The SandGram

Buy your ticket for the Dallas Military Ball 17 Apr 2010

Folks,

On April 17^th  2010, we are having the Dallas Military Ball over in Addison TX.  This is a fund raiser and tribute to our Men and Women in uniform and all proceeds will go to military families in need within our Metroplex.  I am on the board of directors of this outstanding organization and this is something I really believe in.  Unlike other “Non Profits” out there that end with a .com, the President of this board, a retired Army 3 star doesn’t make a dollar.  All volunteers do this for the love our troops.  If you can make it, please come on out.  If you want to donate, you can do that as well.  We were approved this year as a 501C and you will get a tax write off. 

 This year is the Year of the Army and Gen Casey will be attending with a whole host of other VIP’s. 

See you there,

Semper Fi,

Taco

LAST CALL

2010 DALLAS MILITARY BALL

PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL FOR MAXIMUM DISTRIBUTION

WHEN: Saturday, April 17, 2010 at the Inter-Continental Hotel, Addison, Texas.

IT IS AN EVENT NOT TO MISS BECAUSE:

 We will honor the men and women of the Armed Forces. Current military deployments have required more sacrifice from our service members than any time in recent history.

 ENTERTAINMENT: Country music legend Lee Greenwood.

 GUEST SPEAKER: U.S. Army Chief of Staff General George W Casey, Jr.

 PROCEEDS FROM BALL:  Will be contributed to the Army Emergency Relief, Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society and Air Force Assistance Fund.

 MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW!  To order tickets go to www.dallasmilitaryball.org or contact

Ric Hamer, 214-769-1078 / Rhamer@aol.com for a ticket request.

Vote for Castra Praetoria

Mil Blog conference:

I am really looking forward to seeing old friends at the Mil Blog conference this year in VA and making new ones. It is one thing to exchange emails with folks, but another to meet them. It’ll be a blast, so if you have time next weekend, come out. I think there are only four seats left.

The voting is on right now for the 2010 Bloggie awards and I have to announce my support for a finalist at the following sight…Castra Praetoria who claims he is America’s 1st Sgt which is a lofty, but well deserved title. I love his style of writing and I think you will too. I have had the honor of winning this award once and would like to see him get it this year. Good luck Mike,
Semper Fi,
Taco

Tags: Mil Blog conference

Mil Blog awards

Col Barnum MOH

The President of the United States
in the name of The Congress
takes pleasure in presenting the
Medal of Honor
to

BARNUM, HARVEY C., JR.

Rank and organization: Captain (then Lt.), U.S. Marine Corps, Company H, 2d Battalion, 9th Marines, 3d Marine Division (Rein). Place and date: Ky Phu in Quang Tin Province, Republic of Vietnam, 18 December 1965. Entered service at: Cheshire, Conn. Born: 21 July 1940, Cheshire, Conn.

Citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. When the company was suddenly pinned down by a hail of extremely accurate enemy fire and was quickly separated from the remainder of the battalion by over 500 meters of open and fire-swept ground, and casualties mounted rapidly. Lt. Barnum quickly made a hazardous reconnaissance of the area, seeking targets for his artillery. Finding the rifle company commander mortally wounded and the radio operator killed, he, with complete disregard for his safety, gave aid to the dying commander, then removed the radio from the dead operator and strapped it to himself. He immediately assumed command of the rifle company, and moving at once into the midst of the heavy fire, rallying and giving encouragement to all units, reorganized them to replace the loss of key personnel and led their attack on enemy positions from which deadly fire continued to come. His sound and swift decisions and his obvious calm served to stabilize the badly decimated units and his gallant example as he stood exposed repeatedly to point out targets served as an inspiration to all. Provided with 2 armed helicopters, he moved fearlessly through enemy fire to control the air attack against the firmly entrenched enemy while skillfully directing 1 platoon in a successful counterattack on the key enemy positions. Having thus cleared a small area, he requested and directed the landing of 2 transport helicopters for the evacuation of the dead and wounded. He then assisted in the mopping up and final seizure of the battalion’s objective. His gallant initiative and heroic conduct reflected great credit upon himself and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service.

John Baker MOH

The President of the United States
in the name of The Congress
takes pleasure in presenting the
Medal of Honor
to

BAKER, JOHN F., JR.

Rank and organization: Sergeant (then Pfc.), U.S. Army, Company A, 2d Battalion, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry3 Division. Place and date: Republic of Vietnam, 5 November 1966. Entered service at: Moline, Ill. Born: 30 October 1945, Davenport, lowa.

Citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. En route to assist another unit that was engaged with the enemy, Company A came under intense enemy fire and the lead man was killed instantly. Sgt. Baker immediately moved to the head of the column and together with another soldier knocked out 2 enemy bunkers. When his comrade was mortally wounded, Sgt. Baker, spotting 4 Viet Cong snipers, killed all of them, evacuated the fallen soldier and returned to lead repeated assaults against the enemy positions, killing several more Viet Cong. Moving to attack 2 additional enemy bunkers, he and another soldier drew intense enemy fire and Sgt. Baker was blown from his feet by an enemy grenade. He quickly recovered and single-handedly destroyed 1 bunker before the other soldier was wounded. Seizing his fallen comrade’s machinegun, Sgt. Baker charged through the deadly fusillade to silence the other bunker. He evacuated his comrade, replenished his ammunition and returned to the forefront to brave the enemy fire and continue the fight. When the forward element was ordered to withdraw, he carried 1 wounded man to the rear. As he returned to evacuate another soldier, he was taken under fire by snipers, but raced beyond the friendly troops to attack and kill the snipers. After evacuating the wounded man, he returned to cover the deployment of the unit. His ammunition now exhausted, he dragged 2 more of his fallen comrades to the rear. Sgt. Baker’s selfless heroism, indomitable fighting spirit, and extraordinary gallantry were directly responsible for saving the lives of several of his comrades, and inflicting serious damage on the enemy. His acts were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.

Medal of Honor Flight on American Airlines LGA-DCA 24 March

Yesterday, I was the luckiest guy in the world to meet 30 TRUE American hero’s.  These are the guys who have given their all to our country and were fortunate enough to live and tell about it.  There are roughly 91 living Medal of Honor recipients in the United States today spanning from WWII to present and American Airlines flew 30 of them and their families from NYC to DCA for a tribute and dedication on the 24^th and 25^th.  I will post their citations daily on the SandGram just as a reminder of what the definition of a “True Hero” is! 

 Steve Blankenship and Toni Russell from American Airlines Veterans Initiative Project, put a lot of time into planning this event and I have to say that I’m extremely proud of American Airlines and their employee’s who donate their free time to fly the planes and man these events!! I wish AA would take more recognition for their part in these type events i.e. Honor flights and SnowBall express.

 The PGR riders escorted their bus into NY’s LaGuardia Airport yesterday morning and I was happy to run into Frankie Bania who put the ride together.  We met in the usual internet way, via a friend on Face book and it’s nice to finally meet in person.  Frankie, you and the boys did an awesome job helping these men out.

 TSA and the Port Authority Police escorted these Gents and their wives to special security lanes set up for them and trust me when I say they didn’t have to remove that beautiful medal from their necks as they went through the Metal detectors like Gen Joe Foss had to do years ago.  They did an awesome job and made their experience a pleasant one.  American employee’s and passengers were at Gate D1 with food and drinks for a brief celebration.  When it came time to board the flight, they called out each man’s name and rank which drew wild applause as they walked the gauntlet of smiling cheering people.  It was a Hero’s welcome and thank you for their service.  

The aircraft was a special 737-800 that has a Military appreciation paint job on the tail.  It’s call sign was MOH1 and ATC allowed our plane to taxi to the front of the line ahead of over 15 other planes.  Water cannons from the fire trucks shot an arc over the plane as it moved down the taxiway. 

The flight was very short, maybe 40 minutes or so and we landed to another water cannon salute followed by a giant crowd of Marines and employee’s to greet them at the gate in DCA.

 A flight of a lifetime, a chance to talk to real hero’s, a memory that will last forever!

 Gents, if you ever read this, please know there are millions out there who understand what you have done for our country and for that, we can never thank you enough!

Semper Fi and God Bless,

Taco

Tags: American Airlines, Honor flights, Medal of Honor, MOH

Final Democrat Health Care Legislation Threatens Coverage for 9.2 Million Military Personnel, Retirees & Families

Final Democrat Health Care Legislation Threatens Coverage for 9.2 Million Military Personnel, Retirees & Families

McKeon Welcomes Skelton Concerns about Flawed Senate Legislation

Washington, D.C.-U.S. Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, today welcomed concerns raised by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Missouri) that the Democrats’ final health care legislation would impact coverage for 9.2 million military personnel, retirees, and their families.  McKeon further demanded that the House Democratic leadership delay a final vote on the Senate legislation until language can be added that explicitly protects military families.    

“I welcome Chairman Skelton’s concerns, but we-as the leaders of the House Armed Services Committee-have a responsibility to assure our military personnel that their top-notch health care will remain intact before the House votes on final legislation.  The Chairman’s efforts are encouraging, but his leadership has decided to vote on a deeply flawed Senate bill,” said Rep. McKeon.

“We need to fix this problem immediately-before Congress passes and the President signs the legislation.  By forgoing the traditional legislative process, Democrat leaders in Congress-and the President who is pushing for immediate passage of the bill-have reneged on assurances that the Senate legislation would be fixed in a conference committee,” stated McKeon.

“Our military personnel deserve to know they will continue to receive the same level of care they so rightly deserve.  I look forward to working with the Chairman to include our common language in the annual defense authorization legislation; however, the damage could already be done if the Senate health care legislation becomes law,” concluded McKeon.

On March 18, 2010, Chairman Skelton issued a press release raising concerns about the Senate-passed legislation, stating: “Although the health care legislation passed by the House explicitly exempted TRICARE from being affected, the Senate bill did not. Unfortunately, the parliamentary rules of the reconciliation process did not allow for the inclusion of language that specifically protects these programs.  To reassure our nation’s service members and their families that their health coverage will remain unaffected by this, I will introduce legislation this week to explicitly state that TRICARE and the NAF health plans meet all requirements for individual health insurance; this language will also be included in this year’s national defense authorization bill.”

While McKeon disagrees with Chairman Skelton’s assertion that the House-passed legislation offered adequate protection for military families, he does agree that the Senate-passed legislation could jeopardize health care TRICARE beneficiaries.  Under the final Democrat health care bill, the 9.2 million military service members, retirees and family members who are covered under the Department of Defense’s TRICARE health plan might be forced to pick new coverage on the exchange-even if they are satisfied with their coverage.

TRICARE in trouble

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, March 19, 2010

Contact: Joe Brettell

(202) 510-5304 or (202) 429-5600

MFU: Military Families may be at risk with current Healthcare Bill

Washington, D.C. Brian Wise, Executive Director of Military Families United issued this statement in response to the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Congressman Ike Skelton’s (D-MO), intent to introduce legislation to protect the military’s healthcare program TRICARE from the effects of the Senate’s healthcare bill currently being considered by Congress:

“In the rush to pass healthcare, the leadership in Congress has somehow forgotten about active duty service members, military families, and retired veterans. The unintended consequence of their haste is that the military healthcare plan, TRICARE, is no longer specifically set aside as a qualified healthcare program and may subject the Department of Defense to the complex new system of mandates and penalties in the Senate healthcare legislation.

With this omission 9.4 million military families may be subject to penalties. Congress must fix this problem before it becomes the law of the land. Military families, veterans, and active duty service members need to know that they will not be penalized for their service. Congressman Skelton understands the seriousness of this oversight and we will work with his office to make that our service members and their families are not penalized through this healthcare legislation.”

*Note – To schedule an interview with Veterans, military families or leading defense experts please contact Joe@MilitaryFamiliesUnited.org or call 202-510-5304.

About Military Families United

Military Families United (MFU) serves as the nation’s leading military family advocacy organization, representing the interests and values of those who sacrifice for our security and our freedom: America’s troops and their families. MFU gives America’s military families a voice in the national conversation on military, national security and other public policy issues through our outreach to media, government, and the general public. We seek to communicate the truth about our brave men and women in uniform and their mission to protect our freedom.

###

Joseph J. Brettell

Communications Director

Military Families United

(202) 510-5304 – Wireless

(202) 293-4656 – Main

Tags: Health Care Bill, Military, Retirees, Tri Care

North Korea Nuked Okinawa… or not

Tags: Military, North Korea, Nuke, Okinawa Japan, phishing, virus

Vince Lewis’s story about a lost WW II Russian Tank !

Tags: German, Lost and Found, Russian Tank, WWII