Medal of Honor Recipient Braved Open fire to Rescue Four Wounded Soldiers

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Military news….

The US military is running low on ammo after sending so much to Ukraine
The Pentagon is trying to find other ways to send munitions.

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The Army grounds its fleet of CH-47 Chinooks, one of its oldest and most versatile aircraft
Even Marines respect the Army’s CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters.

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As Iraq reels from recent violence, it’s worth remembering that 2,500 US troops are still there
Americans cannot forget that 2,500 of their sons and daughters are deployed to Iraq.

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Ukraine is using a ghost army of fake HIMARS to trick Russian artillery
Theatricality and deception are indeed powerful tools.

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Why the US Military Faces a Growing Recruiting Crisis

“The Army has to recognize that there’s been an evolution in that young population,” said U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif, chair of the Subcommittee on Military Personnel. “And if you’re going to target that young population for service, you’ve got to make it appealing to them.”

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Taiwan agrees to buy four American-made naval surveillance drones for $555 million

The first of four MQ-9B SeaGuardians is scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan in 2025.

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Oregon veterans find community, therapy in beekeeping class

The “Bee Heroes America Program” teaches veterans a new skill while providing recreational therapy for those dealing with recovery from a slew of issues such as PTSD.

(My home state)

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I am sharing another Medal of Honor recipient today. I will be sharing one in each post:

Matthew O. Williams Born October 3, 1981, Casper Wyoming Service Branch: U.S. Army.

Citation

After the lead assault element was ambushed, Sgt. Williams braved heavy fire and led a counter attack with icy boulders. and a fast moving river. He provided medical aid to a wounded team sergeant, then continued to fight up a mountainside, directing suppressive fire. After hours of fighting, he exposed himself again to load and evacuate wounded and dead soldiers, ensuring the survival of four.

Presentation: October 30, 2019, the white House, by President Donald Trump


There will be many more Medal of Honor winners in future posts, so keep coming back to check them out. Better yet…go to the top of this page and click on subscribe. When you do all future posts will go directly to your inbox.

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Checking in on you. How are you doing? Is everything going OK, or are you fighting back memories?

FEAR NOT!


There are over 15,219 Veterans on this site who have your back.


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.

+Now there is an easier way to get help. Just dial 988, and you will have help ready for you.

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While Deployed in the Military, Loneliness Sucks the Life Out of You.

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Military news…

‘Tanks and mud are not friends’ — Ukraine’s terrain is proving to be a problem for Russian armor

“Eastern Europe is either frozen or it’s muddy, that’s just how it is.”

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The Army is now letting soldiers pick their first duty station


Make sure to read the fine print, though
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Congress takes step towards granting free health care to millions of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans

It’s one of many needed.

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Where is the Russian Air Force? Experts break down why they might be hiding


“It is clear to us that Russia is losing aircraft and helicopters at a damaging rate.”

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Putin likens sanctions to ‘declaration of war,’ says invasion pushback risks future of Ukrainian statehood

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said that sanctions and pushback from leaders in Ukraine and around the world in response to the invasion are risking “the future of Ukrainian statehood.”

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Zelenskyy ‘desperate’ plea to US Congress: Send more planes

Fighting for his country’s survival, Ukraine’s leader made a “desperate” plea Saturday to American lawmakers for the United States to help get more warplanes to his military and cut off Russian oil imports as Kyiv tries to stave off the Russian invasion.

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My take….

Putin is directing his bombs on residential areas. Apartments etc. Very barbaric. He is desperate.

He is even losing support from his own military officers. The parliament is not happy either.

An interview of a young teenager in Russia, says he is not happy with his countries choices. He says the allies should help to end this war.

Up to fifty Russian planes have been shot down. 44 tanks have been destroyed. A whole convoy wiped out. Many helicopters destroyed. Seems to be that the Ukrainians are holding tough.

Over 11,000 Russians have been killed.

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Here is another chapter from my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the trenches of Life. This one is about the loneliness you face when deployed.

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Loneliness Sucks the Life Out of You

I have written about loneliness already in this book, but I think one of the biggest battles a person in the military may battle is the loneliness that creeps up on them.

Many civilians do not understand how you can be lonely when you have so many other soldiers around you.

It may be hard to comprehend, but all those other soldiers are from all over the country, and do not relate to your needs of needing to connect with your home. They all have their own worlds of loneliness from not hearing from their own loved ones.

I think the worst time of my own loneliness was while I was stationed in Korea. We were stationed on a small base called Camp Red Cloud. There weren’t a lot of soldiers there. I was with the Army Security Agency, and we were there to help keep the peace plus monitor the radio waves to make sure there were no breaches of security.

Being there made me really feel isolated. I was in a foreign country that didn’t speak my language.

That was only part of it. We realized once we settled in to our duties that the people there didn’t want us to be there. We heard rumors about people throwing rocks at the military trucks as they drove from one place to the next. We were protecting them from North Korea, and they wanted us to leave. Didn’t make sense to me, and I am sure it didn’t make sense to any of you who have gone through the same thing.

My task was to be stationed on top of a high hill-they were all numbered- outside of the camp monitoring the radio waves for breaches of security. My hill was hill 468. Talk about being isolated. It was just one person, alone on top of that hill for twelve hour shifts. I was alone inside a deuce and a half ton truck that was full of radio equipment.

The silence was deafening! Just a slight scratch on the roof of the truck had you grabbing your rifle and aiming it at the door. We had antennas attached to the roof to help us get good reception, and the wind often caused the antennas to rub against the roof of the truck. It sounded like someone was on the roof.

You had to be tough. You couldn’t call down to the camp and ask someone to come up. The rest of them had to go through the same things and they knew exactly why you would be calling. No sissy people allowed!!

During the twelve hours shifts you had free time to think, and I mean deep thinking. It wasn’t good to have such long quite times. You thought about home. You thought about that girlfriend waiting for you. You thought about the fun times you were missing, such as fishing in the lake near the farm where I grew up.

So, I know what loneliness is all about. I know what you each have gone through. I feel your pain.

Loneliness is something we allow to happen. We let it creep into our system like the plague. We don’t fight it enough to make it go away.

After about a month of battling the loneliness in Korea I came up with some ideas to conquer loneliness, and survive. Hopefully it will help you as well, if you are deployed or even a veteran back in civilian life:

  • Write a journal. Don’t worry about what to write, just write. I wrote about some fun times I had in high school. I wrote about the biggest fish I ever caught as a youngster. I even wrote about being bullied in grade school. By putting down the good and the bad, I was able to release my feelings down on paper. It was like I was having a session with a counselor, only on paper.
  • I became an avid reader. Reading takes you into another world. A world you become a part of. You feel the pain; the happiness, and the fear the characters go through. They become family and you are guided through their lives in in a way you can learn about coping in your own life.
  • Send letters home. I know many of you now have SKYP and many other ways to communicate, but the written word seems so much more personal to me. Sending a letter to your family is a direct connection that I can almost guarantee you they will cherish, and keep forever.

Among the books I read was the Bible. I read it every day. I found comfort through many of the passages. I recommend Psalms, Isaiah, Jerimiah, Genesis, and Proverbs from the Old Testament and all of the New Testament.

Don’t let loneliness control your life. Take steps to rid the darkness that it can cause in your life. God is always there for you. He loves you. He even loves me warts and all.

IWILL

Loneliness is a direct cause of depression, and sadness. Try to fill your life with things you enjoy. Don’t sit and think of negative things. Don’t hide from the world where you are stationed overseas. Find things to fill your day that will change your attitude, and give you hope.  

Think about this

Isn’t it great that the more we communicate the happier we are?

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Come back and read more chapters from the book, Signs of Hope for he Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life. 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? Did you face loneliness while deployed?

FEAR NOT!

There are over 14,104 veterans on this site who have you back. (BTW…on my last post there were 14,068. That is an increase of 36 in just two days. The subscriptions are skyrocketing right now, and I am very pleased.)

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

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If you are battling mentally, because of your love for others, but it isn’t working, 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

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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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General Patton Had a Love/Hate Relationship

Thanks to all of you who have been joining me here. We help bring change to lives. The response has been wonderful.  

We Made it to 5,000! Never dreamed we would do that. Thank you so much for the support. It also excites us that you are supporting veterans. That is our theme here right now. 

Help us make it to 6,000 by subscribing today if you haven’t already. As Of today we have 5,500.  This shows you care for veterans. Just click on the icon right after the title of this post and click on FEEDBLITZ , and the posts will come straight to your inbox.                            ____________________________________________________________

Doug Bolton, the founder of the blog, Signs of Hope, which is at www.dailysignsofhope.com, has written a new book, “Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.” It reaches out the many military and veterans who may be battling anxiety, fear, depression, addictions, rejections, and the many other usual suspects. There are 22 military connected suicides every day. That is almost one every hour. Doug wants to help stop those statistics.  

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This is a new social network just for veterans. I joined it and made instant friendships with veterans who want to talk about what I want to talk about. Please check it out. You will be glad you did. 

https://www.rallypoint.com/join/spc-douglas-bolton

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Military News for today.  Great stories.

This first story is very unusual in the it is about the famous General Patton’s grandson.

Ben Patton never was in the military like his grandfather General Patton, but he is doing whatever he can to support veterans through his documentaries that cover PTSD in veterans.

He was interviewed by Andrew Carroll about his contributions.

Your grandfather George Patton Jr. I one of the most famous generals in American history.  You father was a major general who served with Vietnam. That’s a unique way to grow up. 

My father used to say, “We’re not better or worse than anyone, we are just different.” We did have to act a certain way, behave appropriately, and have a service-oriented mind.

You didn’t join the military  was there pressure for you to do so? 

I think I felt pressure from history. I had a strong, but somewhat challenging relationship with my father. However, I always felt he wanted me to find my own path to lead an authentic life.

What inspired you to become a documentary filmmaker and teacher? 

I got interested in film. I wanted to find a way, beyond just going to veteran’s events and representing my family, to apply those talents and skills to the service of veterans and military families.

That led you to do the work of helping those veterans captured on film? 

Yes. Initially I was focused on combat veterans. They had too many things that the just couldn’t articulate in a normal conversation. We found that film could be a wonderful conduit for a veteran to express something.

Your grandfather won lots of glory but was criticized for slapping two soldier fighting battle fatigued.

I’m not an apologist for my grandfather. I would say that generation of the military just didn’t understand the phenomenon of PTSD.

What makes your work different from other PTSD programs? 

There are wonderful writing programs and theater programs , but there something about them being able to create narrative in this way. They can observe themselves in a video but also participate in them.  From this they can take control of their lives.

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The Army’s New Camouflage Will Hide Soldiers And Tanks In Plain Sight Wherever They Are

The U.S. Army is moving forward on next-generation concealment technology to ensure that American soldiers can hide in plain sight.

Fibrotex has built an Ultra-Light Camouflage Netting System that can be used to conceal soldier’s positions, vehicles, tanks, and aircraft. The new “camouflage system will mask soldiers, vehicles, and installations from state-of-the-art electro-optical sensors and radars,” the company said Thursday in a press release sent to Business Insider.

Fibrotex has been awarded a contract to supply this advanced camouflage to conceal troops from night vision, thermal imaging, radar and more.

Soldiers, vehicles, and other relevant systems can just about disappear in snowy, desert, urban, and woodland environments, according to the camouflage maker.

The new program aims to replace outdated camouflage that protect soldiers in the visible spectrum but not against more advanced, high-end sensors. ULCANS “provides more persistent [infrared], thermal & counter-radar performance,” Fibrotex explained.

The Army has awarded Fibrotex a 10-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract valued at $480 million. Full-scale production will begin next year at a manufacturing facility in McCreary County, Kentucky, where the company expects to create and secure hundreds of new jobs in the coming years.

“Today, more than ever, military forces and opposition groups are using night vision sensors and thermal devices against our troops,” Eyal Malleron, the CEO of Fibrotex USA, said in a statement.

“But, by using Fibrotex’s camouflage, concealment and deception solutions, we make them undetectable again, allowing them to continue keeping us safe.”

The result came from roughly two years of testing at the Army’s Natick Soldier Systems Center, where new technology was tested against the Army’s most advanced sensors.

Fibrotex noted that the netting is reversible, creating the possibility for two distinctly different prints for varied environments. And while outsiders can’t see through the netting, those on the inside have an excellent view of their surroundings.

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A few personal thoughts for you. Are you having trouble with your daily routine? Are your nights full of restless, sleepless hours?

You are not alone!! Many veterans battle these problems.  This path will lead to a dead end my friends. Get help.! Seek support!!

You can always make a comment here and we will help you in any way we can. You can also call the support line at:

(877-247-4645)

Remember

You are never alone.

You are never forgotten

You are never unloved.

And above all….Never, ever, give up!