BlackFive

You can hear the show tonight at 9pm on WRC AM 1260 http://www.1260wrc.com/ . Guests are Andy McCarthy of National Review, Matthew Brodsky of the Jewish Policy Center, Claudia Rossett from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, and author/filmaker Jeremy Scahill. We talk about Boston bombers lack of interrogation, Syria, the UN and America's Dirty Wars.

A soldier touches the Ranger tab after completing the rope crawl portion of the water confidence obstacle during the final day of the 30th annual Best Ranger Competition on Fort Benning, Ga., April 14, 2013. U.S. Army photo by Patrick A. Albright

U.S. Marines exit the back of a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter while conducting a parachute operation during exercise Eagle Reslove over Qatar, April 26, 2013. The helicopter crew is assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 266. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Christopher Q. Stone

Wow.  Just wow.

Sgt. 1st Class Greg Robinson has become the first amputee to complete Army air assault school, a course so grueling his prosthetic leg broke twice over the 10 days spent rappelling down ropes, navigating obstacle courses and completing strenuous road marches...

Go here to read the whole story.

There is a wonderful memorial near where I live to Rocky Versace, an Alexandria VA native, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism while a POW in Vietnam. There are also inscribed the names of other Alexandria area vets who gave their lives while serving. The folks who run the memorial are asking for some help.

  As the "Friends of Rocky Versace" prepare for the Memorial Day Ceremony at Rocky's Plaza in Alexandria, wanted to ask you if you have any ideas about "spreading the word" concerning the fact that the FoRV still are without a photo for 30 of the 67 men whose names are chiseled intop stone below their Gold Star?

 

  One of those men, SFC David Warczak, was in B-50/5 SFGA when he died in 1969.  Earlier this year, a fellow SF medic provided the FoRV with a photo of SGT Ray B. Brown, A 416/D/5 SFGA (Jan '64), and we were grateful for that.

 

  Here is a link to a story about missing photos:

 

   

http://delray.patch.com/articles/program-seeks-photos-of-alexandria-vets-who-died-in-vietnam-war

Thanks in advance for any thoughts/help on the matter.

I need some creative (real) suggestions to help me get to either Indianapolis or Lafayette on Thursday, earlier the better, then back down to Atlanta.  A car rental is $600 (best deal so far) with more than half of that being insurance I have to have.  If anyone knows of anyone travelling that way, or has other constructive or creative suggestion, would love to hear it. 

Two, it appears that Normandy is a go, at least in terms of transport.  Now, I need lodging, car, and some food would not be amiss either.  Please donate to either the Indigogo fundraiser or at my site if you would.  Anything helps!

Third, two short embeds in the southern hemisphere are in work.  These will require some commercial travel, so again donations are very much appreciated. 

Finally, if you are a company or organization that would like some targeted and productive advertising, please contact me here.  I will be glad to share information on demographics and options with you. 

Things are starting to move, and your help in making the most of them is very much appreciated.

LW

NSFW (Language and one SEALY!)

Over at Ranger Up's Rhino Den, you can watch all of "The Damn Few" episodes INCLUDING THE WORLD PREMIERE OF THE FIRST FULL LENGTH "THE DAMN FEW!"

 

They are often called "The Greatest Generation" was given to me on Wednesday.  I had the honor of talking to the Vinings (GA) Rotary, during which I met a WWII veteran who is an active member with the organization.  Our talk led to finding out that he did indeed see the elephant while being a forward artillery observer in Europe.

Rather, he half saw the elephant.  When he turned 18 around 1943 and was accepted to Georgia Tech, he and other students went down and signed up.  He had everything they were looking for except one thing:  he was blind in one eye (since birth).  They did not ask, and he did not tell.  When the time came for his vision test, he very dutifully put his left hand over his left eye and read the chart.  When the time came to test the left eye, he put his right hand over his left eye and read with the right eye again.  He demonstrated to me what he did, and did it so well I can see how he got away with it then and two other times he had to take an eye exam. 

They did indeed stand up to serve, and did not let little things like age, blindness, or other things that could be hidden stop them.  Bless them all. 

LW

It has been a true pleasure in doing my recent product reviews to point out that Lock-n-Load Java not only seeks to provide good coffee to the troops, but that it also donates $1 on every order to a military charity.  To help get good coffee out to the troops, they also make it easy for you to buy and ship coffee to the troops. 

For many companies, just one part of that would be enough, but not Lock-n-Load Java.  I am pleased to announce that any unit I embed with for more than two weeks will be getting coffee sent to them by Lock-n-Load.  It's a way of supporting the embeds and giving a reward to a unit that is willing to have me embed with them. 

Good coffee, with a company doing good things for good people -- our troops.  You can't ask for more.  Check them out.

LW