In San Francisco this week the Veterans Administration has been in court getting caught in their web of deceit over the treatment of veterans with PTSD. The attornies working the case "pro bono" have exposed e mail that show the VA administrators knew that the CBS reports that showed 165 veterans a week attempting suicide was accurate, despite their public denials of the rates of auicides and attempted suicides.

This story from CBS Investigates lays out the lies of one Doctor Ira Katz, the VA's head of Mental health.

U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsmen are the field "medics" for our Marines whenever and wherever they go into battle. More medals of honor have been awarded to Corpsmen than any other individual rating in any military service. "Corpsman" Up! is a battle cry heard and screamed by many Marines from Iwo Jima to Fallujah and in every battle before and every battle which will be fought by the United States Marines.

This senryu is dedicated to all who have served and risked their lives to come to the aid of a wounded buddy.

If you haven't read "Flags Of Our Fathers" yet, you owe it to yourself to do so.  It is a poignant tribute to the real heroes in this world but it also shines the light into the sewer that is Washington D.C. politics.

I just finished reading "Flags Of Our Fathers."  It is a poignant and very powerful tribute to the father of the author, James Bradley.   John Henry (Doc) Bradley was one of the men in the famous Mount Suribachi photo which played such a part in America's resurgence of patriotism when things looked their darkest during World War II.

From DEBKA in Israel, which seems to be the only media following US military build up in the Persian Gulf:

Tuesday, Oct. 17, the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group steamed into the Persian Gulf to join the US naval, air and marine concentration piling up opposite Iran's shores. It consists of the amphibious transport dock USS Nashville, the guided-missile destroyers USS Cole and USS Bulkeley, the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea, the attack submarine USS Albuquerque, and the dock landing ship USS Whidbey Island.

. . . [T]hree US naval task forces will be in place opposite Iran in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea by October 21. The other two are the USS Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group and the USS Enterprise Strike Group.

One of the military commentators on my previous diary about the deployment of the Eisenhower strike group said that there would be no attack on Iran without three strike groups in the Gulf.  There are 3 strike groups from today.

Update [2006-10-21 8:16:2 by LondonYank]:: Confirmation on Iwo Jima from the military below.

We've all seen the photo.  A picture that defines World War II for many -- six brave young men (five Marines, one Navy corpsman) raising a flag on Iwo Jima.

The man who took the famous picture, Joe Rosenthal, died Sunday at the age of 94.

The image holds special significance for me.  My grandfather, who passed away a month ago, was at the Battle of Iwo Jima.  Not only was he at the battle, but he also saw the famous raising of the flag.