Matthew Spira

475(f) Trader | #TeamBlue | Dad | 12B Combat Veteran | 11A | Markets, Politics, Security, Humor, Poetry | #UCSB | #SmallAccountFriendly | RT ≠ Endorsement

[Matthew Spira @MatthewSpira]

This is Matt's big sister. I am devastated to tell you that Matt passed away on November 19. His obituary can be found at this link: https://t.co/mJPReN96A2

[Matthew Spira @MatthewSpira]

@NatetheLawyer Make sure to tell us a joke on the other side.

[Nate The Lawyer @NatetheLawyer]

Going into get my Brain Tumor removed.

See you guys on The other side.

Thanks for everything.

[Matthew Spira @MatthewSpira]

@CrazyVibes_1 It's good. This combat veteran says is good so I don't have any thumbs but thumbs up

[Matthew Spira @MatthewSpira]

@alexplitsas Why?

[Matthew Spira @MatthewSpira]

@mhdksafa Yes.

[Kyle van Oosterum @KOosterum]

Just graduated with a DPhil in Philosophy from the University of Oxford!

[Dr Juliet Turner @juliet_turner6]

🎊 I passed my viva exam!

After ~4 years of research, I successfully defended my thesis.

You can call me Doctor 😎

[A Soldier's Whisper @SoldiersWhisper]

"My great uncle Bob Fath served three tours in Vietnam. He passed away on Sunday, and I just felt the need to post this picture of him." -VW

“Children accept the conditions they are born into, and, to a degree get used to the bombings, fires, and death around them.”
Goodreads quote

Veterans featured by https://t.co/61LsbT4rfA from a Military Family

#War #Soldiers #Children
#History #Military

[Matthew Spira @MatthewSpira]

@StCarl5 @SoldiersWhisper So few of them left.

[Lee Carlson @StCarl5]

@SoldiersWhisper Dennis Boldt was also there, D-Day, and finished up under the command of Patton.
Soon to be 101 and still living in his own house!
Recounting the bartering he did moving through France...

[A Soldier's Whisper @SoldiersWhisper]

Pfc George A. Guckenberger joined the U.S. Army in 1942 and proudly became a paratrooper with the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

In this photograph, a young Pfc Guckenberger sits in his foxhole during the siege of Bastogne, a cigarette in hand. The image captures not only a soldier’s quiet moment, but also the brutal reality of the freezing, relentless winter battles faced by the men of the 101st.

George gave his life in service to his country and now rests for eternity at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Belgium Plot E Row 16, Grave 3.
Gone but never forgotten.
#WWII #History #RIP

[Susan Sullivan @realssullivan]

I am now cancer free… Thank you for your support and if you’re on the same journey, I wish I could hold your hand and encourage you to simply go on! XxSusan

[Military Support @MilitaryCooI]

KIA While Serving. Remembering Staff Sergeant Laszlo Rabel, who selflessly sacrificed his life 54 years ago in Vietnam for our country. On 13 November 1968, in Binh Dinh Province of the Republic of Vietnam at 1000 hours on this date, Team Delta was in a defensive perimeter conducting reconnaissance of enemy trail networks when a member of the team detected enemy movement to the front. As SSG Rabel and a comrade prepared to clear the area, he heard an incoming grenade as it landed in the midst of the team's perimeter. With complete disregard for his life, SSG Rabel threw himself on the grenade and covered it with his body, receiving the full impact of the immediate explosion.
For his heroic actions, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. We are thankful for his service and sacrifice. He is not forgotten.

[KeyserSosse @KeyserSosse]

November 14th, 2007

Captain John McDermid, aged 43, originally from Glasgow, of 2 SCOTS, attached to 2 YORKS as an advisor to the Afghan National Army, was killed by an IED blast in Sangin,Helmand Province, Afghanistan

Lest we Forget this brave Scottish Warrior 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇬🇧

[The Real Mike Rowe @mikeroweworks]

I just visited a shop class in Great Falls, Montana where high school students are building houses for people who need a place to call home.

Let that sink in for a moment.

High schoolers in Great Falls Montana, under the guidance of an excellent shop instructor and lots of community support, are building actual houses. Not birdhouses or doll houses – real homes, built to code from the ground up for real people, and move-in ready.

Yesterday, I toured the latest home these kids are in the process of building. It’s the 48th such home built since 1998, through this remarkable program. While I was there, I ran into @GregForMontana. Like me, the Governor was blown away by what these kids were doing and took the time to talk to each one of them, thanking them for their hard work and congratulating them for what they’d accomplished. I was then invited to join the Governor on stage at Great Falls High, where I answered a few questions about mikeroweWORKS, talked about the many opportunities in the skilled trades, and discussed the ways we might be able to encourage more projects like this one, in Montana and beyond.

It's encouraging to see public/private partnerships done right. And really, it’s not that complicated; it just takes a few stubborn people in various organizations who won't take no for an answer. In this case, too many to name, but a quick shout out to Pete Pace, the shop teacher at the center of High School Homes, the administrators in the school district, the principal at Great Falls High, Sherrie Arey and her devoted crew at @neighborworks, the incredibly generous executives at @WellsFargo who offered another round of financial support, and a Governor with the good sense to push through the normal bureaucratic nonsense that kills programs like this. Bravo to all!

Mike
PS. This is the third time in two months I’ve seen a program like this in action. The first was in Western North Carolina, (Rebuilding the Hollars), the second was in New Orleans, (@uCCNOLA.) The projects all have one thing in common - a shop class with an exceptional instructor. Like I said, it takes support from every direction, but a high school shop class is always where it starts.

For years, I’ve argued that removing shop class from high schools was a mistake that would deny a whole generation of students’ critical exposure to a long list of essential careers and rob them of an opportunity to prepare for the all-important apprenticeships on which most skilled careers are built. Today, standing in the shop class at Great Falls, watching dozens of engaged students cutting, hammering, measuring, and fabricating, it occurred to me that I was wrong. Taking shop class out of high school was not merely a mistake - it was the single dumbest decision in the history of modern education. We didn't just rob a whole generation of students, we robbed ourselves, in a colossal, self-inflicted wound that's led directly to a host of unintended consequences - including the current shortages in every essential skilled trade.

Correcting it, should be at or near the top of every Governor’s agenda in every single state. Because tomorrow’s skilled workforce is currently in the 8th grade, and if we don’t meet these kids where they are - right now - with programs like this, we’re in for a world of hurt.

[A Soldier's Whisper @SoldiersWhisper]

Jeffrey Lynn Buchanan enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and began his tour on January 5, 1968.

Buchanan held the rank of Private First Class, serving as a Rifleman with A Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, 3rd Marine Division.

During his service in Vietnam, PFC Buchanan experienced a traumatic event that resulted in his loss of life on November 14, 1968. His death was recorded as hostile, caused by enemy artillery, rocket, and mortar fire in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam.

PFC Buchanan’s sacrifice is forever remembered. His story stands as one of courage, duty, and the immeasurable cost of war.

#VietnamWar #USMC #RememberTheFallen #NeverForgotten

[Ms Panther @150G512XD]

15th November, 2008

Colour Sergeant Krishnabahadur Dura, aged 36 from Lamjung, Nepal, and of 2nd Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles, was killed by an IED blast whilst on vehicle patrol in Musa Qaleh, Helmand Province, Afghanistan

Lest we Forget this brave Nepalese Warrior 🇳🇵🇬🇧

[A Soldier's Whisper @SoldiersWhisper]

On April 13, 2004, 23-year-old Corporal Kolm was killed by hostile fire in Fallujah. He was serving in the First Marine Expeditionary Force, having volunteered for a transfer from the Third Assault Amphibian Battalion's Bravo Company to Alpha Company because he knew Alpha was bound for Iraq.

He was the crew chief of an amphibious assault vehicle who volunteered his vehicle for an assault on an insurgent stronghold. Corporal Kolm was well-liked by all who served with him and often gave nicknames like "Jungle Jam" and "Shaky Jake" to his fellow Marines, was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal for valor in combat.

He was proud to stand side by side with his fellow Marines in battle.