News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
BAE Guayas Keeps Age Of Sail — This photo of a three-masted barque making its way through the Panama Canal was snapped about 7:30 yesterday evening, Dec. 4.
Russell (Rusty) L. Carter was welcomed home this afternoon, April 14, with a police escort that included cars from just about every jurisdiction in Delaware County, fire engines, Mummers, dozens of motorcyclists from Warriors’ Watch Riders and a crowd of hundreds that lined his small block on Orchard Road between Leamy and Woodland avenues in Springfield Pa.
The procession proceeded through an arch made from ladder trucks from the Springfield and Clifton Heights volunteer fire companies from which hung an enormous American flag.
Rusty served as a member of the 101st Airborne Division and was deployed to Afghanistan. In July 2010, he came under hostile fire and suffered a concussion. A month after being treated from his wounds he returned to his unit.
On Jan. 2, 2011 while returning from a night mission, Rusty was in the turret of his Humvee that experienced mechanical problems and went over the side of an unprotected bridge, crashing into a ravine and coming to rest in the river bed 50 feet below. While the five other soldiers on board sustained recoverable injuries, Rusty suffered several broken bones, severe lacerations to his face and skull and a complete C 4 separation of the spine.
Rusty has lost all motor function; he is paralyzed from the chest down and has no feeling from the elbows down. He also suffers from minor traumatic brain injury. The prognosis is that he is permanently disabled, will never walk again and no longer has use of his hands.
The event was organized by Warriors’ Watch Riders, an organization of motorcyclists dedicated to honoring those who served pictured below turning onto Orchard Road from Leamy Avenue.
Obama Wants To Cut Deterrent –It’s all over the airwaves but you may as well see it here as well.
President Barack Obama wants to cut our nuclear deterrent to 300 warheads which will be less than France and probably Israel much less the People’s Republic of China.
Existing treaties establish our limit at 1,550 warheads by 2018.
Why does Obama want to fix something that’s not broken?
Hat tip Tom C.
Bright Pink Drone For Obama — President Obama has requested that the Iranians return the spy drone that fell in their country in December.
According to the Russian website RT, the Iranians are sending him a toy model of one colored bright pink.
Don’t expect to see this in the old media.
Jan. 20, 2013 can’t come soon enough.
Haditha Drama Ends With Near Exoneration — The big story of ’05 is over and it turns out that U.S. Marines did not murder 24 innocent Iraqis in a blood-thirsty, kill-crazy rage in complete violation of the laws of war and Uniform Code of Military Justice despite the claims to the contrary by Time Magazine, the British film industry and a deceased Pennsylvania congressman.
And you saw all the headlines and broadcasts declaring such, right?
SSgt Frank Wuterich pleaded guilty to one count of “negligent dereliction of duty” on Jan. 23. He will be reduced in rank to a private but serve no jail time.
He had been charged with murder.
Of the seven other Marines indicted charges were, over the years, dismissed against LCpl. Stephen Tatum, LCpl. Justin Sharratt, Capt. Lucas McConnell, Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, and Capt. Randy Stone, while Lt. Andrew Grayson was found not guilty on all counts and no misconduct was found by LtCol Jeffrey Chessani.
On Nov. 19, 2005, a 500-pound improvised explosive device destroyed a humvee killing Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas and seriously wounding two others in Haditha, Iraq. Wuterich’s squad was ordered to clear out some nearby houses to find the bomb’s triggerman and suppress snipers. The Marines threw hand grenades into the buildings before entering. Many of the dead were women and children.
Bad, yes, but as the trials unfolded it became clear the Marines had not acted for vengeance or were in violation of their training.
Wuterich accepted guilt for negligent dereliction of duty because he admitted uttering “shoot first, ask questions later” in the heat of battle.
Compare that to the statement by the late John Murtha (D-Pa12) who ascertained on May 17, 2006 in the comfort and safety of the floor of Congress: “There was no firefight, there was no IED
that killed these innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the
pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood”.
Murtha’s malicious claim authoritatively stated as fact was instrumental in sending eight men — men who had forwent comfort and risked their lives to keep this country safe — through a half-decade of hell.
Murtha died in 2010. He has an airport named for him in Johnston, and a statue in a city park.
Kudos to warchronicle.com which provided excellent day-to-day coverage of the Wuterich trial.
Dover Mortuary Chaos Disgusting — I was disgusted when I read this article this morning about the gross chaos and mismanagement at the Dover ,Delaware mortuary. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/08/air-force-morgue-lost-bod_0_n_1082161.html?1320777661&icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%7C111016
Quick Comments
1)those military supervisory personnel at the mortuary were only”reprimanded” and kept their jobs.My solution:repost them to remote posts in Afganistan so they can learn first-hand the sacrifices our military men and women make OR let them RESIGN
2)I am highly suspicious when I read that there is a slit in a plastic bag containing missing “ankle fragments”.Are these ghouls selling body parts to the medical black market?
3)One of the whistle blowers at the morgue was pressured and
attempts were made to force themout of their job!!
I would check this out carefully as this is the first sign of a cover-up.
4)Have Delaware Senator Tom Carper head the investigation since he is a former military man(Annapolis graduate) and one of the frew Democratic senators I highly respect
Banker Tom
Rolling Stone ‘Expose’ Exposed — The Rolling Stone expose alleging widespread thuggery by members of the 5/2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team in Afghanistan has been shown overblown to the point of dishonesty by war correspondent extraordinaire Michael Yon, a former Green Beret who has been covering combat in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2004.
Yon notes that the hope-it-dies-before-it-gets-older hippie mag mingled legitimate combat footage with a murder committed by a handful of members of that brigade who were subsequently turned in by a fellow soldier and prosecuted in due course all without media outcry.
Yon’s story can be found here.
DADT Questions Never Asked — Here is an email flying around the web regarding the lame-duck repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy concerning the sexual orientation of service personnel. It’s attributed to an unnamed retired Marine colonel. While the writer’s identity is obviously not verifiable, the questions he raises, however, are certainly worth considering.
“I was skeptical of DADT also. But, it worked because the objective was to permit individuals to serve. Not once did I ask a Marine if he or she was a homosexual or a heterosexual. It was not an issue for me, and the Marines with whom I served never made it an issue.
Unlike DADT, the current agenda in not about individual service. It is a political agenda focused on total integration and acceptance not of individuals but of the homosexual lifestyle.
I think ending DADT suddenly is a major distraction to combat readiness and good order and discipline. Special interest groups whose primary intent is fostering total acceptance not only of homosexuals but the homosexual lifestyle are using the Armed Forces as a judicial lab rat.
I am suspect of any person who puts any personal issue above devotion to duty and accomplishment of mission. Are we Marines 24/7? What is more important one’s sexuality, one’s religion, one political party, or the imperatives of duty?
On a practical level:
I am not sure what serving “Openly” as a homosexual means. I would like to see a definition Is all homosexual conduct permitted? Such as, cross dressing and going to the PX? What conduct is not permitted? From a command and leadership perspective these questions need to be addressed, and the Congress needs to make the necessary adjustments to the UCMJ.
When someone joins the Armed Forces must he/she declare their sexuality (i.e. male or female; homo/hetero)?
I want to know how Federal hate speech laws apply to the Armed Forces. For example, if a non-homosexualMarine calls a homosexual Marine a “faggot” is that hate speech? Will company commanders be required to take judicial action? If no judicial action is taken, will commanders be subject to civil or criminal suit by various homosexual political groups and their elected sponsors.
Will a career Marine’s personal opinion on homosexuality become an impediment to promotion or assignment to key billets?
Specifically, is the belief that homosexuality is a choice and homosexual acts immoral not compatible with military service?
Do the Senate and the House Armed Services committees intend to demand sexuality statistics to make certain that homosexuals are being promoted at the same rate as non-homosexuals? Will homosexuals be promoted at a faster rate to “compensate” for previous years of discrimination?
Since same sex marriage is not authorized by Federal Law is a married homosexual from MA authorized to enlist? Does the spouse of a married homosexual rate a dependent’s ID card? Will “partners” of homosexuals be given dependent status?
If yes, what is the definition of a “partner”, one night stand, one year relationship. How often may a homosexual change partners and the partner still rate dependent benefits? Will partners of homosexuals beassigned to on-base housing? Do former “partners” of active duty homosexuals retain dependent benefits (like a divorced spouse) when divorce is not a legal option?
Will homosexual Marines be permitted to date each other? Live with each other as “partners” in the BOQ/BEQ”? How does this affect fraternization regulations?
Will homosexuals be deployed to countries where there is no SOFA in place in which homosexuality is a crime? If no, who picks up the slack?
Are there any assignments to which homosexuals must be or may not be assigned? For example, may an elected official demand a homosexual officer as a military aide?
Will homosexuals who become HIV positive still be discharged? Is being HIV positive now a “service connected” injury which rates disability?
These are just the tip of the ice berg. I have no doubt that right now there are active duty colonels who are just now discovering their real sexuality and can’t wait to be the FIRST OPENLY HOMOSEXUAL GENERAL!
To sum it up, it is approaching FUBAR status! I fear for the future of our Corps.
Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps, Retired
Xerox is sponsoring a website which allows one to thank a soldier serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. It can be found here .
The site sends an image of a thank you card designed by a young person along with a short message. The process takes seconds.
Kudos to Xerox and thank you Cathy Craddock for passing it on.
Mechanical Failure Reportedly Not Cause Of Osprey Crash — The April 8 Bell Boeing CV-22 Osprey crash in Afghanistan was apparently not due to mechanical failure according the aviation website FlightGlobal.Com.
The crash occurred as the craft was landing in a wadi around 1 a.m. under brown-out conditions.
Killed were the pilot, a flight engineer, an army Ranger and a civilian. Others were injured.
The military has ruled out enemy fire.
The Osprey’s fuselage, cockpit,avionics, and flight controls are built at the Boeing Helicopter plant in Ridley Park with the rest of the machine being built by Bell Helicopter in Texas.