CNN just couldn't be positive, could they....?

On the heels of the two positive stories I posted below, comes this info about their recent profile of Kathleen Whitney, in which they said the following:

"Her finely honed commitment to honor, duty and patriotism is being matched against her equally strong instincts of motherhood and family. At the same time, she has deep feelings of disillusionment with the Army, to which she owes so much allegiance and gratitude, for changing the rules." (via Mudville Gazette)

Kathleen sets the record straight, and illustrates a wee bit more of that "creative license" in the media, in this post over at Grunt Doc's blog.

Woman joins Air Force Thunderbirds
Naming of pilot comes amid debate over women in military
06/16/05 07:17 PM, EDTJust weeks after a high-profile debate about the role of women in the military, the Air Force is putting a woman in one of its most prestigious and high-profile jobs. Capt. Nicole Malachowski has been named the first woman pilot in the Air Force's world-famous Thunderbirds demonstration squadron. FULL STORY

Tennessee woman given Silver Star
Sergeant is first female to get award since World War II
06/16/05 06:37 PM, EDTA
23-year-old sergeant with the Kentucky National Guard on Thursday became the first female soldier to receive the Silver Star -- the nation's third-highest medal for valor -- since World War II. FULL STORY

Via Seamus:

All hands:

From Col Wayne Morris and Cpl Bob Rorher comes this letter written by Capt FR Koenig USN (Ret).

It is a letter to Senator Richard Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois and a charter member of the "hate America first" group. This jerk compared our military personnel at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with the Nazis of WW II. How do these people continue to be elected?

When we read this letter, we should keep the 5 Marines and the Navy Corpsman, who were killed in combat yesterday, in our thoughts and prayers. They died for the freedom that this Durbin guy has to condemn them as Nazis.

Thanks and Semper Fi, Gentlemen,

Seamus


June 15, 2005

The Honorable Richard Durbin
United States Senate
332 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D. C. 20510

Dear Senator Durbin,

As a combat aviator veteran of Vietnam and retired Naval Officer, I must express in the strongest possible terms my disappointed in your condemnation and vilification of our military personnel serving in Guantanamo Bay. Your comments from the Senate floor, supposedly heard off the record, speak further to you and your party’s true disdain and dislike of our military heroes. Comments like yours tear the hearts out of our fighting hero’s just as surely as physical wounds received in combat. In my perspective, this is no different from those who yelled “baby killers” to our troops when we return home in the 60’s and 70’s.

My anger, frustration and disappointment in you as an elected senator is your comparison of treatment received by the terrorist killers in detention in Gitmo to those innocent victims murdered by the Nazis during WWII. How dare you even mention the mass murders in Cambodia?

Would you say these same comments, so vividly expressed recently on audiotape, to the likes of Jessica Lynch? To the Pearle family? To those families of the Jews murdered in Europe? That was bad treatment! I believe there are still a few elected officials in congress that could explain “bad” treatment to you.

By the way, ask our tank commanders about air conditioning in their war fighting vehicles. Or our Marines & Soldiers in their hummers! Have you ever been enclosed in the confines of a war fighting ship? We treat those damn terrorists better than we treat our fighting heroes. What a stupid, uninformed and ridiculous statement.

In the past I have given you the benefit of the doubt as a courtesy to a large and proud family of Illinois voters who has supported you and the democrats in the past.

I will pledge that efforts are underway to cancel any support to you and your party. We don't want any apology. As you know, they are only words.

Sincerely,

F. R. Koenig
Captain, USN Retired
Addison, TX

Amen!

Update:
To send a love note to Senator Durbin, you can go to his website here:

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin

Here are his office addresses:

Washington, DC
332 Dirksen Senate Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-2152
(202) 228-0400 - fax

Chicago
230 South Dearborn St.
Suite 3892
Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 353-4952
(312) 353-0150 - fax

Springfield
525 South 8th St.
Springfield, IL 62703
(217 ) 492-4062
(217) 492-4382 - fax

Marion
701 N. Court St.
Marion, IL 62959
(618) 998-8812
(618) 997-0176 - fax

By the way, Dick would like you to know that:
"Should you choose to send me correspondence via the post office, please be advised that it may be significantly delayed due to mail procedures implemented by the U.S. Capitol Police in the wake of the anthrax and ricin incidents."

So due to the actions of poor terrorists like the ones we're "torturing" in Gitmo, I recommend flooding Dick's email box and phone lines so you don't experience undue delays. Heck, just to be sure, send an email, a snail mail, AND reach out and touch him on the phone lines.

Please keep your comments somewhat civil (if you can), so he gets the point, and doesn't get to pass this off as right-wing-nut-job stuff.

Marathon for the Fisher House Landstuhl
http://sponsormywalk.info/

My name is Norm Raynal; I am a 64-year old diabetic who works for the Defense Commissary Agency. I have been wondering, perhaps like many of you, how to stay healthy and do something beneficial with my off-duty time. I tried several different activities, but nothing seemed "right" for me…too time-consuming, limited exercise, and especially no sense of feeling like I was doing something worthwhile…nothing seemed to "fit.” I told a good friend about my dilemma and she suggested I consider volunteering at the Fisher House. I had no idea what the Fisher House was. When I saw an ad looking for volunteers to help the Fisher House clean up after the holidays, I thought about her suggestion and decided to give it a try.

The manager was kind enough to take some time from her busy day to explain what the Fisher House provides for service members and their families. I learned that in our area, there are two Fisher Houses collocated to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center that provide a “home away from home” for families assisting wounded service members or who are themselves receiving medical care at Landstuhl. During 2004, these two houses assisted over 900 families.

The Fisher Houses depend on donations to maintain their operation. To support this worthwhile cause, I will walk five 42.9 marathons and ask each of you to pledge a dollar amount for each kilometer I walk or a dollar amount for each marathon I walk. No walk …no donation.

Kathy Gregory provided me with more ideas and suggestions and along with another friend, Berndt Schwarz, we put this web site together. Karin Hand did the final edit so Kathy Reed could do the English - German translation what we will post in the near future. Thanks to my friends, we are able to reach out to the community for support.

Your donation after the first, third and fifth marathon will directly go to the service members and their families who stay at the Landstuhl Fisher Houses.

I ask you to help those who fight for our freedom by being generous with your pledge.

As the Manager of the Landstuhl Fisher Houses I welcome the support you will provide us. We do not receive any government funding and our operating costs come from donations and the $10 room fee. The Fisher House Foundation that is listed on the Combined Federal Campaign is a separate Fund that solicits money for building new Fisher Houses, supporting existing Fisher Houses and helping individual families in need. Charitable activities like this 5 X marathon help us meet our donation goal as well as spread the word that the Landstuhl Fisher Houses are here to help our families in need. We estimate $155,000 will be needed this year, so we thank you for your pledge which will help us provide care and support. You will be helping to keep a family unit together and assisting each family through their medical crisis by giving us the ability to provide “compassionate care beyond the call of duty”.

Cherished Claddagh Stolen from Grave By Sean O' Driscoll
Irish Voice Thu, 16 Jun 2005 3:23 AM PDT
New Hampshire police are appealing to Irish Americans across the country to look out for a Celtic necklace stolen from the grave of a soldier killed in Iraq.

Two officers, possibly killed by fellow soldiers, memorialized
Macon Telegraph Wed, 15 Jun 2005 5:57 PM PDT
TIKRIT, Iraq - (KRT) - The ceremonies have become far too common, with the Kevlar helmets resting atop weapons, the 21-gun salute, the lone bugler playing "Taps."

Michael Yon has a few important things to say in his post "The Battle For Mosul, Part III."

For those who whine about a U.S. coverup of casualties...

"Last night, for instance, a homicide truck bomb detonated nearby, killing three policemen, wounding three others. The blast was massive; steaming flesh, shredded from the attacker, was flung into nearby concertina wire where it dried in the rising sun the next day. There was no cover-up on the casualty count. Military reports confirmed what witnesses to the attack experienced. No attempts were made to stop me from reporting the attack, though I did not bother because the media had picked it up from military press releases. The United States is the only country in the world that allows journalists this level of access to the battlefield, a practice that renders any kind of wide-scale cover-up tantamount to impossible."

More, including photos, can be found on the post at his Online Magazine.

U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, Texas Army National Guard, prepare to move out during a quick reaction force exercise at East River Range near Bagram, Afghanistan, June 11, 2005. Soldiers from the Texas National Guard are stationed in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Army Spc. Harold Fields



U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, Texas Army National Guard, conduct a quick reaction force exercise at East River Range outside Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, June 11, 2005. Soldiers from the Texas National Guard are stationed in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Christopher Kaufmann



A U.S. Army soldier from Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, Texas Army National Guard, pulls security while waiting to be extracted during a quick reaction force exercise at East River Range near Bagram, Afghanistan, June 11, 2005. Soldiers from the Texas National Guard are stationed in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Army Spc. Harold Fields



U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, Texas Army National Guard, fire at simulated targets during quick reaction force exercise at East River Range outside Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, June 11, 2005. Soldiers from the Texas National Guard are stationed in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Christopher Kaufmann



U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, Texas Army National Guard, fire at simulated targets during quick reaction force exercise at East River Range outside Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, June 11, 2005. Soldiers from the Texas National Guard are stationed in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Christopher Kaufmann



U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, Texas Army National Guard, prepare to evacuate a simulated casualty during a quick reaction force exercise at East River Range outside Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, June 11, 2005. Soldiers from the Texas National Guard are stationed in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Christopher Kaufmann



U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, Texas Army National Guard, prepare to evacuate a simulated casualty during a quick reaction force exercise at East River Range outside Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, June 11, 2005. Soldiers from the Texas National Guard are stationed in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Christopher Kaufmann

EAST RIVER RANGE — U.S. Army soldiers from Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, Texas Army National Guard, pull security during a quick reaction force exercise at East River Range near Bagram, Afghanistan, June 10, 2005. Soldiers from the Texas National Guard are stationed in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Harold Fields