The Cool Blue Blog

Eleven Eleven

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."

Thomas Paine, 1776

According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs:

The U.S. Veterans Population is 23,532,000; 7% (or 1,745,000) are female

The number of living WW II Veterans (as of 9/30/2007) is 2,795,000

1000 WW II Veterans die every day

39% of our Veterans are 65 or older

There are 29,350 former POWs still living

1,807 soldiers are still MIA from Vietnam

Capt. Michael Speicher of the Gulf War remains classified as missing/captured

8 veterans of the Battle for Iraq were captured by the enemy and rescued.

Spc. Keith Maupin, Spc. Ahmed K. Altaie, Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, and Spc. Alex R. Jimenez are all currently missing.

My father is a WWII veteran.

Both my grandfathers were veterans of WWI; one was not even a US citizen at the time he fought for America and became a POW.

Nancy Thorner writes

...fewer than ten percent of Americans can claim the title of "veteran." American forces have liberated millions of people held hostage by history's evil tyrants. It should therefore come as no surprise that the American GI is accorded time and again the honor of "most respected" in public opinion polls and surveys, or that a national day has been set aside to pay tribune to all veterans throughout this nation's history.

Thanks to all who have served and the families who have sacrificed right along with them.

It is a great privileged to share this country with you all.

Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.

Thomas Paine, 1776

Gina Whitney goes where Kiki Munshi dares not

Uncle Jimbo, posting over at Blackfive notes

In yesterday's WashPo Kiki Munshi lets us know about conditions on the ground in Baqubah, Iraq while sunning in California.

The writer is a retired Foreign Service officer who returned to duty to lead the provincial reconstruction team in Baqubah, Iraq, from April 2006 until January 2007 JULIAN, Calif. --

Last year at this time, I traveled from Forward Operating Base Warhorse into the Iraqi town of Baqubah several times a week to meet with the governor, the provincial council chairman and other officials. Yes, it was dangerous. But it wasn't suicidal.

Today, though, such trips would be almost impossible. Baqubah is a battlefield, the site of a major push against al-Qaeda and other insurgents. The houses that haven't been destroyed are riddled with bullet holes. Many of the Iraqis I worked with are dead, and many others have fled.

Of course Micahel Yon, who actually is in Baqoubah has a different story to tell

MICHAEL YON EMAILS: "Baqubah has gone quiet. Very little fighting. There might be more to come, but overall the people have turned against al Qaeda and are pointing them out day by day. The people are pointing out the bombs. Baqubah received its first food shipment in 10 months just a few days ago, even while light fighting was still on. I was there for the food distribution and am writing a dispatch on it. The primary object now is to start to restore a sense of normalcy in the city. Remember Ramadi? That crazy city of death and fighting? Writers hardly want to go there any more because it's quiet. I am very curious if Baqubah will go that way. So far so good. There are serious sectarian issues here in Diyala Province, but with al Qaeda on defense instead of offense, the people in Baqubah have a chance to do what those in Ramadi and other cities are doing: reclaim their lives."

And while Kiki Munshi is too scared to visit Forward Operating Base Warhorse, Gina Whitney and the Bootleggers decided to entertain the troops at that very place which gives Kiki the shivers.

Gina Whitney's 'Bootleggers' rock Baqouba

        By Spc. Ryan Stroud,

3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs
        Jul 7, 2007 - 7:29:09 PM

With the sun setting in the distance behind Forward Operating Base Warhorse, located outside Baqouba, Iraq, Gina Whitney and the Bootleggers, a country band located in the United States, took the stage in the Wood Dining Facility to rock the Soldiers of the 3rd "Grey Wolf" Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, July 5.

The Bootleggers "rocked the socks off" a packed group of Soldiers with original material off Whitney's next album and covered classics like Bonnie Raitt's "Something to Talk About," Patsy Cline's "Crazy," and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama."

With this being her third time overseas in a war zone, Whitney, formally traveling under the name Gina Notrica, said her mission was still the same - to entertain the Soldiers, give them a piece of home and to include them as much as possible into her performances.

"Every night, I try to find someone to sing 'Sweet Home Alabama,'" said Whitney. "It's an important part [of our show] to have the Soldiers involved. That's why I'm here, to raise morale and take them away from their setting out here... and to help them to have fun."

Whitney's mission is to also share a special song with the Soldiers. A track entitled, "Time to Go," off her next album, called "High Heels in a War Zone," is a song about her father, who is an Army and Korean War veteran.

"My dad was in North Korea when he received word that my mom, who was pregnant at the time, was having complications with my [unborn] sister," she said. "The guys in his unit pulled together the money to send him home to be with my mother. Three days later, his whole unit was killed in an attack.

"Though 'Time to Go,' is about my father, I would like to dedicate that song to the Soldiers," Whitney continued. "That song came from when I was talking to my dad about being afraid to fly, and he told me, 'When it's time to go, it's time to go.' That's when I first heard his story and understood how he felt and what he had to deal with.

"[This song] comes from my dad being in the Army and the survivor's guilt he felt," she said. "I know these guys deal with [different emotions] on a day-to-day basis, that's why this song is important for me to perform for them."

While the Grey Wolf executive officer, Maj. Robert "Bubba" Cain, sang the lead to "Sweet Home Alabama," Spc. Andrea Guara, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, and a native of Dallas, Texas, was also asked to come up to the stage to sing with Whitney, an experience which was both exciting and nerve wracking, said Guara.

"I first met Gina before her concert and she was a really nice, really sweet lady," said Guara. "Once I found that out there was going to be a concert, I gathered as many people as I could to go see the show.

"[Whitney] was singing some really good music and I got excited and started singing back," said the excited Guara.

"Then Gina started singing 'Redneck Woman' by Gretchen Wilson," she continued. "If you are a female from Texas, you have to know that song.

"I was sitting in the crowd, singing along and Gina pointed me out to come sing with her," Guara said with a huge smile on her face. "I was really scared and really nervous, but it was a lot of fun."

Guara's experience was just what Whitney was hoping for - a fun time with a chance to escape, Whitney said.

"It takes you out of a war zone state-of-mind and makes you happy," Guara said. 

"It takes you away from Iraq and makes you feel good because you are at a concert and feeling like you're back at home again," she continued.

"The whole experience made my day," Guara concluded.  "It was a lot of fun."
   
But Whitney wants to make sure the Soldiers know the pleasure was all hers.

"This means so much to me to be here and to perform for all the Soldiers," said Whitney.  "I've played in bars and corporate events, and I'm very blessed to be doing this for a living, but this is the most rewarding thing I've ever done."

As the concert drew to a close, the Bootleggers packed up their gear and headed out to catch another flight to another destination in Iraq. With more shows to play, Whitney knows her band's schedule is tough, but well worth the loss of sleep and hectic traveling schedule they face to perform for more Soldiers.

"It can be grueling to perform nine shows in nine days, but I can sleep when I get home," Whitney said with a big laugh.  "But this is worth it; this means the world to me.

"There are a lot of performers out there, but I hope the Soldiers know how sincere I am about what they do and getting the chance to perform for them," she said.

If only Kiki was as dedicated to her profession, we wouldn't have to clean up the mess she makes.

Scalzi for Soldiers

Sci-Fi Author John Scalzi is making his excellent novel The Ghost Brigades available to servicemen and women.

If you're currently serving in Iraq or Afghanistan and would like to receive an electronic edition of The Ghost Brigades to read and (hopefully) enjoy, all you have to do is send an e-mail from your .mil account to omw@scalzi.com and ask for it. As soon as I get your request, I'll send you an .rtf document (about 584kb in size), which you can format as you please for whatever you read things on.

Your cost: not a thing. You've earned some recreational reading, I expect.

In case you want to know, I reviewed Scalzi's book here.

The short of it is that it's a great read and you'll enjoy it, even if you have to buy it, which you should do if your not a sevicemember.

But if you are, just write to John and he'll send you a copy.

A song for his son

Son’s Tour of Duty Spurs Music Video

By Sgt. Paul Kane
New York City Public Affairs

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y., June 21, 2006 — It’s not every day the son of an American country music star finds himself in combat, but it happens.

Lance Cpl. Johnny Conlee, a grunt with the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment aboard the USS Kearsarge, is the son of country music great John Conlee.

He recently returned from a tour in Iraq, conducting combat operations against insurgents around Fallujah and providing security for the December 2005 Iraqi elections. His tour in Iraq was not without event.

In December 2005, while on a mission in Al Anbar province, his unit was hit by an improvised explosive device that wounded him and several other Marines. He was awarded the Purple Heart for shrapnel wounds received in combat.

He said it was not easy to tell his family, but he called home immediately.

“Dad, there’s no right way to say this, but I’ve been wounded. I’m okay,” he said in the call.

But Conlee, the Marine, was undeterred and went back out on patrol the very night he was wounded. “I’m definitely going to stay a grunt. I love it,” he said.

The elder Conlee has 19 songs that hit the Top 10 and five in the Top Five for country music. Among his most popular were “Rose Colored Glasses,” “Common Man,” “Domestic Life,” “I’m Only in it for Love,” and “Lady Lay Down.” The Conlee family operates a farm in Tennessee.

More recently, John Conlee collaborated with two songwriters and recorded a music video called, “They Also Serve,” an ode to military families.

“We did this video for all the members of the military and their families. It was our humble hope that they’d find it uplifting,” said Conlee while visiting his son in New York City during the Fleet Week celebrations saluting the naval services.
               
The music video "They Also Serve" is a tribute to military families and spotlights how “those who serve” in the armed forces and “those who wait” at home deal with their experiences. The music video was nominated by Country Music Weekly’s Readers’ Choice Award for the Favorite Patriotic Song.

“We know firsthand what it means to have a loved one serving,” Conlee the military father said about his family’s experiences with having a son deployed. The senior Conlee served in the Army National Guard of Kentucky from 1967-1973.

“We were happy and relieved to have Johnny back from Iraq last month. It’s a sacrifice to serve and to be among those who wait. But it’s important to the country and we are very proud,” said the elder Conlee.

Seminole support

Casino Thanks Servicemembers With Bash

By Samantha L. Quigley / American Forces Press Service

HOLLYWOOD, Fla., May 5, 2006 - <>It was all about blues at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino here last night.

The evening began when the Army's Golden Knights parachute team arrived as only it can - right on target from above. The Knights' arrival kicked off the "Red, White and Blues Bash" hosted by the casino in conjunction with Fleet Week USA and the 2006 McDonald's Air and Sea Show, which begins tomorrow here in South Florida.

The Army parachutists, followed by the Canadian Forces Snow Birds Precision Aerobatic Team, took the stage for introductions before the Blues Brothers, Elwood and Zee Blues, played by Dan Akroyd and Jim Belushi respectively, took the crowd back to "Sweet Home Chicago."

Still on a "mission from God" and backed by the Sacred Hearts band, the soul men hammed with the crowd and performed an upbeat tribute to the late "Joliet" Jake Blues - Belushi's real-life brother John.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Howat Will said Fleet Week and the air and sea show are great opportunities to demonstrate to the public what the sea services do. The aviation survival technician will participate in a Coast Guard demonstration during air and sea show activities.

Having just accepted the gratitude of a passer-by, Will and Coast Guardsman Petty Officer 3rd Class Dustin Bernatovich, also an aviation survival technician, said such they always appreciated such gestures.

"I'm very thankful," he said and really likes it "when somebody comes up to me and asks me what I do and says, 'Thank you.'"

"People think of us as so many things," he said. "But me, I'm just doing my job."

While the Blues Brothers wrapped up their salute with their famous rendition of "Soul Man," the Down Range portion of the Army Band was drawing a crowd with its version of the same tune.

"It's immeasurable the impact it has for the troops serving overseas, for retired veterans," Army Down Range member Staff Sgt. Colin Eaton, said of the Fleet Week and air and sea show festivities. "It shows that the Army and all the sister services are still strong, and they're still supportive of each other and all those who served before us."

Eaton has been with the Army Band at Fort Myer, Va., for the past six and a half years and said he looks forward to performing at events like the casino show.

The Bash ended with a blast as a fireworks display erupted over Seminole Paradise Lake.

Supporters Share Stage With Lt. Dan Band

By Paul X. Rutz and Steven Donald Smith /  American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 5, 2006 - <>Volunteers with groups dedicated to supporting America's fighting men and women gathered for a celebrity-led concert in the Pentagon's outdoor center courtyard today.

The event, which was sponsored by "America Supports You," featured actor Gary Sinise and his "Lt. Dan Band," whose performance was broadcast around the world to deployed servicemembers by the Pentagon Channel. The grassroots volunteers manned booths alongside Defense Department employees and military personnel attending the concert.

ASY is a Defense Department program that highlights grassroots and corporate support for the nation's troops and their families.

Among the display booths was "Operation Iraqi Children," an effort to collect school supplies for Iraqi children and co-founded by Sinise and "Seabiscuit" author Laura Hillenbrand. Donated items to the nonprofit organization go directly to a Kansas City, Mo., warehouse, where they are packaged and then shipped to Iraq. Once there, the supplies are distributed by American troops.

Sara Singer, a volunteer with the group, said it is important to build democratic values in Iraq from the ground up. "Building democracy in Iraq starts at the bottom by supporting the children," she said. "The effort is also a huge morale builder for our troops."

Brenda Kecskes, of Disabled American Veterans, said her group offers a nationwide network of services free of charge to all veterans and their family members. The group has been active since 1920 as nonprofit advocates for veterans' rights.

DAV's Brian Austin said one of his group's main jobs is to assist members who are being medically discharged with their physical evaluation boards to make sure they're treated fairly. "We basically act as their attorney," he said.

A member of the United Service Organizations, Milinda Jefferson, said she started volunteering with the nonprofit group shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. As an Air Force "brat," she said she relishes the chance to support America's troops. "I try to fit it in at least once month, but this will be a huge month for us because Memorial Day counts for a lot," she said.

Jefferson works at the USO Metropolitan Office, which is responsible for events around the Washington, D.C., metro area, everything "from care package programs to assisting at the airport," she said. "We hug them right before they leave for Iraq."

Deanna Okun, the founder of "ThanksUSA," a McLean, Va.-based nonprofit organization that provides college scholarships to military children and spouses, said her family wanted to do something to give back to the troops and their families.

"It's important to support the troops because they do so much for us. The sacrifices the troops and their families make are incredible," Okun said. "You could do something for them every day, and it still wouldn't be enough. ThanksUSA is my family's way of saying, 'Thank you.'"

Other America Supports You members attending the Pentagon event were:

Air Force Aid Society;
Cell Phones for Soldiers;
Family & Friends for Freedom Fund, Inc.;
Freedom Alliance;
Give2TheTroops, Inc.;
Homes for Our Troops;
Military Family Support Center;
National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve;
National Military Family Association;
New England Caring for Our Military;
Operation First Response Inc.;
Operation Noble Foster;
Our Military Kids;
Patriotic Pillow Project;
SemperComm;
Serving Those Who Serve;
Sew Much Comfort;
Stars for Stripes;
Support Our Soldiers;
United We Serve; and
USMC MotoMail.

April Taylor and Operation Homefront

America Supports You: Singer Chronicles Military Spouses' Lives

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

   

WASHINGTON, April 13, 2006 – Growing up in Bristol, Tenn., country singer April Taylor heard tales of her grandmother's struggles while her grandfather served in Korea, and she's hearing similar tales from her friends today.

"He was deployed to Korea for a year and left my grandmother at home alone with four small children," Taylor said. "I can remember hearing stories of the sacrifices she made,"

Taylor grew up surrounded by music and "always" sang in church, she said. Her big break came in a local radio station's "American Idol" style contest.

She won and shortly afterward submitted a demo CD to Plateau Music in Nashville, landing a contract. In her hunt for songs to record on her first album, she discovered one that seemed to sum up the stories she was hearing now from her peers.

"There's so many wives out there (now) with those same stories of things they go through and trying to be the glue to the family while their husbands are away," she said.

The story line of "Hero at Home," released in September, follows the life of a military wife, she said. She recorded it to remind those who already support the troops not to forget the families at home.

"People forget to recognize and remember the wives. So that's what my goal is for this song: to support the spouse and everything she goes through as well," Taylor said. "We just wanted to honor them and to recognize them."

The singer said she's donating 20 percent of the proceeds of all Internet sales of Hero at Home to Operation Homefront. Homefront supports military spouses in the challenges they face while their servicemembers are deployed.

With a grandfather who served 20 years in the Army and a cousin who served in Iraq this year, Taylor said she understands the importance of the Defense Department's America Supports You program. The nationwide program helps showcase Americans' support for servicemembers and their families.

Taylor said she joined the program because she "really likes what they're doing in support of the families." She added she's been wearing the America Supports You dog tags faithfully for a year and said she looks forward to more involvement in the program.

"I just really want to encourage people to be a part of the America Supports You and all that they're doing," she said. "There's so much going on in the world today ... and the families are here trying to hold (things together) at home.

"We just need to be supportive of them and not forget."

Taylor said she'll be performing June 15 at the "Night of Heroes" gala sponsored by Pentagon Federal Credit Union Foundation, an America Supports You member.

        

Biography:
April Taylor