Thanks to all of you for the wonderful comments about Brittany's card to our troops. I am continuing to forward the comments and links from Trackbacks to Brittany's Dad, Tim.

Recently, Tim emailed me to let me know how overwhelmed they were with the response it's gotten.

Originally, Tim tells me, Brittany had asked him how she could get her card to the troops - he came across Soldiers' Angels and this blog.

I knew Brittany's card was something extra-special, and in addition to posting, sent it out hither and yon to see if I could get it as widely viewed as possible - after all, she'd wanted it seen by as many troops as she could manage. I can't thank you all enough for posting about it.

Here are the latest bloggers to mention it - others are listed here:

Banana Oil
Isaac Schrödinger
Everyman

Please stop by and pay these bloggers a visit when you can.

Be sure to stop on over to read Michael Yon's latest dispatch, "Empty Jars."

I've gotten a couple choice bits of hatemail lately, which aren't worth dignifying with a post, but I did tell the sender of this mail that I would respond in one. Spelling errors, etc. have been left intact.

(sorry to rant a bit i got a bit carried away so test your consentration and argue with my opinion, it will be interestin...)

I am british and i am awar that we have soldiers in iraq too, and they are doing pretty mutch what they do in northern island, i have noticed ya said we are not losing the war, i dont think you can win a war (like you cant win an earth quake) lots of civilians are dting insurgents will only be in iraq so long as americans are there when the americans leave they will go back to killing each other in the mean time theyll shoot you yanks and the american army cant change that, think about it, if you nuke iraq who won the war? osama probaly. we got terrorist attacks in britain the other day and people didnt panik lots of people even said that its good to see a bit of war here too cos its only fair they get a pop at us back, do you think im liberal? i think republicans are a bit simple when it comes to complicated issues.war has been fought for thousands of years in europe, tho americas strong it realy should ignore the rest of the world as it should have no interest, its not like you guys ever liked arabs anyway and saddam wouldnt have been suspected of tryin to kill you guys unless you provoke him in the first place. you can argue about the poor people but when america is responsible for pain and suffering throughout the globe (bo phal india,trade sanctions, arms trade etc etc)it just doesnt make mutch sense at all.

as for your war of the worlds comment though i think you rite it is bullshit, although you cant beat insurgents in iraq.


OK, let's take this a piece at a time:
I am british and i am awar that we have soldiers in iraq too, and they are doing pretty mutch what they do in northern island, i have noticed ya said we are not losing the war, i dont think you can win a war (like you cant win an earth quake) lots of civilians are dting insurgents will only be in iraq so long as americans are there when the americans leave they will go back to killing each other in the mean time theyll shoot you yanks and the american army cant change that, think about it, if you nuke iraq who won the war? osama probaly.

We AREN'T losing the war. Saddam is out of power, Iraq had it's first free election in decades, and terrorists are being killed and arrested daily. You most certainly CAN win a war. Is Germany still led by Hitler? And not to put too fine a point on it, but the reason you're a Brit and I'm a Yank is 'cause we won a little war a couple of centuries ago. Yes, civilians are dying (um...killed by Arab terrorists, mostly), troops too, unfortunately. You say that the insurgents will only be there as long as the Americans are there. If by "insurgent" you mean "terrorist," they were around a long time before we got to Iraq. They may shoot some of our troops, yes. But we shoot a whole heck of a lot better, and somebody had to deal with Saddam, and with them. Once again, the U.N. refused to, and once again, the U.S. had to step in.

One thing that boggles my mind is the fact that people act as if terrorism started with Iraq. You, living where you do, should know better. For a refresher course, I posted a timeline here a while ago, with a link to another site. There was also one posted over at the Mudville Gazette fairly recently, and you can also go here for info.

And as far as killing civilians go....Saddam was doing a pretty good job of that long before we got there....Halabja, for example.....have you missed all of those mass graves we found?

Oh, and by the way, the American left often argues that there was never any connection between the War on Terror and Iraq.....so if we "nuke Iraq" - which is NOT any game plan I've ever heard of, how could Osama win?

we got terrorist attacks in britain the other day and people didnt panik lots of people even said that its good to see a bit of war here too cos its only fair they get a pop at us back, do you think im liberal? i think republicans are a bit simple when it comes to complicated issues.

I can't say anything bad about the way the Brits reacted to the terror attacks. I am, however, of the opinion, that the terrorists have gotten plenty of "pops" along the way as it is. I think "fair" would be to see the murdering losers suffer whatever horrible hell I believe fate has in store for people like them.

Yeah, you sound like a wee bit o' the liberal to me. (And as an Irish-Scots-American, I really feel I have to point out that it's Northern IRELAND, not Island - wink). And as for the simple / complicated issue, I think liberals are a bit complicated when it comes to simple issues.

war has been fought for thousands of years in europe, tho americas strong it realy should ignore the rest of the world as it should have no interest, its not like you guys ever liked arabs anyway and saddam wouldnt have been suspected of tryin to kill you guys unless you provoke him in the first place. you can argue about the poor people but when america is responsible for pain and suffering throughout the globe (bo phal india,trade sanctions, arms trade etc etc)it just doesnt make mutch sense at all.

Wait a minute - I thought we were supposed to be more like Europe because it was so peaceful and happy....what gives? And "its not like you guys ever liked Arabs anyway"? Wow. I would refer you to "protected classes" under American anti-discrimination law - y'know, race, religion, creed, gender, national origin, marital status, age... we like Arabs just fine - we're just not particularly fond of terrorists. Saddam wouldn't have been suspected of trying to kill us if we hadn't provoked him? Um.....invasion of Kuwait....UN Sanctions....shooting at American aircraft (sometimes daily) in the no-fly zone....Ba'athist party believes in one Arab nation under them....Saddam paying bounties to the families of dead suicide bombers....Not to put it in too "simple" terms, but he's the one who provoked. The first time, basically the WHOLE WORLD decided to kick his butt. It's just that certain nations who shall remain nameless but supplied significant amounts of banned materials to Iraq decided to stand in the way, and certain ridiculously lame-duck multi-national organizations (funded SIGNIFICANTLY by American dollars, might I add) decided not to enforce their own sanctions....

Um....Bhopal was an industrial accident, involving a private company, not the American government (and actually, 49% of the plant was owned by private Indian companies). It's a matter for U.S. civil courts, and apparently, India's criminal court system......y'know, industrial accident...kind of like Chernobyl...but that must not have happened, 'cause it wasn't Americans that did it. At any rate, what the heck has THAT got to do with Iraq?

Trade sanctions - are you saying we can't decide who we will and won't do business with???? Sorry, but if you're an enemy, I think we have the right to say, "no, actually, we won't be supporting your country."

Arms trade? Puh-lease. Surely you didn't mean to imply that the US is the leader in the arms trade. We're just a little bitty fish in a very big pond on that one. Take a look at the weapons killing troops in Iraq, and you'll find a few "civilized" European countries there, my British friend.

As for the War of the Worlds comment (here, in the infamous poster post) - yes, it is, and oh yes, we can.

Still, thanks for the mail - it was a whole heck of a lot better than the ridiculous name-caller that followed it.

Feel free to chime in, folks...

KYRGYZSTAN VISIT — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld meets U.S. servicemembers at Manas Air Force Base at Bishkek International Airport, Kyrgyzstan, July 26, 2005. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald

Posted about this once before; you'll see a link to a related site, "Newton's Best of the Best" listed among the "Troop Support" sites to the right. They also now have a permalink on the right hand side of the page.

The information is worth a repost.


Silver Star Families of America is a group working to get a WIA Service Flag designated to honor those of our Heroes wounded in service to their country.

You can go to this site to find out more:
http://steven.newton6.home.att.net/

They also have a group support site at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SilverStarFamiliesofAmerica/

Here is information from their webpage:

THE ORIGIN, GOALS AND MISSION OF THE SILVER STAR FAMILIES OF AMERICA
A couple of years ago, while at a Veterans Administration hospital, I was speaking to a family about their son. He had been wounded in the war and now spent a lot of his time alone at the hospital. We all considered it a shame that while America is at war it honors its hero’s but it doesn’t take long for the heroes to be forgotten. For the wounded of our nation to live and struggled on their own with little or no help. The medals tarnish and some of our most vulnerable soldiers and veterans are left to survive or die with no recognition for their achievements.

Since that time I have struggling for a Service Flag for our wounded. Something to fly over a V.A. Hospital to remind the country, day in and day out, of the sacrifice of our men and women in the armed forces and for families of the wounded to hang in their windows or fly proudly from a pole to show their pride. And not just during conflict but ALL the time. When war ends THAT is the time we especially need to be reminded that some are still suffering the consequences of conflict.

I wanted a place where our wounded service members and their families could go for help and information or just to laugh, talk or cry with others going through the same experience they are. A safe place, an honorable place that took no notice of politics or race, but a place for ALL to come as they are for comfort.

I started my quest by contacting a few organizations but had very little luck in convincing them that we needed to honor our wounded. Since that time, by the grace of God, I have come to be associated with a wonderful group of people. We started a web site and requested of our Senators that legislation be enacted to allow for placement of the Silver Star on the Blue Star Service Flag to show wounded. We started an on-line petition, which has now entered the real word as an actual hard copy petition, which I hope you will soon see on every street corner.

Friends started a Yahoo Group where like-minded people, and families of our wounded, could gather to exchange ideas and to work on accomplishing our goal. Disappointments, as in all things, came and went but one of the most frustrating one was when we heard that legislative action could take from one, two or three years. We had only a few options, all which were not acceptable to us.

So, On April 1st of the year of our Lord 2005, we decided that instead of waiting for legislative action or other organizations acceptance, we would start to honor the wounded of our country NOW. Thus was formed the SILVER STAR FAMILIES OF AMERICA. We designed and copyrighted the Silver Star Service Flag that can be downloaded now. We are also working on forming our own 501 c organization.

We have worked and struggled for a long time but now we are doing what we set out to do. Helping those that cannot or do not know how to help themselves. And we are showing our respect for them by flying our Silver Star Flags NOW.

It is one of my fondest wishes that other organizations would join with us and many already have. It is an honorable cause. I invite each and every one of you to sign the petition but more importantly to join us now to do something that was once done many years ago by several states. That is to show our fellow countrymen that we DO honor our wounded and that they are not forgotten.

Chief Steven J. Newton (ret)