Donald Bomkamp. US Navy Corpsman, served in the Korean War.
An enlisted person in the U.S. Navy, serving either with the Navy or the Marines, who has been trained to give first aid and basic medical treatment, especially in combat situations.
This is my father, and the person that I am most proud of on this planet.


LEFT - Jesse Lopez. Purple Heart receipient, active duty, Sergeant in the US Marines.
This is my neighbor Pam's son, and is a living war hero.
RIGHT - Nick West. Jesse's best friend, US marines.


John Taschner. Former Sergeant US Army Reserve.
This is my neighbor Jim's son.


Herbert Taschner. Sergeant US Army, served in World War II.
This is my neighbor Jim's dad.


Harold Lester. US Navy.
This is my neighbor Pam's dad.


David Crowley. First Sergeant US Army. Currently deployed in Afghanistan.
This is the brother of a co-worker.


This is my tribute to the few Servicemen that I know.

It takes a very special person to serve this country in our armed forces. In most cases, they must leave their families and the comfort of home, and travel off to some turbulent country where they are needed. They encounter many hardships, and see things that most of us don't see in our nightmares.

So I say to all of you... Thank you. You are NOT forgotten.

Here is another great video:
http://www.military.com/VeteransDay/VeteransDayTribute.html

I received this in an email and thought that it deserved a post of it's own

Aisne-Marne, France. A total of 2289


Ardennes, Belgium. A total of 5329


American Cemetery at Brittany, France. A total of 4410


Brookwood, England. A total of 468


Cambridge, England. 3812


Epinal, France. A total of 5525


Flanders Field, Belgium. A total of 368


Florence, Italy. A total of 4402


Henri-Chapelle, Belgium. A total of 7992


Lorraine, France. A total of 10,489


Luxembourg , Luxembourg. A total of 5076


Meuse-Argonne, France. A total of 14246


Netherlands. A total of 8301


Normandy, France. A total of 9387


Oise-Aisne, France. A total of 6012


Rhone, France. A total of 861


Sicily, Italy. A total of 7861


Somme, France. A total of 1844


St.. Mihiel, France. A total of 4153


Suresnes, France. A total of 1541


The count is 104,366 Dead brave Americans.

And we have to watch Mr. Obama Apologize to Europe and the Middle East for our country being "arrogant"!

HOW MANY FRENCH, DUTCH, ITALIANS, BELGIANS AND BRITS ARE BURIED ON OUR SOIL, DEFENDING US AGAINST OUR ENEMIES?

WE DON'T ASK FOR PRAISE ... BUT WE HAVE ABSOULUTELY NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE!!

He was getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
 
And he sat around the Legion,
Telling stories of the past.
 
Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
 
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.
 
And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
 
All his buddies listened quietly
For they knew whereof he spoke.
 
But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For old Bob has passed away,
 
And the world's a little poorer
For a Soldier died today.
 
He won’t be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
 
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.
 
He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
 
And the world won't note his passing,
'Tho a Soldier died today.
 
When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
 
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.
 
Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young
 
But the passing of a Soldier
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.
 
Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
 
Someone who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?
 
Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
 
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?
 
The politician’s stipend
And the style in which he lives,
 
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.
 
While the ordinary Soldier,
Who offered up his all,
 
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension, small.
 
It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
 
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.
 
Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
 
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever waffling stand?
 
Or would you want a Soldier--
His home, his country, his kin,
 
Just a common Soldier,
Who would fight until the end?
 
He was just a common Soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin,
 
But his presence should remind us
We may need his like again.
 
For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Soldier's part
 
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.
 
If we cannot do him honor
While he's here to hear the praise,
 
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days.
 
Perhaps just a simple headline
In the paper that might say:
 
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."

There is so much that can be said about September 11th, 2001.   I did not know anyone who died on that day, nor did I live anywhere close to New York. But I do remember that day very vividly.

The Liberals squawked about George W. Bush throughout this entire ordeal.   Some of my most vivid memories are of President Bush, and I thought that he did an exceptional job. The Liberal's first issue was when President Bush didn't jump up from his chair while he was in a 2nd grade classroom in Florida. Ask yourself this... if you were in charge of the free world and just received information that your country was under attack... how many of you could remain as calm as President Bush did?

Here is the timeline of President Bush on 9/11/2001.

9 a.m. – Bush arrives at Sarasota, Fla., school for speech. White House chief of staff Andrew Card tells him a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center.

9:05 a.m. – Bush is visiting a second-grade class when Card whispers to him that a second plane has struck the towers. President delays plans to address the tragedy, deciding to get more information first.

9:30 a.m. – Bush meets privately with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, who briefs him. He delivers first remarks on the tragedy.

10 a.m. – Aboard Air Force One en route to Louisiana, Bush calls Vice President Dick Cheney and puts America's military on a high alert status. Sifts through reports from staff, including erroneous report that a car bomb had struck the State Department. Gets news that plane has crashed near Pittsburgh.

11:40 a.m. – Bush arrives at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., where he makes series of telephone calls from a general's conference room. Tells Cheney in telephone call, "It's the faceless coward that attacks." He also talks to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and New York Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

1:15 p.m. – Bush departs conference room for Air Force One in a camouflaged Humvee. Talks to Cheney again en route to Nebraska air force base and schedules a 4 p.m. meeting of his national security staff. Also talks to New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Gov. George Pataki. "I know your heart is broken and your city is strained and anything we can do, let me know," Bush says.

3:07 p.m. – Bush arrives at U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.

4:36 p.m. – Bush departs for Washington. En route, he calls first lady Laura Bush and says, "I'm coming home, see you at the White House." Works with aides on his prime-time speech.

7 p.m. – Bush arrives at White House to prepare for address.

8:30 p.m. – Bush speaks to nation.

8:35 p.m. – Bush attends national security meeting.

10:21 p.m. – Meeting has ended. Secret Service radio squawks with news that Bush has gone home to bed: "Trailblazer. Second floor of the residence."

Here is the speech that President Bush gave one hour after the first plane struck.

I want to reassure the American people that the full resources of the federal government are working to assist local authorities to save lives and to help the victims of these attacks. Make no mistake: The United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts.

I've been in regular contact with the Vice President, the Secretary of Defense, the national security team and my Cabinet. We have taken all appropriate security precautions to protect the American people. Our military at home and around the world is on high alert status, and we have taken the necessary security precautions to continue the functions of your government.

We have been in touch with the leaders of Congress and with world leaders to assure them that we will do whatever is necessary to protect America and Americans.

I ask the American people to join me in saying a thanks for all the folks who have been fighting hard to rescue our fellow citizens and to join me in saying a prayer for the victims and their families.

The resolve of our great nation is being tested. But make no mistake: We will show the world that we will pass this test. God bless.

I know this day is not about George W. Bush... So here are some links and videos that really tell the story of that day.

This is by far the coolest website that I have ever seen regarding those who gave their lives on 9/11/2001 This website actually has a list of ALL people that lost their lives that day... AND then there are personal written memorials for each person, by people that knew them. You will need some Kleenex.

Some photos from 9/11/2001 

Some great stories from 9/11/2001 

Blood Of Hero's video

SSG Salvatore Giunta, age 24, a paratrooper with the 173rd Airborne, and a Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School graduate who served two tours in Afghanistan, was nominated for the Medal of Honor for his role in preventing a wounded fellow soldier from being dragged away during a fire fight in the Korengal River Valley in northeast Afghanistan.

Here is an article from the NY Times that gives you an idea of what life was like in the Korengal River Valley.  It's 11 pages long, but very much worth the read.
Salvatore Giunta's firefight starts on page 10.

Here is the Readout of the President's call with Specialist Salvatore Giunta.


Here is an article from the Wisconsin State Journal regarding Josh Brennan, the man that Salvatore Giunta kept from getting dragged off.

Around midnight, 1st Platoon filed into the KOP, eyes bulging, drenched in sweat, river water and blood. They were hauling the belongings of Mohammad Tali, a high-value target. Specialist Sal Giunta had killed him.

The next day I climbed up to the KOP and found Specialist Giunta, a quiet Iowan lofted into a heroism he didn’t want. His officers were putting him up for a medal of honor. Giunta told me the story of that night, how they’d barely moved 300 yards before they were blasted. Giunta was fourth in the file when it happened, and he jumped into a ditch. He couldn’t figure out why they were getting hit from where Joshua Brennan and baby-faced Franklin Eckrode should have been leading up ahead. He knew it must be bad, but as he leapt up to check he got whacked with a bullet in his armored chest plate. It threw him down. They were taking fire from three sides. He grabbed some grenades: “I couldn’t throw as far as Sergeant Gallardo. We were looking like retards and I decided to run out in front of the grenades.” He found Eckrode with gunshot wounds. “He was down but moving and trying to fix his SAW” — a heavy machine gun — “so I just kept on running up the trail. It was cloudy. I was running and saw dudes. Plural.” He couldn’t figure out who they were. Then he realized they were hauling Brennan off through the forest. “I started shooting,” he recalled. “I emptied that magazine. They dropped Brennan.” Giunta scrambled up to Brennan. He was a mess. His lower jaw was shot off. “He was still conscious. He was breathing. He was asking for morphine. I said, ‘You’ll get out and tell your hero stories,’ and he was like, ‘I will, I will.’ ”

They were still taking fire. No one was there to help. Hugo Mendoza, their platoon medic, was back in another ditch, calling: “I’m bleeding out. I’m dying.” Giunta saw Brennan’s eyes go back. His breathing was bad. Giunta got Brennan to squeeze his hand. A medic showed up out of the sky. They prepared Brennan to be hoisted to the medevac in a basket. Soon he would be dead.

As the medevacs flew out, Sergeant Sandifer had talked in air cover: Slasher, the AC-130. The pilot was a woman and, Sandifer later told me, “It was so reassuring for us to hear her voice.” She spotted guys hiding and asked if she was clear to engage. “ ‘You’re cleared hot,’ I told her. And we killed two people together.” But, at this point, the killings were no consolation to Sandifer.

As Giunta said, “The richest, most-trained army got beat by dudes in manjammies and A.K.’s.” His voice cracked. He was not just hurting, he was in a rage. And there was nothing for him to do with it but hold back his tears, and bark — at the Afghans for betraying them, at the Army for betraying them. He didn’t run to the front because he was a hero. He ran up to get to Brennan, his friend. “But they” — he meant the military — “just keep asking for more from us.” His contract would be up in 18 days but he had been stop-lossed and couldn’t go home. Brennan himself was supposed to have gotten out in September. He’d been planning to go back to Wisconsin where his dad lived, play his guitar and become a cop.

Congratulations and Thank You Salvatore Giunta.  It's because of men and women like this, that we here in America, and all over the world, can live life as we do.  I'm sure many Afghan men, women and children are safer now, and Iraqi's can close their doors and not worry about midnight raids.  I think that we should all take a look around at what we take for granted every day, then say a prayer for all of our servicemen and servicewomen.  God Bless...

Dear Mr. President,

Your speech was just another economic diatribe that lacked any real substance.  I could see your eyes searching out each teleprompter, and fumbling at times to read the words.  You were incredibly insincere and you showed absolutely no emotion.  How the hell could you speak with any passion if you’re trying to read each word?  Memorize something for once in your life, and then at least pretend that you really give a shit.  You never thanked or congratulated our soldiers for a hard earned WIN.  You never gave George W. Bush any credit for doing what was un-popular when he supported the surge in Iraq.  Which you did NOT support and you even said that it would “FAIL”.

We didn’t need to hear more crap about how our economy sucks, I’m pretty sure everyone already knows this, and they are now starting to blame YOU.  Oh, and I loved the poke at Bush again when you mentioned that over the last decade we have spent way too much for these wars.  Yep, that was a good one… Maybe if you and your Progressive clowns would stop spending so damn much on entitlement programs we would have already paid for these wars.  The bottom line is that you are incapable of showing passion for our country because you don’t like our country, that’s why you are trying so hard to change it.  Well, I do love this country, and so do all the soldiers that helped us WIN the war in Iraq.  Yes, that’s right we won, it was a VICTORY. 

This is what I would have said:

I’m here tonight to claim victory in Iraq.  We have freed these people from a vicious dictator and given them the groundwork for a democratic society.  Mr. Bush was correct in supporting the surge, and I was and idiot for saying that it would fail.  And for that I apologize.  I would like to sincerely thank all of the soldiers and their families for helping us achieve this historic victory.  God bless you all, and God bless America!  Uh-Rah!

If you don’t know who Zac Brown is then you had better take a listen to some of his music.

Help the Ram Truck Brand and Zac Brown Band reach their goal of sending 1 million letters to U.S. soldiers with just a few "clicks" as the "Letters for Lyrics" campaign takes to the Web. More than 325,000 letters have been collected to date and many more are needed to reach their goal.

In exchange for writing a letter to a U.S. soldier, participants will receive a special compilation CD titled "Breaking Southern Ground." This exclusive CD features three all-new songs from Zac Brown Band, as well as music from artists signed to Zac Brown's label, Southern Ground Artists – Sonia Leigh, Nic Cowan and Levi Lowrey. The new online campaign gives participants the choice of either donating their complimentary CD to a U.S. soldier or receiving their CD by printing out their letter and bringing it in to a Ram Truck dealer.

I have written about David Crowley previously.

Iowa City Troops Headed To Afghanistan

This information courtesy of Iowa City Press Citizen

First Sgt. David Crowley of Iowa City is the senior enlisted man of Iowa City-based Company B, First Battalion, 133rd Infantry, which is among about 2,800 Iowa National Guard troops being deployed to Afghanistan. The unit currently is training at Camp Shelby, Miss. Crowley is chronicling the unit's activities in periodic dispatches for the Press-Citizen.

This is his first installment:

Here is something that you probably didn’t see reported by the main stream media:

On May 6, 2010 it was the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the city of Pilsen in what is now the Czech Republic. American soldiers from the 2d Cavalry Group, Third Army, under the command of General George S. Patton, were the first to reach south-western Bohemia and turn back the Nazis.  Despite being the 65th anniversary, this was only the 20th year the city was able to celebrate. Pilsen was freed from Communism in 1989 and has since then educated their citizens on the circumstances of their liberation, which were kept from them during Communist rule.

Since 1990, the city of Pilsen has organized the annual “Liberation Festival” taking place in May, which has become a local tradition, and has been attended by many American and Allied veterans. This year 3d Squadron, 2d Stryker Cavalry Regiment was at the Festival in full force, with a display of vehicles and equipment representative of the Regiment today. The display included Strykers as well as an M777 Howitzer from the Squadron’s Artillery Battery. The main event consisted of historical and modern day weapons systems as well as a parade of classic WWII era military vehicles, many of which are kept in working condition by the Pilsen Military Car Club.

Here is a video of the celebration: 

Look at the excitement and reverence for America and American soldiers.  American soldiers are treated like rock stars during this event, and the American flag is displayed with great pride and honor.  If only it were this way here in America.  Soldiers are forgotten, wars are politicized, and people are asked to remove the American flag.  People here re-enact the civil war in great detail, but then don’t even recognize that we were at war in Korea.  Everyone in this country should be proud, and be able to display the flag wherever they want without worrying about hurting someone’s feelings.  If you see a soldier, recognize them, and thank them for their service.  I’ve even been at the gas station, noticed a soldier, and thanked him for protecting our freedom.  Most of the time they are almost speechless, but very happy to be recognized.  This is America… if you’re not proud of it, or your not happy here, LEAVE.

Tomorrow in Iowa City, IA there is a sendoff ceremony for 94 members of the Iowa City based Company B, First Battalion, 133rd Infantry.  They will be headed to training grounds in Mississippi, followed by more training in California. Then finally, in mid to late October, they will be deployed to the mountains of eastern Afghanistan and a war zone that is becoming more perilous as the insurgency escalates.  They are among the 2,800 Iowa National Guard troops being deployed to Afghanistan.  Their mobilization is part of the 30,000 troop surge in an attempt to resolve the nine-year-old war. 

First Sgt. Dave Crowley, the senior enlisted man in the local Guard unit is one of the brave soldiers that is being deployed.  Dave is the brother of one of my co-workers and he has also contributed many comments to this website.  

Dave, at the age of 45 is preparing for his fourth deployment.  He has previously been deployed to Saudi Arabia in 2000, Egypt in 2002 and Iraq in 2006-07, he says that he's learned the separation often is more difficult for the families left behind than the soldiers.  I’m sure his wife Linda and his kids will attest to that. 

I think that Dave exemplifies what a true hero and patriot is, and I will be praying for God to watch over him, his fellow soldiers, and his family.