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 […]
“THEY NEED A CAPTAIN” by Sharon Rondeau (Feb. 6, 2019) — In the previous installment of this story, then-U.S. Army Lieutenant Gary Mason had written a letter to the general of his unit, the 8th Theater Sustainment Command, expressing concern for the safety of a number of soldiers from his former unit, 3/4 Cav., who […]
“IT’S NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN THAT WAY” by Sharon Rondeau (Jan. 10, 2019) — This section of the military story of former Army Captain Gary Mason expounds on the dilemma he faced after members of his former combat unit, 3/4 Cav., told him upon their return from Iraq to Hawaii that pressure was placed on […]
“MAN, WE CAN’T TALK WITH YOU” by Sharon Rondeau (Jan. 5, 2019) — This chapter of the story of former U.S. Army Captain Gary Mason details his transition from the bad experiences he had in the Infantry’s 3/4 Cav. Unit in Iraq to his position as a public affairs officer with the 8th Theater Sustainment […]
“THAT’S WHEN THE FIREWORKS BEGAN” by Sharon Rondeau (Dec. 14, 2018) — In our last segment on the story of former Army Captain Gary Mason, he described how he continued his Army career after returning from Iraq in late 2008 with the knowledge that the commander of his unit, 3/4 Cav., wanted him discharged from […]
“DOES SOMEONE IN THE MILITARY GET AWAY WITH THIS?” by Sharon Rondeau (Dec. 9, 2018) — On February 3, 2017, The Post & Email reported that a former disabled U.S. Army soldier who became a victim of electronic bank theft received “full restitution” for close to $100,000 from Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU) following confirmation […]
“IF YOU’RE NOT LIKED, THEY WOULD VOTE YOU OUT” by Sharon Rondeau (Oct. 27, 2018) — This section of former U.S. Army Capt. Gary Mason’s story outlines his transition from the 3/4 Cavalry unit, with which he was stationed in Iraq during the fall of 2008, to the Public Affairs office of the 8th Theater […]
“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 […]