Wednesday, June 25, 2003

Petition To Authorize Award of the Cold War Service Medal Sign the petition to show your support for the creation of a Cold War Service Medal, a Campaign Medal to recognize the dedicated participation of military service members from all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces who stood watch in the cause of promoting world peace and stability, and who participated in hundreds of military exercises and operations that occurred between the start of the Cold War on 02 September 1945 and the end of the Cold War on 26 December 1991. 8:00:19 PM  comment []

Lee Fong: Lifelong Struggle Carrying his dead father's gun, 25-year-old Lee Fong pulls back the bandage which covers his right eye to expose a wound from a rocket attack inflicted by communist troops. Orphaned at age nine, Lee has been fighting communist Lao government troops since he was 10 years old. The communist government of Laos has decided that Lee and all those like him are unfit to live. They are hunted like wild animals and when found, slaughtered. Why, you ask? Because they are Hmong. The crime of the Hmong people of Laos is that during the war in Southeast Asia they sided with the United States against communist North Vietnam and their allies the Pathet Lao. Known for their resourcefulness and valor, many Hmong became members of a secret CIA backed Army that helped rescue downed U.S. pilots and disrupted North Vietnamese supplies and troop movements along the Ho Chi Minh Trail through central Laos. The communists have never forgotten the Hmong's partnership with the Americans. Shortly after the Pathet Lao took power in 1975, a communist newspaper declared the Party would hunt down the "American collaborators" and their families "to the last root." And that my friends, is what the communist are doing to this day. Links for more information: The Hmong Tragedy Licensed To Kill Welcome To The Jungle 1:06:21 PM  comment []

SFC. Joyce and Fluffy Their story is quite amazing. Fluffy was a malnourished and abused German Shepherd who was brought to a Special Forces team operating in Northern Iraq. SFC. Joyce became Fluffy's handler; working with him day and night, feeding, training. grooming and all the necessary things military dog handlers must do. SFC. Joyce's team, including Fluffy, took control of the mountain north of Mosul as well as numerous other combat missions. On each mission Fluffy performed superbly. When it came time for the team to return home. SFC. Joyce attempted to secure permission for Fluffy to accompany him. Although immunized and checked by an Army Veterinarian, Fluffy was not allowed to leave Iraq. From the moment SFC. Joyce returned to Ft. Bragg, he fought to bring Fluffy to America. Within days, thousands of letters and calls -- many from Vietnam War vets who to this day grieve that they had to leave behind canine combat companions who saved countless GI lives -- bombarded the White House and the offices of congressional lawmakers. Final approval for Fluffy's trip to America and the waiting arms of his handler and friend, SFC. Joyce, came from Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's office. SFC. Joyce hopes to use Fluffy's story and fame to drum up support in Congress for a resolution to establish a national monument in Washington to war dogs, as well as wider recognition of the role war dogs have played -- and the thousands of American lives they have saved -- in more than 80 years of service. 12:47:29 AM  comment []