Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Wednesday Hero

Wednesday Hero was started to put a spotlight on the men and women of the United States military and the bravery their show day in and day out. But on a few occasions a service members of an allied nation has been profiled. Such is the case this week.

Despite being shot twice during an ambush in Afghanistan, an SAS (Special Air Service) soldier from Australia lashed himself to the front of his patrol vehicle so he wouldn't be left behind if he passed out from loss of blood and kept on fighting.

The Digger is expected to be recommended for a high level bravery award.

Suffering from serious upper body wounds, the soldier struggled on to the front of his SAS long range patrol vehicle (LRPV) and, under heavy fire, used a rope to attach himself firmly between the vehicle's bull bar and radiator.

Once he was secured, and there was no chance that he would fall off if he fainted, he picked up his rifle and resumed firing at the enemy during a two-hour fighting withdrawal.

SAS troops and their special forces comrades from the Commando Regiment are well aware of the slow and painful death that awaits them if they are captured by the Taliban.

The Digger, who cannot be identified, faded in and out of consciousness, emptying several magazines as volleys of enemy rounds and rocket propelled grenades, rained down around him.

He was finally evacuated from the battle field at high speed still lashed to the front of the LRPV.

A source told The Courier-Mail the Digger was now "up and about" and would recover fully from his serious gunshot wounds. His heroic deeds will be recognised when he is recommended for a high level bravery award.

Several others engaged in the do-or-die battle on September 2 are also in line for top honours.


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.

Wednesday Hero Logo

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Send a Comment of Support!

Please head on over to Soldiers Angels New York

and Leave a message of support and encouragement for an 'Every Day Hero' who's deployed!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Soldiers Angels Web Surfing

Photobucket

Another weekly 'surf' of the web, for posts of interest by, and about
Soldiers Angels

First of all, don't forget! Soldiers Angels needs your help for
Wrapped in Holiday Spirit

Speaking of blankets.....good story from the Lake County Journal in Illinois
Area Residents Make Blankets for Soldiers

From Soldiers Angels Germany comes this post
Angels Watching Over My Boy

Soldiers Angels New York writes about Marine Corps Marathon-Special Runners (and there's another post about the MCM HERE )


Soldiers Angels Louisiana tells us what's In the Louisiana News

Have you seen this story?
Quadriplegic Veteran Plans Adventurous Trek Soldiers Angels is one of the sponsors of Paul Christian's journey, and you can follow him at
Seize Adventure

Soldiers Angels Network links to a story about one everyday Angel

and there's an orthodontist from my state :) who's buying candy from his patients and plans to send the money to Soldiers Angels

And Whimsical Thoughts led me to Everlasting Scraps ....TWO new Angels to the
Cards Plus Team.....yay! and Welcome! :)

Also wanted to give a Welcome! to the new blog from
Soldiers Angels Washington

That's the surf for this week!


(cross-posted at Hooah Wife and Friends ,where I get to hang out with the 'cool kids',lol,
and also on MySpace )

A "Virtual Veteran's Day Parade"

This is a great idea:)

CJ over at A Soldiers Perspective has asked for participants in a "Virtual Veteran's Day Parade"

Virtual Veteran's Day - An Open Letter To Milbloggers

Click on the link above to read the entire post, but to summarize.....

1. The virtual 'Parade' will be hosted on the YouServed blog

2. For every participant CJ can get, the VA Mortgage Center will donate $20 to Valour IT !
( he's trying to get 30 participants)

3. The deadline to sign up is Nov.4

Spread the word on this one, will ya?

(hat tip to Milblogging.com for sending me to CJ's for this one:)

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Wednesday Hero

Sgt. Carlton A. Clark
Sgt. Carlton A. Clark
22 years old from South Royalton, Vermont
2nd Brigade Troop Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)
August 06, 2006
U.S. Army

Sgt. Carlton Clark graduated from South Royalton High School in 2002. While in high school, he was co-captain of his soccer team and a member of the track and field and basketball teams. He graduated from basic combat training and advanced individual training in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. in 2002 and was stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. as a combat engineer. He was air assault qualified and deployed during the initial wave of Operation Iraqi Freedom for one year. He was subsequently assigned to West Point to train cadets. He re-enlisted and was deployed for a second tour of duty in Iraq. He earned a Purple Heart, an Army Commendation Medal with Valor, a Bronze Star Medal and was posthumously awarded a second Purple Heart.

Sgt. Clark was killed in action when an IED detonated near his Humvee while conducting combat operations in Baghdad. Also killed in the attack were Staff Sgt. Stephen A. Seale and Cpl. Jose Zamora.



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.

Wednesday Hero Logo






Sunday, October 19, 2008

Soldiers Angels Web Surfing

Photobucket

Welcome to another of my weekly surf's of the web for news by, and about
Soldiers Angels

Two posts of note from Soldiers Angels Germany
From A Soldier's Mom
and
Rog's Medics

which segues nicely into heading over to Rog's blog for
This was the love of a grateful nation laid over a young Army Soldier

For another post about blankets.....

Friday, October 17, 2008

Saturday,Oct.18th...It's My Day:)


Update.....my wonderful husband made me a beautiful gift.....a display holder for my spoon collection

Photobucket



Thursday, October 16, 2008

Write a Note of Thanks to a Vet

Via SpouseBuzz's post What military support looks like in DJ Emery country

comes a request for a letter of thanks to a veteran:

SPECIAL 'THANK A VETERAN' REQUEST: A friend of mine has been named the chairperson of the Veteran’s Day program sponsored by the Ladies Auxiliary at the State College American Legion, Post 245. As part of the program, she is looking for people to write a letter to one of their Legion veterans so that each of their veteran attendees will get a letter of thanks that day. The letter can be written to anyone – male or female and should be addressed: Dear Veteran,. Contents of the letter can include special thanks to the veteran for our freedom, their dedication, sacrifices, etc. She asks that the letter be signed with your name and age - prefers that the letter is handwritten and not typed if possible. Please share this information – the letters need to be received no later than October 25, 2008.
------------------------------------------
You need to leave a comment requesting the address at SpouseBuzz, the link again is HERE

and,spread the word, of course:)

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Wednesday Hero

Sgt. Anton J. Hiett
Sgt. Anton J. Hiett
25 years old from Mount Airy, North Carolina
391st Engineer Battalion, Army Reserve
March 12, 2006
U.S. Army

Misty Hiett, the widow of Sgt. Anton Hiett, said in an interview that he, Sgt. Hiett, asked to transfer to the 391st Engineering Battalion when it looked like his reserve unit would not be deployed.

Sgt. Hiett was a truck driver who joined the military right out of high school because he "wanted to go help out" during the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. After his transfer to the 391st, he was deployed to Afghanistan on April 22, 2005.

On March 12, 2006, Sgt. Hiett, and three fellow soldiers from the 391st, Staff Sgt. Joe Ray; Spc. Joshua Hill and Sgt. Kevin Akins, were killed when an IED detonated near their Humvee during combat operations west of Asadabad, Afghanistan. He left behind his wife and their then 2(now 4)-year-old daughter Kyra.



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.

Wednesday Hero Logo

Monday, October 13, 2008

"Operation Love From Home" ,friend Kat is at it again:)

Friend Kat, over at Yikes! is once again having a card drive for the troops

She always does a Wonderful job of getting Christmas messages to the troops...and her newly incorporated 501c Operation Love From Home sent 'our' soldier a great many cards back in July, for his 21rst birthday:) Thank you,Kat! and Operation Love From Home!

Here's the scoop on her Operation Love From Home project:

OK folks, here we go again, collecting Christmas/Holiday cards for our deployed Heroes!!!

This year the goal is the biggest ever: we would like to get at least 50,000 holiday cards to our Heroes in harm's way! We can't accomplish this awesome goal without YOU! Please forward this info on to others you think would be interested in this project, and if you have a blog, please consider posting about it. This is a team effort...together, we can make a real difference to our troops who are missing home during the holidays! Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions. We have a printable flyer we are happy to send you (can also be downloaded from our Yahoo! group), as well as a letter that you can send to local schools/organizations to seek their support. Just drop us a line and we'll be happy to send those items to you. Thank you for your support of our heroes! Info re: Love From Home 2008 is below! Most sincerely, "Mama Kat" Orr, President, Operation Love From Home.

The Mission: To collect at least 50,000 Christmas/Holiday cards for troops stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and all over the world.

The Reason: Being away from home and living in harsh conditions with combat & constant danger is difficult ~ our troops need to know we have not forgotten them!!! Mail from home helps to keep our troops' morale strong, making a very real difference in their lives. It keeps them motivated and focused when they know we care about them!

The Address: Send your signed, unsealed thank-you cards to the following address:
Mrs. Kathy Orr

OPERATION: LOVE FROM HOME
P.O. Box 1660
Loganville, Georgia, 30052


ALL CARDS MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2008.

The Guidelines:
The cards can be handmade or store-bought. This is a great opportunity to get your Scout troop, school, church and other civic organizations involved in doing something to show support for our troops.


Please, no glitter on the cards. Because of the intended destinations of the cards, nothing "shiny" should be sent for safety & security reasons.

*IMPORTANT: This is not a "dating service." Please do not send suggestive or otherwise inappropriate cards or materials. Please also refrain from making political statements of any nature. We will be reading and screening every card received to ensure that the above guidelines are adhered to.

Remember: This is strictly to let the troops know that we love them, we are proud of them and that we HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN them!

If you have any questions, please contact us at Kat@OperationLoveFromHome.org or info@operationlovefromhome.org

Check out our website: www.OperationLoveFromHome.org for more info!

--------------------------------------------------------

so please, won't you consider helping out Operation Love From Home?
and....spread the word! :)

Soldiers Angels Web Surfing

Photobucket

Welcome to my weekly 'surf' of the web for news by, and about,
Soldiers Angels

(The web surf was on a brief hiatus due to the fact that I primarily blogged on AOL, and AOL decided to shut their blog service down...oy! had to save two years of blog postings! I've moved my primary blog over to Blogger now, Mail Call! Supporting the Troops and archived all my previous blog posts from the AOL blog.)

I decided not to go back over two weeks worth of posts by or about Soldiers Angels that I thought were worth passing on, but will just take a quick look at the previous week's postings that I thought you might enjoy checking out.....so, without further ado...

Soldiers Angels Connecticut is posting,I don't recall mentioning this blog before, so please stop by there :)

Soldiers Angels Lousiana tells us about The power of a blog
don't miss that one!


Wendy's Wonderings wrote about A New SA Cookbook


Willie at A German-American Friendship Bracelet posted about Oktoberfest and also about
a Blankets of Hope Visit to a VA Hospital in Tampa,FL


Soldiers Angels Germany posted The DJ Emery Highway

The Soldiers Angels October newsletter link is courtesy of Soldiers Angels Network

And don't forget the link for the Soldiers Angels Convention which will be July 23-26,2009.

That's the surf!

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Wednesday Hero

Cpl. Lance M. Thompson
Cpl. Lance M. Thompson
21 years old from Upland, Indiana
2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force
November 15, 2004
U.S. Marine Corps.

The father of Cpl. Lance Thompson said his son would be proud knowing he fought and died to help Iraqis vote in an election.

Cpl. Lance Thompson died in during fighting in Ramadi by a truck bomb. His father, Greg Thompson, said his son sent him a letter in September of '04 which said, "Freedom is not free. It requires sacrifice."

Greg Thompson said the millions turning out to vote in Iraq was "fantastic" and said it was a "momentous day in the Middle East."

"Are you asking me was it worth Lance losing his life?" he asked a reporter. "Being the gung-ho Marine that he was, he would say yes. So I'll say yes. That is a tough, bitter pill to swallow. It hurts. God, I didn't want to give up my son."



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.

Wednesday Hero Logo

Saturday, October 04, 2008

No" Soldiers Angels Web Surfing" this week

Sorry, folks......with AOL shutting down their 'Journals'(blogs) system this month? I am madly involved in trying to save two years worth of blog posts on not only my first "Mail Call! Supporting the Troops" AOL journal....but also trying to save two years of posts from my 'family blog' on AOL.
And then I have a Bunch of website maintenance updating to do on This blog!

I am hopeful that by the end of next week, I'll be able to return to the 'world of blogging'.

See you then :)