My wife had gone home to visit her family and read an article in her home town paper called "Education Trumps War".
TENT STATE UNIVERSITY Education trumps war Home News Tribune Online 04/24/07RUTGERS — The Iraq war framed the debate as this year's Tent State University term officially began on Voorhees Mall Monday afternoon.
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As a soldier, I don't want to be separated from my family, but I understand why I am here, and I can see that I am making a difference with the Iraqi unit I am helping to train. It may be small steps, but to me it seems they are making progress from when we showed up here. Yes, they still ask us for more help than we feel they need sometimes, but that is to be expected.
In the old Iraqi army, they beat detainees to get information the detainee might have. Now with the US helping to train Iraqi army units, we don't see that as much. Well, I can say we don't see it here at the IA unit I'm helping to train. Detainees still make accusations, but they generally don't have marks on their body to prove they were beaten. Detainees are always going to make accusations simply because it is world news with what happened at Abu Gharib. See, a few bad examples of US soldiers makes us all look bad.
Now people aren't blaming all soldiers, but what do you think people remember more. The soldier being recommended for the medal of honor for diving on a grenade and saving the lives of his buddies, or the abuse and mistreatment of detainees at Abu gharib?
Yes, there is a soldier who died a year or so ago that did this. Abu Gharib will be talked about for years to come, but I can't even tell you that soldiers name. He made the ultimate sacrifice. He was a gunner in the turret when the grenade landed in his truck. He was the only one that saw where it went, and instead of diving out of the truck, he dove on the grenade thus saving the rest of the people in his hummer. Here is the link for this story.
 Spc. Ross A. McGinnis has been nominated by his commanders for the Medal of Honor, said Maj. Sean Ryan, a spokesman for 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. On Dec. 4, while on duty in Baghdad, Iraq, McGinnis used his body to smother a grenade, saving the lives of four fellow soldiers. McGinnis died from the blast. McGinnis, 19, was assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, which is attached to 2nd BCT. Only one soldier and one Marine have received the Medal of Honor since the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and there has been debate about why there have been so few recipients of the nation’s highest award for valor. McGinnis’ family will have a memorial service for him at 2 p.m. Sunday at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Knox, Pa. His remains will later be transferred to Arlington National Cemetery. According to information provided Tuesday by Multi-National Division-Baghdad, McGinnis was manning the gunner’s hatch when an insurgent tossed a grenade from above. The grenade flew past McGinnis and down through the hatch before lodging near the radio. His platoon sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Cedric Thomas, was in the vehicle at the time. McGinnis “yelled, ‘Grenade. … It’s in the truck,’” Thomas said. “I looked out of the corner of my eye as I was crouching down and I saw him pin it down.” McGinnis could have escaped the blast, Thomas said. “He had time to jump out of the truck,” he said. “He chose not to. He gave his life to save his crew and his platoon sergeant. He’s a hero.” Three of the soldiers in the vehicle with McGinnis suffered minor injuries. Two of them have returned to duty. The fourth soldier is recovering in Germany. McGinnis was approved Monday for a Silver Star, the nation’s third highest award for valor, according to a press release from MND-B. In it, he was referred to as a private first class. His company commander, Capt. Michael Baka, had signed a waiver to promote McGinnis the morning he died. McGinnis was posthumously promoted to specialist, Baka said. Link |
I think it's great the Soldiers are speaking out. So many people back in their home countries are making decisions about what is best for the Troops for them without even asking for their input. It's an interesting situation when the Defeatocrats want to bring home Troops who, for the main part, want to stay and finish their job. Shows somebody isn't listening.
Governments are elected by the people FOR the people and yet all I see is a bunch of people who are in it for their own personal gain.
We need to get these letters out there, these Soldiers have earned the right to be heard.
If anyone has any questions for this particular Soldier I am in contact with him on a regular basis and would be happy to pass them on.
A_C
1 comment:
Thank you for taking the time to write about some positive truthful things.
Every soldier's work and sacrifice is greatly appreciated. The MSM has an agenda to mostly report the anti-Bush things. It is a sad time in the US that politics over shadows statemenship and a fair reporting of events is not done.
As for the students who want some of My "free" tax money for their education. I say to them "Go out and work for it, just like I had to. " I worked a 40 hour week and put myself through school. I got no help from my family. My mother was a widow who said to me when I was 18 " If you want to go to college, I can't afford to send you. You'll have to find a way to pay for it yourself." I found a "way"- working. She also expected once I graduated from high school to contribute to the household income. The majority of what? 40? students LOL. These are whiny kids. They do not realize the threat of Islamic terrorism and that a strong stable Iraq is eccential to the safety of the US and the Western World.
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