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Post by hollister on Mar 15, 2006 7:14:46 GMT -7
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Post by bescheid on Mar 15, 2006 8:58:56 GMT -7
Hollie
I know not what I have done that is so wrong! I did not want to get up this morning. The sun shine today is no more, it is now the rain and clouds. The birds are not singing their cheery song as yet today.
And, I can not enter the url. It looks good as an address, it just will not open for me.
Charles
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Post by hollister on Mar 15, 2006 9:03:47 GMT -7
Charles,
Try it now I think I fixed the url - I had an extra "." in there sorry!
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Post by jimpres on Mar 15, 2006 9:36:16 GMT -7
Hollie, Thanks great tribute to the troops
Here is a letter from one of the grey brigade in Iraq.
Letter to Congressman Murtha from Dave Rockwell
Dear Congressman Murtha,
Although it is difficult to keep up with politics from over here, your comments on immediate withdrawal have been noted by all of us. I cannot tell you the overall sense of discouragement, sense of betrayal and the feeling that few appreciate our efforts your comments have created. 1BCT has been frequently deployed in support of the War on Terrorism and we believe it is the correct fight and we believe we are winning. We have seen a significant improvement on the ground since we began combat operations in Baghdad three months ago.
I started in the US Army in 1968 and retired in 1992, with most of my time in Special Forces or Airborne Infantry units. I came out of retirement to come to Iraq with the 1BCT and I enjoy service with these outstanding officers and men. They are better than we were and they carry the terrific burden of frequent deployments and a high operational-tempo. There are few complains as they feel the mission is extremely important to the nation's security, their families and to most Iraqis. They are dedicated to winning and I believe they are winning. It is obvious to this 'old paratrooper' that your comments have hurt their morale and will eventually impact negatively on their efforts here.
"It is not enough to fight. It is the spirit which we bring to the fight that decides the issue. It is morale that wins the victory. "Morale is a state of mind. It is steadfastness, and courage, and hope. It is confidence and zeal and loyalty. It is élan, esprit de corps, determination. "It is staying power, the spirit which endures in the end…the will to win. "With it all things are possible; without it everything else, planning, preparation, and production, count for naught."
General George C. Marshall
I sincerely believe General Marshall as deeply as I believe your statements have undermined the morale of these young soldiers. I have watched intently as your political party has attempted to use this war for political advantage and find it to be repugnant in the extreme. That your name is now inextricably linked to Senators Kennedy, Biden and Durbin-politicians who we believe do not support us-must be of great concern to your constituents.
How can you ask us to leave? Must we forget all the sacrifices, the deaths, lost limbs, lost marriages and the daily struggle to win? What do I say to my 22 year old nephew, a Staff Sergeant with the 1/75th Rangers seriously wounded in Mosul last month or his brother, a Sergeant in Germany just back from Afghanistan or my niece in ROTC, or my brother-in-law, a Lieutenant Colonel getting ready for his second deployment? Would you have me tell them that all we have done thus far is for naught? It means nothing? How about, "Don't worry; it happened to us coming out of Vietnam." Don't you remember?
Make no mistake, we are winning here. It ain't easy and it may be difficult for you to see from your elevated position. But day in and day out, 24/7 we are pushing out combat patrols, taking the initiative away from the beheaders, limiting their ability to move, resupply and detaining and killing them. We are going to win here. We are going to leave this country far better off than when we started and American is going to be more secure for it. We will make the sacrifice, will you, will America?
Remember 9/11.
Dave Rockwell, US Army Paratrooper, Ret
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Post by sciwriter on Mar 15, 2006 22:09:58 GMT -7
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Post by bescheid on Mar 16, 2006 9:43:49 GMT -7
Jim
Highly excellent reading of a solders letter written by Mr. Dave Rockwell. His descriptions of his impressions and experiences is very inspiring.
Thanks
Charles
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Post by bescheid on Mar 16, 2006 10:12:15 GMT -7
Hollie
Ok, thanks....with my dial up system, it took many minutes to down load. It was well worth the wait!
What a wonderfull tribute to the solders in Iraq. It was very moving of the various scenes of a solders life and the scenes of civilians greeting and exchanging with the solders.
Thank you for bringing this for us to enjoy!!
Charles
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Post by pieter on Mar 16, 2006 10:52:39 GMT -7
I could emediately open the url, and loved the flash image show.
Great footage, gret photographers, drama, tragedy, joy,
sorrow (about losses), despair, determination, solidarity with
the people in Iraq, an other profession, heat, dust and sand.
Pieter
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Post by kaima on Mar 16, 2006 22:33:36 GMT -7
My military career started a year before the writer's did and ended with an honorable discharge 6 years later. That service makes me no more and no less qualified to comment than any other US citizen, including the last two draft-dodging presidents we enjoyed. At least the one had courage to be honest about it while the other promised to serve and then broke that promise.
As to the statement "How can you ask us to leave? Must we forget all the sacrifices, the deaths, lost limbs, lost marriages and the daily struggle to win? What do I say to my 22 year old nephew, a Staff Sergeant with the 1/75th Rangers seriously wounded in Mosul last month or his brother, a Sergeant in Germany just back from Afghanistan or my niece in ROTC, or my brother-in-law, a Lieutenant Colonel getting ready for his second deployment? Would you have me tell them that all we have done thus far is for naught? It means nothing? How about, "Don't worry; it happened to us coming out of Vietnam." Don't you remember?"
my answer is yes, honesty first. We were too lazy as a nation to question the Prez and his sales pitch at first. Now we are making the sacrifices we promised, and that does NOT preclude us from discussing our decisions, or even admitting we may have been wrong. If we follow the logic this fellow offers, then with the death of the first soldier we are committed to "honor" that death with innumerable follow-on deaths, never re-thinking our basis or decisions.
That is numb-skull patriotism and could quickly ruin any country.
Kai the Patriot
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Post by sciwriter on Mar 17, 2006 18:07:11 GMT -7
Kaima, well said! Thanks. Carl
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Post by sciwriter on Mar 17, 2006 18:24:22 GMT -7
Guess who will fight the war in Iraq—a robot version of Orphan Annie’s Pet dog: Sandy? Carl www.vor.ru/English/Urgent_Issues/program.phtml?act=448 ROBOT DOG INVENTED TO FIGHT IRAQ WAR By Yuri Reshetnikov As the US and Iraqi forces continued their incursion into an insurgent-dominated area north of Baghdad groaning jointly under tons of military hardware and combat gear, man's best friend may soon come to their aid. Yes, you guessed it right. This is a story about dogs. But not just common live animals that most people love to keep for company. How about robot dogs? Well, meet BigDog, a mechanical mutt that can do more than snatch Frisbees and snarl. It totes hundreds of pounds of gear so soldiers won't have to take fright under fire. Developed by Boston Dynamics with funding from the US military, the BigDog prototype is probably the world's most ambitious legged robot. The Great Dane - size machine can trot more than three miles an hour, climb steep inclines and carry up to 120 pounds - even in rough terrain inaccessible to wheeled or tracked vehicles. For now, the robot dog is remote-controlled, but future versions will come unleashed, able to make intelligent decisions about their course and actions without guidance from humans. In a contract signing with Boston Dynamics, the US military has made a multi-million dollar investment in the soldier of the future's best friend. Needless to say such robots would be most welcome where the action is, as in Iraq and Afghanistan. The sight of such a monstrous creature, or creation, would be probably particularly startling to Moslems, who are averse to dogs and fear them culturally. Imagine a pack of such snarling monsters showing up someplace. American GI's mounting them probably won't even have to engage in fire fights, because all those Iraqi or Afghan insurgents would become so scared as to become completely docile. It's too bad, robot dogs were not available by the start of the Iraq war, otherwise, all hostilities might have been over by now. And it's too bad that a more powerful, autonomous BigDog won't be ready for battle within the next four or five years. But then who knows how much longer the Iraq war is going to last? 03/17/2006 |
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george
Cosmopolitan
Posts: 568
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Post by george on Mar 18, 2006 4:24:38 GMT -7
I was going to write a posting similiar to Kaima's but im glad i didn't. His posting said it all. Good job!
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