When You Are Deployed, Getting There Can Be Very Hard

+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 about it.

___________________________________

Military news…

A known white supremacist serving in the Air Force is still in the ranks more than two months after his extremist views were first widely revealed. Airman 1st Class Shawn Michael McCaffrey, 28, has a track record of espousing white supremacist, anti-Semitic, racist and homophobic beliefs on social media.

__________

For the first time in decades, service members who have suffered due to negligent medical care now have the chance to file a claim against the Department of Defense The Pentagon’s brand-new rules for doing so represent a turning point for service members and their families.

_________

The military is going ahead and doing sexual changes for trans dressers. The many changes that the military is making does not go well with me.

___________________________________

I have some recommended military books to share with you. I have read them all, and they are all excellent:

  1. D-DAY: The Climactic Battle of World War II. A New York Times Bestseller. by Stephen E. Ambrose. Complete coverage from the first moment to the end.
  2. We Were Soldiers Once…And Young. By Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (ret.) and Joseph L. Galloway. The story of the battle at Ia Drang. It change the war in Vietnam
  3. Band of Brothers by lt. Lynn “Buck” Compton Great personal stories of the Band of Brothers. (Had two of them live right in my hometown.) Met Buck. Great guy and signed his book for me.

___________________________________

One of my interesting times in the military, was getting ready to shipped out to korea.

I signed up on the buddy plan. There were three of us. Two of us had one last party before we were to go to San Francisco, California to board a ship heading to Korea.

It was just two of us buddies doing the party. I was definitely not a drinker, but on this night I was going to party.

It turned out to be a big mistake. I drank far too much. I went into some kind of blackout after a couple of hours. I woke up once in the shower. My buddy was alternating hot water with cold water to try to bring me back. That was the worst thing he could do. It made me pretty sick.

The next time I woke up was on the bed. I was stark naked, and they were two girls there giggling. I was so embarrassed.

__________________________________

We finally got to San Francisco, and spent the night at a USO hotel.

There was dancing, etc, going on in the ballroom, but I had enough partying, and headed up to my room.

I was waiting for the elevator when a guy came up to me and put his hand in my crotch. He said, “You are very gifted. Would you like to come to my room?”

The fear was overwhelming. My first experience with a gay guy.

I quickly got on the elevator to safety.

___________________________________

The actual trip on the ship is another whole story. Thousands sick, but I wasn’t…

__________________________________

These are some actual excerpts from my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the trenches of life.

Be sure to come back to see more excerpts.

BETTER YET... Go to the top of this page and click on the subscribe button. When you do, all future posts will come directly to your inbox.

___________________________________

How is your world today? Things not going to plan? Too much helter skelter?

FEAR NOT!

There are over 12,300 fellow veterans here who have your back.

If they aren’t enough right now, GET HELP!

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

Never face this not so friendly world alone.

1-800-273-8255 Option # 1 for 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 about it.

Bad Memories Can Haunt People in The Military From Deployment

+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 about it.

__________________________________

Military news…

A disturbing number of Americans still believe the stereotype that veterans are ticking time bombs ready to explode at the first provocation, a new survey which shows that the stereotype of the unstable, violent veteran is still alive and well among U.S. adults. 23% of adults also said that PTSD is not treatable, which is far from the truth.

________________

A pregnant specialist in the Oregon National Guard is back home on Thursday after staying in her unit armory for an unclear amount of time while her battalion was gone for annual training this week. It is about the Guard failing to build “cohesive teams” and push “people first” the way the Army wants to do. The unit commander is still trying to figure out out how many nights she spent in the armory.

________________

“I could ask what color the sky is and even though we can all see the sky is blue, they’ll still need everyone and their lawyer to sign off on a statement confirming as much.” That’s what one Army public affairs officer said about the branch’s transparency problem. Haley writes about how Army commanders fail to recognize the importance of communicating with the public. That failure not only disrupts the branch’s connection to the people they serve, but also takes away its “information advantage” as one source said.

___________________________________

It is getting very disturbing to me the things that are going on with national government.

There still is no plan on how to save the lives of interpreters of Afghanistan. They are going to be put out like last night’s trash if we do not protect them.

The latest is that the chief of staff said that, “We are working on it.” Well, the September 11th withdraw day for our military is coming closer and closer.

___________________________________

I may be repeating myself here, but a thought about South Korea came to my head right now.

I had a day off from work, and a courier driver invited me to ride with him up to the DMZ zone. (Demilitarized zone.)

I was excited to do that. Never been up there. We headed out and along the way we came to some rice paddy fields. The driver told me,”Let’s have some fun.” I wasn’t sure what he meant, but we came up on a old man carrying two buckets on his shoulders with the help of a strap across his back.

My driver said, “Let’s give him a spin.” Again, I was too naive to know what was coming next. He told me to lean out of the jeep and tap the old man’s bucket on his left side.

I did that, and the man spun around and fell to the ground. I looked in horror, while my driver laughed his head off.

The old man was covered with the contents of his bucket which was human waste that they use to fertilize their crops.

I looked back to see him shaking his fists in anger. I got very angry with the driver and his thought was, “He’s only a gook!”

We finally got to the DMZ. The driver went off to deliver his packages. He left right on the edge of the DMZ. There were soldiers there with guns, and they were observing the other side of the DMZ, which is enemy territory.

They allowed me to use their binoculars to look across. I could see a North Korean soldier looking back at me.

I asked the soldier if I should wave. He said, “NO!” That guy would rather see you dead then to wave at you.

This excerpt from the book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life, and many more are in the book.

Be sure to come back to read more excerpts.

Better yet… Go to the top of this page and click on the subscribe button. When you do that all future posts will come directly to your inbox.

___________________________________

Last bed check for this week…. How are you doing? Did you have some not so fun things happen while you were deployed?

FEAR NOT!

There are over 12,195 fellow veterans here who have your back.

However, if your memories are getting the best of you, GET HELP!

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

Never let your bad memories overcome you!

1-800-273-8255 Option # 1 For 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 about it.

In the Military There is very Little Racism, They All Have Common Goals

+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 about it.

+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 about it.

___________________________________

Military news…

“The soldiers should not have any upfront cost, but if they do the Army will reimburse them what they are authorized.” That’s what Army Col. Charles Rambo said in this story by Haley Britzky about the service failing to cover college tuition assistance for soldiers. Haley first wrote about the problem on Tuesday, reporting that soldiers were having to pay for courses out of pocket to cover for the Army’s mistakes. Now the Army’s trying to make things right in the uproar that followed.

As an employer, why does hiring Veterans matter to you?

  • “The thing my mind keeps focusing on is the skills we are looking for in a solid new hire. So many of them are most commonly met with a Veteran status. Intangibles like honor and integrity are vital as we are doing work in people’s homes or businesses. Customer service and a willingness to help others are on the top of the list. Compassion and empathy… and I could go on and on.” Chris Kushmaul, disabled Veteran, franchise owner, Restoration 1
  • “Veterans are highly capable of learning and working under pressure, which is all too common during the peak season for our business. Plus, Veterans have worked next to individuals of all races, genders, ethnic backgrounds, religions, and physical capabilities throughout their military careers. They usually bring that same sensitivity to the civilian workplace.” Teresa Fiduccia, manager of Recruitment and Retention at American Residential Services (ARS).
  • “NewDay USA is a leading VA mortgage company. We see the practicality of hiring Veterans. Nobody knows the unique challenges Veterans face to buying a home better than Veterans themselves.” Rear Admiral Tom Lynch, executive chairman, NewDay USA.
  • “Former military leaders bring leadership, focus, loyalty and self-discipline to their practice, and these are the most common characteristics of successful financial representatives. They are passionate about helping people achieve financial security with integrity and character, and that’s at the core of what we do.” Billye Survis, Northwestern Mutual.
  • Similar to Northwestern Mutual Financial, technology start-up Origin8 is building its business with a sturdy Veteran foundation. “Our advocate role requires skills such as social perceptiveness, building rapport, service orientation, discipline, enthusiasm and active learning,” says co-founder Mike Corey, a Vietnam Veteran. “We’re not looking for industry experience; rather, we seek employees who possess these traits and we see them in Veterans. We’re excited to add hundreds of Veterans to our team – working virtually in an environment of community and security.”
  • Blackstone – and the portfolio of 200 companies in which they have invested – take pride in the 90,000+ Veterans, spouses and caregivers they’ve hired to date. “Our ongoing commitment to hiring, developing and retaining these individuals is rooted in our firm’s appreciation of their service to our country and in the adaptability, ingenuity, determination and resilience they demonstrate on a daily basis in the private sector, from front-line operational roles to C-level leadership positions.” Jason Santamaria, managing director Blackstone and Marine Corps Veteran.

___________________________________

One things I remember from the military was that there was very little racism. I looked this up and I was correct. The military has a much better score on racism than the private sector.

Why is this?

  1. We all wear the same uniform.
  2. We all depend on each other.
  3. We have common goals.
  4. We even know all the cadence songs.
  5. There is no color in the military.

I have found that those who were colored in the military, were great guys. I had real close friends that were colored.

I never thought of them as black, brown, yellow, or latino. They were just one of my buddies like anyone else.

___________________________________

I had a special colored friend at Ft Gordon. He was wise and friendly. We sat many times discussing the world. I learned so much from him. He was very sophisticated as well. He smoked his pipe and spent his off time relaxing and reading. No trips to the bars like most the guys would did.

He was a great example to me.

___________________________________

This is a true short story from my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of life.

If you want to see more excerpts, or catch up on the progress of the book, come back often.

BETTER YET!

Subscribe to this site and all future posts will come directly to your inbox. You will never have to come back. Just click on the subscribe button at the top of this page.

__________________________________

How are you doing? Did you have close friends in the military? Did you lose some of them?

FEAR NOT!

There are 12,120 fellow veterans on this site who have your back.

However, if you are wallowing in you own self pity, GET HELP!

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

There are highly qualified counselors there to help you. They will no hang up until they know you are Ok.

Give yourself new life!!

1-800-273-8255 Option # 1 For 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 about it.