Scoop’s Views

People in America often take freedoms and rights for granted, never giving much thought to the price of those sacredly-held treasures that much of the world doesn’t have, let alone understand.

The thing many people often forget is that every freedom assured the citizens of the United States of America have been bought by the sweat, tears, toil, and often, the very blood, of members — men and women — of the U.S. Armed Forces, which include the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.

Tags: Afghanistan, Air Force, American Fighting Man, American veterans, ammunition, armed forces, Army, Coast Guard, coffins, combat, conscription, defend, Dover Air Force Base, draft, enlisted, enlistment, fatigues, foxholes, freedoms, Global War on Terror, grenade launchers, GWOT, infantryman, Iraq, machine guns, Marine Corps, Marines, Navy, Nazi, pins, prosthetic hand, protection, ribbons, rights, sailors, soldiers, Veteran's Day, Vietnam vets

With 2008 suicide rates expected to exceed last year’s all-time-high rate and threatening to top those in the civilian population, the Army is stepping up efforts to get Soldiers and their leaders to look out for each other’s well-being and to take the stigma out of seeking mental-health help.

Sixty-two active-duty Soldiers, most of them junior enlisted members, committed suicide so far this calendar year, Col. Eddie Stephens, the Army’s deputy director for human resource policy, told reporters today during a Pentagon roundtable. The armed forces medical examiner is investigating another 31 suspected cases to determine if they will be classified as suicides.

Tags: ACE, active duty soldiers, American Forces Press Service, armed forces medical examiner, Army family, Army Reserve units, Ask Care Escort, battle buddies, battlefield, behavioral health care, Brig. Gen. Rhonda Cornum, civilian population, Col. Eddie Stephens, Donna Miles, financial difficulties, intervene, intervention, junior enlisted members, leaders, legal issues, mental health help, National Guard units, National Suicide Prevention Week, occupational and operational issues, Pentagon, problems, relationships, risk factors, Shoulder to Shoulder No Soldier Stands Alone, soldiers, strength, stresses, suicide awareness training, suicide rates, U.S. Army, warning signs, weakness, World Suicide Prevention Day

The late General Douglas MacArthur was once quoted as saying, “No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.” That’s a concept that many today have forgotten, often in lieu of protesting or other self-serving goals, such as passing on military service, attending law school, and later in life, seeking office of President of the United States.

As many around the country prepare for today for a long weekend, it seems a lot of people have forgotten what this particular holiday weekend is centered around Memorial Day. It’s a traditional day of remembrance of those military men and women who selflessly laid down their lives in order that those of us, here at home, may continuing living in freedom, mostly peacefully, and without a dictatorship or junta as the controlling party of the nation.

Tags: Abrams, adrenaline, Afghanistan, Air Force, airmen, Army, artillery, BBQ, Blackhawk Down, blessings, blood, Bosnia, C-Rations, chow line, Coast Guard, commitment, country, desert, dictatorship, Douglas MacArthur, Drug War, duty, enemy, fathers, fear, flags, freedom is not free, freedoms, gourmet meal, Grenada, gunshot, hero, heroes, holiday weekend, holidays, honor, hot dogs, Hummer, HumVee, IEDs, Iran, Iraq, Korea, law school, machine guns, Marine, Marine Corps, Marines, Memorial Day, men, Middle East, Military, military service, Mogadishu, mortars, mothers, motorcade, MRE, Navy, pain, Panama, Philadelphia, preservation, president, protests, reflection, remembrance, rifles, sailors, Saudi Arabia, self-serving goals, soldiers, Somalia, steak and potatoes, sweat, terrorists, tombstones, troops, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Marines, ultimate price, uncertainty, uniformed services, uniforms, United States, US Navy, VFW, Vietnam, vigilant, War on Terror, Women, World War II, WWII

They say a photo is worth a thousand words. What about photos that express more than words? What about photos that reach down, into the pit of your heart, that grab your emotions, and make you feel joy or happiness?

Tags: combat, England, Germany in WWI, History, letters home from war, Military, Online, People, Photos, soldiers, trench warfare, World War I, WWI

In moving the clocks ahead one hour, we are effectively losing an hour of sleep. Without proper preparation for the time change, people end up sleepy. In honor of sleepy people, as well as a tribute to our men and women in uniform, here’s a great video.

Tags: Afghanistan, airborne, Army, bivouacs, combat, honors, infantry, Iran, Iraq, light infantry, maneuvers, Sleep, sleep anywhere, sleepiness, sleepy, soldiering, soldiers, tributes, U.S. Army