Pvt. Daren A. Smith
19 years old from Helena, Montana
3rd Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry)
December 13, 2007

All Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

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Wednesday Hero has been mainly about honoring the Men & Women of the United States military and bringing to light what they do for us, but it’s also honored those who’ve done something to help those same Men & Women. This week I want to introduce Jack Singer of Warwick, N.Y. You see, Jack recently celebrated his 10th birthday, and he did something very cool for a very good cause. He broke the world record for wearing the most pairs of underwear. 215 in fact. But why did he do this? To help raise money for Sgt. Eddie Ryan, a marine who was injured in Iraq five years ago. Now, think back to when you were 10 years old. How many of us could say that they would have forwent birthday presents to raise money for a good cause? I don’t think I would have. Jack Singer is, hands down, one of the coolest kids on the planet and I’m proud to honor him.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Copyright © 2011 My Thoughts, Ideas, and Ramblings. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact mythoughtsideasandramblings.com @ gmail.com so we can take legal action immediately.

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Toni

LTC Tim Karcher

Lieutenant Colonel Tim Karcher was shot in the shoulder in Iraq back in 2006. After just 5 months of healing at home that included 7 surgeries, he chose to go back to war.

“My unit was over there, they were taking casualties. It felt terrible to be here, it felt wrong,” he said.

Reunited with his troops, Karcher was in Baghdad last summer for the historic transfer of power from the U.S. to the Iraqis.

But 10 days after that historic day, Karcher’s vehicle was bombed and he lost both of his legs in the explosion.

“I’m very proud of him, he’s fought for his life, he fought the whole summer to stay alive and he’s taking it and running with it, he’s so positive,” said Alesia Karcher, Tim’s wife.

Karcher says the tragedy of losing his legs made him realize what he still had including a wife and three children who need him.

“I could sit around and have a pity party everyday, but it’s not going to grow my legs back,” he said. “Life kicks you in the teeth every now and again, you get to decide how you react to it.”

You can read more about LTC Karcher here and here.

All Information Was Found On And Copied From Here

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Copyright © 2011 My Thoughts, Ideas, and Ramblings. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact mythoughtsideasandramblings.com @ gmail.com so we can take legal action immediately.

My son’s teacher heads up this great cause and I wanted to make you all aware of it. This is the letter she sends home at the beginning of her classes:

My name is Jacky and I am an early education instructor with the Oak Lawn Park District.  I started mailing boxes when one of my student’s only parent was sent to Iraq.  Now, boxes go out weekly to each soldier on my list who shares the boxes with their units.  I know first hand from the soldiers who return stateside that these boxes mean so much more than their contents;  they mean people care.  The families back home also appreciate the moral booster their loved ons are receiving each time a box arrives.  These boxes may be small, but they are mighty with support and positive thinking to bring our soldiers safely home.  All my soldiers have relatives, friends who live in Oak Lawn, or are residents of Oak Lawn.  It is a local support of our community.  Below are item lists of some of the things that have been sent out since March 2003:

Shampoo

Baby Wipes

Soap

Toothpaste

Hard Candy

Juice boxes

Snack food

Lip Balm

Combs

Sunscreen

Gum

Tylenol

Food Bars

Toilet Paper

Foot Powder

Small botthle of hand “no water” soap sanitizier

Band Aides

Canisters of presweetened Kool-Aid, Tea, and Lemonade

Mouthwash

User Paperback books

Toothpaste samples or floss

Sunday Comics

Extra condiment packets (sugar, ketchup)

Toothbrushes

Children’s drawings

Extra item in a pack (example:  6th gum free in a 5 pack)

Encouraging letters

Hotel shoe shine kits

Hotel small shampoo

Hotel small soap

Hotel small lotion

Hotel sewing kits

Hotel small conditioner

Hotel small mouth wash

As you can see, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to help the soldiers out.  We donate things every week and it doesn’t cost me a cent extra from what we already do.  Also, she will take ANY leftover Halloween candy you have!!!

They will also take any donated stamps or funds for stamps.  Items and postage can be dropped off at (or mailed to) Oak View Center, 4625 West 110th St., Oak Lawn IL 60453.  I’d just put a little note on there that it’s for the soldiers.

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The sailor pictured here is Navy Petty Officer, PO2 (Petty Officer, Second Class) EOD2 (Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Second Class) MIKE MONSOOR. April 5th, 1981 ~ September 29th, 2006

Mike Monsoor, was awarded “The Congressional Medal Of Honor”, for giving his life in Iraq, as he jumped on, and covered with his body, a live hand grenade, that was accidentally dropped by a Navy Seal, saving the lives of a large group of Navy Seals that was passing by!

During Mike Monsoor’s funeral, at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, on San Diego, California, the six pallbearers removed the rosewood casket from the hearse, and lined up on each side of Mike Monsoor’s casket, were his family members, friends, fellow sailors, and well-wishers. The column of people continued from the hearse, all the way to the grave site.

What the group didn’t know at the time was, every Navy Seal (45 To Be Exact) that Mike Monsoor saved that day was scattered through-out the column! As the pallbearers carried the rosewood casket down the column of people to the grave site, the column would collapse which formed a group of people that followed behind.

Every time the rosewood casket passed a Navy Seal, he would remove his gold trident pin from his unifform and slap it down hard causing the gold trident pin to embed itself into the top of the wooden casket. Then the Navy Seal would step back from the column and salute!

For those who don’t know what a Trident Pin Is:

After you complete the basic Navy Seals Programs which lasts for three weeks and is followed by Seal Qualification training (which is 15 more weeks of training) necessary to continue improving basic skills and to learn new tactics and techniques required for an assignment to a Navy Seal Platoon. After successful completion, trainees are given their Naval Enlisted Code and are awarded the Navy Seal Trident Pin. With this gold pink, they are officially Navy Seals.

It was said that you could hear each of the 45 claps from across the cemetery. By the time the rosewood casket reached the grave site, It looked as if it had a gold inlay from the 45 Trident Pins that lined the top.

What a fitting end to an eternal send off for a hero! Why isn’t this front page news? I got this in an email. Since the main stream media won’t make this news, let’s do it ourselves online. The world needs more heroes like Mike Monsoor.

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