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Comments

1. #1
   On December 16th, 2009 at 3:17 pm, Truesoldier said:

   This is an utter tragedy what is happening to CJ. Too many times while I was in the Army I would feel so frusterated at the MSM’s lies and distortions about what was going on with the military, in Iraq, and how they treated Conservatism compared to how they treated Liberalism. I wrote letters to the editor all the time, some printed some not. How I wish I had had the access to blog, at the time in Iraq internet was very limited.

   I am glad to see CJ stand up for his principles. We need more soldiers like him and less that are so politically motivated that they will tread lightly to avoid any stigmatism that will hurt their career.

   I Salute you MSGT Grisham!

2. #2
   On December 16th, 2009 at 3:45 pm, Hangfire said:

   RE: Problems at C.J.’s dependents’ school:

   All too often, I’m afraid, the Leftist- indoctrinated teachers and faculty regard Military Brats as less desirable than the locals. This happens all over America, and it is sad.

   While the military, all branches, claims that “Quality of Life” is paramount to the well-being of their military families, Base Commanders are politicians that must continually accomodate the moods and agendas of local civic leaders, including the schools.

   Every time the Admirals/Generals here in Hawaii cry for DOD Overseas Schools for the dependents, the Hawaii senators shut it down. I have known waaaaay too many enlisted that are “geo-bachelors,” leaving their wives and kids on the mainland so that the kids don’t have to attend the terrible schools here in Hawaii.

3. #3
   On December 16th, 2009 at 4:13 pm, Papa Louie said:

   Ultimately, C.J. has had to sell his blog to help raise funds for his defense in this matter.

   Defense for what? I read all the links to try to find out whether he is being charged with something or he is suing someone. All I could find was this comment: ‘…his command has told him any time off will be suspended if officials decide to conduct a fact-finding “15-6 investigation” into his blogging.’

   C.J. decided to sell his blog to raise funds. Funds for what? They haven’t even decided to do an investigation, yet. For all we know they may decide not to investigate. None of the links are very clear on why he needs funds if he’s not going to blog anymore. Won’t that put an end to the issue? This is one of the most confusing pieces I have ever read.

4. #4
   On December 16th, 2009 at 4:39 pm, flenser said:

   None of the links are very clear on why he needs funds if he’s not going to blog anymore. Won’t that put an end to the issue?

   It will “put an end to the issue” by stopping him from blogging.

   From one of the links you say that you read.

   Grisham’s most recent battle with his superiors grew out of his blogging about disagreements he had with the local school board after they decided to implement a student uniform policy halfway into the year without input from parents. Grisham, who had two kids in the school, posted unflattering video he shot of school officials fumbling through a meeting. School officials called the Army to complain. His company commander, Capt. Brian Hawkins, called Grisham in to talk about it.

   “I felt like this was a matter between him and the school,” Hawkins said. “They were concerned about him being a threat. I can tell you he’s not a threat. I read what he wrote. I didn’t take it as threatening.”

   Hawkins’ message to the school: “If you feel threatened by him, if you feel threatened by anyone, you should call the police.”

   school officials instead took their complaints up the chain of command.

   In the weeks that followed, Grisham says, Redstone Arsenal garrison commander Col. Robert Pastorelli and Command Sgt. Maj. Rickey Cooper repeatedly called him on the carpet, ordering him to remove posts.

   Grisham said he was ordered to see investigators at Criminal Investigation Command to determine whether he’d broken any laws.

   “They said the only threat I made was to threaten a lawsuit and, of course, that’s not illegal,” Grisham said. He was soon ordered by his command to scale back his blogging, so his wife, Emily, took over.

   “Since he gets in trouble every time he writes something, I’m going to write what’s going on. They can’t do anything to me,” she wrote. The next day, Grisham said he was yelled at for his wife’s posts.

   Pastorelli and Cooper declined to comment. Post spokeswoman Kim Henry said Grisham was counseled and ordered to remove the video posts, but said she would have to consult with military lawyers when asked if that was a lawful order.

   “It’s not a lawful order and it goes to the heart of free expression,” said Capt. Mike Lebowitz, an Army lawyer for the Virginia National Guard who regularly lectures at Yale University on military free speech issues. “Filming anyone at a public meeting is fair game.”

   “I don’t know how he disgraced the NCO Corps,” said Sgt. 1st Class Chad Vervaet, an instructor at the NCO Academy, who has moved his son out of the same school because of problems there. “This never should have been a military issue in the first place. I was at all the same meetings at the school with C.J. and he never once threatened anyone.”

   “This is a failure of leadership on the Army’s side,” said Dale Jackson, a former soldier and local radio journalist who has been covering the controversy. “Instead of the commanders protecting their soldier, they just tried to make the problem go away by telling C.J. to shut up. Except C.J. stood his ground. He’s not one to be bullied.”

   “We are in need of more veterans and troops speaking out, not less,” writes one blogger at War on Terror News. “Whether the voices are silenced by governmental interference, harassment, or fatigue, the results are the same: another voice in the debate silenced.”

5. #5
   On December 16th, 2009 at 5:03 pm, WarEagle82 said:

   You have GOT TO BE KIDDING?

   Welcome to Obama’s America. What ever happened to “dissent is patriotic?” What ever happened to “free speech?” When does a soldier lose his right to object to stupid and thoughtless school officials?

   If you listen closely you can hear the sound of the glass crunching under the fee of the brownshirts. Is that the muted strains of the Horst Wessel Lied I hear…

6. #6
   On December 16th, 2009 at 5:42 pm, Miss Ladybug said:

   CJ is a friend of mine. I am one of the blogs “going silent” today. The school district has not apologized for the defamation of his character, or trying to destroy his military career. Initially, he’s going after the school district for what they’ve done to him, and his beautiful family. If it comes down to it, he’ll need help defending himself against the Army, too. Hope it doesn’t come to that, though. We need more people like CJ in the military, and able to tell its story, not fewer… If CJ worked for anyone other than the Army/military, I can pretty much guarantee you his employer wouldn’t have been contacted.

   Also, this issue is larger than just CJ. Other blogs have gone silent because some people in the Army are uneasy about, or downright hostile to, milblogs. We need to change that. Milblogs are an invaluable resource for getting “ground truth” and the positive stories the MSM just doesn’t want to cover (for the most part).

7. #7
   On December 16th, 2009 at 5:42 pm, walterc said:

   WarEagle82 said:

   You have GOT TO BE KIDDING?

   Welcome to Obama’s America. What ever happened to “dissent is patriotic?” What ever happened to “free speech?” When does a soldier lose his right to object to stupid and thoughtless school officials?

   Makes me wonder why anyone in uniform would consider re-enlisting under the current command structure. It was so bad when Jimmy Carter was CIC, that I chose to get out at the end of my enlistment.

   Under Ford I had been planning on re-upping, but after Carter came in, I just couldn’t tolerate the incompetence that trickled all the way down from the White House.

8. #8
   On December 16th, 2009 at 6:27 pm, MacEamonn said:

   On December 16th, 2009 at 5:42 pm, walterc said:

   WarEagle82 said:

   You have GOT TO BE KIDDING?

   Welcome to Obama’s America. What ever happened to “dissent is patriotic?” What ever happened to “free speech?” When does a soldier lose his right to object to stupid and thoughtless school officials?

   Makes me wonder why anyone in uniform would consider re-enlisting under the current command structure. It was so bad when Jimmy Carter was CIC, that I chose to get out at the end of my enlistment.

   Under Ford I had been planning on re-upping, but after Carter came in, I just couldn’t tolerate the incompetence that trickled all the way down from the White House.

   I shipped over at the end of the Carter Administration (luckily Ronald Reagan was elected President and everything improved almost immediately).

9. #9
   On December 16th, 2009 at 6:46 pm, emjem24 said:

   Hangfire said:
   RE: Problems at C.J.’s dependents’ school:

   All too often, I’m afraid, the Leftist- indoctrinated teachers and faculty regard Military Brats as less desirable than the locals. This happens all over America, and it is sad.

   This is common place for public education and the military. As a military spouse, I used to work as a substitute teacher in the Colorado Springs School District and would get snide comments by regular teachers for being both a military spouse and a conservative. It’s very common to be mistreated and looked down for just being a substitute even though I have more education than many of the dopey young things I subbed for.

   While the military, all branches, claims that “Quality of Life” is paramount to the well-being of their military families, Base Commanders are politicians that must continually accomodate the moods and agendas of local civic leaders, including the schools.

   This is also very true and it used to be something that was hush hush and not discussed. The sad thing is, the joke’s now on these political commanders. I live close to Peterson AFB and it’s nothing but a mess. Did you know it’s the “Year of the Air Force Family?” Just another feel good, self-congratulatory, propaganda program that the Air Force uses to convince civilians and military families that they “care” about military families. Unfortunately, the Air Force thinks building homes or privatizing military housing is the way to support military families. Try telling that to military spouses who need jobs, not housing.

   Every time the Admirals/Generals here in Hawaii cry for DOD Overseas Schools for the dependents, the Hawaii senators shut it down. I have known waaaaay too many enlisted that are “geo-bachelors,” leaving their wives and kids on the mainland so that the kids don’t have to attend the terrible schools here in Hawaii.

   That is pretty common, unfortunately. My husband and I are renting a home from an army couple where the active duty husband is stationed in Alaska but the spouse and their kid still live in Colorado Springs. This arrangement is common with family members with kids who are in school and don’t want to be taken out in the middle of the year or just want to stay in the same school district.

   This has been a not so great year for the military. I’m actually glad that my husband will be retiring in 2 1/2 years because the military has just lost its way. It squashes what’s good and then takes the PC, easy way out to convince politicians and the public that the military is their “friend” that they can continue to treat like a doormat.

   I also find it amusing how many people think that Colorado Springs, CO is a “military-friendly” place. Like many military towns, Colorado Springs enjoys the tax revenue from the military and its families without the messy aftertaste of having to hire spouses or reciprocate that support. Try being a military spouse and looking for employment and having people tell you that they can’t hire you because you’re married to someone in the military. It’s a dirty secret in military towns across America and another problem, just like the refusal to build more military schools, that the military refuses to solve.

10. #10
    On December 16th, 2009 at 6:59 pm, Miss Ladybug said:

    I’m both an Army Brat (ret), and an educator. I have my teaching credential, but have yet to land that first teaching assignment. There’s a reason I don’t blog under my own name. I substitute teach. I am very careful about sharing political opinions with other staff when I am at a school, until I can get a feel for the atmosphere.

    Thankfully, my dad managed to not have to PCS during a school year. I only attended public schools stateside in San Antonio and El Paso. I graduated HS from a DoDDS school (it was almost like attending a private school, down to the fact that dependent misbehavior could get a student sent back to the good ol’ US of A).

11. #11
    On December 16th, 2009 at 9:17 pm, aggiebc said:

    So Nidal Hasan writes love letters to Al Qaeda, participates in various extremist outlets on the Web, and publicly talks about killing the (American) infidels, and that’s no problem.

    But Master Sgt. Grisham speaks his mind in a manner of civil discourse that (as far as I’m aware) doesn’t advocate slaughtering Americans and various other treasonous ideas, and he clearly must be stopped. Glad to see the Army’s got its priorities straight.

12. #12
    On December 16th, 2009 at 9:29 pm, ssnark said:

    The issue of CJ Grisham is an unpardonable attempt at extortion by the school. My parents had problems with the public schools when my father was Active Duty from the time we moved off base and I left Hickam Elementary School and that was in the early 1960s. My wife and son seldom saw me as I was a ‘geo-bachelor’ for most of my career. But that probably kept problems with schools to a minimum when I compared my experience with that of my peers.

    I’m one of those who is not quite comfortable with milbloggers and yet not exactly uncomfortable if I know who they are and am reasonably sure that OpSec and other sensitive military issues are not compromised and that they have the good judgment to seek advice from the command when they may be on the borderline between sensitive and personal communications.
    The situation with CJ Grisham is clearly not an issue with OpSec or secured or sensitive information. The particular harassment that this school has inflicted on him has nothing to do with the Army and the command needs to get its nose out of where it doesn’t belong.

13. #13
    On December 16th, 2009 at 11:35 pm, Miss Ladybug said:

    ssnark~

    The milblog community is very tight-knit. I think they do a pretty good job of being responsible about what they say, wrt OPSEC. It is they, and those they know, who could end up dead if it is broken. If you’ve not really followed milblogs before, and are interested in checking them out, start with Blackfive and Mudville Gazette. Mudville has a feature called “The Dawn Patrol” that is a daily round-up of milblogs and media on military-related topics. I am proud to be acquainted with a number of the people in the milblog community: they have my deepest respect.

14. #14
    On December 17th, 2009 at 12:56 am, u.s. navy wife said:

    Penalizing the military member for the actions of a spouse is nothing new. In 2000, my husband was removed from a comfortable duty to a distasteful one after I complained to the DODDS school that sending email to the member’s work address is ineffective. I commented that those who work in a particular area of the base aren’t permitted access to computers regularly. Therefore, information was not making it to the parents. I thought I was reasonable in requesting that spouse email addresses also be used. The school called my husband’s command and raised a ruckus. I’ve since learned to keep my mouth shut. Pitiful.

15. #15
    On December 17th, 2009 at 1:42 am, ssnark said:

    On December 16th, 2009 at 11:35 pm, Miss Ladybug said:

    I’ve a 1SG friend who still monitors those now that he too is retired. He in turn provides me with the equivalent of my ‘daily briefing’ still.
    I’m no longer in a position to have need to monitor milblogs or to worry about OpSec issues. But do understand the position of people who do and have Operational realities to deal with on top of the onerous duty of monitoring their bloggers. They’d rather not deal with it at all frankly and I know that’s not right. But among the hundreds of tasks that must be done in a given day, that’s the lowest priority. Still, its a PITA that must be done lest your superiors have a screaming hissy fit over something you weren’t aware of.

16. #16
    On December 17th, 2009 at 1:58 am, Papa Louie said:

    Miss Ladybug said:

    Initially, he’s going after the school district for what they’ve done to him, and his beautiful family. If it comes down to it, he’ll need help defending himself against the Army, too.

    That information, if it is accurate, is much more helpful than the muddy information provided in the various links for this article. When Michelle asks us to “please lend your support”, I would just like to know what that support will be used for. If he needs help defending himself from false charges, that’s one thing. But needing funds to sue the school district because they took offense at his video and went up the chain of command is a bit different.

    “Instead of the commanders protecting their soldier, they just tried to make the problem go away by telling C.J. to shut up. Except C.J. stood his ground. He’s not one to be bullied.”

    Except he has now decided not to stand his ground any longer. He sold his blog to raise funds, apparently for the purpose of suing the school distict. This still doesn’t sound to me like he was forced to shutdown his blog in violation of his free speech rights. It sounds like he made a fundraising choice. Until he is actually investigated and charged with something, I guess I just don’t understand why he needs help. If he has a good case against the school district, he can hire a lawyer on a contingency basis. Or maybe he can get the ACLU to take the case for free, since they always claim to be for free speech.

17. #17
    On December 17th, 2009 at 10:47 am, JusDreamin said:

    Milblogs are an invaluable resource for getting “ground truth” and the positive stories the MSM just doesn’t want to cover (for the most part).
    I couldn’t agree more Ladybug. Example: try and find THIS in the MSM

18. #18
    On December 17th, 2009 at 1:20 pm, Miss Ladybug said:

    Papa Louie~
    IMO, he IS defending himself against the school district, for defamation of character (I’m not sure of the exact details, I’ll be listening to the You Served BlogTalk radio program tonight (8pm Eastern), when they will be interviewing CJ. Feel free to listen in, and also call in (347-202-0679), if you have questions you would like answered.

    JusDreamin~
    I follow Major Pain, too. He was a pen pal on his first deployment, in 2004, to Afghanistan.