Kuwait, US remember Gulf War veterans,

[Hawk]

http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabt...?ID=7020&cat=a

Kuwait, US remember Gulf War veterans, pay tribute to heroes; We recognise their courage and valour: Bush


WASHINGTON (KUNA): Kuwaiti and US officials have paid an emotional tribute to US servicemen and women who gave their lives to liberate Kuwait in operation Desert Storm that ended Saddam Hussein?s Seven months of occupation. The 15th ?No Greater Love? ceremony was held at the Arlington National Cemetery night with the families and relatives of the fallen soldiers attending the event with sadness and pride. US President George W. Bush sent a letter to the ceremony honoring those who died in the war to liberate Kuwait, and said those who live in freedom carry a debt to the ?noble service and commitment of these patriots.?

?America stood strong against a brutal tyrant and brought liberty to the people of Kuwait. We recognize their courage and valour,? Bush said in his message to the ceremony. Kuwaiti Ambassador in Washington, Sheikh Salem Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah, who led the ceremony along with top US officials including Chairman of the US Joint Chief of Staff General Peter Pace and Senator Chuck Hagel, told the families and relatives of the dead soldiers that Kuwait will always remember the sacrifice and the courage of those who liberated Kuwait from tyranny. ?The emotion and appreciation we hold for you and your lost ones are truly beyond human expression. I can only say Kuwait is what it is today open, free and prosperous because of you and the heroes that you have lost.

?I cannot say that our wounds have been healed but the pains we carry from this great battle remind us of the vast sacrifices that our lost heroes have made for the sake of freedom and for the sake of Kuwait. ?Thanks for their bravery, the people of Kuwait were given back what a ruthless dictator named Saddam Hussein has taken away,? Sheikh Salem told a crowd of more than 200 people representing families of dead soldiers. He said the courage that those men and women have shown set an important precedent in the post cold war that aggression has no place in the new world order and that freedom will not be substituted by the ambition of totalitarian oppressors like Saddam Hussein.

The Kuwaiti Ambassador explained how their sacrifices remained alive in the region, especially as the Middle East is moving more towards economic and political openness, and said the US role that brought 28 plus nations to form a coalition in the war that liberated Kuwait has even enforced relations between the US and Kuwait. ?Equally important, Kuwait and America came to the realization that their friendship must be utilized to its fullest potential in order to serve our interest and to serve better good for the whole region and indeed the world.

?The spirit of those we lost gave the meaning to the friendship between Kuwait and America, it is the spirit that helped our two countries overcome many of challenges they faced in making our region safer and more prosperous. ?It is their spirit that will sustain our efforts to utilize our friendship to address the challenges of the day, namely building a free and independent Iraq, open up more opportunity for economic diversification in the region and create an environment conducive for prosperity and development to peace and security,? he said. Kuwaiti children attending the annual ceremony, held by the White House commission on remembrance and the no-greater love in cooperation with the Kuwait Embassy, placed national flags of countries that suffered casualties in the gulf war.

For his part, Hagel, who is also member of the foreign relations committee at the Senate, described in a similar speech the sacrifices of the US sources as a ?noble cause? that brought freedom to a country that remains a strong ally and friend to the United States. After the ceremony, Hagel told KUNA that the United States remains highly grateful to Kuwait, not only for its strong alliance and friendship with the United States, but also for its continued honoring of the US soldiers who died in the war. ?Fifteen years after the liberation, it (the occasion) means a lot for the United States to see Kuwait not forgetting the role of the US soldiers, it is also important to the world that countries recognize what America is meant to them,? he said to KUNA.

He said this occasion should also set an example of countries working together in protecting human dignity all over the world.
For his part, General Pace told KUNA that this ceremony is another example of the Kuwaiti people?s generosity and remembrance of the sacrifices that have been made. ?It was our honor and privilege to come to the aid of Kuwait when the country was invaded. This sets an example that Kuwait?s friends are there.
?And ever since that time anytime the United States have needed any kind of support from Kuwait, it has provided it,? he said in reference to the strong alliance between the two countries.

Pace brought the example of the strong alliance between Kuwait and the US, saying the thousands of US forces in Kuwait stationed as transit to Iraq, is another sign that the friendship between Kuwait and the United States will continue to grow.
Then the Kuwaiti Ambassador, Hagel, Pace and other top officials laid wreath at the dead soldiers. The 15th annual remembrance ceremony honors more than 400 Americans who lost their lives in operation Desert Storm; operation Desert Shield and Operation Provide Comfort. Approximately 200 family members from as far away as California gathered in Arlington National Cemetery to remember their loved ones. The No-greater love, founded in 1971, is America?s only organization solely dedicated to providing annual programs of remembrance, friendship and care for families of those who died in service to America or any other act of terrorism.

[Shortdawg]

Thanx Hawk

[Hawk]

VFW honors Exxon Mobil for commitment to vets

By Jessica Robertson
Baytown Sun

Published June 21, 2006

For veterans of World War II and beyond, the Exxon Mobil Baytown Complex has a message? you won?t be forgotten.

The Baytown Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 912, and the Vietnam Veterans of American, Chapter 922, presented the complex and its management team with certificates of recognition in a ceremony Tuesday.

?We?ve got a number of employees who are veterans or who have been called out to the current conflict,? plant manager Chris Erickson said. ?When people get called up, we continue to provide employment, but a lot of companies these days don?t continue to provide salary and benefits to their employees if they are called to serve. Veterans are leaders in our community and are laying down their lives for our nation and our company.?

Incoming commander of VFW Post 912 Hank Sprouse said the decision to recognize Exxon Mobil for their support of veterans came after Vietnam Veterans of America vice president Warren Fitts began researching employers who have supported veterans and war efforts.

One company whose name continued to pop up in Fitts? research was Exxon Mobil. He said the company has provided assistance to its employees and resources to troops since World War II.

Humble Oil and Refining Co., as the complex was known until the mid-1960s, produced high-octane aviation gasoline, toluene for explosives, Butyl rubber and butadiene for synthetic rubber during World War II. A report from The Online Handbook of Texas said the Baytown Ordinance Works, which was owned by the United States government and operated by Baytown refinery personnel, produced nearly half of the toluene for explosives for World War II.

The company continued to operate government-owned butadiene and Butyl rubber plants in Baytown after the war. Erickson said the company was recognized in 1944 for providing the billionth barrel of fuel for the war effort and continues to supply fuel and other resources for troops.

Humble also employed a large number of women in the 1940s as more men entered the military. An article by Gary J. Rabalais published in The Baytown Sun in 2005 said the Baytown refinery was progressive in providing jobs for women while their husbands were at war. As many as 125 women worked in the company?s Butyl lab in 1942.

Rabalais said when the war ended in 1945, Humble allowed servicemen who were employed for at least a year before their service to reenter their refinery jobs. These men often displaced female workers, but many women continued to work after the war and spent long, productive careers at the refinery.

?We were flabbergasted when we learned the history of it all,? Sprouse said. ?The refinery has done a tremendous amount for its veterans. Not many companies do that. This ceremony was an opportunity to recognize what they?ve done to support local veterans.?

A Vietnam-era veteran, Fitts said he had already heard a few stories of friends who served in the military and returned home to their previous jobs at Exxon Mobil.

He said the company continued to provide medical benefits and salaries for two employees who served overseas in Operation Desert Storm and were called back to Iraq last year.

?Even in the Vietnam era when people were drafted, they did the same thing,? Fitts said.

?Exxon Mobil and their employees have continuously supported troops and their families during war efforts. They?ve gone beyond the call of duty in their efforts to help their veterans. I know that every time I?ve asked for help myself or for other veterans, they?ve done it without question and given us support.?

The ceremony recognized the company and several managers, including Erickson, Jonathan Yarbrough, Maxwell Ocansea and Adisak Jangkamolkulchai, for their efforts to make veterans? transitions back into work easier.

Retired Exxon Mobil employee and VFW member Pogee Speer said when he was hired as part of a utility crew in 1967, two of his crewmembers were drafted to Vietnam.

?One didn?t come back, and the one who did came back with seniority,? he said. ?They gave him a little more training, and he got an excellent job when he returned. That has been constant throughout each war. If one of our National Guardsmen got called out, they supplemented their pay, and they didn?t have to worry about their job when they got back. Exxon Mobil has always been a great supporter of veterans.?

[darrels joy]

And next week the women get to vote for the 1st time

[Arrow]