Vietnam vet awarded Silver Star after 45 years!

The memories are still vivid, former Staff Sgt. Paul Taylor said.

That was why after receiving the third-highest decoration in all U.S. military branches, he had his daughter, Laura, say his thanks.

Taylor, 68, received the Silver Star award Saturday at Fort Wainwright, 45 years after an act of heroism that saved a fellow soldier’s life and sent Taylor to a nine-month stay in the hospital. After earning the award Jan. 17, 1967, the paperwork got lost in the shuffle, and Taylor never received recognition. Taylor joined the U.S. Army in 1964, during a period of heightening U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.

He voluntarily joined because, he said, he didn’t want a run-of-the-mill job, like cooking or driving.

“If I was going to go into the Army, I wanted to do something exciting,” he said.

What Taylor really wanted to do was become part of a special forces unit. He remembers the window of opportunity to join a special forces unit was closing, when he decided to call one legendary Mrs. Billye Alexander — an employee of the Pentagon’s personnel office, who wrote the transfer orders for special forces soldiers.

He asked if he could be sent to Vietnam with a unit.

On Jan. 17, 1966, Taylor’s platoon was on patrol when it came under heavy gun fire. Taylor and another soldier led a charge toward the enemy’s machine gun, but were wounded. They were trapped in a rice paddy. The platoon’s senior medic, Taylor dragged his fellow soldier to safety and continued the attack on the enemy. He ensured the safety of the soldier and his platoon before being transported to a hospital with three gun shot wounds for a nine-month stay. He medically retired that year.

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Are you that MOM?

Don't judge, admitting you have a problem is the first step.
This is a little quiz. Are you open about the fact that you suck at parenting and wish that you could be better at it? Do you also wish you could be less annoying? You know what I mean when I talk about being THAT mom, right? The one you always see in the grocery store? Or whose kid is on the same soccer team? Well for every one of these questions, most will answered yes, you are that MOM!

1. At the Kiss and Ride, I sometimes get out of the car even though I'm not supposed to. I know that this makes people mad and occasionally late for work, but I just can't help myself.

2. I have used my fingers as a Kleenex and my spit instead of soap on my child's face. I have done so in public.

3. I force my children to brush their teeth and floss. But usually only right before their dentist appointments.

4. I have scheduled playdates for my kids just so they would be distracted by their friends and leave me alone for a little while.

5. Sometimes when I'm at the store, I find myself narrating everything I'm doing for the benefit of my child in an abrasively loud and slow manner. Saying things like: "We're going to by organic broccoli and apples today but not organic meat because it's too dang expensive. Would you like Goldfish for snack? What letter does Goldfish start with? Very good."

6. I sometimes only volunteer for the things where I know I won't actually have to do anything.

7. I allow my children to run around the neighborhood as if they were off-leash puppies. Sometimes I'm outside with them. Sometimes I just keep the window open to hear them yelping.

8. I frequently bring my children places in public and realize that compared to the Gymboree-clad, neatly braided, fresh-and-clean-faced offspring of other mothers, my kids look like filthy street urchins.

9. If another mom on the playground is either hovering like a helicopter in yoga pants or facebooking on her phone while her kids dart into traffic, I will try really, really hard not to be a Judgy McJudgerson but I might have a few minutes of Paltrow-like smugness. Then I feel schmiddty about it.

10. I habitually forget things like snacks and extra pull-ups and always have to ask other moms to hook me up and feel like an idiot because I forgot the baby carrots on the counter again.

11. I have given another mom the righteous sniff if she volunteers for snack and then shows up with Capri Suns and Cheetos still in the Target bag.

12. I have signed up to be snack mom and then forget until five minutes before the game and then shown up with Capri Suns and Cheetos still in the Target bag.

Source: http://www.rantsfrommommyland.com/2012/01/are-you-that-parent.html

Ultrasound shows angel watching unborn baby!

Mother Sees Angel Watching Over Her Unborn Baby!

When Dee Lazarou went into labour early at home, she knew the risks of having a home delivery. There was no midwife present as baby Leo made his way into the world as she gave birth on their bathroom floor, helped only by her family. But she knew that no harm could come to him - as they had already been given a sign that he was being looked over in the womb.

Amazingly in the scan picture taken of her son Leo when she was 12 weeks pregnant, Mrs Lazarou could clearly make out a face resembling an angel. She and her husband were convinced he was looking over their unborn child, to see him born safely.

Mrs Lazarou, 31, an team leader for the police force communications emergency room, said: ‘It was such a comfort to think that someone was looking after our son. ‘When I gave birth on our bathroom floor, there was no midwife to help us and my husband had to deliver Leo.

Mrs Lazarou was just 12 weeks into her pregnancy when they spotted the remarkable image in the scan picture taken at Lister Hospital in Stevenage.‘His cord was wrapped around his neck and it was my mother who pulled the cord free. It was a nerve-wracking experience, but I’m sure that a guardian angel was looking over him to make sure he was delivered safely.’

Mrs Lazarou, who lives with husband Thomas, 34, a policeman, and their son Oliver, three, in Stevenage, said: ‘I didn’t look at the scan picture until we got home. I was looking at it with Oliver, telling him that it was a picture of his little brother or sister, when I noticed something odd in the corner of the picture. ‘I could see clearly that it was a face. I showed it to my husband when he got home from work. ‘We were stunned to see it - as it was such a clear image. It was such a comfort to me during the rest of my pregnancy, knowing that we had someone looking over our baby in the womb.’

When Mrs Lazarou was a week past her due date she started with contractions. She said: ‘I decided to have a bath to ease the pain as I thought I would have several hours before I would have to get to hospital, and the pains were mild so I wasn’t even sure at first that they were proper labour pains.’ But the pains quickly got worse. Mrs Lazarou called both her mother Marie and her husband to come home. She said: ‘I knew that there was no time to get to hospital. I was in the bathroom and I felt the urge to push. Tom helped me lie down on the floor and paramedics gave him instructions over the phone as he delivered our baby. ‘I was worried because there was no midwife and I had always been adamant that I wanted to have a hospital birth as I knew that home births could be risky. So to be giving birth to my son at home was terrifying. I just had to hope and pray that he would be alright.’

Baby Leo arrived on the bathroom floor in August weighing 8Ibs, but then a drama unfolded as he had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. Mrs Lazarou said: ‘It was terrifying. When Tom caught him in his arms as he was delivered, we saw that the cord was wrapped around his neck which could have been lifethreatening to him. ‘Mum luckily was able to unwrap it from around his neck and free him. And moments later he uttered a cry, which was such a relief. It was the most amazing sound as we knew that he was alright.’

The paramedics arrived just after the birth and took Mrs Lazarou to hospital for a check up. She said: ‘Luckily we were both fine and we were allowed home, which was such a relief. ‘When we saw the face of someone in the scan picture we were stunned, but now we know that it was for a reason. ‘He was watching over Leo to make sure he was delivered safely. The face in the scan picture was such a comfort to us all.

‘I’ve put it in a keepsake box to show Leo when he was older, to be able to tell him the story of his remarkable birth.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2075761/Mother-sees-face-angel-pregnancy-scan-watching-baby-womb.html#ixzz1mnYaKIg9

The Wall That Heals Visits Veteran's Hometown!

The Vietnam Veteran's Wall Arrives In Bakersfield, CA!

The 'Wall that Heals' has made its way to the hometown of  Vietnam Veteran Sgt. Jimmy D. McDaniel. After growing up in Bakersfield, my father graduated high school in 1963 and soon joined the US Army. Within a couple of years he met my mother who also grew up in the small town just a few blocks away and they married in 1966. On Valentine's Day of 1967 he received his orders to be deployed to Vietnam in March of 1968 and completed his tour returning with the Medal of Honor, hearing loss and had been exposed to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam. He has a remarkable military career that he proudly looks back on with no regrets. Today he suffers from Parkinson's Disease, Neuropathy, PTSD & more from the exposure to Agent Orange. He and my mother are doing well and after retiring a decade ago have moved from the central California area to the Foothills of Northern California where they are surrounded by their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He was happy to hear that the wall is visiting his home town and still is very proud of his service and doing good.

On Wednesday, dozens of riders with the American Legion met up at the Grapevine to escort the wall. "That’s the scoreboard of freedom on the wall,” said Boomer Montgomery, President of American Legion Riders, Post 26. “You can see what the cost really is." The memorial is taking a road trip across the US and added Bakersfield to its stops. Inside the truck, is a half scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. It stands 5 ft. tall and 125 ft. long. It's about $5,000 state to state.

“It’s our way of showing love for our veterans and what they’ve done for us,” Montgomery said. “It brings the Kern County names here to where their loved ones can see it. If they can’t make it to D.C. at least they can see their name on the wall and touch it, be with their spirit.”

He and the American Legion riders led the wall down the 99 Freeway, bringing it to the Beale Library. Bob Dobek and his wife have been driving the 'Wall the Heals' truck for three years. They are licensed truck drivers with more than a million miles under their belt. Dobek fought in Vietnam and says the memorial holds special meaning for him.

"I’ve got 14 buddies on that wall. It's very close and personal to me,” said Dobek. “I grew up with kids in grade school and junior high, and they’re no longer with me, so you really didn’t have an opportunity to say goodbye to a lot of your friends.”

He drove the wall to Bakersfield two years ago. It came back this time because three Kern County veterans will be riding bikes from Bakersfield to the full scale permanent memorial near the Lincoln Monument in Washington.

"It’s very symbolic because that is our goal to arrive to that wall in Washington D.C.,” said Wesley Barrientos, an Iraq War veteran. “To see it here and know that we'll be touching the real one, it means the world."

Barrientos lost both his legs in 2007 to a roadside bomb in Iraq. He, along with veterans Jeremy Staat and 65-year-old Dale Porter, plan to bike to the nation’s capital in 100 days. They want to raise awareness about education and health care for veterans.

Dozens of veterans carried pieces of the wall and set it up in the library's parking lot where it will be until Monday. The replica was built is 1996 and is made out of black powdered-coated aluminum.

The memorial lists the names of 58,272 soldiers who died or went missing in the Vietnam War. 156 soldiers from Kern County died in the Vietnam War. Dobek says the wall helps give soldiers closure. “If you’ve ever been wounded before, it hurts,” he said. “If you don’t clean that wound, it doesn’t heal properly, and 40 or 50 years later, there’s still a lot of guys suffering with a lot of anguish over it. Sometimes when they come out it reopens that wound, but it allows you to cleanse it because you’re with other guys who know exactly what you’ve gone through.”

There is a name locator near the 'Wall that Heals' where anyone can come from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. to look up the name of a Vietnam soldier. The three veterans biking to the D.C memorial will head out on Sunday.

Source: Bakersfield News Channel 17 kget.com

http://www.kget.com/news/local/story/Wall-that-Heals-comes-to-Bakersfield/2VvrfTR5sEOiDyuRbfjRHw.cspx