Godspeed 1463rd Trans Co.

Army Spc. James Cooley, left, of Caledonia, kisses his girlfriend, as Army Pfc. Josh Dietrich, of Grand Rapids, hugs his girlfriend after a send-off ceremony Monday at the Grand Valley Armory in Wyoming.

HOOAH! Deployment ceremony pix link.

Happy Birthday US Army

Happy 233rd! HOOAH!

Happy Memorial Day

To all those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, to those who served and came home, to those who served and didn't have to go anywhere, to those who are still serving.. Thank You.

Iraqi Boy Recovering At DeVos

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) -- The Iraqi 7-year-old who came to Grand Rapids for heart surgery is doing well, according to a spokeswoman for DeVos Children's Hospital.

The boy, Hasan, had a hole in his heart closed and his blood flow enhanced in surgery on Tuesday. The hospital expects him to be well enough to be discharged Friday. He should need about six weeks to recover.

Here's the story, pics and video. Good job to all involved in this endeavor and may Hasan have a speedy recovery.

Final Journey

Salute! National Guard

HOOAH!

San Fran Toledo

Mayor kicks Marines out of Toledo

1-24th Marines were scheduled for weekend urban warfare training in downtown Toledo, when Carty gave them the boot

TOLEDO, OH -- Mayor Carty Finkbeiner on Friday ordered some 200 members of , out of Toledo just before the unit was suppose to start a weekend of urban warfare training downtown.

The mayor’s spokesperson Brian Schwartz said, “the mayor asked them to leave because they frighten people. He did not want them practicing and drilling in a highly visible area."

The Marines frightening people is bad, ok got it. Can you believe the nerve of some people?

Toledo police said they knew about the training and had approved the unit’s use of the Madison Building and the Promenade Park area. The training was scheduled to start Friday afternoon and last until Sunday. Police said the unit’s presence would have a minimal impact on the city. Police issued a press release earlier in the week saying the marines would be wearing green camouflage uniforms, operate military vehicles, carry rifles, perform foot patrols, and fire blank ammunitiion during the exercise.

So permission was granted and everyone who was supposed to be aware was aware.

Schwartz said there was a breakdown in communication between police and the Finkbeiner administration that led to the mayor’s action.

“The marines drilled here three times during the Ford administration and once under the Finkbeiner administration. After the last visit, the mayor told then police chief Jack Smith, that he did not want the marines back. Smith failed to inform the current police administration of the mayor’s feelings,” Schwartz said.

NBC24 spoke to Jack Smith who recalled that after the marines last visit, he and the mayor had a heated exchange about the training.

“He told me he did not want them, as he put it, “playing war in Toledo’”, Smith recalled. I told him, as a former marine, “that if one young marine’s life is saved because of training he or she received in Toledo, Ohio, then it was worth the inconvenience.”

Smith said if the mayor objected, then he should have been the one to convey those feelings to police. Smith took his run-in with the mayor as an objection to that last visit, and not future training in Toledo.

What a disgrace.