Alaska, Palins

Bust Interlude -- Ken Bruen and Jason Starr

Okay, I'm reading a book tonight.
Or will be as soon as I shut down this computer.
Reading a book-book, an ink on paper book, not an e-book.
Or, a book-book-book, because it's a Ken Bruen story, making it more than a book-book.

Bruen, you know, is one of those writers where one could write down every other sentence of his, filling one's pockets with scraps of perfection -- or filling your Kindle with note-notes.

I'm reading Bust. That's Bruen and Jason Starr.

Opening epigram:

People with opinions just go around bothering one another.

-- The Buddha

Yeah, you bet.

Jang Ho Kim, Army, Private First Class -- Rest In Peace

Jang H. Kim, 20

Army, Private 1st Class

Based: Schweinfurt, Germany

1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division

Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom

Died: November 13, 2006 Baghdad, Iraq

Single

Gender: Male

Hometown: Placentia

High School: Valencia High (Placentia)

Foreign Country of Birth: South Korea

Burial: Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside

When Army Pvt. Jang Ho Kim told his parents earlier this year that he would be going to Iraq, they had one hope: that he would not be deployed to Baghdad, where so many U.S. soldiers have been attacked and killed.

Eager to reassure his anxious parents, Kim would call home over the summer and tell them that they didn't need to worry -- he was not in Baghdad.

But he was.

Kim, 20, whose family lives in Placentia, was one of two soldiers killed Nov. 13 when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Baghdad.

His younger sister, remembering the brother who would tease her as a child, marveled at his transformation, underscored by the story he told to spare his family grief.

"My dad would ask him if he was in Baghdad and he would always say he wasn't," said Michelle Kim, 19, a student at UCLA. "When I found out he was in Baghdad, that just really showed the maturity that my brother had. Growing up with him, it took him a while to mature. I used to have so many fights with him -- it was his hobby to bother me and annoy me. But finding out that he was in Baghdad showed his maturity, and that's something I'm so proud of him for."

Read the entire LA Times article about Army Private First Class Jang Ho Kim here, read more here and be sure to find Army Pfc Kim here with more pictures here.

Shabbat Shalom

Jose Regalado, Army, Sergeant -- Rest In Peace

Jose Regalado, 23

Army, Sergeant
Based: Ft. Hood, Texas
3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: November 12, 2008
Mosul, Iraq
Married, 1 child
Gender: Male
Hometown: Los Angeles
High School: Woodrow Wilson Senior High (Los Angeles)
Burial: Holy Cross Cemetery, Pomona

Army Sgt. Jose Regalado, 23, who lived in the El Sereno area of Los Angeles, was one of two soldiers killed in Mosul, Iraq, when a uniformed Iraqi soldier approached them and opened fire.

The shooting occurred shortly before noon as a group of American troops were conducting a routine visit to an Iraqi security post, military officials said. The incident is under investigation.

Regalado was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Ft. Hood, Texas.

He got his first taste of military life as a freshman at Woodrow Wilson High School in Los Angeles when he traded in his childhood love for Mexican folk dancing and joined the Junior ROTC. The aspiring cadet soon decided to enlist in the Army immediately after graduating in 2003.

Two years later, Regalado was deployed on his first tour of Iraq, an experience that was both rewarding and sobering. When he returned to Kentucky a year later, Regalado focused on his other passion: disassembling and reconstructing cars...

Regalado carried his daughter's ultrasound photo throughout his deployment as a good-luck charm. After Jaimie was born, [wife] Sharri sometimes wore her husband's cologne so that their daughter would recognize her father when they finally met.


"Everything was family," Sharri said. "If someone needed anything, he was always on the ball. He was totally selfless."

In addition to his wife and daughter, he is survived by his father, Jose; his mother, Raquel; and siblings Elizabeth, Erik, Haydee and Wendy.

Read the entire LA Times article here and read more about Army Sergeant Jose Regalado here and here.

Also killed by the uniformed Iraqi soldier-coward was Army Specialist Corey M. Shea. Read more about Specialist Shea here.

Veterans Day, Arkansas 2010

Full day started with Sergeant Major Alford McMichael on D. Antoine's show here in Hot Springs, followed by Marcus Luttrell on Laura Ingraham's show.
Later we heard Taps played on Michael Savage's show.
Between and after all of that, folks gathered together here in Garland County.

Last year it was a parade in Pacoima, California. The crowd there was 90% Hispanic, mostly families, many of them young families, 100% honoring our veterans.
This year in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the day-time crowd skewed older and whiter and biker, but the 100% flag waving and veteran honoring was the same.

Arkansas's evening's parade was similar to California's -- American families and American flags and wonder and honor and gratitude.

Sergeant Major Alford McMichael, 

Hot Springs home town fella, 

speaks at the Veterans Memorial in the morning, 

Grand Marshalls the parade in the evening.

Writes books in his spare time.

Thanks to Sergeant Major Alford McMichael for reminding us that it was President Gerald Ford who moved Veterans Day back to the sacred 11th day of the 11th month after clueless Congress had changed it to a federal employee's shopper's three-day weekend holiday.

In 1968, Veterans Day was moved, by an act of Congress, to the fourth Monday in October, along with other government holidays, to create a three-day weekend for government employees. However, this move was resisted by many states, veteran’s groups and municipalities and was changed back to November 11^th in 1975 by then-President Gerald R. Ford where it has since remained as an official Federal holiday.

God Bless Gerald R. Ford, God bless our veterans, God bless America.

Angel De Jesus Lucio Ramirez, Army, Sergeant -- Rest In Peace

Angel De Jesus Lucio Ramirez, 22

Army, Sergeant
Based: Giessen, Germany
1st Battalion, 16th Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: November 11, 2006
Ramadi, Iraq
Married
Gender: Male
Hometown: Pacoima
High School: San Fernando High (San Fernando)
Foreign Country of Birth: Mexico
Burial: Los Angeles National Cemetery, Westwood

Army Sgt. Angel de Jesus Lucio Ramirez knew how much his mother worried about him during his first combat tour in Iraq. So during his second tour he would call home two or more times a week to reassure her that all was well.

On Nov. 9, Marina Lucio answered the phone in her Bakersfield home to hear her son offer a quick hello. The 22-year-old soldier said he was going on a two-day mission and would call again when he returned.

Three days later, two soldiers in crisp Army greens knocked on her door with the news that Lucio had been killed by a roadside bomb on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

"At least I got to talk to him one last time," she said. "He said he loved us and his brothers and sisters very much. That was the last thing he told me."

Lucio was among three soldiers killed in the explosion while on a security escort mission in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. They were all assigned to the 16th Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division in Giessen, Germany.

A graduate of San Fernando High School in Pacoima, Lucio moved with his family from Saltillo, Mexico, when he was 11. He adapted quickly to his new homeland and took an interest in the U.S. military.

Read the entire LA Times article about Army Sergeant Angel De Jesus Lucio Ramirez here.

Also killed on that day with Army Sergeant Angel De Jesus Lucio Ramirez were Staff Sergeant William S. Jackson II, 29, of Saginaw, Michigan and Staff Sergeant Misael Martinez, 24, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Veteran's Day

Thank you all who serve and served in uniform. Thanks to your loving families.
Thank you Rogelio A. Ramirez and your Gold Star Family.
Thanks Dad, uncles, brothers-in-law, nephew, friends and colleagues.

Quote of the Season -- Opus #6

Quote of the Season from Opus #6 to Michelle Obama:

I hear that you and Valerie Jarrett run the White House while your husband watches ESPN.

Hajita Baba

Birthday Interlude -- USMC

Happy Birthday United States Marines Corps

Lester G. Roque, Army, Corporal -- Rest In Peace

Lester G. Roque, 23

Army, Corporal

Based: Vicenza, Italy

2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team
Supporting: Operation Enduring Freedom
Died: November 10, 2007

Aranus, Afghanistan

Engaged

Gender: Male

Hometown: Torrance

Foreign Country of Birth: Philippines

Burial: Forest Lawn Memorial-Park, Cypress 

Roque was born in the Philippines and came to the U.S. with his family in 2003, according to the Long Beach Press-Telegram. He took classes at Harbor College and worked several jobs while waiting for his green card, which took about a year, then enlisted in the Army.

From Living Legend:

Army Spc. Lester G. Roque, 23, of Torrance, Calif. was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Vicenza, Italy; died Nov. 10, 2007 in Aranus, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when their patrol was attacked by direct fire from enemy forces.

Army Corporal Lester G. Roque died along with five others -- Army Captain Matthew C. Ferrara, Sgt. Jeffery S. Mersman, Pfc. Joseph M. Lancour, Marine Sgt. Phillip A. Bocks and Army Specialist Sean K.A. Langevin.

Home," Army Spc. Lester Roque wrote, "is where she is."

The South Bay soldier was biding his time, serving the United States in Afghanistan, waiting for "three months to go" before he could return home to his beloved wife, Leikathryn.

Read more about Army Corporal Lester G. Roque here and here where pictures are found.

Matthew C. Ferrara, Army, Captain -- Rest In Peace

Matthew C. Ferrara, 24

Army, Captain
Based: Vicenza, Italy
2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team

Supporting: Operation Enduring Freedom

Died: November 9, 2007

Aranus, Afghanistan

Single

Gender: Male
Hometown: Torrance
High School: South High (Torrance)
Burial: Green Hills Memorial Park, Rancho Palos Verdes

Always an athletic and academic standout, Ferrara was the third-born of five children. He ran cross-country and scored 1,580 out of 1,600 on his SAT. He went on to graduate from West Point, where he majored in economics and Mandarin.

Ferrara was among six servicemen who were killed in an ambush Nov. 9 while leading a NATO force whose goal was to help stabilize and reconstruct war-torn eastern Afghanistan. Ferrara, who had been recommended for a Silver Star after a battle in August, was posthumously promoted to captain.

The attack claimed the lives of two other Californians, Sean K.A. Langevin of Walnut Creek and another Torrance resident, Lester G. Roque. Both were corporals, both 23.

Langevin died in the attack and Roque a day later. Roque, who did not attend South High, was a native of the Philippines. His death made news in the Philippines and a TV news crew's interview of his wife is still seen on YouTube.com.

Read the entire LA Times story on Army Captain Matthew C. Ferrara here and read more about him here. A West Point remembrance is here and read his full Silver Star citation is here:

During three hours of intense combat First Lieutenant Ferrara expertly led his men in the defense of the Aranas Outpost until he was able to call for air strikes danger close to his own position to neutralize the enemy threat. His actions reflect great credit upon himself, the Rock Battalion, the Bayonet Brigade Combat Team, and the United States Army.

Sean K.A. Langevin, Army, Specialist -- Rest In Peace

Sean K.A. Langevin, 23

Army, Specialist
Based: Vicenza, Italy
2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team
Supporting: Operation Enduring Freedom
Died: November 9, 2007
Aranus, Afghanistan
Married, 1 child
Gender: Male
Hometown: Walnut Creek
High School: Ygnacio Valley High (Concord)
Burial: Queen of Heaven Cemetery, Lafayette, Calif.

Sean K. A. Langevin, 23, of Walnut Creek, Calif.; specialist, Army. Langevin was among six troops who died when they were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire in an ambush Nov. 9 while on foot patrol in eastern Afghanistan's Nuristan province. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team in Vicenza, Italy.

Visit the Guest Book of Army Specialist Sean K.A. Langevin here and read about him here

Army Specialist Sean K.A. Langevin died along with five others -- Army Captain Matthew C. Ferrara, Sgt. Jeffery S. Mersman, Spc. Lester G. Roque, Pfc. Joseph M. Lancour, and Marine Sgt. Phillip A. Bocks. Eight paratroopers and eleven Afghan soldiers were wounded. This is the video of their medevac:

Quoc Binh Tran, Army National Guard, Sergeant -- Rest In Peace

Quoc Binh Tran, 26

Army National Guard, Sergeant
Based: San Bernardino
181st Support Battalion
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: November 7, 2004
Baghdad (western part), Iraq
Single
Gender: Male
Hometown: Mission Viejo
High School: Mission Viejo High (Mission Viejo)
Foreign Country of Birth: Vietnam
Burial: Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside 

From VNListing:

Trần Quốc Bình
Tran Quoc Binh (aka Binh Quoc "Bo" Tran) (Vietnamese: Trần Quốc Bình) (1978 - 2004) was born in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. He was the first U.S. Army Vietnamese-American killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Baghdad, Iraq.

From AsianAmerican:

Tran Quoc Binh was born in South Vietnam in 1978. He was the first U.S. Army Vietnamese-American killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Baghdad, Iraq in 2004.

During the Fall of Saigon, his father Van Tran a devout anti-communist was a Lieutenant in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). He chose to remain and protect his family and defend South Vietnam from the invading North Vietnamese Army and their Viet Cong Agents.

His father was captured and sent to a re-education camp...In 1986, upon the release of his father their family secretly left the clutches of Communism through the jungle. Sergeant Tran Quoc Binh carried his sister Katie on his shoulders and led his other sister Kristie by the hand through the jungles in Vietnam.

From the LA Times:

When he left for Iraq, Sgt. Quoc Binh "Bo" Tran's family knew they were not supposed to worry. For him, it was his duty and the kind of adventure that fueled his daring spirit.
Tran, 26, a mechanic in the California Army National Guard, died after the vehicle he was riding in was struck by a roadside bomb Nov. 7 outside Baghdad.

"He was a hands-on kind of guy," said Tran's sister Katie, 23. "He would try anything, often even until it hurt him. He was a loving person but very independent and one who would go into anything and not think twice about it."

"What's the opposite of sedentary? Well, whatever the word is, that was Bo," said Kristie, another sister. "One of the main reasons he joined the Guard was to travel and to serve his country.

"My mom and my brother enjoyed a special relationship. He would call every day and let her know how things were going. She and my dad are very proud of him," she added.

Tran's mother, Thu Truong Tran, did express worry about his being in the Guard, especially after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But his parents tempered their emotions and showed support for his decision, Kristie said.

"He joined before Sept. 11 and, like everyone in this country, he felt it was an attack on our soil," she added. "He was one of those people who wanted to protect the United States, like we were under his protection and he felt very proud of that. He felt like that was his duty."

Tran joined the National Guard about three years ago after serving in the active-duty Army, said 1st Lt. Jonathan Shiroma, a Guard spokesman in Sacramento. ...

The Vietnam native, his family's oldest child, was a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Tran got his nickname from two sources, said his sister Kristie. "It was short for Binh, but also it was short for Beau, which means 'beautiful' in French."

Find more about Army National Guard Sergeant Quoc Binh Tran

here, here and here.

Rye Whiskey -- Musical Interlude

Just thinking of Ray Milland and Don Birnam and The Lost Weekend

Punch Brothers



H/T CBB on the FaceBook place

Talk About Me

Richwell A. Doria, Army, Staff Sergeant -- Rest In Peace

Richwell A. Doria, 25

Army, Staff Sergeant
Based: Schofield Barracks, Hawaii
2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Regiment
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: November 7, 2006
Kirkuk, Iraq
Married, 1 child
Gender: Male
Hometown: San Diego
High School: Morse High (San Diego)
Foreign Country of Birth: Philippines
Burial: Eternal Gardens Memorial Park, Philippines

A 2000 graduate of San Diego's Morse High School was killed last week in Iraq, leaving behind his young family and a grieving Filipino community.

Army Staff Sgt. Richwell A. Doria, 25, died Nov. 7 in Kirkuk after being struck by small-arms fire during an air-assault mission, the Pentagon publicly announced yesterday.
He is survived by his wife, Jasmine, and the couple's 4-month-old baby, Jada, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and many relatives in San Diego and the Philippines.
Doria grew up in San Diego after moving from the Philippines when he was 11. His parents sent him to the United States so he would have opportunities he couldn't get back home, said his aunt Zenaida Anderson.
He joined the Army out of high school. At that time he dismissed relatives' suggestions that he join the Navy, as an uncle had done.
He said he will do his own thing and not follow in anyone's footsteps, his aunt said, sitting at the kitchen table of her Skyline neighborhood home, and surrounded by printouts of e-mailed photographs of her nephew.

Read the rest of the article here. Read more about Army Staff Sergeant Richwell A. Doria here, here and here and visit his Guest Book here.

Shabbat Shalom -- Soccer Division

Benny Feilhaber

Abraham Simpson, Marines, Lance Corporal -- Rest In Peace

Abraham Simpson, 19

Marines, Lance Corporal
Based: Camp Pendleton
3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: November 9, 2004
Fallouja, Iraq
Single
Gender: Male
Hometown: Chino
High School: Southland Christian School (Walnut)
Burial: Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside

Even as a boy, Simpson wanted to be a Marine. He joined the military after high school, despite grades that could have gotten him into a good college with a scholarship, family members said.

After basic training, he paid a visit to his old school and talked to the senior class about being a Marine.

"He was tall and he walked in with so much pride," said Mallory Madrigal, a student at the time. "He just went on about how much he liked the Marines."

Eight months after he signed on, he shipped out to Iraq. He spent his last day stateside with fellow Scouts from a leadership training group in which he had been active for six years.

"He spent the day with us in his Marine uniform just being an example, and teaching the 14- to 16-year-olds how to demonstrate leadership skills to younger Scouts," said Dan Glass, an El Monte police detective and the leader of the group.

Glass said the Scouts were thinking of installing a plaque in Simpson's memory at a trailside vista he loved just outside the Holcomb Valley Scout Ranch north of Big Bear.

At the end of his day with the leadership group, Simpson was assigned to lower the American flag.

"We said a prayer for his safety and we thanked him for his service," Glass said. "That was the last time we saw him."

Read the entire LA Times article about Marine Lance Corporal Abraham Simpson here and read more here.

A procession headed by family members follows the casket bearing Lance Cpl. Abraham Simpson after funeral services for the fallen Marine Saturday, Nov. 27, 2004 in Chino Hills, Calif. Simpson was killed in combat Nov. 9, 2004, in the al-Anbar province of Iraq. (AP Photo/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Therese Tran) Look here for the source of this photograph.