Vietnam Veterans Memorial

http://www.wkrn.com/Nashville/news/students-visit-traveling-Vietnam-memorial
http://www.wkrn.com/Nashville/news/traveling-Vietnam-memorial-comes-to-music-city

Here are links to two stories I did about a traveling display of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The wall is located at 660 Thompson Lane in Nashville at Woodlawn Cemetery and will be on display through Sunday.

Rock, Paper Sissors

Check out this ROCKETBOOM report about the game rock, paper, sissors. It's pretty good and made me laugh which is always a good way to start a day.

Homecoming

The soldiers at Ft. Campbell are still returning home. I haven't been up there for a while so I thought I would link you to the Ft. Campbell Courier welcome home photo gallery. The picture here was taken by CW2 Frank Capri, 101st CAB. Frank is an Apache Helicopter pilot who I did a story about a few weeks back. He is also a good photographer. I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures of soldiers reuniting with their families.

Up Coming Stories

I currently working on a couple of stories that should be on the news soon. MSGT Johnny Wolfe is a 118th Air Lift Wing Air National Airmen. One of Johnny's job is to make sure the parachutes that support the crew of C-130's stay in top shape. I talked with Johnny as he was inspecting a chute and will have a story about it.

A traveling display of the Vietnam Memorial Wall arrived in Nashville on Tuesday afternoon. Several hundred motorcycles riders rode to the state line and escorted the wall into Nashville. I rode along on the back of a Harley Davidson bike for part of the ride. It was impressive seeing all the veterans and current soldiers showing there respect for the those who lost their lives during the Vietnam war.

The wall will be set up on Thursday at Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery on Thompson Lane. If you have never had a chance to see the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington DC, then go by and see the wall while it is here in Nashville. Even if you have seen the one in Washington then still go by and see it while it is town.

UXO Music

SSG Clifton Vail is an instructor at Ft. Campbell's Non Commissioned Officer Academy. He has been in the Army for twelve years and his job is to help train new sergeants on how to be good leaders. Clifton says he loves the Army life and has gained valuable experience as a result of his choice to serve our country. The reasons people chose to join the military vary from the GI bill to a chance to travel the world but for Clifton the reason to join the Army was simple. He wanted to be able to fund his passion of making music. Clifton loves rap music and hopes to be the next big rap artist.

Like most of us, Clifton puts in long hours at work. When he get off he has to balance being a father and husband with his desire to make music. He's started his own label called UXO Music. UXO is an Army acronyms for unexploeded ordinance which is symbolic for Clifton's music career as he feels like it will explode any minute now when his music is heard by the right person.

Clifton, aka V-Smooth says the discipline and work ethic he's learned from the Army has shaped and helped him balance work, family life and producing his music. Clifton has spent a lot of his own money to put out an album called War Stories- The Mix Tape Vol. 1. The album should be out next month in music stores around Ft. Campbell and in Nashville. It will also be available for purchase from his web site where you can preview some of his songs.

I'm not a huge rap fan but I did like some of his music and was glad to be able to get to know the man behind the music.

Watch the story.

Fun in the Sand- long version

http://shock.military.com/Shock/videos.do?displayContent=102441

I found the long version of Fun in the Sand. I wonder if it was worth the trouble they got themselves into.

Glory Album Project

Judy Fish started the Glory Album Project as a way to remember five soldiers who were killed from her husbands unit. The Glory Album is a scrap book dedicated to the honor and memory of Ft. Campbell soldiers who have been killed in the line of duty. Watch the story.

The pictures above are two of our Fallen Heroes, SFC Jason L. Bishop and CPL Michael J. Idanan. The pictures below were taken at a memorial service held in Iraq. The helmet and dog tags signify the fallen soldier. The inverted rifle with bayonet signals a time for prayer, a break in the action to pay tribute to our comrade. The combat boots repersent the final march of the last battle.



If would like to get more info from Judy about the Glory Album Project you can email her at Croppies@bellshouth.net or check out her scrap book site.

A New Name

I will be changing the name of this blog and also the home of the blog. I'm switching over to a blog site hosted by News 2. I'm excited about the change becaue it will allow me to post video of my stories easier.

I will need a new name with the change and I would like it to reflect my news beat. I cover the military for News 2 so 90 percent of my stories are about the military. I'm not that creative so I would like to enlist the help of the three of you who read this. That means you, Mom, Ember and Jeff.

Give me any ideas for a name even if it doesn't include the military.

JROTC

Business leaders say they can train employees how to do the business but what they can't as easily teach are a strong work ethic and how to work as a team. To help young people learn these skills educators turned to the JROTC program. The Army's Junior Officer Training Corps helps instill team work and ethics in their cadets, two qualities that the business world is looking for.

The Virtual Enterprise classes offered by Rutherford County High schools teamed up with the JROTC program and had VE students take a team building course taught by fellow JROTC cadets. I did a story Thursday about the program. You can watch it at WKRN.com

118th Airlift Wing

Here is a link to the story I did on the 118th Airlift Wing from Nashville. 37 airmen returned from a rotation in Afghanistan. The Air Guard crews rotate in and out with the C-130 they fly. They keep the aircraft on a 35 or 40 day rotation so the airmen usually don't have to stay as long as the Marines or Army.

Another Good Video

This is a pretty good video showing off some superior air power of the US Airforce.

Fun in the Sand

I found this on the web. Check it out.

When Daddy Comes Home

When Daddy Comes Home is the name of a children's book written by Kristie Algeo. She is the mother of three kids and the wife of a soldier who is currently stationed at Fort Campbell. I had the pleasure of meeting her and her youngest son, Michael, on Tuesday morning. I did a story about Kristie and the books she has written.

Kristie wrote two books, When Daddy Goes Away and When Daddy Comes Home. I never really thought about how having a parent come back into your life after being away for a year could be difficult. The books she wrote were inspired when she saw how stressed her kids were when their Daddy was deployed. Kristie said she had a strong support network with family and church but it still was hard to deal with. She knew if her family had trouble than other families would be struggling to. Kristie told me about how her son Samuel would wrestle and play with Dad inside the house but would not go outside to play with him. Finally after some digging Samuel told his parents that he was afraid the "bad guys" would see his dad out side and hurt him. The adjustments also have to be made by mom and dad. Kristie said they were at a parade when several floats went by. On this one float, the kids were crouched down behind hay bales and they popped up to throw candy into the crowd. When they did this in front of Major Don Algeo, he hit the deck and covered his head. His survival instinct kicked in as he was recently home from Afghanistan were they don't throw candy into the crowds.

Kristie could not find a publishing company who would publish the books so Kristie went back to work last year as a teacher to help cover the expense of self publishing. She says if one family is helped by the books it is all worth it.

If you know of a military family with young children and want to get them the books Kristie tells me they are the cheapest from Pleasant Word, the company that printed them. They're also available at Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com

Kristie gave me a copy of the books and since I don't have any kids I think I will give them to the first military family or friends of a military family who leaves a comment and asks for them.