Friday, April 08, 2011

The fallen

Earlier this week, the DoD announced, "Capt. Wesley J. Hinkley, 36, of Carlisle, Pa., died April 4 in Baghdad, Iraq, as a result of a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 3rd Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, Fort Stewart, Ga." Ivey Dejesus (Patriot-News) reports, "Hinkley was the son of Karen Majecki. He was a 2001 graduate of Shippensburg University and a 1993 graduate of Boiling Springs High School. Family and friends of Hinkley declined to comment Wednesday, referring media inquiries to the Department of Defense. Hinkley was married and had a young son, according to comments posted on several websites. A woman who came to the door at Hinkley’s mother’s home in Susquehanna Twp. declined to comment." A comment left at WHPTV notes:


Wes Hinkley was my friend... He joined the Army right out of high school. Once he had put several years in, he came back and went to college. When finished, he re-entered the service. He met his wife while stationed in Texas. They married and had a young son. This was his second trip to Iraq. Somebody shot him...we don't know why...but we, his friends and family, are devastated by the loss. I just believed he deserved more than a canned note letting everyone know if his death.


The Sentinel offers Wesley Hinkley's 1993 high school senior photo here. And the Sentinel reports, "During his high school years, Hinkley was a member of the chess club, Boiling Springs High School Principal Joe Mancuso said. He served in the Army, returned to Shippensburg University, where he was a history major and a member of the university's Army ROTC program, and then returned to the Army as an officer, Gene Mizdail, recruiting operations officer with the Shippensburg University Army ROTC, said."

Meanwhile DoD issued the following Wednesday:

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation New Dawn. They died April 2 of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their position with indirect fire in Babil, Iraq.

Killed were:

Staff Sgt. Quadi S. Hudgins, 26, of New Orleans, La.

Sgt. Christian A. S. Garcia, 30, of Goodyear, Ariz.

They were assigned to the Maintenance Troop, Regimental Support Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas.



Paul Purpura (Times-Picayune) notes, "Hudgins had a penchant for boxing, which he said stemmed from the fights he was involved in on the way to and from high school, in a neighborhood he called 'highly territorial,' according to a March 2010 interview published in the Fort Hood Sentinel, an Army publication."

quadi hudgins

Hudgins pictured above with friend from his Facebook page. 26-year-old Hudgins liked The Boondocks, Family Guy and South Park; Dan Brown novels and the film 300; Michael Jackson and Eminem according to his Facebook page. He started serving in the Army in July 2009. This was his second deployment to Iraq.

Reminder: If you served in the US military and you were stop-lossed, you are owed additional money. That money needs to be claimed. DoD announces the date to file for that additional payment has been extended:

The deadline for eligible service members, veterans and their beneficiaries to apply for Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay (RSLSP) has been extended to April 8, 2011, allowing personnel more time to apply for the benefits they've earned under the program guidelines.
The deadline extension is included in the continuing resolution signed by President Obama Friday, providing funding for federal government operations through April 8, 2011.
Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay was established to compensate for the hardships military members encountered when their service was involuntarily extended under Stop Loss Authority between Sept. 11, 2001, and Sept. 30, 2009. Eligible members or their beneficiaries may submit a claim to their respective military service in order to receive the benefit of $500 for each full or partial month served in a Stop Loss status.
When RSLSP began on Oct. 21, 2009, the services estimated 145,000 service members, veterans and beneficiaries were eligible for this benefit. Because the majority of those eligible had separated from the military, the services have engaged in extensive and persistent outreach efforts to reach them and remind them to apply. Outreach efforts including direct mail, engaging military and veteran service organizations, social networks and media outlets, will continue through April 8, 2011.
To apply for more information, or to gather more information on RSLSP, including submission requirements and service-specific links, go to http://www.defense.gov/stoploss.



The following community sites updated last night or this monring -- whether the latest post is showing or not:




From United National Antiwar Committee:

Call to Action

And Request for Endorsement

April 9, 2011

New York & San Francisco

from the

United National Antiwar Committee


WHO ARE THE WARMAKERS?

THEY are the government, corporate, and financial powers that wage war, ravage the environment and the economy and trample on our democratic rights and liberties.

WHO ARE THE PEACEMAKERS?

WE are the vast majority of humanity who want peace, a healthy planet and a society that prioritizes human needs, democracy and civil liberties for all.

The Warmakers spend trillions of dollars yearly on endless wars in pursuit of global domination and profit while murdering millions of innocent people, installing corrupt and hated governments and funding occupations that displace millions from their homelands – trampling on the right of oppressed people to self-determination.

THEY send our youth – victims of the economic draft – to fight over the very fossil fuels whose unrestrained use threatens the future of the planet while corrupt and virtually unregulated oil giants dump billions of gallons of death into our rivers and oceans.

THEY wage a fake “war on terrorism” at home – the new McCarthyism – that promotes racism and Islamophobia aimed at destroying civil liberties and democratic rights.

THEY grant repeated and untold trillions in bailouts to banks, corporations and financial institutions while breaking unions, robbing pensions, destroying jobs, foreclosing homes, de-funding education and vital social services and are once again threatening Social Security and Medicare.

THEY offer no solutions to the current crises other than more of the same.

THE PEACEMAKERS DEMAND a better world. Only a massive, united, inclusive and independent movement has the power to bring it into being.

WE DEMAND Bring U.S. Troops, Mercenaries and War Contractors Home Now: Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan! End the sanctions and stop the threats of war against the people of Iran, North Korea and Yemen. No to war and plunder of the people of Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa! End U.S. Aid to Israel! End U.S. Support to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine and the Siege of Gaza!

WE DEMAND trillions for jobs, education, social services, an end to all foreclosures, quality single-payer healthcare for all, a massive conversion to sustainable and planet-saving energy systems and public transportation and reparations to the victims of U.S. terror at home and abroad.

WE DEMAND an end to FBI raids on antiwar, social justice, and international solidarity activists, an end to the racist persecution and prosecutions that ravage Muslim communities, an end to police terror in Black, Latino and Native American communities, full rights and legality for immigrants and an end to all efforts to repress and punish Wikileaks and its contributors and founders.

WE DEMAND the immediate end to torture, rendition, secret trials, drone bombings and death squads.

WE ARE DEDICATED TO A WORLD

OF PEACE AND JUSTICE.

All Out April 9, 2011



The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.













thomas friedman is a great man






oh boy it never ends


















Posted by at