It’s the soldier at back right that really gets us. (Go90 Meals Ready To Eat screenshot)
The ongoing conflict between the citizens of these two nations has become, in our time, the textbook case of intractability in human coexistence, an example of the kind of horizonless mistrust that pits neighbor against neighbor in enmity over a mutually claimed homeland.
Say what you will, this kid has got balls. (Go90 Meals Ready To Eat screenshot)
…in general, there is no meeting between them. It’s not something normal between Israeli and Palestinian people. There is a fear, there is a stereotype…both sides lost their humanity in the other side’s eyes. —Mohammed Judah, NEF Staff
Extremism for any cause make us strangers to our own humanity. (Go90 Meals Ready To Eat screenshot)
How does one begin to help unbind this locked, loaded, boundary-straining situation? What universal balm exists to cool the friction between these factions?
Could it, perhaps, be food?
There is an organization — the Near East Foundation — that thinks so. And what’s more, given the industrial preoccupation of this region of the world (read: petrolium), this organization is prepared to make its theory even more audacious. NEF thinks the answer could be found in oil: olive oil.
Meet Olive Oil Without Borders. At the epicenter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the West Bank, this USAID-funded project seeks to bring olive farmers from both sides together. Mutual economic benefit is the primary goal. NEF consultants teach best practices in cultivation, harvest, and olive oil production without regard for politics and for the good of the region as a whole.
And by coming together around a mutual interest, and perhaps sharing the fruits of their labors, Israelis and Palestinians may, slowly, gently, come to trust in each other’s humanity.
In Part 1 of its two part finale, Meals Ready To Eat journeys to the Middle East to witness the struggle between divisive conflict and unifying food culture.
The sailing frigate USS Constitution (ex-IX 21) was re-floated on July 23 in an event overshadowed by the commissioning of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78).
The ship has been around for 220 years. But here are a few things you may not have known about this ship.
1. Paul Revere provided some crucial materials for the ship’s construction
According to the Copper Development Association, Paul Revere, best known for his midnight ride prior to the Battles of Lexington and Concord, provided a number of copper bolts and a copper bell for USS Constitution.
2. The Constitution had a hull number
In 1941, the Constitution was given the hull number IX 21, along with a number of other vessels. According to Samuel Eliot Morison’s History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, the list included the prize USS Reina Mercedes (IX 25), the sloop USS Constellation (IX 20), the cruiser USS Olympia (IX 40), and the training carriers USS Wolverine (IX 64) and USS Sable (IX 81).
The hull number was rescinded in 1975 at the suggestion of the ship’s commanding officer, Tyrone G. Martin, who instituted a number of traditions that carry on to this day.
3. She is the only survivor of her class
Of the first six frigates, the Constitution is the only survivor. Sister ship USS Constellation was thought to have been converted to a sloop and preserved in Baltimore, but later research determined the Navy had scrapped the original vessel. The frigates USS Chesapeake and USS President were captured by the British. USS United States was captured by the Confederates, but eventually scuttled and scrapped.
Navy Chief Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) Edward C. Byers, Jr., was on an assault team conducting the rescue of Dr. Dilip Joseph. After a four-hour foot patrol to the target location, a group of special operations volunteers hit the suspected building.
Senior Chief Edward Byers, a Navy SEAL and Medal of Honor recipient. (Photo: U.S. Navy)
Byers distinguished himself multiple times in the moments that followed, sprinting to the building after a guard spotted the team 25 yards out, fighting against multiple enemies while trying to fix a problem with his night vision and find the doctor, and protecting the doctor with his own body while engaging multiple hostile targets.
He was later honored with a well-earned Medal of Honor for his actions.
In this video from the Navy’s All Hands Magazine, Byers talks about a seldom explored part of becoming a Medal of Honor recipient, the actual process of learning you will receive the award. From scheduling and receiving the president’s phone call to being inducted into the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon.
When U.S. Marine Raymond Lott, otherwise known as The Marine Rapper (or TMR for short), made a YouTube video to ask Betty White to the Marine Corps Ball, he had no idea that Linda Hamilton would be the one to snag the invite.
Yeah, Sarah Connor. Sarah. Effing. Conner.
In this hilarious episode of No Sh*t There I Was, TMR regales his story, and it has all the fixin’s for a perfect tale: pissed off higher-ups, a surprise twist, and a magical night at the ball.
Linda’s guns, tho! (Go90 No Sh*t There I Was screenshot)
It would almost be impossible to believe…except they’ve even included the original footage of Ms. Hamilton herself.
Bryan Anderson is a triple-amputee veteran who sees challenges rather than limitations. When his injuries left him out of playing video games, he broke it down #BryanStyle.
A US Marine Corps F-35B opened up its tail fan, blasted its massive jet engine downwards, and settled softly on the deck of the USS Wasp in what was the first Joint Strike Fighter landing on a deployed warship at sea in early March 2018.
A while later, another F-35B took off, and another landed. Within days, the procedure had become routine and unremarkable.
But with the arrival of the F-35Bs on the decks of the US’s small carriers, and soon the US’s big carriers, naval warfare has changed forever.
The Marines have tailored their whole operating concept to fit with the F-35, stocking ships with special helicopters and facilities to work on the next-generation jet that will become the workhorse of the force.
An F-35B begins its short takeoff from the USS America with an external weapons load. (Lockheed Martin)
The F-35B can takeoff in full stealth mode to penetrate enemy airspaces, it can carry scores of heavy bombs when stealth is no longer an issue, it can tank up with fuel and a detachable gun on the jet’s belly, it can use its futuristic sensors and communications to guide ship-fired missiles to targets on land.
Decades before the terror attacks of 2001 struck New York City, another, very different plane crashed into the Empire State Building, arguably one of New York City’s — America’s —most iconic buildings. It was July 1945, and it wasn’t terrorism or even an attack from the Japanese Empire (with which America was still at war).
The aircraft flight plan indicated the plane was coming from Massachusetts and would land at La Guardia. Instead the pilot decided to land in Newark but got lost in the heavy fog while flying over Manhattan. Believing he was on the West Side of the island, he flew to the right instead of the left when he went around the Chrysler Building. That was his fatal error.
According to a 1995 story in the New York Times, Lt. Col. William F. Smith Jr. heard from the tower at La Guardia airport that the top of the Empire State Building wasn’t visible in the fog. Minutes later, he hit the iconic skyscraper between its 78th and 79th floors at 200 miles per hour.
The crash blew an 18-by-20-foot hole 913 feet above 34th Street. It’s tail section was stuck in the hole in the building.
The aftermath of a B-25 Bomber that crashed into the Empire State Building in 1945.
Luckily, the bomber was an unarmed trainer aircraft with no bombs on board. The explosions that rocked the area came from the B-25’s fuel tanks exploding.
“It was as if a bomb went off,” said harpsichordist Albert Fuller, who was shopping across from the Empire State Building that day. “The floor moved. I looked at the clerk and said, ‘Isn’t that strange?’ And I thought it couldn’t be an earthquake.”
Fourteen people died, all told; the three bomber crewmembers and 11 people working in the building that day.
Jayson Floyd and Tyler Grey discuss their new documentary “That Which I Love Destroys Me” with Jack Osbourne in part 1 of this 3 part interview with We Are The Mighty.
Ray Allen, a 10-time NBA All-Star, recently participated in a USO holiday tour with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford. On this tour, the athlete, along with other celebrities, visited service members in Turkey, Qatar, Afghanistan, and Germany.
Now back in the states, Allen has spoken about much the trip meant to him, both as the son of an Air Force metals technologist and as a retired athlete.
NBA Legend Ray Allen meets with service members during a troop engagement at Incirlik Air Base, Dec. 5, 2016. (Photo: Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Dominique A. Pineiro)
One of the topics Allen touched on during an interview with Sports Illustrated was the way military terms pop up in sports discussions, even though they don’t really fit:
In the NBA, often times we’ll be in the locker room and we’ll talk about “going to war” and “going into battle” and “being in the foxhole,” all these terminologies that we equate with being at war. I have such a greater appreciation for the conflicts going on around the world, now I try to not use those terms out of respect.
NBA legend Ray Allen, left, fires an M240 machine gun at the 7th Army Training Command’s Grafenwoehr Training Area during this year’s USO Holiday Tour, Grafenwoehr, Germany, Dec. 8, 2016. (Photo: U.S. Army Visual Information Specialist Gertrud Zach)
Allen also told SI about how a comment from Dunford helped him appreciate the military’s expeditionary mindset, and how service members are constantly working to make sure that conflicts rarely come to American shores:
One of the things that General Dunford said that resonated with me was, “We’re over here at war, my job is to make sure that we have all away games.” So when I got back on U.S. soil, I thought about how privileged we are.
While speaking to USA Today, the NBA player took a moment to discuss how different life is in a combat zone, but that being there with professional warfighters made him feel safe:
“I (felt) more protected than I’ve ever felt in my life, being on that tour. I had some bad guys with me. Guys who knew how to handle weapons, that had been in combat. I’m looking to my left and right, and I’m like ‘I’m safe, I feel good about where I am, because these guys know what they’re doing.’ And that’s what I want to tell everybody, any athlete, from the NBA to baseball to football…join up with the USO and take a tour. It’ll give you a greater perspective on war, it’ll give you a greater perspective on the people that are fighting the war.”
Clear eyesight, pinpoint accuracy, and having overwhelming patience are just some of the key factors of being an effective sniper in the battlefield.
Nine days after Britain declared war on Germany, Francis Pegahmagabow of the Shawanaga First Nation enlisted in the Algonquin Regiment of the Canadian Army, and shortly after left for basic training in Valcartier, Quebec.
Within just a few months, Francis and his unit were transported to the trenches of WWI and began enduring the war’s hardships, including exposure to the first of many German gas attacks.
During his first few engagements, Francis began making a productive name for himself serving as an effective sniper and taking missions alone into “no man’s land,” surprising his commanders.
Climbing in rank and earning respect amongst his peers, Francis found himself in the vital role of the battalion sniper, collecting a variety of intel like enemy machine gun posts, patrol routes, and defensive position locations.
Francis would even sneak his way through enemy lines and cut souvenirs off of German uniforms while they slept, which eventually earned him a promotion to corporal. In 1916, he reverted back to the rank of private at his own petition.
He was wounded in the leg and later caught a case of pneumonia, but hit the ground running upon his return to the front lines, racking up medals for bravery by improving his kill count numbers and running messages back and forth to Allied troop units.
Francis Pegahmagabow in June 1945, (Canadian Museum of History/CBC/Screenshot)
Francis Pegahmagabow passed away on Aug. 5, 1952, but was credited with 378 kills and aiding in the capture of approximately 300 enemy combatants — making him the deadliest sniper of the Great War.
Check out The Great War‘s channel for a more in-depth look at Canada’s most prized sniper of WWI.
On August 27, the All American Riders held a motorcycle ride and charity event to raise awareness for veteran assistance programs. The event was called the “Silkies Slow Ride.”
We Are The Mighty’s Weston Scott joined other veterans in a patriotically revealing event where riders donned their “silky” workout shorts for the ride. Let’s just say that they were showing a lot of … freedom.
The purpose of the silkies on motorcycles was to encourage curious onlookers to ask questions and prompt a conversation about veterans issues — particularly the high rate of veteran suicides.
According to some stats, approximately 22 U.S. military veterans take their own lives each day. The men and women of All American Riders invited all veterans with motorcycles to ride through various cities in Southern California in their PT shorts to catch the public eye.
Navy corpsmen are well-loved. Grunts and sailors know that they can count on the corpsmen to be there to aid doctors in providing medical care. When you are on an aircraft carrier or an amphibious assault ship, it’s like being on a floating city. You have plenty of resources, including some of the best trauma facilities in the world, with plenty of doctors and corpsmen.
But not all ships can have these extensive facilities, and they can’t have doctors. If you are on an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer or a littoral combat ship, or some other smaller vessel, there probably will be no doctor on board.
Instead, you’d be seeing an Independent Duty Corpsman, an experienced Corpsman who have undergone advanced training. These well-trained IDCs can do a lot and they have a long history of service to prove it.
Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Robert Blaasch draws blood from a patient as part of his duties as an Independent Duty Corpsman. (U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Amy Celentano.)
According to the U.S. Navy website, IDCs study Anatomy and Physiology; Physical Diagnosis; Clinical Lab; Pharmacy; Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear Medicine; Preventive Medicine; Supply; Food Service Sanitation; Substance Abuse; Medical Department Responsibilities; Medical Diagnosis and Treatment; Pest Control; Naval and Shipboard Organization; Management of Medical/Surgical Emergency Dental Conditions; NAVOSH; ACLS; TCCC; Maintenance Material Management (3M); Dive Medicine. They also have to become Basic Life Support instructors (after all, the rest of the crew may have to pitch in to help the “doc”) and register to get a “National Provider Identification” number.
Chief Hospital Corpsman Reyes Camacho, right, checks the heartbeat of Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class Rudy Taylor, left, aboard the Los Angeles class attack submarine USS Toledo (SSN 769), Dec. 15. Submarine Force Independent Duty Corpsmen are the sole medical professionals permanently assigned to submarine crews. (Navy photo/Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Bill Larned)
IDCs learn to handle a number of emergencies, whether ashore or at sea. They even train to handle situations where sailors or Marines require prolonged care.
