"They have come for the quiet repetition of fly-fishing, and also for each other, new comrades still struggling after service in Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan. During a week at Forest Lodge here, they sleep in bunks, swap stories around a campfire, and learn fishing techniques from volunteer guides, almost all of whom are also veterans.
They arrive as strangers and leave as friends....
--more--"Not all of them.
"N.H. soldier killed in Afghan bombing
The Department of Defense yesterday identified a New Hampshire man as one of two soldiers killed in Afghanistan on Thursday, when insurgents attacked their vehicle with an improvised bomb. Army Staff Sergeant Kyle R. Warren, 28, of Manchester, was killed in the attack in Tsagay, the Defense Department said. Warren was assigned to the First Battalion, Third Special Forces Group (Airborne), based in Fort Bragg, N.C. Captain Jason E. Holbrook, 28, of Burnet, Texas, was also killed in the attack, the Defense Department said."
Also see: Day of Service
A Trip Through Arlington
Are you sure it will be him under that stone?
"N.H. man killed in Afghanistan is mourned" by Emma Stickgold, Globe Correspondent | August 2, 2010
Army Staff Sergeant Kyle R. Warren had just deployed last month for his second tour of duty in Afghanistan....
Warren, 28, didn’t talk much about the secretive work he was carrying out as a medic....
So now we are calling spies and assassins medics now, huh?
Related:
The Boston Globe's Invisible Ink: Blackening Out Blackwater Assassins
The Boston Globe Bucks Up the CIA
"Al-CIA-Duh" Invades Afghanistan
CIA Assassins Lend a Helping Hand in Afghanistan
CIA Strike Teams Swoop Into Afghanistan
More Assassins Headed to Afghanistan
Warren joined the Army in fall 2004 as a Special Forces trainee. He spent long hours learning the medical aspect of the job, and hoped to be a physician’s assistant upon returning home, his family said.
He earned his Green Beret in 2007, according to a statement from US Army Special Forces Command....
--more--"But back to the living:
"Pentagon questions drug study on troops; Misconduct is alleged in tests using wounded" by Mark Arsenault, Globe Staff | August 3, 2010
WASHINGTON — The Department of Defense is investigating whether 80 wounded American service members in Iraq were improperly used as subjects in a test of a possible treatment for brain injuries, according to the Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General.
The study, sponsored by the United States Naval Medical Center in San Diego, was designed to test whether a drug made to treat Tylenol overdoses, among other uses, could also reduce the harmful effects of traumatic brain injury, such as balance loss and brain function problems, in service members who had been hit by explosions.
The investigation, triggered by an allegation made last year to a Department of Defense hotline, is reviewing the study for possible research misconduct on human subjects.
Did visions of NAZIS just start dancing in my head -- except that THESE ARE OUR OWN TROOPS!!!
The Pentagon has not said whether anyone was hurt as a result of the administration of the drug.
In addition to the defense investigation, the US Navy is conducting an inquiry into alleged research misconduct and potential violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to Jennifer Plozai, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon’s inspector general, in response to questions from the Globe. She declined to spell out the nature of the alleged misconduct.
Medical tests on human subjects....
But it was good for them -- just as the lies that sent them to war were.
Have a good tour, soldiers:
"Mass. Guardsmen preparing for deployment, Afghan mission" by Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff | August 1, 2010
WORCESTER — National Guard Sergeant Major Jeffrey Baillargeon got his first taste of combat more than two decades ago when he parachuted into Panama to help overthrow a military dictator. Previously, he had only seen portrayals of war and death in movies.
Baillargeon, 46, said he has tried to keep his family from worrying about his safety during his career, from Operations Just Cause to Desert Shield to Desert Storm, and recently, a tour in Afghanistan. But after returning from his latest tour in Afghanistan four years ago, his wife grew concerned after viewing photos snapped of him on duty and learning that he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for valor.
Why?
We are winning an liberating people in a noble cause.
What danger could there be?
At a time when violence against US troops is at an all-time high in Afghanistan, Baillargeon is set to return in several weeks, part of the largest deployment of Massachusetts National Guard troops since World War II.
Ah!
Today at Worcester’s Foley Stadium, a crowd of hundreds is expected at a send-off for about 650 service members....
Last week, six Americans were reported killed in combat in Afghanistan, pushing the US death toll for July to a record 66, surpassing June as the deadliest month for US forces in the nearly nine-year war.
About a dozen soldiers, some in fatigues and others in T-shirts and shorts, were at the field Friday, putting the finishing touches on a stage and lining up chairs for the send-off. After they finished, they played a leisurely game of Wiffle ball on the artificial turf field, pulling aside a few of the chairs to establish the strike zone, and using the yardage markers to differentiate home runs from base hits. It is a game that troops often play at base camps thousands of miles away and much closer to danger.
By year’s end, there will be more than 2,000 soldiers from the 181st Infantry Regiment in Afghanistan. In all likelihood, many of the troops will see battle, given that they are providing security for Provincial Reconstruction Teams.
Which means many of them won't be coming back.
Is this what our NATIONAL GUARD is FOR, America?
The soldiers will escort the teams, composed of civilian and military officials overseeing efforts to build the country’s government and infrastructure, around the eastern and southern regions. Their job is to shield the teams from danger, and to engage hostile forces if needed.
The troops came from all across the state and hold a variety of civilian jobs, from city officials to teachers....
Oh, our best -- who will now be ruined by war if they make it back.
But hey, no one seems to care about the unending occupations and the lies that led to them so....
"Guardsmen deploy in historic numbers; Nearly 700 muster, are bound for Afghanistan" by June Q. Wu, Globe Correspondent | August 2, 2010
Only the kids can see it, huh?
WORCESTER — Nearly 700 soldiers in formation on a football field turned to face their families, with nothing but a fence and a war separating the two.
In just a few hours, the soldiers would leave for a military base in Indiana, where they will train for two months before heading off to Afghanistan.
Yesterday’s send-off ceremony for the First Battalion 181st Infantry Regiment — the largest deployment of the Massachusetts National Guard since World War II — at Worcester’s Foley Stadium left families feeling proud and apprehensive....
Sergeant Jeremy Robare, 28 — like many of his peers from armories in Worcester, Gardner, and Cambridge — returned home from time spent in Kosovo just two years ago.
Afghanistan, a war zone, will be different....
His sister, pregnant with her third child, was too distraught to attend the ceremony, his mother Mary, 55, said.
“He’s always wanted this,’’ she said. “It’s very emotional for us, but I know he’s going to come back.’’
We just don't know how or in what form.
Violence against US troops in Afghanistan reached an all-time high last month with a record death toll of 66. Just this past week, six Americans were killed in combat.
More than 2,000 soldiers from the 181st Infantry Regiment will be in Afghanistan to provide security for 12 provincial reconstruction teams by year’s end, according to the Massachusetts National Guard.
The troops will help teams of civilians and military officials extend the central government’s authority and develop infrastructure throughout the country’s eastern, western, and southern regions....
Is that what a NATIONAL GUARD should be doing when we have NATURAL DISASTERS and other things here at home?
Related: Avoid I-93
Yeah, WE NEED INFRASTRUCTURE, too!!
The families cheered when their loved ones marched across the field, calling out nicknames and brandishing handmade signs and American flags....
Related: 21st-Century Hitler Youth
Like Robare, Sergeant David Burl, 33, the youngest of three, came back from an 18-month stint in Kosovo two years ago and leaves behind children too young to understand his mission in Afghanistan.
Does anyone really understand what the mission is other than to occupy the place for power projection, oil pipelines, and drug profits?
“I pray to God he comes home; my next wish is he comes home in one piece,’’ his sister Tina Burl, 45, of Westfield, said. Their mother has planned to host the family every Sunday for lunch and prayer....
I pray that these wars will end yesterday, but.... sigh.
She said their brother did not attend the ceremony because it would be too painful....
Why?
Why aren't Americans giddy and excited about this noble effort to liberate the world?
How can that be painful 9no matter what the cost)?
Combat medics Michael Azevedo, 20, and Jonathan Reed, 24, — both from western Massachusetts — say the biggest challenge in preparing for deployment is parting with family.
The two describe what they do as a “dream job’’ in spite of the toll it takes on their personal lives....
Then I will stop my sarcastic complaining born of frustration that the war lies are tolerated and the mass-murder continues unabated.
Of course, you will pardon me if I shed no tears for you guys (even though I probably still will).
Bye!
