You may have served in combat or while preserving peace.

You may have retired out or you may have served for a short time.

You may have been a draftee or a volunteer.

You may have served in the Corps, Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard or the Merchant Marines,

BUT YOU SERVED. YOU DID YOUR JOB HONORABLY and for that I am PROUD to call you ‘Brother.’

You may have served during WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Persian Gulf, Iraq or Afghanistan, But you served, you did not run.

You have earned your DD214 with those words “HONORABLY DISCHARGED” two of the most noble words in the world.

Again I am proud to know each and every one of you.

To the cool men that have touched my life: Here’s to you!

I was never a hero, but I am thankful and proud to have served among them.

A real Brother walks with you when the rest of the world walks on you.

Thanks to Brenda Sorvik for sending this via email.  Hoo-Rah

http://www.vietnamwar50th.com/

Thanks to Charlie for the link.  Hoo-Rah

For God And Country, I Pass Geronimo, Geronimo E.K.I.A.

Two days after the September 11 attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush stated: “The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden.” He added: “It is our No. 1 priority and we will not rest until we find him.” Continue reading →

Memorial Day: Remember all or Just Military?

May 21, 2013, in Military Life by Amy Bushatz

Memorial Day is one of those holidays where the true meaning gets lost in the shuffle. First there’s the confusion over what Memorial Day is even about. Then there’s the question of who it is for.

My favorite way to prepare my 4-year-old for upcoming events or challenges is through library books. Since we’ll soon be attending a Memorial Day run and remembrance ceremony, I want to at least give him a point of reference on the subject.

But it took me by surprise when one of the children’s books we acquired suggested that Memorial Day is a day that people remember those who have died – regardless of whether they served. In the past, they said, it was just for the military. But now it’s just for any one who wants to have memorial-ish feelings for anyone else, no matter who they are or what they did.

Wait, what?

But this Memorial Day-for-all business confused me.

And I didn’t exactly believe it. Really? Memorial Day is for everyone? We’ve really become THAT inclusive? Surely this book is just an anomaly, happily spreading misinformation to the children of the world.

And so I turned to the sum of all wisdom: Wikipedia.

“By the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of memory, as people visited the graves of their deceased relatives in church cemeteries, whether they had served in the military or not.”

Now, I don’t envy the ability of those who have lost members of their family — no matter who they are or what they did in life — to remember them. Certainly that is important, appropriate and necessary.

But I do envy their time and actions on this one day — the last Monday in May. Memorial Day, you will recall was founded after the American Civil War as “Decoration Day” – a day set aside to decorate the graves of the fallen.

We’ve been so well supplied since then with fallen heroes of other conflicts that the tradition has carried on.

But it, apparently, hasn’t carried well enough. What does it say about our society that we cannot take even one day to remember SPECIFICALLY the fallen of war?

How can we expect Americans to honor any service if we can’t even pause to remember for just 24 hours those who made the ultimate sacrifice?

No, people of America, Memorial Day’s meaning is not of marking the life of all of your loved ones. It is for honoring the service and sacrifice of the fallen. Please remember that.

By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Veterans Affairs is withholding bonuses for senior officials who oversee disability claims, citing a failure to meet performance goals for reducing a sizable backlog in claims processing.

The backlog has increased dramatically over the past three years, and the department has come under intense criticism from veterans groups and members of Congress who have asked President Barack Obama to try to speed the process.

VA spokesman Josh Taylor said Monday the savings would be used to help reduce the backlog. He didn’t provide specifics, nor could he say how many people would be affected or how much the savings would be. The withholdings apply only to executives of the Veterans Benefits Administration, which is part of the VA.

“We remain confident that VBA senior executives are dedicated to our nation’s veterans, and they will continue to lead our drive toward VA’s goal: eliminating the claims backlog in 2015,” Taylor said.

In all, records show the VA paid its senior executives a total of $2.8 million in bonuses in fiscal year 2011. Among the VBA bonuses, three staff members received the top payment of $23,091 each.

The amount of the bonuses was first reported by the Center for Investigative Reporting.

The number of disability claims pending for longer than 125 days jumped from less than 200,000 to nearly 500,000 in fiscal 2011.

“How does the department expect to turn things around when it is rewarding employees and managers for falling behind?” said Rep. Jeff Miller, the Republican chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

The VA and other federal departments routinely give bonuses to Senior Executive Service workers and other non-political employees. The Office of Personnel Management put new limits into place in June 2011. The VA’s total spending for executives bonuses reflected those restrictions and dropped about 25 percent that year.

Miller said he was pleased the bonuses were halted.

“One can only wonder what effect this sort of policy may have had if VA had instituted it years ago,” he said.

Political appointees such as Allison Hickey, who oversees the Veterans Benefits Administration, are not offered the bonuses.