Military Report

Latest Scam Wants Military Bank Information
Stars and Stripes reports that e-mails addressed to a “BOA Military Bank Customer” might appear to be from Community Bank, the financial institution on many U.S. bases run by Bank of America under a contract from the Department of Defense. It may be targeting those who hold government travel cards through Bank of America or those who choose to open accounts specifically geared toward servicemembers. The e-mails are just another in a series of scams from someone trying to steal money or personal information from unsuspecting computer users. Legitimate companies and organizations will never ask for information in e-mails such as user IDs, passwords, account numbers or Social Security numbers.
1st AD used in latest version of Internet scam
FBI: E-mail preys on Americans’ support of troops.
Stars & Stripes Archives - 9/1/2006 - News

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How do you spell Veterans Day?
You probably know that November 11 is the day America honors and thanks veterans for their military service. You may know that the holiday began as Armistice Day in recognition of the armistice that ended World War I on that date in 1918. You have probably seen the holiday listed as "Veterans Day," "Veteran's Day" and as "Veterans' Day." So, which is correct? It should be written Veterans Day. It does not include an apostrophe but does include an "s" at the end of "veterans" because it is not a day that "belongs" to veterans; it is a day for honoring all veterans. For more information on Veterans Day, visit the Veterans Day Frequently Asked Questions webpage.

Called to Active Duty [Humor]

New Crew Graphic Rated "R" You've been warned.

Military Report

Heroes for Heroes
"IMA Hero" has entered into a joint effort with the Armed Services YMCA at Naval Medical Center San Diego to form the "Heroes for Heroes" program. The program will distribute 15,000 IMA Hero Teddy Bears to children of military families who are enduring the deployment of family members or the return of an injured loved one from the war zone. The stuffed toys are named for historical heroes who faced challenges in their lives like Florence Nightingale, Abraham Lincoln and Benjamin Franklin. For more information, visit Heroes for Heroes website or contact Diane Malowney, owner of IMA Hero, by calling 858-453-5789 or e-mailing diane@heroesforheroes.net.

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Guard Monitors Websites and Blogs
Ten members of a Virginia National Guard unit may be watching your website or blog. The Manassas-based Virginia Data Processing Unit has activated a team in July for one year to scan official and unofficial Army Websites for operational security violations. The team, which works under the direction of the Army Web Risk Assessment Cell, Army Office of Information Assurance and Compliance (AWRAC), notifies webmasters and blog writers when they find documents, pictures and other items that may compromise security. For more on AWRAC or to request a courtesy scan of a blog, go to the team's Website on Army Knowledge Online.

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Mailing Overseas for the Holidays
Stars and Stripes reports that military customers are being urged to observe the holiday shipping deadlines set by Army post offices in Europe. The deadlines are Nov. 18 for space-available mail, Dec. 2 for parcel-airlift mail and Dec. 9 for priority and first-class letter mail. Individual locations may have restrictions on what can be mailed to their country based on a host nation's wishes or logistical reasons, so senders are advised to check before mailing.

Activities for Veterans Day. xx New Marine Corps Museum in 2009

Military News

Falcon Fills Blackbird's Shoes
A decade after the final retirement of Lockheed Martin's Mach-3 SR-71 Blackbird spy plane, the Air Force is preparing to test a plane that flies more than three times as fast. Two Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicles, built by Lockheed Martin with input from NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), will take to the air in 2008.
Full story

MILITARY.COM EXCLUSIVE GAMES
Bored? 100s of games to download. Lock and load now!

Military Report

Air Force Prepares for 60th Anniversary
Big things are in store for Airmen as Air Force leaders have planned more than a year's worth of commemoratory activities leading up to the Air Force's 60th anniversary on Sept. 18, 2007. The commemoration began Oct. 14 with the dedication of the new Air Force Memorial. In the weeks after, there will be events recognizing the various Air Force art works in the Pentagon, and the Air Force Academy Band and Cadet Chorale will take part in the Macy's Day parade in New York City to start off the holiday season. For more information about the Air Force's anniversary commemoration, and for a complete list of events, visit 60th Anniversary
Museum Commemorates Anniversary
Sixty pieces of art, one representing a significant event for each year in Air Force history, will go on display in the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force's Hall of Honor Oct. 17. The special exhibit is part of the museum's commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force. The exhibit entitled, "Heritage to Horizons: Commemorating 60 Years of Air and Space Power Through Artists' Eyes," displays art from the Air Force Art Program and the museum's own collection. The exhibit at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force will run through October 2007. For more information, visit the National Museum of the USAF website.

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Navy to Offer New Initiatives
Sailors who serve in Individual Augmentee (IA) billets are now eligible for several new benefits. Specific initiatives vary depending on location and length of tour but can include awarding points towards advancement for enlisted personnel, advancement exam flexibility for Sailors in designated combat areas, duty preference for next shore assignment, and continuation or suspension of assigned sea or shore duty clock during IA assignment. Advancement exam flexibility is also available for IAs. For more information on how to volunteer for an IA billet, please contact your community manager or visit www.npc.navy.mil/CareerInfo/Augmentation/.

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New Exchange Jewelry Catalog Available
The new, forty-page, 2006 Exchange Fall/Winter Jewelry supplement is now available. With more than 40 pages of the latest trends and unforgettable classics, surprising that special someone this holiday season will be a breeze. The supplement is available at all main stores and online at aafes.com. Prices in this all-services catalog are valid through Feb. 15 2007, for any authorized exchange customer. Orders can be placed by mail, fax or phone. Toll free orders can be placed from the United States, Puerto Rico or Guam at 800-527-2345.

Air Force Memorial Dedicated

Memorial Dedication Video x

President Bush: "A soldier can walk the battlefields where he once fought, A Marine can walk the beaches he once stormed, but an Airman can never visit the patch of sky he raced across to defend freedom. And so it is fitting that from this day forward, the men and women of the Air Force will have this memorial." Air Force Memorial Foundation

Navy's 231st Birthday: Still Defending Freedom

Special message from Adm. Mike Mullen Video

For the fifth straight year we will celebrate our Navy’s birthday -- this one the 231st -- at war. In fact, it was five years ago this month that naval forces launched the first strikes against the Taliban from ships steaming in the Indian Ocean. Today, from the Western Pacific into the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean, all the way to the Horn of Africa and even to our own shores, tens of thousands of deployed Sailors continue to take the fight to the enemy.
Adm. Mike Mullen article

Hanoi Jane's 1972 broadcasts on Radio Hanoi

The Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation has just made available the first online collection of Jane Fonda's 1972 broadcasts on Radio Hanoi.
The 19-transcript collection provides fascinating reading for anyone interested in leftist propaganda techniques.

Here are some of Hanoi Jane's classic anti-military / anti U.S. rants:

To American POWs: "Brave heroes of the war would come back from Indochina and I was told that it is we who committed crimes, it is we who burned villages and massacred civilian people and raped the Vietnamese women. It is we who did it and we are sorry, and we want the Amer1can people to know what is being done in their names."
To American pilots: "The men who are ordering you to use these weapons are war criminals according to international law, and in, in the past, in Germany and in Japan, men who were guilty of these kind of crimes were tried and executed."

To South Vietnamese students: "We have understood that we have a common enemy -– U.S. imperialism. We have understood that we have a common struggle and that your victory will be the victory of the American people and all peace-loving people around the world."

On women in the U.S. military: "I heard horrifying stories about the treatment of women in the U.S. military. So many women said to me that one of the first things that happens to them when they enter the service is that they are taken to see the company psychiatrist and they are given a little lecture which is made very clear to them that they are there to service the men." MORE

"Monsters and the Weak"

A poem about the valor and commitment on display everyday in Iraq and Afghanistan by our troops.

"Monsters and the Weak"
The sun beat like a hammer, not a cloud was in the sky.
The mid-day air ran thick with dust; my throat was parched and dry.

With microphone clutched tight in hand and cameraman in tow,
I ducked beneath a fallen roof, surprised to hear "stay low."

My eyes blinked several times before in shadow I could see,
the figure stretched across the rubble, steps away from me.

He wore a cloak of burlap strips, all shades of grey and brown,
that hung in tatters till he seemed to melt into the ground.

He never turned his head or took his eye from off the scope,
but pointed through the broken wall and down the rocky slope.

"About eight hundred yards," he said, his whispered words concise,
"beneath the baggy jacket he is wearing a device."

A chill ran up my spine despite the swelter of the heat,
"You think he's gonna set it off along the crowded street?"

The sniper gave a weary sigh and said "I wouldn't doubt it,"
"unless there's something this old gun and I can do about it."

A thunderclap, a tongue of flame, the still abruptly shattered;
while citizens that walked the street were just as quickly scattered.

Till only one remained, a body crumpled on the ground,
The threat to oh so many ended by a single round.

And yet the sniper had no cheer, no hint of any gloat,
instead he pulled a logbook out and quietly he wrote.

"Hey, I could put you on TV that shot was quite a story!"
But he surprised me once again -- "I got no wish for glory."

"Are you for real?" I asked in awe, "You don't want fame or credit?"
He looked at me with saddened eyes and said "you just don't get it."

"You see that shot-up length of wall, the one without a door?
before a mortar hit, it used to be a grocery store."

"But don't go thinking that to bomb a store is all that cruel,
the rubble just across the street -- it used to be a school.

The little kids played soccer in the field out by the road,"
His head hung low, "They never thought a car would just explode."

"As bad as all this is though, it could be a whole lot worse,"
He swallowed hard; the words came from his mouth just like a curse.

"Today the fight's on foreign land, on streets that aren't my own,"
"I'm here today 'cause if I fail, the next fight's back at home."

"And I won't let my Safeway burn, my neighbors dead inside,
don't wanna get a call from school that says my daughter died;

I pray that not a one of them will know the things I see,
nor have the work of terrorists etched in their memory."

"So you can keep your trophies and your fleeting bit of fame,
I don't care if I make the news, or if they speak my name."

He glanced toward the camera and his brow began to knot,
"If you're looking for a story, why not give this one a shot."

"Just tell the truth of what you see, without the slant or spin;
that most of us are OK and we're coming home again.

And why not tell our folks back home about the good we've done,
how when they see Americans, the kids come at a run."

You tell 'em what it means to folks here just to speak their mind,
without the fear that tyranny is just a step behind;

Describe the desert miles they walk in their first chance to vote,
or ask a soldier if he's proud, I'm sure you'll get a quote."

He turned and slid the rifle in a drag bag thickly padded,
then looked again with eyes of steel as quietly he added;

"And maybe just remind the few, if ill of us they speak,
that we are all that stands between the monsters and the weak.

Author unknown

Veterans Report

Become a Guardian Angel
Operation Guardian Angel is a national campaign that encourages families, friends, neighborhoods and communities to remind servicemembers to practice safety when they return home. Anyone can become a guardian angel if they care enough to help our Servicemembers stay safe once they return home. To become a guardian angel and apply for an official "Guardian Angel" Certificate of Appreciation, visit the Operation Guardian website.

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The Search For America's World War I Veterans
Time is running out to find and recognize the last remaining veterans of "The Great War." The rolls of World War I veterans have declined so rapidly that the day is fast approaching when there will be one remaining, then none. The VA, with assistance from historians, state agencies and others, is keeping a roster of those veterans. Three years ago, there were about 250 remaining WWI American veterans. Yet, there may be other WWI veterans out there, perhaps in private nursing homes or in the care of family members, who have not been identified by VA. If you know of any WWI veterans in your area, please contact VA's Office of Public Affairs in Washington, DC, at opaweb@va.gov.

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Uphold the Code Of Honor
Uphold the Code Of Honor with fellow wartime veterans and active duty military - Join The American Legion - "Still Serving America", a strategic partner of Military.com.

Video Catches Abbas Contradicting Commitment to Rice

By Ezra HaLevi
PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas was reported to have told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice last week that his group would recognize Israel. In Arabic, however, Abbas broadcast a different message.

On the eve of his meeting with Rice, Abbas told Al-Arabiya satellite TV that although a Palestinian Authority government would have to accept the existence of the Israeli government for purposes of receiving funds and other logistical coordination, neither Hamas nor his own Fatah group were required to recognize the legitimacy or right to existence of the Jewish State.

The video clip, with subtitles, has been released by Palestinian Media Watch, an Israeli group that monitors the Arabic-language media. It can be viewed by clicking here.

The following is the text of the clip from Al-Arabiya [Dubai] and Palestinian TV, aired October 3, 2006:

Host: "But maybe Hamas is right that it does not want to recognize Israel."

Abbas: "Hamas is not required, Hamas is not required to recognize Israel... It is not required of Hamas, nor of Fatah, nor of the Popular Front to recognize Israel. Okay?"

"The PLO, in 1993, recognized Israel as Israel recognized the PLO. Every person has the right to say 'I do not recognize.' Okay? It's your right. It is the right of every organization. But the government which will be formed, and which will function opposite the Israelis on a daily basis... [every hour and perhaps every second, there will be contact between Palestinian ministers and Israeli ministers. And I ask] how can this government, or these ministers, not recognize their counterparts, and then solve people's problems?" [Abbas then gives an example of 500 million dollars in taxes intended for the Palestinians, but put on hold by Israelis]. "The Palestinian finance minister has to come to an agreement with the Israeli finance minister about the transfer of the money. So how can he make an agreement with him if he does not recognize him?

"So I do not demand of Hamas nor any other to recognize Israel. But from the government that works with Israelis in day to day life, yes."

Qatar's foreign minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al Thani, left Gaza Tuesday after failing to bridge gaps between Fatah and Hamas, according to Israel Radio. Thani said that the central unresolved issue was recognition of Israel.

"Blog of War"

"Blog of War" co-author Eric Egland and his wife, Ania take on CNN

Maj. Eric Egland is a contributing author toThe Blog of War: Front-Line Dispatches from Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, a newly-released anthology of stories from military members and their families published by Simon & Shuster. Eric did tours in both countries.

Commander Testifies on Capitol Hill

AMVETS National Commander Tom McGriff testified on Capitol Hill recently in front of the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Veterans Affairs. The commander spoke about the need for assured funding of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the growing challenges in providing veterans with quality mental health, working to eliminate the claims backlog, and AMVETS' opposition veteran's attorney legislation. Commander McGriff's testimony is available at www.amvets.org.

Emeril sponsors military-only cooking contest

The contest starts at 9 a.m. Eastern Time Sept. 25 and ends at 5 p.m. Oct. 9. Interested chefs can enter by visiting the Food Network Web site at http://www.foodnetwork.com and completing an entry form online that outlines personal and military background and the recipe.
Participants must be at least 18, U.S. residents and active-duty servicemembers. All entries must be received by OCT. 9th, 2006.

Soldier's Funeral (Texas Style)

What follows is a message from Vicki Pierce about her nephew James' funeral(he was serving our country in Iraq):

"I'm back, it was certainly a quick trip, but I have to also say it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. There is a lot to be said for growing up in a small town in Texas. The service itself was impressive with wonderful flowers and sprays, a portrait of James, his uniform and boots, his awards and ribbons. There was lots of military brass and an eloquent (though inappropriately longwinded) Baptist preacher. There were easily 1000 people at the service, filling the church sanctuary as well as the fellowship hall and spilling out into the parking lot.

However, the most incredible thing was what happened following the service on the way to the cemetery. We went to our cars and drove to the cemetery escorted by at least 10 police cars with lights flashing and some other emergency vehicles, with Texas Rangers handling traffic. Everyone on the road who was not in the procession, pulled over, got out of their cars, and stood silently and respectfully, some put their hands over their hearts.

When we turned off the highway suddenly there were teenage boys along both sides of the street about every 20 feet or so, all holding large American flags on long flag poles, and again with their hands on their hearts. We thought at first it was the Boy Scouts or 4H club or something, but it continued .... for two and a half miles. Hundreds of young people, standing silently on the side of the road with flags. At one point we passed an elementary school, and all the children were outside, shoulder to shoulder holding flags kindergartners, handicapped, teachers, staff, everyone. Some held signs of love and support. Then came teenage girls and younger boys, all holding flags. Then adults. Then families. All standing silently on the side of the road. No one spoke, not even the very young children.

The military presence..at least two generals, a fist full of colonels, and representatives from every branch of the service, plus the color guard which attended James, and some who served with him ... was very impressive and respectful, but the love and pride from this community who had lost one of their own was the most amazing thing I've ever been privileged to witness.

I've attached some pictures, some are blurry (we were moving), but you can get a small idea of what this was like. Thanks so much for all the prayers and support."U.S. Army Spc. James M. Kiehl of Comfort, Texas, was killed in action in Iraq on 23 March 2003 when his convoy was attacked near al-Nasiriyah. James had been assigned to a group of mechanics, cooks, and supply clerks from the 507th Maintenance Company out of Fort Bliss, Texas, and his team was ambushed while on their way to repair computers on a Patriot missile launcher. The 22-year-old soldier left behind a wife who was due to give birth to the couple's first child within the next few weeks.

When the Army first listed James as missing in action, his friends in Comfort (a small Texas town of about 1,200 residents) created an improvised memorial to him which grew daily through additions and messages from friends, residents, and visitors. Since James had stated before he left for Iraq that he did not wish to be buried in a military cemetery, after his parents learned of his death they obtained a plot for him at the private Center Point Cemetery near their home.

On the day of James' funeral, much of the population of Comfort — many of them bearing U.S. flags — turned out to line the route of his funeral procession in a moving display of community support for a lost friend and a fallen soldier. The images displayed above were captured by James' 17-year-old cousin, Amy Pierce, and the description accompanying them was penned by his aunt, Vicki Pierce.

Prayer for our soldiers...
"Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need."
Of all the gifts you could give a US Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine & others deployed in harm's way,
Prayer is the very best one!

I know this has circulated the Internet since 2003.
Received via email and was the first time I've seen it.
Some people need to be reminded to Support Our Troops

To send this to a friend click the envelope below.