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 Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! August 23, 2004 More Bad News for the Kerry CampaignBy GreyhawkFor Alabama National Guard units that have had lengthy tours in Iraq or Afghanistan, some questions hang in the air when they return: Who is staying in and who is getting out? They're probably partisan hacks though, staying in just to help Bush. Wasn't he in the Alabama Guard? Posted by Greyhawk / August 23, 2004 11:19 PM | Permalink 1 TrackBackOkay, so, there's a story in the Birmingham News that the members of the 877th Engineer Batallion want to re-up. Conservative bloggers are pulling off virtually perfect Van Odells, which are technically defined as such: Van Odell (n.) - The... Read More 15 Comments |
November 26, 2010America@war [Greyhawk]
I think anyone who's ever pondered the "comment" option - once only available on blogs and bulletin boards, now ubiquitous on almost any web site - will appreciate this:
The so-called faculty of writing is not so much a faculty of writing as it is a faculty of thinking. When a man says, "I have an idea but I can't express it"; that man hasn't an idea but merely a vague feeling. If a man has a feeling of that kind, and will sit down for a half an hour and persistently try to put into writing what he feels, the probabilities are at least 90 percent that he will either be able to record it, or else realize that he has no idea at all. In either case, he will do himself a benefit. That's wisdom from the past, captured for posterity at the US Naval Institute, shared via the web on the institute's 137th anniversary. From their about page:
"The Naval Institute has three core activities," among them, History and Preservation: The Naval Institute also has recently introduced Americans at War, a living history of Americans at war in their own words and from their own experiences. These 90-second vignettes convey powerful stories of inspiration, pride, and patriotism. Take a look at the collection, and you'll see it's not limited to accounts from those who served on ships at sea, members of the other branches are well-represented. I'm fortunate to have met USNI's Mary Ripley, she's responsible for the institute's oral history program (and she's the daughter of the late John Ripley, whose story is told here). She also deserves much credit for their blog. ("We're not the Navy nor any government agency. Blog and comment freely.") We met at a milblog conference - Mary knew (and I would come to realize) that milbloggers are the 21st-century version of exactly what the US Naval Institute is all about. Once that light bulb came on in my head, I mentioned a vague idea for a project to her - milblogs as the 21st century oral history that they are. "Put that in writing," she said (of course - see first paragraph above!) - and here's part of the result. Shortly after the first tent was pitched by the American military in Iraq a wire was connected to a computer therein, and the internet was available to a generation of Americans at war - many of whom had grown up online. From that point on, at any given moment, somewhere in Iraq a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine was at a keyboard sharing the events of his or her day with the folks back home. While most would simply fire off an email, others took advantage of the (then) relatively new online blogging platforms to post their thoughts and experiences for the entire world to see. The milblog was born - and from that moment to this stories detailing everything from the most mundane aspects of camp life to intense combat action (often described within hours of the event) have been available on the web... And et cetera - but since you're reading this on a milblog, you probably knew that. And you know that milblogs aren't just blogs written by troops at war, that many friends, family members, and supporters likewise documented their story of America at war online in near-real time, as those stories developed. The diversity in membership of that group is broad, the one thing we all have in common is the impulse to make sense of the seemingly senseless, and communicate the tale - for each of us that impulse was strong enough to overcome whatever barriers prevent the vast majority of people from doing the same. Everyone at some point has some vague idea they believe should be shared - we were the people who, from some combination of internal and external urging, found and spent those many half hours persistently trying to write it down. But where will all that be in another 137 years? Or five or ten, for that matter. That's something I've asked myself since at least 2004 - when I wrote this:
Membership in the ghost battalion has grown in the years since, and an ever growing majority of those abandoned-but-still-standing sites are vanishing. Have you checked out Lt Smash's site lately? How about Sgt Hook's? If you're a long-time milblog reader you know the first widely-read milblog from Operation Iraq Freedom and the first widely-read milblog from Afghanistan are both gone from the web. If you're a relative newcomer to this world you may never even have heard of them - or the dozens upon dozens of others who carried forth the standard they set down. If you have a vague notion that something should be done about that, (a notion I've heard expressed more than once...) then you and I and the good folks at the US Naval Institute are in agreement. Preserving the history documented by the milbloggers is just one of the goals of the milblog project, the once-vague idea that we're now making real. And it's a big idea, if I say so myself - too big to explain in one simple blog post, so stand by for more. Likewise, it's too big a task to be accomplished by just one person. So if you're a milblogger (and exactly what is a milblogger? is a topic for much further discussion on its own) I'm asking for your help. All I'll really need is just a little bit (maybe just one or two of those half hours...) of your time, and your willingness to tell the tale. We've already made history, it's time to save it. (More to follow...) Posted 4:02 PM | Permalink |
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The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.
 
 
 Furthermore, I will occasionally use satire or parody herein. The bottom line: it's my house. I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email. Original content copyright © 2003 - 2011 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed. Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com  Tending Distant Far from hearth and home, watching What tales we'll tell When things grim Some distant sunset, vision fading Saluting fallen friends whose names - Greyhawk, Baghdad, December 2004 |
What impressive men and women we have serving our nation. But of course, according to Kerry, these are not real soldiers. Sigh.
I'm curious, what is the statement by Kerry which contradicts this report? I would appreciate this.
ViriiK - it's not John Kerry (lately), it's his mouthpieces in the media ("mainstream" and alternative).
Ten seconds on Google showed that just within the past couple months the usual suspects have complained (yawn) that troop morale is horribly low, doubts grow, seeds sown, mission blown, yadda, yadda, etc. etc.
http://americanmuckraker.blogspot.com/2004/07/troop-morale-slumps-as-doubts-grow.html
http://talkleft.com/new_archives/005800.html
http://www.interventionmag.com/cms/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=598
Asswipes.
Hey great! Here's an idea - why don't 19 of you moronic brownshirt [blog owner deleted profanity] who are so keen on killing [blog owner deleted racist term for "Arabs"] when you're sitting on your fat asses in front of a computer screen volunteer to make up the difference?
I'm waiting...
Its going to take a lot more than a whiny lisping little chickenhawk catcall to help your sad senator Dave.
Consider this, probably 2 or 3 million children suffered an injury today that was as bad or worse than that for which your 'warrior' demanded a purple heart, and they didn't even go to the doctor, instead their mummies put a band-aid on it.
You can screech your chickenhawk calls all you want but nothing will change the fact that your boy is toast.
bork bork beoork.
Dear Dave:
Sorry to disappoint you Dave, but I tried to enlist. I'm too old. So I'm in the Coast Guard Auxiliary. It's not paid service, but at least I can serve my country with the public safety end of the Coast Guard mission since I can't do the military end.
Enjoy your bitter life, you pathetic little man.
VTY,
Mikey
Ah, but Michael, Mr. Dole outlined how the US Military treats wounds in his 1988 campaign-trail autobiography:
"As we approached the enemy, there was a brief exchange of gunfire. I took a grenade in hand, pulled the pin, and tossed it in the direction of the farmhouse. It wasn't a very good pitch (remember, I was used to catching passes, not throwing them). In the darkness, the grenade must have struck a tree and bounced off. It exploded nearby, sending a sliver of metal into my leg--the sort of injury the Army patched up with Mercurochrome and a Purple Heart."
So you see, it's not the severity of the wound but rather that the soldier was in a fire-fight of any kind. Given that Senator Kerry VOLUNTEERED for two tours of duty in Vietnam unlike some others in our current administration he's probably due a little respect. Funny enough, retired Generals McCaffrey and Franks also agree.
I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean, especially since the article specifically states that the 877th isn't scheduled to be redeployed to Iraq or anywhere else. The battalion is back in Alabama, everybody's back home, and it doesn't appear likely that the battalion is going to be redeployed overseas. So I'm not understanding what this says about morale.
Yeah, but I'll bet none of them ever received a self-inflicted rice wound in the ass or they would change their mind.
If you saw the way we Alabama girls get all weak in the knees when we see a man walk by in BDU's, you'd know why the re-enlistment rate is high here.
Stuff like that makes me proud to be an Alabamian.
Roll Tide.
PigInZen, you *do* realize that Kerry's campaign spokesman has now admitted that his first purple heart was awarded for an "unintentionally self-inflicted wound" that happened (according to Kerry's own journal)*before* he was involved in any fire fights?
Add to that the fact that the award involved was for a scratch that was treated with a band-aid, a scratch that 99% of mothers probably wouldn't have even taken their children to a doctor over. He asked to be given the purple heart for that scratch but this was denied because of the ludicrously minor nature of the injury, later he applied again and had it approved.
Whether or not you are one of the few who still think that Kerry is a true hero is irrelevant, these sorts of facts are what will leave a nasty taste in the mouth of ordinary Americans when they get fully aired as they will when the campaigns kick into overdrive.
Kerry's in big trouble, simple as that.
"Two tours of duty" PigInZen?
A tour is one year. You do know how long he was there before he reguested to leave?
This is another DNC embelishment that was being used before his actual length of service was made public. They tried to consider that since he got hurt and went back twice they could call each a tour. It doesnt work that way and is offensive to those who actually completed their tours of duty.
I have seen nothing of the sort of admission that you're implying. Please give me a mainstream news reference or a link to Kerry's site that illustrates your assertion.
Oh, and Kerry DID RE-UP. You should really stop falling for the "four months" nonsense. Here's his timeline:
Feb 1966
Formally enlists in U.S. Navy
Feb 1968
Deployed to Western Pacific aboard the USS Gridley and requests duty in Vietnam
Nov 1968
Reports for duty in Vietnam
Dec 1968
Experiences first intense combat and earns first Purple Heart
Feb 1969
Earns second Purple Heart & the Silver Star
Mar 1969
Earns the Bronze Star for saving the life of a fellow soldier
Mar 1970
Separated from active service
Odd that his request for Vietnam duty goes unnoticed. Of course! He's a DEMOCRAT and thus ineligible for any sort of acknowledgement of military duty or accomplishment. That's only for Republicans. Silly me, I forgot that to be a red-blooded patriot requires membership in the GOP.
You've got me all wrong here. I was questioning your "two tours" comment, which even your timeline doesnt show him serving two tours. Its splitting hairs, but lets look at it.
You say he volunteered for two tours in Vietnam, and he has said that served two tours in Vietnam. But, your timeline specifies that while on the Gridley he requested duty in Vietnam and reported in 11/68. The timeline shows 4 months "in Vietnam", so it really doesnt support your (or his) claim.
But, they did award those on board the Gridley a Vietnam service award. So he has evidence of two (incomplete) tours in Vietnam.
You cant deny the embelishments though.
Most people on the Gridley would say that they were deployed during Vietnam. He even told people that he was "in Vietnam" in April of '68. When actually he was 100 miles away on a boat. Do you think that Navy personel deployed in the Persian Gulf right now are claiming to be "in Iraq"?
Kerrys buddy Tom Harkin got his ass handed to him when he claimed to have been "in Vietnam" when he wasnt.
I think its great that he went and fought and won medals. We should all give two shits about the guys service really, but the guy wont shut up about it. He knows that he cant win the moderate vote on his Senate record so he is milking his war record for all its worth.
I sat and listened to my grandfather and my father tell me stories of war and I have no doubt that there were plenty of "big fish" stories in there. Who cares? No one would question Kerrys record if he hadnt said that the events of those four months are the number one reason he is qualified to be president.