HONOR FLIGHT Flies WWII Veterans to Visit National World War II Memorial

View of the National WWII Memorial (bottom) and the Lincoln Memorial (top) from the Washington Monument

In April 29, 2004, the National World War II Memorial was open to the public -- five years ago this week. By this time many of the WWII veterans had already died.

Today on the BlogTalkRadio show www.YourMilitaryLife.com that Nancy Brown of www.YourMilitary.com and I co-host we learned about Honor Flight Network from retired army sergeant major Jim Wertman.

The national website www.HonorFlight.org states:

Honor Flight Network is a non-profit organization created solely to honor America's veterans for all their sacrifices. We transport our heroes to Washington, D.C. to visit and reflect at their memorials. Top priority is given to the senior veterans – World War II survivors, along with those other veterans who may be terminally ill.

Of all of the wars in recent memory, it was World War II that truly threatened our very existence as a nation—and as a culturally diverse, free society. Now, with over one thousand World War II veterans dying each day, our time to express our thanks to these brave men and women is running out.

The site carries this warning:

Honorflight.com and Honorflights.com are NOT associated with Honor Flight Network, Inc. (honorflight.org). The aforementioned sites are for companies that charge a fee for flights to visit the World War II Memorial. The flights and tours that Honor Flight Network provides World War II and terminally ill veterans are absolutely FREE.

Jim Wertman is part of the South Carolina Honor Flight group, and he was on the show ahead of a May 9th Honor Flight Memorial Ride to raise funds to send WWII veterans from South Carolina to the memorial.

Visit the event site now at www.vetsride.org to learn how you can donate to this patriotic salute to WWII veterans.

And listen to our interview of Jim Wertman to hear about the reactions of these veterans to visiting a memorial thanking them for their valiant service.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Operation Troop Aid Sends Packages of Support to Our Deployed Troops

Operation Troop Aid sends packages to deployed troops -- packages that are very much appreciated as these soldiers in Afghanistan who received Operation Troop Aid packages demonstrate. Look closely and you will see that they are spelling out OTA for Operation Troop Aid.

Listen to the story of how this incredible program grew from the idea of one active duty military personnel -- Mark Woods -- to a huge program. Nancy Brown and I interviewed Mark (now retired from the military) on our www.YourMilitaryLife.com show today -- and we were very impressed.

Listen to Mark tell the story of Operation Troop Aid and then visit the Operation Troop Aid website to learn how you can help support this wonderful program.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Snowball Express Program Brings Healing to the Families of Our Military Fallen Heroes

Nancy Brown, co-host with me of the BlogTalkRadio show www.YourMilitaryLife.com, just received an email that started like this:

My name is Roy White and I represent a non-profit called Snowball Express. We provide hope and new memories to the children of military fallen heroes.

Eligible persons to attend are those families who have children of military fallen heroes who have died since 9/11 while on active duty. We bring these children and the surviving parent together with other children and spouses for an all expense paid gathering that has grown from just under 900 attendees in 2006 to over 1400 attendees in 2008.

The event has its roots in Orange County, CA and has been an all volunteer effort for the past 3 years. We have been blessed to have the support of civilian groups such as Rotarians as well as veteran support groups such as Ladies Auxiliary VFW, American Legion, Vietnam Veterans of America and corporate donors such as American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Oakley, Quiksilver, TriWest Healthcare and many others.

Nancy and I are planning a special www.YourMilitaryLife.com show to help bring this incredible program to the attention of the families who can benefit from the program. In the meantime, please watch the video above (I recommend having tissues at hand) and visit the Snowball Express website.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Novel A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS Sheds Light on Fighting in Afghanistan Now

If since September 11, 2001, you've been following the various fighting factions in Afghanistan without a clear understanding of who is who -- and you're not interested in reading a nonfiction book that explains all the factions, the novel A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS by Khaled Hosseini can serve as a "cheat sheet."

Hosseini's ability to explain what's going on as background to the saga of two women over many years sheds light on the abyss that is Afghanistan today.

While Hosseini's previous novel THE KITE RUNNER may be more well-known, it is my opinion that A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS is the more important novel. In fact, I read it while reading the nonfiction book by Gary C. Schroen FIRST IN: AN INSIDER'S ACCOUNT OF HOW THE CIA SPEARHEADED THE WAR ON TERROR IN AFGHANISTAN and the novel served as a briefing on the nonfiction book.

If you have seen the heart-breaking movie OSAMA about a young girl in Afghanistan during the reign of the Taliban, you'll especially want to read A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS as a companion piece to that brutal story.

As the U.S. sends more troops to Afghanistan, it behooves us to understand in what kind of country our troops are deployed. Reading the novel will help you comprehend that Afghanistan is a country whose tangled allegiances can be quicksand for unsuspecting personnel.

It is to be fervently hoped that U.S. military decision makers consider the cultural and ethnically divided history of Afghanistan when formulating military policies for that country.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

BooksforSoldiers.com Launches CollegeforSoldiers.com

Through the Facebook group Books for Soldiers I learned about the organization's newest project -- College for Soldiers -- "to help plug the holes left by the G.I. Bill." The site offers:

Any deployed US soldier, sailor, marine or airman can fill out this form to get a free textbook, IT certification guide or other college level testing book. Our community of volunteers will do our best to track it down and get the title to you as soon as we can.

The site also has available the downloadable pdf guide HOW TO GRADUATE QUICKLY FROM COLLEGE -- even if you are in Baghdad or aboard a naval vessel.

Check out CollegeforSoldiers.com right now for yourself or for someone you love.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Volunteer Organizations Supporting Our Troops: Operation Gratitude and Cards for Heroes

The BlogTalkRadio show YourMilitaryLife.com that I co-host with Nancy Brown of YourMilitary.com had two inspiring guests on this week: Joan Glanz Rimmon on April 22 spoke about Operation Gratitude and ProjectMOT, and on April 23 Sandy Allnock spoke about Cards for Heroes.

Nancy and I were especially pleased to have these two guests on our show as we'd already learned from Joan about Operation Gratitude and ProjectMOT thanks to her guest post on my Operation Support Jews in the Military blog and from Sandy about Cards for Heroes on my Mrs. Lieutenant blog.

Listen to both these great shows to be inspired by what volunteers are doing to support our servicemen and servicewomen serving in harm's way. And then pitch in if you're able to do so!

Listen now to the Operation Gratitude show and to the Helping Heroes Keep in Touch with Home show.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Anti-Sexual Assault Campaign by the Department of Defense

Twice in recent interviews on the BlogTalkRadio show that I co-host with Nancy Brown of YourMilitary.com the subject of rape has come up. Once it was a teen dependent who was raped by an active duty military personnel and in another interview it was an active duty military personnel raped by another military personnel.

So when I saw a tweet today on Twitter about the site www.myduty.mil for the new DOD anti-sexual assault social media campaign, I immediately checked out the site of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office:

SAPRO is the organization responsible for all Department of Defense (DoD) sexual assault policy. The Department of Defense does not tolerate sexual assault. The Department has implemented a comprehensive policy to ensure the safety, dignity and well-being of all members of the Armed Forces.

Our men and women serving throughout the world deserve nothing less, and their leaders — both military and civilian — are committed to maintaining a workplace environment that rejects sexual assault and reinforces a culture of prevention, response and accountability.

This website provides guidance and other information for victims of sexual assault, unit commanders, first responders, and others who deal with this sensitive issue.

This site addresses confidentiality, reporting procedures and other elements of DoD's sexual assault policy as well as training information, safety tips, resources and links to related websites.

Check out this site now.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

U.S. Military Communication Technology: A Tale of Two Stories

The April 18th Wall Street Journal featured two different stories on the U.S. military’s use of communication technology. Perhaps the editors of the paper didn’t see the irony in the two stories.

The first story – on page one – titled “Pentagon Jams Web, Radio Links of Taliban” discussed how the Pentagon plans to use technology to stop the Taliban from broadcasting through the use of illegal FM radio stations.

The second article – on page A9 – titled “U.S. Weighs Changes in Strategy to Fight Pirates” discussed how the U.S. is considering taking a more forceful posture towards the pirates attacking off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden.

What I found particularly ironic in this second article is this paragraph (the boldface is mine):

Communications between the vessels is sporadic and informal, making it difficult to coordinate action. For example, U.S. and Chinese ships converse through an unsecured Yahoo email account, said Adm. Gortney, who commands all U.S. naval forces in the Middle East.

A Yahoo email account? How ludicrous!

Perhaps the Pentagon should consider sharing its communication technology with the vessels tasked with protecting shipping in the Gulf of Aden. Such a strategy might go a long way towards helping protect against pirate attacks.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Legends of the FOB: Life and Death in Iraq

Major Mason S. Weiss will graduate from the 57th Officer Graduate Course at The Army Judge Advocate Legal Center and School this May and will then be assigned to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, as the Chief of Military Justice. I "met" Major Weiss on Facebook and asked him to share some experiences that he wrote about while in Iraq last year:

In Iraq, a lot can happen in the span of just a few days.

On Thursday, April 3, 2008, during the taping of her show, I told Oprah Winfrey — the absolute last person I imagined I’d end up talking to during my deployment here — about the current events happening in my section of Baghdad. I told Oprah that although I didn’t want to sound melodramatic, the recent fighting in nearby Sadr City made me realize I could become casualty number 4000 something at any moment.

Beyond those mortar and rocket attacks, you can always count on the constant danger of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) on the road, including the very road I traveled on just to get to the International Zone (IZ) to appear on Oprah.

Members of my unit frequently drive on this road and insurgents have placed IEDs on it before. These lethal weapons kill indiscriminately, and it doesn’t matter what rank you hold or what job you do in Iraq as to whether you get hit by one of them.

What’s even more disturbing is that one cannot go more than 50 meters between here and the IZ (or seemingly anywhere else) without passing a multitude of Iraq Army and Iraqi Police. I think one could reasonably assume this means those people emplace the IEDs on the road themselves, or sit there, watch, and do nothing to stop them if others put them there. Anecdotally, it seems like every IED I hear about usually goes off right near one of these checkpoints, including one right outside our gate a few months ago.

On Sunday, April 6, just a few days after the taping of the show, yet another volley of rockets flew into the IZ. I can’t remember now if I heard that one because these sounds have become so common recently that I’ve just about come to ignore them.

Unfortunately, however, these rockets land places, and they don’t always land in empty fields or outside blast walls. This particular attack killed two people and wounded many others. It killed Army Colonel Steven Scott and Army Major Stuart Wolfer. Both were exercising at a gym at the time.

Colonel Scott was due to retire from the Army at the end of his tour in Iraq. He had two adult children. A lieutenant colonel here at my FOB knew Colonel Scott. In fact, she happened to have seen him that morning at the IZ.

The two were in a meeting together and had to run out to the duck and cover bunker because of incoming mortar rounds. She told me that he joked with her, sitting in the bunker, that the last time he was in Iraq in 2003 they were only getting shot at. She found out later that day that he got killed just a few hours afterwards.

Next Sunday (April 20th), I get promoted to mjor. I don’t know how many other Jewish army majors we have in Iraq, but unfortunately after Major Wolfer’s death, and an IED incident a few days later I will describe in just a moment, you can now subtract two from that number.

Major Wolfer, also an attorney in civilian life, served in the Army Reserve. He had arrived to Baghdad in December 2007 to work in the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq (MNSTC-I). Major Wolfer had already completed a deployment to Kuwait just a few years ago.

The lay religious leader for the Jewish community in the IZ sent out an email to all the Jewish community in Iraq that said: “We remember him in part as a religious man who wrapped tefillin every morning, as a friend who questioned everything in an intellectual search for the truth, as a patriot and proud family man, and as an optimist with a wry sense of humor. Stu was a devoted husband and father of three beautiful daughters ages 5, 3, and 1.”

The afternoon Stu got killed, six members of the Jewish community learned about his death by word-of-mouth and convened at the combat support hospital. Keeping with Jewish tradition, they stayed with him to pray and read Psalms until the time came to accompany him to the “angel flight” which flew him out of Baghdad that same night.

I can’t help but think that for Colonel Scott and Major Wolfer, the difference between life and death came down to something as arbitrary as picking what time they wanted to exercise that day.

And although they came here to try and improve this country after a brutal dictator ruled it, unfortunately for them and their families, someone in Sadr City — who probably cheered when the statues of Saddam came down and who himself Saddam had probably oppressed — decided to show his appreciation for their efforts by firing rockets at the IZ and killing them.

Thanks, asshole. You have quite a way of showing your gratitude. And thanks to all of you in Sadr City who probably stood by, watched it happen, and maybe even cheered.

On Tuesday, April 8, Major Mark Rosenberg, another Jewish Army officer originally from Florida, got killed. Serving his second tour in Iraq, Major Rosenberg, who led a Military Transition Team (MITT), died of wounds after an IED struck his vehicle. He left behind a wife and two sons.

In keeping with the Jewish custom of giving tzedakah (charity) in memory of deceased people, consider donating to an organization that helps military personnel and their families. If you need recommendations for such an organization, see my Mrs. Lieutenant military support list.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

CIA on Secret Missions in Afghanistan in 2001

“A band of elite special forces and CIA operatives who secretly invaded Afghanistan post 9/11 on horseback” is the subject of Doug Stanton’s book HORSE SOLDIERS to be published in May by Scribner according to the April 7th Daily Variety. Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer have acquired the screen rights to this project.

I asked my husband if he knew about this mission, and he handed me Gary C. Shroen’s book FIRST IN: An Insider’s Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan.

I don’t think the HORSE SOLDIERS mission is the same mission as Schroen describes in his book. Schroen and other CIA operatives were helicoptered in to Afghanistan to make contact with the Northern Alliance only days after 9/11.

But I started reading Schroen’s book with an eerie feeling. I had temporarily put aside the novel A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS by Khaled Hosseini because I’ve come to a part of the novel (which deals with the disintegration in Afghanistan during the long years of fighting) that I can’t seem to get past.

What’s interesting is that I had no problem getting past a certain scene in Hosseini’s earlier novel THE KITE RUNNER which a male friend of mine could not get past. That scene was about a male victim; the scene I’m stuck on is about female victims.

To be reading at the same time a novel and a nonfiction book that cover much of the same material is eerie. But what’s more upsetting is to realize that those gains in Afghanistan so evident when Schroen’s book was published in 2005 have to a great extent been eroded.

Schroen writes about meeting a Northern Alliance commander (the boldface is mine):

I touched on a key issue for Aref, stating that unlike 1992, when we walked away from the Muhjahedin when victory was achieved, the U.S. government was in this fight for the long haul. We wanted to change conditions in Afghanistan, so that after the Taliban were crushed, and after bin Ladin and his Arab terrorists were eliminated, the country could rebuild, the economy could revive and peace could finally come to Afghanistan. A peaceful, economically stable environment would ensure that the country would never again be used by foreign elements as a sanctuary for terrorists.

And here it is 2009 …
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

The True Military Family Story Behind the Novel THE WOMEN OF CAMP SOBINGO

Marilyn Celeste Morris is the author of the novel THE WOMEN OF CAMP SOBINGO. Here is Marilyn to tell you first about the true story and then how she came to write a novel about this time in her life. You can read more about Marilyn at her website, and below is her dedication of this guest post to her mother:

Dedication: To my mother, Frances Garrett Morris, who at the age of 25, packed up her two children, took a train across the country to board a military transport ship bound for, literally, the far ends of the earth in order to join her husband in a foreign country that had few modern conveniences. Yet she made a home for her family. And when I asked her years later, “Mom, how did you manage to do all that?” she merely replied, “It was expected of me.”

There really was a Camp Sobingo located outside the capitol city of Seoul, South Korea, at the end of WWII. This military compound’s cookie-cutter “quarters” were home to the women and children who joined their army officer husbands during the U.S. Occupation.

The camp had a school, a post exchange, a dispensary, a commissary, and even a movie theatre (think MASH). Ever-present, however, was the military presence, both Korean and our own U.S. forces as well as the tyranny of the Russians located across the 38th parallel, who merely annoyed the dependents with the random denial of electricity to the American contingent.

Most of the Americans had deployed to other assignments before June 25, 1950, when North Korea invaded South Korea. Those remaining escaped safely, but “The Land of the Morning Calm” would never be the same.

In 1954, my father was ordered back to Korea as part of the Military Advisory Group. He took a short drive to what remained of Camp Sobingo and sent snapshots of our former quarters (Hq.G-27), which had been pockmarked by aerial strafing, and natives were stripping the floorboards for fuel.

The window, where I had sat and dreamed a nine-year-old’s dreams and played with my homemade dollhouse populated by models cut from the Sears, Roebuck catalog was boarded up. More pockmarks surrounded the framework.

An unusual childhood, one might correctly assume, yet I was not alone in this kind of adventure. There are vast numbers of military brats and wives of servicemen who carry the same experiences from different countries. Thanks to the power of the internet, we are finding each other.

Two such sites that assist in this process are: www.military-brats.com where you may register so that others may find you, and www. Overseas-Brats.com.

Another organization of interest is the American Overseas Schools Historical Society, which recently broke ground for a museum to be built in Wichita, Kansas, housing such “sacred artifacts” as my 4th grade report card from Seoul Dependents Elementary School. (Many of the schools currently in operation overseas are being closed as our military presence is no longer required.)

Researchers and historians will be astounded by such a treasure trove detailing one small but important part of our nation’s history.

And now about the novel THE WOMEN OF CAMP SOBINGO

A number of people have asked me what was behind this book – the “real” story. I have no ready answer. I was only an 8- or 9-year-old kid in 1946 in that military compound so far away from the country of my birth.

It was while I was writing ONCE A BRAT about my experiences as an army brat accompanying my army officer father all over the world in the days following the end of WWII that the image of my mother telling me that one of the women in the compound had died sprang into my mind. And not only had she died, she chose to end her life there.

I often wondered why a woman would destroy herself. What kind of dark forces in her childhood would convince a person that death was the only way out of the terrible pain?

So, being the incurable writer (storyteller) that I am, I made it all up.

The four women in the story are composites of women I have known throughout the years. Some stories are true, others appear quite by accident as I sat at my keyboard and allowed the characters free reign to do as they pleased. And often the results were a complete surprise to me.

I began wondering why the beautiful Leah Damon would want to kill herself, and imagined a troubled childhood, a feeling of being “different” from the others in school. (No doubt a mirror image to my own childhood where I was always the new kid in class, and do girls here wear Peter Pan collars or sweaters?)

My mother is portrayed most nearly true to form. She is the West Texas farm girl who marries a soldier and becomes an army wife, following him to the literal ends of the earth.

Maggie is probably my alter-ego, if I would let it out to play. She is a brassy, bossy, fun-loving woman who takes all the challenges life throws at her and almost literally spits in fortune’s eye.

And Trudy. Ah, yes, Trudy is the shy girl who marries into wealth and power, and yet she follows her husband to make a home for themselves in a distant country where she can be herself instead of one of the Cavanaugh women of fame and fortune. Years later, she finds her own hidden strength as well as a weakness that led her to believe events that were not true.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at PZ the Do-Gooder Scrooge and Operation Support Jews in the Military, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Firsthand Account of Standing Pirate Watch in the Waters Off Somalia

The news is full of the successful rescue by U.S. sharpshooters of Capt. Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama. Joseph Schwartzstein, Captain, U.S. Merchant Marine, LTJG, USNR/MMR, who wrote about serving as a Merchant Mariner in a February 1st blog post and a February 2nd blog post, offered to give the readers of this blog a firsthand account of standing pirate watch -- unarmed:

In January 2007 I was sailing Chief Mate aboard the MV Perseverance, an ex-oil tanker that we converted to carry 31,000MT of U.S. aid grain to the country of Djibouti, just north of Somalia and sharing the northern border of Somalia. Aboard this specific ship I was serving as the vessel security officer.

As vessel security officer I was required to do regular security inspections of the ship and ensure that we took appropriate measures as per our ship security plan. Our security measures actually started prior to ever reaching the waters off the coast of Djibouti and Somalia.

I started the preparations for the vessel in the U.S. as the ship was loading grain. I talked with the captain in the port of Houston about specific measures that we could take and lessons learned and recommendations from different government agencies. This started with purchasing locks to secure outside portions of the ship such as the focsle, the port and starboard dog houses (machine and tool shops on deck), and storage lockers.

We also took the time to weld “locks,” which consisted of a welding a 3” stainless steel nut on all watertight and weather tight doors just above one of the “dogs” (a handle on the door). We then welded a piece of pipe on the door to insert a 3” stainless steel bolt. The idea being that we would screw the bolt into the nut and thus no matter what you did you would not be able to lift the “dog.”

We did the same to the emergency escape scuttles (escape hatches from engine room spaces on to deck). However these hatches had wheel handles so the bolt length had to be extended. We also decided that, once we arrived into the waters off Egypt, we would “lock down the vessel” to have only one entry point.

This point was on the portside of the vessel on A deck, one deck above main deck. This was done so as to minimize the ability of anyone coming aboard as moving up a deck makes it more difficult to come aboard. We also removed any outside ladders so individuals could not climb up the outside of the wheelhouse.

We also ensured that we had “buckler plates” secured to the top of the anchor hawse pipes so that no one could climb up the anchor chain should we anchor.

Underway after our security modifications

Once we completed our assessment and finished our modifications to the vessel, we briefed and started training the crew in security operations once we got underway. The training was done once a week and consisted of hands on and after action discussions.

While underway I received daily security and pirate updates from a private maritime security firm called SecureWest International. These were daily briefs on what was going on in the area. As time went on we entered Egyptian waters and began the transit of the Suez Canal.

After we exited the canal and entered the Red Sea we increased our vessel security level from MARSEC I to MARSEC II. As my discussion with the captain, we locked down the ship and limited movement in and out of the vessel. We increased our bridge watch standing team with an additional member.

The vessel being an ex-oil tanker, we were equipped with fire monitors (aka water cannons). We moved these from the stowed position and alternated them from the port and starboard side to shoot water overboard.

We opened up specific monitors so should something happen all we would have to do is start the fire pump to shoot water over the side. I had the bosun lay out fire hoses on the port and starboard sides and stern of the vessel so should a vessel come at us I could have crew go to these stations and begin shooting water over the side as per our training we did in the Mediterranean Sea.

Now we were never attacked by pirates but we did increase our watch and kept an eye on any and all small fishing vessels. While in the Red Sea we had constant contact with coalition warships relaying any information about possible attacks.

A fishing vessel approaches us about a day out from Djibouti

About a day out from Djibouti I was off watch in my state room. I had just finished lunch and went to the bridge to talk with the second mate. While on the bridge the AB on watch pointed out to the second mate a 20-foot fishing vessel coming up on our starboard side.

The second mate and I looked at the vessel to see what was happening. Once we saw the vessel coming after us, the second mate made a hard to port turn and I called the captain.

As I was calling the captain I started one of the fire pumps to start water shooting over the side. Now on most merchant marine ships the captain’s state room is very close to the bridge, so he was on the bridge within seconds.

We sounded the vessel security alarm and started to muster the crew at their stations. We had everyone mustered, I had security teams break up and ensure that the wheelhouse was locked down, and we took our positions awaiting the orders from the captain.

Luckily we were not attacked and, as we continued to sail away and swing the vessel to make it more difficult to come alongside, while we were doing this the smaller vessel altered course and sailed away.

I will never be sure that it was or wasn’t a pirate vessel. It most likely was not, but while in those waters looking for pirates is a difficult and stressful job.

I just want to point out that pirates not only operate in the waters off Somalia, but they are all over the world. There are pirates off the Straits of Malacca, coast of Brazil, China, Indonesia just to name a few.

My first experience dealing with pirates

My first experience dealing with pirates was as an engine cadet aboard the MV Sea Wolf in the summer of 1993 off the coast of Brazil. Our sister ship had been attacked by Brazilian pirates the trip before and the captain had shot and killed one of the pirates as they were fleeing the vessel with the cash they had stolen. (The Brazilian pirates actually put a price on the captain’s head and the company had to move the captain to a different ship on a different run.)

We went to anchor and actually at the urging of the Brazilian coast guard we had to pick up the anchor and steam in a big square. We had deck patrol and put lights on over the side to discourage anyone from coming alongside.

P.S. I forgot to add that, yes, we were unarmed. The best we had were fire axes and fire hoses! Most companies stopped arming their ships in the '90s. Prior to that, even if there was a gun aboard, it was usually a pistol in the captain's safe.

The only ships that have any kind of military weapons aboard are USNS ships (merchant ships owned by the Navy with Merchant Marine crews). Some government Merchant Marine ships contracted by the government will carry a Navy detachment on them as security.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at PZ the Do-Gooder Scrooge and Operation Support Jews in the Military, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Those Things That Will Not Be Deployed With Him

I asked permission of poet Jehanne Dubrow to share her poem about being a military wife here on this blog. She graciously said yes. And if you want to know more about her, visit her website at www.jehannedubrow.com.

NONESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT

By Jehanne Dubrow

The dog and I are first among those things
that will not be deployed with him. Forget
civilian clothes as well. He shouldn’t bring
too many photographs, which might get wet,
the faces blurred. He only needs a set
of uniforms. Even his wedding ring
gives pause (what if it fell?—he’d be upset
to dent or scratch away the gold engraving).
The seabag must be light enough to sling
across his shoulder, weigh almost nothing,
each canvas pocket emptied of regret.
The trick is packing less. No wife, no pet,
no perfumed letters dabbed with I-love-yous,
or anything he can’t afford to lose.

First appeared in Barrow Street
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at PZ the Do-Gooder Scrooge and Operation Support Jews in the Military, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

West Point Admissions: Learn From an Admissions Officer

Do you know anyone who is interested in applying to West Point -- the United States Military Academy? If you do, please send the person this blog post in order to have the link to the April 7th BlogTalkRadio show www.YourMilitaryLife.com that I co-hosted with Nancy Brown of www.YourMilitary.com. We interviewed Major Michael Nuckowski of West Point Admissions.

Major Nuckowski gave his views and perspectives as an admissions officer and not as the official policy of the Army. Yet this insight, after almost three years on the job, is quite valuable for high school students considering applying to the United States Military Academy (www.usma.edu).

Listen to Major Nuckowski's interview now to learn important information about applying to West Point.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at PZ the Do-Gooder Scrooge and Operation Support Jews in the Military, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Sal Baldovinos Shares His Army Experience

I met Sal Baldovinos on Twitter with his Twitter username @mayhemchaos when I noticed a tweet and clicked through to his profile. As soon as I saw ex-army as part of his Twitter profile, I asked if he would write a guest post for me. He jumped right in with both feet and wrote a long guest post.


I didn’t break this post into two parts because I think it’s worth reading in one take for a very descriptive insider’s view of basic training and the concerns of our service members. And you can read more of Sal’s writing at his own blog www.mayhemandchaos.com/blog.

What drives a person to join the military. For some it's an escape. For others, it is true patriotic servitude to their country. And for me, like many others, it was a way to lessen the financial burdens of college tuition.

It was career and financial aid night at my high school. I was just a junior then and already looking for ways to pay for school to ease the stress off of my mother.

I sat in on all the major Texas universities’ financial assistance sessions. Just as my mother and I were leaving, I spotted a friend of mine, Jason, a senior, sitting at the Army recruiters' booth with his black army shirt on.

We chatted for a bit when, in no time, I was approached by one of the recruiters. He gave me his card and for the next few weeks we went over the formalities of what it would take for me to join the Army. Being that I was only a junior and 17 years old, I could not enlist in the regular Army for another year. My only other option was to enlist in the split-option program in the Army Reserve. So I did just that.

I took my oath

December 29, 1999, was the day I took my oath to be in the United States Army Reserve. Though it's been 10 years, and as cliche as it may sound, I still remember that day as if it were last week.

I spent the night in downtown Houston prior to all the tests, questioning and more tests that would follow the next day. It was a night you'd think someone would not be able to sleep. However, it was the opposite for me. I never really get anxious or nervous until the moment of execution, so sleeping was not a big deal for me that night.

Early the next morning, I went down stairs to the hotel's cafeteria and ate what would be my last official civilian breakfast. The van took us to the MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) center and so began an all-day procedure of enlisting in the United States Army. I was shuffled from room-to-room, asked question after question, signed and dated countless documents and officially grew annoyed of reciting my social security number.

Nevertheless, the day came to a close with our swearing in. I raised my right hand and pledged myself, like countless numbers of men and women before me, to the United States.

I would leave for Basic Combat Training that summer to complete the required 10 weeks of training at Ft. Knox, KY. Since I was under the slit-option, I would return home to finish my senior year of high school and complete the second half of training the following year.

Boot camp – an adjustment to say the least

Boot camp was just as you would imagine. Most movies depicted basic training just as it is. Within a few hours my personal belongings were whisked away to be replaced with standard issue clothing. My once full set of hair was substituted with a "screaming eagle" -- a fully shaved head.

We were met with two drill instructors that said nothing to us on the bus ride to the barracks, though that would soon change with constant yelling and in-your-face insults on our lack of speed. We were wrangled up, filed in to lines, made to do push-ups for not retrieving our duffle bags quickly enough. And this was all before lunch.

The next few weeks were an adjustment, to say the least. Class after class, drill after drill, mile after mile made me cherish what I had left back home. Once assimilation to military life had set in, the rest of boot camp was pretty much easy. I repelled off towers, marched more miles then most people do in a year, experienced night infiltration training, slept in the mud and ambushed opposing companies.

I fired a weapon for the first time, threw a hand grenade, stepped into a gas chamber and counted to 10 with riot gas filling my lungs. We went through what all soldiers go through in preparation for what could one day save our lives.

I didn't pray much then, only during the standard prayer times one might participate in: bedtime, meal times and times of stress. As a treat, we were taken in to town to a local church that would give a magic show and presentation every class. They gave us all Bibles and prayed over us.

I was filled with a religious high that lasted about as long as I could stand to sit and read one chapter of the Bible. I think we all had that spiritual motivation the night following. We were all a little nicer to one another, reading portions of the Bible that we felt would help us through this time.

Of course that went away as quickly as it came for most of us. The stresses of boot camp, being away from home and clashing personalities would ultimately extinguish that spiritual high. After all, we were being trained to recite "kill, kill, kill" -- not recite the Ten Commandments.

After Basic Combat Training

I finished the 10 weeks of Basic Combat Training and graduated just three days before I had to go back to Houston and start my senior year of high school. It was, as for many people, a fuzzy memory of mid-terms, Friday night football games and steady girlfriend. Throughout that year I began drilling with my Reserve unit in Houston. I was the youngest person in the entire unit at the time. Not even fresh out of high school, but still enjoying those days.

I had great leadership and made strong friendships in that time. But as quickly as I came home, I was leaving again to finish the second half of my training in Ft. Lee, VA. When I enlisted I was given only a few options to choose from for job training as I was forced to pick based on shipping dates since I was in the split-option.

Out of my choices, I went with the job that best suited my interests. I went to Ft. Lee and completed my training as a Food Service Specialist, the glorified title for a cook. I enjoyed every class and all the free food we cooked. It was basically college with drill instructors yelling at you in the mornings and evenings, while our classroom instructors treated us with a little less aggression.

The weeks to follow were not as routine as one would expect. My time in Virginia was immediately following the events of September 11th. Besides the constant security checks, the chronic challenge and passwords to enter a building and endless reminders that we were at war, training went by quickly and I would graduate and come back home.

By this time I was already into my second year of an eight-year contract with the Army. I was strongly considering joining the regular Army and going overseas to finish out my time. I took a year off from school after I got home to evaluate what I really wanted to do with my life.

I postponed the decision to transfer to an active army unit once I decided to go to The Art Institute of Houston to pursue a degree in multimedia and web design. I continued drilling at my reserve unit and living my life as a civilian/soldier.

For the next two years as I completed my studies at The Art Institute, my postponed decision not to go active duty became a more permanent one. I was enjoying school and most of all civilian life. I knew, for me, the Army was not a career choice anymore and I started to resent aspects of the Army. After September 11th our unit was under constant rumor alert for when and if we would be getting deployed. Each summer seemed to be our last in the States.

One such summer was met with a phone call telling me to get my paperwork in order and finalize any personal things for we would be leaving in 90 days. This not only upset me, but also my family and finance, as we were in the beginning phase of planning our wedding. We had less then two months to plan everything only to find out in the end that it was just another false alarm.

My resentment in the Army stemmed from ever-changing leadership, mismanagement, disorganization and simply being burnt out from all the back-and-forth and instability of whether or not we would ever be deployed. My final two years in the Army Reserve were filled with challenging my superiors, questioning my reasons for enlisting and at one point considering reenlisting to another unit.

I had become disillusioned with the unit I was with but didn't want to get out of the Army just yet. With the changing political atmosphere and constant threat of being deployed, I decided with my family that it would be best to finish out the two years and be discharged at the end of my contract.

Leaving the Army

As my time was coming to an end there I was met with at monthly meetings about why I didn't want to reenlist. One of the new motor pool sergeants called me in to his office. We were fairly acquainted but didn't know one another beyond that. He was curious, like the retention officers, why I didn’t want to reenlist.

He said to me, "I always see you come to drill and you're smiling, laughing and generally seem to like being here. So why would you want to leave so badly?" I answered him as honestly as I could; I told him about my troubles with the Army and the mishandling of medical expenses.

I've been out of the Army for almost two years and, though I miss a lot of the friends I made, I don't miss the Army itself. I was an important phase of my life and I honestly don't look back with any regret. I learned about being a leader, being a follower and being a good American.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at PZ the Do-Gooder Scrooge and Operation Support Jews in the Military, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

New Afghan Law Makes It Legal for Husbands to Rape Their Wives

"A new Afghan law makes it legal for men to rape their wives, rights groups said." This news blurb was carried on the front page of the April 3rd Wall Street Journal.

My immediate thought was: That's one reason we're in Afghanistan -- to try to stamp out this oppressive male-dominated society.

My second thought was about the April 1st interview of Eldonna Lewis Fernandez on the BlogTalkRadio Show www.YourMilitaryLife.com that I co-host with Nancy Brown of www.YourMilitary.com.

Eldonna retired from the Air Force as a master sergeant and is now working with women to empower them. You can read Eldonna's January 23rd guest post about her military experiences and the book HEART OF A WOMAN, which she is co-authoring. (The deadline for submission of essays by military women has been extended to April 20th.)

Yet it's Eldonna's life experiences -- how she was raped more than once while in the military -- and how she finally got help (she suffered PTSD from these experiences and her abusive childhood) that offer the inspiration for women -- and the reminder of how wrong this new Afghan law is.

Listen to the interview now of Eldonna Lewis Fernandez.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at PZ the Do-Gooder Scrooge and Operation Support Jews in the Military, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Fibromyalgia and Gulf War Syndrome: The Symptoms and the Cures

I asked my Facebook friend Sue Ingebretson to share with the readers of this blog the connection of fibromyalgia to such military conditions as Gulf War Syndrome in the hopes of helping people whose illness has not yet been diagnosed. Sue is a writer and health and wellness enthusiast who is “living well” with fibromyalgia. Her story below is told for information purposes and not to give a diagnosis nor to be a treatment plan. If you have questions, you can tweet her at www.Twitter.com/SueInge

After my fibromyalgia diagnosis, I became an “unplanned expert” on the subject of chronic illness. It’s my hope you’ll find my findings informational if not applicable to you or someone you know.

Nearly everyone has aches and pains or feels a bit creaky in the morning, right? While everyone feels that way to some degree, not everyone has fibromyalgia.

Imagine feeling like you’ve got the worst flu ever. Body aches, digestive problems, joint and muscle pain, overwhelming dizziness, and extreme fatigue are daily occurrences. Add to that weird symptoms such as hair loss, insomnia, chest pain, vision problems, and a generalized “foggy” feeling. For women, “female” problems may prevail. For men, an overall weakness or fatigue may be a dominant factor.

Do any of these symptoms sound familiar to you? Have they been present for longer than six months? If so, please see a doctor and pursue a diagnosis. Be persistent if necessary.

I felt critically ill for over a decade. It took seven years, more doctors than I could count, and endless hours glued to my computer before I figured it out for myself. On the plus side, awareness of the condition is greatly improved today than even five years ago.

Chronic illness occurs when a “perfect storm” of conditions exists. These conditions create a weakened immune system that can make the body vulnerable to fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, Epstein-Barr, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus, diabetes, asthma, and other syndromes. Do you see yourself in more than one of these conditions?

• Injury (physical trauma/surgery)
• Infection (viral/bacterial)
• Hormonal irregularities
• Emotional trauma (including post traumatic stress syndrome)
• Intestinal inflammation (food allergies/intolerances and acid/alkaline imbalance, yeast overgrowth)
• Malnourishment or nutritional deficiencies
• Exposure to external toxins (chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, molds, toxic cosmetics, fragrances, dyes, etc.)
• Exposure to internal toxins (chemicals, food additives/preservatives, heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, vaccines, etc.)
• Genetic predisposition for auto immune and related illnesses (heredity)

So what about Gulf War Syndrome? From what I’ve read, the term was created to expedite medical benefits and to legitimize the illnesses of military personnel. Whatever name it is given, I believe it is all part of the same cluster of conditions.

Debates continue about the similarities and differences between Gulf War Syndrome and fibromyalgia, but classifications may not be as important as the solutions.

Once conditions such as exposure to toxins have been remedied, rebuilding a weakened immune system is the next step to achieving wellness. If you can, build a support team of health professionals: functional medicine physicians, nutritionists, physical therapists/chiropractors, etc. Healing must take place in three areas – nutrition, exercise, and stress relief.

Following a healthy diet including nutrient-dense foods and exercise (even at very low intensity levels) has been shown to improve energy levels and overall health. Lastly, the issue of stress and anxiety must be addressed. Healing modalities such as prayer, meditation, journaling, and even tai chi and yoga may prove beneficial to reducing stress levels.

Become an educated patient and learn to discern what you read. If an article makes healing sound impossible or hopeless, look elsewhere. No one says that healing from chronic illness is easy – but it is possible. I know this is true – because I did it.

In closing, I’d like to share this article headlined: Brain damage in Gulf War syndrome pinpointed – Texas researchers verify link to toxic exposure.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at PZ the Do-Gooder Scrooge and Operation Support Jews in the Military, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Divorce in the Military: Special Financial Considerations Can Be Very Important

Unfortunately divorce is a relevant topic for many military families. Multiple deployments can wreak havoc with a family and cause additional strains on a marriage -- strains that civilian couples don't have.

And for military couples divorcing, there are importance differences in the divorce laws that military families should know about before seeking a divorce.

Yesterday the BlogTalkRadio show www.YourMilitaryLife.com that I co-host with Nancy Brown of www.YourMilitary.com featured financial consultant Michael Kothakota of WolfbridgeFinancial.com in his third time on our show. He talked about the importance of working with a financial consultant during a divorce.

Also, Michael repeatedly said that the most important thing for a military couple divorcing is to have a good attorney who knows the special circumstances of military divorces.

What most struck me is that, if a couple doesn't know about the 10-year rule, the non-military spouse could miss out by only a few weeks on the benefits that otherwise would be hers or his.

Even if you aren't in the military or married to someone in the military, Michael's informative discussion of financial considerations in divorce could be vital information for you to know. Listen to the replay of the interview now.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at PZ the Do-Gooder Scrooge and Operation Support Jews in the Military, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.