From America Supports You:

By Jamie Findlater
Special to American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2008 - Support from their fellow citizens is vital to the success of servicemembers fighting the war on terror, a soldier who earned the Bronze Star Medal in Iraq said today.

“Support means everything,” Army Staff Sgt. John Aughtman saidin an interview on the “ASY Live” program on BlogTalkRadio. “A letter, a care package, a telephone call, a visit, a blanket -- anything means everything.”

“ASY Live” is part of the Defense Department’s America Supports You program, which connects citizens and companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad.
As a squad leader, Aughtman earned the Bronze Star Medal for his leadership after an attack in Tikrit. He cared for his soldiers and led them to safety before taking care of his own injuries. He has served three combat deployments, and plans to go back.

“I’ve had some good times and bad times, and I can’t wait to get back in,” he said.

Aughtman talked about his time being deployed before his injury, and emphasized the importance of support organizations that helped to keep him connected to what was going on back home.

“The home-front groups go above and beyond, doing great things for us,” he said. “It may not be a lot, but it is something when they are far away from home.”

In particular, Aughtman said, care packages, letters from people around the country and notes from elementary school children really warmed his heart. “They would send care packages and movies around the holidays – it kind of warms you up when you get something like that and have been deployed for awhile,” he said.

On April 22 2007, the day he was injured, Aughtman was on a routine patrol returning to his forward operating base when his vehicle was struck by a grenade. He was knocked unconscious for about a minute and a half.

“When I woke up,” he said, “I started testing the other soldiers for injuries, and I found that one soldier had shrapnel wounds to about 90 percent of his right leg and one soldier had internal injuries.” Without hesitation, Aughtman treated the soldier with the shrapnel wounds and kept the other soldier conscious before deciding to get back to the forward operating base on a “self-medevac” to get attention for his own injuries.

Although many would agree that Aughtman is a hero, he doesn’t view himself that way. “I am just doing my job and doing what I am supposed to do. … The men to your left and right are going to do anything and everything to help you out as long as you do the same,” he said. “I lost a friend in Iraq. “He paid the ultimate sacrifice and is a true hero.”

While recovering from his injuries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here, Aughtman received a wide variety of care and support that he credits with assisting in his speedy recovery.

“I received blankets clothes, money, letters everything you think you would need while you are in the hospital,” he explained. “One group gave us a credit card to buy clothes, because we didn’t have any when we had to self-medevac. Another group gave me a handmade quilt that is very nice and warm.

“The thing that stands out the most,” he continued, “were the people at Walter Reed. They came around every day to check on me and talk to me and see how I was doing. They were just there to talk and make the experience a little better.”

To support groups that work tirelessly to provide for servicemembers, Aughtman had words of encouragement to offer. “Continue your support, and don’t forget about us,” he said.

(Jamie Findlater, host of “ASY Live,” works in the New Media directorate of the Defense Media Activity.)

Labels: America Supports You, Supporting Our Heroes

PHILIPPINES WATER RUSH - U.S. Navy personnel, members of the Philippines armed forces and civilians unload bottles of water from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, Aklan, Philippines, June 26, 2008. The supplies will be distributed throughout devastated areas caused by Typhoon Fengshen. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Joe Painter

More Photos

Labels: Humanitarian Aid, Philippines, Typhoon Fengshen, US Navy, USS Ronald Reagan

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In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
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U.N. News
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Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
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Science / Medicine and Health / Technology
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STDs Run Rampant at Pa. School District, CDC Steps In
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LA gas station gets hydrogen fuel pump
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Mother Nature
Report: North Pole May Be Ice-Free This Summer
California Blaze Rages Toward Big Sur - PHOTOS
Strong 6.7 Earthquake Shakes Indian Islands
Missouri levee breaks as flooding continues
North America's 1st carbon tax rolls out under fire
Whales lose, Japan wins as whaling meet ends
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Winners and losers in Australian climate change
Video: Pandas saved from China quake zone
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News from My Neck of the Woods
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Scrape damages Taiwan plane in New York, none hurt

Oddities
Manure thief falls into dung, flees naked
Union anger at "Dickensian" toilet policy
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German man torches car to protest high gas prices

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July 4 travel seen down
Record oil divides majors, producers
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Inflation and job losses keep consumers glum
Global M&A drops 35 percent to $1.6 trillion: Thomson
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Goldman top of the table
Merrill falls to No. 8
Global Finance:Trampling growth
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Global Finance:Investment unmasked
Merrill may write down $5.4 billion in Q2: Lehman
Anheuser-Busch lays out plan after rejecting InBev
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Consumer spending jumps as stimulus checks land
Fed mulled risks from dealer window, minutes show
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Continental says no concrete talks with suitors
Barclays may need 9 billion pounds more in capital: Citigroup
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Emmy organizers unveil top 10 comedies, dramas
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REFLECTIONS
Berlin Airlift Veterans Return for Anniversary - Special
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Weather
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Germany
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Garmisch-Partenkirchen Geilenkirchen Gelnhausen Giessen Kitzingen
Hanau Am Main Heidelberg Mainz Mannheim Nurnberg Stuttgart Trier
Wiesbaden Wurzburg

Gitmo

Guam
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Iraq
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Today in History
1847 - NYC and Boston are first linked by telegraph wires.
1862 - Day 3 of the 7 Days - Battle of Gaines' Mill.
1864 - Battle of Kennesaw Mountain
1929 - NYC sees the first demonstration of a color TV.
1934 - Federal Savings & Loan Association is created.
1942 - The FBI captures eight Nazi saboteurs from a sub off the coast of Long Island.
1944 - The Allies capture Cherbourg, France.
1950 - The UN Security Council calls on members to send troops to aid South Korea; President Truman orders the Air Force and Navy into Korea; the U.S. sends 35 military advisors to South Vietnam.
1954 - Near Moscow, the first atomic power station opens; CIA-sponsored rebels overthrow the government of Guatemala.
1962 - NASA civilian pilot Joseph Walker takes the X-15 to 6,606 kph, 37,700 m.
1963 - USAF Major Robert A. Rushworth reaches 86,900 m in the X-15.
1973 - John W. Dean testifies in front of the Watergate Committee.
1977 - A 5-4 Supreme Court decision allows lawyers to advertise.
1978 - Soyuz 30 carries two cosmonauts to the Salyut 6 space station; the first oceanographic satellite, the U.S. Seasat 1, is launched into polar orbit.
1982 - The fourth Space Shuttle Mission (Columbia 4) launches.
1983 - NASA launches the space vehicle S-205; the Soyuz T-9 carries two cosmonauts to the Salyut 7 space station.
1984 - The Supreme Court ends the NCAA monopoly on college football telecasts.
1986 - The U.S. informs New Zealand it will not defend it against attack; the World Court rules U.S. aid to Nicaraguan contras illegal.
1987 - Supreme Court Justice Powell retires

Birthdays
1462 - King Louis XII (the Just) of France
1550 - King Charles IX of France
1682 - King Charles XII of Sweden
1880 - Helen Keller blind-deaf author/lecturer
1900 - Otto E. Passman (Rep-LA,)
1927 - Bob Keeshan (aka Capt Kangaroo/Clarabelle the Clown)
1937 - Joseph P. Allen IV, Ph. D. /astronaut (STS-5, STS 51A)
1938 - Bruce E. Babbitt (Gov-AL)
1951 - Sidney M. Gutierrez, Major USAF/astronaut (STS 40)

Passings
1829 - James Smithson, whose will established the Smithsonian Institute

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Jackson, Carl E., USAF (LA); C123 shot down; KIA, body not recovered

Roth, Billie L., USAF (IL); C123 shot down; KIA, body not recovered

1966
Smith, Gene A., USN (UT); A4E shot down; remains returned March, 1989

1968
Giammerino, Vincent F., US Army (NY); disappeared while on patrol

1969
Jablonski, Michael J., US Army (IL); drowned in river while on patrol, body not recovered
1972
Baker, David E., USAF (NY); O2A shot down, released by PRG February, 1973, retired as a Brig. General - alive and well as of 1998 - *** Veteran of Desert Storm (F-15E)***

Cerak, John P., USAF (NJ); F4E shot down, released by DRV March, 1973 - alive and well as of 1998

Dingee, David B., USAF (CT); F4E shot down, released by DRV March, 1973, retired as a Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

Francis, Richard L., USAF (OK); F4E shot down, released by DRV March, 1973, retired as a Lt. Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

Hanton, Thomas J., USAF (CA); F4E shot down, released by DRV March, 1973 - alive and well as of 1998 - *** Veteran of Desert Storm (AWACS / EC-130H) ***

McDow, Richard H., USAF (AL); F4E shot down, released by DRV March, 1973, retired as a Lt. Colonel - alive and well as of 1998 ***Veteran of Desert Storm (A-10) ***

Sullivan, Farrell J., USAF (TX); F4E shot down, remains returned June, 1983

Labels: Headlines, History