Legislative Victories
The VFW played an instrumental role in virtually every significant piece of veterans’ legislation passed in the
20th century, as well as bills enacted in the 21st century. Note: In each case, this is the year an act was
passed or an institution established.
For more information, contact the VFW National Legislative Service at vfwac@vfw.org.
1917 War Risk Insurance Act Amendments
1918 Vocational Rehabilitation Act (P.L. 178)
1919 Census Act Rider on Veterans Preference Discharge Allowance
1920 Widows and Orphans Pension Act (Spanish-America War)
1921 Veterans Bureau Act
1923 Veterans Preference Point System
1924 House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
World War Adjusted Compensation Act
1925 Senate Subcommittee on Veterans’ Affairs
1926 Spanish-American War benefits
New Johnson Act (WWI benefits)
1930 Veterans Administration (VA) World War Service Disability Pension Act (P.L. 522)
1931 Bacharach Amendment (P.L. 743) allows borrowing on WWI bonus certificates
1933 Wagner-Peyser Act: Veterans Employment Service
1934 Pension for widows of WWI vets
1936 VFW congressional charter signed by President Roosevelt
Bonus bonds ($2.4 billion) to WWI vets redeemable
1938 Armistice Day (Nov. 11) legal holiday
1940 National Service Life Insurance
Selective Service & Training Act
1943 Benefits to WWII veterans (P.L. 10)
Disabled Veterans Rehabilitation Act
1944 GI Bill of Rights (P.L. 346)
Veterans Preference Act
1946 Veteran Emergency Housing Act
1947 Bureau of Veterans Re-employment Rights (BVRR)
1950 Vocational Rehabilitation Act
1951 Servicemen’s Indemnity & Insurance
1952 Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (Korean War GI Bill)
1954 Veterans Compensation Act
Nov. 11 declared as Veterans Day (P.L. 380)
1962 Veterans Benefits Act (Cold War GI Bill)
1966 Veterans Readjustment Benefits Act (P.L. 89-358) (Vietnam War GI Bill)
1970 Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
1972 Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act
1973 Federal court agrees veterans preference applies to state jobs
1974 Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (vocational rehabilitation)
1976 Veterans Education & Employment Assistance Act
1977 Post-Vietnam Era Veterans Educational Assistance Act
1978 Veterans preference preserved
Veterans & Survivors Pension Improvement Act
Veterans Day returned to Nov. 11
1979 Vietnam Veterans Outreach Program (creates Vet Centers)
1980 VFW calls for Agent Orange study
Veterans Rehabilitation & Education Amendments
1981 Former POW Benefits Act
Veterans Health Care, Training & Small Business Loan Act
1982 Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS)
Vietnam Veterans Memorial dedicated
1983 Emergency Veterans Job-Training Act
1984 Montgomery GI Bill Veterans Dioxin & Radiation Exposure Compensation Standards Act
(P.L. 98-542): Agent Orange & Atomic Exposure
1987 New GI Bill Continuation Act
1988 Radiation-Exposed Veterans Compensation Act
Department of Veterans Affairs Act
Veterans Judicial Review Act
1989 VA becomes a Cabinet department Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
1990 Agent Orange service-connection
1991 Agent Orange Act (P.L. 102-4)
Persian Gulf War Veterans Assistance Act (P.L. 102-25)
1992 Veterans Health Care Act
1996 Veterans Health Care Eligibility Reform Act
1999 Veterans Millennium Health Care and Benefits Act
2003 Concurrent receipt for military retirees rated 50% disabled or more
2004 Full concurrent receipt for military retirees rated 100% disabled
Traumatic Injury Insurance supplemental created
2005 Protestors banned from military funerals
Stolen Valor Act signed into law
2006 VFW calls for VA/military health care system review after Walter Reed outpatient debacle
2008 Record VA discretionary budget approved
GI Bill for the 21st Century signed into law
2009 Advance Appropriations for VA becomes law
2010 Family Caregiver Legislation signed into law
Ensured all VA and DOD health care programs met minimum health care coverage standards
2011 VOW to Hire Heroes Act
VFW stopped TRICARE premiums from increasing annually
2012 Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act
Extended USERRA protections to veterans working for TSA
2013 Reinstated military Tuition Assistance programs
New Stolen Valor Act signed into law
Stopped Creation of Distinguished Warfare Medal (Drone Medal)
2014 Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014
In-State Tuition for Post-9/11 GI Bill eligible veterans
Advance Appropriations for VA Benefits
2015 Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans (SAV) Act
Eliminated 1 percent COLA reduction penalty on future military retirees
Created government match to military Thrift Savings Plan accounts

Updated 1/2025
2016 Toxic Exposure Research Act to evaluate impact on descendants
Enhanced fertility treatment and adoption services
2017 Forever GI Bill gives veterans a lifetime to use GI Bill benefits
Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017
VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act
Global War on Terrorism Memorial
Improved VA hiring and retention authorities
Veterans Choice Program improvements and expansion
Declassifying toxic exposure documents
Prevented significant copayment increases for TRICARE
2018 Expanded caregiver benefits to veterans of all eras
Consolidated community care into one improved program
Established a process to evaluate and improve VA facilities to better serve veterans
Defeated proposed cuts to Individual Unemployability
2019 Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act
Elimination of the Widow’s Tax
2020 Added bladder cancer, hypothyroidism, and parkinsonism to VA’s list of presumptive
conditions associated with exposure to Agent Orange
Changed the statutory definition of Vietnam veterans to include individuals who served in the
Republic of Vietnam from Nov. 1, 1955, to Feb. 27, 1961
Deborah Sampson Act
Elimination of the 12-year limit on using Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) benefits
2021 Expanded maternity care options from community providers
PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act
2022 Honoring our PACT Act
Dr. Kate Hendricks Thomas SERVICE Act
Global War on Terrorism Memorial Location Act
UCMJ reform on sexual assault and harassment
2024 Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, which
included the Not Just A Number Act

Troop Support
• Military Assistance Program (MAP)
More than 4.1 million service members and their families have been hosted at morale-boosting events
sponsored by the VFW since 2005.
• Adopt-a-Unit
More than 3,700 units and ships have been adopted through VFW Posts since 2007. VFW National
Headquarters adopted the USS Cole in 2002.
• Care Packages
Posts across the country show their support of America’s military by collecting and distributing
much-needed personal items for adopted units.
• VFW Financial Assistance
This program administers financial assistance in the form of grants to active-duty service members to
include active Guard/Reserves and their families to help cover daily necessities such as residential
expenses, vehicle expenses, childcare, food, and more. Since 2004, 11,659 grants have been issued
totaling more than $13 million.
• VFW’s “Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship”
Introduced in 2013, this program awards scholarships of up to $5,000 to qualifying veterans and
service members. The program has provided 3,261 scholarships totaling more than $1.5 million.
• Student Veteran Support Grants
Provides financial grants to VFW Posts, Districts, and Departments to assist with outreach and
services to veterans on college campuses around the country.

VFW Programs & Projects
Since its founding, the VFW has been a staple in the community. Troop support, youth activities,
volunteering and scholarship programs are a few of the ways the VFW shines in the many communities and
cities where Posts are located.
Youth Scholarship Programs
• Voice of Democracy
This audio-essay competition annually awards nearly $3 million in scholarships to students in grades
9-12. The first-place winner receives a $35,000 scholarship.
• Patriot’s Pen
More than $1.2 million is awarded annually to students in grades 6-8 in this essay contest. The first
place winner receives $5,000.
• Teacher of the Year
The VFW annually recognizes three exceptional schoolteachers (one from each (K-5, 6-8, and 9-12)
for their outstanding commitment to teaching Americanism and patriotism to their students. Awards
include $1,000 to the teacher of each category and $1,000 for his/her school, along with an all
expense-paid trip to attend the VFW National Convention.
Educational Outreach
• Echoes From the Wall
The VFW partnered with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund to distribute a curriculum, Echoes
From the Wall, to 25,000 public and private high schools and donated $50,000 to the project.
• Educational Brochures
The VFW produces and distributes a flag brochure and poster.
• Veterans in the Classroom
November is officially known as VFW Veterans in the Classroom Month. Members demonstrate flag
etiquette and share their wartime experiences with America’s youth.
Youth Activities
Locally, VFW Posts sponsor various youth sporting programs such as baseball and ice hockey. In
addition, many VFW Posts sponsor Boy and Girl Scout troops, Junior Olympics, bike safety, JROTC
units, drill teams, color guards and a variety of other programs to build good citizenship and
exemplary character in America’s youth.
Community Volunteerism
Each year, VFW members volunteer more than 5 million hours of service to various community
endeavors.
• Veterans Affairs Voluntary Service
The VFW was a charter member in 1946. VFW volunteers donate millions of hours of service
annually at VA medical facilities.

Our Core Values:
Always put the interests of our members first
Treat donors as partners in our cause
Promote patriotism
Honor military service
Ensure the care of veterans and their families
Serve our communities
Promote a positive image of the VFW
Respect the diversity of veteran opinions

To qualify for membership in the VFW you MUST meet the following TWO requirements:

1: Honorable Service – must have served in the Armed Forces of the United States and either received a discharge of Honorable or General (Under Honorable Conditions) or be currently serving.

2: Service in a war, campaign, or expedition on foreign soil or in hostile waters*. This can be proven by any of the following:
- An authorized campaign medal (see a full list of qualifying medals and badges)
- Receipt of Hostile Fire Pay or Imminent Danger Pay (verified by a military pay statement)
- Service in Korea for 30 consecutive or 60 non-consecutive days

*This information is usually available through a veteran’s DD-214. If other information is needed or if a veteran’s DD-214 is not complete, they can contact the National Personnel Records Center online or at 314.801.0800 to request more information.

By virtue of charter granted, this Post shall be known as Owens Crossroads Post 12242, Veterans of
Foreign Wars of the United States.
Sec. 2. The location of this Post shall be in the City of Owens Crossroads, County of Madison, State of Alabama.

ARTICLE II
SUBORDINATION

Sec. 1. The supreme power of this association is vested in the National Convention and this Post shall be at all
times governed by the Congressional Charter and Bylaws of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United
States, the Bylaws of the Department, orders issued by authority of the National Convention, National
Council of Administration, the Commander-in-Chief, the Department Convention, Department Council of
Administration and the Department Commander. Resolutions adopted by the National Convention are
held to be lawful orders.

ARTICLE III
MEETINGS

Sec. 1. Place: The regular meeting place of this Post shall be at the Meadows of Hampton Cove Clubhouse,
6099 Goose Ridge Drive, Owens Crossroads, Alabama, 35763.
Sec. 2. Time: The regular meetings of the Post shall be held on the 3 rd Wednesday of each month, to be called to
order at 6p.m.
Sec. 3. The Post may, after at least fourteen (14) days written notice to the Department Commander and the
members of the Post, change its meeting place, appointed day or time upon a majority vote of the
members present and voting at a regular or special meeting called for such purpose.
Sec. 4. Special meetings may be called in accordance with the provisions of the National Bylaws.
Sec. 5. Quorum: Six (6) members in good standing shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
Sec 6. Post may adopt procedures, in compliance to National Bylaws allowing members to participate in
meetings using technology that allows all participating members to communicate with each other
simultaneously.

ARTICLE IV
MEMBERSHIP

Sec. 1. Membership in this Post, eligibility to, application for, acquiring and maintenance of, loss of and discipline
shall be in accordance with the provisions of the National Bylaws.
Sec. 2. The admission fee of this Post shall be payable in accordance with the National Bylaws.
Sec. 3. The dues of this Post shall never be less than the amount required to cover Department and National
dues.

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Sec. 4. Annual Post membership dues shall be $15 plus Department and National Dues.

ARTICLE V
OFFICERS

Sec. 1. Eligibility to, nomination, election or appointment, installation and term of office shall be in accordance
with the provisions of the National Bylaws.
Sec. 2. The Post shall elect the Commander, Senior Vice Commander, Junior Vice Commander, Quartermaster,
and three Trustees. The Commander shall appoint an Adjutant, Chaplain, and may appoint a Service
Officer.
Sec. 3. The duties of all officers shall be those prescribed by Department and National Bylaws, lawful orders as
the Post may direct and as these Bylaws may provide.
ARTICLE VI
COMMITTEES AND DUTIES

Sec. 1. All Committees and their chairmen, unless otherwise provided shall be appointed by the Commander as
promptly as possible after election to office, and as such shall serve at his/her will and pleasure. The
Post Quartermaster, by virtue of office shall be treasurer of all committees handling funds.
Sec. 2. The Standing Committees of the Post shall be as follows:

(a) Membership (e) Youth Activities (i) Community Activities
(b) Relief (f) House (j) Safety
(c) Poppy (g) Americanism (k) Bingo
(d) Publicity (h) Ways and Means
Sec. 3. House Committee/Board of Management (BoM):
(a) The House Committee/BoM shall be elected by the Post members to manage certain matters
related to the Post property including the operation of Post Club Rooms and/or Canteen. It shall
consist of not less than three members, one each of whom shall be elected annually for a three-
year term. Trustees shall not serve on the House Committee/BoM. In addition, the Post
Commander and Post Quartermaster by virtue of their offices shall be members of the House
Committee.
(b) The Committee shall be responsible for the cleanliness and upkeep of the quarters and the
equipment therein.
(c) The Committee shall be in charge of the sub-rental of the Post’s quarters and shall exercise such
supervision over sub-renters as will ensure the protection of the Post’s name and property.
(d) The Committee may authorize such expenditures for minor emergency repairs and janitor supplies
as may be necessary for the preservation and protection of the Post’s quarters and its equipment,
provided that the total amount so expended between any two regular meetings shall not exceed an
amount previously established by the Post.
(e) All monies received by the Committee through the sub-rental of the Post's quarters or other
sources shall be deposited with the Post Quartermaster.
(f) All expenditures of the Committee shall be made only by regular voucher and drawn by the
Quartermaster in accordance to these Bylaws.
(g) The House Committee/BoM shall keep a record of all its receipts and expenditures and shall, at
every meeting of the Post, report all monies received and all expenditures made since the last
meeting.

3

(h) The Post may adopt such further rules and regulations governing the conduct of club or canteen
as, do not conflict with the provisions of this Article. Such rules and regulations shall only become
effective upon their approval by a majority vote of members present and voting at a regular or
special meeting called for that purpose; at least thirty (30) days’ notice in writing having first been
given to all members.

ARTICLE VII
CONTROL OF SUBSIDIARY UNITS

Sec. 1. Any activity, unit or clubrooms sponsored, conducted or operated by the Post, incorporated separately
from the Post or unincorporated, shall be at all times under the direct control of the Post.
Sec. 2. All funds derived from any of the above shall be in the custody of the Post Quartermaster.
Sec. 3. All money, property and assets of every kind as well as all records in connection therewith used, held
and owned by any of the above activities is the property of the Post and must be placed in the care and
custody of the Post Quartermaster.
Sec. 4. The Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary and Military Order of the Cootie are governed by Articles XI and
XII respectively of the National Bylaws and Manual of Procedure of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and
their respective Bylaws, rules and regulations.
ARTICLE VIII
EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS

Sec. 1. Expenditure of funds shall be made only after prior authorization by the Post and on proper voucher
drawn by the Adjutant and approved by the Commander. All checks for the expenditure of Post funds
shall be numbered in sequence, the number of each check to correspond with the voucher authorizing
the same, other expenditures may be made using acceptable banking practices. All disbursements of
Post funds shall bear the signature of the Quartermaster or other person(s) authorized by the
Quartermaster. Such other authorized person(s) shall be bonded in accordance with Section 703 of the
National Bylaws.
Sec. 2. The adoption of this Article shall constitute authorization by the Post for the payment of bills, when and as
due, for monthly rental, public utility service, postage, janitor service and for janitor’s supplies and minor
emergency repairs authorized by the House Committee, provided that the amounts to be paid for monthly
rental and for janitor service shall have been previously established by the Post.
Sec. 3. No other payment or expenditure shall be made except on the specific authorization of the Post in each
and every case.
Sec. 4. The Post Quartermaster is authorized a debit card on the account of the Post General fund. Use is
restricted for expenses with VFW National, VFW Department of Alabama, Post purchases through VFW
Store and charges specifically approved by Post Membership vote. The debt card shall not be used for
cash withdrawal at any time.
Sec. 5. A travel expense report will be submitted to the Post for all approved travel expenses prior to
reimbursement.
Sec.. 6. The Post Commander is authorized to disapprove any “proper Post authorization” of expenditures in the
following instances:
(a) Any expenditure in violation of the National Bylaws.
(b) Any expenditure that is unlawful.
(c) Any expenditure that would jeopardize the tax-exempt status of the Post.

ARTICLE IX

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COMPENSATION

Sec. 1. No compensation shall be paid to any officer of this Post for their services as such officer, except as
hereafter may be provided.
Sec. 2. For services rendered, the Post may, by majority vote, pay the annual dues of the Adjutant and
Quartermaster for the periods or parts of periods they serve as such, and such other compensation
commensurate with their duties as may be determined and specified by vote of the Post.

ARTICLE X

FUNDRAISING PROMOTIONS/SOLICITATIONS

Sec. 1. This Post shall solicit funds or donations only by prior vote of the members agreeing to the proposition. It
shall not solicit funds or donations or otherwise engage in fundraising activities or projects outside the
immediate geographical area or community of the Post.
Sec. 2. This Post shall not enter into any agreement with a promoter for the purpose of raising funds unless the
said promoter shall have first furnished a good and sufficient surety bond in a principal sum sufficient to
give the Post ample protection in the particular circumstances. The said bond shall be subject to the
approval of the Post Advocate, bear the endorsement of the Post Commander and be kept in the
possession of the Post Quartermaster. The bond will be conditioned on the payment to the Post
Quartermaster of all monies due the Post as a result of the solicitation within thirty (30) days of the close
of the campaign.
If the promoter has made satisfactory settlement within the thirty-day period, then surety will be
determined to be discharged, otherwise the bond will remain in full force and effect.
Sec. 3. If the bond cannot be furnished, then all collections shall be made by the members of the Post
sponsoring the campaign or entertainment and said funds shall be paid to a bonded officer of the Post
who shall hold the funds in their custody pending proper pro rata distribution.
Sec. 4. Fundraising organizations or individuals conducting solicitations, activities or projects for a profit shall not
be engaged or used by the Post for such purpose unless such engagement is made by written
agreement between the Post and the organization or individuals providing those services. The form of
any such written agreement must be submitted to the Department Commander for review at least thirty
(30) days prior to any Post entering into any such agreement.
Sec. 5. No solicitations or ticket sales shall be permitted in the Post quarters or at socials or meetings unless
such solicitations or ticket sales shall have been approved by the Post.

ARTICLE XI
MISCELLANEOUS

Sec. 1. Every member of this Post shall keep the Post Adjutant and Quartermaster advised of their current
address by promptly reporting any change of same.
Sec. 2. One copy of these Bylaws shall be issued to each elected and appointed officer of this Post.
Sec. 3. In all Post procedures not provided for by the Congressional Charter and Bylaws or these Bylaws,
Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised shall be the authority, and it shall be the duty of the Judge
Advocate, in an advisory way, when called upon to do so by the Post Commander to advise the Post
Commander on the proper rule(s).

ARTICLE XII
SPEECHES

5

Sec. 1. No member will be permitted to speak on any one subject (Pro or Con) more than twice; and the first time
no longer than five (5) minutes, and the second time no longer than three (3) minutes, with the exception
of a committee report and recommendations and visiting guests who have a message to impart.

ARTICLE XIII
AMENDMENTS

Sec. 1. These Bylaws shall become effective after adoption by this Post and after review by the Commander of
the Department and Commander-in-Chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.
Sec. 2. These Bylaws may be amended by the Post by a two-thirds vote of the members present and voting at a
meeting, provided each member had been notified at least twenty (20) days in advance and upon request
provided a copy of the proposed amendments.
Sec. 3. Wherever these Bylaws or subsequent amendments may be found to be in conflict with the present or
any future Department or National Bylaws, the latter shall prevail and be binding upon this Post as though
written herein.

These Bylaws were adopted, subject to the review of the Department Commander and the Commander-in-Chief of
the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States on this _________________ day of
___________________________, 20______, at a regular meeting of this Post.

Owens Crossroads Post 12242
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States

ATTEST: OFFICIAL:

Brett Beatty, Adjutant Alfonso, Nixon,

Welcome to the Veterans of Foreign Wars family. Where your service is honored, your voice is heard, and your community stands strong. We encourage you to get involved, connect with veterans and take full advantage of the support and resources available to you. Join us at upcoming events, volunteer your time and help us build a stronger community together.

Every year here in North Alabama, volunteers and their families/friends are needed to help local veteran organizations in placing flags at Veteran gravesites on the Saturday before and the Saturday after Memorial Day.

The VSOs provide the US flags and just need volunteers to help during these rain or shine events.

Below are the general details for the three separate locations in need. More details are in the attached PDF.

Maple Hill Cemetery
Placement: 17 May, 9 a.m.
Pickup: 31 May, 9 a.m.
POC: Michael Gronkowski, 570-417-7811

Madison Memory Gardens
Placement: 17 May, 10 a.m. (Meet at Madison City Hall on Hughes Rd.)
Pickup: 31 May, 10 a.m. (Meet at Madison City Hall on Hughes Rd.)
POC: Larry Vannoy Cell: 256-468-8400
POC: Jean Downs

Huntsville Memory Gardens
Placement: 17 May, 11 am
Pickup: 31 May, 11 am
POC: Robert Barnett, 256-714-8585

Also, on Memorial Day, May 26th at 1100, there will be a Memorial Day observance and wreath laying at the Huntsville-Madison County Veterans Park at 1100. Our Chapter's Chaplain will be placing the NSA-H wreath with other veteran organizations. Everyone is welcome to attend. Please see press release and flyer for more details.

Please let me know if anyone needs more information.

Respectfully,

Randy Wise
SSC, NSA-H
931-249-8654

A new network is forming. One that protects the American Legacy of service and sacrifice.

Join and bring your tribe to a secure and safe platform.

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It has been a while since I last logged into Fall In. These guys are doing a phenomenal job at helping us veterans. As a former NS I am anxiously waiting for the NS store to open up. Ya'll leave me some hats to buy!!!

As the number of Vietnam and World War II veterans continues to decline, we are faced with a poignant reminder of the invaluable sacrifices they made to protect our freedoms. This decline highlights the urgency of our commitment to preserve their stories and honor their contributions. Going forward, our primary focus will be to ensure that their legacy remains an integral part of our national consciousness. We pledge to uphold their memory and provide the recognition and care these heroes so richly deserve. Our dedication to this mission is unwavering, and we are committed to keeping their spirit alive for future generations. Please help us by ensuring that we integrate as many of these Veterans and their family members as possible into the platform.

Exciting News for Transitioning Service Members!

Are you ready to take the next step in your career? Altitude Career Skills Institute (ACSI) is proud to offer the DoD Skillbridge program, providing transitioning service members with the training and certifications needed to thrive in the civilian workforce.

Through our comprehensive programs in Project Management Professional (PMP), Lean Six Sigma (LSS), Cybersecurity, Human Resources, and other industry-recognized certifications, we equip you with the skills and knowledge to excel in high-demand industries. At ACSI, we are committed to your success and dedicated to helping you achieve your career goals.

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Go HERE and sign up for updates and new releases from
the NSA.

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https://youtu.be/cozoU1ZARN4?si=AFC_w4krJju7jVDc

Veteran entrepreneurs! Learn, live and grow your business and brand with like minded people!

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Director of Ops talking about Fall In’s mission to build a safe space for Veterans and Patriots.

#americaunrestricted

“Homecoming Marine (The War Hero)” by Norman Rockwell (1945)

Homecoming soldiers were a popular subject for illustrators in 1945. But for this end-of-war cover, Rockwell took an unusual approach to capturing a Veteran’s welcome home.

A traditional cover would have shown a G.I. standing tall and proud among civilian admirers, and Rockwell had produced a cover like that after the last war. It showed a tough, confident doughboy surrounded by adoring younger boys. But at the end of this world war, he gives us a slim, young Marine sitting on a box. As if to emphasize his youth, he is seated beside a little boy who is mimicking his pose.

The newspaper on the wall gives us his back story: The mechanic who’d enlisted for the war has now returned a hero, probably from the Asian theater, judging by the flag he is holding. But, instead of recounting tales of glory, he is looking up with a thoughtful, almost troubled expression at the boy who has just asked him a question.

Rockwell was a master at conveying the subtleties of human expression, and it’s clear his intention wasn’t merely to show a hometown boy back in familiar surroundings, but also to capture the newly returned Veteran’s feeling of isolation — knowing he can never adequately convey to the folks at home the things he experienced in the war.

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My NEW Favorite T!

Can you find the ASSAULT FORCE?!?!

https://www.fall-in-veteran.com/posts/5661

Walking through Registeration. Send questions to FALL_IN_STAFF_DUTY .

3 STEPS to JOIN the VHPA network on Fall In Veteran.

CLICK HERE for videos: https://fallinnow.com/

Great resource for those looking to JOIN the VHPA Tribe on Fall In, and contribute to a network of early Users. VHPA can Build our own digital legacy.

Any additional questions can be sent to the Fall In Team FALL_IN_STAFF_DUTY or techsupport@fall-in-veteran.com.

https://fallinnow.com/

3 STEPS to establish an account on VHPA Fall In page (see videos at the link).

VHPA members, Here’s’ how to REGISTER, UPDATE Your profile and Join the VHPA PAGE and MEMBERS ONLY GROUP at Fall In Veteran.

https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3446898/vietnam-war-pilot-returns-home/

Casualties of war took on many forms, as does their return home. God Bless all MIA/POWs/Veterans of Foreign Wars . It’s a part of war many forget that continues long after the battle. We must understand the long term effects on those that spend their lives protecting our freedoms.

Nine Line Apparel
· 21 June, 2024

Join Us for our Annual Heroes Weekend!

Taking place September 20-21, the weekend will consist of our annual Holes Fore Heroes Golf Tournament, our Heroes Dinner and Gala, our Annual Run for the Wounded, and a Range Day for VIPs.

All proceeds will benefit the Nine Line Foundation and the mission to support severely wounded and homeless veterans.

Sign up today to participate, or contact us if you'd like to donate or sponsor. Let's make this our biggest year yet!

https://www.ninelinefoundation.org/events/2024-heroes-weekend?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2q1RBCJ8_DqvOiRePrqgkR02N1MnTKz8eJIhQLSQXw6V1EaWcfm7ZSq18_aem_ZmFrZWR1bW15MTZieXRlcw

#NineLineApparel #heroesweekend #ninelinefoundation #fundraiser

ewayneu Check out the VHPA page. https://www.fall-in-veteran.com/pages/VHPA?ref=qs

https://www.nps.gov/vive/planyourvisit/maps.htm

Members, would we like to have Fall In Veteran Geo-locate the names of our Brothers on the Vietnam Memorial, so we can find them easily when we visit?

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02v1riGAFfcwp7ecjyPvfuskTf1mJcc1FQx3gceG7sqL2MqRsYhnTQLzAdSnG4AqF6l&id=100067135884433

No Greater Mission than this. This group is on the front lines fighting for our souls. Support them here at The Jesus Pattern page

(click the link here, the “GIVE” at the green button)
https://www.fall-in-veteran.com/pages/TJPv1

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SMOKED YARD BIRD!!!

These chickens are ORGANIC and delicious. Nomadic Pastures is Disabled Veteran Owned.

Adam Moma and Nomadic Pastures are leading with heart and healthy food (near Clarksville, TN).

EMayers

https://shop.fall-in-veteran.com/products/unisex-softstyle-t-shirt

The Special Fall In Veteran Tee - Design by ArtReynolds and Fall In.

Support an Unrestricted America. JOIN your Tribe at Fall In.

Contact FALL_IN_STAFF_DUTY with question about our business solutions intended to connect our Veteran Network.

NSDQ!-Serving and LLTB!

Thanks Art for all your support.

#unitedwestand #jointtaskforcepatriot

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/fall-in-veteran-llc-0825932b2_sono1420-home-of-the-foundations-and-associations-activity-7206260355323363329-8diG?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Thank you to our community. You keep our legacy alive by caring for those that gave us our most precious asset. -The Night Stalker

NSDQ! Serving

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/fall-in-veteran-llc-0825932b2_sono1420-home-of-the-foundations-and-associations-activity-7206260355323363329-8diG?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Don’t miss the opportunity to get this classic spirit and support the American military legacy of the 160th SOAR Night Stalkers.

Thank You NSF!

NSDQ!-Serving & LLTB!

https://shop.fall-in-veteran.com/collections/tactical-gear

Integrating applications that empower Veteran’s business objectives: Fall In is here, and ready to build your “situational” business “awareness.”

Low Cost Solutions, Extreme High-Value ‘Actionable Intelligence.’

Tacticians belong on the range, and Logisticians PUT THEM THERE.

See how Exodus Tactical’s digital business solutions are giving them a boost, and more time training people to protect their Flag, Family, Faith and Freedom.

https://shop.fall-in-veteran.com/products/get-a-job

GREAT BOOK! Order HERE!

Support a veteran story of sacrifice, redemption and hope. I have planned and flown with this Soldier in the 101st Airborne Division, and The 160th SOAR.

This books offers 1) the humility of a man who gave his life in service to you, and 2) hard earned lessons-learned from a seasoned warrior.

You can message me if you would like to book a speaking engagement with Eric.

NSDQ! & LLTB!

Hello all!!!, I have already sent out a few DMs looking for some assistance, but figured I would throw this out there with a very large stroke of the brush. I am finally leveraging my fairly large network to see if any of you may have any contacts who can help with Funding Grants or donations. I am involved with an organization called The Purple Heart Project. The mission is to introduce physically and mentally Combat Wounded Veterans still suffering from the negative effects of combat to the peace and joy that can be found through the therapy of traditional hand tool woodworking. I went through the program last year and since, their director has asked me to come on board to help with funding, as it is 100% supported by donation. If any of you could please pass along any info/contacts you may have in the fundraising arena as well as pass along what we do, it would mean a great deal. Thank you and keep doing all the great things each of you do!! https://www.thepurpleheartproject.org/

Financial resiliency means being able to handle and succeed despite financial challenges, ensuring long-term stability and security. For military members and veterans, it involves learning important skills to improve financial knowledge; build better habits, gain complete security, and plan for a secure retirement. This leads to overall financial well-being and peace of mind.

This is what I do.

Shemagh
11.99 USD
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I have a program training (almost exclusively Veterans) on "Financial Resiliency," it's not hard.

Hardest part is messaging me to learn more.

We get work done well, on time and under cost (compared to everyone else). We are Veteran friendly and understand that Clarksville deserve the best craftsmanship.

#USA #Freedom #liberty

Starting on Monday, May 13, 2024, all active duty service members and veterans can enjoy a Free Sandwich on their designated day.

These brave men and women have fought for our freedom, and we are proud to honor them.

Please join us in this week long celebration.
https://mission-bbq.com/armed-forces-week/

By Major Mark A. Smith Sr. (ret)
Note: Some decades ago, a friend in the Pentagon asked me to jot down a few Soldierly thoughts. Through the years I added a couple, but deleted none of the originals. They may not be modern or politically corrected, but they did make the rounds. I stand by them today.
- Mark
1. Never accept an officer as competent based on his source of commission.
2. Your right to influence the battlefield is diminished in ratio to the distance you are from the actual arena of action.
3. The battlefield selects its own Generals. No school or board can replace it.
4. Never call fire on your own troops, unless you stand among them.
5. Leaders are indeed born and no military school can provide what God did not.
6. Equipment procurement will always be compromised by not only being made by the lowest bidder, but by attempting to make it multi-functional.
7. Attempting to lighten the soldier’s load by diminishing the weight of any given weapon, will always result in shorter range and less firepower.
8. Excellent staff officers rarely make good battlefield commanders.
9. Outstanding commanders will surround themselves with excellent staff officers.
10. Never make command a reward for good staff work.
11. Discipline began its decline with the demise of the swagger stick and centralized promotion boards.
12. Outstanding NCO’s may make good officers. But, rarely will a riffed officer make a good NCO.
13. Atheists will never be trusted by their troops on the battlefield.
14. Women can do many things men do, except for a few days every month.
15. Going through the change, has nothing to do with the female senior officer’s uniform.
16. Sexual harassment is a two-lane road.
17. Soldiers tell the truth about good and bad commanders. Their opinion is the ultimate evaluation of an officer.
18. No commander was ever hated for being too hard. But, many are detested for trying to cultivate that image, without substance.
19. The maximum effective range of any weapon is that range at which the individual soldier can hit his target and not an inch further.
20. Pretty females rarely feel harassed by male counterparts.
21. Plain-looking female soldiers are usually the best performers and fit in.
22. Endurance should be judged on the bayonet assault course and not on a marathon run.
23. How far soldiers can run in shorts is unimportant, compared to how far they can speed march with full equipment.
24. Pregnant females are overweight soldiers. Thus, the US Army Weight Control program is not based on equal enforcement of the rules.
25. Tears on the cheeks of any soldier, regardless of gender, are only acceptable on the death of a relative or comrade and when “Old Glory” passes by.
26. Pregnancy is self-inflicted, thus abortions should be paid for by the soldier, as a non line of duty procedure.
27. Soldiers are not ‘sent into combat,” they are led.
28. Your worth as an officer should never be judged on how well you ran with a football in college.
29. West Point is a place of learning, as is any college. Both produce two types of officer; Good and Bad.
30. The computer will never be able to judge the content of a soldier’s spirit, as his Sergeant can.
31. Esprit De Corps cannot be attained at the Battalion picnic or Sports Day. It must be instilled by good leadership and belief in one’s fellow soldiers.
32. No new weapon or tactic will ever instill the same fear in the enemy that one Infantryman with a bayonet can.
33. He who drinks at lunch is a drunken soldier in the afternoon.
34. No soldier is so smart that his physical deficiencies can be overlooked in the Infantry.
35. Painting rocks and serving drinks to officers, have never been soldierly functions. And golf is not a required skill for officers.
36. Consolidation of all administrative personnel at battalion level has eroded accountability and proper reporting.
37. Anyone who thinks that future battlefields will not contain Infantrymen knows nothing about war.
38. Indecision kills more soldiers than any wrong decision. One can command his way out of a wrong decision.
39. The only mission of the Infantry Soldier is to kill the enemy. “Humanitarian Missions" are someone else’s job.
40. Only the Infantry and Armor can gain ground. Only the Infantry can hold it alone.
41. Special Forces are not Rangers or Light Infantry and should never be employed as such.
42. Rangers are light infantry and are not Special Forces.
43. Victory is not a limited objective. There is no other reason to engage an enemy, except victory.
44. Never shower or apply after-shave and cologne, forty eight hours prior to a night attack.
45. Sweat is the true lubricant of the Infantry fighting machine.
46. No American Soldier can be managed to victory. He must be led.
47. The only color in the U.S. Army is green.
48. Use of chemical weapons and biological weapons are a crime against humanity.
49. Not training your soldiers to protect themselves from them is a crime against your own troops.
50. Any tactic written in a book is known to your enemies.
51. If short hair is truly a matter of hygiene and discipline, then all soldiers must have it.
52. No member of a soldier’s family is more important than the mission.
53. No soldier can accomplish his mission if the Army neglects his family.
54. Any soldier who sleeps with another soldier’s wife or lover cannot be trusted on the battlefield and should be shunned.
55. Officers are more likely to wear unauthorized awards than any NCO or Private.
56. Any officer who claims he is accepting an individual award for the entire unit should allow his soldiers to wear it.
57. There can be no quota for awards.
58. Any award for Valor is of more value to the Army than any school diploma or certification.
59. Heroism cannot be taught. But, cowardice is a communicable disease.
60. The machine gun is too important a weapon to be used as a tool for punishing poor soldiers.
61. Precision weapons will jam, if the Commander demands communal cleaning.
62. No officer should be given a command, because, he needs one for his career.
63. No officer should be denied a command, because, he already had one.
64. The state of the Army can be evaluated by how its soldiers look in uniform, at any airport in the world.
65. No reporter can be trusted with operational plans. A reporter who reveals operational plans is a traitor to his country.
66. A combat veteran of any war should be respected by soldiers.
67. American soldiers do not lose wars. Leaders lose wars.
68. What a soldier saw with his own eyes, cannot be ignored or changed by higher headquarters.
69. If Special Forces are not assigned strategic missions, they are being misused.
70. The “Hummer” is a vehicle and is the only thing of that name allowed in the Infantry.
71. If you wish to learn about guerrilla warfare, study Francis Marion and not Westmoreland or Giap.
72. The one night you don’t dig in, will bring mortars on your position.
73. Taking the easy way will always get you killed.
74. Blank ammunition has no place in Infantry training.
75. The more you restrict Infantrymen possessing live ammunition, the more accidents you will have.
76. The Air Force and Navy are supporting arms.
77. Intelligence Officer is usually a contradiction in terms.
78. Inclement weather is the true Infantryman’s ally.
79. There is no special duty so important, that it takes the Infantry Soldier away from his squad.
80. Commanders who use the “Off Limits” authority to deny sex to combat soldiers will have a high V.D. rate.
81. A Commander’s morals are his own and cannot be imposed on his soldiers.
82. Chaplains must present themselves when the soldier has time, not because they have a schedule.
83. An officer must be judged on his ability and not on how many coffees his wife has attended.
84. Senior officers who allow discussions about a brother officer, not present, are not honorable men.
85. A Commander who bad-mouths his predecessor will never be truly respected.
86. Equal opportunity is guaranteed by the law and does not require a separate staff.
87. If a Sergeant Major suggests a unit watch, he is the supplier.
88. The quality of food went down, with the initiation of the consolidated mess.
89. No NCO or Warrant Officer outranks a Second Lieutenant.
90. Any officer who does not listen to NCO’s and Warrant Officers is a fool.
91. If you wish your subordinates to call you by your first name, go sell shoes. There is no place for you in the Army.
92. Any Army man who sneers at a Marine for being sharp and well turned out is no soldier.
93. Any Infantryman who must call higher headquarters before engaging the enemy has a fool for a commander.
94. Soldiers respect leaders worth emulating. They cannot be “ordered” to respect anyone.
95. No man who refused to serve his country in war should be elected or appointed over men and women being sent to fight.

via: Battlesight Zero
·
On October 14, 2018, Technical Sergeant Cody Smith protected his Special Operations team with air power, despite being shot and blasted by mortars and RPGs.

The team was moving back to base when nearly 600 Taliban fighters opened up their ambush. As he returned fire with his rifle, Smith guided in Apache helicopters for strafing runs on enemy positions and F-16s to drop their bombs. For several hours, the team fought on through the ambush. Intercepted Taliban radio traffic revealed that they had identified Smith as the team's JTAC and were specifically targeting him to end the American air strikes. At one point, a mortar round landed only 2 meters away from Smith. It knocked him down and left him with a Traumatic Brain Injury. An enemy bullet targeting Smith hit home. Luckily, the round was stopped by his chest plate. He was hit a 3rd time when an RPG exploded on his vehicle. Through all of it, Smith refused medical treatment to continue his critical role. The Taliban began closing in on the convoy. Smith drove them back with 500 lb bombs and strafing runs as close as 50 meters away.

The journey back to base took 12 hours. Smith remained with his team the whole time, despite his injuries. During the battle, Smith called in 11 danger-close strikes, 9 bombing runs, and numerous strafing runs. He is credited with 195 enemy fighters killed and 18 enemy positions destroyed. Smith was one of two Americans sustaining TBI, and several others were wounded by bullets or shrapnel. His actions helped ensure no one was killed and the team could not be overrun. For his critical role in the battle, Smith was awarded the Silver Star. He was also named the 2019 Airman of the Year.

#battlesightzero #bzo #history #military #militaryhistory #veteran #veterans #america #airforce #usairforce #afsoc #silverstar #cct

https://veteranscareresorts.com/fb/?fbclid=IwAR0onDEkRAbQeucwT5AHvqwHNZAFIxINcJ4fVAJVXEAlH_Rmmhmc7i58TlI

via: The Giant Killer
·
U.S. Army Ranger Captain Kris Kristofferson:

Country music legend and Army vet Kris Kristofferson has a list of accomplishments so long, it might be faster to list off things he hasn't done.

He was an Army brat and brother to a naval aviator, so it was only natural that Kristofferson would find himself in the military. But his life both before and after the military has been more than interesting -- it's downright legendary.

In his younger years, Kristofferson was an accomplished athlete, skilled at rugby and American football. He also was a Golden Gloves amateur boxer. Pretty much anything that required giving or taking a beating, he was up to it.

For anyone who might be thinking he was a dumb young jock-turned country star, think again. Kristofferson studied literature at California's Pomona College, where he became a Rhodes Scholar. He carried on his literature studies at Oxford's Merton College, where he continued boxing. Upon graduating from college, he joined the U.S. Army.

Joining the Army in 1960, Kristofferson earned his Ranger tab before becoming a helicopter pilot, which was critical in getting his country music career off the ground (more on that later). He would reach the rank of captain during his service. In the meantime, he was making music and formed his own band while stationed in Germany.

Kristofferson was offered the prestigious position of teaching literature at West Point in 1965, but turned it down and left the Army. It was a move that caused his family, full of veterans, to disown him. His first wife divorced him four years later, which is some prime country music songwriting fodder.

It was finally time for Kristofferson to focus on music. He moved to Nashville, where he worked as a janitor and flew helicopters for oil rigs. He also worked in construction and fought forest fires in Alaska, anything he could do to keep focused on the music. It also was good experience from which to draw country music inspiration.

As he turned 30 years old, he was still moonlighting as a janitor in Nashville recording studios, strategically dropping demo tapes onto desks and hoping they would get into the hands of some of the biggest names in country music. ... also at Johnny Cash's house.

By now, we know Kristofferson learned to fly helicopters in the Army and ran into financial trouble while trying to make it in country music. In a big gamble, he stole a helicopter, flew to Cash's house and landed on the Man in Black's front lawn.

In retrospect, Kristofferson admits he's lucky Cash didn't try to shoot him down with a shotgun. Instead, the icon listened to his demo for "Sunday Morning Coming Down." Cash liked it so much, he recorded it, and Kristofferson took the first step toward becoming a country music legend.
Now "lifted from obscurity" (as Kristofferson puts it), he wrote some of his biggest hits, including "Vietnam Blues," "Help Me Make It Through the Night" and "Me and Bobby McGee." Later, he would form The Highwaymen, a country music supergroup comprised of himself, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash.

There are few country music stars that Kristofferson hasn't worked with or influenced during his career, even to this day. His music fame led him to the silver screen, where he appeared in 119 roles, including the "Blade" trilogy, the third remake of "A Star Is Born" and the History Channel miniseries "Texas Rising."

Kristofferson was inducted into the songwriter's Hall of Fame in 1985 and has earned more than 48 different BMI Country and Pop awards. In 2004, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and received the Veteran of the Year Award at the American Veteran Awards in 2011, with fellow country legend and vet Willie Nelson presenting the honor.

#usarmy #Militarylife #kriskristofferson #countrymusic #Army #Military

I was a Soldier or I Am A Veteran
- By Colonel Daniel K. Cedusky, USA, Retired

I was a Soldier or I am a Veteran: That’s the way it is, that’s what we were... ARE.

We put it, simply, without any swagger, without any brag, in those four plain words.
We speak them softly, just to ourselves. Others may have forgotten.

They are a manifesto to mankind; speak those four words anywhere in the world — yes, anywhere — and many who hear will recognize their meaning.

They are a pledge. A pledge that stems from a document which said: “I solemnly Swear”, “to protect and defend” and goes on from there, and from a Flag called “Old Glory”.

Listen, and you can hear the voices echoing through them, words that sprang white-hot from bloody lips, shouts of “medic", whispers of “Oh God!”, forceful words of “Follow Me”. If you can’t hear them, you weren’t, if you can you are.

“Don’t give up the ship! Fight her till she dies. Damn the torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead! Do you want to live forever? Don’t cheer, boys; the poor devils are dying.”
Laughing words, and words cold as January ice, words that when spoken, were meant, “Wait till you see the whites of their eyes”.

The echo’s of I was a Soldier. Say what you mean, mean what you say!

You can hear the slow cadences at Gettysburg, or Arlington honoring not a man, but a Soldier, perhaps forgotten by his nation, his family.

Oh! Those Broken Promises, VA claims, Homelessness, Divorces.

You can hear those echoes as you have a beer at the “Post”, walk in a parade, go to The Wall, visit a VA hospital, hear the mournful sounds of Taps, or gaze upon the white crosses, or tall white stones, row upon row.

But they aren’t just words; they’re a way of life, a pattern of living, or a way of dying.

They made the evening, with another day’s work done; supper with the wife and kids. A Beer with friends; and no Gestapo snooping at the door and threatening to kick your teeth in.

They gave you the right to choose who shall run our government for us, the right to a secret vote that counts just as much as the next fellow’s in the final tally; and the obligation to use that right, and guard it and keep it clean.

They prove the right to hope, to dream, to pray, and the obligation to serve.

These are some of the meanings of those four words, meanings we don’t often stop to tally up or even list.

Only in the stillness of a moonless night, or in the quiet of a Sunday afternoon, or in the thin dawn of a new day, when our world is close about us, do they rise up in our memories and stir in our sentient hearts.

And we are remembering family & buddies, who were at Iwo Jima, Wake Island, and Bataan, Inchon, and Chu Lai, Knox and Benning, Great Lakes and Paris Island, Travis and Chanute, Bagdad, Kabul, Kuwait City, and many other places long forgotten by our civilian friends.

They are plain words, those four. Simple words.

You could carve them on stone; you could carve them on the mountain ranges. You could sing them, to the tune of “Yankee Doodle.”

But you needn’t. You needn’t do any of those things, for those words are graven in the hearts of Veterans, they are familiar to 24,000,000 tongues, every sound, and every syllable.

If you must write them, put them on my Stone.

But when you speak them, speak them softly, proudly, I will hear you, for I too, I was a Soldier, I AM A VETERAN."

NSDQ!

https://www.fall-in-veteran.com/posts/3656

Get a FREE Financial Resilience review on Fall In Veteran!!

More resources coming.

"A Nation will be judged by the way it treats its Veterans."
- General George Washington.

Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc.
·
Mending the Line officially hits Netflix tomorrow Saturday the 23rd!

If you haven’t watched the @mendingtheline movie yet, it’s an incredibly powerful movie on the journey of service, separation, and finding peace in the outdoors through fly fishing.

We hope that it will reach a whole new audience and bring awareness to the powers of the outdoors for our veterans and for all looking to find more peace.

Be sure to check it out tomorrow on Netflix!

#mendingtheline #flyfishingsaveslives #projecthealingwaters #flyfishing #posttraumaticgrowth

I'm a homeless but still employed veteran in Reno Nevada and I'm in desperate need of assistance.bANYBONEVPLEASE HELP

If you are a veteran and you own a business can I get a

It is my number 1 mission to help other Veteran owned companies compete in the industry. Here is a quick bio about myself and my company.

https://cfg.solutions/About

Calling all Veteran business owners! Check out my Veteran owned business and let me know if you’re interested in saving some money.

https://cfg.solutions/About

I was a Soldier or I Am A Veteran
- By Colonel Daniel K. Cedusky, USA, Retired

I was a Soldier or I am a Veteran: That’s the way it is, that’s what we were... ARE.

We put it, simply, without any swagger, without any brag, in those four plain words.

We speak them softly, just to ourselves. Others may have forgotten.

They are a manifesto to mankind; speak those four words anywhere in the world — yes, anywhere — and many who hear will recognize their meaning.

They are a pledge. A pledge that stems from a document which said: “I solemnly Swear”, “to protect and defend” and goes on from there, and from a Flag called “Old Glory”.

Listen, and you can hear the voices echoing through them, words that sprang white-hot from bloody lips, shouts of “medic", whispers of “Oh God!”, forceful words of “Follow Me”. If you can’t hear them, you weren’t, if you can you are.
“Don’t give up the ship! Fight her till she dies. Damn the torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead! Do you want to live forever? Don’t cheer, boys; the poor devils are dying.”

Laughing words, and words cold as January ice, words that when spoken, were meant, “Wait till you see the whites of their eyes”. The echo’s of I was a Soldier. Say what you mean, mean what you say!

You can hear the slow cadences at Gettysburg, or Arlington honoring not a man, but a Soldier, perhaps forgotten by his nation, his family.

Oh! Those Broken Promises, VA claims, Homelessness, Divorces.

You can hear those echoes as you have a beer at the “Post”, walk in a parade, go to The Wall, visit a VA hospital, hear the mournful sounds of Taps, or gaze upon the white crosses, or tall white stones, row upon row.

But they aren’t just words; they’re a way of life, a pattern of living, or a way of dying.

They made the evening, with another day’s work done; supper with the wife and kids. A Beer with friends; and no Gestapo snooping at the door and threatening to kick your teeth in.

They gave you the right to choose who shall run our government for us, the right to a secret vote that counts just as much as the next fellow’s in the final tally; and the obligation to use that right, and guard it and keep it clean. They prove the right to hope, to dream, to pray, and the obligation to serve.

These are some of the meanings of those four words, meanings we don’t often stop to tally up or even list.

Only in the stillness of a moonless night, or in the quiet of a Sunday afternoon, or in the thin dawn of a new day, when our world is close about us, do they rise up in our memories and stir in our sentient hearts.

And we are remembering family & buddies, who were at Iwo Jima, Wake Island, and Bataan, Inchon, and Chu Lai, Knox and Benning,
Great Lakes and Paris Island, Travis and Chanute, Bagdad, Kabul, Kuwait City, and many other places long forgotten by our civilian friends.

They are plain words, those four. Simple words.
You could carve them on stone; you could carve them on the mountain ranges. You could sing them, to the tune of “Yankee Doodle.”

But you needn’t. You needn’t do any of those things, for those words are graven in the hearts of Veterans, they are familiar to 24,000,000 tongues, every sound, and every syllable.

If you must write them, put them on my Stone.

But when you speak them, speak them softly, proudly, I will hear you, for I too, I was a Soldier, I AM A VETERAN."

NSDQ!

The Giant Killer
·
God Bless this Hero!

Private Cleto Rodriguez brazenly attacked an enemy fortress to save his platoon during the Battle of Manila, heroics for which he received the nation’s highest military honor the Medal of Honor:

On February 9, 1945, 21-year-old US Army Private Cleto L. Rodriguez rushed across smoking rubble and into withering Japanese gunfire on the island of Luzon in the Philippines.

For nearly a week, he and his fellow soldiers from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 148th Infantry Regiment of the 37th Infantry Division battled to liberate the capital city from a determined enemy.

The American advance had pushed the Japanese back to the Paco District’s once-elegant railway station, situated on the broad Plaza Dilao.

Three companies of die-hard Japanese marines were busily fortifying the building.

Nearly invisible entrenched fighting positions dotted the area.

Sandbag-lined pillboxes and bunkers protected well-armed and equipped defenders.

Rodriguez’s platoon launched a frontal assault against the station across the wide expanse, but enemy fire pinned them down 100 yards from the building.

Rodriguez developed a plan to save his platoon with Private First Class John N. Reese, Jr., a fellow 21-year-old automatic rifleman and full-blooded Cherokee from Pryor, Oklahoma.

Living up to the words on their regimental patch, “WE’LL DO IT,” the two grabbed as many grenades and magazines for their Browning Automatic Rifles as they could carry and ran through enemy fire toward the train station.

Even in urban combat where dangers multiply, Rodriguez was not panicked.

“I have never known fear,” he later claimed.

At a young age he had become acquainted with hardship.

Born in San Marcos, Texas in 1923, he lost his parents at only nine years old.

Selling newspapers to support his family, he often slept in the San Antonio Express’s building so he could wake up early enough to deliver the papers before school.

Rodriguez dropped out before graduating and joined a gang, leading to an aggressiveness that served him well after volunteering for the Army in March 1943 and joining the “Buckeye Division.”

Up against 300 enemy troops, the two Americans fired and maneuvered as a disciplined team.

Clearing hostile positions as they went, the pair of BAR men patiently pushed to within 20 yards of the station’s main entrance.

Without regard for his safety, Private Rodriguez destroyed a 20mm gun and machine gun from close range.

After two-and-a-half hours, the two were out of grenades and had nearly burned through all their ammunition.

With the help of Reese’s suppressive fire, Rodriguez made it back safely to friendly lines.

The Oklahoman, however, fell to a sniper’s bullet while reloading.

Both soldiers displayed exceptional bravery, resulting in 82 enemy troops killed.

With the platoon from Company B no longer caught in a deadly position, the American advance continued.

Rodriguez once again took the initiative only two days later, single-handedly killing six enemy soldiers and destroying a 20mm gun.

President Harry S. Truman presented newly promoted Technical Sergeant Rodriguez with the Congressional Medal of Honor, the first Mexican American in the Pacific theater of operations to receive the nation’s highest military award.

One of the most decorated soldiers in the PTO, Rodriguez also received the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and numerous other awards.

For his bravery on February 9, Private Reese received the Medal of Honor posthumously.

After the war, Technical Sergeant Rodriguez returned to San Antonio to a hero’s welcome.

He left the Army in December 1945 and worked for the Veterans Administration, where he began a lifelong commitment to help fellow Hispanic Americans receive continuing education and skills training.

In 1952, Rodriguez rejoined the service, initially with the US Air Force before transferring to the Army, retiring in 1970 as a master sergeant.

On December 7, 1990, Rodriguez died at 67 years old.

He is buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, the final resting place of eleven other Medal of Honor recipients, six of whom are fellow WWII veterans.

MEDAL OF HONOR CITATION:
“The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Technical Sergeant Cleto L. Rodriguez, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty on 9 February 1945, while serving with Company B, 148th Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Division.

Technical Sergeant Rodriguez was an automatic rifleman when his unit attacked the strongly defended Paco Railroad Station during the battle for Manila, Philippine Islands.

While making a frontal assault across an open field, his platoon was halted 100 yards from the station by intense enemy fire.

On his own initiative, he left the platoon, accompanied by a comrade, and continued forward to a house 60 yards from the objective.

Although under constant enemy observation, the two men remained in this position for an hour, firing at targets of opportunity, killing more than 35 hostile soldiers and wounding many more.

Moving closer to the station and discovering a group of Japanese replacements attempting to reach pillboxes, they opened heavy fire, killed more than 40 and stopped all subsequent attempts to man the emplacements.

Enemy fire became more intense as they advanced to within 20 yards of the station.

Then, covered by his companion, Private Rodriguez boldly moved up to the building and threw five grenades through a doorway killing 7 Japanese, destroying a 20-mm gun and wrecking a heavy machinegun.

With their ammunition running low, the two men started to return to the American lines, alternately providing covering fire for each other's withdrawal.

During this movement, Private Rodriguez' companion was killed.

In 2 1/2 hours of fierce fighting the intrepid team killed more than 82 Japanese, completely disorganized their defense, and paved the way for the subsequent overwhelming defeat of the enemy at this strongpoint.

Two days later, Private Rodriguez again enabled his comrades to advance when he single-handedly killed six Japanese and destroyed a well-placed 20-mm gun by his outstanding skill with his weapons, gallant determination to destroy the enemy, and heroic courage in the face of tremendous odds, Private Rodriguez, on two occasions, materially aided the advance of our troops in Manila.”

Photo of President Harry S. Truman presents Cleto Rodriguez with the Medal of Honor on the White House Lawn on October 12, 1945. Signal Corps photograph.

The Giant Killer book & page honors these war heroes the book details the incredible life of the smallest soldier, Green Beret Captain Richard Flaherty along with the harrowing stories from the men of the 101st Airborne in Vietnam.

The Giant Killer FB page honors these incredible war heroes making sure their stories of valor and sacrifice are never forgotten.

God Bless our Vets!

MIgrated the "Vet HR/S1" into this page Here is the comparison for SGLI/VGLI - other options.

While there is just a letter changed in the acronym. There is a major difference between these programs. Here are some:
*Coverage/Cost*
SGLI - The lowest cost insurance period for the coverage amount of $500k. Usually is around $31 a month.
VGLI - Starts at the rate & coverage you ended with during service. Then every 5 years the rate goes up.

*Med exam: most insurances require this.*
SGLI & VGLI - None.

*Claiming Death Benefit*
SGLI - must keep OSGLI (Office of SGLI) up to date with who the beneficiary is. It's a bit complicated, yet extremely important to have that record and access up to date.
VGLI - as this is run through an insurance carrier (like Prudential) the policy can be updated through their client platform.

*Enrollment*
SGLI - Automatic in service; you can opt for lower premium/opt out.
VGLI - must be enrolled within a time window after service

*Special Coverage*
SGLI -Accelerated Death Benefit & a Traumatic Injury Protection (access to an amount for some types of injuries). Family Coverage: $100,000 for spouse, $10,000 for dependent children (FSGLI).
VGLI - Accelerated Death Benefit: in the case of being diagnosed with <9months to live; 50% of the policy may be accessed (only for insured)

*Cash Accumulation*
SGLI & VGLI: none - They are term insurance.
You'll only find this benefit with whole or universal type policies.

*Is it enough?*
SGLI - It can be, depending on the family's needs. For lower rank and less service: It could cover around 10x annual income. At the point of retirement ~2x-3x annual income.
VGLI - See above. It's also exclusive to the Veteran.
**use a calculator, or have a chat with me to determine overall insurable need**

*What else is there*
In Service - Some insurances have limited access to service members, however having coverage for a spouse and dependents is important as well.
Past Service - Calculate and ensure you're insured

More info: reply, chat with me, or setup a short call some time.

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I am definitely enjoying this platform. I hope to connect with more of you soon. In the meantime I made a page called Veteran S1. I was in the Army, Infantry - and mostly worked with Iraqi & Afghan military improving their training programs... and pursued HR as a career direction. I'm always looking to help.

via: WW II uncovered
·
🇺🇲WWII uncovered: Medal of Honor Recipient Jack Lummus: From the New York Giants to the Beaches of Iwo Jima

Jack Lummus, of Ennis Texas, was a sports star at Baylor University. Excelling in both baseball and football, Jack was nominated for two consecutive years as an All-American. However he left Baylor early to enlist with the Army Air Corps. Unfortunately, Jack washed out in flight school.

Jack returned to baseball briefly in the minor leagues and then signed with the New York Giants. As a rookie he played nine games. "On December 7, 1941, the Giants were playing the Brooklyn Dodgers. Around half-time, the Associated Press ticker in the press box gave out a message saying, "Airplanes identified as Japanese have attacked the American Naval Base at Pearl Harbor." The players continued the game, knowing nothing of the attack.

Jack enlisted with the US Marine Corps on January 30, 1942. He graduated from Officer's Training School at Quantico on December 18, 1942. Initially, Lummus was assigned to the Marine Raiders at Camp Pendleton - ultimately attaching to the 27th Marines, 5th Marine Division.

"In January 1944, he was assigned as Executive Officer, Company F, 2nd Battalion, 27th Marines. In August 1944, the Division was transferred to Camp Tarawa outside of Waimea, Hawaii. Lummus boarded the USS Henry Clay for the trip. After four months of training, the Division was assigned to the V Amphibious Corps and would fight to take the Island of Iwo Jima." - USMC Archive

According to US Marine Corps records: "First Lieutenant Jack Lummus was in the first wave of Marines to land at Red One."

"On March 6, Lummus was put in command of E Company’s third rifle platoon. Two days later, the platoon was at the spearhead of an assault on an objective near Kitano Point. As Lummus charged forward, assaulting pillboxes on his own, his men watched as he survived several shrapnel hits, only to step on a land mine. Despite horrific damage to his legs, Lummus continued to push his men forward, demanding that they not stop for him." - National World War II Museum

According to the National World War II Museum: "Lummus was triaged and evacuated to the Fifth Division Hospital, where doctors did all they could to save his life. Despite 18 pints of blood transfusions and their best efforts, the damage to Lummus’ body was too much, even for his athletic frame. Before he died, Lummus said to one o f the surgeons, “I guess the New York Giants have lost the services of a damn good end.” A few hours later, Lummus asked for a sip of coffee, after which he laid back, closed his eyes, and smiled as he took his last breath."

First Lieutenant Jack Lummus was 29 years old at the time of his passing.

"Jack Lummus was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on May 30, 1946.

His military and athletic legacy continue today, as the U.S. Navy named a maritime prepositioning ship in his honor, the USNS 1st Lt Jack Lummus, in 1986, and the New York Giants inducted him into their Ring of Honor on October 11, 2015" - The National Medal of Honor Museum

Jack lies in rest at Myrtle Cemetery in Ennis Texas. Lest We Forget.

#ww2uncovered #honorourveterans #bayloruniversity #newyorkgiants #rememberthefallen #honorthefallen #MedalofHonor #iwojima #WWII #WWIIveteran #WorldWarII #lestweforget
WWII uncovered©️ description and photos sourced by: USMC Archive, National World War II Museum, Baylor University and Ancestry Database

Small Town America = Perfect Bugout Location? Part 3

Location Location Location...

A simple rule from the battlefield for those not used to conflict,
Space = Time = Responding vs Reacting to a situation

Responding to a situation allows time to evaluate a situation, critical thought and strategy to be applied, a plan to be implemented.

Reacting means dealing with the hand you are dealt relying almost solely on training and instinct which has a significantly higher probability of a less than ideal outcome.

There is a 15-mile buffer of corn, soybeans, and wheat surrounding my small town of 16k people. While you can be more isolated by sitting in the woods somewhere there are many things you give up by doing so. If you are isolated in the woods, who will give you information about what is going on around you? Your "secret" location may not be secret and definitely won't remain a secret once you start living there. We're not even going to get into maintaining 24-hour security of a remote location in this post, if you're managing security who is working? If you're sick whos' maintaining security?

Small Town America is the perfect balance between isolation and community support. There will always be a bad actor or two...but they are well known and easy to keep track of within a community, not so much while isolated in the woods. In your environment do you have space/time? Do you still think isolation in the woods is your best option?

#America #veteran #commonsense

Small Town America = Perfect Bugout Location? Part 2

Bugout vehicle or SUPPLY DUMP for the unprepared?

I love a good kitted out vehicle BUT is it a good answer in an emergency...probably not! Planning to drive around a vehicle with supplies hanging off of it through or around people without those resources doesn't pass the common sense test. It falls into the same category as Marie Antoinette's infamous "let them eat cake" comment before she lost a vital appendage.

Humans are basic despite all of our beliefs of having a more evolved mind. Those in need/fear will fill that need through almost any means necessary. Remember everyone fighting over toilet paper? Now replace that with food, gas, housing and you can see where this goes. Everyone that has ever seen combat knows this simple truth...people survive and not always in a pretty or socially acceptable way.

Back to the kitted out vehicle with gas, food, housing hanging from every square inch... I would venture to say they're not going to remain attached very long! I'm not saying don't prepare a vehicle to give you mobility...just saying don't advertise everything you're taking with you!

#America #veteran #commonsense

Small Town America = Perfect Bugout Location?

Last week I talked about Local Support Networks when dealing with disasters either natural or manmade. While there are those that plan to "go to the woods," often this is not the ideal approach and I'm going to use this series of posts to talk about how that concept is only the preferred option as a last resort.

First lets take a look at why going mobile to a remote location in times of emergency is not ideal. If the disaster is natural or manmade there will be hinderances to travel! While you may have the perfect "prepped" vehicle the majority of the nation does not and they will be on the roads with you. If anyone has seen an "organized" evacuation BEFORE a hurricane you can understand that no 35" tired 4x4 is going to get you through TRAFFIC!

You know the condition of the resources you are leaving FROM but you do not know the condition of the resources where you are going TO! One we are talking about physical supplies but two also PEOPLE you may need to lean on! No matter how prepared you are and the size of your knowledge library you CANNOT BE AN EXPERT IN EVERYTHING!

I don't know about you but if I have a appendicitis I'm not going to have my family operating on me on the kitchen table, I want a doctor that has done it before! The people around me are great people and I know them all by name (small town America)! I know doctors, farmers, mechanics, builders, vets....all in my Local Support Network.

If bad things happen DON'T PANIC, and you don't have to ditch everything to go to a bugout location, far from it! Have a plan to support yourself in your current location, and people to lean on for specialty skills. If you don't have a PRACTICAL skill that can contribute, now would be a great time to LEARN one!

More posts on this topic to follow!

#America #Veteran #commonsense

All NIGHT STALKERS.

Pass the word. Get everyone to Fall In and be ready for NEW RELEASE of NSA store on FALL IN VETERAN.

The NSA Store is almost here.

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ArtReynolds MoDiddy The_Fall_In_1SG [MBazzano]

My wife is representing Morgantown WV in the Mrs West Virginia pageant. Her platform is helping Veterans. She is currently in the top 6 but needs to be in the top 5. If you would like to sponsor or donate you can go to the link I’ve attached. One vote is $2.50. For those of you that have already voted or sponsored, thank you!

https://mrswvamerica.com/2024-contestants/ols/products/mrs-southern-wv-summer-hill

Or you can cashapp us $thejacksonfamly

The Hero Treatment program is a rehab facility here in Louisiana that treats veterans recovering from drug and alcohol addiction as well as PTSD. I just wanted to celebrate a victory in our community, 3 guys were baptized yesterday. They voluntarily left their life of addiction to pursue sobriety and recovery through the chain breaking, healing power of Jesus Christ.
”Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,“
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭103‬:‭2‬-‭4‬

The Enduring Solitude Of Combat Vets:

Retired Army Special Forces Sgt. Maj. Alan Farrell is one of the more interesting people in this country nowadays, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War who teaches French at VMI, reviews films and writes poetry. Just your typical sergeant major/brigadier general with a Ph.D. in French and a fistful of other degrees.

This is a speech that he gave to Vets at the Harvard Business School last Veterans' Day. I know it is long but well worth the read:
--------
"Ladies and Gentlemens:

Kurt Vonnegut -- Corporal Vonnegut -- famously told an assembly like this one that his wife had begged him to "bring light into their tunnels" that night. "Can't do that," said Vonnegut, since, according to him, the audience would at once sense his duplicity, his mendacity, his insincerity... and have yet another reason for despair. I'll not likely have much light to bring into any tunnels this night, either.

The remarks I'm about to make to you I've made before... in essence at least. I dare to make them again because other Veterans seem to approve. I speak mostly to Veterans. I don't have much to say to them, the others, civilians, real people. These remarks, I offer you for the reaction I got from one of them, though, a prison shrink. I speak in prisons a lot. Because some of our buddies wind up in there. Because their service was a Golden Moment in a life gone sour. Because... because no one else will.

In the event, I've just got done saying what I'm about to say to you, when the prison psychologist sidles up to me to announce quietly: "You've got it." The "it," of course, is Post Stress Traumatic Traumatic Post Stress Disorder Stress... Post. Can never seem to get the malady nor the abbreviation straight. He's worried about me... that I'm wandering around loose... that I'm talking to his cons. So worried, but so sincere, that I let him make me an appointment at the V.A. for "diagnosis." Sincerity is a rare pearl.

So I sulk in the stuffy anteroom of the V.A. shrink's office for the requisite two hours (maybe you have), finally get admitted. He's a nice guy. Asks me about my war, scans my 201 File, and, after what I take to be clinical scrutiny, announces without preamble: "You've got it." He can snag me, he says, 30 percent disability. Reimbursement, he says, from Uncle Sam, now till the end of my days. Oh, and by the way, he says, there's a cure. I'm not so sure that I want a cure for 30 percent every month. This inspires him to explain. He takes out a piece of paper and a Magic Marker™. Now: Anybody who takes out a frickin' Magic Marker™ to explain something to you thinks you're a bonehead and by that very gesture says so to God and everybody.

Anyhow. He draws two big circles on a sheet of paper, then twelve small circles. Apples and grapes, you might say. In fact, he does say. The "grapes," he asserts, stand for the range of emotional response open to a healthy civilian, a normal person: titillation, for instance, then amusement, then pleasure, then joy, then delight and so on across the spectrum through mild distress on through angst -- whatever that is -- to black depression. The apples? That's what you got, traumatized veteran: Ecstasy and Despair. But we can fix that for you. We can make you normal.

So here's my question: Why on earth would anybody want to be normal?

And here's what triggered that curious episode:

The words of the prophet Jeremiah:

My bowels. My bowels. I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me... [T]hou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoilt and my curtains... How long shall I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?

I dunno about Jeremiah's bowels... or his curtains, but I've seen the standard and heard the sound of the trumpet. Again. Civilians mooing about that "Thin Red Line of 'eroes" between them and the Darkness. Again. ‘Course it's not red any more. Used to be olive drab. Then treetop camouflage. Then woodland. Then chocolate chip. Now pixelated, random computer-generated. Multi-cam next, is it? Progress. The kids are in the soup. Again. Me? I can't see the front sights of me piece any more. And if I can still lug my rucksack five miles, I need these days to be defibrillated when I get there. Nope. I got something like six Honorable Discharges from Pharaoh's Army. Your Mom's gonna be wearing Kevlar before I do. Nope. This one's on the kids, I'm afraid, the next generation.

I can't help them. Not those who make the sacrifice in the desert nor those in the cesspool cities of a land that if two troopers from the One Oh One or two Lance Corporals could find on a map a few years ago, I'll be surprised. Nobody can help... except by trying to build a society Back Here that deserves such a sacrifice.

We gonna win the war? I dunno. They tell me I lost mine. I know I didn't start it. Soldiers don't start wars. Civilians do. And civilians say when they're over. I'm just satisfied right now that these kids, for better or worse, did their duty as God gave them the light to see it. But I want them back. And I worry not about the fight, but about the after: after the war, after the victory, after... God forbid... the defeat, if it come to that. It's after that things get tricky. After that a Soldier needs the real grit and wit. And after that a Soldier needs to believe. Anybody can believe before. During? A Soldier has company in the fight, in Kandahar or Kabul, Basra or Baghdad. It's enough to believe in the others during. But after... and I can tell you this having come home from a war: After ...a Soldier is alone. A batch of them, maybe... but still alone.

Years ago, maybe... when I was still in the Army, my A Team got the mission to support an Air Force escape and evasion exercise. Throw a bunch of downed pilots into the wilderness, let local guerrillas (us) feed them into a clandestine escape net and spirit them out by train just like in The Great Escape to... Baltimore, of all places. So we set up an elaborate underground network: farmhouses, caves, barns, pickup trucks, loads of hay where a guy can hide, fifty-five gallon drums to smuggle the evadees through checkpoints in. We've even cozened the Norfolk and Western Railroad out of a boxcar.

Sooooo... come midnight, with our escapees safely stowed in that car, we wait for a special train to make a detour, back onto the siding, hook it up, and freight the pilots off to Maree-land. Pretty realistic, seems to us.

Now, for safety's sake the Railroad requires a Line Administrator on site to supervise any special stop. Sure enough, just before midnight two suit-and-ties show up toting a red lantern. Civilians. We sniff at them disdainfully. One of them wigwags to the train. With a clank she couples the boxcar and chugs out into the night. The other guy -- frumpy Babbit from the front office -- shuffles off down the track and out onto a trestle bridge over the gorge. He stands there with his hands behind his back, peering up at the cloud-strewn summertime sky, a thousand bucks worth of Burberry overcoat riffling in the night breeze. I edge over respectfully behind him. Wait. He notices me after a while, looks back. "You know," he says, "Was on a night like this 40 years ago that I jumped into Normandy."

Who'da thought?

Who'da thought? Then I thought... back to right after my return from Vietnam. I'm working nights at a convenience store just down the road from this very spot. Lousy job. Whores, bums, burnouts, lowlifes. That's your clientele after midnight in a convenience store. One particular guy I remember drifts in every morning about 0400. Night work. Janitor, maybe. Not much to distinguish him from the rest of the early morning crowd of shadows shuffling around the place. Fingers and teeth yellowed from cigarette smoke. A weathered, leathered face that just dissolves into the colorless crowd of nobodies.

Never says a word. Buys his margarine and macaroni and Miller's. Plunks down his cash. Hooks a grubby hand around his bag and threads his way out of the place and down the street. Lost in another world. Like the rest of the derelicts. One night, he's fumbling for his keys, drops them on the floor, sets his wallet on the counter -- brown leather, I still remember -- and the wallet flops open. Pinned to the inside of it, worn shiny and smooth, with its gold star gleaming out of the center: combat jump badge from that great World War II... Normandy maybe, just like the suit-and-tie.

Who'da thought?

Two guys scarred Out There. Not sure just where or how even. You can lose your life without dying. But the guy who made it to the top and the guy shambling along the bottom are what James Joyce calls in another context "secret messengers." Citizens among the rest, who look like the rest, talk like the rest, act like the rest... but who know prodigious secrets, wherever they wash up and whatever use they make of them. Who know somber despair but inexplicable laughter, the ache of duty but distrust of inaction. Who know risk and exaltation... and that awful drop though empty air we call failure... and solitude! They know solitude.

Because solitude is what waits for the one who shall have borne the battle. Out There in it together... back here alone.

Alone to make way in a scrappy, greedy, civilian world "filching lucre and gulping warm beer," as Conrad had it. Alone to learn the skills a self-absorbed, hustling, modern society values. Alone to unlearn the deadly skills of the former -- and bloody -- business. Alone to find a companion -- maybe -- and alone -- maybe -- even with that companion over a lifetime... for who can make someone else who hasn't seen it understand horror, blackness, filth Incommunicado. Voiceless. Alone.

My Railroad president wandered off by himself to face his memories; my Store 24 regular was clearly a man alone with his.

For my two guys, it was the after the battle that they endured, and far longer than the moment of terror in the battle. Did my Railroad exec learn in the dark of war to elbow other men aside, to view all other men as the enemy, to "fight" his way up the corporate ladder just as he fought his way out of the bocages of Normandy? Did he find he could never get close to a wife or children again and turn his energy, perhaps his anger toward some other and solitary goal Did the Store/24 guy never get out of his parachute harness and shiver in an endless night patrolled by demons he couldn't get shut of? Did he haul out that tattered wallet and shove his jump badge under the nose of those he'd done wrong to, disappointed, embarrassed? Did he find fewer and fewer citizens Back Here who even knew what it was? Did he keep it because he knew what it was? From what I've seen -- from a distance, of course -- of success, I'd say it's not necessarily sweeter than failure -- which I have seen close up.

Well, that's what I said that woke up the prison shrink.
And I say again to you that silence is the reward we reserve for you and your buddies, for my Cadets. Silence is the sound of Honor, which speaks no word and lays no tread. And Nothing is the glory of the one who's done Right. And Alone is the society of those who do it the Hard Way, alone even when they have comrades like themselves in the fight. I've gotta hope as a teacher that my Cadets, as a citizen that you and your buddies will have the inner resources, the stuff of inner life, the values in short, to abide the brute loneliness of after, to find the courage to continue the march, to do Right, to live with what they've done, you've done in our name, to endure that dark hour of frustration, humiliation, failure maybe... or victory, for one or the other is surely waiting Back Here. Unless you opt for those grapes...

My two guys started at the same place and wound up at the far ends of the spectrum. As we measure their distance from that starting point, they seem to return to it: the one guy in the darkness drawn back to a Golden Moment in his life from a lofty vantage point; t'other guy lugging through God knows what gauntlet of shame and frustration that symbol of his Golden Moment. Today we celebrate your Golden Moment. While a whole generation went ganging after its own indulgence, vanity, appetite, you clung to a foolish commitment, to foolish old traditions; as Soldiers, Sailors, Pilots, Marines you honored pointless ritual, suffered the endless, sluggish monotony of duty, raised that flag not just once, or again, or -- as has become fashionable now -- in time of peril, but every single morning. You stuck it out. You may have had -- as we like to say -- the camaraderie of brothers or sisters to buck each other up or the dubious support (as we like to say... and say more than do, by the way) of the folks back home, us... but in the end you persevered alone. Just as alone you made that long walk from Out There with a duffle bag fulla pixelated, random computer-generated dirty laundry -- along with your bruised dreams, your ecstasy and your despair -- Back Here at tour's end.

And you will be alone, for all the good intentions and solicitude of them, the other, the civilians. Alone. But...together. Your generation, whom us dumbo civilians couldn't keep out of war, will bear the burden of a soldier's return... alone. And a fresh duty: to complete the lives of your buddies who didn't make it back, to confect for them a living monument to their memory.

Your comfort, such as it is, will come from the knowledge that others of that tiny fraction of the population that fought for us are alone but grappling with the same dilemmas -- often small and immediate, often undignified or humiliating, now and then immense and overwhelming -- by your persistence courting the risk, by your obstinacy clinging to that Hard Way. Some of you will be stronger than others, but even the strong ones will have their darker moments. Where we can join each other if not relieve each other, we secret messengers, is right here in places like this and on occasions like this -- one lousy day of the year, your day, my day, our day, -- in the company of each other and of the flag we served. Not much cheer in that kerugma. But there's the by-God glory.

"I know..." says the prophet Isaiah:

... I know that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass...I have shewed thee new things, even hidden things. Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have [refined] thee...in the furnace of affliction...

Well, all right, then. Why on earth would anybody want to be normal? Thanks for Listening and Lord love the lot of youse."

Find YOUR state and local VSO rep HERE.

https://www.fall-in-veteran.com/pages/VSO

“The MEDAL OF HONOR” #488 in this Series.
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government.

Peter Joseph DALESSANDRO, US Army, TechSergeant
World War II – September 1, 1939 to September 2, 1945

Peter Joseph DALESSANDRO, US Army, TechSergeant

Date of Birth: May 18, 1918 Watervliet, New York
Date of Death: October 15, 1997 (aged 79)
Burial Location: Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga
National Cemetery, Schuylerville, NY

DALESSANDRO was Platoon Sergeant of First Platoon and ordered to secure an important
crossroad on the high grounds of Kalterherberg, Germany.

His Citation reads:

“He was with the 1st Platoon holding an important road junction on high ground near Kalterherberg, Germany,
on 22 December 1944.

In the early morning hours, the enemy after laying down an intense artillery and mortar barrage, followed through with an all-out attack that threatened to overwhelm the position.

T/Sgt. Dalessondro, seeing that his men were becoming disorganized, braved the intense fire to move among them with words of encouragement.

Advancing to a fully exposed observation post, he adjusted mortar fire upon the attackers, meanwhile firing upon them with his rifle and encouraging his men in halting and repulsing the attack.

Later in the day the enemy launched a second determined attack.

Once again, T/Sgt. Dalessondro, in the face of imminent death, rushed to his forward position and immediately called for mortar fire.

After exhausting his rifle ammunition, he crawled 30 yards over exposed ground to secure a light machine gun, returned to his position, and fired upon the enemy at almost point blank range until the gun jammed.

He managed to get the gun to fire 1 more burst, which used up his last round, but with these bullets he killed
4 German soldiers who were on the verge of murdering an aid man and 2 wounded soldiers in a nearby foxhole.

When the enemy had almost surrounded him, he remained alone, steadfastly facing almost certain death or capture, hurling grenades and calling for mortar fire closer and closer to his outpost as he covered the withdrawal of his platoon to a second line of defense.

As the German hordes swarmed about him, he was last heard calling for a barrage, saying, "OK, mortars, let me have it--right in this position!"

The gallantry and intrepidity shown by T/Sgt. Dalessondro against an overwhelming enemy attack saved
his company from complete rout.

He was captured during the battle and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of war.”

After coming back as a war hero to Watervliet, New York, where he lived before the war, DALESSANDRO was elected to the New York Senate as Democrat Deputee, where he served for 35 years.

After he retired from the Senate, he became the Senate Minority Leader's Secretary.

He retired from public life in October 1977, but stayed active in the politic of the Albany County until his death.

DALESSANDRO was a member of the American Legion, Catholic War Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Elks.

He died in 1998.

MEDALS and AWARDS:
. Medal of Honor
. Silver Star
. Purple Heart

IN HIS HONOR:
A portion of County Route 151 alongside Albany International Airport was been named in his honor in Colonie, New York.

NOTE:
A spelling mistake made 42 years ago by the Federal government will greet travelers every time they drive to the Albany County Airport.

The small error, however, does not bother Peter J. DALESSANDRO, the county's Medal of Honor winner. He was beaming Monday morning when he and Albany County Executive James J. Coyne pulled off the red, white and blue plastic wrap to unveil the new name for the Albany County Airport access road: "Peter J. Dalessondro Boulevard."

"That's the way it's spelled on my Medal," DALESSANDRO of Loudonville said, flipping over his Medal of Honor to show where the "o" was written on the back.

The Giant Killer
February 21, 2022
·
The incredible story behind this picture of two Vietnam Vets that never knew each other meet on a chance encounter and create an iconic picture.

Vietnam veteran, Eddie Robinson, in a wheelchair, watching the Chattanooga Armed Forces Day parade with his child. This photograph won a Pulitzer Prize in 1977.

Chattanooga, Tennessee. May 15, 1976. Photo by Vietnam Vet Robin Hood.

“By the spring of 1976, the Vietnam War is over. But its effects are deeply embedded in the lives of millions.
Robin Hood learned a trade in Vietnam — he went over as an Army information officer and came back as a photographer. Eddie Robinson served in Vietnam, too. But the war took something away from him: his legs.

The two Veterans crossed paths at the Armed Forces Day Parade in Chattanooga, Tenn., on May 15, 1976. Hood is walking along the sidelines, taking pictures for the Chattanooga News-Free Press.

“I had just finished photographing a group of small Vietnamese children who had been relocated to Chattanooga as war refugees and were now watching the parade and waving small American flags.” Then Hood sees Robinson, in army fatigues, a rain poncho — and a wheelchair. “The thought occurred to me that here was a man who had made a supreme sacrifice for the Freedom of those (Vietnamese) children-” Hood releases the shutter. Robinson wistfully watches the parade and protects a child from the rain.

And the truth is that all Veterans pay with their lives... Some pay all at once, while others pay over a lifetime.
- JM Storm

via: Historia Obscurum
·
In February of 1945, Earl Shaffer's best friend was killed on Iwo Jima.

Earl Shaffer (pictured) and Walter Winemiller had been hiking buddies back home in Pennsylvania before the war, and together had dreamed of doing the impossible...

The more than 2,100-mile-long Appalachian Trail had been finished not long before the outbreak of the Second World War, and no one believed it was possible to hike its entire length.

Shaffer and Winemiller decided that they wanted to be the first, but the war interrupted their plans.

Earl entered the U.S. Army in 1941, and worked on radar systems throughout the Pacific Theater. He survived, but his friend did not, dying on Iwo Jima in 1945.

After his discharge, Earl felt aimless and restless, and in 1948 decided to make good on his and Walter's dream.

Starting in Georgia, Earl began walking north along the trail. He took very few supplies with him, and even hiked without socks sometimes.

Earl wrote that he took to the trail to "walk the war out of my system", and as the miles wore on, he began to find the peace that had eluded him since the war's end.

As he closed in on the northern terminus of the trail in Maine, he paused and wrote in his journal, "In very good spirits. Thinking of Walter."

It took Earl Shaffer 124 days to complete the entire Appalachian Trail, but, still believing it to be impossible, few people believed he'd actually done it.

It was only after a fierce grilling from officials of the Appalachian Trail Conference that his accomplishment was recognized officially, and Earl became famous as the first person ever to walk the complete length of the Appalachian Trail.

In 1965, Earl hit the trail again, this time hiking north to south from Maine to Georgia in 99 days.

Then in 1998, fifty years after his initial thru-hike, Earl completed the full trail again at the age of 79.

Earl Shaffer died of cancer in 2002, but his personal odyssey continues to inspire countless Veterans who, like him, turn in greater and greater numbers each year to America's wild trails, forests, and mountains to find peace and purpose, and to walk off their own wars.

Most people won't take the time to read this all the way to the end. I hope that you will.

17 INCHES" - you will not regret reading this

An excellent article to read from beginning to end.

Twenty years ago, in Nashville, Tennessee, during the first week of January, 1996, more than 4,000 baseball coaches descended upon the Opryland Hotel for the 52nd annual ABCA's convention.

While I waited in line to register with the hotel staff, I heard other more veteran coaches rumbling about the lineup of speakers scheduled to present during the weekend. One name kept resurfacing, always with the same sentiment — “John Scolinos is here? Oh, man, worth every penny of my airfare.”

Who is John Scolinos, I wondered. No matter; I was just happy to be there.

In 1996, Coach Scolinos was 78 years old and five years retired from a college coaching career that began in 1948. He shuffled to the stage to an impressive standing ovation, wearing dark polyester pants, a light blue shirt, and a string around his neck from which home plate hung — a full-sized, stark-white home plate.

Seriously, I wondered, who is this guy?

After speaking for twenty-five minutes, not once mentioning the prop hanging around his neck, Coach Scolinos appeared to notice the snickering among some of the coaches. Even those who knew Coach Scolinos had to wonder exactly where he was going with this, or if he had simply forgotten about home plate since he’d gotten on stage.

Then, finally …

“You’re probably all wondering why I’m wearing home plate around my neck,” he said, his voice growing irascible. I laughed along with the others, acknowledging the possibility. “I may be old, but I’m not crazy. The reason I stand before you today is to share with you baseball people what I’ve learned in my life, what I’ve learned about home plate in my 78 years.”

Several hands went up when Scolinos asked how many Little League coaches were in the room.

“Do you know how wide home plate is in Little League?” After a pause, someone offered, “Seventeen inches?”, more of a question than an answer.

“That’s right,” he said. “How about in Babe Ruth’s day? Any Babe Ruth coaches in the house?”

Another long pause.

“Seventeen inches?” a guess from another reluctant coach.

“That’s right,” said Scolinos.

“Now, how many high school coaches do we have in the room?”
Hundreds of hands shot up, as the pattern began to appear.

“How wide is home plate in high school baseball?”

“Seventeen inches,” they said, sounding more confident.

“You’re right!” Scolinos barked. “And you college coaches, how wide is home plate in college?”

“Seventeen inches!” we said, in unison.

“Any Minor League coaches here? How wide is home plate in pro ball?”............“Seventeen inches!”
“RIGHT! And in the Major Leagues, how wide home plate is in the Major Leagues?

“Seventeen inches!”

“SEV-EN-TEEN INCHES!” he confirmed, his voice bellowing off the walls. “And what do they do with a Big League pitcher who can’t throw the ball over seventeen inches?”

Pause. “They send him to Pocatello!” he hollered, drawing raucous laughter. “What they don’t do is this: they don’t say, ‘Ah, that’s okay, Jimmy. If you can’t hit a seventeen-inch target? We’ll make it eighteen inches or nineteen inches. We’ll make it twenty inches so you have a better chance of hitting it. If you can’t hit that, let us know so we can make it wider still, say twenty-five inches.'”

Pause.

“Coaches… what do we do when your best player shows up late to practice? or when our team rules forbid facial hair and a guy shows up unshaven? What if he gets caught drinking? Do we hold him accountable? Or do we change the rules to fit him? Do we widen home plate? "

The chuckles gradually faded as four thousand coaches grew quiet, the fog lifting as the old coach’s message began to unfold.

He turned the plate toward himself and, using a Sharpie, began to draw something. When he turned it toward the crowd, point up, a house was revealed, complete with a freshly drawn door and two windows.

“This is the problem in our homes today. With our marriages, with the way we parent our kids. With our discipline.

We don’t teach accountability to our kids, and there is no consequence for failing to meet standards. We just widen the plate!”

Pause.

Then, to the point at the top of the house he added a small American flag.
“This is the problem in our schools today. The quality of our education is going downhill fast and teachers have been stripped of the tools they need to be successful, and to educate and discipline our young people.
We are allowing others to widen home plate! Where is that getting us?”

Silence.

He replaced the flag with a Cross. “And this is the problem in the Church, where powerful people in positions of authority have taken advantage of young children, only to have such an atrocity swept under the rug for years. Our church leaders are widening home plate for themselves! And we allow it.”

“And the same is true with our government. Our so-called representatives make rules for us that don’t apply to themselves. They take bribes from lobbyists and foreign countries. They no longer serve us. And we allow them to widen home plate! We see our country falling into a dark abyss while we just watch.”

I was amazed. At a baseball convention where I expected to learn something about curve balls and bunting and how to run better practices, I had learned something far more valuable.

From an old man with home plate strung around his neck, I had learned something about life, about myself, about my own weaknesses and about my responsibilities as a leader. I had to hold myself and others accountable to that which I knew to be right, lest our families, our faith, and our society continue down an undesirable path.

“If I am lucky,” Coach Scolinos concluded, “you will remember one thing from this old coach today. It is this: "If we fail to hold ourselves to a higher standard, a standard of what we know to be right; if we fail to hold our spouses and our children to the same standards, if we are unwilling or unable to provide a consequence when they do not meet the standard; and if our schools & churches & our government fail to hold themselves accountable to those they serve, there is but one thing to look forward to…”

With that, he held home plate in front of his chest, turned it around, and revealed its dark black backside, "We have dark days ahead!.”

Note: Coach Scolinos died in 2009 at the age of 91, but not before touching the lives of hundreds of players and coaches, including mine. Meeting him at my first ABCA convention kept me returning year after year, looking for similar wisdom and inspiration from other coaches. He is the best clinic speaker the ABCA has ever known because he was so much more than a baseball coach.

His message was clear: “Coaches, keep your players—no matter how good they are—your own children, your churches, your government, and most of all, keep yourself at seventeen inches."
And this my friends is what our country has become and what is wrong with it today, and now go out there and fix it!

"Don't widen the plate."

via: Susan Kee - Honoring Korean War Veterans
·
"When you're young, you take more risks, and you are more brave. Maybe, this is why they send young men to war..."
- Korean War veteran

This photo of a young American Soldier serving in the Korean War, is a reminder to us of how young they were and also how brave they were. Most of them were about 18 years old and in many cases, they were only 16 or 17 years old.

Many Korean War Veterans say, "when you're young, you take more risks, you are more brave. Maybe, this is why they send young men to war..."

Many of these young men admit they did not even know where Korea was when they were sent there.
Little did they know that the fate of a Nation and its People rested on their shoulders. It is because of their great courage and sacrifices that South Korea and its People were saved from the grips of North Korea's communist regime and South Korea prospers and flourishes in Freedom today.

Over 70 years later, our Korean War Veterans are now nearing or over 90 years of age. Everyday, there are increasing number of Korean War Veterans passing away and leaving us. Over the last few years I have attended more funerals of Korean War Veterans than ever before. Sadly, I have lost count of how many funerals of Korean War Veterans I have attended in the past 10 years. My heart breaks with the passing of each Korean War hero.

Time is running out and I feel there is a great urgency to capture and document their stories. Their experiences and stories are important pieces of our history that we all should know and pass on to future generations.

The fact that South Korea is a thriving Free Nation today is only possible because of all who fought and saved her from communist tyranny during the Korean War. This incredible legacy of these young men who fought with great courage and gave their lives to save a nation from communist oppression, should never be forgotten.

Over 36,000 Americans sacrificed their lives and over 8,000 became Missing in Action with thousands others from other United Nations countries who laid down their lives to save South Korea and its People.
I am among the millions of Koreans who live in Freedom today because of their tremendous sacrifices. We, Koreans can never Thank them enough and we will never be able to repay all that was sacrificed for us.

I believe the best way we can thank and honor them is to learn their stories and make them known. Many Korean War Veterans say to me, "the Korean War is forgotten, no one knows anything about it." So, I challenge every Korean War Veteran to do something to change that. The way that our Korean War Veterans can make sure that the Korean War is not forgotten, is to share their stories and teach the rest of us, of what happened.

70 years later, I thank God that I, a Korean American woman, can meet these very heroes who saved my family, and my birth country and learn their amazing stories. Since 2012, I have interviewed hundreds of Korean War Veterans and everything I share with you on this Facebook page is a result of what I have learned from them. Our Korean War Veterans have been my greatest teachers of Korean War history. Our Korean War Veterans will continue to be my inspiration and I will continue to share their incredible stories with you, as my way of Honoring and Thanking them.

I encourage all of you who have a Korean War Veteran as a family member or friend, to please seek the Veteran and ask him if he would share anything of his Korean War experiences. Their stories are important history that should be remembered.

This post is dedicated with utmost gratitude to all the young men from the US and United Nations countries, who risked their lives and gave their lives in the Korean War.

May these Heroes, their stories and their legacies, never be forgotten. With everlasting Love, Gratitude and Respect to my greatest heroes, Susan Kee - Honoring Korean War Veterans

PHOTO CAPTION:
"American Soldier scans the area in front of his Observation Post on the front line somewhere in Korea. July 29th, 1950." (Photo Credit: U.S. Army)

#koreanwar #koreanwarveterans #koreanwarheroes #freedom #freedomisnotfree #neverforgotten

Worth a read...

Strong words from Soldiers such as Willy McTear come in Loud and Clear to Leaders, if they have the stones to face such realities and they provide us, as a Nation, with some Hard Truths that must be heard/faced.

How our Vietnam Veterans were treated upon their return from the green hell of that conflict is something every American who is worthy of such a title should be ashamed of. That must Never happen again... it is Ok, and Right even to hate War (I know that first hand), but when we hate Our Warriors, well, that Must Never Happen Again...

May God Bless our Vietnam Veterans, May He bring them a calm to their heads and hearts from such memories, and grant them Peace for the rest of their days - we must Never Forget how we treated them upon their return to our Homeland, ever...

SALUTE!

via: The Giant Killer
·
Powerful words from a Vietnam vet!

Photo of Willie McTear, McTear served in Charlie Company of the Army 9th Division's 4th Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, 1967.

McTear gives his opinion of the draft, the brotherhood of war, and what it was like to be spit on & cursed at upon his return from Nam.

"I’m just one of the approximate 9,000 men who were drafted and made up the Ninth Infantry Division. This is my opinion based on my personal experience.

We, the draftees, were designated well in advance for the Ninth Division to occupy the Mekong Delta.

We fought in the most difficult terrain in all of South Vietnam: jungles, mud and swamps. The only volunteers were the officers. The rest of the entire division, with exception of some non-commissioned officers, were draftees. I was in one of the first integrated companies of all draftees.

We had the best officer, Jack Benedict. Rest In Peace.

Each patrol was a suicide mission. We would have liked the choice to choose the branch of service and a Military Occupational Speciality. But that was not an option for draftees, only a carrot that was dangled to get us to enlist.

We viewed this as punishment for not volunteering. We all gave some and some gave all. R.I.P.

After several firefights we realized how the draft board and America really felt about us. Sergeant Bill Reynolds said it best. “America is not with us.”

Enough said.

Without a word said, we understood that we had a special bond and from this point on we will fight for each other because we had been abandoned.

More abandonment was revealed and manifested upon our arrival home, not as heroes but as villains. We were spat on and cursed at. Our government didn’t have the decency to give us a heads up upon our arrival.
That hurt really deep.

The wounds inflicted are invisible and manifested in many ways. Many of us grapple with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a sense of not belonging and not being good enough to be accepted as Soldiers.

So thank you draft board for souls lost and lives destroyed beyond repair.

I try not to remember the suffering you inflicted upon us, but remember our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility and the courage to endure past and current hardships.

I think I can speak for the Ninth Division, 4th Battalion, 47th Infantry and especially Charlie Company.

God did through Andrew Wiest what we could not do for ourselves when he wrote the book, The Boys of ’67: Charlie Company’s War in Vietnam.

Writer and arm-chair general Abigail Pfeiffer said it best: “Wiest addresses the ugliness and humanity of war but also the loving bonds that are created between Men who experienced war together and the indelible marks it leaves on their minds.”

And a big thank you to National Geographic for “Brothers in War,” for bringing The Boys of ’67 to life with that documentary, the story of Charlie Company.

To the draft board, we forgive you, but we hope and pray the draft board will be eliminated."
- Willie McTear

The Giant Killer book & page honors these incredible war heroes making sure their stories of valor and sacrifice are never forgotten. The book which features the incredible life of the smallest soldier, Green Beret Captain Richard Flaherty (101st Airborne & 3rd SF Group 46th Co.) and several of the other heroes featured on this page is available on Amazon & Walmart. God Bless our Vets!

via: Hurlburt Field

They call him "The Godfather" in the Air Force Special Tactics community. As a member of the Air Commando Association Hall of Fame and someone who spent 50 years with the United States Air Force, we can't think of anyone better to honor as our #CaptivatingCommando for #VeteransDay2016.
https://www.facebook.com/1SOW.HurlburtField/videos/1280935288594708
Check out the video to hear his story as part of the 2016 Veterans In Blue Campaign. Airman Magazine

via: PBS Wisconsin

LZ Lambeau: Jim Northrup
"I realized then that surviving the peace was up to me." In memory of Jim Northrup, the Ojibwe author and Vietnam U.S. Marine Corps veteran who passed away this week, here is his powerful presentation and recitation from the May 2010 LZ Lambeau: Welcoming Home Wisconsin's Vietnam Veterans event.
https://www.facebook.com/pbswi/videos/10153806607531538

https://www.fall-in-veteran.com/posts/3049

Wow! Chaz released this on Fall In ONLY!! You guys ‘pass the word.’ Our Tribes need your leadership and a place they are understand.

#chaz Chaz_the_Gun_Guy

Black Helicopters + President Reagan = Happy Presidents Day!

Hooter Bros! Night Stalkers Don't Quit Serving!

160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne)

#America #patriot #veteran #NSDQ

https://youtu.be/3q4GpjPdWKI?si=v6auOXkZtyg9_-gG

Happy Monday, and no I don't expect you to be working today! Just needed to get this out.

This is one of the most impactful open source videos (Mike "Garand Thumb" Jones) that gives the current situation of drone warfare in Ukraine and how quickly the world of strategy and tactics is evolving, faster than any other period in history.

Key points:
-Current uses of drones (future ACFT will only enhance/scale these missions)
-Noise signature of different drones = different threats and responses
-Counter drone tactics
-Non-western tactics for mass infantry and escalation
-The old is new again with trench warfare but with new technology
-What is cutting edge now will be accepted doctrine in 2-5 years, faster if conflict breaks out
-Mines on the battlefield/cluster munitions
-Use of smoke to break contact
-Frag!

Our thinking will have to be innovative and adaptive to win in any near peer engagement, this is not the warfare of Global War On Terror! If we stay rooted in the thinking of today's problems and not on the missions/challenges we will face in the future we will loose...and yes that is a possibility...

https://youtu.be/Tge7YMi4gJs?si=i6iy9HJGSUFhgpOV

#America #Veteran #Patriot #Ukraine #Tactics

https://youtu.be/3q4GpjPdWKI

Message from The Great Communicator.

Brought to you by the Night Stalkers and Seals of Fall In Veteran.

NSDQ! & LLTB!

I just wanted to give a quick shout out to @EMayers with The Jesus Pattern Page on FIV. We are always looking to sharpen our skills and broaden our knowledge, especially when it comes from the unique experiences and knowledge only found in our community. Eli will be leading and mentoring me through a 21 Day Challenge offered through The Jesus Pattern website www.thejesuspattern.com to facilitate the never ceasing journey of spiritual growth. Fall In Veteran has been instrumental in connecting our causes and collaboration in future endeavors. “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17 NIV

National Memorial Day Concert (PBS)
The Inspirational Story of Ted Strong, Vietnam Veteran (Presented by Laurence Fishburne):

Once a 220-pound linebacker, Ted Strong returned from the Vietnam War wounded and emaciated, missing his right arm and left leg, but his fighting spirit was intact. 47 years later, his words were etched into glass panels of the Disabled Veterans' Life Memorial, which reads “It's possible for a man to lose half of his physical being and still become whole.” His moving story of living with disability and becoming the man he is today was shared by Laurence Fishburne at the 2015 National Memorial Day Concert.

We are honored to share his story with you:
https://www.facebook.com/memorialdayconcert/videos/925278168131227

#BlackHistoryMonth #VietnamVeteran #Inspirational

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- February 13, 2014

Today's Veteran of the Day is Jacob Parrott.
Jacob was awarded the first Medal of Honor on Feb. 13, 1863. He joined the U.S. Army in 1861.
In April 1862, Jacob volunteered to take part in a daring raid with twenty-one others. After infiltrating Confederate lines and hijacking the locomotive "General," they were captured and imprisoned. Jacob was severely beaten 110 times in an attempt to make him talk. He and fourteen others managed to escape, but only six of them reached friendly lines. Jacob was later exchanged and taken to Washington, D.C. to meet President Lincoln and was presented with the Medal of Honor by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. He served with the Union Army for the rest of the war.

We honor his service.

Everyone support Cowboy raise money to stop veteran suicide.

I spoke with cowboy, and this is legit. He is raising money to stop Veteran suicide. Please, support if able.

https://linktr.ee/JonMacaskill

Gents,

Go pepper Jon’s LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonmacaskill

,and get him over to FIV to lead a morning Go Live session for Veterans.

We’ll call it “FIV Frogman Mindfulness in the Morning.”

Jon, I’m in!

-The Skipper @ Fall In.

https://www.fall-in-veteran.com/posts/2865

Make sure to check out this pod cast on 160th SOAR Pilot and Veteran Entrepreneur shawn.woodman. #nitrolithiclabs

It was an honor to be a guest on the 10X Your Team with Cam & Otis podcast! Please check out the latest issue and remember to like and subscribe to the podcast while you are there! Thank you to Cam and Otis for having me on! Cam & Otis talk about #leadership, #veterans, #business, and #coaching. They also have a free weekly newsletter you can sign up for. https://youtu.be/YUhaRXEbWDM?si=Wy7d6BIxSvwrdICp

The Enduring Solitude Of Combat Vets:

Retired Army Special Forces Sgt. Maj. Alan Farrell is one of the more interesting people in this country nowadays, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War who teaches French at VMI, reviews films and writes poetry. Just your typical sergeant major/brigadier general with a Ph.D. in French and a fistful of other degrees.
This is a speech that he gave to Vets at the Harvard Business School last Veterans' Day. I know it is long but well worth the read:
--------
"Ladies and Gentlemens:
Kurt Vonnegut -- Corporal Vonnegut -- famously told an assembly like this one that his wife had begged him to "bring light into their tunnels" that night. "Can't do that," said Vonnegut, since, according to him, the audience would at once sense his duplicity, his mendacity, his insincerity... and have yet another reason for despair. I'll not likely have much light to bring into any tunnels this night, either.

The remarks I'm about to make to you I've made before... in essence at least. I dare to make them again because other Veterans seem to approve. I speak mostly to Veterans. I don't have much to say to them, the others, civilians, real people. These remarks, I offer you for the reaction I got from one of them, though, a prison shrink. I speak in prisons a lot. Because some of our buddies wind up in there. Because their service was a Golden Moment in a life gone sour. Because... because no one else will.

In the event, I've just got done saying what I'm about to say to you, when the prison psychologist sidles up to me to announce quietly: "You've got it." The "it," of course, is Post Stress Traumatic Traumatic Post Stress Disorder Stress... Post. Can never seem to get the malady nor the abbreviation straight. He's worried about me... that I'm wandering around loose... that I'm talking to his cons. So worried, but so sincere, that I let him make me an appointment at the V.A. for "diagnosis." Sincerity is a rare pearl.

So I sulk in the stuffy anteroom of the V.A. shrink's office for the requisite two hours (maybe you have), finally get admitted. He's a nice guy. Asks me about my war, scans my 201 File, and, after what I take to be clinical scrutiny, announces without preamble: "You've got it." He can snag me, he says, 30 percent disability. Reimbursement, he says, from Uncle Sam, now till the end of my days. Oh, and by the way, he says, there's a cure. I'm not so sure that I want a cure for 30 percent every month. This inspires him to explain. He takes out a piece of paper and a Magic Marker™. Now: Anybody who takes out a frickin' Magic Marker™ to explain something to you thinks you're a bonehead and by that very gesture says so to God and everybody.

Anyhow. He draws two big circles on a sheet of paper, then twelve small circles. Apples and grapes, you might say. In fact, he does say. The "grapes," he asserts, stand for the range of emotional response open to a healthy civilian, a normal person: titillation, for instance, then amusement, then pleasure, then joy, then delight and so on across the spectrum through mild distress on through angst -- whatever that is -- to black depression. The apples? That's what you got, traumatized veteran: Ecstasy and Despair. But we can fix that for you. We can make you normal.

So here's my question: Why on earth would anybody want to be normal?

And here's what triggered that curious episode:
The words of the prophet Jeremiah:

"My bowels. My bowels. I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me... [T]hou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoilt and my curtains... How long shall I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?"

I dunno about Jeremiah's bowels... or his curtains, but I've seen the standard and heard the sound of the trumpet.

Again. Civilians mooing about that "Thin Red Line of 'eroes" between them and the Darkness.

Again. ‘Course it's not red any more. Used to be olive drab. Then treetop camouflage. Then woodland. Then chocolate chip. Now pixelated, random computer-generated. Multi-cam next, is it? Progress. The kids are in the soup.

Again. Me? I can't see the front sights of me piece any more. And if I can still lug my rucksack five miles, I need these days to be defibrillated when I get there. Nope. I got something like six Honorable Discharges from Pharaoh's Army. Your Mom's gonna be wearing Kevlar before I do. Nope. This one's on the kids, I'm afraid, the next generation.

I can't help them. Not those who make the sacrifice in the desert nor those in the cesspool cities of a land that if two troopers from the One Oh One or two Lance Corporals could find on a map a few years ago, I'll be surprised. Nobody can help... except by trying to build a society Back Here that deserves such a sacrifice.

We gonna win the war? I dunno. They tell me I lost mine. I know I didn't start it. Soldiers don't start wars. Civilians do. And civilians say when they're over. I'm just satisfied right now that these kids, for better or worse, did their duty as God gave them the light to see it. But I want them back. And I worry not about the fight, but about the after: after the war, after the victory, after... God forbid... the defeat, if it come to that. It's after that things get tricky. After that a Soldier needs the real grit and wit. And after that a Soldier needs to believe.

Anybody can believe before. During? A Soldier has company in the fight, in Kandahar or Kabul, Basra or Baghdad. It's enough to believe in the others during. But after... and I can tell you this having come home from a war: After ...a Soldier is alone. A batch of them, maybe... but still alone.

Years ago, maybe... when I was still in the Army, my A Team got the mission to support an Air Force escape and evasion exercise. Throw a bunch of downed pilots into the wilderness, let local guerrillas (us) feed them into a clandestine escape net and spirit them out by train just like in The Great Escape to... Baltimore, of all places. So we set up an elaborate underground network: farmhouses, caves, barns, pickup trucks, loads of hay where a guy can hide, fifty-five gallon drums to smuggle the evadees through checkpoints in. We've even cozened the Norfolk and Western Railroad out of a boxcar.

Sooooo... come midnight, with our escapees safely stowed in that car, we wait for a special train to make a detour, back onto the siding, hook it up, and freight the pilots off to Maree-land. Pretty realistic, seems to us.

Now, for safety's sake the Railroad requires a Line Administrator on site to supervise any special stop. Sure enough, just before midnight two suit-and-ties show up toting a red lantern. Civilians. We sniff at them disdainfully. One of them wigwags to the train. With a clank she couples the boxcar and chugs out into the night. The other guy -- frumpy Babbit from the front office -- shuffles off down the track and out onto a trestle bridge over the gorge. He stands there with his hands behind his back, peering up at the cloud-strewn summertime sky, a thousand bucks worth of Burberry overcoat riffling in the night breeze. I edge over respectfully behind him. Wait. He notices me after a while, looks back. "You know," he says, "Was on a night like this 40 years ago that I jumped into Normandy."

Who'da thought?

Who'da thought? Then I thought... back to right after my return from Vietnam. I'm working nights at a convenience store just down the road from this very spot. Lousy job. Whores, bums, burnouts, lowlifes. That's your clientele after midnight in a convenience store. One particular guy I remember drifts in every morning about 0400. Night work. Janitor, maybe. Not much to distinguish him from the rest of the early morning crowd of shadows shuffling around the place. Fingers and teeth yellowed from cigarette smoke. A weathered, leathered face that just dissolves into the colorless crowd of nobodies.

Never says a word. Buys his margarine and macaroni and Miller's. Plunks down his cash. Hooks a grubby hand around his bag and threads his way out of the place and down the street. Lost in another world. Like the rest of the derelicts. One night, he's fumbling for his keys, drops them on the floor, sets his wallet on the counter -- brown leather, I still remember -- and the wallet flops open. Pinned to the inside of it, worn shiny and smooth, with its gold star gleaming out of the center: combat jump badge from that great World War II... Normandy maybe, just like the suit-and-tie.

Who'da thought?

Two guys scarred Out There. Not sure just where or how even. You can lose your life without dying. But the guy who made it to the top and the guy shambling along the bottom are what James Joyce calls in another context "secret messengers." Citizens among the rest, who look like the rest, talk like the rest, act like the rest... but who know prodigious secrets, wherever they wash up and whatever use they make of them. Who know somber despair but inexplicable laughter, the ache of duty but distrust of inaction. Who know risk and exaltation... and that awful drop though empty air we call failure... and solitude!

They know solitude.
Because solitude is what waits for the one who shall have borne the battle. Out There in it together... back here alone.

Alone to make way in a scrappy, greedy, civilian world "filching lucre and gulping warm beer," as Conrad had it. Alone to learn the skills a self-absorbed, hustling, modern society values. Alone to unlearn the deadly skills of the former -- and bloody -- business. Alone to find a companion -- maybe -- and alone -- maybe -- even with that companion over a lifetime... for who can make someone else who hasn't seen it understand horror, blackness, filth Incommunicado. Voiceless. Alone.

My Railroad president wandered off by himself to face his memories; my Store 24 regular was clearly a man alone with his.

For my two guys, it was the after the battle that they endured, and far longer than the moment of terror in the battle. Did my Railroad exec learn in the dark of war to elbow other men aside, to view all other men as the enemy, to "fight" his way up the corporate ladder just as he fought his way out of the bocages of Normandy?

Did he find he could never get close to a wife or children again and turn his energy, perhaps his anger toward some other and solitary goal Did the Store/24 guy never get out of his parachute harness and shiver in an endless night patrolled by demons he couldn't get shut of? Did he haul out that tattered wallet and shove his jump badge under the nose of those he'd done wrong to, disappointed, embarrassed? Did he find fewer and fewer citizens Back Here who even knew what it was? Did he keep it because he knew what it was? From what I've seen -- from a distance, of course -- of success, I'd say it's not necessarily sweeter than failure -- which I have seen close up.

Well, that's what I said that woke up the prison shrink.

And I say again to you that silence is the reward we reserve for you and your buddies, for my Cadets. Silence is the sound of Honor, which speaks no word and lays no tread. And Nothing is the glory of the one who's done Right. And Alone is the society of those who do it the Hard Way, alone even when they have comrades like themselves in the fight. I've gotta hope as a teacher that my Cadets, as a citizen that you and your buddies will have the inner resources, the stuff of inner life, the values in short, to abide the brute loneliness of after, to find the courage to continue the march, to do Right, to live with what they've done, you've done in our name, to endure that dark hour of frustration, humiliation, failure maybe... or victory, for one or the other is surely waiting Back Here. Unless you opt for those grapes...

My two guys started at the same place and wound up at the far ends of the spectrum. As we measure their distance from that starting point, they seem to return to it: the one guy in the darkness drawn back to a Golden Moment in his life from a lofty vantage point; t'other guy lugging through God knows what gauntlet of shame and frustration that symbol of his Golden Moment. Today we celebrate your Golden Moment. While a whole generation went ganging after its own indulgence, vanity, appetite, you clung to a foolish commitment, to foolish old traditions; as Soldiers, Sailors, Pilots, Marines you honored pointless ritual, suffered the endless, sluggish monotony of duty, raised that flag not just once, or again, or -- as has become fashionable now -- in time of peril, but every single morning. You stuck it out. You may have had -- as we like to say -- the camaraderie of brothers or sisters to buck each other up or the dubious support (as we like to say... and say more than do, by the way) of the folks back home, us... but in the end you persevered alone. Just as alone you made that long walk from Out There with a duffle bag fulla pixelated, random computer-generated dirty laundry -- along with your bruised dreams, your ecstasy and your despair -- Back Here at tour's end.

And you will be alone, for all the good intentions and solicitude of them, the other, the civilians. Alone. But...together. Your generation, whom us dumbo civilians couldn't keep out of war, will bear the burden of a soldier's return... alone. And a fresh duty: to complete the lives of your buddies who didn't make it back, to confect for them a living monument to their memory.

Your comfort, such as it is, will come from the knowledge that others of that tiny fraction of the population that fought for us are alone but grappling with the same dilemmas -- often small and immediate, often undignified or humiliating, now and then immense and overwhelming -- by your persistence courting the risk, by your obstinacy clinging to that Hard Way. Some of you will be stronger than others, but even the strong ones will have their darker moments. Where we can join each other if not relieve each other, we secret messengers, is right here in places like this and on occasions like this -- one lousy day of the year, your day, my day, our day, -- in the company of each other and of the flag we served. Not much cheer in that kerugma.

But there's the by-God glory.

"I know..." says the prophet Isaiah:
... I know that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass...I have shewed thee new things, even hidden things. Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have [refined] thee...in the furnace of affliction...

Well, all right, then.

Why on earth would anybody want to be normal?

Thanks for Listening and Lord love the lot of youse."

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