A Soldier in Kabul, Afghanistan, is in Big Trouble. The City is Under Attack

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Military news…

First one is a little funny to me.

An 84-year-old man in Germany has been ordered to pay a fine of 250,000 euros after he was discovered to have an arsenal of World War II-era weapons in his cellar. The arsenal included a 40-ton Panther tank, one of the best tanks of the war.

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U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers and AC-130 gunships are back dropping airstrikes on Afghanistan in an attempt to stop the Taliban’s blitzkrieg throughout the country. But so far, it does not appear to be working: at least five more of Afghanistan’s 17 provincial capitals have fallen to the Taliban over the past week.

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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will ask for President Joe Biden’s approval by mid-September to make the COVID-19 vaccines mandatory. But it might be a lot easier said than done.

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U.S. service members could face a range of punishments, including administrative separation and court-martial, for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine once it becomes mandatory. Commanders have a “range of tools to try to help individuals make the right decisions,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday.

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Starting in October, the Air Force will break with decades of tradition by allowing its members to put their hands in their pockets while in uniform. The change is one of many grooming and uniform updates that loosen up restrictions for airmen (several of which involve hair).

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I have been connected with a SFC in Kabul, Afghanistan. She is fearful that the city will be over run soon. She is very brave to be one of the last of the military still there. However, if the city is finally overrun, she is in a big harms way. The Taliban have no sense of mercy, and she will be killed.

I will keep you updated. We talk daily.

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I saw a report on the new Apache helicopter. It will be awesome is much more deadly. It has tracking devices where no one can hide from them at all.

I have a buddy who was in Vietnam and he was a helicopter pilot. Great stories from him.


I am reminding you that I stopped sharing excerpts from my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of th Trenches of Life.

If you want to read some of them, you will have to go to the archives to find them.

I am sure you will enjoy the book when it does come out. It is full of stories of my time in the military, and I share hope for those suffering from anxiety, fear, PTSD, TBI, and war wounds.

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How are you doing? Have the nights become too long with nightmares?

FEAR NOT!

There are over 12, 760 fellow veterans here who have your back.

But please if you are too overwhelmed, GET HELP!

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

There are highly qualified counselors there to help you. They will never hang up until they know you are OK.

Never face another scary night!

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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People in South Korea were Throwing their Children In Front of Our Vehicles

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Big news for the many airmen out there who want to grow out their beards: not only is there little evidence showing that beards interfere with a gas mask seal, but the Air Force’s ban on beards may also be contributing to racial discrimination and hurting promotion opportunities within the service. This is a new study showing the harmful consequences of the Air Force’s current beard policy.

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After months of uncertainty, President Joe Biden’s administration will finally start evacuating vulnerable Afghan interpreters and their families by the end of the month. “Operation Allies Refuge” will evacuate Afghans who are eligible applicants for Special Immigrant Visas, though it’s unclear yet where they will be taken, or how many people will be evacuated.

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Thursday was a historic day as a woman became the U.S. Navy’s first female special operator. The unnamed sailor was one of 17 to graduate the Naval Special Warfare’s assessment and selection pipeline, and now she’s a bone fide Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewman.

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Former Afghan interpreter Mirza Sayeed Nayab’s life is in danger because of a clerical error. Nayab worked with U.S. troops in Afghanistan for four years, but now he is stuck in the country, where invading Taliban fighters might kill him. And it’s all because his supervisor failed to put the date and time next to his signature in Nayab’s application for a Special Immigrant Visa.

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

Desperate People do Desperate Things

I saw some frightening things things that happened in Seoul, South Korea, while driving through. Earlier in this book I shared about the little old lady who starved to death right on a busy street, because no one cared.

Another time as I was riding through Seoul was knowing that we had to drive very slow through some of the tight streets. we had to do this because we saw Fathers and mothers holding their children ready to throw them in front of our truck. They did this to try to get compensation money from the military. Yes, they were sacrificing their children for money. How could anyone even think of doing that?

They were desperate for food and clothing for the rest of the family. They had no means of income, and they had to find ways to survive. We see similar types of things going on all over the world. There are people allowing their children to be sold a s sex slaves. Other people even pay money to crooks so they can sneak across borders to find jobs.

Do we need to have people so poor that they will let their children die, or be sold into slavery?

Of course not! We put on our uniforms to protect these kind of people. We are doing what is right by defending them to the death.

Never be ashamed of your service to your country. You have been chosen to represent your country in a way that shows courage and a love that passes all understanding.

This is a shortened version of this chapter of my book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life. So come back often to see what the rest is. Better yet…go to the top of this page and click on “Subscribe.” When you do all future posts will directly to your inbox.

Checking your pulse. Are you doing Ok? Have the dreams from your military time been driving you crazy?

FEAR NOT!!

There is toll free number to help you if you need extra help. There are highly qualified counselors there to help you. There is no shame to GETTING HELP when you need it.

Never face this crazy world alone!

1-800-273-8255 Option # 1 For texting…838255.

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Remember:

You are never forsaken.

You are never alone.

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.

Bad Memories Can Haunt People in The Military From Deployment

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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.

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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.

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“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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 about it.