Honoring the California Fallen

Army Specialist Jameson L. Lindskog, 23, of Pleasanton, CA, was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, KY. SPC Lindskog died in Konar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with small-arms fire.

Day in the Snow

It is always great when my days off match up with my friend's days off!!! And today's day off was spent at Crystal Mountain skiing and snowboarding. My day was cut about an hour short after a pretty hard fall and rocking my brain (the few brain cells I have left), but overall a great day!

Honoring the California Fallen

Army Private First Class Rudy A. Acosta,19, of Canyon Country, CA, was assigned to 4th Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, Vilseck, Germany. PFC Acosta died in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained with small-arms fire.

Honoring the California Fallen

Air Force Senior Airman Michael J. Hinkle II, 24, of Corona, CA, was assigned to the 28th Communications Squadron, Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. S enior Airman Hinkle IIdied from a non-combat related incident in Southwest Asia in support of Operation New Dawn (formerly Operation Iraqi Freedom).

Honoring the California Fallen

Army Private First Class Arturo E. Rodriguez, 19, of Bellflower, CA, was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, KY. PFC Rodriguez died March 12 in Paktika province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using small-arms fire.

Sam's Smile

While deployed to Tikrit, Iraq with the 47th Combat Support Hospital in 2009 and 2010 I had the opportunity to meet some great people. One of which is Captain Amy Brown. She is an Army Dietitian stationed in Texas. Amy and I became friends while we were travel buddies for a week from Tikrit to Al Asad and then on to Mosul before returning to Tikrit. That week is probably one of my favorite memories of deployment. While traveling together I got to meet (via Skype) her husband Sam. Sam is also an Army Captain. He is part of what I like to call "Big Army". He is an Infantry or Combat Arms kind of guy.

In September of 2008 Sam was deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan when his unit received indirect fire. During the attack Sam was hit receiving third degree burns to over 30% of his body. He was quickly medically evacuated to Brooke Army Medical Center's Institute for Surgical Research and was admitted to the Burn Intensive Care Unit. Since then he has had numerous surgeries to repair some pretty extensive damage to his body.


Over the past year and a half I have been lucky enough that Amy and Sam have allowed to share in parts of their journey together. One of Sam's many surgeries was one I was even looking forward to. This surgery was to release approximately 4 cm around his lips allowing him to open his mouth far more than he had been able to for the last 2 1/2 years. One of his goals was to be able to eat a cheeseburger again.


I literally jumped for joy when I received this picture via text message on March 2:

A picture of Sam eating a cheeseburger!!! I can easily say that it is moments like this that make my job totally worth it!

One of the best looking smiles EVER!!! Congrats with this surgery Sam!

Thank you Amy and Sam for allowing me to be a part of your journey!

You can follow their journey via their blog. CLICK HERE

Thanks for letting me "acquire" some of your pics Amy!

Honoring the California Fallen

Army Staff Sergeant Eric S. Trueblood, 27, of Alameda, CA, was assigned to 391st Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 16th Sustainment Brigade, Spinelli Barracks, Mannheim, Germany. SSG Trueblood died March 10 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Afghanistan Deployment

Not long after arriving to Madigan Army Medical Center (MAMC) on Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM)I had an opportunity to speak with my Clinical Nurse Officer in Charge (Nurse Manager) and the Critical Care Department Section Chief about deployments. About the same time I was signing into MAMC the list of positions to be filled by nurses in Afghanistan was published by the Army Medical Department (AMEDD). On the list there were slots for Flight Nurses. This is a relatively new formal mission. While there have been Army nurses flying in Iraq and Afghanistan since the beginning of both respective wars the official position was only created a year ago. The second 6-month rotation was just replaced and arrived home this past month.

Unlike my deplyment to Iraq where I was assigned to the 47th Combat Support Hospital as a Critical Care Nurse, this deployment I will be assigned directly to the Medical Brigade (Med BDE) who is in charge of all medical operations in Afghanistan. The 62nd Med BDE is getting ready to come home to JBLM as they are being replaced by the 44th Med BDE from Ft Bragg, NC.

There are multiple Combat Support Hospitals (CSH) and Forward Surgical Teams (FST) throughout the country all of whom fall under the command of the Med BDE. The currently system has the Army Flight Nurses co-located with the CSHs and the FSTs to be utilized anytime a soldier needs to be urgently or emergently medically evacuated to the Air Base being used for flights out to Germany. It is kind of an on-call mission that will probably have me helping in the CSH or FST when not flying.

I received a call from my Clinical Nurse Officer in Charge (CNOIC) a few weeks ago letting me know that I had been picked up for this mission leaving in June. I do not yet have official dates but am already making some changes in my spring and summer travels. As I know more, so will you. Of course I can't share everything, but I will keep you as up to date as I can.

Do you REALLY want to know?

What is the experience of combat? CLICK HERE if you are strong enough to know what our Nation's men and women are doing?

I challenge you find out...

Honoring the California Fallen

Army Staff Sergeant Mark C. Wells, 31, of San Jose, CA, was assigned to 45th Sustainment Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, Schofield Barracks, HI. SSG Wells died March 5 in Helmand province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Honoring the California Fallen

Marine Corporal Jordan R. Stanton, 20, of Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, was assigned to the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, NC. CPL Stanton died March 4 in Helmand province, Afghanistan, while conducting combat operations.

Honoring the California Fallen

Army Sergeant Jason M. Weaver, 22, of Anaheim, CA, was assigned to 504th Military Police Battalion, 42nd Military Police Brigade, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA. SGT Weaver died March 3 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device.

US Largely Unaware

An article published in the Washington Post today discusses what a majority of the American people have either forgotten or are unaware of. One of the many quotes that challenged me:

"We are in a life-and-death struggle, but not our whole country," he told the crowd. "One percent of Americans are touched by this war. Then there is a much smaller club of families who have given all."

Please take a few minutes to read the article. Please be challenged to make a difference for a Soldier, Marine, Sailor, or Airmen and their families.

CLICK HERE for the article titled "Lt. Gen. John Kelly, who lost son to war, says U.S. largely unaware of sacrifice"