SandBoxBlogs: The Hill's Congress Blog "Everyone can find a way to honor our service members"

Dr. Jill Biden:
"Over the past few years, I have been blessed with the opportunity to spend time with our veterans, troops and military families. With every visit, I come away inspired.

They are military spouses, who balance work, family and school — all while dealing with the emotions of a deployment. They are military children, who move from school to school while picking up extra chores while their dad or mom is away serving our country. They are survivors of our fallen, who are pillars of strength for their communities. And of course, they are our troops, veterans and wounded warriors, who have dedicated their lives to defending America.

This Memorial Day, we must remember that these heroes are found in every corner of our country, from big cities to rural areas, from base communities to small towns. But no matter where they are assigned or what their duties are, when our service members are called to serve, so too are their families...."
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"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Loveland Reporter Herald "Loveland men among 122 veterans aboard 2012 Honor Flight Northern Colorado"

Madeline Novey:
"Bob Castor of Loveland was one of those soldiers, an infantryman drafted into the Army in 1943. That moment and the war of which it was a part are forever captured in his memory; though, some of the details are a little hazy almost 70 years later...."  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Right Scoop "Inspiration: The disabled U.S. Gulf War veteran paratrooper who wouldn’t give up"

SandBoxBlogs: Colorado Springs Gazette "Little-known law pays Vietnam vets for ailments"

"When Ralph Bozella came home from Vietnam in 1972, he was happy he’d survived and was ready to get on with life. Because he had escaped any serious wounds in combat, he never gave a thought to disabilities.

Four decades later, his time in Vietnam is haunting his health.

But thanks to a little-known law, he is receiving thousands of dollars a month in disability pay and free health care for a common heart problem that he may have contracted when exposed to Agent Orange and other chemicals used to kill vegetation and expose the enemy....."

Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/vietnam-137341-came-pays.html#ixzz1ssq7xYR2

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Craig Daily Press "Veteran returning to Craig from Afghanistan"

This weekend, a Craig serviceman returns home from the front lines in Afghanistan.

Lance Cpl. Kaleb McCarthy, 21, recently completed his second tour of duty with Fox Company, Second Battalion, in the Fourth Marine Division.

He was stationed in Musa Qala, located in the southeastern Afghan province of Helmand.

He arrived stateside March 27 at Camp Pendleton near Oceanside, Calif., to participate in mandatory readjustment classes.

On Saturday, McCarthy will board a flight bound for Denver International Airport.

His plane is scheduled to arrive at 6:30 p.m. and his family expects him home early Sunday morning...."
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"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "Not a choice between the two"

William L. Robinson:
"However, you seem to have missed the real point of the resolution. It is a proposal to let the people of Colorado decide, not the environmental lobby at the capital. That would be government by the people, a notion which I think we all cherish. And if the resolution passed, and if the voters approved it, then the answer to the question of whether it would divert funds from existing lottery proceeds or add to them would be answered — by the free market choice of those who purchase tickets. That is another principle we cherish; a free market economy.

So why would the commissioners write the legislators urging them to kill this referendum? Is it perchance because they fear the people might decide that meeting the crushing needs of our returning veterans is worth some minimal risk to well funded environmental interests?

As an aside, let me add that at the first hearing on the resolution last week, it was sad to see the acrimony between the environmental and education lobby on one side and the veterans, who use, enjoy and value those institutions, but desperately seek some way to help their fellow returning veterans...."
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"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Glenwood Springs Post Independent/Your Letters "Doran takes his own bait to praise military"

lol.

One of the most fun things to watch when one is a blogger, are the older generations when they grasp how much power they have in their written words hitting the worldwide web.

Such is the case of Richard Doran this morning, who sent a letter in to the editor of the viral-based Glenwood Springs Post Independent awhile back.   Apparently, he has been waiting for one of his regular opponents in philosophy and politics...to take the baited hook he dangled in that letter.

Tired of waiting, he takes his own bait today.

We couldn't agree with you more, Richard.

Richard Doran:
"....The Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy under the Department of Defense and the Coast Guard under the Department of Homeland Security are to be commended for the outstanding successes that they have recorded throughout the history of our country.

These organizations have protected our freedoms and represented our nation courageously, in spite of the many instances when support by Congress is lacking and leadership by the Commander in Chief is feeble or nonexistent. (For the record, “corps” is pronounced “core,” not “corpse” despite being mispronounced twice by a prominent, yet uniformed, public figure.)........

.....So, I say to all our airmen and airwomen, soldiers, marines, sailors, coast guardsmen and coast guardswomen, thank you for your service to our country...."
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"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Summit Daily News "For nine wounded warriors, a relaxing retreat with family"

Kathryn Corazzelli:
"Gunnery Sgt. Chadd E. Jackson of the United States Marine Corps is a hard man to keep down. In February 2005, Jackson and six squad mates were returning to Camp Fallujah in Iraq when they were hit by a roadside bomb. Flying shrapnel severed two major nerves in Jackson's arm.

The injuries Jackson sustained from the blast seven years ago were many and permanent, and the nerve damage in his right arm brings pain that surgeries have failed to halt. He sustained damage to his spinal cord, requiring surgery to implant a stimulator, which helps alleviate constant pain. He also suffers from traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic-stress problems. Despite everything he has been through, Jackson remains on active duty and was recently promoted.

Jackson, his wife, Darci, and their three children will arrive in Breckenridge tonight for a week of skiing and counseling courtesy of the Wounded Warrior Family Ski Week, a local program paying homage to injured veterans.

The project provides a week of retreat in Summit County for permanently and severely injured service members from the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts and the global war on terrorism. Now in its fifth year, Wounded Warriors is bringing nine veterans and their families — chosen from a pool of 54 — from all over the country for five half-days of skiing, four mornings of meetings with mental health professionals and one day for fly fishing, ice skating or whatever else the soldiers choose. Everything — from the airfare to lodging and instruction on the slopes — is free for the recipients....."  (Read more?  Click title)

SandBox Comments: KREX News 5 "Montrose Movement to Improve Veterans' Quality of Life"

Danielle Kreutter:
"Montrose -The city of Montrose is no stranger to paying special attention to welcoming home troops, but one night while watching a CBS story about a triple amputee veteran finding happiness again in kayaking, Melanie Kline was inspired to do something more.

"We want Montrose to be the first city in America, the only city in America and maybe a model for a lot more cities in America, to become a 'no-barriers' environment," said Kline.

She created a grassroots effort to get Welcome Home Montrose off the ground, an organization that is centered around a vet's quality of life and what the city can do to help better it.

"Whatever barriers are in their way, whether they're physical barriers in our infrastructure or whether it's barriers to getting jobs and careers or services getting their needs met, we want to make sure those barriers are removed," said Kline..." (Read more? Click title)


"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBox Comments: USMCZen "Red Tail"

All credit:  Kevin McIntyre