Fort Bragg

Here are the top stories this week related to our soldiers here and abroad, taken from the Our Troops Newsladder.

The good people of Fort Bragg live in my District, and I just want to say THANK YOU to our military no matter where you serve, with a special prayer for the 29,395 wounded in Iraq and the families of those 3,983 lost lives.

All rhetoric and politics aside on this solemn anniversary, we as Democrats must never forget the troops and their families sacrificing so much for us all.

Whether you, or even they, agree or disagree with our elected leaders' decisions is irrelevant on a day we should all recognize each and every man, woman and child in our military families, heroes one and all.

On Thursday February 28th, the Fayetteville Observer published an opinion article entitled "On point: Congressional vigilance is needed to ensure educational excellence." The article discussed the need for members of Congress, in particular those that represent the areas around Fort Bragg, to appropriate additional impact aid to support the burden that Fort Bragg's future growth will put on the communities around it. Although members of Congress are responsible for federal education appropriations, there must be accountability and sound policy from state and local officials as well. State and local officials decide how those appropriations are used. It is up to the constituents of these officials to hold them accountable for their education policies. If there is a valid documented fear that the entrance of new students from Fort Bragg families will harm the education system, then local and state officials need to prepare for such a situation. Setting aside funds, cutting programs, and submitting requests for additional funding are some steps that can be taken before it becomes a real problem.

From Henry Cuningham of the Fayetteville Observer:

Everything appears to be on track for two Army headquarters to move to Fort Bragg from Atlanta by 2011, and local civilian hiring probably will begin in 2010...

The 2005 BRAC law mandates that Forces Command and U.S. Army Reserve Command move to Fort Bragg by September 2011.

Frontpaged by A.

Military families at heavily deployed bases like Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune are communities at war without their country. Never in our history have so few been asked to sacrifice so much while so many are asked to do nothing at all. Too many Americans hear about the war in Iraq on the evening news, switch off their TV's and sleep well at night confident that the yellow ribbon magnet they bought for their car last week is a sufficient sacrifice. My two military children have sacrificed more before age 10 than the grown men in Washington four times their age who beat the loudest drums to send their Daddy off to war...

This story tells how a Ft. Bragg soldier's wife is getting the hand while her husband is deployed in Iraq. This is why I dropped Capital One years ago . As a side note, I found it via the Consumerist blog that does a fantastic job of showing the common person how to get the most for their money (and avoid rip-offs). Happy hump day!

I never had to choose between fighting in an insane war or going absent without leave. Vietnam was winding down when I got into the Navy - and except for officers like John Kerry who served on Swift boats, the duty on ships wasn't all that hazardous. But I often wondered what I would have done if I had been forced into combat.

The truth is, I might very well have done what Ehren Watada did last year as a first lieutenant in the US Army.

At the center of the dispute between the judge and the defense is Watada’s intent when he did not deploy with his unit to Iraq. The defense has consistently tried to call into question the legality of the war, because Watada said the war is illegal and a command to fight in Iraq is also illegal. But the judge has said the argument over the legality of the war is not a matter that can be settled in military court.

Fort Bragg is shaped like a muscular forearm jabbing east from Southern Pines to the chin of Fayetteville. I live close enough to this mammoth facility that a few days a month I can hear the distant thunder of artillery as soldiers practice for warfare.

When I first moved to Whispering Pines all those soldiers had to do was practice, but of course all of that has now changed. When I go shopping in Fayetteville I no longer see scores of men in combat fatigues shopping with their wives. What I see are mothers shopping alone, dividing their attention between rock bottom specials and errant children. Husbands and fathers once involved in the routine of ordinary life are now in Iraq.

Here in Moore County homes in every community are decorated by trees that have sprouted yellow ribbons. Virtually every one of those ribbons is a sign that someone inside is missing, and an indication that others inside that home are praying for a soldier’s safe return. Standing in line at the grocery store I’ll see mothers wearing lapel pins with a star that stands for a child in combat and the terrible burden of persistent anxiety.