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May
20th

Alabama Loses a Hero

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.

Mar
17th

Bama Guard unit home from Iraq soon!

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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.

Feb
20th

In the news today

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!

Feb
16th

2009 National Veterans Golden Age Games Registration Open

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The Birmingham VA site updated this weekend with news of open registration for this year’s upcoming Golden Age Games. The National Veterans Golden Age Games is the “only national multi-event sports and recreational seniors’ competition program for older veterans.” Designed to improve the quality of life for all older veterans, these games include those with a wide range of abilities.

The Golden Age Games will be held in Birmingham June 1-5, 2009. The Birmingham VA is the official host of the games. Over 700 Veterans from all over the coun competing in 16 different events. This will be an exciting set of games.

The Golden Age Games are sponsored by the Department of Veteran Affairs, Veterans Canteen Service, and Help Hospitalized Veterans. All registration packages must be received no later than March 31, 2009.

For more information about the games, please visit the website at www.veteransgoldenagegames.va.gov

The VA will need over 1,300 volunteers for this event. If you are interested in volunteering, contact the Voluntary Service office at (205) 933-4396.

Jan
28th

Bama Guard to send another team to Afghanistan

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.

Jan
15th

Walker County mourns loss of a hero

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Private McCune’s loved ones:

A 20-year-old Army soldier originally from Walker County has been killed in Iraq. Pvt. Sean P. McCune died Sunday in Samarra, Iraq, of injuries from a noncombat incident, Army officials said. He was assigned to the Army’s 25th Infantry Division. Army records list McCune as being from Euless, Texas, but he grew up in Walker County, northwest of Birmingham, and graduated from Curry High School in 2006. McCune’s mother, Sandra Gibson, told the Jasper Daily Mountain Eagle her son had wanted to enlist in the Army from the time he was 15. He enlisted in May 2008 and deployed to Iraq in October.

Gibson, who still lives in Walker County, said after her son graduated from high school she asked him to wait a year before making a final decision about enlisting. Even though he waited, she said he never wavered from wanting to serve his country.

Since deploying to Iraq, his few e-mails home were short and sweet, his mother said.

“I’m okay, and I love you,” he would write.

“He was fired up. He loved it. There was nothing about the Army that Sean didn’t love,” his mother said. She said her son wanted to become an Army Ranger.

Family members remembered McCune as a loving son and brother, who loved to make people laugh.

“He was mischievous to a fault. Whatever he could do to make somebody laugh, that was Sean,” Gibson said.

McCune loved joking around with his sisters — Amber McCune, 23; Natasha Gibson, 17; and Vicki Gibson, 11.

“He was a best friend. He would be there no matter what you needed, and he would make you laugh until your stomach hurt,” Amber McCune said.

“He was always good to talk to because he would listen to you about anything,” Natasha Gibson said.

Funeral arrangements for McCune have not been announced.

Dec
10th

Communication program launched for military families

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Per Fox6 news:

Alabama launched a new effort to help military families communicate with deployed family members overseas on Tuesday. A new program called ‘Connecting Families’ was used on Tuesday morning for the first time in Wetumpka.

The program will allow military families to use a computer and a webcam at public libraries to connect by videoconferencing to their loved one overseas. The Birmingham Public Library is one of more than 100 statewide that will offer the computer and webcam for use in the Connecting Families program.

Click here to view the video for this story.

Nov
19th

Pentagon To Broadcast Iron Bowl To Troops

Courtesy of The Birmingham News:

U.S. troops deployed around the globe will be able to watch this year’s Iron Bowl live on the Armed Forces Network, Alabama U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions said today.

Responding to requests from Alabama service members, including some with the Alabama Air National Guard’s 117th Air Refueling Wing deployed in Kyrgyzstan, Sessions’ office asked the Pentagon to set up a live broadcast of this year’s game, and the request has been granted.

“I’ve had the opportunity to visit with our troops in the Middle East on numerous occasions, and I frequently see an Alabama or Auburn flag flying below the Stars and Stripes,” said Sessions, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “This is a huge game and it has huge national interest. I’m sure that all our military personnel who can will be glued to the television.”

The Iron Bowl, pitting top-ranked Alabama against archrival Auburn, is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. local time on Nov. 29 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. Auburn has won the last six contests.

Thank you, Senator Sessions!

Oct
11th

In the news this weekend

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The following article was posted in this weekend’s edition of The Birmingham News:

Col. Chris Morgan

Col. Chris Morgan

Alabama Guard officer says Afghanistan ‘moving in the right direction’

An Alabama National Guard officer who is helping train police officers and soldiers in Afghanistan said the country appears to be moving in the right direction.

“I really get a good sense that these people are really wanting true peace and security,” said Col. Chris Morgan, a Fort Payne native who is the commander of a 15-member Alabama Army Guard training team that arrived in Afghanistan about two months ago. “The Army has come leaps and bounds from just a bunch of just fighters to an army that can sustain itself and plan and execute deliberate operations … and the police are coming along.

“I think really and truly, this thing is moving in the right direction,” Morgan said today in a telephone interview from the Afghan capital of Kabul. “Is it moving as fast as Chris Morgan would like it to? Heck no. But is it something that I feel … is a worthy cause? You’re dang right.”

“I’d like for us to pack our bags and come home,” Morgan added. “But … with the global war terrorism, you know, wherever they’re at is where we need to put our foot if we’re going to defeat this thing.”

Aug
17th

In the News this weekend

Courtesy of the Tuscaloosa News:

Army National Guard Pfc. Teri L. Willis has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C. Willis is the daughter of Linda Bender of Northport. She graduated in 1997 from Hillcrest High School and received an associate degree in 1999 from Faulkner State Community College in Bay Minette.

Congratulations, Teri!


The Birmingham News featured a piece this morning about an Alabama Guard unit that left yesterday to go back to Afghanistan:

The training team is the fifth that the state Army Guard has sent to Afghanistan since 9/11. It recently completed two months of pre-deployment training at Fort Riley.

Lt. Col. Jeff Thrower of Alabaster, a member of the team, said recently that the mission had not been fully defined.

“Right now, I know that one of our biggest pushes over there has been to get the Afghanistan police up to where they can do their jobs,” he said. “The Afghan army is in a lot better situation than they were three or four years ago, but the police have still got some issues out there. So we’re doing our best to help out across the board in both areas.”

Read the full article here.