Category Archives: Fallen Warriors

Columbus Revisited

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Formerly lurking, kind reader Doug was sad to read of my problems in Columbus (as you might see in a comment to the prior post).

Let me be clear – the problems in Columbus were those of my cold virus, a car rental company, and an airline. Columbus has always been a gracious and pleasant place for me to visit – everyone is seriously NICE! That’s probably a middle-of-the-country thing that’s also related to the pace of life far away from the loons (like me) on either coast.

I haven’t seen much of the town yet – I usually fly in, work, and fly out again. However, I may try to visit during one of the nicer-weather times of the year … though it wasn’t too bad for mid-February: rain and 40’s is way better than snow/ice and teens. I’ll let you know, Doug!

Through the cold, another school assignment turned in each of the last two days. That and a few hours and a few hundred bucks on new tires yesterday. Sigh. I’m still on track, and it’ll get a bit better in another two weeks, once the one class is done with. Two eight week classes with overlap leads to a hellish pace during the overlap time. I’ll have to pay attention to scheduling for the summer session, or the garden might die…

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Capt. Ryan P. Hall, 30, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, died February 18 when his U-28 aircraft was involved in an accident near Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Africa.
  • Capt. Nicholas S. Whitlock, 29, of Newnan, Georgia, died February 18 when his U-28 aircraft was involved in an accident near Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Africa.
  • 1st Lt. Justin J. Wilkens, 26, of Bend, Oregon, died February 18 when his U-28 aircraft was involved in an accident near Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Africa.
  • Senior Airman Julian S. Scholten, 26, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, died February 18 when his U-28 aircraft was involved in an accident near Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, Africa.
  • Sgt. Allen R. McKenna Jr., 28, of Noble, Oklahoma, died Feb. 21 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.
  • Sgt. Joshua A. Born, 25, of Niceville, Florida, died Feb. 23, in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his unit came under small arms fire.
  • Cpl. Timothy J. Conrad Jr., 22, of Roanoke, Virginia, died Feb. 23, in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his unit came under small arms fire.
  • Lt. Col. John D. Loftis, 44, of Paducah, Kentucky, died Feb. 25 from wounds received during an attack at the Interior Ministry, Kabul, Afghanistan.

 

Plodding along.

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Someone who’s had a  bad cold in the last couple of weeks decided that I was lonely, and needed a cold, too. Thanks, Hon! Aches (but no fever), head congestion and throat pain. I sound like Kim Carnes on a bad day after a couple of packs of Parliments. But I make up for that with the loonie sense of not having gotten much sleep in the last two nights. I detect a little improvement, and hope to sleep better this evening.

How I feel has no bearing, of course, on the work that has to be done for school this weekend. I ended up writing about 29 pages of material in the last two days, and doing a couple of geologic diagrams, too. I used GIMP for one, and AutoDesk’s Sketchbook Express (SBX. Sounds like a new Cadillac model, eh?). GIMP is great, but it is a complex X11 application, and performance on OS X is teh suck. So I went poking around until I found SBX – it does a fine job for what I needed to do. Oh, yeah, school. I have three more weeks of overlap, then three weeks of just one course to finish out the Spring session. Then I’ll be four classes away from the finish line. Huzzah!

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

Pfc. Cesar Cortez, 24, of Oceanside, California, died Feb. 11, in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Lance Cpl. Osbrany Montes De Oca, 20, of North Arlington, New Jersey, died Feb. 10 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Kyler L. Estrada, 21, of Maricopa, Arizona, died Feb. 14 as a result of a non-combat related training incident in Djibouti.

Sgt. Jerry D. Reed II, 30, of Russellville, Arkansas, died Feb. 16, in Paktika province, Afghanistan.

Petty Officer First Class Paris S. Pough, 40, of Columbus, Georgia, died Feb. 17 during a port visit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

One

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One …

One free minute would be nice. Yesterday, I sat for my take-home midterm in Geology. It took me 5 hours. I pity the folks who read slowly and are tortured when it comes to writing. After that, I gave several hours to working on the front matter for an SRS (System Requirements Specification) document due this weekend for my Software Engineering class. I had one bum system last night that needed (remote) rebooting and hand holding for about an hour. There were several Linux systems updates last night and this morning, followed by reboot and testing. I did the weekly shopping this morning, finished and submitted the SRS, and did reading for the upcoming week’s class work the balance of the day. I finished up one course’s reading about 15 minutes ago.

One … is about the number of degrees fahrenheit that it felt like this morning, walking the dog in 18 degrees as measured, and gusty winds on top of that. It never did get above freezing today.

And lastly (on this side of the fold), Marcia has one heck of a cold, poor girl.

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One casualty reported this last week by DoD. I got all excited for a moment, before Sergeant Sutton’s notice stopped hiding from my eyes, in between DoD Nutrition Standards and the Overseas Service Photography Project. None of my narrowly averted excitement takes away from my  somber gratitude for the service and sacrifice on the part of Sergeant Sutton. Our condolences to the Sergeant’s family, friends, and the 223 Engineeers:

  • Sgt. 1st Class Billy A. Sutton, 42, of Tupelo, Mississippi, died Feb. 7 in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan.

Gladiators: second door, down the hall, third office, please.

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Yeah, apparently there’s going to be a game of feet-baal or something like that. The pregame show was on the tube when we awoke this morning apparently, and may have been on before we retired last night, for all I know.

I’m all caught up on schoolwork for the moment. I have some reading to do for Geology, and an assignment and midterm for that class this week as well. My Principles of Software Engineering class starts tomorrow. I’ve done the first week’s reading for that, but there’s an assignment there, too. This new eight-week pressure cooker format is going to suck, I can just tell.

Marcia is doing her home physical therapy right now, stuff with weights and rolled up towels and strips of fabric – all in the service of extended bending and stretching and such. She’s doing GREAT, frankly. Stairs and all! Marcia starts back to work tomorrow.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Sgt. William C. Stacey, 23, of Redding, California, died Jan. 31 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Lance Cpl. Edward J. Dycus, 22, of Greenville, Mississippi, died Feb. 1 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province,
  • Brig. Gen. Terence J. Hildner, 49, of Fairfax, Virginia, died Feb. 3, in Kabul province, Afghanistan.

 

What Happened to January?

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Yeah, I know what happened. Surgery, school, work, life. Funny thing, that. I have lots of stuff I’d like to work on, and comment on, but I have no time, so I don’t, and I don’t. Marcia’s doing really well, though. Tonight is the last of the rat poison, and tomorrow is the last day for the by-now-truly-hated compression hose. I’m not personally a huge fan either, because I assist in the changing thereof, and wash each pair once a day, to keep them in rotation. But I’m still glad I haven’t had to wear them. Also, with the Coumadin out of the regimen, no more twice-a-week blood tests. So we’ve got that going for us…

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Cpl. Christopher G. Singer, 23, of Temecula, California, died Jan. 21 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Capt. Joshua C. Pairsh, 29, of Equality, Illinois, died Jan. 22 in the United States of a non-combat related illness.
  • 1st Lt. David A. Johnson, 24, of Horicon, Wisconsin, died Jan. 25, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered after encountering an improvised explosive device while conducting a dismounted patrol.

My Bad…

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Yeah, I know it’s Monday. The weekend got away from me, and evenings aren’t as free as they once were, or will be again. Marcia continues to make great strides (relatively speaking).

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin B. Wise, 34, of Little Rock, Arkansas, died Jan. 15 in Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, of injuries sustained on Jan. 9 in Balkh province, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked his unit with small-arms fire.
  • Cpl. Jon-Luke Bateman, 22, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, died Jan. 15 conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Lance Cpl. Kenneth E. Cochran, 20, of Wilder, Idaho, died Jan. 15 conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Spc. Keith D. Benson, 27, of Brockton, Massachusetts, died Jan. 18, in Paktika province, Afghanistan.
  • Cpl. Phillip D. McGeath, 25, Glendale, Arizona, died Jan. 18 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Capt. Daniel B. Bartle, 27, of Ferndale, Washington, died January 19 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Capt. Nathan R. McHone, 29, of Crystal Lake, Illinois, died January 19 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • MSgt. Travis W. Riddick, 40, of Centerville, Iowa, died January 19 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Cpl. Jesse W. Stites, 23, of North Beach, Maryland, died January 19 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Cpl. Kevin J. Reinhard, 25, of Colonia, New Jersey, died January 19 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Cpl. Joseph D. Logan, 22, of Willis, Texas, died January 19 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Physical Therapy with a Chance of Walking

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Marcia continues to make stellar progress with her PT exercises – straight leg lifts that could not be done without an assist four days ago are now done on leg strength alone, and twice as high as before. Rockin’! She’s also doing 10-15 minute sessions of laps on the main floor of the house with her walker, and pain management is improving daily. Some neighbors dropped by today, with conversation, balloon, and chocolate to share with Marcia – she enjoyed the little bit of company, I think.

MLK day tomorrow, then I’ll do some work in the ensuing four days, maybe even some AT the office. Maybe the work will amount to half- or three quarter-days, wrapped around blood tests, staples out, and physical therapy for Marcia.

School “Spring” session starts for me on Tuesday, as well. Of course I’ve been pre-reading… The first class this session is also the last of my general education requirement courses, I’m taking Geology 100. I’m sure to learn a thing or two. The next class starts a couple of weeks down the road: Principles of Software Engineering. It’s an upper division elective class – all I have left are those.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Staff Sgt. Jonathan M. Metzger, 32, of Indianapolis, Indiana, died Jan. 6 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
  • Spc. Robert J. Tauteris Jr., 44, of Hamlet, Indiana, died Jan. 6 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
  • Spc. Christopher A. Patterson, 20, of Aurora, Illinois, died Jan. 6 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
  • Spc. Brian J. Leonhardt, 21, of Merrillville, Indiana, died Jan. 6 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
  • Pfc. Dustin P. Napier, 20, of London, Kentucky, died Jan. 8 in Zabul province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from enemy small-arms fire.
  • Pfc. Michael W. Pyron, 30, of Hopewell, Virginia, died Jan. 10 in Parwan province, Afghanistan.
  • Pfc. Neil I. Turner, 21, of Tacoma, Washington, died Jan. 11, in Logar province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

The Bionic Woman

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Not the 70’s TV show starring Lindsay Wagner, but perhaps, one day, Marcia. She takes one step that direction this week, getting a knee replacement done. We’ve been doing a bit of prep for that, which has kept me pretty busy outside of work, so sorry. Not much else to report until I report how the surgery went, later this coming week.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

Petty Officer 1st Class Chad R. Regelin, 24, of Cottonwood, Calif., died Jan. 2 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Senior Airman Bryan R. Bell, 23, of Erie, Pennsylvania, died Jan. 5 in Shir Ghazay, Helmand province, Afghanistan, when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device.

Tech. Sgt. Matthew S. Schwartz, 34, of Traverse City, Michigan, died Jan. 5 in Shir Ghazay, Helmand province, Afghanistan, when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device.

Airman 1st Class Matthew R. Seidler, 24, of Westminster, Maryland, died Jan. 5 in Shir Ghazay, Helmand province, Afghanistan, when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device.

Welcome to 2012.

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Things that might happen this year:

  1. Universe wraps things up, according to an interpretation of the Mayan calendar.
  2. I finish my tertiary education, and get on with life.
  3. The Eurozone dissolves, most of Europe defaults on euro debt, global depression kickoff.
  4. Obama can’t fix the depression, and Ron Paul wins the Presidency.

Two of those are, I think, likely. Observe that I make no REALLY absurd claims about food or exercise. That’d just be crazytalk.

I do note that the loonier portions of Iraq are claiming a victory over the US because we finally withdrew the last of our combat troops from that cesspit of a made-up country. We had one primary goal – dispose of Saddam. Done. We had a secondary goal, which is to leave that country in a fairly stable sovereign condition. Silly secondary goal: expensive in blood and treasure, and pointless since their second favorite thing after killing Americans is killing and torturing each other. Dumbasses.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Staff Sgt. Joseph J. Altmann, 27, of Marshfield, Wisconsin, died Dec. 25, in Kunar province Afghanistan, of injuries suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire.
  • Sgt. Noah M. Korte, 29, of Lake Elsinore, California, died Dec. 27, in Paktia, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
  • Spc. Kurt W. Kern, 24, of McAllen, Texas, died Dec. 27, in Paktia, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
  • Pfc. Justin M. Whitmire, 20, of Easley, South Carolina, died Dec. 27, in Paktia, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
  • Petty Officer Stacy O. Johnson, 35, of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, died July 18, while supporting operations in Bahrain.
  •  Spc. Pernell J. Herrera, 33, of Espanola, New Mexico, died Dec. 31, in Helmand province, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered in a non-combat incident.

Happy Kwanzicamas

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A quiet day at home for us. Happily, our combat forces appear to be done in Iraq, and perhaps mostly at home with their families, at least until that notably unstable “country” blows up again. I think we have no further responsibility to send young men and women there there die, come the day that decision must be made. Aaaaand, we still have a bunch of folks in harm’s way in Afghanistan. Our thoughts are with them and their families this holiday season.

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I was momentarily hopeful, but that gift was denied – we have one casualty reported from Afghanistan in the last week. Our condolences to Specialist Bragg’s family, friends, and unit on the loss of one more warrior:

  • Spc. Mikayla A. Bragg, 21, of Longview, Washington, died Dec. 21 in Khowst province, Afghanistan.