The Armorer has actually posted the pics referred to here
We will have our revenge. Hell hath no fury and all that...
13 May 2007
US News Tribute to SSG Darrell Griffin, Jr
26-minute unedited interview with Army Staff Sgt. Darrell Ray Griffin Jr. 18 days before he was killed by a sniper on March 21, 2007 while patrolling in Sadr City. Griffin was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.
The interview is just one part of a multimedia story from US News & World Report embed Alex Kingsbury.
Thanks to Mr. Kingsbury and US News for this story; we need more coverage like this.
Godspeed, SSG Griffin.
Related article at the Washington Times, Troops salute fallen leader
h/t Michelle Malkin
12 May 2007
Light Three Candles
My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
No one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father's hand.
For our three Soldiers missing (duty status and whereabouts unknown) in Baghdad since early this morning.
Update 13 May: On-the-ground observations from Teflon Don, analysis from Bill Roggio
Sending clear messages
Gotta love a guy who stands on the hanger deck of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, just 150 miles from the Iranian coast, in front of five F18 Super Hornet fighters and a huge American flag, and says this:
With two carrier strike groups in the Gulf, we're sending clear messages to friends and adversaries alike. We'll keep the sea lanes open. We'll stand with our friends in opposing extremism and strategic threats. We'll disrupt attacks on our own forces. We'll continue bringing relief to those who suffer, and delivering justice to the enemies of freedom. And we'll stand with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating this region.
Think they got it?
11 May 2007
"He loved being a Soldier"
Email from the grandmother of a wounded Soldier we'd been asked to check on in March:
25-year-old Sgt. Jason Harkins of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, was one of six Ft. Lewis soldiers killed last Sunday in Diyala Province.
The 5-20 has seen heavy fighting since moving north from Taji in mid-March, joining with units of the 1st CAV to engage al Qaeda elements who have regrouped in Diyala after fleeing Baghdad.
The al-Qaeda group calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq has claimed responsibility for the attack. An AP reporter with the Strykers described it this way:
A few weeks ago, Sgt. Harkins told family members he had something to show them proving their prayers were being heard: the bullet which struck his helmet during the attack in which Spc. Casey Turner and two others were wounded but left him unhurt.
Spc. Josh Holubz is another of those soldiers who credits Harkins with saving his life:
“I came pretty close to dying that night,” he said. “I actually thought I was going to die that night.”
Before going out on that mission in March, Harkins handed out gauze pads to his fire team, including Holubz. That gauze was used to stop the bleeding when a terrorist bullet ripped through his shoulder and out through his chest.
"I never had a chance to talk to him or thank him for that."
On another occaison Harkins had gone into the kill zone and pulled one of his soldiers to safety, heroism for which he was slated to receive a Bronze Star.
Sgt. Jason Harkins always wanted to follow his father's footsteps into the Army since he was a little boy stalking the yard with a toy rifle. He enlisted in the Army Reserve in 1998 and went active duty in March 2003.
Harkins was a veteran of a previous deployment to Iraq with the brigade from 2003-2004. Between deployments he graduated from jump school and got married.
His widow, Emily Harkins, said the words of Psalm 144:1-2 described her late husband well:
"Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war; My safeguard and my fortress, my stronghold, my deliverer, My shield, in whom I trust, who subdues peoples under me."
She said he loved being a Soldier.
Godspeed, Sgt. Harkins.
MNF-Iraq B-roll of soldiers from the 3rd Stryker Brigade in Diyala Province in March.
Sources: The Northeast Georgian, The News Tribune
Dear MaryAnn,
I just mailed two blankets this morning.
I also want you to know that the Stryker that got hit last Sunday was Casey's Stryker. The SGT that was killed saved Casey's life [back in March].
Casey told us that when he and two other soldiers were hit that Sgt. Harkins stood over them and returned fire all the time yelling for help for the fallen soldiers.
[During that incident] Sgt. Harkins took a bullet to his helmet-- it stayed in his helmet.
If Casey had not gotten wounded [and sent back home] he would have been with those men. We see the hand of providence in this.
Casey had asked us to continue to send boxes to his unit and we addressed the last box to Sgt. Harkins and he returned the nicest letter to us so we feel really close to him.
He will always be in my prayers for the deceased.
Thank you for all that you do for the soldiers.
Bonnie M.
25-year-old Sgt. Jason Harkins of the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, was one of six Ft. Lewis soldiers killed last Sunday in Diyala Province.
The 5-20 has seen heavy fighting since moving north from Taji in mid-March, joining with units of the 1st CAV to engage al Qaeda elements who have regrouped in Diyala after fleeing Baghdad.
The al-Qaeda group calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq has claimed responsibility for the attack. An AP reporter with the Strykers described it this way:
"As the vehicles inched down a trash-strewn road, a thunderous blast consumed one of them in a huge ball of gray debris that flipped the eight-wheeled, 37,000-pound troop carrier upside down and tore out its interior.
"The explosion killed everyone inside except the driver.
As troops scrambled to recover casualties, gunmen fired from a large yellow-domed mosque across the street, sparking a firefight that saw rounds ping off the wreckage. The Strykers blasted small chunks of concrete off the mosque with 40mm grenades and heavy caliber guns. Later, three insurgents wearing armored vests -- probably stolen from police -- were found dead in the mosque."
A few weeks ago, Sgt. Harkins told family members he had something to show them proving their prayers were being heard: the bullet which struck his helmet during the attack in which Spc. Casey Turner and two others were wounded but left him unhurt.
Spc. Josh Holubz is another of those soldiers who credits Harkins with saving his life:
“I came pretty close to dying that night,” he said. “I actually thought I was going to die that night.”
Before going out on that mission in March, Harkins handed out gauze pads to his fire team, including Holubz. That gauze was used to stop the bleeding when a terrorist bullet ripped through his shoulder and out through his chest.
"I never had a chance to talk to him or thank him for that."
On another occaison Harkins had gone into the kill zone and pulled one of his soldiers to safety, heroism for which he was slated to receive a Bronze Star.
Sgt. Jason Harkins always wanted to follow his father's footsteps into the Army since he was a little boy stalking the yard with a toy rifle. He enlisted in the Army Reserve in 1998 and went active duty in March 2003.
Harkins was a veteran of a previous deployment to Iraq with the brigade from 2003-2004. Between deployments he graduated from jump school and got married.
His widow, Emily Harkins, said the words of Psalm 144:1-2 described her late husband well:
"Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war; My safeguard and my fortress, my stronghold, my deliverer, My shield, in whom I trust, who subdues peoples under me."
She said he loved being a Soldier.
Godspeed, Sgt. Harkins.
MNF-Iraq B-roll of soldiers from the 3rd Stryker Brigade in Diyala Province in March.
Sources: The Northeast Georgian, The News Tribune
09 May 2007
Into the light: A wounded Marine and his Vietnam Veteran father
I've never written about Josh Cooley, but not a day has passed since July 7, 2005 that I haven't thought about him.
That was the day I received an email from Sandy Gay, whose husband Norman worked with Josh at the Pasco, FL Sheriff's Office. Josh had been hurt in Iraq two days before. It was bad, and his wife and mother were flying to Germany on orders.
Josh had always thought about joining the military. After all, the Cooley men have served since the Battle of Bull Run. Josh's grandfather was a Marine, as was his father Ed. And his two older brothers served with the Corps in the first Gulf War.
But Ed and his mother Christine didn't want Josh to follow in their footsteps. He went into law enforcement instead, where he became a sniper with the Paco Sheriff's Office SWAT team.
Until 9/11.
Ed tried to talk Josh out of it, although the circumstances must have been familiar to him. Ed had enlisted as soon as he could after his 18-year-old cousin, Edward Monahan Jr., was killed in South Vietnam in 1965.
Wounded near Da Nang in May of 1968, Ed's real injuries were inflicted later.
When Christine had to pay her own way to visit him in Hawaii where he had been medevac'd. When he got back home and was called a baby killer. When he was pelted with eggs. When the military sent his Purple Heart and other decorations via Parcel Post several years after he had left the service.
But after Josh's injury, Ed's wounds started to heal along with his son's.
When he found out the CINC was going to award Josh the Purple Heart, there was a lot Ed wanted to say. And he wanted to make sure he got it right. So he composed a letter:
And this too, was as it should be:
Fast forward to November 11, 2006 at the Tampa Convention Center. The 231st birthday of Marine Corps and the largest reunion of the 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion in three years.
17 months after being gravely wounded by a car bomb near Hit, Iraq, Cpl Josh Cooley was there.
During the first weeks the doctors had agonized about the multiple surgeries Josh would need to survive... would removing the large piece of shrapnel embedded in his brain cause more harm than good? Would Josh be blind? Paralyzed? Would he be able to speak?
I checked with Sandy every couple of months after that. Josh was now at the Tampa VA, but there was never much encouraging news. I am ashamed to admit there were times I dreaded writing the email to ask. I didn't want to hear the answer. That there was no change... that Josh was just existing but nothing more.
And even one year after his injury, in July of 2006, Josh once again looked as bad as the days following the blast. After a seven hour surgery to return his skull to its original shape, more complications had set in. A further, complex 14-hour surgery followed, and another emergency surgery after that.
But then Josh turned the corner. He started making progress. He could feed himself, and he beat his mom Christine at arm wrestling. When his former SWAT team buddies visited him and reminisced about their past adventures, Josh's shoulders shook with laughter.
The progress made during the months leading up to Josh's first big outing at the Marine Corps birthday celebration gave Ed and Christine new hope, but it also left them frustrated.
Josh still couldn't walk, or speak.
Together with Josh's neurosurgeon at Bethesda, the Cooleys decided on a private rehab program called Casa Colina in sourthern California. There, the physical therapists had talked about Josh some day walking on his own. Even the speech therapists were positive.
Then, one day not long after his arrival, Christine leaned over, gave him a hug and said, "I love you, Josh."
And Josh replied, "I love you too, Mom."
The latest news from Sandy and Norman is that Josh has been able to stand up and support his weight for short periods. I hope to have an address for cards soon.
Update 15 May: I now have an address. Please email me if you would like to send Josh a card.
Update April 2008: Overcoming all odds, wounded Marine to return home after three long years
That was the day I received an email from Sandy Gay, whose husband Norman worked with Josh at the Pasco, FL Sheriff's Office. Josh had been hurt in Iraq two days before. It was bad, and his wife and mother were flying to Germany on orders.
Josh had always thought about joining the military. After all, the Cooley men have served since the Battle of Bull Run. Josh's grandfather was a Marine, as was his father Ed. And his two older brothers served with the Corps in the first Gulf War.
But Ed and his mother Christine didn't want Josh to follow in their footsteps. He went into law enforcement instead, where he became a sniper with the Paco Sheriff's Office SWAT team.
Until 9/11.
Ed tried to talk Josh out of it, although the circumstances must have been familiar to him. Ed had enlisted as soon as he could after his 18-year-old cousin, Edward Monahan Jr., was killed in South Vietnam in 1965.
Wounded near Da Nang in May of 1968, Ed's real injuries were inflicted later.
When Christine had to pay her own way to visit him in Hawaii where he had been medevac'd. When he got back home and was called a baby killer. When he was pelted with eggs. When the military sent his Purple Heart and other decorations via Parcel Post several years after he had left the service.
But after Josh's injury, Ed's wounds started to heal along with his son's.
When he found out the CINC was going to award Josh the Purple Heart, there was a lot Ed wanted to say. And he wanted to make sure he got it right. So he composed a letter:
“When I was notified you were coming today to present my son with the Purple Heart I thought, ‘This is different, but also the way it should be,’ I myself served in Vietnam... upon return I was not treated well by the military or our country.”
“As I stand here today watching you honor my son as well as the other soldiers of our country, I have nothing but pride, honor, and yes dignity, too.
“Not only have you honored my son but you have also healed some old wounds as well.”
And this too, was as it should be:
As Bush read, his eyes got wet. He pulled out his handkerchief and turned away from the cameras. [He then turned back] to Ed and called him a hero.
“I’m sorry it was never said to you before,” the president said, “but thank you for serving our country.”
Then he hugged the old veteran so tightly that Ed thought Secret Service agents standing nearby might intervene. He felt a 36-year burden lift as he hesitantly returned the embrace.
Fast forward to November 11, 2006 at the Tampa Convention Center. The 231st birthday of Marine Corps and the largest reunion of the 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion in three years.
17 months after being gravely wounded by a car bomb near Hit, Iraq, Cpl Josh Cooley was there.
Word of Josh's arrival quickly spread to his platoon mates. They crowded him in excitement. Then the reality of his condition and the memory of the bomb's billowing smoke hit, and several went outside to compose themselves. ( ... )
A hush fell over the ballroom as Maj. John Wright spoke the names of each of the battalion's dead and wounded. He saved one name in particular for last.
"And with great pleasure - as a goal we set last year has been fulfilled - one of our own, Josh Cooley."
Two hundred Marines sprang to their feet. They clapped and whistled and whooped their guttural cry.
"Ooh-rah! Ooh-rah!"
Josh stared straight ahead, his mouth curved in a half-smile.
During the first weeks the doctors had agonized about the multiple surgeries Josh would need to survive... would removing the large piece of shrapnel embedded in his brain cause more harm than good? Would Josh be blind? Paralyzed? Would he be able to speak?
I checked with Sandy every couple of months after that. Josh was now at the Tampa VA, but there was never much encouraging news. I am ashamed to admit there were times I dreaded writing the email to ask. I didn't want to hear the answer. That there was no change... that Josh was just existing but nothing more.
And even one year after his injury, in July of 2006, Josh once again looked as bad as the days following the blast. After a seven hour surgery to return his skull to its original shape, more complications had set in. A further, complex 14-hour surgery followed, and another emergency surgery after that.
But then Josh turned the corner. He started making progress. He could feed himself, and he beat his mom Christine at arm wrestling. When his former SWAT team buddies visited him and reminisced about their past adventures, Josh's shoulders shook with laughter.
The progress made during the months leading up to Josh's first big outing at the Marine Corps birthday celebration gave Ed and Christine new hope, but it also left them frustrated.
Josh still couldn't walk, or speak.
Together with Josh's neurosurgeon at Bethesda, the Cooleys decided on a private rehab program called Casa Colina in sourthern California. There, the physical therapists had talked about Josh some day walking on his own. Even the speech therapists were positive.
Then, one day not long after his arrival, Christine leaned over, gave him a hug and said, "I love you, Josh."
And Josh replied, "I love you too, Mom."
The latest news from Sandy and Norman is that Josh has been able to stand up and support his weight for short periods. I hope to have an address for cards soon.
Update April 2008: Overcoming all odds, wounded Marine to return home after three long years
07 May 2007
Timing, Sleep, and Imaginary Friends
"You know, timing is everything. Recoup:... "
Ok, she means "review", but I speak Mrs. G.-ese so I understand. We're outside the hotel smoking before her departure for the airport a couple of hours ago. (Don't ask me why we paid all that money for a room when we've spent the better part of the last 5 days out on the sidewalk, but that's another story.)
"If Greyhawk had left a day later for [redacted - undisclosed location in the Middle East], he could have been at the conference.
"If my laptop had died a day later I wouldn't have had to use a strange computer to moderate the chat rooms.
"And if the sites had gone down a day later I would have been home and Greyhawk might have already arrived in [redacted - undisclosed location in the Middle East] and it wouldn't have been such a hassle to fix the problem."
All I'm thinking is how I wouldn't have started this whole thing off tired if we hadn't been up until 0430 Friday morning taking Greyhawk to catch his military charter flight to [redacted - undisclosed location in the Middle East].
I realize there are those of you who believe I don't need sleep but I can assure you, I'd love to get more sleep.
Staying up late on Friday and getting up early on Saturday didn't help. Nor did wandering around the hotel thinking until oh-dark-whatever on Sunday morning.
On Sunday Soldiers' Angels held a BBQ at Walter Reed's Malogne House to award the 1000th Valour-IT laptop. Chuck was a credit to his rank and to the Army as he presented the laptops to the soldiers personally.
Like last year, it was surreal to see so many familiar faces amongst the patients. I kept thinking to myself, "Hey, I remember that guy... "
It is a blessing that most of them remember little or nothing about being in Germany, and I was content to just sit back and drink it all in.
They all look so good.
Kevin did some interviews with these guys you've got to see/hear at Pundit Review Radio. Don't miss them.
By Sunday evening I'm comfortably cruising in the No Sleep Zone and looking forward to a relaxing evening at Carrie's. She's invited a few of what her husband calls her "imaginary friends" over for dinner. I'd promised myself a *cough* early night but hey, an early night is useless when you're in the No Sleep Zone.
Haven't laughed so much in ages. Hope I can still laugh when the pics come out.
Ok, she means "review", but I speak Mrs. G.-ese so I understand. We're outside the hotel smoking before her departure for the airport a couple of hours ago. (Don't ask me why we paid all that money for a room when we've spent the better part of the last 5 days out on the sidewalk, but that's another story.)
"If Greyhawk had left a day later for [redacted - undisclosed location in the Middle East], he could have been at the conference.
"If my laptop had died a day later I wouldn't have had to use a strange computer to moderate the chat rooms.
"And if the sites had gone down a day later I would have been home and Greyhawk might have already arrived in [redacted - undisclosed location in the Middle East] and it wouldn't have been such a hassle to fix the problem."
All I'm thinking is how I wouldn't have started this whole thing off tired if we hadn't been up until 0430 Friday morning taking Greyhawk to catch his military charter flight to [redacted - undisclosed location in the Middle East].
I realize there are those of you who believe I don't need sleep but I can assure you, I'd love to get more sleep.
Staying up late on Friday and getting up early on Saturday didn't help. Nor did wandering around the hotel thinking until oh-dark-whatever on Sunday morning.
On Sunday Soldiers' Angels held a BBQ at Walter Reed's Malogne House to award the 1000th Valour-IT laptop. Chuck was a credit to his rank and to the Army as he presented the laptops to the soldiers personally.
Like last year, it was surreal to see so many familiar faces amongst the patients. I kept thinking to myself, "Hey, I remember that guy... "
It is a blessing that most of them remember little or nothing about being in Germany, and I was content to just sit back and drink it all in.
They all look so good.
Kevin did some interviews with these guys you've got to see/hear at Pundit Review Radio. Don't miss them.
By Sunday evening I'm comfortably cruising in the No Sleep Zone and looking forward to a relaxing evening at Carrie's. She's invited a few of what her husband calls her "imaginary friends" over for dinner. I'd promised myself a *cough* early night but hey, an early night is useless when you're in the No Sleep Zone.
Haven't laughed so much in ages. Hope I can still laugh when the pics come out.
CINC opens the 2007 MilBlog Conference
Thanks to Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit for this video and for being one of the conference's live bloggers.
Here's his coverage of the four panels:
"From the Front"
"All in the Family"
"Rapid Fire"
"Supporting the Troops"
02 May 2007
That other event on May 5th
There's something else going on besides the 2007 MilBlog Conference you say?
Well, as a matter of fact, there is. It's Derby Day. My sister, Jeannine Edwards, and the rest of the ESPN crew have been at Churchill Downs for a couple of days now working on their Derby Day coverage.
Dreaming of roses
Derby contender Hard Spun hams it up during a photo op with Jeannine
Those of you attending the MilBlog conference (either virtually or in person), should check here for last-minute details.
And don't forget to bring a baby gift for wounded Marine Cpl DJ Emery's new baby, Carlee. If you're not attending in person, check out the online gift registry.
Look forward to seeing you at the conference.
Well, as a matter of fact, there is. It's Derby Day. My sister, Jeannine Edwards, and the rest of the ESPN crew have been at Churchill Downs for a couple of days now working on their Derby Day coverage.
Those of you attending the MilBlog conference (either virtually or in person), should check here for last-minute details.
And don't forget to bring a baby gift for wounded Marine Cpl DJ Emery's new baby, Carlee. If you're not attending in person, check out the online gift registry.
Look forward to seeing you at the conference.
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