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

Senator John McCain on the politicizing the Raid to get OBL:"...you know the thing about heroes, they don't brag.”

4 years ago, the American Voters made a mistake. A big mistake.

They listened to Pundits that told them to vote for the wrong person for President.  For the last 3 1/2 years, we have paid dearly for that mistake.

Now, it is becoming clearer each day why we should never elected a community organizer to the highest office when we could have elected a Patriot and decorated Veteran.  We could have had someone who knows what sacrifice and freedom mean, but voters listened to the idiots in the press and we have seen how well that has gone since we elected " President Trainwreck".

His overview on using the mission to kill OBL for political purposes.  This is what a Leader sounds like. 

McCain on Bin Laden raid: 'The thing about heroes, they don't brag'

By Justin Sink - 04/30/12 -thehill.com

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) continued to hammer the Obama re-election team over its use of the death of Osama bin Laden in a campaign commercial, echoing Mitt Romney's statement that any president - including Jimmy Carter - would have made the same call.


“I say any president, Jimmy Carter, anybody, any president would have, obviously, under those circumstances, done the same thing. And to now take credit for something that any president would do is indicative of take over campaign we're under -- we're -- we're seeing…So all I can say is that this is going to be a very rough campaign," McCain told Fox News in an interview set to air Monday night. "And I've had the great honor of serving in the company of heroes. And, you know the thing about heroes, they don't brag.”

We lost a hero today.......

We lost a hero today and our country is a better place due to his service.

He lived a hero's life and he died trying to save his little girls. Rest easy Green Beret. You will not be forgotten and those little girls must have needed you in Heaven.

Prayers for this family are respectfully requested.


Mar 6, 3:04 PM EST
Special Forces soldier dies trying to save NC kids

By MICHAEL BIESECKER and EMERY P. DALESIO
Associated Press

HOPE MILLS, N.C. (AP) -- A decorated Green Beret who returned from his fifth deployment to Afghanistan last summer died Tuesday trying to rescue his two young daughters from their burning home near Fort Bragg. The girls were also killed in the blaze.

Edward Cantrell and his wife escaped from the 1 a.m. blaze by jumping from the home's second floor, the Cumberland County sheriff's office said. Cantrell then wrapped himself in a blanket and re-entered the burning home in Hope Mills, about 10 miles from the Army base that is home to the Green Berets and other Special Forces units, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Tanna said.

Cantrell, 36, was trying to reach 6-year-old Isabella and 4-year-old Natalia, who were trapped in second-floor bedrooms, Tanna said.

"He never made it back out," Tanna said. Firefighters found their bodies inside the home, Tanna said.

The house was built in 1920. Tanna said the old home's timbers were likely very dry, causing a fast-moving blaze. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

A sign at the end of the driveway blocked with yellow police tape says "The Cantrells Est. Feb. 7, 2004." Bouquets of flowers and two teddy bears had been placed nearby.

Firefighters from Cotton Volunteer Fire Department, which is less than two miles away, were on the scene within four minutes of receiving the dispatch call. Assistant Chief Kevin Dove said the house was already engulfed in flames.

"They perished before our arrival," said Dove, a veteran firefighter. "It was horrible."

The three bodies were all recovered on the second floor, he said. It did not appear the father was able to reach the girls.

Louise Cantrell was treated and released from a Fayetteville hospital for smoke inhalation, Dove said. The family dog, a Rottweiler named Sasha, also survived the fire and was being kept by neighbors.

Cantrell was a member of the 3rd Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg. He held the rank of chief warrant officer 2, which authorized Cantrell to lead half of his 12-member Green Beret team if it was split up, said Lt. Col. April Olsen, a spokeswoman for Army Special Forces Command.

Cantrell joined the Army in 1994 and had one combat deployment to Iraq and five to Afghanistan, returning from the last mission in August, Olsen said. His record included four Bronze Stars and one Purple Heart, awarded for wounds suffered in a war zone, Olsen said. Details of the acts that earned the medals were not immediately available, she said.

"There are no words to express the sorrow felt in our close-knit community when a family suffers such a tragedy," the command said on its Facebook page.

Isabella attended nearby Ed V. Baldwin Elementary School. Principal Todd Yardis said the girl's teacher and a grief counselor broke the news of what happened to her classmates shortly after they arrived in the morning.

Yardis said both Cantrell parents had been very active at the school, with Edward Cantrell sometimes stopping by in his Army uniform. He recounted how excited the young girl was when her father returned home from his most recent tour of duty.

"Bella was a very happy, loving girl," Yardis said. "She was one of those students who would run up and hug you around the leg when you passed her class in the hall."

Yardis said Cantrell was a hero for trying to save his girls. The father had recently spoken about retiring from the service, rather than returning overseas and being separated from his family again.

"He talked about wanting to get out of the military and opening his own business," Yardis said. "He wanted to open a tattoo parlor."

Cindy Jacobs, who works at an assisted living home next door, said Louise Cantrell ran to the facility during the fire to get the staff to call 911. Jacobs said she knew the family, especially the mother, who would often stop to make small talk as she drove by. The two girls were often in the car or outside playing.

"She was with those girls all the time," said Jacobs, the executive director of the ARC of Hope Mills. "It's so sad. I can't imagine what she's going through."

Jacobs said she learned Edward Cantrell was in the military when investigators visited to ask about him as part of the procedure for getting a top secret security clearance.

"We knew he was Special Forces," Jacobs said. "He was just a heck of a guy. Very, very friendly."

The girls were energetic children, said Jacobs, who has an active-duty son in the Navy and whose husband is a civilian employee at Fort Bragg. "They were just adorable little girls," she said.

Heroism Defined - MOH Recipient Army Ranger Staff Sgt. Leroy Petry

BRAVO ZULU Staff Sgt. Petry.....You have our thanks and admiration.

Heroism Defined
Leroy Petry and the Medal of Honor
OPINION - WALL STREET JOURNAL

Of all the words that modern English has debased, probably none rivals "hero" for promiscuous usage. To read about what an Army Ranger named Leroy Petry did in Afghanistan on May 26, 2008 is to understand what heroism in its truest sense denotes.

Staff Sgt. Petry, who yesterday was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Obama, was taking part in a helicopter raid on a Taliban compound in Paktia province when a round from an AK-47 went through both of his legs. He remained in action, helping one fellow soldier move to safety and then returning to fight. He later grabbed a live grenade that had landed near two other Rangers. It detonated as he tried to throw it away, severing his right hand and riddling his body with shrapnel.

Staff Sgt. Petry survived the battle, and in winning the Medal of Honor he joins Staff Sgt. Salvatore Guinta among the nine recipients of the honor for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the only two living. There has been some controversy as to why the Medal has been bestowed so sparingly in our current wars—248 were awarded in Vietnam—with some arguing that a risk-averse Pentagon brass fears giving it to soldiers who might have embarrassing blemishes on their service records. The likeliest explanation is that most casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan have come about as a result of IED attacks.

Whatever the case, it detracts nothing from the honor, sacrifice and courage of our service members that the Medal of Honor remains rare and, therefore, precious. In an age in which it seems like every teacher, nurse and Little League coach gets to be called a "hero," it's important to have the likes of Staff Sgt. Petry to remind us of the real meaning of a word, no quote marks, full stop.

United in life and death: Bomb-sniffing UK Army dog and his master will be repatriated together at Wootton Bassett

My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am. ~Author Unknown

I feel British Lance Corporal Liam Tasker didn't have to worry about that as his beloved companion Theo thought the world of him....They were a team and I salute them both for their bravery, courage and commitment to their shared mission....God Bless them both.


United in life and death: Bomb-sniffing Army dog and his master will be repatriated together at Wootton Bassett
By Daily Mail Reporter
4th March 2011

Bravely they faced the enemy side-by-side and tragically they both died at war.

Now man and dog have one final journey to make - and they will make it as a team.

Lance Corporal Liam Tasker, who was killed in a firefight with the Taliban, and his devoted Army search dog Theo, who died soon after, are to be repatriated together next week.

Tragic loss: Liam Tasker was on patrol with his dog Theo at the time of the attack in Nahr-e-Saraj, Afghanistan. Theo died shortly after his master, earlier this week
The pair, hailed for their tireless work saving countless British soldiers in Afghanistan, are expected to be flown back to Britain on Thursday, the Ministry of Defence said.

As has become tradition, they will be driven through the Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett, where hundreds come to pay their respects as flag-draped coffins are brought from RAF Lyneham nearby.

The cortege will then continue to Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital.
L/Cpl Tasker, 26, this week became the 358th British serviceman to die in the ten-year conflict. Theo, a springer spaniel cross, suffered a seizure very soon after.
He was only 22-months-old.

Only last month, L/Cpl Tasker described his joy at the close bond he had developed with the dog.

‘I love my job and working together with Theo. He has a great character and never tires,’ he said in an interview on the Ministry of Defence website.

‘He can’t wait to get out and do his job and will stop at nothing.’

Theo and L/Cpl Tasker, an Arms and Explosives Search dog handler of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, 1st Military Working Dog Regiment, were part of the Theatre Military Working Dogs Support Unit based at Camp Bastion.

The pair had uncovered 14 home-made bombs and hoards of weapons in just five months – a record for a dog and his handler in the conflict.

On Tuesday they took part in a mission in the Nahr-e Saraj district in Helmand, a hotbed of the insurgency.

Theo’s task was to be the ‘front man’, sniffing out any hidden IEDs, weapons and bomb-making equipment.

But a firefight broke out with the Taliban and L/Cpl Tasker was shot dead.
After his body was flown back to Camp Bastion, his beloved Theo is thought to have died of a broken heart.

The soldier, from Kirkcaldy, Fife, leaves behind mother Jane Duffy, father Ian Tasker, brother Ian, sisters Laura and Nicola and girlfriend Leah Walters.
Dog handler: Lance Corporal Tasker was a member of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps.

He and Theo will be repatriated to Britain together, next week

In a statement, his family said: ‘There are three words that best describe Liam: larger than life. He lit up every room he walked into with his cheeky smile.
‘He died a hero doing a job he was immensely passionate about. We are so proud of him and everything he’s achieved. Words can’t describe how sorely he will be missed.’
Miss Walters added: ‘LT never met anyone without touching their lives in some way. I am the proudest girlfriend there could ever be and there will be an LT-sized hole in my life forever. Sleep well, my darling, my soulmate, my best friend.’

Lieutenant Colonel David Thorpe, commanding officer 1st Military Working Dog Regiment, also paid tribute to L/Cpl Tasker, saying: ‘He genuinely loved the dogs he worked with and was always able to get the best out of them.

‘Epitomising the hard-working, determined and ambitious nature of our very best soldiers, he wanted to go to Afghanistan. He wanted to ply his trade in the harshest of environments, to be outside of his comfort zone and he wanted to be successful. He was.

‘The work he did in his five months in Afghanistan saved countless lives, of that I have no doubt.’

L/Cpl Tasker joined the Army in 2001 as a vehicle mechanic in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. But his passion for animals led to a transfer to the Royal Army Veterinary Corps in 2007.

He only learned about the dog unit when a friend showed him videos of them in action. He spent 15 weeks on a handlers’ course with Theo, where they learned to work as a team and developed their bond.

Once in Afghanistan, Theo was so successful at detecting explosives that his tour of duty was due to be extended by a month.
Major Caroline Emmett, Officer Commanding 104 Military Working Dog Squadron, said: ‘L/Cpl Tasker was one of the best people I have ever known. Kind, with a good heart, he always put others before himself. He and his dog Theo were made for each other.’

Defence Secretary Liam Fox said he was ‘deeply saddened’ by the news.
‘It is clear that L/Cpl Tasker was a dedicated and highly capable soldier whose skills in handling dogs were second to none,’ he said.

‘He and his dog Theo had saved many lives and we will be eternally grateful for this

For 65 years, Navy Combat Veteran Joe String said little about Iwo Jima - His story, one that needs to be told.

This gentleman is the epitome of what has been called " The Greatest Generation ". He endured HELL and went on to create a life for himself and his family.....He didn't need Dr. Phil or Oprah to figure it out...

He worked out his issues as best as he could and went on to be a great Father, husband and provider....His generation created the success that we all still benefit from today in our country.

BRAVO ZULU to you sir. Motor Machinist Mate 2nd class Joe String has earned the gratitude of our nation and demonstrated unflinching dedication to duty in the highest traditions of the US Navy.


Veteran Ending Longtime Policy of Saying Little
By Kyle Kennedy
THE LEDGER / Lakeland, FL
Published: Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 9:12 p.m.

For 65 years, Joe String has said little about what happened on Iwo Jima.
String has long said little about the details of the battle, even to family, but now has decided to share his memories more.

Though his memory is faltering, String can still vividly recall much of the horrific 35-day battle there between U.S. and Japanese forces in early 1945. But for decades he has chosen not to, at least not out loud.

The Navy veteran says his family has never known the details of how he wound up on the beach of Iwo Jima in February 1945 as part of the U.S. invasion.

Now 85 and living at the Lake Howard Heights assisted-living facility in Winter Haven, String is now sharing some of his story.

Today, on Veterans Day, he says he wants to honor his friends who never made it off the Japanese island and perhaps offer his experiences to others while he still can.

"I don't want to see anybody go through what I went through," String said earlier this week in WinterHaven. "It turned my whole life around."

String said he didn't quite fit the ideal of a military recruit.

Born in Caldwell, N.J., he suffered from polio as a boy and wore body braces, though String said he would often shed the devices upon leaving home in the mornings and "stumble off to school."

He fell a year behind in school because of the illness and was already 18 by the time he started his senior year. In 1943, String's local draft board decided school could wait. He passed a physical exam despite some residual weakness in his limbs from polio.

String chose the Navy, reasoning, "I had a clean bed and good food, and if I kicked the bucket or got shot up that's the way I wanted to go out."

He successfully completed basic training and was eventually sent to the naval base at Pearl Harbor. In February 1945, the final year of World War II, String found himself in the Pacific Ocean at a U.S. staging area near the 8-square-mile volcanic island of Iwo Jima.

Because of its proximity to mainland Japan, capturing the island was an important objective to help U.S. air war efforts. The invasion called for a total 30,000 U.S. Marines to wrest the area from roughly 20,000 entrenched Japanese soldiers.

String, a motor machinist mate 2nd class, had the task of running the diesel engines on the landing crafts that took Marines ashore.

On Feb. 19, 1945, the invasion finally began as U.S. battleships shelled the island, followed by an aerial bombardment. Then came the Marines' turn.

"All I was worried about was the diesel engines, keeping those damn things running. That's the only thing I was concerned about. I guess I was crazy. I didn't have any fear anywhere along the line," String said.

But the Japanese had the advantage, fighting from a network of caves and bunkers and using the clear view and firing lines from their positions within Mount Suribachi.

"We hit the beach, and the guys that hit the beach directly in front of us got all shot up, so they took 20 percent of the ship's crew and put us on the shore to replenish the people who were killed. So that's how I got on the island," String said. "We had people strewn all over the beach, equipment strewn all over the beach. I mean, it looked like Sam Hill. That scared me."

As U.S. forces regrouped, String said he was ordered to pick up a flamethrower, replacing a man who had been shot. String was joined by another man who worked the flamethrower's fuel tanks as two additional riflemen provided cover.

String said the foursome entered the caves on the low end of Mount Suribachi, encountering Japanese troops inside.

"I'm shooting this flamethrower in circles. ... I can still hear them screeching," he said.

At this point in the story String abruptly stops talking and stares down at the floor of the sitting room at Lake Howard Heights, his face expressionless. The room is silent except for the hissing of his oxygen tank.

"It was a bitch," he finally says. "It was a bitch."

Four days into the battle, String says he and another group of soldiers were clearing the island's cave network as they ventured outside and saw a U.S. flag perched atop Suribachi, placed there by Marines. A photograph of the raising of the flag would become perhaps the most famous image of WWII.

Seeing the flag was a brief, celebratory moment, String said. The men looked up and cheered before returning to the work ahead of them.

"In we went, flames just a flyin'. We got in there, and I can still hear those people screaming," String said. "It was a bad scene. As crazy as I was, it even affected me. Still affects me."

The fighting lasted more than a month, claiming more than 6,800 American lives. The vast majority of Japanese were either killed or committed suicide.

Before leaving Iwo Jima, String said he took a walk around the island and visited a makeshift cemetery for U.S. soldiers, where he discovered one of his high school classmates had been killed.

String left the military in 1946, briefly staying in a veterans hospital to deal with "shakes." He would eventually finish his high school education and study business at the University of Pennsylvania.

"I had to regroup," he said. "I played hell at getting regrouped. Fortunately for me, I had a tough father who hit me over the head to shake the dust off."

He got married and had two sons, eventually moving to Florida and settling on the state's east coast to work for government contractors in the nation's budding space program.

As for the war, "he hardly ever talked about it, very rarely," said his son, Joseph S. String, 61, a real estate appraiser in Winter Haven.

Joe String said he telephoned his son this week and told him he planned to give an interview about his time on Iwo Jima.

"I told him what was taking place, and he says, 'That's great Pop, they're finally catching up with you.' "

Manomet, MA Four Corners dedicated on Veterans Day to Sgt. Ben Sherman, an American Hero

A year ago, Manomet lost a true American Hero.

Sgt. Ben Sherman gave his life trying to save one of his men in Afghanistan.

Sherman, a 21-year-old Manomet resident and 2006 graduate of Plymouth South High School, died in November 2009 after diving into Arghandab River in western Afghanistan to help a struggling comrade. Both paratroopers were sweep downstream. The other solider, Sgt. Brandon Islip died after falling into the river with all his gear on.

“Ben always had a way of making people feel good about themselves,” his wife, Patricia Sherman, who is gave birth to the couple’s only child in March, said as she fought back tears. If Sherman could attend his own funeral, she said, he’d probably raise a toast, because he felt those who serve deserve to party.

Denise Sherman, Ben’s mother, said her son could be a teddy bear, but he stood up for what he believed in. “He built bridges not fences. He said walk to the edge and do not be afraid,” she said.

Today, on Veterans Day 2010, Manomet turned out to honor Sgt. Ben Sherman by dedicating Four Corners in his honor. A wonderful way of showing that Manomet remembers and cherishes the memory of one of many Patriots who selflessly gave his life for his country and one of his men. The true mark of a hero and one who had dedicated his life to something larger than himself.


Manomet Four Corners to be dedicated Thursday to Ben Sherman
Sgt. Benjamin W. Sherman Memorial Square Committee seeks donations

PLYMOUTH, MA — In tribute to local fallen hero Sgt. Benjamin Sherman, a memorial stone and plaque will be dedicated at the newly renamed Sgt. Benjamin Sherman Memorial Square in Manomet Thursday, following the annual Veterans Day service.

Sherman lost his life Nov. 4, 2009 in western Afghanistan, while trying to save a fellow soldier, Sgt. Brandon Islip. Both were swept away while attempting, under fire, to recover supplies that had been air dropped into a river. Sherman was awarded a Bronze Star and two service medals and was posthumously promoted for his service.

Plymoutheans proud of this native son are asked to support the memorial effort through donations to the Sgt. Benjamin W. Sherman Memorial Square Committee.

Committee member and veteran Jack Mahoney is reaching out to the public seeking donations for the memorial to the 21-year-old U.S. Army paratrooper and 2006 Plymouth South High School graduate. Mahoney and Kevin Thomas, director of the Sgt. Benjamin W. Sherman Memorial Square Committee, are friends of Sherman’s uncles. Mahoney said he wanted to join the effort to remember the young soldier.

“I’m a veteran, myself, and felt the young man should have a memorial,” he said.

Donations may be sent to the Sgt. Benjamin W. Sherman Memorial Square Committee in care of any Rockland Trust Bank, or to Jack Mahoney, at P.O. Box 354, Manomet, MA 02345. The committee hopes to raise $2,500 to $3,000. Donations above that amount will be given to Sherman’s widow and daughter.

A ceremony dedicating the intersection of State Road (Route 3A) and Beaver Dam Road to Sherman will follow the conclusion of the annual Veterans Day parade. The parade will step off at 9:30 a.m. at Hedge Road in North Plymouth. The dedication will be held at 12:30 p.m. and will be followed by a reception at the John Alden Sportsman’s Club on Minuteman Way (off Beaver Dam Road) in Manomet.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion Post, the Moose Club and the John Alden Club pulled together to make the dedication possible, Mahoney said. The ceremony will include a flag presentation, bagpipes and a military color guard.

Copyright 2010 Wicked Local Plymouth.

“A small segment of our country is bearing the burden of these wars,’’

This is a good example how one person can show extraordinary LEADERSHIP, and by doing so, serve as an example for others on how things SHOULD BE.....

Thanks to Kevin Cullen of the Boston Globe for a great story and thanks to Rabbi Raphael Kanter for putting in place a great idea he saw in practice elsewhere.....If more remembered what was important, like they do, we would be a better nation.


Kevin Cullen
Remembering the fallen of our forgotten wars
By Kevin Cullen
Globe Columnist / October 31, 2010

NEW BEDFORD — The cantor, Nathaniel Schudrich, carried the Torah down the center aisle of the chapel yesterday, and the people stepped from the pews to touch it, gently, like an old friend.

They said “A Prayer for Our Country,’’ the people of Tifereth Israel, and then Charles Gorfinkle, the president of the congregation, stood up.

Sometimes Dr. Daniel Nussbaum reads the names, but yesterday it was Charlie Gorfinkle’s turn. He put the list of names on a lectern and began to read.

“Marine Corporal Kristopher D. Greer, 25, of Ashland City, Tennessee,’’ Charlie Gorfinkle said.

Rabbi Raphael Kanter got the idea a few years ago while attending a service at the Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York.

“In the middle of the service, someone in the congregation stood up and just started reading the names of the servicemen and women who died most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan,’’ Rabbi Kanter was saying.

“Army Private First Class Bradley D. Rappuhn, 24, of Grand Ledge, Michigan,’’ Charlie Gorfinkle said.

Rabbi Kanter sat in the synagogue in New York and was profoundly moved, listening to the names, the ages, the hometowns of young Americans who died so far away, in forgotten wars, wars forgotten even as they still rage.

“Army Sergeant Andrew C. Nicol, 23, of Kensington, New Hampshire,’’ Charlie Gorfinkle said.

“It was simple, it was dignified, and I thought it was so necessary,’’ Rabbi Kanter said.

Rabbi Kanter came back to Tifereth Israel in New Bedford and got up at the Shabbat service and explained what he wanted to do.

“Marine Private First Class Vincent E. Gammone, the third, 19, of Christiana, Tennessee,’’ Charlie Gorfinkle said.

So the rabbi began reading the names of the war dead.

“Marine Lance Corporal Kevin M. Cornelius, 20, of Ashtabula, Ohio,’’ Charlie Gorfinkle said.

Many people in the congregation opposed the wars. But no one opposed honoring and remembering the young people sent to fight them. After a while, the rabbi asked members of the congregation to take turns reading the names of those most recently killed. They do it every week.

“Marine Corporal Max W. Donahue, 23, of Highlands Ranch, Colorado,’’ Charlie Gorfinkle said.

Somebody asked whether it was appropriate to read the names at bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah services, when the young people of the congregation celebrate their coming of age in their faith. Those are joyous occasions.

“Rabbi Kanter said it was important that we read the names, even at bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs,’’ Cantor Schudrich said. “Our young people need to hear these names and honor the people whose names are read. So often, I’m struck by the ages of our military people who die in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are so young.’’

“Army Sergeant Faith R. Hinkley, 23, of Colorado Springs, Colorado,’’ Charlie Gorfinkle said.

Rabbi Kanter said his congregation’s simple act of remembrance is born of a conviction that the wars are too invisible. Most Americans don’t have a loved one serving. Most Americans go through every day not giving the wars a passing thought.

“A small segment of our country is bearing the burden of these wars,’’ Rabbi Kanter said. “Why is it when our veterans come home, their care is so poor? If the children of the rich and powerful were fighting these wars, it wouldn’t be the case. In fact, we wouldn’t be fighting these wars. I think the draft should come back. It’s unconscionable that we’re not sharing the burden of war equally. I wonder how quickly we would go to war, and whether we would prosecute wars the same way, if we had a draft, if the burden was shared.’’

So, in this, the most political of seasons, when politicians talk about everything but the wars that are bankrupting the nation and robbing us of so many fine young men and women, a congregation at a synagogue in New Bedford reminds itself every week what honor and sacrifice really mean.

They pause, they listen, they remember.

“Army Master Sergeant Jared N. Van Aalst, 34, of Laconia, New Hampshire,’’ Charlie Gorfinkle said.

Charlie Gorfinkle finished reading but, for a moment, his eyes lingered on the small, thumbnail photos next to each of the names. The faces were young and fresh, and you could see Charlie Gorfinkle looking at them, not so much as if he knew them, but that he wished he had.

Charlie Gorfinkle exhaled, and then he said, “Let us pray for the day when there are no longer any names to read.’’

Kevin Cullen is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at cullen@globe.com

© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company

"Chaps, I think I've been hit - but I'm OK." - BRIT PILOT COOL UNDER FIRE

The casual reader of this blog will catch that I am a huge fan of the Brits....They are and continue to be our best Allies against the dark forces around the world..... I hung out at Camp Bastion with the Brits which was right next to Camp Leatherneck and always enjoyed the interaction between the Brits & US forces.

Here is a story about the stuff our British Comrades-in-Arms are made of - A British Helicopter Pilot takes a shot to the face and still manages to bring his Chinook back safely on a Medivac rescue Mission.

Jolly Good Show. Brilliant stuff. Brilliant.


Chaps, I’ve been hit in the face but I’m okay
By DUNCAN LARCOMBE
Defence Editor UKSUN

Published: 05 Jun 2010

A HERO helicopter pilot has told how he flew six badly-injured soldiers to safety in Afghanistan after he was shot in the HEAD while at the controls.

The last of TEN bullets to hit his aircraft slammed through the windscreen and into Flight Lieutenant Ian Fortune's helmet.

He recalled how - as blood streamed down his face - he told the crew: "Chaps, I think I've just been hit but I'm OK."

The round struck a steel fitting on his headgear and ripped through the top of it shattering two visors before embedding itself in the cockpit wall.

Flt Lt Fortune's face was peppered with bullet fragments and a shard of twisted Perspex gouged a two-inch wound in his left cheek. But he bravely nursed his badly-damaged Chinook back to base.

The helicopter - with 17 on board - was hit by a burst of automatic fire.

Flt Lt Fortune, 28, of Kingston, Surrey said: "It felt as if I had been hit in the face with a plank.

"I opened my eyes to see big cracks across my visor. I could smell burning. There was blood splattered on my visor.

"Then I saw a bullet hole in the windscreen.

"I glanced into the cockpit mirror and saw the state of my helmet with blood pouring down my face. I checked myself out and realised I was fine."

He and his crew picked up six wounded and one soldier killed in a 14-hour firefight near Nad-e Ali in Helmand Province.

After flying back to Camp Bastion, Flt Lt Fortune required 12 stitches in his face. But he was back flying missions within two days.

He is now home but will return to Afghanistan in October.

WATCH video of the mission here -

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/3181045/Flight-Lieutenant-Ian-Fortune-tells-passengers-hes-been-shot-in-the-head.html

Heaven gained another Hero - Sgt. David McNerney, MOH recipient from the Vietnam War

Back from the road trip.....not too bad and very good to be back in the home AOR.

Heaven gained another hero....and one worth posting about -

Local boy from Lowell, Massachusetts.....Rest easy Sarge...you made us proud!

Sgt. David McNerney; saved unit ambushed in Vietnam, Medal of Honor recipient - passed away at 79

The US Army sent David McNerney’s unit to an isolated region near Polei Doc in South Vietnam in 1967 to find a missing US reconnaissance team. The 108 soldiers began moving through a jungle of vegetation the morning of March 22 when the North Vietnamese attacked the front of the column and ambushed a platoon at the rear, killing about 22 Americans, including the company’s commanding officer and an artillery forward observer.

“As first sergeant, I had to take over,’’ Mr. McNerney told Texas Monthly magazine in 1986. “We held on as best we could. There was no way out until B Company could move up to assist us.’’

Leading the surviving US soldiers through the battle, Mr. McNerney killed North Vietnamese soldiers, crawled from position to position while bullets ripped the ground around him, and retrieved explosives from exposed areas. He even climbed a tree to secure in plain view a brightly colored panel with the unit’s insignia so that when he called in air strikes, US pilots could see where the Americans were located. Along the way, the force of a nearby explosion lifted Mr. McNerney off the ground.

“My chest had been lacerated by a grenade,’’ he told Texas Monthly, “but unless you’re really hurt bad, your adrenaline keeps you going.’’

For his valor, he received the Medal of Honor from President Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House the following year.

Mr. McNerney, who was born in Lowell and whose name is on a black marble tablet at the Massachusetts State House, died of lung cancer Sunday at the VA Medical Center in Houston. He was 79 and had lived for many years in Crosby, Texas.

“If, in fact, he were not there, everyone would have gotten massacred that day,’’ said Dennis Thompson Sr. of Acton, who was in Company A of the First Battalion, Eighth Infantry, Fourth Infantry Division. “People have to know that the man was a genuine hero.’’

Earlier this year, the documentary “Honor in the Valley of Tears’’ premiered in Washington, D.C., at the GI Film Festival, highlighting Mr. McNerney’s leadership and featuring interviews with him and other survivors.

The Medal of Honor citation summarizes some of Mr. McNerney’s bravery after being wounded, as he kept his troops alive and readied a rescue area where helicopters could land.

“In spite of this injury, he assaulted and destroyed an enemy machine-gun position that had pinned down five of his comrades beyond the defensive line,’’ the citation says.

After ensuring that US aircraft could see the location of his company, the citation says, Mr. McNerney “moved among his men readjusting their position, encouraging the defenders, and checking the wounded. As the hostile assaults slackened, he began clearing a helicopter landing site to evacuate the wounded. When explosives were needed to remove large trees, he crawled outside the relative safety of his perimeter to collect demolition material from abandoned rucksacks. Moving through a fusillade of fire he returned with the explosives that were vital to the clearing of the landing zone.’’

Mr. McNerney refused medical evacuation and “remained with his unit until the next day, when the new commander arrived,’’ the citation notes.

These actions occurred during Mr. McNerney’s third tour of duty in Vietnam, and he volunteered for a fourth tour before retiring from the Army in 1969. He then spent 25 years as a US Customs inspector in Houston.

David Herbert McNerney was the third of five children. His family moved from Lowell to Cincinnati and then to Houston, where he graduated from St. Thomas High School in 1949.

Serving in the military ran in the family, as did heroism. Mr. McNerney told the Houston Chronicle in 2001 that his father, Edward, lost part of a leg and was exposed to poison gas while serving in the Army during World War I. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

Mr. McNerney’s older brother, Edward, served on a submarine that sank enemy ships during World War II, and his younger brother, Richard, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his Air Force service during the Vietnam War.

Even among family members, Mr. McNerney stood out.

“He was the toughest hombre in the city,’’ said Richard, who lives in Houston.

After high school, Mr. McNerney joined the Navy and considered college when he got out four years later, but joined the Army instead.

In the years following the 1967 ambush, the men in his company became more than fellow soldiers.

“That was his main family, after that,’’ his brother said.

He kept in touch with the men of A Company, offering advice through life’s travails. Whenever he wanted to gather them for a reunion, they dropped what they were doing.

Mr. McNerney earned that loyalty by joining his troops when they marched into their own inferno. Having served two tours in Vietnam, he was back in the United States preparing soldiers for combat in the mid-1960s.

Thompson said that when he and dozens of others reached their last day of training, Mr. McNerney said, “ ‘Since I trained you boys, I want to bring you home,’ and he decided right then and there he was going over with us. He didn’t have to go.’’

Along with regularly visiting extended family in Lowell, Mr. McNerney traveled to Massachusetts in 1987 for the State House ceremony when the marble tablet bearing names of Medal of Honor recipients was unveiled.

Mr. McNerney’s wife, Charlotte, died in 2002. In addition to his brother, Mr. McNerney leaves a sister, Susan Mauro of Los Fresnos, Texas.

A funeral Mass will be said at noon tomorrow in Sacred Heart Church in Crosby, Texas. Burial with full military honors will follow in Houston National Cemetery.

Last month, many soldiers who survived the ambush traveled to Texas for the dedication of a monument to Mr. McNerney at the American Legion post in Crosby, Texas.

“David wanted us all to come down because he wanted to say his goodbyes,’’ Thompson said.

They had lunch after the ceremony at one of Mr. McNerney’s favorite restaurants, and when it was time to leave, the aging soldiers followed him outside.

“We all stood and lined the parking lot and saluted him as he left,’’ Thompson said. “He had tears in his eyes. He just had this look in his eye like: ‘Thank you guys. Thank you very much.’ ’’


Bryan Marquard can be reached at bmarquard@globe.com.

© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company

You know, somehow, "I told you so" just doesn't quite say it...

The pundits and media idjits were quick to pummel a bona-fide War Hero when he ran for President in 2008. They were too busy swooning and falling all over themselves to prop up the " Empty Suit" who now occupies the Oval Office. Now, 20 odd months later, the press are starting to circle their "chosen one" like sharks looking over a wounded seal.....and the real-deal, the honorable Senator John McCain, from the great state of Arizona, has won a heated primary, likely ensuring his re-election to the Senate.....My, My, how the tides of fortune have turned......

Brings to mind a line out of the Movie " I, Robot " where Detective Spooner rushes in to save the skeptical Dr. Calvin as the Robots have turned on the humans, including her.....

Detective Del Spooner: [to Dr. Calvin] You know, somehow, "I told you so" just doesn't quite say it...