Ross Perot awarded honorary Green Beret

Brig. Gen. Michael S. Repass, commanding general, Unites States Army Special Forces Command, presents an honorary Green Beret to Ross Perot at the Banquet for the 2nd Annual Special Forces Symposium Banquet, April 22, while Lt. Gen. John F. Mulholland Jr., commanding general, United States Army Special Operations Command, and Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Csrnko, Commanding General, U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, look on. Perot was presented the Green Beret for his remarkable contributions to the Special Forces community. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Curt Squires, USASOC News Service)

I think most people would be surprised to learn how much Perot gives to charities without seeking any publicity.

Ralph Peters on DHS Vet Threat

THE VET 'THREAT'
GOV'T IDS PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1


DHS is obviously in the very best of hands.

Update on VA funeral home abuse story

Army vet’s family sues Va. funeral home

FAIRFAX, Va. — The family of an Army veteran whose body was allegedly mishandled as it awaited burial at Arlington National Cemetery is suing a Fairfax County funeral home.

The lawsuits against National Funeral Home and parent company Service Corporation International of Houston seek $60 million in damages.

The family alleges that the body of retired Army Col. Andrew DeGraff was left in an unrefrigerated garage and “negligently defiled” as it sat in storage more than two months between his death in October and burial at Arlington in January.

The four lawsuits follow a report in The Washington Post that numerous bodies were neglected by the home, which was already on probation with state regulators.

An SCI spokeswoman said an investigation is under way.

Cpt Robert Yllescas passes

For those of you who have been following his wife's blog you already know that the Cpt has succumbed to his injuries suffered over month ago. His family was staying at the Fisher house which runs an outstanding charity. He leaves behind a wife and 2 little girls.

Thank you for your service Sir.

Not a good update at Dena's blog

For those of you following the blog at CPT Rob Yllescas was not a good update from Dena as they went for emergency surgery tonight. God speed CPT.

Gulf War illness is real, report finds

Gulf War illness is real, report finds

WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Reuters) - A report released on Monday concluded that Gulf War syndrome is a legitimate illness suffered by more than 175,000 U.S. war veterans who were exposed to chemical toxins in the 1991 Gulf War.

The congressionally mandated report could help veterans who have battled the government for treatment of a wide range of unexplained neurological illnesses, from brain cancer to multiple sclerosis.

The Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses concluded that Gulf War illness is a physical condition distinct from the mental "shell shock" suffered by veterans in other wars. Some earlier studies had concluded it was not a distinct illness.

The panel found two possible causes: a drug given to troops to protect against nerve gas, known as pyridostigmine bromide, and pesticides that were used heavily during the war.

The panel said other possible causes could not be ruled out, including extensive exposure to smoke from oil-well fires and low-level exposure to sarin gas when captured Iraqi stocks were destroyed.

The U.S. government has spent roughly $440 million on Gulf War health research since 1994, but spending has declined in recent years and often is not focused on improving veterans' health, the committee said.

Well that didn't take long so how about funding so we can find out how to help them before they are all living in the Old Soldiers home?

Happy Veterans Day and Thank You

One veteran's perspective
By Col JACK MORONEY

Article published Nov 11, 2007
One veteran's perspective
By JACK MORONEY
Veteran's Day means a lot to some, a little to others, nothing to many, and is often confused with Memorial Day by most.

While it is a day to honor those men and women who served in this nation's military, it is how the veteran perceives this day that might surprise those who, for one reason or another, never wore their country's uniform.

There are two distinct groups of veterans: those who served a tour in the military and then left to pursue civilian life, and those who chose the military as a profession and remained until retirement.

While service to one's country can often be a life-altering event for either group, I have found that it is the military retiree whose metamorphosis is most complete.

Those who serve and elect to return to civilian life are still basically who they were before they entered military service. There are exceptions of course, but those who return to civilian pursuits are once again the teacher, the mechanic, the professional business person and easily integrated back into society as a member of a civilian community.

The person that retires from active duty has no such identity, very rarely has ties to any civilian community and has learned a hard lesson that you make but very few close friends in the military. He is best defined not by who he was as a civilian but what he did in the military. It is the common thread that binds us all into that band of brothers that have stood for and with each other through indescribable experiences that defy understanding by those who were not witness to those events.

The more elite and demanding the units in which the retiree served, the greater the loss of his connection to civilian identity because there is just no parallel personal or professional civilian category into which he easily fits.

Things change over time, but over decades nothing is recognizable to most returning veterans. Many retirees' chosen path is not akin to a job but rather an all-consuming profession requiring total commitment to each other, their unit and the mission incurring significant, and sometimes unimaginable, physiological, psychological and personal costs.

Despite the portrayals in movies, there are no motivational sound tracks in the background and no glorious visions of striving for the greater good of God and country, just plain gut-wrenching emotions, pain, effort and selflessness to help each other get through to the next event.

I find it amusing that many folks who wish to honor veteran's or "support the troops" do so in blissful ignorance thinking that those of us that chose to serve stood on freedom's frontier at the behest of some ignominious military leader when the truth is that the military is the last card played by the politicians when all other elements of national power have failed. Civilians do not seem to understand that they have been stakeholders all along in the events experienced by veterans because of the very politicians that they have voted in or out of office. I have always thought that the best way to honor a veteran would be to have the entire Congress mustered on the veranda of Lee's Mansion within Arlington National Cemetery. Standing there they can see Washington, D.C., but in the process they have to over look the headstones of thousands of veterans lying in mute testimony to the folly of bad political decisions, political bickering and personal agendas.

It is not the veteran who needs Veteran's Day. For many of us the pride, the shadows, the pain and the tattered memories are with us every day. Veteran's Day is really for everyone other than the veteran so they never forget that we are still walking among them trying to be part of their lives although we have all willingly spent a good portion of ours by taking up the torch for those who could not or would not serve.

Jack Moroney is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces colonel who served in Vietnam. He was an Army service member from 1965 through 1993.

Col Moroney was laid to rest in Arlington National with full military honors on Election day 2008. A true warrior poet who will be greatly missed.

RIP Col thanks to you and all Veterans on this day.

CPT Rob Yllescas Receives Purple Heart from President Bush

I feel so bad that we wasn't awake for it. President Bush was the person who awarded it to him. When he walked into the room, he gave me a huge hug. He had tears in his eyes and told me he was so sorry. He just kept hugging me. He told me that Rob WILL wake up and when he does, he will meet Rob in person again. I got his business card from his personal assistant so that I can call him when Rob is ready to meet him.

Glad to hear that President Bush will meet with him again when he is awake.