Nov. 20 1969, Forty Years Ago: "A clump of bodies"

My Lai photographer Ron Haeberle exposed a Vietnam massacre 40 years ago today in The Plain Dealer

November 20, 2009

Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer Ron Haeberle, a Fairview High School graduate, was a combat photographer in Vietnam. He was in the village of My Lai in 1968 when 300 Vietnamese civilians were killed by American troops. Haeberle, who still lives in Northeast Ohio, has finally broken his silence about got the photos and the impact they have had on his life and the history of his country.
Forty years ago today, black-and-white photographs of slaughtered women, children and old men in a Vietnamese village shocked the world -- or that portion of the world willing to believe American soldiers could gun down unarmed peasants and leave them to die in streets and ditches...>>>

Only speaking up brought light onto a reality of War and Occupation:

The Plain Dealer front page on Nov. 20, 1969
View full size
It was too hard, too painful, to comprehend.

But the atrocities committed by soldiers in the U.S. Army's Charlie Company were captured by combat photographer Sgt. Ron Haeberle, a Fairview High School graduate who'd been drafted after college.

The Army did not begin investigating My Lai until the spring of 1969, a year after the killings, after a former member of Charlie Company sent a letter to government officials, including President Richard Nixon and numerous members of Congress...>>>

The Plain Dealer's original My Lai coverage

Haeberle: Some photos destroyed

"First, I showed all the good we did there, what the medics did, and photos of Vietnamese people smiling. And then I'd go to the My Lai photos, and there'd be dead silence," says Haeberle today, in one of his first U.S. interviews in many decades...>>>

For any of the good to win hearts and minds they are quickly wiped out in the atrocities of war and the killing and maiming of the innocent citizens of any occupation, survivors don't forget, some join the battles to rid their land of those that occupy.

Unbelievable massacre still reverberates

On March 16, 1968, American soldiers, "the good guys," who were not under fire, entered a village where residents were eating breakfast, rousted them from their homes, raped young girls and then killed them, their siblings, parents and grandparents. When the injured moved among the corpses they lay with, they were shot again until they were still...>>>

What was the My Lai massacre?

* The My Lai massacre occurred on March 16, 1968, less than three months after the start of the Tet Offensive, a series of surprise attacks by Viet Cong and North Vietnamese on U.S. troops.

* By the time the U.S. Army's Charlie Company headed for My Lai, it had lost several men to mines and booby traps. The soldiers were warned that "VC" could be anyone and were hiding everywhere.

* That set the scene for the unit's attack and shootings that left hundreds dead in the village of My Lai..>>>

In Vietnam, a shocking memorial

In 2000, Haeberle went back to Vietnam for the first time. He bought a number of original works by Vietnamese artists, which hang in his living room today. Most are abstracts; one is a black-and-white, delicately needleworked portrait of a woman, gracefully reaching one arm toward the sky.

He and a group of cyclist friends biked 775 miles from Hanoi to Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, with stops along the way.

One was at My Lai, where women still push and pull water buffalo alongside green rice fields and where there is now a museum and peace garden memorializing the dead.

Haeberle's traveling friends knew of his role in My Lai's past. "But we just kept it quiet. They were protective."

He walked into the small museum -- "It's beautiful," he says -- and was shocked to see the 16-by-20-inch photos on the wall. The massacre photos were all his, some color, some black-and-white; there was even a black-and-white shot of him.

"I never gave them the photos," he explains. "So the Army must have."

He won't say he got choked up, exactly, but he was affected by being in that space, his own powerful images of horror looking back at him from the walls.

"I found myself making an apology for what happened," he says. "I walked around by myself. No one else was around, and I was making silent amends.

"For something that didn't have to happen, but did." ...>>>>>Rest Here

The war photographs that should have changed history

The lessons were widely discussed, in particular what they revealed about the GI's attitude to the enemy they were fighting. Name-calling and indoctrination had dehumanized the Vietnamese in their minds to the extent that even violence against civilians seemed uncontroversial.

It would be good to think that this lesson stuck, but the pictures of Iraqi prisoners being tortured and humiliated at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad show it's a mind set that has never been eradicated.

After Haeberle's photographs were published, anti-war protests took on a new momentum, but just as vocal were the protests from "patriotic" Americans against the premeditated murder conviction and life sentence given to Calley. A year after the court martial, Nixon caved in to their uproar and had him freed pending a case review....>>>>>

Last night, November 20, 2009, on the Bill Moyers Journal LBJ'S PATH TO WAR

Bill Moyers considers a President's decision to escalate troop levels in a military conflict. Through LBJ's taped phone conversations and his own remembrances, Bill Moyers looks at Johnson's deliberations as he stepped up America's role in Vietnam. Explore a multimedia timeline.

The origins of the Vietnam War lie in 1945, when the British ignored Ho Chi Minh's declaration of independence and restored French rule to the country.

After a protracted conflict with Ho Chi Minh's nationalist forces and a massive defeat at Dien Bien Phu, the French left Vietnam in 1954.

During the Cold War many foreign policy analysts subscribed to "The Domino Theory" — which contended that should one country come under communist rule, its neighbors were likely to follow suit. President Eisenhower, worried about the spread of communism, sent U.S. advisors to train forces in South Vietnam in 1956, and President Kennedy increased American forces significantly, with 12,000 U.S. military advisors stationed in Vietnam by 1962.

But it was under President Johnson that the U.S. escalated the conflict to a full scale war...>>>>>

Times are different now and have been since our long ocupation of Vietnam, of which I served In-Country '70-'71. The Vietnamesse, wanting their Freedom, just wanted the invaders and occupiers of out of their country, first the French then the United States and the few coalition forces who joined us.

Since then the failed policies towards the smaller less powerful countries, by the powerful, have caused what we now refer to as terrorism and those that lash out terrorist, everybody not us.

The criminal acts of terrorism, knowing no borders, have taken untold numbers of lives of innocents of the countries carrying out their failed policies in the names of those they lead.

Today, as has been for long before the Sept 11th '01 attack within our borders, and many other countries before and since, the invasions and occupations as well as the continued failed foreign policies lead not only to extreme destructive attacks within the borders of the occupied countries but a greater occurance of same anywhere, especially towards those who's governments and more try to force their ideologies or seek the resources of others for themselves.

Lessons Never Learned, and Now we've created the destructive future for those who follow us!

I Would Strongly Suggest

If you didn't watch last night, that you visit the Bill Moyers Journal and watch both video's or read the transcripts of.

Knowing it seems hard for many to do, as you watch, listen or read, think of the present and place yourselves in those past times and now!!

Army Suicides, "Things are getting better." Huh?

This was caught a short while ago:

Number of Army Suicides Expected to Top Last Year's Number

The U.S. Army says it expects the number of suicides among active duty soldiers to top last year's numbers, although it says progress is being made in addressing the issue...>>>>

Army thinking seems to not have changed after the previous CiC leadership and all that entailed as to failed leadership, extremely failed policies and total incompetence. More suicides is making progress, Right!

Which leads into this found at Veterans Today

Bush VA Appointees:'Believe in God, You Won't Have PTSD'

God, the Army, and PTSD
Is religion an obstacle to treatment?

by Tara McKelvey

When Roger Benimoff arrived at the psychiatric building of the Coatesville, Pennsylvania veterans’ hospital, he was greeted by a message carved into a nearby tree stump: “Welcome Home.” It was a reminder that things had not turned out as he had expected.

In Faith Under Fire: An Army Chaplain's Memoir, a memoir about Benimoff’s life as an Army chaplain in Iraq, Benimoff and co-author Eve Conant describe his return from Iraq to his family in Colorado and subsequent assignment to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He retreated deep into himself, spending hours on the computer and racking up ten thousand dollars in debt on eBay. Above all, he was angry and jittery, scared even of his young sons, and barely able to make it through the day. He was eventually admitted to Coatesville’s “Psych Ward.” For a while the lock-down facility was his home. He wondered where God was in all of this, and was not alone in that bewilderment and pain.

Snip

During the Iraq war, however, the great difficulty veterans experienced in getting psychiatric care—greater than before—was not a product of cost-cutting, but of conviction: many Bush administration officials believed that soldiers who supported the war would not face psychological problems, and if they did, they would find comfort in faith. In a resigned tone, one prominent researcher who worked for the VA, and asked that he not be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the press, explained that high-ranking officials believed that “Jesus fixes everything.” Benimoff and the others who returned with devastating psychological injuries found a faith-based bureau within the VA. At veterans’ hospitals, chaplains were conducting spirituality assessments of patients.

Snip

Things had already begun to change dramatically at the VA by early 2005, shortly after Roger Benimoff left for his second deployment to Iraq. Many appointees at the agency were disturbed that so many Iraq veterans showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In part the concern grew from skepticism about the diagnosis itself, which some believed to be a legacy of the Vietnam-era anti-war movement....>>>>>

That ones a long read but worth it.

How wide spread was this? And if well embedded at the time in the VA Health Care System was it done at Walter Reed, a Military Care Facility as well? Now this might be an issue to keep in mind as to the extremely tragic killings of the soldiers at Ft Hood by a soldier who was a Major and a mental health care psychiatrist in the military at Walter Reed and then Fort Hood but wasn't of the christian faith!

Outside The Wire

The newest episode to the reports from the online series In Their Boots

Three women service members return from Iraq and Afghanistan to find they face a new battle—a battle to treat their wartime injuries.



American Women Veterans this is their Facebook site page.

This is their New Site Page: American Women Veterans

American Women Veterans is the nation's preeminent Women Veterans organization dedicated to being the voice of Women Service Members and Veterans. They welcome veterans and supporters from all branches and eras. They foster a continued desire to serve our country and our comrades by raising awareness of women veterans' issues in military, civilian and veterans' affairs. They strive to enlighten, engage and empower women veterans from all services and eras!

"THE GOOD SOLDIER"

On November 6, 2009, the JOURNAL broadcasts THE GOOD SOLDIER, a film which follows four veterans — one from World War II, two from Vietnam, and the fourth from Iraq — as they reveal how the experiences of battle changed their lives. Watch a preview below.

Premier:


November 6th PBS Bill Moyers Journal {visit the Journal Link as it has more backlinks for Veterans.}

As America prepares to observe Veterans Day and President Obama weighs sending more troops to fight in Afghanistan, BILL MOYERS JOURNAL broadcasts a powerful documentary about the impact on soldiers of learning to kill – or be killed. THE GOOD SOLDIER follows four veterans – one from World War II, two from Vietnam, and the fourth from Iraq – as they reveal how the experiences of battle changed their lives.

Find out more about the film and theatrical release locations and dates at The Good Soldier

"THE GOOD SOLDIER" Trailer:

"War Song"

Rock Band OAR Asks America to Open Up Your Arms -- and Focus on What Matters



Check out the exclusive music video by O.A.R. and then show your support for our newest generation of heroes at Open Up Your Arms.

The writeup about the video and it's meaning as to the reality from Paul Rieckhoff of IAVA who teamed up with O.A.R. to produce the Video and the site Open Up Your Arms

With the noise clogging the media landscape, it's hard to get the public to pay attention to anything important. Fortunately, some extremely talented musicians are working to change that.

'My Daddy's Not Dead Yet':

A Big Hat Tip and Understanding Nod to Representative Walter Jones, first time I've heard any Representative mention the word 'sin', or anyone saying their Christian!

Congressman Pens Book About Iraq War Regrets

North Carolina Republican Walter Jones' conscience is really bothering him! Back in 2002, he enthusiastically voted for and supported Bush's call to invade Iraq. Not only that, he also ridiculed France for not supporting the U.S. effort. Remember "Freedom Fries?" Jones and fellow Republican Bob Ney waged a successful campaign to have "French Fries" renamed "Freedom Fries" on all the House cafeteria menus. But that all changed when he attended a funeral for a young sergeant killed in Iraq and listened to the fallen soldier's last letter to his family which was read at the service. Jones began to write his own letters to the families of those killed in Iraq and came to strongly regret his 2002 vote.

Now Jones is writing a book called "My Daddy's Not Dead Yet" as he ponders yet another vote on another war, he will soon have to cast. Jones talked to George C. Wilson who wrote a very moving article for Congressdaily.com called "Atonement." In his article Wilson explains how Jones chose the title for his book...>>>Rest Found Here

The Congressional Daily

Atonement

Monday, Oct. 26, 2009

A conscience-stricken member of the House Armed Services Committee is writing a book called "My Daddy's Not Dead Yet" in hopes it will atone for what he now considers his sinful vote to empower former President George W. Bush to invade Iraq in 2003.

Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., whose district includes the sprawling Marine base of Camp Lejeune, told me the title was inspired by a little boy who feared his Marine father would be killed in Iraq.

The setting for Jones' searing moment in 2007 was a classroom in the Johnson Elementary School at Camp Lejeune. He had been invited to read Dr. Seuss to the kids. Jones did that; then asked for questions.

"My daddy's not dead yet," said a little boy. "My daddy's not dead yet," the boy repeated. Jones said he reeled as if punched in the gut, a wave of guilt washing over him. The remark devastated him because he knew deep down that he had played go-along-politics with the life of the little boy's father instead of "listening to God" and voting against the House resolution in 2002 that authorized Bush to go to war in Iraq. "I profess to be a man of faith," Jones said, "but I didn't vote my conscience."..>>>

Kerry on Afghanistan

I'll start this out with a short clip of a speech Senator, and brother 'Nam Veteran, Kerry gave on his return from a fact finding and diplomacy trip to Afghanistan. In this clip, in just a couple of sentences, he lays out the reality as to what one leading 'chickenhawk', and to many war criminal, has been blathering lately. Though Kerry doesn't mention it also speaks as to what that chief 'chickenhawk's' spokesperson, his daughter, fast becoming the leading 'chickenhawkette', has also been spreading around, allowed to and rarely, if ever, challenged.



Kerry, like many especially us who served in Vietnam, have had some four decades to better understand how extremely wrong government policies, especially as to invasions leading to occupation, can go wrong and in the video cut above states how the recent past was built on failed policy after failed policy after failed policy........... as well as ignoring the original intent policy of why we sent our military into that region of the world. It all stopped having anything to do with the criminal terrorist attacks on this country as the civilian and military leadership set their sites on Iraq, many feel was their main purpose to begin with, and they were given a reason to engage.

After Senator Kerry's speech he had a sit down discussion that aired on the PBS News Hour last night giving more insight to his fact finding visit to Afghanistan.

Sen. John Kerry
"If are you going to ask some kid to put his life on the line...I think we all have an obligation to make certain we have maximized the ability to be successful."

Kerry: Afghan Troop Push Goes 'Too Far, Too Fast'

Margaret Warner speaks with Sen. John Kerry about his recent trip to Afghanistan to persuade President Hamid Karzai to accept a runoff election.

Snip

MARGARET WARNER: You said in your speech today that General McChrystal's plan goes too far too fast.

Are you talking about the troop levels or his basic overall strategy of counterinsurgency?

SEN. JOHN KERRY, D-Mass.: The breadth of the reach of the counterinsurgency that he wants to start with and the number of troops to do it immediately. That doesn't mean you might not get there, ultimately, Margaret.

But I think you have got to show people like me and others that we have the civilian capacity to come in under underneath those troops, and the governance that's going to allow us to hold on, and the Afghan army members who will be in there with you, so it's not an American face; it's an Afghan movement immediately.

I think those three ingredients are critical. And we just don't have that sufficiently there to say, oh, boy, let's just go deploy this number of troops now.

MARGARET WARNER: So, are you suggesting to the president that he simply defer a decision on additional troops? Are you...

SEN. JOHN KERRY: No, I think the president could conceivably make the decision with -- and in many ways. He could put in some troops. He could put in a lot of troops. He could do, you know, any number of options.

But I'm trying to suggest that the standard that you use before you put them out into combat and clear an area and start to hold an area and actually implement the counterinsurgency component itself, I think you need those ingredients, or you are going to fail.

MARGARET WARNER: But the ingredients you lay out, some kind of effective local and national governance, Afghan security forces, a much better coordinated U.S. civilian effort, I mean, those are big projects, aren't they?...>>>You can watch or listen to and read the rest of the transcript at this link

Or watch the discussion in this player {it's just shy of eleven minutes}:



There's a meme used far to often to justify the wants of the few who seek to enhance their power, wealth or extremist views or whatever goes on in their heads by using military's, ours especially, to force those views on others, even including those they supposedly represent. That meme is "Freedom isn't free!", frankly it is,freedom is found within each of us supposedly intelligent human beings, freedom doesn't come by extreme force and terrorizing others, invading and occupying, dictating policies they must follow, creating more hatreds thus enemies seeking retaliations, especially from the young who grow up during the destructive occupations.

This morning we get this report:

U.S. official resigns over Afghan war

Foreign Service officer and former Marine captain says he no longer knows why his nation is fighting

Snip

"I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States' presence in Afghanistan," he wrote Sept. 10 in a four-page letter to the department's head of personnel. "I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end."

The reaction to Hoh's letter was immediate. Senior U.S. officials, concerned that they would lose an outstanding officer and perhaps gain a prominent critic, appealed to him to stay.

U.S. Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry brought him to Kabul and offered him a job on his senior embassy staff. Hoh declined. From there, he was flown home for a face-to-face meeting with Richard C. Holbrooke, the administration's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"We took his letter very seriously, because he was a good officer," Holbrooke said in an interview. "We all thought that given how serious his letter was, how much commitment there was, and his prior track record, we should pay close attention to him."...>>>Rest Found Here

Matthew Hoh is seeing what many of us saw during our years of Vietnam and many have started to see over these past years as to Afghanistan and Iraq, especially in Afghanistan after we left to invade Iraq. What purpose is there still occupying that country, there's only one purpose that can be sought, giving security to the people, who don't want us there, and try to give security to NGO's coming in to help rebuild though under a corrupt government and lax Afghan security, lax mainly because it's their own countrymen they will be forced to fight.

The Taliban are growing, or those we label Taliban, in numbers because of the rise in hatreds towards us especially due to our now nine year destructive occupation of Afghanistan, our bombing in Pakistan by robot planes killing and maiming more civilians then so called high value targets, our creation of hatreds from invading and occupying Iraq causing the hatreds to grow towards us in the whole region, we are no longer seeking out nor fighting the ghost enemy al Qaeda, or those we label as belonging to, though their numbers are also growing and probably seeking what the Taliban aren't outside the region terror attacks!

This Country was left with a huge host of problems and failed policies by the previous administration, very difficult problems that really can't be corrected but can be minimized, Hopefully. Even as CiC these extreme failed policies in Afghanistan and Iraq are not only up to President Obama these were laid at our feet qwith the blood on all our hands, we are the ones the hatreds are being lashed out at not just our government nor it's leaders, it is what the next generations will be left to deal with, these are the legacy and world we are leaving them!!

If interested Laura Flanders will be airing a discussion tonight at Eight PM on her Grit TV stream which then will be archived:

GRITtv with Laura Flanders » EVENT: WOMEN AMONG WARLORDS: Rebuilding Afghanistan

We hear a lot about women in Afghanistan, but their voices too often are silenced. On Tuesday, October 27, join GRITtv host Laura Flanders at CUNY’s Center for Place, Culture and Politics with Afghan activists Malalai Joya, the first female Afghan parliamentarian, Awista Ayub and Nasrine Gross to discuss their work rebuilding their country.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 3:00 PM
Skylight Room (9th floor)

If you can’t make the event, don’t miss our Tuesday show on Afghanistan, featuring Malalai Joya and Nasrine Gross, right here at 8 PM.

Serving The Country That Won't Allow Your Wife To Live In

Struggling Iraq vet may lose his anchor

His wife, brought here illegally at age 6, is about to be deported. 'She's my everything,' her husband says.

The nightmares still plague him. The terrifying mortar attacks. The loss of an Albanian soldier and ally, mutilated by shrapnel. The Iraqi children, bloodied and battered, lined up for medical care at the U.S. base at Mosul.

Two years after returning from his service in Iraq, U.S. Army Spc. Jack Barrios, 26, is fighting sleeplessness, sudden angry outbursts, aversion to emotional intimacy and other fallout from his post-traumatic stress disorder.

But as he undergoes counseling and swallows anti-depressants, the soldier is fighting an even bigger battle: to keep his family from collapsing as his wife, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, faces deportation...>>>Rest Found Here

Their story and the story of another Soldiers Wife and Son, this Soldier Died while serving his Country!!

Shinseki, Gates Address Unprecedented Forum

VA, DoD Host National Mental Health Summit

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) are hosting a first-of-its-kind national summit to address the mental health care needs of America’s military personnel, families and Veterans, harnessing the programs, resources and expertise of both departments to deal with the aftermath of the battlefield.

“This is about doing what is best for those who serve this country and using every federal, state and community asset to do it,” said Secretary Shinseki. “We’re proud of the people and the organizations who have stepped up today to make sure everyone who fought for this country gets a fighting chance for a sound mind and an independent life.”

The summit, which opened today at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C., invited mental health experts from both departments, Congress, the president’s cabinet and more than 57 non-government organizations to discuss an innovative, wide-ranging public health model for enhancing mental health for returning service members, Veterans, and their families.

Snip

VA operates the largest mental health program in the nation. VA has bolstered its mental health capacity to serve combat Veterans by adding thousands of new professionals to its rolls in the last four years. The department also has established a suicide prevention hotline (1-800-273-TALK) and Web site available for online chat at Suicide Prevention Lifeline-Veterans....>>>

Gates: Injured troops face too much red tape

Calls their paperwork 'frustrating, adversarial, and unnecessarily complex

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday that troops injured in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to face too many bureaucratic hurdles.

Paperwork alone for them can be "frustrating, adversarial, and unnecessarily complex," Gates said.

Gates spoke at a mental health summit with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. By appearing publicly together, they sought to reinforce their commitment to tackling veterans' health issues and the stigma associated with seeking mental health care.

Snip

Shinseki said veterans from the recent wars are coming homes with "invisible wounds" that are just as debilitating as physical traumas sustained on the battlefield.

"Who's vulnerable? Everyone," Shinseki said. "Warriors suffer emotional injuries as much as they do physical ones."...>>>

Army Sgt. Richard Yarosh: Portrait in Smithsonian

Justified Honor and Remembrance for not only Sgt. Yarosh but all who served and are serving in these two theaters, burned soldier portrait to show at Smithsonian!

This is and will be for a long time a great tribute to this soldier, and all the Fallen and Maimed of these two continuing occupations. And like "The Wall", until we can build a Memorial for the Fallen of both these conflicts, it should be a Reminder to this Nation of what We Allowed "In Our Names!"!!

Army Sgt. Richard Yarosh

SAN ANTONIO — Retired Army Sgt. Richard Yarosh has gotten used to the stares. His face is blanketed in knotty scar tissue. His nose tip is missing. His ears are gone, as is part of his right leg. His fingers are permanently bent and rigid.

All is the result of an explosion in Iraq that doused him in fuel and fire three years ago.

“I know people are curious,” he said. “They’ll stop in their tracks and look. I guess I can understand. I probably would have stared, too.”

Snip

The gallery received more than 3,300 entries. Many are less conventional portraits, including video and photos, but others, like that of Yarosh, draw strength from the traditional head-and-shoulders composition, said curator Brandon Fortune.

Mitchell’s use of the style — historically reserved for nobility, a high-ranking military officer or a president, not a disfigured soldier in an Army T-shirt — democratizes such paintings, Fortune said.

“The portrait is clearly meant to honor him. I think that contributes to the gravity of the presentation,” she said.

Snip

Yarosh was astonished when he saw the completed portrait.

“It was perfect. I couldn’t believe that he captured me,” he said. “It captures my pride. I’m proud of the way I look. I’m proud of the reason for the way I look.”..>>>Rest Found Here

Speaking of a Memorial, I've had a picture in my head all these past years of another "Wall", facing ours but built up on the top of steps for each year we stay in these theaters, to tower above ours but making a Corridor for the public to walk through.

Towering above ours because we 'Nam Vets and this Nation didn't Keep Our Promise: To Learn The Lessons Of 'Nam And To Never To Allow Another 'War/Occupation of Choice!

The Steps to be the Sacrifice this Nation finally makes for what it allowed, All Visitors would need to walk up each step to reach the Names Engraved in Honor from this Country for their Service and Sacrifice!!