Archive for May, 2009
On my soapbox today….
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Yes I’m on my soapbox again . I’m all for supporting the troops and our wounded warriors but not this way..
I recently was alerted to a situation of a “wounded warrior” .. now this shouldn’t really surprised you because of my work with HASMO. I was a little ticked off because of all the soldiers I see who fight for higher disability ratings, services, etc.
This situation definitely had NOTHING to do with combat related injuries much less even being in the Army. This soldier was listed under the Warrior Transition Brigade by the Army. I’m not sure why but I’m assuming that the Army didn’t know how to classify him.
I can’t go into the various specifics for several reasons, including privacy reasons… but this soldier was diagnosed with a disease during Individual Entry Training (Basic/AIT) . It had nothing to do with anything that he did or was asked to do during that time. The Army paid for all his medical care and treatment in order for him to get better, so that he could serve.
I understand the reasons why the Army placed him in the WTB unit but should the Army have to pay disability for this soldier? We hear stories of so many warriors with combat related injuries who don’t get what they need. They deserve to have what they are asking for. They went to war and fought for their country.. they did what the country asked them to do.
Why are we giving special benefits,etc to soldiers that don’t have combat or mission related injuries. I have read or heard some many stories of soldiers who are dealing with the effects of PTSD and other issues and can’t get what they need.
This particular soldier, let’s call him Jason… is getting out of the Army and got a job that was specially created for “wounded warriors”. How is this fair? He’s not a wounded warrior… he doesn’t have a physical or mental disability. He was given a clean bill of health and can get almost any job he wants. He is using these particular benefits of the Army’s Wounded Warrior program to his advantage because I’m guessing he feels the Army owes him something.
The kicker is that this soldier didn’t get sick because of anything that the Army or his country asked him to do. While I feel bad for him and his specific situation, but I don’t think its fair or the right thing to do.
I think its a load of horse hockey. I feel that the benefits of being in WTB and the wounded warrior job program should be available to those that are just that… WOUNDED warriors. (mentally and physically)
Getting off my soapbox now…. What do you think?
Where did the time go?
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I just wanted to update everyone that we are doing ok now after Jack’s passing and things are somewhat returning to normal. They will never be the normal of what we know, only because we are about to experience more major change.
Of course, we miss Jack and all the things that use to bug us about him. Even this morning, I could have sworn I heard him whining. I even went upstairs to see if it was Ranger. It turned out to be our neighbors dog… we have uber-thin walls ! We decided not to get another dog till after my trip to New Orleans in July. It’s weird only having Ranger around but so much easier! : )
Also, We know that we just have a matter of days before SGT Daddy leaves for the Big D (deployment) and we are not really sure of when that will be. He was given a specific date but we were told that he’d mostly be leaving out earlier than that. It’s almost like we are just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
For so many weeks, I was saying “why oh why can’t he leave now”… “its making me crazy with all the waiting”. Now that time is so close, it is just flying by and I want it to slow down.
We did receive SGT Daddy’s mailing address in Afghanistan yesterday….. so for our family and friends, if you would like to send him anything during his deployment please email me and I’ll get it to you.I will be adopting several soldiers in his Company too so if you would like to help out, please let me know.
Military Report – Week of May 25th
Posted by: | Comments——————————– 25 MAY 2009——————————————-
Military report courtesy of Military.com — Click here to subscribe
Captain Jack
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Today is not just a day for remembering those warriors that have died in the battleground, but for our family its remembering our awesome dog, Jack aka Capt. Jack (yes as in Capt. Jack Sparrow)
Jack died this morning from catching Parvo. He had been really sick for several days and there was no help for him.
Jack was a great dog! He was a border collie in the true sense as he loved to herd all of the kids. He loved our girls and me so much! He followed me wherever I went. Those that knew him can testify to this!It drove me crazy!
Jack – I will miss you whining & licking my face in the morning to get me to wake up to let you outside. I miss watching you run around the courtyard peeing on every tree, pole, and bush! I will miss you trying to sneak in the kitchen trying to get some “food” while SGT Daddy or I were cooking. No dog could ever replace you… you were one of the best!!!!!
For those wondering about our other dog Ranger, he was not exposed (we kept them apart when Jack started with the full blown symptoms ) and he is doing ok. Ranger has been wandering around the house looking for Jack this morning. I know Ranger misses Jack too! They were buddies!
Jack was a big part of our family and we will truly miss him! I know he’s up in heaven now bugging the hell out of everyone! I feel better knowing that he is no longer sick and in pain.
Even his last moment at home, he was licking my hand. It was almost his way of saying ” don’t worry mom I’ll be ok ”
Goodbye Jackers! We’ll miss you!!
Memorial Day Message
Posted by: | CommentsHere is a special message from the Army Chief of Staff- General George Casey ….
Don’t forget!!!
Posted by: | CommentsToday is the last day to get your entry for the BIG $500 Military Mom Makeover over at MomLogic! It is being sponsored by SalonWish.com and Sitter City.com
Click here to post your entry and to see the rules!
one busy momma
Posted by: | CommentsThis one of those weeks that I really wish time would just skip over. Part of it is that that my oldest is graduating from elementary school. (Where did the time go there? )
The other thing is that there is so much going on this week for me, and the kids. I have a full day tomorrow and Thursday it just isn’t funny.
I have PTO things to do , get things ready for Kiersten’s graduation, the graduation ceremony, end of the year parties at the school plus an interview with Lily Burana (which I’m sooo excited to meet her ) whew! It makes me tired just thinking about it.
Someone once told me “it must be so nice to work from home” .. and while I wholeheartedly agree that it is very nice! Right now I’m busier with kid-related events, that it preempts some of the “work at home” stuff.
Even though I’m super busy.. I wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world. I’m so blessed that I get to be there for my kids when they need us or want us there. I’ve always been a work at home mom (except for the brief period of time that I had a part time job or two in the “early years” ) so I’m able to
Now that SGT Daddy is leaving soon, it’s even more important to me to be for there kids’ events. I know that lots of moms work while Daddy is gone and the kids do just fine. But for me, I prefer to be around for them so that this deployment is just a little more tolerable for them.
Maybe I’ll think differently the next time, deployment rears its ugly head .
i love USAA
Posted by: | CommentsIf you have been a reader for any length of time , you are well aware of my love for USAA! (if you are a new reader, welcome! Glad to have you here)
SGT Daddy and I have been customers of USAA for over 4 years now and we love them! They have made our lives so much easier for all of our banking and insurance needs! (wow that sounds like a commercial lol) Now when USAA came out with the Deposit at Home Feature , I thought I was in love.
When the USAA web application came out last year, I was like — ok they can’t top this one! (wait for it……)
They have! It’s the USAA iphone application! It is so cool! I saw a demo of it on my freind’s iPhone.
You can conduct trades, check account balences, transfer funds, find a local ATM (which is awesome), accident checklist and you can even request your auto insurance cards!
My ONLY complaint about it is that it is not available for the iTouch ipod . Although, I spoke with a rep from USAA who told me that that release would be coming out soon.
For those iTouch owners, once I hear about it I’ll be sure to let you know!
Want the app? you can get it here : https://www.usaa.com/iphone
Mother’s Day ?
Posted by: | CommentsI’m sure all of have been wondering why there was no Mother’s day post from me! No , I didn’t forget. Honestly, it was just so awful and bad, that I decided to cancel it and have it another day.
It started off nice… SGT Daddy let me sleep in late and it was AWESOME! As I was getting up and dressed for the day, it started. I started thinking about how it was Mother’s Day and how he wouldn’t be here next year, and the tears started and didn’t stop.
This wasn’t a quick little cry… no this was full-on bawling session ! I decided to jump in the shower and let it all out. (i learned that trick from a fellow Army wife) I didn’t want the kids or SGT Daddy see how upset I was.
After my shower, I felt tons better and it was out of my system. (or so I thought ) I go downstairs to see the rest of my family. Becca runs up to me with 2 cards and a drawing , screaming ” Happy Mother’s Day “! The cards were cute both written by her. One included ” i think its cute when you and daddy kiss” . cue crying session #2! (of course this was that mommy-is-happy kind of crying )
SGT Daddy tells me Happy Mother’s Day and that my present will be a bit delayed, which I’m fine with. Kiersten has yet to say anything to me, so SGT Daddy asks her “hey .. don’t you have anything to say to Mom?”
Her reply was “No, I don’t care” She absolutely refused to say anything. The “get up to your room, ” discussion was now occurring between SGT Daddy and Kiersten. Cue crying session #3.
Then SGT Daddy and I got into a heated discussion about someone that we shouldn’t have been arguing about in the first place. (apparently it was the BIG pre-deployment argument that everyone has ) It was at this point… that I just called off Mother’s Day all together.
Now you know why I didn’t post anything about it!
Things finally calmed down… Kiersten apologized and told me Happy Mother’s Day, SGT Daddy and I stopped arguing, etc.
I’m happy to report that I spent yesterday at the salon celebrating Mother’s Day as I got a manicure and pedicure!
