Hellz yo'

You've completely hit the nail on the head. Now if you don't mind me, I need to go find a leather jacket so I can wear it, pop the collar, and indulge in some macho-jockism.

Snopes -- John Gebhardt

What's a hickey?

When is Thanksgiving?

The picture can be considered propaganda if shown in the media. If you wanna report facts and news, then this picture has a very low relevancy.

It's only propoganda to those who choose to view it that way.

To me, it does not represent any sort of propoganda or politics. It represents a very sad story about a child and a heartwarming story about a human being who took the time to care about that child.



Don Cardi

Let's put all politics aside. That IS a very heartwarming/touching picture. Gives me the chills! The poor baby!! Don't you just know how she needed to be held and comforted? Very nice!

TIS

OMGSH Then you can be just like the Fonz. Epitome of cool.



Heeeeeeeeeeeey

XDXC - I think that this entire story deserves to be posted. So I hope that you don't mind that I have taken the liberty to do so.

=================================================================

11/10/2006 - MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. (AFPN) -- All of the attention embarrasses him, but as this chief master sergeant learned recently, a lifetime of caring and good deeds is bound to catch up with you eventually.

Chief Master Sgt. John Gebhardt, superintendent of the 22nd Wing Medical Group here, recently gained worldwide attention for a photo of him holding an injured Iraqi child. The photo was taken about a month ago, while he was deployed to Balad Air Base in Iraq.

The young infant had received extensive gunshot injuries to her head when insurgents attacked her family killing both of her parents and many of her siblings. The chief had a knack for comforting her and they often would catch a cat nap together in a chair.

Now, he is back at home in Wichita, Kan., with his wife, Mindy. They have a warm, hospitable home five minutes away from McConnell Air Force Base. His son Ryan, 25, and daughter Amber, 23, have long since outgrown being cradled and he said he thought about them constantly while he held the Iraqi child.

"I got as much enjoyment out of it as the baby did," he said. "I reflected on my own family and life and thought about how lucky I have been."

His affection for children is no secret to his wife, Mindy. While dating John in high school, she watched how he bonded with the child of a coach of one of his athletic teams. That softer side of him is one of the reasons she married him.

"People see him as this tough guy," she said, "but I always see that other side of him that is full of compassion."

The chief, who grew up in Jordan, New York, is not at home in the spotlight. When asked to talk about himself, he always tries to switch the focus to the other military people who served with him at Balad.

While deployed to Iraq, the chief tried to help out any way he could. He figured holding a baby that needed comforting that would free up one more set of arms that could be providing care to more critical patients.

"If I have an opportunity to help out, I look for that opportunity," he said. "They had more than enough to do."

The chief was not alone in volunteering at the hospital. There were more than 800 different volunteers at the hospital during the time he was deployed to Iraq, he said. Some of them volunteered so much that he mistakenly thought they were assigned to the hospital.

When Mindy describes the best qualities of her husband, the first word out of her mouth is integrity. She said the photo of her husband and the Iraqi child truly represents him. She believes he has been so successful because he is such a straight-shooter and puts others' welfare ahead of his own.

"He never leads anyone astray," she said. "He will never do something for himself that would have a negative effect on someone else. He always tells it like it is."

But, the chief attributes his success to his family.

"Without their support I don't know where I would be," he said. "I definitely wouldn't be in the position I am."

And it is the chief's hope that families in Iraq will receive the same kind of support in the future. They are just like American families, Chief Gebhardt said.

"I pray for the best for the Iraqi children," he said. "I can't tell the difference between their kids and our kids. The Iraqi parents have the same care and compassion for their children as any American."

Life is calmer for Chief Gebhardt now that he is back home, and even though his recent "fame" has highlighted an eventful 27-year career, he said he wouldn't change a thing.

"If I had to do it over again, I would sign up and give it another ride," he said.

=================================================================


Don Cardi

I don't agree.

I know its commonplace to have that attitude but personally I see both negatives and positives about the war in the news. Incumbant administrations always have a hand in what type of news is reported anyway, so it is safe to say that you will with 100% certaintly find atleast SOME positive news about this war.

While I don't think it was your intent, there is no question that the title of this thread is a bit distasteful when put in context of the picture. If you want to share this VERY heart warming picture that is fine and well, I don't think there is ANYONE who will not find joy in it. But if you want to have a debate on media-bias lets save that for another thread. You 'show your hand' concerning your feelings about this war with a title like that. You are disrespecting the ppl in the picture by using it to express the fact that you think the media has an anti-war bias. Your title will clearly draw an argument, an argument which takes away from the value of the picture.

EDIT--Thanks for posting the pic though, and the article DC, I've passed them on.

Well, I haven't seen it in the papers. So he may be correct, no?

I'm just surprised that a certain someone(although they may act like an a*hole) gets banned from the boards after speaking their mind on this issue when the title of the thread clearly calls for an argument. Then again I tend to stay in the GF threads with my fellow GF nerds, so my judgement might be a bit out of context.

(I haven't seen it either, but I probably would not be a likely one to see it. Not EVERYTHING gets in the papers.)

Well, I for one am touched by this photo and the full story. As suspected, that soldier missed his own family and children, and received just as much comfort from those cuddles as the baby did.

As I am attending the wake of a soldier killed in Iraq today, my emotions may be running a bit high, but I am hoping that we can take the photo and the story, and be glad that THIS soldier came home to his family, but that before he did, he was able to bring some love into a life that was so ripped apart.

If it was shown in the newspapers, that is the response it probably would have got, or was probably intended to get.

There's nothing necessarily wrong in your gut response, Cardi, and to answer your question, I really don't know what it would take to shoot a little child in the head...assuming it was meant, which it might not have been (that's for another conversation, and isn't the point I'm trying to make).

But to flip the coin to a blindly, shamelessly optimistic light, let us ask instead, What kind of a man does it take to comfort a child when others can not? Seriously, what elusive quality does that soldier hold to be able to silence the baby to sleep? The mutual loneliness of war? Of life in general? The need to love? The need to merely hold? To feel needed? The baby was needed by the soldier as much as it was in need of him.

Life; a perputual negotiation between loneliness and hope.

Some very good points Capo. I must agree.



Don Cardi

That certain someone was NOT banned for speaking their mind on the issue. Go back and read the exchange between that certain someone and a moderator, who btw gave that certain someone more than his fair share of chances.


Don Cardi

While I disagree with Mad Johnny and agree the media needs to show some of the positives, I don't think he deserved a banning. He was trying to debate while others were trying to avoid one by pretending to be sentimental. As already stated, the thread title already throws a handful of political horseshit, but when someone responds they're blasted.


That's at least how I feel, I can't wait to see what spanking I have in wait.

Sure, you are just looking for someone to give you a good spanking.
Admitt it, you love it don't you.

I did learn something though. I didn't know that MadJohnnys real name was "SONNY".

When does thanks-giving holiday end?

Thanksgiving is Thursday, so it ends after Thursday. However, most schools, universities, government offices, and most private businesses give their employees off Friday as well, making it a 4-day weekend.

Since we changed to a "modified traditional" school schedule, we get Wednesday off as of this year. What's really nice for me though, is I took two vacation days (Mon/Tues) and get the whole week off. Yes! Yes! Yes!!!!! I can handle that. God, I love vacations.

TIS

Again, he was NOT banned for starting a debate about the topic itself. His banning was obviously a result of his continued mouthing off to a moderator after being warned to stop. This is not an isolated incident. It's not rocket science.

And for what it's worth I believe that Geoff and SC have been MORE than fair with everyone here, and have always given all of us the benefit of the doubt in the past. No one can deny that. But lately it seems that some people think that this place is a schoolyard where they can do and say as they please, whenever they please, trash others at will, make offensive comments about others and defy those who manage these boards. The level of respect towards each other, and the mods, that once was present on these boards has begun to decline, and whatever needs to be done to bring it back to the level that it once was at, will and should be done.



Don Cardi

Firstly, I don't particularly agree with Mad Johnny being banned (even though I wholeheartedly disagree with his interpretation of the topic itself). He offered to take the discussion with SC to a PM, and urged the conversation to go to back on-topic, both of which were ignored. He wasn't banned because of what he initially said; "CAPS," which was in response to Don Cardi inferring that his posts were "a big fat ZERO," which in essence is what SC reprimanded Mad Johnny for - commenting on another members posting style.

With regards to respect to the mods, in my personal opinion, I think that more consistent moderation would earn back the respect of members, especially those who feel they have been slighted in some way by unfair or unusual decisions. In this case, I don't think a ban is warranted for Mad Johnny, since he did ask that the discussion regarding this comment be taken to a PM and the conversation brought back wasn't acknowledged. Furthermore, while he certainly could have been more elegant and tactful with respect to the moderators, SC's question as to whether Mad Johnny wanted to argue with him (his caps intentionally loaded with barbs, as they are with SC's response after the ban), would elicit a similar response from most people, I would think. Perhaps if the moderators themselves weren't out to score points themselves, and were simply unbiased arbiters who are removed from any personal animosity, we could get back to that "level the boards were once at," which DC has alluded to.

Regards,
Double-J

Score points with who? To get a raise, a new car? Who in the world is SC or any mod for that matter looking to score points with?




Don Cardi

I'll spank Vercetti if I'm allowed to do it with my cock...

Will the immaturity and inappropriateness EVER stop?

For the life of me I can not understand how anyone would find posts like this appropriate or funny in anyway. If you love posting on the boards so much why do some of you seem to go out of your way to bring the quality of the posts and boards down?

D-J

I don't give a rat's ass if you care for my decision to suspend another member, or not. I won't explain my actions to you. I reserve that explanation for Geoff, if he wants it.

You've been around long enough to know better than to argue a moderator's decision in public. Since you've apparently decided to forget that rule and make a public spectacle of this feel free to join your buddy in a Thanksgiving exile.

See ya in a few days!

Buh-bye!

** Thread closed at request of its originator. **