NASCAR Honors 'Why We Serve' Troops at Talladega

By Petty Officer 1st Class Amy Kirk
Special to American Forces Press Service

April 30, 2007 – A soldier, a sailor, an airman and a Marine received expressions of thanks over and over again from members of the crowd at Talladega Superspeedway during the Aaron's 499 yesterday. Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Olson, Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Virginia Mayo, Air Force Tech Sgt. Robert Jubie and Marine Sgt. Noah Tretter attended the race as part of the Defense Department's "Why We Serve" program. Under the auspices of the program, troops travel on a speaker's circuit across the country telling their personal experiences from Iraq and Afghanistan.

All four servicemembers were nominated by their respective commands to be a part of the "Why We Serve" program and share their own personal stories with the country.

For all the time they have given overseas and for sharing their stories, NASCAR decided to give a little back to this group, starting with a few laps around the Superspeedway in the pace car, then moving on to a special introduction to the drivers and the race's Grand Marshal, comedian Jeff Foxworthy.

"This was my first NASCAR event," Mayo said. "The people have been so great. NASCAR fans seem to be the heartbeat of America, and I think I am quickly going to become a part of the NASCAR nation."

NASCAR has been a member of the America Supports You program since the beginning of the program. America Supports You recognizes the support of American individuals, groups and organizations for military men and women, and it communicates that support to troops at home and abroad.

NASCAR has been working to help raise awareness about the organizations' efforts by including signs at tracks, airing public service announcements on Nextel Vision and placing decals on race cars.

Jubie said the thanks he received from NASCAR and the race fans meant a lot to him.

"It really makes me feel appreciated," Jubie said. "I wish more people would be this way."

Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Olson was very humble about his experience with the NASCAR fans.

"It's a little awkward," he said. "I don't really consider myself a hero. There are way better people they could take photos with. I was just over there doing my job."

Olson added that the Why We Serve program allows the servicemembers to tell a part of the story that doesn't make it into news reports.

"I like being able to talk about the good stuff," said Olson. "In my unit, we were a tight knit group. Morale was good, and we supported each other. We got care packages from home and if we saw someone didn't, we shared. You don't see that side of it."

Trotter said that receiving support from Americans is very important to the troops.

"I know when I put the uniform on that people are going to stop me. I stop, shake hands, listen to their stories and smile," Trotter said. "We couldn't do what we do without the support of the people."

(Petty Officer 1st Class Amy Kirk is assigned to Navy Recruiting District Atlanta.)

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'EchoTaps' Musicians to Honor Veterans

American Forces Press Service

May 1, 2007 – Hundreds of musicians from across the country will pay tribute to the nation's fallen heroes on Armed Forces Day, May 19, in an event called "EchoTaps." The first EchoTaps was held in 2005, when nearly 700 brass players from 30 states gathered in upstate New York to perform the military bugle call "Taps." Buglers performed a continuous cascading version of "Taps" over a 42.2-mile path between the Woodlawn National Cemetery in Elmira and Bath, N.Y.

Later at the Bath location, the players performed "Taps" en masse. The project involved 2,200 volunteers and attracted national media coverage.

This year, a national program is being planned that will stage EchoTaps at each of the 123 national cemeteries across the United States. Organizers at each location will perform a tribute based on the number of buglers, from 10 to 1,000.

Volunteers playing horns of all types will render a cascade of "Taps" at 11 a.m. local time at each site on May 19, beginning at American Battle Monuments Commission sites in the Philippines, North Africa and then throughout Europe.

A variety of programs will follow at national cemeteries, including Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, National Park Service cemeteries, and participating state veterans cemeteries across America, beginning on the East Coast and concluding in Honolulu.

EchoTaps is a cooperative effort of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Bugles Across America. The purpose of the program is to raise awareness of national cemeteries and celebrate the 60th anniversary of the VA Voluntary Service program, which uses volunteers to help provide services to veterans.

EchoTaps also is aimed at increasing the number of buglers available for military burial services, volunteerism, and exposure of the VA Voluntary Service program.

As an example of events planned, the Military Salute Project is coordinating the event at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis. The Fort Snelling Memorial Rifle Squad and the Minnesota State Band will take part.

Tribute to the Troops, a nonprofit group based in Center City, Minn., also is slated to participate. The group organizes an annual motorcycle ride and concert to raise funds for America's fallen heroes and their families and also donates proceeds to charities benefiting those who still serve, such as Fisher House and the Wounded Warriors Hospital Fund.

Tribute to the Troops is a member of America Supports You, a Defense Department program that highlights what American individuals and corporations are doing to support military members, veterans and their families.

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Golfers Tee Off for Fisher House

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

May 1, 2007 – More than 240 golfers, including 10 injured servicemembers, hit the links at Lansdowne Golf Club in Lansdowne, Va., yesterday for the 4th Annual Fisher House Golf Classic fundraiser. The Fisher House Foundation supports America's servicemembers and their families by meeting a humanitarian need beyond that normally provided by the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, according to the organization's Web site.

The foundation also is a member of America Supports You, a Defense Department program that connects citizens and corporations with members of the military and their families at home and abroad.

"The first year we had a goal of raising $100,000," Jim Weiskopf, the vice president for communications of the Fisher House Foundation, said. "Yesterday it was announced before the event concluded that we had raised $583,000."

The net proceeds of this year's event are designated for the construction of a 16,800-square-foot, 21-suite Fisher House at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The facility will be one of four Level 1 polytrauma centers operated by the VA. Each is staffed to provide long-term rehabilitation to servicemembers with traumatic brain injuries.

The annual event began four years ago and has raised more than $1 million in support of the Fisher House Foundation.

For the servicemembers, the highlight of the day was a golf clinic that Ken Peck, a double amputee and former professional golfer, held for them. Peck, a golf instructor with the National Amputee Golf Association, said he was pleased to participate in the event to benefit the Fisher House Foundation and the veterans.

"I'm out here to kind of help some of the vets learn how to swing a little bit more ... and just show them that golf is a great game that you can play despite (having an amputation)," he said. "Golf is the most accessible sport. We don't have the running; we don't have the jumping; but we can still play the game when we stabilize ourselves and swing and hit."

Army Staff Sgt. John Shannon, a patient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center Here, was just as excited to get back to the sport he loved as Peck was to be mentoring him. The former sniper suffered a traumatic brain injury and the loss of his left eye while serving in Iraq.

"(This is) giving me an opportunity to do something I used to be pretty good at and see if I can get it back a little bit," Shannon said. "It's just a tremendous amount of fun. I don't know how to say thank you to the people that have us out here, but it's a wonderful opportunity to come out here."

Though he hasn't played golf in four years, he said it's just a matter of rediscovering his swing. Focusing on that keeps him from focusing on other -- not so pleasant -- things, he said.

"It certainly makes you forget everything else you're dealing with, which is what it's about," Shannon said.

(Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Molly Burgess of American Forces Press Service contributed to this report.)

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Wereth 11 Remembered in Ceremony

By Steven Hoover
Special to American Forces Press Service

May 1, 2007 – During the early stages of World War II's Battle of the Bulge, 11 black U.S. soldiers assigned to the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion were tortured and executed by German SS officers. Though they have been gone for many years, their spirits live on in this tiny village located in eastern Belgium. Local townspeople, along with U.S. soldiers and family members based in Belgium and Germany, participated in a wreath-laying ceremony April 28, commemorating men known as the Wereth 11. The ceremony was preceded with a procession led by a color guard from Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, in Germany.

"What happened on Dec. 17, 1944, should never be forgotten," said Brig. Gen. Dennis L. Via, commander of 5th Signal Command, in Mannheim, Germany, who served as the event's keynote speaker. "However, we are not here today to focus on the crime and the pain; we are here today to focus on the heroic lives of these 11 Americans."

But to help focus on their lives, some historical background is necessary. The following is a combination of several accounts of what occurred here 62 years ago.

After being reactivated in the regular Army as a 155 mm howitzer battalion just a year before their deployment, the 333rd Field Artillery soldiers spent their first six months in combat supporting the 2nd Infantry Division and 7th Corps, while holding the front line against German troops. When the Battle of the Bulge began, the unit was located near St. Vith, Belgium.

During the second day of the fight -- the Germans last major counteroffensive of World War II -- 11 members of the Headquarters and Service Battery became separated from their unit while evading German armor and infantry units.

While searching for food and shelter, the men spotted a farm owned by Matthias Langer, who offered the soldiers part of his family's meager rations.

At dawn, after receiving a tip, a group of Nazi SS stopped in front of the Langer house. After surrendering, the soldiers were forced to sit in the cold and mud while their fate was decided. Marched to a cow pasture behind the house, they were tortured and later shot or bayoneted to death.

In the morning, villagers saw the bodies of the men in a ditch. Since they were afraid that the Germans might return, they didn't touch the dead Americans. The bodies remained covered by snowfall until mid-February 1945 when villagers directed a U.S. Army graves registration unit to the scene.

Unlike similar war crimes, the slaying of these men wasn't well documented or prosecuted. After an investigation proved fruitless and didn't turn up any positive identification of those whom committed the murders, the investigation was closed.

As a private gesture from the Langer family, a son, Herman, erected a small cross with the names of the slain soldiers in the corner of the pasture, and for more than 60 years has maintained a vigil.

But the memorial and the town of Wereth remained basically obscure. The site was not listed in any guides or maps to the Battle of the Bulge battlefield. Even people searching for it had trouble finding it in the small community.

However, in 2001, three Belgians, including Adda Rikken, president of the U.S. Wereth Memorial Committee, began raising funds to create a more fitting memorial to the Americans.

"We knew that we wanted to create a much nicer memorial for these soldiers, but at that time our organization was very small and didn't have much money," Rikken said. "It took some time, but we eventually raised enough money to purchase more of the land that surrounded the original monument. Now we have a nice dedication to those heroic men."

The dedication of the updated memorial was held May 23, 2004. Besides monuments placed by Wereth citizens, there is a plaque from the Delaware Chapter of the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, honoring the 11 soldiers.

Road signs now mark the memorial, and the Belgium Tourist Bureau notes it in its Battle of the Bulge brochures.

The soldiers in attendance of this year's ceremony were primarily members of The ROCKS, Inc. European Officers Chapter, a non-profit organization of U.S. active-duty, reserve, retired and former commissioned officers. The organization formed in December 1974 to provide professional and social interaction to strengthen the officer corps.

In 2001, U.S. Army Garrison Benelux, Chièvres, Belgium, adopted the graves of seven men from the Wereth 11 who rest in Belgium's Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery. Adoption certificates for the graves of Staff Sgt. Thomas Forte; Spc. James Stewart; Pfcs. George Davis, George Moten,and Due Turner; and Pvts. Curtis Adam and Nathaniel Moss -- along with a history of the Wereth 11 -- are located in garrison headquarters on Caserne Daumerie.

The remains of the other four soldiers, Cpl. Mager Bradley, Spc. William Pritchett, Pfc. James Leatherwood and Pvt. Robert Green, were returned to family.

"These brave soldiers ... did not have an opportunity to see the world that they aimed to create," Via said. "Yet, because of their actions, we enjoy the world they envisioned, the world they fought for. These men were brothers, sons and fathers. They served because, like us, they believed in the values we hold dear -- freedom, justice, liberty. They believed in the greater good. For this, we are thankful for their service."

Via added his thanks to the people of Wereth, especially Rikken and Langer, for keeping the memory of the soldiers alive after all these years.

(Steven Hoover is assigned to the Public Affairs Office of U.S. Army Garrison Benelux.)

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U.S., Japanese Leaders Reaffirm Commitment to Force Realignment

By Sgt. Sara Wood, USA
American Forces Press Service

May 1, 2007 – U.S. and Japanese defense and diplomatic leaders today reaffirmed their commitment to realigning U.S. forces in Japan. Speaking to reporters here after a meeting of the U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and Japanese Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma said that the plan, which was finalized in the 2006 "two-plus-two" meeting, as it's called, is on track.

"Last year, we finalized a realignment roadmap to complete the most comprehensive set of adjustments to the American military posture in the region in more than a generation," Gates said. "Our Japanese partners assured us this week that they remain committed to the May 2006 realignment roadmap, as well as the broader alliance transformation agenda, as are we."

The realignment plan, signed last year by then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Fukushiro Nukaga, who was Japan's minister of state for defense, includes moving 8,000 U.S. Marines from the Japanese island of Okinawa to Guam, moving two U.S. air bases in Japan from urban to rural areas, and realigning the Japan Self-Defense Forces to complement the U.S. realignments.

Through a translator, Kyuma said that during today's meeting, the four leaders agreed that the realignment "will be implemented steadfastly." The leaders also agreed to enhance both nations' missile defense capabilities and strengthen information sharing, he said.

"We reaffirmed the importance of both countries working together toward alliance transformation, for not only the security of Japan, but also for peace and stability of the region as a whole," Kyuma said. "Building on this momentum, we are determined to step up our efforts to advance forces realignment and other related issues."

North Korea's 2006 missile and nuclear tests were a reminder of the potential threats Japan and the U.S. face and underscored today's meeting, Gates said. "In this context, our cooperation validated the previous investments we have made and the approaches we have taken to modernize and strengthen our alliance, while reminding us of the work that remains to be done," he said.

The four leaders also discussed the importance of strengthening ties to other countries, such as Australia, and achieving broader cooperation between Japan and NATO, Gates said. Aso noted that today's meeting also provided an opportunity for the U.S. leaders to reaffirm their commitment to defending Japan and deterring possible threats.

Rice said that this is the fourth such meeting she has attended, noting that they are useful "because they reflect the deep significance that the United States attaches to this important alliance, one that plays a vital role in the security and prosperity of Northeast Asia and, increasingly, in global security."

The two countries have made significant progress in fielding ballistic missile defense, Rice said, and the U.S. is committed to continued cooperation in the area of deterrence. "As I said in Tokyo last October, the United States has the will and the capability to meet the full range of deterrence and security commitments to Japan," she said.

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