As our convoy departed Clarksville heading East down I-24, the rain slowly intensified.  By the time we reached Edwin Warner Park, we were met with a steady rain that showed no signs of stopping.  My first thought was that our participation in the Soldier Ride was going to be cut short due to the rain,  which would be disappointing to say the least.  As we staged our bikes and gear in a dry spot under a nearby pavilion, the vehicles just kept coming.  Walking to the registration area I quickly realized that we were not alone;  the rain had not dampened the spirits of the hundreds who turned out to ride with some of our Wounded Heroes.

After the National Anthem, Chaplain Glazner gave a blessing over the Ride, our soldiers and their families. We headed off into the rain.  The route selected by the Wounded Warrior Project Team simply could not have been more beautiful.  We rode through the neighborhood where many of the Country Music stars reside, and were periodically met by folks standing at the end of their drives paying their respects to our Wounded Heroes who led the way on this wet day.

The first leg of the ride took us to the fair city of Franklin Tennessee, where we were met by a large crowd and the Franklin Fire and Police Department.  Tears welled up in my eyes as this showed that America still does care; even though our media has done their level best in this Country to make it seem as if America no longer supported the war, or our Soldiers.

After a break of approximately 20 minutes,  and with many of us starting to get chilled, we  “saddled up,” and peddled off into the sunset rain.  Most of the riders decided to finish the 25 mile trek with some of our Wounded Heroes.  A few of us took a left and headed out to complete 52.71 mile trek.  I had thought of only doing 25 miles and struggled with whether to finish with our Wounded Heroes; or to take that left.  Since I had made a promise to those who had contributed to my 50+ mile ride, I felt that I had an obligation to finish the route regardless of the weather (I must admit there were times that I wondered just what had I been thinking).

The 50 mile route took us through the Natchez Trace, which was again some of the most beautiful country I had seen.  It was also some of the hilliest country in Tennessee that I had ridden on (not a good thing for a novice cyclist doing his longest ride yet).  Somehow I must have missed the note about the hills on the route.  Now folks, I can hold my own and believe myself to be in pretty good shape for 40 years of age, but these hills put the wood to me (country folks the meaning of this phrase).  There was one particular hill during the ride that I am sure has a name, I called it many which can’t be repeated here! I certainly thought that it would never end, and everyone, regardless of their level of cycling was out of the saddle and spinning for all they were worth.  I still don’t know how I managed to make it without getting off the bike, or passing out.

After conquering the hill from hell, I felt no other hill could ever match that one.  We stopped for a quick break at a small country store in Leapers Fork, and were again greeted by members of the local community.  I asked them about the remainder of the route, and a couple of them smiled to my dismay and stated, “‘oh there is only one more hill like that one.” NOOOOOOO!!!  Surely they were just joshing me! But at this point it was too late to cry over spilled milk, so we cycled on!  The hill that was still out there weighed on the three of us in my group, all of us dreaded facing another challenge such as the one we had already faced.  At the sight of any new incline, we wondered “Is this the hill?”

We never did figure out which hill was “the one,” on the back side of the route.  Possibly it was there, and we were just too focused,  or perhaps we were in a daze,  to realize that we had gone up it.  Possibly it was one that Kurt’s two flat tire stops  had given us the legs we otherwise would not have had to make it up “the hill.” Whatever, we never experienced another hill like the first.

Our ride was not a record shattering event, quite the contrary we were near the last in. Mainly due to mechanical failures that simply could not be avoided.  It does not matter though, we finished!  For that we were all proud both as individuals, and as a team.  Two of us had never ridden that distance on a in one day, and being that it was done in honor of our friend and comrade MSG James ‘Tre’ Ponder, that made the experience much more than these simple words can describe.

Special thanks to all of those who made the Soldier Ride Nashville 2009 possible.  While I do not know many of you, I know the vast amount of work makes events such as this come together.  To Leslie and the Girls – Tre’s memory lives on ladies.  Thank you for making the day ever so special by gracing us with your presence, It was great seeing you!

Thanks, to Tim Moore, the owner/operator of Bikes and Moore in Hopkinsville Kentucky. He is an avid supporter of the Wounded Warrior Project and the Soldier Ride.  Without Tim’s volunteer efforts to ensure that every cyclist with a mechanical issue was taken care of, many of the riders would not have been able to complete the ride.  Tim goes around the country to support, and ride in Wounded Warrior Bike Rides.

I am planning on training for some of the longer rides in the coming year.  Hopefully I can join Tim and others in Soldier Rides in other parts in the South, as it is such a worthy cause.  It is also a great opportunity to share with those who have overcame the adversity of  a life changing injury.  The ultimate goal will be a seven day ride spanning four states, in a couple of years!

I hope to see you all at next year’s Soldier Ride Nashville 2010.  I can guarantee you that you will never forget the ride, nor those who you will meet along the route.  To all who contributed to this worthy cause I say thank you. God bless our Soldiers, their Families and our Great Nation!

Two hundred and thirty-three years ago, our nation was born when a courageous group of patriots pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to the proposition that all of us were created equal.

Our country began as a unique experiment in liberty — a bold, evolving quest to achieve a more perfect union. And in every generation, another courageous group of patriots has taken us one step closer to fully realizing the dream our founders enshrined on that great day.

Today, all Americans have a hard-fought birthright to a freedom which enables each of us, no matter our views or background, to help set our nation’s course. America’s greatness has always depended on her citizens embracing that freedom — and fulfilling the duty that comes with it.

Independence Day

As free people, we must each take the challenges and opportunities that face this nation as our own. As long as some Americans still must struggle, none of us can be fully content. And as America comes ever closer to achieving the perfect Union our founders dreamed, that triumph — that pride — belongs to all of us.

So today is a day to reflect on our independence, and the sacrifice of our troops standing in harm’s way to preserve and protect it. It is a day to celebrate all that America is. And today is a time to aspire toward all we can still become.

With very best wishes,

President Barack Obama

July 4th, 2009

P.S. — Our nation’s birthday is also an ideal time to consider serving in your local community. You can find many great ideas for service opportunities near you at http://www.serve.gov.

The Boy Scouts will be accepting donations in the form of canned goods, boxed food and monetary donations.  They will be at the market from 8:00a.m.-1:00p.m. on both Saturdays.  This is an excellent way to show your patriotism around the Independence Day holiday and thank the soldiers who have worked hard to defend our freedom.

Niki Crowe the manager of the New Downtown Market would like to invite everyone to come visit!

As always, the Downtown Market will offer a variety of locally produced items.  Nursery stock, fresh produce, homemade crafts and baked goods are just a few of the things you will find at the market this weekend.

BAGHDAD, May 12 — My name is Donald Hudson Jr. I have been serving our country’s military actively for the last three years. I am currently deployed to Baghdad on Forward Operating Base Loyalty, where I have been for the last four and a half months.

I came here as part of the first wave of this so called “troop surge”, but so far it has effectively done nothing to quell insurgent violence. I have seen the rise in violence between the Sunni and Shiite. This country is in the middle of a civil war that has been on going since the seventh century.

Why are we here when this country still to date does not want us here? Why does our president’s personal agenda consume him so much, that he can not pay attention to what is really going on here?

Let me tell you a story. On May 10, I was out on a convoy mission to move barriers from a market to a joint security station. It was no different from any other night, except the improvised explosive device that hit our convoy this time, actually pierced through the armor of one of our trucks. The truck was immediately engulfed in flames, the driver lost control and wrecked the truck into one of the buildings lining the street. I was the driver of the lead truck in our convoy; the fifth out of six was the one that got hit. All I could hear over the radio was a friend from the sixth truck screaming that the fifth truck was burning up real bad, and that they needed fire extinguishers real bad. So I turned my truck around and drove through concrete barriers to get to the burning truck as quickly as I could. I stopped 30 meters short of the burning truck, got out and ripped my fire extinguisher out of its holder, and ran to the truck. I ran past another friend of mine on the way to the burning truck, he was screaming something but I could not make it out. I opened the driver’s door to the truck and was immediately overcome by the flames. I sprayed the extinguisher into the door, and then I saw my roommate’s leg. He was the gunner of that truck. His leg was across the driver’s seat that was on fire and the rest of his body was further in the truck. My fire extinguisher died and I climbed into the truck to attempt to save him. I got to where his head was, in the back passenger-side seat. I grabbed his shoulders and attempted to pull him from the truck out the driver’s door. I finally got him out of the truck head first. His face had been badly burned. His leg was horribly wounded. We placed him on a spine board and did our best to attempt “Buddy Aid”. We heard him trying to gasp for air. He had a pulse and was breathing, but was not responsive. He was placed into a truck and rushed to the “Green Zone”, where he died within the hour. His name was Michael K. Frank. He was 36 years old. He was a great friend of mine and a mentor to most of us younger soldiers here.

Now I am still here in this country wondering why, and having to pick up the pieces of what is left of my friend in our room. I would just like to know what is the true reason we are here? This country poses no threat to our own. So why must we waste the lives of good men on a country that does not give a damn about itself? Most of my friends here share my views, but do not have the courage to say anything.

About Donald C. Hudson Jr. 

Donald C. Hudson Jr. is a Specialist assigned to the 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. 

E-mail:

Read the Daily Record Article on the author of this letter.

* The original information at Nieman Watchdog stated he was a private however he is a Specialist according to the story above. So  I have updated my information.

We told them to overthrow Sadaam Hussein, which they did. They won the war that Bush decided to wage. But then we left them there. As the years dragged on, we sent them back again and again — into a situation that got worse with each passing year. And they went back, again, and again, tempting fate each time. Some did not return to us and those who did were wounded in body or soul or both.

So, enough is enough. Let’s support the troops and bring them home. Let’s welcome them back with thanks and celebration of their service to our country. And let’s make sure that they get what it takes to be healed in both body and soul. Then let’s ask their forgiveness for taking so long to do what must be done and pledge to them that we will never again let them be so badly used by those who claim to be our “leaders”.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Director’s statement

This film is not about the right or the left, or about blue or red states. It is about the hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers who have been released by the military after serving in Iraq – and the truth they hope to share with their fellow citizens.

I produced and directed THE GROUND TRUTH because I felt it was time to stop hiding behind the politics. No one was writing or talking about thousands of invisible injured soldiers, for the most part young men returning to young wives who must now be their caregivers.

It became clear, while filming, that the broken hearts and shattered lives that I was seeing were profound and pervasive – whether the soldiers and their families were for or against the Iraq War.

I wanted to show how insidious and deep the effects of killing in combat truly are – whether in self-defense or not – so we could create a national dialogue about our “consciousness of killing.” I also felt I had to capture the aloneness and despair many returning soldiers silently experience when their psychological and physical needs are not recognized or provided for.

Those needs for soldiers have not changed since Harold Russell and The Best Years of Our Lives. It is sixty years later, and we need to recognize not only that the U.S. is in very different war circumstances but also that our fighting men – and, now, women – face tremendous challenges back home.

So I tried to create a film that might blow the yellow ribbons off the trees, and encourage people to really wrap their arms around our soldiers and their families. I wanted us to sit with the broken hearts and troubled minds of these young veterans, so we can take responsibility for their suffering that is being experienced in our name.

And most important, I wanted to share with all Americans the profound wisdom these young men and women have to impart. Their first step to healing is our listening.

Patricia Foulkrod,
June 2006

THE GROUND TRUTH stunned filmgoers at the 2006 Sundance and Nantucket Film Festivals

Hailed as “powerful” and “quietly unflinching,” Patricia Foulkrod’s searing documentary feature includes exclusive footage that will stir audiences. The filmmaker’s subjects are patriotic young Americans – ordinary men and women who heeded the call for military service in Iraq – as they experience recruitment and training, combat, homecoming, and the struggle to reintegrate with families and communities. The terrible conflict in Iraq, depicted with ferocious honesty in the film, is a prelude for the even more challenging battles fought by the soldiers returning home – with personal demons, an uncomprehending public, and an indifferent government. As these battles take shape, each soldier becomes a new kind of hero, bearing witness and giving support to other veterans, and learning to fearlessly wield the most powerful weapon of all – the truth.

*Some information in this article is from the official web site for the film.

It would be beyond foolish for us to even consider going into Iran as the President and his administration are currently setting us up for. Their play book is same one they used to trick the public into supporting a war in Iraq, but we can put a stop to this one before it even gets started. Say no more to the lies, half truths, and distortions! Oppose further conflicts which are intended to enrich the military industrial corporate complex at the cost of American soldier’s lives. The drum beat to war is sounding again and we havn’t been able to win any of the other wars President Bush has foolishly gotten our nation into yet.

Click here to view the embedded video.

William E. Odom
Senior Fellow
Hudson Institute, Washington, D.C. Headquarters

Areas of Expertise

• Military and strategic issues
• Intelligence issues
• Asian economic and security issues
• Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian studies
• European politics and military issues

Biographical Highlights
Lieutenant General William E. Odom, U.S. Army (Ret.), is a Senior Fellow with Hudson Institute and a professor at Yale University. As Director of the National Security Agency from 1985 to 1988, he was responsible for the nation’s signals intelligence and communications security. From 1981 to 1985, he served as Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, the Army’s senior intelligence officer.

From 1977 to 1981, General Odom was Military Assistant to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs, Zbigniew Brzezinski. As a member of the National Security Council staff, he worked upon strategic planning, Soviet affairs, nuclear weapons policy, telecommunications policy, and Persian Gulf security issues. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1954, and received a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1970.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is a classic butterball turkey commercial from way back in 1959, just a bit of turkey history to share with you all today.

Our soldiers deserve only our respect and our support.

With the negative reports of inhumane acts committed by our soldiers in Iraq, it’s easy to become disillusioned. We have had Abu Ghraib, Ramadi, the Haditha massacre, and now Mahmoudiya, names that will join the names of places like My Lai in their infamy.

We would like to close our eyes and pretend that these situations never happened, that it’s all just a bad dream. However, it is important for us to face these crimes and those who committed them, as Americans and as responsible citizens of the world.

Our soldiers know that each time an incident like this comes to light, that it makes their job in Iraq that much harder. With that said, we should not attempt to cover these events up. If we do, it will make it much worse when they finally come to light. We must promptly punish both the guilty, and those whose negligence enabled these acts.

Everyone should understand that the soldiers who committed these crimes are the exception rather than the rule. The average soldier is just as distressed and disgusted by these acts as we are. They do good works and can be proud of their service in a difficult place, caught in the middle of an unwinnable situation.

Remember this on the 4th of July, as you celebrate our nation’s independence.

You know, those yellow “support our troops” ribbons plastered on the ass-end of just about every SUV you drive behind.

Don’t get me wrong, I agree with the sentiment of the ribbons: “Support our troops”. What makes me mad about the ribbons is that most people who decorate their SUVs with those ribbons have given little, if any thought to what “supporting the troops” means.

Ribbons on the back of an SUV illustrate graphically why our young men and women are getting blown to smithereens and being shot at. You see, those SUVs are gas guzzlers — they really suck up the petrol. And when all is said and done, the oil is why our troops are in Iraq. Not WMDs (none found). And certainly not “to bring democracy to Iraq” (you don’t destroy a country and kill its people to bring them democracy). No, it’s really the oil.

If we really cared about the troops, we’d be making sacrifices so they wouldn’t have to get blown up and shot at, things like not driving gas-hogs, or pressuring congress to pass higher fuel efficiency standards for cars, or pushing for mass transit — all things that would lower our dependence on foreign oil. And we would be agitating to bring our troops home, where they will be really safe. And we would be pushing congress to spend whatever money it takes to help make them whole again, instead of nickeling and diming them to death.

But maybe it’s just me. Maybe I should buy an SUV and slap a half-dozen yellow “support our troops” ribbons on the back of it and drive down the road to show my support for the troops. I’d be in good company.