Tag: highly qualified counselors

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There Were Some in the Military Who Weren’t Thinking Too Clearly

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Military news….

“He was my pilot, as much as any of my American students had been,” writes Navy helicopter pilot Jack McCain in a heartfelt story about his deployment training Afghan pilots in 2018. McCain learned to speak Dari for the deployment, and in so doing he learned to connect with his students as human beings in a way which many Americans still cannot, even after two decades of shared conflict.

Don’t challenge someone to a push-up contest if you can’t do push-ups is a lesson retired Army Lt. Col. Allen West taught by example last week, Paul Szoldra reports. The head of the Texas Republican Party, West challenged a reporter who showed up late to a press conference to a push-up contest. When the reporter declined, the 60-year-old West went ahead solo. The thing is, none of his push-ups would pass muster in the Army, according to service members far and wide who commented on footage of the one-man contest that appeared on social media.

Even badass combat pilots have stuffed animals, Here is the story of the plushy lucky charms that many pilots take with them over airshows and combat zones far and wide. Many of those charms start out as a gift given by the pilot’s son or daughter, but over time they take on extra significance as a guardian angel, or even as a third co-pilot. They are not as expensive as an extra fuel tank or enhanced night vision goggles, but for many pilots the keepsakes are just as vital. Plus, they’re cute as heck.

IA congressman wants to “fire the generals” after an investigation revealed that safety and maintenance lapses led to a fatal training accident last summer. Eight Marines and one sailor died in the accident when the amphibious assault vehicle they were riding in sunk off the coast of California. The Marines were not trained in escaping a submerged vehicle; the crew had no time to do proper maintenance beforehand; and no safety boats were nearby to help. But the generals in charge have not been punished.
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I noticed that there was no shortness of people being stupid in the military.

While in Korea, I saw some GI’s doing things that could not only hurt them, but embarrass them.

The first one was actually funny. I was walking back to my quinsite hut. I passed a Camp bar on my way.

I saw a very drunk man stagger out of the bar. He unzipped his pants and proceeded to take a leak.

In an instant he realized that that was a wrong idea, when his urine froze before it hit the ground. He zipped up his pants and rushed back in. Korea wasn’t called, “The land of the frozen chosen” for nothing.

Another time I was walking by the same bar. Four guys came out and were as drunk as skunks.

Three of them were egging the fourth guy to touch a mental flagpole with his tongue. He refused at first, but the guys kept yelling at him to do it.

He finally touched the icy pole with his tongue. Big mistake! When he tried to pull away he couldn’t. His tongue was frozen to the pole.

He started screaming in pain. There was nothing the other guys could do but stand there shocked.

They called the medics. When the medics got there they sorta laughed at first until they saw the the guy was in real trouble.

The medics did something with water and they guy was able to get his tongue loose. He was still screaming in pain.

They hauled him off to the base hospital. I heard later that the doctors told the guy his tongue would be really swollen for several days. He had to sip his meals.
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Both of these stories will be in my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.

Keep checking in to see the progress. Better yet, subscribe right now by going up to the subscribe button at the top of this page. When you do this all future posts will go directly to your inbox.
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Have you had any embarrassing moments? Many have.

Fear not!

There are now over 12,000 fellow veterans here who have your back.

However, if your embarrassments were too much, 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 let any embarrassing moments get you down.

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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The Loss of a Buddy During Your Time in the Military is Hard at Best

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My last post caused quite a stir. Talking about suicide is not an easy thing to do, but when 22 veterans take their own lives EACH day then we need to reach out.

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Military news…

It’s a bad day for one Missouri bar after a video went viral over the weekend of a bartender berating a group of six service members who tried to get drinks with their military identification card. The bartender, identified as Josh Weitkamp, refused to serve them, appeared to bend and throw away one of the service members’ military IDs, told them they “don’t even look old enough to know about f—ing 9/11” and then denied that they were in the military at all, which is funny because at least a few have been to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hazing is always terrible, especially when it involves being tied up to a target. Hazing is always terrible, especially when it involves being tied up to a target on a live-fire range while fighter planes drop ordnance near you for 20 minutes. But that’s what one French Air Force pilot said his fellow aviators put him through in March 2019. The pilot recently filed a criminal complaint because he felt the French military was not taking the matter seriously enough.

‘Wait, they just now started doing this?’ is a perfectly reasonable reaction that the 18th Airborne Corps wants anyone found guilty of sexual assault or harassment to be immediately separated from the Army. But it’s true: the new policy marks a major departure from how such crimes are handled elsewhere in the service, and it’s a direct result of soldier feedback to their leadership.

Remember that scene from The Matrix where Neo orders up a big honkin’ arsenal of virtual guns? Well that’s what the deck of the USS Monterey looked like last week. After the Navy ship stopped a small boat in the North Arabian Sea that was chock full of Type 56 assault rifles, PKM machine guns, sniper rifles, rocket propelled grenades and kaboodles of other kinds of firepower. In fact, the cache was so large it took the crew 36 hours to unload all of it.

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One of the many things that sticks out in my mind about my time in the military was the loss of lives during peacetime.

In my book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life, I wrote about two buddies I lost while in Korea. Neither one of them were in combat.

The first one was a buddy that I signed up with to get into the military. We went through basic together. We went through MOS training together, and was sent to Korea together.

When we got there, he was sent to another part of Korea. Things went Ok for a few months until I was notified that he had died from some kind of crud he caught there.

I couldn’t believe it. He died from an illness? I found out it happens a lot in foreign countries. I still think about him to this day.

The second incident was right in my own company at Camp Red Cloud, outside of Uijeongbu, Korea.

A close buddy had been drinking heavily, and went out into the village to be with a girl. He was coming back to the Camp, and he was staggering very badly. He could hardly walk.

As he was walking he fell into a “honey bucket.” A honey bucket is where the locals keep their human waste for fertilizer. It is about seven feet across. My buddy actually suffocated.

We had no idea it had happened until our morning formation the next morning. I noticed a gap where he was suppose to be in the ranks. I didn’t think much about it. However, the company commander came out and announced that he had died the night before.

We all were in shock. He was a good guy that everyone liked.

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These and many other stories like them will be in the book that will come out this fall. Be sure to follow this site to see the latest on the book.

Better yet, subscribe now by clicking on the subscribe button at the top of this page. You won’t have to come back here to find out more. It will be sent straight to your inbox each time I post.

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How are you doing? Did you lose a buddy while in the military? It is hard at best to even think about it.

FEAR NOT!!

There are more than 11,800 fellow veterans subscribed to this site who have your back.

BUT! If you heart is broken, and you need further assistance, 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. AND IT IS FREE!

Never face another day that causes you to hurt.

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!

___________________________________

+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.

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Soldiers Are Often Accused of Things They Didn’t Do

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Military news…

In the latest bad news to come out of Fort Jackson, South Carolina, an Army trainee was arrested for allegedly hijacking a bus full of school children on Thursday while armed with a rifle, Jeff Schogol reports. None of the children were physically harmed, and neither was the bus driver, or the trainee, who was “arrested without incident” after abandoning the vehicle and leaving his weapon behind.

“Soldiers must be confident” that they can report sexual assault or harassment and get the protection, dignity and respect they need, said Acting Army Secretary John Whitley after his branch announced it would put a civilian in charge of its Criminal Investigations Command, Haley Britzky reports. The change is meant to address glaring holes in the Army’s criminal investigative system which were revealed by a recent review of Fort Hood’s bungled response to the disappearance and death of Spc. Vanessa Guillén last year.

Connecticut Legion Family: $17,000 raised for hospitalized children

For more than 25 years, the Department of Connecticut American Legion Family has conducted a Kids Walk and other fundraisers to benefit the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (CCMC) in Hartford. The department’s seven districts host the events in April for Children & Youth Month with all donations supporting CCMC.

Department Children & Youth Chairman Louie Robinson has now tallied the donations from the seven districts, whether they hosted a walk or conducted other fundraising efforts for the medical center. He will present a $17,000 check to CCMC in the coming weeks.

“This cause to support the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center is very rewarding, and we are very proud of it,” Robinson said.

The 3rd District hosted a Kids Walk April 24 at Great Hallow Lake in Monroe with the Legion Family and community. T-shirts were awarded to walkers with $25 or more in donations.

The district raised $1,500.

During the Kids Walk, “people come up to us and say ‘Hi. What are you doing? Oh that sounds fun’ and they jump in and walk with us,” said Victor Yanosy, commander of American Legion Sippin-Winspur Post 176 in Monroe. “Some read about it in the local Monroe newspaper, and they bring their families just as a way to get out and meet the community. It’s for a really good cause.”

The mission of CCMC is to “improve the physical and emotional health of all children.” Every donation that the Department Connecticut Legion Family raises for CCMC helps provide resources to support this mission.

“In the 3rd District the Kids Walk has almost become a rite of spring,” said Mike Kellet, 3rd District executive committeeman. “We get out together and chat, enjoy each other’s company. You have all that enjoyment plus you’re raising money for a children’s medical center. You can’t beat it.”

The 3rd District was unable to hold its Kids Walk last April due to the pandemic. They hosted a fundraiser in September and raised $2,700 for CCMC. 

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One of the negative things I went through while in the military was at FT Bragg, NC. I was riding with a buddy in a jeep going through some of the forest area of Fayetteville, NC, on base.

We came across three guys who seemed to be washing one of the guys car. We were very wrong. They were chiphening gas out of the jeep that was there and putting into their car.

We stopped and watched them. Suddenly the MP’s came barreling up and went to the three guys vichale.

They arrested all three of them. They saw us, and made us come with them as well.

On the way to the MP headquarters all five of us were in the back of a truck. We whispered what we should be saying when questioned.

I wondered why my buddy and I needed to play the game. We had not done anything wrong.

They took in one man at a time and took us in too. Apparently each soldier told the exact same story, and we all were released.

I was very embarrassed to even be a part of that, but we didn’t mean to drive there in the first place.

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Have you had a similar incident while in the service? Did you get accused of something you didn’t do?

FEAR NOT!

There are over 11,960 fellow veterans here that have your back.

If the guilt is too much, 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 live with guilt in your life.

1-800-273-8255 Option # 1

___________________________________

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.