A Family Goes To War: From Iwo Jima To Afghanistan

Stephen Barton in Afghanistan / Courtesy of the Johnson family

Iwo Jima To Afghanistan, A Family Goes To War -- CBS News

Stephen Barton never knew his grandfather, Walter Johnson, but both men enlisted in the military when they were 18 -- Barton in the U.S. Army, Johnson in the U.S. Marines.

Barton served first in Iraq and then Afghanistan, Johnson on Iwo Jima during World War II. He was on the island when the Associated Press's Joe Rosenthal took his Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising an American flag.

Johnson died four years before Barton was born, but the younger man grew up idolizing him from the stories he heard from his mother, Marlys Johnson. When he finished high school, he wanted an adventure.

"I just wanted to go and experience something uncommon," said Barton, who now lives in Chico, Ca.

Read more ....

Father - Daughter To Deploy Together To Afghanistan

Chief Warrant Officer 5 Michael A. Mogg and his daughter, Spc. Miranda A. Mogg, will soon deploy together with the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade to Afghanistan. They serve in the brigade’s Headquarters and Headquarters Company. NORM JOHNSTON / WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES

Father, Daughter To Deploy With 10th Combat Aviation Brigade -- Watertown Daily Times

FORT DRUM — When Chief Warrant Officer 5 Michael A. Mogg receives briefings during his upcoming deployment to Afghanistan, they could come from a close source — his daughter.

Spc. Miranda A. Mogg, an intelligence analyst, will deploy with the brigade.

“For once she gets to tell me what to do,” joked Mr. Mogg, the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade’s master gunner.

The two serve in the brigade’s Headquarters and Headquarters Company. Ms. Mogg arrived on the post in November.

“If you’re going to go to war, you should go with people you know,” she said.

Read more ....

My Comment: I wish them the best.

Is Getting Married The Single Worst Thing A Young Marine Can Do?

US Marine Wedding from David Murray on Vimeo.

Getting Married Is The Single Worst Thing A Young Marine Can Do -- Business Insider

Somewhere between the peak and the valley is the normal; where a human finds themselves most waking hours.

I walked down the aisle on October 6, took the plunge, and pledged half of everything I do not yet own to my woman.

As I walked along the smiling faces I thought of all of those marriage casualties who had come before me, crawling along the sidelines and tugging at the extra fabric on my tux.

Read more ....

My Comment: Never took the plunge .... came close though (3 times over 25 years) .... and I do not have any regrets .... hmmmm .... on second thought maybe I do. My kid brother (married 10 years with two kids) has threatened to kill me if I should ever decide to go down the aisle .... :) .... if you met his wife you would understand (thank God they do not read this blog).

My dad .... a soldier who served in the Soviet Army during the Second World War .... summed it up best to his best friend who told me the story after my father had passed away. On his first day on the front he found himself in the middle of a German artillery barrage .... and all that he could think about was that he was still a virgin and if he should get killed it would be so unfair.

With such a perspective .... getting married is not the single worst thing a young marine can do .... for some .... it is the best thing by far.

The U.S. Air Force Forbids Single Parents From Enlisting

 

Single Mom Challenges Dismissal From Air Force -- CNN 

Milwaukee (CNN) -- Rebecca Edmonds grew up a military kid and, like most military families, often moved as her dad rose through the ranks of the Navy. Enamored with the military and her father's service to his country, Edmonds decided in high school that military life was calling her. "I think it's definitely a tight-knit community, and I was willing to be a part of that," Edmonds recalled of her decision to join the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, commonly called ROTC, at age 18. "I think the families are welcomed. I remember going to a base, and we'd be welcomed by these families we didn't even know. "

Read more ....    

My Comment: I always hate commenting on stories like this one. One the one hand she broke the rules and regulations when she enlisted. But .... on the other hand .... if gays can now openly serve ... why can't single moms like Rebecca Edmonds.

A Love Story In 22 Pictures

WNU Editor: A remarkable photo gallery of a Navy SEAL and the woman who loves him even after a shattering injury.. Check it out.

Hat Tip: Prairie Pundit

Bin Laden Family Deportation From Pakistan Hits A Passport Snag

Osama Bin Laden Wives' Pakistan Deportation Delayed

Deportation Of Bin Laden's Family From Pakistan Delayed -- FOX News

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – The plan to deport Usama bin Laden's three widows and their nine children from Pakistan ran into more bureaucratic hurdles on Wednesday, making it uncertain when they would leave, their lawyer said.

The family was detained by Pakistani authorities last May after U.S. Navy SEALs raided the compound in northwest Pakistan where the Al Qaeda chief was hiding and killed him. The American commandos left bin Laden's relatives but took his body, which they later buried at sea.

Read more ....

Update: Bin Laden Family Deportation Hits More Snags -- ABC News

My Comment: I can see the Pakistani and Saudi officials scrambling to get a passport. I expect this to be resolved in the next day or two.

Dictator's Wives

Louboutin-loving... London-raised Asma al-Assad, pictured with husband and Syrian leader Bashar, has been called 'the eastern Diana'.

Dictators' Wives: How The West Is Wooed By The Pretty Faces Of Tyranny -- Sydney Morning Herald

Their glamourous lives earn them fawning spreads in western fashion magazines like Vogue. But at home they inspire dread, with tales of confiscating people's homes and punishing servants with boiling water.

In December 2010, the French first lady Carla Bruni sat down to lunch under the gold chandeliers of the Elysee palace with Asma al-Assad, wife of the Syrian leader Bashar. As they sat demurely with their husbands around a butterfly-print tablecloth dominated by a pastel flower-arrangement, a photographer was ushered in to grab a picture for French celebrity magazines. After all, this was a communion of fashion’s high priestesses: a former Italian supermodel turned folk-singer entertaining a Chanel-loving, London-raised, former banker and conveniently westernised Middle Eastern first lady.

Read more ....

My Comment: From my experience, most (if not all) marriages operate as a team.When I look at these dictators .... their wives may be quiet and photogenic but I suspect that when the doors are closed and everyone is ushered out .... these wives are anything but quiet.

The Impact Of Long Deployments On Wives And Familiy Members

Specialist Kelli Roberts hugs her daughter, seven-year-old Kaylenn, upon return from her second tour as soldiers of the California National Guard's 1st Battalion, 185th Armored Regiment return from a yearlong combat tour in Iraq at March Air Reserve Base on August 11, 2009 near Moreno Valley, California. More than 800 National Guard soldiers are returning from the deployment statewide. They were augmenting the 81st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, based in Seattle, Washington.(August 10, 2009 - Photo by David McNew/Getty Images North America)

Soldiers' Wives: Fighting Mental, Emotional Battles Of Their Own -- Christian Science Monitor

A new study shows higher levels of depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders among Army wives whose husbands have had lengthy deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. New programs aim to help, but there's a stigma in a professional culture that values toughness.

It’s always been true that when a soldier comes home, he brings the war back with him – emotionally, at least.

In the Civil War, the extreme of the phenomenon was called “soldier’s heart.” Today, it’s known less poetically and more clinically as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Read more ....

My Comment: Separation from love ones for prolonged periods of time is always hard on everyone .... wives, children, and family included.

U.S. Army Charges Single Mom Who Refused Deployment

Army Spc. Alexis Hutchinson of Oakland is facing a court-martial.
Photo: Courtesy of Hutchinson Family

Army Charges Mom For Refusing To Leave Infant -- San Francisco Chronicle

Spc. Alexis Hutchinson was gung-ho in 2007 when she enlisted in the Army straight out of high school in East Oakland. She'd done three years in the ROTC, and this was her ticket to rock-solid stability, she told relatives.

Now a single mother in uniform, she wants nothing more than to be a civilian again, her mother says - but she may have to spend a couple of years in military prison before that can happen.

Read more ....

More News On Being A Single Mother Who Does Not Want To Deploy Overseas

Mother charged over delayed military tour -- UPI
Army charges single mom who refused deployment -- USA Today
Army Charges Single Mom Who Refused Deployment -- ABC News
Single mom faces court-martial, discharge for refusing to go to Afghanistan -- Star Telegram

My Comment: All actions have consequences. It appears that Spc. Alexis Hutchinson neglected to ponder what those consequences may be.

As to my own opinion .... this is not an appetizing case to prosecute. Who wants to prosecute a single mom .... the answer is no one .... but she will still be prosecuted because the law is the law.

An Army Wife And The Fourth Of July

Soldiers And Their Wives

A Soldier's Wife -- Washington Post

My childhood friend of 31 years visited my home on base, in Quantico, a few months after I gave birth to my first baby. As we took a leisurely stroll one evening through the lingering humidity of early September, I explained to her how different military life is from the world in which we grew up in San Francisco. We passed rows of colorful houses on the tree-lined, manicured blocks and gazed at the playgrounds around the neighborhood, ready to welcome the children of the officers who live there. American flags hung from virtually every front door. The occasional "My daddy fights for your freedom" bumper sticker adorned some vehicles. As we looped around the bend toward my house, my friend turned to me and asked, "How do you accept what your husband does for a living?"

Read more ....