I didn’t get the memo on this but am damn glad I found out about it over at the Mudville Gazette. It seems that 19-25 December is Thank a Soldier Week and the good people over at Townhall.com have made it easy to do just that.
American soldiers are risking their lives all over the globe defending America’s interests and defending the freedoms that many of us take for granted. During Thank a Soldier Week (December 19-25), Townhall.com is encouraging Americans to stop for a moment and give thanks to the men and women risking everything for us.
A few examples of expressions of gratitude…
**I am brazilian and I would like to thank the american soldiers for their huge efforts in Iraq. Keep on doing what you’re doing! Keep on fighting for the freedom.**
**Thank you so much for your defense of our country. I know that you endure many hardships and make many difficult sacrifices, and I want you to know that it IS appreciated here, despite what the “mainstream media” says. It is people like you that make me proud to be an American.**
**You rock. My family and I are behind you 100%, we send care packages, write letters…and vote. We are on your side, and proud to be your countrymen. Hope you come home to a h*** of a party, because you deserve it.**
Have you thanked a Soldier lately? (I can’t wait for Hug a Soldier Week!) Sgt Hook out.
With Russia to her east, Latvia her south, the Baltic Sea on her west, and Finland to her north just across the appropriately named, Gulf of Finland, Estonia is a tiny country in Eastern Europe, slightly smaller than New Hampshire and Vermont combined. With roughly 1.3 million citizens and a military of just over 3,800, Estonia proudly joined NATO in the spring of 2004. And they’ve sent a platoon of soldiers to help fight the war on terror in Iraq.
Although small in numbers, the infantry soldiers from Estonia’s STONE Platoon bring added force to the tank crews of the Fort Riley, Kan., based 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor Regiment.
The 34-member platoon from Estonia is a highly-trained volunteer force that performs an infantry mission with the skill and firepower comparable to U.S. Army Rangers, said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Nicholas E. Wolf, one of two liaisons to the Estonians and a tank crewmember with Company A, 2/70th.
“These guys are first-rate soldiers, and it is a privilege to be a member of their team,” Wolf said.
Welcome aboard Stone Platoon, good to have you on the team. Sgt Hook out.
It seems that life in the sea going service has taken on a musical flare.
When I get shore leave and go home to visit my family and old friends, they can’t hide their pride. As the background music slows to a stately march, my normally hard-as-nails dad salutes me and shakes my hand with tears in his eyes.
I’m sure glad that I didn’t join the Marines. All those guys seem to do is climb sheer mountain faces with their bare hands.
That still doesn’t explain the bell bottoms and the goat. Sgt Hook out.
The Mad Macedonian has a very touching poem posted, one he wrote as a tribute to your Soldiers serving far from home this holiday season. Sgt Hook out.
There is no better single place to find all of your favorite, and soon to be favorite, Milblogs than Milblogging.com. I first heard about this site from the Army Times, and I was not disappointed. Check it out, and while you’re there, vote for your favorite Milblog in the first annual Milbloggies.
That’s right, I’ve got a case of the ass. How in the hell do some folks rant about how we’re sending our sons and daughters to their deaths and then turn around and blab their fat mouths off about a secret operation aimed at defeating our enemies?
A secret 400-page Defense Department document obtained by NBC News…
I may be just a dumb soldier but secret documnets are just that, SECRET, and for a good gottdamned reason. What is the MSM doing here? Aiding and abetting? I’m very concerned about the willingness of some to leak sensitive information in order to obtain personal or political gains.
Our mission in Iraq is critical in the victory in the global war on terror. After our country was attacked on September the 11th and nearly 3,000 lives were lost, I vowed to do everything within my power to bring justice to those who were responsible. I also pledged to the American people to do everything within my power to prevent this from happening again. What we quickly learned was that al Qaeda was not a conventional enemy. Some lived in our cities and communities, and communicated from here in America to plot and plan with bin Laden’s lieutenants in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere. Then they boarded our airplanes and launched the worst attack on our country in our nation’s history.
This new threat required us to think and act differently. And as the 9/11 Commission pointed out, to prevent this from happening again, we need to connect the dots before the enemy attacks, not after. And we need to recognize that dealing with al Qaeda is not simply a matter of law enforcement; it requires defending the country against an enemy that declared war against the United States of America.
There in lies the problem. Some folk just don’t think we have an enemy and can’t get past the notion that we ought to be reading Miranda rights to the bad guys. Well, I’m here to tell you that we not only have an enemy, but we’re facing one like none have faced in history. The rat bastards who declared war on America on September 11th, 2001 are smart, determined, savvy, and adaptive and oh by the way, they laugh their asses off at our Miranda rights. Rest assured they don’t miss a trick and they have already changed their tactics thanks to NBC News and the likes, making it even more difficult on our soldiers fighting in the trenches.
Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not against righting a wrong. If our government, or an agency thereof, engages in immoral or illegal activities I think it prudent to address the issues, however, not in the gottdamned MSM. There are already avenues in place to handle issues of a sensitive nature and the only reason someone would choose to address such issues in the MSM is purely for personal or political gain, and that sickens me.
I can only hope that in the unfortunate event our enemy wins, I survive long enough to be jailed alongside some of those who gained politically, or personally, at the expense of America. Sgt Hook out.
Mike Stokely didn’t die for a just cause, he died for a lot of just causes, including the ones I set out above. I wish I were fit to tie his shoe laces but I am fortunate enough to have a son who believed in God, family, duty, honor and country and who certainly turned out to be the better of the two of us.
See you on Fiddler’s Green Sgt Stokely. Sgt Hook out.
The investigation into allegations that the Army was abusing Iraqi news outlets to “plant” good news articles is nearing complete. A couple of weeks ago, the L.A. Times reported that the U.S. military has been secretly paying Iraqi newspapers to publish stories written by American troops in an effort to burnish the image of the U.S. mission in Iraq.
Well hell, it obviously wasn’t that much of a secret if the L.A. Times wrote about it. I suspect that it wasn’t advertised, just as much of our psychological operations aren’t advertised, but does that necessarily make it a bad thing? I suppose it does if you don’t want to win this war. I have serious doubts that the Army directly paid newspapers to publish stories. I’d bet rather, that they did contract a service to translate stories and try to get them published, again, not necessarily a bad thing unless one has an agenda that includes our losing this war.
Though the articles are basically factual, they present only one side of events and omit information that might reflect poorly on the U.S. or Iraqi governments, officials said. Records and interviews indicate that the U.S. has paid Iraqi newspapers to run dozens of such articles, with headlines such as “Iraqis Insist on Living Despite Terrorism,” since the effort began this year.
Kind of like the pot calling the kettle black isn’t it? And what in the hell is wrong with focusing on the positive? Has our media really gotten to the point where good news is bad news?
Fortunately, the Army’s leaders have cooler heads than yours truly and have investigated the allegations made by the “pot.”
WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2005 – A preliminary investigation of alleged improprieties conducted by U.S. military information operations activities in Iraq hasn’t found any wrongdoing, the top U.S. officer in Iraq said today.
“We concluded that we were operating within our authorities and the appropriate legal procedures,” Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr. said from his headquarters in Iraq during a satellite news conference with Pentagon reporters.
To win the global war on terror, we’re going to have to engage the enemy on many levels, information operations is just one of those levels. Anyone remember “Tokyo Rose?” The difference here, of course, is that we aren’t disseminating lies. Sgt Hook out.
There is an essay contest currently underway to answer just that question. Any Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, or Airmen who wish to articulate in a 500-1000 word essay why they feel they are in Iraq should submit an entry. There’s a cash prize! Sgt Hook out.
Goes to the referrer of number 250,000. I could use a bucket (dear Liza, dear Liza) and I love M*A*S*H. Regardless, she’s a great read. Click NOW! Sgt Hook out.
This site is a collection of my writings, thoughts, and ramblings and in no way reflects the official positions of the United States Army or the Department of Defense. OPSEC trumps everything.
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In view of a recent tendency to identify characters in fiction with real people, it seems proper to state that there are no real people in this volume: both the characters and their names are ficticious. The names or designations of any military units are ficticious. There are no living people nor existing military units presented in this book.
-Ernest Hemingway
Halfway down the road to hell,
In a shady meadow green,
Are the souls of all dead troopers camped
Near a good old-time canteen.
And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddler's Green.
-Author Unknown
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