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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! December 11, 2009 The Extreme (Part two)By Greyhawk
"CJ at A Soldier's Perspective had made a comment regarding the troops but I just could not write fast enough and have a poor memory," wrote Mrs Greyhawk of their September, 2007 visit with the President of the United States. "Seems CJ could not remember his question either, but for good reason."  CJ explains: "I can't remember exactly what I asked the President because I was choking up having just mentioned my good friend SSG Stevon Booker who died in front of me in Iraq. I just started babbling after that. It was pathetic, you should have seen it. I thanked him for finally taking the fight to the enemy and having the nerves of steel to see it through to the end - whatever that means. Those guys did not die in vain." "I'm Nothing Special," writes CJ. "I just happen to be a blogger." I started They Have Names because of a specific person, CPT James "Alex" Funkhouser, but he was just the catalyst that brought together the various reactants of losing friends and feeling like no one else cared about it. The hardest one to accept has been the loss of SSG Stevon Booker, a friend and fellow Tusker who was killed during the first Thunder Run into Baghdad on 5 April 2003. He was a combat proven veteran of Operation Desert Storm in the early nineties and knew his stuff. He cared deeply for his Soldiers and died trying to protect them. But, you won't find Booker's story on THN yet. I still can't write it, but one day I will. Earlier this year a building at Aberdeen Test Center was renamed after his memory. I write so that people don't forget people like Booker. And when you read a quote like this one, you know it's from someone who knows what he's talking about, and means what he says: "I know [CJ] loves what he's doing," said Lt. Col. Kevin Arata, the Army's point man for social media issues, who has known Grisham's name for years. And "any time we lose someone of that caliber, there's a certain amount of loss for the Army." A different sort of loss - CJ is alive, if not fine - lose in that statement just means the bastards have ground him down - at least enough. For now. "Blogging is no longer worth the trouble," Grisham recently wrote on his blog, A Soldier's Perspective, under the headline "ASP Closed for Business."
Wired magazine's Danger Room: "Not surprisingly, Grisham has finally decided to stop posting on his site. But be sure to read this story of how this soldier went from highly-praised veteran to pariah, because he spoke up on his blog." WorldNet Daily: "Grisham's photo is overlaid with the headline: 'The Rise and Fall of a Military Blogger - Army Master Sgt. C.J. Grisham didn't mince words. His readers loved it. His command hated it.' Grisham is in a new kind of fight after taking down a squad of Iraqis when his counterintelligence detachment was pinned down in an ambush and earning a Bronze Star with 'V' after rushing through the gunfire by himself with just a 9mm pistol and a hand grenade." "Even as the type of dominant news stories changed in 2008, 'durability,' a measure of the staying power for particular news stories, did not... For the military, this phenomenon is a challenge and an opportunity. Although coverage of ongoing conflicts may not persist, bad news stories seem to display less than traditional staying power... at least for the present, it seems less likely that a particular event of a less than positive nature will trigger a lasting scandal or backlash against the military, particularly in the fast-changing new media world." "During the invasion of Iraq, Grisham took down a squad of Iraqis when his counterintelligence detachment got pinned down in an ambush. He earned the Bronze Star with "V" after rushing through the gunfire by himself with just a 9mm pistol and a hand grenade." Here's another story from the man who did that - and who saw his good friend SSG Stevon Booker die in front of him in Iraq:
Only their ghosts: "I see that woman often in my dreams and sometimes while I'm just sitting, minding my own business. I see her lifeless body fall to the ground in super-slow motion and the look of shock in the fighter's eyes as he probably realizes how exposed he now is without his flesh shield. His AK is still resting on her shoulder as she falls and before he can lift it, he is propelled backward as he himself falls victim to my aim." CJ Grisham is a Soldier with PTSD. Not the imaginary sort of soldier CNN spent days explaining to America Nidal Hasan was after he slaughtered 14 people at Ft Hood (before they found out he had never deployed - then it became the imaginary sort of PTSD you catch from actual combat veterans). And he's not the sort of hypothetical Iraq veteran Fox News' Shepard Smith said the DHS had warned us about when a 90 year old WWII vet/Nazi killed a security guard at the Holocaust Museum. Those are just some of the stereotypes that really need to be put to rest. CJ is the sort of Soldier who writes a post called "The Power of Seeking Help" that explains why he did just that:
Well, they were busy, of course: Last summer Grisham got into hot water when someone complained to officials that he encouraged readers to vote against gun control measures, called for a wholesale changing of the guard in Congress and questioned Obama's truthfulness. He had appeared on local TV, too. "The stigma is hereby dead," Grisham had written in his first post on the topic of his PTSD months earlier. "I challenge all leaders to understand this and apply it where they can. Our troops need to understand that there is nothing weak about seeking help. I know because it has been much harder to acknowledge these issues than to hide them." "Not long after, Grisham was fired from his job" - maybe because he was wrong about the stigma of PTSD, maybe because he made the wrong people uncomfortable, or maybe both. Not knowing the truth of it could really set some people off, I suppose. But not CJ - he took his lumps and moved on. To where something worse was waiting. (More to follow. Meanwhile, see Milblogger and dear friend needs your help at Bouhammer's.)
Posted by Greyhawk / December 11, 2009 4:16 PM | Permalink 1 TrackBackLink Free speech from those who help make it possible - since 2003, the motto of the MilBlogs Ring. Comments are disabled here, too. You aren't allowed to speak today. ***** Previously: The Extreme (part one) The Extreme (part two) Zero Tolerance... Read More 1 Comment |
July 19, 2010Dawn Patrol 07/19/2010 [Greyhawk]
Welcome to the Dawn Patrol, our ongoing roundup of information on war and other topics - from the MilBlogs and other sources around the world.
Always updating - refresh for updates.
AFGHANISTANProspects for stability in Musa Qala: challenges and possible solutions -- [Bill Ardolino /Long War Journal - in Afghanistan] Exploding Culverts -- [Kandahar Diary - in Afghanistan] Arbaki -- [Free Range International - in Afghanistan] Weather -- [A Major's Perspective - in Afghanistan] Fête Nationale -- [Field Notes: One Soldier's Perspective - in Afghanistan] Goodbye "FaST" Food (and good riddance) -- [FaST Surgeon - in Afghanistan] IRAQOn The Iran, Iraq Border -- [J.D. Johannes - in Iraq] WAR ON TERROR /TERRORISMSenators Look For Smoking Gun In BP-Lockerbie Link -- [AP] No Link Between BP And Lockerbie Release: UK Envoy -- [NPR news blog] UK's Cameron: Releasing Lockerbie Bomber Was Wrong -- [AP] U.S. AND OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLDAs Cameron and Obama Meet, BP Will Be Top Issue -- [NY Times] Afghanistan tops agenda for British PM's visit -- [Washington Times] WELCOME HOMEHomecoming -- [Rajiv Srinivasan - home from Afghanistan] STRATEGY & TACTICSISAF, SCR Address Military ROE and Tactical Directives -- [ISAF] SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGYRaytheon's pain gun finally gets deployed in Afghanistan (update: recalled) -- [Engadget] Pain Ray Recalled From Afghanistan -- [Noah Shachtman/Danger Room] The Active Denial System: the weapon that's a hot topic -- [The Telegraph (UK)] World's Fastest Helicopter Boosts Battle Against Insurgents -- [ISAF]
POLITICSIs it time for a real GI Jane? -- [CNN] HUMOR/SATIRE(Need more? Dawn Patrols Archives are here.) Iraq, Afghanistan, War, Terrorism, Military, Politics, Media, MilBlogs, dawn patrol Mudville |
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.
 
 
 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 - 2009 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  |
As I read everything from,"The Extreme (Part 1)", I noticed something I wrote. "I grew", this is the old *fool* who needed to grow.
Last I heard, it is a Federal Felony to have any role in the creation or projection of a Falsified Federal Report. It is in the best interest of the Military and CJ, to make sure the records, both service and medical, are accurate. To the best of my knowledge, The US Military is still a function of the US Government (Federal). CJ just might want to consider the pros and cons of doing a "Freedom of Information Act/ Privacy Act Request", both together. Then talk with a competent Federal Attorney, JAG or even an older retired JAG, about options.
As you already know,always,
Grumpy