By U.S. Army Sgt. James Hunter Special to American Forces Press Service CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq,, April 24, 2008 – The nearly 200 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who became U.S. citizens during a naturalization ceremony at the Al Faw Palace here on April 12 each took a different route to the military and their service in Iraq. U.S. Army Spc. Vivek Mishra, a native of central India, raises his right hand and recites the Oath of Citizenship during a U.S. naturalization ceremony at the Al Faw Palace at Camp Liberty, Iraq, April 12, 2008. Mishra serves as a chemical operations specialist for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Multinational Division Baghdad. Photo by U.S. Army Sgt. James Hunter, Multinational Division Baghdad (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Spc. Vivek Mishra, a chemical operations specialist born and raised in central India, took a rather unusual route to his new life. Mishra serves in Multinational Division Baghdad and is assigned to the 101st Airborne Division\’s Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. His father was a doctor, serving at the head of India\’s Department of Pharmacy. Mishra\’s family was wealthy; famine or war didn\’t bring him to the United States of America. His studies did. He grew up in a large household that held anywhere from 25 to 40 family members at any given time. There was a lot of respect among the household\’s members, he said, and a major focus on family and religious values. Often, Mishra spent time with his friends at clubs or dining out at the restaurants that lined the highways near bodies of water. When it was time for Mishra to go to college, he knew exactly the field he wanted to join. He felt he was not good at math, and he didn\’t like art. He wanted to be a chemist. \”At that time when I was in India, they considered it a very big thing to be a doctor,\” Mishra said, \”but my dad never forced me to do anything. He said whatever I wanted to choose to do, do it.\” After three years at the Government Science College, Mishra earned his bachelor\’s degree. Then, less than three years later, he earned his master\’s degree in chemistry at the Rani Durgeivati University in Jabalpur, India. \”In chemistry, I love reactions,\” he said. \”You cannot see it how it changes into another substance. When you mix two substances, it will have a reaction. I love being able to understand those things.\” After earning his master\’s degree, Mishra joined the doctorate program. During his studies, he said, his professor asked if he was interested in getting another master\’s degree at a school in the United States. He said he thought it would be a good choice, but wanted his parent\’s opinion on the matter first. His father told him if he stayed in India, he would just know his surroundings; however, he would not know the \”real world.\” Mishra arrived in the United States in 2002 and enrolled at Illinois State University to work toward another master\’s degree in chemistry. He was nearly complete with his degree, he said, with one semester left and 80 percent of his thesis done, when he decided he needed to take a break from school. He was recently married, and said he didn\’t make much money working as a graduate assistant at the university. He had to put college aside to provide for him and his wife. He worked a numerous jobs, but never really found his true calling. He said he wanted to work in a lab as a chemist, mixing different substances. \”At that time, I said, \’Well, I do not have this much patience to continue to look for a job,\’\” he recalled. After seeing an article on recruitment, he decided the next best thing for him would be the military. Mishra recalled with a chuckle that he didn\’t tell his parents he\’d joined the Army until he graduated from advanced individual training, where he became a chemical operations specialist. \”They were in shock,\” he said. His mother didn\’t want him to join the military, he said, but his parents understood he wanted to make a difference. His mother thought that no matter where he was as a soldier a bullet would find him, he said. That has not been the case. Mishra said being in the military is his true calling. \”I will be in the Army for about 20 to 25 years, as long as my body permits it,\” he said. \”It\’s like a big family. It\’s a big mental support. I have made a lot of changes within myself.\” When growing up, he said, he wasn\’t given orders; he simply was given the choice if he wanted to do something or not. \”I have learned responsibility and order,\” he said. Now that he\’s a soldier and a U.S. citizen, his next goal in his career is to become an officer in the chemical field. \”War is completely changing, but chemicals are still an issue,\” Mishra said. \”The chemical corps is growing, and they need really good soldiers to understand all these things.\” He said he wants to maximize his abilities with chemicals in relation to the military. In the meantime, however, he will first soak in his new status as an American citizen. \”It\’s completely different now to be an American citizen. It\’s a good feeling,\” Mishra said. \”Now I am on the same track as everyone. I don\’t think anyone treated me differently because I wasn\’t a citizen, but it\’s a mental thing.\” Becoming an American citizen is an honor Mishra deserves, said Army Capt. Robert Woodruff, his commander. \”Specialist Mishra exemplifies all that is good in an American soldier, even before he officially became a U.S. citizen,\” Woodruff said. \”He\’s been through a roller coaster ride for the two years to get to this culminating point in his life. He is technically and tactically proficient in his skills as the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear expert in the company, routinely filling the shoes of a noncommissioned officer on a daily basis. He definitely deserves this.\” (Army Sgt. James Hunter serves in Multinational Division Baghdad with the 101st Airborne Division\’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office.)

Related Sites: Multinational Corps Iraq

Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an order requiring that Evanger’s Dog & Cat Food Co., Inc., in Wheeling, Ill., obtain an emergency permit from the FDA before its canned pet food products enter interstate commerce.

A recent inspection revealed significant deviations from prescribed documentation of processes, equipment, and recordkeeping in the production of the company’s thermally processed low acid canned food (LACF) products. These problems could result in under-processed pet foods, which can allow the survival and growth of Clostridium botulinum (C. botulinum), a bacterium that causes botulism in some animals as well as in humans.

\”As outlined in the Food Protection Plan, the FDA uses a risk-based approach to locate the areas of greatest risk for foods, and targets preventive controls and inspections to those areas, \” said Dr. Stephen Sundlof, director, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. \”The FDA’s authority to issue an order requiring an emergency permit is an enforcement tool designed to prevent unsafe foods from reaching consumers.\”

The FDA issues an \”Order of Need for Emergency Permit\” if the agency determines that a company fails to meet the regulatory requirements to process a product that does not present a health risk. For Evanger’s to resume business, the company must document that corrective actions and processing procedures have been implemented to ensure that the finished product will not present a health hazard.

  
Botulism is a powerful toxin that affects the nervous system and can be fatal. The disease has been documented in dogs and cats. Signs of botulism in animals are progressive muscle paralysis, disturbed vision, difficulty in chewing and swallowing, and progressive weakness to the body. Death is usually due to paralysis of the heart or the muscles used in breathing.

In light of human botulism illnesses and recalls that occurred due to under-processed hot dog chili sauce, and potentially under-processed canned green beans, FDA has urged all LACF processors to review their operations and the apply scientific principals and regulations that have been established to provide a safe product.

While FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine has authority over animal feed and foods, CFSAN is responsible for regulating all human and animal LACF processing. The two centers are collaborating on this enforcement action.

#

http://www.legion.org

A university student\’s controversial art exhibit left out one important variable: resistance from a determined Legionnaire.

Susan Crane, a 40-year-old education major at the University of Maine at Farmington, displayed a series of U.S. Flags last week on the floor of a student-center hallway.

\”My purpose was to figure out how people felt about the flag and (I) gave them a choice to walk around it,\” she said.

Enter Vietnam War veteran Charles Bennett. The American Legion commander of Maine\’s District 4 tried to remove the flags from the floor, but university officials threatened to arrest him. Bennett held his ground as he stood in front of the flags, discouraging many students from stepping on them. Even so, some students chose to walk or stand upon Old Glory.

read more

Related: Our Men & Women in the Military

Related: The Ultimate Sacrifice

Commentary Report by Hank F. Miller Jr.

 

I happen to pick this commentary up on one of the many news sources that I have access to here in Japan. I also thought that you may want to read what you may not have the opportunity to read in the local newspapers back in the States.

Ayman al-Zawahri, second in command of al-Qaida, vowed Tuesday to punish Western countries that participated in the Iraq war, hinting that Japan could be a target and advising it to end its alliance with \”America who had occupied, looted, humiliated and bombed them with nukes.\”

The comment by Osama bin Laden\’s top lieutenant, a response to a question submitted by Kyodo News, here in Japan was heard on a 2 hour, 36-minute audiotape of al Zawahri that surfaced early Tuesday on militant Web sites.

Bin Laden\’s right-hand man was answering questions submitted by hundreds of al-Qaida followers, critics and journalists on major Islamic Web sites used by Islamic militants.

The al-Qaida media arm, Al-Sahib media in December that al-Zawahri would receive questions from the public and would answer them \”as soon as possible.\”Today\’s message is one of two lengthy audiotapes by al-Zawahri answering questions posted last year.

Asked by Kuodo, using a different name, if al-Qaida intends to \”punish the Western countries that have contributed troops to Iraq.\” al-Zawahri said:\” My answer is: Yes! We believe that any country that participated in the aggression on Muslims must be deterred.\”Asked by Kyodo if Japan remains a target because it sent troops to Iraq, al-Zawahri said:\”Japan provided the so-called assistance under the flag of the crusader coalition as part of the propaganda for the crusader forces invading the homelands of Islam. It did not provide this assistance through charitable organizations and thus it is participating in the crusader campaign against the lands of Islam.\”Why did the Japanese start the aggression on us within the alliance of the Americans?…Our Islamic faith incites us to resist the despots and tyrants, even if they were the most powerful force on Earth…so will Japan learn a lesson from this?\” he said. Japan sent a 600-member noncombat Self-Defense Force group to Samawah in southern Iraq to carry out reconstruction work such as repairing buildings and providing medical assistance. The action, unpopular with Japanese public, was thought by many to violate the pacifist Constitution.

Although the ground troops were withdrawn in 2006, the Air Self-Defense Force airlift activities still continue to and from Iraq.

\”If Japan has given up its arms, why did it send troops to our lands under the flag of the crusader campaign?\” asked al-Zawahri.

In 2004, al-Zawahri reportedly called for attacks on the interests of the United States and Britain as well as their allies such as Japan. Al-Qaida has constantly tried to get the Japanese people riled up against sending any help to any troubled area of the world and it has been working, there are many issues that are troubling to the Japanese people about taking any part militarily to help the Americans. Every day I hear on the radio, read in newspapers and see on television complaints and protests from many Japanese citizens about our troops being stationed here in Japan especially on Okinawa, many people want our troops out of Japan completely. They do not realize that our troops here are to protect them the Japanese people and to deter the North Koreans and Chinese so they will not become aggressive.

Warm Regards from Kitakyushu City, Japan

Hank F. Miller Jr.