Medical college helps Madison-based unit that lost everything in mortar attack

We received this today from Maj. Matthew Lawrence, an Army public affairs officer who has helped keep us updated on the work on the Madison-based 911th Forward Surgical Team:

"I thought you might be interested in this. The 911th Forward Surgical Team
from Madison, Wis., lost virtually everything in a rocket attack in
September. The Medical College of Wisconsin sent a number of
computers they were life-cycling to the junior Soldiers to replace some of
their more expensive items lost in the fire."

The photos were taken by Army Maj. Patricia Olsen, a member of the 911th. Above,
Soldiers from team survey the damage in September after the nighttime attack destroyed their sleeping tent at a base in Iraq's Maysan Province along the Iran border. The soldiers lost most of their possessions and equipment in the fire. They were not in the tent when the rocket hit, and no injuries were reported in the unit.

At left is another view, a fire extinguisher stands amid the rubble, and below right, the "DELAYED" sign indicates that the team was anything but defeated.

Maj. Lawrence tells the soldiers were able to get out of the tent thanks to the base defense system:

"... many times, there is a warning
in advance while a mortar is detected in trajectory. I have been told
recently that the hit was actually not a mortar, but a 107mm rocket.
Apparently, those make a whistling sound when they come in. All of the Soldiers had taken shelter in a concrete bunker when they were alerted to the attack, and none were in danger when the rocket hit the tent."

Here is an item about the donations, written for by Medical College of Wisconsin officials for college employees:

The Department of Surgery, along with the departments of Pediatrics and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Tushaus Computer Services, recently shipped nine computers to Iraq for U.S. soldiers who lost theirs in a rocket attack. It is expected that the computers will arrive in time for Christmas.

Lewis B. Somberg, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery (Trauma and Critical Care), is assigned to the 911 Forward Surgical Unit, which was deployed to Iraq in May. Dr. Somberg was not able to go with the team because he is in Command School, but said that on the evening of Sept. 4, the base the unit was stationed on came under rocket attack. All members of the unit were able to safely make it to a bunker, but their sleeping tent, where their computers and all of their other personal belongings were located, was hit and burned to the ground. Members of the unit who used that tent lost everything.

“I can tell you from personal experience that having a computer over there is an absolute necessity,” Dr. Somberg said. “It is the only lifeline you have to your family and the world.”

David Gourlay, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery (Pediatric), is also part of the Surgical Unit and was stationed in Iraq when the rocket attack occurred.

“When I returned, I was proud to see that my department had spearheaded this effort,” said Dr. Gourlay. “It is particularly difficult for the junior enlisted personnel to replace more expensive items like a computer, and will mean so much to them to know people back home continue to keep them in mind.”

President recognizes McFarland dad during Medal of Honor ceremony

Mike Brennan, the father of Joshua Brennan, was among those recognized today at a White House ceremony awarding the first Medal of Honor to a living soldier since the Vietnam War.

The award went to Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, who is credited with saving several members of his platoon and preventing the capture of his critically wounded friend, Sgt. Joshua Brennan of McFarland, a few miles south of Madison.

Joshua Brennan died from his wounds, and his father has made a mission of staying connected with other members of the unit.

The President's remarks are posted here.

The Paper Wall comes to Madison

The Paper Wall, a visual tribute to the 1,244 killed or missing in action from Wisconsin during the Vietnam War, opens today in the state Capitol, on the second floor rotunda.

The display continues until Sunday, Nov. 14.

Developed by the Brown County Library in association with dozens of statewide volunteers, this exhibit features obituaries and newspaper articles about Wisconsin’s fallen heroes from the Vietnam War.

Wisconsin Public Television, the Brown County Library, and the Wisconsin Veterans Museum are presenting the exhibit. It was first displayed in May at the LZ Lambeau event in Green Bay.

Wisconsin's women soldiers: 'Watch your back'

She was a small-town girl who joined the Wisconsin National Guard to escape a life of repeated sexual abuse, but she found more of the same among her new band of brothers.

A fellow Wisconsin soldier raped her at Fort Bliss, Texas, where 3,200 members of the state Guard's 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team soldiers trained for weeks in 2009 before deploying to Iraq, she said.

"I do get nightmares and I do have really bad flashbacks," the woman said.

The Wisconsin native asked not to be identified in this article because she fears harassment from other soldiers.

"I don't want people to say ‘the girl is a whiner,'" she said.

While the experience has tormented her, reawakening painful memories of childhood assaults by family friends and boyfriends, the woman remains a loyal soldier because the military lifted her out of what she called a dead-end, small-town existence.

Read the full story in the Wisconsin State Journal.

Last chance to see Wisconsin exhibit on Iraq and Afghanistan fallen

Here's the word from the Wisconsin Veterans Museum:

The Wisconsin Veterans Museum will be closing “Faces in the Sand” and “The Rise of the Fallen” exhibits which honor the men and women who fought and fell in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, on Saturday, October 30, 2010.

The Museum needs to make room for the upcoming Civil War Sesquicentennial in 2011. Exhibits featuring some of the Museum’s rarest and most historically significant Civil War artifacts will replace “Faces in the Sand” and “The Rise of the Fallen.” A portion of “Faces in the Sand” will relocate permanently to the Museum’s 20^th Century Gallery and “The Rise of the Fallen” will travel the state in 2011.

For more information, contact Jeff Kollath, Curator of Programs and Exhibitions, at (608) 261-0541. The Wisconsin Veterans Museum is a free public educational activity of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs and is located at 30 W. Mifflin St., across the street from the State Capitol. For more information go to www.museum.dva.state.wi.us.

Sal Giunta will be awarded MOH on Nov. 16

The White House today announced the date for Sal Giunta's medal of honor ceremony.

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 18, 2010



President Obama to Award Medal of Honor

On November 16, President Barack Obama will award Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta, U.S. Army, the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry. Staff Sergeant Giunta will receive the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions during combat operations against an armed enemy in the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan in October, 2007. Staff Sergeant Giunta's wife, Jennifer, and his parents, Steven and Rosemary Giunta will join the President at the White House to commemorate his example of selfless service.



Further information about the media logistics for this ceremony will be released at a later date.



PERSONAL BACKGROUND:



Salvatore Augustine Giunta was born on January 21, 1985. He is a native of Hiawatha, Iowa. He enlisted in the United States Army in November 2003. He attended Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Benning, Georgia. Staff Sergeant Giunta is currently assigned to 2-503rd Infantry Battalion, Rear Detachment, Camp Ederle, Italy.

Staff Sergeant Giunta has completed two combat tours to Afghanistan totaling 27 months of deployment.

His military decorations include: the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal w/oak leaf cluster, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, two Army Good Conduct Medals, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, to name a few.



He is married to Jennifer Lynn Mueller. His parents are Steven and Rosemary Giunta of Hiawatha, Iowa



ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

THE MEDAL OF HONOR:

The Medal of Honor is awarded to a member of the Armed Forces who distinguishes themselves conspicuously by gallantry above and beyond the call of duty while:



engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States;
engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or
serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.


The meritorious conduct must involve great personal bravery or self-sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his or her comrades and must have involved risk of life. There must be incontestable proof of the performance of the meritorious conduct, and each recommendation for the award must be considered on the standard of extraordinary merit.

Hero talks of Wisconsin ties

Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, the first living recipient of the Medal of Honor since Vietnam, has some strong ties to Wisconsin.

In the battle that led to President Barack Obama designating him for the medal, Giunta prevented Afghan attackers from carrying off a wounded Wisconsin soldier, Sgt. Josh Brennan.

Brennan's father, Mike Brennan, is a McFarland resident and a Madison police officer.

Josh Brennan's cousin Joseph Brennan of Mequon is serving in the same unit in Afghanistan. You can read about the Brennan family here.

In a Sept. 11 interview, Giunta told the Wisconsin State Journal that he hopes the medal will increase awareness of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He doesn't know how his life will change as the first living Medal of Honor recipient from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, but he hopes to be able raise awareness about what his fellow soldiers are experiencing.

"Nobody is over here is trick or treating, no one's handing out candy to us," he said.

Many in the military and elsewhere see life going on as usual in the United States while the wars continue to extract heavy sacrifices from those on the battlefields.

"We're sitting here in an air conditioned office in a reclining chair living this life, and we're able to live this life because there are people out there who are not living this life," Giunta said. "We'll spread the word. Sooner or later, they'll get tired of hearing it and they'll start listening."

In a press conference on Sept. 15, here's what Giunta told representatives of national media organizations:

And if other people don’t know, well, hopefully they’ll listen to this and they’ll remember that there’s out -- there’s men and women out there every single day giving everything for their country.

For more, read the State Journal's coverage on the day Giunta's medal was announced by the White House, and a preview article on July 4, 2010.