Thing one: We have our first living Medal of Honor recipient since Vietnam, w00t! Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, 173rd Airborne, will be awarded the nation's highest valor award for his actions during a fierce firefight Oct. 25, 2007, in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley.

According to the White House announcement, when an insurgent force ambush ( Read more... )

For all those who have served and paid the ultimate sacrifice, our thanks is eternal. You will forever be in our hearts.


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Wow. The Way We Get By was a lot more depressing than I thought it would be. More about the elderly rather than troop homecomings, but really an amazing story anyway. So to cheer me up this morning, I watched these - home vids of dogs welcoming home their soldier daddies. I think my favorites are the basset hound because of his wiggly butt, and ( Read more... )

Some (kind of random) military icons (source: Vietnam-era missile launch, courtesy US Navy) up for grabs:


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A possible reference for your next Stargate fic: Anatomy of an Improved Outer Tactical Vest, via The Sandbox.

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Book reviews! (Music reviews coming soon to an LJ near you.) More from my quest to read Iraq and Afghanistan combat narratives.

( On Call In Hell: A Doctor's Iraq War Story by Cdr. Richard Jadick )

Two more down, in my continuing quest to read OIF/OEF narratives.

Rule Number Two: Lessons I Learned in a Combat Hospital by Heidi Squier Kraft

So, I just finished Rule Number Two at lunch today, and OMG, I want to reread it right now! It is intensely powerful and extremely well-written. Clinical psychologist Dr. Heidi Kraft (at the time, a Lt. ( Read more... )

PSA the First: Joss Whedon's Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

During the WGA strike Joss Whedon started writing a three part musical series for the internet. “It’s the story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to.” says Whedon.

“Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along ( Read more... )

Three things military/war-related:

1. Secretary of Defense George Hammond Robert Gates is cleanin' house. Air Force Chief of Staff Michael Moseley and AF Secretary Michael Wynne got canned yesterday, and "a 'substantial' number of Air Force general officers and colonels" could also be fired. Ooh, drama!

2. Last night I watched Operation Homecoming ( Read more... )

Last night on PBS Frontline they premiered "Bad Voodoo's War," a documentary of the National Guard platoon on deployment in Iraq. Most of these guys were active duty, and have already seen multiple tours to Iraq and/or Afghanistan, and are back to run transport security from Kuwait to points all over Iraq. It is mostly from the POV of platoon ( Read more... )

From the weird and unbelievable science files... the "BigDog" quadruped robot from Boston Dynamics. See it climb up hills, through snow and rubble, jump over obstacles, and save a near-fall on ice!  It's kind of loud though, so hmm, they'll probably have to do something about that before it really does become the "Army mule". Fascinating!

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