Evening at the Beach Hut!!

From Marie, our Community Team Leader in Long Island comes news of their 1st Annual Summer Fundraiser. Details below (click on the image to enlarge):


Come on out and help make this a success!

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Wednesday Hero

Sgt. 1st Class Gregory A. Rodriguez & Jacko
35 years old from Weidman, Michigan
K-9 unit of the 527th Military Police Company, 709th Military Police Battalion, 18th MP Brigade
September 2, 2008


"I asked Greg if anything ever happened to him where he'd prefer to be buried," Sgt. Rodriguez's wife, Laura, told the Morning Sun of Mount Pleasant, "and he told me Arlington, as he wanted to be among the best and the brave."

"Rod," as he was known to his Army buddies, was a Red Wings fan who loved to hassle fans of other hockey teams he met during his military career, said Laura. "Greg loved to push everyone's buttons and get people going with his rare, unique sense of sarcasm," she said. At the same time, her husband, a military police dog handler whose dog, Jacko, survived the fatal ambush, was "a very committed, loyal individual and could be counted on whenever needed."

Sgt. 1st Class Gregory A. Rodriguez died of wounds suffered in Ana Kalay, Afghanistan, when his mounted patrol came under small-arms fire.

"My brother liked to be the law," said Lisa Dombrowski. "He liked justice. If it wasn't right, he made it right."

He is survived by his sister, wife and three children.

All Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

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Every Day Hero 1st Sgt Gabe

Gabe has officially retired as a Military Working Dog! In the best news ever, ....well I'll let Chuck's email explain:

GABES HOMECOMING

GABE IS HOME!!!!! After all these years of working and living in a kennel, Gabe is now living every Military Working Dog's dream and that is living with Dad...Gabe also made it very clear the sofa in the living room is his and he now has his 2 favorite toys and all the balls and kongs he wants and he doesn't even have to work for it (EVER AGAIN HA HA)...

So many people have been working so hard on this and I would like to thank them especially Aunt Gini Steigerwalt, Mayor Walck and the office of Congressman Kanjorski. The man that made got the initial ball rolling and I will be forever in debt to is Mr Nunez. ...Without him, Gabe would still be sitting in a kennel at Lackland. The other man is Mr Rodney Sparkowich, he is the adoption guy at Lackland tha hast had to put up with me for the past 2 weeks bothering him everyday about Gabe ha ha, but he always was very kind and at last MAJ Jordan for being the officer that approved Gabe's retirement. ...

May God continue to bless us, His American Troops and K9 partners

Chuck

Some of Gabe's awards

GUARDIANS OF THE NIGHT

Trust in me my friend for I am your comrade.
I will protect you with my last breath.

When all others have left you
And the loneliness of the night closes in, I will be at your side.

Together we will conquer all obstacles
And search out those who might wish harm to others.


All I ask of you is compassion,
The caring touch of your hands.


It is for you that I will selflessly give my life And spend my nights un rested.


Although our days together
May be marked by the passing of the seasons.


Know that each day at your side is my reward.


My days are measured by
The coming and going of your footsteps.

I anticipate them at the opening of the door.

You are the voice of caring when I am ill.


The voice of authority over me when I've done wrong.
Do not chastise me unduly
For I am your right arm,
The sword at your side.

I attempt to do only what you bid of me.
I seek only to please you and remain in your favor.
Together you and I shall experience

A bond only others like you will understand.
When outsiders see us together
Their envy will be measured by their disdain.

I will quietly listen to you
And pass no judgment.
Nor will your spoken words be repeated.
I will remain ever silent,

Ever vigilant, ever loyal.
And when our time together is done
And you move on in the world,

Remember me with kind thoughts and tales.
For a time we were unbeatable,
Nothing passed among us undetected.

If we should ever meet again on another field I will gladly take up your fight.

I am a Police Working Dog and together

We are GUARDIANS of the NIGHT.

Author unknown

Staff Sgt. Chuck Shuck and his K9 partner, Sgt. 1st Class Gabe, both with 178th Military Police Detachment, 20th Military Police Battalion, take a break to hydrate during a cordon and search operation in the village of Shukran, near Forward Operating Base Q-West. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Amanda Morrissey (Article from June 2007 in DefendAmerica.mil. Read it here)



Staff Sgt. Chuck Shuck and his dog, Sgt. 1st Class Gabe, both with 178th Military Police Detachment, 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade. (militaryphotos.net)









Staff Sgt. Chuck Shuck and his dog, Sgt. 1st Class Gabe, both with 178th Military Police Detachment, 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade. (militaryphotos.net)







All pictures, unless otherwise stated, are courtesy of Chuck. And be sure and watch the video. It does have Chuck and Gabe in it, as well as Kory and Cooper.

Gabe, I really don't have the words to tell you how much you are treasured. You truly HAVE served your country above and beyond the call of duty. It is my honour to be one of the many of your fan club. Bratdog is so proud of you, too!!

Thank YOU for your service. Enjoy your well-earned retirement. *woof wooooooooof*

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B*N*S*N: For our fallen heroes

In lieu of all the B*N*S*N items this week, I want to share just one thing I found that I believe deserves to receive wide play, in the msm and beyond. This past couple of weeks, our heroes have paid a heavy price for freedom, so this seems to be so fitting. Yes, it IS Canadian but it speaks to me of all our fallen heroes, no matter the flag they serve.

Country singer writes song dedicated to soldiers

The Red and White Brigade


Justin Austin has written a new song dedicated to the Canadian soldiers. Army News did a piece on it, with a preview of the song. Go to THIS link and watch the video news piece. . If you go to Justin's own site here and download the song, all donations go to a wounded soldiers' charity. If nothing else, go to his site and read the lyrics. Please....


Oh I found a video on YouTube...via FaceBook. Watch it, and weep.
Julian Austin performs the Red and White live in Afghanistan for our heroes.





This country sometimes
Make me so damn mad I could cry
Cause we never thank our hero’s enough anymore
How many of us thank a soldier
For everything they do
We can’t forget all those who serve who sacrifice
All for the Red and White
Lest we forget our hero’s who fought and died
For the Red and White



Thank YOU, Julian. Thank YOU to all our heroes, and their families. Can we ever repay the debt we owe you?

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Wednesday Hero

Cpl. Reynold Armand
21 years old from Rochester, New York
2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force
August 7, 2007


Reynold Armand didn’t want to wait until he turned 18 to join the Marines. He persuaded his adoptive mother to sign papers allowing him to sign up a year early.

"I'm very proud of him," said his father, Carl Armand. "When he was home, he gave no sign of being afraid." Armand didn’t speak much about his experiences in Iraq, according to family members, saying only that most Iraqi civilians he encountered were very nice.

"We used to send him a lot of candy," said his mother, Alma Armand. "He would pass it out."

Manny Rodriguez, 21, of Rochester met Armand five years ago at New Day Church in Rochester, where both young men were members of the youth group. "He was such an amazing all-around person. He was so easy and comfortable to be around. He liked people for who they are."

No definitive report could be found on how Cpl. Armand died. Some report that he was killed when shot and others report that he was killed by an IED that exploded near his vehicle in Balad, Iraq.

All Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com with help from Kathi

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

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Freedom is not free: Aaron Fairbairn

Please RT Meet Aaron Fairbairn (left), lost American hero. Killed today serving us. #THANKYOUAARON

‘On Independence Day, a few hours ago, they killed my son, Aaron in Afghanistan’

It was an extraordinary tweet. Within hours it became the trending topic on social networking site Twitter.

“They killed my son, Aaron,” said the tweet sent out by David Masters of Olympia, Washington.

Then, one tweet at a time, he told the rest of the tragic story.

“He was minding his own business BS-ing with an Officer on base in Afghanistan…

“When a suicide bomber, driving a truck breached the perimiter and pushed the button…

“Killing my son, Aaron and the Officer,” he said

“On Independence Day, a few hours ago, they killed my son, Aaron in Afghanistan.”

Go read the rest at Assoluta Tranquillita here. And twitter on.

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Fly your flag, America!

And... because this is always appropriate:



And.....a MUST READ piece over at Villainous Company:

Freedom Is Not Just An "American" Value

Let freedom ring, let the white dove sing
Let the whole world know that today is a day of reckoning
Let the weak be strong, let the right be wrong
Roll the stone away, let the guilty pay
It's Independence Day....

Three years ago on the eve of another Independence Day, I wrote these words:

About one week from now, we will celebrate the Fourth of July. All over America, these words will be read:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

What are those words worth, today? Not much, apparently. Do we still believe them? Are they still engraved on our hearts? Do we still believe that ALL men are created equal?...

And she closes with this:

On the eve of Independence Day it is good to remember that liberty cannot survive without the will to defend our way of life. In a borderless world we can no longer huddle behind the comforting walls of outdated isolationism and chastened "pragmatism". This nation was not built by the practical but by the bold, and it will not long endure if we fear to champion the great ideas and bold ventures that took America from a few huddled colonies to a slumbering giant whose cities stretch from sea to shining sea. The past fades all too quickly before our weary eyes and unwilling memories. The future, as they say, is prologue:

What kind of world will we bequeath to our grandchildren? It may be decades before we know. But our actions today will have an incalculable effect on that far-off tomorrow. And if our policy is not firmly grounded in the spread of those long-ago words:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights...

...then I wonder if we shall not be the first Americans who fail to pass the blessings of liberty on to the next generation?

Even with all their attendant uncertainty, days like yesterday give me hope that America is still, despite her faults, a great nation. A nation of doers.

A nation of believers. Faith is not foolish - it is our birthright: something we drink in with our mother's milk and pour out to an increasingly cynical world in the form of American blood and American treasure. This is nothing to be ashamed of. We owe it to those who have gone before us - to those who fought and bled so that we could enjoy the blessings of liberty.

We owe it to our children....

If you read nothing else today, or this week, or this YEAR, go HERE and read ALL of this piece. It says all that this foreigner believes about America. Yes, I DO believe.

HAPPY JULY 4th to you all; those at home and those serving the flag, wherever you are.

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B*N*S*N1`

06/29/2009 - Iraqi police celebrate in the streets after a parade in recognition of Baqouba Sovereignty Day in Diyala Province, Iraq, June 29, 2009. Sovereignty Day signifies the upholding of security in the city by local government without support from coalition forces. (DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Ali E. Flisek, U.S. Air Force/Released)

Not a picture you will have seen in the msm. BUT this is what the last few years have all been working towards, and it really IS my B*N*S*N of the day.

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B*N*S*N2

President Barack Obama signs S.614, a bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Women Airforce Service Pilots, in the Oval Office Wednesday, July 1, 2009. Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) was established during World War II, and from 1942 to 1943, more than a thousand women joined, flying sixty million miles of non-combat military missions. Of the women who received their wings as Women Airforce Service Pilots, approximately 300 are living today. Flanking the President are Bernice Falk Haydu, far left, Elaine Danforth Harmon, and Lorraine H. Rodgers, right. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) is at far right. Behind the President are active duty US Air Force pilots. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

WASP

World War II effort women aviators paved the way for Air Guard woman pilot

By Master Sgt. Mike R. Smith
National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va. - She was among the Air Guard’s handful of women fighter pilots that first took to the sky.

Air Force Lt. Col. Bobbi Jo Doorenbos, an F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter pilot in the Air National Guard got to watch Wednesday’s ceremony at the White House where Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) - who fostered opportunity for women in aviation - received the Congressional Gold Medal bill by the president.

The moment came more than 65 years after the WASP’s ground-breaking war effort.

President Barack Obama signed the bill at the Oval Office July 1 authorizing the award. Three members of WASP as well as five active duty United States Air Force pilots, who followed in their footsteps, including Doorenbos, were at the Oval Office during the bill signing.

"The Women Airforce Service Pilots courageously answered their country’s call in a time of need while blazing a trail for the brave women who have given and continue to give so much in service to this nation since," said President Obama. "Every American should be grateful for their service, and I am honored to sign this bill to finally give them some of the hard-earned recognition they deserve."

With the Presidential Medal of Freedom, it’s the nation’s highest civilian award, of which the Tuskegee Airmen were recent military awardees.

“It’s long overdue and well deserved,” said Doorenbos of the WASP, who said she could probably count on one hand the number of female fighter pilots in the Air Guard when she joined her squadron.

According to a White House press release, “from 1942 to 1943 more than 1,000 women joined the WASP. Thirty-eight of them made the ultimate sacrifice for their nation in performing its mission. But their contribution went largely unrecognized for years, not even being acknowledged with veteran status until 1977.”

Officials said “the groundbreaking steps taken by the WASP paved the way for hundreds of United States servicewomen combat pilots who have flown fighter aircraft in recent conflicts.”

“The WASP are role models for all,” said Doorenbos. “They had the courage to step forward and do something that was so totally outside the expectations of that era. I really respect those who do that.”...(source)

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Wednesday Hero

Force Protection Team


Members of the force protection team at Camp Eggars, Afghanistan, assess damage resulting from an explosion near the gate. A vehicle-born improvised explosive device exploded near the German Embassy and a U.S. base. Eliminating threats such as the VBIED is the focus of Army's 3rd Counter-IED Conference that was scheduled July 28-30.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

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