“THAT’S NOT THE BATTLE YOU WANT TO FIGHT” by Sharon Rondeau (Oct. 15, 2018) — In the last installment of the story of former Army Capt. Gary Mason’s military experience, gleaned between 2000 and 2015 in the U.S. Army, he described officers in his command unit within the Iraq Sunni Triangle war zone as having […]
“WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT QUESTION WHAT’S GOING ON” by Sharon Rondeau (Sep. 21, 2018) — In Part 14, former Army Captain Gary Mason brought us to the point in his story where he was sent back to Hawaii, purportedly on medical grounds, from Joint Base Balad in Iraq. Mason had arrived in-country just days […]
“THEY DON’T LIKE YOU” by Sharon Rondeau (Aug. 29, 2018) — In the last installment of the story of former Army Captain Gary Mason, he described the sense of disquiet that had come to overshadow his deployment to Iraq’s Sunni Triangle after he became aware that his command at FOB Paliwoda wished to discharge him […]
“SO OTHERS MAY LIVE” by Sharon Rondeau (Aug. 22, 2018) — With his widow, daughters and parents in the audience, President Donald Trump in a White House ceremony on Wednesday afternoon awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor to the late Air Force Technical Sgt. John A. Chapman. Chapman hailed from South Windsor, CT, and, according […]
“IT WAS GOING TO BE ME OR THEM” by Sharon Rondeau (Aug. 14, 2018) — This part of former Army chaplain and Capt. Gary Mason’s story focuses on his sense of frustration, anger, despair, and fear of persecution from within after he filed a formal complaint against an enlisted soldier who physically assaulted him at […]
REPORT: PERPETRATOR OF IED ATTACK FORMER “ENEMY COMBATANT,” RELEASED DAYS BEFORE OBAMA INAUGURATION by Pauline Boyle, ©2018 (Aug. 6, 2018) — [Editor’s Note: Part 9 of a video series created by the widow of a civilian contractor killed in Afghanistan in 2012 revealed that the insurgent attack on the base where Thomas J. Boyle, Jr. […]
“A REFLECTION OF YOUR LEADERSHIP” by Sharon Rondeau (Aug. 3, 2018) — In the last installment in this series, former U.S. Army Captain and chaplain Gary Mason described how a physical assault by an enlisted soldier at FOB Paliwoda in Iraq went unaddressed and his subsequent discovery that the command in the 3/4 Cav unit […]
“MA’AM, IT’S JUST LIKE VIETNAM” by Pauline Boyle, ©2018 (Jul. 30, 2018) — [Editor’s Note: The widow of civilian contractor Thomas J. Boyle, Jr. has released Part 8 of her video series depicting the inconsistencies surrounding how her husband was killed in Kandahar, Afghanistan on June 19, 2012. The video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgpM2g-1QDQ&feature=youtu.be Previous installments […]
“YOU’RE NOT GOING TO WIN THIS BATTLE” by Sharon Rondeau (Jul. 16, 2018) — [Editor’s Note: This installment of our series continues from Part 10, wherein then-Lt. Gary Mason was sent from FOB Paliwoda in Iraq’s Sunni Triangle to the Logistics Operations Center at Joint Base Balad, ostensibly for a medical workup. In late 2008 […]
“TO THE VICTOR BELONG THE SPOILS” by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 28, 2018) — Pauline Boyle has released Part 5 of a video series she created about the death of her husband, Thomas J. Boyle, Jr., who was working as a civilian contractor in Afghanistan following a 31-year career as a Chicago Police Department officer. The […]
“YOU DON’T PUT YOUR HANDS ON ANYBODY” by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 28, 2018) — This chapter of Gary Mason’s military story brings the reader to the point where as a first lieutenant stationed with the 3/4 Cav battalion at Ft. Paliwoda in Iraq’s Sunni Triangle, he was physically assaulted by an enlisted soldier, a sergeant […]
WHERE ARE THE MEDICAL RECORDS? by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 25, 2018) — The fourth installment of a video series depicting the cloudy circumstances of the 2012 death of civilian contractor Thomas J. Boyle, Jr. focuses on taxpayer-funded reimbursement to an insurance company which may not legally be owed the money. Life insurance benefits which Mr. […]
“A PROBLEM WITH AFRICAN-AMERICANS” by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 19, 2018) — In Part 8 of our series, former Army Captain and Chaplain Gary Mason took readers to Iraq’s Sunni Triangle, where he was deployed in 2008 with the 3/4 Cavalry on a mission to retake the region from insurgents and set the stage for peace. […]
“NAMING THE NAMES” by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 19, 2018) — On the sixth anniversary of his death, the widow of the late civilian contractor Thomas J. Boyle, Jr. has produced a third video in a series depicting what she was initially told about her husband’s death and information she was provided later by eyewitnesses. Parts […]
“NOT READY FOR A BLACK MAN” by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 14, 2018) — Part 7 of our series of former Army Capt. Gary Mason’s story brought readers to Forward Operating Base (FOB) Poliwoda in Iraq’s Sunni Triangle, where Mason was stationed in late 2008 with the 3/4 Cavalry unit after re-entering active duty. For the […]
“WE HAD JUST LOST CONTROL” by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 5, 2018) — Our last installment of Capt. Gary Mason’s story ended on the note that he had asked an Army recruiter if he could return to active duty for financial reasons while finishing his Divinity degree toward ordination as a U.S. Army chaplain. Mason enlisted […]
“BETRAYED BY HIS BROTHERS IN ARMS” by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 4, 2018) — Pauline Boyle, the widow of the late civilian contractor Thomas J. Boyle, Jr., has produced the first video in what will be a series in which the conflicting information she has been provided to date as to the cause of her husband’s […]
“THE CHAPLAINCY IS NOT WHERE YOU DO THAT” by former U.S. Army Capt. Gary Mason, ©2018 (Jun. 2, 2018) — [Editor’s Note: The following is a stream-of-consciousness account by former Army Captain Gary Mason of his observations of his transition from enlisted soldier to chaplain candidate and his goal of ministering to effect positive change […]
“YOU NEED TO ADMINISTER SPIRITUAL COMFORT” by Sharon Rondeau (May 27, 2018) — In our most recent segment in the story of U.S. Army Capt. Gary Mason, he detailed his hectic schedule from 2003 to 2008 working full-time as a diplomatic security officer for the State Department and completing his Master’s degree in Divinity for […]
“THIS IS NOT WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR” by Sharon Rondeau (May 19, 2018) — In Part 4 of this series, former U.S. Army Captain Gary Mason detailed the education and training he received as a Chaplain Officer Basic Course (CHOBC) candidate beginning in 2003 after he served as an infantryman for the prior three […]