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Post by crashtest on Aug 16, 2007 5:49:13 GMT -5
Kenneth en route from Fort Knox to Camp Shelby. Fortunately he got to be near our new home in Mississippi before his deployment to Afghanistan as Camp Shelby is just down the road. As you can see, he inherited the autosomal dominant Astro fan gene and is thus cursed with the same disease as I.
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Post by crashtest on Aug 16, 2007 5:55:08 GMT -5
He e-mailed to say he'll be out of touch for the next 45 days as the squad under his command has been deployed to parts unknown on the Pakistan border. Too bad we couldn't have done it right the first time shortly after 9/11; we assumed we had defeated the Taliban. It's always tough having to pay for the same turf twice.
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Post by texiban001 on Aug 16, 2007 14:18:56 GMT -5
I hope he comes back Crash. Looks like a fine young man. don't want to lose him.
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Post by texiban001 on Aug 28, 2007 15:31:08 GMT -5
Here is a picture of a 3 carrier battle group. Be afraid if you are on the receiving end!
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Post by crashtest on Sept 14, 2007 21:05:09 GMT -5
Above are the most trustworthy and loyal higher life forms Kenneth has found in Afghanistan. He has fed them, they have yet to bite his hand. They secure the perimeter and growl and bark if any rag-heads approach --- they trust anyone in an American GI uniform without question. They understand everything he says and act appropriately to his commands. They take care of their offspring, male and female alike. They share food, and don't wail to high heaven if it is a piece of a ham sandwich. More than once, they have alerted sentries to danger before it was apparent to anyone. They have never been found cultivating poppies for heroine production. They have provided his platoon with a sense of comfort and solace. If only the average Afghani had the common human decency of a dog......
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Post by crashtest on Sept 14, 2007 21:41:03 GMT -5
And to think, that culture looks DOWN on dogs. The very word is an insult. How dare they -- how f*cking dare they. It would be an insult to the dog to let one of them lick the pinworm out of its a$$hole.
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Post by mikeinsa on Oct 10, 2007 21:36:42 GMT -5
My son is scheduled to be back at Ft Hood on November 4. I am really looking forward to he holidays.
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Post by texiban001 on Oct 11, 2007 8:53:27 GMT -5
Dogs are a lot more decent than any muslim. What's transparent and lies in the gutter? An Arab with the sh*t kicked out of him! ;D
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Post by jamesa46 on Oct 11, 2007 20:48:42 GMT -5
Above are the most trustworthy and loyal higher life forms Kenneth has found in Afghanistan. He has fed them, they have yet to bite his hand. They secure the perimeter and growl and bark if any rag-heads approach --- they trust anyone in an American GI uniform without question. They understand everything he says and act appropriately to his commands. They take care of their offspring, male and female alike. They share food, and don't wail to high heaven if it is a piece of a ham sandwich. More than once, they have alerted sentries to danger before it was apparent to anyone. They have never been found cultivating poppies for heroine production. They have provided his platoon with a sense of comfort and solace. If only the average Afghani had the common human decency of a dog...... Crash- You've pretty much hit the nail about what our troops think of our "friends" in the middle east. I was watching a program on the Military Channel about a platoon of marines that go out on search-and-find missions to try to gather information on possible insurgents in the local communities. One of the Marines said that the term they use to differentiate between friendlies and the insurgents in the local Iraqi communities was "Haji" "Haji" being what they call the insurgents. As my son said....they call them all "Haji's". No one trusts any of them from the non-coms on down. The Marine was just trying to be a little politically correct since he was speaking in a taped tv interview. The Iraq security police that was trained by our guys are completely useless.
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Post by crashtest on Oct 13, 2007 7:38:17 GMT -5
Exactly, James.
Well, the countdown has begun. Kenneth is due to come back mid-January. How about Chris -he went over well before Kenneth - isn't he due back soon?
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Post by jamesa46 on Oct 13, 2007 17:48:27 GMT -5
Exactly, James. Well, the countdown has begun. Kenneth is due to come back mid-January. How about Chris -he went over well before Kenneth - isn't he due back soon? Crash- He's due back the week of Dec. 5 but he doesn't know for sure. yet. Could be the week of Dec. 15. Either way, he won't be coming straight home. They will go directly back to Fort Riley, Kansas. He doesn't know how long they will be at Riley before they give them leave.
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Post by crashtest on Oct 14, 2007 5:32:49 GMT -5
Exactly, James. Well, the countdown has begun. Kenneth is due to come back mid-January. How about Chris -he went over well before Kenneth - isn't he due back soon? Crah- He's due back the week of Dec. 5 but he doesn't know for sure. yet. Could be the week of Dec. 15. Either way, he won't be coming straight home. They will go directly back to Fort Riley, Kansas. He doesn't know how long they will be at Riley before they give them leave. James, that good news. One month after the WS ends if it goes 7, to put it in perspective. I guess Ft Riley serves as a kind of decompression chamber. I know how I feel coming back from a 4 day vacation. I'd imagine a year in a combat zone can change your perspective. You can't just turn that engine off with the turn of a key. Our sons will be different people when they get back, that's for sure - having gone to hell and back.
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Post by crashtest on Oct 14, 2007 5:50:43 GMT -5
James, did you catch this article about the Minnesota National Guard? The get their deployment extended in the sand pit to 22 months, apparently the longest in the war. But, any orders written for less than 730 days doesn't qualify a soldier for the GI Bill for education benefits. 729 days or less and you're just SOL. www.wcsh6.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=71741"1st Lt. Jon Anderson said he never expected to come home to this: A government refusing to pay education benefits he says he should have earned under the GI bill. "It's pretty much a slap in the face," Anderson said. "I think it was a scheme to save money, personally. I think it was a leadership failure by the senior Washington leadership... once again failing the soldiers." Anderson's orders, and the orders of 1,161 other Minnesota guard members, were written for 729 days. Had they been written for 730 days, just one day more, the soldiers would receive those benefits to pay for school. "Which would be allowing the soldiers an extra $500 to $800 a month," Anderson said. Anderson said the soldiers he oversaw in his platoon expected that money to be here when they come home. "I had 23 guys under my command," Anderson said. "I promised to take care of them. And I'm not going to end taking care of them when this deployment is over, and it's not over until this is solved." The Army did not respond questions Tuesday afternoon". **** Well, they had better start answering questions. It would seem they could have let 1100 guys sit around at Ft Riley for 24 hours shining their boots so they would qualify. That just makes my blood boil.
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Post by mikeinsa on Oct 14, 2007 17:13:12 GMT -5
After deployment soldiers are routinely given a three day pass followed by 10 days of reintegration training. I do not know what they do with National Guard folks as far as reintegration training is concerned.
Now if true someone needs a boot shoved up their four pointed contact as far as the GI bill is concerned.
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Post by texiban001 on Oct 15, 2007 11:17:07 GMT -5
Just another kick in the teeth from our wonderful government. Just think how the troops will be treated if Hilary or Obama gets elected.
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