“It really doesn’t matter how President Obama divides the Afghan baby, how he splits the difference between McChrystal and Biden. Because the war has been lost,” Thompson said on his radio show today. “I say this because of one sad and simple fact. The president does not have the will and determination to do what’s necessary to win it. His heart’s not in it, and never has been. The Taliban knows it. Al Qaeda knows it. Our allies know it. And the American people know it.

He’s probably right

My friend Jean emailed this request to me and I am asking for your help in bringing Sage safely home. Please donate what you can to help Sage .

I’d like to introduce you to Sage , a photo is attached to this email:

Lance Corporal Alex Werner lives in Milford, PA. He is the 2nd of four children. He joined the Marine Corps right out of high school, and chose to be a combat engineer since he’d always enjoyed construction, as well as destruction – ie bombs and blowing things up with them. One night while on a mission with his platoon in Iraq, Lcpl Werner’s vehicle rounded a corner and a dog ran out in front of them. The dog was killed, leaving behind a puppy who was on the side of the road. Lcpl Werner heard her crying and caught her (not an easy task he says). From that moment on, she has been with Lcpl Werner and the rest of the Marines of his platoon, being loved on by them and, according to Major Kleber’s telling, carried everywhere by them. The men have named the dog Sage. She is being showered with love and affection and toys that have been sent in care packages.

SPCA International has agreed to assist with transporting Sage back to the US from Iraq. Due to operational movements, it may be necessary to bring her home very soon. The cost of bring a dog from Iraq is over $7,000. SPCA International covers the majority of the costs, but requires the service member to provide at least $1,000 towards the cost of his own pup’s transport.

I am asking that everyone consider giving a gift to SPCA International to help get Sage home where she will live with Lcpl Werner upon his return from Iraq. If everyone gives just $10.00-$25.00 each, we can easily raise the $1,000 required to get Sage home and help take that burden off of Lcpl Werner.

Donations can be made multiple ways. Checks can be sent to SPCA International

Operation Baghdad Pups Program
P.O. Box 1230
Washington, DC  20013

The memo line should read “Operation Baghdad Pups – Sage”

Credit card donations can also be made on the website SPCAI

If you would prefer to purchase items that will be used to bring Sage home, such as her crate, please get in touch with me and I will get you a list of items that need to be purchased for her.

UPDATE:

From our friends at Flopping Aces, here’s the latest known schedule:  Alex will be home by April 30, 2010.  Sage is scheduled to ship out NOV 2 to make sure there are no problems.  She’ll stay with Alex’s mom until he gets home.  (You know this will be the longest six months of his life.)  If you’d like to contact him, here’s an address:

Lcpl Alex Werner
CLB-46, Engineer Co., 1st Plt (betchurass he’s a combat engineer)
Unit 72022
FPO AE 09509-2022

UPDATE From Jean:

The good news is that Thanks to Ratdog and crew, we have well exceeded the amount required from Lcpl Werner to get Sage home and are well on the way to paying for half of her trip all on our own – an endeavor I am SURE the SPCA appreciates as it allows them to help even more servicemembers and their dogs. The less good news is that Sage is stuck on a base in Iraq and can’t get to Baghdad in time to make her plane for this particular transport. So, she’s on hold until the January transport and we will continue to coordinate efforts to get her to Baghdad between now and then. As of now, Lcpl Werner has had to leave her to the care of other Marines as he has been relocated. I’m sure he’s missing his girl like crazy right now, but we are sure she’s being taken care of by the boys she is with now. Keep ‘em all in your prayers, one day closer to having our husbands and sons back home…

UPDATE from RatDog:

Another $500 has been donated to this cause!

Morgan Styke, 5, stands in a formation with her dad, Sgt. Jeremy Charlet, at a dismissal ceremony for his NG unit Monday at the Civic Center in New Ulm, Minn. The New Ulm-based 125th Field Artillary HQ and HQ Battery unit returned home after 22 months of active duty.
john Cross, Mankato (Minn.) Free Press, via AP

To all those who have served in our Armed Forces and to all those currently serving, a heartfelt

From the Amy Forlitti, Associated Press:

Pvt. Francheska Velez

Velez, 21, of Chicago, was pregnant and preparing to return home. A friend of Velez’s, Sasha Ramos, described her as a fun-loving person who wrote poetry and loved dancing.

“She was like my sister,” Ramos, 21, said. “She was the most fun and happy person you could know. She never did anything wrong to anybody.”

Family members said Velez had recently returned from deployment in Iraq and had sought a lifelong career in the Army.

“She was a very happy girl and sweet,” said her father, Juan Guillermo Velez, his eyes red from crying. “She had the spirit of a child.”

Ramos, who also served briefly in the military, couldn’t reconcile that her friend was killed in this country just after leaving a war zone.

“It makes it a lot harder,” she said. “This is not something a soldier expects _ to have someone in our uniform go start shooting at us.”

Pfc. Kham S. Xiong

This undated picture shows Kham S. Xiong, 23, of St. Paul, Minn, a 2004 graduate of Community of Peace Academy who enjoyed hunting and fishing.

“The sad part is that he had been taught and been trained to protect and to fight. Yet it’s such a tragedy that he did not have the opportunity to protect himself and the base,” his father, Chor Xiong, told the Twin Cities news broadcast KSTP-TV through an interpreter.

Capt. John Gaffaney

Gaffaney, 56, was a psychiatric nurse who worked for San Diego County, Calif., for more than 20 years and had arrived at Fort Hood the day before the shooting to prepare for a deployment to Iraq.

Gaffaney, who was born in Williston, N.D., had served in the Navy and later the California National Guard as a younger man, his family said. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he tried to sign up again for military service. Although the Army Reserves at first declined, he got the call about two years ago asking him to rejoin, said his close friend and co-worker Stephanie Powell.

“He wanted to help the boys in Iraq and Afghanistan deal with the trauma of what they were seeing,” Powell said. “He was an honorable man. He just wanted to serve in any way he can.”

His family described him as an avid baseball card collector and fan of the San Diego Padres who liked to read military novels and ride his Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Gaffaney supervised a team of six social workers, including Powell, at the county’s Adult Protective Services department. Ellen Schmeding, assistant deputy director for the county’s Health and Human Services Agency, said Gaffaney was a strong leader.

He is survived by a wife and a son.

Pfc. Michael Pearson

Pearson, 22, of the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook, Ill., quit what he figured was a dead-end furniture company job to join the military about a year ago.

Pearson’s mother, Sheryll Pearson, said the 2006 Bolingbrook High School graduate joined the military because he was eager to serve his country and broaden his horizons.

“He was the best son in the whole world,” she said. “He was my best friend and I miss him.”

His cousin, Mike Dostalek, showed reporters a poem Pearson wrote. “I look only to the future for wisdom. To rock back and forth in my wooden chair,” the poem says.

At Pearson’s family home Friday, a yellow ribbon was tied to a porch light and a sticker stamped with American flags on the front door read, “United we stand.”

Neighbor Jessica Koerber, who was with Pearson’s parents when they received word Thursday their son had died, described him as a man who clearly loved his family _ someone who enjoyed horsing around with his nieces and nephews, and other times playing his guitar.

“That family lost their gem,” she told the AP. “He was a great kid, a great guy. … Mikey was one of a kind.”

Sheryll Pearson said she hadn’t seen her son for a year because he had been training. She told the Tribune that when she last talked to him on the phone two days ago, they had discussed how he would come home for Christmas.

Sgt. Amy Krueger

Krueger, 29, of Kiel, Wis., joined the Army after the 2001 terrorist attacks and had vowed to take on Osama bin Laden, her mother, Jeri Krueger said.

Amy Krueger arrived at Fort Hood on Tuesday and was scheduled to be sent to Afghanistan in December, her mother told the Herald Times Reporter of Manitowoc.

Jeri Krueger recalled telling her daughter that she could not take on bin Laden by herself.

“Watch me,” her daughter replied.

Kiel High School Principal Dario Talerico told The Associated Press that Krueger graduated from the school in 1998 and had spoken at least once to local elementary school students about her career.

“I just remember that Amy was a very good kid, who like most kids in a small town are just looking for what their next step in life was going to be and she chose the military,” Talerico said. “Once she got into the military, she really connected with that kind of lifestyle and was really proud to serve her country.”

Pfc. Aaron Thomas Nemelka

Nemelka, 19, of the Salt Lake City suburb of West Jordan, Utah, chose to join the Army instead of going on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his uncle Christopher Nemelka said.

“As a person, Aaron was as soft and kind and as gentle as they come, a sweetheart,” his uncle said. “What I loved about the kid was his independence of thought.”

Aaron Nemelka was proud to serve and felt keenly the responsibility of representing his nation and his family, said another uncle, Michael Blades. Blades said several of Nemelka’s relatives were in the military, including a grandfather who served in the Korean War and received a Purple Heart.

“He felt it was his duty to stand with them in defense of our country,” Blades said.

Nemelka enjoyed soccer, bowling and snowboarding, and was an avid fan of the Utah Utes, he said.

The youngest of four children, Nemelka was scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan in January, his family said in a statement. Nemelka had enlisted in the Army in October 2008, Utah National Guard Lt. Col. Lisa Olsen said.

Blades said Nemelka had a tremendous love for his family and a deep sense of duty.

“His mission is completed,” Blades said, his voice breaking. “He now serves a higher calling in heaven.”

Spc. Jason Dean Hunt

Hunt, 22, of Frederick, Okla., went into the military after graduating from Tipton High School in 2005 and had got married just two months ago, his mother, Gale Hunt, said. He had served 3 1/2 years in the Army, including a stint in Iraq.

Gale Hunt said two uniformed soldiers came to her door late Thursday night to notify her of her son’s death.

Hunt, known as J.D., was “just kind of a quiet boy and a good kid, very kind,” said Kathy Gray, an administrative assistant at Tipton Schools.

His mother said he was family oriented.

“He didn’t go in for hunting or sports,” Gale Hunt said. “He was a very quiet boy who enjoyed video games.”

He had re-enlisted for six years after serving his initial two-year assignment, she said. Jason Hunt was previously stationed at Fort Stewart in Georgia.

Capt. Russell Seager

Seager, 51, of Racine, Wis., was a psychiatrist who joined the Army a few years ago because he wanted to help veterans returning to civilian life, said his uncle, Larry Seager of Mauston.

Russell Seager’s brother-in-law, Dennis Prudhomme, said Seager had worked with soldiers at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Milwaukee who were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. He also taught classes at Bryant & Stratton College in Milwaukee, said Prudhomme, who is married to Seager’s sister.

Larry Seager said his nephew’s death left the family stunned, especially because the psychiatrist only wanted to help soldiers improve their mental health.

“It’s unbelievable. He goes down there to help out soldiers and then he … ,” Seager said, his voice trailing off. “I still can’t believe it.”

Russell Seager is survived by a wife and 20-year-old son.

Prudhomme said Seager was scheduled to go to Afghanistan in December and had gone to Fort Hood for training.

“Our family has suffered a great loss and we are all devastated,” Seager’s sister, Barbara Prudhomme, said in a statement read by her husband. “We are very proud of the way Russell lived his life, both personally and professionally, and our hearts go out to all the victims and their families.”

Staff Sgt. Justin M. DeCrow

DeCrow, 32, was helping train soldiers on how to help new veterans with paperwork and had felt safe on the Army post.

“He was on a base,” his wife, Marikay DeCrow, said in a telephone interview from the couple’s home in Evans, Ga. “They should be safe there. They should be safe.”

In a statement Saturday, she said her husband’s “infectious charm and wit always put others at ease.”

His wife said she wanted everyone to know what a loving man he was. The couple have a 13-year-old daughter, Kylah.

“He was well loved by everyone,” she said through sobs. “He was a loving father and husband and he will be missed by all.”

The couple were high school sweethearts who married in 1996. Marikay DeCrow said her husband was first stationed at Fort Gordon in 2000, and she had hoped they would reunite at their home in nearby Evans when another post there opened up.

DeCrow was stationed in Korea from September 2008 to August. He left in September to go to Fort Hood.

His father, Daniel DeCrow, of Fulton, Ind., said he talked to his son last week to ask him how things were going at Fort Hood.

“As usual, the last words out of my mouth to him were that I was proud of him,” he said. “That’s what I said to him every time _ that I loved him and I was proud of what he was doing. I can carry that around in my heart.”

Lt.Col. Juanita Warman

Warman, 55, of Havre De Grace, Md., was a military physician assistant with two daughters and six grandchildren.

She came from a military family, said her half-sister, Kristina Rightweiser. Their father, who died in 2007, was a “career military man,” Rightweiser served in the Air Force, and Rightweiser’s brother is in the Coast Guard. The two women didn’t grow up together, but reconnected after their father’s death, Rightweiser said.

Warman “loved the Army and loved her family very much,” Rightweiser said in a message sent through Facebook.

Warman volunteered with Beyond the Yellow Ribbon, a reintegration program for Maryland National Guard soldiers returning from deployment overseas, according to Guard officials. She provided mental health counseling and helped develop a program about the myths and realities of post-traumatic stress disorder.

“She was an all-around nice person as well as a very competent professional,” said Col. Sean Lee, a Maryland National Guard chaplain who worked with Warman. “We’re all going to miss her quite a lot.”

Lt. Col. Charles Kohler, a spokesman for the Maryland Guard, said Warman was at Fort Hood preparing for deployment to Iraq.

Warman had worked at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Perry Point Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Maryland.

Spc. Frederick Greene

Greene, 29, of Mountain City, Tenn., went by “Freddie” and was active at Baker’s Gap Baptist Church while he was growing up, said Glenn Arney, the church’s former superintendent and a former co-worker of Greene’s.

“I went to church with him, knew him all of his life. He was one of the finest boys you ever saw,” Arney said.

Arney worked with Greene for several years at A.C. Lumber and Truss in Mountain City. The company designs and builds trusses, which are structures that support the roofs and floors of houses and other buildings.

“He was a hard worker. He was a computer whiz. He could design a truss. He could do about anything,” Arney said.

His family released a statement Sunday calling him a loving son, husband and father, who often acted as the family’s protector.

“Even before joining the Army, he exemplified the Army values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage,” the family said.

Maj. Libardo Eduardo Caraveo

Caraveo, 52, of Woodbridge, Va., arrived in the United States in his teens from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, knowing very little English said his son, also named Eduardo Caraveo.

He earned his doctorate in psychology from the University of Arizona and worked with bilingual special-needs students at Tucson-area schools before entering private practice.

His son told the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson that Caraveo had arrived at Fort Hood on Wednesday and was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. Eduardo Caraveo spoke to the newspaper from his mother’s Tucson home.

His father’s Web site says he offered marriage seminars with a company based in Woodbridge, Va.

Michael Grant Cahill

Cahill, a 62-year-old physician assistant, suffered a heart attack two weeks ago and returned to work at the base as a civilian employee after taking just one week off for recovery, said his daughter Keely Vanacker.

“He survived that. He was getting back on track, and he gets killed by a gunman,” Vanacker said, her words bare with shock and disbelief.

Cahill, of Cameron, Texas, helped treat soldiers returning from tours of duty or preparing for deployment. Often, Vanacker said, Cahill would walk young soldiers where they needed to go, just to make sure they got the right treatment.

“He loved his patients, and his patients loved him,” said Vanacker, 33, the oldest of Cahill’s three adult children. “He just felt his job was important.”

Cahill, who was born in Spokane, Wash., had worked as a civilian contractor at Fort Hood for about four years, after jobs in rural health clinics and at Veterans Affairs hospitals. He and his wife, Joleen, had been married 37 years.

Vanacker described her father as a gregarious man and a voracious reader who could talk for hours about any subject.

The family’s typical Thanksgiving dinners ended with board games and long conversations over the table, said Vanacker, whose voice often cracked with emotion as she remembered her father. “Now, who I am going to talk to?”

Friday night former U.S. President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush made a private visit to the victims of the massacre at Fort Hood:

The Bushes entered and departed the sprawling military facility in secret, having told the base commander they did not want press coverage of their visit, a source told Fox News.

Former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura secretly visited Fort Hood last night and spent “considerable time” consoling those who were wounded in Thursday’s shooting spree, Fox News has learned.

The Bushes entered and departed the sprawling military facility in secret, having told the base commander they did not want press coverage of their visit, a source told Fox News.

The couple was described as “deeply concerned” about military families on Fort Hood after Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly opened fire on soldiers and civilians, killing 13 and wounding 38.

The Bushes, who have a 1,600-acre property known as Prairie Chapel Ranch less than 30 miles from Fort Hood in central Texas, spent between one and two hours visiting the wounded and their families.

Contrast the Bush’s behavior with that of Obama who flew to Dover, Delaware to pay his respects to the returning remains of fallen American soldiers making sure he had a full press contingent in tow.

And while we are talking about contrasts, how about Obama’s first public words as this tragedy unfolded? Yes, he did have a statement to make, but he prefaced it with friendly banter and standard boilerplate that was totally inappropriate. As millions of Americans watched and waited for their President to help them deal with this news, this is what they saw and heard:

OBAMA: Please, everybody, have a seat. Let me first of all just thank Ken and the entire Department of the Interior staff for organizing just an extraordinary conference.

I want to thank my Cabinet members and senior administration officials who participated today. I hear that Dr. Joe Medicine Crow (ph) was around, and so I want to give a shout out to that Congressional Medal of Honor winner. It’s good to see you.

(APPLAUSE)

My understanding is is that you had an extremely productive conference. I want to thank all of you for coming and for your efforts, and I want to give you my solemn guarantee that this is not the end of a process, but the beginning of a process and that we are going to follow up.

(APPLAUSE)

We are going to follow up. Every single member of my team understands that this is a top priority for us. I want you to know that, as I said this morning, this — this is not something that we just give lip service to. And we are going to keep on working with you to make sure that the first Americans (ph) get the best possible chances in life in a way that’s consistent with your extraordinary traditions and culture and values.

Now, I have to say, though, that beyond that, I had planned to make some broader remarks about the challenges that lay ahead for Native Americans as well as collaboration with our administration.

Let’s not overlook the fact that Obama awarded Crow the Medal of Freedom, a civilian award, and not the Medal of Honor which is bestowed on extraordinary members of the U.S. military.

Now, many of us realized a long, LOOONNNGGGGG time ago that Obama just reads the words on his teleprompter. Apparently, he doesn’t even think about what he is saying and how tone deaf those words can be. But he was billed as the smartest man ever to hold the office. What a crock!

Remember how the left howled when President Bush was first learned of the September 11th attacks yet continued on for a few more minutes with the reading of “My Pet Goat” to Florida schoolchildren? Erick Ericson at Red State believes this is Obama’s My Pet Goat moment.

But it’s not just right wing bloggers who feel Obama is tone deaf. Today’s editorial in the Boston Globe speaks to those wider concerns:

Obama’s initial remarks came shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday, while Americans were struggling to come to grips with the shocking rampage and its chaotic aftermath. The stage was set for the president to quickly and somberly address the tragedy. Instead, a serene-looking Obama offered light introductory comments, keyed to those attending a Tribal Nations Conference that was hosted by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. His introduction included a convivial “shout-out’’ to one of the conference attendees.

Several minutes in, Obama finally called the Fort Hood shootings “a horrific outburst of violence.’’ The words he spoke next were respectful and appropriate. But it took him too long to get to the point of delivering them.

It takes more than scripted eloquence for presidents to connect with their fellow Americans. It requires a visceral ability to grasp the scope of tragedy, calculate its impact on the national psyche, and react swiftly to it. Ronald Reagan did it after the Challenger explosion took the lives of seven crew members on Jan. 28, 1986. So did Bill Clinton, after the Oklahoma City bombings of April 19, 1995, left 168 dead and more than 600 injured.

When a gunman fired those shots at Fort Hood, the country immediately felt the pain. Obama missed the first moment to show he understood just how much it hurt.

Barack Obama: Too inexperienced to be elected President and still not to the job!

Besides local children, the Obamas also entertained those of military families as well as White House staff.

Apprently, every day is Halloween dress-up for these zombies, who never see an occasion where it is inappropriate to protest:

Members of the protest group Code Pink taunt local school children with chants about the war in Afghanistan as the children and their families arrive for a Halloween reception by U.S. President Barack Obama and his family at the White House in Washington, October 31, 2009.
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES CONFLICT POLITICS SOCIETY)

Muwahahahahaha!

U.S. President Barack Obama greets children during a reception for children of military and White House staff families for Halloween at the White House in Washington October 31, 2009. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES POLITICS HEADSHOT)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Stay safe, have fun….trick or tweet…..and distribute YOUR OWN candy!

1. If all the world hated America because of George W Bush’s 2003 invasion of Iraq….then why was America attacked on Sept 11, 2001; 2yrs before that invasion?
2. Why has Al Queda been trying to exterminate every American for the past 17yrs?
3. Did you want Bush to fail in Iraq, or did you want America to succeed?
4. Given that Osama left Afghanistan in 2001, and Al Queda was largely destroyed in Afghanistan in 2002, how did the Bush Administration “take its eye off the ball [Afghanistan] by invading Iraq” in 2003?
5. What caused the great recession of 2007?
6. How have Democrats ensured that we don’t have another $13 TRILLION dollar Great Recession?
7. If FOX, Hannity, Glenn Beck, Limbaugh, etc are examples of right wing propaganda…then what is an example of left wing propaganda?
8. If Republicans lie, and all politicians are liars, then what are some lies told by Democrats?
9. Since President Obama’s Israel/Palestine talks have failed, and he’s been unable to stop Iran’s nuclear program, and since he’s completely clueless on what to do in Afghanistan…what is PLAN B for keeping Israel from bombing Iran and starting a regional-possibly a world war?
10. Obama’s a quarter of the way done with his presidency. What will history record as his greatest accomplishment?

btw, I could come up with more, but these were my top 10. Anyone who thinks they have one that deserves being on the list, please, please, please feel free to suggest it. I probably won’t add it out of sheer laziness, but I think we’d all love to see em.

But here it is… yesterday’s byline by Elisabeth Bumiller under the Military Memo, As the Commander in Chief Deliberates, Frustration Builds Within the Ranks

A number of active duty and retired senior officers say there is concern that the president is moving too slowly, is revisiting a war strategy he announced in March and is unduly influenced by political advisers in the Situation Room.

“The thunderstorm is there and it’s kind of brewing and it’s unstable and the lightning hasn’t struck, and hopefully it won’t,” said Nathaniel C. Fick, a former Marine Corps infantry officer who briefed Mr. Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign and is now the chief executive of the Center for a New American Security, a military research institution in Washington. “I think it can probably be contained and avoided, but people are aware of the volatile brew.”

Last week the national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Thomas J. Tradewell Sr., gave voice to the concerns of those in the military when he issued a terse statement criticizing Mr. Obama’s review of Afghan war strategy.

“The extremists are sensing weakness and indecision within the U.S. government, which plays into their hands,” said Mr. Tradewell’s statement on behalf of his group, which represents 1.5 million former soldiers.

~~~

A retired general who served in Iraq said that the military had listened, “perhaps naïvely,” to Mr. Obama’s campaign promises that the Afghan war was critical. “What’s changed, and are we having the rug pulled out from under us?” he asked. Like many of those interviewed for this article, he spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals from the military’s civilian leadership and the White House.

Yes… Nero is fiddling while Rome burns. Instead, the POTUS uses the excuse of the recent Afghanistan election and accusations of corruption. Funny… that didn’t mean much when Iran had it’s election, and Ahmadinejad’s military might was killing protestors in the streets.

But since Karzai and challenger Abdullah Abdullah have a runoff election scheduled, it would seem that excuse gets flushed down the toilet.

Or is the CIC now fiddling, waiting to see the outcome? Which then begs the question, is the US support for Afghanistan contingent upon who the population elects?

UPDATED: As Obama’s advisors seem to whisper “tread lightly” in the POTUS famous ears, his own Sec’y of Defense seems to have adopted US’s NATO head General Stanley McCrystal’s method of pressure… that of taking the case to the public via the media. The NYT’s Thom Shanker published his article today, Gates Says Afghan Vote Will Not Slow Strategy.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Tuesday that prolonged challenges to the political legitimacy of the government in Afghanistan should not halt the administration’s efforts to decide on a new strategy nor would it slow allied military operations there.

Speaking before meetings with senior Japanese officials, Mr. Gates warned that the anticipated runoff election and questions of installing a new, credible government in Kabul would be a lengthy process. During that time, administration discussions on strategy — and whether to send more troops — would not go into suspended animation, he said.

~~~

“We are not going to just sit on our hands waiting for the outcome of this election and for the emergence of a government in Kabul,” Mr. Gates said. “We have operations under way and we will continue to conduct those operations.”

Mr. Gates, in assessing the impact on administration policy of strong charges of election fraud by supporters of President Hamid Karzai, noted that “whatever emerges in Kabul is going to be an evolutionary process.”

“It is not going to be complicated one day and simple the next,” he said. “I believe the president will have to make his decisions in the context of that evolutionary process.”

This is a completely different story than was conveyed by Rahm’bo Emanuel on the various talking head Sunday news shows. Emanuel characterizes the Obama decision stuttering as avoiding appearing “reckless” without [even more] analysis. In other words, they believe they need a *new* new strategy, deftly dodging their silent acknowledgement of their March strategy’s lack of success…. with Emanuel going so far as to classify it as the US “starting from scratch”.

Additionally, Emanuel places emphasis on the election and it’s outcome.

On Sunday, Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s chief of staff, said in television interviews that the administration must first ensure it has a “credible” partner in the Afghan government before making a decision to send more troops.

Considering the candidates are well known to the admin, one has to wonder why either one, as leaders, wouldn’t meet their standards as a “credible” partner.

Such a disconnect…. END UPDATE

Perhaps the most eyebrow raising moment in the article is the lengths the WH mouthpieces will go to defend Obama’s indecision on his own “new strategy” for Afghanistan.

Mr. Obama’s civilian advisers on national security say the president is appropriately reviewing his policy options from all sides. They said it would be reckless to rush a decision on whether to send as many as 40,000 more American men and women to war, particularly when the unresolved Afghan election had left the United States without a clear partner in Kabul.

~~~

The administration has made clear that Mr. Obama will not necessarily follow the advice of his generals in the same way Mr. Bush did, notably in the former president’s deference to Gen. David H. Petraeus, now the head of the Central Command, and that it does not want military leaders publicly pressing the commander in chief as they give their advice.

Well now, that’s interesting. Especially when you consider Obama’s own Organizing for America website has a page dedicated to how many times candidate Obama had consistently said he’d “listen to commanders on the ground”.

But that was then. This is now, and he’s already achieved the power he sought.

Obama may find that the military leadership, who may have remained quiet on disagreements with the prior administration, is not apt to be so acquiescing with the current admin.

Andrew M. Exum, a former Army officer in Afghanistan, an adviser to General McChrystal and a fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said that the change in style from one administration to the next had led to some of the military’s discontent. “The Bush administration would settle on a strategy and stick to it, and you could argue often to ill effect,” he said, referring to the president’s decision not to send more troops to Iraq until 2007, after years of rising violence.

The Obama administration, he said, is not afraid to go back and question assumptions. “There’s a value in that,” Mr. Exum said, “but that can be incredibly frustrating for those trying to operationalize the strategy.”

Part of the strain comes from lessons learned from the generals who acquiesced to former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld’s demands for a small invasion force in Iraq, then faced criticism that they had not spoken up for more troops to secure the country during the occupation.

The retired general who served in Iraq said that today’s senior officers had decided, “I won’t be so quiet, I won’t be a lap dog.”

In the meantime, the commanders focus their concern for the troops on the ground and their safety. Those risking life and limb, trying to do too much with too little.

Another source of tension within the military is the view that a delay is endangering the 68,000 American troops now in Afghanistan. “McChrystal has troops out there who are risking their lives more than they need to, partly because we have not filled in the gaps and we have not created a safe zone in southern and eastern Afghanistan,” said Michael O’Hanlon, a national security expert at the Brookings Institution.

A military policy analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid antagonizing senior Pentagon leaders, said that “the military lives in a very rarefied environment,” and that “they are not out there every day having to meet citizens who say, ‘What the hell are we doing?’ ”

Senior military officers, the analyst said, “are smart guys, but they do not have the daily pulse of the American public in their face. They tend to interpret politicians who give voice to it as being weak, but none of this works if the public gives up on it.”

This all brings up memories of red phones and battles between then candidate Hillary Clinton and the eventual chosen one.

[Clinton campaign ad:] “It’s 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep,” says the narrator in her commercial, while ominous music surges over dark black-and-white images. An undefined world crisis is brewing, and the red phone — a relic of the hot line to Moscow during the cold war — rings.

“Your vote will decide who answers that call,” the narrator says. “Whether it’s someone who already knows the world’s leaders, knows the military — someone tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world.”

Candidate Obama’s response?

“In fact, we have had a red phone moment,” he said. “It was the decision to invade Iraq. And Senator Clinton gave the wrong answer, George Bush gave the wrong answer, John McCain gave the wrong answer,” voting to authorize force in Iraq.

The phone rang, and at least *someone* answered, Mr. Obama. Maybe one of your stellar czars and high paid advisors might want to let you know that red phone has been ringing… without an answer… for quite some time now.

President Barack Obama, flanked by members of Troop A, First Squadron, 11th Armored Combat Regiment, speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009, during a ceremony honoring their service with the Presidential Unit Citation for their actions during the Vietnam War. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

From the NYTimes at the beginning of this month:

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — On the day Ray R. Moreno came home from Vietnam, the day antiwar protestors called him a baby killer, he decided to pack away his Army uniform for good. Memories and nightmares still intruded, but he rarely discussed them. Battle buddies were forgotten.

Until, that is, he started attending reunions of his troop a few years ago. Suddenly, a door reopened. “They were there; they understand,” Mr. Moreno, 58, said. “If we want to cry, we do. If we don’t, we don’t.”

For many members of his unit, Alpha Troop of the 11th Armored Cavalry, the annual reunions for veterans of Vietnam and Cambodia have become a form of therapy: a chance to reconnect, salve wounds and share bonds forged in an unpopular war.

But this year’s reunion was special for another reason.

At a hotel ballroom in September here, Alpha Troop unveiled a Presidential Unit Citation, the highest military honor for a unit, it received this year from the Army for “extraordinary heroism” in rescuing more than 70 soldiers from a larger North Vietnamese force on March 26, 1970. In the coming weeks, the veterans hope, President Obama himself will formally bestow the citation at a White House ceremony.

Today, President Obama honored the veterans of Troop A, 1st Squadron of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment….

From the AP:

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has awarded an Army squadron the highest honor given to a military unit for the daring rescue of about 100 soldiers during the Vietnam War nearly 40 years ago.

Obama was joined at the White House by dozens of veterans of Troop A, 1st Squadron of the 11th Armored Combat Regiment. Also at the ceremony were some of the soldiers they saved in the jungles of Vietnam.

The Presidential Unit Citation is the highest unit award in the military and the equivalent of the Distinguished Service Cross for every man in the unit. On March 26, 1970, the unit rescued about 100 members of an American infantry company that had stumbled onto amassive underground enemy bunker of North Vietnamese forces.

“These soldiers define the meaning of bravery and heroism,” Obama said.

Though their battle may not have changed the course of the war, and may not have made the newspapers back home, Obama said the troop’s efforts are “a proud chapter in the story of the American soldier.”

The president credited the unit’s leader, Capt. John Poindexter, for his efforts to ensure that his soldiers were ultimately rewarded for their service.

Obama said the unit is a reminder of America’s obligation to honor its veterans and their families, and only send troops into harm’s way when it’s absolutely necessary.

L-R: Rev. Rob Schenck, president of the National Clergy, President Rev. Patrick Mahoney, of the Christian Defense Coalition and Father James Heyd hold a prayer service in front of the Supreme Court building in Washington. Today the high court will hear oral arguments in a case on involving the building of a memorial with a cross by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) in a remote area within what is now a federal preserve.
Mark Wilson-Getty Images

Is anyone really damaged by seeing the 10 Commandments displayed on a government building? Are any of you offended when you see a Christmas tree in a public square? When the White House hosts an Easter egg hunt each year, as well as iftar dinner and menorah lighting? Are your feelings hurt because we have national holidays that are Christian?

Why?

Religious expression is part of this nation’s history. The jihadist crusade of the ACLU and militant secular extremists is beyond reason in its successful attacks over the last several decades against public expression of Christian traditions and national heritage that has been a part of this country’s 200-plus year history.

Today, the Supreme Court began deliberations over the Mojave Desert Cross:

At issue was a cross that sits atop Sunrise Rock in a remote part of the Mojave National Preserve. Since 1934, the cross has existed, in one form or another, as a war memorial. Different court documents refer to it as 5 to 8 feet tall.

A decade ago, it came under legal attack from a former park service employee who, though a Catholic, thought it was inappropriate to favor one religion over another in the preserve. The National Park Service had turned down a request to have a Buddhist symbol erected nearby.

A federal judge and the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the stand-alone display of the cross in the national preserve was unconstitutional and, further, Congress’ move to transfer it to the private VFW did not solve the problem.

The Obama administration, joining with the VFW, urged the high court to uphold the display of the cross now that it is in private hands.

U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan said that the “sensible action by Congress” to give the VFW control of the cross and the land under it solved the 1st Amendment problem. The cross is no longer on government land and under government control, she said.

“It’s VFW’s choice” how to preserve it and maintain it now, she said.

Not all of the justices sounded convinced. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Paul Stevens noted that the Mojave cross was designated as a national memorial and that Congress said it must be preserved as a cross to honor America’s war dead. If not, the land and the cross would revert to government control, they said.

Eliasberg argued that the transfer was an obvious ploy to maintain the cross after it had been declared unconstitutional by a federal court.

He agreed that crosses in a national cemetery would not pose a constitutional problem because other religious symbols, such as a Star of David for Jewish soldiers, are included as well.

By the end of the hour, it was not clear what issue the justices would decide. They could decide whether the transfer of the cross to the VFW solved the legal problem. Or they could go further back and decide whether it was constitutional to erect the cross on public land.

Some lawyers thought the justices could focus on whether the original plaintiff, former park service employee Frank Buono, had legal standing to object to the cross. But that issue was hardly mentioned in the court Wednesday.

It will probably be several months before the court hands down a decision in the case of Salazar vs. Buono.

More here.

A family photo that shows a little girl beside her father and his fellow soldiers in uniform as they prepare to go to war has resonated well beyond the tight knit Bennethum clan.

Four-year-old Paige Bennethum really, really didn’t want her daddy to go to Iraq.

So much so, that when Army Reservist Staff Sgt. Brett Bennethum lined up in formation at his deployment this July, she couldn’t let go.

No one had the heart to pull her away.

Read more (video included) at A Soldier’s Perspective

I am 10 minutes late rushing off to work, but please check this out, regarding the soldiers at the two combat outposts that were overrun. They apparently lost everything except the clothes on their backs.

White House officials are increasingly worried liberal, anti-war Democrats will demand a premature end to the Afghanistan war before President Barack Obama can show signs of progress in the eight-year conflict, according to senior administration sources.

These fears, which the officials have discussed on the condition of anonymity over the past few weeks, are rising fast after U.S. casualties hit record levels in July and August.

Read more: www.politico.com…

Gosh
Why would they fear that?

Wordsmith did provide some extra insight in his remembrance of Chris with a YouTube link, but I felt that Major General Mark Graham – Commander, Division West and Fort Carson, Colo – and his suicide prevention program needs to be broadened with a grassroots movement.

Below is the ACE card given to military members.. ASK, CARE and ESCORT. It’s an action plan when you see one of our warriors in trouble.

Like an omen, I happened to pick up a People Magazine my mother purchased as a fluke while I’m visiting her, and my Dad, in Florida. She wanted to read the cover story of Farrah Fawcett. Ironically, a non-cover story was about Major General Mark Graham, and his mission to prevent suicides of troops, along with his wife, Carol.

Even more ironic, August happens to be the military’s Suicide Prevention Month.

The Grahams have lost two sons… Army 2nd Lt. Jeff Graham died in February 2004, saving his platoon from a bomb on a bridge in Khaldiyah, Iraq.

But eight months earlier, they lost another son… ROTC cadet kevin Graham. Suffering from depression, he hung himself in his apartment at the University of Kentucky.

Excerpt from the People article:

Condolence calls and bouquets poured in [after Jeff's death]. They wondered, where were these mourners for Kevin? “Everybody is treating you totally different”, says Carol. Leaving a funeral home for the second time in eight months, the Grahams made a decision. At a stoplight, Mark Graham said, “The loss of the boys can either be the whole book of our lives, or it can be two tragic chapters.” Soon after, they started the Jeff and Kevin Graham Memorial Fund to prevent suicide on college campuses.

Years passed before he would discuss the issue among the ranks. In 2006, a military-family survivirs’ group, TAPS, asked him to speak. Losing a loved on in war is a frequent stopic on that circuit, and he expected they wanted to hear about Jeff. Instead, for the first time, he was asked to address suicide. It was a turning point: Since then, has has spoken about it often. “I hope it’s helped,” he says. “To be frank, it’s not easy. It’s horrendous.”

Our warriors are everywhere, and in various status of service. If a nation can be cajoled into spying on their neighbors for anti-Obama statements, I suggest it can even be easier to alert a nation to a warrior in trouble.

And to that end, I’d like to provide some suicide prevention resources.

For more information about Suicide Prevention Month or to request a suicide prevention presentation or to seek assistance for someone contemplating suicide, call the Employee Assistance Program at 842-0895 or 842-9897.

Other suicide intervention resources include:

Fox Army Health Center’s Behavioral Medicine, 955-888, ext. 1930;
Chaplain Services, 842-2174, 842-2176 or 541-6359;
Military One Source, 1-800-342-9647;
Huntsville/Madison County Mental Health Services, 533-1970;
National Suicide Prevention Hotline, 1-800-273-8255;
Hope, 1-800-784-2433;
and VA Readjustment Counseling Services, 1-800-271-1000.

You can see Major General Graham’s quick clip on the ACE program at the DOD’s Military Health System website.

Warning Signs: When a Soldier presents any combination of the following, the buddy or chain of command should be more vigilant and consider help:

• Talk of suicide or killing someone else
• Giving away property or disregard for what happens to one’s property
• Withdrawal from friends and activities
• Problems with girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse
• Acting bizarre or unusual (based on your knowledge of the person)
• In trouble for misconduct
• Soldiers experiencing financial problems
• Soldiers who have lost their job at home (such as Reservists or Guardsmen)
• Soldiers leaving the service

When a Soldier presents any one of these concerns, the Soldier should be seen immediately by a helping provider:

• Talking or hinting about suicide
• Formulating a plan to include acquiring the means to kill oneself
• Having a desire to die
• Obsession with death (music, poetry, artwork)
• Themes of death in letters and notes
• Finalizing personal affairs
• Giving away personal possessions

Risk factors are those things that increase the probability that difficulties could result in serious adverse behavioral or physical health. The risk factors only raise the risk of an individual being suicidal – it does not mean they are suicidal.
Risk factors often associated with suicidal behavior include:

• Relationship problems (loss of girlfriend or boyfriend, or divorce)
• History of previous suicide attempts
• Substance abuse
• History of depression or other mental illness
• Family history of suicide or violence
• Work-related problems
• Transitions (retirement, permanent change of station or discharge)
• A serious medical problem
• Significant loss (death of a loved one, loss due to natural disasters)
• Current/pending disciplinary or legal action
• Setback (academic, career or personal)
• Severe, prolonged and/or perceived unmanageable stress
• A sense of powerlessness, helplessness and/or hoplessness

Suicidal risk is highest when:

• The person sees not way out and fears things may get worse
• The predominant emotions are hopelessness and helplessness
• Thinking is constricted with a tendency to perceive his or her situation as all bad
• Judgment is impaired by use of alcohol or other substances

Life and the internet are strange strange things. I’ve been trading emails and posts etc with Chris for years now. It wasn’t at all uncommon for his duties, deployments, and family to make those virtual conversations sporadic from time to time.   Well, Chris won’t be returning emails anymore.   He passed away suddenly on June 30, 2009.

Last Fall he and his wife Shannon had a baby girl, Lilly. Chris was so happy. We teased him about how awful it is to step on Barbie Doll high heels in the middle of the night, and he bragged about how his friends Mossberg and Remington were gonna help keep the boys away from his little beauty.

A few weeks later he deployed to Afghanistan. We still got emails from him. He sent pics, talked about the firefights, artillery barrages on Christmas night, and how, ‘once you accept that if you step off the path you’re in a minefield , and you’re dead, it’s not that bad. Ya just stay on the path.’ He didn’t love it over there in the ass-end of the planet by any stretch of the imagination, but he was extremely proud to be doing his duty-at least, that’s what he told us in emails.

Chris was always brash, blunt, bold, and beautiful in his political commentary. He was in no uncertain terms not happy with the Democratic Party, its leaders or its followers. Time and again he posted here at Flopping Aces in response to DNC talking points about Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Global War on Terror. He would NEVER stoop to re-naming it ‘overseas contingency operations in support of combat in Operations Iraqi Freedom and/or Operation Enduring Freedom. People would post that there were no WMD in Iraq, and he’s show pictures and links and tell personal stories of his time there. They’d say there was no Al Queda in Iraq, and that Saddam and Bin Laden had no relationship, and he’d wig out with tales of what he had personally seen.

What really set Chris off the most in terms of war and politics seemed to be the lack of support, the fake support, and the deliberate division of the nation for political purposes. Time and time again he claimed that the opposition to the war was just a way of bitching about George W Bush. He claimed that if Obama was elected, the opposition to the war would disappear in a heartbeat. He was right. He hated the claim that people could claim supported the troops, and then oppose their efforts to succeed; oppose their hard work. It pissed him off. He said in one email it was like saying you support the players on your baseball team, but not wanting them to win.  He saw it as a lie, a lie for partisan political reason, and he saw the fake opposition to America’s wars as something weak, something that he personally, directly, unequivocally witnessed giving strength to the enemy and made his job harder. He described this firsthand frustration in almost every email, every post, and every article that he wrote.

This weekend the Flopping Aces writers were trading emails and having one of those REPLY TO ALL discussions. One of us asked what we’d all be wondering, “Has anyone heard from Chris lately?” Curt was the last. He had heard from him in early June. It only took a few moments of Googling, and someone found his obituary. We couldn’t believe it was him. Too much hair in the picture-not enough hair. More Googling followed. So did more information. Yeah, it was him.

On June 30th Major Chris Galloway took his own life. He had come back from Afghanistan in April, and things just weren’t the same we’re told.

Why’d we lose him? Who the hell knows. There is no rational reason for doing such a thing, so using reason to figure it out is both impossible and ineffectual. It accomplishes nothing. In the end, he’s still gone. For the sake of his wife, his kids, and for ourselves it’s better to remember him for who he was. Given that he was so much to so many, there’s a lot to think about.  He was a husband, father, soldier, a writer for Flopping Aces, and I consider him my friend. We all consider him our friend. May God bless him and give him peace.  He’s earned it.

Chris’ military honors:

MAJOR Christopher Todd Galloway was born in FT. Knox, KY on February 12, 1973.

He Graduated from Oxford High School in 1991, where he was a member of the explorer scouts program and he also took great interest in computers and engineering.

MAJOR Galloway went to Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI (where he met his wife Shannon) He graduated in 1996 with a bachelors degree in engineering management. He became involved in ROTC while in college and went to Basic training at FT. Knox, KY.

After Graduation, MAJOR Galloway’s 1st assignment was tank platoon leader in Baumholder, Germany for the C company, 1st battalion, 35th armor of 1st Armor division. While serving as a tank platoon leader, MAJOR Galloway deployed to Bosnia for 6 months conducting the NATO peace keeping operations. He was latter assigned to headquarters and headquarters company (HHC) Excutive Officer under the same Battalion.
Major GAlloway’s service includes Assistant Brigade S3 and Batalian S4 in FT. Riley, KS under the 1st Infantry Division. He Served as Troop Commander under D Troop, 1st Squadron, 16th Cavarly regiment in FT. Knox KY. This is where Chris Earned his spurs and Stetson that he was so proud of.

In 2006, Major Galloway was assessed in the Army Acquisition Corps. He served his 1st Acquisition assignment as the assistant Project manager (APM) for survivability under the TANK-AUTOMOTIVE research, development and Engineering center (TARDEC) in Warren, MI. He was deployed to Iraq in 2007 till the Birth of his 2nd son.

He served his most recent assignment with the joint MRAP Vehicle Program office for Mine resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) as the APM Survivability under the Program Executive Office, Combat support & Combat service support (PEO CS&CSS)

Major Galloway’s awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service metal, Army Commendation Metal (2 OLC), Army Achievement metal, National Defense Service metal, NATO metal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Afghanistan Campaign metal, Global War on Terrorism Service Metal, and the overseas and Army Service ribbon.

He is Survived by his wife Shannon and their 3 children. Nathan (4.5), Benjamin (2) and Lillian (10 months)

Major Galloway is also survived by his Mother Sara Galloway and his sister Erin Galloway. He was preceded in Death by his father Major Lawrence Galloway.

There will be a trust fund set up for Major Galloway’s children soon, details to follow.

Obituary

Chris’ articles here at Flopping Aces

Not even sure how to start this post, it’s all been a blur. As Scott described above it began with a simple “has anyone heard from Chris?” and it snowballed from there. I never, in my wildest dreams, imagined it would end like this. The Chris I knew and befriended here on Flopping Aces, first as a commenter and then author when I asked him to come aboard on September 6th, 2007 was solid as a rock. He served his country in war and peacetime. He was so proud of his country and his babies but was passionate about the direction this country was going in and he didn’t like it one bit…as none of us did either.

But why would he take his own life?

The last few emails I received from him in early June, apologizing for the lack of writing (which we all understood due to his service to our country) spoke of him “probably” getting a divorce. I knew the emotional turmoil he must of been going through since I recently went through a divorce. I told him to stay in touch and if he needed anything to please contact me.

I never heard from him again.

As Scott said above “so using reason to figure it out is both impossible and ineffectual. It accomplishes nothing. In the end, he’s still gone.” So we will choose to honor a life he should be proud of.

Chris, may you rest in peace, and know that those issues you were so passionate about will not be forgotten by us left behind. You served your country proudly and for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

This weekend has been surreal. Our author off-forum discussions of Chris left us in varying states of disbelief, bewilderment and grieving. And I will even add, frustrating.

As one of the newest authors here, I feel cheated not having the cyber relationship longevity Curt, Scott and a few others have enjoyed. But my recent entry to this tight knit, and often sibling taunting, FA family never seemed to matter to Chris. From the moment that Curt brought me in to join the crew, Chris’ heart was opened, and his thoughts unedited.

But that human “welcome mat” seemed to be Chris all around. He had this knack of seeing beauty and bright spots in the darkest moments, or most barren terrain. A giving kind of guy with a heart bigger than a mountain, convictions as solid as the man of steel, and a loyalty and patriotism most could not fathom, let alone match.

Those same qualities are reflected in his military service as well. In some ways, you latecomers to FA can see into Chris’s soul by reading his first “guest post” in Sept 2007, called “My Iraq”. It was a post that led to his FA authorship status, and Curt’s comments still reside at the bottom of that post… tho I am chagrined to find the photos have been lost to archives and technological snafus from our history of cyber attacks. (Curt’s Note: I found the pictures in the archive and have put them back into that post)

Chris’s specialty was MRAPs. In essence, his job was to protect the troops… literally… with expertise in armoring up not only vehicles, but the gear they carried. Chris’s last tour in Iraq included new troops to care for… the Iraqi Army.

In that first post from Chris – still serving at that time in Iraq – one of the lost photos is of a newly trained Iraqi soldier embracing and comforting a child in the aftermath of battle.

The Iraqi Soldier of today is better educated, better lead, and better supported than he ever was. Would they be on par with the Western Coalition today? No, but few are and we train heard just to keep that proficiency ourselves.

That said, the Iraqi Army is probably the best armed force in the Arab/Persian world. If you cannot look at this picture and be touched by the emotional comfort the Soldier is providing the child, then I doubt anything I have to say will matter as your heart is full of hatred for the USA, our President, our Armed Forces, and the good Iraqi People.

So how does this affect yours truly? I helped equip this Soldier you see hugging the child. Everything he has on him and even that generator behind him are things I helped provide. That is my contribution to the war now. I help to build a professional Iraqi Army. My years as an Armor Officer are over. I have moved to Acquisitions. My vengeance to the terrorists no longer comes from the muzzles of my tanks, but from the ability of the Iraqis to hunt and kill the barbarian terrorist thugs themselves.

To re’read that post, and archives of Chris’s emails to us that were not for the public forum, the tears still well up. This was not a man who cried uncle in the face of adversity, but one who stood defiantly against those that preyed on the freedom and future of others. His convictions for our military, our mission in the Middle East, and his distinct dedication as a protector of all within in his power and reach is something that you find in few individuals.

He tried to find the beauty wherever he was… even describing Bagram as “nice, if dusty” in his final FA post after arriving in Afghanistan Nov of 2008. No matter where he was, Chris never lost the poet, nor sense of humor, that resided within.

Along with losing a cyber friend that I treasured, I have a particular sadness for Chris. He spent his adult life loving, giving and protecting. I can’t help but feel that, at a time when the “protector” needing protecting himself, that we… those he guarded and shielded with his very life… were perhaps unintentionally blind to his personal plight. Maybe we felt that one who displayed so much magnificence in his dedication to others was invincible to every incoming threat… military or personal.

Today, we know differently. For a reason we may never know, this man who gave his all for country, his fellow troops, and even strangers in a strange land, found himself running on “empty” when it came to protecting himself.

Chris? If there’s an ISP connection in heaven, you shall be missed. And never again will I see another warrior/protector, without wondering if perhaps I should find a way to give back and refuel his spirit…. Just in case he or she is too proud to say they are in trouble.

RIP, our friend.

The Internet makes our world smaller. It puts us into contact with people that we would otherwise have never known and our lives are made better for it.

It’s strange how you can grow attached to people that you have never met in person. That’s what happened when I “met” Chris. I became attached to him. I looked forward to hearing what he had to say.

Through Chris’ posts and his comments a man who truly loved his family and his country came shining through. A man with steely eyed resolve, quick wit, and a heart of gold. The dedication, determination, discipline, and skill that he put into his job as a defender of freedom was communicated loud and clear to all of us who read his words.

The pride, the joy, and the love that he had for his children was unmistakable.

Chris believed in America. He believed in our cause in Iraq and Afghanistan. Chris believed that he could make a difference. Chris did make a difference.

From his first post here at FA:

To those who serve and support our efforts and are part of the war to crush the rising tide of terrorism and hijacked Islam, you will look at this picture, and like me, promise those little eyes that we WILL NOT FAIL. I looked at this picture the most today writing this letter. I kept asking myself if I have done everything I can to give her the opportunity to work for freedom and live in true peace. I hope I have. I know others have given everything in that cause. 3,000 Americans have given their lives so little children like this girl will not live under tyranny. Many thousands more have given years of their lives to fight the rising tide of tyrants in the world.

To those people, I give my sincerest thanks and love, as everyone who reads this should also. They are the ones who make life worth living. It does not matter who these supporters of Freedom are or what they can provide to the effort. The fact that they provide is enough.

Just before Chris left for Afghanistan he e-mailed back and forth to the authors here at FA in one of the REPLY ALL conversations that we have so frequently. He told us that he was headed to Fort Benning, GA and, from there, to the “austere” surroundings of Afghanistan.

At the end of our group conversation I sent Chris an e-mail message. I asked him if it would be OK for our family to pray for him during his deployment and he told me that he would very much appreciate that.

I told him that, though we had never met, I would always be grateful for what he was doing for our country and, more personally, my family.

My wife, my children, and I thought of Chris and prayed for him while he was gone. We are all deeply saddened by his departure.

Our thoughts and prayers are now extended to Shannon and the children as well, as Chris’ mother, and his sister, and the rest of his family and friends. My God cover you and comfort you with fond memories as you travel this stony portion of life’s pathway.

Major Galloway rest well sir, rest well.

In ways you could never have imagined, you really did make a difference. My only regret is that we were unable to help make a difference for you when you needed us most.

All Is Well

Whate’er you dream, with doubt possessed,
Keep, keep it snug within your breast,
And lay you down and take your rest;
And when you wake, to work again,
The wind it blows, the vessel goes,
And where and whither, no one knows.

‘Twill all be well: no need of care;
Though how it will, and when, and where,
We cannot see, and can’t declare.
In spite of dreams, in spite of thought,
‘Tis not in vain, and not for nought,
The wind it blows, the ship it goes,
Though where and whither, no one knows.

- Arthur Hugh Clough

Life has a tendency to throw you a curve ball when you least expect one. This week in a ‘reply all’ email exchange, my fellow Flopping Aces contributors were shocked to discover the sudden loss of a treasured member of our internet family.

I was in awe of the talent, drive and passion that projected from his writings when I first joined the posse. His warm welcome calmed my anxiety of joining such a talented group of bloggers. Chris wasn’t just talking about the WOT, he was part of the story.  Through private emails to our group, he fleshed out the story of Afghanistan; yet I always detected a note of hope in his dispatches. God, it hurts to write these words.  During his deployment, I sent prayers his way during the weekly rally in West Chester – I will continue to do so for his wife and children.

I’m still trying to come to an understanding with the manner of his death, perhaps settling with never having a clear answer.  Instead, I chose to remember Chris through his own words which reveal a passionate patriot, dedicated professional, and doting dad.  He tirelessly worked to build a better, safer world for men, women and children halfway across the globe.

Let’s not mourn him, but honor his service by continuing to work for a better nation and a better world:

Turn Again To Life
If I should die and leave you here awhile,
Be not like others, sore undone,
Who keep long vigils by the silent dust and weep.
For my sake – turn to life and smile,
nerving thy heart and trembling hand to do
Something to comfort other hearts than thine.
Complete those dear unfinished tasks of mine
And I , perchance, may therein comfort you.

~Mary Lee Hall

Rest in peace, Major Chris Galloway. You will not be forgotten.

I’ve been noticeably missing the past week or so for a number of reasons. Not the least of which is Army business, but I can’t blame it all on work. At the end of the show, I publicly admitted that I’m having issues dealing with life.

-CJ, writing on June 30th, the very day ChrisG committed suicide.

Back in March, I was about to transition to a new job and had interest in having another go at the military reserves, although I was rejected 2 years ago.

The recruiter I had begun talking to abruptly broke off contact. On March 18th, I sent an email to CJ of A Soldier’s Perspective, venting frustration. He wrote back:

To their credit this time, the Army is busy with a lot of suicide prevention training lately, especially the recruiters. Maybe give them another week, but keep trying!

Just the day before this, CJ had posted on suicide prevention programs within the military.

On March 6th, about 2 weeks earlier, CJ’s post began:

I want to address that Soldier, Marine, Sailor, or Airman that may have come here for answers. You may be contemplating suicide and you’re seeking help over the internet. If this is your only outlet, please seek us out. My email address is on the sidebar and regardless of the time of day, you may contact me. If you need help, I will give you my personal phone number. Above all, don’t go to extremes and try to kill yourself.

I can promise you that this world is a beautiful place and you are an amazing part of it. Please don’t leave people wondering what kind of world it would have been had you stayed in it! There is nothing in this world worthy of taking your life. Believe it or not, a failed relationship, a bad deployment experience, a failed job, delinquent bills, terrible leadership, the loss of a family member or friend – none of that is worth your life. I desperately urge you to take those issues in your life and become something bigger in spite of your problems. There are people who care about you deeply and want to help you through whatever you’re facing right now. We may not understand, but we care and want help you through it. Once you take your life, it can’t be taken back.

If you don’t contact us for help, please go somewhere. Check out www.militaryonesource.com… for people that can help. Go to your chain of command. Seek out a complete stranger. Go to a hospital or police department. Just do something besides trying to take your life. I don’t know you personally, but I’d like to.

Although I’ve never met Chris, and had only limited contact and conversations with him, it’s difficult for any of us- his friends and family members most of all- not to wonder what we could have done to have made the difference in his life that might have given him that one moment of pause he needed to get him through. I had seen CJ’s post in March; around June or July, CJ himself came to grips with his own need to reach out for professional help and was diagnosed with PTSD. Chris ended his life in late June.

The “what if’s” inevitably begin to swirl around in my head: What if I had followed through with a blogpost of my own, then? Even just simply linked to CJ’s important post? Like so many intended posts, it never got made…Would Chris have seen it? Read it? Remembered it in his time of need? Contacted CJ? Sought help? Or would events have unfolded the way they did, anyway? What if I had bothered to correspond more with Chris? Sent him a kind word of support about how much we admire him for the hard job that he does daily for our country? Would I have noticed any possible signs that he was in trouble?

Having had an uncle who took his own life, I will say that the grief and guilt of those loved ones left behind can be enormous.

It wasn’t unusual for Chris to not post often (given the nature of his work); but it was a bit unusual that he wouldn’t chime in a response to a group discussion by his FA cohorts just to let us know he was there, listening in; or to leave a comment on one of the FA blog posts, often caustically biting the head off a liberal moonbat in the process. Something…anything. Often, his correspondence would come in spurts. This long stretch around, I figured he was just too busy out there saving the world; stupidly not realizing he might need saving himself.

I admired Chris greatly for the sacrifices he made- for the life he lived for a cause greater than self. He was every inch the epitome of what one wanted in an American soldier: Brave, dedicated, compassionate, humorous, patriotic, and…*ahem*…..staunchly conservative. He loved his country and loved his family; and I am sure he loved life. Love of all three drove him to defend his country, his family, and the lives of the innocent. And for these things, more than for his FA contributions, I greatly thank him. America’s lost a true patriot; his wife has lost a husband who was crazy about her; and his children have lost a father who adored them. And THAT, is the most heartbreaking of all. As valuable as Chris is as a warrior to his country, warriors can be replaced; fathers cannot.

I can only pray that somewhere in heaven, Chris Galloway has found his peace. And that here back on earth, his wife, children, and those other loved ones he left behind will know theirs…

Dear brothers and sisters in arms, we CANNOT afford to close ourselves off from our families. They are the only ones that can see us through the difficulties of deployment. They are the best thing we have in dealing with our issues and understanding our sacrifices and duties. They sacrifice with us while we are gone and if we shut them out, we denigrate THEIR sacrifices.

It’s hard to ratchet down to the CONUS mindset knowing that in just 12 short months, you’ll be back in the combat mindset, but it’s something that must happen for the sake of our futures and our families’ futures. It would be different if there was a definite end date to these wars we’re fighting, but the enemy has a vote. We don’t now, so we need to take every step possible to find normalcy in the sea of conflict and combat we are so frequently subjected to.

If we can’t lean on and support our families, who can we turn to? Our non-military friends have no idea. Most communities have no clue. Our fellow troops have their own problems and marriages to worry about (though they are also a source to be tapped into). Our families should be our number one priority, not the Army, not the mission. Nothing should hold a higher priority in our lives except maybe our God.

If you make the Army a career, it will last 20-30 years. Your family will be there for much longer if you do it right. Why let something so temporary as the Army take precedence over something you’ve sworn to protect for “time and all eternity” or “until death do you part?”

Yes, the war is draining us emotionally and physically, but if we don’t take the battle to the enemy, they will bring it back home again. We are stronger than that. We cannot let them win by killing us physically and mentally abroad and killing our marriages back home.

-CJ, August 4th, Troops MUST Reintegrate Into Their Families

I want to thank my fellow writers for their moving tributes to Chris and the thoughtful, soul searching that we have shared together as we try to come to grips with this sad news.  My friends have done such an exemplary job of addressing the issue and I join with them in expressing our heartfelt condolences to Chris’s family and especially to his children.

We’ll never understand, nor accept, why he took his own life. How can we? A man who was willing to give up his life in the service of his country should be the last person to take his own life and abandon his young family. It’s so sad to think that there was no one able to reach Chris before this tragedy occurred.

We all know that being deployed for long periods overseas places enormous strains on families. But until very recently, the suicide rate among our troops was at or below that of the population in general. This isn’t about the military. This is about a life lost. This is about a man, a father and a husband who lost his way and went down a dark path from which there is no coming back; no second chance. I doubt he choose that path. Some form of stress, or eruption of mental illness drove him down that path. The real tragedy here is that no one was able to reach him in time to save him.

If there is a “teachable moment” here it is to charge each of us with the responsiblity to extend a hand to anyone in similar danger. They may try and push us away, but that should only make us more determined to reach out and see to it they get the help they need. It’s not an easy thing to do and we may not succeed, but we must try.

People often wonder: what is the meaning of life? Why am I here? The answer is simple: we are put on this planet to love and care for others. If we can reach out and save just one soul in trouble then we are fulfilling our life’s mission.

UPDATE

More pictures from Chris