Hi Zach,
I happened upon your blog and am wondering if you would be willing to post this on your site.
The Military Channel is going to be airing a program showing the day to day experiences of active military personnel all over the world. As more and more soldiers and service people use videos to send messages to family, pass the down time with friends, and document their experiences, the clearer a picture we have of what the realities of service are - the more real the war looks.
This is an incredible opportunity for those in service to share their perspectives, and we are in need of people to help spread the word. Submissions are easy, and there will be no censorship of views. We are looking for videos taken during active duty, however if you or others have video documenting your time in service, please consider sharing them for inclusion in this program.
Please visit www.mywardiary.com and feel free to contact me with any questions.
Best,
Melissa
Melissa A. Krodman
Production Assistant
Discovery Production Group
Discovery Channel
8045 Kennett Street, 3rd Floor
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Office: (240) 662-3865
Mobile: (404) 384-8063
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
River Lethe
The 3rd Infantry Division left for their 3rd tour of Iraq, I am glad I am safe here in Florida. None of me wants to go back but I still feel the call of the soldier to be in battle with those I have served with before. It would be much harder if any of my close military friends were still in the 3rd ID and going over with them.
Today I had the urge to be strong, to crash through things, and to have things crash into me. Part of me misses the adrenaline of combat, and the rest of me is saddened by it. My guns sit on shelves locked away now not likely to fire again in combat, or to teach me accuracy and precision for the killing of my fellow man. This is good, but man has a side of himself which cries out for violence, you have felt it no doubt. Things like the slaughter of those in the Holocaust, or the starvation of children in Africa probably brought you the righteous feelings of vengeance. A soldier’s feelings are no less than yours. Regret for a friend lost, vengeance against the killer. I feel that I have already taken a sip from the river Lethe, my memories begin to fade and I part with them with mixed emotions. They have bearing on who I am and why I am, but they also so very painful.
Today I had the urge to be strong, to crash through things, and to have things crash into me. Part of me misses the adrenaline of combat, and the rest of me is saddened by it. My guns sit on shelves locked away now not likely to fire again in combat, or to teach me accuracy and precision for the killing of my fellow man. This is good, but man has a side of himself which cries out for violence, you have felt it no doubt. Things like the slaughter of those in the Holocaust, or the starvation of children in Africa probably brought you the righteous feelings of vengeance. A soldier’s feelings are no less than yours. Regret for a friend lost, vengeance against the killer. I feel that I have already taken a sip from the river Lethe, my memories begin to fade and I part with them with mixed emotions. They have bearing on who I am and why I am, but they also so very painful.
Anyone Interested?
Here is an email I received recently. If you are interested you can email him at:
edward_acevedo@yahoo.com
Hello:
I found your various email addresses by reading through the IAVA website, and some of the blogs that were referenced.
First of all, thank you for all the wonderful work you do in support of veterans, and for getting the truth out about the challenges facing today's military.
My name is Ed Acevedo and I live in St Augustine, Florida. I'm not an OIF/OEF veteran, so I'm not eligible to join your organization. I did serve seven years active-duty in the US Army (1988-95) including the Gulf War of 1991, where I served as the XO of an M1A1 tank company in the 2nd Armor Division.
Recently, I returned to the US after 28 months in Iraq and Jordan, where I worked closely with both US Army Civil Affairs and some great Iraqis as a civilian project manager on infrastructure and logistics projects. It was a privilege once again to work with members of the US military. So, I still feel very connected with the current conflict and the sacrifices being made by our military personnel who are deployed overseas.
I'm planning to do a bicycle trip from Saint Augustine to San Diego in the next few months.
http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/southerntier.cfm
I would also like to do something to help raise awareness, and hopefully some money, for disabled veterans and the families of soldiers killed in action. So I got to thinking: maybe I could do this trip to somehow honor these worthy causes.
I'm still in the early planning stages, and just putting out feelers to see where the needs are greatest. Trying to get input from a variety of sources. Since you are all heavily involved with veterans' issues, I would love to hear your thoughts.
I recently contacted these guys to see if there was interest.
http://www.fallenheroesfund.org
If I could tie my trip to their existing efforts, it will make things much easier than setting up a charitable foundation from scratch. Why re-invent the wheel, right?!
Perhaps you even know some people who might want to get involved in the effort. I know it would be a long shot to get anybody to bike the whole 3,100+ miles with me, but there are other ways for folks to get involved. Marketing, fundraising, website management, and so on. I would love to get some media involvement of towns and cities along the way, and broadcast stories of veterans/military families/Silver Star winners, etc, from various communities. Anything that will help raise awareness.
I'm not doing this to make any money or get any recognition, but because I think the story of our veterans and their sacrifices is getting lost among all the other media hype these days.
If any of you think the idea is worth pursuing, I will keep you in the loop and send you a small concept paper I put together. Once things get more finalized, perhaps you can get the word out to folks in your military, media, and business networks.
Anyway, please don't hesitate to send this along to anyone who you think might be interested.
Thanks for listening; any advice or input is welcome.
Best Regards and keep up the good work in 2007,
edward_acevedo@yahoo.com
Hello:
I found your various email addresses by reading through the IAVA website, and some of the blogs that were referenced.
First of all, thank you for all the wonderful work you do in support of veterans, and for getting the truth out about the challenges facing today's military.
My name is Ed Acevedo and I live in St Augustine, Florida. I'm not an OIF/OEF veteran, so I'm not eligible to join your organization. I did serve seven years active-duty in the US Army (1988-95) including the Gulf War of 1991, where I served as the XO of an M1A1 tank company in the 2nd Armor Division.
Recently, I returned to the US after 28 months in Iraq and Jordan, where I worked closely with both US Army Civil Affairs and some great Iraqis as a civilian project manager on infrastructure and logistics projects. It was a privilege once again to work with members of the US military. So, I still feel very connected with the current conflict and the sacrifices being made by our military personnel who are deployed overseas.
I'm planning to do a bicycle trip from Saint Augustine to San Diego in the next few months.
http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/southerntier.cfm
I would also like to do something to help raise awareness, and hopefully some money, for disabled veterans and the families of soldiers killed in action. So I got to thinking: maybe I could do this trip to somehow honor these worthy causes.
I'm still in the early planning stages, and just putting out feelers to see where the needs are greatest. Trying to get input from a variety of sources. Since you are all heavily involved with veterans' issues, I would love to hear your thoughts.
I recently contacted these guys to see if there was interest.
http://www.fallenheroesfund.org
If I could tie my trip to their existing efforts, it will make things much easier than setting up a charitable foundation from scratch. Why re-invent the wheel, right?!
Perhaps you even know some people who might want to get involved in the effort. I know it would be a long shot to get anybody to bike the whole 3,100+ miles with me, but there are other ways for folks to get involved. Marketing, fundraising, website management, and so on. I would love to get some media involvement of towns and cities along the way, and broadcast stories of veterans/military families/Silver Star winners, etc, from various communities. Anything that will help raise awareness.
I'm not doing this to make any money or get any recognition, but because I think the story of our veterans and their sacrifices is getting lost among all the other media hype these days.
If any of you think the idea is worth pursuing, I will keep you in the loop and send you a small concept paper I put together. Once things get more finalized, perhaps you can get the word out to folks in your military, media, and business networks.
Anyway, please don't hesitate to send this along to anyone who you think might be interested.
Thanks for listening; any advice or input is welcome.
Best Regards and keep up the good work in 2007,
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