Best Friends Forever

DEUCE is a chocolate Labrador retriever who knows exactly which patients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington give the best treats, said his owner, Harvey Naranjo. Both he and Deuce are part of the Military Advanced Training Center, a department at Walter Reed that cares for severely disabled veterans.

A certified therapy dog, Deuce assists with rehabilitation and helps relieve stress. He excels at both, said Mr. Naranjo, who brought him to the center three years ago to help the growing number of severely disabled veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Medical technology has given us the opportunity to save more lives with this conflict, but they are surviving devastating injuries,” said Mr. Naranjo, adaptive sports program coordinator and a certified occupational therapy assistant at Walter Reed.

H/T to SondraK

NEVER FORGET

Next month, America will honor the anniversary of September 11, 2001, when terrorists killed nearly 3,000 of our fellow citizens. In the days after 9/11, Americans stood together as one, setting aside partisan fervor and recognized a common enemy in Islamist terrorist groups, particularly al-Qaeda. National security was rightfully restored as our nation’s highest priority.

As the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 approaches, it’s important to honor the victims and the heroes of that day by not only remaining on guard, but promising we will never quit this important fight until the threat no longer exists.

Leading up to September 11, The Heritage Foundation will be hosting a series of events and releasing critical research and analysis designed to educate America on the remaining threat and offer the right policy course to keep us safe.

We will also be asking Americans to join us in a display of unity once again. On Sunday, September 11, 2011, we hope that every neighborhood across the nation is flooded with American flags celebrating the lives of those we lost in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania and the heroism we witnessed, while also reminding each other that the fight to prevent another attack is not over.

The Unsung Heroes

“Today” show, NBC did a segment on the Navy SEALS, the special forces unit being praised for killing Osama bin Laden.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Navy SEALs Heroes

Years of hunting down the world’s most wanted terrorist ended Sunday afternoon when a CIA-led Navy SEALs squadron of just a few dozen men stormed Osama bin Laden's compound and killed him.

The elite team of Navy SEALs tapped for the job were a group who were stationed at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach.

The team is part of a counterterrorism group so specialized that no one can apply to join it. The operatives are recruited from existing SEAL teams, and so they are an elite group within the elite.

Hell on Earth - The Valley of Death

The first living soldier to receive the Medal of Honor since Vietnam tells Lara Logan in an emotional interview just what he did to earn the nation's highest combat honor and how the recognition makes him uncomfortable.

~Medal of Honor Operation Enduring Freedom~

Homeward Bound

It's a kleenex moment.

I will never get tired of this.

Iraq War Hero, Double Amputee Seeks Public Office

MINNEAPOLIS:-- A war veteran who lost his legs is now running for public office.

Sgt. John Kriesel says he'll run as a Republican for the House of Representatives District 57 seat, representing Cottage Grove, St. Paul Park and South St. Paul.

It's the seat now held by Karla Bigham who announced she won't seek re-election this fall.

RELATED: A Minnesota's soldier's comeback

Sgt. Kriesel lost both his legs in a blast near Fallujah, Iraq on December 2, 2006. The same blast that killed two of his best friends. His injuries resulted in 25 surgeries over the course of just two months.

H/T to Gateway Pundit

Police Sgt. Kimberly Munley Hailed For Taking Down Fort Hood Gunman

Via Daily News:

The hero cop who ended the bloody rampage at Fort Hood by pumping four bullets into the crazed gunman even though she was wounded is known for her toughness, friends say.

More...

War Heroes

Spc. Channing Moss should be dead by all accounts. And those who saved his life did so knowing they might have died with him.

March 16, 2006. Southeastern Afghanistan. A fierce ambush and bloody firefight. It was over in a flash and Moss was left on the verge of death.

He was impaled through the abdomen with a rocket-propelled grenade, and an aluminum rod with one tail fin protruded from the left side of his torso.

His fellow soldiers worried: Could he blow up and take them with him? For all anyone knew, the answer was yes.

There's more...

~click~

True Heroes

Tiger Woods eked out a one-stroke victory at the AT&T National on Sunday, and then the man whom many regard as the greatest golfer of all time shared his special moment with a Huguenot resident who was severely injured in the Iraq war.

After Woods sank his final winning putt at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., he turned and gave his golf ball to U.S. Army Private First Class Brendan Marrocco.

Awesome.
H/T to SondraK

65th Anniversary Remembering The Men of D-Day

President Ronald Reagan, on June 6, 1984 gave his compelling speech on the 40th Anniversary at Point-du-Hoc, Normandy.

These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war.

....Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet, you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief; it was loyalty and love.

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge -- and pray God we have not lost it -- that there is a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.

A heartfelt thank you to those who fought for freedom and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice on the Beaches of Normandy in World War II. You will never be forgotten.

Memorial Day

This bears repeating on Memorial Day.

Honoring America's Heroes

Armed Forces Day"United in Strength."

H/T to SondraK and to Blackfive

Unsung Hero

While we're surrounded by the constant political smearing of all parties, somewhere hidden in the back pages of the news you'll find a true American Hero.

Via This Ain’t Hell, here’s the best thing you’ll see today. We already knew from the surge that Petraeus was a miracle worker — but evidently we didn’t know the extent of it. Forward this to a vet you love.

Watch CBS Videos Online

Definitely a Kleenex moment.
H/T to HotAir

General Petraeus Will Be Honored At Super Bowl This Weekend

Via Gateway Pundit:

General David Petraeus brought Victory to Iraq.
This weekend he will be honored at the Super Bowl and will participate in the coin toss with Lynn Swann and John Elway.

US heroes General Petraeus and US Airways pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger will be honored at the Super Bowl this weekend.
Sports Illustrated reported:

US Airways pilot Chesley "Sully'' Sullenberger and the crew from Flight 1549 will be honored by the NFL before the Super Bowl.

Sullenberger, co-pilot Jeffrey B. Skiles and flight attendants Doreen Walsh, Sheila Dail and Donna Dent will be recognized before the start of Sunday's game between the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Sullenberger was praised as a hero for a deft landing Jan. 15 on the Hudson River after both the plane's engines were disabled following a collision with a flock of birds. All 155 passengers and crew members were rescued.

Also being honored is Gen. David Petraeus, who heads the U.S. Central Command.

Petraeus will be part of the coin toss ceremony, which also include past Super Bowls greats Lynn Swann, Roger Craig and John Elway.

Congratulations General Petraeus on a well deserved honor!

An honorable man indeed. Congratulations General Petraeus!

H/T to Gateway Pundit

Merry Christmas To Those Who Keep Us Safe

I'm attaching Blackfive's post word for word. Only because I can't say it any better myself.

Thank you so much to our troops who make it possible for us to live in comfort.

Thank you, thank you.

Drudge has a picture up for a reason. We live, love and celebrate because we have a warrior class who covers us. Thank you and Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all who wear our uniform and all who live free. To the rest, be patient and support America.

Merry Christmas to all.

A Letter From A Hero

I've said before, what happened on Sept. 11, 2001, changed my life in that instant. I'm most definitely not that same person I was on 9/10. I had no connection with the military and I still don't today. At least not directly, not physically. But spiritually, they're in my thoughts and prayers every single day. Thank God I can take a peek into our soldiers lives through the military blogs. By their stories. Their courage. Their heartache. I know of only one soldier. And it's through his wife that I know him. What a privilege that is too. It overwhelmes me to read the stories our soldiers tell in Iraq and Afghanistan. It fills me with pride and sorrow and leaves me with such humility. I am only one citizen of many, with such gratitude. My gratitude is so long and deep, I can't even begin to explain in writing. I have such sorrow for the ones we've lost. All our men and women who make the ultimate sacrifice....to keep us safe on our soil. To maintain our freedom. They are indeed True Heroes.

How do we really know what is going on in Iraq or Afghanistan? This solder gives his thoughts, in a letter that was recently published in the Crescent City (California) Triplicate, and I quote:

Hi Adam, my name is Capt. Bruno de Solenni and I am writing you in regards to your article that I finally was able to read online.
I really wasn't sure what to expect, especially nowadays with some of the crap that you read in the news. I will say that I was surprised and pleased that it wasn't over-sensationalized and you kept a good theme on the topic.

...When Sept. 11 happened, it was then that I realized that things were going to be very different for me and the rest of this country. One month later our battalion received the alert order that we would mobilize the following year to fill in on the current MFO (Multi National Force and Observers) mission in Sinai, Egypt. After returning from Egypt, I was home for eight months before volunteering again to go to Iraq for OIF II. It was there I truly (became) an infantry officer and learned a lot about myself and people in general.

Upon my return from Iraq, I was positive about what was going on there but very resentful at the way the media was covering the war over there. In my own view, I personally feel that some of the media deliberately fueled that war based on their own biased political views and I still hold them accountable for their actions.
Something that still upsets me is the fact that they exploited some of the crimes soldiers committed over there as a reflective view to the rest of the world of what our armies stood for. I am not saying that we didn't make mistakes, we did make them and we have painfully corrected them.

....Even though I am now recuperating in the rear and doing fine, much of my time along with other teammates has been spent in the Helmand Province working with a handful of British soldiers in small isolated FOBs conducting offensive operations with the Afghan National Army. Our task is to mentor them during combat operations and to provide both air support and indirect fire support, which seems to sometimes be a daily necessity over here.

The good days over here are when we are truly sticking it to the Taliban in a firefight that is in our favor and you just drop ped 130 105mm rounds on their position. Or when a ... hot F-15 pilot flies over your head strafing the Taliban with his Vulcan cannons.

The (bad) days are when you are covering up your your sergeant major from being exposed to the dust-out of a Chinook helicopter that is landing to medivac him out. At the same time he cries because he doesn't want to leave his team as he lies there half paralyzed with shrapnel in him, while fluids are coming out of his eyes and ears signifying severe brain trauma, (meaning we cant give him morphine).

The bad days are when you put your buddy in a body bag and you don't even recognize him because his limbs are missing and there holes in him everywhere. The miracles are when his last words are, "tell my wife and kids I love them," before he dies in his best friend's arms after struggling for several agonizing minutes to get the words out because there is a fist-size hole in his head.

And last but not least, the best days are when an Afghan comes up to you thanking you for everything that you have done to help them and for making their (home) a better place now that the Taliban are gone.

If anything, this is probably the biggest reason why I proudly enjoy being over here. I can't explain it to anyone and there is no description of what it feels like, but it was the same feeling I got when I was in Iraq as well. And I am sure it's the same feeling that generations of American soldiers before me have gotten as they fought and sacrificed their lives for the freedoms that we enjoy today.
Perhaps the biggest thing that has made being over here much more bearable, is the amount of public support that we have received from people. Getting a care package or a letter of support when you are out in the middle of nowhere from a complete stranger, thanking you, does make the day seem a little better.

Read it all here. Thank you Blackfive

An Interview with American Military Hero, Bud Day

A glimpse into the horrors of Colonel George "Bud" Day and his cell-mate John McCain in a tiny cell for more than 5 years of torture in captivity at the Hanoi Hilton.

Day has been awarded the Medal of Honor, Air Force Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Hearts, in fact, more than 70 medals and awards. He calls John McCain a hero, and thinks voters deserve to know more about his Hanoi Hilton cell mate.

McCain, a man whose father and grandfather were renowned Admirals, was a prized propaganda prisoner for the enemy. The Colonel says their captors called McCain “the Prince.”
McCain was more than half dead when Day first laid eyes on his fellow POW.

“I took one look at him and my brain instantly said they dropped this guy off on me to claim that we let him die. He was just emaciated, very, very skinny, in this awful body cast.”

McCain himself today continues to suffer the injuries of torture. He still cannot raise his arms above his shoulders. But he does not like to talk about his time as a prisoner of war.

“he just doesn’t trade on that. I think he feels that it’s wrong to trade on being a hero, but he is.”

Check out the video...