Mike Stokes writes via Email:

It’s been 45 years since we were invited to celebrate the lunar new year in Kontum Vietnam. It was not a celebration any of us wish to repeat but it was an event which brought all of us closer together.

None of us will forget what we experienced that February of 1968 and the things we witnessed. Each of us carries a different emotion for what we were asked to do during our tours and I know many still carry deep scars.

My prayer for this New Year is that each of us will be able to separate a little further from trauma and pain. I pray we can each share our experiences of that time with those around us so that can help us unburden.

I thank all of you for your friendship

Mike Stokes

The 75th Ranger Regiment is a lethal, agile and flexible force, capable of executing a myriad of complex, joint special operations missions in support of U. S. policies and objectives. Designed and trained to be the most rapidly deployable unit in the Army capable of conducting operations in all types of terrain and weather using various insertion methods, today’s 75th Ranger Regiment is the Army’s premier raid force. Continue reading →

Capable of infiltrating by land, sea, or air, the Ranger Regiment plans, executes, and commands and controls special operations in support of the nation’s military objectives and global interests across the full spectrum continuum, worldwide. Continue reading →

Who would have thought of the general public as curators of a major museum collection — curators whose job is to choose objects which will be placed in a collection that will be preserved and interpreted for perpetuity. Continue reading →

VA Claims Backlog Milestone

Week of January 07, 2013

Fast Freddy says:

Milestone, my ass, it is going the wrong way. Just another government SNAFU that affects our military. BOHICA

The Veterans Affairs Department’s disability claims backlog edged above the 900,000 mark this week, with 608,365 — 67.6 percent — staying in the system more than 125 days. Claims backlogged more than 125 days increased 7.5 percent or 45,245 since January, 2012. In April, representatives of veterans services organizations described the backlog of 897,566 disability claims, with more than 65 percent pending for more than 125 days, as a “staggering” figure that denies veterans quick payment of benefits. VA plans to deploy its paperless Veterans Benefits Management System nationwide next year in an attempt to boost claims processing. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has repeatedly vowed to eliminate the claims backlog by 2015. For more information on VA disability claims, visit the VA website at http://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation.

For complete guides on veteran benefits, visit the Military.com Benefits Center.

SOURCE: military.com

Three ‘gentlemen’ are seated together on a cross-country plane trip.

After about an hour the first gentleman, by way of breaking the ice, puts down his New York Times and announces –

“My name is Johnathon Smith.” “Lt. General.” “U.S. Army.” “Retired.” “Served in Korea and Vietnam.” “Married.” “Two sons.” “Both Doctors.”

He picks up his paper and continues to read.

About half an hour later, the second gentleman puts down his Washington Post and says,

“Dillard Jones.” “Major General.” “U.S. Air Force.” “Retired.” “Served in Vietnam and Gulf War I.” “Married.” “Two sons.” “Both Lawyers.”

He then picks up his paper and continues to read.

Later on, the third man puts down his Daily Racing Form and grunts,

“Gus Miller.” “Gunnery Sergeant.” “U.S. Marines Corps” “Discharged” “Served in Korea and Vietnam and Gulf War I and Gulf War II.” “NEVER married.” “Two sons, ——– Both Generals!”

In Honor of December 7, 1941

Three Mistakes at Pearl Harbor

Sunday, December 7th, 1941–Admiral Chester Nimitz was attending a concert in Washington D.C. He was paged and told there was a phone call for him. When he answered the phone, it was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the phone. He told Admiral Nimitz that he (Nimitz) would now be the Commander of the Pacific Fleet.

Admiral Nimitz flew to Hawaii to assume command of the Pacific Fleet. He landed at Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1941. There was such a spirit of despair, dejection and defeat–you would have thought the Japanese had already won the war. On Christmas Day, 1941, Adm. Nimitz was given a boat tour of the destruction wrought on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese.. Big sunken battleships and navy vessels cluttered the waters everywhere you looked.

As the tour boat returned to dock, the young helmsman of the boat asked, “Well Admiral, what do you think after seeing all this destruction?” Admiral Nimitz’s reply shocked everyone within the sound of his voice. Admiral Nimitz said,

“The Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could ever make, or God was taking care of America . Which do you think it was?”

Shocked and surprised, the young helmsman asked, “What do mean by saying the Japanese made the three biggest mistakes an attack force ever made?”

Nimitz explained:

Mistake number one: the Japanese attacked on Sunday morning. Nine out of every ten crewmen of those ships were ashore on leave. If those same ships had been lured to sea and been sunk–we would have lost 38,000 men instead of 3,800.

Mistake number two: when the Japanese saw all those battleships lined in a row, they got so carried away sinking those battleships, they never once bombed our dry docks opposite those ships. If they had destroyed our dry docks, we would have had to tow every one of those ships to America to be repaired. As it is now, the ships are in shallow water and can be raised. One tug can pull them over to the dry docks, and we can have them repaired and at sea by the time we could have towed them to America . And I already have crews ashore anxious to man those ships.

Mistake number three: every drop of fuel in the Pacific theater of war is in top-of-the-ground storage tanks five miles away over that hill. One attack plane could have strafed those tanks and destroyed our fuel supply. That’s why I say the Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could make or God was taking care of America .

President Roosevelt had chosen the right man for the right job. We desperately needed a leader that could see silver linings in the midst of the clouds of dejection, despair and defeat.

There is a reason that our national motto is, IN GOD WE TRUST.

CLICK HERE for pictures from Life Magazine.