Knee Deep in the Hooah!

Below is a wonderful article written by our very own Brat. Please take a moment to read, and then get to bidding! :) Have a most blessed Independence Day!

July 4th…Are you ready to bid and help our heroes?

By Ros Prynn

MARK YOUR CALENDAR! July 4th may be a national holiday, but a group who work tirelessly with our heroes is holding a “Celebrity and Collectibles Auction” on EBay.

Operation Life Transformed has a mission, and their mission statement is:

Provide education and resources to our war wounded caregivers and military spouses through private and corporate entities.Increase awareness of the long term needs of these families and Support the caregiver and military spouse as they re-enter the civilian sector.

[Read more →]

Tags: Troop Support, Troop appreciation, veterans by Claire
1 Comment »

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.

Tags: Army, Iraq, Morale, Mr. Hooah! Writes, Troop Support, military, war on terror by Mr_Hooah
16 Comments »

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 →]

Tags: Army, Iraq, Terrorism, Troop Support, combat, deployment, faith, mental health, military, veterans, war on terror by Claire
4 Comments »

Almost a year ago I opened a Cafe Press shop and started making designs for t-shirts. I was very careful to not use any copyrighted graphics (I made them or had permission) and I did not use any slogans that would violate the laws either. So, if you all remember I was shocked when I got a note from Cafe Press that the word “Hooah!” is copyrighted for printed items. I had never entertained the thought that Hooah! would be copyrighted. So, of course I designed a few things with out the word, but it did eliminate the possibility of any designs with my blog title included. I think at this point Brat had suggested using the term “knee deep in the shi’ite!”

Well, the other evening I wrote to the owner of the company that holds the copyright to the term, and I received back one of the kindest and warmest emails from Christian D’Andrea who is one of three brothers who developed the “Soldier Fuel” bar. They also have developed other resources and are a very strong pro-military and pro-military family business. I was really unaware of all that the D’Andrea brothers do for our soldiers, so I thought I should share their websites with you here. Please, visit their sites, patronize their business and in doing so you are supporting those who support those who are defending us! Isn’t it great when it can work out that way? [Read more →]

Tags: Army, Army Mom Posts, Things I love, Troop Support, Troop appreciation, military, veterans, war on terror by Claire
2 Comments »

I found this on Stryker Brigade News last night. Mr. H! and I were really surprised. We didn’t know about this particular resource, so it was news to us. I thought I would post it in hopes of getting the news out there to more military families.

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr., The New York Times

AS they enter through the Magic Kingdom gates, following signs with the familiar mouse ears, past the sighing of the monorail and the distant screams from Space Mountain, a few visitors take an unusual route, up a driveway just off the entrances to the Disney World golf courses.

There they find, atop an artificial rock formation, the flags of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard flapping in the Florida breeze. Beyond that lies a resort where there are a lot of high-and-tight crew cuts in the lobby, not to mention more lean physiques than elsewhere in Disney World. [Read more →]

Tags: Army, Troop Support, Troop appreciation, family life, holidays, military by Claire
1 Comment »

Late Saturday night I received the following email from Books for Soldiers. Here’s an idea on how to spend some of that economic stimulus package money you are getting, and feel good doing it. Also, mom may not need any more perfume or lotion this year. How about donating to Books for Soldiers in her honor for Mother’s Day this year? :

It Is A Bad Economy
Starting at the first of this year, BFS started a robust fundraising campaign here in North Carolina. We contacted small companies and some large companies you probably have heard of. To date, we have received a stack of letters that begin with “we deeply regret not being able to donate this year” and no cash. From our corporate donation campaign we have received a tad under thirty dollars from a philanthropy grants group in Winston Salem, NC. That was it, nothing else.

Times are tough for all non-profit groups, food banks from all around North Carolina and across the nation are suffering from a lack of donations and a sharp increase of those in need. The article below arrived in my email today about a women’s shelter closing because of a lack of donations.
http://www.the-signal.com/news/article/1356/

The economy is certainly causing things to be tight around the Hooah! household, BUT just this morning I heard on the news during a quick blurb that some movies raked in millions of dollars over the weekend. That is not the sign of an economy that is sunk. If we still have millions to throw at Hollywood, then we should all have a few bucks to give to an organization that has worked hard to give soldiers what they need while they are deployed. [Read more →]

Tags: Army, Things I love, Troop Support, Troop appreciation, deployment, literacy, military by Claire
3 Comments »

The best way to enjoy a blessing is turn around and bless others with your riches. Whether you are rich in Spirit, rich in money, or rich in time, there are many ways to give. I am going to challenge myself to have one blog entry a day that highlights a specific organization and what you can do to help. So many times people want to do something, but they just don’t know where to start. Maybe this will help some folks to figure out what it is they would like to do to lend a hand. I will post a mixture of organizations that are military specific and for the general population.

So, to start with I would like to introduce the Fisher House Foundation and specifically their “Hero Miles” program:

From the Fisher House Foundation Website:

Hero Miles

With your support, we have provided nearly 10,000 tickets to Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom hospitalized service members and their families, worth more than $12 million (average savings per ticket is currently about $1,300).

The nonprofit Fisher House Foundation administers the “Hero Miles” program for the Department of Defense in accordance with Public Law 108-110, the FY 05 Defense Authorization Act. The program is comprised of individual airlines whose passengers donate their frequent flyer miles to assist service members and their families. Specifically, Fisher House Foundation provides free airline tickets to military men and women who are undergoing treatment at a military or VA medical center incident to their service in Iraq or Afghanistan, and their families.

There are two categories of eligible recipients:

• Service men and women with an approved leave of five or more days may be given a free round trip airline ticket for a trip from the medical center to their home and return if they are not eligible for government funded airfare.

• Qualifying service men and women may be given free round trip airline tickets to enable their family or close friends to visit them while they are being treated at the medical center.

Click HERE for specific information on how you can donate those unused frequent flyer miles.

Tags: Troop Support by Claire
2 Comments »