+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.
In one of my interviews in my upcoming book, Signs of hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of life, Captain Bob Coury had a company of men stationed in Okinawa. Their only job was to unload the ships as they came into the Okinawa harbor. Sounds easy, except for the fact that Japanese pilots were bombing them, and even flying their planes into the ships.
Come back for more excerpts from the book, Signs of hope for the 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 directly to your inbox.
Checking in on you…How are you doing? Are you struggling with memories?
FEAR NOT!
There are over 13,890 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 highlyqualified counselors there to help you, and they will no hang up until they know you are OK.
+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.
+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.
Russia Says Some Troops Are Returning to Their Bases, But Other Large-Scale Military Drills Continue.
Some Russian troops deployed from military districts bordering Ukraine were being loaded onto trains and trucks and sent back to their garrisons, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday, signaling that Russia could be stepping away from an invasive posture.
______________________
Veterans Groups Asking Congress to Prevent Afghan Evacuees from Being Kicked Out of US
Some Afghans evacuated by the U.S. military last year could lose their legal status in the U.S. in six months and veterans groups are pushing Congress to find a permanent solution and guarantee their allies’ safety.
______________________
Pentagon Orders US Soldiers Out of Ukraine as War Fears Mount
U.S. Army National Guard troops on a training mission in Ukraine were repositioned in Europe amid escalating signals of a possible Russian invasion, the Pentagon said Saturday.
______________________
Biden Approves Pentagon Plan to Help Americans Fleeing Ukraine if Russia Invades
The White House approved a Pentagon plan to send 1,700 paratroopers with the 82nd Airborne Division to Poland to bolster that ally and assist with safeguarding Americans directed to leave Ukraine, U.S. officials said.
______________________
Number of Veterans Living in Homeless Shelters Declined During Pandemic, Report Finds
Fewer veterans lived in homeless shelters or transitional housing last year, but officials say the pandemic’s real impacts on the homeless in America won’t be known until a new batch of surveys of those living on the streets.
______________________
Americans Were Promised an ‘Orderly and Safe’ Withdrawal From Afghanistan. US Troops Say it Was Anything But
Several Marines provided investigators with visceral accounts of the chaos at Abbey Gate at Hamid Karzai International Airport in the hours leading up to a suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members and as many as 170 Afghans.
Here is the last chapter of my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life
Let’s Start a Ripple Effect
Have you ever thrown a pebble into a lake? Did you notice the circles that form and slowly spread out away from where the pebble went into the water? This is called the ripple effect.
Well, this can happen in your own life.
Every time you offer your hand to pick someone up; every time you share your strength and ability to persevere and every time you fight for your own recovery and help someone else with theirs, the ripple grows.
I have seen it so many times in my many years of going around the block.
A close friend of mine, who was a veteran, was given only six months to live. He used those six months to give hundreds of other people hope. He was never negative. He never blamed God for his demise. He used his impending death as a tool to help others to feel comfort in their own battles. His ripple effect reached out to all of his close friends, and through those friends it spread to many other who needed a friend.
How about you? Do you have some buddies or friends in the military that are hurting? Do they seem too quiet, or distant? They often do not seek help because of the mental attitude of the military. It is the “tough it out,” attitude. This is the time for you need to sit with them to get them to talk. You don’t have to be forceful, just be a friend, and they will open up.
Since 1999 there have been over 128,000 suicides in the military, and the veterans who are out on the private sector. We all need to do what we can to help stop this epidemic.
Twenty-two veterans end their lives every day. This is not acceptable. This needs to stop.
Hopefully you have come up with some strategies from reading this book. Use them to help those hurting around you.
Ripple effects can begin with you. You have faced many trials in your life. What did you do when you did? Was it a poor me pity party, or did you use it to help others?
Through your one ailment, disappointment, or failure, you can spread hope to others around you. The ripple effect will grow and continue to grow far further than you will ever know.
IWILL
Check in on all of your friends and neighbors. I may have said this many times in this book, but just checking in with them cheers them up. By doing this you will brighten their day and they will in turn want to reach out to someone else.
I hope this book has been beneficial for you. Thank you for your service. As Lt. Lynn Buck Compton said when he wrote an autograph for me in his book, “All my best to an American hero.” That would be you.
Think about this
Isn’t it sad how we think about reaching out to someone, but often never do it?
There will be more excerpts coming so come back aften. Better yet… go to the top of this page and click on “Subscribe.” When you do all future posts will come directly to your in box.
Checking in on you…How are you doing? Are you struggling with memories?
FEAR NOT!
There are over 13,880 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 highlyqualified counselors there to help you, and they will no hang up until they know you are OK.
1-800-273-8255…texting 838255.
I will start repeating some of the more popular chapters for you to see, so keep coming back. 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.
+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.
+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.
_____________________________________________
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.
______________________
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.
_____________________
‘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.
_____________________
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.
_____________________
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.
__________________________________________
Here is another excerpt from my upcoming book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In and Out of the Trenches of Life.
___________________________________________
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?
___________________________________________
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 13,735 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 highlyqualified 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.
