U.S. Army Bloggers Roundtable: Staff Sgt. Eddie Peoples

The U.S. Army hosted a Bloggers Roundtable on Monday, June 6, 2011 EDT, featuring Staff Sgt. Eddie Peoples, a heroic service member who recently foiled a bank robbery. While visiting family members in Sarasota, Fla., on leave, Staff Sgt. Eddie Peoples from the 386th Movement Control Team, detained a suspect who had allegedly just committed a bank robbery and held him until the police arrived. On the afternoon of May 31, Peoples and his two children stopped at a local bank in Sarasota. While he was there with his children, the suspect who has been charged with armed robbery and is being detained by local authorities, entered the bank, demanded money from bank employees and left with an undetermined amount of cash.

Peoples, who watched the whole situation transpire, said he knew he could not stand by. Staff Sgt. Peoples took matters into his own hands and single-handled taking down the bank robber. It was these selfless actions in the face of danger that resulted in a commendation medal from The Sarasota Police Department. Take advantage of an opportunity to talk to Staff Sgt. Peoples, a ten-year Army Veteran, about his deployments and current duties with the 386th Movement Control Team, 14th Transportation Battalion, 16th Sustainment Brigade, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, stationed in Vicenza, Italy.

What is a Hero?

What is a Hero? This collection of short stories indirectly asks the question - what is a hero? Each of the 13 authors wrote about a specific person whom the author identified as an American Hero. Each author had a different take - some heroes were thrust into danger; others were comedic, yet heroic; still others were role models because of their heroic nature. While all different, there is a common thread: heroism.

Retailer Brings Holiday Cheer to Fisher Houses

By Sharon Foster
American Forces Press Service

Dec. 8, 2008 - More than 50 local Wal-Mart associates donated their time and tinsel Dec. 4 to bring holiday cheer to servicemembers recovering from wounds at Fisher Houses at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here and Andrews Air Force Base, Md. Wal-Mart associates "decked the halls" for the two Fisher Houses and also presented a check for $280,000 at the Walter Reed location.

"Decorating the Fisher Houses was important for a number of reasons," said E.R. Anderson, Wal-Mart regional media director. "First, Wal-Mart is committed to giving back to the communities where we operate. Second, we want to say 'thank you' to our servicemen and women for all they do for us. We also want to appreciate their families."

Nationally, Wal-Mart Stores is donating $250,000 to the Fisher House Foundation -- $100,000 to support the purchase of gifts cards for unmet needs of families spending the holidays in a Fisher House, $95,000 in direct support to the houses, and $55,000 for fees associated with Hero Miles tickets to unite families during the holidays.

In the Washington area, Wal-Mart Foundation's State Giving Program is donating an additional $30,000 to area Fisher Houses.

Fisher Houses are built on the grounds of major military and Veterans Affairs medical centers. They provide free lodging for military families to be close to loved ones during hospitalization.

James D. Weiskopf, executive vice president of communications at the Fisher House Foundation, said he is proud of the partnership with the world's largest retailer.

"Community involvement and support is essential to the program," Weiskopf said. "Supporting America's servicemen and women, and most especially those wounded or injured, is a duty for all Americans. Wal-Mart is a very patriotic, community-spirited corporation, and we are proud of our association."

America Supports You: Group Helps Wounded Vets Secure Adaptive Housing

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

July 23, 2008 - Wounded veterans have a new source to turn to when looking for housing to meet their individual challenges after the expansion of a successful pilot program in Texas. "Helping a Hero" has been working for the past year to provide adaptive homes to wounded veterans of the war on terrorism, said Meredith Iler, chairman of the organization's Wounded Hero Home Program.

"Our principal activity is to provide specially adapted homes for qualifying servicemembers as well as engaging the community to provide services and resources for our wounded heroes and their families," she said. "We have awarded 13 homes and have plans to award another 100 homes in the next 12 months."

All the houses the group provides are part of planned communities, she said. The developers donate a lot, and one of the builders in the community matches the amount of the donated land in construction costs.

The homes range from $200,000 to $300,000 in value, with an average of $250,000. Recipients of the homes are required to sign a contract prohibiting them from borrowing against the equity in the house for 10 years, however. That policy is non-negotiable; even if the loan were for a worthy cause like starting a business, it's too risky, Iler explained. If the business were to fail, the veteran and his or her family could lose the home.

"We're trying to establish stability in their lives," Iler said.

To that end, Helping a Hero doesn't just get veterans into homes and wish them well. The group also offers ongoing workshops to help them reintegrate into the community and works to connect them with community service organizations such as the Rotary Club.

These connections not only provide support and a sense of community, but also could lead to employment, Iler said.

Helping a Hero is a new supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad. The group's hope is that this affiliation will help spread the word to qualified veterans, Iler said.

"Our goal is to provide a home to every single severely wounded Hero in the next 10 years," she added.

Full details on how to apply for an adaptive home through Helping a Hero are available on the organization's Web site.

America Supports You: Military Couples to Wed with Hollywood's Help

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

July 22, 2008 - After matching servicemembers re-entering the civilian work force with military friendly employers, "Hire a Hero" is stepping outside its box and trying some matchmaking of a different kind. The troop-support organization has teamed with Dreamworks Television and Mark Burnett Productions to help two deserving military couples have their dream weddings. The gesture is a thank you for their service and commitment to the country, according to the Hire a Hero Web site.

"Providing something like this is just great," said Rob Barr, a Hire a Hero representative. "It's showing support for the troops, and it's kind of giving them hope that there are really people out there that care."

The next step to helping two couples live happily ever after begins at the Hire a Hero Web site. military couples who plan on marrying later this year can fill out the entry and share the challenges they've faced while trying to plan a wedding with at least one spouse serving their country.

Just the distance during a deployment, for example, can make things nearly impossible, Barr said. Then the occasional tour extension crops up and completely undoes what the couple may have managed to get done.

"Little things like that," he said. "But they're also looking for military spouses that just said, 'OK. You know what? We're going to go to the courthouse, get married and have a wedding later.'"

Once the midnight July 28 entry deadline passes, it's all up to the Hollywood folks to choose the two lucky couples for the big "Wedding Day" program that will air on a major TV network this fall, Barr said, adding that he has no idea what's in store for the couples chosen.

"They're kind of keeping that top secret information," he said. "All I was told was that they're going to get ... to have their dream wedding."

Barr said he thinks Hire a Hero was approached to help find couples because of the group's involvement with helping former "Apprentice" winner Kelly Perdew find applicants to be his assistant.

"To my knowledge, I think they got our information from someone ... who said, 'Hey, use "Hire a Hero" to look for this kind of person,'" he said.

Hire a Hero is a supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad.

America Supports You: Anheuser-Busch Offers Free Theme Park Admission

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

May 15, 2008 - For the rest of this year, sitting in Shamu the killer whale's "splash zone" or talking turkey with a big yellow bird are just two activities servicemembers and their families can enjoy for free at Anheuser-Busch Adventure Parks. Through its "Here's to the Heroes" program, which began in 2005, the brewing company is offering free tickets to its theme parks for servicemembers and up to three family members to thank them for all they do in service to the country.

"It's important to us for all the reasons you can probably predict," said Fred Jacobs, vice president of communications for Anheuser-Busch. "[This] is a great way for them to reconnect, particularly if they've been separated."

Jacobs knows the program is living up to the company's goals when he sees letters like one an airman wrote.

Air Force Master Sgt. Michael Huffman said in his letter that he didn't join the service for applause or to become a hero, but is simply serving his country as his father and grandfather did.

In his 26 years of service, Huffman said, he's seen the pendulum of public support swing from the more negative end of the spectrum to where it is today.

"I see the people express their support, and while I do appreciate it, I never really gave it much thought ... until I sat through the opening video of the whale show at Sea World," he said in the letter to Anheuser-Busch. "There before [everyone] was your CEO expressing his gratitude to me. Sure, it wasn't directed solely at me, ... [but] I felt a pride in serving that I had forgotten was in me. I had become so complacent.

"For that alone, I owe you thanks," Huffman added. "The free admission and opportunity to enjoy some high-quality family time was icing on the cake."

Active-duty servicemembers, activated or drilling reservists from all five branches of service, and National Guardsmen are eligible for the program.

All servicemembers need do is register online, print and sign the form and bring it with them. If the form can't be printed, it can be filled out upon arrival at the park. Every person over 10 participating in this program must present valid active-duty military or service identification.

Each pass is valid for a one-day admission per person per year to five of Anheuser-Busch's seven theme park brands. Visitors may choose Sea World Orlando, San Diego or San Antonio; Busch Gardens Tampa Bay or Williamsburg; Pennsylvania's Sesame Place; Florida's Adventure Island; or Virginia's Water Country USA. Discovery Cove and Aquatica parks are not included in this offer.

Anheuser-Bush is a corporate supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad.

Soldiers Remember Medal of Honor Recipient in Iraq

By Sgt. Jasmine Chopra, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service

April 4, 2008 - He was a husband, father, soldier and leader, but today Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, the 3rd Infantry Division's 51st Medal of Honor recipient was remembered here simply as a hero. U.S troops held a remembrance ceremony the courtyard where five years ago to the day, Smith gave his life in defense of others.

On April 4, 2003, Smith was setting up a short-term enemy prisoner of war holding area near the Baghdad International Airport when his unit was attacked by enemy soldiers.

Outnumbered, with wounded soldiers and damaged vehicles, Smith told his men to get back, as he manned a .50-caliber machine gun from the exposed turret of an armored personnel carrier damaged by rocket-propelled grenades and mortars. He fired at the enemy and unleashed some 300 rounds allowing his other soldiers to reorganize and mount an attack. Smith and his men defeated the enemy. During the attack Smith fell mortally wounded.

A disciplined, no-nonsense platoon sergeant with the division's Company B, 11th Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, Smith received the nation's highest award for bravery in 2005.

"He was a soldier who took care of soldiers ... he lost his life doing it," said Brig. Gen. William Grimsley, who commanded the 1st Brigade Combat Team at the time of Smith's death.

Now the deputy commander of the 4th Infantry Division, Grimsley recommended Smith for the Medal of Honor. He was one of several leaders who knew Smith and took time out from operations today in order to attend the ceremony.

In 2003, Capt. Christopher Doerr, of the 3rd Infantry Division's Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Special Troops Battalion, was a 23-year-old brand-new second lieutenant.

"I'll always treasure the fact I got to serve with and know Sgt. 1st Class Smith," Doerr said.

He admired Smith's expertise, precision and dedication to mission accomplishment.

"He was an expert engineer, the best in the battalion," Doerr said. "The way he motivated his soldiers, they didn't necessarily like him, he wasn't their friend, but he made them train to standard.

"It all makes sense now, why he pushed us, why we did the things we did. Now we are here because of that," Doerr said.

Smith had been in combat when he was a young private first class in Desert Storm. In Kuwait, just days before invading Iraq, Doerr asked Smith to tell him what war was going to be like.

"He said, 'war is hell,' and he showed me that first hand," Doerr said. "He laid it all on the line and that was not a fluke ... he was concerned for the safety of his men and others and he put that above his own personal safety, and I think you've got to say he's a hero for that."

More than 200 people attended the remembrance ceremony, including Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, commander of Multi-National Corps – Iraq, who in 2003 was the deputy commander for maneuver for the 3rd Infantry Division.

Large-scale pictures showed Sgt. 1st Class Smith in desert camouflage uniform days before the battle. Diagrams, mounted on an armored personnel carrier like the one Smith used, detailed his heroic action. Visible from the courtyard was the bullet-riddled tower that the enemy had fought for but failed to seize.

A bugler played Taps and, after the ceremony, soldiers walked the site and reflected on the sacrifice he had made for our country.

(U.S. Army Sgt. Sgt. Jasmine Chopra is assigned to the Multinational Division - Center Public Affairs Office.)

Face of Defense: Real Estate Agent Chooses to Serve

By Sgt. Brandon Little, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service

Feb. 14, 2008 - A little more than two years ago, Juliana Rizzo was a real estate agent living in Long Island, N.Y., with her two children, Angelo and Amanda, when she decided it was time to fulfill her childhood dream. That dream was to join the United States Army.

"As a little girl, I always wanted to join the Army, because my father and grandfather spent several years in the military and served their country proudly," said Rizzo, a supply specialist in Company E, 3rd Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, Task Force 12, Multinational Division Baghdad.

"I don't know if my father ever deployed, but my grandfather served in the Korean War and Vietnam," she said. "They've both become very successful (in jobs outside the military), but they started their education in the Army."

Rizzo, the daughter of an airplane mechanic and granddaughter of a NASA radio communications transmitter, also has achieved plenty of her own success in the short time she's been in the military.

"When (Rizzo) arrived to unit, only three days after the unit was established, she was a private fresh out of advanced individual training and she had a hip problem that really bothered her," said Army 1st Sgt. Foy Dix, of Company E. "I had a talk with her and told her that being in the Army means sometimes you have to overcome pain. Within 60 days, she nearly scored (the maximum) 300 points on her physical fitness test."

In addition to overcoming physical adversity, the new private also had to learn her job quickly and with little supervision.

"Her supply sergeant went to the basic noncommissioned officer course while the unit was still being set up, so she had to set up the unit supply office by herself," said Dix, a native of Ventura, Calif. "She also helped run a company that had no commander -- just a first sergeant and three flight lieutenants."

Even though her leaders said they already were impressed by her work ethic and determination in keeping track of more than $3.5 million worth of unit equipment, Rizzo's most attention-grabbing performance was yet to come.

"When we were in (Hohenfels, Germany) going through 'Iron Warrior' training, she went up to the Iraqi role players and started talking to them in their own language," said Army Command Sgt. Maj. Chad Cuomo, 3rd Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, a native of Troy, N.Y. "Nobody knew that she spoke Arabic, and it especially shocked the role players; she was definitely the hero of the battle out there."

"I learned Arabic in my Long Island neighborhood, and I pretty much taught myself a lot of the (words and phrases) I didn't know," Rizzo said. "I'm not very fluent in Arabic, but I do know enough to communicate. I also speak Spanish, and I know some phrases in Hindu."

Rizzo does a lot more than just handle unit supplies; she operates the company arms room, does public affairs for Company E, and she takes time to listen to some of the issues her fellow soldiers are having, Dix said.

She made such a strong impression throughout the battalion that she was sent to the Warrior Leadership Course as a private first class, Cuomo said. Soldiers usually attend the course at the rank of specialist or sergeant.

"I went down and talked with the WLC sergeant major two days after the course started, and I asked him, 'If I had a high-speed private first class, would you take that person?'" he said. "The course was a little rough for her, because she was the only private first class there, but she made it through and graduated in the top 17 percent of her class."

Rizzo was promoted to specialist shortly after arriving in Iraq and went to the sergeant's promotion board four months later. She received 150 points in the promotion board, and was recently laterally promoted to corporal. She continues to set the standard and then to exceed that standard, Dix said.

"I just try to give 100 percent in everything I do," Rizzo said, "and I always try to do above what is expected of me."

The soon-to-be sergeant is taking online classes toward a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. She said she hopes to one day be an Army career counselor or an Arabic linguist.

Dix said he won't be surprised if Rizzo is selected to be a staff sergeant by the end of her deployment.

"If she continues to do what she's doing know, I see her being a sergeant promotable before we leave Iraq," Dix said. "I know I couldn't do as much she does and continue to smile. I have no doubt that if I had five of her, I could run an entire platoon."
(Army Sgt. Brandon Little serves with Task Force 12 Public Affairs in Multinational Division Baghdad.)