"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
Since I have been MIA lately I figure I owe you all some pictures. I asked Toy Soldier for some of his pictures that he could share, and so the following were left for me to post. When he is ready to publish his final video I will definitely post that here. Until then, Enjoy.
IA and a local child
Whose angels?
This can’t be good.
This is not a flying/talking donkey.
This morning I read that the remains of two missing GI’s who were captured last May have been identified. Mournfully, the families of 25-year old Army Sgt. Alex Jimenez and 19-year old Pvt. Byron W. Fouty were informed on Thursday of the deaths.
My thoughts and prayers are with the families today.
Mr.Hooah here again. I was reading through my favorite blogs this past holiday weekend when I came across this on “Kaboom“:
Sunday, 6 July 2008
Important Name ChangeI had hoped to break this news sooner, but it seems certain readers have spoiled the surprise in their comments. LT G is no longer a lieutenant. On July 1, he was promoted to the rank of captain. Yes, despite the drama with the blog and his turning down the XO position, LT G is now CPT G. I suppose his pseudonym is sort of useless now, huh?
Some of you may remember LT G’s great blog as well as its untimely demise. This new blog was started by his fiancee. [Read more →]
Ok, so maybe all of that interest in video games and text messaging really does have its vicarious benefits.
The world’s first unit of digitally networked foot soldiers returns from combat in Iraq this week. Reports have it that the American troops’ controversial “Land Warrior” wearable-node technology has changed in both role and configuration during its 15-month baptism of fire. Indications are that the equipment - slated for disposal by army chiefs just last year - has done well enough that it will now live on. [Read more →]
I just love these provocative titles. Don’t you?
Apparently there are a lot of pro-censorship guys like Phil Carter, still at work for the Army. In this latest case a certain Lt. G was ORDERED NOT TO BLOG. The story is here, here, and the original is here. Oh, and The Thunder Run also has it. (wave to DavidM.)
BUT, not only was he ordered not to blog … he was then ordered to REMOVE AND DELETE HIS BLOG. We’re lucky that one of his friends archived the entries in question so that you can go read ‘em for yourself. I was a regular reader of Lt. G’s blog, KABOOM. I read the post that got him into hot water. At the time of my initial reading I thought to myself, “The more things change the more they stay the same in the Army.” But it never occurred to me that anyone would take Lt. G’s post as anything but a very, very, glossed over account of a not so atypical day in the life of a rising Officer.
The order to stop blogging for a while? Lame. But no big deal. The order to delete? That’s an abuse of power. And here’s my opinion as a civilian who has been in the Army: The man in Lt. G’s chain of command who ordered this is a POS Pogue who wouldn’t know the pointy end of the spear from his pointy head and should have his leadership “looked into” by JAG.
There. That ought to get me linked to the WaPo Intel Dumpster and Stand-downTo! for sure.
And if that doesn’t then this might - Redleg six, dumping kilobytes and preparing to surrender. Out.
I guess we don’t need political leaders to cause the Army to fail. We’ve still got lots of people like Phil Carter and Wesley Clark to take care of that for us. We’re winning in spite of these people. It amazes me just how good the Army is that it can survive these people.
I love the Army. I really do. I’m trying very hard to get back in. BUT this sort of crap we do not need. It’s weak. It does not support the mission. It supports one individuals ego.
The greatest Army ever to march on the face of the earth doesn’t need this kind of short sighted leadership.
Mr.Hooah!, out.
A private battle made public
Veteran hopes account of war, PTSD struggle helps other troops
By Sean D. Naylor - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jun 25, 2008 12:18:11 EDT(excerpt)
After surviving one of the most vicious firefights in the war in Afghanistan, Capt. Nate Self knew he had to write about it.
Self led a Ranger platoon in a daylong battle on Takur Ghar mountain that claimed the lives of seven U.S. servicemen on March 4, 2002. [Read more →]
Catchy headline, no?
This story ran a couple days ago in the Army Homepage:
Violence in Iraq Drops to Four-Year Low
Jun 24, 2008
BY Fred W. Baker III
WASHINGTON (AFPS, June 23, 2008) - Violence in Iraq dropped in May to its lowest level in four years, according to a Defense Department report released to Congress Monday.The quarterly report, feared required by Congress, measured progress in the country in March through May of this year. The report highlighted that all major violent indicators dropped during the reporting period by as much as 80 percent.
My own home town news station ran this under their “Eye on Iraq” segment:
American deaths in Iraq at a high for the week!” OMG!!! Pull Out NOW!!
Ok, I added that last part.
But I didn’t make up the weekly high part. I don’t have to. Truth is stranger than fiction. Look up the crime stats on East St.Louis and you’ll be shocked, shocked I tell you. We should immediately withdraw our brave firemen, policemen, and health care types … its just too dangerous.
OLD DRUM:OLD BEAT
Mr.Hooah!, out.
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.
