This Week'ss Soldier Was Suggested By Jenn
"He was a really patriotic young man", said Darrell Griffin Sr. "He said that the people there really needed us and he felt it was the right place to be. He wished we didn’t have to have wars, but since that’s the way mankind is, he felt he was contributing an important part to his country".SSgt. Griffin lost his life in Balad, Iraq when his unit came under fire as it was returning to base after conducting security operations in the Iraqi capital.
The eldest son of six children, SSgt. Griffin worked as an EMT before joining the California Army National Guard in 1999. He enlisted in the Army two years later, and in July 2001, was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, in Ft. Lewis, Washington. He served with that unit in Iraq from October 2004 to September 2005.
On his second tour of duty, SSgt. Griffin had been awarded the Bronze Star for valor in 2005 when he was credited with saving the lives of three U.S. and two Iraqi Army soldiers injured during battle in Tal Afar. He had also received the Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Combat Infantry Badge, Expert Infantry Badge, Parachute Badge, and the Meritorious Unit Citation.
"Griff was the type of man you want to have by your side in a fight," Maj. Brent Clemmer, his former company commander, wrote from Iraq. "He was the type of squad leader every young soldier wants to have".
"Darrell was my husband, my Soldier, my gift from God who was also the love of my life and always will be." Said his wife, Diana. "He was also 'a Soldier's Soldier of Strength and Honor' whose commitment to duty, honor and loyalty will be forever remembered by all who know and love him. The news of his death saddens us deeply and we ask for your prayers in our time of grief. Please also continue to keep our Soldiers in your prayers
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. To find out more about Wednesday Hero, you can go here.
Hatak Yuka Keyu Martin Yearby was remembered in funeral services as a small town boy who balanced his Choctaw tribal heritage and his military life.These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.He did traditional American Indian dances with grace, compassion, discipline and free spirit — "the way he lived his life," the Rev. Timm Emmons said Monday.
"He had a desire to be in the military since he was a young boy. And he believed in what he was doing. He was a warrior, and he was a hero and he finished the course."
Yearby was killed by a roadside bomb, along with fellow Lance Cpl. Jose S. MarinDominguez Jr., in the Al Anbar province of Iraq, two months after he arrived in that country.
Friends and family, fellow American Indians, teachers and classmates filed past his open casket for an hour after the funeral while a U.S. Marine Corps honor guard stood at attention.
About 1,000 people attended a funeral service meant to celebrate the life of the 21-year-old newlywed from Overbrook in southern Oklahoma’s Love County.
Those who spoke in the packed Marietta High School auditorium talked of how he loved to hunt, but never came back with anything. He played tricks, won dancing awards at powwows and appeared on a recruiting magazine for Upward Bound because of a headdress he made from a T-shirt.
Nine of his friends stood on stage to remember Yearby. Jake Barber spoke for them, pausing several times to regain his composure.
"Many great words describe Hatak. The only real word you need to say is 'brother'. He will always be known to us as the ace of spades, the most important card in the deck. He touched us so dearly that words cannot explain,".
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. To find out more about Wednesday Hero, you can go here.
This combination of photos provided Tuesday, June 19, 2007 by the City of Charleston, S.C. shows the nine firefighters killed in a fire Monday night in Charleston. Top row, left to right: Bradford "Brad" Baity, 37, Capt. Mike Benke, 49, Melvin Champaign, 46. Middle row, left to right: James "Earl" Drayton, 56, Michael French, 27, Capt. William "Billy" Hutchinson, 48. Bottom row, left to right: Mark Kelsey, 40, Capt. Louis Mulkey, 34, Brandon Thompson, 27.
Thank you Lord, for blessing us with such courageous men.
This Week's Hero Was Suggested By Malinda
69-year-old Bert Brady has never stepped foot in Iraq or Afghanistan, yet many soldiers who have know who he is and appreciate what he's done for them. You see, for the past year Mr. Brady has made a trip to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport nearly every morning to welcome home returning American troops. Bert Brady, along with fellow veterans, is a member of the Welcome Home a Hero program. They make sure that every soldier who steps off a plane in Dallas gets a special homecoming.Brady shows up each day with the goal of making soldiers feel appreciated and proud of their service. He's often joined by veterans of the Vietnam and Korean wars who did not get a warm reception when they returned from battle.
"We are not going to forget them like a lot of Vietnam soldiers have been forgotten," Brady said. "We are not going to forget the soldiers of today."
To read more about Bert Brady, you can go to ABCnews.com
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. To find out more about Wednesday Hero, you can go here.
Whodathunk?
SOFIA, Bulgaria - Bulgaria has lost 13 soldiers in Iraq, but says it is committed to the U.S.-led coalition at least until next spring, and Albania professes such an affinity for America that it has issued three stamps featuring President Bush's picture and the Statue of Liberty.Three stamps!
And what do we do? We issue commemorative Elvis stamps and the always popular Forever stamp.
But Bush is so well-liked in Albania, the street running in front of parliament has been renamed in his honor.Well ain't that somethin'?"Albanians identify the United States of America as the cradle of liberty and democracy," said Albert Rakipi of the Albanian Institute for International Studies. Bush's visit to the mostly Muslim nation is "a thank you for Albania's nonstop support of U.S. policy," he said.
The Inside Story Of How The Senate Immigration Bill Died
[W]hy [sic] so many Republicans had been supporting such an incredibly unpopular bill:Anyone who tries to piss on the value of American citizenship by supporting this bill, Republican or Democrat, needs to seriously re-examine what this country means to them.First off, there was what he referred to as the "Rovian School of thought," which says that passing this bill would capture the Hispanic vote for the GOP for decades to come.
Next up, there's the "Chamber of Commerce" vote. He says these Republicans were heavily influenced by business groups that want cheap labor no matter what the cost is for the rest of the country.
Then there was the last group, the smallest group in his opinion, who were willing to sign onto a terrible bill just so they could say they were part of a big reform that had bipartisan support.
(Hey, if the POTUS can question whether I truly want what's best for this country, I can redirect the question, too.)
This Week's Soldiers Were Suggested By Mary Ann
Since being deployed to the Diyala province of Iraq in November 2006, Col. David Sutherland, along with brigade Chaplain Maj. Charlie Fenton, pictured on the right, has made it a point to visit every wounded soldier and say goodbye to each and everyone of his men who've lost their life. Four of his soldiers died on one day in April 2007 and the bad news arrived at his office in waves -- a knock on the door, a note handed in by an aide, heads bowed, knowing glances exchanged. Aides say Sutherland walks to the mortuary affairs tent at his base and embraces the dead bodies of his men. "I hug all my fallen soldiers", said Sutherland. "They are my own".For more information about Col. Sutherland, visit this page.Diyala province is one of the worst places in Iraq. Public beheadings of Iraqi police, tribal wars, sectarian wars and al-Qaida. "I didn't come here thinking it'd be easy. No one told me, 'You're gonna get 9 hours of sleep a night and you're not gonna lose soldiers'. But I believe this is the place for me."
"As a soldier, I want to be here on the ground," he said. "As an American, I want it to end."
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. To find out more about Wednesday Hero, you can go here.
Mass Holocaust grave unearthed in Ukraine
KIEV, Ukraine - A mass grave holding the remains of thousands of Jews killed by the Nazis has been found in southern Ukraine near the site of what was once a concentration camp, a Jewish community representative said Tuesday.Just awful. Simply awful.The grave was found by chance last month when workers were preparing to lay gas pipelines in the village of Gvozdavka-1, near Odessa, said Roman Shvartsman, a spokesman for the regional Jewish community.
The Nazis established two ghettos during World War II near the village and brought Jews there from what is now Moldova as well as Ukrainian regions, Shvartsman said. In November 1941, they set up a concentration camp and killed about 5,000 Jews, he said.
More than 50 years later, we're still uncovering the victims of a mad man's evil dream.
(Blame this evidence on Western propaganda, all you Holocaust denying bastards)
Thanks to Bluto at the Jawa Report for this story:
A somewhat surprising announcement from Fort Drum.This is not right at all. I can't imagine what's going on in regards to "scheduling" that each fallen soldier cannot be given the due individual honors he deserves.Army officials there say they'll begin hosting monthly memorial services for 10th mountain division soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Previously, Fort Drum had held individual ceremonies for each of its soldiers killed in action.
A spokesman for the military post says the change is due to scheduling, not an increase in combat deaths.
Fort Drum has lost roughly 140 soldiers since 2003.
I can't imagine what it would be like for the familes to mourn collectively. Something about this just doesn't sit well with me.
And what's with this "lost roughly 140 soldiers" talk? Is there not an exact number available ?
