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Nothing is more disappointing than to see other people doubt what the Army is doing to take care of wounded, ill and injured Soldiers without having the facts right.

An injured National Guard soldier from Woodbury gets a great gift Friday -- a new home. Sgt. Marcus Kuboy was seriously injured by an explosion in Iraq last year and is mostly confined to a wheelchair because of leg and back injuries. Right now he can only use his legs for short periods of time. The project's been under construction for several months now and hundreds of people have helped. On Friday, volunteers were getting started on the landscaping by planting flowers and shrubs. The inside is almost complete as well. Kuboy will have his own elevator and a kitchen...

<p>Most all motorists either ignore or wave or honk to us.</p> <p>Most all passers by either ignore or make a polite comment to us.</p> <p>Occasionally we get the "bring them home!" shouted at us as a car drives by. Sometimes we hear this from someone walking by us as well.</p>

Chris, VictoryNY, Dan, CTS RonGKirby CTS, 3D-Joy Lurker Bill, 3D-Joy, Pasquale VictoryNY ATTACKS! PleaDeal, John Miska, Chris, CTS PleaDeal, CTS, Chris Before we got situated, Chris and Dan, both patients at Walter Reed paid, us a visit. You can see them pictured in the upper left photo. Mrs T and VictoryNY talked with them for a bit. Found out they both grew up at Schweinfurt Army Garrison as a couple of Army brats. They were friends growing up. Both enlisted and went their separate ways. They both ended up together again as patients here at Walter Reed. Weather was...

A year after Cpl. Garrett Jones lost his left leg to a bomb in Iraq, he has rejoined his unit in Afghanistan. Improved medical care and prostheses -- and his determination -- made it possible. CAMP BARBER, AFGHANISTAN -- Just over a year ago, Cpl. Garrett Jones was one of thousands of Marines slogging through a tour of duty in Iraq. Today, he is deployed with the same unit in Afghanistan, but he serves now with an unusual distinction. On July 23, 2007, Jones was on foot patrol near the Iraqi city of Fallouja when he was injured by a...

When I heard Barack Obama had planned a trip to visit Landstuhl Military Hospital in Germany, I knew from personal experience how much of a lift it would have given the hundreds of soldiers recovering from war wounds there. As fate would have it, I was sent to Landstuhl two years ago, after my lower legs were shattered by shrapnel from a mortar round in Iraq. After undergoing surgery, I spent nearly a month as a bedridden patient in the recovery care unit, uncertain whether or not I would ever walk again. It was around July 4th and I was...

The idea began so simply, hatched in the heart of an injured soldier's mother. A homecoming. Terry Hardin's son, 22-year-old Army Spec. Kevin Hardin, would be back Saturday night — his first time home since a missile blew by him September 30 and lodged him at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, still, 10 months later.Terry Hardin called and e-mailed some people, who called and e-mailed more people, tapping into Forgotten Solidiers Outreach and the Patriot Guard, a biker group who more often escort hearses, plus the American Legion and their 11th District commander, David Knapp, who snapped right...

Organizers of a Christian prayer ministry are expecting over a million people will fill the National Mall in Washington, D.C, on Aug. 16 for a 12-hour assembly of fasting and prayer for the country. The group is called TheCall, and according to their website, volunteers are working hard to gather people from every state in the country to fill the massive park between the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol on one day to fervently ask God for his undeserved mercy on the nation. Originally inspired by the 1997 Promise Keepers "Stand in the Gap" assembly at the same location,...

July 25, 2008, Soldiers and Visitors Drop ByA mid-summer’s Friday evening, not too hot, but a little humid. Traffic seemed not as heavy as normal due to vacations. Our group was enthusiastic and the passers-by honked their support throughout the evening. The moonbats did whatever they always do, generally be obnoxious. (More about this later). We have identified one moonbat as a paid traveling loser. He travels with his suitcase and catches the Greyhound on Georgia Ave to the next paid protest. We were joined by Danny, her sister Mandie and Danny’s three children. They are from Alaska and moving...

Barack Obama's claims that he was not going to use a planned visit to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center as a photo-op were blown out of the water tonight by a spokesman for Landstuhl who told Stars and Stripes that plans had been made for Obama's campaign press contingent to film the candidate as he entered and left the hospital.U.S. European Command spokesman Lt. Col. John Dorrian said that local and traveling press would have been brought to the entrance of Landstuhl to film Obama entering and leaving the hospital.The article also noted that it would have been permissible for Obama...

Obama is not even feet dry on U.S. soil, and McCain loosens a few of his teeth for him.

The John McCain and Barack Obama campaigns continued their back-and-forth today over Obama's cancelled visit to wounded soldiers in Germany. Obama said he did not want to bring presidential politics to hospital bedsides, and his campaign said the Pentagon also was concerned about a campaign visit. But military officials said he could have visited as a senator without campaign officials, as he did in Iraq, and Republicans have been piling on incessantly. This afternoon, McCain's campaign issued a statement from retired Lt. Colonel Joe Repya, a 30-year veteran of Vietnam and the Persian Gulf wars. "The most solemn duty of...

From NBC's Jim Miklaszewski In his official capacity as a sitting US senator, Obama has every right to stay in touch with America's men and women in uniform. According to Pentagon officials, the problem was that Obama's request to visit Landstuhl included two members of his campaign staff -- retired Major General Jonathan S. Gration and Jeff Kiernan. US military officials in Germany informed the campaign the two political operatives would not be permitted on base. Pentagon officials say Gration was the campaign's point of contact at Landstuhl in arranging Obama's visit and "got torqued" when he was told he...

Something’s better than nothing but the disappointment is palpable: “Everyone was excited about Obama’s visit. It’s a shame.� After googling around for details about what happened, precisely, I think John McCormack at the Standard has it right. It wasn’t the absence of media that led Obama to cancel the trip, it was the fact that two of his top military advisors, most notably Ret. Gen. Gration, couldn’t go with him because they’re technically campaign personnel and DoD regs prohibit political campaigning at military bases. Why Obama simply didn’t leave the two of them behind and make the trip anyway, your...

This is completely wacky. Lynn Sweet, a reporter for the Chicago Sun Times, apparently can't make up her mind which version of the story makes Obama look better- so she posted both of them- at exactly the same time. Here's version #1 with this headline:Pentagon tells Obama not to visit U.S. troops at German base because it would be too political.Now here's the money paragraphs: Though the Rammstein visit had been planned for days, Obama senior strategist David Axelrod said that that Pentagon notified Obama military advisor Scott Gration only yesterday or the day before that he should not come....

"So if you want my take on this, if you want to remember one thing about this trip, is that Barack Obama chose to work out rather than see the wounded troops because he couldn't bring Katie Couric, Charlie Gibson, and Brian Williams with him." -- Sean Hannity "The Sean Hannity Show" Sean Hannity: "You know I've found one article -- I hadn't known this -- I was telling you earlier the Obama campaign tried to blame the Pentagon. Here he was scheduled. He wanted to go visit this military hospital. It was on the campaign sheet to go visit...

Found this photo at Gateway Pundit.... see the Messiah did meet with the troops....so there you bitter gun clingers./sarcasm.

Obama’s behavior toward American troops in Germany was so egregious, even the New York Times this morning is picking up the story. The Times writes, “It wasn’t perfectly clear whether the Pentagon asked the Obama campaign to cancel the trip outright or the campaign decided on its own -- after quiet pressure from military officials -- that a political trip to the base was inappropriate.” “The trip” was a scheduled trip to visit American troops at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, one of the world’s largest military hospitals. Initially, Obama claimed it would be inappropriate because he was in...

Robert Gibbs, a senior communications adviser to the Obama campaign, briefed reporters on the planne today. I just received this transcript as I am in London, having leap-frogged ahead due to requirements for live shots here. This is the full transcript about the Obama camp’s perspective on the back-and-forth with the Pentagon about the canceled visit to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. {Read Transcript at the Link)

Barack Obama's presidential campaign has been rocked over the bad publicity Obama is getting over his perceived snub of wounded troops at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.ABC News reports Obama staffers staged three separate briefings in just forty-five minutes on O-Force One as they flew from Berlin to Paris today.Yesterday, the Obama campaign put out two conflicting reasons for canceling the visit. One blamed the Pentagon, the other said Obama chose not to visit over concerns the stop would be seen as political.The Pentagon has responded to reporters queries saying that Obama was welcome to visit as a senator...

NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube get the skinny on the abrupt cancellation of Barack Obama’s visit to Landstuhl and Ramstein yesterday. The campaign tried to excuse it by claiming that it wouldn’t be appropriate to visit while on a campaign-funded portion of his trip, but that wasn’t the real problem. When Obama found out he couldn’t use the visit as a photo op, he canceled: One military official who was working on the Obama visit said because political candidates are prohibited from using military installations as campaign backdrops, Obama’s representatives were told, “he could only bring two or three...

++ Visit to US Military Bases Cancelled ++ 1:42 p.m.: SPIEGEL ONLINE has learned that Obama has cancelled a planned short visit to the Rammstein and Landstuhl US military bases in the southwest German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The visits were planned for Friday. "Barack Obama will not be coming to us," a spokesperson for the US military hospital in Landstuhl announced. "I don't know why." Shortly before the same spokeswoman had announced a planned visit by Obama.

After visiting GIs in Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq as part the congressional delegation prelude to his campaign swing in the Middle East and Europe, Barack Obama canceled planned visits to the U.S. military bases at Ramsteina and Landstuhl.Landstuhl is where wounded U.S. troops are taken from the battlefield to be stabalized before being flown to Walter Reed in Washington, D.C. and other military hospitals back home.Jake Tapper of ABC News reports the Obama campaign issued a statement saying the planned visits with the troops were canceled because it was deemed by the campaign to be "inapprpopriate" because Obama's stop in...

1:42 p.m.: SPIEGEL ONLINE has learned that Obama has cancelled a planned short visit to the Rammstein and Landstuhl US military bases in the southwest German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The visits were planned for Friday. "Barack Obama will not be coming to us," a spokesperson for the US military hospital in Landstuhl announced. "I don't know why." Shortly before the same spokeswoman had announced a planned visit by Obama.

Do any So Cal Freepers want to meet several true Heroes? Pfc xxxxx,US ARMY is home on leave from Ft. Sam Houston. He was hit by an IED in the sand box and suffered burns about his body. He lost several buddies in the attack. He is undergoing therapy at Fisher House in Texas. Our hero, xxxxx, wrote the following before he went in. "I go because" I go for a multitude of reasons, many which make sense to me alone and cannot be expressed in words, for words can never describe the deepest truisms in life. I go to...

NORFOLKAs doctors removed pieces of shrapnel from his body Friday, Staff Sgt. Jesse Queck was piecing together accounts of the attack that killed nine of his comrades in Afghanistan earlier this week.Queck, who grew up in Eastville and Cheriton on Virginia's Eastern Shore, is recovering from combat injuries at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.He is one of about a dozen injured soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.The battle Sunday involved an estimated 200 Taliban insurgents coordinating a large-scale attack on an unfinished mountain outpost near the Pakistani border.About 45 U.S. soldiers...

Daniel Gilyeat sauntered through the back door to the offices of Cycle Connections, an online motorcycle magazine, then paused and scratched his chin. He was more than a little aware that a roomful of mechanics and Hooters employees on a Saturday afternoon meant something was up. “Danny, you need to come here,” said sales manager Dave Miller. “For all the things you do to keep us safe, we wanted to give you an opportunity to get back on the road.” Miller then turned to the mechanics. “Go ahead.” Without a word, they pulled a sheet off a sparkling deep blue...

Forget spoilt footballers and minor Royals. Yesterday, Miss Michelle Clifford married Lance-Corporal Martyn Compton. And the terrible injuries he suffered in Afghanistan could not diminish the towering, inspirational love they share The walk down the aisle yesterday was only a matter of yards. Yet for Martyn Compton it meant everything. Indeed, his determination to make the distance was matched only by that of the beautiful young woman he was about to marry. And when he falteringly held out his hand for her to slip the gold ring on his finger, they both finally fulfilled the dream they had fought desperately...

WASHINGTON, July 11, 2008 – More than 400 guests attended a dedication ceremony for the 39th Fisher House recently built on the grounds of Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center, in Richmond, Va., one of the VA’s four Level 1 polytrauma centers. This artist’s rendering depicts the 16,000 square-foot, 21-suite Fisher House built on the grounds of Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center, in Richmond, Va. The 39th Fisher House was dedicated in a ceremony July 10, 2008, at the house. Courtesy of Fisher House Foundation  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “It was an opportunity to be...

AN Australian Special Forces soldier, who was injured in Afghanistan after his vehicle was hit by an insurgent improvised explosive device (IED) late last month, has returned to Australia, Defence said. Two soldiers were injured in the blast which took place during a Special Operations Task Group (SOTG) patrol returning from a successful clearance operation when the attack occurred. The second soldier was slightly wounded in the explosion. Fellow soldiers provided immediate first aid before both soldiers were flown by helicopter to a nearby International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) medical facility, defence force spokesman Brigadier Brian Dawson said. "The medical...

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is scheduled to pay a solemn visit to wounded Iraq veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington on Saturday, Politico has learned. The visit will be Obama’s third. Obama’s staff is keeping his trip low key. It is not on his public schedule, and his campaign would not confirm it. A pool of reporters will go with him, but will not accompany him inside. (snip) McCain occasionally visits soldiers at Walter Reed on weekends when he is in Washington, most recently May 31. McCain’s visits are usually unannounced to the press, and sometimes he...

Today it was announced that in keeping with honoring the wounded and ill of our Armed Forces, the Silver Star Families of America will begin issuing certificates of appreciation to military medical personnel.

A few weeks ago we had a series of very powerful thunderstorms that sent trees tumbling all around the region. One was on the easement by the street just by where we put up the MOAB, and in typical Washington DC fashion the government hasn't gotten around to doing anything about it. If we'd have been out that night our MOAB would have gone the way of Dorothy's house. However, tonight was a nice evening so we got the MOAB up no problem, and soon the flags were flying behind it Honor Role of Attendees Your author Tom the Redhunter,...

Over the past two years, Estes, 43, has conducted a free golf clinic for the [catastrophically wounded] soldiers every Saturday morning in the spring. A section of the range is cordoned off for use by the men and women who make the 30-minute trip from Walter Reed. Every week, in a more formal group session, Estes focuses on a different aspect of the game: bunker shots, chipping, putting, the driver. But he and other staff members also offer individual instruction for anyone who asks. Somehow, Estes manages to find a way to get them to make contact with the golf...

House lawmakers on Wednesday said they favor a new ombudsman office for the Department of Veterans Affairs, assigned to field and fix complaints of patientsÂ’ difficulties in getting their benefits. Members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee delayed an anticipated vote on a measure creating the post during a hearing Wednesday morning, but said they expect to amend and approve the idea in coming weeks. The legislation under consideration, sponsored by Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H., would charge the ombudsman with serving as a liaison for "all veterans and their family members." The new VA post and supporting office staff would...

WASHINGTON, June 5, 2008 – Walter Reed Army Medical Center rolled out a sophisticated new vehicle today that will make wounded soldiers’ ride to the Army hospital safer and smoother. Army Maj. Gen. Carla G. Hawley-Bowland, commander of North Atlantic Regional Medical Command and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, left, and Army Col. Patricia Horoho, commander of the Walter Reed Health Care System, center, give Army Secretary Pete Geren a tour of a Patient Evacuation Vehicle. Unveiled June 5, 2008, during a ceremony at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the PEV is a semi-trailer-sized hospital on...

WASHINGTON, June 3, 2008 – The University of Kansas national champion men's basketball team began their victory lap in the nation’s capital yesterday by visiting wounded warriors and signing autographs at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here. The University of Kansas national champion men's basketball team poses for a picture with injured soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. The team and coaching staff kicked off their two-day tour of the nation's capital by visiting wounded warriors June 2, 2008. Defense Department photo by John J. Kruzel  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Towering players in...

6/3/2008 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- The Air Force vice chief of staff traveled to the Air Force Theater Hospital at Balad Air Base May 29 to visit wounded warriors and accompany them on a flight back to Ramstein Air Base, Germany. Representing Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne and Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. T. Michael Moseley, Gen. Duncan J. McNabb carried a message of appreciation and respect for the dedication and sacrifice of injured military personnel serving in the war on terrorism. "I don't have the words to express my deep...

His hearing isn’t as keen as it once was, and arthritis in his lower back is chronic. He’s not an old man, just a 38-year-old U.S. Marine who tussled with death and won. Marine Corps Master Sgt. Michael Burghardt of Fountain Valley, Calif., says it took him a long time to recover emotionally from surviving a roadside bomb in Iraq in September 2005. An explosives ordnance disposal expert, Burghardt was 12 inches from the blast. Instead of counting his blessings that the shrapnel studded flat against his body instead of tearing through it, Burghardt was wracked by guilt. The attention...

TIKRIT, Iraq, May 29, 2008 – Many of the physical tolls professional athletes face are mirrored in professional soldiers. Pulled muscles, back pain, and sprains are just a few injuries soldiers face while conducting day-to-day operations in Iraq. Army Staff Sgt. Gaither, physical therapy noncommissioned officer in charge with 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, checks on a soldier with back pain at the combat support hospital at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Enter the Army physical therapist -- a mobile, hands-on medical professional who works with soldiers to...

The battered para — who had to leave the Army last year after seven years of service when he injured his back in a jump — was attacked in Bradford. He was struck ten times on the body and face, leaving him with a suspected fractured skull and terrible facial injuries. The man, who does not want to be identified for fear he could be targeted again, had just finished a shift as a part-time security guard at 3am. As he smoked a cigarette outside a pizza shop, his attacker struck for no reason, snarling that he would "put him...

All too familiar with the gambles of war, Jimmy Kinsey, Kyle Riley and a few dozen fellow soldiers landed in the desert. But for these guys this Memorial Day, the most at stake is a few bucks. The soldiers-turned-high rollers took a private jet to Las Vegas over the weekend for an all-expenses-paid getaway with all the perks normally saved for casinos' richest regulars. They were greeted at the airport by Wayne Newton, chilled backstage with the guys from Blue Man Group and hobnobbed with Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino mogul who runs Las Vegas Sands Corp. and paid for...

All too familiar with the gambles of war, Jimmy Kinsey, Kyle Riley and a few dozen fellow soldiers landed in the desert. But for these guys this Memorial Day, the most at stake is a few bucks. The soldiers-turned-high rollers took a private jet to Las Vegas over the weekend for an all-expenses-paid getaway with all the perks normally saved for casinos' richest regulars. They were greeted at the airport by Wayne Newton, chilled backstage with the guys from Blue Man Group and hobnobbed with Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino mogul who runs Las Vegas Sands Corp. and paid for...

WASHINGTON, May 23, 2008 – When country music star Wynonna Judd stepped on stage in the Wagner Sports Center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here yesterday, it was all about the love. Army Spc. Chauncy Clayton, a patient administrator at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, is called to the stage by Wynonna Judd so she could playfully correct his pronunciation of her name. He had improperly put the emphasis on “nona.” “It’s WHY-nona,” the star playfully chastised in her country accent. Defense Department photo by Fred W. Baker III  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “Over a year...

LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas, May 8, 2008 – Wilford Hall Medical Center here has launched a new program emphasizing the importance of literacy to parents and children alike. Reach Out and Read, a national nonprofit organization, uses several methods to promote early literacy as part of routine pediatric care, including having volunteers reading aloud in pediatric waiting rooms. Its main approach, though, is to promote literacy during well-baby or well-child visits for children from ages 6 months through 4 years. Pediatric providers trained in the Reach Out and Read model offer age-appropriate tips to emphasize to parents and...

This week, Families United was invited from across the country to join the Iraq Ambassador at Arlington National Cemetery for a special salute to the soldiers they lost in the liberation of Iraq. They were honored with a dinner and a memorial plaque. While they were in DC, these very special people decided to join us out on the corners of the main entrance of Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) to support the soldiers who willingly sacrifice themselves for their country. You may not know about Families United, but it is an organization comprised of the families of members...

A Marine sergeant who became a symbol of resilience as he strove to recover from a roadside bomb blast in Iraq that blanketed 97 percent of his body with burns has died, the Defense Department said. He was 22. Sgt. Merlin German died April 11 at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where he was continuing treatment for the injuries he suffered in combat on Feb. 22, 2005, the Pentagon said Thursday. The former turret gunner was dubbed the "Miracle Man" for his determination in facing his wounds, which cost the former saxophone player his fingers and rippled his...

PHILADELPHIA, April 29, 2008 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff called on the citizens of Philadelphia last night to embrace those who have lost loved ones or who have been wounded in service to America. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen received the Gold Medal of the Union League of Philadelphia during a ceremony at the 1862 building, right down the street from City Hall. The league was established during the Civil War as an organization to help restore the Union, and it has pursued its mission to uphold the nation for the 135 years since. Mullen challenged...

ELDER STREET AND GEORGIA AVENUE, WASHINGTON, DC - 18 April 2008 The DC Chapter stalwarts and FRiends refusing to cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment manned their post Friday night at the main gate outside Walter Reed Army Medical Center Week 157 Honor Roll: Fraxinus, Lurker Bill aka “Sweet William”, VAFlagwaver, Ron G. Kirby, USNRetired, Kburi, PleaDeal, BufordP, Tom the Redhunter; Cindy_True_Supporter, Trooprally (Mr. & Mrs.) and from the Mason Nation – Laura R. BufordP wants to know, “Are you talking to me?” PleaDeal on patrol, camera...

WASHINGTON, April 15, 2008 – Wounded veterans who once enjoyed sports and being outdoors have the opportunity once again, courtesy of a program in Alabama. “Lakeshore Foundation’s ‘Lima Foxtrot Programs for Injured Military’ help servicemen and women adapt sports and recreation activities so they may get back to living healthy, active, independent lives,” said Susan Katz, the foundation’s communications coordinator. “These programs are open to military personnel who have sustained severe service-related injuries in recent warfare in Iraq, Afghanistan and other locations in the world.” For more than 20 years, the Lakeshore Foundation has worked to enable people with...