Thursday, August 31, 2006
Toys for Tots
Now normally you will see the Marine Corps outside different stores this fall to collect toys for needy kids - we have supported that every year we can. Most of the time through just buying a toy at walmart, and dropping it in the can (or better yet making the boys do that!). One year we mobilized our Cub Scout Pack and collected over a hundred toys for one drive! We still need to support that to make sure the kids back at home have a good Christmas. But if you have a chance and want to win over some hearts and minds, consider the following picture I copied off of the Victory Times webpage...
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
One other thing I forgot....
I am trying to get better at cardio. For a guy who never ran, I started in May running laps around Lost Lake (about 1.8 miles). Running was an exaggeration. Try stumbling and wheezing. Gradually we modified our workout to three days a week lifting, and three days a week running. I am up to three miles / 32 minutes a session on the treadmill. It is amazing to me that I am approaching 10 miles a week and I haven't died. Then I got this link from an ESPN article. Team Hoyt is an inspriational story about how some people can take a bad situation and make things better. Good read! www.teamhoyt.com
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
LOOOOONNNG overdue update
Well folks, I apologize for taking three weeks off by now. I would like to give you a wonderful story about how busy I have been, how I have saved the world, but the reality is that I have been sitting here at my computer, pushing my reports seven days a week, following the Reds and Bengals online, and counting down the days until my R&R (only 29 more to go!)
Here are a couple of interesting tidbits about the war, that I don’t think most people know about:
1. Most of us staff types not busy driving around vehicles outside the wire trying to keep from blowing up drive rental cars. Some of us even have personalized them a bit. (Thanks Mike and Michelle!)
2. I (and most everyone else – even the guys driving trucks) have the time on a daily basis to go to the gym and work out – treadmills, elipticals, free weights, hammer weights.
3. For as much crap as people give Halliburton / KBR for making a ton of money, I for one would argue with anyone that this is a bad deal. Would you rather have the kids putting their lives on the line wasting time standing in a long line for 5000 calorie meals that did nothing for them? Three times a day, we get anything we want from Crap, to spinach salads, burgers to steaks, and cold cuts to freshly sliced pineapple. In days of yore, military cooks did the job, which included preparation, cleaning, serving, sanitation, training and US Government $$$$$ to make it happen. At least with KBR, while it may be costing a bundle, the soldiers behind the chow line are now on the frontlines which means a more efficient training and operational environment.
4. Mom asked me how I do my laundry – I don’t! Once again, thanks to KBR, I give them a bag of dirty skivvies and sweaty tshirts twice a week, and get back a bag of freshly washed and folded clothes. They spoil me here – I will be hell to deal with just picking up my dirty socks when I come home!
5. We have free copies of Stars and Stripes here, as well as our own camp newsletter – yes, family can leave embarrassing support messages to their soldiers / sailors here. Just think – letting the entire conglomeration of hard chargers on Camp Victory know that you are referred to as “Binnie” by your mom!!! http://www.mnci.centcom.mil/Victory_Times/default.htm
6. The Stars and Stripes and our newsletter are not run by the leftist liberals who want you to believe that this war is going poorly:
Aug. 20, 2006
One million pilgrims commemorate 7th Imam
BAGHDAD – The commemoration of the death of the 7th Shiite Imam (Musa al-Kadhim) drew more than one million pilgrims to the al-Kadhimiyah Shrine in Baghdad’s Kadhimiyah neighborhood from Friday through Sunday. The event occurred with relatively little violence; security for the celebrants was planned, led and executed by Iraqi Security Forces from the Iraqi National Police, Iraqi police and the Iraqi army, who worked together to safeguard those participating in the religious event. Iraqi military and civil leaders provided a comprehensive security plan to ensure there would be no recurrence of violence that marred last year’s event. As a result, there were no major attacks, and the ISF was effective in containing violent elements. Violence against the pilgrims did occur in the Adamiyah and Shaab neighborhoods. The Government of Iraq is still assessing the actual number of casualties, but they appear to be minimal. Iraqi police from 2nd National Police Division killed a terrorist and detained two after they fired upon the pilgrims. “The ISF did a good job containing the violence and protecting the people,” said Maj. Gen. James D. Thurman, the commanding general of Multi-National Division – Baghdad. “These acts against innocent civilians are deplorable, but Iraqi Security Forces did an excellent job in preventing more needless loss of innocent civilian lives.” The pilgrimage serves to commemorate the life and death of the 7th Shiite Imam, Imam Musa al-Kadhim.
(Just think – LA was shut down for a weekend earlier this year to protest anti-immigration bills. The various incarnations of the million man march in DC produced all kinds of problems. Whenever a large city wins a professional sporting event, the police are out to prevent FANS CELEBRATING BY TORCHING CARS AND RIOTING! But One Million Shiite Muslims came to Baghdad, and a civil war DIDN’T break out in the middle of a war zone!!!! Did anyone hear about this in USA Today or the Washington Post????)
7. How many wartime operational units in a war zone have you heard of that have their own website? http://www.militaryhomefront.dod.mil/campvictory/
8. The baby ducks have all but grown up, but mom and dad Iraqi ducks still watch to make sure they cross the road safely. (I actually saw but couldn’t get my camera out fast enough a two lane road shut down completely in both directions where HWMMV’s in both directions, complete with armed gunners with .50 caliber machine gunners stopped to make sure the ducks crossed the road safely – yes these steely eyed highly trained killers have a soft spot for baby ducks)
9. Iraqi signs tell the truth more often than US warning signs
10.STRYKER vehicles are one bad-ass class of machines. (almost) too wide for a road, and highly maneuverable, they do more to strike fear in the hearts of those bent on evil than other vehicles. While not invincible, they are imposing.
11. Hooch security is a 24 hour deal, and you only want the best out there on the front line making sure the perimeter is safe!
Well, that is all for now. I will keep plugging and try to pump out more information when I can. Congrats to new mommy and daddy – Brad and Angie! Avary is a little angel, and these two cousins (Ginny on the left and Avary on the right) are sure to wreak havoc on their parents for many years to come – especially with an Aunt and Uncle like Shannon and I. (payback is a bitch!)
Here are a couple of interesting tidbits about the war, that I don’t think most people know about:
1. Most of us staff types not busy driving around vehicles outside the wire trying to keep from blowing up drive rental cars. Some of us even have personalized them a bit. (Thanks Mike and Michelle!)
2. I (and most everyone else – even the guys driving trucks) have the time on a daily basis to go to the gym and work out – treadmills, elipticals, free weights, hammer weights.
3. For as much crap as people give Halliburton / KBR for making a ton of money, I for one would argue with anyone that this is a bad deal. Would you rather have the kids putting their lives on the line wasting time standing in a long line for 5000 calorie meals that did nothing for them? Three times a day, we get anything we want from Crap, to spinach salads, burgers to steaks, and cold cuts to freshly sliced pineapple. In days of yore, military cooks did the job, which included preparation, cleaning, serving, sanitation, training and US Government $$$$$ to make it happen. At least with KBR, while it may be costing a bundle, the soldiers behind the chow line are now on the frontlines which means a more efficient training and operational environment.
4. Mom asked me how I do my laundry – I don’t! Once again, thanks to KBR, I give them a bag of dirty skivvies and sweaty tshirts twice a week, and get back a bag of freshly washed and folded clothes. They spoil me here – I will be hell to deal with just picking up my dirty socks when I come home!
5. We have free copies of Stars and Stripes here, as well as our own camp newsletter – yes, family can leave embarrassing support messages to their soldiers / sailors here. Just think – letting the entire conglomeration of hard chargers on Camp Victory know that you are referred to as “Binnie” by your mom!!! http://www.mnci.centcom.mil/Victory_Times/default.htm
6. The Stars and Stripes and our newsletter are not run by the leftist liberals who want you to believe that this war is going poorly:
Aug. 20, 2006
One million pilgrims commemorate 7th Imam
BAGHDAD – The commemoration of the death of the 7th Shiite Imam (Musa al-Kadhim) drew more than one million pilgrims to the al-Kadhimiyah Shrine in Baghdad’s Kadhimiyah neighborhood from Friday through Sunday. The event occurred with relatively little violence; security for the celebrants was planned, led and executed by Iraqi Security Forces from the Iraqi National Police, Iraqi police and the Iraqi army, who worked together to safeguard those participating in the religious event. Iraqi military and civil leaders provided a comprehensive security plan to ensure there would be no recurrence of violence that marred last year’s event. As a result, there were no major attacks, and the ISF was effective in containing violent elements. Violence against the pilgrims did occur in the Adamiyah and Shaab neighborhoods. The Government of Iraq is still assessing the actual number of casualties, but they appear to be minimal. Iraqi police from 2nd National Police Division killed a terrorist and detained two after they fired upon the pilgrims. “The ISF did a good job containing the violence and protecting the people,” said Maj. Gen. James D. Thurman, the commanding general of Multi-National Division – Baghdad. “These acts against innocent civilians are deplorable, but Iraqi Security Forces did an excellent job in preventing more needless loss of innocent civilian lives.” The pilgrimage serves to commemorate the life and death of the 7th Shiite Imam, Imam Musa al-Kadhim.
(Just think – LA was shut down for a weekend earlier this year to protest anti-immigration bills. The various incarnations of the million man march in DC produced all kinds of problems. Whenever a large city wins a professional sporting event, the police are out to prevent FANS CELEBRATING BY TORCHING CARS AND RIOTING! But One Million Shiite Muslims came to Baghdad, and a civil war DIDN’T break out in the middle of a war zone!!!! Did anyone hear about this in USA Today or the Washington Post????)
7. How many wartime operational units in a war zone have you heard of that have their own website? http://www.militaryhomefront.dod.mil/campvictory/
8. The baby ducks have all but grown up, but mom and dad Iraqi ducks still watch to make sure they cross the road safely. (I actually saw but couldn’t get my camera out fast enough a two lane road shut down completely in both directions where HWMMV’s in both directions, complete with armed gunners with .50 caliber machine gunners stopped to make sure the ducks crossed the road safely – yes these steely eyed highly trained killers have a soft spot for baby ducks)
9. Iraqi signs tell the truth more often than US warning signs
10.STRYKER vehicles are one bad-ass class of machines. (almost) too wide for a road, and highly maneuverable, they do more to strike fear in the hearts of those bent on evil than other vehicles. While not invincible, they are imposing.
11. Hooch security is a 24 hour deal, and you only want the best out there on the front line making sure the perimeter is safe!
Well, that is all for now. I will keep plugging and try to pump out more information when I can. Congrats to new mommy and daddy – Brad and Angie! Avary is a little angel, and these two cousins (Ginny on the left and Avary on the right) are sure to wreak havoc on their parents for many years to come – especially with an Aunt and Uncle like Shannon and I. (payback is a bitch!)
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Memorial for Petty Officer Koth, EOD
Earlier this week, I attended the memorial service for Edward Austin Koth, Electrician’s Mate Second Class, EOD. He was from Baltimore County, MD, and died last week while handling explosives near where I sleep at night. It was a very touching service for one so well loved by his EOD brothers. To their credit, those that paid their tributes managed to do so with strong voices, and restrained tears. We even heard some words prepared by his girlfriend Alison who a mere 96 hours after hearing that her future plans of moving to Italy with him had turned to dust, had the strength to try and not only pay homage to his memory but to comfort his friends and brothers in arms.
I always find the concept of going through a receiving line to be more stressful for the visitor, rather than those doing the receiving. Petty Officer Koth’s entire unit stood up and shook the hands of the 100 or so attendees to the memorial service. You want to say something personal, something appropriate, but how many times can you tell someone that you are sorry, or that you wish you could do something to help? But that is the comforting thing about this crazy place. Death is real. It isn’t some abstract “you might die in a car wreck” sort of concept. It isn’t that you worry about wasting away 60 years from now. It is real, and it could happen. In a strange sort of way, it is liberating because you come to grips with the idea that you must live every day to its fullest. In Austin’s case he did just that – EOD, Parachutist, College graduate. Good looking kid, in shape, and never a picture in his slideshow without a smile. Every one of the team talked about his sense of humor.
Loosely quoting one of the internet forward chains we get from time to time, a Doctor who treats WWII veterans was touched by the last scene in Saving Private Ryan, when as an old man he kneels next to the Arlington resting place of Tom Hank’s character and asks whether or not the life he lived was well earned from the sacrifice made. While I can’t stand being apart from my family, I have convinced myself that if something should happen, there will be left no doubt years down the road as to whether or not I have earned it. For it doesn’t matter whether or not you have a good credit rating, or how many miles each day you run, or what your cholesterol level may be – all that matters is whether or not when people gather to your memorial service and hear your friends and family speak of you. A man’s life can be best measured I guess by the family he creates and cares for, the friends he keeps, and how many people walk out of the service in admiration of the life you have led.
If anything, Austin Koth was a good American. Shortly after the service, I received this from a friend, and it seemed appropriate to post this in his honor.
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-ferrara092501.shtml
What Is An American?A primer.
By Peter Ferrara, an associate professor of law at the George Mason University School of Law.September 25, 2001 9:20 a.m.
You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper there an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.
So I just thought I would write to let them know what an American is, so they would know when they found one.
An American is English…or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan.
An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them choose.
An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.
An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God-given right of each man and woman to the pursuit of happiness.
An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need. When Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country. As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.
An American does not have to obey the mad ravings of ignorant, ungodly cruel, old men. American men will not be fooled into giving up their lives to kill innocent people, so that these foolish old men may hold on to power. American women are free to show their beautiful faces to the world, as each of them choose.
An American is free to criticize his government's officials when they are wrong, in his or her own opinion. Then he is free to replace them, by majority vote.
Americans welcome people from all lands, all cultures, all religions, because they are not afraid. They are not afraid that their history, their religion, their beliefs, will be overrun, or forgotten. That is because they know they are free to hold to their religion, their beliefs, their history, as each of them choose.
And just as Americans welcome all, they enjoy the best that everyone has to bring, from all over the world. The best science, the best technology, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes.
Americans welcome the best, but they also welcome the least. The nation symbol of America welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed.
These in fact are the people who built America. Many of them were working in the twin towers on the morning of September 11, earning a better life for their families.
So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo and Stalin and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the history of the world.
But in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
So look around you. You may find more Americans in your land than you thought were there. One day they will rise up and overthrow the old, ignorant, tired tyrants that trouble too many lands. Then those lands too will join the community of free and prosperous nations.
And America will welcome them.
I always find the concept of going through a receiving line to be more stressful for the visitor, rather than those doing the receiving. Petty Officer Koth’s entire unit stood up and shook the hands of the 100 or so attendees to the memorial service. You want to say something personal, something appropriate, but how many times can you tell someone that you are sorry, or that you wish you could do something to help? But that is the comforting thing about this crazy place. Death is real. It isn’t some abstract “you might die in a car wreck” sort of concept. It isn’t that you worry about wasting away 60 years from now. It is real, and it could happen. In a strange sort of way, it is liberating because you come to grips with the idea that you must live every day to its fullest. In Austin’s case he did just that – EOD, Parachutist, College graduate. Good looking kid, in shape, and never a picture in his slideshow without a smile. Every one of the team talked about his sense of humor.
Loosely quoting one of the internet forward chains we get from time to time, a Doctor who treats WWII veterans was touched by the last scene in Saving Private Ryan, when as an old man he kneels next to the Arlington resting place of Tom Hank’s character and asks whether or not the life he lived was well earned from the sacrifice made. While I can’t stand being apart from my family, I have convinced myself that if something should happen, there will be left no doubt years down the road as to whether or not I have earned it. For it doesn’t matter whether or not you have a good credit rating, or how many miles each day you run, or what your cholesterol level may be – all that matters is whether or not when people gather to your memorial service and hear your friends and family speak of you. A man’s life can be best measured I guess by the family he creates and cares for, the friends he keeps, and how many people walk out of the service in admiration of the life you have led.
If anything, Austin Koth was a good American. Shortly after the service, I received this from a friend, and it seemed appropriate to post this in his honor.
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-ferrara092501.shtml
What Is An American?A primer.
By Peter Ferrara, an associate professor of law at the George Mason University School of Law.September 25, 2001 9:20 a.m.
You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper there an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.
So I just thought I would write to let them know what an American is, so they would know when they found one.
An American is English…or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan.
An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them choose.
An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.
An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God-given right of each man and woman to the pursuit of happiness.
An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need. When Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country. As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.
An American does not have to obey the mad ravings of ignorant, ungodly cruel, old men. American men will not be fooled into giving up their lives to kill innocent people, so that these foolish old men may hold on to power. American women are free to show their beautiful faces to the world, as each of them choose.
An American is free to criticize his government's officials when they are wrong, in his or her own opinion. Then he is free to replace them, by majority vote.
Americans welcome people from all lands, all cultures, all religions, because they are not afraid. They are not afraid that their history, their religion, their beliefs, will be overrun, or forgotten. That is because they know they are free to hold to their religion, their beliefs, their history, as each of them choose.
And just as Americans welcome all, they enjoy the best that everyone has to bring, from all over the world. The best science, the best technology, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes.
Americans welcome the best, but they also welcome the least. The nation symbol of America welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed.
These in fact are the people who built America. Many of them were working in the twin towers on the morning of September 11, earning a better life for their families.
So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo and Stalin and Mao Tse-Tung, and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the history of the world.
But in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
So look around you. You may find more Americans in your land than you thought were there. One day they will rise up and overthrow the old, ignorant, tired tyrants that trouble too many lands. Then those lands too will join the community of free and prosperous nations.
And America will welcome them.
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