Via Jawa Report.

America's Sons Come Home After 62 Years

From a Department of Defense press release:

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO)
announced today that the remains of eleven U.S. airmen, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

They are Capt. Thomas C. Paschal, El Monte, Calif.; 1st Lt. Frank P. Giugliano, New York, N.Y.; 1st Lt. James P. Gullion, Paris, Texas; 2nd Lt. Leland A. Rehmet, San Antonio, Texas; 2nd Lt. John A. Widsteen, Palo Alto, Calif., Staff Sgt. Richard F. King, Moultrie, Ga.; Staff Sgt. William Lowery, Republic, Pa..; Staff Sgt. Elgin J. Luckenbach, Luckenbach, Texas.; Staff Sgt. Marion B. May, Amarillo, Texas.; Sgt. Marshall P. Borofsky, Chicago, Ill.; Sgt. Walter G. Harm, Philadelphia, Penn.; all U.S. Army Air Forces.

On April 16, 1944, Paschal and Widsteen were piloting a B-24J Liberator with the other nine men aboard. The aircraft was returning to Nadzab, New Guinea after bombing enemy targets near Hollandia. The plane was last seen off the coast of the island flying into poor weather.

Most of the men will be buried today in Arlington National Cemetery. The families of three of the men have decided to bury them in their hometowns.

Cross-posted at The Dread Pundit Bluto, Stop the ACLU, and Vince Aut Morire.

May God bless these heroes and their families for the sacrifices they made for the sake of human freedom.

Posted by: Greg at 02:01 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Maybe the Ditch Bitch can be hauled into court and shown to be a liar – not only on this, but on her anti-war/anti-American activism.

A Vacaville funeral home owner took exception to "Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan's allegation that his mortuary did not fulfill its duties after her son Casey was killed in Iraq in 2004.

In her blog last week, Sheehan wrote that the mortuary had refused to pay the cemetery as it was supposed to. Steve Nadeau, the mortuary's owner, said Monday that not only did he properly pay the cemetery, but that he subsidized the process with his own money.

Nadeau read Sheehan's comments on Sunday, in a story about Sheehan's defense of her decision not to put a headstone on Casey's grave. Sheehan had described her choice at length in the same blog entry that mentioned Nadeau's Funeral Home.

Nadeau was called on Friday and a message was left at his office seeking his comments. Nadeau returned the call and left a message saying he would be unavailable until Monday.

In an e-mail on Sunday, Nadeau expressed hurt and disbelief at Sheehan's comments. He said that the amount of money the military gave the mortuary for Casey's funeral service and cemetery arrangements didn't even come close to covering the costs.

"Several kind citizens made donations," said Nadeau. "I absorbed the rest."
This was not the only way in which he went above and beyond his responsibilities following Casey's death, said Nadeau. He also provided a stretch limousine and a driver at his expense, he said, and invited the family to go to the airport with him so that he could accompany them. None of this was required, said Nadeau.

"Having known the Sheehan family for many years through St. Mary's Catholic Church where Ms. Sheehan had previously been the youth director, it was my desire to provide care and dignity to Casey and the family. I did this in every respect."

Nadeau also refuted Sheehan's statement that the mortuary finally paid the cemetery only after the family threatened to bring the story to the media.

"This never happened," said Nadeau. "I would stop by the family home as I do most families' homes and check with them on necessary needs, etc."

Nadeau said the military provided his mortuary $5,736 in funding to pay for the funeral service and cemetery arrangements. The funding came in May 2004, said Nadeau, and he paid the cemetery as soon as the costs had been totaled and the donations received.

In a phone call Monday, Sheehan stood by her allegations. Sheehan also said that Casey's grave site was now being handled by her soon-to-be ex-husband Patrick.

Patrick Sheehan said Monday that the small plaque currently marking Casey's grave is something all graves receive before a headstone is constructed. Casey's headstone is in the works, he said, and is being built by a local monument company.

Now let me check – the funeral was in the spring of 2004, and the federal money came available in May of that year. It is now April of 2006. Why no marker until now, Cindy? Could it be that you blew your son’s insurance money on your political activism? We know your entire crusade is based upon lies, as you had your meeting with the President and praised him at the time.

I’m hoping that Steve Nadeau sues this woman for libel – and that his lawyers dismantle her on the stand, leaving no illusion that she is other than a self-promoting, America-hating compulsive liar.

Posted by: Greg at 10:06 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Let me introduce you to Sgt. 1st Class Juanita Wilson, who refused to allow a serious injury in Iraq to end her service to her country.

In August of 2004, Wilson was wounded by an IED.

"I started to feel this tingling in my hand Â… I looked down and that was when I realized OK, I don't have a hand here,'" Wilson said. A combat medic rushed over and began patching her up but the attack wasn't over. The U.S. convoy then got hit with small-arms fire. Other soldiers with Wilson began returning fire and radioed for helicopter gunship support.

Wilson and her driver were severely wounded and could only wait for the medical evacuation team to arrive. To Wilson, listening to the battle and waiting for the MEDEVAC seemed like "the longest amount of time."

Over the next four days, Wilson made her way to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., where she spent the next year in intensive therapy and making many decisions about her medical care and the type of life she wanted to live.

Wilson was a unit supply specialist with the 411th Engineer Battalion, an Army Reserve unit from Hilo, Hawaii. The unit had been building roads and infrastructure such as schools around Iraq since its deployment.

While recuperating at Walter Reed, one option Wilson would not consider was leaving the Army, despite the long road to recovery that lay ahead of her.

"From Day One, my decision was, 'I'm not getting out,'" Wilson said, adding that she still has things she wants to accomplish in the military. "My support channel has been there for me and I'd like to give that back to the soldiers of the future."

It took a year, but Wilson was cleared to return to duty. And on April 6, Wilson was one of 38 members of the US armed forces to reenlist in a ceremony on the steps of the US Capitol. She was not the only Iraq vet, nor was she only one wounded in combat. All, though, shared a devotion to their country and support for the mission in Iraq.

May God bless you, Juanita Wilson, and all your comrades in arms.

UPDATE -- 4/18/2006 -- The Washington Post has a fine article about women soldiers who have faced amputation due to war wounds. I encourage you to read the article about these American heroes.

Posted by: Greg at 11:52 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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So much for the notion that the troops do not support the mission – rather than leaving the military, they are reenlisting.

Two of every three eligible soldiers continue to re-enlist, putting the Army, which has endured most of the fighting in Iraq, ahead of its annual goal.

The Army was 15% ahead of its re-enlistment goal of 34,668 for the first six months of fiscal year 2006, which ended March 31. More than 39,900 soldiers had re-enlisted, according to figures scheduled to be released today by the Army.

Strong retention has helped the Army offset recruiting that has failed to meet its targets as the war in Iraq has made it harder to attract new soldiers. The Army fell 8% short of its goal of recruiting 80,000 soldiers in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, although it is exceeding its goal this year. Army recruiting figures for the first half of the year are to be released today.

The Army has met or exceeded its goals for retention for the past five years, records show. It was 8% over its goal for 2005, and 7% ahead of its targets for 2004. The number of re-enlistments has exceeded the Army's goal by a larger margin each year since 2001.

Soldiers like the Army, “and the war is not causing people to leave,” says Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, an Army spokesman. Through March, 2,325 U.S. troops had been killed in Iraq; 1,593 were Army soldiers.

The Pentagon announced in March that each of the armed forces was on track to meet its retention goal for the year.

So much for those members of the Hate-America Left who claim to speak on behalf of the troops – for the troops are repudiating them by their choice to stay i

Posted by: Greg at 09:23 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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As the son of a Vietnam vet, this rings quite true to me.

On Thursday, March 30, I was in the Atlanta airport returning to Tallahassee from Washington.

When I landed, I proceeded to my gate, E-35, for the 2:30 p.m. flight home.

As I was walking down terminal E, I saw many of our soldiers who had been home for a two-week break and were now returning to Iraq. I spoke with them and thanked them for their service.

When I arrived at my gate, I noticed there were at least 20 more heroes sitting at gate E-35 waiting for their flight to return to Iraq. I walked over there and started speaking to most of these men and women.

I met a captain from Virginia who was returning to Mosul, Iraq, to serve another six months.

He was a young captain, and told me he appreciated that I thanked the younger troops for their service, because it meant a lot to them to hear that from civilians. I told him it was my honor to do so.

I spoke to most of these courageous men and women, joked with them about their laptops and told them that when I was in the military, we had typewriters.

They laughed at that!

As I waved goodbye to them and walked across the hall to my gate, I thought about how brave and how committed they are to completing the mission they have been asked to.

My heart goes out to our soldiers. I get so emotional because they are young and fully dedicated to completing their mission. (I also got mad because I noticed that most passengers simply walked past the soldiers without saying "thank you" or even a simple hello or welcome home.)

I then thought how lucky America is to have heroes like these serving our country. These are truly future leaders of our country in every sector — business, government, etc.

It wasn't long before they announced that my flight was boarding, and as I was in line, I placed my head down and asked our Father in heaven to help these soldiers complete their mission so they can rejoin their families soon. When I handed the airline attendant my ticket, she looked at my eyes and asked me if I was OK. I answered I was fine; just those "old allergies" had come.

Please, wherever you are and wherever you see our troops, thank them, talk with them — no matter how you feel about the issues or no matter how busy you are. These young men and women are our heroes and they deserve our respect and affection.

Thank you.

Amen.

Posted by: Greg at 08:08 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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