Farewell Mr. President.

[sound of smashing shot glass]

Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance: In Memoriam.

Another soldier joins the crowd at Fiddler's Green.

A loss among the readers here at Castle Argghhh!...

Armorer Donovan,

Wednesday, December 20, former Staff Sergeant George Brown, Cannon Company, 422 Infantry Regiment, 106th Inf. Div., passed from this vale. You know their story as you featured highlights of it last week.

If you have access to a 105, would you fire off a round for an old cannon cocker? He had his rifle salute and a real bugler but I would dearly have loved to touch off a round. If not, just raise a cup of kindness.

Thank you for the Castle. To you and yours, I wish a Happy New Year.

SC 256443 - Sheltered by a camouflage net, GIs of the Cannon Company, 9th Infantry, 2d Infantry Division, fire their howitzer on Brest. A German garrison has held out there for four weeks against the Allied attack. Piles of shell cases are in the foreground. 1944 (Photo courtesy US Army Center for Military History

A hi-res pic can be had here.

The soldiers of the 106th (Golden Lions) Infantry Division took it in the shorts during the Battle of the Bulge. A brand-new division, it had entered the lines for the first time 5 days before the Germans attacked.

They were smashed to flinders, the Division being virtually obliterated. But they went down fighting, every bit as hard as Prentiss went down at the Hornet's Nest at Shiloh. Like Prentiss, eventually surrendering, but buying the time Eisenhower and Montgomery needed, just as Prentiss bought Grant and Sherman the time they needed to rally the Union Army and finally beat the Southern troops back.

Field Marshall Montgomery of Alamein noted their courage:

The American soldiers of the... 106th Infantry Division stuck it out and put up a fine performance. By jove, they stuck it out, those chaps.

Staff Sergeant George Brown was a Golden Lion, and like lions they fought.

And this was his weapon.

A United States M3 Howitzer outside the Army Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. 5 October 2006 Photographer Max Smith (Photo courtesy of the photographer)

I don't have access to a shootable gun - but I will provide this sound of thunder.

[Update: I found this - a 21 gun salute to the Queen - but the guns are a more appropriate caliber...]

[sound of smashing shot glass]

Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance: In Memoriam.

Cannon Companies were unique to the WWII Infantry Regiment structure. The Cannon Company of a regiment was first equipped with two halftrack-mounted 105mm howitzers and six halftrack-mounted 75mm howitzers. Later in the war these were replaced with 6 of the M3 105mm towed howitzer, a short-barreled 105 mm gun. Literally short-barreled - the gun was the standard 105mm howitzer barrel, cut-off at the bearing ring, mounted on the recoil mechanism of the Pack 75, and mounted on a lighter mount similar to the 57mm anti-tank gun carriage. Truly a hybrid. The Cannon Companies were an attempt to balance the need for flexible fires with the need to mass fires for maximum effect. The general proposition is that artillery is most effective when fires are massed and controlled centrally - but that comes at the cost of responsiveness. The cannon companies were the product US industrial strength. We could give our forces artillery firepower in amounts everybody but the Russians (who also believed in artillery as the Red God of War) would envy. We allowed the regiments 6 M3 howitzers, while the Division Artillery had 36 M2 105mm howitzers and 12 M1 155mm howitzers.

In my time, focused as we were on the massive Slavic horde, centralization and control were the order of the day, and the heavy divisions were organized with 54 (later 72) 155mm howitzers and 12 (later 18) 8inch howitzers. While each brigade (the equivalent of the WWII regiment) had a battalion of guns in direct support, it didn't actually own the guns and the battalion was used for other purposes when a brigade was in reserve. The Cannon Companies were organic to the Regiment they had complete control.

The exception to this during my day (because the tension still existed between mass and responsiveness) were the Cavalry units, which had organic batteries of self-propelled 155mm cannon. Those were the plum jobs to get as a company-grade Redleg in Europe - command of a "HowBat", or howitzer battery.

The wheel has come full circle, with a twist. In the modular force, the way the Army is reconfiguring itself, the artillery once again belongs to the brigade commander. The Division Artillery is a rump of it's former self, but, via it's digital comms, still acts as the agency of massing fires and long range planning. And because artillery ammunition is heavy, we're rapidly pushing ourselves to carrying almost nothing but precision munitions - which, as we all know, kill quicker, cleaner, and with less collateral damage.

Because, again, we're never going to face a horde again.

Well, at least not in the short term. And if we do, the Air Force will be the provider of massed fires, in all weather, 24/7.

So, guys like me are a dying breed, mammoths all!

It strikes me - that if the Fort does a 21-gun salute for President Ford, I should try to get there with the video camera.

President Ford, Requiescat in pace.

President Ford - the first (and hopefully only) President essentially appointed to the job, never having won a nationwide election for office. And taking over in some tough circumstances, too.

Another one of those sailor Presidents who went to war...

His was a caretaker Presidency, with it's ups and downs, and is, of course, marked by two big issues.

His pardon of Nixon (which I am of mixed feelings about) and he gave us President Carter.

Of course, the plus side to that is... he set it up for Reagan.

One thing for sure, from my perspective - he was no worse a President than Carter, and was one hell of a lot better Former President.

Regardless of how you get it, the job of the Presidency of the United States has got to be soul-wearying, especially in circumstances like that, with what was going on in the US and the world at the time.

Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance: In Memoriam.

December 25, 2006

Christmas is not my favorite holiday. I actually prefer Thanksgiving, it being the holiday that has been best left alone, so to speak.

The post below is rather bleak. It sets the stage for this one.

Joe brought Iola's armored New Testament home - from Bastogne.

The Arsenal's one Battle of the Bulge artifact, and the item in the holdings that I like best. I'd sell or give away every firearm in the Arsenal before I would give up this New Testament.

Merry Christmas, everybody - even if I'm usually a grinch today... 8^)

Christmas Comes to Arlington, Too...

I'm sure this has been posted elsewhere on the web -- and I don't mind one bit if I get deluged with comments telling me where you've seen it. It's just too good a story *not* to keep in the light at this time of the year.

Back in 1992, Merrill Worcester discovered he'd accidentally ordered several hundred too many wreaths (he owns Worcester Wreath Company in Harrington, ME -- shameless, gratuitous plug -- buy a wreath from him if you're in that neck of the woods). He thought they were too pretty to just throw away, so he loaded them on his truck with the idea of donating them to a service organization. He fired up his truck and started down the road, looking for a representative of a worthy organization.

He wound up outside the gate at Arlington.

He'd found his worthy representatives.

In 1993, he didn't overorder, but he *did* specify that his supplier make up an extra 5,000 wreaths and deliver them to Arlington. He's done it every year since then and -- every year -- a bunch of school kids from Harrington help him place the wreaths.

Arlington has more than 5,000 graves, so, every year, Merrill coordinates with the site caretakers and, every year, the graves in two different sections receive the warmth of a wreath.

Except for this site.

The Unknowns are warmed every year...

Green boughs for the living memory and red bows for the lifeblood stilled. Rest easy, Brothers -- the Line holds...

An Armed Forces Christmas, 2006

First up - we honor those who give up Christmas...

Senior Airman Matt Hodges is assigned to the 52nd Operation Support Squadron at Spanghdahlem Air Base, Germany. He volunteered to serve through the season on Christmas Day so that his fellow air traffic controllers can enjoy some holiday fun with their families. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Szu-Moy Ruiz)

Holiday spirit Photo by Sgt. Sarah Scully December 22, 2006
Soldiers at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait receive donated holiday presents.

Holiday spirit Photo by Air Force Staff Sgt. Suzanne Day December 22, 2006
A paratrooper with the U.S. Army Golden Knights conducts a jump dressed as Santa Clause during the 9th Annual Randy Oler Memorial Operation Toy Drop at Fort Bragg, N.C., Dec. 16, 2006. Soldiers donate a toy in exchange for a chance to make a non-tactical parachute jump with German or Australian jumpmasters. Since its inception, the operation has collected and distributed more than 20,000 toys for families of Soldiers and for local orphanages.

Holiday lights shine from the Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Russell (DDG 59) moored at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 20, 2006. Russell and other ships moored in Pearl Harbor will participate in the 2006 holiday light competition. DoD photo by Petty Officer 1st Class James E. Foehl, U.S. Navy. (Released)

061206-N-0490C-003 Arabian Sea (Dec. 6, 2006) - Clockwise, U.S. Navy Aviation Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Kevin Harper, Aviation Boatswain’s Mate 3rd Class Anchel Klein, Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Nicole Singletary, and Ship’s Serviceman 3rd Class Christine Anderson decorate a Christmas tree aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69). Eisenhower is currently deployed in the Arabian Sea in support of maritime security operations. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Miguel Angel Contreras (RELEASED)

ALI BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Mrs. Claus (Staff Sgt. Melissa Farrell) tosses a bag of candy to an Airman who promised Santa (Lt. Col. Richard Houghton), he was good this year. Santa, Mrs. Claus and the Care Bear singers (carolers in truck behind Santa's sleigh) toured the base spreading cheer, Ho Ho Ho's and some sweet treats Christmas Eve to all servicemembers deployed here. Sergeant Farrell is in the 407th Expeditionary Services Squadron and Col. Houghton is in the 407th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Paul Dean)

Two-year-old William Figueroa holds up a piece of candy thrown out by Marines on a float in the Camp Kinser Christmas Parade Dec. 8. Photo by: Lance Cpl. David Rogers Photo ID: 2006121824535 Submitting Unit: MCB Camp Butler
Photo Date:12/08/2006

CHICAGO, Ill. (Dec. 5, 2003)--Coast Guard Mackinaw crew members carry christmas trees off the deck for delivery. Mackinaw came to Chicago with a load of Christmas trees for local families who would otherwise go without a tree this year. More than 1,000 trees were distributed with the help of the Salvation Army and Chicago's Christmas Ship Committee. USCG photo by PA1 Paul Roszkowski

[I'm thinking the Coast Guard is getting their crew pretty young these days...]

Lastly, for all your Santa-Tracking needs this year... NORAD is your on-stop shop. C'mon, who needs the local weather guy? Just click the graphic and you'll be there.

Michigan couple sends holiday cheer to Iraq

Dec 22, 2006 BY Sgt. 1st Class Rick Emert 1st Air Cavalry Brigade Public Affairs

TAJI, Iraq (Army News Service, Dec. 22, 2006) - Though a white Christmas is out of the question, the holiday season will be a little homier for Soldiers deployed here thanks to a couple from Ludington, Mich., and a sergeant major from the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade.

Jim Nickelson and wife, Beth, sent two Fraser fir trees to the 1st ACB to bring holiday cheer to the frontlines, Nickelson said.

"Hopefully it brightens their mood for a period of time while they're away from their families" Nickelson wrote in an email from his home.

The Nickelsons' Needlefast Evergreens farm is adjacent to the childhood home of Sgt. Maj. Della St. Louis, the brigade operations sergeant major.

St. Louis, for the third consecutive year, arranged for the shipment of the holiday trees the Nickelsons donated. The first was during the 1st ACB deployment from 2004 to 2005, and she had trees sent to 3rd Infantry Division which served in Iraq from 2005 to 2006, she said.

"Soldiers are so far away from friends and families, and this is something that brings togetherness around the holidays," St. Louis said. "It's just something that I can do for Soldiers."

The Nickelsons pay for the customs inspection and donate the trees, and St. Louis pays the shipping costs.

The two packages were Christmas in a box when they arrived in late November. Within a couple of days, the trees were up and decorated at the administrative/logistics and tactical operations centers.

"When they opened the boxes, the smell of pine took me home," said Sgt. 1st Class Carlos Hernandez, assistant noncommissioned officer in charge of the Aviation Defense Operations Center. "When I'm home for Christmas, we have a live tree, and we decorate all that we can. It's all about the Christmas spirit."

"I didn't serve in the Armed Forces myself, and my wife and I feel it's the very least we can do to provide a small slice of home, or perhaps some of the Christmas spirit that they might have had if they had been home," Nickelson said.

Meanwhile, over in Korea...

Getting in the Holiday Spirit
Photo by Master Sgt. Sue Harper, 8th Army PAO
December 13, 2006

8th Army Commander, Lt. Gen. David P. Valcourt places a package into a bin as Command Sgt. Maj. Barry C. Wheeler, USFK, CFC and 8th Army Command Sergeant Major takes package to another bin Monday morning at the Yongsan Post Office. Every year the 8th Army Commander and Command Sergeant Major and members of the 8th Army staff help pitch mail during the Holiday Peak season.

Heh. I knew Dave when he was a mere battalion commander and put his pants on one leg at a time. Looky where a little skill will take ya!

A community helping one of our own.

There's pain in the milblog family this year. From many sources, some of it just the Imp of the Perverse at work - Heinlein's Practical Joke Department (well staffed, runs 24/7).

Here's a chance to take on the role of the Fairy Godmother Department (staff of one, semi-retired, usually on vacation, has job as an additional duty).

From my email, comes this.

Life's been tough for a Marine Corps family lately, including the loss of a dear family member. Every year for the past three years they have lost a loved one between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This family has been an active support group for Marines for years - inviting troops into their home, participating in Operation Santa and other troop support projects, etc. Many of you who regularly read military blogs and discussion forums are familiar with this family.

We want to protect their privacy, but it's not right that such good people who have given so much to our country should not be feeling the joy and love of the Christmas season. So let's show this family the Christmas spirit! Please send them a Christmas card.

Mail your cards or notes to:

SBS
970 W Valley Parkway #223
Escondido, CA 92025

Cards are being handled by well-respected figures in milblog circles who will get them to this family as soon as possible.

Open your heart, and share the love of this Holiday Season with a family that has done so much for all of us!

Act as your heart and current situation guides you. I know the family involved and it's just been a suck coupla years in many ways, and they soldier on.

So, think of it as an Anysoldier thing - except this is likely someone you know and have read...

Matty O'Blackfive and I are teaming up on this one, along with those who prefer to remain anonymous.

Simply the *best* comment ever posted at Castle Argghhh.

I'm prejudiced, I admit, having been the child in this comment when it was my family's turn to do this during Vietnam. Homefront Six left this comment on my Whattaya Want For Christmas post. I know if we were in Hawaii today, we'd be helping put up Christmas decorations.

I would like a better answer to my daughter's comment that she misses her daddy besides "me too, baby. Me too." *sigh*

A winning lottery ticket would be nice. I'm not greedy - 5 zeros would be acceptable. A fast forward button on life? That would be kind of nice. Just to get us to July-ish.

I'd like to not be a single parent for a little while. I'd like to sleep the sleep that you sleep when you're not the ONLY adult in the house, responsible for the health, welfare, and spiritual guidance of 2 children who depend on you wholeheartedly. I'd like to have someone to sit with on the couch at the end of the day and just BE with. I'd like to have someone here to help me put up Christmas decorations.

Honestly, though, I do not want for much. My family is safe (relatively speaking) and healthy (well, physically at least!). We have a good church family here and good friends throughout the world that love us and pray for us like we love them and pray for them. We have a roof over our heads, food on the table, and the freedom to do as we please. That pretty much covers it.

Though snow would be nice ;~) Gosh, I miss snow!!!

Mele Kalikimaka!

I will say this - HFS is doing this better than we did when Dad went to Vietnam. We were isolated with little to no contact with the military community, a decision that in retrospect probably made things harder. No one around us had any idea of what it was like, and some were covertly hostile, though none had the courage to be open.

Thanksgiving in the Wilderness

Heidi's Thanksgiving, 2006. Via Heidi's Mom.

Click the picture for a larger version.

Someone you should know.

Arvil Stanley.

He was assigned to the 1st Marine Raider Battalion, A Co. in Virginia. He saw combat on Savo Island, of the British Solomons;Tasimboko, Guadalcanal; but it was at Battle of Bairoko Harbor, New Georgia that he would be wounded in 1943.

His real name? Grandpa.

Bloodspite's Grandpa.

Cronaím thú my grandfather. I miss you.

I didn't know him, but through Bloodspite's post, I miss him too.

Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance: In Memoriam.

Rush Limbaugh's Cat.

Ah, Rush and pets.

From Radio Equalizer:

DEHUMANIZING RUSH

Even His Cat Generates Controversy

In the twisted world of partisan politics, how could Rush Limbaugh's cat manage to become an issue?

The answer is that when it comes to dehumanizing a key conservative enemy, nothing is sacred in this stage of the game.

I used to listen to Limbaugh a lot, 10 years ago. Then I got tired of the "Long Time Listener, First Time Caller, and I gotta say, Mega-Mega-Mega-Dittoes on [fill in the blank issue] geez yer a genius Rush!" callers, and listened only to his monologues that started the hour, and then, I just drifted away. Nothing against Rush.

One of the things I was always piqued by was when he discussed animals. Rush clearly believes that only people have souls, thoughts, feelings, etc, of any sophistication whatsoever (and many animal behaviorists will agree with that assessment) and his discussion of pets followed that line. Such as this description of his relationship with his cat:

I told the story about the cat. I'll try to recreate the story. I love my cat. I got the greatest little cat in the world. You people know it. I pet this cat. I love this cat. I feed this cat. But I'm smart enough to know she only really wants me when she wants to be fed. I have learned enough to know that when she comes and starts head butting me or walking around my legs, she wants to be fed.

Every time I hear (or read) Rush discussing pets, I understand why he thinks like he does. He treats 'em like objects, and, on a fundamental level, doesn't really respect them (as treacly and new-agey as *that* sounds!).

The Interior Guard of Argghhh!, when they want to get fed, get vocal, and underfoot. It's clear when they want to be fed. But I get the head-butting, leg-rubbing and other behaviors Rush describes... *after* they've been fed. And at random times during the day. And the cats come to hang out. They watch tv with us (Barney *really* watches TV, especially anything with animals on it - I'd love to know what's going on in her mind at those times).

My point is - we treat the critters as family, not as objects. And they respond to that. In ways that clearly are not related solely to food.

More starkly is how that manifests itself with the horses. Our horses come when we call. Whether there's food involved or not (they come *much* quicker when they know there's food involved, you betcha!). But they come on their own volition. Our horses, in a horsey way, like us. Yes, we trained them to that. I got that. But you watch how many hard-core horse people treat their horses, and watch how their horses behave. Then watch our horses. Our horses want to be around us. They want to go riding. They want the head scritches, etc. And it isn't just us - our boys are the barn sluts. Everybody comments on how nice they are, and how different our horses are than others in the barn - including theirs, as they jerk on the reins and bully their horse around.

This is getting longer than I intended. My point being - not to pile on Rush, but to use Limbaugh's words to illustrate my point - that if you treat your critters like family (and that, like children means discipline and training... all larded with love and affection) they'll *want* to hang around you, and not just because you feed 'em.

That's all.

A little spirit of the season.

There's giving, and then there's... giving. What I give, I really don't miss. Not in any real causing-of-pain way. I don't know (or care) how much was given here, but I'm impressed that anything was given at all. On many levels. Good on yaz, Trias. However much our donation was appreciated, yours outscores us in karma.

Andi sends for Carrie: Operation Santa

Seriously wounded Soldiers arriving at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, are loaded aboard an ambulance bus and escorted to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center by members of LRMC’s Deployed Warrior Medical Management Center. Photo by Heike Hasenauer March 20, 2006

First Andi:

Christmas For Our Wounded Heroes Last Christmas my husband was deployed, so I decided to spend Christmas Day at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. I left the hospital more blessed than when I had entered.

The father of one of our wounded troops told me that he saw exactly what he wanted to see on Christmas Day in Ward 57 -- the ward where many of our most critically wounded reside -- people arriving with their arms loaded with goodies for our troops. The wife of one of the soldiers told me that it didn't matter that they were spending their Christmas in a hospital, "our family is together".

Many milbloggers are familiar with Carrie Costantini, the wife of a Marine and a frequent commenter on milblog sites. I had the incredible pleasure of meeting Carrie over breakfast last week. Carrie and Deb worked on Operation Santa last year. This year, Carrie had the brilliant idea to expand the project out to include wounded troops at Walter Reed and Bethesda.

From Carrie:

Christmas.
Just typing the word brings back memories of happiness, of warm cookies, of trees decorated with colored lights and glass ornaments, of grandmom's Chanel No. 5 scented hugs, and of festively wrapped presents. My favorite part of Christmas was seeing what Santa had put in my stocking.

Hospital.
That word also brings memories. Memories of rubbing alcohol, bright lights, kind nurses and especially, of missing home. I was born without hip joints and spent quite a bit of my earliest years at Walter Reed. I can remember being in the cast room there alongside wounded soldiers from Vietnam. (Yes, I'm that old).

I'm sure you're all wondering why I am writing about two words that seem mutually exclusive. They're not, at least not to the wounded Marines, Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen who will be at Walter Reed and Bethesda this Christmas. There will be servicemembers in those hospitals on Dec. 25th. That is a sad truth.

I know that they'd rather be back with their units in Iraq or Afghanistan AND at home with their loved ones but they can't be either place. They must be there to heal.

I am pleased to announce the newest Operation Santa venture: Operation Santa/Bethesda and Walter Reed. It will work mostly the same was as the other Operation Santas. We want to bring them a stuffed stocking and a little bit of home. Candy canes, cookies, crackers, ornaments, cards, books, dvds, cd's, batteries, new socks.

You can help us do this. You can send some Christmas cheer to a wounded servicemember at Bethesda or Walter Reed. You can donate money, you can donate gift cards from Sam's, Walmart, Target, etc. You can donate material goods. You can make a difference in a servicemember's holiday away from home.

The question is: Will you do it?

If you have any questions or comments, please email me or Andi.

We're looking to stuff and deliver hundreds of stockings to our wounded troops. Any donation, no matter how small, will help.

We have a modest goal of only $3,000. I think, with your help, we can raise that in no time at all

You can make a tax-deductible donation here (use the pink Operation Santa button). Please be sure to note that your donation is for Operation Santa/Bethesda and Walter Reed, otherwise your donation will go to the general fund for Operation Santa.

Donations by mail can be sent to:

Marine Corps Family Foundation
Operation Santa - Bethesda & Walter Reed
4000 Lancaster Drive- Suite 57 Salem, OR 97309

Thanks in advance for your help. It's hard to describe the joy these troops feel when strangers work to ensure that their Christmas is as good as it can possibly be.

Now me: If one tenth of our average visitor count donates $5, a pittance for most of us, that's $850, 1/4 of the goal, from this website alone. $5. Make me proud, eh?

To get you started:

Marine Corps Family Foundation Receipt -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ship To: John Donovan XXXXXXXXXXXX Leavenworth, KS 66048 United States Seller Information: Marine Corps Family Foundation riecke-at-marinecorpsmoms.com

Transaction ID: 1SM555XXXXXXXXXXX Placed on Dec. 2, 2006
Payment For Quantity Price
Marine Corps Family Foundation 1 $25.00 USD
Subtotal: $25.00 USD
Shipping & Handling: $0.00 USD
Sales Tax: $0.00 USD

Total Amount: $25.00 USD

For a certain member of the readership whom I know is in a financial pinch at the moment - that last $5 is me covering your instincts, 'k?

A pittance, people.

That is all.

Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, enjoys a visit with wounded warrior Staff Sgt. Nathan Reed July 13 shortly after having hip replacement surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center. Photo by Nelia Schrum July 20, 2006

The War Comes Home to Fort Leavenworth.

This post will be up top all day. New stuff comes in below.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 1171-06 November 17, 2006

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died Nov. 14 in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle during combat operations.

Killed were:

Col. Thomas H. Felts Sr., 45, of Sandston, Va. He was assigned to the Command and General Staff College, School of Advanced Military Studies, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

Spc. Justin R. Garcia, 26, of Elmhurst, N.Y. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.

FROM THE CAC COMMAND:

Flags on Fort Leavenworth will be flown at half-staff on Friday, 17 November in honor of Colonel Thomas H. Felts, who was killed in Iraq on 14 November. COL Felts was assigned to Fort Leavenworth in the School of Advanced Military Studies. He had been in Iraq since January 2006 and was attached to 1-6 MITT, 2nd BCT, 1st Infantry Division. There will be a Memorial Service Friday, 17 November from 1100 to 1200 hours in the Main Post Chapel. COL Felts' family welcomes the Fort Leavenworth community, a reception will follow.

FROM THE FAMILY OF COL FELTS:

The family of Thomas H. Felts, Colonel, United States Army, would like to express their sincere thanks and gratitude to the many friends and loved ones who have shown so much support to them in their time of loss.

Colonel Felts dedicated his life to the service of God, family and country. He made a huge difference in the lives of all those he touched. He demonstrated that conviction by volunteering for the post in Iraq. He knew the dangers of being in harm's way. Yet, he remained committed to securing the future of our own children by defeating forces of hatred and violence and showing people what is possible if they embrace tolerance and peace. He laid down his life as he lived it, in the name of Love.

Colonel Felts' funeral and burial will be in Virginia. Please refrain from contacting the Fort Leavenworth residence and in lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to Army Emergency Relief in order to help Soldiers and their family members.

Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance: In Memoriam.

Update: Raven 04's comment deserves to be up here.

I'd like to personally thank the family of COL Felts for their strength and you, Sir, for your guidance and mentoring on this difficult battlefield. Your sacrifice is great, and difficult for all of those whose lives you touched to bear. We shall never forget you, your dedication to this mission, your excellent sense of humor and friendly laughter. I was the driver of the vehicle behind COL Felts' vehicle that night and am the team's Logistics Advisor. We just held a memorial for him here, in Iraq, and miss him dearly. COL Felts mentored us professionally and personally, treating us like his own family since day one, when we started training at Fort Hood back in January. We miss you, Sir, but know that to truly honor you we must redouble our efforts to complete this mission in your vision, 'Git-R-Done', and ensure the safe return home of the rest of the team you so diligently built and sustained.

Veteran's Day, 2006.

Today we celebrate the living. The survivors. We honor the dead in May. Except today we honor the dead, too. We can't help it. The bonds of combat soldiery are tightest because of those who went with us but didn't come back, they took the low road while we took the high. Most of us have an "absent companion" or four that we drink to, when the time is right. Today it will be right. I have 14 17 that I will drink to. 14 17 little shots of tequila. Actually, I won't do it tonight when I get home, either. I spread 'em out between Veteran's Day and Memorial Day. My father doesn't even try. If he toasted all his ghosts, his liver would rip itself out of his belly and run. I have friends who will be making a trip to a military funeral this weekend (for #16, LTC Paul Finken).

I honor my two favorite veterans: SWWBO, and my Father. I honor my two favorite people who sweated out what their veterans were off doing: Mom and my sister.

I honor the veterans of my family, stretching back in America's wars to one of Roger's Rangers, even the ones who fought on the wrong side of the Civil War.

I will be in the Leavenworth Veteran's Day Parade today. The theme is Supporting America. I'll be on the Rotary Club float - with the Castle Vickers, made up as it is of British, Australian, and Canadian parts - and I'll be wearing the Aussie slouch hat given me by an Australian soldier I served with - because our theme is Rotary Honors All the Veterans, foreign and domestic, who have, in one way or another, Supported America.

So, as it's Remembrance Day elsewhere in the world - there's this Canadian song: Remember.

At 11:00AM, the parade will stop where it stands, Taps will be played, and we will observe two minutes of silence.

Take two minutes... it's a pittance of time.

We have bonds, we veterans. Bonds that sometimes our closest family don't understand. Why does Grampa Joe keep bailing that wino out of trouble? Because that wino lost two fingers tossing a grenade out of a two-man fighting position during the a vicious night fight on Guadalcanal, that's why. Because that stranger that Dad greets like a long lost brother once a year is, in fact, a long lost brother, who shared the exhilaration of the night combat drop on Point Salines. Because the quiet guy you've never seen before extracted your Dad's best friend's body from a helicopter crash in Mogadishu by cutting off his legs - so that no man would be left behind. Because that guy over there negotiated with Aideed to get the legs back.

Because that woman sitting at the table comforted many of your grandfather's friends as they lay dying, the last thing they ever saw, or heard. Because that janitor in your school spent a long night on LZ X-Ray, cut off from his unit, keeping his squadmates alive. Because that Bank President looking at ties over there drove an AMTRAC across the reef at Tarawa under a withering fire so your uncle wouldn't have to slog in on foot, fighting both the sea and the Japanese. That man in Lions with your great-uncle? Your uncle helped him walk out from the Frozen Chosin.

Because that man serving turkey at the shelter helped Uncle Bob deal with Esther's "Dear John" letter, that arrived right before "Big Push." And him, that guy playing with his grandkids, who always seems to have some candy for you... well, he's a Glow-worm, a fighter pilot who jumped from a burning aircraft after he lost that dogfight with the Bf-109, and spent the rest of the war in a POW camp - and survived the forced marches to the west, as the germans were falling back from the onslaught of the Red Army. His buddy? The wingman whose 'six' was being covered. We are also a maudlin, sentimental group. We honor ALL of our veterans. Especially the ones who didn't really volunteer, but would and did give their lives freely for their brothers in arms, too.

We have the bond of shared experiences, whether it's Basic, Jump School, the JRTC, Graf, Pahakuloa, Camp Red Cloud, Hof, Okinawa, Tay Ninh, Vung Tau, Suwon, Phenix City, El Paso, Biloxi, the convoys across the Atlantic, storming over a beach, busting bunkers, hunkering under artillery, rescuing families caught in the middle, finding that cask of cognac and... and the list goes on and on and on. And your newest veterans - they will have their traumas, too.

I am proud of my place among you, you men and women who simply did their duty. Who didn't run. Who came when asked. I am among giants. But my thoughts will be with the newest wave of veterans.

by Spc. Nathan Hoskins November 8, 2006
Pvt. Michelle Young, Pvt. Zachary Smith and Spc. Courtney Brenton from 3rd Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, beautify Dining Facility 1 at Camp Buehring, Kuwait. Paintings like this one are found throughout the camp. This photo appeared on www.army.mil.

The Republic is well served. Well served indeed. And as long as we find men and women willing to do the hard, dirty work - there will be a Republic.

We have not fought most of our wars this last hundred years alone. And other nations, other armies, with whom we have much in common also honor the living and remember their dead. I have a significant Canadian readership. So, I honor our Canadian and Commonwealth brothers, who shed blood with us in Afghanistan, and sadly, a good chunk of it was shed by us... so it's only fitting.

Usually around Christmas you see the poems about the American soldier and his sacrifices. The Canadians have one too.

Who Is He

He is profane and irreverent, living as he does in a world full of capriciousness, frustration and disillusionment. He is perhaps the best-educated of his kind in history, but will rarely accord respect on the basis of mere degrees or titles.

He speaks his own dialect, often incomprehensible to the layman. He can be cold, cruel, even brutal and is frequently insensitive. Killing is his profession and he strives very hard to become even more skilled at it.

His model is the grey, muddy, hard-eyed slayer who took the untakeable at Vimy Ridge, endured the unendurable in the Scheldt and held the unholdable at Kapyong.

He is a superlative practical diplomat; his efforts have brought peace to countless countries around the world. He is capable of astonishing acts of kindness, warmth and generosity. He will give you his last sip of water on a parched day and his last food to a hungry child; he will give his very life for the society he loves. Danger and horror are his familiars and his sense of humour is accordingly sardonic. What the unknowing take as callousness is his defence against the unimaginable; he whistles through a career filled with graveyards.

His ethos is one of self-sacrifice and duty. He is sinfully proud of himself, of his unit and of his countryand he is unique in that his commitment to his society is Total. No other trade or profession dreams of demanding such of its members
and none could successfully try.

He loves his family dearly, sees them all too rarely and as often as not loses them to the demands of his profession. Loneliness is the price he accepts for the privilege of serving. He accounts discomfort as routine and the search for personal gain as beneath him; he has neither understanding of nor patience
for those motivated by self-interest, politics or money.

His loyalty can be absolute, but it must be purchased. Paradoxically, the only coin accepted for that payment is also loyalty. He devours life with big bites, knowing that each bite might be his last and his manners suffer thereby. He would rather die regretting the things he did than the ones he dared not try. He earns a good wage by most standards and, given the demands on him, is woefully underpaid.

He can be arrogant, thoughtless and conceited, but will spend himself, sacrifice everything for total strangers in places he cannot even pronounce. He considers political correctness a podium for self-righteous fools, but will die fighting for the rights of anyone he respects or pities.

He is a philosopher and a drudge, an assassin and a philanthropist, a servant and a leader, a disputer and a mediator, a Nobel Laureate peacekeeper and the Queen's Hitman, a brawler and a healer, best friend and worst enemy. He is a rock, a goat, a fool, a sage, a drunk, a provider, a cynic and a romantic dreamer. Above it all, he is a hero for our time.

You, pale stranger, sleep well at night only because he exists for you, the citizen who has never met him, has perhaps never thought of him and may even despise him. He is both your child and your guardian. His devotion to you is unwavering.

He is a Canadian Soldier.

Hell, he's any soldier of a true democracy. And he too is one of my brothers-in-arms.

A worthy cartoon. H/t, Barb of Righty in a Lefty State.
H/t to CAPT H for the Canadian input. A nod to Sheldon P (1 PPCLI) and Jim Cope (USA, ret'd) for the link to Remember.