No Child Left Behind...

...even in Iraq. What an amazing educator -- going above and beyond for "her" students. (HT: Blackfive.net)

And, sorry, I couldn't resist the title. :-) But how truly mindboggling is that? That standardized tests for grade promotion in elementary and secondary schools -- of all things -- are alive and well in Iraq. It's so darn ordinary, so normal. Sounds a little like progress to me.

And this isn't just anywhere in Iraq, this is Baqubah in Diyala Province, one of the focal points of the major surge of operations that started in mid-June (Bill Roggio or Michael Yon can fill you in).

This amazing woman reminds me of "Tonto", an Iraqi in one of Michael Yon's recent posts, who put his life on the line to make a difference. In his case it was getting food to the people of Diyala Province.

Iraqis helping Iraqis. What was that about needing the Iraqis to stand up? Phase one: elections. Check. Phase two: individual initiative to do the right thing. Underway.

Need another example? Read this article (HT: Mudville Gazette).


Note: The initial links in this post and the last are to Blackfive.net. If you don't check this site often, you should. They post some terrific content, especially the "Someone You Should Know" series. Outstanding stuff. But don't start reading that series unless you have a few minutes; otherwise you'll be late for your appointment, burn your dinner, or stay up too late reading stuff on the internet. Take it from one who knows. Oh, and you might want to have some kleenex handy. Many of these entries should be flagged with what we Angels call "tissue alerts". :-)

In case you missed it...

...and in case you don't get to meet any of our men and women in uniform very often,

check out this video (HT: Blackfive.net)


Pardon me, but that's WAY COOL.

Written that letter yet?

Psst.

Poke.

Prod.

Only 17 days left in August!

Join us in the AUGUST CHALLENGE by writing a holiday greeting to a member of the 3rd Infantry Division that deployed out of Ft. Stewart, Ft. Benning, and Hunter Army Airfield down in Georgia.

letters-to-send AT mindspring DOT com

Tell them hello. Tell them you’re sorry they’ll not be at home with family for the holidays. Tell them thanks for volunteering to serve. Remind them that, in the words of Victor Davis Hanson [thanks, Hugh Hewitt!],

“I think everybody who’s for the war or against the war agrees on one thing. This is the finest American army that we’ve fielded in the history of this country.”

I’m no military historian, but I think every one of our men and women in uniform is pretty special. So say hello!

Do it NOW before you forget again.


BREAKING NEWS!!! (ha) [HT: Lex at Milblogs]

While you’ve got your fingers all limbered up, tap out a note to a Marine, too. Details HERE. I sent mine to the 1st Battalion 1st Marine Regiment last night. Address is:

letters AT thinking-right DOT com

Lex speaks from experience on what letters like yours will mean to our troops:

“It occurred to me then that we had in a way traded away our innocence to protect theirs, and that this was a worthy thing to do. Those letters and posters were deeply touching to all of us.”

Thanks in advance,

“Angel” Lisa

All about the cookies

(two that didn't fit in the box -- REALLY!)

Since becoming a member of Soldiers’ Angels, I’ve sent…

… Starbucks coffee to medics all over Afghanistan and Iraq
… birthday brownies and cupcakes to Marines in Anbar and Sailors in Baghdad
… holiday goody bags to 270 sailors somewhere in the Pacific
… letters to National Guardmen, active duty Army Soldiers, Marines, and Airmen
… and cookies. Lots and lots of cookies.

Homemade cookies often look a little homely. With no preservatives, it’s always a bit of a gamble as to what they’ll look and taste like when they arrive. But they always taste a little better, I think. And my guys seem to agree - at least that’s what they tell me. They say they try to hide them, but in the end they always say that they share them around. That’s why I always try to send a big box – so that the cookies don’t disappear too quickly.

I sent two boxes last Friday, and obviously sometime not too long ago, Greyhawk’s mom sent him some, too. Check out his latest, for his usual boots on the ground (and in the air) insights and pithy comments and for a reminder that sometimes it’s really all about the cookies.

If you’ve got the urge to bake, adopt a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine today – he or she will be pleased to share them around. Maybe.

"Tough Americans" [new link to author's site]

Update: My thanks to Michael Fumento for stopping by and directing us to his site which has the photos from the print article plus a few more. "Strong Americans", indeed.

Article with photos is HERE.

**********************
For anyone who has met any of our wounded veterans, this quote from Michael Fumento's new article will come as no surprise:

"In the film Home of the Brave, a soldier who lost her hand in Iraq is asked if she underwent physical rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. "Yeah, Walter Reed," she says. "Talk about tough Americans." Tough Americans, indeed. When I visited that same ward, the first soldier I met was Sgt. Luke Shirley, who had stepped on an improvised explosive device (IED) blowing off his right side limbs and spraying him with shrapnel. "It kinda sucks not having an arm or leg," he told me, "but it hasn't bothered me like you'd think it would." I was dumbstruck. What kind of person is this?"

An amazing one. I've told anyone who cares to listen (ha) that our veterans impress me everyday. Their strength and resilience inspire me and make me so proud to call them "ours".

Go read this whole article by Michael Fumento, which is about his recent visit to Walter Reed. He offers an interesting perspective, too, as he has also spent time as an embedded reporter in Iraq.

AUGUST CHALLENGE! (Corrected Email Address!)

[Note: For emailing messages for the holiday shipment to our troops, both e-mail addresses that have been posted here will now work ( letters-to-send AT mindspring DOT com & letters-to-send AT earthlink DOT net)]

Well wouldn’t you know… I had just posted that last update on the Holiday Project for those 20,000 Georgia-based soldiers, when I got an email alert from Diane. Guess what?

Lip balm – DONE!!

Yep. The Holiday Project received a… well, I’ll let Diane tell you:

“WOOOOHOOOO!!!!! Oh... my... GOD!!! We have just hit the mother-load of lip balm! A VFW in Rome, GA is giving us 2 and 1/2 pallets of the stuff... which is about 500,000 tubes of Blistex!!”

Tee hee! Cool, huh?

With Diane plugging away at the donation of items, I thought that I would ask anyone who reads this blog to focus on one item, the one that I think is most important: letters.

So, the AUGUST CHALLENGE from the 8th floor is for you to write up a note to be included in the holiday stocking for a Georgia soldier. Plus, get five friends or family members to do the same thing.

Do it today while you have a spare minute. Then go pester your family and friends!

You can either send your letters/cards to the address for the Armory:

Det-1 HHC 1-108th,

ATTN: SOLDIERS' ANGELS,

6784 W. Church Street, Douglasville, GA 30134

or email the letters to the following address:

letters-to-send AT mindspring DOT com

(note: when you actually use the email address above, get rid of the spaces and replace the “AT” with “@” and the “DOT” with a “.” …so it looks like in a normal email address)

I’ll format and print out the emails and send them to Diane in September.

The emailing of messages worked well for the holiday care package shipment that Angel Michelle and I did last year for a Navy ship. Many included a digital photo that I printed out along with their notes to make a photo card. The picture at the top of this post shows some of the picture cards based on emails, plus a bunch of cards made by my mom's 5th graders in Texas and some high school students in Georgia. :-)

I know the holidays seem a long way off, but all the letters have to be collected long before most of us will shop for our Thanksgiving turkeys, let alone Christmas gifts.

So, start writing! Don’t know what to say? Here’s one message that might give you some ideas, but also consider talking about what you’ll be doing for the holidays, family traditions or whatever.

You can do it. I know you can.

Non-Profit News - A College ROTC Kid Steps Up

You may recall a previous post on the formation of Public Multimedia Inc (PMI), a new non-profit organization that will support Bill Roggio's war news site, The Fourth Rail, and embedded reporters.

You may also recall that one of PMI's first embeds was to be a ROTC student from Princeton. Well, Wes, a sophomore and writer for The Daily Princetonian, has arrived in theater and is writing away.

His first featured post is here.

All of his dispatches, including those leading up to his arrival in Baghdad can be read on his blog, Notes from Downrange. As Blackfive likes to say, "grab a cup of coffee it's a long one", but Wes's fresh eyes and eye for detail make for good reading. Check it out. And donate to PMI to support other such efforts as you are able.