Just when you thought they were best buds, Longarms has to play the cop card on Jones…
Makes you wonder–does Jones just hang out with Longarms because they work together and he doesn’t want to get in trouble, or does he actually think they’re friends? Neither would surprise me, considering how often Jones surprises me, his alter ego. And at different times, both are probably true, to some extent.
But what next? Jones has been charged with a mission–to build a bike for his long lost son. Where to build it?
Should I call it Volume 1 or come up with still another clever title next year?
Anyway, I’ve been working steadily the last few days on layout and design for the cover. I’m psyched! My target is to have it out by July, but I suspect it will be available sooner, maybe even April.
As combat journalist David Wood points out, the odd of surviving combat these days have improved significantly. Historically, the ratio of fatalities to casualties in war have been much higher than what we’ve seen in these last ten years of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Wood points out that “if you are wounded in Afghanistan, you chances of dying are less than one in 10, statistically speaking.”
According to Wood, there have been (at the time of his writing) 53,000 casualties in the two fronts, and 46,747 of them have been saved. The losses are heartbreaking, but significantly lower than in previous wars. This is a direct result of advances in medical technology available both on the field and in hospitals that serve our men and women in arms.
Wood asks the uncomfortable question about quality of life, particularly for our veterans who have lost multiple, in some cases all, limbs. What he finds is often an amazing sense of optimism. But obviously, a number of challenges are in store for even the most optimistic.
One of the challenges faced by veterans recovering from serious wounds sustained in service of our country is adapting to the living environment, which many of us take for granted. If you’ve ever broken a limb or been otherwise injured, you may recall the challenges of getting in and around your home. Imagine coming home and having to navigate doors, hallways, and stairs that were no problem before a severe injury.
Homes for Our Troops is a non-profit organization based in Massachusetts which helps build and remodel homes for troops with these kinds of injuries. Even as U.S. participation in Iraq draws down significantly, homes are more needed than ever. There are no costs for the vets receiving these homes, not even a mortgage. In the video below you can see how this effects one service member.
This dude is not only brave, awesome, and heroic, he’s funny. Funny, I think, overcomes everything.
A few weeks ago I covered Tempered Steel here on Support the Soldiers Thursday (if you got a better name for it, I’m listening). What actually led me to Tempered Steel was Bobby Henline, who I found while researching David Wood, last week’s article. He served in Desert Storm back in 90-91, and re-enlisted after 9-11. Bobby was traveling in a vehicle that was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq, and suffered burns over thirty-eight percent of his body. Now he has the nerve to make jokes about visiting fireworks stands on the fourth of July just to rattle their cages.
I’ll let YouTube do the talking:
In the next video featuring Bobby, there’s less comedy, and a bit of faith showing through. Some dudes get pissed off at God when things don’t go right. Others cling to Him.
My usual practice when writing about our troops is to write about our troops. So why have I decided to write about a journalist?
David Wood is a 63-year old journalist who has been covering combat for quite some time–since the late 1970′s, when he began to work as a correspondent for a number of high profile publications.
This guy, I think, understands our troops, what they’re up against, what they go through. His significant portfolio of writings following and embedded with troops in action in Panama, Somalia, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He’s a troop supporter, and his work on the need for heavily armored vehicles in Iraq created a Congressional drive to fill that need.
He was embedded with 1200 Marines in Somalia in 1993, and wrote about the experience in a book called A Sense of Values.
In short, he’s been through a bit of combat without the benefit of shooting back. Wood is also a born Quaker and a former conscientious objector.
Enough of my summary of his bio, what you really need to do is go check out his work, read some of his writings. Then you’ll see why I’ve included him here.
This piece on Tyler Southern is pretty inspiring. This young hero was seriously wounded on the battlefield and has a better attitude than most folks who’ve never even fallen off a bicyle.
