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May 31, 2005

A Big Thanks To BlackFive

Today I was catching up a little on some of my favorite Military Blogs. Matt hosts my personal favorite BlackFive. I noticed that I made his list of Favorite Military Blogs.

For those of you who know the sphere and the MilBlogs community you know that it is an honor to be linked by his great site and an even greater honor to be among the "favorites". Matt is the cream of the crop and I appreciate the kudos greatly!

Thanks again Matt.

lagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 09:46 AM | Comments (0)

May 30, 2005

Memorial Day

"And when this ceremony is concluded, and all of us have gone on our way, the Honor Guard will keep watch over the Tomb. Every hour of every day, on the coldest nights, in the hardest rain, there is a sentinel of the 3rd U.S. Infantry standing guard. The soldiers entrusted with that duty count it a privilege. And, today, as we reflect on the men and women who have died in the defense of America, all of us count it a privilege to be citizens of the country they served."
--Remarks by President Bush at Arlington National Cemetery Memorial Day Commemoration Arlington National Cemetery May 31, 2004

What is Memorial Day?

From USMemorialDay.org:

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead" (Source: Duke University's Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920). While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860's tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 - 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis' birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.

Traditional observance of Memorial day has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country.

There are a few notable exceptions. Since the late 50's on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day. More recently, beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye's Heights (the Luminaria Program). And in 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years.

To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps."

The Moment of Remembrance is a step in the right direction to returning the meaning back to the day. What is needed is a full return to the original day of observance. Set aside one day out of the year for the nation to get together to remember, reflect and honor those who have given their all in service to their country.

But what may be needed to return the solemn, and even sacred, spirit back to Memorial Day is for a return to its traditional day of observance. Many feel that when Congress made the day into a three-day weekend in with the National Holiday Act of 1971, it made it all the easier for people to be distracted from the spirit and meaning of the day. As the VFW stated in its 2002 Memorial Day address: "Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day."

For more information on Memorial Day please visit USMemorialDay.org

So what does Memorial Day mean to me; just exactly what was intended. It is a day for me to look back on the countless lives that have been given in forging this great nation into what it is today. It is a day to reflect on the lives of America's finest that have charged head first into harms way to see to it that our way of life is preserved. A little more closely to home it is a day to remember the fallen that have given their lives more recently in the War on Terror. Every branch of service has lost heroes in this recent war and though I was not related to any of the casualties I will always feel like I have lost brothers and sisters in arms.

This long weekend when you are sitting in the back yard, burgers a blazin', beer in hand make sure you remember the real reason you didn't have to work this Monday and remember the fallen who have paid the ultimate price to ensure that your beer and that burger taste sweeter than ever! Teach your children the true meaning of Memorial Day; they need to know it is so much more than another day off from school.

Last year I had this too say on Memorial Day.

Russ at TacJammer posted a great compilation of links to Memorial Day posts last year. And he posted an ever better compilation this year!

As usual Sir George at the Rott had a great post on the subject.

Count on GreyHawk at the Mudville Gazette to come through on this military holiday.

Also, Matt at Blackfive has something to say about Memorial Day, of course!

There are countless great tributes around the blogosphere to those who have served and fallen for our great nation. As I mentioned above Russ at TacJammer has a great list if you'd care to take a look at his site and his roundup.

Remember what Memorial Day truly means!

lagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 09:11 AM | Comments (1)

May 29, 2005

Too Busy To Blog

I know this will seem ironic as I am writing this on my blog, but I have simply been too busy to blog. My family and close friends understand fully everything that is going on and why I haven't had time to get back into the swing of things. For everyone else, I promise it will happen. I will get the urge, something will spark the need to write.

Thanks again to everyone who reads regularly.

Stay tuned, more to follow.

lagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 07:02 PM | Comments (1)

May 26, 2005

The Long Journey Home

Well, as you can see by my previous post I am home safe in the States. My trip back wasn't bad at all. I flew a Boeing 777 from Frankfurt, Germany to Chicago. The nearly 10-hour flight was very comfortable. I watched a few movies, slept a little and the next thing you know I was at Chicago O'Hare. I was impressed. I fly so much that I tend to get sick of it, but that flight wasn't bad at all.

I had about 34 hours in Chicago. Ah, the windy city. I stayed in a very nice hotel and had a great time.

Late in the evening this past Monday it was back to O'Hare and off to home. The four-hour flight home was horrible. It was so bad you would think I'd left my will to live in Chicago. Nothing I could do would make me comfortable. I was cramped, hurt, tired and a bit pissy. This time it was a Boeing 747 and there was an ass crammed in every single seat. That and there were about 5 rows to many. For those of you who don’t know me, I am a short man. I am lucky if I am 5'6" tall and I didn't have nearly enough legroom. That flight flat out sucked!

Anyway, I am back and slowly getting into the groove of life outside of a hotel with maid service. Give me a day or two and I'll be searching the news sites and finding something to rant about.

Thanks again to everyone who reads regularly.

lagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 09:16 PM | Comments (4)

May 25, 2005

It Feels So Good To Be Back!!!!

For all of you who thought that perhaps SlagleRock had disappeared I am here to tell you that is simply not so!

I am back. I arrived back home in the good old U.S. of A two nights ago.

So all you Bush haters, anti-military and general left wing lunatics who need a good smacking around with a ClueBat I'll attend to you very shorty.

For those of you who have emailed me and let me know that you missed my thoughts I thank you. For those of you who have been checking daily, I thank you as well. To those of you who like to interject random comments into posts they don't pertain to about how terrible our President is just remember he won the largest popular vote in history!

Glad to be home. Post something significant soon.

lagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 11:04 AM | Comments (1)

May 12, 2005

Nothing Profound To Say, Discuss, Or Bitch About

I have to apologize. Posting has been light lately. I haven't had anything profound stand out to me. Nothing has reached out to me and said, "SlagleRock post me." It just hasn't happened. In general things have been a zoo. At my duty location things are slowly winding down. Our mission will come to a close soon so I have been doing everything that is necessary for us to close.

Outside of work, Germany has been a great experience. The wine, castles, cars the endless amounts of world history that are here for the picking.

For those of you who read this post previously you will notice some of the content has been removed. Part of it raised quite a stink and that was not the intention. I have also deleted all previous comments pertaining to this post. Sorry to those whom I may have offended, but you simply misunderstood. I was merely venting about nothing and everything all at once.

lagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 11:04 PM | Comments (3)

May 10, 2005

Zero Tolerance Or Zero Compassion?

COLUMBUS, Ga. May 6, 2005 — A high school student was suspended for 10 days for refusing to end a mobile phone call with his mother, a soldier serving in Iraq, school officials said.

The 10-day suspension was issued because Kevin Francois was "defiant and disorderly" and was imposed in lieu of an arrest, Spencer High School assistant principal Alfred Parham said.

The confrontation Wednesday began after the 17-year-old junior got a call at lunchtime from his mother, Sgt. 1st Class Monique Bates, who left in January for a one-year tour with the 203rd Forward Support Battalion.

Mobile phones are allowed on campus but may not be used during school hours. When a teacher told him to hang up, he refused. He said he told the teacher, "This is my mom in Iraq. I'm not about to hang up on my mom."

Parham said the teen's suspension was based on his reaction to the teacher's request. He said the teen used profanity when taken to the office.

"Kevin got defiant and disorderly," Parham said. "When a kid becomes out of control like that they can either be arrested or suspended for 10 days. Now being that his mother is in Iraq, we're not trying to cause her any undue hardship; he was suspended for 10 days."

On the Net:

http://www.mcsdga.net/schools/high/spencer.html

Ok, so my take on all of this. First, I agree with Acidman

You simply DO NOT resort to profanity and defiance in such a situation if you want to get your way.

However, I also agree with Mama that:

I'm a big fan of discipline in the schools. I also believe that there is no such thing as "One Size Fits All" when it comes to dealing with kids.

There is no 'one size fits all' for people in general, especially children. And even more so there is no 'one size fits all' for life’s situations.

I blame the teacher for escalating this situation to the point that the child had to become belligerent to defend his right to talk to his mother in Iraq. Like many troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and in all of the other horrible places on this planet that we as members of the military find ourselves, most of the time talking to loved ones is difficult and in some cases it is borderline impossible.

I have been all over the globe and have friends currently in Iraq, more often than not at many locations people are very limited in their ability to call home if at all. This woman likely made her one lone morale call for the month to her son at the only time possible.

If this kid was truly belligerent suspend him per school policy, but a little vacation without pay for the teacher is justified as well.

Support the troops and their families’ people; they do the job that you can't!

Hat tip to the Blog Mama for the story.

lagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 11:24 AM | Comments (5)

May 09, 2005

I've Been Tagged

Mamamontezz has challenged me.

The Challenge: Here (I'll list them at the end of this post) is a list of different occupations. You must select at least five of them. You may add more if you like to your list before you pass it on (after you select five of the items as it was passed to you).

Of the five you selected, you are to finish each phrase with what you would do as a member of that profession. Then pass it on to three other suckers bloggers.

So what did I choose?

If I could be a Linguist, I would surely be the most cunning linguist of all. Just hearing the romance languages roll off the tip of my tongue would surely make a woman's legs quake.

If I could be a Midget Stripper, they'd have no choice but to call me tripod. After all, a midget with three legs would be sure to draw a crowd. They'd have to say; once you go small you'll never go tall.

If I could be a Scientist, I'd develop a bomb that has the same properties as Marijuana. Why fight a war when you can mellow your enemies to the point of submission. Who would there be to fight if the world was one big happy Woodstock?

If I could be a Musician, I'd bring the Recorder to the main stream. No more guitar, drums, or mixing machines. Classic hits like Three Blind Mice and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star would soar to the top of the charts.

If I could be a Federal Judge, the appeal process for those sentenced to death would consist of one appeal to a higher court. If the appeal was lost the execution would be carried out within 24 hours of sentencing. (Sorry this one was serious instead of silly)

I didn't have much time to work this one up, so I leaned toward humor. Though I don't have anyone in particular to tag any who read are more than welcome to try their hand at this.

The options are:

If I could be a scientist…
If I could be a farmer…
If I could be a musician…
If I could be a doctor…
If I could be a painter…
If I could be a gardener…
If I could be a missionary…
If I could be a chef…
If I could be an architect…
If I could be a linguist…
If I could be a psychologist…
If I could be a librarian…
If I could be an athlete…
If I could be a lawyer…
If I could be an innkeeper…
If I could be a professor…
If I could be a writer…
If I could be a backup dancer…
If I could be a llama-rider…
If I could be a bonnie pirate…
If I could be a midget stripper…
If I could be a proctologist…
If I could be a TV-Chat show host…
If I could be an actor…
If I could be a judge…
If I could be a superhero…
If I could be a celebrity gynecologist…

lagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 01:41 PM | Comments (0)

May 08, 2005

Like "They" Say, Life's A Bitch...

...or in this case a real Mother F*cker!

The illustrious Blog-Mama has suffered a bit of a loss in recent days. Mamamontezz and the Delftsman (both friends and family!) lost all of their operable motor vehicles in one fail swoop.

It appears that a drunken douche bag decided to use their parked cars for hit and run practice. Just when a person thinks life has nothing left to throw at them.... BAM.

Show your support, stop on over at Mamamontezz's Mental Rumpus Room and Emigre With A Digital Cluebat and let them both now that they are in your thoughts and prayers. That is a financial blow and a life changing experience. Though it will pass, it is a hell of a way to be rousted from bed.

You are both in my thoughts!

lagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 03:19 PM | Comments (0)

May 06, 2005

Punishment Reaches The Top

The Abu Ghraib scandal rocked the world and nearly as quickly as the Libs forgot 9/11 it appeared to fall off the radar. First a couple of enlisted troops got hammered and apparently for most of America that was enough for the story to start to fizzle. In fact until recently when I heard of PFC England's attempt to plea her way out, I hadn't heard that much about it (keep in mind I am in Europe and I miss quite a bit of the news).

Well First England’s case was declared a mistrial after the judge refused to accept her plea, now a top General has felt the wrath.

According to Yahoo News:

WASHINGTON - The Army has offered its last word on holding its generals accountable in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, but Congress is going to have the final say.

The Army announced that it demoted Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, whose Army Reserve unit was in charge of the prison compound during the period of abuse. Dropping her in rank to colonel required approval from President Bush, and officials said that he granted it on Thursday.

The Army also said it cleared three other, more senior generals of wrongdoing in the prisoner abuse cases, actions that had been previously reported but not publicly confirmed by the Army.

That means Karpinski is the only general to be disciplined thus far. The demotion means her career in the military, where officers must rise in rank or leave, is effectively over. Messages left at her home in Hilton Head, S.C., and with her attorney were not immediately returned.

Some in Congress have sharply criticized the Pentagon for failing to hold the more senior officers in Iraq accountable and instead pinning most of the blame on low-ranking soldiers like Pfc. Lynndie England. She pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of conspiracy to maltreat prisoners, four counts of maltreating prisoners and one count of committing an indecent act, many of which were captured in photographs that shocked the world when published a year ago. But the military judge rejected the plea agreement she had reached with prosecutors.

The Senate Armed Services Committee has said it intends to hold hearings soon to assess whether senior Defense Department civilian and military leaders were adequately held accountable for Abu Ghraib.

The Army described its investigations as exhaustive, requiring six months of work including sworn-statement interviews with 82 people, including L. Paul Bremer, who was the top civilian authority in Iraq at the time, and Gen. John Abizaid, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East.

Among those cleared by the Army was Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who was the top Army general in Iraq at the time of the prisoner abuses. He has been faulted by some for leadership failures but has never been accused of ordering or sanctioning any abuse of prisoners.

The Army said it could not substantiate two allegations against Sanchez: dereliction in the performance of duties pertaining to detention and interrogation operations and improperly communicating interrogation policies.

Sanchez is currently the commander of 5th Corps, headquartered at Heidelberg, Germany.

In addition to being demoted, Karpinski received a written reprimand and was formally relieved of command of the 800th Military Police Brigade on April 8, the Army said in a statement.

The Army's inspector general investigated four allegations against Karpinski: dereliction of duty, making a "material misrepresentation" to investigators, failure to obey a lawful order and shoplifting. Only the shoplifting and dereliction of duty allegations were substantiated.

Neal A. Puckett, Karpinski's attorney, told The Washington Post that the Army is saying "she's the only senior leader that had any part in this, but they're saying she didn't have a direct part in it." The Army is severing the chain of command "right at her eyeball level, and not letting it go higher," Puckett told the newspaper.

The Army did not explain the specifics of the allegations, but a number of previous investigations of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuses have accused Karpinski of failing to maintain order and prevent the abuses. She has said publicly that she was not given full authority over Abu Ghraib and that when photographs of the abuse became public she was made a scapegoat.

A U.S. government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Karpinski was accused of shoplifting a cosmetic item from a shop at a domestic Air Force base while she held the rank of colonel. Karpinski did not report her arrest for this misdemeanor on a later background check, the official said. In an interview with CBS News last year, Karpinski denied shoplifting.

The generals who were cleared, in addition to Sanchez, were Maj. Gen. Walter Wojdakowski, who was Sanchez's deputy in Iraq at the time, and Sanchez's intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast. Both were accused of dereliction of duty, but the allegations were not substantiated.

Without providing their names, the Army also said Thursday that one colonel and two lieutenant colonels linked to detainee abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan were given unspecified administrative punishment. Also, two other lieutenant colonels were given letters of reprimand.

More than a dozen other lower-ranking officers, whose names were not released, also received various punishments.

_ Three majors were given letters of reprimand and one of the three also was given an unspecified administrative punishment.

_ Three captains were court-martialed, one captain was given an other-than-honorable discharge from the Army, five captains received letters of reprimand, and one was given an unspecified administrative punishment.

_ Two first lieutenants were court-martialed, another got a letter of reprimand and one was given administrative punishment.

_ One second lieutenant was given an other-than-honorable discharge and another was given a letter of reprimand.

_ Two chief warrant officers were court-martialed.

The Army said other cases involving officers linked to detainee abuse are still open, but it did not say how many.

It is always unfortunate to hear that a career is ending, but either way this General should be held accountable. Either she didn't know what was going, which is dereliction of duty or she knew and was covering.

Abu Ghraib is without a doubt a blackeye, but like a true black eye it will heal and it will pass. As much as certain libs would like to believe it this is not representative of the fine young men and women that serve our nation!

lagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 01:48 AM | Comments (2)

May 04, 2005

Great Quotes

"You gotta move on with life. It's history. Things happen. If you sit
there and dwell on it and keep looking in the rear-view mirror, you're
gonna make yourself suffer." Bruce Weber

lagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)

Hurry Up And Wait (Or Do All With Nothing)

Anyone who has ever served in uniform (and many who work for major corporations) are sure to identify with this:

lagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 09:20 AM | Comments (0)

May 03, 2005

PFC England Attempts To Plea Her Way Out

FORT HOOD, Texas - Pfc. Lynndie England took responsibility for the smiling, thumbs-up poses she struck for photographs taken at Abu Ghraib prison camp, which made her the face of the prisoner abuse scandal. Now, with the sentencing phase in her military trial set to begin Tuesday, England's goal is to minimize the punishment.

England, 22, pleaded guilty Monday to seven counts of mistreating prisoners, saying she let her comrades talk her into going along with the abuse.

The charges carry up to 11 years in prison, but prosecutors and the defense reached an agreement that caps the sentence at a lesser punishment, the length of which was not released. She will get the lesser of the military jury's sentence or the term agreed on in the plea bargain.

Wearing her dress green Army uniform and speaking somberly in a soft voice with her arms close by her side, the reservist told the judge she initially resisted taking part in the abuse at the Baghdad prison, but caved in to peer pressure.

"I could have said, 'No,'" she told Col. James Pohl, the judge. "I knew it was wrong."

Capt. Cullen Sheppard, a prosecution spokesman, said the government will put on one sentencing witness before the defense begins its effort to persuade the jury to go easy on England.

Pvt. Charles Graner Jr., labeled the abuse ringleader and the man said to be the father of England's infant son, is expected to testify on England's behalf, perhaps as early as Tuesday.

Graner was convicted in January on a range of abuse charges and is serving a 10-year sentence in the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

England became a central figure in the Abu Ghraib scandal after photos emerged last year showing her and others sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners.

One of the photos showed her holding a hooded, naked prisoner on a leash. Another showed her smiling and giving a thumbs-up next to nude prisoners stacked in a pyramid. A third depicted England pointing at the prisoner's genitals as a cigarette dangled from her lips.

She told Pohl she did not want to point at the man's genitals, but that Graner or another soldier pressured her into it. "I said, 'No, no way,'" she recalled to the judge. "But they were being very persistent, bugging me, so I said, 'OK, whatever.'"

England, from Fort Ashby, W. Va., said she knew all along that she could have refused to take part in the abuse. "I had a choice, but I chose to do what my friends wanted me to," she said.

England entered guilty pleas to two counts of conspiracy to maltreat prisoners, four counts of maltreating prisoners and one count of committing an indecent act. Prosecutors agreed to drop another count of committing an indecent act and one count of dereliction of duty.

Four other members of the Maryland-based 372nd Military Police Company and two low-level military intelligence officers have entered guilty pleas in connection with the scandal, with sentences ranging from no time to 8 1/2 years. Spc. Sabrina Harman, a former Abu Ghraib guard, is scheduled to go to trial at Fort Hood next week.

Several investigations have been conducted, but so far only low-level soldiers have been charged, though the defendants have alleged that high-level officials condoned the abuse.

In England's hometown in West Virginia, Joyce Satzer said the scandal has given the community a bad name. "For someone to do something like that, and then for her to be from Fort Ashby, it's upsetting," said Satzer, 73. "This is a nice place to live."

I have mixed emotions about this whole scenario. If they were ordered to commit these acts then the person who made the order should be held most accountable, but she absolutely could and should have said "No" if that was the case. Either way it is another slap in the face for the Guard and Reserve folks out there who try their best to serve this country.

lagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 03:42 PM | Comments (2)

May 02, 2005

60,000 Hits Baby

Today the Slaughterhouse had its 60,000th visitor.

Thanks again to everyone who reads and those of you who keep me motivated to belch my thoughts into cyberspace.

lagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at 07:25 AM | Comments (0)