescuing the soldier, Hooper shot three more North Vietnamese officers and set up a defense line before allowing himself to be taken out for treatment.

He was promoted to second lieutenant, went on a worldwide speaking tour and then went back to Vietnam for a second tour. “I went back partly because on my first tour I didn’t lose a man,” he said, “and with my training and leadership qualities, I thought I could save some lives again.”

After his second tour, Hooper went to Fort Polk, La., where he was in charge of basic trainees. But he didn’t fit in well with the stateside version of the Army, and he resigned his commission. He returned to Yakima, but found civilian life a bit boring.

…

Hooper moved to Kentucky to attend school on raising thoroughbreds, and he was going to the Kentucky Derby when he died peacefully in his hotel room on May 4 or 5, 1979. A blood vessel had burst in his head.

His death was not noted by the media until a year later, when a story about local Medal of Honor winners mentioned that he was dead. The only mention before that was in the Medal of Honor Society’s newsletter. Hooper was buried in Arlington, VA….near the tomb of the unknown soldier.

Their was some talk of making a movie about him, as was done with Audie Murphy and Alvin York, but the Vietnam war and its soldiers were not popular subjects back then.

When Hooper talked with high school students, the veteran with the most decorations from the Vietnam war would offer this piece of advice about serving in that war:

“I would tell my children, if I were to do this over, ‘Go to Canada, don’t fight.’ Don’t fight a war you can’t win.”

LINK to full article

From his Arlington Page:

Born at Piedmont, South Carolina, August 8, 1938, he earned the Medal of Honorwhile serving as Staff Sergeant, Company D, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, on February 21, 1968 near Hue, Vietnam.

His citation reads:

“For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his own life above and beyond the call of duty. He distinguished himself while serving as a squad leader with Company D. The company was assaulting a heavily defended position along a river bank when it encountered withering fire from rockets, machineguns and automatic weapons. He rallied several men and stormed across the river, overrunning several bunkers on the opposite shore. Thus inspired, the rest of the company moved on the attack. With utter disregard for his own safety, he moved our under intense fire again and pulled back the wounded, refused medical aid and returned to his men. With the relentless enemy fire disrupting the attack, he single-handedly stormed three enemy bunkers, destroying them with hand grenades and rifle fire, and shot two enemy soldiers who had attacked and wounded the Chaplain. Leading his men forward in a sweep of the area, he destroyed three buildings housing enemy riflemen. At this point he was attacked by a North Vietnamese officer whom he fatally wounded with his bayonet. Finding his men under heavy fire from a house to the front, he proceeded alone to the building, killing its occupants with rifle fire and grenades. By now his initial body wound had been compounded by grenade fragments, despite multiple wounds and the loss of blood, he continued to lead his men against the intense enemy resistance. As his squad reached the final lines of the enemy, it received devastating fire from four bunkers in line on their left flank. He gathered several hand grenades and raced down a small trench which ran the length of the bunker line, tossing grenades into each bunker as he passed by, killing all but two of the occupants. With these positions destroyed, he concentrated on the last bunkers facing his men, destroying the first with an incendiary grenade and neutralizing two more by rifle fire. He then raced across an open field, still under enemy fire, to rescue a wounded man who was trapped in a trench. Upon reaching the man, he was faced by an armed enemy soldier whom he killed with his pistol. Moving his comrade to safety, he returned to his men, neutralized the final pocket of enemy resistance bu fatally wounding three North Vietnamese officers with rifle fire. He then established a final line and reorganized his men, not accepting medical treatment until this was accomplished and not consenting to evacuation until the following morning. His supreme valor, inspiring leadership and heroic self-sacrifice were directly responsible for the company’s success are provided a lasting example in personal courage for every man on the field. His actions were in keeping with the highest tradition of military service and reflect great honor upon himself and the United States Army.”

He was presented with the Medal by President Richard Nixon at the White House on March 7, 1969. He served a total of two tours of duty in Vietnam.

He died of natural causes on May 6, 1979 after his return home and was buried in Section 46 of Arlington National Cemetery, adjacent to the Memorial Amphitheater.

His other decorations include two Silver Stars (one of them which began as a recommendation for a second Medal of Honor), six Bronze Stars and eight Purple Hearts.

HOOPER, JOE R
CPT US ARMY
VIETNAM
DATE OF BIRTH: 08/08/1938
DATE OF DEATH: 05/06/1979
BURIED AT: SECTION 46 SITE 656-17
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

Bookmark to:

From Hot Air:

Via This Ain’t Hell, here’s the best thing you’ll see today. We already knew from the surge that Petraeus was a miracle worker — but evidently we didn’t know the extent of it. Forward this to a vet you love.

From CBS You Tube channel:

Lt. Brian Brennan was severely wounded in Iraq and faced unbeatable odds but, as David Martin reports, he made a remarkable recovery with a little help from a special Cherokee word.

Watch CBS Videos Online

Bookmark to:

If you did not catch the blog talk radio broadcast I did this weekend, please stop by and listen to the archive. I was very blessed to interview three ladies who work with Operation Gratitude. In the interviews Carolyn Blashek tells us how a chance encounter with a very distressed soldier spurred her to start this organization that has now sent over 417,000 care packages to deployed men and women in our Armed Forces. She talks about the mission and how you can help!

The interview includes a conversation with a Staff Sergeant with the National Guard who has been a very instrumental member of Operation Gratitude since it started, and a chat with a Blue Star Navy mom who has proudly served with Operaiton Gratitude for more than 4-years now.

The stories these ladies share really touched me and I hope they bless you when you take some time to listen. You can either listen to the show on the player offered at the Blog Talk Radio show or you can download the mp3 to your player and listen to it later! Let me know what you think!

LINK to Radio Show

Bookmark to:

Here’s a social commentary I wrote for catharsis this past weekend. If I didn’t write who knows what I would do to relieve frustration, but you all are safe… for now!

**************

When I was a kid I remember watching shows that were just funny. There were no deeper messages or some harping point that was more annoying than your mother riding your back to clean your bedroom. Not today. The entertainment industry is fast becoming irrelevant, and it doesn’t surprise me considering the issues around talent, content, and the inappropriate insertion of political commentary,

My Mother in Law and I were discussing the overnight sensation Susan Boyle last night. Boyle was the contestant on “Britain’s Got Talent” who shocked the audience and judges with an outstanding performance. The reason the audience and the judges were so shocked by the lovely singer is that she does not fit the model of what we expect on stage today.

People describe her as “frumpy” “dowdy” or maybe just a “plain Jane.” Her voice, however, is absolutely stunning and so is her stage presence. We have (in the USA and now I wonder if in Great Britain too) thrown talent to the wayside for lewd, foul mouthed, drug addicted, dysfunctional tarts whose talent is just as falsely generated as their looks — and that goes double for the men in the industry. I told my Mother in Law last night that I too was shocked by Boyle’s performance, but not because someone with her appearance could sing that way. I was shocked that a modern pop show claiming to judge talent actually had someone WITH talent to judge.

If Susan Boyle had come out on stage looking a 14-year old Britney Spears (you know before she was washed up) people would have assumed, and wrongly so, that she must have talent since she looks a certain way. With that bias in place people will settle for the crumbs that are offered to them for the little bit of “eye-candy” and they throw out the marvelous “cake” with people like Boyle because she is not appealing to the eye. She wasn’t there to proclaim she wanted to be a super model. She’s a singer and she wanted to sing. She is in her upper-40s and this was her first chance to sing in front of a large audience. Why? Because even though she has a voice that can move people to tears, she doesn’t “look” the role and has never been given a chance. Give me a break. I am proud of Susan Boyle and her courage. She knew what those people were thinking — she has faced that mentality her whole life.

Outside of my boycott of main stream talentless music there is another deep irritation for me concerning the entertainment industry. The content in most movies, shows, and dramas are not even yawn worthy. If it’s not overdone, over the top, outrageously stupid story lines, then it’s sex, sex, sex, and usually it’s those two are combined. When we are not convulsing due to sensory overload from screen action that wears out the most hyperactive ADD kid, then we are being preached to. We can not even watch a stupid PBS cartoon with out being reminded that our juice box is environmentally unfriendly and our choices as 4-year olds will more than likely destroy the earth before we get to break the pinata at our 6-birthday celebration. Maybe the anti-depressant manufacturers are sponsoring the shows nowadays.

Why can’t kid’s shows be fun? I personally can attest to the fact that not one person I know who grew up on Bugs Bunny has ever tried to kill anyone because of what they saw on the show.  I can say the same for Wiley Coyote fans I know. Not one of them has tried to do the whole jumping off the cliff with an anvil on their head trick. These shows have been discontinued because they are “violent in nature”, and they are “not nice.” When you are in 6th grade and your best friend just dumped your sorry butt on the playground after school, you want funny, man! You want to see that Coyote go over the cliff. It’s funny. It made us laugh and it relieved our stress. That’s what entertainment is supposed to be. When I am watching a show or a movie, I don’t want to be reminded constantly of the world’s problems. I am paying to escape them, thank you very much. I will worry and stress for free.

And the one issue that has put the final nail in the proverbial coffin of my partaking in the modern entertainment industry? The political views. Oh yes. You know what I mean. The Dixie Chicks are a great example of what happens when people who are supposed to be entertaining decide to use their platform for a political statement. Sure, it’s their right, and no they were never censored. They got the good old fashioned cold shoulder, ain’t gonna buy your crappy music anymore, treatment from their fans. That’s the consequence, so stop writing books and claiming victim-hood. You did it to yourselves. We have seen the same stuff happen with the likes of nearly every big name in Hollywood. If they want to use their platform to preach their political message, that’s fine, but if they want to insult me and millions of other Americans constantly because we don’t agree with their view point — that’s totally unacceptable.

Just the other day the “24″ actress Garofalo went on another one of her moonbat, hate driven, bigoted tirades on how all Conservatives are racists, and how we hate the President because he’s black and not because he is in fact screwing our Country up beyond belief in such a short time. Her moonbat rant was very a la Rosie. Whatever. If you are a Conservative and you watch this show, you need to keep her words going through your mind while you watch it again. Are you really going to spend your time watching a supposed actress who is constantly bashing you?

She is not just saying she disagrees, she says you have a mental disorder. She is inciting hatred toward you based on your beliefs and your convictions. Keep that in mind, and if you can keep watching her and keep supporting her job by giving her the viewership she needs, then you are able to compartmentalize more than I can.

I boycotted paying for any television many years ago. It’s a decision we do not regret in our home at all. We get one news channel for our local news and we get PBS. We watch movies when we watch TV together, and you can bet those movies are not only screened for content, but they are screened for who they support.

Maybe we will see a shift in perception in this Country in the years to come. It would be wonderful for all of us to remember that the entertainment industry works for us, not us working for them. They are paid by your money. They are kept in business by you. If you think they are doing a crappy job, don’t just settle and watch it anyway. Turn it off and write to the channel who is broadcasting it. Don’t go to the movies of crazy actors who hate you. Why would you do that? Would you give your money to anyone else who was slandering your character?

It’s not worth it. Entertainment is only useful inasmuch as it entertains. Everything outside of that is your personal funding of broadcasting loud mouthed, lewd, and bigoted opinions. Sure, it’s your choice, but Bugs Bunny is a much smarter choice, in my opinion.

Bookmark to:

April is designated as the Month of the Military Child. I will be posting resources, articles, and stories about military children in our Spouse and Family section in the blog this month. Please join me! I would love to hear any stories you have to share about your military child. Please feel free to post them here in the comments section, or email them to at claire@kneedeepinthehooah.com

Here’s a couple of favorites from the mouth of my own little Emma. She was about 3-4 years old when these occurred:

This happened in July 2007, during a visit to Ft. Benning:

When we were going into the bay to wait for our soldiers to come down for Family Day last week, a platoon of soldiers (Emma calls all soldiers ‘Michaels’ because that’s her soldier brother’s name) marched by singing a cadence. Emma stood with her eyes fixated on them, and then she excitedly turned to me and said “Mama! The Michaels are singing!” Then when she saw them all marching she said “Mama the Michaels are singing AND dancing!” Since then she keeps asking when we can go back and see the “singing and dancing Michaels.” Later that day a platoon walked by in formation, but were not marching or “singing.” Emma looked up and said “Those aren’t singing and dancing Michaels.” I think she is going to like being a military brat!

On her 3rd Birthday, June 8 2007:

She got a little birthday card from him yesterday. He wrote it out on her birthday, but it only made it to the mail late last week. She carried that little card around with her all day today. Mr. Hooah! doodled a little bunny rabbit in the card for her, so she keeps saying “Look! Look at what my papa drew to me!” She slept with it last night. Here all this time I was worrying about how I would be able to keep the bonds between her and her papa strong while he is away, and now I realize I just need to keep doing what I do. I will keep telling her that her papa loves her and misses her, and I will let God and Emma’s sweet memories do the rest.

And after her papa came home, but her Michael was still in Iraq, she hit me with this one…

Then about two weeks ago we were driving to Damon’s work, and Emma spotted a horse out in a meadow as we drove by. “Mama! I see a horsey!” She was so excited so I asked her what color it was, and it morphed from being a brown horse, to being a brown horse with red and pink hair (a punk rock horse I am to assume). Somehow this talk of horses then morphed into a talk of modes of transportation.

This was not a connection I was expecting her to make. She is not old enough, in my mind anyway, to understand that a horse and an airplane are similar in that they are vehicles we use to get from one place to another. So, Emma pipes up and loudly proclaims “Mama, I am going to fly on the airplane!” To which I reply “Oh really now?! And who is going to fly with you?” Emma reassured me that her papa was going to take her onto the airplane. “Oh really? So, you and papa are going on the airplane? And just where are you and papa going, little girl?”

“Mama! Papa is going to fly with me to Iraq and we will get our Michael.” she squealed loudly!

I am glad I had my sunglasses on. How did she come to know and understand that Iraq is a place? How I pray that she will not have to know much more than that, for a very, very long time. How I pray for the day when she can see her Michael walking down that long ramp and into the arms of his anticipating family.

To which I want to close by saying that she did indeed see her Michael coming down that ramp, and in his hand was a little play horsey just for her.

Bookmark to:

I just posted about pro-active self defense. I had become pretty complacent and was taking my safety for granted, until something happened last week that reminded me that “it” could happen to me…

CLICK HERE (you won’t leave Allmilitary.com)

Bookmark to:

This is a cross post from Assoluta Tranquillita:

Click to see detail image:

That is the official flyer of an incredible weekend in May that the Combat Warrior Crisis Network and The Independence Fund are hosting. Happening 14 - 17 May, this Independence Ride is CWCN’s way of giving back to some of our bravest warriors.

Some information (since I can’t figure out how to improve the quality on that flyer):

The Independence Fund and Combat Warrior Crisis Network are working together to bring about 250 wounded soldiers from all over the country to Pensacola. We have DOD and VA support.

Take a look at this video and see some of the great work these groups do for our wounded warriors.

I don’t need to tell any of you that these events, this work on behalf of our wounded warriors, takes money - LOTS of $ for plane fares, lodging, food, etc etc.

This is where you come in. PLEASE, for the price of just one day’s worth of lattes or whatever you can afford, you can help these guys. They need YOUR donation to make this year’s Independence Ride happen.

Go to the Combat Warriors Crisis Network’s site here, and check out their programmes such as Take A Soldier Fishing. Then donate. They have PayPal to make it really easy for you to get involved and tell our warriors that you care. The PayPal link is on this page here.

The founder of the Combat Warriors Crisis Network is Mike Nashif. Active duty soldier, he is also on FaceBook. If you have any questions, you can either go to their website, or find Mike on FaceBook.(hint: he is on a certain brat’s “friends” list…lol)

The Combat Warriors Crisis Network is a 501c(3) registered group, so every dime you give them goes to their programmes.

Their site says:

Who is Combat Warrior Crisis Network?
CWCN is a Faith Based 501 (c) 3, non- profit public charity and Ministry, an Affiliate Subordinate Ministry of Chaplain Fellowship Ministries Inc. Intl. Our focus is to provide the Armed Forces with an alternate view or means to assist the healing process after a combat related injury.

Our Mission Statement:
We strive to show that there are people out there that care, and want to help. There are resources in both the public and military communities, many armed forces members are not aware that exist. One of the programs we offer is Take a Soldier Fishing.
Our organization focuses on the ever growing need to support the service members AND their spouses before, during, and after deployments. Fishing and the outdoors are our main focus for support and assisting our participants in learning positive tools to assist with stress. (here)

Check out Take A Soldier Fishing here, too.

Another way you can help financially? By buying an event t-shirt from The Independence Fund. The t-shirt picture is at the top of this post. And where do you buy these great t-shirts for this event? Right here, of course, on The Independence Fund’s site! When you have donated, be sure and read all about this event, and The Independence Fund while you are there!

We all know heroes that we see on a daily basis. Now, we have an opportunity to make sure that “The Heroes are coming” to Pensacola for an unforgettable weekend.

I have given you a few options for ways to donate whatever you can afford. Let’s get ‘er done!

Thank you.

Bookmark to: