Wednesday Hero

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Pet


Specialist Brandon K. Steffy
23 years old from Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan
178th Military Police Detachment, 89th Military Police Brigade, III Corps
October 29, 2009


He came into to this world a rather large baby, so big the doctor thought that he’d just walk home with his mother. Brandon was well mannered, polite, and tough with a contagious laugh that lit up those around him. In 2005 he graduated from Brimley High School and in 2006 enlisted in the United States Army, following a tradition of family military service.

He served in Iraq as a gunner from May 2007 until July 2008 and was deployed to Afghanistan in June 2009 where he was a canine tracker handler for Forward operating Base Fenty Kennel in the Laghman Province. He and his K-9 dog Maci were inseparable, working on tracking terrorists; Maci specialized in tracking the scents of IED making materials.

Spc. Brandon Steffy was killed when the vehicle he was riding in was attacked. His decorations and awards include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal-Campaign Star, Global War on Terrorism Service, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

Spc. Steffy is survived by his wife, daughter, parents and his sister.

Brandon made people laugh and he made them cry. There was not one dry eye at his funeral, from every day townsfolk, to big construction workers to police officers; they all recalled Brandon, this "Gentle Giant." They want everyone to know that if you never knew Brandon, then you really missed out.

All Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com & Freedom Remembered


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.

Help Haiti via International Medical Corps

International Medical Corps is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization, founded by volunteer doctors and nurses and dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through relief and development programs.

I checked them out and they are
an A+ rated charity by the American Institute of Philanthropy
and a BBB accredited charity

Ninety-two cents of every dollar goes directly to its field programs – one of the highest fundraising efficiencies in the industry.

Their emergency response team is in Haiti in force, as you can see here http://www.imcworldwide.org/haiti


Helping them out with their mission is as simple as texting "HAITI" to 85944
(A one‐time donation of $10 will be added to your mobile phone bill or deducted from your prepaid balance.)

or you can go to this page HERE on the IMC website to donate.

Slideshow:U.S. troops provide Medical Aid in Haiti

From the Army.mil website

U.S. Troops Provide Medical Aid in Haiti

Wednesday Hero

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Toni


Stephen Cochran
2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force


Stephen Cochran had it all in front of him. Collage, a fiancée and an offer for a professional recording contract. But life had other plans for him. The day was September 11, 2001. "It was just so horrific," Cochran said. "It's like I'd been called. I'd never been pulled so hard to do something."

It may have been the audacity of the attacks, but more likely it was his family's long history of military service that drew him to enlist, he said. Both grandfathers served, as did an uncle and several other relatives.

So he dropped out of college, walked away from the record deal and joined the United States Marine Corps. "I've always been raised very, very patriotic. It's just what I had to do."

After serving in Iraq, he and his entire battalion volunteered to go to Afghanistan with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit where Cochran was injured in an ambush. 20 yards inside Kandahar, the vehicle he was riding in hit an anti-tank mine and he was thrown from the vehicle and broke the five vertebrae in his lower back.

Read The Rest Of The Story

stephencochranmusic.com
@stephen_cochran
facebook.com/stephen.cochran1


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

While there are currently 1,676 soldiers waiting for 'adoption' on the Soldiers Angels website,
there Are 'adoptions' occurring..........
here's a great story about one group that adopted a soldier and got to meet him in person, from TheUnion.com in California.
Angels get chance to meet ‘adopted' soldier by Liz Kellar


From the Cleveland,TN Cleveland Daily Banner comes this story about an Assisted Living facility (Morningside) that 'adopted' a soldier
Morningside of Cleveland adopts a soldier at war by Jean Huddleston


Other things being done for the troops.......

up in Bay City,MI for the second year the Bay County library system hosted card making workshops for children to create Valentine's cards for our troops
Bay City children create Valentine's cards for troops at Wirt Library
which will be sent to the troops via Soldiers Angels.

and this story via Soldiers Angels Medical Support
Another Eagle scout steps forward to help the wounded

Cooking With the Wounded is now raising funds for a cooking event at Landstuhl, you can read more about that on the Soldiers Angels website HERE

and, speaking of Landstuhl?(ah, those clever segues,huh?lol)
A German-American Friendship Bracelet has
Looking back at 2009 – Soldiers’ Angels at Fisher House Landstuhl


That's the surf!

Interesting opinion piece..."The Calm Before the Storm in Haiti"

From Information Dissemination
The Calm Before the Storm in Haiti

Wednesday Hero

Culinary Specialist 1st Class Tremayne Brown


Culinary Specialist 1st Class Tremayne Brown, from Tulsa, Okla., receives stores for the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56). John S. McCain is one of seven ships assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15 and is permanently forward-deployed to Yokosuka, Japan.

Photo By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Mike Mulcare Courtesy of Navy.mil

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.

"Paws for Effect"

Cool....from the Military Health System website comes the profile
Paws for Effect

profiling resident therapy dogs at Walter Reed Army Medical Center who offer comfort, exercise and motivational support to rehabilitation patients.

Check it out.

Tuesday Jan.12 at 1:15 Eastern Time......

Live Video Q & A with Brothers at War director Jake Rademacher.....the link is here for more info.

Brothers at War is being released on DVD on Tuesday.....this is a movie I definitely Want to get!

A Chance to Thank some 'Forgotten Angels' of WW II

Via Florida Elder Law and Estate Planning blog, comes this story
Now, Our Angels in Uniform Need Our Help

As a nurse, I should've been aware of this part of nursing history, and sadly, until today I wasn't.

From this page on Army Nurse Corps History comes a mention of the Cadet Nurse Corps program....
Public health administrators as well as the American public believed that the increasing demands of the U.S. armed forces for nurses were responsible for a shortage of civilian nurses. Responding to these concerns in June 1943, Congress passed the Bolton Act, which set up the Cadet Nurse Corps program. The U.S. government subsidized the education of nursing students who promised that following graduation they would engage in essential military or civilian nursing for the duration of the war. The government also subsidized nursing schools willing to accelerate their program of study and provide student nurses with their primary training within two and a half years. Cadet nurses spent the last six months of their training assigned to civilian or military hospitals, which helped to alleviate the critical nursing shortage. Possible assignments included hospitals run by the Army, Navy, Veterans Administration, Public Health Service, and Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Cadet Nurse Corps training program was extremely successful and enjoyed enthusiastic public support. By 1948 when the program was discontinued, more than 150,000 nurse graduates testified to its value.

According to this page about Frances Payne Bolton, the sponsor of the 'Bolton Act' :

This act created the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps, which graduated a total of 125,000 nurses for the nation's war effort. In 1945, 85 percent of all nursing students in the United States were part of the Cadet Corps. Being a Cadet provided the nurse with military status and compensation equal to that of a full commissioned officer.

In The Advertiser News I found a recent story about one of those nurses who served in the Cadet Nurse Corps
‘Forgotten Angel’ not giving up hope

To do as the Florida Elder Law and Estate Planning blog suggests and"Contact your congressional representatives and urge them to support the proposed United States Cadet Nurse Corps Equity Act ( H.R.1522 )" ......click the links listed in their post to find out the direct emails of your representatives.

Let's say a long overdue Thank You, to some Forgotten Angels.

A friend begins her journey as a Military Aunt

The original form of this blog began on AOL. The community of bloggers on AOL back then were tight-knit and there were many folks blogging there who went out of their way to help other new bloggers. Friendships were forged that have continued long after the blogs on AOL have disappeared, and one of those long time online blogger friends of mine from 'back in the day' is now going through the experience of being a military 'auntie'.

Friend Leslie from Quiet Consecration on Jan.4th attended the swearing-in ceremony for her nephew Ryan A New Year Begins

Just as I had no idea back when I posted my first blog post that I would eventually become a military stepmother, and our family would go through my stepson being deployed for 15 months to a very sandy place? Leslie had no idea as she blogged about her faith, life and sobriety that she would become a military Aunt, and begin the same journey my family and I have gone through these past few years....proud of a family member choosing to serve, and fearful at the same time because our country is at war.

Leslie was wonderfully supportive of me and mine, during my stepson's deployment. Please stop over at her blog , and offer a word of encouragement and welcome, to this new military Auntie.

Keeping Ryan, and you and your family, in our prayers, Leslie!

Wednesday Hero

Cpl. Carlos E. Gil Orozco
23 years old from San Jose, California
2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force
September 10, 2007


Carlos Gil Orozco wasn’t a great student, but one goal pushed him to hit the books: becoming a Marine.

"He was kind of a troublemaker, you know, he got bad grades and wouldn't do his homework," said his sister, Myriam Johanna Gil Orozco. "But he wanted to be a Marine. So he studied real hard, especially algebra. He'd stay up all night studying.

Cpl. Orozco's parents moved the family from Colombia to the U.S. when he was 8 years old, hoping to give their children a better education. They became frustrated when their son didn't do well in school and thought the Marines would be good for him.

"My dad was actually happy," Myriam said. "He'd rather have him be a Marine than out on the streets being in gangs or doing drugs."

Cpl. Carlos Orozco was killed while conducting combat operations in Ashraf, Iraq when the tank he was riding in encountered an IED. Also killed in the blast was Lance Cpl. Jon T. Hicks Jr. of Atco, New Jersey.

Cpl. Orozco leaves behind his sister, his parents, his wife and two sons.

All Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com

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 Wednesday to my Husband:)

Happy Birthday January 6th, to my wonderful husband Tony:)

Soldiers Angels Web Surfing

The first 2010 'surf' of the web for news by, and about,
Soldiers Angels

First of all, Happy New Year! and next, Hurray! that the number of troops waiting to be adopted on the Soldiers Angels website has finally fallen under 2,000.

Since many of them were adopted by new 'Angels', I thought I'd feature some links to blogs by new members of Soldiers Angels. (and Welcome! to both of them!)

Apropo of Nothing (cool blog name:) posted Soldiers Angels and NCIS Agents


Finding Family with Empty Arms also writes about Soldiers Angels


and the following are not 'new' Angels, but 'new-to-me' blogs by members of Soldiers Angels that I wished to share with you, because one of the joys I've found as an Angel is not only the soldiers I've gotten to know over the past 5 years? but also the many and varied Angels that you are privileged to meet along the way,too.

Grace Notes

Hidden Forest Stamping


and Flour and Water writes about Goals


Short 'surf', but that's it for this week.....looking forward to sharing many more web surfs with you throughout 2010:)