A Final Tribute and the End of Veterans’ Voice

Hello, Honored Readers. I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and THIS is the Veterans’ Voice. Let me start this blog entry with an announcement. I have given this a great deal of thought, and even asked some of my loved ones their advice, and have come to a conclusion. I am closing the Veterans’ Voice. The main reason is simply I have lost interest in continuing this blog. This is partially due to a lack of things to write about. You see I have a personal conviction to stay out of politics. Unfortunately, I feel that this has hamstrung my blog, as I feel it is difficult to talk about veterans’ issues without getting into politics. There is also the aforementioned lack of interest. When I started this blog, I was all fired up to blog about veterans issues. However, I lost interest, and posts became fewer and father between. So, I feel it’s time to close this blog rather than let it continue to languish entirely neglected. So, this is going to be the final entry of the Veterans’ Voice.

As this is the final post of this blog, I feel I should write a tribute to a very special veteran, one who is very dear to my heart, and to whom I owe my life. That would be my mother. Her name was Lieutenant Commander Marsha Edmundson, United States Navy Medical Corps. At this point, it should be obvious why I owe her my life, because she brought me into this world. You see my mother joined the Navy, so she could enter medical school. I was born around about this time, and some of my earliest memories were of my mother serving her country as a Navy Doctor. She served on the Marine Air-Ground Combat Center in Twenty-Nine Palms, California. I was quite a young lad at the time, so my memories of her service are quite limited. What I do know about her comes from stories she told years afterward. She served with distinction. She was a no nonsense doctor, and put her heart and soul into doctoring the marines who were under her care. While my views may be a bit biased, I will dare to say she was the best doctor I have known, and thus far no doctor has ever challenged that feeling. My mother cared about medicine, and had no problem telling other doctors when she felt they were wrong. She served her time, made quite a few friends, and was respected by those friends. And when she had served the time she was required to serve to repay Uncle Sam for putting her through medical school, she got out of the Navy and moved on with her career. After her time in the Navy, she worked in hospitals, private clinics, and a nursing home, where she came to care quite deeply for the elderly folks she worked with. However, during her time as a civilian doctor, she discovered that she was suffering from Multiple Sclerosis, a degenerative condition that steadily made it more difficult for her to do her job over time. As her son, it pained me to see her steady decline. It broke my heart when she eventually told me that she had to retire from her job at the nursing home because her MS had gotten to the point where she could not continue to provide the quality of care her patients needed. She lived on in retirement, enjoying her life as much as MS allowed. Sadly, in August of 2005, my dear mother passed away. Her battle with Multiple Sclerosis was concluded, and resulted in the good Lord calling her home. I myself was serving in the U.S. Coast Guard at the time. The morning I learned that she had died, I literally fell to my knees and wept. My mother was very dear to me. She was my hero. During her time as a doctor, she saved lives. She cured the sick and healed the injured. And the day she died, the world lost a talented physician. Of all the things I remember of her medical career, the one thing I shall never forget about my mother was the fact that she delivered many babies. There are over a thousand people walking this earth that came into the world with my mother’s aid. Some were born in the usual way and some by C-Section. She delivered babies in hospitals and in a variety of places outside of hospitals, and she’s helped new mothers ranging from girls too young to have babies to women nearing the end of their child bearing years. When I think of my mother’s career as a doctor, I think of all the lives that began with her help. She is gone, but she shall never be forgotten.

Well, Honored Readers, this concludes this final entry for the Veterans’ Voice. I wish I could say it has been a good run. However, it has been more a run of fits and starts, and in the end it has come down to me simply feeling I ought to close this blog rather than continue to let it languish. I deeply apologize to you for closing this so abruptly, but I’m sure you may have seen this coming, given that this blog is not exactly known for producing a great deal of new content. Therefore, it comes to a close. I thank you for taking the time to read the blog entries I have offered you. I hope you enjoyed them. I will leave the blog up for one month, so that you can take the time to read the blog entries I have offered you, and after that month, I will take the site down. I am not finished blogging, and am in the process of developing a new blog on an entirely different subject. At present the new blog has no name and has not even been established yet. But that’s neither here nor there. Again, I thank you for reading my blog. I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and this has been the final entry for the Veterans’ Voice. May the good lord always smile upon you, Honored Readers.

Clear sailing shipmates.

Animals DO Help

Hello, Honored Readers. I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and THIS is the Veterans’ Voice. As a veteran who suffers from General Anxiety Disorder, I can say from personal experience that it causes stress in my life. There are times when my anxiety makes my life a living hell. It usually makes me worry about things far beyond what is absolutely necessary. Anyone who knows me personally knows that there are times when these anxiety attacks cause me to be quite ridiculous in my worrying. I know there are veterans who suffer mental conditions that are far worse than my General Anxiety Disorder.

I state this because one of the things that helps me at home are my cats. I am a big cat lover, and I enjoy having my fur babies as part of my life. The nicest part of my cats is that they sense when I am upset, and will come to me and want to be held. The thing is, they aren’t wanting to be held because they want attention. They want to be held because they know I need attention. Just the simple pleasure of holding one of my cats and hearing/feeling them purr makes me feel better. Even my dog does this.

Scientists have studied this phenomenon, and have found that interacting with animals does have a positive influence on a person’s psychological well being. There are countless stories on the internet of how a mentally ill veteran was helped by something as simple a. Cats and D a therapy cat or dog.

Sometimes cats and dogs are more than just needy fuzzy-wuzzies on whom you spend money for food and water and other necessities. Sometimes a dog or a cat can be an indispensable ally in a veteran’s arduous, perilous journey from bad mental health to good mental health. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have my cats. Sometimes meditation is not enough, and seeing a therapist is not often enough. Sometimes, it falls upon the shoulders of my cats to be little furry therapists.

In closing, I state that pets are far more helpful than we typically give them credit for. A dog can be your best friend. A cat can be a furry purring therapist. Give our furry babies more credit for the invaluable aid they give us. They do us a tremendous service just by being there to give us the one thing that can most helpful…unconditional love. Cats and dogs don’t ask for anything fro us in exchange for our love other than food, water, a place to sleep, and a warm, dry home. I say that’s an acceptably small price to pay for the tremendous aid that cats and dogs (and other pets) can provide us.

That’s all for this entry, Honored Readers. I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and this has been the Veterans’ Voice.

My Wife’s Postmates Job

Hello, Honored Readers. I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and THIS is The Veterans’ Voice.

Once again, it’s been a while since I’ve written a post in this blog, but I’m making the attempt to provide content herein more regularly than I have been.

One thing I am keenly aware of is the need for a job. Many veterans are in need of employment. Let’s face it, one’s military specialty doesn’t always translate into useful skills out in the civilian world. In my Coast Guard career I was a pollution investigator, and before that I was a Gunner’s Mate (firearms technician for those not familiar with Naval/Coast Guard Parlance). Though my experience as a pollution investigator has given me some skills that I can use in virtually any job (such as reading a safety data sheet, knowledge of handling hazardous material, etc), my knowledge of handling and repairing firearms isn’t exactly useful in…say…working as a maintenance man at McDonald’s. This is why I mention my wife’s new job at Postmates.

Postmates is a delivery service. As a Postmate, you receive orders on your smartphone via the Postmates app. If you accept the order, you simply drive to the merchant (a store or restaurant), pick up the order (Either the order will be ready for you, or in some cases you are given a list of items to collect), then take it to the customer’s home, and hand it over to them. You are paid a base rate for the order and the pick up, and you are paid a rate fee for time and distance. Additionally, if you get the order to the customer within the time limit given to you by the app (when you confirm that you have picked up the order from the merchant), you get a bonus. While the pay is roughly $6 -$8 per order (rounded off to the nearest dollar), if you put some time and effort into it, you can make a descent living with this job. (On a side note, my wife has also recently started a job with Uber Eats as well to increase her potential earnings).

Now, I mention this to you, because Postmates is an easy job. Going to places is simple since the app uses your preferred navigation app (Google Maps in my wife’s case) to help you get to both the merchant’s location, and the customer’s home. The app gives you step by step instructions oon picking up the order, and delivering it to the customer. All you really need is a vehicle. I highly recommend this to any one of my fellow veterans who might be struggling to make ends meet. Postmates can work for you as your primary job, or as a second job.

With so many people struggling to make ends meet, it’s important to look into all possible resources to support yourself. Postmates is one possibility. You work your own hours, work as much or as little as you wish, and the actual work is as simple as go to the merchant, pick up the order, go to the customer’s home, and drop it off. Simple, easy, no selling involved.

Well, that’s all for now, Honored Readers. I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and THIS has been the Veterans’ Voice.

Veterans’ Voice Returns/Covid-19

Hello, Honored Readers. I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and THIS is the Veterans’ Voice!

Well, Honored Readers, it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post. To be honest, I had lost my way a bit. I had a lot going on in my life, which I need not detail herein. Unfortunately, this blog was one thing that fell by the wayside. I have recently taken up meditation, and it’s been helping me. Recently, someone posted a comment on one of my posts in this blog. It reminded me of this blog, so I chose to bring it back. It might be scaled back a bit, but I’m going to make a better effort to blog more regularly.

Okay, I have to address the proverbial elephant in the living room. Covid-19! It’s an unfortunate disease. It may or may not have been blown out of proportion. There’s so much information out there: facts, false-facts, misinformation, rumors, idiocy! It’s difficult to know what to believe. So far, it’s not affected my life too badly. Mind you, I did have a bit of a financial crisis, but working together with my wife, we figured out a way to manage our finances. My wife and I are also fortunate to have jobs that were not affected by the Covid shut downs, because we both work at essential businesses. I work at McDonald’s and my wife works at Food Lion (a local grocery store chain). My heart goes out to those of you who are not working or cannot work. The only thing I can say, is soldier on, Honored Readers. Keep your chin up and endure the bad times, because they can’t last forever. The thing that annoys me most about this whole Covid thing is the mask mandates. I’m not worried about the potential health problems that might be caused by wearing masks for long periods of time. The masks are more of an annoyance to me, because if my wife and I go out to run errands or go out to eat, if one of us forgets our mask, we ultimately have to go back home to get a mask. Yes, I know it would be prudent to leave masks in the car, but one doesn’t always think of such things. Anyway, the masks are an annoyance, but I am putting up with them because sooner or later, our leaders (no politics, please) will eventually decide that the masks are not needed anymore.

That’s all for now, Honored Readers. I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and THIS has been the Veterans’ Voice

Remembering R. Lee Ermey

Hello, Honored Readers, I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and THIS is the Veteran’s Voice.

On April 15th, 2018, Gunnery Sergeant Ronald Lee Ermey passed away.  He was born on March 24th, 1944, in Emporia, Kansas.  He grew up on a farm outside of Kansas City, Kansas.  As a teenager, he got in trouble with the local authorities twice.  On the second arrest, the judge gave him the choice of going to prison, or joining the military.  He joined the United States Marine Corps in 1961.  For the first few years of his service, he served in the aviation support field before becoming a drill instructor in India Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, where he was assigned from 1965 to 1967.  Ermey then served in Marine Wing Support Gropu 17 at Marine Corp Air Station Futenma in Okinawa, Japan.  In 1968, he was ordered to Vietnam with MWSG-17, and spent 14 months there.  During his service in Vietnam, Ermey advanced to Staff Sergeant.  In 1972, he was medically discharged due to several injuries he received during his service in Vietnam.

Following his discharge from the Marine Corps, Ermey began his film career.  While he has played numerous roles, most notably military adn authority figures, he is best known as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket”.  Ermey was originally brought into the production as a technical advisor, but after seeing an instructional video that Ermey put together, Kubrick chose to cast Ermey in the role of the Marine Corps drill Sergeant.  Stanley Kubrick gave a rare honor…he allowed Ermey to write and/or improvise his own dialogue.  Ermey’s performance became another rarity for Kubrick, needing two or three takes per scene.  Ermey’s performance in “Full Metal Jacket” earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Since that time, Ermey has played in numerous film and television roles.  He was also known for “Mail Call”, a military themed documentary series he filmed for the History Channel.  In Mail Call, Ermey discussed subjects ranging from weapons to tactics.  “Mail Call” was followed by “Lock N’ Load with R. Lee Ermey”, again on the History Channel.  On this second show, Ermey discussed weapons used by military forces around the world today.

His military citations include: the Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Vietnam Service Medal, and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross.

On May 17th, 2002, General James L. Jones, the Commandant of the Marine Corps honorarily promoted R. Lee Ermey to Gunnery Sergeant in recognition for his continuing support of Americans in military service.  Ermey was also a board member of the National Rifle Association.

Ronald Lee Ermey is survived by his wife, Nila Ermey, and their four children.

Honored readers, if you have anything or anyone you want me to do a special write-up about, go to the contact page, and send me an email.  Write “Special Commemorations” in the subject line.

That’s all for this post, honored readers.  I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and this has been The Veterans’ Voice.

Is He a “Serial Killer” or a “Rapist” ?

Hello, Honored Readers!  I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and THIS is “The Veterans’ Voice”!

It’s been a while, Honored Readers.  I’m doing something a little different with this post.  First, I’d like to make an update on a previous post.  A little while back, I posted a story about a friend of mine.  He’s a fellow veteran, married, and once again wishes to remain anonymous.  His wife’s Facebook account was hacked, and the hacker claimed his wife was a murderer, and that he was a serial killer and a rapist.  In the months since that electronic attack, he has been making a steady recovery from the resultant emotional trauma.  He still has former friends and family who refuse to speak to him.  However, one of the things that has stuck with him is the fact that he was cruelly called a “serial killer” and a “rapist”.  He recently asked me what was it about him that made the hacker think he looked like that.  At the time, I could not answer his question, because I did not want to spout stereotypes at him.  Therefore, I decided to research serial killers and rapists.  I hold a BA in Anthropology, so I am intimately familiar with research.  I was specifically trying to answer my friend’s question, “what does a serial killer or rapist look like?”

First, let me lay the stereotypes to rest.  I’m sure we all have some sort of image of what a “serial killer” should look like.  We typically imagine a serial killer to be some filthy guy with a mop of unkempt hair, often some sort of rough facial hair, often dressed in dirty rags, and wandering the streets with some sort of deadly weapon, looking for his latest victim, while incoherently muttering about how “the voices” are telling him to kill people (and here I use “the voices” as simply a euphemism for whatever lunatic thing the stereotype serial killer is claiming is telling him to kill people).  Of course, the stereotype rapist is naturally some introverted “40-year-old virgin” who lives in his mother’s basement, never gets laid, and thus is so sexually repressed that he spends all his time watching Internet porn to the point where he is so desperate for sex that he goes out and he starts raping women.  Those are the stereotypes for “Serial Killer” and “Rapist”.  Mind you, these two labels might invoke different images in other people’s minds.  However, what I’ve described is more or less what I think of when I think of those two labels.

The trouble with a stereotype is that it locks a preconceived notion in our mind of what a specific type of person “should look like”.  This is a dangerous notion when considering “serial killers” and “rapists”.  We have this notion in our minds that “serial killers” and “rapists” should stick out like the proverbial sore thumb.  Well, they don’t.  According to my research, “Serial Killers” and “Rapists” don’t have a certain look that labels them “serial killer” or “rapist”.  Studies by criminologists have shown that serial killers can look like any run-of-the-mill person.  It makes sense when you truly think about it.  “Jack the Ripper”, who is probably the most infamous serial killer in history, would NEVER have gotten away with murder had he stuck out like a sore thumb.  A serial killer is an ordinary person, however inside is what has been called a “diabolical mind”.  It has been said by criminologists that typical serial killers have had some sort of bad life, usually a traumatic childhood.  The killer’s childhood leaves him feeling like he lacks control in his life.  Thus, he develops a fantasy life in which he IS in control.  As time goes by the killer’s fantasy life takes more and more precedence over his life until it becomes his entire reality, and THIS is what causes the individual to become a serial killer.  From there, the serial killer develops what I like to call “his persona”.  By that, I mean he develops his pattern of killing.  This can truly take any form.  The only thing all serial killers really have in common is the fact that they kill according to a certain pattern.  The killer could kill someone using a specific weapon, or in a specific manner, or in a certain location.  The killings can be ritualistic, or simply random.  The truth is, there is no real set standard for what is a serial killer other than the fact that the killer commits at least three murders over a period of time, and even THAT differs from state to state.  Serial Rapists are predatory sex offenders who repeated commit a number of consecutive rapes, plain and simple.  Like Serial Killers, Serial Rapists might follow a certain pattern of behavior when doing their dastardly deeds.  They often prowl online dating sites to identify victims.  They may threaten the victim’s family, or simply drug the victim.  They are often aware of forensic and investigative methods, and will employ countermeasures accordingly.  Like Serial Killers, Serial Rapists look as normal as any Tom, Dick, or Harry.  You simply CAN’T identify a “Serial Killer” or a “Rapist” by their look alone.  With these two labels, we imagine a monster lurking about, seeking a victim.  As you can see, the hacker was simply being mean when calling my friend “a serial killer and a rapist”.  It was a horribly cruel thing to do to him.

Now you may be wondering why this is relevant to veterans.  It is no secret that there have been sex offenders in the military.  The news media has frequently reported of rapes and sexual assaults at military training facilities.  I cannot say what causes someone to turn to rape, nor why someone would call a veteran a rapist.  However, I CAN understand why someone would call a veteran a serial killer.  The military is well known to be a violent job.  Let’s face it, if you’re in the military, you could easily be sent over seas to kill people.  It is also well known that military operations have often caused people to come unglued.  It is perfectly reasonable to assume that a veteran is one of those people who has come unglued and become a serial killer.  This does not mean that said veteran actually IS a serial killer or a rapist.  To call a veteran such things is just pure cruelty, especially when you don’t know the veteran, nor understand his/her experiences.  I am writing this because, I feel that my fellow veterans deserve to know about this phenomenon.  Because while my friend may be one veteran who has been publicly humiliated by a hacker, there are likely many veterans who have been on the receiving end of these asinine insinuations, and have simply soldiered on.  I tell you, my fellow Veterans, you are not alone in this.  For many years, veterans have been ridiculed, insulted, and been on the receiving end of discrimination, simply for being a veteran.  We’ve all heard about Vietnam Veterans being verbally abused.  Well, some veterans have had enough of it.  To call my friend a “serial killer and a rapist” is shameful, and grossly unacceptable!  For those of you who are not veterans, don’t judge us based on your prejudices.  Get to know us before you condemn us!

If you have an issue concerning veterans that you would like for me to write on this blog, go to the contact page and send me an email.  Please put “Veterans Issues” in the subject line.

Well, that’s all for this post, Honored Readers.  I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and THIS has been “The Veterans’ Voice”.

Valentine’s Day for Service Members

Hello, Honored Readers, I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and THIS is “The Veterans’ Voice”.

It’s Wednesday, and normally I would post something fun for “Hump Day Humor”, but it happens to be Valentine’s Day.  That means you get a special post for today.

It goes without saying that serving in the military separates service members from their loved ones.  The needs of the service often take a service member far from their home and their family.  I’m sure we’ve all heard the story of the young, newlywed soldier, who gets deployed soon after his wedding, and finds out via regular correspondence with his new wife that he left her carrying his baby.  He remains deployed overseas and experiences her pregnancy through correspondence.  He only learns that his wife gives birth after the fact when she sends him correspondence that he just became a father.  As  the story goes, his baby is a year old by the time his deployment ends and he goes home to meet his child for the first time.  Many service members have experienced this and other similar experiences.  Valentine’s Day is a wonderful day to celebrate love, and be with the one you love.  Sadly, right now there are many men and women serving in our military that are apart from their loved ones.  Separation from loved ones is one of the sacrifices service members make to serve their country.  In the past, military men had to wait weeks or months for letters and packages from home.  Thankfully in this age of electronic communication, text and voice communication is instantaneous and real time.  Our service members can now communicate with their loved ones on Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day isn’t any better for veterans.  A veteran may have lost loved ones, either during their military career, or sometime thereafter.  Veterans may also be separated from their loved ones as they may be in a Veterans’ Hospital, or in a short or long term care facility.

So, Honored Readers, remember those who are cannot spend Valentine’s Day with their loved ones.  Take the time to speak to them however you can.  Let them know you care for them on Valentine’s Day.  You just might make some lonely service member’s day.

That’s all for this post, Honored Readers.  Remember, if you have something you wish for me to write as a special commemoration, go to the contact page, and send me an email.  Be sure to put “Special Commemorations” in the subject line.

That’s all for this post, Honored Readers.  I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and THIS was “The Veterans’ Voice”!

The United States Coast Guard

Hello, Honored Readers, I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and THIS is “The Veterans’ Voice”.

Well, Honored Readers, it’s been a while.  The Veterans’ Voice has been on a most unplanned hiatus, while I dealt with some personal problems that I will not discuss or enumerate here.  What I will say is that I am back.  Today is Monday, and that mean’s it’s Military Monday.  Today’s offering is about a branch of the service that is quite dear to my heart…the United States Coast Guard.

The U.S. Coast Guard was founded in 1790 by our country’s first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton.  Secretary Hamilton requested the founding of an armed seagoing service to collect customs duties in our nations seaports.  Hamilton’s request was granted, and the Revenue Marine was born.  The Revenue Marine enforced trade tariffs and combated piracy, among other duties.  Their ships were called “cutters”, and thus the term “Revenue Marine” morphed into the “Revenue Cutter Service”.  The Revenue Cutter Service is the oldest continuous seagoing service of the United States.

During the early history of the United States, a number of volunteer organizations operated shore-based life saving stations, little more than storehouses for boats and equipment, that volunteers could use to go out to aid shipwreck victims and other life saving duties.  On August 14, 1848, the United States Congress passed the Newell Act, founding the United States Life Saving Service, and allocating $10,000 to fund the coastal life saving stations.  While the Life Saving Service was administered by the Revenue Cutter Service, it still relied on volunteers.

On January 28th, 1915, the Revenue Cutter Service was merged with the Life Saving Service, creating the United States Coast Guard.  Today, the United States Coast Guard is a unique, multi-role military organization.  The Coast Guard has the capability of conducting military operations, and act as a Federal regulatory agency.  It’s roles include search and rescue missions, drug and migrant interdiction, pollution investigation and enforcement, and homeland security.  In 2001, following the 9/11 Terrorist attacks, the Coast Guard was transferred from the Department of Transportation to the newly created Department of Homeland Security.

For more information on the Coast Guard to go: http://www.uscg.mil

That’s all for today, Honored Readers.  If you have an individual, unit, or military organization you would like me to write about for “Military Monday” go to the contact page, and send me an email, with “Military Monday” in the subject line.  I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and this is “The Veterans’ Voice”.

The Military Night Before Christmas

Hello, Honored Readers, I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and THIS is “The Veterans’ Voice”!

Well, it’s Sunday, and that means it’s time for “Sunday with the Chaplain”.  Today, the Chaplain has a special gift for all of you.  It’s our rendition of a classic Christmas poem “Twas the Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore.  However, we’ve reworked it into a military variant.  We hope you enjoy it.

Twas the Military Night Before Christmas

 

Twas the night before Christmas, and all round the base.

Not a soldier was stirring, save the sentries who paced.

A tank had been draped with holly and bright lights.

It wasn’t a Christmas tree, but it was a festive enough sight.

 

In the barracks, the soldiers were snug in the beds;

while visions of loved ones and family danced in their heads.

And the General’s Wife in her nightie, and the General in boxers and short sleeves;

Were planning where to go on his holiday leave.

 

When out at the main gate, there arose such a clatter

The sentries ran out to see what was the matter

Out to the main road they flew like a flash

Wondering if a raccoon had got into the trash

 

The spotlight shined out on the new fallen snow,

But the fluffy white blanket hid the things that they know.

When what was it on the road they did peep?

A bag full of presents in an old Army jeep.

 

And the elderly driver was so good at driving “stick”

That they could easily tell it was definitely Saint Nick.

He stopped at the gate and showed his ID,

And stated his purpose as the sentries giggled with glee.

 

“I’ve presents for for the Army, the Navy, the Coast Guard;”

“For the Air Force, the Marine Corps, and the National Guard.”

“So, let me pass through, my fine fellows,” he said.

“And you’ll find wonderful presents at the foot of your bed.”

 

The sentries passed him through with a wave;

And to them he fine presents he happily gave.

All round the base, the old jeep practically flew

With a bag full of presents and Saint Nicholas too.

 

He went to the barracks and officer’s country straight through

To the family quarters and the general’s place too.

Each place that he went, he stopped without sound;

And hopped in the windows with a single, nimble bound.

 

He was dressed in fatigues of the most brilliant red.

He had boots on his feet, and a cap on his head.

His big bag or presents bounced on his back with a ruffle;

and he looked like a raw recruit carrying a duffel

 

His eyes sparkled like lights, his dimples looked merry

His cheeks looked quite warm, his nose like a cherry

His thin, little mouth was drawn tight as a bow;

And his thick, bushy beard was white as the snow.

 

A stubby old pipe  was clenched tight in his teeth;

And puffing on it, the smoke rose in rings, like a wreath;

He had a round face, and a little pot belly;

And whenever he laughed, it jiggled like red jelly

 

He said not a thing, but turned right to his work

He distributed his presents, and turned with a jerk.

And when he was done, he listened for a sound,

The out through the window he sprang with a bound

 

He sprang to his jeep, through his bag in the back;

Then took off down the road like he was under attack

And they heard him exclaim as he passed the gate again

“Merry Christmas to all, and God bless our brave Servicemen!”

 

Well, Honored Readers, that is our humble gift to all of you this Christmas.  We hope you enjoy our quaint, little parody of a Christmas classic.  That’s all we have for today.

Have a Merry Christmas, A Happy Hanukkah, a Happy Kwanzaa, and a Happy New Year.

If you have something you would like for me to write up for “Sunday with the Chaplain”, go to the contact page, and send me an email.  Please put “Sunday with the Chaplain” in the subject line.

That’s all for today, Honored Readers.  I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and THIS has been “The Veterans’ Voice”!

The True Cost of Cyberterrorism

Hello, Honored Readers, I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and this is “The Veterans’ Voice.”

Honored Readers, it’s Wednesday, and normally this is the day I post a joke.  However, “Hump Day Humor” has been preempted.  Recent events have compelled me to write a different post for The Veterans’ Voice.

When we think of Cyberterrorism, we think of some worthless idiot with horn-rimmed glasses (with masking tape in the center), sitting in his Mom’s basement hacking the Pentagon, and spreading military secrets to Islamic Terrorists.  Or we think of some faceless, nameless enemy who steals your identity and drains your bank account, thus ruining your credit and your life.  We don’t see the true cost of Cyberterrorism.  We don’t see the emotional trauma that Cyberterrorism can cause.  How can we?  For most of us, the attitude is, “it won’t happen to me!”…”it happens to OTHER people!”  Well, it can happen to anybody.   Why am I writing this on a blog for and about Veterans?  Well, a friend of mine, a fellow veteran and his wife were victims of cyberterrorism.

My friend and his wife have asked me to withhold all names from this post.  They are afraid of retaliation resulting from my telling their story.  However, my friend wants his story told, and he trusts ME and this blog to tell his story.  Therefore, I will refer to him as “The Veteran”.  I’ve know the Veteran for many years.  He was never what you might consider an outgoing man.  He is very private, keeps to himself, and rarely socializes.  In fact, I’m amazed that he actually got married.  He doesn’t give his trust easily, and he chooses his friends very carefully.  If you are able to make friends with this man, you have accomplished something, considering he has a general suspicion of the world around him.  On a recent night (in December of 2017), the Veteran heard his wife stating that she had a strange post on her social media page (by the way, names of websites have been withheld as well, to prevent retaliation against the Veteran and his wife).  The Veteran looked at her page (she trusted him to log onto her social media page and help her with the more tech savvy stuff, because he knows computers better than she does).  There was a simple block of text which was essentially a false confession to a murder that never took place.  The message called the veteran “a serial killer and a rapist”.  Now, let me state for the record, I have known his man for many years, and I know he has never killed anyone.  In fact, when he was in the service (I have also been asked to withhold his rank, specialty, and branch of service), he took a non-combat job, nice and safe, while allowing him to hold onto his philosophy of avoiding fights and killing.  I can tell you for a fact that this man is NOT a killer, has NEVER killed anyone, and NEVER WILL kill anyone.  Also, he could NOT be a rapist if he tried.  He was raised to respect women.  He respects women so much, that he politely asks his wife if she wants to make love.  And making love is not enjoyable to him, unless his wife enjoys it.  His wife has told me that she has married a dream husband!  This man would NEVER rape anyone…EVER!  And yet, some hacker hijacked his wife’s social media page and posted a fake murder confession, calling the Veteran a serial killer and rapist.  The Veteran was understandably upset by this, and tried to remove the post from his wife’s social media page, but before he did so, he took a screen capture to send to the authorities…evidence of hacking.  As he was removing the fake post, he discovered that his wife’s social media page was sending private messages to all her online friends and family.  I discreetly inquired into this incident, and was told that the hacker used what is called “a bot virus” to send the same message over and over again to everyone who was her friend on her social media page.  Nearly two hundred messages were sent out over the course of three minutes.   I type roughly fifty-five words a minute, and even I can’t send messages that fast.  Even using the “past and send” method, I would need about an hour to send that same message over and over again to all her friends and family on said social media page.   I was among the people who received this fake message, and it was essentially the same as the fake post (the Veteran showed it to me, but asked me not to copy it’s exact wording herein, because it is now official evidence in an FBI investigation into cyberterrorism, and I don’t want to get an unpleasant visit from “Agent Smith” and his “Men in Black” friends).  The fake message repeated the “fake murder confession” and “husband is a serial killer and rapist” bull crap.

To say that the Veteran and his wife were devastated is putting it mildly.  Between the hacker sending nearly two hundred messages, and the Veteran and his wife frantically sending retractions of that fake message to all her online friends and family, the social media site blocked her ability to send private messages due to the sheer volume of messages.  Many of friends of the Veteran and his wife were simply confused by the fake message.  However, too many of their friends, and a few of their family believed it was some sort of cruel joke.  The Veteran is NOT the sort of idiot who would play practical jokes on people.  He would certainly NOT play such an EVIL prank as that fake message.  And yet, some people turned their backs on him and his wife.  Some of the Veteran’s family now refuse to speak to him.  However, I can’t say that it’s because they hate him.  To be honest, the members of his family have likely withdrawn from him because they want to protect themselves and their children from the hacker.  This does not change the fact that the Veteran himself is heartbroken because of this incident.  He feels that he has been exiled from his family.  His emotional state fell so low that he even began talking about wanting to die.  Don’t worry, he still lives.  That man is too damned stubborn to kill himself.  Still, his sister told him to seek professional help, I told him to seek professional help, and his wife told him to seek professional help.  He has yet to do that, but his emotional state has marginally improved.  At least he’s no longer talking about wanting to die.  However, he is still suffering from emotional trauma.  The other day, I visited him at his job.  I’ve seen him at his job before.  Like I said, he does not socialize with people, however, he is polite.  Normally he does talk to his co-workers.  If you catch him on in the right mood, he will even crack the occasional joke.  However, after the incident, he stopped talking to his co-workers.  He only spoke when speaking was absolutely required.  Worse, he looks at you with what I can only call “dead eyes”.  AND, he does not make eye contact as he goes about his job.  I suppose the worst thing that has happened to the Veteran is the inescapable fact that he believes that he has lost his whole family…save his wife, of course.  Despite the fact that he has been told, BY HIS FAMILY, that his family has not turned against him, he won’t believe it.  I can honestly say that the Veteran has been badly affected by this incident.  The Veteran’s wife is no less affected, but she seems to handle it better.  I have spoken to the Veteran’s wife.  She is optimistic, but she is profoundly saddened at the number of dear friends and beloved family members who have now turned their backs against her.  Most of them think that the incident was an especially evil prank.  Some have even accused her of perpetrating a cruel joke.

The Veteran and his wife have told me the name of the suspects who perpetrated this act of cyberterrorism (again, I have withheld the names…though this time I have done so because the individuals in question are suspects in a federal investigation).  I am familiar with the two suspects in this incident.  The Veteran and his wife were once so-called “friends” with the suspects.  However, the suspects only wanted the Veteran and his wife to join their church.  Yes, the suspects were also religious fanatics.  I will NOT tell you what religion they practiced.  I do not want to negatively influence your opinion of the suspects’ religion.  I will state, instead, that the suspects only practiced their religion solely for the purpose of being able to use the label.  In other words, they started going to the church in question so they could call themselves practitioners of that religion.  Trust me, these two individuals are NOT true practitioners of their chosen religion.  They never bothered to learn the doctrine of that religion.  They never cared about the deity the religion worships.  In fact, they actively discourage people from worshiping said deity, while simultaneously requiring EVERYONE they meet to join their religion.  Sadly, this incident is messed up with religious hate.  In this case two religious hate involves religious fanatics hating people who refuse to join their religion.  You are probably wondering what happened to the two suspects.  All I am allowed to say is that they were taken into custody by “authorities” (I have been asked not to state what authorities are involved, beyond “Federal”).   The suspects were found in possession of a fortune of computers, cell phones, and electronic equipment that I will only call “hacking gear”.  The types and varieties of electronic equipment was enough to brand the suspects “cyberterrorists”.  It turns out that the suspects were also committing identity theft, and electronic bank robbery…that is hacking bank accounts, and draining them of all funds.  What’s worse, (depending on how you feel about the severity of different crimes) these two suspects were also committing mail theft.  Yes, they were stealing mail…particularly the Veteran’s mail.  I cannot say why, nor is it my place to speculate after the motivations of the suspects.  All I will say is that the suspects are evil.  That is the only way I can think of to describe the suspects.

But what of it?  Right?  The suspects didn’t steal the Veteran’s money.  Ironically, the Veteran does not make all that much money.  And what money he does make is usually gone as soon as he gets it.  NO, he does not waste it on frivolities.  In fact, most of his income goes into paying bills, buying groceries, fuel for their car, and the rare frivolity, though the Veteran’s wife is quite strict when it come to spending money on frivolities (her rule is, only when they can spare it!).  However, the Veteran’s bank account was NOT drained by the suspects.  In this case, the suspects chose to perpetrate a psychological attack on the Veteran and his wife.  In this case, the suspects were toxic people.  They could not control the Veteran or his wife, so they decided to corrupt how people thought of them.  The suspects meant to turn all the Veteran’s friends and family against him and his wife.  They hoped by calling the Veteran a serial killer and a rapist and falsely accusing the Veteran’s wife of murder, they would cause someone to call the police, and cause legal trouble for them…up to and including jail time.  Fortunately for the Veteran and his wife, most of their friends and family understood that the messages were fake.  Those that did not believe the messages were fake, dismissed them as some sort of cruel joke, and now refuse to speak to them.  Some of their friends and family severed contact with the Veteran and his wife to protect themselves from hacking.

We don’t think about the true cost of cyberterrorism.  Some of you might be thinking that the Veteran should just man up and get over is troubles.  Some of you might even be calling him a wuss by now.  However, you would be wrong to think such things.  The Veteran has simply reached the limit of what he can tolerate and dismiss.  He has been dealing with the suspects for the better part of four years.  They tormented, and terrorized the Veteran and his wife.  The recent act of cyberterrorism was a desperation attack because the Veteran and his wife refused to convert to the suspects’ religion.

While I have focused on the Veteran and his wife, they are by no means the only victims who have suffered the staggering emotional cost of Cyberterrorism.  millions of people around the world suffer from this particular crime every day.  It is more than just stealing money and ruining credit reports.  There is an emotional toll that the victims suffer with each act of Cyberterrorism.  If I have focused on the Veteran, it is because I am most familiar with his incident, and he asked me to write about it here on my blog.  Cyberterrorism is a terrible crime.  Don’t dismiss it as something that someone else.  Don’t assume that the victims brought it on themselves.  Don’t think that the victims could have avoided it if they were more careful.  Hackers are far more skilled than you would think they are.  The suspects in the incident that I have written had enough equipment at their disposal that they were able to hack the Veteran’s wife’s social media page and not leave any evidence.  In fact, this incident would have gone unpunished had it NOT been for another of the Veteran’s friends, who happened to have friends in the government.  Said friend (whom I cannot identify, because once again, this involves a Federal investigation into cyberterrorism) identified the suspects, and mobilized Federal authorities to apprehend them.  The suspects are now in custody, and the Big Brother friend has informed me that they will ultimately end up in Federal Prison (where is not my concern).   However, this is small consolation to the Veteran and his wife.  Like a person who has had their home robbed, the Veteran no longer trusts social media.  He cannot log onto any social media page without spending most of his time double checking log on and activity logs for anything suspicious.  He has repeatedly stated that he wants to shut down his social media page, and boycott all social media incidents all together.  Those of us who are the Veteran’s friends have told him that he should not blame social media for his emotional trauma  He has yet to get over his hatred and fear of social media.  For now, he is of the opinion that he can no longer show his face in public because he fears that “everyone” will think he is a “serial killer” and/or “a rapist”.  It has taken more than a few screaming matches between the Veteran and his wife to make the Veteran continue enjoying such things as being a member of his church choir.

Cyberterrorism is horrible.  Most of us will never know just how badly this crime can destroy someone’s emotional well being.  The Veteran’s case is one that has a dubiously positive ending, and I say that because the Veteran still lives, and he still has a few friends and family who are working with him to get over the evil attack on his psychological wellbeing.  He is still traumatized, and cut off from some of his friends and family, and only time will fix those particular relationships…if at all.  I ask you, Honored Readers, to consider my friend, the Veteran, and the terrible psychological attack he suffered the next time you hear about cyberterrorism and dismiss it as “something that happens to someone else.”

That’s all for now, Honored Readers.  I’m Petty Officer Edmundson, and this was “The Veterans’ Voice.”