Licentia Loquendi: Blogathon 2009

Showing posts with label Blogathon 2009. Show all posts

26 July 2009

Blogathon 2009: The End

Blogathon 2009 has come to an end! It was a really interesting experience and I am glad I was able to participate.

Donors raised $115 for IAVA! I would like to thank the following people for their contributions:
Ed B.
Mom and Dad
Dave H.
fortune_smiles17
Soup
Dick
Grammy
Your donations mean a lot to me! You will receive an e-mail soon reminding you to donate directly to the website. Thank you again.

Also, now that I've been awake for the past twenty-seven consecutive hours and I have a family reunion and work later today, I am going to go to bed for a few hours.

WWI: Harry Patch

Harry Patch, Britain's last survivor of the trenches of World War I . . . died Saturday at 111 . . . [he] was wounded in 1917 in the Battle of Passchendaele, which he remembered as "mud, mud and more mud mixed together with blood" (Yahoo).

Stay the Course

One more hour. I can't imagine being required to stay awake to work in a war zone for twenty-four fours. I've been awake for over twenty-four consecutive hours already. Major props to our servicemen and women.

Pledges: $115

Currently eating: peanut butter & fluff sandwich

WWII: B-25 & The Doolittle Raid

The B-25 was used during the Doolittle Raid, the first attack on the Japanese following Pearl Harbor. The Doolittle Raid was planned by Army Lt. Col. James Doolittle and involved sixteen modified B-25 aircraft.

Vietnam War: Too Tall

Major Ed "Too Tall" Freeman was born November 20, 1927 in Neely, Mississippi. After serving two years in the Navy, he switched to the Army and became a pilot. During the Vietnam War, he served as a flight leader and second in command of a sixteen-helicopter lift unit. A recipient of the Medal of Honor, Freeman saved thirty lives in fourteen rescue missions, which he flew using an unarmed helicopter when medevac refused to fly to landing zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley in 1965. His story was told in the book and later the film "We Were Soldiers." Freeman passed away August 20, 2008.

Sources
History.com
Military.com
Wikipedia

Vietnam War

2/3 of the men who served in Vietnam were volunteers.

The usage of helicopters caused the average infantryman to see 240 days of combat of 365.

The average age of the infantryman in Vietnam was 22.8 years.

Sources
Vietnam War Myths

Securing the Border II

Mexican police announced the arrests Saturday of [Jose Quintero Ruiz, 43, and his brother Jose Eugenio Quintero Ruiz, 49, and taxi drivers Jose Alfredo Camacho, 34 and Antonio Valladares, 57] suspected of involvement in the killing of . . . U.S. Border Patrol agent [Robert Rosas] as American investigators searched hospitals for gunmen who were possibly wounded in the first such shooting death in more than a decade. . . .

American officials have expressed concerns that the drug cartel battles plaguing Mexico could spill into the United States with the targeting of U.S. law enforcement officials. [The head of the FBI's San Diego bureau] said investigators aren't ruling out the possibility that Rosas was slain by drug smugglers or even human smugglers.

Proverbs 19:21

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.

Whenever I become frustrated with the direction my life is or is not taking, I think of this verse. It reminds me that no matter how many different career paths I wish to pursue, I cannot change God's plans. He has a purpose for me which surpasses any other that I could have devised.

My Platform, Cont'd.

Healthcare
The healthcare system will remain privatized. Nothing is free, not even supposedly free healthcare. Physicians should be able to negotiate with HMOs.

Marriage
I have grown up defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman. Although I have many heterosexual friends, I believe in marriage as God intended it.

Business/Trade
The United States needs to be more self-sufficient. It may be cheaper to mass produce via outsourcing, but returning companies to the states would generate jobs and stimulate the economy. The US should limit imports while maximizing exports.

Thank You

The above names are those of friends (or their significant others) who have answered the call and taken an oath to defend our country. I am grateful for each of them and for their service.

Haiku

I am quite tired.
Remind myself of our troops.
Keep blogging onward.

Support IAVA

Fisher House

Props to fellow Blogathoner Michele for supporting Fisher House.

Supporting America's military in their time of need, we provide "a home away from home" that enables family members to be close to a loved one at the most stressful time -- during hospitalization for an illness, disease or injury.

Sponsor?

Security Contractors

U.S. military authorities in Afghanistan may hire a private contractor to provide around-the-clock security at dozens of bases and protect vehicle convoys moving throughout the country.

The possibility of awarding a security contract comes as the Obama administration is sending thousands of more troops into Afghanistan to quell rising violence fueled by a resurgent Taliban. As the number of American forces grow over the next several months, so too does the demand to guard their outposts.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he wants to cut back on the use of contractors that now provide a wide range services to American troops in war zones, including transportation, communications, food service, construction, and maintenance. As recently as February, however, Gates called the use of private security contractors in certain parts of Afghanistan "vital" to supporting U.S. bases. A contract for the work also creates job opportunities for Afghans, he said.

Wars create jobs!