Teenager Answers Political Cartoonist's Question

If you don't read Michelle Malkin, you may have missed this teenager's response to Atlanta Journal-Constitution's cartoonist Mike Luckovich who used the names of the fallen in Iraq to create an image spelling out the word, "Why?":



Be sure to read the story about teenager Danielle Ansley at Michelle's.

Baby Noor Arrives in Atlanta

Baby Noor smiles at her father, Haider. Noor, who has spina bifida, was determined to be healthy enough for the plane trip to Atlanta for life-saving surgery.

Greyhawk has the whole story.

The Final Chapter

Yahoo News Photo

U.S. Base in Germany Closes After 60 Years

The U.S. Air Force on Friday handed over the keys to Rhein-Main Air Base to the operator of Frankfurt International Airport, the last step in closing the base that hosted American forces for 60 years.

The 120 buildings on the base are to be bulldozed to make way for a third terminal for Frankfurt's sprawling civilian airport — continental Europe's busiest. It officially becomes German property on Saturday.

The ceremony, at which Brig. Gen. Mike Snodgrass gave the keys of the base's buildings and main gate to Manfred Schoelch of airport operator Fraport AG, followed Rhein-Main's formal closing in October.

"It's bittersweet — after 60 years of partnership, to see it come to an end," said Capt. Jonathan Friedman, a U.S. Air Force spokesman.

October posts:
Making History from Greyhawk
A Sad Note from the Air Force Association from LinkedInUSAF

U.S. hospital in Germany Site of Sacrifice, Care

Only days before Christmas, the Intensive Care Unit at the U.S. Army's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany is as busy as ever.

Doctors and nurses work around the clock at this hospital to meet the needs of U.S. soldiers who have been severely injured in Iraq, Afghanistan or other combat locations.

The influx of patients with blast and gunshot wounds, burns, or other traumatic injuries from Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and other attacks, has remained steady since the beginning of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq over two years ago.

A total of more than 28,000* soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines from Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom have already been treated at Landstuhl hospital, the largest American medical facility outside the continental United States.

While most Americans are resting over the holiday season, the medical personnel at Landstuhl will be working away to help injured troops get well and get home to their loved ones stateside as soon as possible.

"Sure, we would like to be able to go home for the holidays, but so would the soldiers in Iraq," said Major Insel Angus, a reservist nurse from Reno, Nevada, who arrived in Germany last February.
(...)

Angus belongs to a reserve group of 300 medical specialists who were brought in to help stabilize the critically wounded and get them back to the United States for further treatment.

Most of her colleagues have left family, regular jobs and even private practices behind.

Yet, recently, Angus and two thirds of her reserve group voluntarily extended their rotation in Germany for another year.

Rest of the story about the Landstuhl staff here.

* Of the total number, approximately 3000 have been wounded in action, others treated for non-combat injuries and illness. Greyhawk has a good analysis here (scroll down).

New Year's Eve Reminder

Grey Lady Down

Found this interesting tidbit from the Investor's Business Daily at Yahoo News:

Trust: The so-called mainstream media in general and The New York Times in particular are waging a relentless campaign undermining the war on terror. The Fourth Estate is beginning to look like a Fifth Column.

It's hard to imagine a major American newspaper in 1942 announcing before the Battle of Midway that we had broken the Imperial Japanese code or before D-Day that the Allies had a machine that let us read the Nazis' highest-level transmissions.

Yet in the war on terror, that's exactly the kind of information that papers like the Times and The Washington Post, in the name of the "people's right to know," have provided our jihadist enemy -- from stories on secret CIA prisons where our mortal enemies are held to wiretaps on al-Qaida operatives and their U.S. contacts.

Thanks, We Won't Forget This

From Captain Ed:

Poland Stands By The Coalition

A hearty round of applause, please, for our allies in Poland who understand the necessity of guarding freedom and democracy.

Despite an earlier indication that the Poles would stick to a withdrawal timetable that would have seen their 1500-troop contingent leave Iraq within a few weeks, Poland announced instead that it would maintain its forces in Iraq throughout 2006 in keeping with a request from the new Iraqi government.
( ... )

In a time when European politicians often fall back on reflexive anti-Americanism to score short-term political points, let's remember that some of our friends understand the stakes involved in the Iraqi front of the war on terror. Three cheers for the brave and steadfast Poles.

And Elephants in Academia notes:

Good for new Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz. Good for the Poles. I commented some weeks ago that our support for democracy in Poland had turned a country that was at best neutral-to-hostile during the Cold War into a staunch ally.

This is something to consider when someone asks you why we are bothering to support democracy in Iraq.

The Liberty Limited

Via Soldiers' Angel Sara from Janie of PeepsArt.com.

It started last Christmas, when Bennett and Vivian Levin were overwhelmed by sadness while listening to radio reports of injured American troops.

"We have to let them know we care," Vivian told Bennett.

So they organized a trip to bring soldiers from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Hospital to the annual Army-Navy football game in Philly, on Dec. 3.

The cool part is, they created their own train line to do it.

Yes, there are people in this country who actually own real trains. Bennett Levin - native Philly guy, self-made millionaire and irascible former L&I commish - is one of them.

He has three luxury rail cars. Think mahogany paneling, plush seating and white-linen dining areas. He also has two locomotives, which he stores at his Juniata Park train yard.

( ... )

He and Vivian wanted to revive a tradition that endured from 1936 to 1975, during which trains carried Army-Navy spectators from around the country directly to the stadium where the annual game is played.

The Levins could think of no better passengers to reinstate the ceremonial ride than the wounded men and women recovering at Walter Reed in D.C. and Bethesda, in Maryland.

"We wanted to give them a first-class experience," says Bennett. "Gourmet meals on board, private transportation from the train to the stadium, perfect seats - real hero treatment."

Through the Army War College Foundation, of which he is a trustee, Bennett met with Walter Reed's commanding general, who loved the idea.

But Bennett had some ground rules first, all designed to keep the focus on the troops alone:

No press on the trip, lest the soldiers' day of pampering devolve into a media circus.

No politicians either, because, says Bennett, "I didn't want some idiot making this trip into a campaign photo op."

And no Pentagon suits on board, otherwise the soldiers would be too busy saluting superiors to relax.

The general agreed to the conditions, and Bennett realized he had a problem on his hands.

"I had to actually make this thing happen," he laughs.

Read the rest of Ronnie Polaneczky's story Here's a Yule story that ought to be a movie at Philly.com here.

The Past Two Fridays at WR

Photo courtesy of Gunn Nutt

Have been remiss in posting on the supporters out at Walter Reed the last couple of weeks, so here's a quick update:

Gunn Nutt, "Got Freedom? Kiss a Vet" post from 18 December and "The Eve of Christmas Eve at WR" from 26 December.

And Landry Fan, "Outside Walter Reed Army Medical Center Dec 16, 05", who prefaces her remarks and pics with this:

We held a counter-protest of the Code Pinkos's anti-troops antics. As you know, anti-war/anti-military people hold weekly protests outside the main gate of WRAMC. It disturbs a lot of people. Namely, the patients, the patients' families and friends, veterans, military personnel serving, and decent people everywhere.

Thanks to the Friday night crowd at WR, and a belated Merry Christmas!

The Candy Guy - Part XIV

Holly's got the latest from Richard over at her blog here.

Hey ya'll, I am in Kuwait and on my way home from Iraq - hopefuly for good. I have a few days to spare, doing much of nothing, so I figure I might as well catch up on a few good "Dixie Thunder" stories.

Now this is one that happened about two months ago...

Contributed by:
Sara of Soldiers' Angels and her Soldier Richard from Iraq