Have you ever wondered what influence American culture is going to have on the people of Iraq? As we get ready to leave the security of Iraq to it’s people, what ‘American’ traditions will be left behind? What things will be odopted? Well, it seems that there is a love of heavy metal music over there!

Check this out from Blabbermouth:

“Only The Dead See The End Of The War”, the debut EP from the Iraqi heavy metal band ACRASSICAUDA, is available for streaming in its entirety using the widget below. Recorded in 2009 following the band’s final relocation to the U.S., the CD was produced by TESTAMENT guitarist Alex Skolnick and mixed by engineer Josh Wilbur (LAMB OF GOD, HATEBREED, SYSTEM OF A DOWN). The four-song debut “explodes with ferocious war metal,” according to a press release.this location.Viceland.com.

“Only The Dead See The End Of The War” track listing:

01. Message From Baghdad
02. Garden Of Stones
03. Massacre
04. The Unknown

“Only The Dead See The End Of The War” is available for purchase at

ACRASSICAUDA made its U.S. live debut on January 21, 2010 at Brooklyn, New York metal dive bar The Charleston. The group played a 45-minute set in front of friends and family, including Skolnick.

Check out photos of the performance at

For the past six years, VICE has documented the story of ACRASSICAUDA in its struggle to stay alive and continue the group while enduring the disintegration of its own country throughout the war.

Also in stores now is the inspirational book “Heavy Metal in Baghdad: The Story of Acrassicauda” (VICE/MTV Books). Expanding on the internationally acclaimed, award-winning VBS.TV/VICE Films documentary produced and directed by Suroosh Alvi and Eddy Moretti, VICE editors Andy Capper and Gabi Sifre extensively cover the history of ACRASSICAUDA, beginning at their youth in Iraq and culminating in their eventual relocation to the U.S. in 2008. Featuring never-before-seen photographs, setlists, posters, and flyers, the book tells the real story of life during wartime in Baghdad.

“Garden Of Stones”, the new video from ACRASSICAUDA, can be viewed below.

And by the way… The same RED CROSS that is in Haiti right now helping the victims… Is in L.A. helping Americans who are flooded out of their homes, and they are the same RED CROSS who were here in Mass. last winter when the ice storm hit!

The men and women of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines are in Haiti right now doing what many people will not… They are helping! Once again, they make me proud to be an American! 

A BIG thank you to local soldier Lucas Carr and the Rangers from Bravo Company 2-35 Infantry  3rd Platoon/25 Infantry Division for flying a flag in Iraq for WAAF!

Welcome home guys!

Thank you for your service!

Homes for Our Troops, a national non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2004. We are strongly committed to helping those who have selflessly given to our country and have returned home with serious disabilities and injuries since September 11, 2001. It is our duty and our honor to assist severely injured Servicemen and Servicewomen and their immediate families by raising donations of money, building materials and professional labor and to coordinate the process of building a home that provides maximum freedom of movement and the ability to live more independently.

Homes For Our Troops is building a house in Massachusetts,

for SSG Michael Downing. This is an AMAZING story! 

The are holding a ‘Build Brigade’ to build the weather tight shell of the house on

 December 11, 12, 13 in Middleboro, Ma.

They need skilled labor, volunteers, materials etc.

Click Here for all of the information and to sign up or donate!

Let’s get this house built in time for the holidays! 

I’m taking today off,  not because I am a Veteran, but because I am married to one.  In this time in our nation’s history, it’s more important than ever to show our Veteran’s that we support them and that we are thankful for their service.

We all know someone from the Vietnam era who was yelled at, spit on and disrespected because they served their country… 

 ’Not on my watch!’ 

Our generation has the chance to do, what our parents generation didn’t do… Welcome home those who have volunteered to protect this great country of ours!

Today is a day to thank your family members, friends and total strangers for being brave and selfless. Today is a day to celebrate those who made it home and a day to remember those who didn’t!

If you have worn a uniform in service to our country, I can say with my whole heart…

Thank you!

If you’re looking for a way to thank a Veteran, check out these groups and causes.

www.homesforourtroops.org

www.patriotguard.org

www.skipcares.org

www.taps.org

www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com

www.peasegreeters.org

Watch this documentary about some local volunteers who thank our troops as they return home.

The Way We Get By – Trailer from The Way We Get By on Vimeo.

It’s on tonight!

Click here to get more info on where you can see it and when!

And, if I met you overseas as part of my Boston To Baghdad trip, just know that I think about you every day!

According to Godsmack lead singer Sully Erna’s official twitter page, a new Godsmack album is in the works in L.A.

Sully also said he is working on a solo album and on the soundtrack to the upcoming action flick,

The Expendables

Watch the official movie trailor here! It’s an ‘action movie star’ packed cast! 

Did you notice all of the people in this movie?

Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwartzenneger, and Brittany Murphy…

What do you think, is this movie gonna ROCK, or SUCK?

My old friend Zoltan, the founding member of Five Finger Death Punch called in to the show today. We talked about everything from his Hungarian roots, becoming a U.S. citizen, being lost in Las Vegas, how the band got together, the new album WAR Is The Answer and our love and support of the troops!

Check out my interview with Zoltan here!

Five Finger Death Punch

And check out the new CD

WAR IS THE ANSWER

In Stores NOW!

www.fivefingerdeathpunch.com

UPDATE

Just in case you missed the presentation, here is the video.

The Medal of Honor has been awarded 3445 times in the history of the United States.

The Medal of Honor has only been awarded five times since 9/11.

No one from Massachusetts has been awarded the Medal of Honor since Vietnam

… that is, until tomorrow.

Tomorrow, September 17, 2009 a local Massachusetts soldier is being welcomed into a sacred group… Medal of Honor recipients.

Sargeant First Class Jared Monti who was born in Abington,  raised in Raynham, and is buried at Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama in the East Room of the White House at 1:45 EDT.

SFC Monti, who would have turned 34 on Sunday,  died on a remote ridge in Afghanistan trying to save his men on June 21, 2006.

Click here to read more about SFC Monti and the battle.

SFC Monti’s parents, Paul and Janet Monti, his sister Niccole, brother Timothy and neice Carys Monti are all scheduled to attend the ceremony

“The Medal of Honor is awarded to a member of the Armed Forces who distinguishes themselves conspicuously by gallantry above and beyond the call of duty while:

• engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States;

• engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or

• serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.

The meritorious conduct must involve great personal bravery or self-sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his or her comrades and must have involved risk of life. There must be incontestable proof of the performance of the meritorious conduct, and each recommendation for the award must be considered on the standard of extraordinary merit.”

WHITE HOUSE RELEASE

President Obama to Award Medal of Honor to Sergeant First Class Jared C. Monti

WASHINGTON – On Thursday, September 17th, the President will award Sergeant First Class Jared C. Monti, U.S. Army, the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sergeant First Class Monti will receive the Medal of Honor posthumously for his heroic actions in combat in Afghanistan. Then-Staff Sergeant Monti displayed immeasurable courage and uncommon valor – eventually sacrificing his own life in an effort to save his comrade. Sergeant First Class Monti’s parents, Paul Monti and Janet Monti, will join the President at the White House to commemorate their son’s example of selfless service and sacrifice.

If you are ever fortunate enough to meet a M.O.H. recipient, you are in the presence of a true American HERO!

Saturday September 12

Join me from Noon-2pm

Shaw’s Center* (adjacent to Campanelli Stadium, home of the Brockton Rox; NOT to be confused with a Shaw’s supermarket)
   1 Lexington Avenue,  Brockton, MA

Click here for all of the information

September 11, 2001

If you were old enough to be watching TV, you remember 9/11/01.

You remember where you were when you heard, what you were doing, who you were with, and how you felt.

Other generations had Pearl Harbor, JFK, The Space Shuttle Challenger, this was a new generations moment…

The moment that they would remember forever.

A moment that changed all of our lives forever.

It changed the way we look at each other, it changed how ’safe’ we feel at home, it changed the way we fly, it disrupted our economy, and it changed the lives of every man and woman who wears the uniform in support of this great nation, both home and abroad.

I remember being in the studio with Hill-Man, Hsu, Kevin and LB… Trying to get the updated news out as quickly as possibly. I remember the voices of the callers who were crying. I remember the roar of the fighter jets flying low, along the Pike headed for Logan,  I remember the circle of planes flying over Logan Airport waiting for their orders to land and I remember the towers… I watched them fall, and I was frozen.

My generation had heard about war from our parents, but we never really understood what it was like… Until that day.

Now, we know war all too well!

September 11, 2006

Five years after the terrorist attacks on 9/11/01, I went to Iraq. I wanted to see what life was like for our brave men & women who were fighting ‘the war on terror’. I was embedded as a reporter with several units from the Mass. Army National Guard. On 9/11/06 I was at Camp Cropper with the 181 Engineers. Camp Cropper was the new prison in Iraq where all of the high level insurgants were kept, including Saddam Hussein. I will never forget that day either.

That was the day that I learned what toll the terrorist attacks had taken on our troops. 12 hour days, 7 days a week, 140* heat. They are away from their families for long deployments, and never come back the same. Some of these guys had never seen their newborn babies… Can you imagine that?

I talked to so many soldiers while I was there, and I asked them all the same question… and I got the same answer back every time.

I asked ‘What do you want the people back home to know?’ and the response was always… ‘We want them to know that we are here, working hard, doing a good job, and that we are trained, and ready to do what is asked of us. But most of all, we just want to be noticed and remembered by the people back home. Don’t let them forget about us, make sure they know what we are giving up so that we can serve our country, and what our families are sacrificing so that we can be here doing our job.’

Have we been doing what the asked of us?

September 11, 2009

8 years after the attacks of 9/11/01, what has changed?

We are still looking at each other differently, flying has become a challenge… to say the least, our economy is still struggling, Saddam Hussein is dead, but Osama Bin Laden is still on the loose. 8 years later, nothing stands on the Ground Zero and our troops are still away from home.

Today, here in Massachusetts, the family of 22 year old Sgt. Jordon Shay will be at his memorial service in Newburyport. He was killed in action on September 3 in Baqubah, Iraq.

I bet today everyone that knew Sgt. Shay will remember where they were, what they were doing, who they were with, and how they felt.

It’s not easy to be a soldier, it’s even harder to have one in your family. You never know what can happen, and if they will come home.

In 2001, Sgt. Shay was 14. When he was old enough he joined the military, knowing that we were at war and knowing that he could go there and that he might not come home.  He joined anyway.

On a day like today, everyone mourns differently. Some people need to talk about 9/11, some people don’t want to talk about it ever!  But today, even if you don’t want to talk about it… Think of Sgt. Shay. Think about all of the brave men & women who are away from their families, far from home. Think about those people who lost a loved one on 9/11 and every day since.

Support all of those who bravely wear a uniform in service to all of us.

www.homesforourtroops.org

www.patriotguard.org

And to all of those soldiers that I met in Iraq, I still remember all of your faces, and I will never forget you!