Wednesday Hero

This Weeks Hero Was Suggested By Mary Ann

Wednesday Hero was started to put a face to the men and women of the American Armed Forces and what they do for us. Vary rarely has there been a member of a foreign military profiled. In fact, in the two years Wednesday Hero's been going on it's only been done once before. Here's the second.


Lance Corporal Matt Croucher
24 years old from Birmingham, England
40 Commando Royal Marines


L/Cpl Matt Croucher is not only one of the bravest men alive, he's also one of the luckiest men alive. On the morning of February 9, 2008 L/Cpl. and his unit were searching a compound near Sangin in Afghanistan that was suspected of being used to make bombs to be used in attacks on British and Afghan troops. Walking in the darkness among a group of four men, Croucher stepped into a tripwire that pulled the pin from a boobytrap grenade. His patrol commander, Corporal Adam Lesley, remembered Croucher shouting "Grenade!"

As others dived for cover, Croucher did something nobody expected. He lay down on the grenade to smother the blast. Lesley got on the ground, another man got behind a wall, but the last member of the patrol was still standing in the open when the grenade went off.

"My reaction was, 'My God this can't be real'," said Lesley. "Croucher had simply lain back and used his day sack to blunt the force of the explosion. You would expect nine out of 10 people to die in that situation." L/Cpl. Croucher was that 1/10. Not only did he survive, amazingly he only suffered shock from the blast and a bloody nose. He was saved by the special plating inside his Osprey body armor. The backpack he was wearing was thrown more than 30ft by the blast.

"I felt one of the lads giving me a top to toe check. My head was ringing. Blood was streaming from my nose. It took 30 seconds before I realized I was definitely not dead," said L/Cpl. Croucher.

For his actions that day, L/Cpl. Croucher was in line for the Victoria Cross, the highest award for a British Serviceman, but it has yet to be awarded.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Happy Birthday, World Wide Web :)

Guido posted on Magic Smoke, the AOL Journals blog, WWW=15 ,that today is the 15th 'birthday' of the World Wide Web, and asked the question

"What changed when the Internet came into your life?"

While the WWW might have been around for 15 years? I only got my first computer, a hand-me-down from my uncle, back in 2001. That was an old HP computer, and I accessed the Internet with Dial-Up! which, although such a short time ago, seems like the 'stone age' to me Now,lol.

I've gone from dial-up access, to being a DSL user, to using a Cable link, and from Windows 98 to Windows XP (haven't gotten Vista yet, but one of my son's is using it)

I've learned a lot of technical stuff along the way,lol....I'm all self-taught, which means I have strange knowledge gaps that flummox other people, things they think I Should know, and I don't,because I learned it all by trial and error :)and by lots of reading of technical blogs and information ,that I only partially understood sometimes!

How has the Internet changed my life? well, for one....I spend more time sitting down,lol.

Seriously, the Internet has kept me in closer touch with my family, spread out around the country and the world as they all are. The Internet has meant that I could follow along more closely with both my brother's career, and also in the adoption by my sister and brother-in-law of their daughter, in a much more immediate way than using 'snail mail' and intermittant telephone calls.

And the Internet brought 'milblogs' to my attention, which in turn led to me becoming a member of Soldiers Angels....and both milblogs and Soldiers Angels has changed my life Enormously.

I have had the privilege of getting to know a great many fine and fantastic folks all over the country,and the World, through being a member of Soldiers Angels.

And access to the Internet led to my becoming a blogger myself,which has Also led to my meeting many wonderful new people.

Being a blogger, more so than being a member of Soldiers Angels, is what led me to meet the Founder of Soldiers Angels,Patti,when I attended the Milblog conference last year in DC. And also meeting Robert Stokely and briefly speaking with him, one of the most towering men of Christian faith I've ever had the privilege to meet. Over a year later, the brief conversation we had while in the lunch line still resounds within me, and, now that my husband/'s son is deployed, brings me a great deal of comfort and peace.

And being a blogger has brought me back to one of my first loves, writing.....whether I do well at writing or not,lol, I cannot imagine my life now without the outlet of blogging. I had forgotten,over the years, how much I loved writing and expressing myself, caught up in raising a family and working as I was.

I am one who is always amazed and delighted by the twists and turns that life takes one on, which in looking back you never realized it was going to take. I had no idea when I clicked on my first 'milblog' that reading it would lead to my becoming a blogger, troop-supporter, or that my life would expand so much because of the Internet.

For instance, I had no idea when I sent my first email to JP of Milblogging.com, before he ever even Started Milblogging.com, that one day I would be watching a PBS special about his platoon!

And when I first joined MySpace, I had no idea that one day my friend,Courtney, who then lived way across the country,would be coming down for a visit and what a wonderful time we would have getting to meet and know her better :)

Without the Internet, and Soldiers Angels, my daughter and I would never have gone last year to the Face of America bike ride to volunteer, and we would have missed out on meeting some people who have become friends since then. ( and,you can never have too many friends, can you? :)

Without the Internet and blogging, we wouldn't be excitedly preparing, when we go This year to volunteer at the bike ride, to perhaps afterward meet one of my 'blogging buddies' while we're up there.

(conversely, the Internet has also brought me back in touch with old friends who live very close by....and yet, we still haven't gotten together in person! LOL. because it's so much easier, in the busy day-to-day of life, to just send off a quick email.)

I could go on and on.....but I think the bottom line answer to the question Guido posed, "What changed when the Internet came into your life"?, for me, is that it brought me into contact with a great many more People,and that has enhanced my life enormously.

So, Happy Birthday, WWW! :)

Here's wishing you many more!

(crossposted from my 'real blog', Mail Call!Supporting the Troops over on AOL.)

Need a Smile? Here's Two :)

My friend JP, of Milblogging.com And Bad Voodoo fame, posted a hilarious picture the other day of his one year old's "artwork", you can see it

here How my kids cheer me up during deployment

And then today he posted a link to a video that features a song that is near and dear to my family's heart,lol.....go check out the video

Milblogger in the News: Ponte Vedra soldier’s platoon rocks out

(and if you want to see why I laughed about the song choice in the video, just check out Moment of Zen on my family blog :)

2008 Face of America bike Ride~Next Weekend!

Next weekend is the 2008 Face of America bike Ride

where I'll be volunteering with Soldiers Angels , as my daughter and I did Last Year.


So, I figured it was time to do a "remix" of my photos from last year, and re-post my slide show from the 2007 Ride.

We had a Blast volunteering last year, and met a lot of great folks! Looking forward to it again This Year!

Soldiers Angels Web Surfing

My weekly ’surf’ of the web for news by, and about, Soldiers Angels(Hey, I’m only One Day Late in posting this week….lol…I call that progress:)

I know that my blog seems to once again just consist lately of "Wednesday Hero" posts, and "Soldiers Angels Web Surfing" posts? but, part of that is because of my work schedule lately, part of that is because...it's Spring! yay!.....and part of that is because of the new puppy in our house,"Brownie"



Isn't she a cutie? :)


Well, moving on to the 'surf'........

Starting out with a ‘food’ theme, Soldiers Angels Network passes on
AN ANGEL REQUEST……………….

for recipe submissions for an Angel cookbook.


And Greta talks about Cookies for a Cause over at Soldiers Angels Louisiana.


Cookies fit in nicely with something you can take to a recruiter’s office forOperation Recruiter Appreciation, 2008 (and there’s lots of other great ideas in that post,too!)


For other posts:

The Nevada Soldiers Angels VA Team postedGuidelines for Listening to War Veterans

and Soldiers Angels Texas posted Now is the Time! We Need Your Help!


Soldiers Angels of Alabama had a great post that speaks for itself
How many go unloved?


Short surf this past week, but Thanks for coming along!

Wednesday Hero

Click To Enlarge


Cpl. Markbradley Vincze gives students from al-Raqhaa School backpacks in the Monsouri area of Iraq. Soldiers from Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1-76th FA, 4th BCT, 3rd Inf. Div., delivered backpacks, soccer balls and notebooks.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Soldiers Angels Web Surfing

My weekly post of news by, and about, Soldiers Angels in the blogosphere.

There is a wealth of good posts/news this past week:) but before I get started……did you remember that you can Still be Voting for Patti? The teleflora America’s Favorite Mom Online contest is continuing, and Now you can be voting for Patti for ” America’s Most Popular Mom ”

So, Angels…won’t you please Keep Voting !:)

And Now…..on to this week’s Web Surf…………

I came across This blog post There are angels,and then there are Soldiers Angels by a blogging writer,Elen, who mentions Another writer, JoAnn Ross….who came across Soldiers Angels while doing research for a book, and JoAnn blogged about that here.

So, Joann became a Soldiers Angel, and then Elen saw her blog post and adopted a soldier,too!! Yay!!

I ended up exchanging some emails with both Elen and JoAnn, and they both said that many more of their writer friends are checking out Soldiers Angels….so Welcome! to all these new Angels!!

In Other exciting news…….Greta is a radio star

Louisiana Angel Stars on Radio!

Way to go,Greta!!

On her Louisiana Soldiers Angel blog, Greta gives a Big Easy Cafe Update and then posts pictures Big Easy Cafe Started


Soldiers Angels Texas posted about Blankets of Hope

and then, Woo Hoo! Blankets for Hope Also got mentioned at About.com !!


Tennessee Soldiers Angels VA Team posted about Morristown Outpatient Clinic Opening


and Nevada Soldiers VA Team posted Soldiers Angels Visit the Armory


A Soldiers Angel told us about upcoming Soldiers Angels Events in San Diego


and Soldiers Angels Alabama tells us Bama Guard Unit to Deploy to Afghanistan


Globally, Nelly at Soldiers Angels Europe blogs New British Soldiers For Adoption


New Links!

AR Angel Cafe: Soldiers Angels Team Arkansas

and a new link from Shelle Michaels, Wingtip 2 Wingtip a place you can find “Soldiers Angels National Communication”, and be sure and read about Heroes Tax Relief Package



Lastly, at This link Golden Dragons:For the Soldiers and Families of the 1rst Battalion,14th Infantry Regiment Fighting in Iraq I came across A Note from LTC Boccardi

and the pertinent part of his note regarding Soldiers Angels said:

“I am astonished by a group called “Soldiers Angels.” This organization is unbelievable. It’s cared for by great Americans with true character that empathize with our sacrifice. They send me packages and mail that I deliver to our Dragons out on Patrol Bases. It impacts soldiers. I’ve seen them stop what they are doing, sit on their cots and start reading their cards from a complete stranger that simply says – “Thank You” in their own words. It’s because of you and the people of Soldiers’ Angels that we endure the unendurable. I will close with a note from a Soldiers’ Angels Card – “May No Soldier Go Unloved.”


and then saw where Soldiers Angels Germany had already also blogged about it Honoring Those Who Endure the Unendurable

and she has links at the bottom of that post to two very good posts,from Cassandra at Villainous Company,both posts worth checking out.


To end the surf, as always, Life in the Northeast asks us to Remember…


Thanks for ’surfing’ with me, until next time!

Wednesday Hero

Maj. Mark E. Rosenberg
32 years old from Miami Lakes, Florida
3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division
April 8, 2008


Mark Rosenberg grew up in South Florida. "All boy," his aunt, Madelyn Rosenberg, remembers. "Very active, but very lovable." As long as she can recall, Maj. Rosenberg wanted a military career like his father, Burton Rosenberg, had.

He attended New Mexico Military Institute and entered the Army in 1996. Later, he met a woman, Julie, and they
married one day after his sister's wedding. He and Julie had two boys, now 3 and 22 months. They settled in Colorado near Fort Carson, where he was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division.

Maj. Rosenberg was on his second tour of duty when the Humvee he was riding in was struck by an IED in Baghdad.

"He would say he's over there to do a job," Madelyn Rosenberg remembered. "He loved what he was doing."

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Virginia Tech Day of Remembrance

Virginia Tech Day of Remembrance

Another Email Project to Send 'Letters From Home"

Got this via Gazing at the Flag , Jim at Thinking Right is at it again, trying to get emails of support. Here's what he had to say:

"Once again, I’m collecting letters of support for the men and women aboard the USS Russell - DDG-59. I’m aiming for about 250 letters, so it will be a smaller project than last time. I’ve received word back from the Marines who we sent the letters to late last year, and I can’t emphasize enough how important these letters are to them. It’s really not all that much to ask to sit down and write a short note of support to those putting it all on the line for us."

Please send the emails to letters@thinking-right.com.


In an earlier post about this, Jim had mentioned that there's a blog about those serving on the Russell, you can find it here The Destroyermen


Why not send an email today?

Soldiers Angels Web Surfing

My 'normally-posted-on-Fridays,but I'm late yet again" weekly surf of the web for news by, and about, Soldiers Angels (for the week that just ended 4/12/08)


We'll be going all over the World on this 'web surf', because,Hey, there are members of Soldiers Angels all over the world! :) ....and a lot of them had interesting posts last week :)


Starting out here in the US......


The Michigan Soldiers Angels post about an upcoming 'Hoe Down" on Angel Updates WYCD Hoe Down


View From the 8th Floor is helping to spread the word about the
2008 Face of America Bike Ride


Nice story about an Angel from WV Cabell County schools employee fulfills soldier's wish for Moss jersey



Soldiers Angels New York tells us about a fundraising walk Steps To Our Soldiers



Soldiers Angels Alabama had three posts I wanted to highlight
New clinic to treat Alabama vets with stress disorder and traumatic brain injury

What can $25,000 buy?

Welcome Home Alabama’s Heroes!


Soldiers Angels Louisiana asked for help to Send cards to a fallen LA Hero’s Family
and then Greta posted some more about Supporting the troops on her Kiss My Gumbo blog.


And now, we go to TN, where the Tennessee Soldiers Angels VA Team posted about TENNESSEE ANGEL OPPORTUNITIES



Soldiers Angels Texas had two posts honoring Fallen Texas Heroes:
Fallen Texas Hero

Austin, Texas Fallen Hero


and Nevada Soldiers VA Team had some great pictures of Rub-a-dub-dub back packs


Venturing out across the World.....


Soldiers Angels Germany F Troop deals final blow to building that set off IED


and Soldiers Angels Europe is looking for help Wounded TLC Looking for Angels


and friend Willie at A German-American Friendship Bracelet has a
Retrospect 2008 visits to Landstuhl

and

German Dinner at the Fisher House Landstuhl


That's the end of my belated 'surf',thanks for coming along for the ride!

Two Fallen Virginia soldiers this past week,21 Fallen Heroes altogether

I have not been blogging much this week due to being busy with my volunteer duties for the Soldiers Angels Living Legends Team

If you check out icasualties.org ,you'll see that there were 21 Fallen Heroes this past week. The latest soldier was killed only this morning, that name has not been released yet.

The Living Legends Team has been working diligently to gather information about each of the Fallen Heroes whose names were previously released by the DOD , and send condolence cards to each of these families.

Our Team also supported the family of a Marine who was injured last September, and just passed away on April 2.

Two casualties that hit home for me were soldiers from my state of Virginia.

Fallen this past week from Virginia was:

Staff Sgt. Jeremiah E. McNeal, 23, of Norfolk, Va.

and you can read articles about him here and here

and also fallen from Virginia was Sgt. Jesse A. Ault, 28, of Dublin, Va.

and you can read about him here and here

The fallen Marine who had been injured in Sept. was

LCPL Cody Wanken of Hampton,IA

and I came across this link to a letter that Lcpl. Wanken had written home while he was deployed, which was printed at the time in an Iowa newspaper, and then re-posted at
this link http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-55289.html

I think it is a Must Read. It brought me to tears.

I don't often express my own personal opinions on the war here, but it is in weeks like this past one, that I wholeheartedly agree with my friend Greta from Hooah Wife, who posted here
I want our soldiers home


It's been particularly difficult for me this past week to listen to the hearings in Congress with Gen.Petraeus, and to hear President Bush announce that he will suspend troop withdrawals this summer.

While I want to be"supportive of the mission", and I have heard all the arguments that there are "less causualties in this war compared to previous wars",etc?

All I know is that, as a volunteer with some caring and compassionate Angels on the Living Legends Team who reach out to try and send some comfort to grieving families of the Fallen......there are 20 families grieving this past week alone...soon to be 21.
And the names of those Fallen Heroes are:

Specialist Matthew T. Morris

Captain Ulises Burgos-Cruz

Major Stuart A. Wolfer

Colonel Stephen K. Scott

Private 1st Class Shane D. Penley

Staff Sergeant Emanuel Pickett

Staff Sergeant Jeremiah E. McNeal

Sergeant Richard A. Vaughn

Specialist Jason C. Kazarick

Sergeant Michael T. Lilly

Sergeant Timothy M. Smith

Major Mark E. Rosenberg

Staff Sergeant Jeffery L. Hartley

Specialist Jacob J. Fairbanks

Sergeant Shaun P. Tousha

Sergeant Jesse A. Ault

Specialist Jeremiah C. Hughes

Technical Sergeant Anthony L. Capra

and Lcpl. Cody Wanken

(There are two names of Fallen Heroes that have not yet been released by the DOD.)

My prayers are with each of these grieving families. Please remember these families, and the families of all the 4,000 + fallen heroes.


And please keep those still serving in your thoughts and prayers, also.

Wednesday Hero

Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael T. Williams
(Click Image For Full Size)


Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael T. Williams, a kennel master with Task Force Military Police, 1st Battalion, 10th Marines, and his dog "Kitt", search for ordnance and firearms during a route reconnaissance operation through the western Anbar province of Iraq April 1. The dog handlers conduct operations in support of 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion to bring peace and stability to Iraq and its people.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Things to Pass On

Various things in my inbox piling up that I wanted to pass along,so here goes:

Michael Yon's Color of War dispatch.


An Air Force Mom has started a website Remembering the Fallen ,she's putting a lot of time into listing our Fallen Heroes and linking back to each one's Legacy.com webpage, she's currently up to 2003, please stop by and take a look.


Friend Kat at Yikes! is starting her next card drive
Operation Love From Home: 4th of July Card Drive for Troops!


Friend Paulette had another great blog post up the other day It Matters


Doc in the Box might have a second job :) Sean Dustman, Columnist? Way cool,huh!


Paul Rieckhoff had a review of the film "Stop- Loss"

Stop-Loss: Another Hollywood Iraq Film Misses the Mark

and in it he has links to two upcoming projects, an HBO special called Generation Kill

and a movie slated for 2009 Green Zone


He also mentions Deborah Scranton's The War Tapes ,whcih allows me to segue into asking "Have you seen the PBS Frontline special Bad Voodoo's War yet?


If you haven't? it's now available to watch online, plus there's lots of extra features on the website now

Click here: FRONTLINE: bad voodoo's war PBS

while trawling the web for mentions and reviews of Bad Voodoo's war, came across this interesting post, from someone who has Met SFC Toby Nunn Bad Voodoo Tonight


And,lastly, here's a famous Milblogger who's going to be at the 2008 World T.E.A.M Sports Face of America Bike Ride


Maj.Ziegenfuss, of From My Position...On the Way! Hell on Wheels 2008

------------
That's all I had to pass along for now! Hope everyone has a good week!

Soldiers Angels Web Surfing

My weekly 'surf' of the web for news by, and about, Soldiers Angels


First of all, Patti Won the Most Inspirational Mom voting in the online contest at teleflora's America's Favorite Mom contest....Yay!


and now, the voting continues!! this time, for the Most Popular Mom
so,keep voting! Angels :)

-------------------------
Willie at A German-American Friendship Bracelet covers a lot here in her post
Soldiers Angels News

And Shelle at Soldiers Angels Network has the link to the
Soldiers Angels National Newsletter-April

Congratulations! are also in order for Shelle, as you can see here at
SComm E-COMMunity


she was presented "The Golden Wing" and "The Crystal Award of Excellence" awards at the National Soldiers Angels VP Conference. Way to Go, Shelle!!! :)


Shelle also posts about the previously mentioned
World T.E.A.M. Sports 2008 Face of America Bike Ride


which leads me to segue (I just love segues,lol:) into introducing a New! Soldiers Angels blogging member,LDR at

Soldiers Angels-Wounded Warrior Support


(which is also this week's featured SA Blog of the Week)
She's off to a great start! I'm looking forward to seeing her again at this year's Face of America Bike Ride, and just wanted to say Welcome! to the world of blogging!!! :)


Soldiers Angels Texas asks Can You Spare a Dollar?

which goes along with this post by Soldiers Angels of Alabama
April Showers Bring Soldiers Dollars

(and Soldiers Angels of Alabama is also going to a Magnolia Festival ! :)

A cool story, about some 9 year old twins who got involved with Soldiers Angels
ReporterHerald: From pen pal to honorary fireman

This new Angel is looking for some help My first adopted soldier

Tanker Brothers has a link to a good story In case you missed this...

Soldiers Angels Germany writes about The Power of Love

(and I have met Robert Stokely....he is an unforgettable man, and a tower of strength. We had a few second conversation about my husband's son preparing to deploy, that still resonates in my heart. God bless and keep you, Mr. Stokely.....you have touched, and continue to touch, so Many lives. What a beautiful way for him to honor his son, Sgt. Mike Stokely.)

Soldiers Angels Louisiana remembers a fallen Louisiana Hero
Thoughts and prayers to the family of an American Hero

and Life in the Northeast posts her usual remembrance of the previous week's Fallen Heroes Remember...

That's the 'web surf' for this past week!

Wednesday Hero

This Weeks Hero Was Suggested By Mary Ann


Spc. Jeffrey Jamaleldine
Company C, 1st Battalion, 77th Armor


"How can I say to my sons, stand up for something, fight for what you think is right, if I don't do anything myself?"

The Jeffrey Jamaleldine that you speak to today is a complete 180 from the Jeffrey Jamaleldine that you would have spoke to in the past. In 1991, Jamaleldin was living in Germany when joined in anti-American protests on Berlin's Kurfürstendamm boulevard during Operation Desert Storm. "That was the way it was back then," he says. He was 15 and "America was simply the enemy." And today, Jeffery Jamaleldine is a wounded veteran of the U.S. Army. On June 6, 2005, after the terror bombing in Madrid, Spain, in the middle of the Iraq war, he showed up at the U.S. Army recruiting office in Little Rock, Arkansas, to enlist. His father, Bashir, told him at the time: "Son, this won't be a picnic."

On June 30, Jamaleldine was on patrol in Ramadi, Iraq. The patrol ahead of him had been ambushed by at least 70 combatants and were now under fire. During the fight, Spc. Jeffrey Jamaleldine was hit in the face by a bullet. In the end, the battle lasted into the next morning and the soldiers were able to stop the enemy from returning to Ramadi.

The article on Spc. Jeffrey Jamaleldine is five pages long, and I simply can not condense it down to only a few paragraphs. You can read the entire story here.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.

We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.