Greta Perry Reviews Severe Clear

“Severe Clear is raw, rough, real, informative and entertaining. These components combined to make for a successful military documentary.”
~Greta “Hooah Wife” Perry~

Read Greta's full review here

Canada's Last WWI Vet Has Died

John “Jack” Babcock — a husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather — died Thursday, February 18,2010 at his home in Spokane Washington, at the incredible age of 109.

The federal government has plans to “properly and respectfully” mark a milestone in history — the death of Canada’s last veteran of the Great War. Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn said Babcock’s passing marks “the sad turning of a page.”

“More than 650,000 brave Canadians and Newfoundlanders served our country in the First World War,” he said in a statement. “Now that their voices have fallen silent, it becomes our duty more than ever to remember them and honour their great sacrifices and their great achievements. We will never forget them.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that Babcock's death marked the end of an era.

"As a nation, we honour his service and mourn his passing," Harper said in a statement.

"His family mourns the passing of a great man. Canada mourns the passing of the generation that asserted our independence on the world stage and established our international reputation as an unwavering champion of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law."

The government offered the family a state funeral but they respectfully declined. A memorial service for Canada's last known First World War veteran is planned for next Saturday. Memorial services have been set for 2 p.m. Saturday Feb., 27 at Messiah Lutheran Church, Spokane, according to a notice in the Spokane Spokesman-Review.

Babcock had a thick shock of white hair, a hearty laugh and steady hands well after he lived more than a century. He enjoyed daily outdoor strolls and reciting funny poems to his beloved wife Dorothy (“Dot”).

He received his pilot’s licence at 65, didn’t retire until age 89 and earned his high school diploma through correspondence courses at 95.

Afghanistan Day 14

Canadian Rations

US Air Force Tech Sergeants Ken Raimondi and Nathan Gallahan are contintuing information opertations for ISAF. Today they focus on food. Check out their complete blogHere.

Hurt Locker: Canadian Style

US Air Force Tech Sergeants Ken Raimondi and Nathan Gallahan are contintuing information opertations for ISAF. They're getting better at it as they go along. This is the best one yet. They've finally done away with those annoying hard to read written questions. Check out their complete blogHere.

Interview With a Canadian Soldier

US Air Force Tech Sergeants Ken Raimondi and Nathan Gallahan are contintuing information opertations for ISAF. They're getting better at it as they go along. Check out their complete blogHere.

Leopards in Afghanistan

US Air Force Tech Sergeants Ken Raimondi and Nathan Gallahan are contintuing information opertations for ISAF. Here they interview women combat Soldiers, a Leopard tank loader and a tank driver at FOB Ma'Sum Ghar, in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.

Building Relations With The ANA

US Air Force Tech Sergeants Ken Raimondi and Nathan Gallahan are doing information opertations for ISAF. Here they interview a Canadian Captain (who gets seriously tongue tied at one point) and an ANA Major.

Canadian Soldier-US Air Force Nurse

“A crew from the United States Air Force spent Saturday night and Sunday morning airlifting different groups of wounded soldiers from Kandahar to Camp Bastion to Bagram, back to Kandahar, then back to Bagram, and back to Kandahar. These patients were from Afghanistan, Australia, Canada, and the United States. Here, an Air Force nurse caresses the head of a wounded, unconscious Canadian soldier while whispering into his ear.”

This picture was taken by Michael Yon and posted on his website on February 14, 2010. The following day the nurse wrote on Yon's Facebook page what she was whispering to the wounded Soldier.

"I am very blessed.

As the Critical Care Air Transport Team Nurse in the picture, it is truly my honor to transport these brave men and women here in theater! This brave young man was sedated but arousing, I was telling him who I was, where he was, what injuries he had and where he was going. He calmed right down. He was our team’s 70th critical care patient since being here in theater, truly, I have been blessed many times over this deployment.

God bless
Major “Lucy” Lehker
February 15, 2010”

Operation Moshtarak Day 3

Marine LT COL Dietz Talks to a CNN reporter about day three of Operation Moshtarak, a military offensive in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Operation Moshtarak. Regimental Combat Team-7, 1st Marine Division Public Affairs. Video courtesy of DVIDS.

Generals Address Marines and ANA Soldiers

Marine Expeditionary Brigade - Afghanistan, Commanding General, Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson and Brig. Gen. Mohayedin, addressing Marines of the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment and their Afghan National Army Counterparts before major operations in Helmand Province. Includes a brief interview with Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson. Operation Moshtarak, RCS2010. Produced by Cpl. Jennifer Calaway. Video courtesy DVIDS.

About Opertation Moshtarak

Gen. Stanley McChrystal (US), Commander, ISAF, speaks at a press conference about Operation Moshtarak in Marjah, Afghanistan, where thousands of Afghan and ISAF troops are working to establish government control in the area. Produced by Mel Preen for the NATO channel. Video courtesy of DVIDS.

Strawberry Bars and Bullets

The US Marines are preparing for the coming attack on the Taliban stronghold in the town of Marjah, in Helmand province Afghanistan. The joint opertaion is called Moshtark, which means together in Dari, and consists of Marines, British forces and the Afghan National Army .

So after packing his gear US Marine Cpl Charly Mabry thought about what his father would think if he could show him the gear he will have to carry around and live out of for "who knows how long". The people in the states for some reason have this idea of Marines sitting on large bases and eating at these nice chow halls.... have you forgot about the Marines with 1/6 who live in the dirt, dont have wireless internet, dont have showers, no phones to call their loved ones? The gear Cpl Mabry shows you in this video is the gear that these Marines lives depend on. Some carry more than others... some carry outstanding amounts of ammo, weapons, and grenades.... tons of weight while trying to fight their way through Afghanistan. This isnt Iraq, this isnt Camp Leatherneck.... the Marines of 1/6 are the most bad ass Marines in Afghan right now... When you watch this... think about how you would live out of a backpack in the mud and cold for weeks on end while carrying a ton of weight.... you think you can do what these guys do?

Hat Tip: Mary Ann of Soldier’s Angels Germany