Everyone Who Showed Up Is A Hero

SEALs assault case goes to court

The mother of slain Blackwater guard Jerry Zovko drove from Ohio to give each of the accused SEALs a blessed rosary and lend them her support.

"These young SEALs are in this situation because they caught the mastermind behind the death of my son, and not only my son and his co-workers but also the marines who went into Fallujah after their death," said Donna Zovko. "I am very proud of these young SEALs and thankful to them. They did not do anything wrong."

Early in the morning, before the SEALs' arraignments even began, a crowd of about 100 people formed outside the base to show their support for the accused men. Some of them were from Hampton Roads and some of them drove hundreds of miles to stand by the accused SEALs. And, just about every car that drove past the base honked in support.

"It's made me, and the other two guys, feel very good about the situation. It's helping us get through everyday," said an overwhelmed McCabe. "It makes us feel so much better knowing that we have so many people behind us, I just can't explain how much better I feel because of that."

McCabe's father was among the crowd. "You send these kids into harms way, they don't know if their next step is going to be their last step. They go get one of the most high profile terrorists on the planet and for that they get a court martial," said Marty McCabe.

"Tears my heart out. Last time I read the Constitution it was, 'We the people.' It doesn't cover these clowns, you know these guys who climb out from under rocks and kill women and children."

The citizens who gave up their Monday morning to be in Norfolk in support of these Warriors made a difference. Thank you everyone.

BRAVO ZULU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Announcements From Warrior Legacy Foundation

First and most importantly:
You know that song and video I have been posting over and over and over and over, well you get the gist?

Warrior Legacy Foundation has been given permission to adopt that song as our official Fight Song!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is the author and creator explaining how he came to create it:

The song, written and performed by a young gent named Sean, was found by our own Matt Burden. He posted it up on Blackfive.net, and after listening to it, we knew it had to be a part of WLF.

Sean tells us this about the inspiration for creating the song:
You'd asked me to tell you a little bit about why I did it, and the simplest explanation is, it was done to try to raise the morale of any soldier that might hear it, because I believe that a guy with a higher level of morale stands a better chance of surviving a dangerous situation than one without.

There was an evening where I'd come across several articles in succession on the internet dealing with what they called "the deteriorating psychological state" of the US Military, and that same evening, I happened to tune into a program on TV that was showing soldiers going through basic training. There were shots of guys doing obstacle courses, getting weapons training, and at some point, running and singing cadence.

All of these things, the articles, and the show, combined to inspire a song that I tried to shape into something that would boost the morale of the soldier, and scare the living hell out of the enemy…regardless of who the enemy might be.I wanted to uplift and honor those who do what they do...no matter when they did it. It is as much for Veterans as it is for Active-duty members of the Military.

I know that there are a vast number of individuals in this country who look upon these men and women with the same level of awe, admiration, love and respect as I do, and in my opinion, we will never be able to do enough to show it. But, that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. Technically, the song is just as cool.

Here's Sean telling us how he created this tune:

The song was created and produced in Echo Sonic's Studio in Pasadena, California. I am the producer/songwriter, and primary vocalist, having multi-tracked myself about 32 times to create the sound of a platoon. During the choruses, there is an
addition vocal line by a gentleman from Texas named Rock Williams, to thicken it up and make it sound bigger.

The Drill Sergeant parts were done by James DeVito, a Retired Drill Sergeant from the USMC. The underlying drum loop that pulses through the song was done by Justin Card, an electronic musician friend of mine here in Los Angeles.

The guitars were performed by session guitarist Sean Hurwitz.The marching snares were performed by L.A. Drummer Bernie Pershey, who I met one night and played the song for him. Ironically, his hobby/passion was studying Military Marching Snare. He came over that very night to volunteer his talents.

The rest of the drums and bass and keys and all they background stuff was my own work. Most of it was programmed.The video was created over the course of a week in that same room. Want a copy? Go here: www.thewarriorsong.com. Tell them the WLF sent you. Some of us here, who have iPhones, have even created ringtones from it. Let us know what you think!

Its Two and a half hours til Veteran's Day

But I can't wait. To all my friends who served, Thank You. Not just for your service to our Nation, but for allowing me the honor of working for you and with you.

I have been fortunate over the past 4 years to meet some of the most amazing individuals this country has ever produced, and not all of them are veterans, but all are serving this Nation in some capacity.

From Soldiers Angels to the milbloggers to the extraordinary civilians who sacrifice so much so that deployed Warriors will know they are being thought of.

Your friendship means more to me than you will ever know, and I can ever adequately demonstrate.

Semper Fidelis

and I have to post this video one more time, (well, this week, anyway):

Warrior Song

"Stand next to me you'll never stand alone"

At Last The Long Awaited Announcement

and yes, I have signed on as a reader, so make it interesting. My normal reading fare is Ludlum, Koontz, King and Clancy.


From my buddy Susan Katz Keating:
Announcing the Uniform EnCounters GC3 Writing Competition
Hey, everyone! As promised: We have a writing competition!

As I wrote in my last post, have I got a deal for you! This blog's sister site, UniformEnCounters, is hosting a fundraiser/writing competition designed to benefit three good causes (GC3): wounded troops; soldier morale; and you, the writer.

Here's what you do.

Contest Rules

1. In 700 words or less, write an essay, story, or poem depicting a servicemember or members of the U.S. Armed Forces or their allies (i.e., Australia, Canada, etc.)

2. The subject matter can be any active duty scenario from World War I through the present.

3. Submit your entry in the body of an email to Uniformencounters@gmail.com. In the subject header, use your last name and a slash for category. Example: Obama/Poetry. If you enter more than once in a category, simply add a number in your header (Obama2/Poetry).

4. Submit a $15 entry fee through the UniformEncounters blogsite.

5. Your entry fees will go toward the purchase of voice-activated laptops for wounded troops, in the form of a donation to a remarkably worthy cause, Project Valour-IT.

6. Winning entries will be selected in each of three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry. Winning entrants will receive $50 each, plus publication on the UniformEnCounters site. Runners-up will receive prizes TBD.

7. Entries must be submitted by 8 a.m. EST on 1 December, 2009. Winners will be announced on the UniformEnCounters site on New Year's Day.

Tips and insights: There are no subject rules, but keep in mind that UniformEnCounters exists to raise support for our men and women in uniform. Enter as often as you like, but each entry must be accompanied by its own fee/donation. Fees are processed through PayPal. If you wish to use another method, please email uniformencounters@gmail.com for instructions on how to submit via snail mail.

Thank you in advance to everyone, and in particular to my intrepid squad of reader-volunteers! So now it's time to start writing. GC3 awaits!

The fine print: You retain all rights to your composition/s. By entering the competition, you agree to allow your winning submission to be published on the UniformEnCounters site.

I Am A Warrior and This Is My Song

H/T Mike in Tidewater

Virginia Board of Elections Should Be Ashamed

Judge: Va. violated absentee voters' rights

RICHMOND A federal judge ruled Friday that Virginia violated the voting rights of military service members and other Americans living overseas when electoral officials failed to send them ballots for last year's presidential election on time.

U.S. District Judge Richard Williams also ordered the Virginia Board of Elections to count and certify valid absentee ballots for the election after it reaches an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice on how the process will be conducted. The count won't change the outcome of the election, which President Obama won in Virginia by nearly 233,000 votes.

The ballots from military service members and others living outside Virginia were the focus of a lawsuit filed by Republican candidate John McCain's campaign, which alleged that they weren't mailed in time for voters to cast their ballots before the polls closed on Nov. 4, 2008. The Justice Department replaced the campaign as the plaintiff after Judge Williams ruled that the Republican ticket lacked standing to sue.

Judge Williams said in an opinion Thursday that Virginia's failure to mail more than 2,100 absentee ballots at least 30 days before the election violated the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. At least 96 of the ballots were received by local registrars after the polls closed and were not counted.

Video RE; COP Keating

H/T Ms Diva in AZ. Good catch, Lady

SFC Jared Monti Memorial Scholarship Fund

As most of you know, SFC Monti is the newest recipient of the Medal of Honor. Unfortunately, as with all of the previous awards of the nation's highest honor for bravery in both Iraq and Afghanistan, it was a posthumous award.
SFC Monti's family has chosen to honor their son and his legacy by creating a scholarship fund for local high school students to attend college. There is no finer way to honor Jared Monti's life and accomplishments and to keep his memory and the memory of what he sacrificed for this country alive than to help worthy young people who may not otherwise have the opportunity continue their education.
In an outstanding display of bi-partisanship, Pundit Review's Kevin Whalen has teamed up with a progressive blog, Blue Mass Group, to help raise money for the fund. Both blogs, who would agree on very little politically, have put that aside and are working together to honor a local hero and raise scholarship funds.
A tip of the hat to both blogs for their commitment to this very worthy cause.
You can go to Kevin's blog and hit the donation button or go to the fund's site to do so.
If you prefer to send a check you can send it to:
"Jared C. Monti Memorial Scholarship Fund, Inc."c/o Bristol County Savings Bank
108 N. Main Street
Raynham, MA 02767.
Tax ID# EIN 56-2599231
Thanks to the Blackfive community in advance for honoring this fine warrior's memory and contributing to his legacy. And if you have a blog, help out and spread the word.

The Warriors, in their own words

Take a few minutes and go see this video.

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decay and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight; nothing he cares about more than his own personal safety; is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

John Stuart Mill

With this documentary, photo exhibit and book our aim is to raise funding for and awareness of the men and women warriors that have given so much to protect our freedoms. Freedom is not free.