Specialist Brandon K. Steffy 23 years old from Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan 178th Military Police Detachment, 89th Military Police Brigade, III Corps October 29, 2009
He came into to this world a rather large baby, so big the doctor thought that he’d just walk home with his mother. Brandon was well mannered, polite, and tough with a contagious laugh that lit up those around him. In 2005 he graduated from Brimley High School and in 2006 enlisted in the United States Army, following a tradition of family military service.
He served in Iraq as a gunner from May 2007 until July 2008 and was deployed to Afghanistan in June 2009 where he was a canine tracker handler for Forward operating Base Fenty Kennel in the Laghman Province. He and his K-9 dog Maci were inseparable, working on tracking terrorists; Maci specialized in tracking the scents of IED making materials.
Spc. Brandon Steffy was killed when the vehicle he was riding in was attacked. His decorations and awards include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal-Campaign Star, Global War on Terrorism Service, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.
Spc. Steffy is survived by his wife, daughter, parents and his sister.
Brandon made people laugh and he made them cry. There was not one dry eye at his funeral, from every day townsfolk, to big construction workers to police officers; they all recalled Brandon, this "Gentle Giant." They want everyone to know that if you never knew Brandon, then you really missed out.
All Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com; Freedom Remembered
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero. We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
It may have been the audacity of the attacks, but more likely it was his family's long history of military service that drew him to enlist, he said. Both grandfathers served, as did an uncle and several other relatives.
So he dropped out of college, walked away from the record deal and joined the United States Marine Corps. "I've always been raised very, very patriotic. It's just what I had to do."
After serving in Iraq, he and his entire battalion volunteered to go to Afghanistan with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit where Cochran was injured in an ambush. 20 yards inside Kandahar, the vehicle he was riding in hit an anti-tank mine and he was thrown from the vehicle and broke the five vertebrae in his lower back.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero. We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
With only two days until Christmas, I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and to remind you to keep our men and women that are not able to be with their friends and families this time of year in your thoughts a prayers. They do so much without ever asking for anything in return.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero. We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
See what the Military Religious Freedom Foundation is whining about now!
"Travel the Road", a popular Christian reality TV series produced by the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), follows the travels of Will Decker and Tim Scott, two "extreme" missionaries, as they circle the world fulfilling their mission -- “Preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth and encourage the church to be active in the Great Commission.”
Season 2 of this series ended with three episodes filmed in Afghanistan -- Journey to the Line: Afghanistan: Part 1, Terrors of the Night: Afghanistan: Part 2, and Fog of War: Afghanistan: Part 3. For these episodes, the missionaries were completely embedded and, thus, actually permitted to stay on U.S. military bases, travel with a public affairs unit, and accompany and film troops on patrols, all for the purpose of evangelizing Afghanis and producing a television show promoting the Christian religion. The number of DoD Public Affairs regulations violated in the military's participation and assistance in producing a religious program alone is staggering, not to mention other violations (including constitutional) documented in the content of the program, which include the outrageous violation of the United States Central Command's General Order 1-A, which absolutely prohibits any proselytization whatsoever in the Middle Eastern theater of operations. In complete disregard of this bedrock standing order, the U.S. Army facilitated these evangelizing Christian missionaries in their distribution of New Testaments in the Arabic native language ("Darri" dialect) to the Afghani people.
The clips in this video are all from the program's third Afghanistan episode, with the e xception of the second clip, which is from the first episode. The chaplain in that clip, who expresses his delight about being able to talk to the Afghani people about Christianity and the possibility of a "revival" in their country, is Capt. Brad Hanna of the Oklahoma National Guard. After returning from Afghanistan, Capt. Hanna was made a full-time support chaplain for the Oklahoma National Guard. Also facilitating the numerous constitutional, regulation, and general order violations perpetrated in the making of these episodes was SSgt. Sheldon Hoyt, who was in Afghanistan at the time with Oklahoma National Guard's 45th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment. SSgt. Hoyt, who is frequently mentioned by the evangelizing Christian missionaries throughout the "Travel the Road" episodes, appears to have been more involved with their crusade than just being assigned by the Army to assist them, being a regular participant on the "Travel the Road" internet message board that they hosted for several years.
To right thinking people across the nation, this gives Americans an opportunity to exterminate the source of 9/11, Islam, at its laughable roots. America cannot tolerate the existance of a religion that demands America's extermination, just as America cannot tolerate a country that threatens its allies. Liberals, as always, demand that we allow Islam to exist, and stop our efforts to eradicate it. Their screams of protest should not dissuade the righteous and the sane, however, for these are the same people who want to 'sit down and talk' with a nation that wants to 'wipe Israel off the map'.
The usage of military resources and troops is paramount in their mission. The military is the only American organization that won't be attacked by every single Afghan; it is also the only American organization that can adequately protect these missionaries. The missionaries have also shown themselves to be vital in securing Afghanistan, as they have significantly improved the infrastructure in Kadanhar. Yet liberals, with howls that pierce a Nemean Lion's skin, will bawl that American taxpayer money is being used for a religious organization, and that all activity from these missionaries must immediately cease. Their opinions should not matter to us, though, for who likes to spend taxpayer money on worthless social nets while simultaneously cutting funding from the military? Heeding their roars would be foolish, as they do not exist.
In conclusion, I would like to share one of their videos with you. Not only are these missionaries vital to the Afghan people, the videos are used in my children's homeschooling lessons, so it would be a significant loss for us if this television program discontinues.
