The Cool Blue Blog

Thanks for giving

Soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division filed into the dining tent at Forward Operating Base Airborne in Afghanistan. The soldiers shared a Thanksgiving prayer before being served turkey, ham and the fixings.

Photo: Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

Holiday Message From Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, Washington, D.C., Monday, November 24, 2008

In this season of hope, I want to say how uplifting it has been to get to know so many soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines during the last 24 months.

Many of you are far from home, and I’m sure there’s no place you would rather be than with your loved ones. But know that they, and all Americans, are free and secure because of what the men and women of the U.S. military are doing all over the world – from Fort Lewis to Fort Drum, from Korea to Kosovo, from Bagram to Baghdad.

The holidays are a time to reflect on the kind of nation we are: a nation whose character and decency are embodied in our armed forces. Those who risk life and limb every time they set foot “outside the wire.” The medical personnel, engineers, and civil affairs teams who improve the lives of thousands. And all are volunteers.

To the families of our forces:  thank you for sharing your loved ones to defend us all. To our troops:  we admire your selflessness and pray for your success and safe return home. And to all: happy holidays.

What he said.

The Gathering Storm

Its not news that the US economy is on the skids. And that has Global implications. Additionally, a weak economy is also an opportunity for our enemies. At this moment in time, the National Economy and National Security are bound together such that the economy must be considered in conjunction with and as if it were, a national security threat.

Because our enemies are attempting to exploit our current vulnerability.

Two of our enemies, Russia and Venezuela are conducting a joint Naval exercise in South America.

The arrival of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and a naval squadron in Venezuela this week is an unequivocal message to President-elect Barack Obama that his most nettlesome challenge in the Americas will be Venezuela's populist government and its oil-fueled crusade against U.S. influence, political analysts say.

...despite Chávez's conciliatory words, Obama faces the task of blunting the pretensions of a country intent on building alliances with American adversaries, including Iran and, critics say, Marxist guerrillas in neighboring Colombia. Obama also faces more immediate worries, including two wars, looming questions about Iran's nuclear ambitions and a resurgent Russia.

And about those Iranian nuclear ambitions

Iran's nuclear chief says Iran now has more than 5,000 centrifuges operating at its uranium enrichment plant.

The announcement Wednesday is Iran's latest defiance of U.N. demands that Tehran halt its controversial nuclear program.

The Iranian official, Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, says Iran will continue to install centrifuges and enrich uranium in order to produce nuclear fuel for the country's future nuclear power plants.

Meanwhile, Iran continues to test nuclear-capable missiles

Iran has successfully launched a rocket called "Kavosh 2," Iran's state media reported on Wednesday, displaying the Islamic state's advances in ballistics at a time when the West is worried about its nuclear ambitions...

State television did not give any further details about "Kavosh 2," which means "Explorer 2," saying details about the home-made rocket will be announced later. "The rocket was launched to register and send correct environmental data and (to test) separation of the engine from the body," state radio said.

The long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into space can also be used for launching weapons.

Russia, wants President Obama to negotiate with Iran

Russian officials are in contact with the incoming Obama administration, urging it to normalize relations with Iran and reach an agreement over its disputed nuclear program.

Russia is hoping that “the new administration understands that there is no alternative to the political process and dialogue at all levels,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said today in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Moscow. Asked if Obama would have to normalize ties with Iran to reach a nuclear agreement, he replied: “Yes, absolutely.”

But what is there to negotiate? The US's cards have been on the table for a long time: Stop developing nuclear weapons and the US will normalize relations. It's pretty simple. But Russia has an interest in Iran obtaining nuclear weapons.

It doesn't take much to see that Russia is spending a lot of time challenging or attempting to impede US National interests.

They do not aid al Qaeda, it is true, but they attempt to exploit our distraction with the Islamists. And they do support Iran, Venezuela, Syria and North Korea with weapons and advisers.

The good news is that the current drop in oil prices is affecting the economies of Russia, Venezuela and Iran for the worse. But there are forces that can counter that. One of which is OPEC.

Crude oil rose in New York after Russia, the world's second-largest exporter, said it may coordinate production cuts with OPEC to shore up prices.

Energy is both a National Security issue and an economic issue as well.

Making sure we exploit our oil reserves creates jobs and insulates us from such moves by Russia and OPEC.

A weak economy and bold moves by our enemies are signs a storm is gathering.

And Russia is a rainmaker....

Paying the Price

Marine Makes Insurgents Pay the Price

November 18, 2008

Marine Corps News|by Cpl. James M. Mercure

FARAH PROVINCE, Afghanistan — In the city of Shewan, approximately 250 insurgents ambushed 30 Marines and paid a heavy price for it.

Shewan has historically been a safe haven for insurgents, who used to plan and stage attacks against Coalition Forces in the Bala Baluk district.

The city is home to several major insurgent leaders. Reports indicate that more than 250 full time fighters reside in the city and in the surrounding villages.

Shewan had been a thorn in the side of Task Force 2d Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force Afghanistan throughout the Marines’ deployment here in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, because it controls an important supply route into the Bala Baluk district. Opening the route was key to continuing combat operations in the area.

“The day started out with a 10-kilometer patrol with elements mounted and dismounted, so by the time we got to Shewan, we were pretty beat,” said a designated marksman who requested to remain unidentified. “Our vehicles came under a barrage of enemy RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) and machine gun fire. One of our ‘humvees’ was disabled from RPG fire, and the Marines inside dismounted and laid down suppression fire so they could evacuate a Marine who was knocked unconscious from the blast.”

The vicious attack that left the humvee destroyed and several of the Marines pinned down in the kill zone sparked an intense eight-hour battle as the platoon desperately fought to recover their comrades. After recovering the Marines trapped in the kill zone, another platoon sergeant personally led numerous attacks on enemy fortified positions while the platoon fought house to house and trench to trench in order to clear through the enemy ambush site.

“The biggest thing to take from that day is what Marines can accomplish when they’re given the opportunity to fight,” the sniper said. “A small group of Marines met a numerically superior force and embarrassed them in their own backyard. The insurgents told the townspeople that they were stronger than the Americans, and that day we showed them they were wrong.”

During the battle, the designated marksman single handedly thwarted a company-sized enemy RPG and machinegun ambush by reportedly killing 20 enemy fighters with his devastatingly accurate precision fire. He selflessly exposed himself time and again to intense enemy fire during a critical point in the eight-hour battle for Shewan in order to kill any enemy combatants who attempted to engage or maneuver on the Marines in the kill zone. What made his actions even more impressive was the fact that he didn’t miss any shots, despite the enemies’ rounds impacting within a foot of his fighting position.

“I was in my own little world,” the young corporal said. “I wasn’t even aware of a lot of the rounds impacting near my position, because I was concentrating so hard on making sure my rounds were on target.”

After calling for close-air support, the small group of Marines pushed forward and broke the enemies’ spirit as many of them dropped their weapons and fled the battlefield. At the end of the battle, the Marines had reduced an enemy stronghold, killed more than 50 insurgents and wounded several more.

“I didn’t realize how many bad guys there were until we had broken through the enemies’ lines and forced them to retreat. It was roughly 250 insurgents against 30 of us,” the corporal said. “It was a good day for the Marine Corps. We killed a lot of bad guys, and none of our guys were seriously injured.”

© Copyright 2008 Marine Corps News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Indiana and Tennessee NG exercise Soft Power in Afghanistan

‘Guard Farmers’ Join Counterinsurgency Fight in Afghanistan By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Nov. 21, 2008 – The National Guard is taking a biblical verse to heart: “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” Commanders in Afghanistan are looking forward to the deployment of two agri-business development teams next year. The teams – one from Indiana and one from Tennessee – are made up of National Guardsmen with farming backgrounds. They will serve a year in Afghanistan advising local governments and people on agricultural practices. An agri-business development team from Texas already is working in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province. “The focus of all we do is the Afghan people, and our intent in everything we do is to separate the people physically and psychologically from the enemy,” said Army Col. John P. Johnson, commander of Combined Task Force Currahee. The unit is built around the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Ky. The task force has responsibility for 2.3 million people in Wardak, Logar, Paktia, Khowst and Paktika provinces in Regional Command East. The vast majority of the people in the region are farmers or herders, and agricultural expertise will help them improve their quality of life. “We try to connect with the legitimate government and the Afghan security forces with the people,” Johnson said. About 80 Guard members make up each team. The military has no occupational specialty for farmers, so the members can be any specialty or branch. They are included in the unit solely for their civilian expertise, National Guard Bureau officials said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has some specialists in provincial reconstruction teams, but not many at other levels of command. The “soft power” these teams represent can help Afghanistan for the long run, Johnson said. “We cannot succeed here with military power alone,” he said. It is critical to follow military power with rebuilding and construction funds, Johnson said. “We’re really excited about getting these two agri-business development teams in our area of operations,” he said. The teams bring expertise in hydrology, dairy farming, chicken farming, soil conservation, pest management and agricultural business practices. The people in the provinces are subsistence farmers, but there is potential to build the agricultural capacity, Johnson said. The teams will have support from agricultural universities in the United States. The Indiana team is undergoing refresher training at Purdue University. “They will have an entire system that allows them to increase production and take advantage of all the potential that is here,” the colonel said. For example, wheat that farmers grow in Khowst is delivered to Pakistan for milling. The Pakistanis ship it back to Afghanistan for sale. With help from the teams, Afghans may be able to start their own milling plants. “Teams will assist the farmers to build entire agricultural systems and allow them to take full advantage of all the agricultural potential resident here,” Johnson said.

A Day of Celebration

Yes, the war in Iraq is over. The enemy has retreated to Pakistan, and those that remain are being hunted and killed.

More importantly, life in Iraq is starting to revolve around concerns other than war. Like art and culture...

For the first time in a generation, an art and culture show will be hosted in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad, Nov. 26.

Twenty renowned Iraqi artists, many of them professors at the Baghdad Art Institute, have agreed to participate in the Doura Art and Culture Show, “New Life, New Culture.”

The event’s organizer, Faruq Fu’ad Rafiq Hamdani of Baghdad’s Mansoor district, said he expects approximately 100 pieces of art including paintings, photographs, sculptures and conceptual art pieces to be displayed at the event.

“Southern Baghdad is not thought to be supportive of the arts,” explained Faruq, regarding the theme he personally selected. “Southern Baghdad has a reputation for violence, but this show will change that perception. This show will introduce a new way for the people of Iraq to live.”...

Like Charity...

A group of Iraqi Soldiers stepped up to help California residents victimized by recent wildfires raging throughout the state.

Iraqi Army Col. Abbas Fadhil, Besmaya Range Complex commander, and his team of "Abbas' Eagles" raised $500 for wildfire relief.

"We want to send a message to the American president and the American people," Abbas said. "We feel that we are a family — one body. When one part of the body suffers, the other parts suffer, too."

This is the fourth donation the Soldiers of Besmaya have sent to the American people recently. In September, they raised $1,500 for victims of hurricanes Gustav and Ike. The Eagles also donated $500 to the National Sept. 11 Memorial.

Like Law and Order...

A new regional courthouse is taking shape to help Babil Province enforce the rule of law. The new $7 million facility is scheduled to be complete next spring.

“The Iraqi judiciary has a long and proud history going back before the founding of the country itself,” said Mark Robbins, Rule of Law advisor with the Babil Provincial Reconstruction Team.

“For the most part, the judiciary in Babil enjoys the respect of the people,” he said.  “But many years of neglect under the previous regime has left it with a crumbling infrastructure and inadequate facilities to meet the rule of law needs of the local population.”

The construction of a new regional courthouse and upgrades to the previous facility have been complicated, Robbins said.  But the PRT has remained committed to it. “We look forward to working with the Babil judiciary to ensure that it will soon work in a facility that better reflects the honor and respect of the Iraqi judiciary” he added....

Thirteen Iraqi Police achieved a milestone Nov. 20 when they became the first graduates trained in DNA analysis in the history of Iraq.

This first group to complete the DNA Analysis and Theory course at the Ministry of Interior’s National Forensics Training Center was comprised of hand-selected college graduates with degrees in chemistry, biology or bio-chemistry and with experience as crime scene investigators.

“This training is wonderful for MoI and we look forward to putting this knowledge into action to help solve crimes,” said one of the graduates.  “We were trained with the latest technology and went into each subject in-depth.”

Ted Smith, a DNA expert and former director of the West Virginia State Police Forensic Laboratory, conducted the training.

“I was amazed at how fast they learned.  With the new equipment we are installing here they will have some of the most modern forensic laboratories,” said Smith.

Like empowering women

Nearly 40 local Iraqi business women gathered at Camp Mittica, Iraq, Nov. 17, as part of an Iraqi women’s business workshop orchestrated by the 7th Sustainment Brigade.

“This was a combined effort with Muthanna and Dhi Qar provincial reconstruction teams and the 7th Sustainment Brigade,” said Maj. Shawn D. Sanborn, finance operations, 7th Sust. Bde. “We’ve been having these workshops with men so we knew it was important to get women involved.”

Speakers for the workshop included members of the 7th Sust. Bde., the 217th Garrison Command, the Small Business Development Center for Nasiriyah and one of the Iraqi business women who attended the workshop. The speakers covered topics on business including the Iraqi Based Industrial Zone, micro grants, loans and how to create a business plan.

“It was a very good class with useful material,” said Batel Abuol Almer, chief engineer, attendee and speaker.“Today’s workshop really uncovered a lot of information and showed me how much interest they [Iraqi business women] have,” said Alison Kosnett, governance specialist, Provincial Reconstruction Team Muthanna. “It showed us that they’re serious and energetic and that there is entrepreneurial energy.”

Sovereign, peaceful, responsible, free and friendly to the US.

That's what the goal was for Iraq. And now this is possible.

Now it's mostly up to Iraq itself.

US-Pakistan cooperation

Months after the spectacle of President Musharraf's disappearance from the Pakistani political scene, it appears that US-Pakistani cooperation in the war on Islamic extremists has greatly improved.

On November 17th, the AP reported

Pakistani security forces escorted container trucks and oil tankers through the Khyber Pass on Monday after Pakistan reopened the supply route critical to transporting supplies to NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Pakistan suspended the vehicles from the passageway for a security review last week after militants hijacked several trucks whose load included Humvees bound for the U.S.-led coalition.

On Monday, a dozen or so paramilitary pickups from the paramilitary Frontier Corps joined a convoy of around 30 vehicles as part of new security measures. The escort trucks bore rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns. Earlier, the transport trucks had little or no security.

A day earlier, an

...ISAF base received two separate rocket attacks from a location within Pakistan. Following the second attack, ISAF soldiers were able to identify the origin of the enemy rocket launches. Upon positive identification, ISAF coordinated with the Pakistan military and fired a total of 20 artillery rounds on the enemy location. The artillery fire caused a secondary explosion at the rocket launch site, which indicates additional munitions in the location.

ISAF and Pakistani soldiers observed all fired artillery rounds. The Pakistan soldiers assured ISAF that they would engage any insurgents attempting to flee deeper into Pakistan.

Four days later, on November 20th, a US-Afghan outpost on the border with Pakistan was also attacked by rocket fire from Pakistan. This time Pakistans involvement was more direct.

The Pakistani military then launched a mortar strike on the insurgents’ firing location inside Pakistan.

And a new phase of Operation Lionheart is underway with full Pakistani involvement

At least 24 Taliban fighters – including 11 foreigners and one local commander – were killed in the military operation in Bajaur on Thursday as warplanes pounded Taliban positions in Swat, killing 20 fighters using a school building in Matta area, according to official sources, local residents and AFP.

Also, a private TV channel reported on Thursday that security forces have completed the deployment of Frontier Corps (FC) contingents in Mohmand, and a full-scale military operation in the agency is likely after the federal government’s approval....

NATO spokesman: NATO’s spokesman in Kabul, Brigadier General Richard Blanchette, said co-ordination with Pakistan had been improving, and the Pakistani military was routinely helping NATO forces direct fire in retaliation to attacks from inside Pakistan, Reuters reported. ‘Operation Lionheart’ was aimed at co-ordinating operations with Pakistani forces, he added.

A coordinated effort involving NATO, Afghanistan and Pakistan is what is needed to destroy al Qaeda and Taliban bases, training camps, staging areas and logistics in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan.

For a while after the Pakistan elections it seemed we would get less cooperation, the opposite is turing out to be the actual situation.

Let's hope this continues.

Victory in Iraq

Back in 2005, when things seemed to be going well for al Qaeda in Iraq, the terror group had ambitions.In a letter to al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda's #2 al-Zawahiri, revealed the Grand Plan

The first stage: Expel the Americans from Iraq.

The second stage: Establish an Islamic authority or amirate, then develop it and support it until it achieves the level of a caliphate- over as much territory as you can to spread its power in Iraq...

The third stage: Extend the jihad wave to the secular countries neighboring Iraq.

The fourth stage: ...the clash with Israel, because Israel was established only to challenge any new Islamic entity.

Zawahiri felt that they were on the verge of victory.

The Americans will exit soon, God willing...Things may develop faster than we imagine. The aftermath of the collapse of American power in Vietnam-and how they ran and left their agents-is noteworthy. Because of that, we must be ready starting now, before events overtake us

But in the end, al Qaida was thwarted in their strategies, and now we are at the point where we have won.

We have defeated the enemy on their battlefield. And the evidence of this are now abundant. Michael Yon, an Independent war reporter declares (via Instapundit)

"THE WAR IS OVER AND WE WON:"Michael Yon just phoned from Baghdad, and reports that things are much better than he had expected, and he had expected things to be good. "There's nothing going on. I'm with the 10th Mountain Division, and about half of the guys I'm with haven't fired their weapons on this tour and they've been here eight months. And the place we're at, South Baghdad, used to be one of the worst places in Iraq. And now there's nothing going on. I've been walking my feet off and haven't seen anything. I've been asking Iraqis, 'do you think the violence will kick up again,' but even the Iraqi journalists are sounding optimistic now and they're usually dour." There's a little bit of violence here and there, but nothing that's a threat to the general situation. Plus, not only the Iraqi Army, but even the National Police are well thought of by the populace. Training from U.S. toops has paid off, he says, in building a rapport.

MORE: Yon emails this correction: "Actually, NONE of them have fired their weapons in combat during this tour, and about half of them are combat veterans from Afghanistan and/or Iraq." Sorry, I had misunderstood that bit.

You may argue about the wisdom of invading Iraq, but you can not argue that we have done alot of good.

Saddam Hussein and his murderous thugocrisy is gone from the Earth.

Millions of people now have a chance for economic and political freedom.

And a dangerous enemy of the US and the West (not to mention the World) was defeated in a long and arduous battle.

The very fact that Afghanistan has become more dangerous is precisely because al Qaeda has abandoned the battlefield of Iraq and have regrouped in Pakistan.

It is now time, before it gets lost down the memory hole, to make note that Bush started this war and Bush won this war.

On November 22nd, let's celebrate Victory in Iraq.

HA Luis Fonseca

HA Luis Fonseca, from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade’s Task Force Tarawa, was awarded the Navy Cross for bravery during the battle of Al-Nasiriyah, Iraq, on March 23, 2003.

On that day, Fonseca was a hospitalman apprentice on his first combat deployment with the U.S. Marines. His unit, Company A, 1st Platoon, was attached to the 2nd MEB’s 1st Battalion, Company C, 1st Platoon, which was tasked with capturing and holding the northernmost of Al-Nasiriyah’s three main bridges.

As the unit’s corpsman, Fonseca was aboard an amphibious assault vehicle, or amtrack, reserved for evacuating battle casualties quickly to the rear.

“I was supposed to stay back,” away from the fighting, Fonseca said in a telephone interview from Al Asad, Iraq, where he was on his third deployment (Iraq, Afghanistan, Iraq) in three years.

The Marines took the northern bridge at about 11:30 a.m., and almost immediately started taking rocket-propelled grenade and mortar fire, Fonseca said. Within moments, a call came over the radio reporting that an amtrack had received a direct hit with an RPG, wounding five Marines.

Grabbing his bag of medical supplies, Fonseca jumped from his track and raced to assess the condition of wounded Marines who had been pulled from the smoking vehicle and laid out on the ground by their comrades.

Without concern for his own safety, Fonseca calmly and methodically stabilized two casualties with lower limb amputations. He continued to treat and care for others who were wounded and awaiting evacuation until his vehicle was immobilized by enemy direct and indirect fire. Under enemy fire, he directed the movement of four wounded Marines and personally carried one critically wounded Marine over open ground to another location. All five Marines survived.

Fonseca was awarded the Navy Cross August 2004 at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Excerpts from Stars and Stripes - June 14, 2005

Treating Wounded Vets like family

Once a week, on Fridays from October 2003 until 2006, Fran O'briens Stadium Steak House at the corner of 16th and L streets NW in the basement of the Capital Hilton in Washington DC served free meals and drinks to veterans wounded in the service of their nation.

Then, the Hilton kicked them out

The downtown D.C. restaurant, which has hosted a decade's worth of power lunches, political dinners and salacious hookups, is more poignantly known for its Friday night steak dinners for severely wounded soldiers recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center....

Jim Mayer, a veteran who works at the Department of Veterans Affairs and who helped start the steak dinner tradition, is concerned that the hotel wants to eliminate the spectacle of hundreds of severely disabled soldiers coming in and out of its building or that the restaurant's repeated requests for a new elevator or escalator to accommodate them was too much.

But Hilton spokeswoman Lisa Cole said the hotel's position on the lease has nothing to do with the dinners. She said its decision was based strictly on business considerations.

O'Brien's owners knew their lease was coming up. But after months of negotiations, the hotel chain told them this week that it would not be renewed. The lease expires May 1.

Though a valiant effort was made, spearheaded by Milbloggers Blackfive, Greyhawk and others, the lease was indeed terminated.

For the past 2 1/2 years, O'Brien and business partner Hal Koster have made their thick steak dinners and a night of bottomless drinks one of the rites of passage for the soldiers who are steeling themselves for their postwar lives in wheelchairs or with prosthetic limbs.

They come to the subterranean restaurant, at the corner of 16th and L streets NW in the basement of the Capital Hilton, in volunteer's vans and trucks. They're carefully wheeled down the stairs or slowly negotiate the steps on crutches. It has become a tradition so beloved among veterans that Garry Trudeau featured the dinners in his Doonesbury comic strip.

Yes he did as you can see here.

But that is not the end of the story. After the demise of Fran O'briens, co-owner Hal Koster started the Aleethia Foundation which now continues the free dinners for severely wounded vets.

Five years ago, Koster began providing free steak dinners to wounded and injured troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq at his Fran O’Brien’s Stadium Steak House, until the restaurant closed in 2006. Afterward, he said, dinners for these troops were held at several local eateries as well as the Capitol Hill Club, which holds a monthly dinner for the wounded warriors. Troop dinners also have been hosted by the Italian, Australian and several other embassies here, he said...

“The entire country has been behind these troops and it’s unfortunate what’s happened to them,” said Koster, an Army Vietnam veteran. “It’s been an absolute pleasure for me to meet them. I wish that I had met them under different circumstances, but that’s looking back and that’s not the direction they’re going – they’re going forward.”

These troops “provided a service to this country … the least we can do is buy them a dinner on Friday night,” Koster said. “There are a lot of organizations doing good things for the troops. Our focus has been on the newly-injured; to try to get them out of the hospital as soon as possible.”

The dinners are mostly private affairs, Koster said, in deference to the feelings of the troops and their families. Former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz, he said, is a staunch supporter of the dinners and attends as many as he can.

“We keep these dinners in closed rooms so that they don’t have to be out in the general public,” Koster said, so as to foster the troops’ natural camaraderie and conversation flow.

Also, he said, troops that have undergone amputations as a result of their wounds can be self-conscious about their injuries and initially worry about how they are perceived by the public.

When injured troops are first healing, “they don’t want people to see them, for example when they’ve lost an arm and can’t cut their food right … it’s not as difficult to ask your buddy next to you to cut your food if your buddy is missing both legs,” Koster explained.

Yes, the free dinners are back. But the Aleethia Foundation does more than this.

The Aleethia Foundation was started to provide a method of tax-deductible contributions to fund Friday Night Dinners at Fran O’Brien’s Stadium Steakhouse. In the process of providing the dinners, we found some of the troops in need of small financial grants ($1,500 to $2,500) to bridge different financial situations. We then expanded our mission to providing as many of these small grants as we could. We also found a need to do more than just the dinners, so we started supplying other short-term recreational activities such as siteseeing drives, trips to movies, and smaller dinner situations.

We are a small group of volunteers. There is no paid staff and no overhead. We spend all collected money on the troops.

Who needs the Hilton anyway?

Back when the Friday Night dinners were held exclusively at Fran O'Briens, Blackfive pointed out that proprietors Hal and Marty did not treat the Vets like heroes

I can hear some of you gasping in surprise.

Hal and Marty do not treat our men and women as heroes.  They do much better for those who gave us so much and are away from their units, their hometowns, their friends recovering from their wounds.

Hal and Marty treat our wounded troops like family.

And that makes the Aleethia Foundation heroic.

Sgt. 1st Class James Brasher

Army Sgt. 1st Class James Brasher’s “daring acts of intrepidity and gallantry in the face of a numerically superior and determined force,” have earned him a Silver Star according to the citation that accompanied the medal.

Those courageous acts occurred on Dec. 8, 2007, when Brasher was serving as platoon sergeant for 2nd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The company had been tasked to participate in Operation Mar Kararadad, during which Brasher repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to keep his soldiers out of danger.

The multinational mission to clear insurgents from the Taliban stronghold of Musa Qal’eh, actually began the night before when the company landed by helicopter just outside of the city. Under cover of darkness the soldiers moved to occupy a hill overlooking the city.

At dawn, Company A started taking small-arms and heavy machine-gun fire from a small town at the base of the hill. Brasher and the 2nd Platoon leader decided the town, which was isolated from the rest of Musa Qal’eh by a dry riverbed and already scheduled to be cleared by the Platoon, should be cleared immediately.

As the soldiers began systematically clearing buildings, a Taliban fighter attempted to the lead squad, which included Brasher. He killed the gunman before he could kill or injure any Paratroopers.

The squad began taking small-arms as it advanced to the next compound. Again, Brasher reacted, throwing fragmentation grenades toward the enemy position, thereby suppressing the attack and preventing the enemy from getting a fix on the soldiers’ position.

When the platoon leader’s element was attacked with machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled-grenades, Brasher joined the group to pinpoint the enemy position, once again exposing himself to enemy fire.

Brasher then led a squad to clear a compound that put him and his soldiers in a better position to return fire. As he was directing the Paratroopers, he spotted a Taliban fighter with a machine gun and opened fire. He then led his squad over a mud wall in pursuit of the fleeing insurgent, killing two more gunmen as the squad rounded the corner. When the squad encountered a larger enemy force more insurgents were killed.

As the Taliban forces consolidated into a highly defensible compound with thick walls, Brasher spotted the enemy positions inside and began engaging them. That’s when one of the insurgent’s bullets tore through his right forearm and bicep, which slowed him down, but didn’t stop him from fighting and giving instructions, according to the citation. In fact, the unit’s medics had to force him to submit to medical care.

“SFC Brasher’s fearless actions and dedication to mission accomplishment enabled Second Platoon to destroy over 20 well-trained Taliban fighters. His quick decisions and aggressive stance against the enemy saved the lives of his men,” the citation reads.

For his gallantry in action with marked distinction, Army Maj. Gen. Curtis M. Scarparrotti, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division presented Brasher with a Silver Star on October 9. The ceremony was held at the 82nd Airborne Division War Memorial Museum at Fort Bragg, N.C.