Knee Deep in the Hooah!

So that I do not dwell on this any further, I feel the need to do a “final purge” of the happenings the past few days on this blog. Some of you know of the huge dump that the Washington Post’s blog “IntelDump” took on my blog the other day. We were an easy target for the blog author Phillip Carter, so we were thrown under the bus and he got noticed. Nice, eh? The funny thing is, Carter claimed in his article that the real issue at hand was the fact that “Stand To” linked to an article that was clearly an anti-Obama piece, but the problem is he did not really make that the focus of the entry. He quotes and talks more about our blog and what Mr. H! wrote. He even made sure to purposely inflame his readership by linking us with Limbaugh and Fox News (accusing us of only using these two as sources of information). He set it up. He forgot to reiterate to his readership that the real issue at hand was the military, not us. Convienent, no?

I got thousands of hits that day from Washington Post and several other sources that had linked to his article. I went to Washington Post and posted on the comment thread twice. I was respectful both times, but I would like my readers to read a couple of comments left on Phillip Carter’s blog for me. These were lifted verbatim, copied and pasted. I refuse to link to his blog, so if you want the source just Google his name and the name of his blog.

may be your son who is on duty in Iraq,, should come in a box,, or some of his limbs blown away,,, or come home with mental problems and are the govt is slow to give proper medical treatment,, then your eyes will be wide open,, isn’t it,,

Posted by: mugambo | June 12, 2008 5:56 PM

…………………………..

I hope that former army officers’s son doesn’t ever come home

Posted by: madashell | June 12, 2008 9:51 PM

……………………………

Thank God that Carter reads and pays about as close attention as his readers do. My son is already home, safe and sound. The crap-weasels who wrote those comments did so believing my son is still in Iraq (because Carter stated so). Aren’t they nice. Aren’t they oh so loving and progressive?

WaPo’s commenting policy states that “… User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site.”

If I follow Carter’s own assertion to its logical conclusion (that linking to something equates endorsement), then I am left to draw one conclusion about his leaving (or linking if you will) comments on his blog that wishes the death of a deployed soldier: The Washington Post and Phillip Carter endorse the wishing death on a deployed soldier and stating such to his parents. If they did not think it was acceptable they would have removed it. As it stands now I really could give a rat’s behind what they do — they can remove it to try and save face, but I don’t think they care. I am sure they support our troops though, right?

I have received emails telling me that I should be dead, that my family should be dead (they are clever enough to not say that they want to kill me, so charges can’t be brought … but duh, it’s obviously a death threat). I have been called a Nazi.

The Nazi comments crack me up. I have never once in my entire life ever tried to silence another American Citizen by threat or intimdation, and yet the amoral asses who write those emails have the audacity to call ME the Nazi! Is that not the most delicious irony you have ever tasted in your life? I exercise my right to free speech, I am threatened and intimidated by fellow citizens because of it, and somehow I am the Nazi? Wow. This right here shows you the mentality I have been up against for the past couple of days.

I have deleted a lot of comments left here on my blog. I immediately came to KDIH once I realized I had been linked to and was a target for flaming, and got rid of my “about the author” page and put the comments on moderation. They will have to remain on moderation for a while. I am going to register my regular readers (those who comment frequently that I know) and erase the rest of the registered readers. You will have to register to comment at will and be approved to do so. All others will go through moderation until I am ready to register them. It’s a safe guard. I do a lot of work from home, I take care of a family, and I am dealing with some very painful orthopedic problems right now — I don’t have time to babysit my blog.

This was never an issue before in the past year that I have been writing, but thanks to Carter it is now. Which leaves me no other option than to award him the Knee Deep in the Hooah!’s official, prestigious “Jackass of the Day Award.”

Mr. Carter earned this award, not for exercising his right to free speech, but because of the unwarranted, unnecessary “bitch slap” we got from him and his readers for exercising our right to free speech. He also earned it for leaving comments on his blog wishing my son death, dismemberment or mental problems, and in doing so indirectly supporting that kind of speech to military members and their families.

So, here’s to you Phillip Carter (aka Mr.Ex-MP, Mr. Ex-Civil Affairs guy, and Mr. I’m all for the Vets.) Here’s to you.

Tags: Army, Army Mom Posts, Army Wife Posts, Iraq, Jackass of the Day, Main Stream Media, Mr. Hooah! Writes, Shack Pack news, anti-military, blog settings, deployment, family life, looney leftists, politics, veterans by Claire
16 Comments »

Here’s the skinny and the low down. [Read more →]

Tags: Army, Army Mom Posts, Army Wife Posts by Claire
9 Comments »

I received an email that had me reminiscing about how I had prepared for Mike’s deployment and Bryan’s time in Tradoc last year. I am still having a hard time adjusting to the fact that we are on the other side of all of the time away and time in Iraq. When I think back to that time I often feel an increase in the speed of my heart rate and I can feel a small amount of the time warp I lived in for that year — and in particular that six months with both guys gone at the same time. [Read more →]

Tags: Army Mom Posts, Army Wife Posts, deployment, family life, mental health, military by Claire
3 Comments »

I love you. You know I do. Everyone who reads this blog knows how much I love you. I am devoted, faithful, and always have your best interest at heart with whatever I do. You know this, right? Well, it’s time, honey. It’s time to put away the big ugly green Army socks now. I can handle the closet that looks like a foot locker. I can handle the enduring and endearing flat top. Reflective Army PT shorts? I’m smiling here, but the socks have to go. You stay. Socks go. Deal?

*************

For those of you who don’t understand because you have never seen the big, green ugly Army socks, let me explain. These are not just socks. Oh no. They are Army issue socks, which means if the world comes to an end in a Nuclear disaster there will only be cockroaches, tootsie-rolls and big green ugly Army socks left.

They are a cotton/wool blend (I believe) mostly wool. There may even be some steel wool in that mix too. They are long. They are so flippin’ long that soldiers can use them as makeshift sleeping bags with a tug or two. A laundry load of big green ugly Army socks weighs 312 pounds exactly after the first spin cycle. They are so thick that the boots wear out before the socks ever do. As a matter of fact I am sure that they would do fine as a substitute for snow boots in the dead of winter.

I don’t dis the military. I have had very few complaints so far on this journey of being a military wife and mom. The socks though — I understand the practical need for such sturdy and ugly socks, but as a suggestion to the military, please confiscate them when someone exits military service. They should be treated like sensitive gear. No man should be allowed to take his big green ugly Army socks home with him.

I’m just saying…

Tags: Army Wife Posts by Claire
9 Comments »

When Mr. Hooah! was at Ft. Benning the only explanation I had to offer a very inquisitive and hard to fool 3-year old girl was “papa is away at work.” It was the truth. Of course I explained to her that it was his “far, far, away” work and that one day we would all be together again. She began to understand this whole Army life to a degree, and when people asked her about papa she would say “My papa is shouldier.” That’s not a typo. She pronounced it like “shoulder” with the special suffix. That was a new understanding since earlier in the year every soldier was called a “Michael” because as far as she was concerned our Michael had invented the whole soldier-Army get-up. [Read more →]

Tags: Army Wife Posts, Shack Pack news, Things I love, family life by Claire
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Don’t panic, men! You have not forgotten Mother’s Day! I am attempting to bring some attention to a new product put out by a trusted name, in hopes that it will bring an extra big smile to the faces of our deployed soldiers who are also mothers. The product is a Mother’s Day card, but not just any ordinary Mother’s Day card. These cards have a device contained within them that allows a personal greeting message to be recorded by the sender, and then heard upon opening the card, by the receiver. The company selling the product is none other than Hallmark. I think it is safe to say that every woman knows the name Hallmark, and every wise man knows where a close by Hallmark store can be found!

Who are these soldier moms?

Last year, for the Mother’s Day holiday, Congress released a report by the Joint Economic Committee titled:

MOTHER’S DAY REPORT: Helping Military Moms Balance Family and Longer Deployments”

The report highlights the demographics of mothers who serve in our Armed Forces today:

Today, women are a substantial part of the active duty force. Women make up approximately 14.3 percent of the active duty military.2 Approximately, 40 percent of women in the active duty force have children, compared to 44 percent of active duty men

Women are deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan, and they too have faced the death of friends, close calls, wounds, and missing their families back home. According to the report,

“Since 2001, nearly half of all women in the active duty force (including reservists) have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. According to data from the Department of Defense in February 2007, 24,475 women are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. As of April 14, 2007, 85 women have lost their lives during U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, 474 women have been wounded in Iraq since the beginning of 2007.

I am not bringing you this news to depress you, but rather, I implore you to think of these women and to pray for them. Also keep in mind how difficult it must be for a “mother soldier” to be away from the very little ones who honored her with the wonderful title of “mother.”

I was contacted by a man representing Hallmark and was asked to consider the product as something I wouldn’t mind letting my readers know about. I will be getting a sample of the card, and I will record a message and let you all know its ease of use and its clarity.

This Mother’s Day please tell any families of deployed mothers that you know about the newest card from Hallmark. Another idea that may be a little late for this Mother’s Day is to buy some extra cards and send them to Iraq for deployed soldiers who would like to send a card like this to their mothers and wives. Just as hearing our voices reminds them of home, when we hear their voices it is a balm to the worry we live with. For those few precious moments we are breathing freely again. How nice to have a small card that you can tuck away just about anywhere, including your pocket book that has his/her voice contained within.

I know that nothing short of being home and with family seems small, but I think that having a recorded message proclaiming “Happy Mother’s Day!” in the voices of her loved ones, may make her feel just a little closer to her home.

Tags: Army, Army Mom Posts, Army Wife Posts, Morale, Troop appreciation, deployment, family life, holidays by Claire
7 Comments »

Remember a while back when I wrote an entry called “finite familiarity?” I wrote about the incredible connections that have been made for us through this blog and through the process of Bryan’s joining the military when he did.

Today there are even more connections, and one that I did not mention in my first post.

This past week I found out that two of my friends (one I met through Bryan’s joining and the other through this blog) are now neighbors. It was unplanned, and amazing that they wound up in the same neighborhood and found each other. Serendipity abounds. It was a very incredible connection, and I was shocked when I got the call — shocked, surprised, but then not stumped.

The other connection I did not mention in the last entry is the fact that we are distant relatives with a certain, wonderful blogger and commenter. I’ll let her be the decision maker as to whether or not she wants to own us publicly as her own. We are not sure yet what the familial connection is, but we know it’s there. My mother in law does genealogy and was able to establish that there is a connection for sure. Technically this person is related to Mr. Hooah! through kinship and me through marriage. It’s not too shocking since the two of them think alike.

I do have to admit that more than once I would have swore that Piper is Mr. Hooah!’s long, lost sister. There have been times where I had to look twice at the name on her comments, because it echoes almost exactly what he has, or would have, said.

The pieces of this small puzzle, that seems so hugely beyond us, come together without the manipulation of our hands. It’s good that the hands that do the fitting can see the larger picture.

Tags: Army Wife Posts, Shack Pack news, family life, updates, well wishes by Claire
3 Comments »

I have written in the past about some of the incredibly crazy questions people have asked me (i.e. “Has your son seen a dead body?” etc.) or comments they have made, regarding deployment and Iraq. I received the following in an email from a friend whose husband is currently in his second week of OCS at Ft. Benning.

Things NOT to say to a Military Spouse

1. “Aren’t you afraid that he’ll be killed?”
(This one ranks in at number one on the “duh” list. Of course we’re afraid. We’re terrified. The thought always lingers at the back of our minds, but thanks. Brilliant, you just brought it back to the front. Maybe next you can go ask someone with cancer if they’re afraid of of dying.

2. “I don’t know how you manage. I don’t think I could do it.”
(This is intended to be a compliment. Though, its just a little annoying. Here’s why: it’s not like all military wives have been dreaming since childhood of the day we’d get to be anxious single moms who carry cell phones with us to the bathroom and in the shower. We’re not made of some mysterious matter that makes us more capable, we just got asked to take on a challenging job. So we rose to the challenge and found the strength to make sacrifices.)

3. “At least he’s not in Iraq.”
(This is the number one most annoying comment for those whose husbands are in Afghanistan. What do they think is happening in Afghanistan? An international game of golf? Guys are fighting and dying over there.)

4. “Do you think he’ll get to come home for Christmas/anniversary/birthday/birth of a child/wedding/family reunion, etc?”
(Don’t you watch the news? No! They don’t get to come home for any of these things. Please don’t ask again.)

5. “What are you going to do to keep yourself busy while he’s gone?”
(Short answer: Try to keep my sanity. Maybe there’s a military wife out there who gets bored when her husband leaves, but I have yet to meet her. For the rest of us, those with and without children, we find ourselves having to be two people. That keeps us plenty busy. We get lonely, but we don’t get bored.
[Read more →]

Tags: Army, Army Wife Posts, deployment, family life, military by Claire
8 Comments »