United We Roll at Stardust Radio

Memorial Day always brings a mix of emotions, most of which are very sobering and that make one feel very humble in this world where so many men and women have given so much, including their own lives, for the benefit of our country and our freedom.

Another young, dedicated American became a Fallen Hero to be remembered on Memorial Day. Marine Cpl. Jacob C. Leicht was killed Thursday, May 27th, when he stepped on a land mine in Helmand province. Cpl Leicht, the 1,000th American serviceman killed in Afghanistan, was born on the Fourth of July. Eight more service members have fallen since last Thursday, bringing the number of fallen in Afghanistan to 1008 as of this writing.

This incredible young Marine had begged to return to the battlefield after a bomb exploded under his Humvee in Iraq during the early days of his first deployment. He spent two painful years recovering from face and leg injuries, all the while asking for a return to combat through letters from his hospital bed.

He finally was able to return to the front lines in Afghanistan, but was killed less than a month after arriving for the deployment he wanted so very much. He died only a few days before Americans honor fallen troops on Memorial Day, May 31st. To read more about Cpl Leicht and see some photos, go to the site at
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/sns-ap-us-afghan-1000th-death,0,7651686.story

To see the many people walking back and forth in front of the Viet Nam memorial - the wall that carries the names of more than 58,000 Heroes who did not come home from that war- still gives me chills. Have you ever noticed how big that wall is and how people are dwarfed by its size? Have you ever noticed how small each name is on that wall? Think about that and let it sink in as to how many families lost a loved one, how many Americans did not get to come home to hug their loved ones. The actual statistics, according to the website at http://www.vhfcn.org/stat.html "one out of every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam was a casualty. 58,169 were killed and 304,000 wounded out of 2.59 million who served". This site has some other very interesting facts about the war in Nam and also dispels many myths.

How many of us have felt humiliated at the way our service members were treated as they came home from the jungles of Nam? Can we ever make up for that? It is one of the few times of shame for our country and I am so proud to see that we have not allowed that to happen again - despite some less than admirable attitudes that some people have who reside in this country and who enjoy the freedom that was won by the sacrifices of others.

How about Korea, WWII, WWI and all the lives lost back to the birth of our nation? The first Fourth of July, Independence, Freedom, the Liberty Bell and all the other meaningful places, memorials, people and American spirit that are part of this great country? So many joined who never questioned why they were serving.

There are many sites with information on casualties from all the wars in which our men and women have served. Due to a variety of sources, lost records, etc., the numbers do vary somewhat, but most are very close. The best collection of and presentation of clear cut information that I found was from the site located at http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/resources/casdeath_pop.html where it has a list of all the warsand the statistics for each. I did notice that some of the figures here were lower than other sources, but again, this information seems to vary a bit from one to another:
Previous Wars deaths 1,003,071 wounded 1,430,290 total 2,433,361
Iraq 4,400 31,808 36,208
Afghanistan 1,008 5,725 6,733

5/31/10 (mid-day CDT) Current Total:
Fatalities 1,008,479 Wounded 1,467,823
(Iraq & Afghanistan figures from http://icasualties.org/)

Will I ever live long enough to find a way to appropriately say "Thank You" to all who serve and especially to deserve the freedom that has been given to me by so many lives? I will do my best to "Pay It Forward" and to live my life with the honor, respect and appreciation of others that will hopefully make me worthy of so great a gift.

By the way, I thought it was also interesting to note the following information about WWII that was included at the site http://www.worldwar-2.net/casualties/world-war-2-casualties-index.htm. It listed US civilians who were killed in the war and the religious status of the country (there seems to be so much discussion as to whether or not the USA is or has been a Christian nation):

the casualties from 1941 - 1945 were:
Soldiers (Allied) - 408,200 Killed
Civilians - 1,000 Killed

and the religious status:
United States of America (USA)
Status: Independent
Type of Government: Democracy
Religion: Christian
Population: 131,000,000 (1939)

I am sure that many of us have seen the email with some of the cemeteries in Europe listed where many of our service members and other Americans (medical, missionaires, etc) rest in peace. If you want to find out more about these overseas memorials to Americans, or if you are planning a trip to Europe and plan to honor these Heroes of Freedom with a visit, you can find out more at http://www.pegww2.net/Pages/Museum_cemeteries.htm.

As the daughter of an Air Force pilot, we lost close military friends both in peace and in war. I believe that my life has been blessed to have known so many people who would - and did - give the ultimate sacrifice for their families, for their fellow Americans, for their country and for freedom. I give thanks again as we are able to share unique and historical conversations with the Heroes who stand guard over our freedom, our families, our lives today.

On Memorial Day and Every Day - Thank You!

United We Roll World Tour Show
Stardust Radio www.stardustradio.com
Tuesday 6/01/10 2:00pm – 4:00pm Central (Live)
Wednesday 6/02/10 6:30pm – 8:30pm Central (Repeat)

Welcome Stardust Listeners and thank you for joining us on United We Roll this Tuesday, the 1st day of June, 2010 as we take time to honor those who serve our country and who protect our freedom!!

As this show schedule is being prepared to send to our Stardust Radio Family, it is Memorial Day. Our hearts are filled with mixed emotions:
• sadness at the loss of such incredible Americans as those who gave their lives for our country and our freedom...
• deep appreciation for those who have served so that we do still have the American way of life and all the liberties and security this brings to us
• incredible pride for each and every man and woman (though I am often tempted to call some of them "kids") for stepping up to take on the most important job in the USA and one of the most dangerous
• recognition of the many ways that our military members & families continue to contribute even after the duty clock has stopped ticking
• thankfulness for knowing so many Heroes of Freedom while growing up - many of whom gave their lives for our freedom
• for the continued honor of meeting so many Heroes of today and being able to able to share so many wonderful conversations with these deployed members among many thousands of Americans here at home.

We have three great visits with 6 guests who are currently serving in Kyrgzystan, Iraq and Afghanistan. The show will stay within our normal 2 hour period, ending at 4:00pm. Remember, if you are not able to stay with us through the show this afternoon, it will repeat again tomorrow evening, Wednesday, June 2nd at 6:30pm Central. In addition, an MP3 copy will be placed on our show archive site for listening and downloading. You can reach our archive site at www.stardustradio.info or on the United We Roll page at www.stardustradio.com.

(2:08pm) During our first visit today, we will be talking with Air Force SSG James Bennett who is currently deployed with the 376th ECES/CED at Transit Center Manas in Kyrgzystan, where he is a member of the EOD unit - or as they are called here at home, a Bomb Squad. SSG Bennett has spent his 8.5 years of service with an EOD unit and has been on other deployments in 2004 and 2006. We will talk about several facets of being in the service with SSG Bennett and also how those of us at home can reach out to make time off during deployments a little better. For this Hero of Freedom, who puts his life on the line every day he goes to work, the words "'Thank you" will never express the amount of appreciation we have for his service.

(2:40pm) Our next visit is with two members of the Red Cross and two members of the USO who are stationed in Iraq to help our deployed men and women in uniform in a variety of ways. I have to tell you folks, that this is a visit for which I have been anxious to host and I know you are going to enjoy it as well. Our guests include Mr Alphonsa Oliver and Mrs Kirsten Kuykendall who are with the Red Cross and our USO guests are Ms Bettie Stone and Ms Christine Gunderson. We will hear about plans for the Summer Party with a BYOB theme (that is Bring your Own Boat), helping deployed members to attend the birth of their children by long distance video and much more!

(3:28pm) Our third and final visit for today is with CMSgt Ron Davis who is currently on deployment in Afghanistan with the 4th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron and the newest aircraft, the MC-12. For the past five months, this aviator has not even had two days off. With 26 years of service that includes several deployments and numerous experiences, CMSgt Davis brings us a very interesting visit, one that you will not want to miss.

Our hearts and prayers go out to all of our military members, families, Veterans and to all of our first responders & their families - everyone who puts their lives on hold and on the line for us and our families.

We would like to remind our Veterans, active duty members, family members and anyone who is interested in health and legislative issues that affect those who protect our freedom to tune in to our other broadcasts – OFFE with Gene Simes and Jere Berry at 8pm Central on Tuesday nights and also with Rick Townsend and Firebase Network Sundays at 6:00pm Central.

MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL & MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA!

United We Roll World Tour Show
Stardust Radio www.stardustradio.com
Tuesday 5/25/10 2:00pm – 4:00pm Central (Live)
Wednesday 5/26/10 6:30pm – 8:30pm Central (Repeat)

Welcome Stardust Listeners and thank you for joining us on United We Roll this Tuesday, the 25th day of May, 2010 as we take time to honor those who serve our country and who protect our freedom!!

As a salute to this last week of Military Appreciation Month and the Memorial Day celebration next weekend, we offer the songs today as a musical salute to those who have served in the past, to those who
serve today and to all of their families.

Also with this date and time in mind, we are going to share some great songs that honor many generations of those who have protected our freedom as we also share two visits with 4 of our military members who are currently serving on deployment. The show will stay within our normal 2 hour period today, ending at 4:00pm Central. Remember, if you are not able to stay with us through the show this afternoon, it will repeat again tomorrow evening, Wednesday, May 26th at 6:30pm Central. In addition, an MP3 copy will be placed on our show archive site for listening and downloading. You can reach our archive site at www.stardustradio.info or on the United We Roll page at www.stardustradio.com.

During our first visit today, we will be talking with AF Capt Luke Davis (Commander, 56th MCT), SrA Chana Lawlor (Radio Operator, 56th MCT) and Army SPC Kera Cecil (Mil Intelligence & Traffic Dir, 14th Troop Battalion). Though these members are from different forces, they all have a similar mission – that is the control of movement of troops, cargo and more on the ground and in the air. As you can imagine, this takes a tremendous amount of coordination and fine detail work.

Our next guest is currently deployed with Alpha Company, 3rd Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division. SPC Dejah Emerson is recovering from a broken hip and foot injury, but she is still busy as she is wearing two duty hats. One is monitoring radios and working communications with convoys, and the other is going out as the gunner escort for her 1st Sergeant. Not only is SPC Emerson dedicated to her mission, but she comes from a family of American Heroes and has a most interesting story to share with us.

Our hearts and prayers go out to all of our military members, families, Veterans and to all of our first responders & their families - everyone who puts their lives on hold and on the line for us and our families.

We would again like to remind our Veterans, active duty members, family members and anyone who is interested in health and legislative issues that affect those who protect our freedom to tune in to our other broadcasts – OFFE with Gene Simes and Jere Berry at 8pm Central on Tuesday nights and also with Rick Townsend and Firebase Network Sundays at 6:00pm Central.

For more articles on current happenings and news, please visit our United We Roll blog located at http://stardustradio.info/b2evolution/blog1.php

MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL & MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA!

With so many military members and spouses looking for jobs in the civilian side, every bit of information helps. This just came out today, Monday 5/24.

Release No: 090
May 24, 2010

Hiring surge to employ thousands

by April Rowden
Air Force Personnel Center Public Affairs Office

RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas – With contractor-to-civilian conversions, new organizations standing up and overall increases in civilian positions, the Air Force civil service continues to grow as officials look to employ thousands of U.S. citizens.

The Air Force Personnel Center has filled more than 3,000 new positions since the surge began earlier this year and is expected to advertise more than 17,000 additional new positions by the end of 2011 on USAJOBS.

USAJOBS is an online repository used by multiple federal agencies to announce job vacancies around the world.

“These career opportunities cover a broad spectrum of skill sets necessary to support national defense and Air Force objectives, from information technology specialists and aircraft simulator instructors to housing management assistants and biological scientists,” said Michelle LoweSolis, civilian force integration director at AFPC. “The importance of our civilian workforce cannot be overstated, nor our desire to get the best qualified people into these positions.”

To guide individuals through the Air Force application process, the AFPC Civilian Employment website contains various resources to include tutorials, salary information, eligibility criteria, and the hiring authorities for special populations, such as military spouses, people with disabilities, students and veterans.

In November 2009, President Barack Obama announced the Veterans Employment Initiative, an initiative that “underscores to federal agencies the importance of recruiting and training veterans” who have valuable knowledge and technical skills.

The combination of the employment initiative and the hiring surge gives transitioning Airmen impacted by force management an opportunity to be considered for federal employment.

When applying for federal jobs, veterans have three hiring authorities for which they may be eligible: VEOA, VRA and 30 percent or more disabled.
• VEOA: An individual who is eligible for veterans preference; or who separates after three or more years of continuous active service performed under honorable conditions is generally eligible for consideration under VEOA, or the Veterans' Employment Opportunity Act of 1998.
• VRA: Any disabled veteran; a veteran who served on active duty in the Armed Forces during a war declared by Congress, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized; a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the Armed Forces, participated in a military operation for which the Armed Forces Service Medal was awarded; or a veteran separated from active duty within the last three years may be eligible for consideration under the Veterans Recruitment Appointment, or VRA.
• 30 percent or more disabled: Veterans retired from active military service with a disability rating of 30 percent or more; or veterans who have been rated by the Department of Veterans Affairs since 1991 or later, to include disability determinations from a branch of the Armed Forces at any time, as having a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more may be eligible for consideration under a special appointing authority for 30 percent or more disabled veterans.

Tony Garton, a programmer analyst at AFPC, was hired in 2002 under VEOA. “My veteran status didn’t guarantee me a job with the Air Force. But it did help put my resume in the hands of the hiring official, so at least I had the opportunity to be considered for a federal job.”

Family members may also be eligible for certain hiring authorities, including:
• A spouse of a service members who has received permanent change of orders to relocate;
• A spouse of service members who retired with a disability rating at the time of retirement of 100 percent, or retired/separated from the Air Force and has a disability rating of 100 percent from the Department of Veterans Affairs;
• Un-remarried widows or widowers of service members killed while in active-duty status; or
• Certain family members returning to the U.S. from an overseas assignment in which they were a dependent.

The local Airman and Family Readiness Center can provide family members and Airmen transitioning out of active-duty service with additional assistance on using USAJOBS, writing resumes and locating career fairs.

For more information on hiring authorities, visit AFPC’s Civilian Employment website. Air Force employees may also call the 24-hour Total Force Service Center at (800) 525-0102 or DSN 665-5000.
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United We Roll World Tour Show
Stardust Radio www.stardustradio.com
Tuesday 5/18/10 2:00pm – 4:00pm Central (Live)
Wednesday 5/19/10 6:30pm – 8:30pm Central (Repeat)

Welcome Stardust Listeners and thank you for joining us on United We Roll this Tuesday, the 18th day of May, 2010 as we take time to honor those who serve our country and who protect our freedom!

We have three very full and very interesting visits with 4 of our Heroes of Freedom who are stationed in countries that may seem a world away, but really are quite close in many ways. The show will stay within our normal 2 hour period today, ending at 4:00pm Central – unless live radio has an unexpected surprise for us. Remember, if you are not able to stay with us through the show this afternoon, it will repeat again tomorrow evening, Wednesday, May 19th at 6:30pm Central. In addition, an MP3 copy will be placed on our show archive site for listening and downloading. You can reach our archive site at www.stardustradio.info or on the United We Roll page at www.stardustradio.com.

(2:08pm) During our first visit today, we will be talking with Capt Tom Mulka who is currently deployed with the 376th AEW in a role much like a Human Resources Director, where he is in charge of a program that has become very successful since its inception in the Air Force about 5 years ago. This program is based around training and execution of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program, which addresses issues from the language that is used in the workplace and intensifies from there. It involves volunteers and unit members getting involved just in the day to day operations of their duty areas and more. It has had a great response and civilian corporations are now looking at this program as you will hear.

(2:40pm) Our next guests are currently deployed with the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Protocol Office at Joint Base Balad in Iraq. Joining us are SMSgt Firello White and SSG Laurel Filbert who will talk about the incredible detail and organization that is required when working in the Protocol office. These folks handle all the arrangements for visiting Dignitaries from military VIP’s to civilian guests, touring celebrities and whoever else comes to tour the base or meet the troops. It is coordination of meals, transportation, meetings, sleeping accommodations and more. This is one incredibly busy job and it does not end when you say goodbye to one group of visitors, as another may just be arriving.

(3:12pm) Our next and final visit for today is with a most inspirational young airman who is currently deployed with the 22nd EARS (Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron) at Manas Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan. SSG Joel Church has a job that is a bit different than most members with whom we have visited over the years. SSG Church is directly involved in the lifesaving equipment on board the plane that the flight crews rely on, both in regular flight, such as oxygen during high altitude flights, and emergency equipment. And that is only part of the job that makes this airman a key member of his flight crew.

Our hearts and prayers go out to all of our military members, families, Veterans and to all of our first responders & their families - everyone who puts their lives on hold and on the line for us and our families.

We would like to remind our Veterans, active duty members, family members and anyone who is interested in health and legislative issues that affect those who protect our freedom to tune in to our other broadcasts – OFFE with Gene Simes and Jere Berry at 8pm Central on Tuesday nights and also with Rick Townsend and Firebase Network Sundays at 6:00pm Central.

MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL & MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA!