I was reading through the Heroes section hosted by DOD and stumbled upon the story of Major Michael DuCharme, an Army chaplain. He joined the Army later in life, after the war in Iraq had started, knowing he would be deployed.

And he was – twice. He is still on active duty, and now understands his calling. “’[Soldiers] … face all the things: death, loss, heat, separation from family. And even though it’s hard, they go out and do it, day in and day out…with the goal of bringing each other home,’ DuCharme said. ‘When bad things happen, when people die, there is survivor’s guilt. Soldiers ask ‘Why not me?’ But if you struggle through it with God and others, you ironically come out with a deeper faith,’ he said.” (Quote from DefenseLink)

He spent the majority of his time counseling Soldiers. Sometimes the discussions involved faith; sometimes they didn’t. Regardless, Maj. DuCharme built relationships, and helped his Soldiers work through their personal challenges.

He tells the story of one Soldier who approached him for counseling. “’She had been distanced from God,’ DuCharme said. But following that conversation, they talked frequently and she started going to chapel services too, he noted. ‘She ended up getting killed shortly thereafter.’ While out in a convoy she was hit under her armor, just a few weeks before she was supposed to go home.

‘But I got to talk to her parent’s back home,’ he said. ‘It was a relief [for them] knowing that she was walking with God before she died.’” (DefenseLink)

His story is similar to the multitudes of chaplains who have deployed to some of the most dangerous places on earth to be there for the men and women in uniform. The troops trust them, and confide in them.

Maj. DuCharme sums up his experiences this way: “God tends to put you in the right place at the right time.”

Maj. DuCharme – a two time Bronze Star recipient – and the chaplains serving all over the world are our heroes of the week.

It was a day of peace.

November 11, 1918 was the day the guns were silenced. The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month marked an armistice between the Allied powers and Germany, marking the de facto end to World War I.

A year later, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed, “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…”.

Twenty Years later, on November 11, 1938, Congress added that the day should be, “…dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as “Armistice Day.”

But the war to end all wars, the war Congress proclaimed to be, “…the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals”, never lived up to its billing. Many, many more men and women would lose their lives in wars to come.

In 1954, the day was renamed Veterans Day, to honor all of those who have served their country in uniform. While celebration of enduring world peace was a noble goal, it was more appropriate and proper that we honor those who have striven for peace with their service and blood.

Veterans Day

Today it is a day of honor, sadness, and dignity. There will be parades. There will be flags. And there will be memories. A ton of memories.

Those who lost their lives will be honored, but so will those who lived. They all raised their hands and swore to protect and defend the Constitution and the country whose course it directs. To them, that country has a face. It is the face of a mother who wakes up each morning with a prayer to keep her son or daughter safe. It is the face of a child who misses her parent, whose last words to her were, “I’ll be home soon.” It is the face of a friend, brother, wife. It is a small town who waits for its children to return home to a hero’s salute.

It is America.

Veterans are ordinary people who willingly confronted extraordinary events, because someone had to. They are still out there, on the frontier. To them, and to those who have served throughout the history of this nation, there is only one appropriate and proper thing we can say.

We can say thanks.

I am not one of them.

Only those who have worn the eagle, globe and anchor really understand what it means to be a Marine. The rest of us look on from afar, admiring their camaraderie and esprit de corps, but knowing we will never share their bond. Marines look at other Marines differently. Watch two of them and you will see. There is an empathy, a respect, a trust between them that those of us on the outside will never experience.

Marines join to be a part of something special. They know the risks. They understand the hardships. But inside each of them is a desire to be a part of an elite fighting force. A force that is feared around the world for its tenacity and pin-your-ears-back ferocity. When someone has to go, the Marines step forward and say, “Send me.”

In July 2008, when victory in Iraq became likely, the Commandant argued to shift the efforts of the Marines to Afghanistan. “It’s our view that if there’s a stiffer fight going on someplace else … then that’s where we need to be.” (Reuters)

Everyone knew what that meant. More violence. More danger. The badlands. Yet recruiting statistics showed an increase from 117 percent of goal that month to 118 percent in August. The people who join the Marines aren’t intimidated by a challenge. They welcome a challenge.

Born in a tavern 234 years ago to fight for independence, the Marines have continued the legacy created by their forefathers. Forged from the white-hot fires of conflict, they run toward the fight. They don’t ask who will go in first, because they know.

We all know.

It will be the Marines.

Happy Birthday, and Semper Fi.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Bad news is all around us. Just open a newspaper or watch the news on TV. If it bleeds it leads, like they say. But scratch the surface and underneath the veneer of sensationalism is a whole world of good – organizations who work behind the scene, with little fanfare, to spread their own special benevolence to those who need them.

One such organization is Soldiers’ Angels. Begun in 2003 by the mother of a deployed Soldier, the Angels exist for one reason – “to demonstrate active care and concern for veterans, the wounded, deployed service members and their families.” Their motto: “May No Soldier Go Unloved.”

From a meager beginning when a few friends and relatives got together to write letters for deployed troops, Soldiers’ Angels has grown into a multinational organization with around 200,000 volunteers. Its members not only send letters and packages to deployed servicemen and women, they also provide support and supplies to wounded warriors and their families back home. Their volunteers are scattered all over the world, and can always be found at all the major military hospitals in the United States and abroad.

As one of their many initiatives to make life easier for men and women in uniform, they have provided over 3000 laptops to wounded troops recuperating from their injuries, to allow them to stay connected while confined to a bed or wheelchair. Those who can’t use their hands are given voice activated devices.

Right now, and continuing through Veterans Day, Soldiers’ Angels is raising funds for more laptops in an effort called Project Valour-IT. This is your opportunity to donate to a cause that has a direct, immediate effect on those who have sacrificed for you. They need your help. I have donated already, and I hope you will too. (Click on the image to donate.)

And hey, if you want to volunteer to be a Soldiers’ Angel, go to their volunteer page.

Greatness. It is a word thrown around with little thought. Like the word “hero”, it is used to describe athletes, political figures, artists, and just about anyone who has achieved a level of success in his or her profession.

I have fallen into the same trap over the years, but a slow awareness has grown within me that real greatness isn’t found on a marquee or in the headlines. True greatness is quiet, and humble, and dignified. I understand now, because I have seen it face-to-face.

We went on a trip to give back. To show the troops that Americans cared about them. But eventually we realized the futility of that task. Not because our country doesn’t care – it does. But because anything we could give them would pale in comparison to what they give us every day.

My real brush with greatness began with the first patient we saw at the National Naval Medical Center, and ended when the last Soldier shook our hands as we departed Kuwait for the trip home.

Greatness was the resolute look in a wounded Marine’s eyes that said, “I’ll get better, and when I do, look out because nothing will slow me down ever again.” Greatness was a Soldier on his fourth tour to Southwest Asia before his 21st birthday. Greatness was a twenty-something Blackhawk gunner scanning the arid land for signs of trouble as his helicopter shuttled a bunch of civilians to Forward Operating Bases to draw funny pictures.

Our national defense depends on a few hundred thousand Americans, most of whom are young enough to be our kids. But when you meet them, and talk to them, and see what they are doing half a world away, you’re the one who feels like a child.

When you see them, you see people who are risking everything they have for people they will probably never meet. You see dignity, and honor, and courage.

You see greatness.

The greatest naval force to ever sail the seas exists right now. It is ours. It is the U.S. Navy.

From a dubious beginning in 1775 (”…that the commander be instructed to cruize [sic] eastward, for intercepting such transports as may be laden with warlike stores and other supplies for our enemies…” (from Naval Historical Center)), the Navy has grown to a force of 285 deployable ships, 3700+ aircraft, and about 440,000 Sailors (active duty and ready reserve).

Half of our ships are underway right now. 41% are on deployment.

Its performance has been breathtaking. From countless relief operations around the globe, to the brilliant rescue of Captain Phillips from the hands of Somali pirates, to the effective and efficient performance of Naval personnel in wartime, the Navy has achieved a level of proficiency never before seen anywhere. At any time.

Imagine yourself standing at the scene of a terrible calamity – a war, tsunami, hurricane or earthquake. All around you is destruction and chaos and dispair. Then imagine looking out to sea, and there on the horizon is the unmistakable silhouette of a U.S. Navy warship. What would you feel then?

That is what the Navy represents to the people of this country. That is what it represents to the rest of the world.

It is a powerful Navy, but one that carries with it an aura of dignity and benevolence. In 1991 USS KITTY HAWK (CV 63) pulled in to Buenos Aires on her way around South America. Once ashore, crew members were mobbed by the locals as if they were rock stars. Civilians posed with Sailors, smiling broadly as their pictures were taken. Some asked for autographs.

The Argentines gave KITTY HAWK a glimpse of how the world views the American Navy. it is a protector. It is a representative of a great nation, and the people of the world rely on it to keep them safe.

Heritage is an integral part of the Navy’s identity too, and today we pay homage to all Sailors – past and present – who contributed to making the Navy what it has become.

Which is none other than the best and most powerful Navy on earth.

Happy Birthday, Navy.

Gen. Walter L. Sharp renders honors (DOD photo)

The Korean War was a brutal one. Begun by a mass invasion by North Korean forces in June of 1950, the war became a desperate battle for survival by South Korean and UN forces as the Allies were quickly and steadily pushed back. By August of 1950, just a couple of months after the invasion began, only a small foothold on the Pusan Peninsula prevented a complete takeover of the country.

In September General MacArthur’s forces conducted the surprise landing at Inchon that cut off the overextended People’s Republic of Korea (PRK) army.

A month later, the U.S. Army had pushed the PRK army all the way back – not only to the 38th parallel, but all the way through North Korea toward its own northern border.

When the Chinese Army joined forces with North Korea, the surge reversed itself again and UN forces fell back across the 38th parallel.

The next two years – in contrast to the first year when huge swaths of territory changed hands – were dominated by a stalemate, although fighting continued (half the casualties of the war took place in the latter two years). In July of 1953 an uneasy cease fire was signed, effectively halting combat operations and returning the border to about the same place that it had been before the invasion.

To study an excellent timeline of the war, click here.

Since the cease fire, American troops have maintained a presence in South Korea, keeping a vigil on a war that never officially ended.

Our Korean War veterans are in their late seventies and early eighties now. Next year will mark the sixtieth anniversary of the beginning of the war, and those veterans deserve to hear our loud and heartfelt thanks for the sacrifices they made, enduring horrible conditions to save a young republic from annihilation.

They are our heroes of the week.

[Atrocities were commonplace, and there were many massacres reported during the course of the war. There were many accounts of unarmed prisoners being murdered and treated brutally. Many of those stories have been lost to time, except to those who witnessed them and survived. For example, in August of 1950, 42 American prisoners of war were gunned down by North Korean regulars on a small rise of land near banks of the Naktong River called Hill 303. The account of the incident is chilling (click here). Miraculously, four men survived, being mistaken for dead.]

1st Lt. Brian Brennan has led a life of destiny. There is no denying it when you hear his story.

From the day he was born on September 30, 1984, he faced challenges. “Brian was born 13 weeks premature,” Jim Brennan [Brian's father] said. “He was just 2 pounds, 13 ounces at birth. He was not expected to live.” (ClevelandBrowns.com)

As his son was being rushed to intensive care, the nurses stopped briefly to ask Jim what his new son’s name would be, in case something went wrong. Jim had always admired a Boston College football player with the same last name – a receiver named Brian Brennan. “I’ve always enjoyed hard-working football players, guys who were more interested in the team than themselves.” The Nurses said Jim’s son was a fighter. The words resonated with Jim and he made the decision to name him after the gutsy football player.

Twenty-four years later, Brian – the premature baby – laid in a coma at Walter Reed after his Humvee was split in half by an IED in Afghanistan. The blast killed three of his teammates and injured the other two. Brian lost both legs and suffered acute brain damage.

A chance meeting between Brian’s brother and another man at Walter Reed (who was visiting his own wounded brother) started a chain of events that can only be described as remarkable. The other man was from Cleveland and when he learned that 1st Lt. Brennan was named after the now-famous Cleveland Brown football player, he alerted the local media which in turn contacted the retired receiver.

In June 2008, Cleveland Browns great Brian Brennan flew to Walter Reed to meet the family of his namesake. Although their 1st Lt. son was unconscious, the family enjoyed the visit tremendously. Brennan left some Browns souvenirs and his best wishes. And he vowed to keep in touch with the family and help them through the trying times ahead.

But that’s not the end of the story.

The next day, General Petraeus stopped in to visit Brian. 1st Lt. Brennan was in the 101st Airborne, the storied Division founded in 1942 and immortalized in the series, “Band of Brothers.” General Petraeus had been a Screaming Eagle too – he led the 101st during the assault on Iraq in 2003. As he was about to leave, the General turned to the Soldier and shouted, “Curahee”, the Division’s motto.

Suddenly, 1st Lt. Brennan sat up at attention, snapping out of his coma.

Since then, his progress has been steady. He has learned to walk on two prosthetic legs, and was he is expected to make a full recovery.

During his short time on this earth, Brian Brennan has overcome bigger challenges than most people encounter in a lifetime. He did it by being a fighter. He was named after a fighter. He became a fighter. And he awoke to the sound of a fighter.

And now the rest of his destiny awaits him. He is our hero of the week.

Don’t leave this site without watching this video called, “A Remarkable Recovery.”

To read more about 1st Lt. Brian Brennan:

Injured Soldier to Head Home (Tri-town News)
Namesake’s Story Touches Brennan (Cleveland Browns)

The flag says, “You are not forgotten.”

Yet, I forgot. Maybe it was because the day coincided with the Air Force’s birthday; maybe it was because it doesn’t fall on the same day every year. But maybe it was because I wasn’t paying attention. And that would be a tragedy.

National POW/MIA Recognition Day is held on the third Friday in September each year, and in 2009 the day of commemoration was last Friday. According to the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, the day is not intended to be a day of mourning. Rather, “America’s POW/MIAs should be honored and recognized, rather than memorialized, with the focus on the need to account as fully as possible for those still missing, alive or dead.”

The National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia is the most vocal advocate group for locating, identifying remains, and searching for missing servicemen and women because there are still 1,731 men and women who have not yet been accounted for from the Vietnam War.

But there are others.

According to the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO), the government office responsible for, “…oversight of the policies on the rescue of live Americans and the recovery and identification of the remains of those who never returned from foreign battlefields,” there are still many missing Americans from wars dating back to World War II.

Those who are still missing or unaccounted for (stats provided by DPMO):

WWII: More than 78,000
Korea: More than 8,100
Vietnam: 1,731
Cold War: 125
Gulf War: 0 (remains of CAPT Speicer, the last MIA, were recovered in Aug 2009)

DPMO provides strategic guidance and diplomatic support, while the the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) acts as its operational arm, visiting countries all over the world to find our missing troops and bring them home.

The most important thing for us to do is remember. The families of almost 90,000 Americans still do not know what happened to their loved ones, and until they do, we must continue the effort to find the men and women who never came home.

And we must ensure that they are not forgotten.

DPMO website
National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia
Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command

On September 18, 1947 the US Air Force was officially established as its own entity. But the service has been there since the beginning of flight.

Just three and a half years after the Wright brothers ushered in the era of aviation with their flight at Kitty Hawk (Dec. 17, 1903), the Army established the Aeronautical Division of its Signal Corps. They didn’t even have any planes yet (they were mostly concerned with balloons and dirigibles), but they could see the momentous changes coming. By the end of 1908, the Army had already drawn up specifications for the first military airplane, and a year later received its first aircraft – delivered by the Wright brothers.

Within a decade the Army Air Service had grown to nearly 200,000 men, many of whom saw extensive service in World War One. Although the impact of air power was questionable during the war, they came home with an awakening awareness of the importance of controlling the skies over the battlefield.

The Army Air Corps (renamed in 1920) came to full maturity during World War II. From the daring, in-your-face bombing of mainland Japan by Doolittle’s Raiders, to the B17 bombing runs over Europe from 1943-1945, to the near complete domination of the skies in both theaters in the latter stages of the war, the Army Air Corps established itself as a vital component of the American arsenal. Its ranks had swelled to 80,000 aircraft and 2.4 million people (airforce.com).

In 1947 the U.S. Air Force was established as an official and separate branch of the U.S. military. But that was not the end of the Air Force story – only the beginning.

Since then, the Air Force has not only led the way in innovative technologies, it has embraced them. As the nation ventured into space, so did the Air Force. Space is the Air Force’s turf now.

Launch of the Air Force’s Wideband Global Satellite Communications system

Its stealth aircraft – once a top secret project – have become mainstreamed and have fought in all our modern wars. Armed unmanned aerial vehicles have become the delivery platforms of choice for many commanders in the field, and perform double duty as 24/7 eyes in the sky in remote parts of Iraq and Afghansitan.

MQ-9 Reaper

The expertise of its 332,000 (Sec. of Air Force) active duty members also includes special operations, weather, information technologies, medicine…and beyond.

Who knows what eye watering new technologies await. But new capabilities mean nothing without the people to make them work. You can learn a lot about an organization by looking at its core values. The Air Force’s are integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do. You can see those traits in the Airmen of today, and that’s one of the reasons there is no air force in the world that can compete with ours.

The skies belong to the U.S., because the Air Force ensures it. It is hard to fathom the dramatic changes that have occurred since Orville Wright muscled his heavier than air vehicle aloft for 3.5 seconds in 1903, just over a century ago. Today, the Air Force is second to none in controlling the skies, controlling space, and delivering weaponry with unmatched – and breathtaking – precision.

A hundred years or so. But what a hundred years it has been. Happy Birthday to the US Air Force.