Dad headed to Iraq delivers baby girl
Associated Press
Dec. 30, 2009, 1:16PM
PADUCAH, Ky. — Spc. Mark May sat on the Motel 6 bathroom floor, crying and kissing his newborn daughter as he rubbed her frantically with a towel.
"Breathe, baby, breathe!" he told her.
When Amby Lynn May cried Tuesday morning, it was one of the most beautiful sounds he ever heard, he said.
Ambys mother, Amber May, 22, of Morehead, wasn't due to have Amby until Jan. 18. She'd even taken precautions to make sure an early arrival wasn't imminent. Before agreeing to drive her husband to Paducah to leave with the Kentucky Army National Guard's 2113th Transportation Company, Amber visited her doctor Monday.
"Everything is fine," he told her.
The Mays decided to drive to Paducah on Monday because Mark May, a construction and combat engineer, was supposed to be at the Paducah armory at 9 a.m. The unit was home on Christmas leave, but left Tuesday morning for training at Camp Shelby, Miss., in preparation for deploying to Iraq later this year.
read more here
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6792264.html
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
I'm only doing my job
I get asked a lot of times why I do what I do. This time, I turned the question around and asked a National Guardsman why he does what he does.
"I do it to help."
"Why?"
"Because I can, to give back." and then the real answer came out. He was compelled to do it. It came from inside of him, a tug he felt for a long time before he joined the National Guards. It's what is behind the decision to do anything for other people no matter what place we take doing what is needed.
From the people going to work for charities, determined to make the lives of strangers better at the same time they end up making less money because it's a charity.
The emergency responder willing to face any kind of weather condition, rush into where everyone else is running away from, just to be able to make a difference in someone else's life and maybe save a life.
The firefighter, the police officer, the men and women in our military, all the way down to the next door neighbor always ready to show up when you need some help with something. All of them want to make a difference in this world. Each one called to their own path of getting to their own place in this country. Everyday people willing to risk it all and when the job is done, they end up having to still take out the trash, clean their bathrooms and figure out what to have for dinner. You can just imagine them standing in their kitchen with the usual family talk. "What did you do today?" "I got a cup of coffee, saved a life and then picked up pizza." We forget they have the same kind of routines the rest of us do, the same kind of chores to do and problems to face, but they are playing real life heroes everyday as well.
I do what I do because I can but above that, because I know what a real hero looks like, sounds like and have heard more than a thousand times to not address any of them as a hero because they turn it around and say "I'm only doing my job" and they want it to be seen only that way. They don't want us to treat them any differently but what they don't see is that they are so different from the rest of us. We pretty much take care of our own problems, in our own lives but they do all that and usually after they've taken care of the rest of us.
God compelled me to do this but I have not risked my life to do it and that is the biggest difference of all. They risk their lives everyday so the least we can do is to help them recover from what they have to go thru in order to do it. I'm only doing a small part. When I look on the net about what others are doing across the country, I am amazed and humbled by it.
The motorcycle clubs showing up to honor the return of soldiers or for a funeral of a fallen soldier.
The elderly groups showing up at airports to send off more being deployed as well as welcome others back home.
The veterans taking charge of service groups to help other veterans.
The people working in shelters so that one less veteran will sleep out in the cold another night.
The people volunteering to give out hot meals, not just during Thanksgiving or Christmas, but everyday of the year when no one else is looking, no media showing up to take pictures.
Moms and Dads of fallen soldiers showing up in Washington to testify constantly amaze me because while they could just focus on their own loss, they think of others and try to make a difference to strangers' children.
This nation is filled with quiet heroes but you don't read about them all the time or see a local news report about what they are doing enough. The terrible things people do get a lot more attention. The truth is, there are so many more doing good things for others than there are trying to hurt, take away from or take advantage of, that there would just not be enough hours in the day to report about all that is being done for the greater good than the acts committed by the selfish. Take heart that all is still well in this country, even with the problems all of us have, because even with those problems all of us have, there are real heroes taking on our burdens on top of their own. That's what's great about this country and for this we are all truly blessed.
"I do it to help."
"Why?"
"Because I can, to give back." and then the real answer came out. He was compelled to do it. It came from inside of him, a tug he felt for a long time before he joined the National Guards. It's what is behind the decision to do anything for other people no matter what place we take doing what is needed.
From the people going to work for charities, determined to make the lives of strangers better at the same time they end up making less money because it's a charity.
The emergency responder willing to face any kind of weather condition, rush into where everyone else is running away from, just to be able to make a difference in someone else's life and maybe save a life.
The firefighter, the police officer, the men and women in our military, all the way down to the next door neighbor always ready to show up when you need some help with something. All of them want to make a difference in this world. Each one called to their own path of getting to their own place in this country. Everyday people willing to risk it all and when the job is done, they end up having to still take out the trash, clean their bathrooms and figure out what to have for dinner. You can just imagine them standing in their kitchen with the usual family talk. "What did you do today?" "I got a cup of coffee, saved a life and then picked up pizza." We forget they have the same kind of routines the rest of us do, the same kind of chores to do and problems to face, but they are playing real life heroes everyday as well.
I do what I do because I can but above that, because I know what a real hero looks like, sounds like and have heard more than a thousand times to not address any of them as a hero because they turn it around and say "I'm only doing my job" and they want it to be seen only that way. They don't want us to treat them any differently but what they don't see is that they are so different from the rest of us. We pretty much take care of our own problems, in our own lives but they do all that and usually after they've taken care of the rest of us.
God compelled me to do this but I have not risked my life to do it and that is the biggest difference of all. They risk their lives everyday so the least we can do is to help them recover from what they have to go thru in order to do it. I'm only doing a small part. When I look on the net about what others are doing across the country, I am amazed and humbled by it.
The motorcycle clubs showing up to honor the return of soldiers or for a funeral of a fallen soldier.
The elderly groups showing up at airports to send off more being deployed as well as welcome others back home.
The veterans taking charge of service groups to help other veterans.
The people working in shelters so that one less veteran will sleep out in the cold another night.
The people volunteering to give out hot meals, not just during Thanksgiving or Christmas, but everyday of the year when no one else is looking, no media showing up to take pictures.
Moms and Dads of fallen soldiers showing up in Washington to testify constantly amaze me because while they could just focus on their own loss, they think of others and try to make a difference to strangers' children.
This nation is filled with quiet heroes but you don't read about them all the time or see a local news report about what they are doing enough. The terrible things people do get a lot more attention. The truth is, there are so many more doing good things for others than there are trying to hurt, take away from or take advantage of, that there would just not be enough hours in the day to report about all that is being done for the greater good than the acts committed by the selfish. Take heart that all is still well in this country, even with the problems all of us have, because even with those problems all of us have, there are real heroes taking on our burdens on top of their own. That's what's great about this country and for this we are all truly blessed.
Florida National Guard Send off
One of Florida's leaders in helping our troops and veterans sent me this alert on a send off for Florida's National Guardsmen. If you can attend it, it would be a wonderful thing to do.
South Florida Veterans Multi-Purpose Center
A full service Veteran Service Center and Traveling Mobile Veterans Center.
Welcome and Thank you for Visiting SouthFloridaVets.org
The South Florida Veterans Multi-Purpose Center (VMPC), is unique. It was started by Veterans in 1989 out of a single desire to help and benefit all Veterans and their families in South Florida.
Since the granting of its IRS 501(c)(3) Tax Exempt status in 1991, the Center has been involved in a broad base of Veteran services. The Center works closely with the VA and other government agencies as well as the public and private sectors to provide quality services and benefits to Veterans throughout Florida.
We are proud that we are the only Veterans organization in South Florida with an IRS 501(c)(3) status that:
Provides professional referral and outreach services to Veterans utilizing public, private, and government organizations.
Owns and operates a Mobile Veterans Center that travels throughout the state and participates in community based Veterans' events.
Funds food programs for Indigent Veterans and their families.
Partnerships with other non-profits for the sole purpose of providing transitional housing for homeless veterans.
Provides a substance abuse and recovery program for Veterans.
Doesn't have special eligibility requirements for veterans to receive services.
click link for more on South Florida VeteransI am including the information on the departure of our National Guard unit. I'm sure some of you already have this information. We want a good turn out to send off these men and women and to let them know we care and are proud of them.
Bob Bambury
Executive Director
South Florida Veterans
Multi-Purpose Center
Florida National Guard Send off
Event Date: 1/5/10
Event Time: 9am
Event Location: Sheltair Aviation, 1100 Lee Wagener Blvd., Fort Lauderdale 33135 (at Fort Lauderdale Int’l)
Exposure to hexavalent chromium exposure weighs on veteran
6 years after Iraq, hexavalent chromium exposure weighs on veteran
By Julie Sullivan, The Oregonian
December 28, 2009, 7:25PM
ROCKAWAY -- The Naylor living room is all playroom, cleared to toddle, cuddle and roll. But when Dad's home, the children often head to the back bedroom to play quietly with Mom.
Six years after Guy Naylor returned from Iraq, he can't stand the clamor of his own family. The soft-spoken dialysis technician shouted at other drivers so often, his family moved to Rockaway to escape Portland traffic. The medic who ran every day has gained 80 pounds. Joint pain wakes him. He coughs so much, his patients constantly ask if he has a cold. He swallows nine different medications a day. Up from none.
"He doesn't seem like a 40-year-old man," says his wife, Toniann. "He seems 60."
Naylor is being treated for post-traumatic stress and exposure to hexavalent chromium, an industrial chemical and well-known carcinogen that soldiers unwittingly faced while guarding war contractors. He's one of 278 Oregon Army National Guard soldiers who were notified of possible exposure while serving at or near the Qarmat Ali water-treatment plant in 2003. Fleeing Iraqi troops loyal to Saddam Hussein had dumped the orange industrial chemical across the property.
6 years after Iraq, hexavalent chromium exposure weighs on veteran
Mother, Baby 'Die' in Labor but Are Revived
Mother, Baby 'Die' in Labor but Are Revived
DENVER (Dec. 29) - Mike Hermanstorfer was clutching his pregnant wife's hand when her life slipped away in a Colorado hospital on Christmas Eve, and then he cradled his newborn son's limp body seconds after a medical team delivered the baby by cesarean section.
Minutes later he saw his son come to life in his arms under the feverish attention of doctors, and soon he learned his wife had inexplicably come back to life.
"My legs went out from underneath me," Hermanstorfer said Tuesday. "I had everything in the world taken from me, and in an hour and a half I had everything given to me."
read more here
Mother Baby Die in Labor but Are Revived
DENVER (Dec. 29) - Mike Hermanstorfer was clutching his pregnant wife's hand when her life slipped away in a Colorado hospital on Christmas Eve, and then he cradled his newborn son's limp body seconds after a medical team delivered the baby by cesarean section.
Minutes later he saw his son come to life in his arms under the feverish attention of doctors, and soon he learned his wife had inexplicably come back to life.
"My legs went out from underneath me," Hermanstorfer said Tuesday. "I had everything in the world taken from me, and in an hour and a half I had everything given to me."
read more here
Mother Baby Die in Labor but Are Revived
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