Thanks for the Fish

Back in Europe for work. Sounds cool but let's be honest - I've got three kids, a disabled wife and a house full of neurotic pets. I have responsibilities at home and I want to be with them.

This blows huge a$$!

Good to get that off my chest. Today is not about them; M, BBG, the grommets, or other wayward and god protected fools. Its about YOU. I just wanted to say thanks for all of the great notes and comments I've been getting over the last few weeks. If you never read, I'd still write - its my thing. It does however help me a lot. This is my wee way of making sure that the above and those to come are never forgotten. It is also a way for me to feel a little less alone in this giant interconnected world that isolates us all. I get to throw out my two cents, in what I hope is a reasonable fashion and some of you have been very kind over the long haul. I write because I need to but its nice to be noticed.

All I can say is thanks but its a heartfelt one at that. I would ask one thing: Share my blog or some of the others out there about all of this with a friend and ask them to pass it on.

Great directory is http://www.blogcatalog.com

Here's my continuing spiel...

We have tens of thousands of young men and women who have been injured and wounded in service of our nation. This is a non political issue. We have a responsibility to take care of those who serve in our name. The only way that will happen is if we spread the message. I have friends who lived in horrible conditions for more than a year while they went through the Army Physical Disability Evaluation System (PDES) and no one cared until a hole in the back corner of Walter Reed showed up in the Washington Post and on NBC nightly news. You don't have to pick my blog but find one or two about life after the GWOT and pass it around. Make sure that M's stop happening.

TIA

Earl

Fiddler's Green

The beautiful thing about the military is that you lose track of old friends, switch duty stations, walk into the briefing room and lo and behold - there they are. The years melt away and you fill the gap with stories of wives, children, and the myriad of other things that fill our lives.

I learned today that an old friend's son was killed in Afghanistan last July. I remember when he was fourteen and wanted nothing more than a day with his dad. He died, a cavalryman, saving his soldiers. This one goes out to his mother and father. Nothing we say can ever be enough.

Fiddler's Green (Cavalry)

Halfway down the trail to hell
In a shady meadow green,
Are the souls of all dead troopers camped
Near a good old-time canteen

And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddler's Green.

Marching past, straight through to hell,
The infantry are seen, '
Accompanied by the Engineers,
Artillery and Marine,


For none but the shades of Cavalrymen
Dismount at Flddlers' Green.

Though some go curving down the trail
To seek a warmer scene,
No trooper ever gets to Hell
Ere he's emptied his canteen,

And so rides back to drink agaln
With friends at Fiddlers' Green.

And so when man and horse go down
Beneath a saber keen,
Or in a roaring charge or fierce melee
You stop a bullet clean,
And the hostiles come to get your scalp,
Just empty your canteen,

And put your pistol to your head
And go to Fiddlers' Green.


TIA

Earl

VFW: Vets Take Care of Their Own

The new year is here so now I live up to my promise.

Less me and more them!

Last Sunday, the VFW and Women's its Auxiliary, here in Denver, treated a group of vets and their families to a day at the National Western Stock Show. My wife and children and I were fortunate enough to be part of that group. They took care of us, bought us tickets, lunch, dinner, games, and included disposable camera's, cowboy hats for the kids, and for some reason a huge gift card to a local grocery store. For a day, we got to relax and we got to spend some time with other disabled vets and their families and some families of currently deployed service members.

Members of the VFW and the Women's Auxiliary escorted us throughout the event. I spent the rodeo seated with the parents of Navy Seal Danny Dietz, Navy Cross honoree, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005. Two people who gave the most precious gift a parent can give to their nation gave a little bit more to me and my family. I am honored and humbled to have spent time with them and my simple "Thank you" was inadequate at best.

Once again our Veteran's Organizations have proven that we take care of our own.


I'd like to give a shout out to the individual folks who put this on but you know how I am about calling out names here and I'd how hate to be the butterfly so as a prior enlisted Marine and an Army Warrant I'll fall back on old faithful - Semper Fi!

I had the chance to spend some time with a young soldier who was badly wounded in Iraq back in 2005. He can walk again and despite the dark sunglasses (Post TBI Migraine need) it was like walking with many of the NCO's I have called my brothers, friends, and soldiers. He has been beaten up and broken up but he is not broken down and its his story I'd like to share today. I'll call him "M".

M, like my BBG, was hit by an IED or many as is the case for lots of our disable GWOT vets. After three tours, he has a traumatic brain injury among other issues. He was rushed out of the Army like so many others. He was not retired by the Army. He was given a ten percent disability, a small severance check and sent packing. Like BBG, he is changed forever. Like BBG, he grimaces and pushes on, ignores the cane in the corner when he can, and gives thanks for what he has left - his life!

His parent left their home and life in New Mexico to take care of their baby boy because that's what parents do. They came to his aid so he didn't have to live in a VA Group Home and so they could ensure he received the best of care. They dropped it all and took care of the boy they raised into a man so our Nation could use him and spit him out. I don't mean to sound bitter (OK - too bitter) but this should not be happening any more. As Americans we owe them (M, BBG, and thousands of others) more than a bum rush out the door when they're no longer battle ready.

It is obvious that the Army screwed up but it is made worse by the fact that the Army continues to screw this young man. You see, he has appealed his 10% disability and the Army, in all its wisdom, now says that it has no record that he ever served in Iraq. If he never served in Iraq, they reason, he could never have been wounded and thus he does not deserve an appeal.

Even more amazing, M and his parents are thankful that he came home. They are thankful and proud to have served - proud to be Americans. Like so many others, he looks at what he has accomplished, not at what he has lost.


I will try to live up to that example this year.


There are thousands of M's out there and we need to fix it. If our military's senior leaders cannot correct this systemic failure in their own organizations, they have lost the right to lead. I am sure that many of you will be more than a little pissed at me for that comment but lets be honest here: We promote General Officers because they have the superior leadership skills and the technical skills to be war fighters and administrators. They are not living up to the standard and we need to promote men and women who have the skill set to do both. Those who cannot meet the demands of their roles need to go away.

I know the economy is about as bad as it gets but we owe these men and woman. Whether you agree with the politics that have brought us to this place and these wars, we elected the leadership that has sent young men and women in harms way.

We, you and me..

We own this and we owe these young men and women more than a handshake and a thank you. We owe them our dedication and service in their honor. We owe them a system that meets their needs when they are damaged answering the call.

I would challenge each of you to do something. Write letters to your representatives, share this story with your friends. Challenge your local media outlets to tell more of these soldiers' stories. Find a young wife or husband..

Yep - new Army is full of young husbands left behind too

Find them and do something extra. Don't ask, just stop by and mow the lawn, shovel a driveway, babysit and send them to the spa. Let them know that what they do will never be forgotten.

TIA

Earl

What Matters this Year

A friend once told me that what makes the New Year so great is that its new. In the span of a night, and a lot of bad booze, you can become a new you. It doesn't matter what you said or did the day, hell the year, before. That was then and this is now. You are new and so is the world. I used to believe it.



Sorry Virginia - there isn't a Santa Claus. There are no do overs and the big blue marble still spins at twenty six thousand miles an hour. We cannot stop and we cannot get off. Now, before you roll your eyes and dread the coming storm - its not coming!



We have had a hard few years since my BBG got medevac'd out of Iraq - I've told you all about it but what the hell, the juice has been worth the squeeze.



My wife and I have had adventures that most can never imagine (between you and I, you don't really want to). My daughters know that a woman can do anything - including combat. They know to never surrender, to never give up and that sometimes life hits you with an IED, RPG, or other unpleasant projectile. They know to stand up and be counted. My son knows the Marine Corps Hymn by heart and knows that honor is more than a word.



My children will grow up as Americans. They will know and honor the sacrifices made by those who came before and by those who will surely follow. I pray that don't choose that road but I know the way this works. Soldiers breed soldiers. It is a life of friendship and hardship and it seeps into your bones. It is a part of you.



besides



My oldest daughter wants to fly Hawks like her old man and my son wants to go West Point. Thank god the youngest just wants to be a cheerleader, a vet, and a princess.



Back to my point:



Its been a rough year - OK, four rough years. We are however alive and a little better than we were last year and there are many other young men and women and their families w ho need your help much more than we. This year, I am going to try and tell more of their stories and less of mine.



I hope you'll come back to read them. These young men and women have given so much and despite the thank you's that they hear in airports or the random books and letters that show up on their racks in Iraq and Afghanistan- many of them (many of their families) feel very alone. America's eyes and ears are on a failing economy. They are not on section sixty-one in Arlington. They are not on a friend of mine who can't seem to get his VA claim completed. They are not on the son of a friend who was rushed through the Army Physical Disability Evaluation System (PDES) and discharged with a check for four grand and no benefits.



The New Year is upon us and we're still spinning at twenty-four thousand miles an hour. The market's a mess, jobs are disappearing every day but none of that matters. Young men and women are standing in harms way. They are being blown up by IEDs, RPGs and other shitty things. They are dying.



That matters and this year is for them.



TIA



Earl

Reading and Writing

Its been a rough month (ok - a rough four years) so you'll have to excuse me if I throw a couple out there that have nothing to do with the familia or Iraq.

You start to get tired

You may have noticed by my goals section to the right that I am a writer. I also happen to be a voracious reader. I probably read five books a week in addition to writing about 5,000 words. For me, the great escape, is a quiet house in the wee hours and good music and great writing or reading. I read it all from history to Steven King to Nicholas Sparks and everything in between.

On that thought - I thought I'd share something with you.




TIA

Earl

Pink Better than Scarlet Jo and Jello

Sorry SJ - you're still in the top two but sex appeal, a smokin voice and the video did you in. The video says it all




TIA

Earl

Do not go gentle into that good night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
(Dylan Thomas)

BBG is alive, the kids are safely tucked into their dreams, and we have hopefully buried the last comrade, friend, son, father, other mothers brother or other - someones other someone and I am tired. Do you suppose its over yet or will I wave at my children as they off to this war we fight - away from the cares of the rest of America?

I knew I should have stayed away from the meth

yeah right

TIA

Earl