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GO TO WIN! WAR WIN TO GO!
NO EXIT STRATEGY NEEDED!
~ PLAIN AND SIMPLE ~
IN BLACK AND WHITE!
WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT TO WIN!
 ©Is a word of encouragement from back home... so very much to ask?
For your bloodied "Band of Brothers"... ensuring freedom lasts!
IF ONLY YOU WOULD STAND FAST..!
Remember Vietnam... don't forsake us as in the past!
Don't snatch certain victory from our grasp!
No more knives in our backs!
Let us finish our tasks!
SGT. Edmund John Jeffer's last few words were some of the most touching, inspiring and most truthful words spoken since the tragedy of 9/11 - and since our nation went to war. SGT. Jeffers was a strong soldier and talented writer. He died in Iraq on September 19, 2007. He was a loving husband, brother and son. His service was more than this country could ever grasp - a man who sacrificed his life for you ... listen to what he had to say.
HOPE RIDES ALONE
By Sgt. Eddie Jeffers
I stare out into the darkness from my post, and I watch the city burn to the ground. I smell the familiar smells, I walk through the familiar rubble, and I look at the frightened faces that watch me pass down the streets of their neighborhoods. My nerves hardly rest; my hands are steady on a device that has been given to me from my government for the purpose of taking the lives of others. I sweat, and I am tired. My back aches from the loads I carry. Young American boys look to me to direct them in a manner that will someday allow them to see their families again... and yet, I too, am just a boy... my age not but a few years more than that of the ones I lead. I am stressed, I am scared, and I am paranoid... because death is everywhere. It waits for me, it calls to me from around street corners and windows, and it is always there. There are the demons that follow me, and tempt me into thoughts and actions that are not my own... but that are necessary for survival. I've made compromises with my humanity. And I am not alone in this. Miles from me are my brethren in this world, who walk in the same streets... who feel the same things, whether they admit to it or not. And to think, I volunteered for this... And I am ignorant to the rest of the world... or so I thought.
But even thousands of miles away, in Ramadi , Iraq , the cries and screams and complaints of the ungrateful reach me. In a year, I will be thrust back into society from a life and mentality that doesn't fit your average man. And then, I will be alone. And then, I will walk down the streets of America , and see the yellow ribbon stickers on the cars of the same people who compare our President to Hitler. I will watch the television and watch the Cindy Sheehans, and the Al Frankens, and the rest of the ignorant sheep of America spout off their mouths about a subject they know nothing about. It is their right, however, and it is a right that is defended by hundreds of thousands of boys and girls scattered across the world, far from home. I use the word boys and girls, because that's what they are. In the Army, the average age of the infantryman is nineteen years old. The average rank of soldiers killed in action is Private First Class. People like Cindy Sheehan are ignorant. Not just to this war, but to the results of their idiotic ramblings, or at least I hope they are. They don't realize its effects on this war. In this war, there are no Geneva Conventions, no cease fires. Medics and Chaplains are not spared from the enemy's brutality because it's against the rules. I can only imagine the horrors a military Chaplain would experience at the hands of the enemy. The enemy slinks in the shadows and fights a coward's war against us. It is effective though, as many men and women have died since the start of this war. And the memory of their service to America is tainted by the inconsiderate remarks on our nation's news outlets. And every day, the enemy changes... only now, the enemy is becoming something new. The enemy is transitioning from the Muslim extremists to Americans. The enemy is becoming the very people whom we defend with our lives. And they do not realize it. But in denouncing our actions, denouncing our leaders, denouncing the war we live and fight, they are isolating the military from society.. and they are becoming our enemy. Democrats and peace activists like to toss the word "quagmire" around and compare this war to Vietnam. In a way they are right, this war is becoming like Vietnam. Not the actual war, but in the isolation of country and military. America is not a nation at war; they are a nation with its military at war. Like it or not, we are here, some of us for our second, or third times; some even for their fourth and so on. Americans are so concerned now with politics, that it is interfering with our war. Terrorists cut the heads off of American citizens on the Internet... and there is no outrage, but an American soldier kills an Iraqi in the midst of battle, and there are investigations, and sometimes soldiers are even jailed... for doing their job. It is absolutely sickening to me to think our country has come to this. Why are we so obsessed with the bad news? Why will people stop at nothing to be against this war, no matter how much evidence of the good we've done is thrown in their face? When is the last time CNN or MSNBC or CBS reported the opening of schools and hospitals in Iraq ? Or the leaders of terror cells being detained or killed? It's all happening, but people will not let up their hatred of Bush. They will ignore the good news, because it just might show people that Bush was right. America has lost its will to fight. It has lost its will to defend what is right and just in the world. The crazy thing of it all is that the American people have not even been asked to sacrifice a single thing. It's not like World War Two, where people rationed food, and turned in cars to be made into metal for tanks. The American people have not been asked to sacrifice anything. Unless you are in the military or the family member of a service member, its life as usual... the war doesn't affect you. But it affects us. And when it is over, and the troops come home, and they try to piece together what's left of them after their service... where will the detractors be then? Where will the Cindy Sheehans be to comfort and talk to soldiers and help them sort out the last couple years of their lives, most of which have been spent dodging death and wading through the deaths of their friends? They will be where they always are, somewhere far away, where the horrors of the world can't touch them. Somewhere where they can complain about things they will never experience in their lifetime; things that the young men and women of America have willingly taken upon their shoulders. We are the hope of the Iraqi people. They want what everyone else wants in life: safety, security, somewhere to call home. They want a country that is safe to raise their children in. Not a place where their children will be abducted, raped, and murdered if they do not comply with the terrorists demands. They want to live on, rebuild and prosper. And America has given them the opportunity, but only if we stay true to the cause, and see it to its end But the country must unite in this endeavor... we cannot place the burden on our military alone. We must all stand up and fight, whether in uniform or not. And supporting us is more than sticking yellow ribbon stickers on your cars. It's supporting our President, our troops and our cause. Right now, the burden is all on the American soldiers. Right now, hope rides alone. But it can change, it must change. Because there is only failure and darkness ahead for us as a country, as a people, if it doesn't. Stop all the political nonsense, let's stop all the bickering, let's stop all the bad news, and let's stand and fight !
Eddie's father, David Jeffers, writes:
I'm not sure how many letters or articles you've ever read from the genre of "News from the Front," but this is one of the best I've ever read, including all of America's wars. As I was reading this, I forgot that it was my son who had written it. My emotions range from great pride to great sorrow, knowing that my little boy (22 years old) has become this man. He is my hero. Jack O.
FROM IRAQ  STAND FAST!
E-mail to my son-in-law, my daughter & friends, from his brother:
Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2007 5:04 AM
Subject: STAND FAST, Mr. President
Tucker & Pam, everyone, sorry for the long silence since we began the Great Wall project. The Great Wall was finished about a month ago and has greatly reduced the violence in a vital arrea where a Shiite neighborhood is next to a Sunni enclave. Our missions now consist of supplying our fellow paratroopers with sustainment (food/water etc.) and taking concrete barriers to
checkpoints so as to create other safer havens for the coalition forces/Iraqis to go about their business.
I've been on just under 30 missions with another in a few hours. When we go out before local curfew (usually 2200/10pm) while it is still light out, I get to see a good bit about the current state of Baghdad. It is very dirty and clearly needs major infrastructure investment. The locals seem not to be bothered by the
chaos that a military convoy creates with gun trucks bringing traffic to a halt in both directions (forcefully if need be) and the children usually
wave to us with smiles on their faces (I always wave back) and there has only been 1 instance I have witnessed where we got an obscene gesture (a
boy of about 13). Despite the high body-count suicide attacks, the general sense among the soldiers, officers, English-speaking Iraqi's I encounter is that things are slowly getting better.
Yesterday was especially hot (114 high/93 low) and I was in low spirits as the heat & work tempo is starting to wear me down (our body armor weighs
41#, helmet, M4 weapon with full combat load--7 magazines @30rounds per) and then I started thinking about what they had to endure at Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Viet Nam, etc. and I started to feel like a big sissy. The hardships they had to endure were much greater and I feel the stakes are every bit as high here. I was asked by one of you (Doc Labroo) if I ever think about Baghdad being the cradle of civilization in the context of the struggle going on here. Yes, I do. What becomes of Baghdad is going to shape the world our children grow up in. Islamic Fascism/terrorism would only become emboldened & strengthened by an American withdrawal and probably cause the more moderate Muslim states to destabilize and create a far more dangerous world. My generation hasn't sacrificed very much to enjoy a lifestyle that the soldiers at Omaha beach couldn't possibly dream of but helped create. I read an article a couple of days (visiting scholar at Hoover Institution from Netherlands I think) ago that since the start of this conflict we have had almost 150,000 fatalities in motor vehicle accidents and around 3600 killed in action. As a nation we know traffic accidents come with the territory of a free & open society yet losing approx. 750 volunteer soldiers a year in a war against terror is starting to cause panic. I know many of you think that our presence here is creating terrorists and yes it is giving alot of disaffected young men something to do but the root cause of their disaffectation is due to Islamic fascism. 9/11 happened when we weren't occupying a Middle Eastern country. If Al Queda is not directly confronted here and elsewhere they will one day acquire WMD and bring
their terror on American soil with far worse consequences than 9/11. What is happening over here is messy but is making Al Qaeda and their allies less able to go on the offense against the United States of America and that is why we should stay as long as it takes.
PFC Greg Law, U.S. Paratrooper  Stationed: Camp Taji, Baghdad, Iraq
E-mail Sent: Monday, December 10, 2007 7:35 PM
Attached is the picture with General Petraeus (Gen. Petraeus 4th from left, his arm around Greg, surrounded by fellow paratroopers) right after we
had Thanksgiving dinner at Camp Taji. On the far right is Colonel Farris of
the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team--my brigade commander.
His star is on the rise as our brigade has done alot of the work in making
Baghdad safer. FYI: the pictured female soldier's duties are to interrogate
detainees. We all received a medallion (not considered a medal) or large
coin from General Petraeus. Mine had the Multi National Force crest on the
front and Army insignia and 4 stars on the back with 'Commanding General'
written under the stars and on the top is written "For Excellence in
Combat". Everyone has been most eager to see my 'coin' and from what I
gather I have the 'Hope Diamond' of military coins. I have mixed feelings
since there are a number of soldeirs in my unit more deserving of this honor
since they are on their 3rd, 4th, or 5th deployment.
I have been reassigned (I volunteered) to COP (coalition outpost) War Eagle
which is in Baghdad on the banks of the Tigris river. I am attached to an
artillery unit and we do patrols of a Northwest sector of Baghdad. I am in a
'ready platoon' who has to roll out on a moment's notice to round up bad
guys who have just been located or provide security for other operations. We
operate from up-armored humvees with turreted 50 caliper machine guns and we
do dismounted (outside the vehicle on foot) patrols and interact with the
civilians. We are extremely popular with the locals and they like having us
around---because we make their neighborhoods safer. This week I have tower
guard duty and the school children play soccer right under my tower outside
the outpost. We let the children take a short cut thru War Eagle as they
walk home from school and they are very friendly and request 'chocolata'. I
usually have a pocketful from the mountains of goodies that arrive daily via
care packages. Iraqi Army soldiers also live here on War Eagle and we
sometimes do joint operations. Everyday dozens of locals enter War Eagle and
give us helpful information that continue to help make Baghdad safer and
function better. General Petraeus had the Army decentralize some of our
resources from large FOBs (forward operating bases) like Camp Taji into
neighborhood outposts like War Eagle and this approach has been extremely
helpful in building relationships with the local population and giving them
a sense of security that if they provide information against the insurgents
we are nearby to prevent any reprisals. There are probably 10-12 similiar
outposts in Baghdad.
Good things are happening here in Baghdad and I hope everyone is having a
festive holiday season back home.
PFC Gregory Law
Greg's End of Deployment
Message received 3/18/08
Greetings from Kuwait,
I along with the last remaining soldiers from the 82nd Airborne's 2nd Brigade Combat Team are returning to Fort Bragg completing our deployment. What a year and a half this has been with suddenly being told that the Army would take an old guy like me after all, the challenge of boot camp, Advanced Individual Training, and Airborne school and then onto Fort Bragg just long enough to in-process before joining my unit in Baghdad.
Our unit (407th Forward Support Batallion) helped play a pivotal role in reducing the roadside bombs (IEDs) by creating security perimiters with concrete barriers in addition to providing supplies to our soldiers posted at US Army or joint US Army/Iraqi Army outposts within Baghdad. My last 3 months were at COP (combat outpost) War Eagle in northwest Baghdad where I got to see first hand the quite noticeable improvement in security for the local residents (although there are still periodic high body- count suicide bombers). Every single day (2x/day) we went out on patrol to provide a very visible presence that over time gave the locals confidence to start helping themselves by pointing out the bad guys, reporting IED emplacements, and started forming their own neighborhood watch programs. The reduction in violence (60-80%) has been quite dramatic resulting in hundreds of thousands of former Baghdadians (67,000 in December alone according to the Iraqi's) returning to rebuild their lives, their city, and help build a government that can provide basic services, security, and a representative government granting citizens basic rights & protection from oppression. They are along way off from becoming a stable self sufficient or Western style democratic goverment but have made great strides in very challenging circumstances. The Iraqi Army & police are far more capable than when I arrived (we provided support for them on several successful raids) and hopefully the government can start to function better.
On every single mission I went on from War Eagle hundreds of children lined the streets waving, requesting 'chokolata', demonstrated their soccer skills, and practiced their English on the passing soldiers. I always found a respectful nod or wave to the adults was reciprocated and the few I could converse with in English said our presence was vital for their immediate safety and necessary to help them achieve lasting stability.
Conventional wisdom now says our presence in Iraq drew Al Qaeda into Iraq. Thousands of Al Qaeda or their allies have been killed or captured every month. Increasingly, it is the Iraqis who are doing the killing and capturing. This is a very good thing for Iraq and our national security as it depletes Al Qaeda 's resources away from American soil and will allow for the vast Islamic non-extremist majority to be the ones who fight on the front lines against Islamic Fascism.
I think history may say a turning point in this conflict occurred during the summer of 2007 when there was a growing sense that we should start to pull out of Iraq. President Bush remained steadfast when even his political allies started to waver. His resolve and leadership was felt even at my low level as the operations tempo and sense of urgency picked up and suddenly the amount of barriers we were hauling more than doubled and this at a time when it frequently got over 120 degrees. I could sense the heightened awareness in the voices of the officers conducting our pre-mission briefs. Just as I and most of my fellow soldiers knew we were 'all in', the Iraqis realized we weren't going to pull out so they started taking more initiative and turning on- and turning in- the bad guys. The new checkpoints had locals turning up to man them. The displaced Iraqi's sensed that they had a future to come back and work towards. An announced troop drawdown timetable would not have accomplished this.
I know many intelligent, patriotic, informed, fellow Americans (and correspondants) don't share my perspective and I appreciate the very thoughtful and well reasoned counterpoints that have been made to my posts and look forward to soon debating these important issues civilly--in person. Many thanks for your support as it has meant the world to me.
I want to close with remembering a fine young man, Private Michael Slater from West Virginia, who died during a concrete barrier loading accident just a couple weeks after we arrived. I had the good fortune to see that he was a good son, brother, and generous friend. He will be greatly missed.
PFC Gregory Law
TRUE GRIT!
We have the HEROES, now lets have your FULL SUPPORT!
AMPUTEE WINS FIGHT TO REMAIN IN INFANTRY!
By William Cole -
Advertiser Military Writer - The Honolulu Advertiser
 
Sgt. Brandon Wooldridge
Sgt. Brandon Wooldridge says having a prosthetic leg hasn't ruled out a return to Iraq. "That's what I enlisted for," he says. "That's where my friends are going, and I want to be with them when they go."
Photos by BRUCE ASATO | The Honolulu Advertiser
Sgt. Brandon Wooldridge is a true Army grunt, a ground-pounder who liked jumping over walls and being in the thick of things in Iraq.
The Schofield Barracks soldier likely will have to go back to the country.
But there was his "situation" to deal with — the fact that his left leg now ends 6 inches below the knee. From there down it's carbon fiber and titanium sheathed in his desert combat boot.
The 25-year-old's calf was blown off in a firefight in Iraq in late 2004. Doctors amputated his lower leg.
For more than a year and a half, Wooldridge fought and finally won a separate battle — for the right to return to what is now a Stryker brigade unit as a frontline soldier. He said he wouldn't object to going back to Iraq.
"That's what I enlisted for. That's where my friends are going, and I want to be with them when they go," he said.
Wooldridge figures his combat experience can help his soldiers and others.
Over time, the North Carolina man has moved beyond the loss of his leg and foot. His prosthesis became just another piece of equipment that he doesn't advertise and some other soldiers don't know about.
His "fit for duty" status came from an Army Medical Evaluation Board in late July.
"Most of it came with my ability to march and run and be able to do the things with — if you want to call it a handicap — with my situation," Wooldridge said. "I believe that's what helped."
The U.S. military tells many amputee service members they can return to duty if they want to, but the reality is Wooldridge beat the odds.
According to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., as of Sept. 1 there were 468 service members with limb loss from fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan.
As of April 18, 195 of those service members had completed the Medical Evaluation Board process and Physical Evaluation Board process. Thirty-four were listed as continued on active duty, continued on active Reserve, fit for duty or return to duty.
'I WANT TO STAY IN ARMY'
Col. William J. Howard III, who was chief of occupational therapy at Walter Reed and now holds the same position at Tripler Army Medical Center, said to stay infantry "is pretty unique," and there are only a handful of soldiers with limb loss making that choice.
"It's hard," Howard said, "and if you're a young person who has the rest of their life in front of them, it's sometimes easier to be medically boarded (out of the military) and do something different."
Maj. David M. Rozelle lost a leg in Iraq, returned to combat there, and now works at the amputee center at Walter Reed. "If they want to go (back to a frontline unit), they can go, but nobody wants to hinder their unit," he said.
But Howard remembers the conversation he had with Wooldridge when the soldier arrived at Walter Reed for treatment and rehabilitation.
"In Brandon's case, he was clear, from the first day we worked together, (and I asked,) 'What do you want to do?' " Howard recalls. " 'I want to stay in the Army,' " was Wooldridge's answer. Further, he wanted to remain infantry.
Wooldridge wanted to make the Army his career. On Nov. 13, 2004, however, Iraqi insurgents made that ambition a little harder.
The 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry "Wolfhound," was in a three-Humvee convoy in the northern tip of the Sunni Triangle, about 30 miles southwest of Kirkuk, when he and fellow Schofield soldiers came under heavy fire.
"There was a lot of stuff they had fired. A few (rocket-propelled grenades). Some people said there might have been a roadside bomb. Lot of heavy machine-gun fire," Wooldridge said last year.
Manning an M-249 Squad Automatic Weapon in the open-backed Humvee, Wooldridge remembers, he first took cover and then quickly returned fire over the makeshift armor hung on the wooden side rails of the vehicle.
He's not sure what hit him. He believes it was a rocket-propelled grenade blast. Whatever it was, it tore out his calf.
DETERMINED TO KEEP UP
On Friday, the married father of two kids was sprawled on his stomach at Pu'uloa training range in full combat gear with 19 other soldiers conducting shooting practice. He walks with a slight limp.
"He can perform physically fine," said Staff Sgt. Stephen Novak, 32, who was Wooldridge's squad leader in Iraq. On Friday, Novak was safety coach at the range where Wooldridge was shooting.
"It's up to him how far he wants to excel or push himself," Novak said. "Yeah, he has limitations, but it's not like he's the weakest link in the chain."
Evaluations of his progress were forwarded to Fort Lewis, Wash., for review, but Wooldridge did not have to appear before a Medical Evaluation Board.
"I just had to continue to do the same things that everybody else was doing without falling back," he said.
If his request to remain infantry had been denied, Wooldridge said he could have appealed to the Physical Evaluation Board.
Wooldridge said he received "100 percent support" from his chain of command and doctors and therapists he worked with, but that also came with hard work on his part.
On eight-mile road marches, he's in the middle of the pack, he said. His unit does five-mile runs on Mondays. He has proved himself in an eight-mile competition with stops along the way where soldiers had to perform different soldiering skills.
Wooldridge has four "legs" — for running, swimming, high-intensity activity and road marching.
A big plus is that his injury was below the knee.
"It's a huge advantage," Tripler's Howard said. "If you have a knee, your ability to ambulate is much better."
LOVING SUPPORT
There's still the matter of Wooldridge's re-enlistment to work out. He put in a re-enlistment contract before his injury. But afterward, he said, the Army would not go through with it until he was found fit for duty.
He would have re-enlisted in Iraq, and was supposed to get a tax-free $20,000 bonus, but he never put pen to paper, was wounded, and now the Army is balking at paying the bonus, he said.
"We're negotiating a new contract," Wooldridge said.
Wooldridge said his wife, Carla, "will tell you that I'm crazy (for possibly going back to Iraq), but she also supports me 100 percent."
She understands her husband's drive and desire to stay infantry.
"It makes him happy and I love it," Carla, 26, said. "I know he can do it." She also understands his feelings about Iraq. "He needs to go back for personal reasons," she said. "I don't necessarily want him to go back, but no military spouse wants their husband or wife to go to Iraq or overseas anywhere."
I have the pleasure and honor of knowing Sgt. Wooldridge's Mom, Maripi. I bought my beautiful Airedale Terrier, "Tara" from her and her partner, Jennifer Stevens at Terrydale Kennels in Mebane, NC. The best trainers and breeders in the country! Grif
IN WAR THERE IS ONLY ONE WINNING STRATEGY! COMPLETE SUPPORT FROM THE HOMEFRONT!
THE DOVE MUST FOLLOW THE EAGLE! FOR IT'S OWN SAFETY AND WELL BEING!
WHERE THE EAGLE PROTECTS THE DOVEA poem from "Thoughts, Memories and Tears" by Grif
God bless this land we love,
WHERE THE EAGLE PROTECTS THE DOVE....
Where our children grow up free,
In Your land of opportunity....
From the cool, clear waters of Puget Sound,
To Florida's white sands, renown....
From the shores of our Great Lakes,
Across our deserts and plains so great....
God bless each and every state,
Bestow on us, Thy saving grace....
Save us from Satan's evil fate,
Liberty and justice, be our sacred mates....
God bless our people, of every race,
Let equality reflect, on every face....
Race, creed or color, be no disgrace,
Our hands clasped in sincere embrace....
Bring gentle rain, to moisten our soil,
The sweat of our labor, to flower from toil....
Send subtle winds, to caress our wheat,
Provide your people, blessed manna to eat....
Let the sun shine, to brighten our days,
"The beginning of wisdom, fear of Yahweh"....
"One nation under God", we kneel and pray
For truth and righteousness, to lead our way....
Let the "Stars and Stripes", wave and greet,
All earth's people, seeking peace....
Let our example, shine clear and bright,
So all the world's nations, see Your light....
Where the strong, protect the weak,
Where the brave, respect the meek....
Where the rich, share with the poor,
Where songs of praise, to heaven soar....
From Alaska's snow capped peaks,
To Hawaii's orchids, so sweet....
God bless this land we love,
WHERE THE EAGLE PROTECTS THE DOVE....
~ Please thank and pray for our warriors and veterans who suffer from Combat PTSD ~
Dedicated to the Troopers of The 101st Airborne/Air Assault Division past, present and future.
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