Every Care Package Is Important

Posted By Blackfive

Wendy is a Marine Mom who's son is Iraq right now.  Below is an email to her friends about the care packages they have been sending  to Iraq:

To top off my son’s email he was able to call yesterday!!! I've just been in absolutely the BEST mood. Not only did he call, but we were able to talk for a long time and it was so wonderful. He shared so many stories and had my laughing so hard. He wanted me to thank all his "Moms" and to let ya'll know that he and his fire team received their care packages and they were a wonderful morale booster. He said all of them had the Channel 11 footballs in their care package and they were out in the open area throwing the footballs around and other Marines were asking, "Hey where did ya'll get the footballs?" My son said at first they would all respond, "The Houston Marine Moms!". He said after awhile they were all laughing and they would just say "Our Moms".

He said they call the footballs their WMD's. I asked why and he said that when the lights go out at night they all throw them really hard at each other and just have the best time. He was laughing so hard sharing these stories with me. He had me rolling.

The rest (about Marines ingenuity in using female care packages) is in the Extended Section...

Continue reading "Every Care Package Is Important"

Warrior's Last Request - We Need Your Help!

Posted By Blackfive

Please help with this one.

Damn, just damn.  Specialist David Mahlenbrock was killed by an IED on December 3rd in Kirkuk, Iraq.

I received this email via Soldier's Angels.  It's from David's Squad in Bravo, 65th Engineers and they are forwarding a request from David.  It appears that David had a special letter sent to his squad in the event of his death.  Hold on to your seats, folks:

Dear 1^st Squad,

    If you’re reading this, then I’ve died for our country.  I just hope it wasn’t for nothing.

     After the IED went off yesterday, I wanted to write this in case something happens to me.  There are a few more letters that I’d like you to give my wife and family.

     I’d like to have a military funeral, but, if you can work please make sure that Toby Keith’s “American Soldier” is played at the ceremony in addition to the bagpipes. If they won’t let it happen, that’s ok, thanks for trying…...

     I know that all the belongings I have here will go to Melissa, but there are a few more things I’d like for you guys to make sure she gets.  I have a dog tag w/ our picture on it along w/ some pictures and an American flag in my left breast pocket.  There is also a can that says “Son” on it that Melissa’s parents gave me that I’d like for them to have, and that angel stone should go to her grandma and grandpa Snow.

     Now if I died w/ blue eyes (one blew that way and one blew the other way) and there’s nothing really left of me, that’s ok, I know you meant well.

     Alright, enough with the dead guy’s last request, there’s a lot of thank you’s I wanna say to you fellas……

Specialist David Mahlenbrock will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetary on Wednesday, December 15th at 10AM EST.  David's family and friends are asking radio stations to play Toby Keith's "American Soldier" on the 15th at 1pm EST with a dedication to Specialist David Mahlenbrock.

Let's see what we can do.  Email or call the radio stations in your area and ask them to play this dedication to David.  Feel free to copy this post to send to them.

The biggest and best country music station in the world is here in Chicago (US 99).  I'm calling them and others right now.

(Smash provides a link to find country radio stations in your area)

Update:  Here's an article from David's hometown newspaper - there's funeral and donation information, as well as a part about Soldiers Angels efforts to get radio stations to play "American Soldier" for David.

You can send condolences to David's family at:

Inglesby-Givnish Funeral Home

600 E. Main St.

Maple Shade, NJ 08052

Update December 14:  We have an answer from Toby Keith.

Does Enlisted Time Make An Officer A Better Leader?

Posted By Blackfive

Based on a few threads generated from some posts here, there has been discussion and many, many emails to me about the topic of the difference between Officers who have been prior Enlisted and those who have not.

I was a Sergeant before becoming an officer - more commonly known in the Army as a Mustang.  Many of the men that I served with would like to believe that I was a good leader based on my previous experience as an enlisted man.

I believe that this is not true.  Sure, my experiences in the enlisted side of the house gave me a lot of responsibility at a very young age and helped me to see how things SHOULD be done.  Most Officers that I've met who were previously enlisted, have been good leaders.  But they are the exception rather than the rule.

Officers spend approximately 30% or more of their careers in training and education.  They have the tools to lead and to do great work.  Some just don't have the capacity to execute leadership and mission accomplishment, though.

I've known Mustangs who were the worst officers in the service.  Some just became officers in order to stop painting rocks or pull KP.  I've known West Pointers who were absolutely terrible, too. 

There is no formula other than caring about your troops and doing the best job that you can - whether you are the Mess Hall Officer or a Ranger Commander.  Being a leader is like defending a hill top - there is never a finish line, never a time when you can sit there and look around and say "This defensive position is good enough".  Constant improvement and attention to the details of your unit's mission never stop.  Take care of your troops and they will take care of you.  Taking care of the troops also means kicking them in the ass when needed, but also patting them on the back when they deserve it, too.

Any job is what you make of it (military or civilian).  You can make it more than what it is if you want to...it's all up to you.  Some people, whether they had enlisted experience or not, just don't want to be the best that they can be.  They might care about their careers but they just don't care about their troops.  You all know someone like that.

No amount of Enlisted experience would ever change that.

Iraq - The Things That Were Good And The Things That Were Not Good

Posted By Blackfive

Via Seamus, this is the last email from a surgical team doctor (Navy) in Iraq as she prepares her staff to rotate back to the states. It's a must read.

Greetings all from hot, hot, hot Iraq,

We are short indeed...although not quite as short as we had originally thought...our flight home has been posted and is showing up 3 days later than planned. The good news is that we leave in the middle of the night and arrive (all admin complete, including turning our weapons into the armory) ! around dinnertime at Pendleton on the same day we leave (11 hrs time difference). The other good news is it appears we've got commercial contract air carriers taking us home...so we don't have to worry about sleeping on the cold steel deck of an Air Force C-17.

So...we turned over authority of the surgical company last week to our replacements, who had a serious trial by fire here in multiple ways, including multiple traumas, surgeries, increased risk to their personal safety, power outages, water outages, and camel spiders in the hospital...all in their first 4 days. But a few days ago, we heard the helicopters coming and knew they were dealing with multiple traumas, several of which were going to the OR...and we sat in our barracks and waited for them to call us if they needed us. They never did. Last week was the ceremony to mark the official end of our role here. Now we just wait.

As the days move very slowly by, just waiting, I decided that one of the things I should work on for my own closure and therapeutic healing...is a list. The list would be a comparison: "Things That Were Good" about Iraq and being deployed with the Marines as one of the providers in a surgical company, and "Things That Were Not Good." Of course, it's quite obvious that this list will be very lopsided. But I thought I would do it anyway, hoping that somehow the trauma, the fear, the grief, the laughter, the pride and the patriotism that have marked this long seven months for me will begin to make sense, through my writing. Interestingly, it sort of turned into a poem. To be expected, I guess.

Most of all it's just therapy, and by now I should be relatively good at that. Hard to do for yourself, though.

So here goes...in reverse order of importance...

Things That Were Good

Sunset over the desert...almost always orange
Sunrise over the desert...almost always red
The childlike excitement of having fresh fruit at dinner after going weeks without it

Being allowed to be the kind of clinician I know I can be, and want to be, with no limits placed and no doubts expressed

But most of all,
The United States Marines, our patients...
Walking, every day, and having literally every single person who passes by say "Hoorah, Ma'am..."
Having them tell us, one after the other, through blinding pain or morphine-induced euphoria..."When can I get out of here? I just want to get back to my unit..."
Meeting a young Sergeant, who had lost an eye in an explosion...he asked his surgeon if he could open the other one...when he did, he sat up and looked at the young Marines from his fire team who were being treated for superficial shrapnel wounds in the next room...he smiled, laid back down, and said, "I only have one good eye, Doc! , but I can see that my Marines are OK."
And of course, meeting the one who threw himself on a grenade to save the men at his side...who will likely be the first Medal of Honor recipient in over 11 years...

My friends...some of them will be lifelong in a way that is indescribable
My patients...some of them had courage unlike anything I've ever experienced before
My comrades, Alpha Surgical Company...some of the things witnessed will traumatize them forever, but still they provided outstanding care to these Marines, day in and day out, sometimes for days at a time with no break, for 7 endless months

And last, but not least...
Holding the hand of that dying Marine

Things That Were Not Good

Terrifying camel spiders, poisonous scorpions, flapping bats in the darkness, howling, territorial wild dogs, flies that insisted on landing on our faces, giant, looming mosquitoes, invisible sand flies that carry leischmaniasis

132 degrees
Wearing long sl! eeves, full pants and combat boots in 132 degrees
Random and totally predictable power outages that led to sweating throughout the night
Sweating in places I didn't know I could sweat...like wrists, and ears

The roar of helicopters overhead
The resounding thud of exploding artillery in the distance
The popping of gunfire...
Not knowing if any of the above sounds is a good thing, or bad thing
The siren, and the inevitable "big voice" yelling at us to take cover...
Not knowing if that siren was on someone's DVD or if the big voice would soon follow

The cracking sound of giant artillery rounds splitting open against rock and dirt
The rumble of the ground...
The shattering of the windows...
Hiding under flak jackets and kevlar helmets, away from the broken windows, waiting to be told we can come to the hospital...to treat the ones who were not so lucky...

Watching the helicopter with the big red cross on the side landing at our pad
Worse...watching Marine helicopters filled with patients landing at our pad...because we usually did not realize they were coming...

Ushering a sobbing Marine Colonel away from the trauma bay while several of his Marines bled and cried out in pain inside
Meeting that 21-year-old Marine with three Purple Hearts...and listening to him weep because he felt ashamed of being afraid to go back
Telling a room full of stunned Marines in blood-soaked uniforms that their comrade, that they had tried to save, had just died of his wounds
Trying, as if in total futility, to do anything I could, to ease the trauma of group after group...that suffered loss after loss, grief after inconsolable grief...

Washing blood off the boots of one of our young nurses while she told me about the one who bled out in the trauma bay...and then the one who she had to tell, when he pleaded for the truth, that his best friend didn't make it...
Listening to another of our nurses tell of the Marine who came in talking, telling her his name...about how she pleaded with him not to give up, told him that she was there for him...about how she could see his eyes go dull when he couldn't fight any longer...

And last, but not least...
Holding the hand of that dying Marine

The Sixtieth Anniversary of D-Day

Posted By Blackfive

"In the final choice, a soldier's pack is not so heavy a burden as a prisoner's chains." - Dwight D. Eisenhower

Welcome to a MilBlogs And Friends Special Edition of the Sixtieth Anniversary of D-Day! On June 6th, 1944, over 150,000 men landed by air and sea in Normandy to liberate Europe from Nazi oppression. Operation Overlord planned for the invasion of the 50-mile stretch of coast to be completed in just 24 hours.

First, I must thank Greyhawk of the Mudville Gazette who brought us all together and provided the graphic above. He's our Eisenhower (or maybe Patton).

Below you will find links to extraordinary bloggers telling the stories of D-Day from their unique perspectives. Instead of term paper descriptions, you'll see the beaches and cliffs of the Normandy coast, you'll read letters of the survivors and hear about the great sacrifices made by our neighbors to the north...and you'll never forget the Greatest Generation.

Let us begin:

Joe Katzman (Blackfive's favorite Cannuck) at Winds of Change covers one of my parts of D-Day - The Canadians at Juno. The Canadians had some of the toughest fighting ahead of them on Juno Beach, and their objective was to stop the Germans from targeting the Americans on Omaha Beach. They performed brilliantly on June 6th, driving deeper into France than any other landing - and engaging the 21st Panzer before it could crush the American beachhead at Omaha. This is the story of one of the Canadians in Juno's first wave: Jim Wilkins, B Company, The Queen's Own Rifles. Includes a map and photo.

Chap of Chapomatic has written a post about the X-Craft - a small submarine that the Royal Navy used during the invasion and the impact it has on Chap's job today in the US Navy.

Sgt. Hook has a post about the valiant Coast Guard coxwains who were part of the landing. A Coast Guard coxswain on an LCVP later remarked, “My eyes were glued to the boat coming in next to ours, and on the water in between, boiling with bullets from hidden shore emplacements, like a mud puddle in a hailstorm. It seemed impossible that we could make it in without being riddled.”

Grim Beorn of Grim's Hall has written about the Scot's role in the Invasion of Normandy. Grim adds in an email, "Since BBC Scotland has decided not to do a D-Day memorial for the Scots who fought there, we who have not forgotten will try."

Winds of Change guest blogger J.K.L. has a piece about the deceptions that were launched to keep the Germans guessing. Imagine preparing to land more than 1,000,000 men on 50 miles of beach. There will be more than 2,700 ships, 2,500 landing craft and 700 warships. Preparations for an assault on this scale couldn't be hidden or kept totally secret, so what could be done protect the identity of the actual target and confuse the enemy?

Dennis Morehouse of Fix Bayonetts has a post - Rescue at Normandy-The Matchstick Fleet - which tells the tale of the Coast Guard's 400 rescues during the D-Day landing.

Serenity has a post about the personal accounts of the heroes of D-Day. She provides pictures and links to more information about them.

Mammamontezz has written a poem - "Red Surf" - that'll be one of the most heartfelt poems you've read in a long, long time.

Charlie of Budaechigae has a post about one of the most interesting characters of the war - a Korean who was conscripted into the Japanese Army, captured by the Russians, conscripted into the Red Army, captured by the Germans, forced to defend portion of Utah Beach, and captured by the US Forces.

Blake of Laughing Wolf has an excellent post about the deception efforts - D-Day + 60 Years: The Maskirova (the deception by General George Patton). It's an amazing story.

Dogtulosba Ink. has an examination of the German Fortress Europe defenses from a US Army Engineer perspective. He'll have more later on what our Engineers did to breech those defenses.

Teresa of Technicalities posts about the news media reaction to D-Day. As Teresa writes, "To those waiting at home it was not a day for rejoicing, it was a day for prayer, hope, fear, and contemplation."

Patti of Iraq War News - and who is related to George Patton - provides memories of the Patton family about one of General Patton's aides. For those who have seen the movie Patton, you'll instantly know which aide is remembered.

Deb from Marine Corps Moms has a great post (titled appropriately enough) - Home Front. As the allied forces fought for victory on the beaches of Normandy, those at home waited, watched, and worried. The home front was a vital part of the war effort and everyone was urged to contribute. Are things different today? Yes and no. The home front is still a vital part of the war effort and everyone can contribute.

Ith of Absinthe and Cookies has a really interesting post about the brave women of Britain's Special Operation Executive who risked torture and death at the hands of the Nazis collecting vital intelligence for the Allies in occupied Europe.

Greyhawk of the Mudville Gazette is forecasting the weather and will be talking of the war soon.

Jennifer of Jennifer's History and Stuff has a series about what life in France was like before the invasion - French History: The Occupation. Jennifer writes, "...the Occupation is the most-studied period of French history."

Donald Sensing of One Hand Clapping has written about The awful stakes of D-Day: The alternate history of June 6, 1944 is too terrible to contemplate. He describes D-Day as one of the "pivot days of human history."

Eric the Straight White Guy has a post (his words, not mine) about "...a few jarheads that were present during the landing on Normandy."

Update 06-04-04:
John Cole of Balloon Juice writes about the men who fought in D-Day from the small town of Bedford, Virginia. His post has pictures, maps, and accounts of the Virginians.

Harvey of Bad Example (a former Sailor) has a post about the humor of the day. Why do a post about the humor of WWII and D-Day? According to Harv, "Because back during the early 40's, Americans didn't fear their enemies. They made fun of them."

Vox of Vox Popoli writes of the memories of war and how those of us of later generations remember their sacrifices.

Update 06-05-04:
Emigre with a Digital Cluebat offers up a poem dedicated to those who made the ultimate sacrifice on D-Day.

David of Airborne Combat Engineer has a post about the role of the Airborne Forces (Paratroopers and Gliders) in Operation Overlord.

Paul at Iraq War News has a photo-filled post about Combat Photographers.

Drill Sergeant Rob of An American Soldier takes a look at the way the soldiers of Operation Overlord trained for war, from Basic Training to the Devon Coast in England prior to the invasion. And a look at how it parallels some of the training we conduct today, including how little the basics have changed over the last sixty years.

Michael at The Common Virtue has an interesting post about the Enigma machine. Captured German communications played a key role in defeating the Axis powers. The German military used the Enigma machine, a typewritter-like device, to code transmissions. With the help of captured Enigma machines, the German codes were broken and the Allied nations were able to monitor German troop movements and supply routes. These same codes lead to information, and disinformation, in conjuction with Operation Overlord on D-Day.

Update 06-06-04:
Andrew Olmstead has a post about the training our troops underwent for preparation for landing at Normandy. He includes the high price some training excercises incurred and their impact on D-Day.

Hans Nyberg has some really cool panorama photo shots of the D-Day locations. Check out the Pointe du Hoc to see how it must have looked to the Army Rangers. There is also the Pegasus Bridge, St. Mere Eglise, and the HMS Belfast.

Theif's Den has a post and a radio blog with music from today and from the D-Day era...

Juliette of Baldilocks has posted President Reagan's speech atop the cliffs of the Pointe du Hoc.

Sarah of Trying to Grok has written about perceptions of D-Day by German students and thanks Joe and Tommy.

Cool Blue Blog has a post about Omaha Beach and the USS Arkansas (his father served aboard the Arkansas).

Paul at Sanity's Edge has a post about the Bangalore torpedoes and a link to the Reed Interview.

OkieMinnie Me has a post about the Minnesota Air Wing's role in D-Day (the same Air Wing that her husband serves in today).

SlagleRock's Slaughterhouse has a post about one of the Greatest Generation and the difference between the young Americans of 1944 and 2004.

[Edit note: This post will stay a the top of Blackfive through June 6th. More links will be added every day through the sixth.]

Major Mathew Schram's Memorial Day

Posted By Blackfive

Memorial Day is like any other day when you're in an Army at War.

On Memorial Day, May 26th, 2003 at approximately 7:00AM, Major Mathew E. Schram was leading a resupply convoy in Western Iraq near the Syrian border. Major Schram was the Support Operations Officer for the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment (out of Ft. Carson, Colorado). He had responsibility for organizing the logistical arm of the regiment - ensuring that the Cavalrymen never ran out of food, fuel or ammo.

Normally, Major Schram would not only accompany 2 or 3 convoys per week as his responsibilities kept him at the main resupply point. However, due to the problems with attacks on supply convoys (i.e. Jessica Lynch's 507th Maintenance Company ambush), he decided to lead this one. He also decided that there was a side benefit to the ride - he would be able to talk with the field commanders and troops that he supported. Major Schram wanted to make sure that his "customers" were happy. Anyone who knew Mat Schram knew that he was obsessive-compulsive about making sure "his soldiers" were taken care of...that's why he was one of the top logistical officers in the US Army.

Major Schram's convoy consisted of eight vehicles - one 5,000 gallon water tanker, two 3,000 gallon water trucks, one water pump truck, two 5,000 gallon fuel tankers, one truck with MREs and bottled water, and Major Schram's command Humvee (bumper numbers: S&T 323, 344, 350, 237, 210, 204, 219, and HQ12).

The convoy was headed North from Al Asad Airbase - Foward Operating Base (FOB) Webster (grid coordinate KC 640 430) along Route 12 to FOB Jenna (KC 360 748). After delivering supplies at Jenna, the convoy would continue on to Al Qaim - FOB Tiger (GT 146 911) which had the 1/3 Armored Cavalry.

At 7:15AM, vicinity KC 6514 6181, Major Schram's convoy approached a ravine where the bridge crossing the ravine had been destroyed. The convoy had to go down the embankment, into the ravine, and back up the other side to get back onto the highway.

Once the lead vehicle started up the far bank of the ravine, the convoy came under intense fire from Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs), machine guns, and small arms fire. It was an ambush. Fifteen Iraqi insurgents had been waiting by the ravine.

An RPG hit the lead tanker vehicle, disabling it in the kill zone. It was a perfect ambush set up. If the insurgents could knock out the first and last vehicles, then the entire convoy would be stuck in the kill zone. Bullets flew from insurgents on both sides of the ravine. The insurgent grenadiers were trying to concentrate fire on the last American vehicle to bottle Major Schram's convoy in the ravine. The attackers would then be able to kill the Americans at will.

Major Schram ordered and his driver, Specialist Chris Van Dyke, had worked out plans in case of an attack - the Major manned the radios and would shoot, the Specialist would drive and work the maps - Specialist Van Dyke accelerated from their position in the convoy into the insurgents' positions. Major Schram sent a message to Headquarters for help and began returning fire out of the Humvee. The Iraqi grenadiers recognized the threat and shifted their fire from the rear truck to Schram's Humvee, HQ-12.

Multiple grenades exploded at the front and rear of HQ-12. Specialist Van Dyke was blown out of the vehicle. Once he stopped rolling on the ground, he got up and ran back to HQ-12. He got back in and drove the Humvee out of the Kill Zone.

When he turned to get orders from Major Schram, Van Dyke realized that his Major had been killed. Even though he wore body armor, two 7.62 rounds a light anti-tank missle had struck the Major gone through his armpit (where there is no body armor coverage) and struck his heart, killing him instantly.  Two 7.62 rounds also struck the Major after he had been killed.

The Iraqi insurgents had fled after they fired their grenades at HQ-12 which was heading for them at full throttle.

Immediately, from a nearby FOB, two Apache helicopter gunships were launched along with a MedEvac helicopter. A Quick Reaction Force from FOB Webster was on the scene in less than ten minutes. Aside from the death of Mathew Schram, the convoy suffered only two wounded. Specialist Van Dyke was wounded in his hand and was able to continue his mission. One other soldier in the lead vehicle suffered a broken femur from the initial grenade attack.

The MedEvac brought Major Schram's body and the injured soldier back to the hospital at FOB Webster. The military conducted a funeral for Major Schram in Iraq. Two hundred soldiers were present. Everyone that knew Mat loved him.

The military said it would take ten days to get Mat Schram's body to his family in Wisconsin. It took less than a few days. Also, in a few days after the ambush, the Army had rounded up all of the attackers and put them in prison.

I was at my desk at work on Tuesday, June 3rd. The phone rang. I looked at the caller ID to see that it was a call from Ft. Leavenworth. I picked it up.

It was John, a friend of mine and Mat Schram's. We had all served together years ago and had stayed in touch. He told me to sit down. I did. He told me that Mat had been killed in Iraq.

After composing myself, we finished our conversation and I promised to see John's wife, Patti, at the funeral. John had to be at Special Operations Command and couldn't make it.

I shut the door to my office, sat back down at my desk and wept for a long time.

At the funeral, Mat's family displayed his last letters and emails that he sent. All were strong, positive messages (sooo very Schrambo-like). Here's an example of the kinds of things that Mat told his family (from the Green Bay Gazette):

Phil Schram of Hartland said his brother had visited Wisconsin over Christmas. The family knew then war was likely. Mathew Schram had been involved in the first Persian Gulf War and, later, in Somalia.

“He was anxious to get over there and get to work. He loved the military. He loved the structure. He loved serving under George W. (Bush),” Phil Schram said.

The one part that I left out of this post is that Major Schram's convoy was followed by a car with a major weekly magazine reporter in it. Once the action began, the reporter and his driver turned and got the hell out of there. If it wasn't for Mat's charge up into the ambushers, they never would have made it out of there alive.

The weekly magazine never ran a story about my good friend, Mat.

It took a few weeks for me to decide what to do.

I had been reading Stephen Den Beste, Bill Whittle, Frank J.'s IMAO, and Misha for awhile at that point.

I started Blackfive and decided to write about Mat and other Americans like him - people that Newsweek would never tell you about.

It's Mat Schram's blog as much as it is mine.

So, today, on the anniversary of the sacrifice of my friend, please take a moment to pray for the families who have lost their loved ones in our fight against terror. Mat would have liked that.

One last note, there is a way to contribute to help Mat's fellow Officers attend graduate school. Some of Mat's family and friends got together to create:

The Major Mathew Earl Schram ALMC-LEDC/FT Endowed Fellowship

The fellowship, for Florida Institute of Technology's School of Extended Graduate Studies ' (SEGS) Ft. Lee, Va. center, will support U.S. military officers enrolled in the SEGS Logistics Executive Development Course (LEDC)-Florida Tech (FT) cooperative graduate degree program. The program is at the Army Logistics Management College at Fort Lee. Major Mathew Schram graduated from this school in 2001. This is the first fellowship established for a Florida Tech SEGS center.

The endowment will support one or more annual fellowships for military officers. The first fellowship will be awarded for the fall 2004 semester. To make a contribution to the fellowship, call the Florida Tech Office of Development at (321) 674-8962.

Update 08-09-07:  Specialist Chris Van Dyke contacted me on August 9, 2007, and informed me that some of the content was incorrect.  I put this together from Army and other accounts (mostly from the incident report by the 3rd ACR).  Changes will be noted by striking out the original content.  Thanks to Chris for his service and for letting me know more my friend.  The changes were made immediately upon receipt and acknowledgement of Chris's email.

Taking Chance Home

Posted By Blackfive

The following is Marine Lieutenant Colonel Strobl's account of escorting the remains of Lance Corporal Chance Phelps. It's a long and beautifully written and it deserves to be read in it's entirety. It's about Valor, Honor and Respect. Thanks to Jarhead Dad for sending it to me.

23 Apr 04 – The enclosed article was written by LtCol M.R. Strobl USMC who is assigned to MCCDC Quantico, VA and served as the officer who escorted the remains of PFC C. Phelps USMC from Dover AFB, DE to his home. PFC Phelps was assigned to 3d Bn, 11th Marines – an artillery unit functioning as a provisional infantry battalion during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM 2. PFC Phelps was killed in action from a gunshot wound received on 9 Apr 04 during combat operations west of Baghdad. He was buried in Dubois, WY on 17 Apr 04.

TAKING CHANCE

Chance Phelps was wearing his Saint Christopher medal when he was killed on Good Friday. Eight days later, I handed the medallion to his mother. I didn’t know Chance before he died. Today, I miss him.

Over a year ago, I volunteered to escort the remains of Marines killed in Iraq should the need arise. The military provides a uniformed escort for all casualties to ensure they are delivered safely to the next of kin and are treated with dignity and respect along the way.

Thankfully, I hadn’t been called on to be an escort since Operation Iraqi Freedom began. The first few weeks of April, however, had been a tough month for the Marines. On the Monday after Easter I was reviewing Department of Defense press releases when I saw that a Private First Class Chance Phelps was killed in action outside of Baghdad. The press release listed his hometown—the same town I’m from. I notified our Battalion adjutant and told him that, should the duty to escort PFC Phelps fall to our Battalion, I would take him.

I didn’t hear back the rest of Monday and all day Tuesday until 1800. The Battalion duty NCO called my cell phone and said I needed to be ready to leave for Dover Air Force Base at 1900 in order to escort the remains of PFC Phelps.

Continue reading "Taking Chance Home"

Remembering Eagle Flight

Posted By Blackfive

"They came to save us, and to give us dignity. Their sacrifice will remain in the minds of our children for the rest of their lives. We will teach their names to our children, and keep their names in our books of history as heroes who gave their lives for freedom." - Kurd Sheik Ahmet, April 17th, 1994 memorial service in Zakhu, Iraq

In April, 1991, as part of U.N. Resolution 688, the National Command Authority commanded the US Armed Forces to conduct Operation Provide Comfort. The mission was a tough one - to provide humanitarian aid to over one million Kurdish Refugees in northern Iraq. We began with airdrops (food, clothing, tents, blankets, medicine) a few days later.

General John Shalikashvili, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had this to say about the hard work of the Provide Comfort Soldiers and Airmen:

For over 1,000 days, the pilots and crews assigned to Operation Provide Comfort flew mission after mission, totalling over 50,000 hours...

To further stop Saddam from killing the Kurds, a northern No-Fly Zone was placed north of the 36th parallel. Any Iraqi aircraft would be shot down in the No-Fly Zone.

The No-Fly Zone was patrolled and kept "clean" by the USAF with fighters (F-15s) being supported by command and control aircraft (AWACS).

On April 14th, 1994, two Blackhawk helicopters were ready for take-off from Diyarbakir, Turkey. COL Jerry Thompson was changing command (or co-command as "command" of Provide Comfort was shared with Turkey). He decided to show his replacement, COL Mulhern, the lay of the land. At 0730, COL Thompson assembled 26 people that comprised important (command group) roles for the mission. He included French, British, and Turkish commanders and laisons, and also brought along Kurdish para-military personnel and linguists.

Continue reading "Remembering Eagle Flight"

A Candle in the Wind - Goodbye Howard Dean

Posted By Blackfive

A Candle in the Wind (Howard Dean version 2004)

Goodbye Howard Dean
Never winning a state at all
Screamed like you were on fire
Your campaign began to stall
D.F.A. imploded
And it whispered into your brain
You thought it was inconceivable
That you'd lose a campaign

And it seems to me your campaign ran
Like a candle in the wind
Always changing the issue to cling to
When the polls came in
And I wouldn't vote for you even
Before you blew your lid
Your campaign burned out long before
Your "Yeeeeeaaaaaah!" ever did

(continue in the comments if you are so inclined)

Update: Smash reports that Howard may concede defeat this afternoon,