Oshkosh Corp. Earns Top Employer Support Award By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2008 – Oshkosh Corp. is slated to receive the Defense Department’s top award next month for supporting its employees who volunteer to serve in the National Guard and reserves. The Oshkosh, Wis.-based company will be among 15 employers nationwide to receive the 2008 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award during a Sept. 18 ceremony here. The Freedom Award is the highest recognition the U.S. government gives to employers for outstanding support of their employees who serve in the National Guard and reserves. Company employees nominated Oshkosh, which designs and builds military vehicles and vehicle bodies, for the award for creating an environment they said made its employees who serve in the military feel not just accepted, but also applauded and rewarded. Marine Corps Maj. Dion Angling, a company employee, reported that the company hosted a special going-away dinner before he deployed to Iraq in 2006, sent him care packages while he was gone, and hosted a welcoming lunch on his return. His co-workers surprised him by decorating his office for the occasion. Army Capt. Nguyen Trinh, another company employee, praised Oshkosh for giving him the time he needed to prepare for his upcoming deployment, and keeping up its support when he was deployed. “My company was very proactive in ensuring that I understood all the benefits I would continue to receive during my deployment, and what I could expect upon my return. The company has reached out to my wife by taking an interest in her well-being,” he said. “I am very fortunate to work for such a great organization.” Oshkosh demonstrates its support for its citizen-soldiers in other ways, too. A “Wall of Honor” appears at each plant, displaying reserve-component members’ photos and profiles. The company contributes to deployed employees’ unit family support groups and has coordinated transportation for their Guard and reserve employees to visit their families. The company also contributes to the Marine Corps Reserves’ Toys for Tots program, regularly attends military hiring conferences seeking current and former servicemembers for its management positions, and pays the difference between its employees’ civilian and military pay while they’re on active duty. Robert G. Bohn, Oshkosh chairman and chief executive officer, said the company is honored to receive recognition for the support it provides its employees serving on active duty. “Our company continued to succeed, not only because of the strength of our product and services, but also because of the integrity of our people,” he said. “We are grateful for these employees who are essential in helping Oshkosh succeed while also serving the country in a separate capacity, and to support them is the right thing to do.” Gordon Summer, executive director of Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, credits employers like Bohn with ensuring citizen-soldiers are able to carry out their important dual roles. “In the military, the best leaders are those who always take care of their people – and it is no different in the civilian workplace,” he said. “Oshkosh Corp. has shown that it takes care of its people. Its employees who are also reserve and Guard members know the company is helping take care of their family while they are away serving this country.”

Attention!  Wake up, for crying out loud!  I know it must be boring as hell, but there are many, many jobs that are that way.  Yours is life or death!

It’s a very good thing we did not have a nuclear threat while you were taking your little cat naps.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 Air force Missile Launch Crew Fell Asleep

New Names Etched Into Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall By John J. Kruzel American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, May 7, 2008 – The names of four U.S. servicemembers were etched into the glossy black walls of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial this week alongside more than 58,000 of their fallen comrades. Finishing the addition today was the name of Raymond C. Mason, a Marine lance corporal who died a year ago as a result of ailing health stemming from a bullet wound that paralyzed him in February 1968 during the Tet Offensive. In a ceremony at the wall here, Mason’s widow, Priscilla Mason, watched as an engraver inched a sandblaster over the Marine’s stenciled name with surgeonlike precision. Priscilla got on bended knee, held a sheet of paper up to the bright, new inscription, and rubbed a crayon in diagonal strokes until “RAYMOND C MASON” was embossed against the white paper. She said she plans to have the outline tattooed onto her skin, and she has promised to make dozens of rubbings for friends back home in Riverside, R.I., when she returns here on Memorial Day. “This is wonderful. He’s finally home,” she said when asked how she felt upon seeing the finished product on Panel 41E, Line 64 of the memorial. The names of Richard M. Goosens, a Marine lance corporal, and Dennis O. Hargrove and Darrell J. Naylor, both Army specialists fourth class, were inscribed here yesterday. The Defense Department determined that their deaths, which occurred years after the end of U.S. operations in Vietnam, resulted from wounds suffered in a combat zone there. The wall’s 58,260 etched names bear testament to the ultimate sacrifice paid by those U.S. troops, said R. James Nicholson, former secretary of Veterans Affairs. “It’s also a tangible expression of the gratitude of the American people for those who served and died there,” he said in an interview today. “The hope is that more and more Americans will learn and grow to appreciate the sacrifice and the price that was paid to perpetuate our freedom.” Designed by architect Maya Lin and built in 1982, the memorial consists of two black walls sunken into the ground, with a rolling mound of earth behind it sloping toward a heavily trafficked street. “It was Maya’s vision for the memorial that it appear as a rift in the earth,” said J.C. Cummings, architect of record for the memorial. “At the same time, the wall serves a practical purpose of separating the visitor from the noise and the traffic of Constitution Avenue and the noise of the city.” As a result, the architecture creates a quiet and contemplative atmosphere, he said, a design that allows visitors to have a respectful experience. Jan C. Scruggs, founder and president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, said adding the names this week completes the healing process for surviving friends and family members. The additions also reflect America’s solidarity with its servicemembers of past and present, he said. “When you join the service, you can feel comfortable that the service is going to stand behind you,” Scruggs said in an interview today. “Especially the people who are serving today in Iraq and Afghanistan in combat, they need to know that we’re behind them and we appreciate what they’re doing.” James Lee, who has engraved many names onto the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, holds a piece of white paper over the name of Priscilla Mason's husband, Raymond C. Mason, a deceased Vietnam War veteran. She rubs a crayon in diagonal strokes until Mason's name is embossed on the paper, May 7, 2008, Washington, D.C.Defense Dept. photo by Sebastian J. Sciotti, Jr.

Related Sites: Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Charlie Falk owns several used car dealerships in Virgina.

His name is pretty well known around the area.

He runs ads on television.

Retired Navy Cmdr. Libby Morrison and retired Navy Master Chief Kathy Montgomery happened to see one that involves military personnel.

Women are dressed in military uniforms - from all branches of the services.

Morrison and Montgomery, along with Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., a veteran and former secretary of the Navy, have a problem with the commercial and want it removed from the air.

They say it is a provocative display of the uniform and discredits the military.

"Get up off your butt and to Charlie Falk today," orders one of the actresses, wearing Marine-style digitized camouflage. In another scene, a woman in an Air Force flight suit stands in front of a shot of what's clearly a Navy F/A-18 Hornet. "

"Kathy Montgomery said that when she first saw the commercial, she contacted the company, which runs five dealerships in Hampton Roads.

She spoke to the comptroller, who appeared to be sympathetic and told her the ad would be taken off the air.

That didn't happen.

"What they were doing were showing women in uniform in a provocative stance," said Montgomery, a retired Navy master chief. "I worked too hard for what I did to be reduced to that."

"You don't see them do that to men. You don't see a beefcake shot of a man in a uniform in the same manner."

Morrison, who retired after 27 years in uniform, is particularly bothered by the blond woman wearing Navy officer dress. She ticks off what's wrong with the picture: The white blouse is supposed to be buttoned up. "She's got a tie she's supposed to wear, and the top button on the jacket is supposed to be buttoned," Morrison said.

"Too many people have worn the uniform and have given their lives for our country, women included," said Morrison, the head of the Tidewater Tidal WAVES, an organization of women who have served or are serving in the Navy, Marines or Coast Guard. "

~~~~~~~~~

You can see the commercial and decide for yourself Charlie Falk Car Sales Video Clip ç

I’m somewhat torn on this one.

You can read the rest of the article from above

Car ad offends female sailors  ç here

You’ll find that most of the comments following the article are not in support of the two retired female naval officers.

Readers thought when they went to the video they were going to see something far more "provocative" than they saw.

They really don't feel they saw anything offensive.

But while these vets may be overreacting to that aspect of the commercial, it's understandable that they may be upset about actresses in uniform being used to sell cars, in general.  Or that the ad is targeting military customers.  Again, that's not the issue here, though.

It may be in bad taste, and that's obvious, but is the ad really breaking the federal statute? 

 

America Supports You: City Celebrates 40 Years of Troop Support By Samantha L. Quigley American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, March 17, 2008 – A shade more than 40 years ago, the city of San Mateo, Calif., took an unprecedented step : it “adopted” Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. City officials say it was a courageous decision for the council to make, given that in March 1968, the war in Vietnam was still raging and many American citizens held a chilly attitude toward the country’s troops. According to a San Mateo news release, a simple letter from a young soldier serving in Vietnam set the wheels in motion. “On December 18, 1967, while serving in Vietnam, (Army) Sgt. Joe Artavia, a young man concerned about the lack of mail the members of his troop were receiving, wrote to his sister, Linda Patterson, requesting that she work toward getting a city to adopt his unit,” city officials said in the release. Today his request would be easy to fulfill, as more than 350 groups are dedicated to supporting the nation’s troops -- including America Supporting Americans, which Patterson founded. America Supporting Americans is a supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad. Forty years ago, however, the soldier’s request took some doing to fulfill. On March 4, 1968, Patterson succeeded in getting the San Mateo City Council, led by Mayor Jack Murray, to unanimously agree to adopt her brother’s unit. Upon learning the good news, Artavia wrote to his sister to tell her the morale of his fellow soldiers was “raised as high as the clouds.” Unfortunately, he wouldn’t see the swell of support from back home. Artavia was killed in action on March 24, 1968. When the war ended and Alpha Company came home in January 1972, it was to an unprecedented reception, according to the news release. San Mateo hosted a welcome home parade and three-day celebration for its adopted sons. The city has remained close with the unit through the years, offering support during Operation Desert Storm and again during recent deployments. Recently, the council received a special package from its adopted soldiers. “We are very touched to have received Alpha and Bravo Company flags that were flown in Iraq during their present deployment … and a wonderful letter from (Lt. Col. Pete Wilhelm, commander of 1st Battalion, 237th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team),” said Norma Gomez, San Mateo city clerk, in correspondence to Patterson. The council plans to read the letter and acknowledge the gifts as part of its recognition of its 40 years of troop support during tonight’s council meeting. The council also will hold a reception tomorrow morning at the city’s main library. Patterson and her husband, Steve, a member of the originally adopted Alpha Company, will be on hand for the festivities. In a way, Patterson also will be celebrating her own support of the troops over the past 40 years. The success that began with her original request to the San Mateo City Council inspired her to found America Supporting Americans, a nonprofit organization linking military units with adoptive communities across the country. Information on the celebration can be found on the America Supporting Americans Web site.

Related Sites: America Supporting Americans America Supports You

Almost 60 years after his service.....


First Sioux to Receive Medal of Honor

Why is it when some people screw up and make poor decisions....they come out with the statement....

"It's time to move on" or

"Let's move forward."

In other words....

Hurry up and forget about it.

Well, Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner screwed up....

And City Councilman Tom Waniewski says, "It's time to move on."

It seems Finkbeiner says he stands behind his decision to deny permission for Marines to practice in downtown Toledo, even amid protests that are going on.

Remember, he said the Marines would be too "frightening."

The mayor suggests that anyone who believes he is not loyal to his country is, just, well, a "baboon."

He must have animals on the brain, because he has offered the 200 Marines tickets to the local zoo.

I bet if there had been a parade planned in downtown Toledo, the mayor would have made arrangements to accommodate that.

Read the latest story in the Toledo Blade

Toledo Mayor Stands by his Decision to Cancel Marines Training   à here


______________________________________________________

from February 10th


In the past couple weeks California has shown its true colors regarding our Troops.  The Berkeley City Council ordered the Marines Recruiting Office there to close and they allowed Code Pink to protest and illegally block the entry of citizens to the office.

That, besides the denial of San Francisco last year to allow the Marines to film their commercial and Oakland International Airport a year ago denying Troops entry into the terminal to buy food and use restrooms. 

Where does it end? 

Evidently, not in California....

Now the Mayor of Toledo, Ohio, Carty Finkbeiner, kicked out 200 members of Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

These Marines were coming to Toledo to to spend their weekend training in urban patrol exercises on the downtown streets.  This is something they have done in the past.

It seems Mayor Finkbeiner believes the citizens of Toledo will now be "frightened."

Mayor Finkbeiner.....

The only thing frightening about all of this is YOU.

Let's hope Toledo is never in need of the services of of the Marines.

Because if Toledo is in need, you should be ashamed.

Ashamed because the Marines will come to Toledo with their heads held high.

Proudly, with courage and honor. 

To serve.

Shame on you Mayor Finkbeiner.

Let's hope it will be ex-Mayor Finkbeiner as soon as possible.


Read the story in the Toledo Blade


Vacate the Premises:  Mayor to Marines:  Leave Downtown    à here



And here is an update on the Berkeley situation  from the Mercury News


Lawmakers aim to punish Berkeley over anti-Marines stance   à here

MoveAmericaForward.org

I'd say the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce and the City Council of Berkeley were two-faced.  But, two-faced isn't a decent enough description, in my opinion.

Last week, Berkeley's City Council was going ballistic on the Marines, calling them "unwelcome intruders."  Now the Council wants the city to withdraw the declaration that upset the nation's right wing.  Republican Senator Jim DeMint, of South Carolina, proposed to sever Berkeley's federal funding.  Maybe that had a little something to so with the sudden change of heart.

Council members Betty Olds and Laurie Capitelli, on Monday, proposed that Berkeley rescind its letter to the U.S. Marine Corps that stated that the downtown Berkeley recruiting office "is not welcome in our city," and publicly declare that Berkeley is against the war but supports the troops.

The Berkeley City Council will take a vote on Olds' and Capitelli's two proposals at its meeting next Tuesday.

"I think we shouldn't be seen across the country as hating the Marines," said Olds, who voted against last week's proposals. "If you make a mistake, like we did, you should admit it and correct it and move on."

Read the article from the San Francisco Chronicle

In Berkeley, Push to Rescind Letter to Marines    É  here

and the original article from InsideBayArea.com

Berkeley Gives Marines the Boot    É  here

Then, to top that off Berkeley's Chamber of Commerce is making nice with the Recruiting Office by making a photo op on February 5th showing how they support the armed forces and "ALL voices can be heard." 

The CEO of the Chamber even dropped of a nice "box full of donuts" to the Recruiting Office to show how he is "providing support."  How nice of him.


Berkeley Chamber Deals Donuts...Duh!   É  here


As a reminder, take a look at how the City of Berkeley stood by and allowed Code Pink to illegally stop citizens from entering the Recruiting Office last week. 

It's unbelievable!

But....maybe not for a city full of anti-Troop liberals, like Berkeley....

No Business as Usual in Berkeley    É  here

A box of donuts sure would make me feel a lot better!

____________________________________________

California just keeps sinking lower and lower into a stinking cesspool when it comes to its treatment of our troops, especially the Marines.

First, there was the lame excuse back in September of 2007, by the City of San Francisco not to allow the Marines to film part of their famed commercial there.

Now, the Marines, again, have been told by the City Council of Berkeley, that their Recruiting Station must leave, after having been there for a year.  It seems the group, Code Pink, has been protesting the presence of the Marines.

Now to put he icing on the cake, it has been found that the returning troops, (again, mostly Marines) from Iraq, on a layover in Oakland last year, who were not allowed into the passenger terminal to obtain food and use the restrooms, were not mistreated.

"The Oakland International Airport did not break any laws or regulations when it denied 200 Marines and soldiers access to the passenger terminal during a layover last year from Iraq to the troops' home base in Hawaii, the Transportation Department says."

"A Marine reported the incident to Rep. John L. Mica, Florida Republican and ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and said it "felt like being spit on."

"The shocking thing is that there is no protocol for handling our returning troops, and at Oakland they got a very rude welcome," Mr. Mica said. "We just need to get some regular order of the process so we don't have a recurrence of what we saw happen here."

"Mr. Mica said he and Rep. Tom Petri, Wisconsin Republican and ranking member of the Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee on aviation, will follow up on the inspector general's report."

Read the full article from The Washington Times 

Airport Found Legitimate in Troop Treatment  ç  here

Well, I can tell you, California's dishonorable treatment of our Troops is eerie, isn't it?

Liberals and Bush-haters have wanted to compare the War on Terror, specifically the War in Iraq, to Vietnam.

Just who and what is repeating history here?

It's those who are not showing respect for our soldiers who have risked their lives for our country.

Whether you believe in this War or not, there is a time and a place for your protesting.

In my opinion, California has drawn a line in the sand regarding their treatment of our soldiers, especially Marines.

Do they support or Troops or not?

Californian's are disgraceful!