First Dispatches From the Vets For Freedom Embeds

People may not be aware but Vets For Freedom, that organization that brought you the National Heroes Tour, and headed by Pete Hegseth, has these heroes on a new tour. This time as embedded reporters in Iraq and the first dispatches are starting to come back. David Bellavia, now no longer running for congress in New York has my favorite. Top Tens Signs the Surge has worked.

8. Number one complaint of Green Zone soldiers is the lack of decals for the new Les Paul Guitar Hero: Aerosmith model edition.

Go to Blackfive to read them all. They have some big time support this time from the National Review Online and The Weekly Standard.

David Bellavia is running for congress

When I read this I got happier then I have been in the last couple of years. David Bellavia strikes me as a truly great guy and why he would want to get involved in politics is beyond me but I hope he wins. Not only that I hope he wins and he gets to look John Murtha in the eyes every day and watch him squirm.

Go here for information and if you can send him some money and support him. He just finished up the National Heroes tour with the Vets For Freedom, and he has been nominated for the Medal of Honor for his action in Fallujah.

He is the real deal and just what we need to shake up the halls of congress.
Damn David I am sorry I live in GA and can't vote for you but all you folks at FT Drum in the 10th Mountain get off your butts and help get this man in congress.

Petty Officer Second Class Michael Monsoor Awarded the Medal of Honor

Or rather his family will be tomorrow. I wonder if anybody will notice? Will the esteemed members of Congress pause in their grilling of Gen Petraeus to at least mention the actions of this man or will they just keep beating the drum of American casualties with no names and no faces?

Petty Officer Second Class (SEAL) Michael A. Monsoor will receive the Medal of Honor posthumously in a ceremony at the White House April 8, 2008. He will receive the award for his actions in Ar Ramadi, Iraq on Sept. 29, 2006. On that day, Monsoor was part of a sniper overwatch security position with three other SEALs and eight Iraqi Army (IA) soldiers. An insurgent closed in and threw a fragmentation grenade into the overwatch position. The grenade hit Monsoor in the chest before falling to the ground. Positioned next to the single exit, Monsoor was the only one who could have escaped harm. Instead, he dropped onto the grenade to shield the others from the blast. Monsoor died approximately 30 minutes later from wounds sustained from the blast. Because of Petty Officer Monsoor’s actions, he saved the lives of his 3 teammates and the IA soldiers.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - Abraham Lincoln Gettysburg Address

And as always Jim Hanson "Uncle Jimbo" from Blackfive brings us his own thoughts on Michael Monsoor. Jim is with the National Heroes Tour recording it for posterity. They will be in Washington DC tomorrow to show their support for Gen Petraeus.
Here is Jimbo interviewing Marcus Luttrell about Michael.

Previous MOH recipients from the GWOT (Global War on Terrorism) here and here.
So far no living service member has been awarded the MOH during the GWOT, although David Bellavia, who is on tour with the Vets for Freedom is nominated.

National Heroes Tour at Ft Bragg, NC

The National Heroes Tour made one of its' last stops last night at Ft Bragg, NC, home of the 82nd Airborne and the Special Forces Command, and a very appropriate stop for these heroes. Monday and Tuesday they will in Washington DC to show their support of Gen Petraeus along with members of the Gathering of Eagles, Move America Forward, Vets For Freedom and Vets for Victory.
Here courtesy of Jim Hanson, Uncle Jimbo from Blackfive is the video of that stop.


I know this is a rather lengthy video, 50 minutes in duration, so if you don't want to watch the whole thing fine, it is your loss. You absolutely must set aside time to watch these folks and listen to their stories, but at a very minimum go to the 45 minute mark and listen to LTC Steven Russell sum it up.
I heard one comment about the low turnout again! To me that has been the big national disgrace associated with this tour. Why they are not talking to filled stadiums is beyond me and it is causing me to reconsider where our country is when these heroes can not draw larger crowds then they do and the total lack of any sort of national press coverage this tour has garnered. Maybe David Bellavia has it right, if only somebody on the tour had won 5 golf tournaments in a row like Tiger Woods they would be getting more attention.

An apology, an explanation,and finally some news

First off let me start by apologizing for not posting here much in the last week. In way of explanation let me say that I do have a day job. Well that day job turned into a day and night job last week when a big project I was working on went to hell in a handbasket because one person didn't do their job. In todays' corporate world where the bottom line is the most important metric upon which a company is judged, and payroll is the biggest expense, many companies like the one I work for all too often trim the personnel roles so thin that there is just one person for a position, which makes it all the more critical that everybody do what they are supposed to do. So we went to work day and night to fix in one week what this one person was supposed to have been testing and evaluating for over 3 months. The best thing I can say about my job is the pay ain't so great but the hours are more then you handle!
So enough of the whining let's get on to something that you visit this site for, my insightful, witty, and definitive take on the news you can use. That is why you stop by ain't it?

First up a picture that is just begging for a caption.

U.S. President Bush and Russian President Putin meet in Sochi, Russia
U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin take a sunset walk on a pier along the Black Sea during a visit by the President and First Lady Laura Bush to the President Putin's summer retreat, Bocharvo Ruchey, in Sochi, Russia on April 5, 2008. (UPI Photo/Eric Draper/White House Press Office)

In Georgia they reaffirmed the 2nd Amendment by granting more latitude in the carrying of a concealed weapon.

Among the public places where holders of concealed gun permits would be able to take a weapon under the altered bill are Georgia restaurants, public transportation and state parks.

The newspaper said public parking lots, churches and sporting events, which previously were among the proposed sites where gun owners could legally carry concealed weapons, were not included in the final version.

Which begs the question, if I can carry a gun on public transportation how do I get it from the public parking lot to the public transportation?

House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) has some straight talk for the House Democrats led by Mama Nancy Pelosi.

"For a majority party that never wavered in its promises to wean America off foreign oil and put us on a path toward energy independence, these figures from the EIA are absolutely striking. Not only have Democrats failed to end our reliance on the Middle East for essential energy, they've actually helped grow that dependence to historic and dangerous new levels -- all because of their doctrinaire refusal to allow responsible energy production here at home.

"The result is a level of dependence on OPEC and the Middle East that we've simply never seen before -- not even in the darkest days of the Carter administration. But instead of working with Republicans to approach the energy issue from common sense perspective, this majority remains tied to a dogma that insists responsible energy development and sound stewardship of our environment are mutually exclusive endeavors.

Until they let us really pursue all of the various energy options available to us in this country this is only going to continue. Allow drilling in ANWR and the Gulf of Mexico, allow nuclear energy, build refineries and pursue the various alternative energy sources such as wind. Drilling and refining oil locally buys us time to develop the other alternative methods, and make no mistake about it, nobody nowadays wants to continue our dependence on an oil only energy policy and will work to replacing oil with other sources, but we need to make sure until such time as this is accomplished we can lessen our dependence from countries such as Venezuela, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

And lastly scan down this blog entry to the portion that is a Q&A with a military spouse. The author of this piece is LTC Michael Baumann, a member of the Vets for Freedom. The National Heroes Tour is in its final days and they will be taking their message to the steps of the capitol on April 7 and 8 ahead of Gen Petraeus briefing congress.

Question #13

13. 'Well in my opinion.....'
Stop right there. I didn't ask for you your personal political opinions. Hey, I love a heated political debate, but not in the grocery store, not in Jamba Juice, not at Nordstrom, not in a bar when I'm out with my girls trying to forget the war, and CERTAINLY NOT AT WORK. We tell co-workers about deployments so when we have to spend lunch hours running our asses off doing errands and taking care of the house, dog, and kids, they have an understanding. We do not tell co-workers and colleagues because we are giving an invitation to ramble about politics or because we so eagerly want to hear how much they hate the resident, esp. while we're trying to heat up our lean cuisines in the crappy office microwaves.

National Heroes Tour on BTR

The National Heroes Tour is in Evansville, IN today and they will be on Blog Talk Radio today also. They are participating in an event aboard an LST and the BTR host CyberPastor will be broadcasting it live starting at 3:30 EST. So for those of you not able to make it to the Heroes Tour in person here is a chance to tune in, listen and participate in a chat rooms with these guys.

Update:
This link will direct you to the site with the chatroom and the audio.

Tears of Joy, Tears of Anguish at Ft. Stewart

Two stories involving soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division (3ID), whose members include medal of Honor winners Audie Murphy and Paul Smith.

The first is their homecoming. The 1st Brigade is arriving home this week and over the next couple of weeks.

Brown was part of the first Army division tapped for a third combat tour in Iraq. He was among 500 soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade returning Wednesday from a 15-month deployment to Iraq. The rest of the brigade of 4,000 troops will return in the next two weeks.

The second story reminds us of the cost of providing real hope and a chance for a better future.

Military authorities say four soldiers based at Fort Stewart have died from wounds suffered in a roadside bombing in Iraq.

These soldier are assigned to the 4th Brigade. I do not know when they are scheduled to return.

And meanwhile the National Heroes Tour continues to roll on. This time it is Kansas City. Somehow I think this reception is far different then the one they got in Minnesota.



Thanks to Uncle Jimbo from Blackfive for supplying all of these great videos.

The National Heroes Tour rolls on

This stop is in Austin, TX where they are joined by Gov Rick Perry who explains the difference between bumper stickers and tattoos.
And David Bellavia talks about an Olympic bobsled simulator???


Previous videos
Here:

Here:

And more information on the National Heroes Tour here.

All of the videos are courtesy of Uncle Jimbo from Blackfive.

National Heroes Tour Daily update

This clip features Marine Sgt Jeremiah Workman, who is still on active duty, addressing a group at an American Legion post in AZ.


Here is a little background on SGT Jeremiah Workman who was awarded the Navy Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor, for his actions in Fallujah. These events occurred in 2004 and as you can see from the article a lot of tough times lay ahead for the young man, tough times he is still dealing with.
To Jeremiah, always remember the lives you saved not the lives you take or the ones lost. To the brothers who you have lost, remember their lives and how they lived. Honor them, never forget them, but know they wouldn't want you wallowing in guilt over their deaths, for if the roles were reversed, they would feel no different then you do. Just as you were willing to give your life to protect them they would and did do the same thing to protect you. They too are heroes and have earned their own sacred place in history. Here's hoping for better days and it sounds like you have one helluva of wife and family, make them your priority and show them you love them.
(Just some ramblings from an old Army grunt.)

"I beat my head on the wall everyday"

The National Heroes Tour kicked off in San Diego with a some Navy SEALS skydiving onto the deck of an aircraft carrier. Here courtesy of Blackfive is a clip of those SEALS along with Marcus Luttrell, SEAL, author of "Lone Survivor" and survivor of Operation Redwing which claimed the lives of many good men that day in Afghanistan.

Vets For Freedom National Heroes Tour

Check out the stops on this tour and if you are able make your way to it be sure to show these guys how much they are admired and appreciated. Unfortunately, much of the southeast is not covered. They do have stops in the Carolinas.

Many of America’s most decorated war heroes from Iraq and Afghanistan have packed their bags and are hitting the road on a national bus tour to take their non-partisan message of progress and freedom from coast-to-coast.

The Vets for Freedom National Heroes Tour is about supporting our troops, honoring their commitment, and rallying the country to complete the missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

National Heroes Tour Schedule

I had posted earlier about the National Heroes Tour and now the schedule is finalized. Go here for all the details.
This is a chance for you you to see and interact with some real heroes. Not the plastic Hollywood type or steroid pumped up prima donnas who are payed millions to entertain you. If they are coming to your area please try to see them and take the kids.