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The Great Generation Gave Their All so we Could Have Freedoms

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One thing we need tor remember is the sacrifice that our brothers and sisters had during WWII.

Here are two stories that are tragic, and we should be so thankful for their sacrifices.

  1. The Tester Brothers, New Victory, Tennessee.

What the Tester family enjoyed more than anything else was making music. On the front porch of their two story clapboard home- what became to be known as “the Old Home Place.” – Millard and Eliza Tester, along with their seven boys an two girls, would assemble a variety of fiddlers, banjos, and other instruments and play the music they learned growing up in the hills and valleys of Northeast Tennessee.

In December of 1943, a note arrived at the Old Home Place, informing the family that a telegram awaited them at the post office in near by Telford. It was Carroll Tester, the youngest of the siblings, and the only one still living at home, that had to go and get the telegram.

She brought the telegram to her mother who had just lost her husband to cancer the year before.

Three times Carroll made the trip to get telegrams, bringing back the sad news that another one of her older brothers had been killed in the war.

The last telegram arrived in January of 1945, and that was the day that music died. Carroll remembered the instruments in the closet that were the banjos, fiddles, and guitars were. They were never strummed again or played again. The memories were too painful of a time and a group of great brothers gone by.

2. The Preddy Brothers, Greensboro, NC.

“Are you sure the skinny kid can fly?” asked Col. John. C. Meyer when he saw the new pilot who had just arrived to join his 32nd Fighter Group in England. The skinny little kid was George E. Preddy, from Greensboro, N.C., and he certainly could fly. George went on to become one of the top P-15 fighter aces of WWII.

George’s younger brother, Bill, also became a decorated P-51 pilot, and both were killed by ground fire. George by friendly fire during the Battle of the Bulge, and Bill while strafing and enemy airfield in Czechoslovakia. in April 1945.

The greatest generation gave their all. They fought. They died, but because of them we are a free nation. NEVER FORGET!!

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I am very proud to say I am a veteran. I am sure you are too. We should never be ashamed of our service, no matter when we did it. You didn’t have to earn medals to be a hero. You were a hero the moment you took the oath.

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What’s up? How are you doing? The holiday rush is in full swing right now. It is hard to keep up with the rat race. All of this hustle and bustle can cause anyone to feel drug down like a magnate.

If you are feeling this way. Not to worry my friend. There are over 10,350 fellow veterans here who have you back.

If it is too much for you right now, GET HELP!

Here is a toll free number to call 24/7. There are highly qualified counselors there to help you. They will never hang up on you until they know you are OK.

Do not take on this unfriendly world alone!!

1-800-273-8255 Option # 1

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Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

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Sexual Harassment, and Rape Are too Common in the Military

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Things are heating up now that President elect Biden is choosing his cabinet. The following example shows you what I mean:

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Once again, lawmakers must decide whether to allow a retired general officer to serve as defense secretary even though he has been out of uniform for less time than the seven years required by law.

Retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin left active-duty in 2016 after 41 years of service. He is a Silver Star recipient and has had extensive command experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would also be the first Black man to lead the Defense Department.

Slotkin, a former CIA analyst who worked with Austin when he was on active-duty, said she has deep respect for the retired general. 

However, the defense secretary’s job is to ensure civilian control over the military, added Slotkin, who served as acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs from 2015 to 2017.

“That is why it requires a waiver from the House and Senate to put a recently retired military officer in the job,” Slotkin said in the statement. “And after the last four years, civil-military relations at the Pentagon definitely need to be rebalanced. General Austin has had an incredible career — but I’ll need to understand what he and the Biden Administration plan to do to address these concerns before I can vote for his waiver.”

Biden added that he understands and respects the reason why officers are legally required to be out of uniform for a certain period of time before assuming the mantle of defense secretary.

“I would not be asking for this exception if I did not believe this moment in our history didn’t call for it – it does call for it – and if I didn’t have the faith I have in Lloyd Austin to ask for it,” Biden said.

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Sexual harassment, or even rape, has been going on for far too long in the military. I have a whole chapter in my new book, Signs of Hope for the Military: In an Out of the Trenches of Life, on rape, and an interview with a nurse who took care of two women who had been raped. Heart breaking stories.

The Supreme Court on Thursday delivered a big win for survivors of sexual assault in the military by closing a loophole that allowed three convicted rapists to walk free.

“I fought so hard to get the justice to have him put away for what he did,” Air Force veteran Harmony Allen told CNN about her rapist, Master Sgt. Richard Collins, in an article last year.

Collins raped Allen in August 2000, but he was not convicted until 2017. But a year later, a 2018 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF) instituted a five-year statute of limitations on military rape cases between 1986 and 2006, and Collins walked free.

“To have that ripped away after finally getting it is so hurtful and crushing and it just questions my belief in the justice system,” Allen said.

CAAF’s 2018 ruling reversed decades of precedent. Under Article 120(a) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, rape is one of several crimes that is punishable by death in the military, and thus has no statute of limitations. But in 2018, CAAF pointed out the Supreme Court’s 1977 ruling in Coker v. Georgia that the Eighth Amendment forbids a death sentence for the rape of an adult women. 

So if rape cannot be punished by a death sentence under the Constitution, CAAF reasoned, then military rape is not a capital offense and thus is subject to statutes of limitations. But the Supreme Court disagreed.

“Respondents argue that the logic of the decision in Coker applies equally to civilian and military prosecutions, but the Government contends that the military context dictates a different outcome,” wrote Justice Samuel Alito in his opinion. “Among other things, the Government argues that a rape committed by a service member may cause special damage by critically undermining unit cohesion and discipline and that, in some circumstances, the crime may have serious international implications.”

Further, while Coker led to Congress changing the maximum penalty for rape in civilian cases from death to life imprisonment, Congress made no such change in the UCMJ, the justice wrote.

“On the contrary, in 2006 Congress noted that death would remain an available punishment for rape,” he added.

Alito pointed out that the “trauma inflicted by such crimes may impede the gather of the evidence needed to bring charges. Victims may be hesitant for some time after the offense about agreeing to testify. Thus, under current federal law, many such offenses are subject to no statute of limitations.”

A former Chief Prosecutor of the Air Force celebrated the decision.

“The unanimous nature of this opinion is a testament of just how wrong the lower court’s opinion was,” said Col. Don Christensen (ret.), president of the advocacy group Protect Our Defenders, in a press release. “Justice has been restored for three survivors and hope has been restored for countless others.”

Justice Amy Coney Barrett did not vote in the decision because the case was argued in October, before her confirmation.

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The Christmas rush is, hard at best, to handle. Then there is the ugly pandemic raising up even more.

How are you holding up, my friend? Is the rush and the world too fast for you?

You are not alone! There are over 10,350 other veterans on this site who have your back.

BUT! If it is just too overwhelming for you, Get Help!

Here is a toll free number to call 24/7. There are highly qualified counselors there to help you. They will not hang up until they know you are OK.

Don’t live in this world alone!

1-800-273-8255 Option # 1

_____________________________________

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

_______________________________________

+If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do, all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit for the site, please let them know about it.

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Tough Times for Veterans During the Rat Race of Christmas.

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It has been a rollercoaster ride this whole week. I am beyond tired, but I am going to post anyway.

I have been “running,” all week. Not to the point where I can brag about my step totals, but just going, going, going!

I had two appointments to go to. A trip to the Oregon Coast. A trip to pick up groceries we had ordered, and much more.

It is called the “rat race,” and I am not able to keep up with it. I haven’t done all of my Christmas shopping yet, but I have to do it online. I am on lock down because of the virus. I have too many health problems. I would be a dead duck if I caught the virus.

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First woman to Captain a Nuclear-powered-air craft carrier

The Navy has selected a woman to command a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier for the first time in American history.

Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt was selected for the position by the fiscal year 2022 aviation major command screen board. Other officers who were picked for nuclear aircraft carrier command include Capts. Colin Day, Gavin Duff, Brent Gaut, David Pollard and Craig Sicola.

Naval Air Forces confirmed the historic selection on Monday, though it’s not known at this point which of the Navy’s 11 nuclear-powered carriers Bauernschmidt will command. 

This isn’t the first time Bauernschmidt has made history. In 2016, she became the first female executive officer of a nuclear aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln. As such, she was second-in-command of a crew of about 5,000 people. 

Bauernschmidt graduated from the Naval Academy in 1994, the same year women were allowed to serve on combat ships and planes.

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Airman receives the Air Force Cross

A Special Tactics Airman was awarded the Air Force Cross on Dec. 10 for heroic actions during a 2017 battle in Afghanistan in which he “repeatedly” exposed himself to enemy fire to direct airstrikes.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Alaxey Germanovich, a Special Tactics combat controller assigned to the 26th Special Tactics Squadron, 24th Special Operations Wing, Air Force Special Operations Command, will be presented with the second-highest award for combat bravery by Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett during a ceremony on Dec. 10.

Germanovich was attached to an Army Special Forces team with Afghan Commandos during a mission in Nangahar Provine, Afghanistan, on April 8, 2017. The team was ambushed by enemy combatants, and Germanovich “repeatedly exposed himself to sniper and machine gun fire while directing numerous danger close airstrikes.”

“With the team expending all of their rifle ammunition and grenades, they drew their pistols in an attempt to suppress the advancing enemy,” the release says. “Germanovich directed his team’s withdrawal, then traversed 700 meters carrying a casualty up a mountain to a helicopter landing zone while directing close air support.”

He’s credited with protecting over 150 friendly forces and destroyed 11 enemy fighting positions during the eight-hour battle.

Bed check

How are things going? Is the holiday season catching up to you? Is the rat race too fast?

You are not alone. There are over 10,320 fellow veterans here who have your back.

However, if it is just too overwhelming right now, GET HELP!

Here is a toll free number to call 24/7. There are highly qualified counselors there to help you, and it is free.

Don’t try to take on this world alone!!

1-800-273-8255 Option # 1

______________________________________

Remember:

You are never alone.

You are never forsaken.

You are never unloved.

And above all…never, ever, give up!

_________________________________________

If you like what you see, please subscribe at the top of this page where it says, “subscribe.” When you do, all future posts will come directly to your inbox. Also, if you know some else who could benefit for the site, please let them know about it.