"Call unto Me, and I will answer thee" - We miss you guys-

"I'm happy to see them bloom so beautiful this year."

 "Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not" (Jeremiah 33:3).
 

The living God, distinctly promises to answer the prayer of His servant. Let us call upon Him again and admit no doubt upon the question of His hearing us and answering us. He that made the ear, shall He not hear? He that gave parents a love to their children, will He not listen to the cries of His own sons and daughters!

God will answer His pleading people in their anguish. He has wonders in store for them. What they have never seen, heard of, or dreamed of, He will do for them. He will invent new blessings if needful. He will ransack sea and land to feed them: He will send every angel out of heaven to succor them if their distress requires it. He will astound us with His grace and make us feel that it was never before done in this fashion. All He asks of us is that we will call upon Him. He cannot ask less of us. Let us cheerfully render Him our prayers at once. (Faith's Checkbook- CHS)

WATER RELIEF
U.S. Army Sgt. Milda Hawkins helps an Afghan girl drink water after she passed out from dehydration in Heyratan, Afghanistan, June 14, 2010. Hawkins, a medical specialist assigned to the 10th Mountain Division’s 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, was visiting the Nasir Girl’s School in Heyratan to assess its educational and medical needs.

U.S. Army photo by 2nd Lt. Pao Mei Fisher

Specialist Brian Michael Anderson- 1st Brigade Combat Team- Remembered

John 15:13:13



"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."





June 15, 2010

10th Mountain Division Soldier killed in Afghanistan

Fort Drum, NY – A Soldier from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division was killed in Za Khel, Afghanistan, Saturday June 12, 2010, from wounds sustained in an improvised explosive devise attack.
Killed is Specialist Brian Michael Anderson, age 24, of Harrisonburg, VA.
SPC Anderson joined the Army in March 2008 and after completing training arrived at Fort Drum in July 2008. He was an infantryman with the 1st Battalion 87th Infantry Regiment.

SPC Anderson's awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and the Overseas Service Ribbon.
He is survived by his mother, father, brother and sister.
http://www.drum.army.mil/sites/installation/pao/casualties/default.asp?local=Afghanistan

Komak wa hamkari,” which means “to help the nation

Col. Rune Soellberg took command of the Norwegian-led PRT Meymaneh during a change of command ceremony Monday in Faryab Province.

The new commander, on his fourth tour to Afghanistan, took the reins from Col. Knut Fredheim.
“I have already noticed many changes toward the better,” said Colonel Soellberg. “More and more people now have access to fresh water and can live in a secure environment.
“But, we need to keep up our efforts on redeveloping Afghanistan,” he added.
Servicemembers from five nations – Iceland, Latvia, Macedonia, Norway and the United States – work at PRT Meymaneh.



ALMAR, Afghanistan – Every U.S. Soldier assigned to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan wears a patch on their left shoulder that says in Dari “Komak wa hamkari,” which means “to help the nation.”
 

 
 
 

D- Day June 6th - "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope"

Lamentations 3:21-23:

21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.

23 They are new every morning;great is your faithfulness.

This day echos today in Afghanistan - " a fight for freedom, and to liberate."

D-Day Payer
-Franklin D. Roosevelt - June 6, 1944

My Fellow Americans:

Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons(and daughters), pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest -- until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment -- let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace -- a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.
Amen.
Franklin D. Roosevelt - June 6, 1944
FDR's original writing;

http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/04DD010.HTML

Source:
http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/04DDhome.HTML

ISAF in North Afghanistan-

1st BSTB Soldiers improve local schools

By Spc. Cynthia Teears Van Cleve

1st Brigade Combat Team Journalist

DEHDADI, Afghanistan – Soldiers of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, have been coordinating efforts to help improve school facilities in Dehdadi District in northern Afghanistan.

They have been working with the Habiday Balkh Preschool, Primary School and High School.

"In this district, 60 percent of the people are educated," said Capt. Timothy Williams, commander of HHC, 1st BSTB. "That's better than most districts in Afghanistan."

Abdullah, principal of Habiday Balkh Primary School, said he appreciates the U.S. Army helping with the school's needs in this district and for providing classroom tents for his school.

"We're putting in a new classroom for the preschool," Williams said.

The preschool has a building, but the wooden roof is rotting and leaks when it rains. Contractors working on the building added a porch for students, replaced rotten wood and sealed cracks in the walls.

"They are doing a good job," Williams said. "It looks a lot better than it did."

"We're trying to get the project approved to get the classroom done before the beginning of the next school year," he added.

Water purification is another issue the company is working to improve over the next year.

"I'll look into getting a well or water into the other side of this school too – for the garden," Williams said.

Williams noticed students talking to his Soldiers more and more in English lately. He asked the high school principal how students had learned English so quickly.

"The students are starting to trust you more, so that's why they will talk English to you more now," said Sheienjen, Habiday Balkh High School principal.

Building trust and helping the community are some of the key ingredients to accomplishing the mission in Afghanistan.

 http://www.drum.army.mil/sites/postnews/mountaineer/mountaineer_online/news.asp?id=2