GI SPECIAL 5B27: "Our Goal Is Outreach To Soldiers"

[Thanks to Z, who sent this in,]

 

All Out For Fayetteville & Ft. Bragg March 17

Veterans For Peace Needs Help
Organizing Outreach To The Troops:
�Our Goal Is Outreach To Soldiers�
�The Biggest Thing Is Getting To The Men And Women Of Our Armed Forces� 

[Iraq Veterans Against The War and Veterans For Peace are calling on all who want to stop the war to come to this rally March 17, so that outreach goes forward to the people who can stop the war and have the greatest interest in doing so:  the troops.  There will also be regional demonstrations in DC and other cities for those unable to travel to Fayetteville.  T] 

17 Feb 2007 By Cherie Eichholz, Veterans For Peace 

On behalf of Veterans For Peace, I am emailing and requesting help with an action planned for this March. 

It will be a two fold event. 

The first leg of it will come through several SE US military towns (i.e. tentative itinerary includes Jacksonville, NC, Columbia or Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA, Jacksonville, FL, Columbus, GA, and Montgomery, AL)  and we are looking for local people to help plan for these stops. 

What we are aiming for is that when we arrive in each town, things are pretty much set up. 

We hope to have representatives from Veterans For Peace, Gold Star Families for Peace, Military Families Speak Out, Iraq Veterans Against the War, signers of the Appeal For Redress (appealforredress.org), and possibly several war resisters. 

We would like to have a program in each town where we can invite the local military to join us for something (i.e. pizza, beer, and discussion, or movie and discussion, or whatever) in the evening. 

In addition, my experience and the itinerary tells me we should have some time in the afternoon once we arrive in the cities; this would be a great time for us to head to the mall, or the base, or somewhere military personnel congregate, and "infiltrate them". 

We want to get to these people on this trip! 

Our goal is outreach to soldiers as they have an important voice. 

70% according to polls want the US out of Iraq. 

Thus we want to get them to sign the Appeal, see what soldiers did during Vietnam from the video "Sir, No Sir!" so they know they are not helpless and have them listen to VFP, GSFP, MFSO, and IVAW, so they know vets and soldiers who oppose the war are with them. 

We want the 70% to become active and to grow. 

HOWEVER, and this is very important, we realize the nature of each stop will be different and that support in each town will be different.  In your area, the stop might end up being more of the informal sort, i.e. the "infiltration" part of the previous paragraph.

And that works. 

The biggest thing is getting to the men and women of our armed forces. 

In this case, what we would then need from you and your team, would be specific advice as to where and when they meet (i.e. maybe at a mall or a strip of bars). 

In addition, we will need help with accommodations.  Most of these people are veterans and pretty easy going; church floors and/or campgrounds would certainly suffice.  And of course we would love to congregate with the hosts as much as possible for pot lucks or breakfasts or whatever. 

When we get to the end point, we will work for a week on construction and reconstruction of homes for survivors of hurricane Katrina.  VFP was there immediately after the hurricane struck providing humanitarian relief; we were there last spring in order to draw attention to the neglect of gulf coast residents even in the midst of the pursuit of an unjust and illegal war; we are now returning to lend a hand as the government has literally abandoned these people. 

There is a distinct connection between what we are doing overseas and our government�s abandonment of our own citizens. 

Please think about how you and your peace community might get involved with this. 

I know this is asking a lot, but this promises to be a very spirited and important endeavor.  And there are a plethora of ways to get involved: offer to house caravaners, work with a local community which will be hosting a stop on the caravan, come to the gulf, forward this email to all of your lists of friends, family, and colleagues, and of course, we can use donations (veteransforpeace.org). 

We are at the moment when we have got to act and encourage and support those around us in acting as well. 

I was in DC several weekends ago and saw firsthand the momentum we are carrying; I was in the gulf last weekend scouting out worksites, and saw firsthand what government abandonment looks like. 

In order to effect change we have got to act now and act in a significant manner.  Please contact me directly if you think you can help. 

Gratefully,
Cherie Eichholz
Veterans For Peace National Office
veteransforpeace.org
314.725.6005, x105 

�The single largest failure of the anti-war movement at this point is the lack of outreach to the troops.�  Tim Goodrich, Iraq Veterans Against The War 

IRAQ WAR REPORTS

 Second Glendoran Dies In Iraq:

�There�s Things They Don�t Have, Like Magazines For Their Guns Or Cold Weather Gear, And We�ve Sent That Stuff�

�I Wish They Gave Them All The Things That They Need�

�The Biggest Thing She Wants Now Is To Have The Other Boys Come Home�

 2.22.07 By Alison Hewitt Staff Writer, Los Angeles Newspaper Group

GLENDORA - Marine Pfc. Blake Howey of Glendora died in Iraq on Sunday at age 20, becoming the second person from Glendora to be killed in Iraq. 

Howey was only a few weeks into his first deployment when his convoy was struck by a roadside bomb in Fallujah, said family friend Karen Butterfield.  Howey�s family asked her to speak for them after they were notified of his death Monday. 

"They�re just not ready to talk yet," she said. "Even for me it�s like losing a family member.  It�s awful." 

Howey is survived by his parents, stepfather and younger half-sister. 

He and several close friends joined the Marines directly out of high school, Butterfield said.  He followed Butterfield�s younger brother, Marine Cpl. James Eckels, from Glendora High School to Whitcomb High School so they could graduate early together and join the Marines as soon as possible.  Eckels graduated early, and Howey and a few other friends soon joined him after a June graduation. 

"They were a good group of kids," recalled Whitcomb Principal Marc DuBois. "Howey was the quiet one in that group that was going into the service.  This guy was great - and funny, too." 

He was never in trouble and made the honor roll as well, DuBois said.  His former science teacher, Tom Paegel, said Howey was an extremely determined student. Whitcomb will post a tribute to him on the school�s marquee, Paegel said. 

The city is also working to arrange a small ceremony in Howey�s honor, said Councilwoman Karen Davis. 

An impromptu memorial to the Marine has already appeared beneath his banner north of the Grand Avenue and Foothill Boulevard intersection, Butterfield said. 

Because of Howey�s friendship with her brother, Butterfield said Howey was like another little brother to her. 

"He was kind of quiet, kind of shy, always a real sweet kid," she said. "He loved paintball and snowboarding." 

Eckels and Howey�s other friends were practically adopted by Howey�s mom, Audrey Nichka, Butterfield said. 

"She�s an amazing lady," Butterfield said. "She calls them all her sons, and they call her mom. 

"The biggest thing she wants now is to have the other boys come home," she continued. "It�s scary, knowing that my brother�s still over there." 

The Department of Defense had not yet confirmed Howey�s death late Tuesday, but Butterfield said the explosive killed Howey while he was traveling in a Humvee from Fallujah to Baghdad. 

Nichka plans to have a memorial service for her son Sunday or Monday at Oakdale Cemetery in Glendora.  

She is setting up a fund in Howey�s honor to send helmets, flak jackets and other necessities to soldiers in Iraq. 

"Her boys have helmets and flack jackets, but there�s things they don�t have, like magazines for their guns or cold weather gear, and we�ve sent that stuff," Butterfield said. 

"To know that someone can just be taken - Howey wasn�t even in combat - it�s crazy," she said. 

"I wouldn�t take a bit of support away from my brother, but I wish they gave them all the things that they need." 

 

Colorado Soldier Killed

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Joshua R. Hager, 29, of Broomfield, Colo. was one of three Fort Carson, Colo., soldiers who died Feb. 23, 2007, of injuries suffered a day earlier when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle in Iraq. (AP Photo/U.S. Army) 

�I Just Can�t Believe Bush Would Send Someone Out Of Basic Training Straight To Iraq�

�They Didn�t Have A Chance To Begin With�

Mesa Soldier, 19, Killed By Sniper In Iraq 

02.22.2007 By JILL REDHAGE, East Valley Tribune 

A 19-year-old Mesa soldier told his mother before he went to Iraq, �I�ll do what I gotta do and I�ll be home.� 

Army Pvt. Kelly David Youngblood arrived in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, 76 miles west of Baghdad, on Feb. 2. Sixteen days later, he was killed by a sniper as he exited the tank he had been driving. 

He had served in the military for one year, one month and one day. 

Army officers hand-delivered Youngblood�s last letter to his sister, in which he called Ar Ramadi �terrorizing� and described the fear and horror he experienced. 

�There are no phones where I�m at so I can�t call, and no Internet, so I can�t write,� Youngblood typed to his 16-year-old sister, Melaney, several days before his death.  �I�m afraid to leave the building to (go to) the tank because there are snipers everywhere.� 

From the day he arrived, Youngblood was surrounded by violence. 

On his first day at the combat outpost, he stepped outside to videotape an exchange of gunfire in the city.  But he became more than a witness.  A rocket blew the video camera from his hand, and killed his friend �Zimmerman� in the process. 

He wrote that two days later, a rocket-propelled grenade hit 5 feet from his tank.  �But I had already loosened up by then.  I don�t even get scared when I hear gunfire,� he wrote. 

Youngblood moved to Mesa 11 years ago from La Porte, Ind., with his mother, Kristen Chacon, and sister, recalled his stepfather, TJ Chacon. 

He attended Tempe�s McClintock High School and later worked as a sandwich maker in southwest Mesa before joining the Army. 

�He was a pretty simple kid,� his stepfather said.  �He didn�t ask for much. He always liked to joke around.� 

Before enlisting in the military, Youngblood enjoyed skateboarding, riding his bike and playing video games with friends. 

He had thought of going to film school, Kristen said.  And he had thought of a career in the military.  But everyone else said he should be a comedian. His fourth-grade teacher once told her she would be surprised if he didn�t write for David Letterman when he grew up. 

Kristen Chacon sat in her backyard in the Dobson Ranch area of Mesa Tuesday afternoon, flanked by friends and family, food piling up in the kitchen.  A small, furry dog scampered to and fro, pausing beneath the lemon tree, then returning to sniff visitors� feet. 

�I keep telling people not to bring food � we�re not hungry,� she said warmly, taking a draw on a cigarette.  She turned to several of her co-workers from Desert Vista Behavioral Health, who dropped by to show their support.  �I wish you guys could have gotten to meet him � he�s so awesome,� she said. 

The weather had been beautiful Sunday before officers knocked on her front door to deliver the bad news.  She had been drinking a cup of coffee. 

�It�s like Armageddon there,� she said of Iraq. 

She said she wanted people to be reminded of the soldiers who are out fighting and dying.  �We could have used them here,� she added. 

Youngblood had �always wanted to be in the Army, ever since he was a little kid,� said his step-grandmother, Deanna Chacon. She said he �always played Army and wore camouflage pants.� 

�I just can�t believe Bush would send someone out of basic training straight to Iraq,� she continued.  �They didn�t have a chance to begin with,� she said of new, young soldiers. 

Texas Soldier Killed 

U.S. Army, Pfc. Travis W. Buford, 23, of Galveston, Texas, was one of three Fort Carson, Colo., soldiers who died Feb. 23, 2007, of injuries suffered a day earlier when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle in Iraq. (AP Photo/U.S. Army) 

California Soldier Killed 

U.S. Army Pfc. Rowan D. Walter, 25, of Winnetka, Calif., was one of three Fort Carson, Colo., soldiers who died Feb. 23, 2007, of injuries suffered a day earlier when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle in Iraq. (AP Photo/U.S. Army) 

Marine Killed In Anbar 

26 February 2007 Multi National Corps Iraq Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory RELEASE No. 20070226-11 

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq � A Marine assigned to Multi National Force-West was killed Feb. 26 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar Province.

 

Family Remembers Fallen Son

 

02/21/2007 By Jason Gibbs, Sun-News reporter 

LAS CRUCES � Wave upon wave, grief and pride crashed on the Apuan family Tuesday as they braced for the eventual return of their son�s remains. 

"I lost a friend, not just a son," Charles Apuan said of his son, 27-year-old Sgt. Matthew S. Apuan. 

Apuan fell to enemy fire Sunday in Baghdad. 

He is the sixth Do�a Ana County soldier to die in the Iraq desert since 2003. 

The ebb and flow of emotion held both tears and laughter as the family began to gather, his father said. 

"It just comes in waves," he said. "It has since Sunday." 

That day, about 10 p.m. an Army major and a chaplain from Fort Hood, Texas, walked up the sidewalk on Hyacinth Street in west Las Cruces, across the neatly trimmed lawn and knocked on the door, bearing the worst of all possible news, Apuan said. 

"I knew what it was, what the news was, why they were here," he said. "I just knew. 

Late Tuesday, the Department of Defense confirmed what the family already knew.  A news release reported Apuan�s death "due to wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with the enemy using small arms fire while on combat patrol." 

Funeral services are pending. 

Apuan was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Calvary Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Calvary Division at Fort Hood. But the list of numbers, the honors the young soldier accumulated, the devotion to country and cause, don�t begin to encapsulate the man, his father said. 

The last time he spoke to his son, about three weeks ago, Sgt. Apuan had told his father he wanted to finish his tour of duty in the spring of 2008, then come home. 

"He always wanted to help his family," his father said.  "He was there for us.  He had a lot of love. He was my hero." 

Apuan was a graduate of Mayfield High School.  He was a race-car fan. He was a hard-driving high school trackster and a fun-loving trickster.  He was a third-generation American serviceman. 

From his earliest years, as a child of a military family that moved from base to base, he built permanence in his playtime. 

"He loved playing with Legos," his father said. "He would build houses, planes, cars." 

As the younger Apuan grew to manhood, his uncanny ability to learn anything put before him drew him and his father closer.  They shared a growing love of fine wines, a fondness for the horses, and a devotion to family. 

Now that family waits in their Las Cruces home, their lives on hold until they are notified when they can bury their son.  Memorials are in the works.  Services will be held with full military honors.  But no one yet knows exactly when those respects may finally be paid. 

Meanwhile, memories flow as freely as tears, and recollections linger � laced with laughter � as generations of the Apuan family converge on this desert city, waiting to mourn a son killed in a desert far away. 

Despite the distance of miles and time, thoughts of a bright-eyed, sharp witted and sly prankster fill their hearts, even as their home echoes with an abrupt emptiness. 

"I think it�s hardest on his sister and my dad, his grandfather," the father of the slain soldier said in the family home, tucked into a cul-de-sac along a riverside road near the city�s Rio Grande bosque. 

Grandpa, Charles Joseph Apuan, a Vietnam veteran, planned to travel into town Tuesday night to join the family as they hold vigil until Matthew is brought home for burial.  No official memorials are in place, no plans can be made until the senior Apuan�s oldest grandchild makes his final flight home.  

Dad, another retired military man, who came to New Mexico for a tour of duty at White Sands Missile Range and stayed because the Land of Enchantment wove a spell on him and his family, slowly leafed through a stack of photos. 

His scarred hands gently caressed the faded photographs, his weary eyes belied his grief as they wrinkled in welcome laughter, remembering his fallen son�s successes. 

His stepmother, Martha Apuan, recalls a younger boy with a strong, yet gentle soul. 

"He�s quiet," she said. "But he knows what he wants, even as a little kid." 

Denise Ashby, a Mayfield assistant principal, also recalls a solid youngster who was devoted to his studies and his service in the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps. 

"He was always reliable, he was always a good student," she said. 

While no plans have been finalized, some Mayfield students were inquiring Tuesday about a possible memorial service.  Arrangements are pending with Graham�s Mortuary of Las Cruces. 

Apuan�s sister, Aimee Apuan, graduated from Mayfield last year and is now a student at New Mexico State University. 

His mother, Sandra Apuan, is a former Mayfield teacher. 

The waves of alternating grief and pride will continue to crash on the family.  Even as the tides of time and tragedy take their toll, one fact remains. 

Their lives have been scarred, their future eroded. 

"It�s always going to be a hole," the soldier�s father said.  "His mother said it gets smaller with time.  But it will always be there." 

Iraq Tragedy Ended Waif�s Effort To Belong 

February 23, 2007 By Sara Olkon, Chicago Tribune 

Pedro J. Colon was homeless as a teenager in Cicero, eating at local food pantries and keeping his possessions in plastic garbage bags. 

At Morton East High School, from which he would eventually graduate, he looked to the military for security and a sense of belonging.  He enlisted in the Army in August 2001, a month before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

On Monday, Colon, 25, a sergeant, was killed in Baghdad after his unit came under enemy fire.  As of late Thursday, military personnel could not say where he would be buried. 

Such transience marked much of his short life.  He had been kicked out of his parents� home in the Bronx when he was 18, according to school officials.  What caused the family rift wasn�t clear.  Colon�s family could not be reached for comment. 

The teenager landed in Cicero, where a friend�s family said he could stay temporarily.  He enrolled as a senior at Morton East and joined the track team.  When Colon had to move on from the friend�s home, he landed at a youth shelter on Chicago�s North Side. He commuted to Morton East until a social worker at the school found him emergency housing closer to school. 

Many of his teachers, even his track coach, said Thursday that they had no idea Colon had been living such a precarious existence. 

�I never, never knew,� said Michael Weber, former head track coach and a current guidance counselor at Morton East.  �I think it�s remarkable if he was living in a shelter.� 

Colon�s guidance counselor, Michael Neberz, now at Glenbard West High School, said he tried to reach out to Colon�s family in the Bronx but said they rebuffed his efforts.  He could not recall the reason for the estrangement. 

�They were over him,� Neberz said of the teenager�s immediate family. �He was on his own.� 

Neberz, like a handful of other adults, tried to help.  He invited Colon for Christmas dinner.  He recalled how humbled the teenager seemed by the attention and that Colon talked at length to Neberz�s father, who was a veteran, about basic training. 

By all accounts, Colon aspired for a career in the military.  He talked of becoming an Army Ranger and working in Special Operations. 

Morton East�s military liaison, guidance counselor Michael Kennedy, wrote a letter of recommendation to help Colon get into the service.

Kennedy described Colon on Thursday as a humble kid who wore a big grin and who was well-liked by staff.  He remembered buying him a CTA bus pass at one point so that he could get back to his shelter. 

�He was the kind of kid that gets very little notice,� Kennedy said. �He never causes any trouble.� 

Shelter closer to school When Morton East social worker Michelle Murray learned of Colon�s long commute, she helped secure emergency shelter closer to the high school. Helping him move, she spotted his luggage: overflowing plastic garbage bags.  He got his food from a local pantry.  He had to give up track to get a part-time job, she said. 

�Getting a high school diploma was the most important thing to him,� she said. �That and the military.  I guess if you are a kid who has no family, I guess it makes sense.� 

Brandy Gill, a military spokeswoman at Ft. Hood, Texas, said it was still is unclear where Colon would be buried.  She said she did not know if he had left a will or what the wishes of his family were.  The military covers burial costs, she said, adding that his body was expected to arrive in the United States by early next week. 

Details about his Army career trickled in slowly from the military.  As of late Thursday, a prepared release from the Department of Defense said he was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division; worked as a power generation equipment repairer; and had been on this tour in Iraq since November.  He received six service medals. 

In the 2000-2001 school year, Mary O�Donnell began her first year as an English and history teacher at Morton East. 

�I thought he was amazing,� she said. �He was incredibly hard-working. He had kind of an old soul.� 

Marcela Porras, too, found Colon inspiring. Now an insurance broker, she was reporting for Lawndale News, a bilingual newspaper based in Cicero, when she met Colon his senior year while researching a story about students overcoming great obstacles. 

�The thing I remember most was his positive attitude,� she said. �He talked about being homeless but more that he wanted to be an Army Ranger. It wasn�t if he could do it, it was he will do it.�

In 2001, Hector Freytas was a junior on the track team. He remembered Colon as a sweet guy who ran long-distance. Now a Spanish teacher at Morton East, Freytas heard about Colon�s death in an e-mail from a colleague. 

�I remember him being such a happy individual,� Freytas said. �Every day, he was always punctual. Always arrived with a great smile. Always had his head up high.� 

Colon graduated from Morton East in spring 2001. A few months later, he was in the Army. 

Social worker Murray said she was so proud to learn that Colon had risen to the rank of sergeant.

�It�s a shame he couldn�t come back and tell his story to the kids here,� she said. �He�d be such a role model.� 

 

Local Man Survives Deadly Attack:

�Though The Military Will Pay The Medical Expenses For Hays, Travel Expenses Are Another Thing Entirely� 

[Right.  The money has to go to Bush Buddy war profiteers first.  That�s what the war is for: so people with money can get more of it.  Duh.  T] 

February 26, 2007 Wellington Daily News 

A Wellington man was critically wounded last week by an improvised explosive device while on duty in Iraq. 

Jerrod Hays, 38, was flown to a hospital in Germany where he underwent surgery Friday.

The attack killed David Russell Berry, 37, of Wichita. 

Berry and Hays were lifelong, best friends.  Both men were raised in the Anthony-Harper area. 

Hays suffered injuries to his face, eye and left hand.  His wife, Nancy Hays, said he took a good blow to the back from the impact.  He is expected to survive.

The explosion happened in Qasim, Iraq, when the vehicle Hays and Berry were in struck the IED. 

The pair - both Staff Sergeants - were responding to the report of another explosion when they were hit.

Both men were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 161st Field Artillery, Kansas Army National Guard out of Dodge City. 

Hays has been a member of the Kansas Army National Guard for 20 years. The assignment to Iraq was his first deployment outside the United States. 

Nancy Hays left Sunday to be with her husband at Walter Reed hospital in Washington D.C.

Concerned friends have already started planning how to help the family cope in such a difficult time.

Friends Michelle Lloyd and Peggy Gilmore will be going down to Security State Bank later today to establish a fund for Hays family. 

Though the military will pay the medical expenses for Hays, travel expenses are another thing entirely. 

Lloyd - whose husband is a former Marine - has had experience with how slow money can come in for military families and said though the government would help and provide for the family, it's not helping immediately when it's needed most.

To donate money to the Hays fund, contact Security State Bank at 326-7417. 

Having served in the National Guard reserve for 20 years, Sgt. 1st Class Eric Page has a small idea of what the family is going through. 

Page, a teacher at Wellington Middle School, recently served a year's tour of duty starting in November 2005.  He says it's not hard for family and friends in the United States to deal with a loved one in a war-torn country. 

�It's constant worry. You dread watching the news.� he said. 

Page told a story of how his wife worried for his safety after hearing that nine people were killed in a car bomb in Baghdad, where he was stationed at the time.  After finally hearing from him, she was relieved but only for a short time.

�It's nine people out of maybe 5 million people,� said Page. �But when you can't get a hold of your loved ones it doesn't matter.� 

Out of Page's 500 person battallion, one was killed, something he says makes them very lucky.  Page worked at the United States Embassy in Iraq coordinating protection for VIPS such as former Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condolessa Rice. 

Though for many Americans the soldiers who have died are just numbers, Page says they are all names and faces to him - brothers in combat. 

Though Page has been home for almost three months, he still has problems adjusting to the environment around him.

�You would hear gunfire and explosions almost daily...  I just hated that sound. Though I was lucky and didn't see any combat you still hear the trains stopping and think to yourself, �No, that's not a car bomb, it's ok.� 

Hays' stepson is in Page's Conflict in Iraq class - an elective class - and has brought many of the souvenirs and pictures of his step-father's to share with the other students in the class.  Page said he was not in school on Friday. 

 

Direct Fire Attacks On U.S. Soldiers Up 70 Percent In Diyala 

Feb 25 By BRIAN MURPHY, (AP)

Diyala, northwest of Baghdad, is known as "Little Iraq" because of its near-equal mix of Sunni and Shiite Arabs as well as Kurds the country�s three major groups. 

Direct fire attacks on U.S. soldiers are up 70 percent in Diyala since last summer, and fierce battles have raged since the Baghdad security plan was launched.  

U.S. Convoy Attacked;
Casualties Not Announced

A roadside bomb went off in central Baghdad Feb. 26, 2007. The bomb targeted a U.S. army convoy, police said.  (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

 

British Bases Attacked In Basra 

26 Feb 2007 By Laith Hammoudi, McClatchy Newspapers 

The spokesman added that a British vehicle was damaged when it crashed into a fuel tank south Basra.  The spokesman also said that two British bases were attacked, Sa�ie base and Shat Al Arab hotel base were attacked last night without recording any casualties. 

The spokesman of the MNF in the south of Iraq Katy Brown said that 15 insurgents clashed with a British patrol north of Alk Hussein neighborhood (9 KMs west of Basra). According to the spokesman, 3 of them were injured. 

 

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO COMPREHENSIBLE REASON TO BE IN THIS EXTREMELY HIGH RISK LOCATION AT THIS TIME, EXCEPT THAT A TRAITOR WHO LIVES IN THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU THERE

That is not a good enough reason

 U.S. soldiers walk past a new concrete wall at a market in the southeast of Baghdad, February 25, 2007.  REUTERS/Carlos Barria  

How Do You Know Your War Is Lost?

When You Have To Use Armor To Stay Alive In The Capital Of Nation You Occupied 4 Years Ago 

February 24, 2007 By Tina Susman, L.A. Times Staff Writer 

Since U.S. and Iraqi forces put a new Baghdad security plan into high gear last week, the Stryker team has been at the forefront of sweeps and patrols, some lasting 20 hours at a stretch. 

For the soldiers of the brigade, it has meant little sleep and the majority of their waking hours inside the dark, cramped interiors of the Strykers, whose bulk, speed and armor have made them the vehicle of choice in Baghdad's riskiest operations. 

"We're kind of like groundhogs," said 1st Lt. Yeng Lacanlale of Seattle after a patrol that began at 4:30 a.m. and lasted 16 hours.  "We get back, shower, eat, try to get a little sleep, and go back out." 

[Spc. Aurelio] Cazares and the gunner view the outside world through periscopes, popping their heads out of the overhead hatches as little as possible to avoid snipers.  As he moves through the streets, he eyes each trash pile, each rock and anything else that could hide a danger. 

While he navigates, the rest of the unit shares the cigar-shaped back compartment, sitting kneecap-to-kneecap, shoulder-to-shoulder, on narrow benches in full battle gear, their M-4 rifles balanced between their legs.  Two stand sentry, their heads poked out of overhead hatches. 

How Do You Know Your War Is Lost?

When You Use Aircraft To Bomb The Capital Of The Nation You Occupied 4 Years Ago 

February 25, 2007 Juan Cole, JuanCole.com [Excerpt] 

Late Saturday, the US Air Force launched a series of bombing raids on southeast Baghdad.

This is absolutely shameful, that the US is bombing from the air a civilian city that it militarily occupies. 

You can�t possibly do that without killing innocent civilians, as at Ramadi the other day. It is a war crime. US citizens should protest and write their congressional representatives. 

It is also the worst possible counter-insurgency tactic anyone could ever have imagined. 

You bomb people, they hate you. 

The bombing appears to have knocked out what little electricity some parts of Baghdad were still getting.

 

AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

 Afghan Crash Kills Iowa Soldier

Spc. Travis Vaughn 

February 20, 2007 By WILLIAM PETROSKI, REGISTER STAFF WRITER 

U.S. Army Spc. Travis Vaughn of Cedar Falls was among eight American soldiers killed Sunday in a military helicopter crash in Afghanistan, family members and friends confirmed Monday. 

He was the 52nd person with Iowa ties to have died in Iraq or Afghanistan since March 2003. 

Vaughn, 25, "was a real solid kid," said the Rev. John Fuller, pastor of Prairie Lakes Church in Cedar Falls, who learned of Vaughn�s death Sunday morning. 

Fuller married Vaughn and his wife, Heather, in an Iowa ceremony two years ago.  The couple had lived near the Fort Campbell, Ky., military base.  "He came into Heather�s life, and he became Christian. Heather had a son, and he really took on the father�s role. He was a good father and a good husband," Fuller said. 

Vaughn was the son of Christine Vaughn and Brad Vaughn, according to the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. His in-laws, Rod and Elaine Reinertson of Waterloo, headed to the Fort Campbell area to be with their daughter after they learned of his death.  "They are still in the pretty numb stage," Fuller said Monday. 

Funeral arrangements were pending, but services will be held at Prairie Lakes, a Baptist-affiliated church, after the soldier�s body is returned to Iowa, Fuller said. 

Vaughn was a 1999 graduate of Cedar Falls High School, school officials said.  His stepmother, Kandi Vaughn of Reinbeck, told the Associated Press that Travis had grown up in Cedar Falls and had joined the Army about three years ago. His stepson, Taylin, is 5. 

"It�s like a bad dream," she said. "You say a little prayer for the people you see, the pictures you see on TV, and you say a little prayer for the family.  Now it is us." 

Kandi Vaughn said that Travis had loved to tear his toys apart when he was a child, and he could do the same with the Army�s Chinook helicopter. 

"He was really a good kid.  He really changed his life around when he decided to go into the Army.  He just gave it his all," she said. 

TROOP NEWS 

THIS IS HOW BUSH BRINGS THE TROOPS HOME:
BRING THEM ALL HOME NOW, ALIVE 

Graveside services for Army Staff Sgt. Carl L. Seigart, Feb. 22, 2007, in Picayune, Miss.  Seigart died on Valentine�s Day, Feb. 14, 2007, in Iraq when an improvised explosive device exploded near the vehicle he was in.  (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) 

�What Has Happened At Walter Reed To Our Wounded Veterans Is Despicable.  But It Is Also Despicable That The Secretary Of The Army Dr. Francis J. Harvey Has Placed The Blame Entirely On The NCOs Working At Walter Reed� 

[This email, to members of Iraq Veterans Against The War, is reprinted with permission from Wesley Davey.  He writes also: 

�For your reference, listed below is a website with Dr. Harvey's official biography, along with a website listing his campaign contributions to the Republican Party...contributions which may or may not have had something to do with his appointment to be the SA.  

�I can't find where he has ever worn a uniform, but then again, that's typical of political appointees within the Bush administration.  Dr. Harvey's lack of military service would also explain why he doesn't appear to have any knowledge of what a chain-of-command is for.  

Biography

 Campaign contributions

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From: Wesley Davey
Date: February 21, 2007 12:51:28 PM EST
Subject: Fwd: [ivaw members] Walter Reed Story 

Please forward the following to IVAW members: 

The complete link to the Post article 

What has happened at Walter Reed to our wounded veterans is despicable.  But it is also despicable that the Secretary of the Army Dr. Francis J. Harvey has placed the blame entirely on the NCOs working at Walter Reed.  

The following is a quote from Secretary Harvey in  today's Washington Post article: 

"It's a failure . . . in the garrison leadership . . . that should have never happened, and we are quickly going to rectify that situation," he said. 

"We had some NCOs [noncommissioned officers] who weren't doing their job, period," Harvey said. 

NCO's should bear some of the blame for what has happened at Walter Reed, but the blame should also go much higher up the chain-of-command - to the company and field grade officers, to Walter Reed's Commanding General (Major General George W. Weightman), to Secretary of the Army Harvey, to the Secretary of Defense, and to the Oval Office. 

If you disagree with Secretary Harvey's placing the blame entirely on the NCOs, please call his office at the Pentagon (703-695-1717) and politely leave your opinion as to who should bear the blame, and ask that he publicly apologize for placing the entire blame on the NCOs. 

(The lady answering Secretary Harvey's phone was very polite, and she's only the messenger...) 

Wes Davey (retired Army, Iraq vet)
St. Paul, MN

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[Letter from Wesley E. Davey (MSG, ret�d) to the Secretary of the Army:] 

�If These Quotes Are Correct, I Find It Reprehensible That You Lay The Fault Of This Problem On Just The NCOs�

21 February 2007
Dr. Francis J. Harvey
Secretary of the Army
101 Army Pentagon
Washington, DC 20310-0101 

Dear Secretary Harvey, 

Concerning the atrocious and despicable situation at the Walter Reed medical facility, today�s Washington Post attributed the following quotes to you: 

"It's a failure . . . in the garrison leadership . . . that should have never happened, and we are quickly going to rectify that situation," he said. 

"We had some NCOs [noncommissioned officers] who weren't doing their job, period," Harvey said. 

First, I would hope that these quotes are incorrect, but I doubt that the Washington Post would make a quotation error on this situation, given the seriousness of the problem at Walter Reed. 

If these quotes are correct, I find it reprehensible that you lay the fault of this problem on just the NCOs; they were but a small piece of the problem.  Company grade officers at Walter Reed had to also have been aware of the problems, yet you lay no blame on them? 

And what about the Commanding General, Major General George W. Weightman, did he never set foot out of his office to take a personal look at his command? 

If you want to lay blame on someone, why not put the blame on the person who commands Walter Reed and who bears responsibility for what goes on at the facility? 

Secretary Harvey, you owe the NCOs at Walter Reed a public apology for placing the entire blame for the Walter Reed scandal on them alone; the blame starts a lot higher up � in the General�s office, in your office, in the Secretary of Defense�s office, and in the office of the Commander-in-Chief, period. 

Sincerely, 

Wesley E. Davey (MSG, retired)
1052 Laurel Ave
St. Paul, MN  55104
651-290-0117
wesleydavey@gmail.com

Cc:  Senator Norm Coleman, Senator Amy Klobuchar, & Representative Betty McCollum 

Do you have a friend or relative in the service?  Forward GI Special along, or send us the address if you wish and we�ll send it regularly.  Whether in Iraq or stuck on a base in the USA, this is extra important for your service friend, too often cut off from access to encouraging news of growing resistance to the war, at home and inside the armed services.  Send email requests to address up top or write to: The Military Project, Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657

IRAQ RESISTANCE ROUNDUP

 Collaborator Vice-President Bombed Inside �Secure� Building 

An Iraqi army soldier carries a wounded after an explosion inside a building where the Iraqi Vice President, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, held a speech in Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 26, 2007. (AP Photo)

Feb 26, 2007 (Reuters) & By Laith Hammoudi, McClatchy Newspapers

The Iraqi vice president Adil Abdul Mahdi, from SCIRI, [collaborator party] survived today an assassination attempt targeted him while he was inside the building of the labors and municipalities in Al Mansour neighborhood in western Baghdad.

The explosion which was implemented by an IED took place near the door of the meeting room where Abdul Mahdi was meeting with the minister of municipalities Reyadh Ghareeb. 

The explosion, which splintered chairs, destroyed a speakers' podium, happened at 11:30 am, claiming the lives of 6 civilians, four of them are directors, a general director, three women directors, the director of accounting, the director of auditing and a director a department in addition to an employee. 

31 others were injured, including a cabinet minister, the public works minister, Riyad Gharib. 

As U.S. forces sealed off the area around the municipal building, investigators grappled with the troubling question of how the bomb was smuggled into the ministry of public works -- a seven-story structure with crack surveillance systems from its days as offices for Saddam Hussein's feared intelligence service. 

The bomb -- possibly hidden in the podium -- went off moments after the minister for public works finished a speech in the third-floor chamber, witnesses said.  Abdul-Mahdi had made a welcoming address a few minutes earlier, raising speculation the bomb could have been on a timer-trigger that missed the vice president by sheer luck. 

Abdul-Mahdi -- smothered by his bodyguards in an instant -- suffered minor leg injuries and was hospitalized for tests, his office said.  He was later released. 

"I heard a big explosion," said Tagrid Ali, a public works ministry employee who attended the gathering to honor outstanding workers. "I fell to the ground, and the whole place was filled with black smoke." 

Suspicion for the attack fell on insurgents, who have waged nonstop bombings and attacks against Shiites cooperating with the U.S.-backed government.

Adbul-Mahdi is one of two vice presidents. The other is Tariq al-Hashem. 

An aide said Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi, was taken to hospital after suffering minor wounds in the blast at a hall of the Public Works Ministry building.  

But one witness told Reuters the bomb explosion had thrown Abdul-Mahdi against a wall.  "When the blast occurred, Abdul-Mahdi was thrown against the wall. All his guards threw themselves on top of him," he said.  

Public Works Minister Riad Ghareeb and his deputy had also been taken to hospital after being wounded, police sources said. 

The nature of their wounds was unclear, but one employee said he had spoken to the minister by telephone after the blast. 

Officials had previously said the minister was unhurt. 

Senior ministry officials were among those killed in the blast in the neighborhood of Mansour in western Baghdad, police said Iraq�s leaders are often targeted by militants opposed to the occupation.

The attack in which Abdul-Mahdi was hurt came with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in Jordan where he was undergoing medical tests after suffering extreme exhaustion and dehydration. 

Assorted Resistance Action 

26 Feb 2007 Reuters & By Laith Hammoudi, McClatchy Newspapers 

Two policemen were killed and a third one was injured in an IED explosion that targeted their patrol in Rustomiya neighborhood south Baghdad at 8:30 a.m. 

A car bomber killed one Iraqi soldier and wounded two others when he attacked a joint U.S.-Iraqi military checkpoint near the small town of Abbasi, 70 km (40 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, police and army sources said. 

A roadside bomb wounded two policemen in a patrol in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, police said. 

At 11:00 am, insurgents attacked today a center of civil defense unit in Al Mansour neighborhood in western Baghdad. the insurgents used machineguns and grenades in their attack.  The attack claimed the lives of three policemen in the center wounding another three of them. 

IF YOU DON�T LIKE THE RESISTANCE END THE OCCUPATION

FORWARD OBSERVATIONS

 I Can�t Hear You!!... 

From: Mike Hastie
To: GI Special
Sent: February 26, 2007
Subject: Arlington Northwest in Seattle 2006

Arlington Northwest in Seattle 2006
Standing tall and looking good.
Ought to be in Hollywood.
Am I right or wrong?
Are we going strong?
I can�t hear you!!...

Mike Hastie
U.S. Army Medic
Vietnam 1970-71
February 26, 2007

 

Photo from the I-R-A-Q (I  Remember  Another  Quagmire) portfolio of Mike Hastie, US Army Medic, Vietnam 1970-71.  (For more of his outstanding work, contact at: (hastiemike@earthlink.net)  T)

 

One day while I was in a bunker in Vietnam, a sniper round went over my head.  The person who fired that weapon was not a terrorist, a rebel, an extremist, or a so-called insurgent.  The Vietnamese individual who tried to kill me was a citizen of Vietnam, who did not want me in his country.  This truth escapes millions. Mike Hastie U.S. Army Medic Vietnam 1970-71 December 13, 2004

 But....We Always Had The Best Of Intentions! 

Quang Ngai [Psywarrior.com]

From: billy kelly
To: GI Special
Sent: February 26, 2007 2:17 AM
Subject: But....we always had the best of intentions!

Xin Chao GI Special staff 

I am having a book written in 1967 translated into Vietnamese and it should soon be ready for print in Viet Nam. 

It is about the destruction of Quang Ngai province where I was 'used' as a soldier. 

That is the same province where My Lai is located, where the Tiger Force ran amok, and so on, ad infinitum.  I thought it was an important book for the Viets and especially for those from Quang Ngai. 

I have read several times while here in Viet Nam and I think it is so powerful in its clarity that the real value may lie in Americans reading it. 

The other 'half' to balance the title is the 'pacification' or the 'hearts and minds' side. 

I have taken the liberty of underlining a few phrases.  [These are in boldface below. T] 

One in particular, "inevitable consequences", brought to mind a recent piece in The Progressive by Howard Zinn. 

Of course most in military do not consciously target noncombatants for slaughter and destruction but neither can that result be termed an accident. 

If a sniper round is taken from a village and it is 'wasted' in toto or from a building in an urban setting which is then 'lit up', the result is inevitable. 

This book was initially published in the New Yorker magazine in 1967 and then released as a book in 1968.  It was released again with another book, The Village of Ben Suc, in a compilation entitled The Real War in 2000. 

It can be found on Amazon. 

I cannot recommend highly enough. 

Jonathan was 23-24 years old during this time and I feel it is the best book of pure reportage to be found concerning America�s War in Viet Nam. 

I have printed the long opening paragraph. 

Substitute Baghdad and Iraq wherever you see Sai Gon and Viet Nam. Pertinent? 

I am a combat Veteran For Peace.

I am not an OXYMORON!!!!

Hoa Binh,
Billy Kelly

USA: PO Box 307; Stockholm, NJ 07460; (001) 973-209-2612

Viet Nam: 69 Ho Van Hue Quan Phu Nhuan; Tp. HCM; (011-84-8-844-2383) 

#25 Scorched Earth Policy, Quang Tin Province, Laszlo Kondor[Nvvam.org] 

THE MILITARY HALF

An Account Of Destruction In Quang Ngai And Quang Tin Provinces

 By Jonathan Schell 

This book is about what is happening to South Vietnam�to the people and the land�as a result of the American military presence.  I shall not discuss the moral ramifications of that presence.  I shall simply try to set down what I saw and heard first-hand during several weeks I spent with our armed forces in South Vietnam last summer.  What I saw and heard had to do mostly with the destruction that was going on in South Vietnam, but at the same time I found that the peculiar character of this war tended to be defined for me by how the men in our armed forces reacted to the various special conditions of the war: the immense disparity in size and power between the two adversaries, the fact that Americans are fighting ten thousand miles from home, the fact that the Vietnamese are an Asian and non-industrialized people, the fact that we are bombing North Vietnam but the North Vietnamese are incapable of bombing the United States, the fact that our bombing in South Vietnam can be met only by small-arms fire, the fact that it is often impossible for our men to distinguish between the enemy and friendly or neutral civilians, the anomalousness and the corruption of the Saigon government, the secondary role played by the South Vietnamese Army we are supposedly assisting, the fact that the enemy is fighting a guerrilla war while we are fighting a mechanized war, and, finally, the overriding, fantastic fact that we are destroying, seemingly by inadvertence, the very country we are supposedly protecting.  Like many Americans, I am opposed to the American policy in Vietnam.  As I came to know the American men who were fighting there, I could feel only sorrow at what they were asked to do and what they did. 

On the other hand, I could not forget that these men, for the most part, thought they were doing their duty and thought they had no choice, and I could not forget, either, that they were living under terrible stress and, like fighting men in any war, were trying to stay alive and hold on to their sanity.  If our country stumbled into this war by mistake, the mistake was not theirs.  If our continuing escalation of the war is wrong, the guilt is surely not theirs alone.  If one disaster after another is visited upon the Vietnamese people, these disasters are the inevitable consequences of our intervention in the war, rather than of any extraordinary misconduct on the part of our troops.  Thousands of Americans, of course, have lost their lives or been wounded in Vietnam, many of them in the belief that they were fighting for a just cause, and some of the men I came to know in Vietnam will lose their lives or be wounded in that same belief.  Some of our men have been brutalized by the war, just as I might have been brutalized if I had been fighting beside them, and just as men on both sides of all wars have been brutalized.  Yet some of them have done the job assigned to them without losing their compassion for the noncombatant Vietnamese, or even for the enemy in combat.  In this article, however, I am not writing, essentially, about the men in our armed forces.  I am writing about a certain limited segment of the war�about the destruction by the American forces, as I observed it (mostly from the air), of a particular rural area of South Vietnam.  All of us must share responsibility for this war, and not only the men who bear arms.  I have no wish to pass judgment on the individual Americans fighting in Vietnam.  I wish merely to record what I witnessed, in the hope that it will help us all to understand better what we are doing.� 

Ben Suc exodus 1967   [Photomoments.info]
 

Troops Invited: What do you think?  Comments from service men and women, and veterans, are especially welcome.  Write to The Military Project, Box 126, 2576 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10025-5657 or send email contact@militaryproject.org:.  Name, I.D., withheld unless you request publication.  Replies confidential.   Same address to unsubscribe.

 OCCUPATION REPORT

 �I�m Not Going To Baby-Sit These Guys.  It�s Only A Matter Of Time Before We Roll Up On An IED�

February 26, 2007 By MIKE GUDGELL, ABC News [Excerpt]

Senior officers say one of the reasons some U.S. soldiers may not willing to trust Iraqi soldiers is because of the "uneven" performance of some Iraqi Army units.

Recently while on patrol an American commander "lit up" the radio after seeing an Iraqi checkpoint that had been abandoned. "I want that MiTT (military transition team) to take care of this.  I�m not going to baby-sit these guys.  It�s only a matter of time before we roll up on an I.E.D."

Freelance journalist Michael Yon has reported that when the U.S. Army in Mosul forced the Iraqi Army to use its own fuel, they responded by cutting roadside bomb patrols. Several days later four U.S. soldiers were killed by an I.E.D. 

OCCUPATION ISN�T LIBERATION BRING ALL THE TROOPS HOME NOW!

 

NEED SOME TRUTH?  CHECK OUT TRAVELING SOLDIER Telling the truth - about the occupation or the criminals running the government in Washington - is the first reason for Traveling Soldier.  But we want to do more than tell the truth; we want to report on the resistance - whether it�s in the streets of Baghdad, New York, or inside the armed forces.  Our goal is for Traveling Soldier to become the thread that ties working-class people inside the armed services together. We want this newsletter to be a weapon to help you organize resistance within the armed forces.  If you like what you�ve read, we hope that you�ll join with us in building a network of active duty organizers.  http://www.traveling-soldier.org/  And join with Iraq War vets in the call to end the occupation and bring our troops home now! (www.ivaw.net)

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