The Pentagon is Now Saying There Are Over 140,000 Americans Still Trapped in Afghanistan

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I told you in my last post that I would be sharing more discounts for veterans. However the current military news is overwhelming right now and we need to know…

Military news…

The Pentagon has quietly removed a massive collection of Afghanistan War footage totaling more than 120,000 photos and 17,000 videos from its official visual record.

(Something to hide?)

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Speaking of Afghanistan, millions of Afghans will starve as Americans carve Thanksgiving turkeys this month.

(So sad. )

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“Setting up and operating out of a small airport terminal with minimal supplies, equipment, people and so forth is almost like the Air Force dream.” That’s from Master Sgt. Daniel Fajardo, who helped set up a mini airfield with a few dozen other airmen in the middle of the Pacific this summer in preparation for a possible war with China.

(Hope they never need it.)

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An Air Force colonel who was relieved of command last month claims she was fired because she did not personally order her subordinates to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

(MIxed emotions on this.)

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The Marine Corps has publicly admitted what many junior Marines have long known: That it doesn’t really care if you stick around past your first enlistment,

(So very sad.)

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The U.S. military’s toxic exposure problem is far bigger than just ‘burn pits,’ writes Keith Dow in this opinion piece. Whether it’s fuel, chemicals, exhaust or ammunition, chances are that if you’ve served, you’ve likley been exposed to toxic substances, no matter if you’ve deployed or not.

(Scary.)

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Three years after a belly-landing wrecked its nose, A-10 tail number 80-0264 is fully repaired and back in action.

(They are hard to destroy. )

One last shocking bit of news. The Pentagon today admitting that they had the wrong total of Americans still stuck in Afghanistan. They kept reporting that there only 400 or 500 still trapped. The fact is that there is still over 140,000!

(Ridiculous!)

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I am passing on sharing an excerpt from my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In adn Out of the trenches of Life. There will be more on Monday. Be sure to come to read that excerpt. Better yet..go to the top of this page and click on “Subscribe.” When you do all future posts will direcly to your inbox.

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Checking in on you my friend…

How are you doing? Have the waves of trouble overcome you. Do you need to be rescued?

FEAR NOT!

There ra over 13,310 fellow veterans here who have your back.

But you are on the edge of a cliif, GET HELP!!

here is a toll free number to call 24/7. There are highly qualified counselors there who will help you, and theynwill not hang up until they know you are OK.

1-800-273-8255..texting 838255.

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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Veteran Members of Congress Are Coming Through for Those Who Need Help

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Yesterday was absolutely my best day in the whole year of 2020.

My alma mater The Oregon State University football team, upset the ranked team of the University of Oregon, 41-38! My son was with me while we watched it. Special times.

It didn’t look good it the first half. We were down 11 points, but in the fourth quarter the guys ran off 22 points and won. We own the state of Oregon for a whole year.

I think even the cardboard people in the stands loved it.

It is very hard to find any positives in this year, but I will ride this pony as long as I can.

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There is still no decision on who our next president will be.

I see that the Republicans are claiming that they have proof of bad stuff happening at the polls. We will see what the supreme court has to say.

I am a Christian and I am sure God will put a man in office that HE wants and not what any people want.

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I have been showing you some of the latest equipment that the military is putting together.

There are a lot more coming. We should be a great shape if some horrible war starts up.

Speaking of the military. Remember that our brothers and sisters are away from home for the holidays. Yes, they are surround by many buddies, but it is not the same as having your family around you.

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There are some veterans who are members of congress.

They have been doing some good things. U. S. Senator Joni Ernest from Iowa is a retired officer who led troops in Kuwait and Iraq

She introduced a bill calling 0n the VA to disengage a National Buddy Check week to reach out to veterans probably struggling with mental health.

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Here are some great things the American Legion is doing:

  1. Participants from Pony Express 2,330 mile ride from California to Indianapolis donated $83,562 to the National Commander of the American Legion
  2. 65- number of American Legion Grants disbursed during 2020 totally $114,848.
  3. $23,000- The amount raised by North Carolina Legion riders
  4. $740,889 – amount of Welfare Foundations grants awarded in September to 17 nonprofit organizations to improve the lives of children facing physical, mental, emotional, environmental, and spiritual challenges.

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How is your holiday weekend going?

I had to be home alone on Thanksgiving because of the virus. Too many problems with my health.

If you are under stress, and things aren’t going well, remember you have over 10,170 fellow veterans here who have your back.

However, if it is just too much for you right now, GET HELP!

Here is a toll free number to call 24/7.

The help you get is free. There are highly qualified counselors there to help you. They will not hang up un you until they know you are OK.

1-800-273-8255 Option # 1

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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+If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do, all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit for the site, please let them know about it.

Do Not forget Our Military Who are Deployed. They Are Without Close Family

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It is Thanksgiving. I am searching for things to be thankful for. This year it is hard. So many negative things happening around us.

I will whine a little more here and then show some reasons we should be thankful.

The rioting, the pandemic, and the messed up election, would cause anyone to complain. What can we find to be thankful for?? I have found it by searching and doing research:

  1. We are thankful we live in a free nation. That is because of our brothers and sisters who are deployed today as we speak. They are in Iraq, Afghanistan, and all over the world. There are away from their loved ones. They can’t hug their families. However, they are proud of what they are doing and I say God bless them.
  2. What follows is an actual story about Marines saving a woman’s life. They jumped into action and moved quickly.
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Whenever an emergency arises, people in danger have no better friends than motivated Marines.

Such was the case when a woman on a scooter was struck by a car recently near Marine Barracks Washington, D.C.

With the woman pinned under the car, Marines with Guard Company quickly had to come up with a plan to free her.

Cpl. Denny Bohne and Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Belko quickly realized that they needed to find a way to raise the car so that the woman could be pulled to safety.

Bohne said he and another Marine opened the car’s trunk and found a jack.

“As soon as I grabbed the tire iron, I started jacking the car up from the rear, and Staff Sgt. Belko proceeds to run over to a civilian’s car, grab their jack from their vehicle, and then start jacking up the front of the car,” Bohne said.

Their actions significantly cut down the time it took for emergency responders to pull the woman from underneath the car and start treating her, said Washington, D.C., firefighter Lt. Leo Ruiz, of Engine 18.

“Honestly: If they hadn’t done what they had done, it could have delayed care for that patient,” Ruiz said.

With the help of the Marines and others on the scene, the woman survived.

Belko noted that a lot of people came together to make sure the woman was freed and treated as quickly as possible.

“Marines run to the sound of the guns, so it didn’t surprise me at all that the Marines were there,” Belko said.

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Here is another update of ne equipment the military is getting for the future:




After years in development, soldiers are officially putting the Army’s next-generation short-range air defense system through its paces ahead of its eventual delivery and fielding in Germany.
Soldiers from the 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment out of Ansbach, Germany traveled to the White Sands Missile Range to conduct training and operational testing of the Army’s Initial Maneuver Short Range Air Defense (IM-SHORAD) system, the service announced last week.

The IM-SHORAD system consists primarily of a Stryker-mounted 360-degree Avenger air defense turret loaded up with Stinger and AGM-114 Longbow Hellfire missiles (the latter of which are traditionally used in air-to-surface roles), an XM914 30mm cannon, and a 7.62mm machine gun.

The 5-4 ADA will be the first unit to receive the IM-SHORAD system in Germany to replace its aging Humvee-mounted Avenger systems, a move that comes amid the U.S. military’s resurgence in Cold War-style tactics in Europe in the aftermath of the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014Top of Form
Bottom of Form”There’s a lot of equipment on this machine that will change a lot of aspects for the Air Defense Artillery,” Spc. Andy Mendoza, an air and missile defense crewmember with the 5-4 ADA, said in a statement. 
The operational training and testing come just weeks after General Dynamics Land Systems announced that the Army had awarded the defense contractor a $1.2 billion contract award to produce, test, and deliver 28 Stryker IM-SHORAD Strykers to the service.

The Army had previously selected an IM-SHORAD solution engineered by Leonardo DRS back in June 2018.
The service plans on eventually spreading 144 systems across four battalions by as soon as fiscal year 2023. According to Army budget documents, the service plans on spending an additional $1.575 billion through 2025 on acquiring a total of 180 IM-SHORAD Stryker vehicles.

The IM-SHORAD system “provides the Army improved capabilities for defense of maneuver formations and other tactical echelons from low altitude air attack and surveillance,” according to the service’s fiscal year 2021 budget documents. 

At the moment, however, the IM-SHORAD is “not quite ready for full production,” hence the soldier testing by the 5-4 ADA, according to the Army statement.

Soldiers “need to get their hands on the system, learn to use it, and then use it just as they would, including trying new things, making mistakes, and otherwise doing the sort of thing that the system designers may not have prepared for,” per the Army.

“Everything might look good on paper, on the board, but until we get through the testing and putting it through its paces, understanding what it’s actually capable of, we won’t know if we’re producing the right system for the Soldier,” Steven Powell, acquisition logistics lead with the IM-SHORAD Program Office, said in a statement.

Sorry the small print here. This old soldier can not figure out how to enlarge.
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I would be unforgiven if I didn’t check into how everything is for you. How are things going for you? Is the world turning too fast? You are not alone. There are over 10,160 fellow veterans here and they all have your back.

BUT! If it is too overwhelming for you GET HELP!

Here is a toll free number for you to call 24/7 and the help is free.. There are highly qualified counselors there to help you, and they will not hang up until they know you are OK.

1-800-273-8255 Option # 1

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.


You are never unloved.

And above all….never, ever, give up!
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+If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do, all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit for the site, please let them know about it.