Our thoughts and prayers go out to Sergeant Lee’s loved ones:

Army Sgt. Carlie M. Lee III, a 23-year-old native of Birmingham, was killed in Chak, Afghanistan on Friday, along with Staff Sgt. Esau I. Delapena Hernandez of La Puente, Calif.

Lee’s mother, Norma Lee, said her son had just recently undergone surgery on his appendix and had not been out of the hospital for more than two weeks. She questioned whether he should have been back into combat so soon.

The soldiers were members of the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment and deployed earlier this year with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Lee, who joined the Army in 2006 and was on his second deployment to Afghanistan, had re-enlisted in December and was scheduled to return home in July.

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Courtesy of the Soldiers’ Angels blog:

As an all out effort to support National Military Appreciation Month, held in May, Soldiers’ Angels is asking Americans to show their appreciation for our military by adopting a deployed service member at www.SoldiersAngels.org.

This year more than any other, our service men and women need to know they are truly appreciated for their role in protecting and defending our nation’s freedom. It doesn’t take much time to become involved with Soldiers’ Angels.

To Adopt-A-Hero go to the website www.SoldiersAngels.org and click on the ADOPT button. Your commitment each month is simply a letter a week and a small package each month. Join our team. Our nation’s heroes need you. Soldiers’ Angels is the place to start to show your appreciation.

WHEREAS, The freedom and security that citizens of the United States enjoy today are direct results of the blood shed and continued vigilance given by the United States Armed Forces over the history of our great nation; and

WHEREAS, the sacrifices that such members of the United States Armed Forces and of the family members that support them, have preserved the liberties that have enriched this nation making it unique in the world community; and

WHEREAS, the United States Congress, in two thousand and four, passed a resolution proclaiming May as National Military Appreciation Month, calling all Americans to remember those who gave their lives in defense of freedom and to honor the men and women of all of our Armed Services who have served and are now serving our Country, together with their families; and

WHEREAS, the months of May and June were selected for this display of patriotism because during these months, we celebrate Victory in Europe (VE) Day, Military Spouse Day, Loyalty Day, Armed Forces Day/Week, National Day of Prayer, Memorial Day, Navy Day, Army Day and Flag Day;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Patti Patton-Bader, Founder of Soldiers’ Angels, do hereby proclaim the period May 1, through June 14, 2009 as a special time to show appreciation for our Military and proclaim it as NATIONAL MILITARY APPRECIATION MONTH

Patti Patton-Bader
Founder, Soldiers’ Angels

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Courtesy of the Tuscaloosa News:

Airman JaMarvin A. Wells has graduated from basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. He is the son of Barbara and Wyman Spencer and the late Marvin E. Sealey of Ralph. He is a 2007 graduate of Central High School.

Congratulations, Airman Wells!

Mitchell E. Baygents has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. He is the son of Randy and Sharon Baygents of Tuscaloosa. He is a 2005 graduate of Northridge High School.

Congratulations, Mr. Baygents!

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Some great news published in The Birmingham News yesterday, the 128th Medical Company is due to come home near the end of this month. Based out of Ashland, the unit’s mission was mainly transporting hurt and wounded troops to combat support hospitals.

Read the whole article here.

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The Clanton Advertiser has a great article this morning about Army Specialist Justin Corn, of Thorsby, who recently returned from Iraq.

Corn believes the U.S. is making a difference in Iraq. In the time he was deployed to Iraq, he saw a big difference in the people from when he arrived to when he left.

A great story, and a poignant reminder of why it’s so important that we support our men and women in uniform!

Because he was in a remote location of Iraq, Corn and his unit didn’t have much contact with family and friends. “Whenever we got to a base, everyone would run to the phone to get their five minutes to call our families,” Corn said.

During his tour, his family and his wife both sent him numerous care packages, which included personal items and snack foods.

“You don’t know just how much you miss that until you don’t have it anymore,” he said. “Some weren’t as fortunate as I was, so I shared with those who didn’t get any packages.”

You can read the whole article here.

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Courtesy of the Montgomery Advertiser:

Air Force Airman Andrew Williams has gradu­ated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio. He is the son of James Wil­liams of Prattville.

The airman is a 2008 grad­uate of Prattville High School.

Congratulations, Airman Williams!

Air National Guard Airman 1st Class LaDarius J. Reed has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio. Reed is the son of Allison Gandy and Terry Essex, both of Montgomery.

The airman graduated in 2008 from Jefferson Davis High School in Montgom­ery.

Congratulations, AFC Reed!

Air Force Airman Jeremiah L. Hand has gradu­ated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio. He is the son of Tommy and Rose Hand of Pine Level.

The airman is a 2008 grad­uate of Marbury High School in Pine Level.

Congratulations, Airman Hand!

Air Force Airman Tom­my J. Giles has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio. He is the son of Kimberly and Tommy Giles of Deat­sville.

The airman is a 2008 grad­uate of Holtville High School in Deatsville.

Congratulations, Airman Giles!

Coast Guard Seaman Co­rey S. Campbell recently graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Recruit Train­ing Center in Cape May, N.J. Campbell is the son of Rita W. and Scott E. Campbell of Eclectic.

The seaman is a 2007 grad­uate of Elmore County High School in Eclectic.

Congratulations, Seaman Campbell!

Coast Guard Seaman Zackery B. Cooley recent­ly graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Recruit Train­ing Center in Cape May, N.J. Cooley is the son of Lisa R. and Vonzie E. Cooley of Montgomery.

Congratulations, Seaman Cooley!

Air National Guard Airman John W. Pitch ford has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San An­tonio. He is the grandson of La­mar Pitchford of Tallassee.

The airman is a 2007 grad­uate of Tallassee High School.

Congratulations, Airman Pitch!

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Courtesy of The Anniston Star:

Army Reserve Col. Roy A. Hall recently graduated from the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks in Carlisle, Pa. He is the son of Thomas D. Hall of Weaver. He graduated in 1980 from Anniston High School and received an associate degree in 1982 from Marion Military Institute. He received a bachelor’s degree in 1984 from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa.

Congratulations, Col. Hall!

Air Force Staff Sgt. Shane Law was recently decorated with the Air Force Commendation Medal. He is the son of Larry and Connie Downey of Piedmont. He graduated in 1993 from Piedmont High School and received an associate degree in 2006 from the Community College of the Air Force in Montgomery.

Congratulations, Sgt. Law!

Air Force Airman 1st Class Nicholas W. Byars recently arrived for duty at Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, N.M. He is the son of Christopher W. and Sherry D. Byars of Jacksonville. He graduated in 2007 from Jacksonville High School.

Congratulations, Airman 1st Class Byars!

Army Pvt. Jesse D. Harper recently graduated from the Land Combat Electrician Advanced Individual Training course at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville. He is the son of Timothy L. and Karen D. Harper of Anniston.

Congratulations, Pvt. Harper!

Army Pfc. Corbett L. Futral was one of more than 300 Army soldiers who participated in the “Spirit of America 2008″ performance for the residents of Rochester, N.Y., and Worcester, Mass., on Sept. 12 and 13, respectively. Futral, an infantryman with two years of military service, is assigned to the 4th Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. He is the son of Harry Futral of Oxford and Shannon Moreira of Gulf Shores. The private is a 2004 graduate of Gulf Shores High School.

Congratulations, PFC Futral!

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Published on The Birmingham News‘ Breaking News blog, a story about a troop of would-be officers for the Army National Guard participating in an accelerated Officer Candidate School who capped one of their training exercises by ending a seven-mile, full pack and gear march in 2 and half hours — concluding with a lap around the Talladega Superspeedway.

View the blog post and pictures here.

Courtesy of WTVY News 4, news of another library benefiting from Governor Riley’s connecting families program. The Houston-Love Memorial Library in Dothan has two computers dedicated to providing folks live access to see and talk with members of the military stationed stateside or overseas.

To read the whole article, go here. For more information on the web cam program, call the Houston Love Memorial Library at (334) 793-9767.

Last but not least, this isn’t Alabama-related but I can’t resist sharing: a great story from Right Pundits about Detective Ken Leonard of the High Point, North Carolina Police Department. He served his country in Iraq training local Iraqis to become policemen. He lost his feet by IED. After a long road of therapy and prosthetics, he has made it back onto the police force and has recently joined the blogging world. His blog is called “No Feet Required!” and he is up for John Walsh’s AMW All Star First Responders Award.

If you have time, drop by No Feet Required! — I’m sure Ken would love to hear from everyone!

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According to the Shelby County Reporter, the Pelham Public Library is one of the latest to participate in Connecting Families, a partnership between the Alabama Public Library Service and the Alabama Broadband Initiative that allows military families to see and talk to each other via Web conferencing.

According to Barbara Roberts, library director:

Signing up is fast, free and easy. All one needs is an e-mail address and an account with Skype, a software program that allows telephone calls, instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing over the Internet. Library aides are available to set up e-mail and Skype accounts for those interested. And the library is willing to arrange Web conferencing sessions after hours to accommodate families.

It’s great to see more libraries participating in this wonderful program!

For more information, call Roberts at [205] 620-6418.

The Montgomery Advertiser published news yesterday that the 926th Engineer Brigade, an Army Reserve unit headquartered in Montgomery, has returned from Iraq.

Welcome home, brave heroes!

WKRG 5 News reported earlier this week with a heartwarming story about Private First Class Marshall Joslin, a soldier stationed in Iraq who had received letters from 4th graders at Knollwood Christian School. He had stopped by to say thanks to the children who’d written to him.

Read the entire article and view the video here.

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Posted today over at The Birmingham News:

An Alabama Army National Guard training team now in Afghanistan is in the home stretch of its tour, and another team will be deploying in June.

Staff Sgt. Katrina Timmons, a state Army Guard spokesperson, said the team to deploy later this year will have 16 members. It will be the sixth team the Alabama Army Guard has sent to Afghanistan to help train soldiers and police officers.

Timmons said the team members will have a send-off ceremony in late March, go to Fort Riley, Kan., for pre-deployment training and deploy to Afghanistan in June. The team’s time in Afghanistan should be about nine months, Timmons said.

An Army Guard team now in place in Afghanistan should be back in about two months, Timmons said.

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