Must Read

Your must-read post of the day is via MilBlogger Phil Carter at Intel Dump.

In an age where "Nazi" and "Hitler" are insults hurled with little knowledge of history The Lost Soldiers of Stalag IX-B is a timely reminder of the world of the real Hitler.

More here later, for now the story and Phil's comments are both must-reads.

Up-d-hates

Seems like it's getting increasingly difficult for some reporters to hide their contempt for the military (if they're even trying to hide it anymore).

Take Dana Milbank - (please!). Eric Pfeiffer in NRO's Beltway Buzz reports that Milbank's petty attack on Donald Rumsfeld from the front page of the WaPo is now being echoed by other 'journalists' who share his lack of interest in facts:

The BBC?s Katty Kay echoed Milbank?s sentiment on ?Meet the Press? this weekend, adding, ?look at Donald Rumsfeld this week. If ever we saw Donald Rumsfeld back in fighting form this week and giving everybody up on Capitol Hill, Republicans and Democrats alike, a hard time, this was it: refusing to answer questions about Iraq, refusing even really to be very courteous up on Capitol Hill.?

A lie gets halfway 'round the world while the truth is lacing up it's shoes, as they say. My speculation was that Milbank and his superiors at the Post were motivated by the numerous instances of Rumsfeld making reporters look foolish - Pfeiffer points out that Rummy actually trounced the Post a bit in his testimony:

Could his article have been in response to Rumsfeld?s Washington Post critique during his testimony? For the sake of full disclosure, shouldn?t Milbank have mentioned the criticism in his article? More importantly, his editors should have insisted on such transparency.

Milbank is pretending to be ignorant of the fact that Rumsfeld is the first Secretary of Defense to actually be known and admired by the troops. And one of the reasons for that is the fun of seeing the guy verbally bitch-slap reporters like Dana - just by refusing to give anything but straight answers to stupid questions.

But when it comes to contempt for those who serve, Ariana Huffington makes Milbank look like a piker. Here's what she's huffing this week:

The Bush administration will do just about anything to manipulate public opinion. It paid pundits to say nice things. It created bogus - and, according to the controller general, illegal - video news reports. It gave us Gannon/Guckert-gate.

Now, the Bushies are producing their own news network: the Pentagon Channel, brought to you by the Defense Department.

Started last year as an internal public-relations unit, the network is expanding to the general public. Some cable systems, including Time Warner, already carry it, and the Dish Network will soon be beaming the station to more than 11 million viewers.

Defense Department TV execs say it'll be "a mix between CNN and C-SPAN," with military news and lifestyle shows, live briefings and appearances by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Pentagon Channel programs include "Why I Serve," and "Korea Destinations." Rumsfeld might consider a more realistic lineup. How about: "The Real World: Fallujah"; "Pimp My Humvee" and "Desperate Military Housewives."

"Desperate Military Housewives." heh - that's funny, huh Mrs. G?

The Pentagon Channel may be seen as a threat to the terrorist POV touted by Huffington and her cronies over the past several months, but actually it's a rather harmless collection of brief bits and news stories - and far from being anything new and devious from the "Bushies" it's just the stuff Armed Forces TV has been doing for a while. "Hi mom" shots of the troops at the front, etc. To be honest, it's probably going to elicit more than a few groans from those familiar with AFN work - "they try hard" is a compliment most will agree to. Huffington assumes the ignorant American masses will be brainwashed by this sort of stuff.

Let's try and put some of her fears to rest. "Why I Serve" is simply some brief profiles of individual Soldiers, Sailors, Airman, and Marines who each explain how they ended up in uniform. The reasons run the gauntlet; family tradition, education, escape from home town, etc. Nothing new. "Korea Destinations" gives quick looks at tourist spots in (believe it or not) Korea. Not sure exactly what it is she finds contemptible about all this, but apparently in her mind it must be some sinister Karl Rove plot.

Milbank and Huffington do take feeble steps to hide their anti-military bias. Milbank pretends it's the evil upper echelon of the military that he's attacking, and that the ignorant low level brainwashed minions are people he supports with all his heart. Some day I'd like to hear from Dana and others of his type exactly what rank is the cut off above which troops no longer get their support. Likewise Huffington can pretend President Bush is responsible for the Pentagon Channel and that her contempt is directed at him, not the hard working young GI's who produce the content she dismisses with a sneer but without ever seeing. What she's really calling for is censorship and an end to free speech that isn't my speech - the battle cry of the disconnected left. That attitude has this in common with the Pentagon Channel; there's nothing new there.

Looted Iraqi Artifacts

A great story found via our first "Open Post" last Saturday. Marine buys trinkets from vendor in Iraq, returns to US, has them evaluated by a university archaeologist, and discovers they are 5000-year old cylinder seals - Iraqi national treasures looted from an archaeological site near Babylon.

What happens next? See here.

Reveille

Fall in - sound off. Mudville starts the day with an open post. Leave a comment, start a discussion, point out a great news story - whatever's on your mind.

Got a blog post you want to share with the world? Link to this one and your trackback will automatically display below.

In other words - this is where the readers take over the blog. Enjoy.

Arthur's Mail

Dear Mr & Mrs Greyhawk

The fact that so many people, and not just the Sunni sheikhs, now want the piece of the Iraqi action perhaps tells us more about the true situation and future prospects in Iraq than most current news reports. As the old saying goes; victory has many fathers, defeat is an orphan. That the waiting room of the Middle Eastern maternity ward is getting increasingly crowded with paternity claimants is a good - if an indirect sign - that the things in Iraq might be going better than one would think based on the mainstream media coverage.

The new round-up of good news from Iraq is here:

Chrenkoff

Opinion Journal

Winds of Change

Best regards

Arthur

Hi Mom - Happy Birthday

Tried calling - but something funny was going on with the international phone lines. So happy birthday to the lady who's certainly most responsible for the existence of the Mudville Gazette.

The lady who spent her younger years at home worrying about three older brothers off fighting Nazis in Europe and no doubt would have preferred her son hadn't rushed off to Baghdad to fight terrorists in 2004.

The lady that sent brownies for everyone in care packages to Iraq that somehow stayed fresh. (They were everyone's favorite!)

The lady who just got her first PC a few months ago and is now a regular in the comments here.

She's done a few other cool things along the way too. But this being a blog we keep things brief.

Love you Mom. Happy Birthday. See you soon.

Update: No matter what I post there's always a reader who knows more about the topic than I do. "Mom" comments below: "BTW, that was 1 bro in Europe, two in the Pacific, and one in Texas. All Air Force."

I stand corrected!

Mudville Modified

Okay, the changes to the site are about complete. Your feedback is still welcome, so comment away.

The following changes have been made.

Cosmetic: You might have to look closely. The red and blue are now different shades. Font colors for links have been changed too. Readability is the goal. (Those with problems with font size - this is configurable in your browser.) The Mudville banner at the top is new, but you will see that change routinely.

Still to come: Big changes to blogrolls, other things in right side bar. The pictures aren't going away, but a low bandwidth version of Mudville may become available as a user-selectable option.

Speaking of bandwidth: The speedier load time is a result of adding a very simple line of code recommended by NZ Bear. Compression is the name of the game - not only is the load time faster, but my bandwidth costs are lowered. If you're a blogger, check out the code from Scriptygoddess.

Conceptual changes: Okay, here's where we really made some changes. But since we're all about options - you can ignore them if you want! The overall purpose of these changes is to "open" Mudville and make it more than a place to get two people's opinions. Here's how:

In-line Trackback: Posts from other blogs that link Mudville will be linked automatically from the post they link. Readers are a click away from a second opinion (or a third, or a fourth...)

On-page comment display: Comments are available for viewing right on the front page, just click Show comments here at the bottom of any post.

These changes help fulfill my New Year's resolution to link more blogs more often, and are in line with my idea of what a blog post should be, that is a starting point for a discussion of a topic. In my own conceptual model the blogosphere is a big party with groups forming and breaking and conversations starting and migrating around the room as people move from place to place. Hopefully these few changes will facilitate that aspect of blogging for visitors with or without their own blogs.

With that in mind, each day will begin with an "open post" - anyone can link with a post of their choice or leave a comment on any topic/recent news story. Consider this to be today's "open post" - have at it. Milbloggers, non-milbloggers, big or small, new or blogging for years, don't be shy - consider Mudville as a place to share your thoughts with a few thousand daily readers.

And as another tip for new bloggers, if you haven't visited the above-mentioned NZ Bear and entered your blog into the Truth Laid Bear Ecosystem then now is the time to do it. You aren't "in the blogosphere" if you haven't completed that simple step.

Do not adjust your set

You may notice some changes in the look of the site. We'll let you know when were finished.

Update:
How's my load time everybody? Those with dial up should see an improvement.

Update: In-line trackbacks installed. Got a blog? Help test the system - link this post, see if your trackback shows up at bottom. A visit from the Greyhawks will follow. Leave comment if trackback fails.

Lots of new and tricksy things are going on. Notice new commenting and trackback features. This is just a test of the extended entry feature.

But here's a thought - if wishes were horses we'd all wish for cars.

I mean, deep thinking is why you're here, right?

Now That's Entertainment!?

An update from the "Entertainment" section of CNN's website.

Hunter Thompson, famous for "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and other works of New Journalism, shot himself in the head Sunday in the kitchen of his Aspen-area home. He was 67.

His son, daughter-in-law and 6-year-old grandson were in the house when the shooting occurred.

Anita Thompson, 32, said her husband had discussed killing himself in recent months and had been issuing verbal and written directives about what he wanted done with his body, his unpublished works and his assets.

His suicidal talk put a strain on their relationship, she said.

"He wanted to leave on top of his game. I wish I could have been more supportive of his decision," she said. "It was a problem for us."

"...strain on their relationship... I wish I could have been more supportive of his decision... It was a problem for us..."

38 Years to Home

In the midst of the happy homecomings from Iraq, this story from Dallas reminds us some are still coming home from other wars.

PLANO ? James Neil Tycz died a hero May 10, 1967, when a hand grenade exploded near his face in Khe Sanh, Vietnam.

Of his seven-member reconnaissance patrol team, only three Marines survived the early-morning firefight with the North Vietnamese army, according to military records. The others were buried under elephant grass on Hill 665, unrecovered but not forgotten.

On Wednesday, over a kitchen table in Plano, Sgt. Tycz's family heard the news they've waited 38 years for: The sergeant's remains ? three teeth ? had been located in Vietnam and positively identified. He was coming home.

"It was a mixed blessing for me," said Phillip Dale Tycz, Sgt. Tycz's brother who lives in Plano with his wife, Ruth.

"I was happy they could find the remains so he could finally be repatriated. But I also knew some of my family would have a very mixed reaction. They put it behind them and didn't want to know anything else."

<...>

From 1993 to 1998, teams worked in Vietnam on six occasions in search of the men.

They found circumstantial evidence, evidence of a firefight, but no burial.

A break came in 2003 when a team returned to the hill and recovered several fragments of teeth and bone. Last year, an excavation of the site near the border of Vietnam and Laos was completed.

In all, 31 teeth and tooth fragments were found and used in a Hawaii laboratory to identify the four Marines.

Military officials met recently in Tennessee, Georgia and Washington state with the families of the three other Marines.

"So many people don't realize what the government does for these men and women," Mr. Tycz said Wednesday.

"They don't give up on them."

<...>

Sgt. Tycz was 22 when he died. He was awarded the Navy Cross, the Navy's second-highest medal, for his actions on Hill 665.

A live grenade had landed near a wounded Marine. The sergeant moved toward it, picked it up and attempted to throw it back at the enemy.

The grenade exploded after a short distance and Sgt. Tycz fell, critically wounded.

In the coming weeks, his three teeth will be flown in from Hawaii and placed in a container inside a flag-draped silver metal casket. A full uniform will rest alongside it.

Sgt. Tycz's remains will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, per his family's wishes.

"He will be under full military escort, just like it happened yesterday," said Timothy Nicholson, assistant program director for Navy Mortuary Affairs.

<...>

Just a day after he died, Sgt. Tycz's mother received a letter from him. In it, he wrote:

"I had an interruption just now. Our lieutenant passed me the word that we go in at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow. None of us want to go, but that's our job and I pray I will never fail to do it. ..."

Some are still coming home, while others never will. Over 1,800 Americans are still unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. As a veteran of OIF, that number makes me realize more than ever that the claims that "Iraq is another Vietnam" is actually just another instance of the left insulting the veterans of that war.

They've been doing it so long it just comes naturally to them.

The Secretary of State

The Mrs and I listened to the President's speech at Wiesbaden on the radio in my car. Before the President addressed the crowd Condi Rice was introduced and said a few words. The roar that welcomed her seemed incredible to me.

This might explain it...

Mrs G. says:
I want that outfit

NY Times Bestsellers

Hardcover non-fiction:

Witness, by Amber Frey. #10.

Back in Action, by David Rozelle. Not. On. The. List.

Cpt Rozelle returns to Iraq minus one foot, Frey will never have to work again in her life.

(More here)

The War Goes On

Major K's unit suffers it's first casualty of the deployment. A prayer request, and I'm sure that encouraging comments would be welcome at Major K's blog.

At Home With The Euros

Ahhh.. how sweet to be out of the war zone of Baghdad and back to peaceful, prosperous Europe.

Did you see the New York Times coverage of the protests of President Bush's visit to Mainz? It included this picture:

Looking at that shot I gain even more respect for the efforts of the guys at Medienkritik and No Pasaran for organizing a small counter-demonstration.

I Had a conversation with a guy in Iraq who'd been stationed in Germany a few years ago. He found out I was stationed here and told me a story about going to a festival in Hamburg and being warned away from going into a certain section of town where even the police don't go. Years later he learned it was the section of town that the terrorist who planned the 9/11 attacks called home.

The Politzei are a little less intimidated these days.

The arrest of two terrorism suspects in Germany -- accused of an intricate plot in which one would become a suicide bomber in Iraq -- shows how the still-active group that planned the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S. has shifted its focus to fighting Americans in Iraq, police say.

The Jan. 23 arrest was highlighted by President Bush this week, when he credited German police for capturing "two terrorists plotting to attack American interests in Iraq" during a speech as he began a European visit. U.S. officials say they are pleased with German-U.S. cooperation in combating terrorism.

<...>

Since December, three waves of police arrests in about a dozen German towns have turned up evidence of terrorist groups linked to the Sept. 11 attacks and aimed at recruiting suicide bombers and fighters for missions in Iraq, investigators say. In addition to the case mentioned by Mr. Bush, in December police charged three suspects with attempting to assassinate Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi during a Berlin visit, and on Jan. 12 police charged 22 others with attempting to funnel fighters to Iraq.

I hope they're serious. "Charged" is a fine first step.

Mark Steyn and Austin Bay have slightly opposing views on Europe, but the real truth is the continent is on a precipice, with an undetermined future.

In one possible scenario, within one or two generations the sons of Europe will have their throats slit in the town squares, in the shadows of great cathedrals converted to places of worship for another god, as their daughters don chadors and their parents pray that this will at least free them of the stigma of the "crusader" label.

Others will blame Bush.

Oh, surely that's too horrible to believe! It is indeed, which is what makes it possible. Even likely.

From the February 23 NBC Nightly News:

Iran - Open for Business BRIAN WILLIAMS: Now to an NBC News exclusive, a rare glimpse inside Iran; specifically, an air show attended by some of the world?s leading military contractors.

Who did we find there? Dozens of European companies eager to do business with Iran. NBC News senior investigative correspondent Lisa Myers has our story.

LISA MYERS: The island of Kish, Iran, an air show hosted by Iran for defense and aerospace companies eager to do business with America?s adversary.

Mullahs mixed with Ukrainian generals amid photos of the Ayatollah Khomeini. Iran made its contempt for the U.S. clear. Emblazoned underneath this helicopter in Farsi, "Death to America."

It is generally illegal for American companies to do business with Iran, but NBC News found more than a dozen European defense and aviation firms eager to fill the void.

Some do business with the Pentagon, but were actively selling their wares to Iran.

FRANCOIS LELOUP [Aerazur]: We sell to the Iran Air Force.

ARNAUD CHEVALIER [Auxiliaire Technique]: We do sell many to security people like police.

MYERS: We showed what we found to arms expert John Pike.

JOHN PIKE [GlobalSecurity.org director]: I think that the Europeans would sell their grandmothers to the Iranians if they thought they could make a profit.

MYERS: This is the booth for the French company EADS and its subsidiary, Eurocopter, which has launched a campaign in the U.S. to get a bigger share of Pentagon contracts, featuring these ads wrapping the company in the American flag.

But if this company is so pro-American, why is it ignoring U.S. policy to isolate Iran?

MICHAEL TRIPIER [EADS]: As a European company, we?re not supposed to take into account embargoes from the U.S. Of course, the emphasis here is on the civil helicopters. We?re not offering military helicopters here.

MYERS: Yet, prominent on the company?s video in Iran, a military helicopter.

PIKE: They?re marketing a Navy helicopter.

MYERS: A military helicopter?

PIKE: It says "Navy" in their own promotional video tape.

MYERS: Why would they do that?

PIKE: Oh, I guess they?re hoping Iran?s Navy is going to buy it.

MYERS: EADS says that helicopter just happened to be on the video and that it abides by U.S. and European rules against selling military goods to Iran.

This company, Finmeccanica, recently won a contract to build a new version of Marine One for the president. Yet, here it is, showing off its helicopters to Iran.

PIKE [arms expert]: This company is building the American president?s new helicopter and they?re trying to trade with the enemy.

MYERS: Is Iran an enemy of the United States?

STEPHEN BRYAN [president, Fenmeccanica]: I think they?re our enemy at this point. And they?re behaving like our enemy.

MYERS: Stephen Bryan used to be the Pentagon official responsible for preventing technology from going to countries like Iran. Now, he?s the president of Finmeccanica in the U.S.

[Question to Bryan]: Why would your company trade with a country that you, yourself, call "America?s enemy"?

BRYAN: Because it?s in Europe. They don?t call it the enemy. If it?s a civilian item, it doesn?t threaten anyone. And I don?t have a problem with that.

MYERS: European subsidiaries of NBC?s parent company General Electric have sold energy and power equipment to Iran. But GE recently announced it will make no new sales.

Still, even with the president now pushing hard to isolate Tehran, European allies are likely to continue their role as what one company calls "a reliable partner for Iran."

I'm asked this several times a day: "Are you glad to be home from Iraq?"

I'll let you know when I am.

Setting the Record Straight

You may recall the post linked earlier this week regarding Donald Rumsfeld's verbal exchange with Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez during an appearance before the House Armed Services Committee. Others have written about the meeting too. Although he ignored Sanchez' embarrassing performance Dana Milbank used page one ink on the Washington Post to take shots at the Sec Def:

Two dozen members of the House Armed Services Committee had not yet had their turn to question Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld at yesterday's hearings when he decided he had had enough.

At 12:54, he announced that at 1 p.m. he would be taking a break and then going to another hearing in the Senate. "We're going to have to get out and get lunch and get over there," he said. When the questioning continued for four more minutes, Rumsfeld picked up his briefcase and began to pack up his papers.

The chairman, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), apologized to his colleagues for a rather "unusual" situation.

With the Bush administration asking Congress this month to write checks for half a trillion dollars for the Pentagon, you might think the secretary of defense would set an accommodating posture on Capitol Hill. But, to paraphrase Rumsfeld's remark in December about the Army, you go to budget hearings with the defense secretary you have, not the defense secretary you might want or wish to have at a later time. And Donald Rumsfeld doesn't do accommodating very well.

Asked about the number of insurgents in Iraq, Rumsfeld replied: "I am not going to give you a number."

Did he care to voice an opinion on efforts by U.S. pilots to seek damages from their imprisonment in Iraq? "I don't."

Could he comment on what basing agreements he might seek in Iraq? "I can't."

How about the widely publicized cuts to programs for veterans? "I'm not familiar with the cuts you're referring to."

How long will the war last? "There's never been a war that was predictable as to length, casualty or cost in the history of mankind."

Rumsfeld's blunt manner was seen as refreshing four years ago, but these are different times. A few prominent Republican legislators have called for Rumsfeld's resignation, over his resistance to increased troop strength in Iraq, his perceived disparagement of the armed forces in December and the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal. Yesterday, GOP lawmakers greeted him with doubts on a variety of matters including war spending, death payments and veterans' benefits.

Yet, for a man in need of friends on Capitol Hill, Rumsfeld was both bipartisan and bicameral in his gruff treatment of tough questioners.

More at the link, including some quoted Rumsfeld responses to Senators that would probably draw cheers from any American watching the proceedings. Personal favorite example: Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) then complained about long-term Army expenses being included in an emergency spending package. Rumsfeld said the matter "really is beyond my pay grade." When Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) observed that there are few positions beyond Rumsfeld's pay grade, Rumsfeld retorted: "Senator, I thought Congress was Article 1 of the Constitution."

Ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom. This sort of candor is part of what makes Rumsfeld the most popular Secretary of Defense in history with the troops. But while Americans would stand and cheer the man, to Milbank this is proof that there's something wrong with Rummy. The proceedings probably further enraged Milbank and his WaPo superiors for no doubt reminding them of the numerous dimwitted colleagues Rumsfeld has exposed over the past several years, and they saw this as a chance to "get even".

But I don't need to defend the man, or even claim that Milbank's page one story was a seriously flawed bit of poorly disguised attack "journalism" - because House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter - who Milbank quoted out of context above - has already done so. The Chairman's response originally was in a letter to the editor of the WaPo, but when the paper wouldn't publish it the committee took the rare step of posting it (pdf file) on their own web page.

House Armed Services Committee (armedservices.house.gov) February 23, 2005

Public Statement By The Chairman Of The House Armed Services Committee

Hunter statement on Secretary Rumsfeld's recent appearance at the House Armed Services Committee and the inaccurate Washington Post coverage that followed

Washington, D.C. - House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) made the following statement regarding Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's testimony on February 16th - and an erroneous Washington Post front page commentary the following day. A letter to the editor of the Post was submitted on the 17th but has not yet been published. In an effort to set the record straight in a timely manner, the letter is being released today.

"The February 17 front-page Washington Post Capitol Hill Journal piece, 'Secretary on the Offensive' was incorrect.

"Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld hadn't 'had enough' when he left my committee's hearing. We had agreed in advance that the hearing would terminate after three hours because the secretary had another hearing commitment. Therefore, the article's suggestion that he got mad and left did a disservice to the truth and to the secretary. Further, Secretary Rumsfeld graciously invited the handful of members in line to ask questions to a private breakfast in the Pentagon in the next few weeks. Hardly the actions of someone discourteous.

"As for his style, the secretary answers questions forthrightly. Sometimes the correct and honest answer is 'I don't know.' Dana Milbank's focus on 10 seconds of exchanges left out the remaining three hours of Secretary Rumsfeld's expansive remarks on numerous complex topics.

"Secretary Rumsfeld is responsible for a war in two theaters, reshaping the 2.5 million defense force of the United States and preparing the nation to meet present and future security threats. His success should be judged on his professional competence, not innuendo. In my judgment, he has done an outstanding job."

It's not just bloggers that won't let reporters get away with "less than accurate" reporting these days. (And if those congressmen start blogging...)

From Iraq

Readers here are aware that military family members aren't just "left behind" in the States when the spouse deploys - they often wait their loved one's safe return in remote locations all over the globe. But every member of the US Armed Forces faces unique challenges when deploying.

Major K dedicates a post to the spouses of Guard and Reserve members, who are often left at home in the states far from any military installation and the support available there. (Are there any in your neighborhood? Are you sure?)

Mustang 23 at Assumption of Command reminds us Don't Forget The Single Soldiers - those who come home to nobody. (And gosh - I hope all the single women out there don't start bugging this guy...)

By the way, these guys are two of the newer wave of military bloggers in Iraq. Visit often.

Raising the Flag

Most Americans don't know the names, but they know the picture of six young men taken on February 23, 1945. On that date, Joe Rosenthal photographed these men raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi. This photo became the signature image of the U.S. Marines in the nation's most heroic battle -- Iwo Jima.

Daisy cutter has the names of these men and a great post that you must read.

Eastern and Central Europe developments

As always Chrenkoff is on top of the situation.

The First Lady in Germany

The first lady made several stops while in the Kaiserslautern Military community yesterday. Before giving her speech at Ramstein, she visited about 20 injured servicemembers at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center who were wounded in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

She was greeted with a packed house in hangar 1 on Ramstein Air base. People were in line for hours before the doors opened a 9:00 am. Brrrrrr that must of been cold since Germany had just received even more powder causing school buses to run an hour late that morning. Would have been there in a heartbeat but my car was in the shop and Greyhawk had to be at work. I hear that the roars of cheers and applause from approximately 2000 troops and family members was deafening. She brought a message of appreciation and support and she conveyed an understanding of what spouses and children of troops go through when they go off to serve.

?All of those who serve in our military deserve our utmost respect." ?And so do those who serve without a paycheck and well behind the front lines: our military families.

?I know a little bit about having your life turned upside down because the person you love wants to serve the country he loves.?

After the speech, Mrs Bush ate a roast beef lunch at Ramstein?s General Cannon Hotel with a group of military spouses.

I would have loved to have been there.

Later in the day she traveled to Wiesbaden. She visited Gen. H.H. Arnold High School and was greeted by cheering students and teachers in a packed auditorium. Apparently she won the crowd over with her congratulations to the football team recent Division I championship and with her familiarization of Arnold High School and it's students. Mrs. Bush gave the seniors a little nod by warning the lower classmen to keep their feet off the Warrior school crest. The seniors erupted in applause.

She gave thanks and encouragement and a bit of advice:

"Treasure your education and keep it going throughout life,learn from your mistakes, and appreciate the little things in life."

Sounds like she was very motivational to a large group of teenager, a task that isn't easy to achieve as I'm sure many will agree.

Dear American Soldier I Hate You

Baldilocks:

In the imagined shadow of the Twin Towers that are no longer there, the students of teacher Alex Kunhardt?s social-studies class at Brooklyn?s JHS 51 send their regards to some soldiers stationed in Iraq:

Pfc. Rob Jacobs of New Jersey said he was initially ecstatic to get a package of letters from sixth-graders at JHS 51 in Park Slope last month at his base 10 miles from the North Korea border.

That changed when he opened the envelope and found missives strewn with politically charged rhetoric, vicious accusations and demoralizing predictions that only a handful of soldiers would leave the Iraq war alive.

They sent letters like this to the soldiers standing between the South Koreans and the nut Kim Jong Il?

Reminds me of my e-mail from a teacher at (ironically) a US school on Yongsan Army Installation in Korea:

"I hope that your children's teachers offer you children the type of education where they see what a close-minded, blood-thirsty individual you are. You are the type of person who will fight for freedom, all right, as long as it is for the freedom of white, American males. Hitler loved people like you."

For which Mrs G received this response from the principal:

I apologize for any inconvenienced that this may have cause you and your family. As I read each email I do not see truth in everything that is alleged to happen in Ms. Pell's class. I will address these issues and concerns with my Superintendent in that she seems to have used her private mailing and email for her responses to your husband. I am not sure of my position legally in respect to these actions but I can assure you that the appropriateness of the connection to the school will be addressed.

Looks Like I got dem ol' Harsh Afghan Winter Blues Again (Baby)

Ed Morrisey alerts us to a London Telegraph report that the Taliban is all but done for in Afghanistan. Actually that's been true since about 9am Eastern on September 11th, 2001, but as Ed notes:

Will anyone report that the war is over when the Taliban come out of the hills and join the free Afghan people? Doubtful. The American media have all fled the success of Afghanistan and only one or two reporters remain to document Karzai's bold and effective initiative to entice lower-level Taliban to come in from the cold.

But wait! Cori Dauber alerts us to a NY Times/Reuters report that says they're just hibernating - literally.

The harsh Afghan winter has limited Taliban attacks against government and foreign troops, and the militants are regrouping to resume their raids after the weather warms, a Taliban spokesman said on Saturday.

The spokesman, Abdul Latif Hakimi, also dismissed reports of Taliban defections to accept amnesty offered by the government of President Hamid Karzai.

In a telephone interview that he initiated, Mr. Hakimi said the elusive Taliban leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, had ordered that attacks be stepped up once the snow thawed in the mountains, which usually happens in April. He said he had spoken with Mullah Omar by phone on Saturday.

So how's the US Army spending the harsh Afghan winter? Glad you asked. Tell Mullah Omar to keep practicing falling down - we'll be with him when we get the time, and we don't care about the weather.

KHARWAR, Afghanistan ? Members of the Gardez Provincial Reconstruction Team delivered food and blankets Feb. 16 to a village that has been isolated from surrounding districts for the past three weeks due to snow accumulations up to 30 feet deep.

On Feb. 7, the Afghan Ministry of Defense flew a team of Afghan physicians and medical supplies to Kharwar. Since that time, the PRT had made several attempts to reach Kharwar by road and by air to deliver more supplies, but it was unable to reach the district due to the weather.

Finally, on Feb. 16, conditions were good enough for air movement and a team of 13 Soldiers from the PRT traveled to Kharwar via CH-47 Chinook helicopter and delivered several pallets of blankets and food supplies.

Sgt. Mike Wright, a member of the Gardez PRT originally from Company B, 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment, said he was honored to be involved with the mission.

?We all knew there were sick people in the village, and that people were dying,? he said. ?To help deliver supplies to such a needed environment was an incredible feeling. A lot of us were giving each other high fives after we got back on the bird.?

Wright said when the team was exiting the bird, the snow was deep enough that they would fall down after taking a few steps. In the field where the helicopter landed, he said the snow came to above their knees, and it was very cold and windy.

Spc. Jonathan Walz, also of Co. B, said he was proud to help people who were in need of food and supplies.

?I enjoyed the mission because I enjoy helping and seeing people happy,? he said, ?Plus, it was the first mission like that I ever did.?

Walz said when he jumped off the helicopter, he was in snow up to his waist and still not touching the ground.

The 75,000 citizens of Kharwar District in Logar Province have been completely isolated by the heavy snowfall, and more than 2,000 citizens have become ill with respiratory ailments. Approximately 80 citizens have died within the past few weeks from pneumonia and other complications brought on by the severe weather.

While in Kharwar, the PRT medical officer consulted with the local Afghan physicians to determine additional medical requirements.

The region remains completely snowbound, and despite a large volunteer snow-clearing effort, it will probably be several days or weeks before the district is accessible by ground traffic.

Despite the conditions, Wright said, he loves these types of mission and he would do it again.

?This is a major part of why we are here, to help the Afghan people,? he said. I will go on as many of these types of missions as they will let me. This is probably the most rewarding type of mission there is. I like making people happy.?

The Mudville Gazette. We report, you decide who's clueless.

Your Must Read Post of the Day

California Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (you guess - D or R?) thought she had a solid grip on Rummy's... uh... (well let's just say "turn your head and cough") when she accused him of misleading America with inflated statistics on the number of trained Iraqi troops.

SANCHEZ: And unfortunately, as I said, this committee has had a hard time assessing where we really stand with the Iraqi army as an effective fighting force.

Over the past year, we've received incredibly widely fluctuating estimates of that. And I think you have a real credibility problem on this issue.

Rummy: Here

Update: Video here.

Hey Froggy...

You've got moonbats...

I've got a theme song for them (click on '1985' at link).

Wish I Could Go!

David's Medienkritik is going to stage a pro-Bush, pro-America demonstration during the President's vist to Mainz tomorrow (February 23) and promises to be online "live" from 10 AM until 4 PM. (See clock in right margin of Mudville Gazette for current German time).

I'd really like to attend, to be a part of the event, blog it live, meet the crowd, etc. but German political demonstrations are no place for American GI's.

I'll have to get together with the Medienkritik guys sometime before I leave Germany though. Maybe they'll attend a "bloggers meet up" with all the MilBloggers in Germany, if I ever get it arranged...

But that's for another day. For tomorrow I'll spend some virtual time with them at David's.

"To ensure maximum safety and success at our demonstration, we have received an official permit to demonstrate from Mainz city authorities and will be cooperating closely to secure the event with Mainz city police. Additionally, our rally will not be held in the direct path of anti-Bush demonstrations. Our goal is to show support for stong German-American relations and conduct ourselves in a respectable manner, not to vandalize or trash anything or anyone as the other side may do".

Hope to "see" you there.

Hospiblogging

Capt Ed and the First Mate - homebound home.

Glenn and Helen Reynolds - "fine" - a relative term.

Good thoughts, prayers, and well wishes from our house to yours.

- The Greyhawks

Chrenkoff / Ledeen

Chrenkoff interviews Ledeen.

If you recognize both names you're already there. If not, go meet them.

Tell 'em Greyhawk sent you.

Meanwhile, back at the Front

'Insurgents' negotiating with coalition forces in Iraq? Perhaps so. But if it's true, lets not question who's negotiating from a position of power. (And don't be deceived by the wording of the Time story - if there's any negotiating going on with the insurgents it's not just the Americans, the Iraqis are in the discussion too.)

If you've been reading Mudville for any time at all you must have gotten the message: the insurgents are on the ropes. Make no mistake about it - they are capable of killing people in large numbers, but their political effectiveness is virtually nil.

And falling.

As I noted here there has been some post-Iraqi election improvement in media coverage of the ongoing battles with the terrorists in Iraq. But will the trend continue? Will the American media pick up the clues and put the real story together, or will they carry on as described by Austin Bay:

Collect relatively isolated events in a chronological list and presto: the impression of uninterrupted, wide-spread violence destroying Iraq. But that was a false impression. Every day coalition forces were moving thousands of 18-wheelers from Kuwait and Turkey into Iraq, and if the ?insurgents? were lucky they blew up one. However, flash the flames of that one diesel rig on CNN and ?oh my God, America can?t stop these guys? is the impression left in Boston, Boise, and Beijing.

I noticed the same sort of appoach during my time in Iraq - media coverage of each new terrorist attack would include a "laundry list" of attacks over the previous two-week period - ignoring the fact that the coalition often had more victories on any given day than the terrorists did in any two weeks.

As CENTCOM reports

CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, Iraq ? Iraqi and U.S. forces increased security operations in and around Ramadi and throughout the Al Anbar Province Feb. 20.

The 1st Marine Division of the I Marine Expeditionary Force and Iraqi Security Forces kicked off Operation River Blitz, which includes a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. and other measures to enhance security in and around Ramadi.

?We were asked by the Iraqi government to increase our security operations in the city to locate, isolate and defeat anti-Iraqi forces and terrorists who are intent on preventing a peaceful transition of power between the Interim Iraqi Government and the Iraqi Transitional Government,? said Maj. Gen. Richard F. Natonski, commanding general, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force.

The security measures in and around the provincial capital are designed to ensure the safety of the populace by controlling access into the city. Access control points leading into the city will screen vehicles for terrorists and criminals as well as weapons, munitions and materials to produce improvised-explosive devices.

In conjunction with implementing the security measures in Ramadi, increased security operations also began in several cities along the Euphrates River, including the cities of Hit, Baghdadi and Hadithah.

Operation River Blitz is designed to target criminals and terrorists, who have attempted to destabilize the Al Anbar Province by terrorizing the populace through wanton acts of violence and intimidation. The 1st Marine Division of the I Marine Expeditionary Force stands committed with the Iraqi Security Forces in disrupting and defeating the anti-Iraqi forces while providing enhanced security to the people of Al Anbar Province.

Here's more bad news for insurgents:

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- In the battle against insurgents here, two kinds of Iraqi military forces are emerging: the planned units and the pop-ups.

The planned units of the Iraq Army, about 57,000 soldiers strong, are the result of careful preparation this summer between the U.S. and Iraqi commanders. The pop-ups started to emerge last fall out of nowhere, catching the American military by surprise. These dozen disconnected units totaling as many as 15,000 soldiers are fast becoming one of the most significant developments in the new Iraq security situation.

The unplanned units -- commanded by friends and relatives of cabinet officers and tribal sheiks -- go by names like the Defenders of Baghdad, the Special Police Commandos, the Defenders of Khadamiya and the Amarah Brigade. The new units generally have the backing of the Iraqi government and receive government funding.

<...>

Troops who might have otherwise joined the regular Iraqi Army are drawn to these units because they are often led by a particularly inspirational commander or made up of people with similar tribal and religious backgrounds. This makes the units more cohesive and potentially effective against the insurgency. "Just show us where to go and we will eat the insurgents alive," an Iraqi in one of these units told Maj. Wales earlier this month when he tracked them down at a long-shuttered Baghdad airport.

<...>

The first of these military units, the Special Police Commandos, was formed in September by Gen. Adnan Thavit, the uncle of Iraq's interim interior minister. The unit started with about 1,000 soldiers. When Col. James Coffman, a senior aide to Gen. Petraeus, found them they were occupying a heavily damaged Republican Guard base a few miles from the U.S. embassy. "It was basically 1,000 guys at the time living in a bombed-out building with no electricity, no plumbing and no bathrooms," the colonel says.

Col. Coffman, however, was struck by the unit's arms room, which was stocked with rocket-propelled-grenade launchers, mortar tubes and lots of ammunition. "The weapons were clean and organized," he says. He immediately went on a patrol with the unit and was impressed by both Gen. Thavit and his troops. The soldiers seemed to have a discipline that many of the U.S.-trained Iraqi Army units lacked.

The 63-year-old Gen. Thavit, an intelligence officer in the old Iraqi Air Force, attended military academies in the former Soviet Union and former Yugoslavia. In the mid-1990s he joined a small group of former officers plotting to overthrow Saddam Hussein. In 1996 their plan unraveled and Gen. Thavit was sentenced to life in Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison. Gen. Thavit and his second-in-command, Maj. Gen. Rashid Flayeh Mohammed, were both released by Mr. Hussein along with thousands of other political prisoners and common criminals just before the American invasion. One of Gen. Thavit's former jailers, who gave him food and cigarettes, is now a battalion commander in his new force.

On Col. Coffman's recommendation, Gen. Petraeus visited the Commandos' base and was impressed with the troops. "When I saw them and where they were living I decided this was a horse to back," the U.S. general says today. He agreed to give the fledgling unit money to fix up its base and buy vehicles, ammunition, radios and more weapons.

Meanwhile, chaos in Fallujah:

FALLUJAH, Iraq - When word went out the other day that the U.S. was looking for 250 applicants for a new Fallujah police force, the turnout was so big it nearly turned into a riot as men pushed to get to the head of the line and some fell into concertina wire.

<...>

But when it was over, the Marines were delighted.

"They saw the Iraqi traffic cops out there and nothing bad has happened to them," Marine Capt. Shannon Neller said. "That brought them out in droves."

Fallujah has been policed by 1,500 Marines and 2,700 Iraqi troops since the city was retaken - but severely damaged - in an offensive last November to destroy what had become a safe haven for militants and terrorists.

Iraq the Model

...on my way back to Baghdad from Samawa last week, some Iraqi soldiers and IP men stopped us an handed the passengers-with a nice language-a number of leaflets that urge the people to report any suspicious activities and/or elements and encourage people to report and assuring them that they don't have to fear from being tracked by the thugs.

Few miles later we were stopped by an American checkpoint and they didn't stop us for an inspection procedure, after greeting us they were glad to see that some of us speak English well, one of them said that a coalition point was attacked with mortars and so he was asking us for any information or observations about this attack.

I told them that we're only passers by and we don't know the area very well and I asked if there were any casualties but gladly the answer was "no but we want to gather information about the attackers".

And I also noticed that Iraqi soldiers on other checkpoints started friendly conversations with the people and this is a good indication; searching isn't enough alone, bridging the gaps is what really matters.
Security will not be achieved if the people do not cooperate with the authorities and I think now it's due the time for the people to take bigger role in a nation-wide action against terror.

A few days ago a coalition convoy was patrolling our district and they were stopping every other hundred meters talking to the people and distributing key chains and leaflets that carry secure phone numbers for the people to use in reporting criminal activities and this is a smart idea as key chains are always in one's hands or pocket and phones are a reliable contact route and I think using the internet and e mails for the same task is another option that can be helpful as it's untraceable and people, especially the educated segment use the internet very often and they would feel more secure comfortable that way than with the phones.

I have no estimations about how many people will provide information that way but I feel that the rate has increased after the elections. Moreover, the Iraqi media is also playing a good role in exposing criminals and there are some local channels that broadcast the confessions of arrested terrorists.

The 'insurgents' are indeed in the streets again, but they know their time is running out.

Variations

The New York Times

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Feb. 20 - Insurgent attacks to disrupt Baghdad's supplies of crude oil, gasoline, heating oil, water and electricity have reached a degree of coordination and sophistication not seen before, Iraqi and American officials say.

The new pattern, they say, shows that the insurgents have a deep understanding of the complex network of pipelines, power cables and reservoirs feeding Baghdad, the Iraqi capital.

Iraq the Model

Back from Lebanon to Baghdad with a quick update on fuel situation; the fuel (gasoline in particular) shortage is reaching an end after several tough months. It took me less than 15 minutes yesterday to fill the car with gasoline as there were only 11 vehicles waiting in the line ahead of me. The lines are shorter in all gas stations in Baghdad but vary relatively from one region to another.

The Brittle Foe

Austin Bay

...The JOC had a huge screen covering an entire wall, like a movie theater screen divided into ceiling-high panels capable of displaying multiple computer images and projections...

The biggest display, that morning and every morning, was a spooling date-time list describing scores of military and police actions undertaken over the last dozen hours, Examples: ?0331: 1/5 Cav, 1st Cavalry Division, arrests two suspects after Iraqi police stop car"; ?0335 USMC patrol vicinity Fallujah engaged by RPG, returned fire. No casualties.?

The spool went on and on and on, and I remember thinking : ?I know we?re winning. We?re winning because ?in the big picture? all the opposition has to offer is the past. But the drop-by-drop police blotter perspective obscures that.?

Collect relatively isolated events in a chronological list and presto: the impression of uninterrupted, wide-spread violence destroying Iraq. But that was a false impression. Every day coalition forces were moving thousands of 18-wheelers from Kuwait and Turkey into Iraq, and if the ?insurgents? were lucky they blew up one. However, flash the flames of that one diesel rig on CNN and ?oh my God, America can?t stop these guys? is the impression left in Boston, Boise, and Beijing.

Saddam?s buddies and Zarqawi?s klan were actually weak enemies ?"brittle? is the word I used to describe them at a senior planning meeting. Their local power was based on intimidation?killing by car bomb, murdering in the street. Their strategic power was based solely on selling the false impression of nation-wide instability? selling post-Saddam Iraq as a dysfunctional failed-state rather than an emerging democracy.

Read it all. More here later.

Hunter S Thompson...

Shot himself in the head.

Thompson got his start as a journalist in the Air Force, writing for the Eglin Air Force Base newspaper. His military career ended with a DD.

Update: Several conflicting versions of the end of Thompson's Air Force career are available on line (no surprise there!) I believe the Air Force Times has the true story, and stand corrected:

But well before Thompson chronicled fear and loathing in Las Vegas and in politics, he served two years in the Air Force and was honorably discharged as an airman second class.

According his biographers, Thompson enlisted with the service in 1956 after a judge gave the teenager the option of jail time or the military.

First trained as electronics technician at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., Thompson was assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., where he landed a job at information services.

Soon after, Thompson talked his way into the job of sports editor for the base newspaper, the Command Courier.

In a September 1956 letter reproduced for his book ?The Proud Highway,? Thompson told a friend: ?In short, we both know I?m no more qualified for a post like this than I am for the presidency of a theological seminary; but here is one major fact that makes it possible for me to hold this job: the people who hired me didn?t bother to check any too closely on my journalistic background.?

Thompson didn?t win many friends among Eglin?s brass and in August 1957 his commander recommend Thompson for early release.

?In summary, this airman, although talented will not be guided by policy,? Col. W.S. Evans, chief of information services wrote to the Eglin personnel office. ?Sometimes his rebel and superior attitude seems to rub off on other airmen staff members.?

Opinion poll:

What was the most amazing bit of ignorance displayed in Congressman Maurice Hinchey's townhall meeting:

1. His claim not to know what network Dan Rather was on

2. His claim to have evidence, which he denied moments later

3. His absolute confidence that he could say anything he wanted and be worshipped for it

4. The fact that his confidence was justified

Don't understand the question? Go here, listen to the audio. Already heard it? Listen again, tell a friend. It's got to be increasingly difficult for reasonable people to call themselves Democrats in public - and that is not a good thing.

Update: Who? A bit of background info here.

Snow Day

So I've returned to find winter's icy grip has claimed the land - blanketed it in white, misted with fog to gray the horizons and turn the sky to slate.

What can I do but take the camera and go? Those who seek will find signs of Spring in this of course. And that's words enough for now.

Enjoy.

Bloggers Making Inroads

At least some are.

Robin Burk, for instance, is covering the Conservative Political Action Conference for Winds of Change.NET as "a private citizen and maybe a "citizen journalist" (if she could figure out what that means), as an academic studying new media trends, and as an ordinary voter interested in national & international affairs". She has an extremely insightful post relating her meeting with John O?Neill and Bill Franke, and coverage of their apppearances at the Conference. A nice coda to election '04. Don't miss it.

Then visit The Word Unheard for a look at the new MSNBC program Coast to Coast - a program that should be of interest to bloggers for reasons the post makes clear. The video linked includes an appearance on said show by none other than Robin Burk, wherein she exhibits abundant knowledge of what a citizen journalist is.

Old Sarge Gets a Care Package

This from Russ Vaughn:

Sergeant Vaughn got a care package today. It?s been almost forty years since I got my last one, a case of twenty-four #2? cans of sliced peaches from my father. Memory fails me now, but I don?t believe I ever asked before he died what it cost to mail that monster, but it must have been a pretty hefty hit in the wallet for a lifelong blue-collar worker. I had happened to mention in one of my rare letters home from Vietnam that canned, sliced peaches were my favorite item in our C Rations even if they were twenty years old. We could date them because the small cigarette packs enclosed with the rations were frequently Lucky Strikes in the old green packages that were phased out in the forties.

In any event, at mail call back in the rear area, the company clerk yells out, ?Sergeant Vaughn! Care package!? and I responded with a somewhat surprised ?Yo!? Stepping front and center I stared with momentary incomprehension at the large, heavily taped and badly battered, cardboard box at the clerk?s feet. He made no move to pick it up and hand it to me; he just grinned and said, ?That heavy sucker?s all yours from here on, Sarge.? As I bent to pick it up, I noticed the silvery glint of the top of a can and a bit of green label through one of the torn corners and awareness dawned: son of a gun, my Old Man had come through for me! In spades!

The box was indeed heavy but it was a welcome burden for a twenty-five year old paratrooper in the best shape of his life; a few months of conducting patrols and operations in the mountains, jungles and paddies of Vietnam had made me a ?lean, mean, Airborne trooper.? When I got it back to my hooch, I cut the top from the box with my jump knife and gazed in awe at twenty-four, count ?em, twenty-four cans, number two and a half cans at that, great big ol? cans of Del Monte sliced peaches. At that moment, I had to be the peaches king of Vietnam. Man, this was even better than the case of Tootsie Rolls my sister had mailed a couple of months earlier.

My unit was on stand down in the rear area at Tuy Hoa air base for a few days and for those few days, I felt indeed like the peaches king of Vietnam. I handed out peaches to my fellow troopers, sharing my good fortune with my brothers, as was our custom. But I must confess, I squirreled away several cans for leaner times. I was constantly peppered with, ?Hey, Sarge, you got any more a? them peaches?? And by occasionally producing a can, I kept that particular query alive for more than a couple of weeks.

I?d forgotten all that until today. Today, Sergeant Vaughn got a care package from a sweet woman in Oregon named Claudia Briggs, a military widow, self-described as ?deaf as a door knob.? Claudia, it seems, had read a poem sent to her by her brother, an Army retiree, a former paratrooper in my old division, the 101st Airborne, who correctly surmised she might share the author?s sentiments. The poem is entitled, ?Fightin? Words,? and I am that author. I had cobbled it together in angry response to the mainstream media?s carping, hypercritical response to a widely broadcast incident in Fallujah, where a reporter had videotaped a young Marine administering a coup de grace to a terrorist. The poem happened to catch the mood of many Americans and was widely disseminated via the Internet and even read on a nationally broadcast talk radio show.

Exhibiting the martial spirit befitting the widow of a career soldier, Claudia decided to do something for the trooper who had written the poem. Those who read my rants on a regular basis are aware that any time I write on a military topic, I sign my work with my military credentials to establish my bonafides to render my opinions on warfare and ground combat. Claudia, seeing my unit designation, somehow missed the Vietnam 65-66 in the last line and assumed a young soldier in Iraq had written the poem. So she set about to send a box of goodies to him as reward. Once she had it all assembled and packaged, she took it to the post office, but they refused to accept it without an APO. She called the Army recruiter in Coos Bay who graciously called Ft. Bragg, home of the 82d Airborne, the last remaining paratrooper division, and my last duty post in 1967. Nope, Staff Sergeant Vaughn?s not here, try Ft. Campbell, that?s the 101st ?s home base. There she was told they could not give out soldiers? APO addresses for security reasons.

Frustrated, Claudia called her ex-paratrooper brother who contacted some of the men he had served with at Ft. Campbell, which had, in fact, been my primary duty station, although forty years earlier. From someone he learned that I was no longer in the service and there was no forwarding address. Now the motto of the Airborne is ?All the way,? meaning you never give up; you never stop moving forward until the mission is completed. Well, Claudia?s brother, even at seventy-five, is still a paratrooper. Somehow, someway, he kept hard charging until he found me and sent Claudia my address. He sensibly advised her to forget about the care package and just send me a card.

Nope, not this determined widow; the box arrived today, and after my initial stunned surprise, left me with a pleasant quandary. I don?t know whether to eat all that good stuff or close it back up and forward it to some young trooper with the 82d Airborne, now serving in Iraq. I sure don?t need all those calories but, dang, I never got a care package from a non-family member; they didn?t do much of that in my unpopular war. So I guess I?ll sleep on it. Or maybe I?ll have a late-night snack. Is this a great country or what?

Thanks, Claudia, I think you would have made one hell of a paratrooper.

Russ Vaughn
2d Bn, 327th Parachute Infantry Regiment
101st Airborne Division
Vietnam 65-66

Greyhawk here. Keep it Russ - enjoy it for all the guys who never got one. Russ' story really resonates with me. Even old Greyhawk enjoyed getting care packages in the mail, they were a real morale booster. Even if the box had just a couple items in them it mattered. And everyone in the unit shared - just the way Russ described above.

One of the funniest packages we received contained nothing but individual servings of salad dressing - I can't tell you how many were in that box, but they were great. Believe it or not you really get tired of three huge chow hall meals a day, so a salad is a nice break, and this dressing was awesome. Another great box was a whole case of Slim Jims - those were appreciated and lasted quite a while.

And who sent them? Family, of course, but also complete strangers. Via Soldiers Angels and Any Soldier - I'm sure there are other organizations out there but these had direct contact with Greyhawk and his troops, and I'm forever grateful for their efforts. They've made sure that no GI in Iraq will have to wait 40 years for a care package.

By this point you might be thinking - "gosh, I've just read remarks from a Vietnam vet and an Iraq war vet about how much care packages meant to them... I wonder if I should..."

Yes, you should. Next trip to the grocery store pick up some extra Pringles, nuts, non-perishable snacks, band-aids, and a copy of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition, contact one of the organizations linked above, and make somebody's day.

Thanks!

Snow Day

Marked the arrival of four inches of white powder by walking around the backyard with Roger's camera.

Some sort of photo essay thing will likely result.

WWII 60th Anniversary

Update: If you can't make it to Tampa, visit Jackson's Junction.

Update 2 More Iwo links here

The Washington Times remembers.

For those who remember and revere World War II, 60 is the magic number.

Six decades have gone by since the raising of the American flag over Iwo Jima, the war's end in Europe and the Pacific, and other pivotal military events of 1945.

Beginning this week, the Department of Defense will honor all of them in a six-month-long salute that includes patriotic fanfare and heartfelt remembrances in a half-dozen cities. There will be swing music, vintage uniforms and the close harmonies of Andrews Sisters impersonators.

<...>

Through the end of August, the committee will stage large-scale events in Tampa, Fla., San Antonio, San Diego, Boston, Chicago and Vancouver, Wash.

"We're bringing these commemorations to the veterans, particularly those who may not have the funds or the health to journey elsewhere," said Cmdr. Dunphy. "These cities have the highest concentrations of veterans in the country."

And if you're in the Tampa area looking for something to do...

Meanwhile, Tampa hosts the first of the Defense Department's urban commemorative events Saturday, set to recall that moment at 2 a.m. on Feb. 19, 1945, when Navy guns opened up the island of Iwo Jima, which eventually provided a vital link in the U.S. chain of bomber bases.

Under heavy Japanese fire, 100,000 Marines struggled through the volcanic ash of the tiny island about 650 miles southeast of Tokyo. The conflict that ensued resulted in 26,000 casualties and almost 6,800 deaths.

The American flag was raised by members of "Easy Company" upon 550-foot Mount Suribachi over Iwo Jima four days layer. A photograph that captured the moment has since inspired millions and become the most reproduced photo of all time, said James Bradley, author of the 2000 best seller "Flags of Our Fathers."

Mr. Bradley's father was one of the six Marines of the 28th Regiment, 5th Division, who raised the flag.

"History turned all its focus, for 1/400th of a second, on them. It froze them in an elegant instant of battle: froze them in a camera lens as they hoisted an American flag on a makeshift pole," he wrote.

The Tampa event will include Iwo Jima veterans, members of all military services and the Merchant Marines, the U.S. Navy Band and a host of political and press dignitaries.

"It's clear we're remembering not just the people, but the ideas and lessons learned that help assure freedom continues to flourish around the world — much as the soldiers of today are doing in the Middle East," said retired Army Lt. Gen. Ed Soyster, executive director of the World War II 60th Anniversary Committee.

Maybe Berlin will have an event I can attend this year...