Patrick Air Force Military Mom under fire for tweet after son's death

I want to be angry with this story, but I can't. No one can ever figure out how someone will react to shock, especially after losing your own child. Maybe she was feeling a need to connect and judging by the numbers of her followers, she must have been very good at it, felt at home doing it and it may have seemed natural to her.

I went the other way when I was feeling grief. For me it was when my Mom died and when my brother died. I did a quick note on the blog before heading off to the airport. Yet when my dog Brandon was dying and I faced the fact he'd have to be put down, I did a huge post the day before. It doesn't mean I loved my Mom or my brother less, it was just different circumstances. I didn't need to share online. I needed to share with the rest of my family back home in Massachusetts. When it was my dog, yet another member of my family, I needed to share what I was going thru as the clock was ticking away and his life was ending. No one responds the same way, so while our knee jerk reaction may be to blame this Mom, we have no way of knowing for sure exactly how we'd respond.

Florida mom under fire for tweet after son's death

MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. (AP) — A Florida mother is being criticized by bloggers and Twitter users for posting a tweet less than an hour after her 2-year-old son drowned in a swimming pool at her home.

Shellie Ross, a 38-year-old stay-at-home mother who lives outside Patrick Air Force Base where her husband serves, posted a message asking that people pray for her son after he had fallen into the family's swimming pool on Monday. Her son, Bryson, died at a hospital less than an hour after paramedics responded.

Ross has more than 5,000 followers on her Twitter account, Military—Mom, and she also maintains a blog, Blog4Mom.
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Florida mom under fire for tweet after son's death

Roy Hallums talks about time in Iraq as hostage

Roy Hallums was abducted and held hostage in Iraq for 311 days until U.S. Special Forces found him buried alive. In an AC360 interview, Hallums recalls how his cell almost became his tomb -- and how his rescue was a "miracle."

Pregnancy in Iraq could mean court-martial

Pregnancy in Iraq could mean court-martial

By Anne Flaherty - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Dec 18, 2009 17:37:58 EST

WASHINGTON — An Army general in northern Iraq has added pregnancy to the list of reasons a soldier under his command could be court-martialed.

The new policy, outlined last month by Maj. Gen. Anthony Cucolo and released Friday by the Army, would apply to both female soldiers who become pregnant on the battlefield and the male soldiers who impregnate them.

Civilians reporting to Cucolo also could face criminal prosecution under the new guidelines.
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Pregnancy in Iraq could mean court martial

Video tells Minn. guardsmen in Iraq of services

Video tells Minn. guardsmen in Iraq of services

By Kari Petrie - St. Cloud (Minn.) Times via Gannett News Service
Posted : Friday Dec 18, 2009 9:26:46 EST

Minnesota National Guard soldiers serving in Iraq were able to hear from St. Cloud service providers during a live video link Thursday.

Providers of education, health care and employment services presented information to about 40 soldiers from St. Cloud City Hall. They communicated with the soldiers stationed in Iraq on a large video screen.

St. Cloud VA Medical Center spokeswoman Joan Vincent said organizers believe the video link is the first of its kind for providing reintegration information.

The goal was to provide soldiers with information before they return home, when their focus is on returning to their families and civilian jobs rather than learning about programs.

“Once they get home, they want to go home,” Vincent said.

The video link was done in coordination with Beyond the Yellow Ribbon and Warrior to Citizen programs, which work to make the transition from deployment to home as smooth as possible.
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Video tells Minn. guardsmen in Iraq of services

Muncie man's son dies in Iraq

Muncie man's son dies in Iraq
By IVY FARGUHESON • ifarguheson@muncie.gannett.com • December 17, 2009


MUNCIE -- A man who moved to Muncie two years ago to be closer to his family has now lost his only son in the Iraq War.

Pfc. Jaiciae L. Pauley, 29, of Austell, Ga., son of Muncie residents Roger and Teressa Pauley, died Dec. 11 in Kirkuk, Iraq, as a result of a "non-combat related incident," according to a military press release.

The death is still being investigated by the U.S. Army, but for Roger Pauley, the manner of his son's death isn't important.

"It bothers me (knowing the death is still being investigated), but whether it's a suicide or an accidental discharge of a gun, my son is still gone," the elder Pauley said. "He was a typical man in his 20s and he was my best friend who I could talk to about anything."

Jaiciae Pauley enlisted in the Army during the summer of 2008, after his father and stepmother moved from the Atlanta metropolitan area to Muncie. The family had begun to struggle financially, prompting the Pauleys to choose to live with family in Indiana.
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Muncie man son dies in Iraq