“SOMEONE GOT MAD” by Sharon Rondeau (Dec. 9, 2019) — Part 35 of our series described the building tension among former U.S. Army Captain Gary Mason; his unit in Hawaii, the 8th Theater Sustainment Command; and the 130th Engineer Brigade to which he was temporarily assigned after returning in 2011 from his second deployment to […]
CITES GALLAGHER CASE, “LARGE COST OVERRUNS” by Sharon Rondeau (Nov. 24, 2019) — Just after 6:30 PM EST on Sunday, President Donald Trump tweeted that Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer was terminated by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. In connection with that move, Trump said, was the issue of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, who […]
“I WISH HIM ALL THE BEST” by Sharon Rondeau (Nov. 19, 2019) — On Tuesday The Post & Email spoke with a reader and octogenarian who exchanged correspondence with 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, one of three service members pardoned or restored in rank by President Trump on Friday in a late-afternoon announcement. Last year Mrs. […]
“A BANNER DAY” by Sharon Rondeau (Nov. 16, 2019) — On Friday night, the White House issued a statement declaring that “President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Grant of Clemency (Full Pardon)” for two former U.S. Army soldiers and a promotion order for a Navy SEAL who had been demoted as a result of […]
“OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND” by Sharon Rondeau (Nov. 12, 2019) — In Part 34 of this series, former U.S. Army Captain Gary Mason described the circumstances which led him to request a congressional investigation into treatment he experienced while serving as a Public Affairs officer for the 130th Engineer Brigade in Hawaii in […]
“IT GOT NASTIER AND NASTIER” by Sharon Rondeau (Sep. 5, 2019) — In Part 33, former U.S. Army Captain Gary Mason recounted his composition of a memorandum for his records after he became the target of an unwarranted and shocking verbal dressing-down by then-Col. Jeffrey Milhorn of the 130th Engineer Brigade. Mason was assigned to […]
“UNLAWFUL COMMAND INFLUENCE” by Sharon Rondeau (Sep. 14, 2019) — A newsletter issued on September 7, 2019 by United American Patriots (UAP) announced that a group of congressmen will be traveling to the military prison at Ft. Leavenworth, KS to meet with four service members sentenced to lengthy terms for alleged misconduct on the battlefield […]
“JUST IN CASE SOMETHING ELSE HAPPENED” by Sharon Rondeau (Sep. 1, 2019) — The following is former Army Captain Gary Mason’s continued narrative from Part 32. I went to Afghanistan again; I hooked up with task forces, all of the elite Special Forces units from NATO. I worked with Italy, France, Australia, New Zealand, Croatia, […]
“I DECIDED TO GO” by Sharon Rondeau (Aug. 21, 2019) — In Part 31, former U.S. Army Captain Gary Mason told of his return to Hawaii at the end of 2010 from an individual assignment to Afghanistan which was cut short due to an allergic reaction and medivac back to the U.S. Mason experienced a […]
“YOU’RE TRYING TO PROVOKE ME TO ANGER” by Sharon Rondeau (Jul. 31, 2019) —This segment continues former Captain Gary Mason’s story at the point where in late 2010, he returned to Hawaii from Afghanistan for medical reasons and was immediately assigned a press briefing to an international military audience with virtually no preparation time. While […]
“YOU WEREN’T ON ANYBODY’S RADAR” by Sharon Rondeau (Jul. 14, 2019) — In our last segment, Capt. Gary Mason told of how he was returned to the United States for the second time as a result of having suffered an allergic reaction from exposure to a burn pit, this time in Afghanistan. After his face […]
“THESE ORDERS WERE NOT APPROVED” by Sharon Rondeau (Jul. 5, 2019) — Our previous installment in this series detailed former U.S. Army Capt. Gary Mason’s successful ordination as a military chaplain, obtained after more than seven years of combined full- and part-time study amidst overseas deployments, Public Affairs school, and full-time service in Public Affairs […]
“IF ANYONE CAN MESS WITH YOUR EMOTIONS, JOIN THE ARMY!” by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 21, 2019) — Continuing from Part 27 of our series, U.S. Army Captain Gary Mason found himself on a huge Army base in Paktika Province, Afghanistan, where he was sent to acquire his ordination into the military Chaplain Corps. Encountering a […]
“IT DIDN’T MAKE ANY SENSE” by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 12, 2019) — The Post & Email’s previous chapter of this story detailed Captain Gary Mason’s 2010 deployment to Afghanistan and ordination as a U.S. Army chaplain, a goal to which he had aspired for nearly seven years between deployments and attending Public Affairs school at […]
ON TO ORDINATION by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 10, 2019) — This part of former U.S. Army Captain Gary Mason’s journey takes the reader through the perils of service in Afghanistan during time of war. While Mason mentored and taught others in the field of Public Affairs, he continued to work toward completing the ordination […]
“IT WAS ABOVE MY PAY GRADE” by Sharon Rondeau (May 7, 2019) — Our last installment of the story of former U.S. Army Captain Gary Mason recapped a number of “bizarre” overseas assignments he was given following his successful completion of Public Affairs school at Ft. Meade in the spring of 2010 while serving with […]
“THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES IN LIFE” by Sharon Rondeau (Apr. 25, 2019) — On April 17, the former power of attorney (POA) of a former U.S. Army soldier from whose bank account tens of thousands of dollars were stolen between November 2016 and early January 2017 testified by telephone during a plea agreement for the perpetrator. […]
WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE “LEADER?” by Sharon Rondeau (Apr. 14, 2019) — In Part 23 of our series, former Army Captain Gary Mason told of his 2010 deployment to Afghanistan, independent of his unit in Hawaii, while working in the field of Public Affairs for the 8th Theater Sustainment Command. Mason’s military career began in […]
“THOSE ORDERS WERE NOT LEGITIMATE” by Sharon Rondeau (Mar. 19, 2019) — Part 22 of our series about the military experiences of former Capt. Gary Mason concluded with Mason’s having returned to Hawaii from a strange temporary assignment in South Korea, where his accommodations, to his surprise, proved to be “a Korean whorehouse” rather than […]
“WHAT ARE THEY DOING HERE?” by Sharon Rondeau (Feb. 8, 2019) — In our last segment, former U.S. Army Captain Gary Mason described a surprise assignment to South Korea and again to Japan shortly after he completed Public Affairs school in May 2010. While he expected to be leaving for the Defense Information School in […]