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October 15, 2007
Brothers in Battle
Many of you will remember HBO's "Band of Brothers" miniseries which told the story of members of 101st Airborne Division. The miniseries did honor to those brave troops, and now, two surviving members have written a book about their experience called "Brothers in Battle: Best of Friends," which was recently published by the Berkley Publishing Group.
I just read an article about it, and I wasn't halfway through before my blood pressure went up and a cold, dark anger ran through me. It wasn't the article itself, that was well written, and summed up the book admirably. It was this quote from the publisher that got me ticked off.
And the book comes at just the right time, says Berkley's Natalee Rosenstein. "It's a period of time when we're all looking for real heroes," she said.
There's never a wrong time to do honor to this Nation's heroes, no matter which war they fought in, but that statement implies that there are no heroes to be found during this period of time, during this war.
Whatever period of time you're talking about Natalee, it ain't this one, and whoever "we" is, it ain't me.
There is no shortgage of real heroes from this period of time and you don't have to look far to find them:
Air Force Staff Sgt. Joshua J. Abrahamson
Army 3rd Armored Cavalry
Marine Corps 1st Lt. Elliott L. Ackerman
Marine Corps Sgt. Jarred L. Adams
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Christopher S. Adlesperger
Air Force Staff Sgt. Edward B. Albietz
Army Spc. Jose Alvarez
Army Special Forces Maj. Jason L. Amerine
Marine Corps 1st Sgt. Paul T. Archie
Army Pfc. James J. Arellano
Army National Guard Capt. Joel Arends
Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew G. Axelson
Army Cpl. Nathaniel S. Baughman
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Benito E. Baylosis
Air Force Capt. Johnathan E. Bennett
Army National Guard Sgt. Robert Betterton
Air Force Staff Sgt. Timothy Bishop
Army Sgt. 1st Class Raymond E. Bittinger
Marine Corps 1st Lt. Stephen J. Boada
Army Reserve Maj. Derek P. Bonaldo
Navy Lt. Bryan Boudreaux
Former Army Spc. Teresa Broadwell
Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Nathan B. Bruckenthal
Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Joseph P. Buhain
Army Master Sgt. Richard Burnette
Marine Corps Capt. Alfred L. Butler IV
Marine Corps Reserve Cpl. Mark A. Camp
Air Force Maj. Kim N. Campbell
Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Carpenter
Air Force Tech. Sgt. John A. Chapman
Marine Corps Maj. William D. Chesarek Jr.
Marine Corps Capt. Brian R. Chontosh
Army Reserve Spc. Jeremy Church
Navy Chief Petty Officer Brian Cissell
Army Col. James H. Coffman Jr.
Marine Corps Sgt. Willie L. Copeland III
Marine Corps Reserve Cpl. Todd J. Corbin
Army National Guard Capt. Matthew W. Cousins
Air Force Staff Sgt. Earl I. Covel
Air Force Senior Airman Jason D. Cunningham
Army Master Sgt. Tracy L. Cutler
Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Reginald Dean
Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Alan P. Dementer
Marine Corps Lt. Col. Todd S. Desgrosseilliers
Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Danny P. Dietz
Marine Corps Maj. Frank Diorio
Army Sgt. Maj. William J. Doherty
Marine Corps Cpl. Jason L. Dunham
Marine Corps Maj. Armando Espinoza
Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Michael Frady
Army Reserve Capt. Brian S. Freeman
Marine Corps Sgt. Jason A. Gagliano
Army Reserve Sgt. Ryan Gallucci
Air Force Chief Master Sgt. John Gebhardt
Air Force Maj. Matthew R. Glover
Army Capt. Brennan S. Goltry
Army Special Forces Sgt. 1st Class B. Charles Good
Navy Reserve Capt. Matthew C. Gratton
Army National Guard Pfc. Justin Hair
Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Max Hamlin
Former Army Reserve Chief Warrant Officer 3 Karl Hannan
Army Reserve 1st Sgt. Karen Henderson
Army National Guard Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester
Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lori Hill
Air National Guard Maj. Pat Houtman
Marine Corps Reserve Sgt. Jeff Hunter
Army National Guard Spc. Cheryl Ivanov
Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Bradley A. Kasal
Air Force Master Sgt. Michael L. Keehan III
Air Force Senior Airman Phillip M. King
Army Staff Sgt. Shane M. Koele
Army Spc. Kraig Lemme
Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Nathaniel R. Leoncio
Army National Guard Sgt. Nathaniel ‘Brad’ Lindsey
Air Force 1st Lt. Brian Lomax
Former Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Marcus Luttrell
Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Kevin Lynn
Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Chad Malmberg
Army Reserve Maj. Christopher Matson
Army National Guard 1st Lt. Michael McCarty
Marine Corps Sgt. Aubrey L. McDade Jr.
Army National Guard Spc. Christopher Merchant
Army National Guard Sgt. Jason I. Mike
Army Special Forces Master Sgt. David Miles
Marine Corps Reserve Sgt. Luke Miller
Former Marine Corps Sgt. Robert J. Mitchell Jr.
Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 2 Marcus Moore
Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Timothy F. Nein
Army National Guard Warrant Officer 3 Austin Norris
Marine Corps Reserve Staff Sgt. Kent Padmore
Army Staff Sgt. William Thomas Payne
Army National Guard Capt. Brian J. Pipkin
Air Force Capt. Craig D. Prather
Army National Guard Sgt. Joseph E. Proctor
Army Special Forces Master Sgt. Anthony S. Pryor
Former Army National Guard Spc. Ashley Pullen
Army Spc. Gregory Pushkin
Army Spc. Ignacio Ramirez
Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Martin K. Richburg
Army Sgt. Tommy Rieman
Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Joshua P. Roller
Army Sgt. Michael Row
Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Juan M. Rubio
Army National Guard 1st Lt. Matthew Salo
Army Sgt. Micheaux M. Sanders
Army Special Forces Master Sgt. Sarun Sar
Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Bradley Sapp
Former Marine Corps Capt. Jason P. Schauble
Air Force Senior Airman Adam P. Servais
Air Force Tech. Sgt. Michael Shropshire
Navy Lt. Brian Skubin
Army National Guard Sgt. Keith L. Smette
Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith
Army National Guard Maj. Scott H. Southworth
Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 4 Robert Stacy
Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Chad M. Stephens
Army Col. Michael E. Stout
Air National Guard Master Sgt. Henry Stroisch
Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Jason D. Taggart
Army Reserve Sgt. Ryan Taylor
Navy Chief Petty Officer James R. Theriault
Army National Guard 1st Lt. David Tiedeman
Army Spc. Anthony Tonasket
Army National Guard Sgt. Seth Randell Trahan
Former Air Force Airman 1st Class Charity Lee Trueblood
Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Jo Turner
Arkansas Army National Guard Capt. John Vanlandingham
Coast Guard Petty Officer Sarah A. Vega
Air Force Reserve Sr. Master Sgt. Paul S. Veresko
Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Anthony L. Viggiani
Army Cpl. Clinton A. Warrick
Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Kevin Whalen
Air National Guard Master Sgt. Letitia Whitaker
Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer William White
Army Staff Sgt. Jeremy Wilzcek
Marine Corps Sgt. Chadwick L. Winegar
Army Lt. Col. Brian E. Winski
Air Force Maj. Keith M. Wolak
Marine Corps Sgt. Jeremiah Workman
Army Maj. Ryan L. Worthan
Army Special Forces Staff Sgt. Jonathan A. Zapien
Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Matthew W. Zedwick
Marine Corps Maj. Douglas A. Zembiec
Shame on you Natalee, for using the publishing of this book to insult today's heroes who have given their all for this Country and for your freedom.
Posted by LindaSoG at October 15, 2007 05:59 AM
Comments
Thank you.
Posted by: Jack at October 15, 2007 07:44 AM
Bravissima, Linda!!
(I hope this becomes a permanent item on the side so we may refer to the list and links later.)
Posted by: Kevin K. at October 15, 2007 09:29 AM
Great retort Linda...
It kind of reminds me of something I heard on Tammy Bruce's show. She was recounting a tale of being at the National Archives in Washington and getting all misty-eyed and choked up at the bravery of our founding fathers.
Then a couple visting from Europe saw that she was emotional and offered these kind words:
"Don't worry, your country will be great again someday..."
Eurotrash...
Posted by: Nigel at October 15, 2007 01:00 PM
Thank you also. You write the seething Anger of the Unheard.
And you Do get worked up!! wow.
Go get a neck massage. Send me the bill. You deserve it.
Wollf
Posted by: howlsatmoon at October 15, 2007 04:45 PM