Military on Huffington Posttag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/tag/militaryHuffington PostRev. Romal J. Tune: Is the Military a Good Alternative for At-Risk Youth Looking to Get an Educationhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-romal-j-tune/is-the-military-a-good-al_b_868701.htmlRev. Romal J. Tunehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-romal-j-tune/
As a young man growing up in the inner city, every time I would see military recruiters in poor communities passing out materials at events I would cringe and get angry. I wondered if they were spending as much time and energy trying to enlist young men and women from more financially stable communities or did they just figure those kids were going off to college so there was no need to target them as aggressively. I never sought to find any proof to support the theory but I often still wonder. <br />
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I would find myself conflicted about their recruitment efforts. After all, I was one of those kids at the age of eighteen who saw the military as perhaps my only way out of poverty, selling drugs, homelessness, or gangs. I didn't do well in high school, just enough to get by since I was a half way decent athlete. But when the time came to graduate and most of my friends were talking about college I had no idea what was next for me. I had not taken the SAT (actually fell asleep on the PSAT), my grades were poor and therefore my options were limited. <br />
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After my father informed me that after graduation I had to leave his home, which was understandable given my behavior and attitude. My options were either go back to California or live in Jersey City with friends. Both options would have definitely led to a life of crime. I decided to join the Army. <br />
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In hindsight it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I remember getting my ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) scores back and wanting to take any job that would allow me to leave as soon as possible, because I was living on the streets hanging with a group of people involved in crime. But the recruiter wouldn't allow me to take just any job because she said my scores were too high. I remember her saying, "trust me, you'll thank me later." <br />
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Scores too high? I found that odd given that I was never considered smart, often told I was stupid and wouldn't amount to anything. I never tested well and now here was someone telling me my scores were too high to take just any job. I listened to her, held off for a few months and later went through Basic Training at Ft. Bliss, Texas then off to training in Ft. Sam, Houston preparing to join a medical unite. Basic training was the place where I heard those unfamiliar words again; I graduated as Solider of the Cycle and had to give a speech, a Drill Sargent walked up to me and said, Tune, you're smart as hell..."<br />
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All of that was the easy part. A word of advice to any young person who sees the military as an escape from the challenges and difficulties of life, it ain't that simple. If you think that enlisting in the military is how you want to pursue getting a college degree, you better read the small print. <br />
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When you join the military, basic training is preparing you to become a soldier. MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) training is preparing you to do a job, a job that helps you to serve your country. You do not enlist in the military to get an education, you enlist to become a soldier. The pursuit of higher education is in your hands. The opportunities are available on just about any military base in the world. But here's the thing, do not expect someone to guide you to those opportunities or for someone to come and tell you when and where to sign up for college courses. That's your responsibility. Simply put, it's just like being a civilian. You must be focused and discipline yourself to get everything out of it that they make available. Military bases are a microcosm of broader society. There are people who pursue education and those who don't. There are those who get paid, party and spend their money frivolously and those who don't. As a young person, the military doesn't change you but it will give you the tools to change. You can choose to use them or not.<br />
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I was two years into my enlistment before I took advantage of the educational opportunity afforded me at practically little or no cost. While in the military, I enrolled in classes and went to school at night and on weekends. After Desert Storm, I made up my mind that I wanted to get out of the Army and attend Howard University. <br />
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I worked hard to get a 3.8 GPA, found out from a military lawyer that if you get accepted to a college, served three years of a four year commitment, then the Army will let you leave for school. I got accepted to Howard with only 10 months left on my enlistment so they let me out five months early to start school that summer. Four years later I graduated with honors and received numerous awards. <br />
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By all definitions I was an at-risk teen when I went in the military and in fact during the first two years I was still acting like an at-risk teen, only in a uniform. The military taught me to believe in myself, people told me I was smart, encouraged me to succeed. But it was my choice to become a disciplined young person willing to get what I wanted or I could have chosen to remain angry and blame everyone else. <br />
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I believe joining the military is all about what you make of it. You can go in thinking you want to get an education but never take the initiative to pursue it. The encouragement, positive reinforcement and support I received came from more seasoned soldiers. <br />
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I don't believe at-risk kids should have to join the military to get an education or gain access to opportunities. But for kids like me it can be the only path out of a bad neighborhood and into a better life. As we celebrate Memorial Day -- we can honor the sacrifice of those who fought for their country, while also realizing that the military shouldn't be the only path of opportunity for those with few choices.<br />
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/atrisk-youth">At-Risk Youth</a>, <a href="/tag/education">Education</a>, <a href="/tag/higher-education">Higher Education</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/us-military">U.S. Military</a>, <a href="/tag/memorial-day">Memorial Day</a>, <a href="/tag/college">College</a>, <a href="/education">Education News</a></p>
Two Soldiers Reflect On What Memorial Day Means To Them (VIDEO)http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/30/two-soldiers-reflect-on-w_n_868760.htmlThe Huffington Post News Teamhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-news/
Two soldiers -- each from different eras -- reflect on their time spent with the military. <br />
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Skokie resident Don Nilles enlisted in the military when he was just 17 years old. He would go on to serve in the Army's renowned 101st Airborne Division, also known as the Screaming Eagles, and did several tours during the Vietnam War. He would later join the Army Special Forces and earn the iconic title of Green Beret.
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/soldiers">Soldiers</a>, <a href="/tag/skokie-patch">Skokie Patch</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/memorial-day">Memorial Day</a>, <a href="/tag/memorial-day-2011">Memorial Day 2011</a>, <a href="/tag/memorial-day-skokie">Memorial Day Skokie</a>, <a href="/tag/patch">Patch</a>, <a href="/tag/chicagoland-patch">Chicagoland Patch</a>, <a href="/chicago">Chicago News</a></p>
Major Dan Rooney: Saluting Military Families This Memorial Dayhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/major-dan-rooney/military-families-memorial-day_b_866558.htmlMajor Dan Rooneyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/major-dan-rooney/
<em>"We have the remains of Corporal Brock Bucklin on board, and his twin brother Corporal Brad Bucklin has accompanied him home from Iraq. As a sign of respect, please remain seated while we honor Corporal Bucklin and his sacrifice,"</em> requested the pilot over the intercom, as the plane landed.<br />
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I watched through the plane window as the flag-covered casket was removed from the rear cargo hold. I saw Corporal Bucklin's family meet the procession with tears streaming down their cheeks. And I choked back emotion as I saw the soldier's young son being held by his grandmother.<br />
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As an F-16 fighter pilot, member of the Oklahoma Air National Guard and veteran of Iraq, I had experienced the harsh reality of war, but I had never witnessed the devastating reality back home. <br />
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From that moment, came a powerful belief that while we cannot change the fate of the fallen solider, what we can change is the future of a grieving widow or parentless young child. That belief became an organization, Folds of Honor Foundation, with a mission to honor the sacrifices of the fallen and ensure no military families are left behind. We do this by providing scholarships and other assistance to educate their legacy, ease the financial burden and seek to inspire the nation in support of those who have served and sacrificed for our nation.<br />
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This Memorial Day, it is not only appropriate, but imperative that we remember the other causalities of service: military families. Their needs are great. Thousands of soldiers have been killed or wounded in ongoing military operations, Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. According to a recent study by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, 87 percent of families of killed or wounded service members do not qualify for Veterans Administration federal educational benefits. This represents more than 240,000 family members.<br />
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Since the Foundation began shortly after that fateful day on the plane, we are providing 2,011 scholarships with the support of thousands of everyday Americans and companies like Budweiser, the PGA of America and Bushnell, who have created dedicated campaigns to encourage consumers to join our mission to leave no family behind on the battlefield.<br />
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As Americans we are all united by the freedoms we enjoy. And thus we are also bound in a collective duty to salute the sacrifices of those who protect those freedoms. There is no more fitting tribute than providing for the futures of the wives, husbands and children they leave behind.<br />
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As for Corporal Brock Bucklin's family, his son, Jacob, was the first recipient of a Folds of Honor scholarship.
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/folds-of-honor">Folds of Honor</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/memorial-day">Memorial Day</a>, <a href="/tag/military-children">Military Children</a>, <a href="/tag/folds-of-honor-foundation">Folds of Honor Foundation</a>, <a href="/tag/military-families">Military Families</a>, <a href="/tag/veterans">Veterans</a>, <a href="/tag/scholarships">Scholarships</a>, <a href="/tag/honor">Honor</a>, <a href="/tag/budweiser">Budweiser</a>, <a href="/tag/patriotism">Patriotism</a>, <a href="/impact">Impact News</a></p>
How To Honor Fallen Soldiers This Memorial Dayhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/30/memorial-day-how-to_n_867104.htmlThe Huffington Post News Teamhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-news/
As many of us excitedly look forward to gathering with friends and family and enjoying the long weekend, it's easy to lose sight of the significance of Memorial Day. <br />
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But for military families across the U.S., especially those of the<a href="http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/" target="_hplink"> estimated 5,885</a> American soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the last 10 years of war, it's a day to remember and honor those who have given their lives for our country.<br />
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For anyone in need of a refresher, <a href="http://www.history.com/topics/memorial-day-history" target="_hplink">Memorial Day</a>, originally known as Decoration Day, was first widely observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Civil War soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery to honor their sacrifices. In 1971, federal law changed the observance of the holiday to the last Monday in May and extended it to honor all who had died in American wars.<br />
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Today, many cities celebrate Memorial Day with parades, speeches and the decoration of graves. At Arlington National Cemetery, an American flag is placed on each grave, and it's tradition for the president or vice president to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. <br />
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As you make preparations for your weekend barbecues or camping trips, consider how you can do something for the soldiers who have done so much for our country -- whether by honoring a fallen soldier, supporting a military family or brightening the day of one currently serving.<br />
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<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/iraq-war">Iraq War</a>, <a href="/tag/fallen-soldiers">Fallen Soldiers</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/memorial-day">Memorial Day</a>, <a href="/tag/memorial-day-weekend">Memorial Day Weekend</a>, <a href="/tag/good-news">Good News</a>, <a href="/tag/slidepollajax">Slidepollajax</a>, <a href="/tag/afghanistan-war">Afghanistan War</a>, <a href="/tag/veterans">Veterans</a>, <a href="/impact">Impact News</a></p>
Joshua Kors: $2,000 Essay Contest for Military Familieshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/joshua-kors/2000-essay-contest-for-mi_b_868613.htmlJoshua Korshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/joshua-kors/
"Support Our Troops" may be Memorial Day's official slogan, but this holiday Sergeant Chuck Luther is pushing for a second message: support our troops' children.<br />
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<img src="http://joshuakors.com/lutherscholarshipbiopic1a.jpg" align="right">Millions have been following the sergeant's extraordinary story <a href="http://bit.ly/torturehearings" target="_hplink">on TV</a>, on <a href="http://joshuakors.com/younginterview050310.mp3" target="_hplink">radio</a> and <a href="http://joshuakors.com/part3" target="_hplink">in print</a>. Luther served 12 years in the Armed Forces, earning 22 honors for his performance. He led troops in Iraq, where he was severely wounded by mortar fire. Luther was then tortured by U.S. Army officials—held in a closet for over a month, under enforced sleep deprivation—until he agreed to sign fraudulent documents stating that his wounds were caused by a pre-existing condition, personality disorder, making him ineligible for benefits.<br />
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Since 2001, over 25,600 soldiers have been pressed into signing these phony personality disorder documents, saving the military over $14.2 billion in disability and medical care. After Luther's release, he returned to Texas and started a non-profit organization, <a href="http://disposablewarriors.org" target="_hplink">Disposable Warriors</a>, which assists veterans who have been wrongfully discharged and denied benefits. His organization has helped dozens of wounded veterans secure disability and medical benefits and, in coordination with officials at Fort Hood, prevented active-duty soldiers from being wrongfully discharged.<br />
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Today, says Luther, his organization is pushing one step further, reaching out to soldiers' children, who, during their parents' long struggle for benefits, often struggle themselves, lacking the funds to pursue their education. That's why Disposable Warriors is announcing the Sergeant Chuck Luther Academic Scholarship, a $2,000 essay contest open to children from military families.<br />
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Having reported on the personality disorder scandal for five years, I was asked to help judge this year's contest and publish the winning entry in my column. I agreed. Below are the essay contest's guidelines.<br />
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Each Memorial Day readers ask me, "How can we support the troops?" This year the answer is easy: forward news of this scholarship to family and friends with military ties, putting their children one step closer to a valuable college degree.<br />
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The Luther scholarship provides $2,000 to a student seeking to further his education. The student must be the child of a former or active-duty soldier.<br />
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Applicants must:<br />
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<img src="http://joshuakors.com/blackbluesquare2a_off.gif">Educate themselves about the personality disorder scandal by <a href="http://joshuakors.com/military" target="_hplink">reading articles</a>, watching the <a href="http://joshuakors.com/media" target="_hplink">TV coverage</a> and listening to the <a href="http://joshuakors.com/military#interviews" target="_hplink">radio reporting</a>.<br />
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<img src="http://joshuakors.com/blackbluesquare2a_off.gif">Submit an essay no longer than 800 words answering one of these questions: "How has the personality disorder scandal affected you and your family?" or "What can we, as Americans, do to fix the personality disorder scandal?"<br />
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<img src="http://joshuakors.com/blackbluesquare2a_off.gif">The entry should be submitted by email to <a href="mailto:joshua@joshuakors.com" target="_hplink">this address</a>.<br />
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<img src="http://joshuakors.com/blackbluesquare2a_off.gif">Deadline for entry is Thursday, December 8, at 5 p.m. EST.<br />
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The winner will receive a $2,000 check for his college fund and a framed, personalized award certificate signed by Sgt. Luther. The winning entry will also be published in the Huffington Post.<br />
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Entries must include the student's full name, phone number and postal address.<br />
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Each entrant hereby gives the judging committee permission to publish his essay, name and hometown on the Internet.<br />
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The contest is open to students from middle school and high school as well as current college and graduate school students seeking to complete their degrees.<br />
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If the committee receives two equally worthy entries, it reserves the right to select two winners, one from middle school and high school, one from college and graduate school, splitting the prize money, $1,000 per winner. If no entries merit the scholarship, the committee reserves the right not to select a winner. The $2,000 would then be added to next year's Luther Scholarship.<br />
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After selecting a winner, the committee will require the winning applicant to submit a photo of himself, along with proof of his parent's military service.<br />
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We are looking for an entry that employs knowledge of the personality disorder scandal without spending a tremendous amount of space regurgitating basic facts we already know. <br />
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Most important, we are looking for an entry that speaks in the first-person, from the heart, with an identifiable voice. Your entry should address the question in a personal way and should not sound like an English class essay about "a topic" or "issue." Preference will be given to applicants who describe productive actions they have taken, instead of actions others should take.<br />
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If you have further questions, you can contact us <a href="http://joshuakors.com/contact" target="_hplink">here</a>.<br />
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<br><br><img src="http://joshuakors.com/blankbox1a.jpg" height="5"><br><strong>Follow Joshua Kors on Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/joshua.kors" target="_hplink">www.facebook.com/joshua.kors</a></strong><br><br>
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/first-annual-luther-academic-scholarship">First Annual Luther Academic Scholarship</a>, <a href="/tag/sergeant-chuck-luther">Sergeant Chuck Luther</a>, <a href="/tag/memorial-day">Memorial Day</a>, <a href="/tag/2">$2</a>, <a href="/tag/veterans">Veterans</a>, <a href="/tag/personality-disorder-scandal">Personality Disorder Scandal</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/000-essay-contest">000 Essay Contest</a>, <a href="/tag/military-families">Military Families</a>, <a href="/tag/troops-children">Troops' Children</a>, <a href="/impact">Impact News</a></p>
Dorian de Wind: Memorial Day 2011: Let Us Especially Remember...http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dorian-de-wind/memorial-day-2011-let-us-_b_865953.htmlDorian de Windhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/dorian-de-wind/
<img alt="2011-05-25-memorialday2010768x10242.jpg" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2011-05-25-memorialday2010768x10242.jpg" width="384" height="512" /><br />
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Last Memorial Day our nation was in the midst of a bitter debate over the repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT); over whether women should serve aboard our nuclear submarines and in combat; over immigration, in particularly whether to provide a path to citizenship to certain undocumented immigrants who have come to our country as children and who go on to serve honorably in our armed forces.<br />
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<a href="http://themoderatevoice.com/74248/memorial-day-2010-remembering-honoring-and-hoping/" target="_hplink">An article I wrote </a>on that occasion had the following epilogue:<br />
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<blockquote>I [also] hope that by the next Memorial Day all qualified Americans will have the right to serve their country and that all those who serve will be able to enjoy all the rights, privileges and opportunities our country so generously offers the rest of us.</blockquote><br />
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With the repeal of DADT; with the <a href="http://www.military.com/news/article/May-2011/navy-welcomes-first-women-for-sub-training.html?ESRC=dod.nl" target="_hplink">Navy's decision</a> -- blessed by Congress -- to allow women to serve aboard submarines; with the recent reintroduction of the DREAM Act in both Houses and because of other measures and legislation, we have come a long way in one short year towards eliminating barriers that have prevented too many of our service men and women from serving to their full potential -- sometimes even from serving.<br />
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Regrettably, as we approach another election, hyper-partisans once again attempt to capitalize on our differences and to reignite or fan the flames of prejudice.<br />
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This Memorial Day, as we honor, remember and thank those who have rendered the ultimate sacrifice for us, for our country, we must remember the following:<br />
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The sniper bullets that so unexpectedly kill our soldiers don't give a hoot whether their targets are gay or straight, male or female, Christian or Muslim or whether their surname is Smith, Jankiewicz, Nguyen, Rodríguez or Kaho'ohanohano.*<br />
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The treacherous mines that kill or blow the legs off our heroes are blind to the color of the skin of the casualties. Nor can they distinguish whether their victims are natural-born Americans, naturalized Americans, "green-card holders," or one-time illegal immigrants.<br />
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In my 2010 tribute to our fallen heroes, I used some of the following examples to illustrate the above:<br />
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The German torpedo that sank the <em>U.S.S. Dorchester</em> plying the icy waters of the North Atlantic in February 1943 did not know or care that among its 672 casualties there would be four U.S. military chaplains (all U.S. Army lieutenants): a Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi and two Protestant ministers. After giving their lifejackets away to other soldiers, "<em><a href="http://www.civitan.net/myrtlebeach/pagesmyrtlebeach/2_3.html" target="_hplink">the four chaplains</a></em>" were last seen standing on the deck of the sinking ship, arms linked and praying together.<br />
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The enemy fire that downed a Navy F4U Corsair fighter in December, 1950, during the Korean War, had no idea that its pilot, <a href="http://www.homeofheroes.com/brotherhood/hudner.html" target="_hplink">Ensign Jesse LeRoy Brown</a>, was black, and, furthermore, that he was the Navy's first African-American aviator. After crashing on an icy mountainside, Brown also became the Navy's first African-American pilot to die in combat.<br />
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The rocket that slammed into a hospital ward in Chu Lai, Vietnam, just before dawn on June 8, 1969, could not have known that one of its victims would be 24-year-old U.S. Army nurse,<a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:sBo4KXk9HE8J:skylinerfan.angelcities.com/page10c.html+%22First+Lieutenant+Sharon+A.+Lane+%22&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com" target="_hplink"> First Lieutenant Sharon A. Lane.</a> She would be the only American servicewoman killed as a direct result of enemy fire during the Vietnam War, though seven other female American military nurses would lose their lives serving in Vietnam.<br />
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Those who ambushed and murdered <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lori_Piestewa" target="_hplink">Army Pfc. Lori Ann Piestewa</a> and several other soldiers in March 2003, after her convoy made a fatal wrong turn into Nasiriyah, Iraq, didn't know and probably didn't care that Piestewa would be the first Native American woman killed in combat, and one of only a handful of Native American women serving in the military at the time. Neither did they know, nor care, that some<a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:wtjJN7JAZ6gJ:coalitionforveterans.org/2011/01/report-women-should-be-allowed-in-combat-units/+number+of+women+killed+in+combat+in+Iraq+and+Afghanistan+wars&cd=18&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com" target="_hplink"> 255,000 women </a>would go on to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan over the next eight years and that more than 130 of them would make the ultimate sacrifice.<br />
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The enemy grenade that killed Mexican-born <a href="http://themoderatevoice.com/30745/stolen-valor-at-the-highest-levels-the-case-of-sgt-rafael-peralta/" target="_hplink">Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta </a>on November 15, 2004, in Fallujah, Iraq, where he heroically smothered a grenade explosion with his body saving the lives of six fellow Marines, was unaware that Peralta had come to the U.S. as a teen without legal documentation. Peralta would be nominated to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.<br />
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To the roadside bomb that ended the life of <a href="http://militarytimes.com/valor/army-1st-lt-mohsin-a-naqvi/3738847/" target="_hplink">Army 1st Lt. Mohsin A. Naqvi</a> in Afghanistan, in December 2008, it was neither here nor there that Naqvi, a naturalized American born in Pakistan, was Muslim -- one of <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2015100447_immigration20m.html" target="_hplink">nearly 70,000 members of our armed forces</a> who have become citizens since September 2001. As Naqvi's father said, "First he was American, then he was a Muslim."<br />
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Finally, the IED that took the life of 31-year-old <a href="http://www.militarytimes.com/forum/showthread.php?1589394-Cpl.-Andrew-Wilfahrt-a-gay-soldier-KIA-in-Afghanistan-last-week" target="_hplink">Minnesota soldier Andrew C. Wilfahrt</a> in Afghanistan just three months ago had no inkling that Wilfahrt was gay and is one of <a href="http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-12-20/local/27085027_1_gay-veteran-roadside-bomb-iraq-and-afghanistan" target="_hplink">more than 200 gay and lesbian service members</a> who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan according to some reports.<br />
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Just a week ago, Minnesota Republican Rep. John Kriesel, an Iraqi war veteran who lost his legs in an explosion during patrol there, made an impassioned speech on the floor of the Minnesota House on an anti-gay amendment and reminded us of both the sacrifices made by those whom we honor this Memorial Day and the rights they fought and died for.<br />
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Referring to a photo of Cpl. Andrew Wilfahrt, <a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:cfOxPmlYgXAJ:prop8trialtracker.com/+Andrew+C.+Wilfahrt+Rep.+John+Kriesel&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com" target="_hplink">Kriesel said</a>:<br />
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"I cannot look at this picture ... and say 'you know what, Corporal, you were good enough to fight for this country and give your life, but you were not good enough to marry the person you love."<br />
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This Memorial Day let us especially remember those who, throughout our history, rendered the ultimate sacrifice to preserve for all of us the rights and freedoms which so many of them did not enjoy.<br />
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<em><br />
* <a href="http://www.army.mil/-news/2011/05/02/55852-families-of-two-fallen-soldiers-receive-medal-of-honor/" target="_hplink">Pfc. Anthony Kaho'ohanohano</a>, a 19-year-old soldier from Maui, gave his life during the Korean War as he heroically covered the withdrawal of his squad, killing 13 enemy soldiers and saving his comrades. Kaho'ohanohano was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Obama on May 2, 2011</em><br />
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<em>Image Courtesy Air Force News Agency</em><br />
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/iraq-war">Iraq War</a>, <a href="/tag/dont-ask-dont-tell">Don't Ask Don't Tell</a>, <a href="/tag/gays-in-the-military">Gays in the Military</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/memorial-day">Memorial Day</a>, <a href="/tag/equal-rights">Equal Rights</a>, <a href="/tag/equal-opportunity">Equal Opportunity</a>, <a href="/tag/women-in-the-military">Women in the Military</a>, <a href="/tag/immigration-debate">Immigration Debate</a>, <a href="/tag/afghanistan-war">Afghanistan War</a>, <a href="/impact">Impact News</a></p>
Kate Kelly: Memorial Day: Remembering All Who Have Served, Including Dogs in the Militaryhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-kelly/memorial-day-remembering-_b_868637.htmlKate Kellyhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-kelly/
Memorial Day, initially known as Decoration Day, began shortly after the Civil War in the way that one might expect a day of remembrance to begin -- mourners started placing flags or flowers on the grave sites of those from their communities who died in the war. <br />
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In 1868, General John Logan, commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Northern Civil War veterans, proclaimed that May 30 each year should be known as Decoration Day. <br />
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The South was not comfortable accepting Logan's proclamation of a date, and they set their own timetable for honoring their departed loved ones; some states picked June 3, which the birth date of Jefferson Davis, who had served as president of the Confederacy.<br />
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<strong>Time Heals Some Wounds</strong><br />
As World War I veterans returned, Memorial Day (as it had been renamed in 1882) grew to be a day to remember all of our military, no matter what war they served in. While there have been other changes in the holiday over time (including the fact that the holiday is now celebrated on the last Monday of May regardless of the date), the successful raid on Osama Bin Laden also brought a detail to public attention of something else that has changed. <br />
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Today military honor -- in survival and in death -- now includes canine members of the military. <br />
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On Friday, May 6, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky when President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden met with the units that carried out the raid on Osama Bin Laden's compound in Pakistan, all reports in the press noted that present at the ceremony was the military dog who had also been part of the team. <br />
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Dogs have not always come home and been so honored.<br />
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<strong>Dogs in the Military</strong><br />
While dogs have almost certainly followed along with military units knowing they might find men who would pet them and slip them a bite to eat now and then, there was no official program to train and use dogs in the military until World War II. <br />
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William W. Putney, a Marine Corps officer, who had just earned a degree in veterinary science when he went into officers' training school at Quantico, Virginia, was instrumental to beginning such a program for the marines. Putney was asked to organize a newly established war dog training program that was to be based at what is now Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. <br />
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Today's dogs are raised to be in the military, but when Putney began the program, dogs were pets recruited from families. The dogs then had to be conditioned not to react to gunfire and other loud noises; they needed to learn to signal danger to their handlers via body stance or ear movement, not barking. They were also trained to sniff out land mines and trip wires and carry messages. <br />
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After the invasion of Guam, Putney and a unit of men with their dogs were sent to the South Pacific where the use of the animals was credited with saving many lives, including Putney's. <br />
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Captain Putney was leading a patrol of men with three of the dogs to flush out Japanese soldiers hiding in caves on one of the surrounding islands. A Doberman named Cappy was out in front of the unit when a shot rang out; Cappy was killed, but the men were alerted to the danger. Had Cappy not been in the lead, Putney would have been ahead of his men, and he likely would have been shot instead. <br />
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<strong>No Honor Awaited</strong><br />
As the war ended and the men and dogs started being sent home, Putney came home to learn that as the dogs came back, the plan was to euthanize them; those in the States assumed that dogs who had been trained to fight and protect could not be returned to lives with families. Putney felt otherwise, and Putney convinced the officers at Camp LeJeune, to permit him to start a program to desensitize the dogs -- a multi-step process. <br />
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The dogs had been trained to answer to a single person, so they had to become accustomed to several handlers (male and female). They had to acclimate to normal street sounds and movement, and many other aspects of daily life. An ultimate test was whether a dog could be taken for a walk in the community; would the dog be all right if someone walked past quickly, or if a person approached to pet him or her? Each of these milestones had to be reached very gradually.<br />
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Of the 559 dogs who were in the Marine Corps at the end of World War II, 540 were discharged to civilian life. Of the 19 who had had to euthanized, 15 were because of health reasons. Only four could not adapt to civilian life. <br />
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In his book <em>Always Faithful </em>Putney noted that because the canine corps was not maintained in the years immediately following World War II, some of the lessons they had learned about working with the animals had to be re-learned by those working with the next generation of animals. Unfortunately, one of the lessons -- that the dogs could be desensitized -- was never passed on, and from 1949-2000, euthanasia for former military animals was the law of the land. <br />
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Though Captain Putney returned to civilian life and had become a veterinarian in Los Angeles, he continued to advocate for change to the system, and three years before he died -- sixty years since he had trained the dogs in the first canine unit, the Senate pass as house bill that permits handlers to detrain and adopt their dogs when their military usefulness has ended (October 24, 2000). <br />
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Today all branches of our Armed Forces use trained military dogs to patrol air bases, military compounds, ammunition depots and military checkpoints. There are approximately 600-700 of these canines in the Middle East in such places as Kuwait, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. They continue to guard and protect our military personnel as they were trained to do, with courage, loyalty and honor.<br />
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While our hearts go out to the families of the men and women of the military who have lost their lives in service to our country, we should also include gratitude for the men and women who have trained the canine team members -- and the dogs themselves -- whose efforts have helped reduce the toll on human life in the many conflicts where these animals have served. <br />
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More stories of heroic dogs will be featured at <a href="http://americacomesalive.com/" target="_hplink">America Comes Alive! </a>during the month of July. Daily profiles of dog heroes, "first family" dogs, and dogs who have starred in movies and television shows will be posted. Check the site regularly, or write me put you on the e-mail list: Write "dogs" in the subject line and send to <a href="mailto:kate@americacomesalive.com " target="_hplink">kate@americacomesalive.com <br />
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<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/captain-william-w-putney">Captain William W. Putney</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/world-war-ii">World War II</a>, <a href="/tag/memorial-day">Memorial Day</a>, <a href="/tag/marine-canine-unit">Marine Canine Unit</a>, <a href="/politics">Politics News</a></p>
Ruth Starkman: Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan Need Support in College!http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ruth-starkman/veterans-of-iraq-and-afgh_b_868602.htmlRuth Starkmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/ruth-starkman/
"Joe" is 32 now. He's a father of two, a full-time employee, a third year law school student, and a former <a href="http://www.marines.com/" target="_hplink">United States Marine</a>, decorated with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Heart" target="_hplink">a purple heart</a>. "Joe" is proud of his accomplishments and optimistic about the future. Today on Memorial Day he feels a tumble of emotions as he prepares for a parade for fallen soldiers in his hometown: pride, hope, loss, nostalgia for the friendship and bonds of the brave soldiers, who weren't as lucky as he.<br />
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Nine years ago Joe sustained an injury to his right hand on a hot, desolate Iraq road while disarming an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Improvised_explosive_device" target="_hplink">improvised explosive device (IED)</a> as he protected his fellow soldiers. Eight years ago he sat in my Ethics class, serious, tightly wound, sharing anecdotes about the ethical dilemmas he faced as a soldier in Iraq, sometimes tapping his boot-clad foot next to a black backpack that lay on the floor next to him, its contents bulging, zipper slammed shut with a purple heart medal dangling alongside. <br />
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Joe preferred <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-moral/" target="_hplink">Kant</a> to <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle/" target="_hplink">Aristotle</a>, the latter being to "wishy-washy" for him. No Grecian "golden mean" or temperance for Joe, the former Marine. Kant's laws, norms and sense of duty spoke to him and he was often the lone Kantian defender in class. Once, when it came to an in-class midterm where students had to explain Muslim ethics from a section of the Koran, something happened. Joe closed his blue book early, stood up, handed it in and quickly left the class. Reading it, I saw the last page trailed off mid-sentence. Joe's tiny, tense pencil scrawl skidded down a few lines and faded out.<br />
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"Well," I thought, "he's not usually so eager to leave things unfinished." I contemplated giving him a C instead of his usual A. Only later did I figure out the obvious: he told me at that moment in the exam, he was having flashbacks to moment when he was confronted by Iraqi children in the middle of a battle.<br />
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I've had many <a href="http://iava.org/index.php" target="_hplink">veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan</a> since Joe. Most don't identify themselves as vets. They usually major in politics or the sciences and sit quietly in the back of my class soberly answering questions about Hobbes' "war of all against all." They are usually older students, some married with or without kids. None ever asks for extra help or talks about his or her experiences. Sometimes I've had nursing majors, who talk about their fiancés and husbands in the armed services and the struggles they encounter. A couple of years ago I had an exceptionally charismatic, upbeat, well-spoken vet, a married physics major, who was proud of his service, thoughtful about life and ready to have discussions. In conversations with him I realized how much more I could have done for Joe and all the other vets I've had.<br />
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Vets return to college and university life not only as nontraditional, older students usually over 24. They have a myriad of experiences to share and also need support on campus. Often they tell me, while they are proud of their service, most of their peers and the faculty are critical of the wars they served in. Criticism doesn't bother them usually; it's a challenge and a chance for them to talk about the things that make them feel dedicated to the country they served, whether or not they agreed with every order and policy. <br />
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Currently there is too little support on campuses for vets to ensure their success in higher education and thereafter. Since 1972 there has been the <a href="http://www.soc.aascu.org/" target="_hplink">Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC) Consortium</a>, which was created in 1972 to provide educational opportunities to servicemembers who, because they frequently moved from place to place, had trouble completing college degrees. In California there is the three year-old <a href="http://www.troopstocollege.ca.gov/" target="_hplink">Troops to College</a> program, in which California's public universities are required to provide veterans' services on campus -- everything from referrals for post-traumatic stress disorder to assistance in applying for tuition aid. But there could be much more. Vets often need help not only with reentry into civilian life, but simply balancing all the extra commitments in their lives, re-orienting themselves to discussions and work, where they don't need to be on the edge ready for an emergency. Campuses could also hire vets who graduate as campus liaisons to do outreach on campus and in the communities. Such a presence on campus would provide more opportunities for vets to share their experiences and create greater awareness of the efforts of Americans who serve their country. We should be proud of our vets and make sure they have the opportunity to succeed. There's a lot more that we could be doing to express our gratitude.<br />
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On Memorial Day, we honor those who gave their lives in service. While we remember those who have gone, let's make sure we do what's right for the living and give our vets the thanks they deserve.<br />
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<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/iava">Iava</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/memorial-day">Memorial Day</a>, <a href="/tag/students">Students</a>, <a href="/tag/college">College</a>, <a href="/tag/universities">Universities</a>, <a href="/tag/veterans">Veterans</a>, <a href="/college">College News</a></p>
Jerry Silverman: The Jewish Chaplains Memorialhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-silverman/congress-approves-arlingt_b_868181.htmlJerry Silvermanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-silverman/
With 900 soldiers and civilian workers aboard, the U.S.A.T. Dorchester was sunk by German torpedoes off the coast of Greenland on Feb. 3, 1943. Among those on board were four military chaplains -- two Protestants, a Catholic and a Jew. <br />
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All four chaplains died together after giving their lifejackets to save others on board. Survivors of the attack witnessed the four praying together as the ship went down in the icy waters. Yet the names of only three of these fallen heroes are presently memorialized on Chaplain's Hill at Arlington National Cemetery. In fact, none of the 13 Jewish chaplains who have died in service to our country are listed on the three chaplains' monuments in our nation's most sacred resting place.<br />
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For 150 years now, Jewish chaplains have been serving alongside chaplains of other faiths to provide pastoral support to America's servicemen, servicewomen, and their families. Catholic chaplains guide Jewish soldiers and Jewish chaplains guide Protestant sailors. They all work together to support the spiritual needs of our military. Yet they are not all together on Chaplain's Hill.<br />
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The Jewish Federations have been working with the JWB Jewish Chaplains Council and many dedicated community partners to correct this omission, erect a Jewish chaplains monument alongside the Protestant and Catholic monuments at Chaplains Hill, and reunite the memory Rabbi Alexander Goode with his fellow chaplains who died on board the Dorchester in 1943. <br />
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Individuals and veterans' organizations quickly raised the funds to erect a proper memorial on Chaplain's Hill. But we could not lay one stone until Congress passed a measure to authorize the placement of the memorial.<br />
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As we continue to celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month and look forward to Memorial Day weekend, I'm thrilled to announce that both the House of Representatives and Senate have voted unanimously approve the new monument. Congressman Anthony Weiner and Senator Chuck Schumer deserve our gratitude for introducing the resolutions, and Chairman Jeff Miller and Chairman Patty Murray have displayed great leadership in advancing the memorial through the legislative process.<br />
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After the many hurdles we have cleared together, there is only one more to go before visitors to Arlington will be able to pay their respects to our fallen Jewish chaplains alongside chaplains of other faiths. And we are confident the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts will give the monument a green light when they meet in June.<br />
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Our men and women serving bravely overseas are supported by military chaplains of all faiths who risk their lives to provide spiritual guidance and support to our soldiers.<br />
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As such, we must honor all of them, regardless of which faith they practice, and I look forward to personally doing so when the Jewish Chaplains Memorial is unveiled on a sacred hill in Arlington later this fall.<br />
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The 13 fallen Jewish chaplains to be honored are:<br />
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1. Nachman S. Arnoff, 47, Chicago -- died May 9, 1946<br />
2. Meir Engel, 50, Philadelphia -- died Dec. 16, 1964<br />
3. Frank Goldenberg, 27, Utica, N.Y. -- died May 22, 1946<br />
4. Alexander D. Goode, 31, York, Pa. -- died Feb. 3, 1943<br />
5. Henry Goody, 27, Greensburg, Pa. - died Oct. 19, 1943<br />
6. Samuel Dodkin Hurwitz, 42, Phoenix, Ariz. - died Dec. 9, 1943<br />
7. Herman L. Rosen, 42, Brooklyn, N.Y. - died June 18, 1943<br />
8. Samuel Rosen, 48, San Antonio, Texas - died May 13, 1955<br />
9. Solomon Rosen, 24, Brooklyn, N.Y. - died Nov. 2, 1948<br />
10. Morton Harold Singer, 32, Great Neck, N.Y. - died Dec. 17, 1968<br />
11. David M. Sobel, 28, Simsbury, Conn. - died March 7, 1974<br />
12. Irving Tepper, 42, Elgin, Ill. - died Aug. 13, 1944<br />
13. Louis Werfel, 27, Birmingham, Ala. - died Dec. 24, 1944<br />
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/arlington-national-cemetery">Arlington National Cemetery</a>, <a href="/tag/military-chaplains">Military Chaplains</a>, <a href="/tag/memorial-day">Memorial Day</a>, <a href="/tag/jewish-federations-of-north-america">Jewish Federations of North America</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/jewish-chaplain">Jewish Chaplain</a>, <a href="/tag/usat-dorchester">U.S.a.T. Dorchester</a>, <a href="/tag/jewish-american-heritage-month">Jewish American Heritage Month</a>, <a href="/tag/alexander-d-goode">Alexander D. Goode</a>, <a href="/tag/jews-in-the-military">Jews in the Military</a>, <a href="/religion">Religion News</a></p>
Kevin Bell: Afghanistan Memorial Day: Remembering PFC Ara Deysiehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-bell/memorial-day_1_b_868188.htmlKevin Bellhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-bell/
I spent three days mulling over what I would say at PFC Ara Deysie's memorial service. There I sat with ringing ears in my hospital bed at Forward Operating Base Salerno making the conventional notes about his heroism, character, honor and the like. In my eyes, the memorial would be a chance to regain my composure after the near ambush on May 9, 2008 upended my confidence that my soldiers and I might come home from Afghanistan alive. By the time the hour came to return to Combat Outpost Wilderness for Deysie's service, I thought I was ready. I would bring carefully considered words of wisdom, remarks for the ages. I would console my grieving platoon while speeding Private Deysie's soul on its way. In other words, I was a young and arrogant fool. I still had a lot to learn. <br />
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As it turned out, the hand of God intervened and the helicopter that was scheduled to take me back to my dusty home in the mountains left without me. This was like salt in a very deep wound. I hadn't realized how badly I needed to be at the memorial service. Now, my last memories of Deysie would forever be associated with the smell and sight of blood, and of the Blackhawk that bore his flag-shrouded body up the western branch of the valley and into the sunset. If I had been able to go to his memorial, there's no way to know what would have happened. I might have broken down in tears in front of my men. More likely, I could have bungled my words, or worse, just said something bland and forgettable about the remarkable young infantrymen who had died. <br />
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I've reflected on PFC Deysie almost daily in the years since his death. The pressure of a thousand days and nights of these thoughts, regrets, hopes and dreams has been overwhelming at times. But it has also renewed my spiritual life with a newfound urgency. I can never again live a day ungratefully. For a few terrifying moments, I believed that I had been the one struck by the grenades, and that I was dying. But Deysie's courage saved me. A lesser man would have ducked down in the turret, and the explosion probably would have killed everyone in the vehicle. But he wasn't that kind of soldier. I will always remember that my present enjoyment of life has been made possible only through the debt of blood paid for me by another. There can be no meaningless and empty days ahead of me. Each morning is an unexpected gift. Thank you for this Deysie. <br />
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I want you to know that we never forgot you. We remembered you in small ways by wearing your name on our wrists every day. I wear it still in spite of the uncomfortable questions that it sometimes invites. We also marked your courage by building a new base named in your honor. Our platoon spent months pounding pickets for the wire perimeter, and planning the grounds for the new outpost. I'm sure you remember the high cliffs surrounding "Ambush Alley." Combat Outpost Deysie now protects the vehicles that travel through that haunted stretch of road. I hope that your soul has found peace and comfort in the embrace of our Lord, and that our thoughts and prayers have sweetened for you the cool breezes of Heaven. My greatest wish is that you may be honored and pleased with what we have done with your name on our tongues in the last three years. <br />
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Of course, we know that there are millions of heroes to remember and revere on this Memorial Day, and more of our men and women in uniform will give up their lives before the war is over. Only last fall two more of my soldiers were killed in a bomb-blast in Afghanistan. This time I was in the United States, and was asked to speak at the funeral service for SPC Anthony Vargas. Nothing can prepare anyone to try to console a grieving mother and father at such a time, and so I ask the Lord to be gentle with the grief-stricken in their time of sorrow. I pray that the families of the fallen may find peace in their turmoil, and consolation in the terrific courage of their loved ones. I pray that my men, and all who are still serving overseas can come home to their families whole in body and mind. May the souls of the departed reach the abode of everlasting peace in the arms of God, and may we honor them with our determination and love. Amen. <br />
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/fallen-soldiers">Fallen Soldiers</a>, <a href="/tag/memorial-day">Memorial Day</a>, <a href="/tag/ara-deysie">Ara Deysie</a>, <a href="/tag/memorial-day-weeknd">Memorial Day Weeknd</a>, <a href="/tag/memorial-day-reflection">Memorial Day Reflection</a>, <a href="/tag/us-army">US Army</a>, <a href="/tag/memorial-day-eulogy">Memorial Day Eulogy</a>, <a href="/religion">Religion News</a></p>
Jodie Evans: It Takes a Woman to Lead the Way to Peace: Mayor Kitty Piercy Leading the Way to Bring Our War Dollars Homehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jodie-evans/it-takes-a-woman-to-lead-_b_868061.htmlJodie Evanshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/jodie-evans/
On May 18, Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy submitted <a href="http://codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=5774" target="_hplink">the War Dollars Home Resolution</a> to the US Conference of Mayors. The resolution highlights the fact that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are projected to cost $126 billion this year, and calls on Congress to end these deadly wars and bring our war dollars home to meet vital human needs, promote job creation, rebuild our infrastructure, aid municipal and state governments, and develop a new economy based upon renewable, sustainable energy. <img src="https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/424/images/CP_MayorPiercy.jpg" align="right"><br />
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Mayors from cities with populations of 30,000 or more use the US Conference of Mayors to ensure federal policy meets urban needs. The Conference determines its advocacy priorities by debating and passing resolutions at an annual meeting; thanks to Kitty Piercy -- named the 2010 Most Valuable Local Official by The Nation -- peace will be on the table this year. <br />
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<a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/157281/progressive-honor-roll-2010?page=0,1" target="_hplink">As John Nichols noted, </a><br />
Active with US Mayors for Peace and Women's Action for New Directions/Women Legislators' Lobby, (Piercy) shows up at peace rallies to declare: "Some may scorn our local efforts to change national priorities, but I, like you, believe in the power of our city, the fierce grassroots power of our people to do what needs to be done."<br />
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With the visionary leadership of Mayor Piercy, we are increasing the pressure on Obama and Congress to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we can't wait for her and <a href="http://codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=5786" target="_hplink">her 17 co-sponsors</a> to discuss the resolution with the mayors' conference. We have to continue flexing our own fierce grassroots power. <br />
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We must encourage Congress to make rational, long-term decisions when debating oversight of the military: remove the ridiculous blank check for never-ending war, bring the troops and contractors home from Afghanistan and Iraq, remove all barriers to immediate implementation of the New START agreement, allow gays to serve openly in the military, and cut the bloat. We understand Congress is addicted to the military dollars spent in every Congressional district, but an economy built on death and destruction does not create a thriving community. <br />
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To start the vitally needed process of transforming our federal priorities, we should <a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/424/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6799" target="_hplink">ask our Representatives to support HR 780</a>, the Responsible End to the War in Afghanistan. As Representative Barbara Lee--another powerful woman's voice for peace--noted in support of this bill, we must reorient United States foreign policy. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/opinion/15kristof.html?_r=3&src=tptw" target="_hplink">Even Richard Holbrooke appeared to agree with our assessment</a> that diplomacy must lead our interaction with foreign governments, not the military. <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/160575/end-war-afghanistan-and-begin-nation-building-here-home" target="_hplink">As Representatives McGovern and Jones said,</a> it's time to end the wars and bring the money home for nation-building in the U.S. <br />
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<a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/424/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6892" target="_hplink">Let's join Mayor Piercy in leading the way to peace. </a>
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/pentagon">Pentagon</a>, <a href="/tag/us-mayors-conference">u.s. Mayors Conference</a>, <a href="/tag/congress">Congress</a>, <a href="/tag/foreclosure-crisis">Foreclosure Crisis</a>, <a href="/tag/mayor">Mayor</a>, <a href="/tag/budget-cuts">Budget Cuts</a>, <a href="/tag/budget">Budget</a>, <a href="/tag/bring-our-war-dollars-home">Bring Our War Dollars Home</a>, <a href="/tag/war">War</a>, <a href="/tag/economic-crisis">Economic Crisis</a>, <a href="/tag/pentagon-budget">Pentagon Budget</a>, <a href="/tag/kitty-piercy">Kitty Piercy</a>, <a href="/tag/eugene">Eugene</a>, <a href="/tag/housing-crisis">Housing Crisis</a>, <a href="/tag/afghanistan-war">Afghanistan War</a>, <a href="/tag/iraq-war">Iraq War</a>, <a href="/tag/us-mayors">US Mayors</a>, <a href="/tag/wall-street-crisis">Wall Street Crisis</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/federal-budget-deficit">Federal Budget Deficit</a>, <a href="/tag/code-pink">Code Pink</a>, <a href="/tag/codepink">Codepink</a>, <a href="/tag/financial-crisis">Financial Crisis</a>, <a href="/tag/budget-deficit">Budget Deficit</a>, <a href="/tag/defense-spending">Defense Spending</a>, <a href="/tag/oregon">Oregon</a>, <a href="/politics">Politics News</a></p>
U.S. Settles With Two Firms Over Improper Military Foreclosureshttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/26/improper-military-foreclosures-justice-department-settles_n_867804.htmlThe Huffington Post News Teamhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-news/
Amid blistering heat and thunderous bombing in central Iraq during summer 2005, U.S. Army Sgt. James Hurley suddenly found it difficult to reach his wife back home in Michigan.<br />
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For four days straight, he called and got a troubling message that the line had been disconnected. Eventually, Hurley tracked her down through his uncle.<br />
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"She tells me, 'We got kicked out of the house, we're foreclosed,'" Hurley recalled. "I was so pissed off. If it wasn't for my roommate and my sergeant who was over me, I think I would have gone nuts."<br />
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As his wife removed every stick of furniture from their home, cramming it in her parents' house and in a nearby garage, Hurley was left to stew halfway around the world. He asked for extra-long shifts and additional mechanic assignments, just to keep his mind off things.<br />
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It would be another six months before he could return home to sort out the mess, beginning a years-long court battle with Saxon Mortgage Services over the loss of his home while deployed overseas.<br />
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Prompted in part by Hurley's case, the Justice Department on Thursday announced a $22 million settlement with Saxon and a unit of Bank of America to provide relief to more than 170 active-duty military members who experienced improper foreclosures over the past few years.<br />
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Active-duty military are protected by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, a law that provides a slew of consumer protection measures designed to protect military personnel from financial distress. Among other things, the law prohibits foreclosure on a servicemember's home unless there is a court order.<br />
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The <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/05/banks-illegal-foreclosure-soldiers-gao-report_n_858207.html" target="_hplink">Government Accountability Office</a> hinted at the investigation in <a href="http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11433.pdf" target="_hplink">a report</a> earlier this month.<br />
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The Justice Department alleged that the Bank of America unit, formerly part of Countrywide Financial, improperly foreclosed on 160 military personnel between January 2006 and May 2009 and didn't check whether the borrowers were active-duty military.<br />
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They also alleged that Saxon Mortgage Services Inc., a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, foreclosed on 17 servicemembers without obtaining court orders.<br />
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Bank of America agreed to pay $20 million, and Saxon Mortgage Services, of Fort Worth, Texas, agreed to pay $2.35 million. If additional military members come forward, the companies have agreed to compensate them beyond those amounts.<br />
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"I feel quite confident in the thoroughness of the investigation to date," said Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez. "However, if we identify other victims in the course of our review, or if the servicers identify other victims, we will of course compensate them."<br />
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On average, Perez said victims in the Saxon case will receive an average of $130,555, while the Countrywide victims will receive about $125,000 each.<br />
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JPMorgan Chase has also disclosed in recent months that it improperly foreclosed on 18 servicemembers. Perez said he could not comment on other mortgage servicers that the Justice Department may be investigating for violations of military consumer laws.<br />
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He said he hopes that all other servicers "will take a very careful look at these settlement agreements."<br />
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A spokesman for Morgan Stanley issued a statement on behalf of Saxon Mortgage Services.<br />
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"First and foremost, we want to apologize to those military families that were affected by any mistakes made in the foreclosure process. Our servicemen and women deserve the highest level of customer service. Saxon has taken meaningful steps to ensure it has appropriate policies and procedures in place to comply fully with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act."<br />
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Victims identified by the Justice Department included soldiers who returned home severely paralyzed and suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome.<br />
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Hurley settled with Saxon Mortgage Services separately in March, but the Justice Department initiated the investigation in response to his case, Perez said.<br />
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For six months after he heard the news in 2005, Hurley was burdened with both the mental strain of a war zone and concerns about the fate of his wife and home on the other side of the world.<br />
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Since returning home to Michigan in early 2006, he and his wife have moved into a small cabin where her parents lived.<br />
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He did receive some money earlier this year -- he couldn't disclose the amount based on the terms of his settlement -- but he said his only real wish was to get his house back. <br />
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A longtime handyman, Hurley has done his best to expand the place and make it more comfortable. But after the foreclosure, his prior home of more than a decade remains in the hands of someone else.<br />
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"To this day I still don't understand why," Hurley reflected. "They took it illegally; why can't I get it back? I didn't want any money. All I wanted was my house back."<br />
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He suffers from pinched nerves and major back and neck problems, the result of injuries sustained while driving around in tanks. He has major difficulties hearing out of his right ear.<br />
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Hurley said he was happy to hear that others are getting restitution, and he hopes that more come forward.<br />
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"These banks know they can't do it, but they turn around and they do it anyway," he said. "Because they're the people who are in power, and they think all the government's going to do is slap their hands."<br />
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<em>This report has been updated to include comment from Morgan Stanley.</em>
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/foreclosure">Foreclosure</a>, <a href="/tag/foreclosure-crisis">Foreclosure Crisis</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/big-banks">Big Banks</a>, <a href="/business">Business News</a></p>
Chris Birk: Disabled Vets Get Mortgage Relief From Citihttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-birk/disabled-vets-get-mortgag_b_864796.htmlChris Birkhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-birk/
Military homeowners have taken a beating the last few months at the hands of some of the country's largest mortgage lenders.<br />
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They're just now finally starting to catch a break.<br />
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Citigroup announced this week that it would cut interest rates and waive late fees and other past due amounts for service members who are wounded, injured or otherwise disabled. The mortgage relief program is part of Citi's Homeowner Assistance Program.<br />
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The initiative will cut interest rates by 2.5 percent on existing mortgages for two years for qualified homeowners. Surviving spouses are also eligible to participate. Applicants don't need to document any financial hardship. But they will be required to provide discharge documents and correspondence from the Department of Veterans Affairs.<br />
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Veterans will only be considered for the two-year rate reduction if they are deemed ineligible for a permanent mortgage modification through CitiMortgage. <br />
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"We recognize that wounded or disabled veterans may be having financial difficulties in this challenging economic environment, and they warrant our heightened consideration," CitiMortgage CEO Sanjiv Das <a href="http://www.loansafe.org/disabled-veterans-get-help-from-citimortgage-to-reduce-mortgage-payments" target="_hplink">said in a news release</a>.<br />
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To be eligible, the service member's loan must be a first mortgage owned by CitiMortgage. Homeowners with government-backed loans (FHA, VA or USDA) or loans under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act are not eligible to participate.<br />
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The new mortgage relief program from Citi comes after lending giant JP Morgan Chase recently <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-21/jpmorgan-chase-settles-military-mortgage-overcharging-suit-for-56-million.html" target="_hplink">agreed to pay $56 million </a>to settle claims that it repeatedly overcharged military families on their mortgages and improperly foreclosed on nearly a dozen service members.<br />
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Mortgage companies nationwide are under pressure to scrutinize military mortgage accounts. A recent Government Accountability Office report concluded that two of the country's largest mortgage banks <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/05/banks-illegal-foreclosure-soldiers-gao-report_n_858207.html" target="_hplink">improperly foreclosed on the homes of nearly 50 </a>active duty service members.<br />
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Government regulators discovered the inappropriate foreclosures during an analysis of about 2,800 loans that went into foreclosure in 2010. Millions of foreclosures from the past few years have yet to be examined for irregularities. The GAO report didn't identify the two mortgage companies.<br />
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Active duty military members are supposed to be insulated against foreclosure and other civil and financial obligations through the <a href="http://www.vabenefitblog.com/military-homeowners-safeguarded-against-foreclosure/" target="_hplink">Servicemembers Civil Relief Act</a> (SCRA).<br />
<em><br />
<br />
Chris Birk is director of communications for the<a href="http://www.vamortgagecenter.com/" target="_hplink"> VA Mortgage Center</a>, which specializes in VA loans for veterans and active duty service members.</em>
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/citimortgage">Citimortgage</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/us-soldiers">US Soldiers</a>, <a href="/tag/mortages">Mortages</a>, <a href="/tag/mortgage-modification">Mortgage Modification</a>, <a href="/tag/servicemembers-civil-relief-act">Servicemembers Civil Relief Act</a>, <a href="/tag/military-families">Military Families</a>, <a href="/business">Business News</a></p>
'How Can You Go AWOL When You're Not Even In The Army Anymore?'http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/26/phil-mcdowell-american-soldier-awol-court-martial_n_867452.htmlThe Huffington Post News Teamhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-news/
If you were walking down the street in Toronto and you happened to bump into Phil McDowell, here is what you would notice: nothing. You probably wouldn't even see McDowell, because that's the kind of guy he is. At five feet nine, he is neither tall nor short, he tends to shuffle a bit when he walks, and he favors the kind of outdoorsy Beanwear that fades into the Canadian landscape like snow. All told, he cuts a rather ordinary figure for an international fugitive.
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/soldier-deserter">Soldier Deserter</a>, <a href="/tag/phil-mcdowell">Phil Mcdowell</a>, <a href="/tag/awol-phil-mcdowell">Awol Phil Mcdowell</a>, <a href="/tag/phil-mcdowell-court-martial">Phil Mcdowell Court Martial</a>, <a href="/tag/awol-soldier">Awol Soldier</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/phil-mcdowell-deported">Phil Mcdowell Deported</a>, <a href="/tag/soldier-phil-mcdowell">Soldier Phil Mcdowell</a>, <a href="/tag/deported-soldier">Deported Soldier</a>, <a href="/tag/american-soldier-court-martialed">American Soldier Court Martialed</a>, <a href="/politics">Politics News</a></p>
Lisa M. Dietlin: Making a Difference: The World of Givinghttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-m-dietlin/making-a-difference-memorial-day_b_866408.htmlLisa M. Dietlinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-m-dietlin/
Memorial Day, which is observed on the last Monday in May, is a time to remember all Americans who have lost their lives in battle. Nowadays, it seems that Memorial Day may have lost some of its meaning with many Americans, who view it simply as the beginning of summer! Or, it is viewed as an opportunity to get away on a three-day excursion or to find good shopping sales, which in my humble opinion, is far worse.<br />
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It was originally known as Decoration Day and is a time to remember those who died while in military service. The tradition of honoring those who served began from the aftermath of the Civil War and has expanded to include all wars in which Americans have fought. In 1971, it became a federal law to observe this holiday on the last Monday in May.<br />
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It is also customary to fly the American Flag on Memorial Day and many Americans also visit cemeteries to mark soldiers' graves with small flags or memorial wreaths. Numerous communities have parades to remember those who have fought and died valiantly. <br />
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All of us have been touched or affected by someone who has served. A little known fact is that more than 1 million Americans have given their lives in service to this country!<br />
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Memorial Day is an opportunity to make a difference to those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in serving their country. Here are five recommendations and tips on easy ways to Make A Difference:<br />
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<ol><li>Visit a cemetery and read the headstones of those who have died for our freedom and think about what their sacrifice means to you!</li><br />
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<li>Attend the Memorial Day activities in your community. Most have a parade or some sort of commemoration so take the young people in your life with you to begin passing on the importance of this holiday.</li><br />
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<li>Fly the American Flag: raise it briskly to full staff first, then lower it to half staff until noon, and then again raise it high</li><br />
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<li>Visit a VA Hospital or senior center where they are veterans to listen to their stories</li><br />
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<li>Make a charitable donation to an nonprofit doing work with veterans. I recommend the <a href="www.woundedwarriorproject.org" target="_hplink">Wounded Warrior Project</a> or <a href="www.operationhomefront.net" target="_hplink">Operation Homefront</a>.</li></ol><br />
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Bonus tip: Take time to <a href="www.letterstosoldiers.org" target="_hplink">write a letter or send a package</a> to a veteran who is serving or take a veteran with you to the activities you attend on Memorial Day such as a parade or picnic. <br />
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Serving in our military is a great honor, but comes with a lot of sacrifice for both the soldier and the family. Freedom is a hard fought battle that occurs on daily basis. Honor our military men and women, as well as their families, by honoring and remembering those who have gone before to serve.<br />
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Do something for our military personnel or to honor and remember those who have served. Remember, by doing any of the recommendations in this blog, you will definitely be M.A.D. (Making A Difference)! Are you M.A.D. today?<br />
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Happy Memorial Day!
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/philanthropy">Philanthropy</a>, <a href="/tag/soldiers">Soldiers</a>, <a href="/tag/us-soldiers">US Soldiers</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/charity">Charity</a>, <a href="/tag/memorial-day">Memorial Day</a>, <a href="/tag/american-flag">American Flag</a>, <a href="/tag/making-a-difference">Making a Difference</a>, <a href="/tag/war-casualties">War Casualties</a>, <a href="/impact">Impact News</a></p>
Ben Eisendrath: Ask A Soldier How To Share A Piece Of Homehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-eisendrath/send-a-soldier-your_b_862518.htmlBen Eisendrathhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-eisendrath/
At home or at work - you undoubtedly have something that would be meaningful to the men and women putting their necks on the line under the crappiest conditions imaginable. And if you're a foodie - as is likely if you're reading this - consider the special value of what you have to offer.<br />
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<center><img alt="2011-05-16-images-AsadoinAfghanistan3.jpg" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2011-05-16-images-AsadoinAfghanistan3.jpg" width="400" height="300" /></center><br />
<center><em>A Special Forces Asado in Afghanistan</em></center><br />
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<br />
There is little so comforting as food. The story of it, the preparation, the social warmth of communal eating, the fond memories the dishes evoke - these things bolster the thing in shortest supply during deployment: morale. And reminding warriors that they haven't left our thoughts does more than cheer them while they're gone. It also softens re-entry. <br />
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Your gesture needn't be big nor conventional - in fact unconventional begets disproportionate joy. Recall Mom's lessons about gifting: a poorly drawn card in your own hand stays on the refrigerator far longer than the cleverest Hallmark.<br />
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I was guilty of thinking conventionally about "helping the troops" until a single soldier asked me, via email, for assistance building a grill. His words opened my eyes. I could help directly and immediately. And my small gesture put smiles on the faces of Americans thousands of miles away, braving a bitter Afghan winter on the front line. I was even lucky enough to see those smiles in my email, and one later in person, offering a handshake of thanks on my doorstep. <br />
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<center><img alt="2011-05-16-images-GrillworksGoesToWar2.jpg" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2011-05-16-images-GrillworksGoesToWar2.jpg" width="400" height="267" /></center><br><br />
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If you design websites you can help. If you prepare taxes you can help. If you grow vegetables - or just write about growing vegetables - you can help. And as I found - If you make grills you can help. Don't wait. Everyone knows a soldier - ask him, ask her - how you can share a little piece of home.<br />
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Then send them your version of a card that would warm a mother's heart - and do it in your handwriting.<br />
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<br><center><img alt="2011-05-16-images-GeneralPace.jpg" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2011-05-16-images-GeneralPace.jpg" width="397" height="425" /></center>
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/grilling">Grilling</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/us-soldiers">US Soldiers</a>, <a href="/tag/iraq">Iraq</a>, <a href="/tag/memorial-day">Memorial Day</a>, <a href="/tag/afghanistan">Afghanistan</a>, <a href="/tag/veterans">Veterans</a>, <a href="/food">Food News</a></p>
Free Museum Entry For Active Service Membershttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/24/service-members-rewarded-_n_866548.htmlThe Huffington Post News Teamhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-news/
The Big Apple and other cities are about to get a lot sweeter for active service members and their families. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, museums across the country will let active duty military personnel and their families visit for free. Between all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and American Samoa over 1,300 museums will be participating. This is the second summer of the program, which is sponsored by Blue Star Families and the <a href="http://www.nea.gov/" target="_hplink">National Endowment for the Arts</a>. Blue Star Families is an organization run by military families for military families, and their involvement highlights the program's potential to enrich service members' lives during their trips home.<br />
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The program coincides with Fleet Week, when the U.S. Navy comes into harbor Wednesday morning, which allows the opportunity for maximum participation from active service members. <br />
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To see a full list of participating museums in your state <a href="http://www.arts.gov/national/bluestarmuseums/index2011.php?st=CA#list" target="_hplink">click here</a>. <br />
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<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/army">Army</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/armed-forces">Armed Forces</a>, <a href="/tag/museums">Museums</a>, <a href="/tag/blue-star-families">Blue Star Families</a>, <a href="/tag/fleet-week">Fleet Week</a>, <a href="/tag/coast-guard">Coast Guard</a>, <a href="/tag/navy">Navy</a>, <a href="/tag/nea">Nea</a>, <a href="/tag/national-endowment-for-the-arts">National Endowment for the Arts</a>, <a href="/tag/marine-corps">Marine Corps</a>, <a href="/arts">Arts News</a></p>
Dorian de Wind: A U.S. Navy Tradition and Bin Laden's Burial at Seahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/dorian-de-wind/a-us-navy-tradition-and-b_b_865285.htmlDorian de Windhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/dorian-de-wind/
<img alt="2011-05-22-buirialatsea2.jpg" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2011-05-22-buirialatsea2.jpg" width="278" height="181" /><br />
<br />
Osama bin Laden's burial at sea -- the North Arabian Sea -- by the crew of the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson drew a lot of attention, criticism and evoked plenty of controversy.<br />
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The burial raised many questions as to the motives of the U.S. government and as to whether it was appropriate and whether it violated religious and social traditions and customs.<br />
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While the debate over these issues will continue for the foreseeable future, there should be no controversy over an old and honorable U.S. Navy tradition: Burial at Sea.<br />
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Burial at Sea is not only a venerable U.S. Navy tradition. It has been an ancient practice as long as man has gone to sea and a military tradition -- sometimes of necessity -- as long as naval forces have plied the open seas for weeks and months at a time. During World War II, the U.S. Navy performed many burials at sea.<br />
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Today, Burial at Sea has become quite common as service members, veterans, retirees and others eligible for such include a burial at sea in their final wishes.<br />
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According to <a href="http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq85-1.htm">the U.S. Navy</a>:<br />
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<blockquote>Burial at Sea (BAS) is a means of final disposition of remains, that is performed on United States Naval vessels. The committal ceremony is performed while the ship is deployed, therefore, family members are not allowed to be present. The commanding officer of the ship assigned to perform the ceremony will make notification to the family of the date, time, latitude and longitude, once the committal service has been completed.</blockquote><br />
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There are detailed regulations and instructions for such solemn ceremonies. The Navy commits to the sea an average of 20 deceased every month. <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_17976933"> According to the<em> Denver Post</em></a>:<br />
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<blockquote>U.S. vessels take the remains along with them and do the ceremony while the ships are on their scheduled deployments.<br />
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Some people request a specific ship for the burial ceremony...The usual Navy burials at sea are similar, though they include an honor guard that fires shots into the air and bugler that plays TAPS. The burials include caskets or urns with ashes released from the ship's side, as well as ashes scattered from aircraft over the seas.<br />
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Larger ships with more space have done multiple ceremonies while on tour, like the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, which did 14 burials on Memorial Day 2008 off the coast of Hawaii.</blockquote><br />
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More recently, off the Virginia coast, aboard the amphibious landing ship <em>Gunston Hall</em>, about two dozen sailors stopped what they were doing, changed into their dress whites and gathered in the well deck -- "a cavernous space at the rear of their ship that opens to the sea and the sunlit sky."<br />
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According to <em><a href="http://hamptonroads.com/2011/05/solemn-ritual-sailors-commit-fallen-deep" target="_hplink">The Virginian-Pilot</a></em>, the sailors gathered to "commit to the sea the ashes of four men and a woman contained in five small metal containers."<br />
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As each container slips into the waves, seven sailors raise their rifles and fire three shots.<br />
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Sailors collect the spent shells to be sent to the family "along with the flag from the service and a nautical chart marking the location of the burial."<br />
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Osama bin Laden's burial at sea was, according to the U.S. government, a necessary way to bury the 9/11 mastermind. While I am sure that the crew of the Carl Vinson performed the burial in-as-much-as-possible according to Islamic rules and with the respect owed any deceased, bin Laden's burial at sea will always be viewed somewhat differently from that venerable U.S. Navy tradition: Burial at Sea.<br />
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<em>Image: Courtesy www.public.navy.mil</em><br />
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/tradition">Tradition</a>, <a href="/tag/uss-carl-vinson">U.S.S. Carl Vinson</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/world-war-ii">World War II</a>, <a href="/tag/osamabinladenburialatsea">Osama-Bin-Laden-Burial-at-Sea</a>, <a href="/tag/us-navy-burial-at-sea">U.S. Navy Burial at Sea</a>, <a href="/tag/osama-bin-laden">Osama Bin Laden</a>, <a href="/world">World News</a></p>
David Morris: And the Winner Is ... the Public Sectorhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-morris/and-the-winner-isthe-publ_b_863798.htmlDavid Morrishttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-morris/
<blockquote>Unlike the public sector, the private sector is bred for efficiency. Left to its own devices, it will always find the means to provide services faster, cheaper, and more effectively than will governments.<br />
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-- James Jay Carafano,<em> <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CDQQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FPrivate-Sector-Public-Wars-Contractors%2Fdp%2F0275994783&rct=j&q=james%20carafano%2C%20private%20sector%2C%20public%20war&ei=J6nOTfqoNImWtwf0jqH9DQ&usg=AFQjCNFRVqQ6YdGpZokCLOtNpIa3p7hREg&cad=rja">Private Sector, Public Wars</a></em></blockquote><br />
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I suspect the vast majority of Americans would agree with Mr. Carafano. They probably consider the statement self-evident. The facts, however, lead to the opposite conclusion. When not handicapped by regulations designed to subsidize the private sector, the public sector often provides services faster, cheaper and more effectively.<br />
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Consider the results of recent privatization initiatives in three key sectors: health, education and national defense.<br />
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<strong>Health</strong><br />
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Alone among all industrialized nations, the U.S. relies on private for profit insurance companies to manage its health care system. The result? The U.S. has by far the most expensive health care system in the world both in total cost and as a percentage of GDP.<br />
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But we don't have to look abroad to evaluate the comparative costs of private and public health systems. Consider Medicare.<br />
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Small privatization efforts under Medicare began in the 1980s but did not become full-borne until 1997 when the Republican Congress, with the support of President Clinton, created Medicare+Choice. Secure in their faith that the private is always superior to the public, the Republicans agreed to a program in which private insurers would receive the same amount as the service cost under Medicare.<br />
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<center><a href="http://defendingthepublicgood.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/health-as-percent-of-gdpfull-size.png"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-414" title="health as percent of gdpfull size" src="http://defendingthepublicgood.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/health-as-percent-of-gdpfull-size.png" alt="" width="480" height="287" /></a></center><br />
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The public sector proved uncompetitive. Private insurers began pulling out en masse. In 2000, more than 900,000 patients were dropped from the Medicare+Choice program.<br />
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No one should have been surprised. Private insurers have a huge handicap. Their <a href="http://tinyurl.com/5tptv87">overhead</a> costs --marketing, profits, etc. -- dwarf those of Medicare: slightly under 17 percent compared to about 5 percent for Medicare.<br />
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How did the Republican Party react to this real world challenge to their foundational belief in the efficiencies inherent in a private enterprise system? They changed the rules. Having proven unable to win in a fair fight, private insurers were now given a handsome subsidy when Medicare Advantage replaced Medicare+Choice. The federal government now pays private insurers on average <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/10/the_medicare_advantage_scam.html">14 percent</a> more per member than the same care would cost under traditional Medicare.<br />
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The huge subsidy allowed private insurers not only to make a profit but to offer some low cost goodies, like membership to gyms, Medicare doesn't offer. Today, about 8.5 million Medicare beneficiaries nationwide are enrolled in some form of private Medicare plan -- nearly 20 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries.<br />
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<center><a href="http://defendingthepublicgood.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/percent-overhead-in-insurance.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-440" title="percent overhead in insurance" src="http://defendingthepublicgood.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/percent-overhead-in-insurance.jpg" alt="" width="426" height="300" /></a></center><br />
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Astonishingly, having proven that private health insurance costs more, Republicans have now made the further privatization of Medicare the centerpiece of their budget deficit plan. Instead of directly insuring seniors their new plan would have the government give them a voucher to buy private insurance. The government would save money because the value of the vouchers would rise at a slower rate than health care costs.<br />
<br />
<em>New Yorker</em> business writer James Surowiecki <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newyorker.com%2Ftalk%2Ffinancial%2F2011%2F05%2F02%2F110502ta_talk_surowiecki&rct=j&q=As%20a%20result%2C%20seniors%20would%20have%20to%20spend%20more%20and%20more%20of%20their%20income%20on%20private%20insurance%20and%20out-of-pocket%20expenses%2C%20or%20go%20without.%20&ei=vo_NTaG8MdG3tgffuNiKDg&usg=AFQjCNF7K8Db84gW0-iRBrkYLXUDJGnEGQ&cad=rja">sums</a> up the conclusions of an analysis of the plan by the non-partisan <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&sqi=2&ved=0CDUQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbo.gov%2Fftpdocs%2F121xx%2Fdoc12128%2F04-05-Ryan_Letter.pdf&rct=j&q=congressional%20budget%20office%2C%20ryan%20budget%20plan%2C%20medicare&ei=PYDRTYmNEIiFtgeWsfz6DQ&usg=AFQjCNGWHgl4uyxQLmztJsqj0mmDZGPgZw">Congressional Budget Office</a>, "seniors would have to spend more and more of their income on private insurance and out-of-pocket expenses, or go without... Ryan's plan would actually increase the amount of money Americans spend on health care, since private insurers aren't as good at curbing costs as Medicare. But taxpayers would pay less."<br />
<br />
<strong>Education</strong><br />
<br />
In 1958, the federal government established a student loan program. The federal Treasury made the loan directly. In 1965, as part of his Great Society initiative, LBJ wanted to dramatically expand the program, but ran up against budget rules that discriminated against direct lending. A direct loan showed up as a total loss in the year it was made, even though most of it would be paid back with interest in future years. A guaranteed loan, on the other hand, which placed the full faith and credit of the United States behind a private bank loan, would appear to have no up front budget cost at all because the government's payments for defaults and interest subsidies would not occur until later years.<br />
<br />
Knowing that a major direct loan program would show up as increasing a deficit already growing because of the expanding Vietnam War, the Democratic Congress opted to replace direct loans <em>from</em> the government with bank loans guaranteed <em>by</em> the government.<br />
<br />
For the next 27 years, the direct loan program disappeared. Finally, in 1990 Congress eliminated the unfair rules. The new unbiased regulations led the Bush administration to conclude that direct loans would be less costly and simpler to administer. In 1992, Congress created a direct lending pilot program. In 1993, President Clinton proposed replacing the guarantee program with direct loans as part of his own deficit reduction plan.<br />
<br />
But in 1994 Republicans took over the House of Representatives. And as conservatives are wont to do, they refused to let facts get in the way of ideology. Led by Newt Gingrich, they tried to completely eliminate direct lending. To their surprise, college and university officials, frustrated by a guaranteed loan system the Government Accountability Office <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcshe.berkeley.edu%2Fpublications%2Fdocs%2FROP.Shireman.Loans.10.04.pdf&rct=j&q=gao%2C%20%E2%80%9Ccomplicated%2C%20cumbersome%20process%E2%80%9D%2C%20guaranteed&ei=0oLNTdP-KMm2twebwYD9DQ&usg=AFQjCNEAgnIP_tkxdT03UPoHJDGuwV66jQ&cad=rja">labeled</a> a "complicated, cumbersome process" involving thousands of middlemen, fought back.<br />
<br />
Ultimately, Congress stopped short of eliminating direct lending. Instead, it prohibited the Department of Education from encouraging colleges to switch to the direct loan program. Even without such encouragement, colleges recognized a good deal when they saw one and began shifting to direct loans. By 1998, about 35 percent of all student loans were direct loans from the government.<br />
<br />
The private sector, having tasted the profits of guaranteed loans, fought back, led by Sallie Mae, the former Student Loan Marketing Agency. Set up in 1972 as a non-profit, government sponsored enterprise (GRE) supervised by the U.S. Treasury, in 1997 Sallie Mae obtained Congressional approval to privatize. That allowed it to originate its own loans and acquire other companies. The new private profit making company quickly bought out its two major rivals.<br />
<br />
Sallie Mae also purchased student loan collection companies. By 2006 it dominated all aspects of the student loan industry. According to <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CCYQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fstories%2F2006%2F05%2F05%2F60minutes%2Fmain1591583_page2.shtml&rct=j&q=sallie%20mae%2C%20in%202005%20nearly%20a%20fifth%20of%20its%20revenue%20came%20from%20collection%20agencies.&ei=ooTNTb_FKoa3twfLr8DkDQ&usg=AFQjCNHVHe5QWS5FAsbCg8s4yXJSXFhXtg&cad=rja">CBS</a> News, in 2005 nearly a fifth of its revenue came from collection agencies. Sallie Mae's fee income <a href="http://www.beacon.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=2014">increased</a> by 228 percent between 2000 and 2005, from $280 million to $920 million while its stock price increased 1,600 percent from 1995 to 2005.<br />
<br />
Colleges began to shift back to guaranteed loans. Wondering why they would do so to the detriment of their students, <em><a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/articles/031027/27loans.htm">U.S. News and World Report</a> </em>investigated. It found that private lenders were supplying college official<em> </em>with free meals and drinks, golf outings and sailboat cruises<em>. </em>"Lenders offer the prospect of millions of dollars in profits to universities -- if they drop out of the Education Department's direct-loan plan<em>.</em>"<br />
<br />
A 2006-2007 investigation by New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo uncovered a pattern of kickbacks and bribes to universities.<br />
<br />
Private lenders worked not only to maximize their share of the market but to maximize their profits from each loan by changing the rules. <em>U.S. News and World Report</em> noted, the student loan industry "used money and favors, along with their friends in Congress and the Department of Education, to get what they wanted."<br />
<br />
In 1998, Congress allowed massive penalties and fees to be imposed on delinquent student loans, making it more profitable for the lenders and guarantors when students defaulted than when they repaid the loan on time. Congress also allowed for collection rates of up to 25 percent to be applied to the debt.<br />
<br />
<center><a href="http://defendingthepublicgood.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/taxpayer-cost-or-benefit-in-loan1.jpg"><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-405" title="taxpayer cost or benefit in loan" src="http://defendingthepublicgood.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/taxpayer-cost-or-benefit-in-loan1.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="324" /></a></center><br />
<br />
In 1999, lawmakers <a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/articles/031027/27loans.htm">created</a> a new interest-rate formula that boosted the lenders profits.<br />
<br />
Student loans were specifically exempted from state usury laws and from coverage under the Truth in Lending Act.<br />
<br />
Adding insult to injury, in 2005, the private lenders convinced Congress to make all student loans non-dischargeable in bankruptcy.<br />
<br />
The loss to the taxpayers ran into the tens of billions of dollars. The loss to students may have run even higher.<br />
<br />
In 2005, the Congressional Budget Office <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbo.gov%2Fdoc.cfm%3Findex%3D6874&rct=j&q=comparing%20subsidy%20for%20direct%20loan%20and%20guaranteed%20loan%20student&ei=uanOTZnkNpK5tweSsbzuDQ&usg=AFQjCNGEnl34QPn7JFuiJfJLnfKp4VoV3Q&cad=rja">compared</a> the impact on taxpayers of a guaranteed loan and a direct loan. For every $1 of loan guarantee the federal government incurred taxpayers lost 15 cents. For every $1 loans made directly by the federal government, taxpayers made 2 cents.<br />
<br />
On a $3,000 student loan repaid in 10 years, the CBO estimated the cost to taxpayer for a guaranteed loan would be $450. A direct loan, however, would benefit taxpayers by $63.<br />
<br />
The 2008 elections gave us a Democratic Congress and a Democratic President. In 2010, they ended 40 years of giveaways to the private sector and eliminated the guarantee loan program. Today all federal student loans are direct loans. The Congressional Budget Office <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffebp.newamerica.net%2Fbackground-analysis%2Ffederal-student-loan-programs-history&rct=j&q=Congressional%20Budget%20Office%20estimates%20that%20the%20elimination%20of%20the%20FFEL%20program%20under%20the%20law%20would%20generate%20%2468.7%20billion%20in%20savings%20over%20the%20next%20ten%20years.%20%20&ei=aI_RTZzWKoTAtgfMrfXjDQ&usg=AFQjCNGppqu4yCyw0IXFmhHLoXXG9RfPEA&cad=rja">estimates</a> this will generate almost $68 billion in savings over the next 10 years.<br />
<br />
<strong>Military</strong><br />
<br />
As early as the late 1970s the federal government began contracting out, but privatization took center stage with Bill Clinton and Al Gore's Reinventing Government initiative.<br />
<br />
From then on politicians would boast about how much they had reduced federal payrolls while at the same time avoiding the unpleasant fact that on their watch the number of private contractors had increased even faster.<br />
<br />
The Pentagon embraced privatization most eagerly, contracting out for a wide variety of services, including weapons engineering, security enforcement, training, tech support, food and outfitting management, and even frontline military strength to a new entity, the Private Military Company (PMC).<strong> </strong><br />
<br />
Secretary of Defense William Cohen led the effort. "During the summer of 1997 he assembled a committee that included leading executives from private industry to offer their wisdom about the road ahead," Duke law professor Laura Dickinson writes in <a href="http://www.law.duke.edu/news/story?id=5180&u=26"><em>Outsourcing War & Peace</em></a>. <blockquote>"Cohen then proceeded to pursue a reform path that aimed to modernize defense by embracing the rhetoric, practices, and methodologies of American businesses. This embrace is perhaps most apparent in his Defense Reform Initiative, which he launched in the fall of 1997 as an effort to 'aggressively apply to the Department those business practices that American industry has successfully used to become leaner and more flexible in order to remain competitive.'"</blockquote><br />
<br />
The Pentagon has always employed contractors for specialized functions that were not large in scope and not fundamental to regular military operations. This changed in the early 1990s. Peter Singer <a href="http://www.privateforces.com/content/view/1134/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2164">writes</a>, <blockquote>"In 1992 a relatively little-known, Texas-based oil services firm called Halliburton was awarded a $3.9 million Pentagon contract. Its task was to write a classified report on how private companies, like itself, could support the logistics of U.S. military deployments into countries with poor infrastructure. ... it is hard to imagine that either the company or the client realized that 15 years later this contract (now called the Logistics Civilian Augmentation Program or LOGCAP) would be worth as much as $150 billion."</blockquote><br />
<br />
The number of private military contractors soared, exceeding by 1999 the total combined number of active military troops, civilian employees, reserves and National Guards.<br />
<br />
<center><a href="http://defendingthepublicgood.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/private-contracts-outpacing-public.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-402 alignleft" title="private contracts outpacing public" src="http://defendingthepublicgood.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/private-contracts-outpacing-public.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="296" /></a></center><br />
<br />
The result? An unmitigated mess. Contracts were shoveled out the door so fast the military lacked even basic information about the burgeoning force of private contractors. This was clearly evident when Congress asked the Army how many contract service workers it had. The Army's answer? Somewhere between 124,000 and 605,000!<br />
<br />
Did privatization save money? Usually not. One Congressional study <a href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/OP240.html">found</a> that contracts for intelligence support cost, on average, almost twice as much as in-house work.<br />
<br />
Almost all of today's logistics firms operate under "cost-plus" contracts -- a structure ripe for abuse.<br />
<br />
But privatizing the military has cost us more than just money. As Maj Kevin P. Stiens and Lt. Col. (Ret.) Susan L. Turley <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CCYQFjAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Flitigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com%2Fwebcd%2Fapp%3Faction%3DDocumentDisplay%26crawlid%3D1%26doctype%3Dcite%26docid%3D65%2BA.F.%2BL.%2BRev.%2B145%26srctype%3Dsmi%26srcid%3D3B15%26key%3Dbf73240d21a5e31cc3617bb13382efc4&rct=j&q=Not%20only%20did%20the%20cost%20savings%20fail%20to%20materialize%2C%20outsourcing%20caused%20other%20tangible%20losses.%20%20&ei=nqfOTca0PJOjtgf73JH1DQ&usg=AFQjCNGW4sG3s0bLm3RQgaQmWpNeTo0Qyg&cad=rja">observed</a>, "Not only did the cost savings fail to materialize, outsourcing caused other tangible losses. The government lost personnel experience and continuity, along with operational control, by moving to contractors."<br />
<br />
Walter Pincus opined in the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/19/AR2006031900978_pf.html"><em>Washington Post</em></a>, <blockquote>"Particularly frustrating for organizations that require specialized expertise and experience, such as intelligence agencies, are organic personnel who leave for better pay with contractors after the government has trained them, obtained their security clearances, and given them experience...The government pays to get the worker qualified, then ends up leasing back . . . former employees."</blockquote><br />
<br />
Our national security now depends on millions of workers with divided loyalties. "Private employees have distinctly different motivations, responsibilities and loyalties than those in the public military, Air Force Colonel Steven Zamperelli <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CDgQFjAF&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.afresearch.org%2Fskins%2Frims%2Fq_mod_be0e99f3-fc56-4ccb-8dfe-670c0822a153%2Fq_act_downloadpaper%2Fq_obj_758c95ac-e44c-4ca8-bef2-7597eb9e3457%2Fdisplay.aspx%3Frs%3Denginespage&rct=j&q=Private%20employees%20have%20distinctly%20different%20motivations%2C%20responsibilities%20and%20loyalties%20than%20those%20in%20the%20public%20military&ei=LqLOTdX7G4TAtgfMrfXjDQ&usg=AFQjCNGMdFIw40IhlSYn18DcpHcIxgHFTA">writes</a>, "[T]hey are hired, fired, promoted, demoted, rewarded and disciplined by the management of their private company, not by government officials or the public."<br />
<br />
"The privatized military industry introduces very real contractual dilemmas into the realm of international security," Peter Singer <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=IOQjNuxMrOEC&pg=PA151&lpg=PA151&dq=The+privatized+military+industry+introduces+very+real+contractual+dilemmas&source=bl&ots=Sgu3kJNVaj&sig=HPuTCbNg9ez0_AcgoLkebjj-zYo&hl=en&ei=HqXOTfGdHoWUtwffppiIDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20privatized%20military%20industry%20introduces%20very%20real%20contractual%20dilemmas&f=false">maintains</a>, "For governments, the public good and the good of the private companies are not identical ... [and] these two parties' interests will never exactly coincide."<br />
<br />
In 2008 at least 12 U.S. soldiers were accidentally electrocuted inside their bases in Iraq. Later it was discovered that the private contractor, KBR, knew there were potentially serious electrical problems in the facility's construction. But its contract didn't cover "fixing potential hazards." It only required repairing items already broken!<br />
<br />
Singer <a href="http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/cup_detail.taf?ti_id=4846">offers</a> another reason many are concerned about our increasing reliance on private contractors, <blockquote>"Many worry that the lack of control due to outsourcing could weigh even heavier and even put an entire military operation at risk. Consider what happened during the 2004 Sadr uprising, where a spike in attacks on convoys caused many companies to either withdraw or suspend operations, causing fuel and ammunition stocks to dwindle."</blockquote><br />
<br />
It may be too late to turn the clock back on private military companies so long as government officials boast about reducing the size of the federal workforce while actually increasing it, and lack the political courage to reinstitute a draft that would bring troop and troop support levels back to where they need to be.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, the pendulum seems to be swinging back. For the first time in 30 years, the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act encouraged what has come to be known as "insourcing," bringing back in house tasks that have been outsourced. Stiens and Turley drily assert, "one of the primary benefits of insourcing is to undo outsourcing efforts that brought neither cost savings nor improved mission performance."<br />
<br />
So there we have it. Three disparate examples of privatization, all leading to the same conclusion. Privatization hurts. Unlike the public sector, the private sector is bred to maximize profits. Left to its own devices, it will always find a more profitable way to provide services even when that means increasing their cost, reducing their effectiveness and endangering the national security. <br />
<br />
<br />
Originally published at On The Commons. <a href="http://onthecommons.org" target="_hplink">onthecommons.org</a><br />
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/outsourcing">Outsourcing</a>, <a href="/tag/education">Education</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/health">Health</a>, <a href="/tag/privatization">Privatization</a>, <a href="/tag/student-loan">Student Loan</a>, <a href="/tag/medicare">Medicare</a>, <a href="/tag/public">Public</a>, <a href="/tag/public-sector">Public Sector</a>, <a href="/tag/private-sector">Private Sector</a>, <a href="/tag/public-and-private-sector">Public and Private Sector</a>, <a href="/politics">Politics News</a></p>
Nicole Lederer: A New Military-Industrial Collaboration - Good News for Clean Energy and Securityhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicole-lederer/the-militaryindustrial-co_b_864395.htmlNicole Ledererhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicole-lederer/
<strong>Co-authored by Lt. Gen. Norman R. Seip (USAF-RET.)</strong><br />
<br />
Osama bin Laden is gone, but in the nearly 10 years since his attack on our country, the primary threat to our economic and national security -- our dependence on foreign fuel -- remains.<br />
<br />
Rather than embracing rational energy policy to advance innovative solutions to our energy vulnerability, we're still fueling both sides of a war: fighting terrorists who are funded partly from profits from the oil we purchase. And how are we getting our troops to the battle? Using even more oil.<br />
<br />
Recently, we met with Pentagon officials in our role as members of Environmental Entrepreneurs, an environmentally-minded group of business leaders. Like the rest of our organization, we come from different backgrounds -- one of us is a retired three-star Air Force general who has witnessed first-hand the human and financial costs of our fossil fuel addiction; the other a policy advocate who works with some of the country's most innovative business leaders in clean, renewable energy.<br />
<br />
The military realizes the irony and the futility of relying on fossil fuels, we heard during our Pentagon visit. Every branch of the service told us they desperately desire more of the energy efficiency and clean energy technologies being developed in the private sector.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, many of the innovations they want and need are stuck in limbo while companies search for financing to expand beyond the research and development phase.<br />
<br />
What the clean energy sector needs is a reliable investor and a strong market signal for their products. The Department of Defense could be an ideal fit for that role. Congress and the Obama administration should do whatever it can to encourage a new partnership between the military and private industry to advance clean energy initiatives -- just as past partnerships between business and the military advanced other technologies ranging from space travel to the Internet.<br />
<br />
Plans are already underway that could make this a reality.<br />
<br />
The Navy, for example, plans to get <a href="http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/10/navy_energy_efficiency_101409w/" target="_hplink">half</a> of its energy from alternative sources by the year 2020.<br />
<br />
The Air Force plans to get <a href="http://www.501csw.usafe.af.mil/news/story_print.asp?id=123252417" target="_hplink">25 percent</a> of the energy it uses at its bases from renewable energy sources by 2025. It also wants to get half of its aviation fuels from bio-fuel blends by 2016.<br />
<br />
The Army plans to reduce greenhouse gases by<a href="http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13276" target="_hplink"> 34 percent</a> by 2020 and cut energy usage at contingency bases by 30-60 percent. That's on top of its visionary NetZero strategy under which bases will consume only as much energy and water as they produce.<br />
<br />
And finally the Marine Corps by 2020 will increase its use of alternative energy by <a href="http://navylive.dodlive.mil/index.php/2011/01/25/moving-the-navy-and-marine-corps-off-fossil-fuels/" target="_hplink">50 percent </a>and meet 40 percent of its deployed operational demands with renewable energy. It also plans to reduce its non-tactical petroleum use by 50 percent by 2015.<br />
<br />
The military and the private sector need to work together to break our fossil fuel dependence and develop a new, clean energy future.<br />
<br />
Doing so will mean America will have less reason to go to war and more resources to foster peace -- and along the way honor the outstanding performance by our armed forces since 9-11.<br />
<br />
__________<br />
<em><br />
Nicole Lederer is co-founder of Environmental Entrepreneurs<br />
<br />
Lt. Gen. Norman R. Seip was Commander, 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern), Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.</em><br />
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/energy">Energy</a>, <a href="/tag/energy-efficiency">Energy Efficiency</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/alternative-energy">Alternative Energy</a>, <a href="/tag/fossil-fuels">Fossil Fuels</a>, <a href="/tag/fuel-efficiency">Fuel Efficiency</a>, <a href="/tag/renewable-energy">Renewable Energy</a>, <a href="/tag/clean-energy">Clean Energy</a>, <a href="/tag/green-energy">Green Energy</a>, <a href="/tag/energy-policy">Energy Policy</a>, <a href="/green">Green News</a></p>
Sen. Jon Tester: Time to End Outdated Military Spending, Not Medicarehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-jon-tester/time-to-end-outdated-mili_b_864375.htmlSen. Jon Testerhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-jon-tester/
Today, the same politicians in the House of Representatives who claimed that tax cuts for the wealthy would "pay for themselves" are insisting we take them seriously as they try to balance the budget.<br />
<br />
Their plan? To end Medicare as we know it, and other gimmicks like cutting basic health care for women.<br />
<br />
Montanans and many Americans aren't buying what those politicians are trying to sell. There are better ways to cut government spending and cut the national debt, without stripping seniors and women of their health care.<br />
<br />
A good place to start is taking a hard look at the huge amount of money America spends on military operations overseas -- especially on Cold War-era military bases in Europe and Asia.<br />
<br />
The U.S. operates more than 1,000 military installations on foreign soil, including 268 in Germany, 124 in Japan and 87 in South Korea. Approximately 370,000 U.S. servicemen and women are currently deployed in more than 150 countries around the world.<br />
<br />
Several generations after the defeat of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, the world has changed. And so have our armed forces.<br />
<br />
The U.S. has the strongest, smartest, most effective military in the world, thanks to our dedicated troops and the cutting edge technology they employ. The days of America needing hundreds of military installations in dozens of countries across the entire world are over.<br />
<br />
That's why I'm urging Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to save taxpayers money and consider closing down some of our bases overseas (you can read my letter to Secretary Gates <a href="http://tester.senate.gov/Legislation/upload/tester_gates_letter_military_spending_cuts.pdf" target="_hplink">HERE</a>).<br />
<br />
It's also why I'm backing a plan to require all future wars be paid for. Before I got to Congress, lawmakers charged the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to future generations. And that's a shame.<br />
<br />
As Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently put it, the biggest threat to American national security is the rising national debt. <br />
<br />
But before politicians in Washington try to cut spending by breaking the promises made to our seniors, we ought to be looking at ways to cut the number of unnecessary Cold War-era installations overseas while keeping our armed forces the strongest in the world.<br />
<br />
Moving forward, we need a responsible, long-term, bipartisan strategy for cutting debt and cutting spending. That plan should include making Medicare and Social Security stronger for future generations. It should include fair tax reform. And it should include spending cuts -- including cuts to defense spending where we can afford them.<br />
<br />
Montanans and all Americans -- and future generations -- deserve no less.
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/debt">Debt</a>, <a href="/tag/deficit">Deficit</a>, <a href="/tag/department-of-defense">Department of Defense</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/robert-gates">Robert Gates</a>, <a href="/tag/foreign-affairs">Foreign Affairs</a>, <a href="/tag/medicare">Medicare</a>, <a href="/tag/jon-tester">Jon Tester</a>, <a href="/tag/military-spending">Military Spending</a>, <a href="/tag/medicare-cuts">Medicare Cuts</a>, <a href="/politics">Politics News</a></p>
Rick Hamlin: Should Taxpayers Support Religion In The Military?http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rick-hamlin/military-chaplains_b_862723.htmlRick Hamlinhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/rick-hamlin/
Not long ago there was an <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/us/27atheists.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=military%20chaplains&st=cse" target="_hplink">article in The New York Times</a> about soldiers looking to have atheist military chaplains in the armed forces. An atheist chaplain? Isn't that a contradiction in terms? And come to think of it, what does a military chaplain do anyway?<br />
<br />
"It's a tremendous opportunity to portray the generosity of God to others, not the stinginess," says recently retired Army chaplain <a href="http://www.guideposts.org/inspirational-stories/guideposts-outreach-makes-inspiring-stories-available-soldiers" target="_hplink">Col. Ken Sampson</a>. "Just by your very presence and the symbol you wear on your collar, you're making a significant reminder of that which is holy." Those symbols could be a cross, a crescent, a tablet of laws, a wheel for the Buddhist chaplain.<br />
<br />
A good chaplain gets to know his troops and makes him or herself available. If a soldier has a personal matter, she can go to the chaplain and blow off steam, complain, ask for counseling, get another point of view, and yes, get spiritual help. But wouldn't a good counselor do just as well?<br />
<br />
"Not necessarily," says Lee Lawrence, a writer and filmmaker who with her colleague spent three months in Iraq and Afghanistan to make their award-winning documentary <a href="http://www.inhisserviceandyours.com/" target="_hplink">Chaplains Under Fire</a>. <em>(Scroll down for excerpt.)</em> "The relationship with a counselor would have to be a lot more formalized. And it wouldn't have the same confessional protection."<br />
<br />
A soldier is more likely to talk to a chaplain, knowing what he says can't be shared. "Of course you're going to point out some options where that person can go to get help," says Chaplain Sampson. "But on the front lines, when a soldier doesn't have the options, you're like a social worker, spiritual advisor and family therapist, all wrapped into one."<br />
<br />
Chaplains are required to minister to all, no matter what a soldier's faith or non-faith. "If a chaplain is well loved and open to all, people don't feel excluded by any language he uses," says Ms. Lawrence. "I've heard chaplains say to a group, 'I'm going to conclude this prayer in my tradition, you can conclude it in yours' and no one seemed to be offended or feel excluded."<br />
<br />
Because a chaplain is an officer although not in the chain of command, he's in a special position. The commanding officer can go to him to get a sense of what the troops are thinking, but he can also advise the officer. "I remember meeting a Navy chaplain," says Ms. Lawrence, "who was the one person on board ship who could and would tell the captain that he was being too strict."<br />
<br />
Before Ms. Lawrence made the documentary she wasn't sure that we should have any religious personnel in the armed forces. She is far more convinced of the chaplains' value now. "One chaplain told me, 'I don't think any war is just but as long as we're sending young people out there then I want them to have spiritual support.' That's closer to how I feel now."<br />
<br />
"If a soldier wants to pray with me, I make it clear that yes, I'm a Protestant and I approach life from the perspective of a triune God, but I will pray with them no matter what their tradition," says Sampson. "Once or twice in my 28 years have I ever had someone refuse. It's sacred, that trust placed in you."<br />
<br />
I work for an organization that among other things <a href="http://www.guidepostsfoundation.org/military-outreach" target="_hplink">supports our military chaplains</a>. I am hardly unbiased. It's a dreadful thing to have to send anyone off to war, but as long as soldiers are in combat I want them to have all the spiritual support they can.<br />
<br />
<strong>WATCH:</strong><br />
<br />
<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/9870934?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="575" height="326" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/9870934">Chaplains Under Fire</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user3299901">Leiturgia Communications</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p><br />
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/prayer">Prayer</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/military-chaplains">Military Chaplains</a>, <a href="/tag/separation-of-church-and-state">Separation of Church and State</a>, <a href="/tag/army-chaplains">Army Chaplains</a>, <a href="/tag/navy-chaplains">Navy Chaplains</a>, <a href="/tag/chaplains">Chaplains</a>, <a href="/tag/religion-in-the-military">Religion in the Military</a>, <a href="/religion">Religion News</a></p>
Peter Van Buren: The War Lovers: Why It Feels So Good to Be Embedded With the U.S. Militaryhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-van-buren/us-military-journalists_b_862571.htmlPeter Van Burenhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-van-buren/
<i>Crossposted with <a href="http://www.TomDispatch.com" target="_hplink">TomDispatch.com</a></i><br />
<br />
<p>Objective reporting on the SEAL team that killed bin Laden was as easy to find as a Prius at a Michele Bachmann rally. The media simply couldn’t help themselves. They couldn’t stop spooning out man-sized helpings of testosterone -- the SEALs’ <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/navy-seal-team-weapons-gadgets-capture-osama-bin/story?id=13520401">phallic weapons</a>, their <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2011/05/navy-seal-team-six-excerpt-201105?printable=true&currentPage=all">frat-house</a>, haze-worthy training, their <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/seals-go-from-superhero-to-sex-symbol/2011/05/04/AFCuNgAG_story.html">romance-novel bravado</a>, their sweaty, heaving chests pressing against tight uniforms, muscles daring to break free...</p><br />
<p>You get the point. Towel off and read on.</p><br />
<p>What is it about the military that turns normally thoughtful journalists into war pornographers? A reporter who would otherwise make it through the day sober spends a little time with some unit of the U.S. military and promptly loses himself in ever more dramatic language about bravery and sacrifice, stolen in equal parts from Thucydides, Henry V, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergeant_Rock">Sergeant Rock</a> comics.</p><br />
<p>I’m neither a soldier nor a journalist. I’m a diplomat, just back from 12 months as a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) leader, embedded with the military in Iraq, and let me tell you that nobody laughed harder at the turgid prose reporters used to describe their lives than the soldiers themselves. They knew they were trading hours of boredom for maybe minutes of craziness that only in retrospect seemed “exciting,” as opposed to scary, confusing, and chaotic. That said, the laziest private knew from growing up watching TV exactly what flavor to feed a visiting reporter.</p><br />
<p>In trying to figure out why journalists and assorted militarized intellectuals from inside the Beltway lose it around the military, I remembered a long afternoon spent with a gaggle of “fellows” from a prominent national security think tank who had flown into Iraq. These scholars wrote serious articles and books that important people read; they appeared on important Sunday morning talk shows; and they served as consultants to even more important people who made decisions about the Iraq War and assumedly other conflicts to come.</p><br />
<p>One of them had been on the staff of a general whose name he dropped more often than Jesus’s at a Southern Baptist A.A. meeting. He was a real live neocon. A quick Google search showed he had strongly supported going to war in Iraq, wrote apology pieces after no one could find any weapons of mass destruction there (“It was still the right thing to do”), and was now back to check out just how well democracy was working out for a paper he was writing to further justify the war. He liked military high-tech, wielded words like “awesome,” “superb,” and “extraordinary” (pronounced EXTRA-ordinary) without irony to describe tanks and guns, and said in reference to the Israeli Army, “They give me a hard-on.”</p><br />
<p><strong>Fearing the Media vs. Using the Media</strong></p><br />
<p>Such figures are not alone. Nerds, academics, and journalists have had trouble finding ways to talk, write, or think about the military in a reasonably objective way. A minority of them have spun off into the dark side, focused on the My Lai, <em>Full Metal Jacket</em>, and <em>Platoon</em>-style psycho killers. But most spin in the other direction, portraying our men and women in uniform as regularly, daily, hourly saving Private Ryan, stepping once more into the breach, and sacking out each night knowing they are abed with brothers.</p><br />
<p>I sort of did it, too. As a State Department Foreign Service Officer embedded with the military in Iraq, I walked in... er, deployed, unprepared. I had never served in the military and had rarely fired a weapon (and never at anything bigger than a beer can on a rock ledge). The last time I punched someone was in ninth grade. Yet over the course of a year, I found myself living and working with the 82nd Airborne, followed by the 10th Mountain Division, and finally the 3rd Infantry Division, three of the most can-do units in the Army. It was... seductive.</p><br />
<p>The military raised a lot of eyebrows in my part of the world early in the Iraq invasion with their policy of embedding journalists with front-line troops. Other than preserving OpSec (Operational Security for those of you who have never had <em>The Experience</em>) and not giving away positions and plans to the bad guys, journalists were free to see and report on anything. No restrictions, no holding back.</p><br />
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608460711/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20"><img src="http://www.tomdispatch.com/images/managed/americanway.gif" alt="" hspace="6" vspace="6" align="left" style="float: left; margin:10px" /></a>Growing up professionally within the State Department, I had been raised to fear the media. “Don’t end up on the front page of the <em>Washington Pos</em>t,” was an often-repeated warning within the State Department, and many a boss now advises young Foreign Service Officers to “re-read that email again, imagining it on the Internet, and see if you still want to send it.” And that’s when we’re deciding what office supplies to recommend to the ambassador, not anything close to the life-and-death stuff a military embed might witness.</p><br />
<p>When I started my career, the boogieman was syndicated columnist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Anderson_%28columnist%29">Jack Anderson</a>, then <em>Washington Post </em>columnist <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/03/24/LI2005032402404.html">Al Kamen</a>. Now, it’s Jon Stewart and WikiLeaks. A mention by name in any of those places is career suicide. Officially, State suggests we avoid “unscripted interactions” with the media. Indeed, in his book on Iraq and Afghan nation-building, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/160819017X/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20"><em>Armed Humanitarians</em></a><em>,</em> Nathan Hodge brags about how he did get a few State Department people to talk to him anonymously in a 300-page book with first-person military quotes on nearly every page.</p><br />
<p>So, in 2003, we diplomats sat back and smugly speculated that the military didn’t mean it, that they’d stage-manage what embedded journalists would see and who they would be allowed to speak to. After all, if someone screwed up and the reporter saw the real thing, it would end up in disaster, as in fact happened when <em>Rolling Stone</em>'s Michael Hastings got Afghan War commander Stanley McCrystal axed as a <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-runaway-general-20100622">“runaway general.”</a></p><br />
<p>We were, however, dead wrong. As everyone now agrees, journalists saw what they saw and talked to whomever they chose and the military facilitated the process. Other than McCrystal (who has <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/04/14/135409604/pat-tillmans-mom-gen-mcchrystals-appointment-a-slap-in-the-face">since been redeemed</a> by the same president who fired him), can anyone name another military person whacked by reporting?</p><br />
<p>I’m waiting.</p><br />
<p>I saw it myself in Iraq. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odierno">General Ray Odierno</a>, then commander of all troops in Iraq, would routinely arrive at some desert dump where I happened to be, reporters in tow. I saw for myself that they would be free to speak about anything to anyone on that Forward Operating Base (which, in acronym-mad Iraq, we all just called an FOB, rhymes with “cob”). The only exception would be me: State had a long-standing policy that on-the-record interviews with its officials had to be pre-approved by the Embassy or often by the Washington Mothership itself.</p><br />
<p>Getting such an approval before a typical reporter’s deadline ran out was invariably near impossible, which assumedly was the whole point of the system. In fact, the rules got even tougher over the course of my year in the desert. When I arrived, the SOP (standard operating procedure) allowed Provincial Reconstruction Team leaders to talk to foreign media without preapproval (on the assumption that no one in Washington read their pieces in other languages anyway and thus no one in the field could get into trouble). This was soon rescinded countrywide and preapproval was required even for these media interactions.</p><br />
<p>Detouring around me, the reporters would ask soldiers their opinions on the war, the Army, or even controversial policies like DADT. (Do I have to freaking spell it out for you? Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.) The reporters would sit through the briefings the general received, listening in as he asked questions. They were exposed to classified material, and trusted not to reveal it in print. They would go out on patrols led by 24-year-old lieutenants, where life-and-death decisions were often made, and were free to report on whatever they saw. It always amazed me -- like that scene in <em>The Wizard of Oz</em> where everything suddenly changes from black and white into color.</p><br />
<p><strong>Fear Not: The Force Is With You</strong></p><br />
<p>But the military wasn’t worried. Why? Because its officials knew perfectly well that for reporters the process was -- not to mince words -- seductive. The world, it turns out, is divided into two groups, those who served in the military and those who didn’t. For the rare journalists with service time, this would be homecoming, a chance to relive their youth filtered through memory. For the others, like me, embedding with the military felt like being invited in -- no, welcomed -- for the first time by the cool kids.</p><br />
<p>You arrive and, of course, you feel awkward, out of place. Everyone has a uniform on and you’re wearing something inappropriate you bought at L.L. Bean. You don’t know how to wear your body-armor vest and helmet, which means that someone has to show you how to dress yourself. When was the last time that happened? Instead of making fun of you, though, the soldier is cool with it and just helps.</p><br />
<p>Then, you start out not knowing what the hell anyone is saying, because they throw around terms like FOB and DFAC and POS and LT and BLUF and say Hoo-ah, but sooner or later someone begins to explain them to you one by one, and after a while you start to feel pretty cool saying them yourself and better yet, repeating them to people at home in emails and, if you’re a journalist, during live reports. (“Sorry Wolf, that’s an insider military term. Let me explain it to our viewers…”)</p><br />
<p>You go out with the soldiers and suddenly you’re riding in some kind of armored, motorized monster truck. You’re the only one without a weapon and so they have to protect you. Instead of making fun of you and looking at you as if you were dressed as a Naughty Schoolgirl, they’re cool with it. Bored at only having one another to talk to, fellow soldiers who eat the exact same food, watch the exact same TV, and sleep, pee and work together every day for a year, the troops see you as quite interesting. You can’t believe it, but they really do want to know what you know, where you’ve been, and what you’ve seen -- and you want to tell them.</p><br />
<p>Even though you may be only a few years older than many of them, you feel fatherly. For women, it works similarly, but with the added bonus that, no matter what you look like, you’re treated as the most beautiful female they’ve seen in the last six months -- and it’s probably true.</p><br />
<p>The same way one year in a dog’s life equals seven human years, every day spent in a war zone is the equivalent of a month relationship-wise. You quickly grow close to the military people you’re with, and though you may never see any of them again after next week, you bond with them.</p><br />
<p>You arrived a stranger and a geek. Now, you eat their food, watch their TV, and sleep, pee, and work together every day. These are your friends, at least for the time you’re together, and you’re never going to betray them. Under those circumstances, it’s harder than hell to say anything bad about the organization whose lowest ranking member just gave up his sleeping bag without prompting because you were too green and dumb to bring one with you.</p><br />
<p>One time I got so sick that I spent half a day inside a latrine stall. What got me out was some anonymous soldier tossing a packet of anti-diarrheal medicine in. He never said a word, just gave it to me and left. He’d likely do the same if called upon to protect me, help move my gear, or any of a thousand other small gestures.</p><br />
<p>So, take my word for it, it’s really, really hard to write about the military objectively, even if you try. That’s not to say that all journalists are shills; it’s just a warning for you to take care when you’re hanging out with, or reading, our warrior-pundits.</p><br />
<p>And yet having some perspective on the military and what it does matters as we threaten to slip into yet more multigenerational wars without purpose, watch the <a href="http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2011/05/10/the-militarization-of-foreign-policy/">further militarization</a> of foreign affairs, and devote ever more of our national budget to the military. War lovers and war pornographers can’t offer us an objective look at a world in which more and more foreigners only run into Americans when they are wearing green and carrying weapons.</p><br />
<p>I respect my military colleagues, at least the ones who took it all seriously enough to deserve that respect, and would not speak ill of them. Some do indeed make enormous sacrifices, including of their own lives, even if for reasons that are ambiguous at best to a majority of Americans. But in order to understand these men and women and the tasks they are set to, we need journalists who are willing to type with both hands, not just pass on their own wet dreams to a gullible public.</p><br />
<p>Civilian control of our military is a cornerstone of our republic, and we the people need to base our decisions on something better than Sergeant Rock comic rewrites.</p><br />
<p><em>Peter Van Buren spent a year in Iraq</em><em> as a State Department Foreign Service Officer</em><em> serving as Team Leader for two Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs). Now in Washington, he writes about Iraq and the Middle East at his blog, </em><a href="http://www.wemeantwell.com/"><em>We Meant Well</em></a><em>. His book, </em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0805094369/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20">We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People</a> (<em>The American Empire Project, Metropolitan Books), will be published this September and can be preordered by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0805094369/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20">clicking here</a>. To listen to Timothy MacBain’s latest TomCast audio interview in which Van Buren discusses the farce of nation-building in Iraq, click <a href="http://tomdispatch.blogspot.com/2011/05/we-meant-well.html">here</a>, or download it to your iPod <a href="http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=j0SS4Al/iVI&amp;subid=&amp;offerid=146261.1&amp;type=10&amp;tmpid=5573&amp;RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fpodcast%2Ftomcast-from-tomdispatch-com%2Fid357095817">here</a>.</em></p><br />
<br />
<p>[<strong>Note:</strong> The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of the Department of State, the Department of Defense, or any other entity of the U.S. Government. The Department of State has not approved, endorsed, or authorized this post.]<em> <br /></em></p><br />
<p><i>Copyright 2011 Peter Van Buren</i></p>
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/journalists">Journalists</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/journalists-military-coverage">Journalists Military Coverage</a>, <a href="/tag/military-coverage">Military Coverage</a>, <a href="/tag/us-military-journalists">Us Military Journalists</a>, <a href="/tag/rolling-stone-stanley-mcchrystal">Rolling Stone Stanley Mcchrystal</a>, <a href="/tag/war-coverage">War Coverage</a>, <a href="/tag/war-journalists">War Journalists</a>, <a href="/tag/us-military">U.S. Military</a>, <a href="/media">Media News</a></p>
Chris Rodda: The 'Gamble Report' -- A Defeat for Mikey Weinstein and His Forces of Satan?http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-rodda/the-gamble-report-a-defea_b_862262.htmlChris Roddahttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-rodda/
<p>In its latest attempt to give the appearance of concern about complaints of religious intolerance, the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) recently conducted a five-day "investigation" that (big surprise) found that there were no problems at all, save for the occasional minor incident that could always be resolved at the lowest level.</p><br />
<br />
<p>Heading the investigation was retired Air Force General Patrick Gamble, a former Commandant of Cadets at USAFA, and the investigative team included a former USAFA dean and two former USAFA department heads -- certainly no chance that this team would want the Academy to come out smelling like roses, is there?</p><br />
<br />
<p>These were some of the findings in Gamble's report, released on April 15:</p><br />
<br />
<blockquote><p>"Cadets' acceptance of those with different beliefs is <i>exceptional.</i> USAFA should be recognized for its institutional leadership in this area."</p><br />
<br />
<p>"We found widespread agreement that everyone throughout the chain of command has been given and is giving appropriate guidance with respect to official neutrality, not only among religions, but also between religious and non-religious beliefs."</p><br />
<br />
<p>"Cadets and permanent party expressed a near-uniform belief that they can (and do) make their own choices to participate - or not - in religious activities, without repercussion. Reports of actual pressure to participate were rare and easily resolved by simply expressing that the invitation or speech was unwelcome."</p><br />
<br />
<p>"Cadets are not unduly stressed about possible pressure to join or conform to a religion, and the majority clearly feels empowered to deal with unwanted approaches. Across the board, cadets disavow that any favoritism or retribution would accrue based upon religious or non-religious affiliation."</p><br />
<br />
<p>"Cadets clearly feel that they have the ability to resolve a conflict over religious tolerance and freedom, usually by addressing the issue head-on, by themselves. Alternatively, they have great confidence that their chain-of-command will be able to help them if called upon. The Superintendent was specifically lauded for his leadership in this area several times by faculty, staff, and cadets."</p><br />
<br />
<p>"The cadets with whom we talked trusted the various mechanisms internal to USAFA (including the cadet chain of command, the Interfaith Council, PEERS, AOCs/AMTs, and chaplains). These reporting mechanisms were deemed responsive and effective. In view of certain media reports of claims to the contrary we looked hard, but found no direct or supportable widespread evidence of cadets resorting to the use of outside agencies or organizations."</p><br />
<br />
<p>"We found no evidence in our interviews at any level that anyone fears for their physical safety based upon their religious beliefs or non-belief."</p></blockquote><br><br />
<br />
<p>How could Gen. Gamble's findings, described as an "assessment of the current religious climate at the US Air Force Academy," be so drastically different than what was just reported by cadets and faculty last fall in the Academy's biannual "<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-rodda/civil-rights-and-religiou_b_742437.html">Climate Survey</a>," in which 353 cadets (almost 1 out of every 5 survey participants) reported having been subjected to unwanted religious proselytizing, and 23 cadets (13 of them Christians) reported living "in fear of their physical safety" because of their religious beliefs?</p><br />
<br />
<p>The answer is simple: 40 percent of the Academy's cadets and 53 percent of the faculty staff members participated in the Climate Survey, confident that this anonymous survey really was anonymous, while only a few dozen faculty and staff members and only about a hundred cadets (barely more than 2 percent) were willing to participate in Gamble's investigation, due primarily to fears that the interviews with Gamble's team would not be kept confidential. In other words, the cadets who have actually experienced problems did not participate, allowing Gamble to base his findings on a sampling consisting of cadets who at best just haven't personally experienced the problems reported in the Climate Survey, and at worst included those who are among the perpetrators of these problems.</p><br />
<br />
<p>As one Academy faculty member wrote to the <a href="http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org">Military Religious Freedom Foundation</a> (MRFF) after reading Gamble's report, which includes a section on the investigation's methodology: "You don't do proper research with a self-selected sample -- unless, of course, you are fishing for the answers you already want. ... Frankly, General Gamble, I expected better. This Gamble Report would be laughed out of committee as even as a master's degree proposal. It doesn't even make a good term paper."</p><br />
<br />
<p>Another faculty member, referring to a faculty meeting at which the Gamble report was addressed, wrote: "What struck me as odd was that the Dean told everyone that the study used a random sample of cadets and faculty. A random sample? I think not. The cadets and faculty self-selected to provide interviews." This faculty member went on to tell MRFF that, at this same meeting, the dean proceeded to quote the Bible while addressing another item on the agenda, writing: "Are we to trust our leadership with improving the religious atmosphere if they are the ones quoting scripture? She made no attempt to apologize for the remark. I'm not even sure if it registered that she just quoted the Bible during a staff meeting."</p><br />
<br />
<p>MRFF also heard from numerous cadets after the Gamble report was released. Not surprisingly, with the report pointing out that Gamble's team had "read media releases from both inside and outside USAFA concerning charges made by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation," there was some talk about MRFF upon the report's release. As one cadet reported in the following email excerpt, the Gamble report was touted as "a defeat for Mikey Weinstein [the founder and president of MRFF] and his Forces of Satan."</p><br />
<br />
<blockquote><p>"I am USAFA cadet about to finish my third year here (cadet second class) and have not been a MRFF client before today. I am of the Christian faith (Lutheran). I do not have very much time to express my views as we're at the end of a very demanding semester (my major is xxxxx) and I still have final projects due shortly and then finals week. The report which came out yesterday by the retired general (Gamble) on the USAFA religious climate has been making its way around the Cadet Wing. I was in an informal but serious meeting in my cadet squadron yesterday when the topic of this report came up. There was an Air Force Officer and an Air Force NCO there talking with us as well. A very senior cadet leader (that's how I will describe him or her) said, 'This is a clear victory for the Gospel of our Lord and Savior and just as certain a defeat for Mikey Weinstein and his Forces of Satan.' I was really surprised twice with that mean statement. First, that it was even said like that at all in response to the Gen. Gamble report findings. Second, that nobody, not even the USAF Officer or USAF NCO, said or did anything to oppose that terrible statement. I didn't either. I didn't want to get onto the wrong radar screen here at USAFA with regards to religion. I've seen what happens if you do."</p></blockquote><br><br />
<br />
<p>MRFF currently has over 260 clients at the Air Force Academy, including both cadets and faculty and staff members. Many of these clients belong to a group of over a hundred Academy cadets who, in order to maintain good standing among their peers and superiors, are actually pretending to be fundamentalist Christians. They leave Bibles, Christian literature, and Christian music CDs lying around their rooms; they attend fundamentalist Christian Bible studies; they feign devoutness at the Academy's weekly "Special Programs in Religious Education" (SPIRE) programs. They do whatever they have to do to play the role of the "right kind" of Christian cadets, in constant fear of being "outed." As the leader of this "underground" group of cadets wrote: "If any of us gave even the slightest indication that we weren't one of their number, our lives would be even more miserable than they already are due to the fact that we are all living lies here. Despite the Cadet Honor Code we all lie about our lives. We have to."</p><br />
<br />
<p>In the same email, the cadet quoted above explained how the reaction to the Gamble report led them to join this "'pretend to be an evangelical Christian' group," as they called it.</p><br />
<br />
<blockquote><p>"Just one example of many I could talk about is Gen. Gamble says in his report that a polite 'no thank you' to Christian religious proselytizing is just fine and dandy. It is not for at least two reasons, Mr. Weinstein. First, if you try to be polite and say 'no thanks' to them they NEVER stop asking you repeatedly to reconsider. Second, you KNOW that eventually you are going to get 'them' mad at you by always 'politely declining.' I and many other cadets have seen and experienced this over and over again. This is why there is a large group of USAFA cadets (larger at least than the size of the group that Gen. Gamble says he interviewed) who pretend to be evangelical Christians in order to just be left alone. I was only vaguely familiar with that group and its ties to MRFF until what happened yesterday with that 'celebration' statement regarding the Gen. Gamble report being made about you and your 'Forces of Satan' in front of all the other cadets and that USAF Officer and NCO with absolutely noone saying a word of protest or discontent. I guess my reaction of shock was picked up by another cadet who is in that 'pretend to be an evangelical Christian' group. He or she spoke to me right afterwards and now I, too, am with them. And now I, too, am with MRFF."</p></blockquote><br><br />
<br />
<p>Now, why would over a hundred cadets (many of whom are actually Christians, but the "wrong kind" of Christians, i.e. Catholic or mainline Protestant) feel that they have to pretend to be something they're not when Gen. Gamble's team found that: "Cadets and permanent party expressed a near-uniform belief that they can (and do) make their own choices to participate - or not - in religious activities, without repercussion."</p><br />
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<p>Needless to say, none of the cadets who are pretending to be fundamentalist Christians participated in Gamble's investigation. They were afraid to. One of MRFF's faculty member clients, however, did participate. This faculty member was David Mullin, a Presbyterian who had recently stepped up to be the plaintiff in MRFF's effort to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-rodda/vietnam-veterans-of-ameri_b_812431.html">block former Marine Lt. Clebe McClary</a>, a fundamentalist Christian speaker to whom "USMC will always mean U.S. Marine for Christ," from speaking at the Academy. Mullin, having already outed himself as a religious "dissenter," didn't think he had anything more to lose by speaking to the Gamble team, but shortly thereafter, his dog Caleb (a service dog trained to assist Mullin, who has a medical condition that causes dizzy spells) was <a href="http://www.csindy.com/IndyBlog/archives/2011/04/27/dog-poisoned-academy-investigates">poisoned</a> while waiting in Mullin's office while he was teaching a class. Caleb, who nearly died, required three blood transfusions after being rushed to an emergency veterinary facility.</p><br />
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<p>But it doesn't take something as dramatic as a dog being poisoned to send the message to the USAFA cadets that God comes first at the Academy. This message is drummed into their heads at every opportunity. In February, for example, at the Academy's annual National Character and Leadership Symposium (NCLS), the message was made clear by <a href="http://www.ncls2011.net/NCLSWebSite/WebPage/Bios2011/PGould.htm?catname=ncls">Paula Gould</a>, wife of Academy Superintendent Lt. General Mike Gould.</p><br />
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<p>Mrs. Gould, herself a former officer in the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve Command, began her presentation by talking about an entirely appropriate and relevant subject -- the discrimination she had to overcome as one of the first female Air National Guard pilots. But she quickly turned to other not so appropriate subjects, like how cute her husband is, and how she knew she had found the right guy when he took her to church on one of their first dates. (I don't think anything more needs to be said about the complete impropriety and downright bizarreness of Mrs. Gould talking to an audience of Academy cadets about how cute their Lt. Gen. Superintendent is like they were a bunch of her girlfriends.) The rest of Mrs. Gould's presentation consisted of showing a slide show of family photos, and repeatedly stating that the priorities of both herself and her incredibly cute husband are: "God first, family second, and job third." According to Mrs. Gould, if you follow these priorities, "you're gonna make it easier on yourself" and "live with joy in your life" because "you're doing the good, the just, the right thing."</p><br />
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<p>Here are some video clip highlights from Mrs. Gould's NCLS speech:</p><br />
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<p>Among the many heartwarming family photos shown by Mrs. Gould during this speech was one of the Gould family with Chad Hennings, who happened to be one of the other speakers appearing at this year's NCLS. Hennings, an Air Force Academy graduate who went on to play for the Dallas Cowboys, now runs a ministry called "<a href="http://www.wingmendfw.com/">Wingmen</a>," whose stated goal is "to bring men together in a neutral setting where we can develop relationships with other men of God and deepen our relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."</p><br />
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<p>Much of Chad Hennings's NCLS speech sounded like it was straight out of an episode of Glenn Beck -- how our culture is declining and we're going the same route that led Germany into becoming Nazi Germany, etc. He also talked about a bunch of books that could easily be Glenn Beck's recommend reading list, including one by an author who's been a guest on Beck's show, and just happens to also be a speaker for Hennings's Wingmen ministry. And, naturally, Hennings's speech was also chock full of Bible quotes.</p><br />
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<p>Hennings has been <a href="http://christianfighterpilot.com/blog/2011/03/03/christian-fighter-pilot-addresses-usafa/">lauded</a> as a "Christian Fighter Pilot" by someone who should know -- Air Force Maj. Jonathan C. Dowty, who runs a blog called "<a href="http://www.christianfighterpilot.com/">Christian Fighter Pilot</a>," and published a book with the same name. Maj. Dowty, a 1999 graduate of the Air Force Academy, is also a member of the <a href="http://www.ocfusa.org/">Officers' Christian Fellowship</a> (OCF), a military-wide organization of over 15,000 officers, which is very active at the Air Force Academy. The OCF has never been shy about its goals, frequently stating that its "vision" is: "A spiritually transformed military, with ambassadors for Christ in uniform, empowered by the Holy Spirit."</p><br />
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<p>Last September, a blog post by Maj. Dowty, whose obsession with Mikey Weinstein and MRFF has led him to write well over a hundred blog posts attacking Weinstein and/or MRFF, was included in the Air Force Academy's "Falcon Clips" email. These daily emails, which go out to all Academy cadets, staff, and faculty, begin with the statement: "MESSAGE SENT ON BEHALF OF THE SUPERINTENDENT," and the description: "The Falcon Clips attachment is a daily compilation of local and national news stories relevant to the Air Force Academy and military personnel." The September 21, 2010 Falcon Clips included an item that was neither a local nor a national news story, but a diatribe against MRFF from Maj. Dowty's "Christian Fighter Pilot" blog, titled "<a href="http://christianfighterpilot.com/blog/2010/09/20/bat-signal-busted-weinstein-declares-war-back-on/">Bat Signal busted, Weinstein declares war back on</a>." This blog post was the second of the fourteen "news" items in the Academy-wide email, and was listed under the heading "SUPT COMMENTARY." Scores of outraged cadets and faculty members contacted MRFF about the Academy's distribution not only of a non-newsworthy rant by a blogger, but the endorsement of a blogger who is an active duty Air Force officer promoting Christian supremacy in the military.</p><br />
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<p>As one Academy faculty member, an active duty USAF officer, wrote to MRFF upon seeing Maj. Dowty's post in the Falcon Clips: "How can we look upon our senior staff as defenders of the Constitution when they clearly endorse this pro-Christian supremacy commentary? When they don't take a hard stance against this type of behavior, what are we to think as their subordinates? This is why I am always reluctant to air my grievances -- what will they do to me because I don't support their beliefs?"</p><br />
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<p>The situations might be different -- the Gamble investigation, the Academy's National Character and Leadership Symposium, the distribution by the Academy's superintendent of an inappropriate blog post -- but the reaction is always the same. Cadets, and even faculty members, who don't fit into the Academy's prescribed religious mold are afraid to speak out, always coming back to that question: "What will they do to me because I don't support their beliefs?"</p>
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/military-religious-freedom-foundation">Military Religious Freedom Foundation</a>, <a href="/tag/religion-and-the-military">Religion and the Military</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/air-force-academy">Air Force Academy</a>, <a href="/tag/mikey-weinstein">Mikey Weinstein</a>, <a href="/tag/mrff">Mrff</a>, <a href="/tag/air-force">Air Force</a>, <a href="/politics">Politics News</a></p>
Norm Stamper: Another 9/11? Call 911http://www.huffingtonpost.com/norm-stamper/another-911-call-911_b_861964.htmlNorm Stamperhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/norm-stamper/
From Rice to Rove, former Bush administration officials were all over the airways this past weekend, touting their regime's choice of war -- strategically, tactically, semantically -- as a means of avenging the deaths of almost 3,000 Americans and foreign nationals in the 9/11 attacks. And, incredibly, as a method to locate and bring to justice Osama bin Laden. <br />
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But bin Laden was a criminal. He presided over an unlawful syndicate, not the armed forces of a recognized state. Motivated by an extremist ideology, to be sure, his killing spree of September 11, 2001 was, at bottom, the work of a mass murderer -- a killer who from the beginning should have been treated and tracked as a criminal.<br />
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For bin Laden and others of his ilk, terrorism is simply a tool, a tactic.<br />
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Fortunately, law enforcement professionals assigned to the case grasped this fundamental truth. They treated the hunt for bin Laden as a police mission and, because they did, the man is no longer a threat. <br />
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Examples of the "criminal justice" approach? For starters, bin Laden was on the FBI's Most Wanted List, a distinction earned well before 9/11 for, among other offenses, murdering Americans abroad. His cohorts on the list at the time of his death included other killers, racketeers, money launderers, drug dealers, kidnappers, rapists, bank robbers, those wanted for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, or confinement (i.e., escapees), and an old-school organized crime figure whose 19 counts of murder date back to the early seventies. <em>Police work.<br />
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Further, bin Laden's whereabouts was established by dogged detective work. Even as it appeared we'd never nab the country's most violent criminal, the CIA, FBI, and military and civilian law enforcement personnel worked their "cold case" with diligence -- despite years of interference caused by pointless, irksome politics. <em>Police work.</em><br />
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As with so many other criminal cases, the suspect's precise location was detected through a process that involved interrogation, witness interviews, the cultivation of snitches, telephone tips, deductive reasoning, and surveillance. <em> Police work.<br />
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And the murderer was taken down by the tactical equivalent of a practiced, superbly competent and courageous "SWAT" team, whose members included a K-9. <em>Police work.</em><br />
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On a grander-than-usual scale, bin Laden's apprehension was the result of good, old-fashioned police work.<br />
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Yet, thanks to the graphic horrors of 9/11, the resulting fears of the American people, and the impulsiveness and hubris of a president, we went to war. Twice. <br />
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Given the circumstances, the first war was at least justifiable. The Taliban ruled Afghanistan. It had partnered with al-Qaeda, and it used the country as a recruiting and training ground for virulent anti-American activities. More to the point, U.S. intelligence sources had reason to believe that heavily armed Taliban forces were helping bin Laden hide out in the mountains of Tora Bora, near the border of Pakistan. Surely, the fog of war, the overwhelming presence of U.S. forces in Afghanistan would facilitate his capture. <br />
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Bush's second war was a shock-and-awe invasion of a country that neither produced nor harbored the criminal responsible for the heinous crimes of 9/11. The administration knew that Iraq was not sheltering bin Laden. But the clock was ticking. The failure to quickly detect and apprehend the man responsible for the atrocities of 9/11 gave lie to the president's promise to get bin Laden, "dead or alive." He needed someone to attack.<br />
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The invasion and occupation of Iraq was (and continues to be) an enormously expensive undertaking, costing us dearly in lives, dollars, and America's standing in the global conversation. And it was a huge distraction from the manhunt to catch bin Laden.<br />
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Everyone agrees, we've not seen the last terrorist act on U.S. soil, or against American military personnel or civilians in other parts of the world. But the capture of Osama bin Laden argues elegantly against high-priced, regime-changing, nation-building, mission-creeping war, and its inevitable collateral damage, in order to go after individuals who are, at bottom, criminals.<br />
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(Imagine the outcome of the May 2 raid in Abbottabad had we used the safer military strategy of bombing the compound. Everything of value, bin Laden's body, his DNA, the trove of intelligence would have been atomized. It's doubtful we would have learned of bin Laden's uninterrupted leadership of al-Qaeda, of his determination to carry out future assaults on American soil: aspiring to bigger body counts, targeting small cities as well as large, hitting trains, attacking on significant dates like holidays and anniversaries of 9/11.)<br />
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Lots of questions remain about how to pursue an international criminal. They're laden with issues of efficacy, morality, constitutionality. Questions about joint military and civilian operations; new and continuing challenges to global intelligence gathering and sharing; cultivation of informants in hostile territory, especially among potential sources with unfamiliar religions, cultures, languages and loyalties; enhanced methods of interrogation, especially waterboarding; military tribunals vs. civilian courts; Guantanamo Bay vs. Colorado's federal Supermax penitentiary; advance notice (or calculated absence thereof) of our intended hot pursuit of criminal targets in allied lands. How we answer these questions will further define us as a nation. <br />
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But one thing is plain. Had we from the start used a fundamentally criminal justice/police model of tracking down a "high value" target like Osama bin Laden, we would have avoided the most expensive manhunt in the history of the world.<br />
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And, I believe, we would have caught our man years ago. <br />
<p>Read more: <a href="/tag/abbottabad">Abbottabad</a>, <a href="/tag/law-enforcement">Law Enforcement</a>, <a href="/tag/military-tribunals">Military Tribunals</a>, <a href="/tag/pakistan">Pakistan</a>, <a href="/tag/george-w-bush">George W. Bush</a>, <a href="/tag/iraq">Iraq</a>, <a href="/tag/k9">K-9</a>, <a href="/tag/fbi">F.B.I.</a>, <a href="/tag/osama-bin-laden">Osama Bin Laden</a>, <a href="/tag/military">Military</a>, <a href="/tag/alqaeda">Al-Qaeda</a>, <a href="/tag/afghanistan">Afghanistan</a>, <a href="/tag/enhanced-interrogation">Enhanced Interrogation</a>, <a href="/tag/cia">C.I.A.</a>, <a href="/tag/bin-laden-tora-bora">Bin Laden Tora Bora</a>, <a href="/tag/swat">S.W.a.T</a>, <a href="/tag/terrorism">Terrorism</a>, <a href="/politics">Politics News</a></p>