RE: Military

The History Channel has developed the Take a Veteran to School Day campaign to link veterans of all ages with young people in our schools and communities. This nationwide initiative will help strengthen ties in your communities and bring history to life in the classrooms. To learn more about how to organize a Take a Veteran to School Day at your school or in your community, log on to veterans.com.

This website includes sample agendas, links to State Standards, how-to-guides, and information about how to work together with your local cable company to organize an event.

Show our veterans how much we value their service through a learning-rich experience!

Visit veterans.com.

From the greatest generation to the latest generation, let's support our vets!

Welcome Home Ceremony for the 133 Infantry in Waterloo, Iowa. Watch it here!

Soldier Discovers Son's Death on the Web

Beginning immediately, all active-duty Army soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan will serve 15-month tours — three months longer than the usual standard, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday.
It was the latest move by the Pentagon to cope with the strains of fighting two wars simultaneously and maintaining a higher troop level in Iraq as part of President Bush's revised strategy for stabilizing Baghdad.
"This policy is a difficult but necessary interim step," Gates told a Pentagon news conference, adding that the goal is to eventually return to 12 months as the standard length of tour in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He said the new policy does not affect the other main components of the U.S. ground force in Iraq: the Marines, whose standard tour is seven months, or the Army National Guard or Army Reserve, which will continue to serve 12-month tours.
Gates acknowledged that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are making life difficult for many in the military.
"Our forces are stretched, there's no question about that," Gates said.
He said the new policy also seeks to ensure that all active-duty Army units get at least 12 months at home between deployments. He said it would allow the Pentagon to maintain the current level of troops in Iraq for another year, although he added that there has been no decision on future troop levels.
Without changing the standard tour length to 15 months, the Army would have been forced to send five brigades to Iraq before they completed 12 months at home, Gates said.
Some units' tours in Iraq had already been extended beyond 12 months by varying amounts. The new policy will make deployments more equitable and more predictable for soldiers and for their families, Gates said.
"I think it is fair to all soldiers that all share the burden equally," he said.

SUBJECT: The rest of the story -- Iraq

This is a letter from Ray Reynolds,
a medic in the Iowa Army National Guard, serving in Iraq:

As I head off to Baghdad for the final weeks of my stay in Iraq, I wanted to say thanks to all of you who did not believe the media. They have done a very poor job of covering everything that has happened. I am sorry that I have not been able to visit all of you during my two week leave back home. And just so you can rest at night knowing something is happening in Iraq that is noteworthy, I thought I would pass this on to you. This is the list of things that has happened in Iraq recently:
(Please share it with your friends and compare it to the version that your paper is producing.)


* Over 400,000 kids have up-to-date immunizations.
* School attendance is up 80% from levels before the war.
* Over 1,500 schools have been renovated and rid of the weapons stored there so education can occur.
* The port of Uhm Qasar was renovated so grain can be off-loaded from ships faster.
* The country had its first 2 billion barrel export of oil in August.
* Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time ever in Iraq.
* The country now receives 2 times the electrical power it did before the war.
* 100% of the hospitals are open and fully staffed, compared to 35% before the war.
* Elections are taking place in every major city, and city councils are in place.
* Sewer and water lines are installed in every major city.
* Over 60,000 police are patrolling the streets.
* Over 100,000 Iraqi civil defense police are securing the country.
* Over 80,000 Iraqi soldiers are patrolling the streets side by side with US soldiers.
* Over 400,000 people have telephones for the first time ever.
* Students are taught field sanitation and hand washing techniques to prevent the spread of germs.
* An interim constitution has been signed.
* Girls are allowed to attend school.
* Textbooks that don't mention Saddam are in the schools for the first time in 30 years.

Don't believe for one second that these people do not want us there. I have met many, many people from Iraq that want us there, and in a bad way. They say they will never see the freedoms we talk about but they hope their children will. We are doing a good job in Iraq and I challenge anyone, anywhere to dispute me on these facts. So If you happen to run into John Kerry, be sure to give him my email address and send him to Denison, Iowa. This soldier will set him straight. If you are like me and very disgusted with how this period of rebuilding has been portrayed, email this to a friend and let them know there are good things happening.

Ray Reynolds, SFC
Iowa Army National Guard
234th Signal Battalion

This is a picture of John Gebhardt, US Airforce, stationed in Iraq.

Published SaturdayNovember 11, 2006
Banners salute fallen Nebraskans
BY TIM ELFRINK

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Seventeen Nebraska families touched by tragedy will come together for the first time today beneath 17 banners honoring the ultimate sacrifice made by their loved ones.


Banners honoring Nebraskans killed in Iraq and Afghanistan hang on light poles in Heartland of America Park in Omaha. Nicole and Ted Wheeler walk their dog Thursday past a pair of the banners.
On Veterans Day, the families of Nebraskans killed fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are gathering at Heartland of America Park to honor their memories and take another small step in a healing process that never ends.
"It's going to be pretty special, because you know everyone there is feeling the same way. Everyone else still has that pit in their stomach that doesn't ever seem to go away," said Rita Zoucha, a Clarks, Neb., native whose son, Marine Lance Cpl. Brent Zoucha, died in Iraq in June.
Each 3-by-9-foot banner, hanging from light poles around the park's lake, features a color photo of the service member it honors, plus name, age, rank and branch of service. The banners include a short tribute written by each family.
The project's only goal is to make sure that those who have died fighting for their country are remembered.
"A lot of families fear more than anything that their family members will be forgotten. We're a totally nonpartisan group, and we've taken political views aside and just tried to ensure they will not be forgotten," said Breanna Peterson, an Omahan who organized the tribute.
Peterson brought the idea home from a conference in Washington, D.C., where she met directors of the American Heroes Tribute, which organizes similar banner projects in California.
"This project is about celebrating lives. When people see these banners, they're struck because they're looking at a real face and not just a name flashed on and off the TV or a quick blurb in the newspaper," said Robert Pfeiler, the nonprofit organization's co-founder.
When Peterson returned to Nebraska, she contacted as many families of Nebraska service members who had died in Iraq and Afghanistan as she could find.
Although not every Nebraska family that has lost a loved one responded, the majority Peterson was able to contact were immediately interested, she said.
"For the families, this is a great chance to heal. One woman hadn't even looked at a picture of her son for two years, and when she had to start finding pictures for our banner, it all resurfaced for her," she said.
For family members, many of whom have been swamped by offers to attend memorials and rallies, the nonpolitical, personal message of the banners was appealing.
"We've had a lot of dedications and ceremonies since my husband died, and they all were great. But I loved that this is not politically motivated, it's just dealing with the families and remembering our fallen heroes," said April Kielion, whose husband, Marine Cpl. Shane Kielion, died in Iraq in 2004.
Peterson raised $19,000 from corporate and private donors. The banners were hung this week. They'll remain up until Nov. 22, and Peterson plans to take them to other cities around the state.
Today's ceremony, which is to feature speeches by April Kielion and U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, will be an emotional experience, family members said.
"It's going to be very, very hard, but I think it's an awesome thing to do," Zoucha said. "This shows that they aren't forgotten. And everyone can see these guys died for our freedom."

Rumsfeld resigns as secretary of defense
By ROBERT BURNS and KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writers

After years of defending his secretary of defense, President Bush on Wednesday announced Donald H. Rumfeld's resignation within hours of the Democrats' triumph in congressional elections. Bush reached back to his father's administration to tap a former CIA director to run the Pentagon.
The Iraq war was the central issue of Rumsfeld's nearly six-year tenure, and unhappiness with the war was a major element of voter dissatisfaction Tuesday — and the main impetus for his departure. Even some GOP lawmakers in Congress became critical of the war's management, and growing numbers of politicians were urging Bush to replace Rumsfeld.
Bush said Robert M. Gates, 63, a national security veteran, family friend and currently president of Texas A&M University, would be nominated to replace Rumsfeld.
"Secretary Rumsfeld and I agreed that sometimes it's necessary to have a fresh perspective," Bush said in the abrupt announcement during a postelection news conference.
Asked whether Rumsfeld's departure signaled a new direction in a war that has claimed the lives of more than 2,800 U.S. troops and cost more than $300 billion, Bush said, "Well, there's certainly going to be new leadership at the Pentagon."
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Rumsfeld was not leaving immediately. Rumsfeld planned to deliver a speech on the global war on terrorism at Kansas State University on Thursday.
Just last week Bush told reporters that he expected Rumsfeld, 74, to remain until the end of the administration's term. And although Bush said Wednesday that his decision to replace Rumsfeld was not based on politics, the announcement of a Pentagon shake-up came on the heels of Tuesday's voting, in which Democrats captured control of the House and could win control of the Senate if the remaining undecided race in Virginia goes their way.
With his often-combative defense of the war in Iraq, Rumsfeld had been the administration's face of the conflict. He became more of a target — and more politically vulnerable — as the war grew increasingly unpopular at home amid rising violence and with no end in sight.
Gates ran the CIA under the first President Bush during the first Gulf war. He retired from government in 1993.
He joined the CIA in 1966 and is the only agency employee to rise from an entry level job to become director. A native of Kansas, he made a name for himself as an analyst specializing in the former Soviet Union and he served in the intelligence community for more than a quarter century, under six presidents.
Numerous Democrats in Congress had been calling for Rumsfeld's resignation for many months, asserting that his management of the war and of the military had been a resounding failure. Critics also accused Rumsfeld of not fully considering the advice of his generals and of refusing to consider alternative courses of action.
Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record) of Michigan and Rep. Ike Skelton (news, bio, voting record) of Missouri — the top Democrats on the Armed Services committees — said the resignation would only be a positive step if accompanied by a change in policy.
"I think it is critical that this change be more than just a different face on the old policy," Skelton said.
Rumsfeld, 74, has served in the job longer than anyone except Robert McNamara, who became secretary of defense during the Kennedy administration and remained until 1968. Rumsfeld is the only person to have served in the job twice; his previous tour was during the Ford administration.
Rumsfeld had twice previously offered his resignation to Bush — once during the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in spring 2004 and again shortly after that. Both times the president refused to let him leave.
Gates took over the CIA as acting director in 1987, when William Casey was terminally ill with cancer. Questions were raised about Gates' knowledge of the Iran-Contra scandal, so he withdrew from consideration to take over the CIA permanently. Yet he stayed on as deputy director.
Then-National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft, who has been a critic of the younger Bush's policies, asked Gates to be his deputy in 1989 during the administration of Bush's father. President Bush, a former CIA director himself, asked him to run the CIA two years later. The scandal had faded and Gates won confirmation.
After leaving government service, Gates joined corporate boards and wrote a memoir, "From The Shadows: The Ultimate Insider's Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War." It was published in 1996.
Gates is a close friend of the Bush family, and particularly the first President Bush. He became the president of Texas A&M University in August 2002. The university is home to the presidential library of Bush's father.
Bush has considered Gates for jobs before, including in 2005 when he was searching for a candidate to be the nation's first national intelligence director. Gates declined to take the position, disappointing some Republicans who hoped the veteran of Washington would bring his expertise to this Bush administration.

When I was in Korea in the early 50's, I got tagged with the duty as squadron mail man for a month or two. I noticed one Marine who was getting a lot of what we now call "junk mail". When I asked him why he got so much of it, he just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Dunno...".
Later on, after I got to know him a lot better, he admitted to me he didn't have any family and the only friends he had were fellow Marines. It took me awhile to figure out he had been sending in coupons to a lot of companies to get their "junk" mail just so he'd be getting some mail from the states.
Don't ever think mail isn't important to those who are away from home. I never forgot it.

Rocky Kemp