43,300+ visitors later I have discovered that it isn't just me that feels this way. There is a group of people that are trying to fight what we see as unfair reporting of the war on terror, political games that risk our soldiers lives and to be able to give more exposure to our soldiers, their words, their feelings and their desire to complete the mission that they continue to reenlist to do.
I am moving at the end of this month and will be out of pocket for about 2-3 weeks and I knew I would need a few people to hold down the fort for me....people that have their own style but maintain the message that I created this blog to speak to.
Let me introduce Debbie from Right Truth, who was one of the first people I asked to help me an she honored me by agreeing.
I consider myself an average American woman who was awakened on September 11, 2001 as I saw the planes fly into the Twin Trade Towers. I saw people falling to the ground. I saw those already on the ground covered in ash and debris. I saw the destruction of landmark buildings in New York. But more than that, I saw a cruel attack on the American homeland.
I wanted to know who could possibly do such a horrible thing to innocent human beings. I wanted to understand how this could happen and I wanted to make sure nothing like September 11, 2001 ever happened again.
I began reading internet sites, blogs, news, watching TV news and listening to radio news. I began consulting what the experts had to say, reading books, studying Islam and Muslims.
I started commenting at In The Bullpen, Chad Evans’ blog. He kindly asked me to fill in for him and be a guest writer there. A few months later, Chad gave me the courage to start my own humble blog. Being a complete technophobe, Chad is also my technical adviser. The rest is history.
I don’t think I’m any different than thousand, or hundreds of thousands, of other Americans. Something changed after September 11, 2001.
My educational background is in Business and Religious Education Ministry. I have worked in the legal, medical and educational areas most of my life. I served as assistant to the Honorary French Consul in Memphis, Tennessee. I was assistant to the secretary of the Giant Rats of Sumatra (Sherlock Holmes society), and assistant to the secretary of the Memphis Wine and Food Society many years ago. In Southern Baptist Churches I have served in many educational capacities.
I’m married to a wonderful man and we have one daughter. I live in Tennessee near the Tennessee River. My husband is a physician and chief of staff at our local hospital. He loves fishing, ham radio and playing the guitar. My hobbies are decorating, sewing, gardening, birds, photography, ham radio, and of course, blogging. We are both involved in local and state emergency operations and homeland security.
Thank you Debbie for agreeing to help out a fellow blogger and for all you do on your own blog, it is educational and informative and by reading it, you greatly helped me develop my own writing style here.
Next we have HCdl:
A veteran of the United States Army and a veteran fire fighter, HCdl holds a B.S. in Secondary Education with certifications for teaching history and government, as well as some M.S. in Education Psychology. A patriot to the death (or the rise of the new Confederacy), he truly means it when he signs his writings with "Once and Always, an American Fighting Man."
So, I would like to introduce to you, my readers, the wonderful, talented people that have agreed to maintain Wake up America for me while I am traveling and getting the new house set up and get myself back online.
Let me also introduce to you, TXwise, the writer of Faultline USA, another wonderful writer that is new to the blogging world but has jumped in, both feet feet first and has managed to do a wonderful job:
TXWise is writer, an LMSW Social Worker, and a Mediator with a focus on family law, ethics, and religious and cross-cultural values clarification. She specializes in family, divorce, custody, visitation, adoption, special needs, abuse issues, religious and cultural diversity, core belief, congregational consensus building, and workplace ethics. She holds a Masters in Theology and a B.A. in Sociology. She has over fifteen years of experience in family assessment, custody evaluation, foster-adoption, and child protective services. She has conducted training workshops and provided presentations to a variety of civic groups, hospitals, and professionals on various aspects of public social work, family dynamics, ADD/ADHD, and sexual abuse. She has served as a Visiting Peacemaker where she provided conflict resolution workshops, conciliation services, dialogue facilitation, and mediation training.
Next we have Amy Proctor, from Bottom Line Up Front, I didn't know Amy well enough to ask, but considering that her blog, along with Right Truth and Faultline were some of my first reads for the day, and I noticed that quite a bit of what we wrote was sooooooo similiar it was almost eerie, I simply had to ask her and she also kindly agreed to help.
Amy is a proud Christian and Republican woman born and raised in northeastern USA. Married to her husband since 1988, they have 4 wonderful children. She left her job as a paralegal with the Virginia State Bar to raise her children and focus on family life. The Proctors have been an Army family since 1993 and Amy's husband Johnny has served with 4th ID, 101st ABN DIV, 2nd ID and the 82nd ABN DIV. He has been deployed to Haiti, Korea and Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Amy and her family are devout Catholics. They are very involved in ministry in the Church and also support the Christian Churches in Iraq. Amy & Johnny have raised over $15,000 for the Church in Iraq through designated offerings at Ft. Bragg, NC and Ft. Campbell, KY and other means. They also assist the Church in Iraq through charitable giving from private donors.
Amy's achievements include citations from both the 101st Airborne Division, 187th Infantry as Family Readiness Group leader & 82nd Airborne Division, 325th Infantry Regiment for outstanding support to military families. She also received the Dr. Mary E. Walker Award (11/01) while at Ft. Bragg, NC, the highest award going to a military spouse for supporting & improving the quality of life for soldiers and their families. She has also received recognition from Ft. Jackson for support of soldiers.
Over the past 2 years, Amy counterprotested weekly at anti-war vigils and events, supported the war on terror and stood against the anti-war movement. She, along with other Army wives, counterprotested so-called Peace Groups and Cindy Sheehan events, outside of Veterans Hospitals and military posts.
Amy has written editorials in numerous newspapers throughout the country and is currently a contracted writer for A Greater Freedom and is a contributor for California Conservative.
Last but not least, Wake up America's latest addition will be Becky, another wife of a military man that has just REenlisted for 6 more years and this is after having been wounded and almost losing his leg in 2004.
I might add he reenlisted with quite a few of his units other members because they believed in their mission.
Her comments on this blog, which led me to invite her to become a contributor:
My Husband is in the US Army Reserves, and has been for almost 10 years. He was deployed to Iraq in '03. In Feb of '04 he was injured and almost lost his leg. He took the bare minimum of recovery time, and then asked the Doctor to sign off so he could go back. He had every opportunity to medical out, but chose to go back. Four months after returning home, he reenlisted for another 6 years knowing that he would be deployed again.
Becky - A Proud Soldier | Homepage | 02.13.07 - 11:37 am | #
I am so pissed I actually hit the enter button instead of the backspace.Becky will be writing under A soldiers wife .
Anyway, My Husband reenlisted when he came back from his deployment knowing that he would eventually do another tour. Last month, he volunteered to go back. And it isn't just him. Four Soldiers from his unit volunteered to go back this past Summer. And when my Husband went to sign up to go back during his Drill Weekend, 5 more Soldier's from his Unit also filled out their paperwork.
So, I would like to know where this guy is getting his "facts" from? Any and every Soldier I have talked to is in Support of this War, and have been from the start. The small number of so-called soldiers who are protesting this war are more than likely the same people who signed up Just to get the GI Bill, and are not true Soldiers by any stretch of the imagination. My Husband signed up to defend his country, to fight to keep us Free. The problem is the stories in the media. I watch the Military Channel religiously and they show the truth. The reporters only seem to want to show when bad things happen, when our soldiers die, or when a civilian is killed. However, they put a spin on the story to make it seem that our Soldiers are over there going after innocent people. That isn't the Military way, that is the Terrorist way.
I am just so sick of people spouting off about how wrong this war is, and they have no clue what is really happening. They are spitting in the faces of not only our Military, but also the Military families and our Brave Soldiers who have died defending our country.
Becky - A Proud Soldier's Wife | Homepage | 02.13.07 - 12:09 pm | #
(She was responding to "certain" commenters from this post.)
I am a 29 year old wife of a US Army Soldier. We have 2 children, my daughter from a previous marriage, and his son from a pervious relationship. We live in Ohio. I am also the Daughter of a Vietnam Vet. My father served in the US Army and did one tour in Vietnam 70-71. I have been with my Husband for almost 3 years. We have been married for 4 months. My husband, Will, did a tour of Iraq 03-04 and was injured. He almost lost his leg. But, he fought to go back to be with his men. He reenlisted for 6 more years after returning stateside. He plans to make it a career. And he has recently volunteered to go back. I have always Loved our US Service Members, but, I would never have guessed I would Marry one. He and our Children are my life. He is Hardcore Army, and I stand by his side and support him every way I can.
Then we have me, myself and I: My blog is MY bio.
All in all, I am greatly honored that these wonderful people have agreed to help and I thank them all from the bottom of my heart for making this blog better with their contributions.
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