The day has finally come!

So, I got here at Mike's yesterday. He got back from WLC in the AM, and I got here in the afternoon. I know he's pretty frustrated with the army right now. He got back and that same night there was "mandatory fun". They had a mandatory Xmas party. He was NOT happy, and neither were the other guys. He's just been really frustrated lately because I think he's getting the predeployment blues. He knows our time together is getting shorter, and there are more and more trainings (well, DUH! Deployment soon!) I just told him to try to make the best of it. Poor thing, I think he was just really tired. I was FORCING him to socialize. Until, I talked to him about it- it kinda made me sad. "I don't socialize with them. I work with them, I see them at work. It hurts enough losing one, if I'm closer than that it hurts more." Well, okay, makes sense. Still, I told him that where you block pain you also block joy. I've learned that the hard way.
After that we went to dinner with a buddy of his that he's been getting to know better, and was at WLC with. He brough his girl too and I like them both a lot. The Guy is a lot of fun and makes Mike smile! (It's hard to do, Mike's sort of a complex guy.) I know they'll look out for eachother. Makes me feel less like Mike's so isolated too. The girl and I had a LOT in common and I liked her a lot too. Funny, cos I don't usually like girls! We had a BLAST!
Later we went and got food, and ended up getting the things he needed for his apartment (yay no more barracks!) and did well even on prices! I helped him try to make it as expedient (and cheap) as possible. I'm kind of a deal seeker. He laughs because I figure price per oz. and go from there! LOL So it's a little much, but it helps! He says he likes shopping with me because I make it so much easier. (Plus, I know where everything is, and what's a rip off!)I fixed my computer by myself while he was gone, AND I fixed his shower today, AND helped him find some PVC glue for his sink (he didn't know what to use, but I did!) So he should be good to go. My self reliant guy. Sometimes he doesn't know what to do with having someone like me around. It's sweet.
I know he's been VERY frustrated all weekend, because we had the mandatory fun, and then today we ran more errands, but we DID go see Beowulf (GO SEE IT!) and tonight at about 11 he had to go to an exercise and won't be back till about 4pm tomorrow! grr! stupid army! That's okay. I'm grateful for the time we have and I understand. (That's the other thing, he says he can't wrap his head around me understanding!) So, the interference isn't fun for either of us, but I'm trying to stay positive (HARD sometimes!). I just told him that we deal with the cards we're dealt, and to make the best of it. For ex: yeah, it sucks the he has to go, BUT it makes us appreciate the time we have and not to take eachother for granted, AND he'll know that when he comes back I'll be here! :) (I know, Vomit at pollyanna!)I told him too that it's just gonna get worse from here as it gets closer, and really it's not like i'm gonna be at home stewing over it. I've got plenty to keep myself busy! :P

Oh! and I gave him his christmas present. He LOVED it! We have matching Mispahs that when apart are halves, but when joined make the army symbol and a prayer on the back: The Lord watch between me and thee while we are apart one from the other.
He says it's now SOP (standard operating procedure- AKA part of his uniform!) which just cracked me up! He makes me so happy, and we're so good together.

I think most of it is just that he's feeling "the countdown."
I think we both are.
We'll get through it!

Three days left, and other news!

So, I've not written in a bit. I'm surviving of course.. as we all knew I would. I miss Mike when he's gone, and it seems when he IS gone the poo hits the fan, but if I do say so myself I've been handling it beautifully!
He sneaks little phone calls or texts when he can, which is quite sweet and has helped me out quite a bit. As always, every day is different and better or worse than another. BUT three days left and I go to see him- HUZZAH! Like they say, the absence certainly makes you appreciate what you have. It seems he was supposed to go into the field and camp out there, but the CO's decided it was "too cold"! I'm sorry, but I find that QUITE funny!

In other news, my brother (Kenyon) will be graduating from Warrant officer school soon. This would be normal and just fine, except that NOTHING is normal for my family. As it turns out there's a little snag in the procedure here!

Okay so this is a 3 day event- sunday with the family, monday with others, and tuesday with the actual graduation.
Well, so the base commander is Lt. Col. and the head of the school is Maj.
They were asked that if they had anyone coming higher than Maj. to let them know. (To swear my brother in.)
Well, my dad is a full bird retired Col. in the AF.
Sooo... my brother had to fill out paperwork.
He was then notified that all retired and active personnel are expected to be in their Class A's. (My dad is NOT happy about that! I mean medals and everything..)
He will also upon arrival at the base, have to RECIEVE THE BASE COMMANDER! He will also be issued an assistant and a driver, and will be given the officer's quarters to stay in. And now it turns out that he has to buy a whole new uniform because his is so outdated!
AND when bro graduates from flight school, mom - the Colonel's wife- will be pinning him. Which means, all the LOWER RANKING officer's wives will have to leave their calling cards with her! (The reason this is so funny is, 1) my family is NOT one for procedure, formality, or pulling rank and 2) we TRY, though it never works, to keep a low profile!)

My brother has been insisting on a LOW profile this whole time- SO MUCH FOR THAT!
My family life is insane.

Nobody ever believes my stories about my family. When I was a kid, they called me a liar! These stories, things like this, are the reason why!
________

Other than that, I'm doing well. I'm graduating! YAY! And will be looking for a job, and moving soon, so it may be sparse here for a bit as not much will be happening.
I shall, as always, keep posting!

"A Day That Will Live in Infamy"

Sadly, even days declared for Infamy are slowly forgotten. Americans, and people in general just seem to do that. I think, especially in light of the fact that "the sleeping giant" has been awakened again we are in the middle of a war. We should take this lesson to heart and realize that without rememberance- these days, their heroes and losses, and their lessons are forgotten, and in essence we are doomed to repeat them.



This date, December 7, 1941, is the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese.
This year will mark the 66th anniversary of this tragic event.
Please take a moment to reflect today.
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Air Raid on Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory killing more than 2,300 Americans. The U.S.S. Arizona was completely destroyed and the U.S.S. Oklahoma capsized. The attack sank three other ships and damaged many additional vessels. More than 180 aircraft were destroyed.

A hurried dispatch from the ranking United States naval officer in Pearl Harbor, Commander in Chief Pacific, to all major navy commands and fleet units provided the first official word of the attack at the ill-prepared Pearl Harbor base. It said simply: AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NOT DRILL.

The following day President Franklin Roosevelt, addressing a joint session of Congress, called December 7 "a date which will live in infamy." Declaring war against Japan, Congress ushered the United States into World War II and forced a nation, already close to war, to abandon isolationism. Within days, Japan's allies, Germany and Italy, declared war on the United States, and the country began a rapid transition to a war-time economy in building up armaments in support of military campaigns in the Pacific, North Africa, and Europe.
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The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack that shocked the US. On the morning of December 7, 1941, planes and midget submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy began a surprise attack on the U.S. under the command of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Despite long-standing assertions that this attack could have been predicted and prevented by the United States Military, the US forces at Pearl Harbor appeared to be utterly unprepared, and the attack effectively drew the United States into World War II. At 6:09 a.m. on December 7, 1941, the six Japanese carriers launched a first wave of 181 planes composed mainly of torpedo bombers, dive bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters. The Japanese hit American ships and military installations at 7:55 a.m. They attacked military airfields and at the same time they hit the fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor. The battleship "USS Arizona" was hit with an armor piercing bomb which penetrated the forward ammunition compartment, blowing the ship apart. Overall, twenty-one ships of the U.S. Pacific fleet were damaged and the death toll reached 2,350, along with 68 civilians and 1,178 injured. Of the military personnel lost at Pearl Harbor, 1,177 were from the Arizona. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared Dec. 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy."
______________________
There is now a memorial in Hawaii:
http://www.nps.gov/usar/

http://www.thisweek.com/oahu/tour/tour-pearlharbor.html

It seems however, the USS Arizona Memorial will have to be abandoned in about two years for safety reasons. Check out the new plans:
http://www.pearlharbormemorial.com/site/pp.asp?c=fqLQJ2NNG&b=238984

_______________________
To see personal accounts of what those who were there remember of the moments they heard of the bombings click here:
("Americans Remember Pearl Harbor") http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/WWII_Women/RA/NCraig/PHMemories.html



Have a wonderful day, and celebrate your freedom. - Kate

Six Boys (Iwo Jima)

Each year I am hired to go to Washington, DC, with the eighth grade class from Clinton, WI where I grew up, to videotape their trip. I greatly enjoy visiting our nation's capitol, and each year I take some special memories back with me. This fall's trip was especially memorable.

On the last night of our trip, we stopped at the Iwo Jima memorial. This memorial is the largest bronze statue in the world and depicts one of the most famous photographs in history -- that of the six brave soldiers raising the American Flag at the top of a rocky hill on the island of Iwo Jima, Japan, during WW II. Over one hundred students and chaperones piled off the buses and headed towards the memorial. I noticed a solitary figure at the base of the statue, and as I got closer he asked, 'Where are you guys from? I told him that we were from Wisconsin 'Hey, I'm a cheese head, too! Come gather around, Cheese heads, and I will tell you a story.'

James Bradley just happened to be in Washington, DC, to speak at the memorial the following day. He was there that night to say good night to his dad, who had passed away. He was just about to leave when he saw the buses pull up. I videotaped him as he spoke to us, and received his permission to share what he said from my videotape. It is one thing to tour the incredible monuments filled with history in Washington, D.C., but it is quite another to get the kind of insight we received that night. When all had gathered around, he reverently began to speak. (Here are his words that night.) "My name is James Bradley and I'm from Antigo, Wisconsin. My dad is on that statue, and I just wrote a book called 'Flags of Our Fathers' which is #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list right now. It is the story of the six boys you see behind me.
Six boys raised the flag. The first guy putting the pole in the ground is Harlon Block. Harlon was an all-state football player. He enlisted in the Marine Corps with all the senior members of his football team. They were off to play another type of game: A game called 'War'. But it didn't turn out to be a game. Harlon, at the age of 21, died with his intestines in his hands. I don't say that to gross you out, I say that because there are people who stand in front of this statue and talk about the glory of war. You guys need to know that most of the boys in Iwo Jima were 17, 18, and 19 years old - and it was so hard that the ones who did make it home never even would talk to their families about it."

He pointed to the statue. "You see this next guy? That's Rene Gagnon from New Hampshire. If you took Rene's helmet off at the moment this photo was taken and looked in the webbing of that helmet, you would find a photograph... a photograph of his girlfriend. Rene put that in there for protection because he was scared. He was 18 years old. It was just boys who won the battle of Iwo Jima. Boys. Not old men. The next guy here, the third guy in this tableau, was Sergeant Mike Strank. Mike is my hero. He was the hero of all these guys. They called him the 'old man' because he was so old. He was already 24. When Mike would motivate his boys in training camp, he didn't say, 'Let's go kill some Japanese' or 'Let's die for our country.' He knew he was talking to little boys. Instead he would say, 'You do what I say, and I'll get you home to your mothers.'

The last guy on this side of the statue is Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian from Arizona. Ira Hayes was one who walked off Iwo Jima . He went into the White House with my dad. President Truman told him, 'You're a hero.' He told reporters, 'How can I feel like a hero when 250 of my buddies hit the island with me and only 27 of us walked off alive?' So you take your class at school, 250 of you spending a year together having fun, doing everything together. Then all 250 of you hit the beach, but only 27 of your classmates walk off alive. That was Ira Hayes. He had images of horror in his mind. Ira Hayes carried the pain home with him and eventually died dead drunk, face down at the age of 32. (ten years after this picture was taken)."

"The next guy, going around the statue, is Franklin Sousley from Hilltop, Kentucky. A fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. His best friend, who is now 70, told me, 'Yeah, you know, we took two cows up on the porch of the Hilltop General Store. Then we strung wire across the stairs so the cows couldn't get down. Then we fed them Epsom salts. Those cows crapped all night.' Yes, he was a fun-lovin' hillbilly boy. Franklin died on Iwo Jima at the age of 19. When the telegram came to tell his mother that he was dead, it went to the Hilltop General Store. A barefoot boy ran that telegram up to his mother's farm. The neighbors could hear her scream all night and into the morning. Those neighbors lived a quarter of a mile away. 'The next guy, as we continue to go around the statue, is my dad, John Bradley from Antigo, Wisconsin, where I was raised. My dad lived until 1994, but he would never give interviews. When Walter Cronkite's producers or the New York Times would call, we were trained as little kids to say 'No, I'm sorry, sir, my dad's not here. He is in Canada fishing. No, there is no phone there, sir. No, we don't know when he is coming back.' My dad never fished or even went to Canada. Usually, he was sitting there right at the table eating his Campbell's soup. But we had to tell the press that he was out fishing. He didn't want to talk to the press."


"You see, like Ira Hayes, my dad didn't see himself as a hero. Everyone thinks these guys are heroes, cause they are in a photo and on a monument. My dad knew better. He was a medic. John Bradley from Wisconsin was a caregiver. In Iwo Jima he probably held over 200 boys as they died. And when boys died in Iwo Jima, they writhed and screamed, without any medication or help with the pain."

"When I was a little boy, my third grade teacher told me that my dad was a hero. When I went home and told my dad that, he looked at me and said, 'I want you always to remember that the heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who did not come back. Did NOT come back.' So that's the story about six nice young boys. Three died on Iwo Jima , and three came back as national heroes. Overall, 7,000 boys died on Iwo Jima in the worst battle in the history of the Marine Corps. My voice is giving out, so I will end here. Thank you for your time."


Suddenly, the monument wasn't just a big old piece of metal with a flag sticking out of the top. It came to life before our eyes with the heartfelt words of a son who did indeed have a father who was a hero. Maybe not a hero for the reasons most people would believe, but a hero nonetheless.

-Michael T. Powers (2000)

Eight days left!

So, I've been super busy with school, but that's OVER! HUZZAH!
I've talked to Mike a bit every night, just a quick hey goodnight kind of thing, but still nice to have.
Like deployment (I'm told) I didn't like the first few days, and still don't like it, but am adjusting and doing well now. Looks like i'll be just fine.
He'll be in the field this weekend so we won't get to talk, but we're on the downhill slope now so no worries.
His Xmas present came in! I'm not gonna advertise it YET because I know he reads this, but I'll tell y'all later (and where to get them if you want one).
I'm working on my Xmas charity projects. Since I'm moving, i'm going to cull my books again- the ONLY reason being projectpaperback and the fact that the soldiers read the same genres I do. Goes to a good cause.
So, now, I'm taking a couple days to myself to relax, work on Xmas stuff, and then I guess it's packing and moving on to the next phase in my life.
It sucks that Mike was gone these last few weeks because they were the last (and most stressful) weeks of my school career. But, I'm fine on my own.
BTW- he's doing quite well. As usual, feels like it's a lot of procedure and redundant BS, but well, sometimes that's the Army!
All in all, things are good, we're good, training's almost over, and I'll see him in Eight days! huzzah!