Troop homecoming: A surge of emotions

They have been in the country since January 2007. Their return marks an end to the surge that has been credited with reducing violence in many parts of Iraq, especially around Sadr City.
Col. Stephen R. Lyons, the acting commander of the 82nd, told the paratroopers that what they did will some day appear in history books. The 2nd Brigade controlled several neighborhoods in the western part of the capital along the Tigris River.
The area includes parts of the city run by the Mahdi Army, the militia of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr that has been blamed for much of the Shiite-on-Sunni violence in Baghdad.
“You took the toughest section of Baghdad and turned it around,” Lyons said.

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The Real Stars

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1-504 PIR

82nd Airborne Celebrate New Years

Troops Celebrate 2008 Overseas - U.S. - CBN News: "Troops Celebrate 2008 Overseas
CBNNews.com
January 1, 2008


CBNNews.com - The men and women serving in Iraq this New Year ushered in the New Year with a break from their patrols and a little dancing.

Members of the 82nd Airborne Division showed they have what it takes on the dance floor as well as on the ground and in the sky. Many of them participated in a dance contest and a chorus of soldiers counted down the last few seconds before midnight in Baghdad."

Watch a Video

Merry Christmas Salute to All of you!

Eighty Deuce On The Loose In Iraq

"Im 25 years old and Im a team leader in an Infantry line squad with the 82nd Airborne. This is my first experience in Iraq, and being inspired by another blogger from before I joined, I decided to keep a record of my experience; a perspective of the war from boots on the ground. "

Eighty Deuce On The Loose In Iraq:

Paratroopers on Toy Jump

Paratroopers donate toys for kids
12/07/2007 06:51 PM
By: Ilin Chen

FORT BRAGG -- Christmas can be quite the international affair on Fort Bragg. Hundreds of soldiers on the base are fighting for a good cause for the chance to jump with some of their foreign counterparts.
With dolls in hand, soldiers at Fort Bragg waited in line Friday, not to see Santa Claus but rather to be Santa by donating a brand new toy to a child in need.
"I always like to make the holidays a little bit better for somebody that's less fortunate than I am because I'd like to think that growing up, I had a lot of privileges that kids didn't always have,” said Capt. Tara Kaiser, 16th Military Police Brigade. “I’m honored to be a part of something that helps bring a smile to a kids face."

More (and video)

Thanksgiving

Click on the link for a Thanksgiving presentation -- and give thanks. Thanksgiving

A Pittance of Time - Video

A Pittance of Time - Video

Perry Danos

sings his original song Free in tribute to all those who are and have been fighting to make us Free

Stand Ye Steady

"Stand Ye Steady – Songs of Courage and Inspiration Curtain Call Productions returned to West Point January 31st, February 1st and 2nd and completed work on a stunning new 5.1 Digital Surround Sound DVD project entitled Stand Ye Steady featuring the highly acclaimed USMA Cadet Glee Club of West Point with a guest appearance by world-renowned Manhattan Records recording artist Daniel Rodriguez. Mr. Rodriguez will be featured on the track Into the Fire, a piece he recorded on his first CD The Spirit of America for Manhattan. Also featured are some of New York City’s finest session and orchestra musicians on brass and percussion. Sessions were every evening from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the West Point Chapel. Six tracks were filmed and recorded this past October in the magnificent 100 year old chapel at West Point with the remaining 9 tracks to be completed during the January 31st - Feb 2nd sessions. This DVD showcases inspirational and patriotic choral works specifically arranged for this recording by renowned arranger/composer Don Fraser. Included in the first recorded portion are Via Dolorosa featuring Broadway star and Tony award winner Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon, Flower Drum Song, the voice of Jasmine from the hit Disney movie Aladdin). A DVD of 11 of the 16 songs is being made available now on a pre-release basis at a special introductory price. Click below to order. "

Curtain Call Productions - Exclusive Audio Loops & Samples:

My Watch Tonight

Blue Star Banner

Soldiers Mom video

new Angela Lashley song and video -- A Soldiers Mom

Angela Lashley songs, including So Brave, available here.

Extreme Home Makeover: Iraq Edition

Detonating caches of weapons uncovered in insurgent safe houses eventually becomes boring, so one group of US troops decided to make things more interesting for themselves, turning a routine job into an episode of
'Extreme Home Makeover: Iraq Edition.'"

It might not be army but it's definitely worth the watch. I found it on Iraq Slogger

The National Anthem Project

"WASHINGTON, June 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Anthem Project, a multi-year effort to re-teach Americans to sing the 'The Star-Spangled Banner' and spotlight school music programs, kicks off its Grand Finale today in Washington, D.C. Thousands of school children, teachers and music supporters traveled to the nation's capital to participate in the culmination celebrations on June 14-16, all of which are open to the general public. "
More... :: The National Anthem Project Hosts Grand Finale Events in Nation's Capital June 14-16

National Anthem Project Video

I have my own thoughts on this because I very clearly remember the day Dallas first realized we had US citizenship as well as our Canadian citizenship. We were at a Tattoo in Lethbridge Alberta with dispalys by both US and Canadian forces. At the start of the show we sang both national anthems -- and I sang along. Dallas turned to me in amazement and asked how I knew the words to the American national anthem (although I confess I did not knowe them all). I explained I had learned them in school as a child and the discussion went on from there to me explaining our dual citizenship status. It was at that moment that Dallas realized he not only had a choice of branches ion the Canadian military but also had a choice of all the branches of the US military.

With the memories of that day still in my mind I must admit it was with more than a little disbelief that we were at group events in the US after we moved here and that when the anthem was played -- no voices were heard. At first I though it was maybe just a new trend -- we don't sing along anymore but when I attended a rodeo in Stratford, Ontario last year and both national anthems were played -- very few sang along to the US anthem but the Canadians heartily belted out the words to O'Canada.

~Wendy

O Canada Edmonton Oilers Style

The lyrics for all of the National Anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, 1814, Words by Francis Scott Key, Music by John Stafford Smith can be found here.

And of course -- the lyrics for O Canada are here or download the MP3

Blue Star Moms -- MyFox

"Blue Star Moms

Created: Saturday, 28 Apr 2007, 11:08 PM CDT

Back in World War II, the first Blue Star Moms began hanging blue banners on their doors. It let folks know someone they loved had gone to battle. The Blue Star Mothers are back and with them comes the reminder of just how much hurt and hope this war sows here at home."

More... Blue Star Moms

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The YouTube General

"Petraeus Reports on Iraq
by Jed Babbin (More by this author)

Posted: 04/27/2007
The Iraq war has come down to a decentralized fight against clan or family-based terror networks supplied by Iran and Syria, against which more and more Iraqis are willing to fight, according to the description given by Gen. David Petraeus in a Thursday interview. This was the first time I’d met with Petraeus since he left to take command in Iraq earlier this year.

...

The latest news from Iraq is mixed and the good seems to weigh as heavily as the bad. Petraeus said that the rate of sectarian murders in the Baghdad area had been reduced by two-thirds since January 2007. However, this success seems to have driven the terror networks to work harder at achieving mass casualties which they have in a number of horrific bombings. But those bombings seem to be making more mileage in the US media and Congress for al-Queda than in Iraq. Al-Queda’s indiscriminate attacks on Iraqi civilians is creating a backlash of support for the government forces. (That does not equate to support for the Baghdad government) In some of what had been the most insurgent-sympathetic areas, such as Anbar province, Sunni Iraqis are now rebelling against al-Queda by volunteering to join the Iraqi security forces. In Western Nineveh province, local sheiks want their people in the Iraqi Third Division and in Diyala, sheiks “of all tribes” are pushing their people to join the fight against al-Queda. This adds up to a trend toward success in the classical counterinsurgency fight. But is the trend sustainable? No one can say yet.

...

Case in point: David Petraeus is our first “YouTube” general. Go to the website for Multinational Force Iraq and you’ll find this link (http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=MNFIRAQ) to the MNFI “you tube” page. Why is this there? Because for every snuff flick the terrorists use to recruit (showing their bravery in hacking off some handcuffed hostage’s head) there should be one showing the good guys winning. Petraeus gets it. Forget psychobabble about “hearts and minds.” Petraeus understands laptops and IPods. This guy gets it."

More... HUMAN EVENTS:

Our Sacrifice

America Supports You: Musician Champions Recognition of Soldiers' Sacrifice
By Samantha L. QuigleyAmerican Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 24, 2007 – A Cleveland-based musician and songwriter is hoping one of his newest works will raise the country's collective awareness of the sacrifices its servicemembers are making every day.
"Our Sacrifice" offers musical support to servicemembers and their families, Mark Reis said. "After I wrote the song, I started looking at the lyrics and the meaning behind it. I knew that it was intended to support (servicemembers) and their families and what they're going through." "Our Sacrifice" was recorded in Nashville with Frank Camp and Nicole Cuglewski singing vocals. For a year, Reis said, he didn't really do anything with the song. And though the song's intent was clear, its true purpose came to light only recently. Working in the entertainment business has Reis in and out of airports frequently. During a two-hour layover in Dallas, he took advantage of the beautiful weather and wandered outside. "There was this woman and she was standing there and she was thanking this young soldier who was on his way to Iraq," he said. But that woman's actions were the exception to the norm, he said he discovered during his two hours in Dallas. "I watched soldiers coming by, and they were just being passed by by businessmen and women ... and nobody's actually thanking them," Reis said. "That kind of struck me as odd." Reis said he's trying, through "Our Sacrifice" and its accompanying video, to raise the country's awareness of how important it is for Americans to support their servicemembers regardless of their views on the war. "That's pretty much what the real goal is, to remind people that we have a patriotic duty to support and honor our brave servicemen and women and their families," Reis said. "They're making sacrifices -- some of them are making the ultimate sacrifices -- to defend us (and) protect our freedom." He said he hopes that eventually "Our Sacrifice" will be "embraced as the national theme for all Americans to show their support for troops and their families." To help make that happen, he has turned to major corporations in hopes of getting one to come on board and use the song and video in its advertisement campaign. This, he said, will raise awareness to the next level.

So Brave Song

From a Canadian Cadet to an American Soldier: So Brave Song

The link above is from a previous posting about this song. I am posting it again along with a link to the main web page of "The Military Mother's Anthem" where it gives the current information on Angela Lashley and the So Brave Song.

"Memorial Day Weekend Appearances by Angela Lashley
MAY 25, 2007
At the invitation of actor & musician GARY SINISE of the LT. Dan Band, Angela
Lashley will perform the song “SO BRAVE” at the Dulles Expo Center,
Washington D.C..."


Find out other upcoming events on the So Brave Song home page.

The video below is from Angela's appearance at The Gathering of Eagles on March 17, 2007