Posted By:
MAF Blogger Danny
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November 29
Henderson (Las Vegas), Nevada

We held our rally for Las Vegas in outlying Henderson, where they have the most beautiful memorial out in the city civic center. We had a good crowd assembled when we arrived, but it took us a while to set up because of the long set of stairs and that we could not park the bus too close.

When we finally got underway, a little bit late, we had just the nicest little rally. Unfortunately we still don’t have a Deborah Johns. We miss her presence a lot on these stops when we don’t have her, because she just always brings so much energy and leadership to the equation.

Pressing on, Diana opened us up with the national anthem as is the norm. It was probably the coldest rally we’ve had to put on so far on this trip…although I’m sure we will see colder days soon. Diana was decked out in a sweater, big poofy jacket over that, with gloves and a scarf too. But with all that and despite the cold, crisp, morning air, Diana’s voice sang true as ever, and I don’t know…it might have been the cold morning air, or maybe it was the sight of the flag waving gently in the wind with the impassioned voice of Diana singing “that our flag was still there...” and the feeling of my hand pressing heavily over my heart, but I felt chills run up and down my spine.

We met three members of the local Blue Star Mothers of America chapter. They informed us that there was actually a funeral scheduled later that day for another family who a child to this conflict. Our hearts and prayers go out to that family, may you always live free and be proud of the sacrifice your son made in service to his country.

Dorothy Fosco, a Blue Star mom from Henderson was there with a picture of her son. Sergeant First Class Anthony Fosco is 29 years old and has been serving in the US Army for 11 years, now as an Army Ranger. He is in the 82nd Airborne and is married to Melissa, who is an MP, also in the 82nd. Sgt Fosco was awarded a Bronze Star for his service last year when he went above and beyond the call of duty in combat, resulting in the saving of the lives of two of his comrades. It was during the constitutional elections, the historic occasion where Iraq voted for it’s own government for the first time since coming under the dictatorial rule of Saddam Hussein. Anthony and his unit were guarding the polling places around town, as Iraqis came to out to vote despite the threats of violence from insurgents and al-Qaeda. His unit, stationed at one end of a bridge, came under fire from the other end, they were pinned down by heavy enemy elements and were not able to retreat. Anthony sprung into action, hijacked a commuter bus he was able to find, and drove it into the line of fire, out into the middle of the bridge and jackknifing it across the roadway, effectively putting a barrier between his men and the enemy and he pulled his men to safety. We can all be very proud that men like US Army Ranger Sgt 1st Class Anthony Fosco are only made in America.

Laurie Van Leiden, of Las Vegas, is another blue star mom I had the pleasure of talking to. Her son Anthony Monger, 23, is also a Sergeant in the US Army 10th Mountain Division. He joined the Army when he was 18 years old, fresh out of high school, and has served two tours in Iraq, one in the middle of the “Sunni Triangle” sometimes also called the ‘triangle-of-death’. He just retuned stateside in October and his mom is just thrilled to have him back. She says he “always wanted to [join the military] since he was a kid” and is basically doing what he wants and loves. He has a brother who lives in Utah and sister Michelle, 4 yrs old, who lives with mom in Henderson.

Chere Pedersen is the mother of US Army Specialist Alastair Addie. He entered the service at 17 years old and is now 21 and about to receive the rank of Sergeant. Alastair is a Combat Medic in the 1st Armor Division, 2nd Brigade, 1st Battalion 35th Armor the “Iron Knights”. Alastair is currently serving at Walter Reed Medical center in DC. He was also stationed at a hospital in Baghdad for the 10th CSH where he took care of combat injuries. Alastiar told his mom Chere that they took care of military injuries but also helped the Iraqis too. Everyone who came to that hospital was treated, even if they were the enemy. Also, at that hospital, he on his own time, started a program that trained Iraqis as EMTs because there were too many coming in from the ‘red zone’ (a bad part of town, as opposed to the green zone) in critical condition because they were not receiving proper first aid and didn’t have enough people trained in quick-response emergency medical techniques.

From here, we head to Bagdad. Only one problem, since 9/11 they don’t let large vehicles cross over dams. So Hoover Dam and Davis Dam, on our way to Phoenix, are now officially OUT. This means we have to drive way off course, down ALMOST to Lake Havasu, then swing back up to get to Bagdad!

E-mail any questions/comments/corrections to mafbloggerdanny@gmail.com. Thank you for reading!