Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Silver Star Families


Silver Star Families of America is a group working to get a WIA Service Flag designated to honor those of our Heroes wounded in service to their country.You can go to this site to find out more. They also have a Yahoo group support site

Info from their webpage: ... while America is at war it honors its hero’s but it doesn’t take long for the heroes to be forgotten. The wounded of our nation to live and struggled on their own with little or no help. The medals tarnish and some of our most vulnerable soldiers and veterans are left to survive or die with no recognition for their achievements.

Since that time I have struggling for a Service Flag for our wounded. Something to fly over a V.A. Hospital to remind the country, day in and day out, of the sacrifice of our men and women in the armed forces and for families of the wounded to hang in their windows or fly proudly from a pole to show their pride. ... we especially need to be reminded that some are still suffering the consequences of conflict.

We started a web site and requested of our Senators that legislation be enacted to allow for placement of the Silver Star on the Blue Star Service Flag to show wounded. We started an on-line petition, which has now entered the real word as an actual hard copy petition, which I hope you will soon see on every street corner.

Friends started a Yahoo Group where like-minded people, and families of our wounded, could gather to exchange ideas and to work on accomplishing our goal. On April 1st of the year of our Lord 2005, we decided that instead of waiting for legislative action or other organizations acceptance, we would start to honor the wounded of our country NOW. Thus was formed the SILVER STAR FAMILIES OF AMERICA. We designed and copyrighted the Silver Star Service Flag that can be downloaded now. We are also working on forming our own 501 c organization.

...we are doing what we set out to do. Helping those that cannot, or do not know how, to help themselves. And we are showing our respect for them by flying our Silver Star Flags NOW.

It is one of my fondest wishes that other organizations would join with us and many already have. It is an honorable cause. I invite each and every one of you to sign the petition but more importantly to join us now to do something that was once done many years ago by several states. That is to show our fellow countrymen that we DO honor our wounded and that they are not forgotten.Chief Steven J. Newton (ret)


An 8 year old writes to our soldiers: Phil Haberman Normally, I start my stories off with a soft, tender moment meant to show something other than what you see on the news. Well, I'm not going to to that this time. As I sit here in my hospital bed reflecting on everthing that has happened over the last few months, I have to say one thing....WAR SUCKS!!!

When I volunteered to go to Iraq, I THOUGHT I knew what I was getting myself into. I figured my time as a medic back home in Florida would have numbed me to death and injuries. But seeing what you see on the streets, and then seeing what I saw in war are two completely different things. And one will never prepare you for the other. I will just say now that this article will be fairly graphic at times. But everything that I say is what I have seen or experienced first hand, and not what you hear on the news.When I last wrote you, I told you about what Iraq was like for us living there. I told you about the constant mortar attacks and small arms fire. Well this story is not going to be about life in Iraq. It is going to be about death in Iraq.....(more)

New protection for our soldiers: Army Fields New IED Counter Measure System -The Army is reporting that a new IED counter measure system (ICE) is being fielded in the article, “New device counters terrorism, Visiting Kyle Again at the VA Hospital Marine with brain damage in MN VA gets a visit from a Soldiers Angel

July 26, 2005 BUSH JR. NOT PREPARED FOR VETERANS
We have all read the stories of Bush Jr. not having a plan going into Iraq
or having a plan to get out. In another example of just how incompetent Bush Jr.
is, his own Veterans Administration (VA) has just acknowledged that Bush Jr. had
predicted (and budgeted for) that about 23,000 of the veterans who had served in
Iraq and Afghanistan would need VA health services.
The actual number so far
is 103,000 – over four times the number Bush Jr. had predicted.

posted by Valerie - Still Riding Forward @ 5:07 PM 0 comments