"A Soldier's Christmas" by Michael Marks

Got this poem in email from friend, originally published at Lighthouse Journal who found the author, so here it is - a poem about Christmas and pretty good.
Found at Viet Vet site entitled 

A Soldier’s Christmas by Michael Marks.

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light, 

I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight. 

My wife was asleep, her head on my chest, 

My daughter beside me, angelic in rest. 

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white, 

Transforming the yard to a winter delight. 

   

Remington Defense Builds Sniper Systems

M40A5 Sniper Rifle - Mountain Warfare Training Center

Remington Defense division announced that production is starting to fill an order from the Department of Defense for 443 Precision Sniper Rifles (PSR) chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum and 446 PSR caliber conversion kits in both .300 Win. Mag and .308 Win.

Remington Defense is also providing the US Marine Corps 2,000 modular stocks, spares, and magazines for the M40 Sniper Rifle.

FN America Awarded US Army Contract

M240B

FN America [FN Herstal] has been awarded a new indefinite contract by the Department of the Army to build M240B, C, D, and H machine guns and spare receivers. The contract includes four one-year ordering periods not to exceed $84.6 million.

FN has produced more than 2 million firearms for the US Armed Forces since 1989 at the Columbia, South Carolina factory. FN also produces M4/M4A1 carbines, M16 rifles, MK19 grenade machine guns, M249 SAWs and the MK-46 and MK48 machine guns.

The M240 series machine gun has been used by the US Armed Forces since the late 1970s, mostly by the infantry with modified models used for ground vehicles, watercraft, and aircraft. It has been a reliable medium belt-fed machine gun that fires 7.62mm (.308 caliber) ammunition issued with an extra barrel. They are known for their quick-change barrel system when barrels get too hot. It is usually fired from an integrated bipod, a vehicular mount, or an M192 tripod. The updated M2 tripod is mostly used by the US Marine Corps. It has a maximum firing range of 3,725 meters (4,074 yds) and uses a non-disintegrating DM1 or disintegrating M13 linked belt. The rate of fire is 750 to 950 rounds per minute, a gas-operated, open bolt system.

In the News: January 26th 2015

DOD Cutbacks … The Pentagon plans to close more European installations and is also contemplating closing 15 US installations and several units saving an estimated $500 million. Another series of cuts planned in May will total to $60 million in savings. The savings will come from closing the military golf course, hotel and skeet range at 21 facilities across Europe. USAFE (United States Armed Forces Europe) is rethinking about cutting back certain air facilities due to requirements in that region and other spots that require air support and strikes like the Middle East. Among the installations to be closed is the US Air Force base in the UK, among the other 14 installations across Europe. It is the RAF Mildenhall located near the town of Mildenhall, Suffolk, England where the Royal Air Force was established between 1930 and 1934. During WWII, the RAF Bomber Command used the station to stage European combat missions until 1945. It became a joint USAF-RAF operation base in 1950 and a B-50 Superfortress based in 1952. In 1953 it also included the B-47 Stratojet and until 1958 the KC-97 Stratofreighter base. Since the Cold War it has been a SAC [Strategic Air Command] installation that took control in May of 1951. Several air tactical units were stationed there since that time.

Our Federal Government Treats Illegal Aliens Better Than Our Veterans

Our federal government treats illegal aliens better than veterans.

There are organizations that support brave men and women of the armed forces to get help navigating the bureaucracy of the Veterans Administration - but they are privately funded with no help from feds.

Heroes: Joe Foss

Joseph Jacob “Joe” Foss [April 17, 1915-January 1, 2003] was born and raised on a farm near Sioux Falls, South Dakota without electricity. His father was a strapping Norwegian and his mother was a petite Irish-Scottish woman who loved working outdoors on the farm. His mother inherited 40 acres and after his father married her, he bought an additional 80 acres.

At age 12, Foss visited a local airfield to see Charles Lindbergh on tour with his aircraft, the Spirit of St. Louis. Four years later, he and his father took their first aircraft ride in a Ford Trimotor for $1.50 each with the famous Clyde Ice aviator, for which a local airfield would be named.

Heroes: Vernon Baker

Vernon Joseph Baker (1919-2010) was a United States Army officer who received the Medal of Honor, belatedly bestowed by President Bill Clinton in 1997. He died in 2010 at the age of 90.

He was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming and after his parents died in a car accident he was raised with two sisters by their grandparents. His grandfather was a railroad worker in Cheyenne and taught Vernon how to hunt in order to help bring food to the table. Graduating from high school, he worked as a railroad porter, until his grandfather's death in 1939. He attempted to enlist in the US Army in April of 1941, but was turned down by the recruiter. Baker tried again with a different recruiter and was accepted, requesting to become a quartermaster, but was assigned to the infantry. After completing Officer Candidate School he was commissioned as second lieutenant on January 11, 1943.

Heroes: Gregory "Pappy" Boyington

Gregory "Pappy" Boyington was born on December 4, 1912 in Coeur d'Arlene, Idaho, growing up in the logging town of St. Maries, Idaho and in Tacoma, Washington. He joined ROTC while attending the University of Washington and later worked for Boeing as a draftsman and engineer. In 1935, transferred to the Marine Corps Reserve and accepted an appointment as an aviation cadet. He signed up using his biological father's name of Gregory Boyington, his mother being Sioux. He was then assigned to the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida. He was the first Native American to become a fighter pilot.

Heroes: Daniel Inouye

Daniel Inouye was born on September 7, 1924 (died December 17, 2012); a Nisei  Japanese American. During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Inouye served as a medical volunteer. In 1943, the US Army dropped the ban of enlistment of Japanese Americans and Inouye dropped his premedical studies at the University of Hawaii, enlisting in the US Army. He volunteered for the Nisei 442^nd Regimental Combat Team, promoted to sergeant in one year, assigned as platoon sergeant. He served in Italy in 1944, promoted for his brave actions in the battle to relieve the Lost Battalion to First Lieutenant. While leading an attack, a bullet struck his chest just above his heart, stopped by two silver dollars in his shirt pocket. He continued to carry the coins as lucky charms until they were lost during a battle in which he lost his arm.

Heroes: Charles G. Abrell

Charles Abrell was born in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1931; attended school in Las Vegas, Nevada, enlisting in the US Marine Corps in August of 1948. After completing training at Parris Island, South Carolina, Abrell was assigned to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, then the USS Noble and finally the 1^st Marine Division in Korea.

Awarded Medal of Honor posthumously by President Harry S. Truman to Corporal Abrell, Charles G. - Company E, 2d Battalion, 1^st Marine Division, USMC; Hangnyong, Korea, 10 June 1951.

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a fire team leader in Company E, in action against enemy aggressor forces. While advancing with his platoon in an attack against well-concealed and heavily fortified enemy hill positions, Cpl. Abrell voluntarily rushed forward through the assaulting squad which was pinned down by a hail of intense and accurate automatic-weapons fire from a hostile bunker situated on commanding ground. Although previously wounded by enemy hand grenade fragments, he proceeded to carry out a bold, single-handed attack against the bunker, exhorting his comrades to follow him. Sustaining 2 additional wounds as he stormed toward the emplacement, he resolutely pulled the pin from a grenade clutched in his hand and hurled himself bodily into the bunker with the live missile still in his grasp. Fatally wounded in the resulting explosion which killed the entire enemy gun crew within the stronghold, Cpl. Abrell, by his valiant spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of certain death, served to inspire all his comrades and contributed directly to the success of his platoon in attaining its objective. His superb courage and heroic initiative sustain and enhance the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

Charles Abrell is buried in the West Lawn Cemetery in Farmersburg, Indiana.

New Army Combat Uniform (ACU) in 2014-2015

The US Army is changing its ACU camouflage pattern this year that is supposed to offer better concealment for soldiers. The combat uniform will be used in all combatant commands, including Afghanistan. Existing camouflage pattern uniforms and equipment will not be replaced until they wear out.

Will US Military Change Small Arms Again and Change Civilian Firearm Purchases?

Marine Anti-Terrorist Group practice fire

In 1985, the US military replaced the Colt M1911 .45-caliber pistol with the Beretta M9, 9mm NATO. Soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan complained about the lessened power of the 9mm compared to the old reliable .45ACP.

Military News: August 2014 - Vietnam Medal of Honor Recipient Dies at 87

Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, prisoner of the Islamic Jihadists, captured because he left his place of duty, is not the only person that needs to be put on trial. In an article by Travis J. Tritten, the Government Accountability Office stated that President Obama and the DOD illegally swapped five prisoners from Guantanamo Bay for Bergdahl by not notifying members of Congress in advance. DOD records show that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel sent email and made phone calls to congressional leaders on the same day the swap was arranged. 

Funding Legislation Practices Must Change

Allen West sent a memo, concerning the way both political parties orchestrate funding legislation, reprinted here:

Friends,

Senate Democrats are playing a disgusting game with the security of Israel for political purposes.

The U.S .Defense Department has asked for emergency funding of $225 million in support of Israel’s Iron Dome protective weapon system. But  the Democrat-controlled Senate is trying to tie this with funding  President Obama’s request in the current illegal immigration border crisis.

This is the devious way funding is manipulated on Capitol Hill — and sadly, it happens on both sides of the aisle.

Steadfast and Loyal

Funding requires separate bill submitted for voting. Presidents should send back bills that do not and Congress needs to pass legislation requiring it to be so. Reduction of loophole politics is essential. Also, read what Mr. West has stated about multiculturalism in Europe where immigrant/citizens are more loyal to the enemies of the free world than the UK's army reserve. It is truly a danger to western civilization. 

 

See Also:

Elections Are Coming and Republicans Are Wasting Their Time (Again)

Will Obamacare Cost You Your Job?

Maybe Democrats Should Have Read Obamacare Before They Passed It

Thought for the day: US foreign policy, especially with Israel has been to concede to Palestine/Hamas whenever possible and now Kerry wants Israel to hold a truce. So the question is, does federal government practice what it preaches? What if Mexico lobbed rockets into Texas? Would we do what is expected of Israel?

Scrutinizing the Case of Sgt Bergdahl and 12-Year-Old Stabbing in Wisconsin

Stop Hillary 2016 PAC

When I first reported about the situation with POW SGT Bowe Bergdahl and the plea to the federal government to bring him home, I was aware of allocations and indications that he had deserted his post. In the military, as in civilian life, wrongdoing must be proven before judgment (innocent until proven guilty).

Of course, now that he has been freed, at the cost of letting loose five of the Taliban's top officers; we can now turn to the matter as to how he got captured. Most military, active and retired, would agree that it is important to bring everyone home – dead or alive.

TALOS: Combat Uniform and Equipment of Future Soon a Reality

Camo development

In February 2014, at a National Defense Industrial Association symposium, Stars and Stripes reported that TALOS is on its way to be the new combat uniform that looks like something from a futuristic role-playing game. No it is not the Talos of the Elder Scrolls role-playing series; and as someone once stated, in so many words: What is science fiction today is reality tomorrow.

Weapons of Choice: SIG Sauer M11 and Other SIG Firearms

Most everyone is aware that the official US military handgun was changed from Colt M1911 (in service for more than 100 years) to the M9 manufactured by Beretta. In the civilian world, both firearms are popular, but Glock has upstaged them both. In competition against Glock, most popular caliber being the .40 caliber. Springfield Armory produced an excellent handgun in 9mm and .45 ACP.

One excellent pistol that does not seem to get the attention it deserves is the SIG Sauer P-series that was established in the 1970s. It is a firearm manufacturer where J.P. Sauer & Sohn of Germany combined with Schweizerische Industrie-Gesellschaft (SIG) of Switzerland. Two nations that produce quality manufactured products; matching Italian companies like Beretta, Uberti, and Benelli.

Colt would have retained its contract that has lasted many decades if it would have developed a double-action chambered for 9mm, which is the NATO standard ammunition for handguns. 

PTSD: Another Political and Media Hype

In World War I it was called Shell Shock and was identified and addressed better than previous wars in the history of wars. That term continued throughout World War II and then Korean War.

Today, it is called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD as an acronym. Simply it is when a person cannot deal with what they experienced and/or what they saw.

Michael Behenna Receives Parole But NO Clemency From Commander-in-Chief

Michael Behenna, 1^st Lt, US Army was convicted of the “murder” of a terrorist responsible for an IED attack on his platoon, which left two US soldiers dead. The prosecution, Department of Justice, stated he “forfeited” his rights to self-defense. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Last year, Diana West, a columnist attended a hearing that was unsuccessful to get the military court of appeal to overturn his conviction of premeditated murder. Ms. West reported that what she had witnessed during Behenna's Washington DC hearing -

...was enough to make the gold eagle on top of the American flag in the courtroom shake and then hang its head. …

Weapons of Choice: The High-Tech TrackingPoint Smart Rifle

In the last article I covered what you thought was the ultimate rifle as far as technology … think again.

Back in the fall of 2013, just in time for the January 2014 SHOT Show in Las Vegas debut, TrackingPoint introduced to the world a rifle that is computerized making everyone an expert at the range and hunting field. The first prototype was created in March of 2011 by John McHale, Founder-CEO of TrackingPoint. The cost runs from a kit for an assault rifle starts at $10,000. Like modern jet fighters and helicopter pilots, the rifle has a HUD (Heads Up Display) that indicates and calculates range, wind, and has zoom capabilities as well as Wi-Fi connections, a compass and battery life readout. You can record images on your smartphone or tablet from the scope (to a computer) and even transmit via email or social media. You can record that great shot you made of a Grizzly bear at 1000 yards or show just how accurate your five-shot grouping can be.