FIVE ROCK SOLID REASONS SPECIAL OPERATIONS VETERANS ARE AN ASSET TO YOUR BUSINESS

Actually I can think of hundreds of reasons veterans - not just Special Operations veterans - are a good way to go . . . S.L.

Given the nature of Special Operations units and the selection process required to gain entry, a Special Operations veteran is already a qualified individual, a seasoned professional. The qualities found in Special Operations veterans are the product of their training and experience - including the character traits that get them through that selection process - and are directly applicable to productivity and excellence in a corporate or industrial environment.

1. LOYALTY

In the military this is a two-way street: "Loyalty Up & Loyalty Down". It was explained to me by my first Team Sergeant, "Don't you worry about the Sergeant Major - you let me worry about him. You worry about ME." The message was the essence of Loyalty - as team members, our immediate loyalty was to our Team Sergeant, and he had just described his obligation to us. There is nothing more destructive to a team than a disloyal member.

2. CHAIN OF COMMAND

Veterans learn to identify their chain of command, know how important it is to keep the chain informed and understand the correct etiquette for communication up and down the chain. Commanders in the US military have an "Open Door Policy", but you'd better keep your immediate link in the chain informed before you go anywhere near that door. I once used the Open Door policy and the results were positive, but my Team Sergeant was sitting right beside me in the room as I spoke with the Commander.

3. WORK ETHIC

A theme in elite military units is "If you see something wrong or that needs fixing, do something about it. If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem." Veterans expect to be challenged and not afraid of hard work. When you hire a veteran you're getting an individual who's accustomed to a regular work day that started at 6:00 am (zero-six-hundred) and is accustomed to working up to 24 hours if that is what's required to get the job done.

4. COMMUNICATION

Effective communications is the sender, the message, the medium of transmission, and the receiver. There is a jargon, a idiosyncratic dialect unique to each organization and veterans are aware enough to learn and use it. We are taught if you have nothing to say then say nothing, if you have something to say keep it brief, include the 5-W's and How Many, and if pointing out a problem to always suggest a solution.

5. SITUATIONAL AWARENESS

This cannot be stressed enough. In the corporate environment, the office and the boardroom are the battlespace environment, and the rules, regulations, policies and ethos of modern society - written and unwritten - represent the constraints and limitations guiding our conduct. There is a distinct corporate culture, and separate organizations have their own sub-cultures to be aware of. Special Operations soldiers know when to pause and accustom ourselves to the "sights, sounds and smells of the battlefield", and that often the "sit back, wait and see" approach is the way to avoid crippling cultural faux pas. During interview situations, we have been taught to read body language, to look about the room and determine who is actually the chief, and when asked a question to stop and think before replying.

This is by no means a complete list and the values listed here are not in any particular order, in fact they intersect with each other. I considered "Code of Ethics" as a character trait, but of course the subset of that value is far greater than the fingers of one hand. A mentor of mine described the corporate environment as "playing five games of 3-dimensional chess all at once, in your head." Given that, I say without hesitation that Special Operations veterans are suitable candidates for excellence, to any organization or operation.

This is what I bring to the table . . .

"STRENGTH & HONOR"

THE OTHER GREATEST GENERATION

Civil war veteran soldier footage, captured between 1913 and 1938.

EX-SPECIAL FORCES MEMBERS DROP IN

This is my old outfit . . . of course, I wasn't in Vietnam, and I didn't do what these guys did. They are the type of heroes who were still serving as Platoon Sergeants, First Sergeants when I was a private. When I got to Special Forces, they were the Team Sergeants, Sergeants-Major, and crusty old Warrant Officers - S.L.


by Nick Stubbs
MacDill AFB Thunderbolt

6/23/2011 - MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. - In the steamy jungles of Vietnam in 1957, nearly eight years before America began major combat operations there, members of the U.S. Army's 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) were in country, advising and training indigenous warriors.

It was all on the down-low, as were all missions until the end of the war. Secrecy is stock and trade of the Green Berets, after all.

Flags proudly wave over the United States Special Operations Command Memorial Plaza during a memorial service in which members of the 1st Special Forces Group Reunion honored their fallen comrades, at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., June 20, 2011. The memorial service included a moment of silence and a tribute to fallen members of 1st Special Forces Group from Viet Nam through Operation Enduring Freedom (Philippines and Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Basic David Tracy)

But it was no secret in Tampa this week when some 200 veterans of the famous unit gathered for a ceremony at U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base Monday. Arriving in town over the weekend, the group of old soldiers staged at the DoubleTree Hotel at Rocky Point. It was a time to remember, laugh and shed a tear or more for those who were lost.

Formed at Camp Drake, Japan, June 24, 1957, 1st SFG served in the Pacific region and provided some of the first American military members to serve in Vietnam. It wouldn't be until 1965 when major combat operations would begin, sending many members of the 1st on very dangerous missions well behind enemy lines.

How far behind lines?

"We were the front line - sometimes 70 miles behind what they called the front line," said retired Master Sgt. David Kauhaahna, who joked that his special forces code name is "Brother K."

Retired Lt. Col. Keith Walter, Lt. Col. Jim Bean and Retired Sgt. Maj. Russ McDaniel, members of the United States Special Operations Command Parachute Team, The Para-Commandos, descend toward the 1st Special Forces Group Reunion memorial service. Sergeant Major McDaniel flew the POW/MIA flag behind him during the descent which was presented to former prisoner of war Isaac “Ike” Camacho. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Basic David Tracy)


He arrived in country November of 1965, and served in Laos among other places. Like most others of the 1st, he operated in small units, usually just six men. Three of them might be indigenous Montagnards, or mountain people who earned a reputation as some of the toughest warriors and expert jungle guides in the country.

Being so far behind lines, and with support far away, there was always the risk of not making it through any mission.

"Lots," said Sergeant Kauhaahna of close brushes he had with death. "Lots of times."
One sticks out in his memory.

"We were surrounded by enemy, and they had set the elephant grass on fire and it was closing in on us," he recalled. "We thought that was it for us, but helicopters got there just in time to pull us out; we would have been slaughtered."

Isaac "Ike" Camacho, Vietnam POW that escaped from his capture, receives a POW/MIA flag from Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Smith, United States Special Operations Command, during the 1st Special Operation Group annual reunion at MacDill Air Force Base, June 20, 2011


Close calls were part of the job, said retired Sgt. Major Billy Waugh, who served just shy of eight years in Vietnam, and has a Purple Heart for all eight (along with a Legion of Merit, a Silver Star and four Bronze Stars).

"A lot of what we were doing was directing air strikes (targeting and surveillance as members of the Studies and Observation Group)," said Sergeant Waugh, who recalled that the U.S. Air Force fighters and bombers evolved into being "very effective" at tactical air strikes during his years of service. "They took a little while to get the hang of it, but once they did, they did a heck of job."

When not performing SOG duties, "Our job was to kill and destroy," said Sergeant Waugh.

Members of the 1st were invaluable to downed pilots in need of rescue behind enemy lines.

"We were the only guys there, so we did the job," said Sergeant Waugh.

The memories fill volumes, and are only outnumbered by the close kinships members of the historical group share, said Sergeant Waugh, which is why the reunions are regularly held. This year's event marks the first in Tampa, and a special one in that it was in the same town as MacDill Air Force Base and SOCOM.

"We are glad we could gather here this time," Sergeant Waugh said. "It's a sort of coming together."

Today's Bird HERE


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HOMAGE

"Homage," by Kansas sculptor Jim Brothers, was on display in Topeka this past Memorial Day weekend. The eight-foot-tall statue in bronze will be unveiled at a dedication ceremony today - June 18 - at the Wine Street Memorial Park in its permanent home in Culpeper, Virginia.

Brothers, who created most of the monuments for the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford ,Virginia, and whose sculpture of Dwight D. Eisenhower stands in the U.S. Capitol, first imagined “Homage” on a smaller scale years ago. It was not a commission piece, he said, but one “that came from my heart . . . because I had something to say.”


The tiny village of Bedford, Virginia (pop. 3200) lost 19 of its 35 soldier sons on Omaha Beach, 6 June 1944. Four more were dead within weeks - S.L.




Today's Bird HERE


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NORWALK CT SCHOOLS DROP VETERANs DAY

I bet you dollars to doughnuts these wingnuts celebrate Earth Day - S.L.

Norwalk, Conn. (AP) - A Norwalk city council member with the backing of local veterans groups is asking the city's education board to reconsider its decision to eliminate Veterans Day as a school holiday.

Councilor Kelly Straniti says she contacted the Board of Education after veterans opposed to the calendar change asked her to get involved.

The change was adopted earlier this month at the recommendation of Superintendent Susan Marks, who wanted more classroom time for students. Some of that classroom time would be spent educating students on the importance of Veterans Day.

Alfred Scudder, chairman of the Norwalk Veterans Committee, tells The Hour newspaper that the decision was "crazy."

Board of Education Chairman Jack Chiaramonte says no disrespect was meant and he's willing to listen to the veterans' concerns.

They defended the nation. It is only right and proper to teach our children to honor them.




Today's Bird HERE



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VETS-ARE-PSYCHO-KILLERS DEPT.

An outfit called the Bay Citizen contacted me:



Hello Sean,

I'm with The Bay Citizen, an online news service based in San Francisco. We've just published an analysis of official death certificates on file at the Department of Public Health that reveals that more than 1,000 California veterans under 35 died between 2005 and 2008. That figure is three times higher than the number of California service members who were killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts over the same period.

The analysis represents the first attempt to measure casualties for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans after they return home. The figures, according to the Department of Veteran Affairs, legislators and experts in post-traumatic stress, underscore how veterans in Bay Area communities and across the state engage in destructive, risky and sometimes lethal behaviors.

The data shows that Iraq and Afghanistan veterans were two and a half times as likely to commit suicide as Californians of the same age with no military service. They were twice as likely to die in a vehicle accident and five and a half times as likely to die in a motorcycle accident.

After reviewing your blog I thought your readers would be interested in this report. Thank you for the valuable information. I hope you find the article useful.

Aaron Rosenthal



My reply:


Hello Aaron,

If you've read any of my personal posts on STORMBRINGER, you may or may not know that you and I already have something in common; although I'm Australian by birth, I lived in San Francisco for several years before I joined the US Army - my entire time on active duty (over 25 years) I was a California state resident, although nowadays I live out on the mid-Atlantic coast.

Bottom Line Up Front: I am VERY suspect of any awareness campaigns that suggest veterans are susceptible to some kind of mysterious malady that makes them go crazy, dangerous to themselves and the people around them.

This theme began in the anti-war days of the 1970s and peaked with the Rambo movies. Basically, combat veterans are ticking time bombs.

We are not this.

This is an unproven hypothesis.

How about some statistics that show that veterans are more likely to succeed in life, at any venture they embark upon? That veterans give back more to their communities and to the nation than people who did not serve? The statistics are out there, and they tend to show that incredibly enough somehow, the combat experience leads to a more productive, enriching life.

Example: how do you explain for the World War II generation's incredible success? Those guys saw TEN THOUSAND TIMES MORE horrific combat than did veterans of Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Kuwait, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq or Afghanistan COMBINED, and yet they returned home, got to work, re-tooled American factories for peacetime goods and services, completed the Interstate Highway System amongst other things.

Regarding your analysis - I am always wary when statistics are thrown out there, and I don't like the word "expert". What makes a person a PTSD "expert"? I was taught that there is no such thing as an expert, only serious students.

Underscore how veterans in Bay Area communities and across the state engage in destructive, risky and sometimes lethal behaviors.

• Yes it is true veterans engage in risky, destructive behavior - but these kind of behaviors are not exclusive to veterans.

The data shows that Iraq and Afghanistan veterans were two and a half times as likely to commit suicide as Californians of the same age with no military service.

• Although suicide IS a symptom of PTSD, again, this is not exclusive of veterans. One of the examples in your article could probably be more realistically described as "death by misadventure" - causes of death can sometimes be creative on death certificates. Drug overdoses are sometimes logged as suicides, although this is not always legit.

They were twice as likely to die in a vehicle accident and five and a half times as likely to die in a motorcycle accident.

• This might be so if veterans in that age group are twice as likely to own cars, and/or five and a half times likely to own motorcycles. What are the statistics on automobile and motorcycle ownership?

My point is that raw statistical data is not enough to tell the complete story. While PTSD is real and yes, IT IS LETHAL, way too much is unknown at this time to draw any kind of definitive conclusions.

For example, my community outside Fort Bragg is infested with paratroopers, Green Berets, and other Special Operations soldiers. We are career soldiers, professionals. The five houses that touch my property and across the street include a Green Beret sergeant major, a retired Marine who also did a stint in the French Foreign Legion, a squadron commander from SFOD-D, an Air Force reservist with multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, a North Carolina State Trooper, and a civilian who drives a cement truck. Between us we have over a hundred years of service time, and about twenty-five years of combat time. We all own heroic gun collections, and are all active shooters, hunters, outdoorsmen. Nobody beats their wife; no DUIs, no drama, nothing. The only guy we worry about is the civilian, and all he does is fish.

I can say the same of my many, many brothers in the Special Forces community around the Fort Bragg area, and around the country.

On the other hand, I DO know two guys who committed suicide and yes, I attribute this to PTSD. Two out of several hundred known friends, colleagues and professional acquaintances. I won't bore you with war stories, but yes it is common knowledge amongst professional soldiers that we have some sort of PTSD and it manifests itself in strange ways.

For what it's worth my brother has called me a "trained killer" and he's scared to death of me - and yet I've held a security clearance AND have carried a loaded gun on and off duty for over 27 years, there's nothing on my record worse than a speeding ticket, can't remember the last time I was in a fight of any kind, and the security job I hold is in a field so sensitive that a psych eval and regular urinalysis is required and any kind of reported aberrant behavior is basically a career killer.

Of course, my brother and his wife both think I'm the true-life inspiration for the Rambo movies - AND he's a journalist, so he'd probably be all over your analysis.

If you like, you can use the above for your paper - it would be a great honor for me to be published in my adopted home town of San Francisco.

Sincerely,
Sean Linnane


Needless to say I have not heard back from them . . .


SEAN LINNANE SENDS



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DO YOU KNOW THIS MAN?

Sent in by a reader - negative knowledge on name, ID . . .



OK, let's take it from the top:

Beret: appears to have a miniature SF tab above the "de Oppresso" crest on his beret - WRONG.

Left shoulder: this is the ONLY instance I have EVER seen of the unofficial MACV-SOG patch worn on the left shoulder in place of the regular Special Forces "Electric Butter Knife" unit patch. WRONG.

MACV-SOG vets DO wear this badge - usually as a miniature metallic lapel pin or cap badge.

Left chest: Combat Infantryman's Badge with Star (indicating two wars - Vietnam, sure, doesn't look old enough for Korea; Dom Rep maybe?)

HALO jumpmaster, static-line jumpmaster, unidentified foreign wings (wrong side) US and foreign ribbons mixed up in wrong order. I can identify Silver Star with V device - (WRONG - Silver Star is ONLY awarded for valor - V device is for Bronze Star) - Bronze Star with V - Vietnam campaign ribbons, some kind of UN ribbons . . .

Expert "Bolo" Badge w/ three types of qualification - RARELY WORN by retired vets as this badge requires current qualification.

Miscellaneous medals and badges, probably European in origin . . . possibly Baltic?

Blue "U.E.P." crest with parachute within the European Union stars - does U.E.P. stand for Union European Parachutiste? WEIRD.

German Bundeswehr Fallschirmjaeger (paratrooper) beret insignia, improperly displayed.

Necktie: possible British Airborne Regiment.

Right chest: miscellaneous foreign wings (I see Bundeswehr wings there).

This guy looks strangely familiar. I once met the Prince Regent of Mongolia and this guy looks like a younger version of him. Maybe it's his little brother. Hmmm . . .

One in 10 Inmates in Britain’s Jails Is an Ex-Soldier

British troops in Helmand Province in 2009. Shocking figures show nearly one in 10 prisoners in England are veterans

It is not clear how many – if any – of the ex-soldiers behind bars are non-combat veterans:

The Government was under fire for failing to support British troops returning from war today after figures revealed nearly one in 10 prisoners is an Armed Forces veteran.

Shocking research by the probation officers’ union Napo shows some 8,500 former soldiers are currently in prison in England and Wales.

Another 12,000 have criminal convictions and are on the books of the Probation Service.

This means there are more than twice as many veterans in jail, on probation or on parole in the UK than the number of troops currently serving in Afghanistan.

Veterans in Scotland and Northern Ireland are not included, meaning the true figure is likely to be much higher. . . .

Domestic violence was by far the most likely conviction for a veteran, accounting for one in three cases. Other violent crimes accounted for around one in five convictions.

One in four said they had post-traumatic stress disorder, but many went undiagnosed. Others cited depression and behavioural problems.

The group who took part included veterans from the conflicts in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.


Read more here.


This story is already a year old; it just came across my radar screen. I wonder what the statistics are for other Commonwealth countires, and for American veterans? - Sean Linnane



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FINALLY SOMEBODY OUT THERE GETS IT

COMBAT's POSITIVE EFFECTS EXAMINED


Army Sgt. Dustin Waggoner, left, and Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Frikken work on the rifle range in Forward Operating Base Airborne in Afghanistan. Frikken says his tours have changed him for the better. Photograph by Sgt. Teddy Wade, U.S. Army


By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

WARDAK, Afghanistan — Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Frikken says three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan have robbed him of precious time with his family, but have also changed him — in some ways for the better.

A sense of personal strength, appreciation for life and love of family have all been enhanced, says Frikken, 39, who directs artillery fire for 10th Mountain Division troops fighting here. "I will never be the same person I was before my combat experiences," he says.

What happens to soldiers like Frikken has led Army leaders to develop a resiliency program that urges GIs to look inward and discover how combat may have made them emotionally stronger.

Research appears to show that many people can emerge from traumatic experiences with greater self-confidence, a keener sense of compassion and appreciation for life, says Brig. Gen. Rhonda Cornum, director of the Army's Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program. Cornum and other experts call this concept post-traumatic growth.

Although the military focuses attention on troops who develop mental health conditions in combat, Cornum says, the majority of war veterans do not suffer post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other problems.

Read more HERE.

ARE YOU AN AMERICAN, OR DO YOU JUST LIVE HERE?

This came anonymously to me via the email machine. I do not know who Heather Carlton is, but I can assure you that when and if she ever emerges to contact Blog STORMBRINGER - she will have a permanent seat at our table. - Sean Linnane




Are You an American, or Do You Just Live Here?


By Heather Carlton

Our country has become a country of Americans and other people who just live here. It pains me because I believe that this will change our nation from greatness to mediocrity.

I saw the flag wave as I stood at attention during the playing of our national anthem. It was simply sublime. I could see the tears well up in the eyes of my brother, a twenty-year Army veteran. I could feel the tears in my own eyes. The song pulled at the heartstrings of every member of our family. But not everyone in the crowd felt that way. Not everyone is moved by the ring of freedom.

There are six children in my family, and four of us have served our country. We have uncles who have served, and my grandfathers served. We have a long history of service. There are few citizens in this country who can't find a military member in their lineage. I say "citizens" because this is where I will clarify my statements.

People in our families have served and served with pride in their hearts. When the anthem plays, they remember loved ones and friends who died for this great country and feel proud to have known them. They remember that freedom is not free.

When I watch the news and I see that more of our soldiers have died on foreign ground, it chills me to the bone. It causes my heart to ache for the families and loved ones who have sacrificed it all for our freedom. It has been said that our country is great because "all gave some and some gave all." However, our country is not made up that way anymore.

What has happened to our country? We have become a country of entitlement. Liberals tell us we should allow the illegal immigrants to come here because they are just coming to feed their children, that if you were starving, you would come here, too. They say they are not hurting anyone.

I am here to tell you they are hurting someone. They are hurting us. When Ellis Island was receiving immigrants in record numbers, the people who came to this country came because they wanted to be Americans; they kissed the ground and prayed thanks to God for getting them to this great country and allowing them its vast opportunities. They had to endure great evils and hardships to get here, but they did so happily. They learned our language, and they wanted to assimilate into our culture. They loved America and became Americans.

Now, we are receiving record numbers of illegal immigrants. These people who do not respect our country enough to enter the country properly and legally. They do not care that we have laws, and they bring their own culture here. Many of them do not respect our flag; in fact, they burn it and spit on it in public, periodically. These people are not coming here to be a part of our great country. They want us to learn their language, they want our jobs, and they send money back to support their economy. They do not even plan to assimilate. They will take what they can from our country and leave when it is convenient. These people are weakening our country.

So I say to you: There is a difference between the people who live in America and the people who are Americans. If you are an American, then you should be truly outraged at what is being allowed to happen to our country! You should feel angry over how undeserving people are receiving the freedom and rights that you and your loved ones have fought for and died for. You should feel sad because so many people no longer remember that being an American is really about, and they are all right with settling for just living in America.


Ask yourself. Do I deserve to be here? Do I love this great nation which is unlike any other? Or do I simply reside here? Freedom is not free, and it is not an entitlement. Freedom is ours because of people who loved this country and loved the principles of this country so much that they gave everything they had.



Heather Carlton is a Graduate of the University of Maryland and Veteran of the U.S. Navy



UPDATE: Since I posted this, I have become aware that this piece originally appeared on American Thinker - an excellent blog which I whole-heartedly support. - Sean Linnane


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I WAS MADE FOR LOVIN' YOU BABY

GENE SIMMONS MILITARY TRIBUTE . . .




Gene Simmons as you've never seen him before . . .

. . . and YES your Uncle Stormy was a Charter Member of the Raider Nation AND the KISS Army . . .

COMBAT VETERANS FOR CONGRESS

Here is the definitive list of United States Combat Veterans running for office:



Arizona

Sgt. Jesse Kelly
Sgt. Kelly is a combat veteran of the US Marine Corps
He is running for United States House in Arizona
Primary Date: Tuesday, August 24, 2010



Arkansas

Col. Conrad Reynolds
Col. Reynolds is a combat veteran of the US Army
He is running for United States Senate in Arkansas
Primary Date: Tuesday, May 18, 2010




California

Congressman Duncan Hunter
Congressman Hunter is a combat veteran of the US Marine Corps
He is running for United States House in California
Primary Date: Tuesday, June 8, 2010



GSgt. Nick Popaditch
GSgt. Popaditch is a combat veteran of the US Marine Corps
He is running for United States House in California
Primary Date: Tuesday, June 8, 2010



Maj. Michael Crimmins
Maj. Crimmins is a combat veteran of the US Marine Corps
He is running for United States House in California
Primary Date: Tuesday, June 8, 2010



Maj. Quang Pham
Maj. Pham is a combat veteran of the US Marine Corps
He is running for United States House in California




Colorado

Lt. Col. Lang Sias
Lt. Col. Sias is a combat veteran of the US Army National Guard
He is running for United States House in Colorado
Primary Date: Tuesday, August 10, 2010



Col. Robert McConnell
McConnell is a combat veteran of the US Army
He is running for United States House in Colorado
Primary Date: Tuesday, August 10, 2010



Maj. Bob Diggs Brown, Jr.
Maj. Brown, Jr. is a combat veteran of the US Army National Guard
He is running for United States House in Colorado
Primary Date: Tuesday, August 10, 2010



Connecticut

Congressman Rob Simmons
Congressman Simmons is a combat veteran of the US Army
He is running for United States Senate in Connecticut
Primary Date: Tuesday, August 10, 2010




Florida

Lt. Col. Allen West
Lt. Col. West is a combat veteran of the US Army
He is running for United States House in Florida
Primary Date: Tuesday, August 24, 2010





Idaho

Maj. Vaughn Ward
Maj. Ward is a combat veteran of the US Marine Corps
He is running for United States House in Idaho
Primary Date: Tuesday, May 25, 2010





Illinois

Capt. Adam Kinzinger
Capt. Kinzinger is a combat veteran of the US Air National Guard
He is running for United States House in Illinois
Primary Date: Tuesday, June 8, 2010





New Mexico

Congressman Steve Pearce
Congressman Pearce is a combat veteran of the US Air Force
He is running for United States House in New Mexico
Primary Date: Tuesday, June 1, 2010




New York

Spec Ops Officer Gary Berntsen
Spec Ops Officer Berntsen is a combat veteran of the US CIA
He is running for United States House in New York
Primary Date: Tuesday, May 18, 2010



Former Special Agent Michael Grimm
Former Special Agent Grimm is a combat veteran of the US Marine Corps
He is running for United States House in New York
Primary Date: Tuesday, May 18, 2010





North Carolina


Maj. Will Breazeale
Maj. Breazeale is a combat veteran of the US Army
He is running for United States House in North Carolina
Primary Date: Tuesday, May 4, 2010





Ohio


Lt. Col. Steve Stivers
Lt. Col. Stivers is a combat veteran of the US Army National Guard
He is running for United States House in Ohio
Primary Date: Tuesday, May 4, 2010



Former Sheriff Richard "Dick" Stobbs
Former Sheriff Stobbs is a combat veteran of the US Army
He is running for United States House in Ohio
Primary Date: Tuesday, May 4, 2010





Pennsylvania

Lt. Col. William Russell
Lt. Col. Russell is a combat veteran of the US Army
He is running for United States House in Pennsylvania
Primary Date: Tuesday, May 18, 2010



Col. Frank Ryan
Col. Ryan is a combat veteran of the US Marine Corps
He is running for United States House in Pennsylvania
Primary Date: Tuesday, May 18, 2010





Rhode Island

Lt. Col. John Loughlin
Lt. Col. Loughlin is a combat veteran of the US Army
He is running for United States House in Rhode Island
Primary Date: Tuesday, September 14, 2010




Tennessee

Maj. Gen. David Evans
Maj. Gen. Evans is a combat veteran of the US Army
He is running for United States House in Tennessee
Primary Date: Thursday, August 5, 2010





They gave you their blood, sweat and tears over there; now you can give them your vote over here.







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FLAG DISPUTE UPDATE

Colonel Van T. Barfoot, Medal of Honor:




It looks like this thing is growing legs . . . the law firm of Coates & Davenport have already gone into Damage Control Mode:


Statement from the Sussex Square Homeowners Association

Dec. 3, 2009

The Sussex Square Homeowners Association never intended its request that Col. Barfoot remove his flag pole as an affront to his patriotism.

This is not about the American flag. This is about a flag pole. And Col. Barfoot is not being forbidden from displaying an American flag.

With its request that he remove the flag pole, the association was discharging its duty to all the owners in the neighborhood. The association's position has merit and is supported by its Bylaws, Rules and Declaration of Restrictions and Covenants.

The association is optimistic that this matter can be resolved in a way that is mutually satisfactory to all parties and looks forward to Senator Mark Warner's involvement toward that end.

Anyone who wishes to offer comments may do so at colbarfootsflagpole@gmail.com

Thank you,

Coates & Davenport
Richmond, Virginia



So I went back and checked the story, as it was originally reported to me:

In December 2009, the HomeOwners' Association (HOA) of Sussex Square, where 90-year-old Van T. Barfoot lives in Henrico County, Virginia, ordered him to remove the flagpole from which he flies the American flag. The HOA retained a lawyer to help enforce their order. The Association's bylaws do not forbid flagpoles, but the HOA ruled Barfoot should not be allowed to use his "for aesthetic reasons". Mr. Barfoot is contesting the order.


I don't want to come off sounding like a barracks lawyer, but it sounds to me like Colonel Barfoot has a pretty good case going for him.


Anybody who prowls the I-95 corridor like I do knows it is literally infested with veterans, and we have our fair share of lawyers and activists who are constantly on the lookout for issues like this to make their own. The opening salvos of this campaign have already been fired, apparently:


The American Spectator

Nissan Offroad Bulletin Board community - NOR

A little friendly note to you guys over at NOR: "The Medal is often mistakenly referred to as the Congressional Medal of Honor, due to the requirement of an act of Congress; the official and correct title is the Medal of Honor" - S.L.



It's all over Facebook, predictably enough . . . (there's a legitimate reason you won't find me there - S.L.)







Check it out: a UNITED STATES SENATOR has weighed in on this thing!






And he makes the same point I did:

"I have been informed that the covenants governing this neighborhood association do not expressly forbid installation of flag poles
and that the association opposed the flag pole on the grounds of its aesthetics."

- Jim Webb, United States Senator


The OTHER United States Senator from Virginia is on it as well:

"Senator Warner called Col. Barfoot on Wednesday night to offer his support and assistance. The Senator met Barfoot several times in recent years, most notably at the 2005 groundbreaking for a state veteran's facility in Richmond that bears Barfoot's name."

Senator Mark R. Warner, Virginia


Last but not least there's this fivecolcebrilt guy:

A 90-year-old Medal of Honor winner is involved in a dispute with a neighborhood association that wants him to remove a flag pole from his front yard. Supporters, among them a United States senator, are supporting the medal winner, Van T. Barfoot, a World War II veteran. Mr. Barfoot put up a 21-foot flagpole in September. He raises the flag daily at sunrise and retires it at sunset. But the Sussex Square homeowners association in Richmond said the flagpole violated the neighborhood's aesthetic guidelines and ordered him to remove it by Dec. 11 or face a lawsuit.


So we're pulling up some pretty heavy artillery here for the Colonel . . .

. . . I'm guessing it won't be long now . . .





Thank you for all your support so far . . . you know who you are . . . we will continue to monitor the situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . S.L.

WHY WE FIGHT - A Vietnam Veteran's Perspective

Speech by Major General Robert Scales USA (Ret) at Truman Library, 12 September 2009

Mr. Skelton, Mr Cleaver, distinguished guests and, most importantly, fellow veterans. What a great thrill it is see my comrades in arms assembled here so many years after we shared our experiences in war.







Firebase Bastogne, Vietnam 1970









Let me give you the bottom line up front: I'm proud I served in Vietnam. Like you I didn't kill innocents, I killed the enemy; I didn't fight for big oil or for some lame conspiracy. I fought for a country I believed in and for the buddies who kept me alive. Like you I was troubled that, unlike my father, I didn't come back to a grateful nation. It took a generation and another war, Desert Storm, for the nation to come back to me.

Also like you I remember the war being 99 percent boredom and one percent pure abject terror. But not all my memories of Vietnam are terrible. There were times when I enjoyed my service in combat. Such sentiment must seem strange to a society today that has, thanks to our superb volunteer military, been completely insulated from war. If they thought about Vietnam at all our fellow citizens would imagine that fifty years would have been sufficient to erase this unpleasant war from our conscientiousness. Looking over this assembly it's obvious that the memory lingers, and those of us who fought in that war remember.

The question is why? If this war was so terrible why are we here? It's my privilege today to try to answer that question not only for you, brother veterans, but maybe for a wider audience for whom, fifty years on, Vietnam is as strangely distant as World War One was to our generation.








American soldiers in France, 1918







Vietnam is seared in our memory for the same reason that wars have lingered in the minds of soldiers for as long as wars have been fought. From Marathon to Mosul young men and now women have marched off to war to learn that the cold fear of violent death and the prospects of killing another human being heighten the senses and sear these experiences deeply and irrevocably into our souls and linger in the back recesses of our minds.

After Vietnam we may have gone on to thrilling lives or dull; we might have found love or loneliness, success or failure. But our experiences have stayed with us in brilliant Technicolor and with a clarity undiminished by time. For what ever primal reason war heightens the senses. When in combat we see sharper, hear more clearly and develop a sixth sense about everything around us.

Remember the sights? I recall sitting in the jungle one bright moonlit night marveling on the beauty of Vietnam. How lush and green it was; how attractive and gentle the people, how stoic and unmoved they were amid the chaos that surrounded them.

Do you remember the sounds? Where else could you stand outside a bunker and listen to the cacophonous mix of Jimi Hendrix, Merle Haggard and Jefferson Airplane? Or how about the sounds of incoming? Remember it wasn't a boom like in the movies but a horrifying noise like a passing train followed by a crack and the whistle of flying fragments.






Firebase Currahee, Vietnam 1969







Remember the smells? The sharpness of cordite, the choking stench of rotting jungle and the tragic sweet smell of enemy dead.

I remember the touch, the wet, sticky sensation when I touched one of my wounded soldiers one last time before the medevac rushed him forever from our presence but not from my memory, and the guilt I felt realizing that his pain was caused by my inattention and my lack of experience. Even taste is a sense that brings back memories. Remember the end of the day after the log bird flew away leaving mail, C rations and warm beer? Only the first sergeant had sufficient gravitas to be allowed to turn the C ration cases over so that all of us could reach in and pull out a box on the unlabeled side hoping that it wasn't going to be ham and lima beans again.

Look, forty years on I can forgive the guy who put powder in our ammunition so foul that it caused our M-16s to jam. I'm OK with helicopters that arrived late. I'm over artillery landing too close and the occasional canceled air strike. But I will never forgive the Pentagon bureaucrat who in an incredibly lame moment thought that a soldier would open a can of that green, greasy, gelatinous goo called ham and lima beans and actually eat it.

But to paraphrase that iconic war hero of our generation, Forrest Gump, life is like a case of C Rations, you never know what you're going to get because for every box of ham and lima beans there was that rapturous moment when you would turn over the box and discover the bacchanalian joy of peaches and pound cake. It's all a metaphor for the surreal nature of that war and its small pleasures . . . those who have never known war cannot believe that anyone can find joy in hot beer and cold pound cake. But we can.





FireBase Bastogne, Vietnam 1969





Another reason why Vietnam remains in our consciousness is that the experience has made us better. Don't get me wrong. I'm not arguing for war as a self improvement course. And I realize that war's trauma has damaged many of our fellow veterans physically, psychologically and morally. But recent research on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by behavioral scientists has unearthed a phenomenon familiar to most veterans: that the trauma of war strengthens rather than weakens us (They call it Post Traumatic Growth). We know that a near death experience makes us better leaders by increasing our self reliance, resilience, self image, confidence and ability to deal with adversity. Combat veterans tend to approach the future wiser, more spiritual and content with an amplified appreciation for life. We know this is true. It's nice to see that the human scientists now agree.

I'm proud that our service left a legacy that has made today's military better. Sadly Americans too often prefer to fight wars with technology. Our experience in Vietnam taught the nation the lesson that war is inherently a human not a technological endeavor. Our experience is a distant whisper in the ear of today's technology wizards that firepower is not sufficient to win, that the enemy has a vote, that the object of war should not be to kill the enemy but to win the trust and allegiance of the people and that the ultimate weapon in this kind or war is a superbly trained, motivated, and equipped soldier who is tightly bonded to his buddies and who trusts his leaders.

I've visited our young men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan several times. On each visit I've seen first hand the strong connection between our war and theirs. These are worthy warriors who operate in a manner remarkably reminiscent of the way we fought so many years ago. The similarities are surreal. Close your eyes for a moment and it all comes rushing back. In Afghanistan I watched soldiers from my old unit, the 101st Airborne Division, as they conducted daily patrols from firebases constructed and manned in a manner virtually the same as those we occupied and fought from so many years ago. Every day these sky soldiers trudge outside the wire and climb across impossible terrain with the purpose as one sergeant put it - to kill the bad guys, protect the god guys and bring home as many of my soldiers as I can. You legacy is alive and well. You should be proud.





101st Airborne soldiers on patrol in Afghanistan







The timeless connection between our generation and theirs can be seen in the unity and fighting spirit of our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Again and again, I get asked the same old question from folks who watch soldiers in action on television: why is their morale so high? Don't they know the American people are getting fed up with these wars? Don't they know Afghanistan is going badly? Often they come to me incredulous about what they perceive as a misspent sense of patriotism and loyalty.

I tell them time and again what every one of you sitting here today, those of you who have seen the face of war, understand: it's not really about loyalty. It's not about a belief in some abstract notion concerning war aims or national strategy. It's not even about winning or losing. On those lonely firebases as we dug through C ration boxes and drank hot beer we didn't argue the righteousness of our cause or ponder the latest pronouncements from McNamara or Nixon or Ho Chi Minh for that matter. Some of us might have trusted our leaders or maybe not. We might have been well informed and passionate about the protests at home or maybe not. We might have groused about the rich and privileged who found a way to avoid service but we probably didn't. We might have volunteered for the war to stop the spread of global communism or maybe we just had a failing semester and got swept up in the draft.

In war young soldiers think about their buddies. They talk about families, wives and girlfriends and relate to each other through very personal confessions. For the most part the military we served with in Vietnam did not come from the social elite. We didn't have Harvard degrees or the pedigree of political bluebloods. We were in large measure volunteers and draftees from middle and lower class America. Just as in Iraq today we came from every corner of our country to meet in a beautiful yet harsh and forbidding place, a place that we've seen and experienced but can never explain adequately to those who were never there.

Soldiers suffer, fight and occasionally die for each other. It's as simple as that. What brought us to fight in the jungle was no different than the motive force that compels young soldiers today to kick open a door in Ramadi with the expectation that what lies on the other side is either an innocent huddling with a child in her arms or a fanatic insurgent yearning to buy his ticket to eternity by killing the infidel. No difference. Patriotism and a paycheck may get a soldier into the military but fear of letting his buddies down gets a soldier to do something that might just as well get him killed.











101st trooper in combat in Afghanistan











What makes a person successful in America today is a far cry from what would have made him a success in the minds of those assembled here today. Big bucks gained in law or real estate, or big deals closed on the stock market made some of our countrymen rich. But as they have grown older they now realize that they have no buddies. There is no one who they are willing to die for or who is willing to die for them. William Manchester served as a Marine in the Pacific during World War II and put the sentiment precisely right when he wrote: "Any man in combat who lacks comrades who will die for him, or for whom he is willing to die is not a man at all. He is truly damned."

The Anglo Saxon heritage of buddy loyalty is long and frightfully won. Almost six hundred years ago the English king, Henry V, waited on a cold and muddy battlefield to face a French army many times his size. Shakespeare captured the ethos of that moment in his play Henry V. To be sure Shakespeare wasn't there but he was there in spirit because he understood the emotions that gripped and the bonds that brought together both king and soldier. Henry didn't talk about national strategy. He didn't try to justify faulty intelligence or ill formed command decisions that put his soldiers at such a terrible disadvantage. Instead, he talked about what made English soldiers fight and what in all probably would allow them to prevail the next day against terrible odds. Remember this is a monarch talking to his men:


This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother;
be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.








Laurence Olivier playing Henry V in the 1944 film







You all here assembled inherit the spirit of St Crispin's day. You know and understand the strength of comfort that those whom you protect, those in America now abed, will never know. You have lived a life of self awareness and personal satisfaction that those who watched you from afar in this country who hold their manhood cheap can only envy.

I don't care whether America honors or even remembers the good service we performed in Vietnam. It doesn't bother me that war is an image that America would rather ignore. It's enough for me to have the privilege to be among you. It's sufficient to talk to each of you about things we have seen and kinships we have shared in the tough and heartless crucible of war.







US and Confederate dead, Gettysburg 1863









Some day we will all join those who are serving so gallantly now and have preceded us on battlefields from Gettysburg to Wanat. We will gather inside a firebase to open a case of C rations with every box peaches and pound cake. We will join with a band of brothers to recount the experience of serving something greater than ourselves. I believe in my very soul that the almightily reserves a corner of heaven, probably around a perpetual campfire where some day we can meet and embrace all of the band of brothers throughout the ages to tell our stories while envious standers-by watch and wonder how horrific and incendiary the crucible of violence must have been to bring such a disparate assemblage so close to the hand of God.