This is a video supposedly written and produced by 15 year old Lizzie Palmer (whoever she is) that is receiving millions of hits on YouTube.com. It was sent to me by a close family member who remembers my service in Viet Nam and that I wholeheartedly support our troops. I'm still on the fence as to the reasons we are where we are but wherever our troops go I think of them daily. Any so-called cause should be secondary to their well-being and survival.

This video will hit you where it hurts emotionally and will make you think about things you would rather not think about like death and debilitating injuries but whoever produced it deserves a lot of credit. If it was done by Lizzie Palmer I would like to think she is the whiz-kid daughter of a Marine who understands and appreciates first-hand what her Father or Mother has chosen to do for their country. It is obviously produced out of love but I think fear as well, fear that someday her Mom/Dad may not come home and further motivated by the day-to-day apprehension that a military family goes through when their loved ones are serving overseas in defense of their country. She wants us, the people safe at home, to pay attention and I think she has accomplished this.

Lizzie may have done this out of frustration while watching the world go by "back in the World" as we used to say. When we are being shot at and our buddies are dying it's sometimes hard to understand how anyone could be interested in the Super Bowl, the Mall, Basketball Playoffs or anything else that seems to fly in the face of our situation. I remember thinking during my tour in Viet Nam, do they even care back home? I came to realize that these feelings arose out of the trauma of being scared witless 24/7 for over a year and that life must go on. A free life back home and all that entails are the very things that we are fighting to protect. A Marine in combat eventually gets past this by feeling a sense of satisfaction in protecting the innocent and misguided that are back home doing whatever they do.

This becomes a two-edged sword for non-military families (the people that Lizzie comes in contact with at school or wherever)because it deprives them of the true understanding and correlation of: Mom/Dad at risk = a whole new dynamic in daily life. They tend to follow the political wind without the distraction of worrying about a loved one. Their concerns then become: how much is this war costing us?, why are we there?, can't our President get this thing together and either end it or get the hell out?, etc, etc. You can draw a comparison to Viet Nam if you want, and in many ways I sure do. The big difference today is that 911 was an attack directly against this country and anything that our military leaders think they must do to prevent further attacks must be done. Viet Nam was a million miles away and no one really cared about the mantra: "stop the flow of communism and prevent the domino effect."

Military families are either very close or they become completely dysfunctional due to Mom or Dad being away during the critical years of a child's development. Those families that are close are held together by loving, caring parents who are involved in their child's lives no matter if serving in a foreign land where people are trying to kill them and even the so-called "friendlies" can't be trusted. People like Lizzie have their heads on straight and embrace their cause, the cause of supporting our men and women in the military. 

Expect to see more relevent videos on this site.

Used to be we had to hide the fact that we were former "baby killers" or risk getting spit on. Now it seems fashionable for those that never served in Vietnam to claim they were. Sorta like all the boomers that say they were at Woodstock. (I wasn't) A matter of semantics? - you decide. This article appeared in the Arizona Republic November 20, 2006 and was provided by the Associated Press. I keep waiting for an update on the status of this issue but as of this writing it seems to have been buried. It's a matter of concern for all REAL Vietnam veterans - those that were actually there. When I hear something new about this I will let you know.

New Leader of vet group did not fight in Vietnam - BOSTON - The national commander of the American Legion never served in Vietnam although he describes himself as a "Vietnam veteran," a newspaper reported Sunday. Paul Morin, elected August 31, 2006 to a one-year term as commander of the nation's largest veterans group, spent his time in the Army from 1972 to 1974 at Fort Dix, NJ, the Boston Globe reported.

Neither the government nor the 2.7 million-member American Legion makes a formal distinction between veterans who actually went to Vietnam and the "Vietnam-era" veterans. Not too surprising coming from the U.S. Govt. but the American Legion too?? Come on guys, how about we put the WW II - era vets who fought the Japs from a chair in NJ in the same category as those who actually battled them hand to hand in the Pacific. Would that statement fly?

"I am a Vietnam veteran," Morin, of Chicopee, Mass., told the newspaper. His biography on the Legion's website describes him as a "Vietnam veteran of the U.S. Army." If he said that and he wasn't in Vietnam isn't that a bald faced lie?

The Legion's top spokesman, Joe March, backed Morin. He said any service member now stationed in the U.S. could claim to be an Iraq war veteran. Great analogy Joe! Ask any Iraq vet who served in that country if there is a difference between them and someone who says they were an Iraq vet when they might never have gotten any closer to Baghdad than NJ? If I was an Iraq combat trooper I would be pissed!

But former Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia said Moran's claim might undercut veterans groups. No sh..t Max! "For the national commander of the American Legion, who never served in the Vietnam theater, to call himself a Vietnam veteran is a lie," Cleland said. I never put much faith in anything a senator said but this time I would have to agree. This is a travesty to all those veterans who were actually there. I find it hard to believe that anyone who would claim to have served in Vietnam and had been proven that they never saw service there could be elected to lead a veterans group like the American Legion. Only politics can be credited for such a stupid statement and is an insult to combat troops.

I found this interesting article in the December 29th issue of the Arizona Republic Newspaper; Kalahari's hoodia a darling of world dieting industry written by Robyn Dixon of the LA Times. It motivated me to add my comments in rebuttal to the ridiculous amount of buzz that this supposed new "diet wonder drug" is causing.

MARIENTAL, Namibia -

In the article Ms. Dixon describes a plant that she claims resembles something from the Day of the Triffids or some other science-fiction creation: a squat succulent with thick, spiky arms, purple fleshy petals and seedpods like rhino horns. But I liken it to Audrey II, the blood drinking monster plant from outer space that gave Rick Moranis so much grief in the hit movie; Little Shop of Horrors. FEED ME!

Hoodia Gordonii is no beauty, but this humble plant is Africa's latest cash crop, priced almost like a narcotic at $40. an ounce. The plant which grows wild in the Kalahari Desert of southern Africa, was once used by indigenous tribes to suppress hunger and thirst when hunting. Now, as Dixon points out, it's the darling of the international dieting industry and a search for the word nets about 14 million responses! Once again it seems that the overweight among us have discovered a new miracle pill that takes the place of balanced nutrition, self-control and exercise.

The "get rich quick at the expense of the fat and desperate" folks have found a new way to drink our blood just like Audrey II, a metaphor used to illustrate the money that people will spend in the hopes of finding that miracle pill, the one that you take right before bedtime so that you get thin while you sleep. The demand for hoodia is so great that supplies of the plant have been severely compromised, smuggling is rife and farmers in southern Africa are trying to cash in on the trend. One hoodia farmer, Dougal Bassingthwaighte calls it "an impossible phenomenon that is too good to be true." International giant Unilever is licensed to commercialize hoodia but world-wide demand is far outstripping supply and there is a mad race on to get plants to the market. Does anyone remember the old adage; if it's too good to be true, it usually is? But in the hopes that maybe this time there is a pill that really does what it claims, for some, all common sense goes out the window. Unfortunately for farmer Doug the plants that he is currently cultivating as of this writing (some 130,000 seedlings) will take two years before they can be harvested. By that time the "hoodia" being peddled on the internet will have caused a heart attack or stroke, the FDA will have issued a ban and the the entire South Afican agricultural industry will be shut down by a class-action law suit. Use of Hoodia will taper off as all fads do and the impatient dieters of world will move on to the next great get-thin-by-taking-a-pill miracle drug, leaving farmer Doug stuck with a million pounds of Audrey II look-alikes. FEED ME! Read the rest of this entry »

Seems we have another kind of trouble brewing in Iraq other than just figuring out who the enemy is. According to the November 2, 2006 issue of the USA Today there are "troubled troops in no-win plight." This is partly a story about Chris Packley, a top marksman on a Marine sniper team that returned from Fallujah in 2004 who "wanted out." He eventually got his wish and was "expelled" from the Corps and now claims that PTSD was the cause of the unlawful behavior that got him into trouble. As a consequence of his "less-than -honorable" discharge he lost access to the free counseling and medication he needed to "treat the mental wounds left from combat." He now basically is accusing the Marine Corps of  "punishing" him for the behavior that led to his discharge. Can anyone say LAME? According to one Lt. Colonel Colby Vokey who supervises the legal defense of Marines in the western USA, he blames the Corps for these men not being eligible to get treatment from the VA because they did not receive the proper treatment and counseling at the time they needed it. Had the Marine Corps provided this assistance the man would have remained as virtuous as he was when he first set foot on the yellow footprints! Yeah, right! "The Marine Corps has created these mental health issues in combat veterans and then we just kind of kick them out into the streets" Vokey goes on to say. Who is this guy? 

 WHO'S SIDE IS HE ON? The Marine Corps contends that stress disorder isn't a legal defense for misconduct and I would have to agree. What I don't understand is if they feel this way why is a Marine Col. defending a position against it. If the Marine Corps takes a position on something isn't a Marine colonel supposed to go along with it? Yet, he tosses out these catchy comparisons to "Catch-22" and talks like a civilian tort lawyer. There is a dis-connect here and I haven't figured it out yet. However, you can't blame the Colonel for those in the Corps who don't have the guts to take responsibility for their actions. (and I am not suggesting that Packley is one of them.) NOTHING is anyone's fault any more. If you murder 30 people in an Amish schoolhouse, why, that was because your mother drank crack-laced coffee for breakfast. It surely can't be your fault.

But if you are a combat soldier you have to act like one of the other 98% who do. You can't fake it in combat. That's why our government spent all that money to train you and get you ready to face our enemies - not to fall apart at the first sign of blood. Soldiers, especially Marines have to gird their loins for battle. If you are going to talk the talk you better walk the walk. Somewhere I read that some of us Americans have been accused of becoming a want-it-now kind of society but this goes too far, INSTANT PTSD?! It used to take years for those feelings to eat away at you until something snapped and if you were smart, sought help from the VA. Now, it seems you don't have to wait at all, you can get it while you are in combat. Read the rest of this entry »

1. You are not Superman.

2. Suppressive fires - won't.

3. If it's stupid but works - it isn't stupid.

4. Don't look conspicuous - it draws fire.

5. When in doubt, empty the magazine.

6. Never share a fighting hole with anyone braver than you are.

7. Never forget your weapon was made by the lowest bidder.

8. If your attack is going really well - it's an ambush.

9. No plan survives the first contact - intact.

10. All five-second grenade fuses will burn down in three seconds.

11. Try to look unimportant, because the bad guys might be low on ammo.

12. If you are forward of your position - arty will fall short.

13. The enemy diversion you are ignoring is the main attack.

14. The important things are always simple.

15. The simple things are always hard.

16. The easy way is always mined.

17. If you are short of everything except enemy - you are in combat.

18. If you have secured an area, don't forget to tell the enemy.

19. Incoming fire has the right of way.

20. No combat ready unit has ever passed inspection.

21. If the enemy is in range - so are you.

22. Beer math: 37 men times 2 beers each equals 50 cases.

23. Body count math: 3 goomers plus one probable plus 2 water buffalo = 40 enemy killed in action.

24. Friendly fire - isn't.

25. Things that must go together to work - usually aren't shipped in the same container.

26. Radios will fail as soon as you desperately need fire support.

27. Anything you do can get you shot - including doing nothing.

28. If you make it too tough for the enemy to get in - you can't get out.

29. Tracers work BOTH ways.

30. The only thing more accurate than enemy fire is incoming friendly fire.

31. If you can take more than your fair share of objectives - you will have more than your fair share to take.

32. When both sides are convinced they are about to lose - they're both right.

33. Professional soldiers are predictable - but the world is full of amateurs.

34. Any significant military action will occur at the junction of two or more map sheets.

35. When the pin is pulled - Mr. Grenade is not our friend.

36. Don't draw fire - it annoys the people around you.

37. Never tell a Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do.

LowCarb Marine does not claim originality to these items - only collection and editing - special thanks to Gene at Bluejacket.com

Add your favorite USMC sarcasm and wit to the list.