August 14- Navajo Code Talkers Day

Navajo Code Talker Joe Morris Sr in 2007 photo

Twenty nine years ago yesterday, President Ronald Reagan issued a proclamation that August 14 be known as Navajo Code Talkers Day. This was among the first official acts of recognition since the program was declassified in 1968.

"Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate August 14, 1982, as National Navaho Code Talkers Day, a day dedicated to all members of the Navaho Nation and to all Native Americans who gave of their special talents and their lives so that others might live. I ask the American people to join me in this tribute, and I call upon Federal, State and local officials to commemorate this day with appropriate activities."

[Sorry I'm a day behind with this, by the way- NANESB!]



At the outbreak of WWII, it was believed that there were no more than 30 non-Navajo people in the world familiar with the language- none of them Japanese.



Sensing an opportunity to confound Japanese eavesdroppers, in 1942 Marine Corps brass began gathering and training Navajo recruits to create and communicate a code in their native Navajo tongue. Throughout the war, Imperial Japanese military cryptographers were never able to decipher the Navajo's code. However, after the war, the program remained secret and the departing Navajo recruits were sworn to secrecy until the Code Talker project was declassified in 1968.



The Code Talkers participated in nearly every Marine assault in the pacific theater between 1942 and 1945. To this day, the Navajo Code Talkers proved to be the most effective known means of encrypted communication in modern warfare.



On Sunday, July 17th Code Talker Joe Morris Sr passed away at age 85 from complications due to a stroke at the VA Medical Center in Loma Linda, CA.



Morris had just turned 17 and was working in an Arizona mine when he was drafted in 1943. He credited a Navajo medicine man that also worked in the mine with keeping him safe throughout the war, saying that the shaman prayed a day and a half for his safety. After the war, Morris married and settled in Dagget, CA where he had a civilian job with a Marine supply center until he retired in 1984.



Joe Morris Sr is survived by his wife of 61 years, two sons, a daughter, three brothers and three grandchildren.

Not Another New England Sports Blog! Wishes You a Happy Memorial Day Weekend

(Steve Breen- San Diego Union-Tribune)

Just wanted to take this opportunity to wish everybody a good and safe Memorial Day weekend from Not Another New England Sports Blog!

Some of the more astute observers of this blog might recognize the above image as the same one I had up for Memorial Day weekend last year. Although I'll cop to being a fairly lazy individual, it wasn't laziness that prompted me to post the same image for a 2nd year in a row. I thought it was a well done piece by editorial cartoonist Steve Breen of the San Diego Union-Tribune and I figured I'd like to share it with some of the newer visitors to this blog who may not have had a chance to see it before.

If you're a veteran such as myself or just a big supporter of the troops in general, I thought I'd leave you with a couple of links to some veterans and supports organizations for your perusal.

Wounded Warrior Project

Operation Homefront

Home Base Program

Semper Fi Fund

SUDS- Soldiers Undertaking Disabled Scuba

Project Healing Waters

Happy Armed Forces Day from Not Another New England Sports Blog!

Just a quick reminder that today is in fact Armed Forces Day here in the USA. And as demonstrated in Abbotabad earlier this month, they are pretty awesome- aren't they?

9 Americans Killed After Afghan Air Force Officer Opens Fire at Kabul Airport

A veteran officer in Afghanistan's Air Force opened fire on American and Afghan troops during a meeting at Kabul's airport on Wednesday, killing 8 US troops and an American contractor.

The Afghan officer, who was a veteran military pilot, fired on the Americans after an argument, the Afghan Defense Ministry said.

All nine killed were American, according to a senior U.S. defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information has not yet been made public.

The shooting occurred in an operations room of the Afghan Air Corps at Kabul airport.

"Suddenly, in the middle of the meeting, shooting started," said Afghan Air Corps spokesman Col. Bahader, who uses only one name. "After the shooting started, we saw a number of Afghan army officers and soldiers running out of the building. Some were even throwing themselves out of the windows to get away."

It was the seventh time so far this year that members of the Afghan security forces, or insurgents impersonating them, have killed coalition soldiers or members of the Afghan security forces.

Before the airport shooting, the coalition had recorded 20 incidents since March 2009 where a member of the Afghan security forces or someone wearing a uniform used by them attacked coalition forces, killing a total of 36. It is not known how many of the 282,000 members of the Afghan security forces have been killed in these type of incidents.

Storm Spawns Deadly Weekend Tornadoes Tearing Through North Carolina

At least 22 people were killed and another 130 seriously injured over the weekend when tornadoes tore through at least 20 counties across the state.

The fatalities occurred in Wake, Johnston, Cumberland, Harnett, Lee, Bertie and Bladen counties, said Julia Jarema, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.

The worst-hit area appears to be Bertie County, where authorities say 11 people are dead. About 75 people were going from door-to-door looking for victims and survivors Sunday.

Several of the dead were all from one family, Bertie County Manager Zee Lamb said.

"It's very devastating. These kinds of fatalities are not something we're used to," he said.

Some people survived even as their homes were torn apart around them, he said.

"There were several cases of houses being totally demolished except for one room, and that's where the people were," Lamb said. "They survived."

The US Army's Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, NC and USMC's Camp Lejeune outside of Jacksonville, NC lost power and had structures damaged in the storms. Although there were no reports of injuries or fatalities, Fort Bragg was closed off to non-essential personnel for the remainder of the weekend as utility crews worked to restore power and clear fallen trees and debris. Some 70 miles to the east a tornado struck a USMC family housing area in Camp Lejeune. There were no reports of fatalities, but Marines pulled a 23 month old boy from the rubble of one home. He was life-flighted to Pitt Memorial Hospital in Greenville, NC with fractured ribs, a cracked pelvis, broken femur and collapsed lung.

Sgt. Jarred Boone, Lance Cpl. Thomas Dickerson, and Sgt. Greg Shafer said they had run to the aid of a screaming woman while the tornado winds continued to blow. Clearly injured herself, with cuts on her face and a tooth puncturing her lip, the woman told them she couldn’t find her baby. The Marines began to root through a home that had been reduced to boards, finally lifting a wall to find the toddler underneath.

“The baby was blue,” Shafer said. “I lifted that wall up, and we brought him in the back door of (Dickerson’s house) and laid him on the floor.”

The men said one of the other heroes of the day had been a Navy medical officer who appeared seemingly from nowhere, administered CPR and kept the baby alive until officials from the appear Provost Marshal’s Office could arrive.

The man, Lt. J.G. Jonathan Hamrick, a Navy critical care nurse, told The Daily News via email he lived in a home nearby and had operated on adrenaline, rushing to the aid of the distraught mother.

Although Hurricanes are a common hazard in the Carolinas and smaller tornadoes aren't completely unheard of, it's unusual for a storm to spawn this many funnels outside of tornado alley in the midwest.

Possible Jihadi Probe of California Marine Base?

Officials with the United States Marine Corps said they have stepped up security procedures after a suspicious incident involving three Middle Eastern men took place at Camp Pendleton just north of San Diego last weekend.

SAN DIEGO -- One of the nation's largest military bases is reportedly under tighter security after three Middle Eastern men tried to enter without proper authorization. 10News learned the three men -- 40-year-old Afghani Ahmad Rahmani Naeem, 41-year-old Iranian Vahik Petrossian and 27-year-old Iranian Sengekdi Norvik Avanosian -- attempted to get into Camp Pendleton last weekend under what was considered suspicious circumstances.

According to a Be On the Lookout (BOLO) alert issued to high-ranking Camp Pendleton officials, someone reported hearing hateful comments and terrorist threats from three men at a gas station in Oceanside Saturday.

Investigators at Camp Pendleton said the men asked the attendant for directions on how to get to Camp Pendleton before they left the gas station. According to the alert, shortly after midnight Sunday, a rented silver Toyota Corolla driven by Naeem attempted to enter Camp Pendleton through the main gate.

As it was being searched, Petrossian and Avanosian drove up in a black Mercedes, but were told to wait. Instead, they continued past the gate and onto the base. Following a short pursuit, the Mercedes was stopped and searched. No weapons or contraband were found in the Mercedes, but base security noticed the air bag in the steering wheel of the Mercedes had been pulled out and re-attached with duct tape and had wires hanging free, the alert said.

According to the alert, Naaem told base security he was lost and was trying to go to Glendale. When interviewed, Petrossian and Avanosian said they were lost and trying to go to Glendale.

The three men claimed not to know each other, the alert said. Naaem, Petrossian and Avanosian were photographed and released after questioning, and a warning about the trio was posted to law enforcement. However, later that morning about 8:30 a.m., Naeem returned in the Toyota and tried to get on the base again, saying he made a mistake and was trying to enter Interstate 5, the alert said. After his vehicle was searched, Naeem was issued a letter of debarment from the base and escorted to the freeway.

[Petrossian and Avanosnian may very well be Armenian surnames, but keep in mind there is a sizable ethnic Armenian population in the northwestern corner of Iran around Tabriz, not to mention the two men could just as easily be travelling under an alias- NANESB!]

Investigators at Camp Pendleton also said that a criminal background check on the three men turned up nothing. At a cursory glance, this would appear to be some sort of probe to gauge the security at Camp Pendleton (however poorly executed)- one vehicle to distract/occupy the guards while the second one would make their move on targets further into the base.

The incident comes a little over a week after the US Border Patrol arrested a van full of illegal immigrants who were wearing Marine uniforms. A Border Patrol agent who had previously served with the USMC grew suspicious while working at a checkpoint outside of Pine Valley, CA (some 40 miles east of San Diego) when the van full of men were unfamiliar with the Marine Corps' 'Ooo-Rah!' salutation or the Marine Corps birthday.

Also worth mentioning is that about 15 miles north of Camp Pendleton is Edison International's [NYSE: EIX] San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant, so there would be an abundance of potential targets out there for anybody interested in causing mayhem.

[Hat tip: The Jawa Report]

Libyan 'Kinetic Military Action' Update, Now with Kung Fu Grip!- Downed US Pilots Rescued by Marines; Ghdaffi Arming 'Volunteers'

We're bombing a new Muslim dictator with a smaller coalition and no Congressional approval. This is, indeed, change we can believe in.
- Jim Geraghty, National Review

You thought this was a war with Libya? Don't be silly! It's a 'kinetic military action'. Then again, one man's 'kinetic military action' is another man's 'man caused disaster'.

BENGHAZI: Two Aviano, Italy-based U.S. Air Force Pilots were uninjured after their F15E crashed in rebel held territory outside of Benghazi earlier this week. Within a half hour, Marines on the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge deployed two Harriers, two CH53E Super Stallion helicopters and two V22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft (pictured above) to rescue the downed pilots in what the USMC called a 'tactical recovery of personnel'. At least one of the pilots had reportedly made contact with some of the Libyan rebels before the Marines showed up.

The cause of the crash is thought to be a malfunction, as the F15E was reportedly well beyond the range of ground fire. The two pilots, who's names haven't been disclosed, are undergoing evaluation in Germany.

TRIPOLI: Libyan leader Mummar Ghdaffy is said to be distributing arms to 'volunteers' in the capital city of Tripoli, according to a Pentagon report.

"We've received reports today that he has taken to arming what he calls volunteers to fight the opposition," Vice Admiral William Gortney said on Friday.

"I'm not sure... if they are truly volunteers or not and I don't know how many of these recruits he's going to get, but I find it interesting that he may now feel it necessary to seek civilian reinforcements."

Advertisement: Story continues below The official said Gaddafi "has virtually no air defence left to him and a diminishing ability to command and sustain his forces on the ground" following seven days of coalition air raids.

"His air force cannot fly, his warships are staying in port, his ammunition stores are being destroyed, communications towers are being toppled, his command bunkers rendered useless," Gortney said.

ELSEWHERE : Call it a coalition of the unwilling, I guess. NATO has tentatively agreed to take over part of the multinational operations against Libya, but attacks on ground targets will continue to fall under the command of the USA- which has indiacted it eagerness to relinquish that role.

Meanwhile, rebels in Eastern Libya have appeared to borrow a page from Ghdaffi's playbook, arbitrarily detaining and interrogating suspected Ghdaffi loyalists.

For a month, gangs of young gunmen have roamed the city, rousting Libyan blacks and immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa from their homes and holding them for interrogation as suspected mercenaries or government spies.

Over the last several days, the opposition has begun rounding up men accused of fighting as mercenaries for Kadafi's militias as government forces pushed toward Benghazi. It has launched nightly manhunts for about 8,000 people named as government operatives in secret police files seized after internal security operatives fled in the face of the rebellion that ended Kadafi's control of eastern Libya last month.

"We know who they are," said Abdelhafed Ghoga, the chief opposition spokesman. He called them "people with bloodstained hands" and "enemies of the revolution."

Any suspected Kadafi loyalist or spy who does not surrender, Ghoga warned, will face revolutionary "justice."

The roundup by the Libyan rebels seems to primarily target black immigrants in Libya, as there were reports of the Libyan dictator hiring black, french-speaking mercenaries from sub-Saharan Africa to crush the protests and uprising that began several weeks ago.

However, long before the uprising many West Africans had also found work in Libya as construction workers and day laborers.

Maryland Man Arrested in Attempt to Bomb Recruiting Center

Federal authorities alleged that a recent convert to Islam attempted to blow up a military recruiting station in Catonsville, MD in what turned out to be an FBI sting operation.

Federal authorities said Antonio Martinez, a recent convert to Islam who called himself Muhammad Hussain, watched videos of Osama bin Laden and mused about "dying for the cause" by joining militant forces overseas.

Unable to afford to travel to Pakistan or Afghanistan, Martinez instead proposed hitting local military installations to send a message. Officials say those plans culminated when he parked an SUV equipped with a dummy bomb in a suburban parking lot not far from his home.

Martinez was described by authorities as a 'lone wolf' with no known ties to terrorist groups.

The Wednesday arrest comes only a few weeks after a Somali immigrant attempted to blow up a van parked near a crowd gathered for a Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in Oregon in a similar sting.

The Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month

While I'd like to think that my Army service wasn't that long ago, it predated the advent of the Stryker APC, pixelated BDUs or widespread implementation of the berets as part of the uniform (they were previously only issued to airborne and special ops units). In other words, it might as well have been a lifetime ago.

For those of you wishing to show your support beyond the occasional words of encouragement, I highly reccomend getting involved with groups like anysoldier or Soldier's Angels where you can 'adopt' a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine....or even a whole platoon for that matter.

For those of you who have served or are presently serving, you have my sincerest thanks and I hope that you are able to enjoy this day with your loved ones.

Quick Reminder About the Return of Applebees Veteran's Day Promotion

A promotion of note for veterans and active duty members of the US Military.

Just like 2009, the casual-dining restaurant chain Applebee's is offering a free entree to all Veterans and active-duty military. I took advantage last year and had one of their pasta dishes, which was pretty good with fairly generous portions [I actually had to pay for the beer, but who am I to complain about that? NANESB!].

Odds are, Applebee's and their parent company DinEquity are taking a bath on this, but I imagine that is offset by a fair amount of good publicity.

Bon Appetit!

Illinois Inmates Get Ballots Hand-Deliverd; 35 Counties Failed to Send Off Military Ballots in Time

Good to know they've got their priorities straight in Chicagoland.

In an election year where both unelected incumbent and Blago replacement Pat Quinn and failed Broadway Bank head loan officer turned Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias are facing uphill battles in their respective races

the Chicago Board of Elections hand-delivers ballots to inmates in Cook County Jail. The board doesn't even wait for the inmates to apply — it brings the applications with the ballots! More than 2,600 inmates have cast ballots — strikingly similar to the 2,600 soldiers who will likely not receive a ballot for Tuesday's election.

In New York, the case was being made that the state should obtain a waiver from the 2009 MOVE Act due to the fact that the primaries (September 14) were fairly close to the actual election day (Nov. 2nd).

Illinois on the other hand had their primaries all the way back on Feb 2nd. You'd think that even the slowest and most inept of bureaucracies could send off the required ballots and forms in 9 months.

Heading into election day, blogger RoboMonkey has amassed an even more detailed list of suspect and in some cases, blatant fraud and bogus registrations at early voting throughout the country in his Grand Theft Democracy series.

Oh Crap! Comedy Central D.C. Rallies Find Themsleves Short on Port-o-Johns

From what little I've seen of the Colbert Report and John Stewart's The Daily Show, both hosts struck me as inusfferable, smarmy, know-it-all hipsters. Stewart in particular hides behind the 'Clown nose' defense, where after a vitrolic personal attack on the un-person of the week (either on his own show, or appearing on other shows) instead of defending his comments, he'll just say 'but I'm just a silly clown on TV', basically. From what I saw of last month's testimony before Congress, Colbert reverts to his show's faux conservative persona when challenged with any sort of serious question.

So naturally, I wasn't too shocked to learn that Stewart and Colbert were going to try and counter Glen Beck's 8/28 rally with one of their own. Stewart's rally is going by the name of 'Restoring Sanity' while Colbert's, in keeping with his buffoonish faux-conservative persona, is 'Keep Fear Alive'- both set to take place on The Mall in Washington D.C the weekend before the Nov. 2nd election. Heck, Oprah Winfrey even chipped in by purchasing plane tickets and accomodation for The Daily Show's studio audience.

First of all, I think the title 'Restoring Sanity' is rather presumptuous.....it's wordsmithing on the caliber of the September 11th 'Truther' movement, as in one group is claiming they have a monopoly on truth or sanity and everybody else has been duped or is insane (but will be restored upon hearing Stewart's soothing, yet smarmy oratory).

Unfortunately for them, the Marine Corps Marathon- set to take place on Sunday of the same weekend- had already arranged for 800 port-o-johns, essentially leaving Saturday's Comedy Central rallies without facilities. The organizers have asked the Marines to share the portable toilets for the weekend, but the Marines declined and may even lock the latrines until Sunday morning. And for those of you inclined to howl 'No fair!', why exactly should the Marines burden themselves because of Comedy Central's lack of planning? They made arrangements long before Colbert or Stewart's people, so they should be rewarded with a bunch of overflowing and nastier than usual, slightly used port-o-johns after running a marathon?


But remember- while calling for a rally of an estimated 60,000 yet failing to make any plans along the lines of sanitation or toilet facilities in the nation's capital, it's conservatives and the Tea Party that are stupid and irrational according to Colbert and Stewart.

Others have pointed out the irony of Oprah Winfrey (and apparently Arianna Huffington) paying the way for people to attend this rally who might not otherwise be interested in going. The port-o-potty fiasco shows that not only do the limousine liberal schills for the progressive Democrats have no sense of irony, but they can't even plan for crap.

Remind me again why we're supposed to vote for the candidates they support?

WTF, VFW!? Update: VFW to Dissolve PAC

At this point, all I can say is "about damn time". Habitually endorsing incumbents is not unheard-of by certain PACs. Endorsing incumbents that have showed nothing but disdain and contempt for the group you supposedly represent throughout their entire careers shows a staggering laziness and disconnect that cannot be reconciled.

From Blackfive:

I have reviewed the Political Action Committee (PAC) Board of Directors’ response
to our request to rescind this year’ s Congressional endorsements. I disagree with their assessment.

It is now evident to most of the VFW leadership, both National and especially the
departments, that the VFW has been subjected to extreme negative publicity throughout the nation, and the recent endorsement decisions have, in fact, harmed the VFW’ s reputation and future ability to fulfill our mission.

I cannot let this erosion of public support for our great organization continue. The
apparent lack of the committee to address these concerns will lead to a proposal by me, as Commander-in-Chief, to amend the by-laws at the 112th National Convention for the purpose of dissolving the PAC. Meanwhile, under the authority granted to me as Commander-in-Chief in section 619 of the VFW National By-Laws and under section 620 of the Manual of Procedure, I am withdrawing all PAC appointments effective October 15, 2010.

Accordingly, I’ m asking the council for a vote of “ no confidence” in the VFW PAC as
indicated on the enclosed ballot.

To: National Council of Administration
From: Richard L. Eubank, Commander-in-Chief
Date: October 14, 2010

Also from Blackfive comes word that the VFW Ladies Auxiliary withdrew funding from the PAC effective last week.

Better late than never, but one has to wonder how it got to this point in the first place.

[Hat Tip: Blackfive, Spin Strangeness & Charm]

New York, Illinois Elections Officials Fail To Send Off Mail-In Ballots for Overseas Military Personnel In Time

According to a letter sent to the Pentagon by officials from the New York Board of Elections, absentee ballots for servicemen from all five boroughs of New York City as well as Putnam, Westchester, Erie and Niagara counties were not mailed off by the October 1st deadline.

The delay means approximately 50,000 people from New York City now in the military could miss their chance to vote because it can take two weeks for the mail system to deliver ballots to troops overseas. New York State allows for absentee ballots to be counted up to 13 days after Election Day, which is Nov. 2.

The delay also affects overseas voters from New York City's northern suburbs as well as Buffalo and Niagara Falls.

New York had initially gotten a waiver from the 2009 MOVE act because their primaries were relatively late (September 14), but on Wednesday the Justice Department brought a suit against the state of New York after it became clear that at least four counties missed the Oct. 1st deadline.

The Justice Department is also looking into similar reports from Illinois after the Director for the Illinois State Board of Elections Director said that not all of the state's 110 jurisdictions were compliant with the MOVE Act. Without the waiver, the ballots were supposed to be mailed by September 18th.

Now keep in mind that service members tend to vote Republican most of the time while the local, state and federal lawmakers and officials in jurisdictions that have been delinquent in mailing out the absentee ballots are universally Democrat- unelected Democrats in the Governor's mansion in both Illinois and New York, to boot.

So this more or less comes down to two possible explanations- the more sinister being that this is an effort by Democrat officials to disenfranchise uniformed members of the United States military. This would not be the first time the Democrats went out of their way to disenfranchise military personnel serving overseas [Just ask Houston, TX mayor (and Democrat gubernatorial candidate) Bill White- NANESB!]

The other, more 'benign' and plausible excuse would be sheer and utter jaw-dropping incompetence on the part of officials. In either instance, do you think that they've earned your vote?

[Hat Tip: Weasel Zippers, Lonely Conservative, Realwest at Correspondence Committee]