Talking with Heroes in Iraq

Bob Calvert, host of "Talking with Heroes" began this wonderful program on the internet in December of 2005.

What is Talking with Heroes?

Talking with Heroes is a voice for our military, their families and those who support them. We share first-hand accounts straight from the personal interviews with the men and women serving in our nation’s Armed Forces. These men and women are helping people worldwide, and that includes our own citizens right here at home in the USA.
We broadcast LIVE every Sunday Night on the stardustradio.com internet network at 7pm CST. Our guests include men and women in our military who are willing to share their experiences, as well as leaders from military support and veterans groups, ministries, companies, entertainers and others who help and support our troops and their families back home.
<...>
Since Dec. 2005 Active Duty Military Personnel from all branches of the military have shared their positive stories with our listeners. We will continue to give a forum for those mostly untold stories. Military Support and Veterans Groups, Companies, Organizations and others who support our troops and their families also have an opportunity to share their stories.

In October 2006, and again in Jan 2007, Calvert took the program over to Iraq. All of the interviews are currently archived on the website under the "Past shows/archives" section for all Americans to listen to. ["Talking with Heroes"]

And now Bob Calvert accompied by Jim Martin, CEO of Altitude Sports and Entertainment Cable Company, are heading back:

Soon you will be hearing more stories as Jim and I go back to Iraq again. Keep an eye on this Blog as FBL, the veteran Soldiers' Angel and blogger, posts our messages here for you and all Americans to read while we are gone. When we get back, millions will have an opportunity to hear the audio stories we will have collected.

And we will be depending on each and every one of you to help us get the word out.

A special thanks to Patti and Jeff Bader and Soldiers Angels for being the main sponsor of this upcoming trip to Iraq. And thank you to all those who have been supportive of this project, some for short periods of time and others from the very beginnning back in 2005.

To all of our troops be safe... stay alert..]

You can hear the most recent interview with Soldiers' Angels here

[FbL adds: Bob will be spending most of his trip outside the "Green Zone," joining patrols and meeting with military personnel and Iraqis at/near outposts throughout Iraq. I'm sure he'll have some great stories to share as he travels]

Don't miss this opportunity to watch our heroes talk about the progress being made in Iraq.

Thank you for your support

www.talkingwithheroes.com

Cross posted at Mudville

A Beautiful Tribute to SGT Mike Stokely

Robert sends the following:

As we come upon the eve of the 2nd year of Remembrance of the death of my beloved son, SGT Mike Stokely, KIA 16 AUG 05 near Yusufiyah Iraq, I wanted to do something to remember this event. I am a little tapped out on words as I am so busy coordinating the last minute push to have a successful car and motorcycle "Ride to Remember..." in his honor on August 25, 2007. I am driven to have a successful event, not just to honor Mike and raise money for a scholarship in his name at his college, but to set the stage to do this in coming years and use the proceeds to honor each and everyone of the other 25 fallen GA National Guard Soldiers from Georgia's 48th Brigade Combat Team GAARNG with a scholarship in their name and memory.

At the road dedication ceremony last October 6, Abbey produced a video on the lap top at home as a tribute to Mike. The song "American Soldier" by Toby Keith is set to photos Abbey selected as a tribute to her beloved brother and fallen hero, SGT Mike Stokely. Toby Keith most likely will never know who Abbey Stokely or Mike Stokely are, or just how much this song means to a younger sister who lost her American Soldier, Hero and Brother in war. He certainly couldn't envision how many times I have replayed Abbey's video tribute and cry each time, for the words and his melody are so "Mike" to me. To say the least, American Soldier is a fitting song chosen by Abbey to sum up Mike's life as a soldier with but one exception - he never got to have children with his high school sweetheart (Niki) who he married just ten days before he went to Iraq. Mike Stokely was a great husband, and would have been a gr eat Dad. Obviously, he was a great brother. As a dad, I can say he was a great son as well as a most dear friend.

I would hope Toby Keith wouldn't mind this use of his song. I wish that one day I might have the brief chance to thank him in person and tell him the real "value" of his song and what it means to me and our family. But, for now, I'll just say thank you Toby Keith in cyberspace.

Now, I'll turn it over to 15 year old Abbey Stokely and invite you to take four minutes and go to the YOUTUBE link below, and see an up close and personal view of what the cost of freedom is to our family - A Lifetime of Love

It is no wonder we remember with honor and and on August 25 we will "Ride to Remember..." Mike Stokely, www.mikestokely.com .

When asked what I would say to those who built the bomb that killed Mike, my answer is "They would have better served their cause by leaving him alive to have come home to a family who would have gone on to live ordinary anonymous lives. Instead, by their acts which caused Mike's death, an enemy has brought our family and entire generation of friends alive for the cause of freedom, without bitterness, anger, or bent for revenge, as we Remember with Honor what Mike Stokely gave. We have not wavered, we shall not retreat, nor shall we forget."

Robert Stokely
proud to be the dad of Wes and Abbey Stokely and
proudly remembering my beloved son, SGT Mike Stokely
KIA 16 AUG 05 near Yusufiyah
USA E Troop 108 CAV 48th BCT GAARNG

Words fail...

Heh

I'm an Army Wife, but I gotta say, those Marine wives are, well, witty....

"Brian, there's a festival down the street this weekend. Says here the Marines will be there to show off their vehicles and weapons. Oh, and the Navy will be there, too. I guess to show off their....Marines!"

Heh.

If only every kindness was so easy to accomplish

Jim C. at "Thinking Right" is sponsoring a letter-writing campaign for a deployed Marine battalion, the 1st of the 1st Marine Regiment. He's about 20% towards goal, and some details can be found over at my soap box.

When I was on a ship at war in 2003, we’d already been at sea for what seemed like forever when the kinetic phase of OIF kicked off. We were all gratified though the way the country had rallied round to support us. We received “Any Sailor” letters in the mail, and huge posters signed by folks from all over the place, sent to us from scout troops and classrooms and church youth groups. The logistics airheads in Kuwait were clogged with “any soldier/Marine” letters, too.

We were busy of course and sometimes we looked at those letters a little quizzically - they seemed to come from a place so very different than where we were at that it was as though the people who had written them existed in a separate universe. But they reminded us that there was a place where people could be innocent of long hard days at sea and dangerous work in the skies above a foreign battlefield yet still keep us in their thoughts and prayers.

It occurred to me then that we had in a way traded away our innocence to protect theirs, and that this was a worthy thing to do. Those letters and posters were deeply touching to all of us. We looked at them and smiled at them tenderly for a moment, and then we set our faces to our work and went back to war.

Then, our own work done at last, we came home and there were tens of thousands of San Diegans who showed up along the harbor roads and piers to wave flags and cheer us. Fire boats and tugs sprayed water hoses in the air in celebration. We had not yet begun to hear Lee Greenwood songs cynically - irony was still dead. At home, TV commercials showed soldiers returning through airports to the applause of strangers.

They don’t much get that anymore. The work is no less dangerous.

Go to Jim’s place, please. Write a letter. Tell your friends.

It'd be a kindness.