Archive for the 'troops' Category
September 13th, 2007 by Eric
Apple pie, amber waves, baseball, hot dogs, the Fourth of July, SUVs, the iPod, Reader's Digest, and comic books. While not all of these are synonymous with the good old red, white, and blue, they are all things have become a part of everyday life for many of us residing somewhere between “sea– and “shining sea.– For better (baseball and Reader's Digest) or for worse (SUV's and hot dogs), we have come to think of many of these things as essential, and we even take them for granted.
There are many Americans who would love to take these things for granted like the rest of us, but for whom that becomes harder and harder with each bullet that flies by their head and with each roadside bomb that sends them diving for cover under their improperly-armored vehicle. I speak, of course, about our troops.
At Progressive Wednesday, we're not the kind of Patriots that drive around with yellow ribbon magnets on our car that say, “Support Our Troops.– We want them home, pronto, and until they're home, we search for ways actually make their lives easier and safer. In March, we dedicated a Wednesday to doing things that actually support our troops; you can check it out here.
In our searches we have come across a website dedicated to just that. The appropriately named, HereInReality.com has compiled a list of organizations and programs that make it easy for those of us who don't risk our lives for others with every step to help out those who do. Some cost a few bucks, some a few minutes, and some just ask you to utilize a small talent. From baking cookies, to donating a magazine subscription, or even fostering the pet of a deployed troop, they make it as easy as, well, apple pie.
It's important that our troops get a taste of home, that they can step away from the constant surrealism of war and bury their nose in a book, or remember what's it's like to bite into Grandma's cookies, until they can do it once again in the comfort of Grandma's kitchen.
So skip on over to HereInReality.com. Then see what you can do to improve the lives of those who have sacrificed so much to help improve ours.
Picture thanks to this fine baker
August 6th, 2007 by Matt
Since our Wednesday topic, “Memorial Day, Everyday,” 178 American troops have lost their lives because of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
What can you do to end it? What can you do to help our troops already there? What can you do to help our troops who’ve returned? Lots.
When problems persist, when problems grow and blow our hope to smithereens, when problems leave us feeling helpless, please, please remember this: there is always something we can do. Always.
May 30th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Problem:
Yes, yes, yes, dear readers, I realize that Memorial Day was “celebrated” on Monday, but there’s two things to consider: first, Memorial Day is actually today, May 30, we just “observed” it on Monday; second, it seems odd to us that we’d remember those who’ve died in the name of our country for only 24 hours, if that. The majority of us, yours truly included, spent the vacation day gobbling bratwurst and watching baseball on the idiot box.
So, this Wednesday, this Memorial Day Wednesday, we’re going to do something for the troops so they needn’t just be in our memories.
But that’s not the biggest problem we’re facing today. Today, we’re facing a continuation of our senseless occupation of Iraq. On Friday, May 25, I realized, once again, why I belong to no political party: politicians aren’t listening to the people, the 9/11 Commission, the Iraq Study Group, or the rest of the free and not-so-free world. The Democratically controlled Congress and the Republican president just agreed to legislation to continue funding our occupation of Iraq with no end in sight (I suppose “never” is technically a time, but it’s rather far off).
An occupation can only end two ways: annexation or withdrawal. Since we’d rather have Puerto Rico or the District of Columbia as the 51st state, we’re calling for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq.
Opponents of a troop withdrawal, the few that remain, may say that to do so will destabilize the region. I’m fairly certain — if there’s any accuracy to the news we’re streamed every day — that the region is pretty well destabilized. I’m fairly certain that those destabilizing the region either despise us, fear us, or are us. But in none of those cases does that mean the Iraqis want to listen to us, particularly if what they’re hearing is mortar shells and machine guns and violent knocks on their doors. Opponents of withdrawal (which I suppose means they want to add Iraq as a state) also spew things like: “If we don’t fight the terrorists there, we’ll fight them here.” Seeing as the vast majority of terrorists don’t live in Iraq, I’m pretty sure our 160,000 troops in that country aren’t actually not fighting many of the world’s terrorists.
Let’s get something straight and straighten out our diction: we are not mired in a “civil war.” We are mired in an occupation of a sovereign country, a country of approximately 27,500,000 people. And we’ve slaughtered at least 64,333 of those civilians for no ties to 9/11, for no ties to weapons of mass destruction, for no semblance of a peaceful democracy.
And the potential blowback from our occupation is rather terrifying. Blowback — not our freedoms, not our wealth, not our (somewhat) equal treatment of women, and not even our McRestaurants — caused 9/11. If we want peace on our land and on others, the sooner we withdraw, the better. We want the world community to respect us, and this is best achieved through a good example (and not imposing), through peace, through fair trade, through humanitarian missions and actions.
So let�s let logic rule this Memorial Day Wednesday. It’s time that we at Progressive Wednesday — our valiant staff and our dedicated readers — take a stand.
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Make Progress:
3,454 American troops have died because of our occupation of Iraq. And here’s another sobering factoid: “In the period from Memorial Day 2006 through Saturday, 980 soldiers and Marines died in Iraq, compared to 807 deaths in the previous year.”
On top of that ugly fact — with 114 American casualties in Iraq this month, May 2007 becomes the third deadliest month since the occupation began, and the highest total deaths since November 2004. In other words, our time in Iraq is getting worse.
So our goal this here Wednesday is simple: let us help bring an end to this mess as soon as possible, and let us properly remember those who’ve fought in our name. Can we? We can. Enough said.
Let’s put away the ketchup and mustard, let’s put the volleyball nets back in the shed, let’s put the kids to bed, and let’s do something. Let us all — united together by the name of our country and our shared values — do something powerfully patriotic.
May 30th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Salute:
We believe the best tribute to our sisters and brothers — those soldiers who’ve served and lived and those we, as a country, have laid to rest — is to help end the occupation of Iraq. As such, we’d like to point you to a fantastic organization trying to do just that: Iraq Veterans Against the War. If you want to help convince the paltry number of those around who think we should stick it out in Iraq with no end in sight, check out IVAW’s webpage for information — they outline it in a pithy and powerful way.
The IVAW calls for the following:
- Immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces in Iraq;
- Reparations for the destruction and corporate pillaging of Iraq so that Iraqi people can control their own lives and future; and
- Full benefits, adequate health care (including mental health), and other supports for returning servicemen and women.
We�re not sure if we could agree more. And what does the IVAW do? Four biggies include:
- Educating the public about the occupation of Iraq through speaking engagements and by contacting the media.
- Speaking to classrooms about the realities of being a soldier.
- Supporting “Conscientious Objectors and others facing military prosecution for their refusal to fight.”
- Pushing for “full funding for the Veterans Administration, and full quality health treatment (including mental health) and benefits for veterans when they return from duty.”
We still haven’t heard anything to disagree with. There are plenty of other organizations fighting to end this occupation. But we think this one has more umph than some of the others. So, here’s the deal: just give five. That’s it. Just give five measly smackers to a fantastic organization doing what those of us without military service can’t do: tell the absolute truth about war. Give by clicking this sentence.
On behalf of our troops, thank you in advance.
May 30th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Watch:
My hombres and mujeres, if you’re somehow not convinced this occupation must end, or if you are convinced but want more fuel for your intellectual and emotional fire, just watch any of the three videos below:
See how well America Halliburton America mistreats our soldiers:
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See the faces of men preparing to return to “normal” lives:
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See a veteran share a shocking recount of his experience in Iraq:
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To see, once again, what our soldiers go through every day, just click this sentence. Please don’t look away. And please remember what you see and hear: that’s true memorializing.
May 30th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Read:
We’d like you to read just three Associated Press obituaries for soldiers who died in Iraq. The 3,454 dead aren’t just numbers. They’re not just names and faces. They’re victims gone forever, lost during an occupation built on lies, perpetuated by lies, continuing to take lives because of lies.
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Jay Thomas Aubin, 36, of Waterville, Maine. He was one of the first six soldiers killed in Iraq.
Marine Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin was so kind, so friendly that his Marine buddies nicknamed him “Sweet Pea.” “He could make a 7-year-old girl feel like she was as important as President Bush,” said his mother, Nancy Chamberlain. Aubin, 36, died March 21 in a helicopter crash in Kuwait, near the Iraqi border. He was stationed in Yuma, Ariz., and lived there with his wife, Rhonda Aubin, and their children, 10-year-old Alicia and Nathan, 7. He grew up in Skowhegan, Maine, and joined the Marines after high school. He served four years before going to the University of Southern Maine, then re-enlisted after graduation. “When he was 4 years old, we all went to the airport and he had sat on one of my airplanes like a grown man,” said his father, Tom Aubin, who operates a small airstrip in Texas.
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Melissa Hobart, 22, of Ladson, South Carolina.
Melissa J. Hobart had a tough start, dropping out of high school and getting her GED, but by the time she graduated as a medic in the Army, she was at the top of her class, friends and family said. “We came a long way from nothing and we made it pretty far,” said Gary Hobart, her brother. “She joined the service so her daughter wouldn’t have to face the hardships we faced as younger persons.” The 22-year-old from Ladson, S.C., collapsed while on guard duty and died June 6 in Baghdad. She was based at Fort Hood. Hobart was spunky and energetic: “She was always on the go and you couldn’t keep up with her,” said her mother, Constance Hobart. The solider played soccer, basketball, baseball and the flute and loved to dance and read, her mother said. The two used to fight over who would get first crack at each new Stephen King book. Other survivors include Gary Hobart, her father, and her 3-year-old daughter, Alexis McCabe.
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William R. Strange, 19, of Adrian, Georgia.
For Pfc. William Strange, being in the military was the first step toward success. “He told me, ‘I was going down the wrong road; I’m going into the service,’” said Daniel McCoy, police chief of Adrian, Ga. Strange’s girlfriend, Teri Peebles, said he had a plan to serve in the military, go to college and eventually marry her. Strange, 19, of Adrian, was killed April 2 when an improvised explosive device detonated in Baghdad where he was setting up an observation point. Strange, who graduated from high school in Swainsboro, Ga., was based at Fort Hood, Texas. “You could have given him a million dollars and I don’t think that would have made him as happy as being in the military,” said his sister, Tawanna Davis. Strange was an outgoing person who loved people and looked out for his family. “He would do crazy stuff just to make us laugh,” Davis said. “He would make funny faces. He didn’t like seeing people sad.”
May 30th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Sign:
I’s been well-documented at this point that our returning soldiers are getting sub-par medical care, far worse than we’d wish on anyone, let alone women and men who’ve sacrificed their minds, bodies, and spirits in our name. So we think this item on this week’s “to-do” list falls under the category of “The Very Least We Can Do, Daddy-O and Mommy-O.”
All we’re asking you to do is to read over this petition provided by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America demanding improved mental health care for our returning vets. Then, please, please, please sign it.
Need some stats and info to better understand the importance of this? Then it’s stats and info you get:
- According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: “In 2002 and 2003, approximately 340,000 male veterans had co-occurring [serious mental illness] and a substance use disorder.” Male vets aged 18 to 25 had a significantly higher rate than those 26 to 54 or those aged 55 or older.
- The Office of Applied Studies, a federal organization, reports that: “In 2002 and 2003, two million of male veterans aged 18 or older were dependent on or abusing alcohol or illicit drugs.”
- From 2002 to 2005, approximately 19,000 veterans of the War in Iraq and the War in Afghanistan were treated for post-traumatic stress disorder at VA medical centers or VA Vet Centers. This is according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
- Again, according the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: “The group [of Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans] with the highest rate of risk for mental health problems and PTSD are those between 18 and 24. Young soldiers were three times as likely as those over 40 to be diagnosed with PTSD and/or another mental health disorder.”
- The Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors — a commission created by President Bush — found that: “The military system does not have enough resources, funding or personnel to adequately support the psychiatric health of service members and their families in peace and during conflict.”
- And it’s not just men afflicted: “Nationwide, the VA has diagnosed 4,000 women with PTSD.”
- It might be hard for those of us who haven�t experiences post-traumatic stress disorder to understand what that means. PTSD is a reaction to stressful events that can lead to flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, anxiety attacks, outbursts of anger, depression, decreased self-esteem, loss of sustained beliefs about people or society, hopelessness, a sense of being permanently damaged, difficulties in previously established relationships, hyper-arousal (“jumpiness”), memory loss, emotional detachment and numbness, violence, alcohol and drug addiction, and suicide. (This information comes from a variety of sources: the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, the U.S. Public Health Service, and the National Institute of Mental Health, amongst others.)
- But to understand this further, it helps to read a personal account, which you can read by clicking this sentence.
So again, please sign the petition created by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Just click this sentence. It’ll take you about 16 seconds.
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