Category: Military

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An Incredible Interview With a VA Nurse With Forty Years of Service.

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Military news…

Legally Blind U.S. Army Veteran Sets Personal Best at Boston Marathon

Rob Sanchas, 54, ran the entire 26.2 miles with the assistance of his guide, Jeremy Howard.

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U.S. Soldiers Took Her Birthday Cake in 1945. They Finally Replaced It.

As Meri Mion prepared to celebrate her 90th birthday, U.S. soldiers based in Italy “returned” the birthday cake that was taken from her windowsill in 1945.

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Air Force Wants Big Increase for 2023 Budget to Improve On-Base Housing for Military Families

Funds to improve the dwellings provided by privatized housing companies doubled in the budget request, with around $110 million requested in 2022.

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Military Veteran Receives New Rank at 101 Years Old

More than 55 years after he retired, Chief Warrant Officer Thomas Adams Jr. is now Major Adams. 

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The Navy’s First Medical Ship In 35 Years Will Be Unlike Any Before It

While not a one-to-one replacement for either of the Navy’s huge medical ships, the new vessels will go places they can’t.

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Ukrainian military confirms ‘The Ghost of Kyiv’ is made up

“The Ghost of Kyiv is alive and embodies a collective image,” a Ukrainian military spokesman said.

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NATO fighter jets scrambled ‘multiple times’ this week in response to Russian aircraft

It’s not the first time pilots had to intercept Russian planes.

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Here is another interview for my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life. A VA Nurse.

VA Nurse

Thank you so much for allowing me to interview you. How long were you a nurse?

Nurse: I worked 40 years with the last six as a VA nurse.

Did you like working for the VA?

I loved it much more than the regular nursing. I was able to make my own decisions.

I had to understand that they were not going to get well. I helped a man who was a double amputee. It was very rewarding.

How did you know what to do with each patient?

Had to find out what they needed through texting other nurses, and what their doctor shared as far as their basic needs. In other words; VA was “live.”

You said the work was rewarding. Can you explain that a little more?

My heart grew with each patient.

Tell me about some of the patients?

I had on patient that had wounds all over his body. He was tortured by testing his skin with different bacteria.

Another patient was traumatized. Yet another committed suicide.

That must have been hard. Are there other stories you can share?

There was another tortured veteran. They put rats in his mouth. They did waterboarding on him. They kept him awake with blaring music. They played the same songs over and over again. This made him sleep deprived.

These stories had to affect you. Did some veterans share with you how they felt when coming home from Vietnam?

Taxis wouldn’t even pick them up if they knew they were veterans. There were people waiting at the airport for the veterans to land, and they screamed at them as they came through their lines.

Were most of your veterans Vietnam veterans?

No one veteran was only thirty years old. He had PTSD and TBI (Traumatic brain injury.) His wife now has to take care of him and his mental wounds. He was shot in the head.

I am not sure how you could do this day after day.

I wouldn’t have done nursing for 40years if I didn’t think it was rewarding.

I have heard there are some sexual harassment, and sexual abuse in the military. Have you had to deal with that?

There was a female soldier who was raped and got pregnant. She is now raising the child.

Another woman was raped and got military compensation. She has PTSD and cannot function.

Yet another woman from WWII was raped. She got syphilis and died from it.

(If you or anyone you know have faced sexual harassment, or sexual abuse in the military, there is now a number you can call for help: 1-800-692-966… You can get help and even compensation.)

MST (Military sexual trauma) even has a course that is six weeks long that can help people.

Any other interesting stories you can share?

I took a trip to Normandy Beach, France. I walked the beach to see all the graves around the towns. They showed us where to boats came in. We saw the trenches and the fox holes. I went to a WWII museum. They had bombers.

This is an amazing story of your life as a nurse. Do you have any feel good stories to wrap this up? 

A Vietnam veteran adopted a child from Vietnam, because they came home without their parents.

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Incredible interview! I have more to share in future posts so keep coming back. Better yet…go to the top of this page and click on Subscribe. When you do all future posts will come directly to your inbox.

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Checking in on you. How are you doing? Is everything going OK, or are you struggling?

FEAR NOT!

There are over 14,572 veterans on this site who have your back.

Here is what I am asking you to do…please share this site with as many other veterans as you can. It has helped so many.

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If you are battling mentally, but you are losing, GET HELP!!

Here is a toll free number that you can call 24/7. 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…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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“Red Dawn,” Hits Ukraine After Russian Armor Tagged With “Wolverines.”

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Military news…

‘Red Dawn’ hits Ukraine after destroyed Russian armor gets tagged with ‘Wolverines’

WOLVERINES!!!

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4 airmen awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for evacuating more than 150 civilians from Kabul

“The conditions that day were like none I had ever seen.”

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The Army’s suicide rate is the worst it’s been in nearly a century

That’s according to a new report from the Defense Suicide Prevention Office.

(Over 22 each day take their own lives in the military.)

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Signs of Massacre in Bucha Spark Calls For War-Crime Probes

Ukrainian officials said they have asked the International Criminal Court to visit the mass graves found in Bucha so investigators can gather evidence of possible Russian war crimes.

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Top US general says more bases in Europe could be needed amid ‘turning point’ in Continent’s history
Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told lawmakers heightened American military “presence is always a good deterrent” against enemy aggression, telling them that he favored rotating more units in and out of Europe to a permanent boost of U.S. force strength on the Continent.
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Russia aims to create ‘land bridge’ to Crimea in new planned offensive, NATO chief says
Russian forces are regrouping for a new offensive in Ukraine aimed at gaining enough ground to connect the occupied Crimean Peninsula with separatist-controlled territory in the eastern Donbas region, NATO’s official said Tuesday.
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Pentagon: Russian troops have left Kyiv and Chernihiv but have not yet moved to eastern Ukraine
The roughly 40 Russian fast-response ground units — each made up of about 800-1,000 troops — that once surrounded the northern Ukrainian cities have returned to neighboring Belarus, a senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday.

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Jersey Shore town pulls together for 94-year-old veteran who lost home to fire

A World War II veteran lost everything in a sudden tragedy. A community came to his aid. An example of compassion in times of strife.

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Update…

My upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life, will be ready for the publisher by the end of this month. Then I will share a countdown daily on this site, so keep coming back to check it out. Better yet…go to the top of this page and click on Subscribe. When you do all future posts will come directly to your inbox.

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Checking in on you. How are you doing? Is everything going OK, or are you struggling?

FEAR NOT!

There are over 14,260 veterans on this site who have your back.

Here is what I am asking you to do…please share this site with as many other veterans as you can. It has helped so many.

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If you are battling mentally, but you are losing, GET HELP!!

Here is a toll free number that you can call 24/7. 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…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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+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 from this site, please let them know.

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In the Military, Scars Show Where We Have Been, But Not Where We Are Going

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Military news…

A photo apparently showing Russian troops stranded in an elevator is going viral

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A second Russian general has reportedly been killed in Ukraine

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What we know about possible Russian war crimes in Ukraine


American and international organizations believe there are “credible reports” that war crimes have occurred in Ukraine.

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These ‘Saint Javelin’ stickers raised $470,000 for Ukraine aid in a week

“As soon as I posted the artwork … I just got a flood of people saying, ‘I want it, I want it, I want it.'”

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Ukraine’s Drone Strikes Reveal Russian Planning Failures, Expert Says

Ukraine’s handful of Bayraktar TB2 armed drones has played an outside role in defending the country from Russian invaders. The drones have destroyed surface-to-air missile launchers and logistics trains.

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Mom Adopts Military Service Dog of Marine Son Killed in Action

A Gold Star mom adopted the military working dog who lived with her son while he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2012. She said the new comedy-drama “Dog” hits close to home.

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US Paratroopers in Poland Largely Hidden From View Amid Mission Prompted by War in Ukraine

An airfield near the Ukrainian border has transformed into the main staging area for the 82nd Airborne’s new mission in Poland.

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Here is another excerpt from my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for The Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.

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Scars Can Show Where We’ve Been, But They Don’t Show Where We Are Going

One of the hardest things for us as veterans and current soldiers is dealing with the scars we have had from the past. It may be a physical scar, or it may be mental or emotional. We can’t keep living in the past. Much of it is too painful to relive again. Yes, the present isn’t exactly rosy sometimes either, but it is here, and we need to deal with it. The one-day-at-a-time thought works for me. I just do what I need to do to make it through each day, and I am thankful when I have made it.

The future is something we can’t always control, but we can help shape it by being eager to take it on and conquering it with our determination and guts.

I feel deeply of those of you who have physical scars. I also feel deeply for those of you who have mental and emotional scars. I have been to the mountain with these kinds of scars.

Strive to never give in to the dark side thought of doom and gloom. Look for the bright side, and share it with others around you who need it as well.

This reminds me of Kris Kyle the sniper who was famous for his accuracy, and how many lives he saved by eliminating the enemy who was about to kill our soldiers. He was a tough and no nonsense kind of guy, and yet he lost his live trying to help a fellow soldier who was battling his own demons. Kris was trying to help others even though he had his own dark times.

Never give up! There may be walls in your way, but you will overcome them with perseverance.

Let someone pile expectations on and then exceed them. Your biggest goals in life become your biggest achievements. If you have discipline and drive, you don’t lose. You cannot lose. New ideas are sometimes scary, but can end up something special. Walls: They separate, divide, and isolate. But walls can always fall.

What we have to remember is that we have to go through the pains of life to achieve the joys. Pains actually inspire growth. 

I saw those words recently and at first I thought, Easy for you to say! Most people don’t know what real pain is. My neighbor recently complained she had double abscessed teeth. Knowing how painful that is, since I have had abscessed teeth myself, I thought about those military servicemen and women have lost their legs, arms, or are going to be in a wheelchair the rest of their lives. The level of pain is relevant to only what you are really going through.

We must always remember: With God on Our Side, who can be against us? No one!

IWILL

It is hard enough to exist in this cruel world without adding pain and mental strain to our lives. We need to battle the elements that attack us with vigor and valor, just like we would on the front lines, in the trenches, as we face the enemy. Stand strong and be brave.

Think about this

Isn’t it interesting how it takes bravery to face this world, but it takes even more bravery to give it all up to God?

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I will have more excerpts in the future so keep coming back. Better yet…go to the top of this page and click on subscribe. When you do all future posts will directly to your inbox.

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Checking in on you. How are you doing? Did you have scars for you time in the military?

FEAR NOT!

There are over 14,120 veterans on this site who have you back.

Here is what I am asking you to do…please share this site with other veterans you may know. It has helped so many.

______________________________________________________________

If you are battling mentally, but you are losing, GET HELP!!

Here is a toll free number that you can call 24/7. There are highly qualified counselors there to help you, and they will no hang up until they know you are OK.

1-800-273-8255…texting 838255

_______________________________________________________________

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

_______________________________________________________________

+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 from this site, please let them know.