Vote for this AMW All Star Finalist

Flag Gazer passes on the story
Face of Freedom:Officer Susan Portello

Officer Susan Porcello was responding to a 9-1-1 call regarding an elderly man sick at his home. After assisting him she befriended retired USMC PFC Gasper Musso and for the next six months, she along with her patrol partner provided what he needed to care for himself. He had no other family members alive and so Officer Susan Porcello and her partner took it upon themselves to have the resident honored and receive full military burial privileges upon his passing away in November 2008.In addition, she provided for his wake, the mass and final burial at her own expense. ..........

You can vote HERE until May 4th........Thanks! for voting, and feel free to pass it on!

Wednesday Hero

This Week's Post Was Suggested & Written By Mary Ann


Sgt. Kenneth G. Ross
24 years old from Tucson, Arizona
7th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment
September 25, 2005


"He believed in serving his country," said Ross' father, David C. Ross. Gary Anderson, Ross' best friend and an Army infantry veteran who served nine months in Afghanistan and 11 months in Iraq during his active duty stint, was a classmate of Ross at Marana's Mountain View High School. "You know, I heard this news of Ken and I broke down and cried hysterically," said Anderson, now a firefighter for the Ak-Chin Indian Community in Maricopa. "He loved everyone; everyone who came in contact with him loved him. He'd always help everyone out that he could."

A 1999 graduate of Mountain View, Ross played drums in the marching band and orchestra, his father said. Ross enlisted in the Army right after graduation. "He just wanted to take part in history," Anderson said.

At the time of his death, he was a helicopter mechanic — acting as a door gunner on his last mission, his father said. SSgt. Ross was killed when his helicopter went down southwest of Deh Chopan, Afghanistan. Also killed in the crash were Sgt. Shawn A. Graham, Warrent Officer Adrian B. Stump, Sgt. Tane T. Baum, Chief Warrent Officer 2 John M. Flynn and Sgt. Patrick D. Stewart.

Along with his father, SSgt. Ross is survived by his mother, Mary Ross, 57, and his sister, Stephanie Ross, 30. "I know his last thoughts were for everybody else and not for himself," Anderson said. "I know he wanted to make sure everybody was safe and would go home."

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.

Volunteering at the 2009 Face of America Bike Ride

My daughter and I went up to Northern Va. on Friday night and Early on Sat morning we went with a fellow Angel and good friend to hang banners at the start of the bike ride in Bethesda.MD.
Here's the link to a short video I took at the start:

Start of the 2009 FOA Bike Ride



My daughter went on to spend the day volunteering while my friend and I left to attend the Milblog conference,
and then the 3 of us plus Greta headed up to volunteer for the 2nd day of the ride on Sunday morning. This was the third year my daughter and I had volunteered, but the first time we were able to volunteer on the second day and be there at the end of the ride.

I have lots of pics, which I'll have to get around to posting later.....but, my daughter took a video of the end of the ride with all the riders coming in that I wanted to share

End of the 2009 FOA Bike Ride



This is just an amazing, amazing event to be a part of as a volunteer.......the wonderful folks who are riding that you get to meet, and the other wonderful volunteers that you also get to meet.
The gentleman who played the bagpipes (whose name I unfortunately failed to ask for) just showed up and said he wished to 'pipe the riders in'.

I'll post links to the pictures later, but wanted to share this now. Fantastic job again this year, by World Team Sports, and Soldiers Angels was one of the many sponsors, by all the volunteers......

but most of all, by all the Riders......all of y'all are Great!!!

The 2009 Milblog Conference Rocked:)

I only made it to Saturday of the 2009 Milblog Conference
and it's only the 2nd conference I've been to.....but I must say, I thought it was great. Really good panels this year, particularly the one about the Veteran's issues.

And, once again proving my 'dorkiness',lol, when I got home I discovered I'd only taken about 7 pictures, and only some of those turned out ("digital immigrant",lol...if you were there, you know what I'm talkin' about:)

I envy the people who can 'tweet','live blog' And listen at the conference all at the same time, but multi-tasking is apparently not in my personal skill set.

When I went to my first conference in 2007 (back when AOL Journals still existed) I hadn't been blogging that long, so I really didn't expect anyone to recognize either me or my little blog.

Nice to know that 2 years later,lol, I Still get someone saying to me "And where would I know You from???".....ah well, I blog for the joy of it,LOL.....darn good thing I Don't blog for massive public recognition, ain't it? :)

Anyway, that at least reminds me to thank once again all 11 of my 'followers' on blogspot, plus anyone else who happens to drop by!

I also got to spend the weekend with my great friend from View From the 8th Floor
who,like me, figured out how to be 2 places at once so that we could both attend the conference And volunteer at the Face of America bike ride (blog post about That coming later!) My weekend wouldn't have been possible without her!!! Thanks again!!


Besides the very thought-provoking panels, the other great part of the conference is getting to see folks you've talked to online and never met in person....I finally met Greta, yay!!


(and, as with almost everyone else I ran into, the tagline is ..."gee, you looked taller online!":)
seriously, it was So cool to meet Greta after cross-posting for so long on Hooah Wife and Friends

and, of course, Greta also blogs at Kiss My Gumbo (and about 3,000 other places listed here ....ok, maybe not 3,000, but I think she's doing nicely with her apparent plan to take over the blogosphere:) and does a gazillion things for Soldiers Angels , one of which is being the blog coordinator for blogging Angels.

I also got to meet my fellow JP-harasser,lol, from
Little Drops...into the Pool of Life

and give a big hug to another JP-harasser,SK.......we didn't get to spend enough time together!:(

(and of course, I also gave a big hug to JP , although it occurred to me later that possibly the reason he was running across the lobby was to get Away from me before I did? just kidding, he usually suspends the restrainining order for the conference,lol)

I also got to meet Shelle in person, and a bunch of other folks from Soldiers Angels, and managed Not to get any pictures, as usual.

I could go on and on, it was a great day, but I have laundry to do,etc, as I'll get back to the 'real world' tomorrow.

Much thanks to Andi, for putting together another great conference, and to the sponsors!! All the panels were excellent, and it was well worth the time to attend. Whether you're a 'rock star' milblogger, or just one of the 'little folks' like me? consider going to next year's conference, you won't regret it.
-------------------------------
Update: since I've now heard from both KY Woman and Lisa-in-DC, here's the pic of us together after dinner on Saturday



(That's Lisa, myself, and KY Woman L to R :)

Wednesday Hero

Operations Specialist 3rd Class Leonel Yanez


Operations Specialist 3rd Class Leonel Yanez (Right), from Huntington Park, Calif., monitors a radar screen in the Combat Direction Center aboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74). John C. Stennis is on a scheduled six-month deployment to the western Pacific Ocean.

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.

2009 Milblog Conference and Face of America Bike Ride!

Looking forward this coming weekend to attending the
2009 Milblog Conference

AND
also volunteering again at the
2009 Face of America Bike Ride

It's gonna be a GREAT weekend:)

Soldiers Angels Web Surfing

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

I'm by no means the only one 'surfing' the web for all things Soldiers Angels:) Shelle over at Wingtip 2 Wingtip has something cool posted
Soldiers Angels Daily Internet Flight


and both she and Greta post a lot of great links at Soldiers Angels Network , like this one
Detained Minors Make Cards for Soldiers Angels

and, of course, if you're looking for more Soldiers Angels news? there's always the
Soldiers Angels Blogwire at blognetnews.com/soldiersangels


But, I still like doing my little 'surf' (mostly weekly,sometimes the work schedule and life in general interfere with posting) because I come across blogs like this Angel's blog
~From The Heart~

and I can pass on the news that Soldiers Angels Washington
and Soldiers Angels Oregon are now on Facebook and Twitter:)

and while I confess that I don't 'tweet'(I know, I'm a dinosaur:) those of you who Do? may want to get in on This

That's the surf!

Wednesday Hero

Pfc. Alan R. Blohm
21 years old from Kenai, Alaska
425th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division
December 31, 2006


Alan R. Blohm enlisted in the Army in 2004 because "He wanted to serve the country," his brother Jeremy said. "His grandfather had been in the Army, and it's just something he wanted to do."

Blohm graduated in 2004 from Bay City Western High School, where he was a 250-pound defensive player for the football team. Blohm's size prompted coach Jim Eurick to nickname him "Biggins Blohm," his brother recalled. "I know he paid the ultimate sacrifice with his life," Mark Boileau, Blohm's former school Principal, said. "We know Alan will be in a better place because of the sacrifice he made, because of his love for our country."

PFC. Blohm died of wounds suffered when an IED detonated near his unit while on combat patrol in Baghdad Besides his brother, he leaves behind his parents and a younger sister.

Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com & The Iraq Page

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

A short 'surf' of the web for news by,and about
Soldiers Angels


Soldiers Angels Louisiana posts Easter Baskets for Military Kids


Soldiers Angels-Medical Support had Soldiers Angels flag for Camp Bucca medics


May no soldier go unloved is a great post by Nostalgic Nana

(and here is the previous post she references in May no soldier go unloved, referring to "a small group of friends"...and the seven "blankets of belief" they had made.)


From Hometownlife.com comes Thurston Grad earns Eagle Scout Rank This young man, as part of his project, donated $730.00 to help fill the
Soldiers Angels First Response Backpacks

Gotta love the Boy Scouts:)


That's the surf!

Wednesday Hero

Cpl. Aaron L. Seal
23 years old from Elkhart, Indiana
6th Engineer Support Battalion, 4th Marine Logistics Group, Marine Forces Reserve
October 1, 2006


With sleet gushing from gunmetal gray clouds, some 30 Marines standing in three trim lines saluted the U.S. flag that four of their brethren used to christen a new pole.

A large engraved stone set at the base of the 38-foot pole explained the occasion: "In memory of Corporal Aaron L. Seal. Who gave his life for our country. 1982-2006."

The Marines from Engineer Company B joined several dozen community residents and well-wishers at a ceremony Wednesday honoring Seal, the 23-year-old Elkhart reservist who died last fall in Iraq. Seal's family also attended the 20-minute tribute at Elkhart Community Schools' administration building adjacent to Memorial High School -- the fallen Marine's alma mater.

Read the rest of the 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.

Visiting "The Wall That Heals"

We visited The Wall That Heals yesterday, and it was still a moving experience, although we've seen the Wall in DC several times before.

As I was walking past the smaller scale replica, I passed a Veteran who was touching a name on the Wall......and then he began speaking to his wife about the death of the fellow soldier whose name he was touching, and began to cry. Tears in my own eyes, I moved on past quietly, this was a private moment that I didn't want to intrude upon.....I looked back later to see his wife gently touching his shoulder, as he tried to pull himself together, and I said to my husband "I hope this helps him begin to heal....."

When we got home, I noticed in our local paper that one veteran had taken exception to where the Wall was placed, in this letter to the Editor
Viet Vets Forgotten Again


but we didn't get that feeling, from visiting, that it had been set up in an 'out of the way place'.....we live near where the Wall was set up, and all day long until late into the evening, we could hear traffic and motorcycles from the visitors to the Wall.

While we were there, we also saw a custom made motorcycle, which my husband took Many pictures of, as you'll see in the slideshow......someone took an enormous amount of time, getting this done, and it's breathtaking

I'm grateful to the Veterans group that worked to have this Wall brought to our town. Thank you.

March 31,2009 The Wall That Heals

Here's aslideshow of the pictures my husband took when the Wall was escorted into Harrisonburg

and here's a link to the video he took of bikers escorting the Wall to Ralph Sampson Park

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u088nmARzaY

sadly, I had injured my back at work on Tuesday morning, so couldn't go to see the Wall come in, but I'm feeling better every day, and we hope to make it over to see the Wall this weekend.

Godspeed,to a fellow nurse.

Godspeed to Jerry Avant,Jr, who died last Sunday in the nursing home shooting in NC.
From WRAL.com Nursing home 'hero' laid to rest

We who are nurses in long term care have dealt with irate family members and visitors in the course of our career, but I doubt that many of us have ever given thought to how we would react to someone coming into our facility shooting.

From what I've read? Jerry Avant, Jr. didn't hesitate, but tried to protect his patients, and lost his life in doing so.

John 15:13 "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (NIV)

Godspeed, sir, and may you rest in peace. Keeping your family and friends in my prayers,
and also the families and friends of those who were lost with you

from the Kansascitystar.com A look at the 8 nursing home shooting victims


and God bless Officer Justin Garner
Officer who ended N.C. rampage hailed as hero (from USAToday.com)

All of us last Sunday who were working when the news about the shooting first came out, went home that day asking ourselves "what would we do, if such a thing happened where we work?"

I would hope we would have the courage of a Jerry Avant,Jr. or a Justin Garner.

Wednesday Hero

Spc. Jeffrey Scantlin, Sgt. 1st Class Erich Phillips, Sgt. John Hayes, 1st Lt. Aaron Thurman, Sgt. Hector Chavez and Spc. Tyler Hanson
2nd Platoon, Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment


In the early morning hours of July 13, 2008, Soldiers from Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment were not thinking about medals as they fought off roughly 200 insurgents attacking their vehicle patrol base in Afghanistan.

No Soldier in combat does.

The Army, however, takes pause afterward to honor those who distinguish themselves in battle and recognizes them before their peers.

Read the rest of the story.

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.