CJ's Blog

SAN DIEGO - Several Marines testified Nov. 7 that their boot camp drill instructor smacked them in the head with flashlights and rifles and ordered platoon members to lie in their own vomit.

In quiet voices, they each named Sgt. Jerrod M. Glass as the source of abuse they suffered last winter as fresh recruits at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot near downtown San Diego. Glass, 25, has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of abuse and violating lawful orders.

Lance Cpl. Sean Fitzgerald recounted for jurors how platoon members began trying to break open one recruit's foot locker after Glass began hitting the trainee over the head with a tent pole for forgetting the code for the combination lock.

"He said, 'I'm going to make you ugly if you can't open that locker,'" Fitzgerald said.

Defense attorneys said Glass' behavior was in line with practices accepted by other drill instructors and with the expectations of new recruits. In a side hearing, the judge overseeing the case said a failure to report abuse didn't qualify as consent to mistreatment.

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Meeks brought up the drill instructor's creed, which begins, "These recruits are entrusted to my care."

He asked, "Does it say, 'You guys are under our power and we're going to beat the living daylights out of you?'"

"No, sir," replied Glass' lawyer, Capt. Patrick J. Callahan, as Glass looked on impassively.

Callahan said he hoped to show that Glass, who volunteered for two tours in Iraq, believed he was acting with the approval of his fellow drill instructors after they agreed the platoon needed to be better prepared to withstand the rigors of war.

Two of them have pleaded not guilty to related abuse charges and have indicated they will refuse to testify in Glass' court-martial. A fourth drill instructor was disciplined and reassigned to administrative duties.

Glass is being tried on two counts of assault, two counts of failure to obey a lawful order, two counts of cruelty and maltreatment, and four counts of destruction of personal property, covering 110 incidents that allegedly occurred between Dec. 23 and Feb. 10.

Witnesses said Glass routinely stomped on recruits' toiletry kits, breaking razors and soap containers inside, for minor infractions like not displaying name tags properly.

They said Glass and another drill instructor would line recruits up after meals and force them to down liters of water from their canteens in a ritual they referred to as "waterbowling."

Glass, who was relieved of duty as a drill instructor in February, faces as many as 11 years' confinement, dishonorable discharge, reduction in rank, and forfeiture of pay and benefits if he is found guilty. The jury is made up of three enlisted Marines and three officers.

Glass' parents said outside the courtroom that they believed their son was being scapegoated for commonly accepted practices.

"For it to have a name, for everyone to know it, means it's not the only time it's happened," said Glass' father, Jerry.

More than 70 witnesses, including almost all of the 40 Marines to graduate from Glass' platoon, are expected to be called to testify.

About 17,000 recruits graduate each year from the depot. It is one of only two depots nationwide; the other is in Parris Island, S.C.

My baby is growing!!

Wow.. i am sleepy!! My new baby Tundra has been keeping me up and been very active.

I cannot wait untill she is bigger and has a better understanding on what she is doing... anyways.. thought i would share what is going on!

I am Happy that Tundra came home!!! here are some silly sleepy and awake photos of her.


Sleeping with toy in mouth.


Another pic sleeping with toy


Sleeping and hugging doggy chew toy!


Beautiful marble eye ball!!


She's getting sleepy again!


Sleeping again... Paris is blurry in the Background.


For some reason she always end up sleeping with her head under the couch!


Thank You to Regi @ www.HiSaw.org for allowing me to get my puppy from a great Aussie Lover!!

Hisaw's Lite Blue Special - Tundra

The Department of Veterans Affairs has told administrators of its 125 veterans cemeteries not to participate in a religion-laced recitation that sometimes accompanies the folding of the American flag at funerals.

The ban reportedly has outraged veterans' groups in California, where it came to light.

The administrator of the VA cemetery in Hampton said the recitation, which purports to describe the significance of each of the 13 folds of the flag, has never been part of ceremonies there.

"I had never heard of it until we got the instruction" from Washington to stop the recitation, said H.D. Hardamon, who runs the Hampton cemetery.

The recitation also is not part of funerals at the state-run Albert G. Horton Jr. Memorial Veterans Cemetery in Suffolk, said Dan Kemano, the cemetery's superintendent.

Kemano said he's heard the recitation at some private funeral services, but "we don't have it on our program."

He said about 500 funerals per year are conducted at the Suffolk cemetery and no one has asked for the flag recitation.

Slightly differing versions of the recitation appear on a variety of patriotic and military-oriented Web sites. Typically, it describes the first fold of the flag as a "symbol of life" and the second as a "symbol of our belief in eternal life."

Other folds are said to pay tribute to "womanhood," and "father." The 11th fold is said to glorify "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" in the eyes of Jewish Americans and the 12th glorifies "God the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost" to Christians.

Phil Budahn, a spokesman for the VA in Washington, said the agency received an objection to the script's religious references after it was used during a funeral at Riverside National Cemetery in California.

"It seemed inappropriate for federal employees to be the ones who actually read it," Budahn said, so the VA sent word last month to cemetery directors warning them against doing so.

The agency has does not object if families wish to choose a relative or friend of the deceased veteran to read the script as the flag is being folded, Budahn said.

The VA agrees that religious observances are an important part of a funeral service, he said. "It's just a question of who does them."

The Air Force in 2005 issued an approved but optional script without religious references for flag-folding ceremonies. The script is not used at funerals conducted by the Air Force, however; the flag is folded in silence at those services.

The approved Air Force script refers to the flag as "the symbol of our nation's unity, as well as a source of pride and inspiration for millions of citizens."

Dale Eisman, (703) 913-9872, dale.eisman@pilotonline.com

Flag Folds

These meanings, not part of the U.S. Flag Code, have been ascribed to the 13 folds of American flags at burial services for some veterans:

1. Symbol of life.

2. Symbol of our belief in the eternal life.

3. In honor and remembrance of the veteran departing our ranks who gave a portion of life for the defense of our country to attain a peace throughout the world.

4. Represents our weaker nature, for as American citizens trusting in God, it is to him we turn in times of peace as well as in times of war for his guidance.

5. A tribute to our country, for in the words of Stephen Decatur, "Our country, in dealing with other countries, may she always be right; but it is still our country, right or wrong."

6. Represents where our hearts lie. It is with our hearts that we pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

7. A tribute to our armed forces.

8. A tribute to the one who entered into the valley of the shadow of death, that we might see the light of day, and to honor mother, for whom it flies on Mother's Day.

9. A tribute to womanhood.

10. A tribute to father.

11. In the eyes of Hebrew citizens, represents the lower portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon, and glorifies, in their eyes, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

12. In the eyes of Christian citizens, represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies, in their eyes, God the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost.

13. When the flag is completely folded, the stars are uppermost, reminding us of our national motto, "In God We Trust."

Amazing that the first movies parents took their tots to in the 30s and 40s were the early Disney features. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Dumbo all exploited childhood traumas. Parents disappear or die; stepmothers plot the murder of their charges; a boy skips school and turns into a donkey. Kids were so frightened by these films that they wet themselves in terror. Bambi, directed by David Hand, has a primal shock that still haunts oldsters who saw it 40, 50, 65 years ago.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1676793_1676808_1676840,00.html

SAN DIEGO - The highest-ranking U.S. serviceman to face court-martial involving combat since Vietnam was ordered to trial Friday for failing to investigate the killings of 24 Iraqis, including women and children, in Haditha two years ago.

Another Marine was also ordered to face court-martial for charges including involuntary manslaughter.

Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani faces charges of dereliction of duty and violation of a lawful order on allegations that he mishandled the aftermath of the Nov. 19, 2005, shootings, which followed a roadside bombing that killed a Marine driver.

Chessani was commander of the Camp Pendleton-based 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment that has been the focus of the biggest prosecution of U.S. troops in the Iraq war.

He is the most senior U.S. serviceman since the Vietnam War to face a court-martial for actions or decisions made in combat, said Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor and judge who teaches law of war at Georgetown University Law Center.

One of Chessani's men, Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum, was ordered to face a court-martial on charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault. He is one of four Marines originally charged with murder in the killings.

The decision by Lt. Gen. James Mattis to send Tatum to court-martial comes after the investigating officer said last month that the evidence was too weak to prosecute him. But Tatum will not be tried on the murder count he originally faced.

Tatum, of Edmond, Okla., shot and killed civilians, but "he did so because of his training and the circumstances he was placed in, not to exact revenge and commit murder," Lt. Col. Paul Ware wrote last month in recommending he not face court-martial.

Chessani's civilian defense attorney, Brian Rooney, told The Associated Press he was disappointed with the general's recommendation.

"I can tell you this decision by Gen. Mattis today is going to have a negative affect on all officers, including battalion commanders," he said, adding it would undermine the trust between commanders and their troops. "Are they going to be able to trust the word of their junior officers, senior enlisted and junior enlisted?"

If convicted on all counts, Chessani faces up to three years in prison.

He is the second colonel to be court-martialed over actions in Iraq. Army Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan of Fredericksburg, Va., was convicted of abusing detainees at Abu Ghraib prison, said Tom Umberg, a retired Army colonel and former military prosecutor

The decision to send Chessani to trial mirrored the conclusion the hearing officer reached at his preliminary hearing. Col. Christopher Conlin said Chessani "failed to thoroughly and accurately report and investigate a combat engagement that clearly needed scrutiny."

In his report, Conlin, an infantry officer, blasted Chessani for failing to go to the scene of the November 2005 killings immediately after they had occurred, even though he knew 24 "neutrals" were dead.

"To not have made every attempt to be on scene as this action developed, or to not have at least reviewed this action in detail ... is in itself negligent," Conlin wrote. "The fact that one fireteam was solely responsible for 24 deaths in all direct fire actions should have solicited more than passing interest from the senior leadership of the battalion."

At Chessani's preliminary hearing, held in June at Camp Pendleton, several witnesses testified local Iraqis had complained to Chessani in the days after the killings and that he promised to look into what had happened.

But Chessani said he never ordered a formal investigation because he believed the deaths resulted from lawful combat.

Lt. Col. Sean Gibson, a spokesman for the Marine Corps at the U.S. Central Command, which includes Iraq and Afghanistan, said Chessani and Tatum will be arraigned on the charges and required to enter pleas. A date for those hearings has not been set.

Fire officials are now stating that the Orange County Santiago fire was purposely set and there is speculation that other fires may have also been deliberate. See Interactive Map

Fire officials found three separate “points of origin,” all near the intersection of Silverado Canyon Road and Santiago Canyon Road. Two were on one side of the road, and the third was on the other. “Whoever did this knew what they were doing,” said Kris Concepcion, a fire authority battalion chief. Also, the fire traveled 3 miles in its first 20 minutes when it was ignited about 6 p.m. Sunday, he said.

Read Article

We are NOT implying that the California fires are an act of terrorism however; the threat of pyro-terrorist attacks pose a significant risk to the U.S. and the fires in California and in Greece earlier this year should be a wake-up call.

In 2003 an FBI memo alerted law enforcement agencies that an al-Qaeda terrorist being held in detention had talked of masterminding a plot to set a series of devastating forest fires around the western United States.

It was reported that the detainee, who was not identified, said the plan involved three or four people setting wildfires using timed devices in Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming that would detonate in forests and grasslands after the operatives had left the country.

“The detainee believed that significant damage to the U.S. economy would result and once it was realized that the fires were terrorist acts, U.S. citizens would put pressure on the U.S. government to change its policies,” the memo said.

How Can So Many Fires Be By Natural Causes ?

A Local News Radio talk show host in San Diego asked, “how can so many fires, in so many places, in such a short period of time, all be caused by natural causes”.

From USA Today in July of 2003

al-Qaeda Detainee Spoke of Fire Plot

The FBI alerted law enforcement agencies last month that an al-Qaeda terrorist now in detention had talked of masterminding a plot to set a series of devastating forest fires around the western United States.

Rose Davis, a spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, told The Associated Press that officials there took note of the warning but didn’t see a need to act further on it.

The contents of the June 25 memo from the FBI’s Denver office were reported Friday by The Arizona Republic. Davis declined to share a copy of the memo and an FBI spokeswoman in Denver didn’t immediately return a telephone call.

As we have stated before. If you see anything suspicious, report it to law enforcement immediately.

UPDATE: Video - Officials say arson now suspected in Orange County Fire

UPDATE: From Los Angeles Fox News

“I’m sad to report this is an arson fire,” OCFA Chief Chip Prather announced at an early morning briefing. “There were three separate starts: two on one side of the road and one on the other, and obviously we are actively investigating that.”

UPDATE Tuesday Night 10/23/07 An unidentified man was being detained late Tuesday for attempting to light a possible arson fire at the Mojave River Forks Campground near Highway 173 and Arrowhead Lake Road in Hesperia, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Cindy Beavers said.

About 8:50 p.m., a woman driving past the Mojave Forks Campground witnessed “a subject crouched down and then she saw fire,” Beavers said.

The woman immediately called the police, Beavers said, thus alerting and Sheriff’s deputies and CHP officers who were in the area setting up roadblocks.

Officers found the male suspect on a motorcycle at a nearby mini-market on Arrowhead Lake Road.

The man has not yet been arrested but the incident is being investigated, Beavers said.

Left to Right: Princess, Connor, Jane


Tired faces from playing all day!


Princess wanting Jane to play!


Princess Taking a Break!


A Happy Connor!!


A Playful Jane!


Of course Freddy was out with us during "Doggy Play Date"!

WASHINGTON - Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, caused a stir at a Senate hearing Wednesday when he repeated his view that gay sex is immoral and should not be condoned by the military.

Pace, who retires next week, said he was seeking to clarify similar remarks he made in spring, which he said were misreported.

Poll: Do you agree with General Pace that gay sex is immoral?

"Are there wonderful Americans who happen to be homosexual serving in the military? Yes," he told the Senate Appropriations Committee during a hearing focused on the Pentagon's 2008 war spending request.

"We need to be very precise then, about what I said wearing my stars and being very conscious of it," he added. "And that is, very simply, that we should respect those who want to serve the nation but not through the law of the land, condone activity that, in my upbringing, is counter to God's law."

Anti-war protesters sitting behind Pace jeered the four-star general's remarks with some shouting, "Bigot!" That led Committee Chairman Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., to abruptly adjourn the hearing and seal off the doors.

The hearing resumed about five minutes later in which Pace said he would be supportive of efforts to revisit the Pentagon's policy so long as it didn't violate his belief that sex should be restricted to a married heterosexual couple.

"I would be very willing and able and supportive" to changes to the policy "to continue to allow the homosexual community to contribute to the nation without condoning what I believe to be activity - whether it to be heterosexual or homosexual - that in my upbringing is not right," Pace said.

Pace's lengthy answer on gays was prodded by Sen. Tom Harkin, who said he found Pace's previous remarks as "very hurtful" and "very demoralizing" to homosexuals serving in the military.

In March, the Chicago Tribune reported that Pace said in a wide-ranging interview: "I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way."

Harkin, D-Iowa, said he wanted to give Pace a chance to amend his remarks in light of his retirement.

"It's a matter of leadership, and we have to be careful what we say," Harkin said.

Pace noted that the U.S. Military Code of Justice prohibits homosexual activity as well as adultery. Harkin said, "Well, then, maybe we should change that."

I am getting a beutiful girl and she was born Sept 6th! here is a photo of the Litter!!! CUTE!

Princess is now with my Grandmother for a week while i head to NY!!! Here are pictures of Princess and Paw!

Sen. Patty Murray and Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard listen to a panel Tuesday at the VA Medical Center campus in Vancouver. (JANET L. MATHEWS/The Columbian)

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray met with housing and veterans services officials Tuesday in Vancouver to find out how well the federal government is meeting the needs of homeless military veterans here.

Pretty well, she was told, though the special needs of women veterans and families often go unmet.

In Clark County, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Vancouver Housing Authority and the nonprofit group Share all operate facilities with beds reserved for homeless veterans.

U.S. Air Force veteran Roxanne Clark arrived in Vancouver in 2002 as a homeless veteran with four children. She took part in a drug treatment program, attended Clark College, and now volunteers 20 hours a week with the Vancouver Veterans Administration Transitional Lodging Unit on the VA Medical Center campus, where she once lived.

"It's changed my life," she said. "Now I work with the people who supported me and the veterans who are here today."

But for 19 years, Clark didn't know that she was eligible for veterans' housing assistance and substance abuse treatment. "Outreach is very important," she said.

Nationwide, nearly half of today's homeless veterans served in Vietnam. Many struggled for decades with drug dependency or post-traumatic stress disorder before finding themselves on the streets.

Take Action: Bill to Provide Mental Health Services to Veterans

Now veterans of the Iraq War are returning home, and a new report by the advocacy group Swords to Plowshares says many already are seeking emergency housing. A recent federal study found that female veterans are especially vulnerable to homelessness.

"I would suggest that the issues of caring for female veterans and families is going to increase" with returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, said Dr. James Tuchschmidt, director of the Portland VA Medical Center, at a roundtable discussion Murray hosted Tuesday.

If a spouse who is a veteran is unable to work, that family may have few resources, Tuchschmidt said. And some families won't make it. "A lot of the single men and women we see today weren't always homeless."

As chairwoman of the subcommittee that funds federal housing programs, Murray, D-Wash., was able to include $75 million in a 2008 federal spending bill to provide more resources for homeless veterans. The bill has passed the Senate Appropriations Committee and will advance to the full Senate when Congress returns in September.

Take Action: Legislation to create housing program for veterans.

At the veteran's transitional facility Tuesday, residents and officials applauded Murray's efforts on behalf of veterans. Renovated in 2001, the bright, well-lit facility provides double rooms and quads to homeless veterans for up to 45 days, plus one 18-day extension, while they look for more permanent lodging.

"I know of no one in this country who cares more for veterans than Sen. Murray," said Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard, who served in the Army during the Vietnam War.

Homeless Veterans Programs

In the wake of revelations about poor treatment of wounded soldiers and veterans, the Senate recently passed the Wounded Warriors Act, which directs the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs to work together to make sure injured veterans don't fall through the cracks.

Housing is key, said Doug Reid, Washington state director of Veterans of Foreign Wars. "There's nothing more important than housing. (Veterans') mental health issues don't get better under a bridge. They get better with stable housing."

Yet meeting the needs of homeless veterans requires more than providing them with a place to sleep, said Dr. Peter Hauser, chief of psychiatry at the Portland VA Medical Center. The vast majority of homeless veterans suffer from mental illnesses or substance abuse problems, he said. "An integrated approach is necessary."

Wounded Warrior News

And symptoms of traumatic brain injury may not become apparent for years, Hauser said.

Tim Montague, an outreach worker at the transitional housing unit who until recently worked in Walla Walla, said he has found families of veterans trying to survive on the fringe of society. "They hide out in the woods," he said. "I found a whole family in the national forest living out of the back of a station wagon. They were out there because the programs don't help the whole family."

Larry Brennan, program director at the veterans' facility, said he doesn't see many families in crisis, but when he does, resources are scarce. He tries to place them with the Salvation Army or the YWCA.

Ann Gholz served in the U.S. Navy Hospital Corps from 1965 to 1968 and later worked as an emergency medical technician in Alaska. She said she was sexually assaulted while serving in the military and was eventually classified as 30 percent disabled due to post-traumatic stress disorder. "I still have problems because of it, at times severe problems," she said.

"More money needs to be put into programs for female veterans," she said. "They're not always believed" when they report assaults.

Gholz is living in the transitional facility while waiting for placement in a Vancouver Housing Authority studio apartment. "We're well-treated here," she said. "The men here are very respectful of the women. They really look out for us."

Yvette C. Brown-Wahler, a 44-year-old career Navy officer with 20 years' service, said she was felled by post-traumatic stress syndrome a few years ago. She checked herself into the psychiatric ward at the VA Hospital in Portland, then was treated at veterans hospitals in Walla Walla and Menlo Park, Calif.

She said it took 15 months for the Navy to process her claim and make a determination. Eight months ago, she found herself homeless. Her life is back on track now, but she says the experience shook her.

"We've got to do something better to help women veterans," she said. "They discharge from the service and have no idea of their benefits."

Murray agreed. "Women don't like to talk about issues like sexual intimidation because it could create a backlash," she said. It reinforces the stereotype that "women should not be in the military."

Did you know?

An estimated 6,800 homeless veterans live in Washington state, and 1,900 live in the Portland-Vancouver area.

About 240 beds are available for homeless vets in Washington.