New warrior song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTs6a0ORdQU

An interview with Sgt. Trinh in a pub while on R&R

This is a must listen to, it raised the hairs on the back of my neck. My good friend Ronnie and his wife gave me a heads up about the interview. I have to say that after listening to it I got back on the phone with them and Ronnie and both spoke for about 45 minutes. I am sure you will understand it after you listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAC2g8ujxZk

Take Care,

Larry Arnone
AKA Bluestardad (and I want to keep it that way) OUT

Ring Ring

"This is Blue Star Dad go ahead"

Hey Dad it's me. "Hey Son how are you? I'm good, I am just checking in with you to let you know that my team and I are at the jump off point for our next deployment. (rest of conversation omitted)

That was a week ago and now they are in country waiting to move to their AO. For OPSEC reasons I will not reveal their AO but no matter where their AO will be I know one thing for sure, It is cold so I went to the store to start stocking up on materials for the care packages I will be sending to my warrior. I have to laugh though, the first thing on my list to buy some good old Panty Hose to send for the cold days facing him. At this point I am wondering how many of you are confused as to why I would send Panty Hose to my warrior. Well, many of you may not know this but Panty Hose can really keep you a bit warmer. Yep, cheap, light weight and so much warmer.

So here we go again, another deployment knowing that my son and his fellow warriors will be facing the enemy 24/7 365. Our guy's have it real rough especially after I just reviewed the new R.O.E. that have been established for them. Thanks to a couple of wonderful people that gave me a heads up on the new R.O.E. Cheri and M.S.G., I am with you all the way though out this deployment. Keep your chin up Cheri.

There are some new members on my warriors team that I am not familiar with but if any of you are reading this hit me back with your address so I can send you a package or two. So you know who you are with my Warrior is SGT Arnone with Battle Mortars. That should help some.

I hear there has not been much chatter with the FRG but am sure that will start to change. As I said before there are many new members in the unit but I hope over time many people will be googleing their warriors unit and will stumble onto this Blog. If you do, feel free to drop me an email and we can exchange contact information. Believe me when I say this, it does help being able to communicate during a tough deployment. Also if you are called a brother by my son you are always a son of mine, reach out to me so I know who you are.

I know it has been a very long time since I last posted and I am sorry for that but many of you that follow this Blog already know that I use this Blog as a tool to help vent my frustrations during deployments, we are now deploying and I am back.

I want to take this time to thank some individuals and organizations for all their time and effort in supporting not only OUR unit but all the others as well. Leta (Tankerbabelc) Mary Anne, Uncle Jimbo, Blackfive. A huge thank you to Soldiers Angels Germany and the many Veterans Hospitals serving our military. I also would like to thank I.A.V.A. for their continuing fight to help our veterans.

Digging in,

Blue Star Dad (and I want to keep it that way)

Out

Dreams, Phone ringing and a "Hey Dad"

I know I posted last night about my soldiers delay but I wanted to update you all of recent events. I went to bed last night not knowing when my son would arrive in SFO. I did a lot of tossing and turning thinking of him and of the possible changes in his personality. I guess I finally fell asleep around 1 AM. I then remember dreaming that someone was calling me on my home phone, when I realized I wasn't dreaming I bolted for the phone only to miss the call. I saw it was a San Francisco number and when I tried calling back there was no answer. I finally went back to bed and must of fell right back to sleep only to be woken up by my home phone. I grabbed the phone and answered. From the other end I heard "Hey Dad, I'm home" and I rushed the door to greet my returning soldier. That was at 4:50 am so I guess he was able to get the last flight out of JFK. I wasn't expecting him home until around 10:30 AM but hey, who am I to complain right? He is in the shower now and then we will be off to car hunting for him. He's home and I am on cloud nine.

Bluestardad OUT!

Larry Arnone
San Francisco

AKA Bluestar (And I want to keep it that way)

P.T.S.D. and how it can be treated.

I have written about this topic before but feel that you can never make Parents, Loved One and Friends more aware about this. Some soldiers are afraid to ask for help from the Government fearing it could affect their status amongst their Commanders, Battle Buddies and the Government itself. We can eliminate those fears today by simply observing our soldiers when they return from Afghanistan and identifying certain symptoms. You the loved ones will spot them after spending some time with them when they return home. A person who I have become to know through the Blogspheres ( Joanne ) aka http://longislandgirl.vox.com/ has made me aware previously of an organization that helps returning soldiers and families that help them at no charge are are kept completely confidential. If your soldier is in denial or feel they will not accept your observations and advice then contact the organization yourself so they can help you help your soldier understand they may need help. Go to this website to learn how you can help your loved one or friend www.thesoldiersproject.org, . It is always best to catch ANY disorder early on. Don't be afraid or embarrassed as they nor you have control on the onset of this disorder. The war did it to them and it is up to us to reach out and help them with loving hearts.

I beg you, please pass the word about this as it is the least we can do for these returning hero's. This disorder can be worse than being wounded in battle. Last but not least, when your Soldier does return home to you and you greet them at the airport, smile, show them how much you are happy they are home but let them approach you for that hug. They are already a bit freaked out being around thousands of people in an uncontrolled environment.

Enjoy your time with them while they are home, you both deserve it as it has been a difficult deployment for us all. As our soldiers would say "Sky Soldiers"!

.Another fine trooper and "Wheels up"

We have all been under incredible duress these last few day's wondering if our soldiers of the 173rd ABCT were involved in the latest tragedy this past weekend. It is now clear who has and to those of you that had loved ones or friends involved my heart goes out to each and everyone of you. I personally am pretty sure that my soldier is O.K. but I do still remain in a state of being on pins and needles until my soldier messages me "Wheels Down" on returning to Italy. A message very much like a mother received last year "wheels up" from her son on deploying to Afghanistan. I will get to that quote in a moment. I was able to speak to another fine soldier from Destined Co. that is currently at Walter Reed having surgery for injury sustained during military operations in the Kunar Province not long ago. SPC Matt Sexton is such a fine soldier and good friend of my own. He was surprised when I called but happy as well. You see, I want to know all those soldiers that my son has called friends. It brings great pleasure in hearing all the missions they were on or even the nights out in Italy. I feel even more closer to my son at a time we are separated while he does something he believes in. In any case, Matt! I hope your recovery is swift and you are able to return to your battle brothers soon.

O.K. on the wheels up part of the posting (deep breathing here) as I sit here typing I find myself so fortunate that my son has only received minor injuries sustained during combat operations where many others have sustained much more serious wounds and unfortunately so many have made the ultimate sacrifice. Lt. Ben Hall notified his family that his aircraft was wheels up on deploying to Afghanistan as a young officer with Destined Co. of the 173rd ABCT. I am speaking of LT. Ben Hall who hailed from a distinguished Military back ground. His sister contacted me today after stumbling across my Blog. It was such great pleasure hearing from her. We are approaching the anniversary of Ben Halls death while serving with his men in the Kunar Province of Afghanistan. His family is so kind which reflects exactly Ben's personality and leadership. Since my son did look up to this Officer and formed a friendship in that they had some awesome conversations on many subjects and has help Alex map out his destiny I ask that all my readers please take two minutes on the 31st of this month and pray for Ben and his family. Can we make this happen people?

Longing for the return of my Son,

Larry Arnone
San Francisco, Ca

AKA A Bluestardad (and I want to keep it that way)

173rd Airborne heading for home

Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, July 12, 2008

Dave Melancon / U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Dave Garver, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), his wife, Jill, and 15-month-old son, Payton, leave for home following a welcome home ceremony held for about 250 Vicenza, Italy-based 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team soldiers Thursday. Dave Melancon / U.S. Army Family members greet returning Italy-based 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team soldiers during a welcome home ceremony Thursday evening.

With the advance parties safely home, the bulk of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team’s six battalions are starting to return.

After a trying 15 months in eastern Afghanistan, U.S. Army Europe’s only airborne unit should be completely redeployed over the next several weeks.

Many of the returnees have spent two of the last three years supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

More than 250 members of 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), returned to Caserma Ederle in Vicenza, Italy, on Thursday night, bringing the number of safely returned troops to 530, said Jon Fleshman, public affairs officer for U.S. Army Garrison Vicenza.

The 530 are about a quarter of the 1,900 due back in Italy by the beginning of August, Fleshman said, adding that another group of paratroops is due Friday.

Also returning Friday is a large group cavalrymen from 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, stationed in Schweinfurt, Germany.

Now this just pisses me off

Putting Her Foot Down and Getting the Boot

Former Arlington Public Affairs Director Gina Gray, whose boss said she acted inappropriately. (By Ricky Carioti -- The Washington Post)
Buy Photo

TOOLBOX Resize Print E-mail Yahoo! Buzz Save/Share + Digg Newsvine del.icio.us Stumble It! Reddit Facebook myspace COMMENT washingtonpost.com readers have posted 262 comments about this item. View All Comments » POST A COMMENT You must be logged in to leave a comment. Log in | Register Why Do I Have to Log In Again? Log In Again? CLOSE We've made some updates to washingtonpost.com's Groups, MyPost and comment pages. We need you to verify your MyPost ID by logging in before you can post to the new pages. We apologize for the inconvenience. Discussion Policy Discussion Policy CLOSE Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post. Who's Blogging » Links to this article

By Dana Milbank

Thursday, July 10, 2008; Page A03

The ghost of Rummy is proving difficult to exorcise.

This Story

• Putting Her Foot Down and Getting the Boot
• Transcript: Washington Sketch

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has tried to sweep out the symbols of his predecessor's capricious reign, firing acolytes of Donald Rumsfeld and bringing glasnost to the Pentagon.

But in one area, Rummy's Rules still pertain: the attempt to hide from public view the returning war dead.

When Gina Gray took over as the public affairs director at Arlington National Cemetery about three months ago, she discovered that cemetery officials were attempting to impose new limits on media coverage of funerals of the Iraq war dead -- even after the fallen warriors' families granted permission for the coverage. She said that the new restrictions were wrong and that Army regulations didn't call for such limitations.

Six weeks after The Washington Post reported her efforts to restore media coverage of funerals, Gray was demoted. Twelve days ago, the Army fired her.

"Had I not put my foot down, had I just gone along with it and not said regulations were being violated, I'm sure I'd still be there," said the jobless Gray, who, over lunch yesterday in Crystal City, recounted what she is certain is her retaliatory dismissal. "It's about doing the right thing."

Army Secretary Pete Geren, in an interview last night, said he couldn't comment on Gray's firing. But he said the overall policy at Arlington is correct. "It appears to me that we've struck the right balance, consistent with the wishes of the family," the secretary said.

Gray, in tank top, jeans, Ray-Bans over her Army cap and flip-flops revealing pink toenails, struck an unlikely figure for a whistle-blower yesterday as she provided documents detailing her ill-fated and tumultuous few months at Arlington. She worked for eight years in the Army as a public affairs specialist in Germany, Italy and Iraq, then returned to Iraq as an army contractor doing media operations. While working with the 173rd Airborne in Iraq in 2003, her convoy was ambushed and, she says, she still has some hearing loss from the explosion. The 30-year-old Arizonan was hired to work at Arlington in April.

Just 10 days on the job, she was handling media coverage for the burial of a Marine colonel who had been killed in Iraq when she noticed that Thurman Higginbotham, the cemetery's deputy superintendent, had moved the media area 50 yards away from the service, obstructing the photographs and making the service inaudible. The Washington Sketch column on April 24 noted that Gray pushed for more access to the service but was "apparently shot down by other cemetery officials."

Gates had his staff inquire with the cemetery about the article and was told that "the policy had not in any way changed," Gates's spokesman, Geoff Morrell, said yesterday. Geren, the Army secretary, added that "the policy has not changed, and I understand the practice hasn't, either."

That, however, is false. Through at least 2005 -- during Rumsfeld's tenure, no less -- reporters were placed in a location where they could hear the prayers and the eulogies and film the handing of the folded flag to the next of kin. The coverage of the ceremonies -- in the nearly two-thirds of cases where families permitted it -- provided moving reminders to a distracted nation that there was a war going on. But the access gradually eroded, and Gray arrived to discover that it was gone.

And soon, so was Gray. After Gates's inquiry into The Post column, Gray, still days into her new job, began to get some rough treatment. "Gina, when you leave the building let me know," said a one-line e-mail from her supervisor, Phyllis White, on May 2. Then Gray was instructed not to work overtime without written approval, and then was ordered to take down a Marines poster from her cubicle wall. "Please change your title from public affairs director to public affairs officer," White instructed in a June 9 e-mail.

Gray complained to Arlington's superintendent, John Metzler, and was briefly removed from White and Higginbotham's supervision. But on May 27, White sent an e-mail announcing that "Mr. Metzler changed his mind, I will continue as your supervisor." The acrimony increased. Gray went to the hospital complaining of stress-related headaches; while she was recovering, her BlackBerry was disconnected "to alleviate you from stress," as White put it.

Arlington's problems with the burial of the Iraq dead go far beyond Gray; the cemetery is looking for its fourth public affairs director in the past few years. Gray contends that Higginbotham has been calling the families of the dead to encourage them not to allow media coverage at the funerals -- a charge confirmed by a high-ranking official at Arlington, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Gray says Higginbotham told staff members that he called the family of the next soldier scheduled for burial at Arlington and that the family, which had originally approved coverage, had changed its mind. Gray charges that Higginbotham admitted he had been making such calls to families for a year and said that the families "appreciated him keeping the media out."

Higginbotham, White and Metzler did not respond to e-mail messages yesterday seeking their comment. An Army spokesman said Higginbotham and other Arlington officials call families only if their wishes regarding media coverage are unclear.

On June 27, Gray got her termination memo. White said Gray had "been disrespectful to me as your supervisor and failed to act in an inappropriate manner." Failed to act in an in appropriate manner? The termination notice was inadvertently revealing: Only at Arlington National Cemetery could it be considered a firing offense to act appropriately.

Now this just pisses me off

Putting Her Foot Down and Getting the Boot

Former Arlington Public Affairs Director Gina Gray, whose boss said she acted inappropriately. (By Ricky Carioti -- The Washington Post)
Buy Photo

TOOLBOX Resize Print E-mail Yahoo! Buzz Save/Share + Digg Newsvine del.icio.us Stumble It! Reddit Facebook myspace COMMENT washingtonpost.com readers have posted 262 comments about this item. View All Comments » POST A COMMENT You must be logged in to leave a comment. Log in | Register Why Do I Have to Log In Again? Log In Again? CLOSE We've made some updates to washingtonpost.com's Groups, MyPost and comment pages. We need you to verify your MyPost ID by logging in before you can post to the new pages. We apologize for the inconvenience. Discussion Policy Discussion Policy CLOSE Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post. Who's Blogging » Links to this article

By Dana Milbank

Thursday, July 10, 2008; Page A03

The ghost of Rummy is proving difficult to exorcise.

This Story

• Putting Her Foot Down and Getting the Boot
• Transcript: Washington Sketch

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has tried to sweep out the symbols of his predecessor's capricious reign, firing acolytes of Donald Rumsfeld and bringing glasnost to the Pentagon.

But in one area, Rummy's Rules still pertain: the attempt to hide from public view the returning war dead.

When Gina Gray took over as the public affairs director at Arlington National Cemetery about three months ago, she discovered that cemetery officials were attempting to impose new limits on media coverage of funerals of the Iraq war dead -- even after the fallen warriors' families granted permission for the coverage. She said that the new restrictions were wrong and that Army regulations didn't call for such limitations.

Six weeks after The Washington Post reported her efforts to restore media coverage of funerals, Gray was demoted. Twelve days ago, the Army fired her.

"Had I not put my foot down, had I just gone along with it and not said regulations were being violated, I'm sure I'd still be there," said the jobless Gray, who, over lunch yesterday in Crystal City, recounted what she is certain is her retaliatory dismissal. "It's about doing the right thing."

Army Secretary Pete Geren, in an interview last night, said he couldn't comment on Gray's firing. But he said the overall policy at Arlington is correct. "It appears to me that we've struck the right balance, consistent with the wishes of the family," the secretary said.

Gray, in tank top, jeans, Ray-Bans over her Army cap and flip-flops revealing pink toenails, struck an unlikely figure for a whistle-blower yesterday as she provided documents detailing her ill-fated and tumultuous few months at Arlington. She worked for eight years in the Army as a public affairs specialist in Germany, Italy and Iraq, then returned to Iraq as an army contractor doing media operations. While working with the 173rd Airborne in Iraq in 2003, her convoy was ambushed and, she says, she still has some hearing loss from the explosion. The 30-year-old Arizonan was hired to work at Arlington in April.

Just 10 days on the job, she was handling media coverage for the burial of a Marine colonel who had been killed in Iraq when she noticed that Thurman Higginbotham, the cemetery's deputy superintendent, had moved the media area 50 yards away from the service, obstructing the photographs and making the service inaudible. The Washington Sketch column on April 24 noted that Gray pushed for more access to the service but was "apparently shot down by other cemetery officials."

Gates had his staff inquire with the cemetery about the article and was told that "the policy had not in any way changed," Gates's spokesman, Geoff Morrell, said yesterday. Geren, the Army secretary, added that "the policy has not changed, and I understand the practice hasn't, either."

That, however, is false. Through at least 2005 -- during Rumsfeld's tenure, no less -- reporters were placed in a location where they could hear the prayers and the eulogies and film the handing of the folded flag to the next of kin. The coverage of the ceremonies -- in the nearly two-thirds of cases where families permitted it -- provided moving reminders to a distracted nation that there was a war going on. But the access gradually eroded, and Gray arrived to discover that it was gone.

And soon, so was Gray. After Gates's inquiry into The Post column, Gray, still days into her new job, began to get some rough treatment. "Gina, when you leave the building let me know," said a one-line e-mail from her supervisor, Phyllis White, on May 2. Then Gray was instructed not to work overtime without written approval, and then was ordered to take down a Marines poster from her cubicle wall. "Please change your title from public affairs director to public affairs officer," White instructed in a June 9 e-mail.

Gray complained to Arlington's superintendent, John Metzler, and was briefly removed from White and Higginbotham's supervision. But on May 27, White sent an e-mail announcing that "Mr. Metzler changed his mind, I will continue as your supervisor." The acrimony increased. Gray went to the hospital complaining of stress-related headaches; while she was recovering, her BlackBerry was disconnected "to alleviate you from stress," as White put it.

Arlington's problems with the burial of the Iraq dead go far beyond Gray; the cemetery is looking for its fourth public affairs director in the past few years. Gray contends that Higginbotham has been calling the families of the dead to encourage them not to allow media coverage at the funerals -- a charge confirmed by a high-ranking official at Arlington, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Gray says Higginbotham told staff members that he called the family of the next soldier scheduled for burial at Arlington and that the family, which had originally approved coverage, had changed its mind. Gray charges that Higginbotham admitted he had been making such calls to families for a year and said that the families "appreciated him keeping the media out."

Higginbotham, White and Metzler did not respond to e-mail messages yesterday seeking their comment. An Army spokesman said Higginbotham and other Arlington officials call families only if their wishes regarding media coverage are unclear.

On June 27, Gray got her termination memo. White said Gray had "been disrespectful to me as your supervisor and failed to act in an inappropriate manner." Failed to act in an in appropriate manner? The termination notice was inadvertently revealing: Only at Arlington National Cemetery could it be considered a firing offense to act appropriately.

Fireworks, a sense of pride and Soldiers

Today I was thinking what I was going to say here today on a day that many Americans celebrate with party and cheer when I found myself thinking of some of the sacrifices families have made with the lives of there own serving this country as well as those that will be forever disabled for life for their own sacrifice during conflict. It truly makes my heart saddened what they (the families of those fallen and wounded soldiers) sacrificed in order for us to celebrate this holiday. I guess I really have been thinking about this for a few weeks really but I have been able to break it down now in my mind. Like many of you I subscribe to Google Alerts on Afghanistan and from what I have been reading I am really upset.

You see, my thought based on these reports of needing more troops on the ground in Afghanistan and the European Union (Germany 1000 troops), (France another 1000 troops) who knows what other countries are supporting too little in both conflicts the U.S. is involved in. I do believe it is called The World on Terrorism? I know I promised this would not be a political Blog but enough is enough. Where is the Kuwaiti, Saudi, Dubai, Mexico, Columbia, and so many other Countries that rely on the U.S. Economy. Flashback to the days of only buying American which includes fuel and all other goods. The hell with these countries, they have been earning on our coat tails long enough.

To the family in Santa Rosa who is waiting to lay a young soldier to rest for his most dedicated service to me, this Nation and to all man kind. To a woman and her daughter who stays by there soldiers side that was wounded and is facing serious challenges on recovery in San Antonio (You go Leslie and Breezy) not to mention all our other Soldiers injured or Fallen. We the people now must make a stand. If the World is not behind us, why should we be supporting them? Stand up for what is right and let's boycott! No more Free trade, No more free tickets on humanitarian aid. Let take care of our own while the rest of the World only thinks of themselves. Let's think of ourselves for once.


A Fathers Love,

Larry Arnone
San Francisco

AKA A Blue Star Dad

(I want to keep it that way)

Everyone please pray to your higher power for this family

Hi Folks,

I am sorry it has been awhile since I have posted but I have been tempted to share some information that is exciting but at the same time I must honor a request from Rock 6 and remember OPSEC how ever there is something I want to share with everyone that everyone needs to know about so that we can support one of our own Sky Soldiers. The following is a cut and paste of a mothers Blog and can use our support. Here is her link to her Blog http://www.lesliekamm.blogspot.com/

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Day 22 - June 22, 2008

My mom and my nephew, Anthony, came today for the week. I am so glad. Much needed because the doctor's visit didn't turn out to be a good one like we had hoped.

So apparently Kev has meningitis. I asked Breezy and neither one of us had heard that word spoken before, so I guess when the technical name was given - it went right over our heads.

Unfortunately, the docs have tried all the antibiotics they have for it, and so far nothing has worked. Kevin is on the last one possible and tomorrow they are planning to do a spinal tap to get a sample of the fluid to see if it is working. We will know if it's not within 24 hours and if it is in 3 days (I think I got that right). Now the downside to this is that this antibiotic is so incredibly strong, it is causing some degree of kidney failure (docs exact words). This is really scaring me. The doc says it's one or the other as they are both as serious as it gets - meningitis or kidney failure. Gonna stick my head in the sand on this one, at least for the night.

Kev also started coughing up orange stuff this afternoon. We know that as of this morning it was the right white/brownish color. The docs are running tests to see what could be the problem.

As for the grafts? Kev needs only 5% of his body grafted yet. Assuming all goes well with the antibiotics, that may be done later this week. I hope so. The sooner it gets done, the sooner we go to Tampa to the brain trauma hospital.

I'm a little worried about Breezy too. She is starting to crack a little. She has so much going on. Her boyfriend, Alan, is leaving for Iraq next month. Tim is here. She misses her friends. She misses her job. She is scared financially. She just misses her life (as I do and I can damn well say that Kev does). All of this - and the terrifying reality of Kevin's situation also. It's just too much for anyone to handle and I can only hold her as she cries, just as she does for me. Keep her in your thoughts, please. She needs strength vibes sent her way.

So I think I am going to wrap this up for the night. I am just tired and want to go to bed early.

Posted by Leslie Kamm at 11:09 PM

Thoroughbreds, Bells and Starting Gates

I was privileged to speak to my soldier today. He talked about getting this tour over and speaking of the next combat tour either in Iraq or Afghanistan. He is pretty much determined to exit the Army when his time is done. Who can blame him though. The Army is making changes that may not be in the soldiers interests. In the past he mentioned that he wanted to re-up for another tour. He has submitted paper work to continue the remainder time in the Army with the 173rd. He has submitted paper work to finish his time with the unit he went into Battle with. For Alex it is Brothers first and the future last.

He sounded good in conversation and pumped up with current operations. They have had many attacks against their position but continue to fight and take down the Taliman when they can. They wake under fire and respond with like fire. I look forward to our soldiers return to Italy. It is long awaited by all.

Larry Arnone
San Francisco

AKA (A Blue Star Dad and I want to keep it that way)

It's amazing what a phone call can do.

I have been blessed these last couple of day's. Alex has called me from the VPB while on T.O.C. duty ( monitoring the radios) for three hours. He is looking forward to returning to Italy and speaks volumes of the men he serves with. He recently lost the T.V. they use for the XBox they have from enemy fire. He is worried as the clock ticks by as they prepare to return and perhaps his luck will run out.

Hey his Birthday is 9/11 so I guess I can understand where he is coming from. You guy's are awesome and I want to keep up the traffic to the site. Alex has mentioned that Tanner is a fair Mayor and Poole is one hell of a shot. Upp wants Alex back on his rotation so Davison is shit out of luck during the next rotation.

Just return son, thats what this dad is looking forward too.

Larry Arnone
San Francisco

AKA A Blue star Dad (and I want to keep it that way)

Support for our soldiers

Hello all,

I want to share an email from a person and fellow blogger who supports the 173rd Airborne. She offers some great information that maybe helpful to any one of us that has a soldier "Down Range" and are redeploying back to Italy. Please bookmark the website so that you have a reference should you need it. Here is the email sent to me.

HI Larry, been awhile since I emailed you a message. Hope your son is safe. I just wanted to let you know about www.thesoldiersproject.org, in regards to your post about PTSD.

'The Soldiers Project is a private, non-profit, independent group of volunteer licensed mental health professionals including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and marriage and family therapists. We provide free counseling and support to military service members who have served or who expect to serve in the Iraq and/or Afghanistan conflicts and to veterans of those conflicts. We see active duty as well as members of activated Reserve or Guard units. In addition, our services are available to the families and other loved ones of service members. We provide help to service members and families struggling with issues related to the overwhelming trauma of war including the cycle from pre-deployment to deployment to homecoming and re-entry to civilian life. Our services are entirely free of charge. We do not report to any government agency.'

They are based in LA, but are in other areas too. Thought you might want to pass it on to any of the other family members that you are in contact with.

Check out the website, it is filled with great info. i heard about it on the anysoldier forum.

I also posted on my blog http://longislandgirl.vox.com/

All my best,

Joanne

Telephone Ring Tones

Well I rose this morning had my coffee and set out to work. I was driving down 19th Avenue heading for the 280 Freeway when I spot a A.C.U. uniform behind the wheel of a van which government van. Sure enough it was a recruiter with 3 recruits. It made me to start to think of my son when he wanted to visit a recruiter when he was interested in the Military. I made him visit each service as I didn't want to influence my son's decisions on which service to join since I am a prior Army guy. After all the interviews with the different branches I liked the Army guy but kept that to myself. Alex chose the Army on his own even though the recruiter tried talking him out of the Infantry. Alex stood his ground and told the recruiter that it was the Infantry or nothing. Well, you know rest.

As I approached my personal parking space at work 15 minutes before a scheduled meeting at my office my cell phone rang, the tone was the Army Strong ring tone and knew that it was the one and only son of mine. Music to my ears I must say. As you know in my last posting last night I mentioned it has been two weeks since I spoke to him and have been pretty itchy to hear from him again. I guess he returned to Fortress last week after training up some National Guardsmen out at Camp Joyce. The bad news is he caught dysentery while at Joyce and has spent the last week on an IV. He said today is the best he has felt in the week he has been sick. Hey Jamie Scott! Your man is on his way home for R&R enjoy it! SGT Tanner C. is now the Mayor of Fortress , Congrats Vickie C.! D is doing well also and looking forward to returning home. Mellisa,
if you read this then this is for you. Alex has become good friends with D and enjoys serving with him when they are at the same base.

The photo above is of one of my son's N.C.O.'s SGT Davison whom commands my son along with SSG UPP.

Larry Arnone
San Francisco

AKA (A Bluestardad) and I want to keep it that way

Returning to friendly diggs and nice people

Hello everyone,

I have been blessed with being able to correspond with some of my readers. I have had the privilege of corresponding with a particular Dad located right here in the Bay Area of San Francisco who enjoyed a great R&R with his soldier these last 18 days. The purpose of my post is this, many of our guy's are coming home and maybe affected with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. I am not trying to be negative, I am just trying to be positive here.

My new friends son returned recently for R&R after a long tour in Afghanistan and has returned just a few days ago to the same country. As most of you know I do withhold certain information when asked to, so in this case I will not be revealing any names. I promised the soldiers father that I wouldn't and so I won't, however this should not take away the importance of my topic here.

P.T.S.D. is real but the good news is it can be treated with just a few days home with friends and family and in some cases with medical help. So that you know the government has passed a law that Veterans are now afforded help for 5 years after discharge from the Army.

Now back to my real story, so my new friends son returns for some R&R and has a great time visiting friends and family. During his leave he attends a Track & Field event as his Dad has some involvement with. It's suppose to be a great day meeting new people and seeing his Dad doing what he loves. At the beginning of the meet a starters pistol fires and they are off and our soldier is doing what any other soldier does serving our nation, reacting to enemy fire. Ladies and Gentleman, this is classic sign of some level of P.T.S.D. My own son displayed some classic signs of this when he came home. although those symptoms were not present when he left one only wonders.

They will be in Italy for at least 30 days before being allowed to return home for leave some maybe they will be adjusted before returning home but please monitor them. Get them help if need be, these soldiers are so reluctant to seek help so they need us to to help them.

To the father that has shared with me, thank you Sir. I hope your soldier returns ready to face a life of happiness. My son also experienced some bad moments while traveling home. I think I understand these moments and want to help you all if I can. Read a previous post on P.TS.D I wrote, I hope it helps.

Larry Arnone
San Francisco

A Blue Star Dad (I want to keep it that way)

Thank you to all of our troops

He hit the Nail on the head

~Limbaugh Nailed This One~




Love him or loathe him, he nailed this one right on the head..........

By Rush Limbaugh:

I think the vast differences in compensation between victims of the September 11 casualty and those who die serving our country in Uniform are profound No one is really talking about it either, because you just don't criticize anything having to do with September 11. Well, I can't let the numbers pass by because it says something really disturbing about the entitlement mentality of this country. If you lost a family member in the September 11 attack, you're going to get an average of $1,185,000. The range is a minimum guarantee of $250,000, all the way up to $4.7 million.

If you are a surviving family member of an American soldier killed in action, the first check you get is a $6,000 direct death benefit, half of which is taxable.

Next, you get $1,750 for burial costs. If you are the surviving spouse, you get $833 a month until you remarry. And there's a payment of $211 per month for each child under 18. When the child hits 18, those payments come to a screeching halt.

Keep in mind that some of the people who are getting an average of $1.185 million up to $4.7 million are complaining that it's not enough. Their deaths were tragic, but for most, they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Soldiers put themselves in harms way FOR ALL OF US, and they and their families know the dangers. (Actually, soldiers are put in harms way by politicians and commanding officers.)

We also learned over the weekend that some of the victims from the Oklahoma City bombing have started an organization asking for the same deal that the September 11 families are getting. In addition to that, some of the families of those bombed in the embassies are now asking for compensation as well.

You see where this is going, don't you? Folks, this is part and parcel of over 50 years of entitlement politics in this country. It's just really sad. Every time a pay raise comes up for the military, they usually receive next to nothing of a raise. Now the green machine is in combat in the Middle East while their families have to survive on food stamps and live in low-rent housing. Make sense?

However, our own US Congress voted themselves a raise. Many of you don't know that they only have to be in Congress one time to receive a pension that is more than $15,000 per month. And most are now equal to being millionaires plus. They do not receive Social Security on retirement because they didn't have to pay into the system. If some of the military people stay in for 20 years and get out as an E-7, they may receive a pension of $1,000 per month, and the very people who placed them in harm's way receives a pension of $15,000 per month.

I would like to see our elected officials pick up a weapon and join ranks before they start cutting out benefits and lowering pay for our sons and daughters who are now fighting.

" When do we finally do something about this?" If this doesn't seem fair to you, it is time to forward this to as many people as you can.

How many people

CAN YOU

send this to?

****************************

How many

WILL YOU

A fallen soldiers love for his brother never dies

I want to thank a friend of mine that is also a Mother of one of our soldiers stationed out of Fortress. If you remember back in November of last year we lost one of our own SSG Matthew Blaskowski. Well he may have fallen but his parents are busy doing what Matt would want to be done for his battle buddies. Lets showMatt's parents that have sacrificed so much that we all stand together as a team just like our sons and daughters are doing right now to get through this deployment. Lets welcome them home in Italy with a hero's welcome and you don't have to be physically be there if you are not able. Please take the time to check out this link to find out how you can help Matt's parents achieve what Matt would have done if he were still with us today. Thanks in advance for taking a look. To Mat's parents, thank you for your sacrifice and more importantly to Matt for your love of your fellow battle buddies, may you rest in piece as I will be forever be in debt to you. ,http://www.9and10news.com/category/story/?id=132873

Larry Arnone
San Franciscico
AKA Bluestardad (and I want to keep it that way)

Pictures continued

If you see someone you know then let me know. I have more that I will be posting later and Chris you still have a comment to post on what will be happening in the next couple of weeks.












David Poole reported by his Grand Father.
Larry Arnone
San Francisco

AKA A BlueStarDad (and I want to keep it that way)