Hellraiser Platoon Video OIF V 2007-2008
This video was posted on Toy Soldier productions, so I will give you one guess as to why I love to watch it!
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In Memory of Lalitha
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"Don't be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends."
~~Richard Bach
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Best in Tennessee!
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Entries Tagged as ''
He Ventured Forth to Bring Light…
Hat tip and gracious curtsy to my dear friend Piper at What in the World…? for sending me a link to the following satire. I read this and was laughing until I almost cried. It really satisfied my need for sarcasm, irony and snark. Now all I need is a strong cup of coffee!
July 25, 2008He ventured forth to bring light to the world
The anointed one’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a miracle in action - and a blessing to all his faithful followers
(Excerpt)
And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.
The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.
For Al and Bulldog
I saw this on a message board and just had to share it here… and Al and Bulldog came to mind right away so I thought I would dedicate this post to them.
We, in Ireland, can’t figure out why people are even bothering to hold an election in the United States this year.
On one side, you have a pants wearing woman lawyer, married to a lawyer who can’t keep his pants on, who just lost a long and heated primary that they still haven’t paid for yet, against a lawyer who states he is “black” when it is documented that he is only 12% “black”, who goes to the wrong church, who has stated that he wants his countrymen to learn to speak Spanish rather than English, who refuses to put his hand over his heart and say the pledge of allegiance or wear the flag of the country he wants to run, who can’t remember if there are 50 or 57 states in his own country, who is married to yet another lawyer who doesn’t even like the country her husband wants to run.
Now…On the other side, you have a nice old war hero whose name starts with the appropriate ‘Mc’ terminology married to a good looking younger woman who owns a beer distributorship.
What in Lord’s name are ye lads thinking over there in the colonies??
Wordless Wednesday!
Look, look!! I remembered this week! I remembered! So, you all get a picture and me “talking” because, as my husband would agree, there is nothing wordless when it comes to this verbose woman. :) This is another deployment pic from the ones that ToySoldier shared with me. One day soon I will share… wedding pictures!
On Guard
I’ve got a fever and the only cure is…
more kettlebell!
I am addicted.
Since dealing with a stress fracture in my ankle/heel this summer I have had to find a lot of creative ways to stay on top of my workout routine. I have used the cross trainer, free weights, but of course I could not run. An online friend told me about kettlebells and so I went out and bought a 20lb bell. The first time I worked otu with it I did about 120 swings while doing various types of squats with it. I could tell I had worked myself to fatigue, but I like that feeling so I was cool with that.
The next day I got out of bed and every freaking muscle in my body hurt — including muscles in my back that I didn’t even know existed! It was not an injured hurt. NO! It was the hurt where you realize you have just done yourself a huge favor.
I am preparing for a race in October. I am running in the Komen Race for the Cure this year, and I will be running in honor of a fellow blogger’s mother who lost her battle with breast cancer. I will post the page very soon and all of the information. Maybe the kettlebell will make me strong enough to run faster and better? We’ll see!
If you don’t know what a kettlebell is… here’s a peek:
It’s a cute little cannon ball with a handle! Oh, and when you get it in the swing at the point where this lady has it… I swear to you that baby is weightless! I don’t know how or why. I love it though!
The Good News Just Keeps Rolling In!
We have a good news thread every week focused on the good news coming out of Iraq. I posted about how Al is now doing a good news post each Friday, and he focuses on good news in a lot of different topics. So, today I get the pleasure of telling you some more very good news. This is self-indulgent, but I think that you all won’t mind.
My son Toy Soldier is preparing to marry a very lovely young lady he met through friends in Washington State. The two of them met before his deployment and decided to give things a shot. They are convinced that they are made for each other, and I am very happy for them both. They have decided to tie the knot on August 9th. Their goal is to have a good year of married life between them together before the next deployment. The soon to be Mrs. Toy Soldier has a brother in the Air Force who has been deployed several times. She is not a stranger to the ways of the military.
She is currently in college and plans on continuing and finishing her degree in criminal justice.
I will share pictures when I get them. I will not be attending the initial ceremony. They are keeping it small and simple for now until all of the families can get together. They will be coming out here in December for my middle son’s wedding. Two daughters in law in one year! I feel blessed to say the very least.
I wanted to share the news here with all of you since so many of you know Toy Soldier through his blog and by all of the things I have told you about him on this blog. I asked permission to blab all about it and was granted the thumbs up!
For friends and family who are reading this blog, I do have registry information if you are inclined to shower the new couple with a gift. I do not want to post their names publicly, so just email me or send me a note through my contact form.
More good news to be had!
Al over at the Catskill Commentator announced that he will be doing a “Good News Friday.” His good news scope is broader than mine here at Knee Deep in the Hooah! I encourage you to stop by and take a peek at the great links that lead you to good news on all sorts of fronts. Say ‘hi’ to Al when you drop by!
Good News From Iraq, Week Ending 07.26.08
Pentagon: Surge a success by any measure
by Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Excerpt
WASHINGTON (June 24, 2008) — The surge in Iraq has been a success by any measure, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said during a news conference June 23.
The policy, announced by President Bush in December 2006, pushed additional brigades in to Iraq to provide a security umbrella so the Iraqi military could build and the country’s government could grow.
The surge has allowed Iraq to make improvements from security, political and economic standpoints, Morrell said. The last of the five surge brigade combat teams recently left Iraq.
“By every metric that we measure violence in Iraq, there has been a dramatic improvement from where things were before the surge,” Morrell said. “I’ll just point to one, and that is [that] in July of last year, we had 79 U.S. [servicemembers killed in action] in Iraq. We have four thus far this month.”
The dramatic security gains have provided room for political and economic successes. “You name it, it is happening in Iraq,” Morrell said. “Do you want to talk about political gains? We’ve had basically all the major benchmark legislation passed.”
The Sunni bloc has returned to the government, 10 of 18 Iraqi provinces are under local control, and Najaf International Airport has reopened. “You see a $300 million luxury hotel opening up in the Green Zone [and] $50 million in refurbishment of the airport road,” Morrell said. “There’s economic investment, and there’s political progress. There’s increased security. All those things are undeniable, and they are attributable to the fact that we plussed up forces in there.”
There were, of course, other factors at work in the security improvement, Morrell said, but the surge and the change in U.S. counterinsurgency strategy made all else possible. The “Anbar Awakening” that allied formerly insurgent Sunni Muslims with the coalition and influential Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s cease-fire were other factors, he said, but he noted they didn’t happen independently of other events. Read MORE [Read more →]
Let’s Hear it for the Rainbow Tour!
Mr. Hooah! surprised me with some theater tickets for our upcoming anniversary this weekend. We are going to see Evita at a nearby theater (I will let you all know more once we have been there done that). I am familiar with the musical though, and I actually like the score pretty well.
Now, let’s play a little game of match the current event with the following song:
“Let’s hear it for the rainbow tour, it’s been an incredible success! We weren’t quite sure, we had a few doubts, will Evita Obama win through and the answer is “Yes, and NO, and Yes, NO. Yes. NO!”
From Atlas Shrugs (hat tip to RN)
This thumbsucker is unbelievable. Click below to watch the video of Obama complaining that the troops only watch FOX.” Why is FOX always on? ” Obambi whined. Major Garrett said, “they make the choice” ” Obama replied “Is that the commander in chief’s choice?“ huh? What a frickin crybaby.
He implies its a Bush conspiracy. Just for knowing, American Forces Radio and Television Service offers all cable channels and mainstream media channels, the troops choose FOX.
It aint a conspiracy its called “remote control”! The troops can change the channel.Expect the Pelosi to introduce a “military fairness doctrine” ….lol.
Wow. How dare our troops fight for the freedom of all Americans and then turn around and exercise those very freedoms! Surely it was a very self centered thing to do. Why didn’t they stop to think about how this would make Obama feel? I mean we all know that Fox news is out to get him and here the troops are just watching Fox News in Iraq. Jeez.
Parting is such sweet sorrow
In this instance it really is a sweet sorrow. Toy Soldier is back at Post tonight and my couch is missing a potato! We had a very nice visit. A very nice, much needed, and deeply appreciated visit. One of my favorite things that we did was spend some nights just watching the different seasons of The Unit, and different movies. We would pop some good old corn and watch movies and chat. It was like a small piece of heaven if you want to know the truth. Don’t get me wrong we did other things too, but that was just such a nice, normal, and dull thing to do in comparison to the last 14-months of Iraq War stress.
Our parting is more sweet this time because I know he has a very full life scheduled for the next several months. He will start classes, be promoted, and have some other big life announcements to make. It’s sweet to hug his neck good-bye knowing that he faces the same risks as your average American at this point. No more, no less. Normal and unexciting is such a nice venue! I know, God willing, that I will see him again in December. We are planning ahead. He will be coming home to be a best man in his younger brother’s wedding. We will celebrate a wedding and Christmas together. These are the plans we talked about this visit.
We did talk about future deployments. We know they are coming. It’s inevitable. I know it will be hard, but I promised myself that I would only fret over the worries I have today. I am learning not to borrow that future trouble. I spent time fretting a year ago that he would come home badly wounded or worse. That time will never be given back to me, and it was spent worrying about something that never happened — and I am so incredibly grateful that it didn’t happen. I just wish I had spent the time I did in worry and fretting in a more constructive state of mind. I want to, so badly, learn from that experience. I am praying that it does not pass me by without changing something inside of me for the better.