The Evolution of Batman

Batman nails it....

"People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy, and I can’t do that as Bruce Wayne. As a man, I’m flesh and blood; I can be ignored, I can be destroyed. But as a symbol… as a symbol I can be incorruptible. I can be everlasting. "

Bruce Wayne / Batman Begins

A reminder for all - Return of the Fallen

A reminder to all - while you are safe at home, brave young men & women put themselves in harm's way to secure our freedoms and the freedom of others.

Read the whole thing - It is in rememberance that we honor those who gave the last full measure of their efforts for all of us.

Enclosed is one of 41 pictures contained at the enclosed link

Thanks for taking time to remember these fine young men and women from our military and from our allies who fight side by side with us.


http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/09/afghanistan-august-2012-return-of-the-fallen/100364/?google_editors_picks=true

Learning a lesson

Many times, the lessons we learn are not all in textbooks

Today, I was heading back to our office at lunch time...I was walking across the area that is in between our villa and the offices....

I had a bag of sodas for the guards. On a regular basis, I bring cold water/sodas with me for the security gurds as it is hot ( today it was 112 F in the shade) and they stand out in the heat all day, keeping us safe.

There was a young man (age 11-12) walking by heading home from school.  He spoke great english and he asked me for a soda, seeing that I had a bag full of them.

I said sure and gave him a soda.

He asked for another with a big smile - I said why ?? 

He said " For my brother "

So I asked him - " Where's your brother??" as he was alone - I gave him a kidding and asked him " Is he in your back pack??"

He looked at me and said, " At home...." - I asked him if he really had a brother at home and he said he did.

So I gave him two sodas......he was smiling like you wouldn't believe. He was so happy over something so easy for me to do - sharing sodas that are plentiful for us, and likely not as easy for him to get on a regular basis.

 This was another one of the encounters I have had here in Afghanistan that demonstrate why we are here.  Here was a young man from Kandahar and an Old Seabee like me, meeting for a few minutes, sharing friendship and being able to share a laugh and a smile.


As it was written, " And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Since you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me." - Matthew 25:40

Boston salutes the USS CONSTITUTION and all the men who sailed her

She is the flagship of  the US NAVY.  I was privleged to be a member of her crew in 1997 when she went undersail (untethered) for the first time in 116 years.

The ship and the men who sailed her are united in history with their ship.  The staff of the USS Constitution Museum have made an extraordinary effort to bring the history of the crew to life. 

I salute these brave men as the ship is majestic but she was only able to be the success she was because she was manned by men who knew their duty and served on her decks, in peace and war.

BRAVO ZULU to the crew and captains of the USS CONSTITUTION - You made her proud.


Majesty and history
Constitution's forgotten crew and the War of 1812
 By Peter Schworm
 Boston Globe Staff / July 1, 2012

Undefeated in battle, a wooden vessel so stalwart it became known as Old Ironsides, the USS Constitution is perhaps the nation’s most famous warship, an abiding symbol of national pride and naval might.

Yet for two centuries, the hundreds of ordinary sailors who served aboard the great frigate during its most famous victories have been forgotten by history, with little known of their lives or sacrifice. They were celebrated in their day, honored with parades on their triumphant returns to Boston. But as the ship’s legend grew, they faded to obscurity.

Now, as Boston joins the nation in commemorating the bicentennial of the War of 1812, their stories are finally being told.

After a decade of poring over archives here and abroad, researchers at the USS Constitution Museum in Charlestown have pieced together the lives of hundreds of seamen and Marines who served on the Constitution during the war. Among the many characters are James Bennett, a freeborn black man who plugged holes from enemy shot and was later killed in the Battle of Lake Erie, and Asa Curtis of Scituate, the ship’s gunner, who was “weatherbeaten and scarred from many years at sea.”

Often starting with little more than a name, researchers spent long hours combing through pension applications and military documents, personal correspondence, and British prisoner-of-war records, to compile profiles of the sailors and provide a fuller picture of the ship’s history.

“It’s always been the missing piece of the story,” said Anne Grimes Rand, the museum’s president, as she walked through an exhibit that highlights individual sailors and the experience of life at sea.
It was a daunting task, one that scholars warned was nearly impossible given the passage of time. But the museum staff, joined by a host of volunteers, pursued the project with a sense of obligation, determined to give the men their due.

“The Constitution is talked about as if it’s its own agent,” said Sarah Watkins, the museum’s director of collections and learning. “We wanted to tell the story of the men who sailed, who steered, who fought.”

Armed with a solid list of crewmen, researchers began searching through archives for leads, relying heavily on pension records and protection certificates that seamen used as proof of citizenship.
“It was like a passport of the day,” said Lauren McCormack, the museum’s bicentennial programs coordinator. “And in the pension records, you really had to tell your story.”

Those archives often provided a foothold that led researchers to other documents — marriage and death records, wills, and census records.

Slowly, breakthroughs came, and lives came into focus. As researchers learned more, they were drawn into the stories, forging bonds with the figures from long ago.

“They started out as names, and they evolved into individuals,” Watkins said. “For us, it’s not just an intellectual pursuit, it’s an emotional connection.”

The bond was particularly strong with David Debias, a freeborn black from Beacon Hill who was just 8 when he joined the crew, becoming a servant for a master’s mate.

Debias was among the crew chosen to sail on the HMS Levant after it was captured by the Constitution. That vessel was in turn seized by the British on its return to the United States. He was imprisoned in Barbados for a few months before being sent home to his family.

He was discharged in 1815, earning $32 for his seven-month stint.

But Debias was soon back on the seas again, joining the merchant fleet and then reenlisting on the Constitution. In 1838, he left his ship while it was docked in Alabama and was seized in Mississippi as a runaway slave.

Researchers found a letter that a lawyer for Debias wrote the secretary of the Navy, asking for proof of his military service. But they couldn’t find a response and worried the path had gone cold.
“We all wondered, ‘What happened to David?’ ” Watkins said.

Then one day, the National Archives called, saying they had tracked down the Navy’s response affirming his military service. When the news came, yelps of delight filled the museum’s library. They never found out whether he regained his freedom. But there was hope.

Another riveting, if tragic, story was that of Philip Brimblecom. Born in 1786 in Marblehead, he grew up fishing cod, and in 1809 he sailed on his uncle’s schooner to Spain. But the ship was taken off the coast of Spain and impounded by the French government. Brimblecom went to work aboard a French merchant ship, but then it was seized, and Brimblecom was jailed in England.

He eventually escaped and found an America-bound ship. But by this point the war had begun, and Brimblecom was captured again. In September 1812, he was exchanged as a prisoner of war.
Undeterred, he signed up for the Constitution the same month. During a battle in December 1812, a cannonball took away his arm at the elbow.

“Everything bad that can happen in seafaring happened to him,” said Matthew Brenckle, the museum’s research historian.

He could not find work, and wrote the Navy seeking a job and increase in his $6 monthly pension.
Brimblecom was given a job in the Charlestown Navy Yard in 1816, but later wrote and asked them to “look after a poor distressed crippled sailor.” He died at 38.

Such stories show the dangers and unforgiving nature of life at sea, and the sacrifice of those who served during what many consider the country’s second war of independence.

Yet hundreds of crew members remain just names on a muster, and researchers say their work is far from done. As word of the project has spread, descendants of sailors have contacted the museum with potential leads, and researchers are hopeful they will continue to make progress.

“We find out more practically every single day,” Brenckle said.

Peter Schworm can be reached at schworm@globe.com

Here is the answer....

Some I know have asked me, " Why are we in Afghanistan ?" " Why would anyone go there ?" " What good could possibly come from being there?"

Here is the answer...a dedicated RI National Guardsman who in a split second, made the right choice and placed his own life in danger to save an Afghan Girl. He knew his duty and did it without a moment's hesitation.

John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

Sgt. Weichel was there when he was needed and did what he was trained to do....He saved the life of a little girl even though he likely knew it would cost him his own life.

Rest easy Sgt. Weichel. You have the respect and admiration of your nation and all who serve or have served in uniform.

Rest easy shipmate, we have the watch.

Please share his story as it would be my hope that more learn of this splendid patriot and his sacrifice.


'Hero' U.S. Soldier Gives Life to Save Afghan Girl
By Luis Martinez - ABC News – 4 hrs ago....

It is a compelling war-zone story of heroism of a U.S. soldier who gave his own life to save an Afghan girl from certain injury.

Sgt. Dennis Weichel, 29, died in Afghanistan last week as he lifted an Afghan girl who was in the path of a large military vehicle barreling down a road.

Weichel, a Rhode Island National Guardsman, was riding along in a convoy in Laghman Province in eastern Afghanistan when some children were spotted on the road ahead.

The children were picking up shell casings lying on the road. The casings are recycled for money in Afghanistan. Weichel and other soldiers in the convoy got out of their vehicles to get them out of the way of the heavy trucks in the convoy.

The children were moved out of the way, but an Afghan girl darted back onto the road to pick up some more casings that lay underneath a passing MRAP, or Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle. The huge armored trucks can weigh as much as 16 tons and are designed to protect the troops they carry from roadside bombs.

Weichel spotted the girl and quickly moved toward her to get her out of the way. He succeeded, but not before he was run over by the heavily armored truck. The girl was safe, but Weichel later died of his injuries. He had arrived in Afghanistan a few weeks ago and had been a member of the Rhode Island National Guard since 2001

Lt. Col. Denis Riel a spokesman for the Rhode Island National Guard, said Weichel embodied values that can't be taught. "I have heard nothing but incredible stuff about this kid, selfless beyond our core values that we live up to," Riel said. "As I hear more from family and others, he was the living embodiment of the Army's core values: courageous, selfless and loyal. All values we expect from our soldiers. We mourn all combat deaths, but this one is a significant loss."

An Army article quotes two former colleagues praising Weichel's character.

Staff Sgt. Ronald Corbett, who deployed with Weichel to Iraq in 2005, said, "He would have done it for anybody," adding, "That was the way he was. He would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. He was that type of guy."

First Sgt. Nicky Peppe also served with Weichel in Iraq. "He was a big kid at heart," Peppe said. "He always had a smile on his face and he made everyone laugh. But as much as Weichel was funny, he was also a professional. When it was time to go outside the wire for a combat patrol, he was all business."

Since his death, the father of three has been posthumously promoted to sergeant and received the Bronze Star for his heroism.

His remains will arrive in Rhode Island Saturday, and a wake will be held in Providence Sunday. He'll be buried Monday. He is survived by his children, his fiancée and his parents. Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee has ordered flags in the state to be flown at half-staff until Weichel's burial.

Wreaths are placed at Arlington to ‘remember, honor and teach’

To “Remember, Honor and Teach” - This is the mission of Wreaths Across America who provide Christmas Wreaths for Servicemen's graves at Arlington National Cemetery and other national cemeteries around our country. The efforts of tireless volunteers ensure that a wreath is placed at graves and those who sacrificed are remembered.

Bravo Zulu to all who make this important effort.

Wreath-laying event at Arlington to ‘remember, honor and teach’
On Saturday, 90,000 wreaths were laid on headstones at the cemetery by about 15,000 volunteers.
By Pamela Constable,Washington Post - December 10, 2011

Thousands of people filtered quietly among the rows of white tombstones in Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday, placing identical pine wreaths with simple red bows at the graves of sons, cousins, parents, battlefield buddies, fraternity brothers and strangers fallen in half-a-dozen wars over the past 70 years.

There were Boy Scout troops, military units in dress uniforms and extended families in mittens and earmuffs. Many headed for familiar spots and formed somber clusters around a single tomb. Some said prayers or read out combat citations and saluted. Others wept or simply stood and stared, lost in thought.

“Every stone here has a story,” said Tim Frey, 43, a police officer from Lancaster, Pa., who came to honor Lt. Col. Mark P. Phelan, a member of his Army Reserve unit, who was killed by an explosive device in Iraq in 2004. “I’m here from a sense of duty, and to see a friend again,” he said. “Other people may not know anyone, but it’s still an honor to come here.”

More than 100,000 wreaths, loaded onto about 20 tractor-trailers, arrived after a six-day caravan from Maine for the 20th annual Wreaths Across America event, sponsored by a nonprofit group. The trucks parked at scattered spots around the vast cemetery, and hundreds of volunteers handed them to waiting visitors.

The event included formal wreath-layings at the grave of President John F. Kennedy, the Tomb of the Unknowns, and the original mast of the USS Maine, a legendary battleship sunk in 1898.

The official slogan of the organizers was “Remember, Honor and Teach,” and the wreath-bearing convoy stopped for special events in towns on the way. But for most visitors to the cemetery, it was a day of personal mourning and private reflection.

“Christmas doesn’t seem to mean what it used to mean, and we need to remember that these soldiers died so we can have the things we have,” said Jeannie Ludwig, 39, of Fairfax, who was visiting the graves of her grandparents, both veterans of World War II, and the grave of a friend who died in Iraq. “My kids are still too young to understand what these soldiers did for us, but this is a way to begin talking to them about it.”

By far, the most crowded portion of the cemetery was Section 60, where the most recent casualties of American military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried.

Members of the District’s National Guard unit came to mourn Spec. Darryl Dent, 19, who died in Iraq.

The grief-stricken family of Navy Cmdr. Charles K. Springle, 52, wept and hugged at his tomb. Springle died in May 2009 when a fellow U.S. soldier opened fire at a military clinic in Baghdad. His parents, Ruth and Charles, traveled from Beaufort, N.C., for the event, and were met there by his daughter, Sarah Monday.

Members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at Virginia Tech gathered to honor 1st Lt. Jeffrey Kaylor, killed by a grenade in Iraq. One member, Jeff Dawley, 26, of Reston, paid his respects to Kaylor and then headed to visit the grave of his father, who he said had died because of exposure to the chemical defoliant Agent Orange in Vietnam.

Some mourners preferred to keep their grief private. A group of tight-lipped Special Forces officers, standing next to a friend’s tomb, politely declined to speak to a reporter. At another grave, a middle-aged man recited the obituary of a soldier decorated for valor in combat, but said he would rather not talk about him.

But for many others, Wreaths Across America served as a public ritual, a way to connect veterans and their families across wars and generations, or a form of group therapy. Gray-bearded Vietnam veterans in motorcycle jackets handed out bright red Christmas caps to Boy Scout packs and shook hands with spit-and-polish Marine officers.

Lynn Hill, 62, of Silver Spring wore a historic cavalry uniform and said his mission was to memorialize the 9th and 10th Horse cavalries of the Buffalo Soldiers, the Army unit founded in 1866 and composed of freed black slaves. He said he had attended every Wreath Day since 1992, “to honor all the dead soldiers” in American history.

Regina Barnhurst, the mother of a slain Marine from Severna Park, turned her son’s tomb into a day-long gathering place for other grieving families. The spot was next to a holly tree, where she and some friends put up a ladder and invited visitors to hang personal messages on the boughs and share coffee and doughnuts.

“I used to wonder how I would survive Christmas, but this has become a way for us to support each other,” said Barnhurst, who began weeping as she recounted how her son, Eric Herzberg, had been fatally shot by a sniper in Iraq five years ago. “You have to do something to get through the holidays,” she said with a sad smile. “For all of us, there is still such a huge hole.”

From Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan, we honor those who paid the ultimate price for freedom

Yesterday at the same moment the rest of the world was focusing on the tanking of the stock market, the dedicated professionals of Bagram Air Field's Mortuary Affairs Detatchment went about the important work of caring for and preparing the remains of 31 US Military members who perished in the Helicopter crash in Wardak Province over the weekend. I have been to the facility where they work and have met these soldiers whose mission is the dignified recovery and preparation of the remains of their fallen comrades.

Two C-17 Aircraft were parked and the transport carrying the 31 flag draped coffins arrived. The process of preparing these splendid warriors for their return home is one that has occurred before and will be repeated in the future as there are two constants that prevail here:

1. Young men die in war
2. Commanders, NCOs, Doctors, Nurses and all others are unable to change item #1.

Each of the men on that fated helicopter knew the risk, was doing what they wanted to and had trained for. It was the misfortune that the enemy also was well trained, aware of where they would be and what could cause the greatest loss of life.

The US Military will prevail against those who are unwilling to allow freedom in this stark and dangerous land. Like many before them, these warriors will be remembered and revered for their selfless service to our nation and the cause of freedom.


Afghan Crash Remains On Way To US
Flights Expected In Delaware On Tuesday
By David Ariosto - CNN
August 8, 2011

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Two military transport aircraft bearing the remains of the 38 U.S. and Afghan personnel killed on board a helicopter shot down Saturday have departed Bagram, Afghanistan, and are headed to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Pentagon spokesman Col. David Lapan said Monday.

The flights are expected to arrive at Dover sometime Tuesday.

Everyone inside the CH-47 Chinook was killed, marking the worst single-day loss of American life since the beginning of the Afghan war, NATO reported.

The inbound helicopter -- loaded with 30 U.S. service members, a civilian interpreter and seven Afghan troops -- crashed after being "reportedly fired on by an insurgent rocket-propelled grenade," the statement said.

Twenty-five of those on board were U.S. special operations forces, including 22 Navy SEALs. Five air crew members were also on board.

"Their loss is a stark reminder of the risks that our men and women in uniform take every single day on behalf of their country," U.S. President Barack Obama said Monday. "Day after day, night after night, they carry out missions like this in the face of enemy fire and grave danger."

Obama said he has spoken with U.S. military officials in the field and with Afghan President Hamid Krazai. "We will press on and we will succeed," he said. But the president added that "now is also a time to reflect on those we lost" and on the sacrificies of all who have served, as well as their families.

The president discussed the incident at the end of televised remarks focused on the economy.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, speaking earlier, said, "The thoughts and prayers of the entire nation are with the families and with the loved ones of those we lost in Afghanistan over the weekend. They were far from home, but we know that they were also where they wanted to be."

"As heavy a loss as this was, it would even be more tragic if we allowed it to derail this country from our efforts to defeat al Qaeda and deny them a safe haven in Afghanistan," Panetta added. "Instead, we will send a strong message of American resolve from this tragedy, we draw even greater inspiration to carry on the fight."

Until Monday, military officials had been largely tight-lipped about the circumstances surrounding the crash, which occurred in the rugged Tangi Valley area of Wardak province, about 60 miles southwest of Kabul.

The events leading up to the crash began when insurgents -- armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and AK-47 assault rifles -- engaged in small arms fire with coalition forces on the ground, NATO reported. ISAF forces were carrying out an operation targeting a known Taliban leader in the area.

Several militants were killed in the gunbattle, officials said. Coalition troops called in additional forces to assist in the operation as the firefight continued.

"Those additional personnel were inbound to the scene when the CH-47 carrying them crashed, killing all on board," NATO said.

The troops on the ground immediately left the scene of the insurgent firefight "to secure the scene and search for survivors."

NATO spokesman Brigadier Gen. Cartsen Jacobsen said the crash site has been cordoned off while recovery efforts continue.

An investigation is under way, he said.

"The recent fighting season has not materialized as the insurgents had predicted," Jacobsen told reporters in Kabul. "But the insurgents are resilient and far from defeated."

Jacobsen told reporters there was no indication of newer, more sophisticated weapons, responding to rumors that Taliban insurgents may have been the beneficiaries of better equipment during the exchange.

Saturday's crash represents the second downed NATO helicopter by insurgent fire in recent weeks. A helicopter was shot down in eastern Afghanistan in July, though no casualties were reported.

Despite Saturday's loss, Afghan and NATO operations do not appear to have relented.

On Monday, more than 100 demonstrators in Ghazni province protested over what they say is the killing of two people during a NATO raid, according to provincial council chief Hamid Ullah Nawroz.

ISAF spokesman Capt. Justin Brockhoff confirmed that there was a joint Afghan-NATO raid late Sunday evening in the area that killed two insurgents, uncovered a munitions cache and detained "numerous suspected insurgents."

Meanwhile, NATO says one of its helicopters made a hard landing Monday in southeastern Afghanistan.

The Navy transport helicopter went down in Paktika province, though "initial reporting indicated there was no enemy activity."

No casualties were reported.

CNN's Barbara Starr contributed to this report
Copyright CNN 2011

All Gave Some, while some gave all....THANK YOU VETERANS

Never too early or often enough to say "Thank You" to our Veterans....More to follow as we approach November 11th.