Tag: South Korea

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Mariupol teeters as Ukrainians defy surrender-or-die demand

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Russian ship sinks after battling a fire that Ukrainian forces claim was caused by their missile attack
A Russian cruiser that Ukrainian forces claim they hit with two missiles has sunk, the Russian Defense Ministry reported Thursday.

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DOD identifies remains of WWII pilot and Medal of Honor recipient Addison Baker

On April 8, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified the remains of Lt. Col. Addison Baker, a posthumous Medal of Honor recipient from World War II.

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North Korea tests ‘tactical guided’ weapons, condemns US-South Korean drills
The initial estimates peg the projectiles as more limited in range than a launch March 24 of an intercontinental ballistic missile that was theoretically capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.  North Korea has conducted at least 11 other rounds of missile tests so far this year.

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Mariupol teeters as Ukrainians defy surrender-or-die demand

If Mariupol is captured, Russian forces there are expected to join an all-out offensive in the coming days for control of the Donbas, the eastern industrial region that the Kremlin is bent on taking after failing in its bid to seize Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital.

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In Lviv, displaced artists create anti-war, anti-Russian work

Ukrainians feel a need to tell the world — and especially Russians — what has happened here. The country’s contemporary artists find themselves at the forefront of that storytelling mission.

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US troops to train Ukrainian forces on howitzers in coming days
The training, which will occur outside Ukraine, will teach Ukrainian forces to operate the 155mm howitzers. They will then return to the fight and train other Ukrainians to use the American cannons, the official said.

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Zelenskky: Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine has begun

Russia launched its long-feared, full-scale offensive to take control of Ukraine’s east on Monday, attacking along a broad front over 300 miles long, Ukrainian officials said in what marked the opening of a new and potentially climactic phase of the war.

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Two short stories about my own Uncles who fought in WWII. They are my heroes.

My Uncles in WWII

My Uncle Dwight Wood was a WWII veteran. He had a hard time sharing his time in the military, so I wasn’t able to interview him directly, but I did get some idea of what he went through to help defend our country.

Uncle Dwight was the driver of a tank during the war. One day he was in the tank with two other soldiers. A Japanese soldier climbed onto the top of the tank and threw a grenade down into the tank where they were. The grenade instantly killed one of the men right next to my uncle, and my uncle and the other men were wounded with fragments from the grenade. My uncle was given the Purple Heart, and to his death he would not talk too much about his time in the military. The event of seeing his buddy killed right before his eyes was too overwhelming, and it had haunted him until his death. They didn’t even know what PTSD was back in WWII. It was called, “Shell Shock,” back then.  This is a classic case that shows that thousands of WWII veterans surely lived with PTSD all of their lives. 

Another person who was a WWII veteran was my Uncle Claude.  He was a Seabee. The Seabees were an extremely important part of the military. They built bridges, forged roads through the brush. They built sleeping quarters for the troops. It hard to say how many lives were affected by their heroics, but they were very much admired by the rest of the troops.  I never got to ask him any question about his time.

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I will be sharing some more endorsements in my next post. Be sure to come back and check them out. Better yet…go to the top of this page and click on subscribe. When you do all future posts will come directly to you 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 14,345 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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It is Sometimes Hard to Make New Friends in the Military

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Military news…

Navy Separates 23 Active-Duty Sailors for Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine

Twenty-three active-duty sailors were separated for their refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The ranks of the sailors were not immediately clear.

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U.S. Air Force Ramps Up Intel Flights, Weapons Shipments to Ukraine

U.S. and allied reconnaissance flights in Eastern Europe have been ongoing since at least Dec. 24, dispatching multiple types of planes to listen in on communications signals and shoot high-altitude images.

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‘We’re Always Ready’—Meet The Soldiers of America’s Go-to Rapid Response Force

The 82nd Airborne Division makes up the core of the Immediate Response Force, a contingent of mostly soldiers tapped to deploy in under a day to respond to crises around the globe. 

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Fort Bragg MP Charged With Dereliction of Duty For Allegedly Moonlighting as a Drug Dealer

A military police soldier stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, faces a general court-martial in May for multiple counts of using and selling Oxycodone while on duty.

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Alexandria VA Unveils New Statue Recognizing Female Veterans

A new statue recognizing female veterans was unveiled Friday at the Alexandria, Louisiana, Veterans Affairs hospital campus.

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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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It’s Tough Being the New Kid on the Block

After basic training I was accepted into the Army Security Agency, which is a unit of soldiers who, in my case, monitored radio/teletype transactions to make sure there were no breaches of security.

I was sent to Fort Gordon, Georgia, for my training for that. I was separated from my two buddies there. I began to feel the loneliness again. Yes, there were hundreds of other soldiers just like me, but they weren’t from my home area. They were from all over the United States. They all had their own ways to approach people. Some didn’t want to have anything to do with the people around them.

I didn’t see why it was happening, and went out of my way to “cross the center line,” to the other side to get acquainted with them. I made some good friends on both sides, and didn’t get in trouble for doing it from either side.

Do you have family members, or fellow soldiers that you feel are isolating themselves from you? Are there those who want to be alone, and not mix with others?

I have felt that while I was stationed in Korea. There was a breakdown of short timers, (those with a month to go or less,) new guys who were “outcasts,” until they proved themselves, and the regular group who were in between.

I went through all three stages while I was there. However, I couldn’t let myself treat the new soldiers as outcasts. I learned that my first week there myself.

I was just settling in when two guys came walking up to me in my Quonset hut, (metal shelter.) They were both big and strong looking guys. One was African American, who looked like a linebacker, and the other was “tall drink of water,” from Texas.

I was every worried as they came towards me. Why would they fool around with a “newsikky,” (new guy) like me? They both had smiles on their faces and shook my hand. They greeted me like I was somebody important.

I figured they were the welcoming committee, but they weren’t. They were just two soldiers who had gone through the gauntlet like all new soldiers had to do, and they had decided that they would make sure no one else had to.

That was the one main factor that helped me cope while I was in Korea. I became very good buddies with those two guys. (Besides they were big and tough and they protected me!) They set the pattern that I used the whole time I was there. I felt it was my duty, because of these two men, to make the new soldiers feel welcome.

If you have been through some feelings of rejection in your world, reach out to someone who is in the same boat as you are and help them cope. Be like my two “angels” who came to make me feel welcome, and make others around you feel important and special.

You will not only feel good about what you are doing, but you will help someone who is struggling a great deal.

IWILL

There are times when you have “down time,” in the military. Use that time to get to know some of the soldiers that don’t seem to have any friends. It may seem uncomfortable at first, and they may reject you, but they will never be the same. They will know that someone cares, and they will walk a little taller.

Think about this

Isn’t it great that when we smile at someone they smile back?

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Hope you have been enjoying all these excerpts. There will be a few more, but not many. Keep coming back to see the last of the excerpts. Better yet…go to the top of this page and click on “Subscribe.” When you do all future post will come directly to your inbox.

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Checking in on you…How are you doing? Are you struggling?

FEAR NOT!

There are over 13,735 fellow veterans here who have your back.

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!

____________________________________________

+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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Prostitution Was Rampant Near the Deployed Bases

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Sorry, Iit is pretty quiet today for Military news…

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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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Iriwaba Means Come here

When I was in Korea for a while, I had time to go for walks in the Village of Uigongbo, Korea. It was a broken down village that didn’t seem to have any industry supporting itself.

I soon found out that the industry was prostitution. There were women of all ages waving at me and yelling “Iriwaba,”

Iriwaba means “Come here!” These women were all trying to entice you to come into their little parlor and have sex with them for a fee. I was such a naïve young man I didn’t respond for the first few trips there. Then one night when the guys decided I needed to get drunk and party, I ended up waking up from a stupor and saw an elderly lady on top of me buck naked, and I was too. She was having sex with me, and I didn’t even know it! As my eyes cleared, I saw that she was eating an apple like I was one of the people she would please while on a break!

I was told she was a “mommason” A mommason, is  a boss of the prostitutes, and I was delegated to have sex with the old pro who thought she needed an apple while she was performing her act on me.

I ask her the fee. She said one of the guys paid it and the going rate was a carton of cigarettes.  I said “What, a carton of cigarettes?” She said that one carton of cigarettes, which was worth $2.00, would get her family enough food for a week. The cartons were a hot commodity in the “Black Market.”  

So, for a $2.00 (over there in 1961) carton of cigarettes you could find pleasure.

I thought this could be fun to spend a couple of dollars and get laid. So, another time I went out into the village, and a mommason beckoned me to come into her shack. I thought she was the one providing the services, but she walked me into her bedroom and lying on the bed naked was a little girl that couldn’t have been more than twelve years old. She looked frightened, and didn’t want to look at me.

I knew then that this was probably her first time. I was ready to punch the mommason in the nose, and left quickly. 

Later I learned having so much sex in that village could be deadly. One of the soldiers, who bragged about being with a woman every night, caught some serious infection in his gentiles and eventually had to have them cut off to save his life. The vision cured me of any extra trips to the village for pleasure.

Now you are asking me, why on earth did you share this with me?

The experiences I had in Korea changed my life. Some of the experiences I am not proud of, but I learned so much on the thirteen months I was stationed there. This particular lesson I learned is that something may look enticing, and could give you pleasure, but it also could be something that is very serious and could lead to a “dead end.”

If you are now stationed in a foreign country, and have open access to pleasures you are having a hard time avoiding, think about this story. Think about the soldier who lost his chance to have any children, just because he thought what he was doing felt good.

We all want our pleasures in this world, but we need to carefully check to see if they can be harmful or even dangerous for us. We need to know if they are things that God will be OK with.

IWILL

This chapter would be a great time to talk about thinking drugs and alcohol are a pleasure we can’t seem to stop, but I have separate chapters for each of those. There are so many, so called pleasures, we need to take measures to identify them and see how they may or may not fit into our world.  We can find many pleasures that are not harmful, and actually enrich our lives.

Think about this

Isn’t it interesting that sometimes packages look great on the outside until we open them up? 

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Hope you have been enjoying all these excerpts. There will be a few more, but not many. Keep coming back to see the last of the excerpts. Better yet…go to the top of this page and click on “Subscribe.” When you do all future post will come directly to your inbox.

________________________________________

Checking in on you…How are you doing? Are you struggling?

FEAR NOT!

There are over 13,700 fellow veterans here who have your back.

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.

___________________________________________

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.