Bill's Bites: US Coast Guard

Saturday, 26 May 2007

Three for a long weekend

Read 'em in order. One today, one tomorrow and one Monday maybe.

No Tears in Heaven

At the Station

At the Canteen

Contributed by Bill Faith on May 26, 2007 at 06:30 AM in Caring about our troops, Memorial Day, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 15 April 2007

Military Order of the Purple Heart and the Gathering of Eagles

The following article was written by Henry J. Cook III, Senior Vice Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. It was intended for use in their organizational publication. In light of certain parties claiming that they had convinced MOPH to drop their support, Mr. Cook asked that it be posted on the GOE blog as a reaffirmation of MOPH’s support for the Gathering of Eagles. Thank you William "1stCav" Page for bringing it to my attention.

The Military Order of the Purple Heart and the Gathering of Eagles
Henry J. Cook, III

More than one year ago the international A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition began planning two major anti-war rallies in Washington, D.C. The first was held in January of 2007. From their rally point the various anti-war, anti-American groups marched on our nation’s Capitol. Upon arrival at the Capitol they proceeded to spray paint their slogans and anti-American sentiments on the Capitol steps. Apparently the Capitol police felt it was better to allow them to do their mischief and clean it up later than confront them physically to stop their actions. Some of the groups went to the U. S. Navy memorial and desecrated the Lonely Sailor memorial.

Who were these people ? A.N.S.W.E.R. , purely an arm of the communist party of the United States , joined by Code Pink, the National Council of Arab Americans, the Muslim American Society, the 9-11 Truth Movement (They claim 9-11 was a hoax.) a number of Palestinian and Lebanese support groups, pro-Castro and Che Gueverra groups, the Viet Nam Veterans against the war, at least one Anarchist group and a number of hippie-throwbacks, all receiving encouragement by Hanoi Jane Fonda, Ramsey Clark, Sean Penn, Ed Asner with Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) and the newest anti-war poster child, Cindy Sheehan.

After their performance in January, A.N.S.W.E R. let it be know that their next rally and parade was to begin with a rally at the Viet Nam Wall on March 17, 2007 and would end at the Pentagon. ...

Read the whole thing.

Contributed by Bill Faith on April 15, 2007 at 08:30 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Moonbat Madness, The American Warrior, The Lunatic Left, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 27 March 2007

A Young Man To Watch

72nd TCS reports:

Col. Harry Riley, co-director of Gathering of Eagles.org, alerted his mailing list to a report on the Gathering of March 17 in Washington, DC, written by a truly extraordinary youngster. His name is Justin Till, and he is an 18-year-old high school senior from Texas. I believe his work deserves to be disseminated widely, and intend to quote extensively from it in the sequel. He writes beautifully, displaying a keenness of observation that puts to shame the reports by “professionals” that we read in major newspapers such as The New York Times and the Washington Post. Early promise does not always pan out, but this youth is truly outstanding. Here he is, and please remember: You Read It Here First.

An Unrecognized Majority: ...

[Read the whole thing.]

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 27, 2007 at 05:07 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Poem: A Gathering of Eagles
Contributed by Bill Faith

Marsha Burks Megehee left this as a comment on Awesome Gathering of Eagles video but it deserves better than to languish there unread:
Dear Old War Dogs,
I wanted to share my special poem with you -
"A Gathering of Eagles."

It's my way of saying "WELL DONE!" Thank you all for protecting our national treasures, and speaking up for the millions of us who could not be with you.

God Bless You All!
& God Bless the USA!

Continue reading "Poem: A Gathering of Eagles"

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 27, 2007 at 04:20 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Marsha Burks Megehee, Poetry, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 25 March 2007

Awesome Gathering of Eagles video

Boomer emails:

** The Land of the free **

http://www.nautinurse.com/GOE_17-March-2007.html

Sound on, F-11 for full screen!

Read the whole Old War Dogs Gathering of Eagles collection in one place here, and don't forget about the Gathering of Eagles blog here.

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 25, 2007 at 12:28 AM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, 23 March 2007

Despite my distrust of the media....
Contributed by antimedia

....there are a few that get it right.
......it turns out that the best reason to hit the pavement on Saturday was over in Washington, D.C. ...

As a frequent protest crasher, I'm sorry I missed this sea change in the tired old script of Iraq demonstrations. It was even more uplifting to read messages left afterward on the Eagles' blog by participants.

"Forty years lost in the wilderness," wrote one. "Forty years in exile. Behind us now. Yesterday we took our country back. It's in the air. I can feel it. ... We have to care enough to save it. I have hope again."
The quote is from my good friend, Bill Faith. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 23, 2007 at 12:41 AM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Patriot Guard Riders, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Thursday, 22 March 2007

Reflections on the Gathering of Eagles (Epilogue)
March 21st, 2007 by CJ

I wanted to first bring something out I'm not sure many people caught. First, listen again to THIS audio of Brian Becker, member of International A.N.S.W.E.R.'s steering committee and a front group for the Communist Workers World Party (WWP). Pay attention to what he says in the middle of the clip.
"Let Bush and the Pentagon and their puppets (I'm a puppet) know that the people of this country are sick and tired of this [expletive deleted] war. LET'S BRING THE WAR HOME!!"
This is something I want everyone to understand. He doesn't say "let's bring the troops home." They don't support the troops. If they did, we wouldn't be seeing this in Portland:

[image]

He said this while he was trying to get everyone to move up to make their numbers look more bloated. They aren't interested in any victory. They want the terrorists here in this country. If he had his way, he'd pay for a state visit for Bin Laden. Those five little words say more than any speech ever could. Yet, even though every news outlet known to man was licking their shoes, this wasn't mentioned anywhere. ...

***

See also: Doubleplusungood!

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 16, 2007 at 02:00 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, The Lunatic Left, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Will you be there?

Saw this at Wild Thing's place and decided it was too pretty not to pass on.

Be there, people. Be there! EAGLES UP!

[Original timestamp 2007.03.16.02:42]

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 16, 2007 at 02:42 AM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

"You Ain't Gonna Touch This Wall" -- The MP3

You read it here, listen to it here, or to the slightly tamer "radio version" here. Buy a copy at The Gathering of Eagles Store.

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 16, 2007 at 01:35 AM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Music, Russ Vaughn, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 14 March 2007

Gathering Storm

March At The Wall
Vietnam Vets & The New Protestors
By Thomas P. Evans. (Helmet tip: Smash)

March 13, 2007 -- MENTION Jane Fonda to any 10 Vietnam veterans, and at least seven of them will have some sort of conniption right on the spot. Spread the rumor that Hanoi Jane will be leading the anti-war protest march from the Vietnam Memorial Wall to the Pentagon on Saturday, and a battalion of 60-year-old Vietnam veterans is ready to do battle again.

Rumors are flying over the Internet.

The Vietnam Wall is sacred ground, how dare they stage their march in front of it? Didn't anti-war protestors recently spray-paint graffiti on the Capitol steps? We'll form a human wall in front of the Wall to protect it.

Cops should body-search every protestor, looking for spray-paint cans and chisels. Have the bail bondsmen ready.

We might be white-heads and chrome domes with bellies bigger than B-52 thousand pound bombs, but we know how to deal with people who protest policies set forth by our duly elected government officials.

And who's going to guard the Korean War and World War II Memorials? Our brothers from those wars are too old to do it. We have to organize like this is a military operation.

And on and on, the e-mails go.

St. Patrick's Day marks the fourth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War, and the 40th anniversary of the massive Vietnam era anti-war march on the Pentagon. Where were we on March 17, 1967? ...

We tend to remember only dates that were significant to us - the battles, the first impressions, the funny moments. All the other dates blend together. So it's hard to say exactly where we were or what my platoon was doing on March 17, 1967. Perhaps we were out on patrol in a rice paddy or a jungle - "beating the bush," as we called it. Perhaps we were on one of the firebases near the DMZ, a respite from the constant patrols - cleaning gear, getting a hot meal or a haircut or writing a letter home.

Not many Vietnam veterans were around for that march on the Pentagon 40 years ago. We were in a different world, a world few anti-war protesters could even imagine. Maybe because we missed all that four decades ago, we want to be there this time. ...

EAGLES UP!

Click here to see the entire Old War Dogs Gathering Of Eagles series in one place.

***

Re: Gathering Storm
By Greyhawk

Smash, that quote from the Vietnam vets preparing to make a stand reminds me of Philip Caputo's account of an Iwo Jima veteran's "visit" to Northwestern University in the wake of the Kent State shootings:
The scene could have been lifted from a Delacroix painting of the French revolution. A young man stood atop a barricade of furniture and cars and saw-horses, his long hair tousled by the Lake Michigan wind, one hand grasping a pole flying a red flag and an upside-down American flag (a distress signal) as he exhorted some twenty-five hundred students massed behind him to "Strike! Strike!"

Suddenly, he was interrupted by a burly, black-haired, middle-age man dressed in a workingman's khaki trousers and a flannel shirt. Mounting the barricade, he tried to wrest the flag pole from the student. "That's my flag!" he yelled. "I fought for it. You have no right to it." ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 14, 2007 at 11:32 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Hanoi Jane, Iraq, Islamism Delenda Est, Moonbat Madness, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Where my heart will spend Saturday

Sorta slick what you can find on this new internet thingy these days. Sometimes I just can't resist playing with it a little. This is where I'll be Saturday, if only in spirit:

Looking from a little higher up:

I'd love to be there if I thought there was any way this tired old body could handle it. Will you be there for me?

EAGLES UP!

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 14, 2007 at 04:51 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 13 March 2007

GATHERING OF EAGLES RALLY - PERMIT UPDATE

GATHERING OF EAGLES RALLY - PERMIT UPDATE
(Hat tip: Michelle)

The National Park Service has issued a permit for the Gathering of Eagles demonstration and rally on March 17 in Washington, D.C. as illustrated on the Eagle web site “Maps” link under “Sections”.

BOTTOM LINE: AS UNACCEPTABLE AS THE PERMIT GRANTED IS, WE WILL BE ABLE TO PROTECT THE VIETNAM MEMORIAL WALL

We view the permit decision unacceptable and will be taking immediate steps to appeal what we believe is an unworkable decision. If the National Park Service is unfavorable to our appeal, our legal arm will pursue immediate court action to acquire an equitable, realistic solution.

The good news is the Park Service is granting the Eagles large amounts of territory adjacent to the Vietnam Memorial as well as along the march route of the antiwar protesters. We are being given the use of the western side of Constitution Gardens, which is contiguous to the Vietnam Memorial, thus giving us controlling ground. That permit is for an estimated 10,000 people. If things stand as they are, we will use that as a staging area for our people to cycle along the pathways, visiting statues and the Vietnam Memorial which comprise the Memorial area. (The maps are included below for convenience and are also available under “Sections” on the Eagle web site - click on the “Maps” tab and look at maps 1 and 2 for illustrations of areas permitted for each group)

Bad news is the Park Service decided to grant the other half of Constitution Gardens to the so-called antiwar group ANSWER, with a no man’s land in between. This is unacceptable and will be challenged in our appeal. ...

Read the entire Old War Dogs Gathering Of Eagles series here.

On a closely related note:

Meet Ben
By Smash

Hi, I'm Ben, a 25-year-old white guy from rural Virginia. I used to be a directory assistance operator, but now I work at the Wal Mart in Waynesboro. I still live with my parents.

Sometimes, I like to go it the big city and play in the streets. My favorite game is to dress up in black, and run around town with my friends. We block traffic, yell at shoppers, and call the cops "pigs." They don't seem to like it very much, but they're powerless to stop us, because we're protected by the First Amendment! [image]

Oh, did I mention that I'm a Black Bloc Anarchist? [image]

Hey, let's go charge up the Capitol steps! The pigs can't stop us! It's our Capitol, too! [image]

Aw, shucks. Looks like we can't go any further. Hey, does anyone have spray paint?

"All Cops are Pigs!" That's brilliant! But don't worry, it'll wash right off... Let’s get out of here! [image]

Hey, now what should we do? I know, ...

BE THERE PEOPLE!

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 13, 2007 at 02:09 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Moonbat Madness, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Saturday, 10 March 2007

American Vietnam Vets Ending 40 Years in the Wilderness

R J Del Vecchio emails:

Great summary on the war and the upcoming mass reunion of Vietvets at The Wall next week. I'm getting more and more up for this.

Del

http://www.ronaldwinterbooks.com/blog/2007/02/american-vietnam-vets-ending-40-years.htm

American Vietnam Vets Ending 40 Years in the Wilderness
Ron Winter

It has been 40 years, on average, since most Americans served in Vietnam, and for most American Vietnam veterans the last 40 years have constituted our own version of wandering in the wilderness.

Starting with the fighting in Korea, the so-called "Forgotten War," escalating to a fever pitch during Vietnam, and continuing right up through those currently fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, America's veterans have been relegated by many in our country to something far less than second-class citizen status.

Vietnam vets especially have been dealing with a country that never knew or understood the magnitude of our victories there. Our politicians cut our legs out from under us and our allies from South Vietnam, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand repeatedly, until ultimately the communists were able to take advantage of the political and military vacuum created by our Congress and overthrow the democratic south in 1975.

American and allied troops had left that country years before, after twice driving the communists to the edge of surrender, and twice seeing them bailed out by American politicians.

As a result, the communists gleefully signed a weak and unenforceable "Peace" agreement in 1973 that was negotiated by Henry Kissinger and approved by the US Congress. That travesty and the slaughter of some 4 million Southeast Asians by the communists in the years that followed have been falsely labeled a military defeat ever since by the media and the very politicians who caused it.

Those same politicians and the media also falsely claim the American military was not up to the level of previous generations, even though we were the best educated, best led and most effective ever and never lost a single major engagement.

As a result, many Vietnam vets labored for years in an atmosphere of distrust, misunderstanding and outright hostility from the very country we fought to preserve.

But that could all change on March 17, at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. ...

We have wandered in the wilderness for far too long. It is time to come home. And home, the land of milk and honey, will be represented on March 17 by a tiny piece of land in our nation's Capitol where a black granite wall and two statues bear witness to the honor and sacrifice of more than 58,000 of our brothers and sisters.

We should stand shoulder to shoulder around those memorials to preserve the honor and dignity of our brothers and sisters, just as they stood shoulder to shoulder with us, 40 years ago.

[Original timestamp 2007.03.10.13.36]

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 10, 2007 at 01:36 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Moonbat Madness, The American Warrior, The Lunatic Left, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Will you be there?

Bloggers And Webmasters

To all of the bloggers and websites that are listed in our [GOE's] sidebar as Participating Websites, we need your help and support now. Please post the following information on your blogs and websites. It is imperative that we get this word out as quickly as possible.

There are two petitions now up online. One for people to sign only if they WILL be at the Gathering of Eagles on March 17th:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/GOE31707/petition.html

The second petition is for those who will be with us in spirit:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/GOE317/petition.html

This will be very helpful in giving us some idea of how many Eagles will be in attendance on the 17th and how many will be supporting us from home.

If you plan to be there, sign in. Those who just can’t attend but stand with us in spirit are asked to sign the second petition. ...

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 10, 2007 at 02:01 AM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Friday, 09 March 2007

Wall threatened!

A little before dawn this morning R J Del Vecchio sent me a link to Gathering of Eagles Has Antiwar Organizers on the Run! (see my earlier post here) prefaced by these remarks:

I generally doubt that any antiwar protester is insane enough to try to damage any memorial to vets, but then again, it's been done recently to a MOH memorial, so we know there are true crazies out there. This move of the protesters away from The Wall is a good sign, but at this point it seems like this gathering of vets from all over the country has taken on its own life, a way of showing how sacred we hold memorials, and for many of us, how we feel about supporting our troops in the field. So even if the antiwar people took out a full page ad in the NY Times pledging to never let any of their people within 100 yards of the memorials, I'd still want to be there on the 17th. And I will.

Del, it sounds to me like there's very good cause to be. By the time I was up and around for the day, Michelle Malkin had posted a link to this post:

Questions for Jalal
Smash

IN MY PREVIOUS POST, "Bring Some Paint," a visitor calling himself "Jalal" leaves the following comments:

Comment #1:

People who attempt to stop protestors from exercising their Constitutional rights should be taken out and beaten.

Comment #2:

Anyone who tries to keep peace activists from approaching the Wall will be responded to. This is all I can say at the time.

For everyone's sake, I strongly urge you not to take away our civil rights including our right to protest against the Iraq policy and our right to gather at the Wall.

Comment #3:

I think the veterans should not try any funny business by restricting my people from the Wall, or things could get ugly. ...

[Read the whole thing, including the comments string, here.]

Be there people. Be there.

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 9, 2007 at 12:50 PM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy, Viet Nam | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Gathering of Eagles Has Antiwar Organizers on the Run!

From the GOE blog:

The communist, pro-terrorist group International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) seems to realize they are facing a hot LZ on March 17.

ANSWER has made significant changes in their plans since their initial announcement that they would hold their ‘antiwar’ rally at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Last week they changed the location of their rally from Constitution Gardens (East side of the Vietnam Memorial) to a park one block west of Memorial on Henry Bacon Drive.

Yesterday, ANSWER announced they are only going to use the Henry Bacon Drive park as a meeting point for their march to the Pentagon, rather than holding a rally there.

This does not change our plans at all.

While the Gathering of Eagles has put these communist terrorist lovers on the run, the danger to the memorials from ANSWER’s fellow travelers is growing. With each passing day, we are receiving reports of threats to desecrate the Vietnam Memorial and other Memorials. We pass this information to the Park Service for investigation.

ANSWER is asking their supporters to start arriving near the Vietnam Memorial at 8 a.m. on the 17th. They plan to start their march to the Pentagon at 12:30 p.m.. That means their people will be milling about for hours with nothing to do and may try to cause trouble.

It is imperative that the Eagles start gathering as early as possible Saturday (0700/7AM) morning and plan to stay all day.

[Read the whole thing here.]

[Original timestamp 2007.03.09.00.45]

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 9, 2007 at 12:45 AM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Wednesday, 07 March 2007

"Bring Some Paint"

Just read it. It's too short to excerpt and I'm too pissed to even try. (Hat tip: Michelle)

***

Confederate Yankee has more here.

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 7, 2007 at 12:37 AM in Caring about our troops, Gathering of Eagles, Moonbat Madness, The American Warrior, The Lunatic Left, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Tuesday, 06 March 2007

Let's hear it for national health care ...

... so everyone can have a taste of how our troops are treated.

System crash
(Washington Times Editorial)

Rep. John Tierney, Massachusetts Democrat, has the beginnings of the Iraq-veteran health-care problem correct when he said in yesterday's hearings that he fears "these problems go well beyond the walls of Walter Reed." The problem of care for returning wounded GIs is systemic -- it's much bigger than Building 18 at Walter Reed. The great test for both parties now is how widely this fact is grasped, how broadly the scope of the coming inquiries is defined and whether the parties can come together to fix the systemic problems. ...

I'll have to admit to some selfish motives here, folks. Maybe if enough attention is focused on the quality of care our wounded troops coming back from the Mideast are getting, some of it will spill over into increased funding for the VA as well. I don't have any personal knowledge of the quality of care our troop receive at Walter Reed, but I damned sure have cause to pity any of them who end up dependent on the VA for help after discharge. I know the people I've dealt with, in Dallas and in the Midwest, have all been doing the best they can with the resources they have but when there just aren't enough doctors to go around what can you expect? Until recently I'd been telling myself "At least they're taking good care of the active duty people; it's only us old farts that are getting screwed." Yeah, right. Color this Old Dog pissed.

***

Apologies, Anger at Walter Reed Hearing
Army Chiefs Plead Ignorance, But Lawmakers Are Skeptical

Senior commanders of the Army offered profuse apologies yesterday for the poor treatment accorded many soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, but lawmakers expressed skepticism that the generals had been unaware of the problems until they were spotlighted by the media two weeks ago.

Congress opened a round of investigative hearings into the Walter Reed scandal only days after a major shakeup at the Army that followed Washington Post reports about squalid living conditions and bureaucratic tangles for soldiers receiving outpatient care. Walter Reed's commander, Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, and Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey lost their jobs, and the Bush administration has established several panels to investigate the care being provided to wounded soldiers.

Senior commanders sounded more contrite yesterday than they did when the scandal first broke. At one point during several hours of hearings in the auditorium at Walter Reed, Weightman turned to the soldiers and families behind him and apologized "for not meeting their expectations, not only in the care provided, but also in having so many bureaucratic processes."

"I promise we will do better," Weightman said.

Lawmakers -- Democrats and Republicans alike -- seemed receptive to the candor voiced at the hearing of a panel of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, but they also cited earlier warnings from internal memos, government audits and news reports.

"I have to tell you, the first thing that pops into my mind is: Where've you been? Where has all the brass been?" said Rep. John F. Tierney (D-Mass.), who convened the hearing as chairman of the national security and foreign affairs subcommittee. "All the things that [were] heard, read about and heard earlier today, clearly, this can't all be pushed down at the lower level. Clearly this is not some junior officer's responsibility that nobody else has to claim anything for."

Army Chief of Staff Peter J. Schoomaker told the committee that the reports and audits did not come to his attention, but he said it is now clear that there is a much bigger problem in military health care. "I couldn't be madder, and I couldn't be more embarrassed and ashamed of the kinds of things that have turned up, because clearly it's not what my impression would have been based upon the feedback that I've gotten as I've talked to soldiers and the family," he said. ...

***

Soldiers Testify Over Poor Care at Walter Reed

WASHINGTON, March 5 — Members of Congress heard wrenching testimony on Monday from wounded soldiers treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and contrite promises from top Army officials to correct the conditions there. ...

"Contrite promises" are just fuckin' wonderful, but what I want to see is Courts Marshal, starting with these two idiots right here:

Dereliction of Duty. Ten years each emptying bed pans would be a wonderful start.

The general who most recently commanded Walter Reed, a premier military hospital in Washington, and the Army’s surgeon general accepted responsibility for the situation faced by some wounded troops, including poor housing, neglect and a hopelessly complicated bureaucratic maze.

The Army officials said they were working to address the problems at Walter Reed and were examining the situation at other medical centers.

“We have let some soldiers down,” said Pete Geren, the acting secretary of the Army, addressing the panel before the hearing began.

The hearing was held by a subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, whose members convened in an auditorium at Walter Reed, in deference to the soldiers who were to testify. The unusual venue also provided a vivid backdrop for the hearing, the first of several that Congressional committees intended to hold.

The subcommittee members heard first from two soldiers badly wounded in Iraq and from the spouse of another soldier injured in Iraq about their experiences at Walter Reed. Together, the three’s stories set the emotional tenor for the testimony from military officials that followed.

Wearing a black eye patch, Staff Sgt. John Daniel Shannon described how he was struck in the head by a round from an AK-47 in November 2004 during a firefight near Ramadi, causing a traumatic brain injury and the loss of an eye.

Within a week of the injury, he was released to outpatient treatment, Sergeant Shannon recounted.

Despite being extremely disoriented, he said, he was given a map and told to find his own way to his new residence on the hospital’s sprawling grounds. He wandered into a building and received directions.

He then waited several weeks wondering whether anyone would contact him about additional treatment, eventually calling people himself until he reached his case worker.

He told of languishing in the hospital’s bureaucratic system that evaluates soldiers for continuing in active duty or becoming medically retired, and what benefits they should receive. His paperwork, he said, was lost repeatedly, forcing him to start over several times. ...

Speaking at a meeting of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vice President Dick Cheney restated on Monday the White House’s promise fix the problems at Walter Reed.

“There will be no excuses, only action,” Mr. Cheney said.

“As we work to improve conditions at Walter Reed, we want to find out whether similar problems have occurred at other military” and veterans’ hospitals, he said. ...

Dick, maybe you can hire someone to read the milblogs for you. The VA health care system is totally FUBAR and it's certainly no secret.

Representative Tom Davis of Virginia, the ranking Republican on the committee, said the military’s entire system for handling wounded veterans was in need of a “top-down overhaul.”

“You’re not going to be able to Scotch tape over it,” Mr. Davis said.

Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, the surgeon general of the Army, who also headed Walter Reed several years ago, apologized to soldiers and said the bureaucratic process they faced demanded “urgent simplification.”

“We really need to reinvent this process,” General Kiley said.

General Kiley was initially appointed to replace Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman as commander of the hospital last week, but the appointment came under fire because he had previously appeared to play down problems at the hospital when he was in command in 2004.

He was pressed on Monday to explain how he had not known about the conditions at Building 18, even though he lived across the street from it. He explained that inspections of barracks were not part of his normal job duties. ...

Bedpans, emptying, ten years. Give the stupid son of a bitch a good chance to look the situation over. Then drum his ass out of the Army and send him to the nearest conveniently located VA Outpatient Clinic for psych care so some stupid bitch with a foreign accent can tell him about Kerry's time in 'Nam and how we should all respect him for it.

Contributed by Bill Faith on March 6, 2007 at 01:57 AM in Caring about our troops, The American Warrior, US Air Force, US Army, US Coast Guard, US Marine Corps, US Navy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Sunday, 04 March 2007

Will you welcome us home now?

[Much of this is cannibalized from a post I wrote back during Kerry War 1, when I was a little healthier and a little better able to express myself. Maybe it will be new to most of you. I've added links to two "older" Russ Vaughn poems; will that buy me some forgiveness?]

I've been amazed, and humbled, by the number of people who have told me recently, in emails, comments on my blog posts, and messages attached to donations, "Thank you for your service." To each of you: You're very welcome. I didn't do a lot, but I take pride in what I did and the fact that I was willing to do even that much.

A clarification before I continue: As Russ Vaughn pointed out here, heroes don't brag about it. That being the case, I'd be remiss not to point out that not everyone who doesn't brag is a hero. I'm not. Some of us just don't have all that much to brag about. We did our jobs and came home. Period. For every vet like Russ or 1stCav who've actually been on the pointy end of the stick there are several like me. Personally, when I arrived in Viet Nam I shuffled papers for six months before I volunteered for duty with the potential of becoming a bit exciting. I didn't volunteer out of heroism. At the time I had a very sincere death wish, due in no small part to the activities of John Kerry, Jane Fonda and their sorry ilk back in The World while I was away. I didn't get my wish but I haven't forgotten the reasons for it.

The day I arrived home from Viet Nam I walked the breadth of the University of Illinois campus, in uniform and blackened by the Asian sun, primed and cocked, hoping some sorry S.O.B. would have a problem with it so we could "discuss" it. No one was that foolish, but the silence was deafening. There were no parades when my generation came home from the war. We snuck back into society quietly, afraid to attract attention to where we'd been, for fear of the consequences it might have for our families. I had a brother in college and a sister in Middle School who didn't deserve to be scorned because I'd done my job when duty called. A lot of others had similar circumstances. I was one of the lucky ones. I came home standing up and my family, at least, made me feel welcome. Too many came home in coffins or on stretchers. Too many came home to find they'd become outcasts within their own families, shunned by parents and siblings, and even children, who believed what the anti-America crowd said about them.

When you meet a Viet Nam vet, or discover that you've known one for years, by all means say "Thank you for your service" if you're so inclined. But if you only say one thing, please say "Welcome home." We were robbed of that, and it still matters.

Will you welcome us home another way? 2 November 2004, which a lot of us remember as "Veterans'