Father's day

My father is one of the people who have influenced me the most. Maybe it is rather conceited of me to say this, but I am truly grateful for having such a great father (for lack of better words). I have a much better father than too many other people do, and that of course is a sad thing too (for the other people anyway). Had it not been for my father's influence, who knows what hell-hole I would be in today.

He and my mom of course- were my first teachers. He was my first and only sifu for the first 17 years of my life (minus my uncle - his brother, who is equally a father to me). It was he who instilled in me the love for martial arts and other sports like tennis, swimming, triathlons, and what not. And it's also always been him to be there to give me that kick in the butt when I needed it.

When I was 14 or 15 he got gravely ill and for about a period of 6 months after that I would wake up every morning wondering if he was still around. For four years after that his health was still quite bad and he just wasn't quite the same in a sense that he wasn't all over the place- running, teaching martial arts, managing our business, doing all these community projects, etc. But despite his not being able to reach the same physical capacity, he was and still is as sharp and witty as he ever was. Even in those times when we were all feeling in the lowest of low, he would crack jokes in the oddest times to bring a little ray of sunshine into our house.

Today he still isn't quite as physically active as he was, but being the warrior and commander that he is, he has mobilized armies of people- his old students, to help him continue teaching many people. There is so much more to say about him. His patience, perseverance, determination, wisdom, and kindness are constant inspirations for me. I can only hope to one day somehow become what he has wanted me to be all these years as a way of ever-thanks to him.

Pet Heroes

If this story won't melt your heart, I don't know what will:

Amazing Hero Dogs -- More Than Just Pets
Move over Lassie -- there's a whole new pack of hero dogs and they aren't just waiting for Timmy to fall down a well.

A new video that shows a German shepherd trying valiantly -- and successfully -- to keep authorities from its injured friend on one of the busiest highways in New York City is just the latest example of dogs who go above and beyond to protect their loved ones.

"It's possible ... there was a social bond," said Dr. E'Lise Christensen, a veterinarian and board certified animal behaviorist.

The apparent German shepherd mix in New York City kept officials at bay on the Major Deegan Expressway by running frantic circles around the injured dog, which lay motionless and bleeding in the middle of the road. If officers tried to approach the injured animal, the shepherd would lunge, warning them to stay away.

Christensen, who works for Manhattan-based New York City Veterinary Specialists, said after watching video of the dogs, the shepherd's protection of his injured companion was "really serious."

"All we know is he's using these barking and lunging behaviors to get people to go away," she said.

In the end, officers were able to grab the injured dog which was treated by veterinarians. ABC's New York affiliate WABC reported that both dogs, which live together in the Bronx, were claimed by their owner and that the shepherd is the injured dog's offspring.

The video bore similarities to another canine highway hero from Chile. In December, cameras captured a dog's bold move to drag another dog to the side of the road after it had been struck on a busy highway.
The video shows the heroic dog dodging fast-moving traffic to reach its friend and then back again, this time dragging the dead pooch.

Dogs aren't always loyal only to their own kind.

Last summer, a mixed breed dog named China was hailed as a life saver in Argentina when she saved a newborn child from what doctors said would have been certain death.

China found the infant in a field where it had been abandoned by its 14-year-old mother. China, according to local reports, brought the baby back to her litter of six puppies and kept it warm until her owner found the expanded family and called authorities.

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Sue Son, Got talent? YES!

I play the violin, and so .. well, I was pretty stoked to see Sue Son's rendition of one of the pieces from Red Violin: Awesome! I hope she gets much further too.

Anyhow, not much else happening for me. My internet has been quite slow all day which is rather irritating. It is better now though.

Hey.. just um.. 5 more days? 4 more days to the next Karma Kula Chapter!

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Horse boy

I've been reading Conn Iggulden's "Wolf on the Plains", so this story makes me pretty stoked:

'Horse Boy,' family find respite from autism in Mongolia

When 3-year-old Rowan Isaacson darted away from his father and dived into a herd of grazing horses, it easily could have been the end of the small autistic boy. He was babbling under the hooves of a boss mare.
Rupert and Rowan Isaacson take in the beautiful scenery.

Rupert and Rowan Isaacson take in the beautiful scenery.
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"I thought he was going to get trampled," recalled Rupert Isaacson, Rowan's father.

But the horse, Betsy, dipped her head and chewed with her mouth in submission. Isaacson, who had trained horses for a living, had never seen it happen so spontaneously. Rowan had seemingly made a connection.

The Austin, Texas, family had been struggling with Rowan.

His wild tantrums were nearly driving Isaacson and his wife, Kristin Neff, to divorce. All the while, little Rowan was becoming unreachable.

"He would just stare off into space," Isaacson said. "I was worried it was going to get progressively worse and that eventually, he might float away from us entirely. Luckily, right about that time is when he met Betsy."

Isaacson began riding Betsy, a neighbor's horse, with Rowan. He says he noticed immediate improvement in his son's language skills. Video Watch Rowan and Betsy »

"He would start to answer. He would start to talk. We would do song games up there on the saddle. I would take books up there in the saddle," Isaacson said.

Autism specialists say that horse riding can be effective in gaining access to autistic children.

Experts make a distinction between the kind of recreational therapeutic riding Isaacson was using with Rowan and hippotherapy, which is a medical treatment that uses horses and is supervised by a licensed speech-language pathologist.

"People perceive it's the interaction with the horse that's making the change. However, the movement of the horse is extremely powerful, and it's that movement that's having neurological impact on the autistic child," said Ruth Dismuke-Blakely, a speech-language pathologist and hippotherapy clinical specialist in Edgewood, New Mexico.
'House Call'
Watch more on Rowan's amazing journey this weekend on "House Call."
7:30 a.m. ET Saturday and Sunday
House Call »

According to preliminary analysis of an ongoing study by Dismuke-Blakely, hippotherapy has been shown to increase verbal communication skills in some autistic children in as little as 18 to 25 minutes of riding once a week for eight weeks.

"We see their arousal and affect change. They become more responsive to cues. If they are at a point where they are using verbal cues, you get more words," Dismuke-Blakely said. "It's almost like it opens them up. It gives us access."

She cautions that a horse's movements can be powerful. For some autistic children, riding too long can overstimulate their nervous system, leading to more erratic behavior.

On Betsy, Rowan was at ease. After about three weeks, Isaacson says, Rowan's improved behavior was translating into the home and outside world as well.

But not consistently.

In late 2004, Isaacson, a human rights activist, brought a delegation of African bushmen from Botswana to the United Nations. Among the men were traditional healers, who offered to work with Rowan.

Isaacson says he was skeptical, but he had experience with the bushmen and allowed the healers to lay their hands on his son.

"I was kind of flabbergasted at Rowan's response. For about four days while they were with him, he started to lose some of his symptoms. He started to point, which was a milestone he hadn't achieved," Isaacson said.

When the tribal healers left, Rowan regressed.

Isaacson says he couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he were to give Rowan a longer exposure to the two things that he seemed to have responded well to: horses and shamans.

"I know it sounds completely crazy," he said. "I just had a gut feeling."

Isaacson took his wife and son to Mongolia.
Don't Miss

* In Depth: Autism

"It's the oldest horse culture on the planet. Everyone still gets around on a horse there -- so a nomadic culture. The word 'shaman' comes from there," Isaacson said, explaining his decision. "I just thought, 'Well, what if we went there and rode across the steppe and visited traditional healers? You know, what might happen for Rowan? Might there be some positive outcomes?' "

Trekking across the Mongolian prairie on horseback, Isaacson says, Rowan's behavior was changed dramatically.

"Rowan was not cured of autism out there," Isaacson stressed. "The word 'cure' is not in my vocabulary for this. Rowan came back without three key dysfunctions that he had. He went out to Mongolia incontinent and still suffering from these neurological firestorms -- so tantruming all the time and cut off from his peers, unable to make friends -- and he came back with those three dysfunctions having gone."

Isaacson credits Rowan's improvement to horses and time in nature -- and to shamanic healing, which he says he simply can't explain rationally.

Isaacson has written a book, "The Horse Boy," about Rowan's autism.

Rowan, now 7, rides Betsy by himself. His parents never abandoned more orthodox treatments for his autism, and Rowan's applied behavioral analysis therapist has him studying math and English at the third-grade level -- a full year ahead of some of his peers.

"He's just becoming a very functional autistic person," Isaacson said.
Health Library

* MayoClinic.com: Autism

As far as the Isaacson family's journey took them, it is the same hard slog facing millions of families gripped by autism.

"A lot of the parents go to the ends of the Earth in their own living rooms every day," Isaacson said. "I mean, we had more stressful car rides to the grocery store than any of the stresses and challenges of the trip to Mongolia."
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You don't have to get on a horse -- or plane to Siberia -- for relief. For autism families, Isaacson encourages parents to simply follow their instincts and listen to what their child shows them.

"In our case, it was horses in Mongolia and these shamans," Isaacson said. "It could just as easily have been bicycles and, you know, steam trains. And if it had been, we'd have done a steam train journey. We'd have done whatever Rowan seemed to be showing us he wanted to do, because that was where he was intrinsically motivated."

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We stand alone together

I just LOVE stuff like this.
It just blows my mind away. I swear I'm sure I was one of these war veterans before. Or .. maybe I was just a stupid cat always making trouble.

It's been raining cats and dogs here since about 11 pm last night. The first glimmers of sunshine are peaking out at me just now, and it's already nearly sunset. It's beautiful tho. The ocean's sparkling like silver now in the sunlight. I didn't go for a swim. It was cool enough to not feel the need for it just yet.

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Karma Kula Mystic Warrior Preview

I've been away for ages. Haven't had internet access for a while, but school's nearly done and I'm just thrilled about that.

I've been island hopping all morning and am exhausted. I've got my internet connection back, so I'm going to be online more often now and will be updating.

Some really interesting stuff has been happening these days, and tell you what, the Ninjai Gang's got their Karma Kula Mystic Warrior thing going!!


As for my puppy.. well, she died of parvo a few days ago. I'm crushed. I made sure she got all her vaccines but still somehow she got sick. The vet I brought her to says I didn't bring her to the right vet, i.e her- in the first place, and that's why she died. My usual vet was hospitalized because of heart failure when my puppy got sick so I couldn't bring her to him, but anyway.. :( such is life.

cya tomorrow.

AAAS: Living near trees 'makes people live longer and feel happier'

AAAS: Living near trees 'makes people live longer and feel happier'
Leafy streets also encourage a lower crime rate and a more "civilised" atmosphere, even in poor areas, researchers found.

They believe that living close to parks and other green spaces is "essential to our physical, psychological and social well-being".

"Nature calms people and it also helps them psychologically rejuvenate. They are better able to handle challenges which come their way," said Prof Frances Kuo, from the University of Illinois, who led a review of studies into the effects of trees and parklands.

The research also shows that people have happier relationships and perform better in tests when they live in tree-filled neighbourhoods.

Other studies showed that health levels could be "predicted by the amount of green space within a one-mile radius".

Research in Japan also found that older people lived for longer when their homes were within walking distance of a park or other green space.

Prof Kuo said: "In our studies, people with less access to nature show relatively poor attention or cognitive function, poor management of major life issues, and poor impulse control."

She added: "The relationship between crime and vegetation is very clear: the more trees, the fewer crimes.

"It actually encourages people to use the spaces outside their homes which provides a natural form of surveillance.

"In fact, the data seem to indicate that if you have a landscape where you introduce well-maintained trees and grass, people will find that a safer environment."

One study showed that the presence of trees could cut crime by as much as seven per cent, according to the research presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference (AAAS) in Chicago.

Children with attention deficit disorders also behaved better after a walk in a park compared to those who exercised indoors or in treeless areas, the review found.
Source

Sure thing. These guys should read Richard Louv's "Last Child In the Woods" and they'll understand better.

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Mystic Warrior, Mystic events

Check out the karma kula trailer! And damn this is freaky:

- Daniel Pharr says he was in the middle of his first-ever skydive, thousands of feet over South Carolina, when the instructor strapped to his back stopped talking to him Saturday.

The instructor, George "Chip" Steele of Skydive Carolina, was later pronounced dead. But as they were falling, Pharr -- an Army soldier taking a private skydiving lesson -- knew only that Steele wasn't responding.

Pharr said he "went into survival mode," using his military training to calm himself as he tried to get to ground safely.

"We're just taught to deal with adversity, whether it be on the battlefront or at home or ... up in the air, and you just do what you have to do -- assess the situation and keep a calm head about you because it doesn't do anybody any good to panic," said Pharr, a private in the Army.

Pharr, able to steer himself only in right circles because he could use only the parachute's right steering mechanism, managed to maneuver away from some obstructions and landed safely in Chester, South Carolina.

When they landed, Pharr attempted CPR, but it was too late.

Steele, 49, appeared to have died of a heart attack, Chester County Coroner Terry Tinker told the Rock Hill (South Carolina) Herald. An autopsy was being conducted Monday.

Everything seemed to be normal at the beginning of the jump, Pharr said. He asked a question and Steele responded. They chatted for a moment in the air, but when Pharr asked another question about 5,500 feet above ground, Steele did not respond.

Pharr asked the question again. When he still got no response, he didn't panic -- he realized to get down safely he had to remain calm, he said.

"The likelihood of you surviving, you know, decreases absolutely amazingly by factors exponentially if you panic," he said.

The skydive was a Christmas gift from Pharr's girlfriend, who he said is now having regrets about it. But Pharr assured her there was no reason for regret.

"It's a lifelong experience now, not to be turned around into a bad thing," he said. "I just hate it for the family."

Pharr -- based at Georgia's Fort Gordon, according to CNN affiliate WJBF -- said his focus was just to get down to the ground and help Steele.

Pharr said his family won't let him go near skydiving again, and he isn't arguing with them.

Source

Oohh.. human soup

Cartel 'stewmaker' says he dissolved 300 bodies
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- A suspect in police custody calls himself a "stewmaker" for a Mexican drug lord, saying he disposed of about 300 bodies by dissolving them in acid.
Santiago Meza Lopez has asked for forgiveness from the families of those he says he targeted.

Santiago Meza Lopez has asked for forgiveness from the families of those he says he targeted.

Santiago Meza Lopez was arrested Thursday in Ensenada, Baja California, but it took police 24 hours to identify him. He says he works for drug lord Teodoro Garcia Simental, also known as "el Teo," a powerful drug trafficker.

Meza, who is shown handcuffed and flanked by guards in video released by the government, calls himself "Teo's stewmaker" and says he was paid $600 a week for his macabre duties. The victims, he said, were men who owed Garcia something or had betrayed him.

A native of Guamuchil, Sinaloa, Meza was arrested along with three other people, including a minor female who said she was contracted for a social event. Other people sought by police were in the area at the time but were able to escape, officials said.

Now, Meza is asking for forgiveness.

"To the families, please forgive me," he said in the video.
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* Mexico arrests drug leader

Mexican police have not specifically said whether they believe that all elements of Meza's story are credible.

He has told police where he buried some of the bodies.

Now authorities, along with citizens groups and the families of the disappeared, are searching for them.

They hope Meza could have information about the location of their friends and relatives.

Authorities say Garcia formed part of the Arellano Felix cartel but is currently said by intelligence sources to be operating with the Sinaloa cartel.

Officials say seven brothers and four sisters of the Arellano-Felix family inherited the Tijuana, Mexico-based drug cartel from Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo in 1989, after his arrest for drug trafficking.

Today, the notorious cartel is split into two factions that have engaged in brutal fighting that has accounted for nearly all the violence in Tijuana, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. More than 400 people were killed last year in drug-related violence.

Eduardo Arellano-Felix, who police said was the last remaining brother to have an active role in the cartel, was arrested in October.
Source

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Trust

It's hard to trust people... I heard a funny proverb today which is so true- "A new born calf has no fear". Indeed. Once you've gotten burned once you kinda get hard.




oh and.. happy new year! Chinese new year is just around the corner.

Cheers to another year closer to death.

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Accidents

I was at the doctor's today, just brought some cookies I baked for our doctor friend really- not because I got into an accident or something. I don't like hospitals, they're creepy. There was a huge emergency this morning. I don't know what happened, but I could hear the poor kid screaming 2 floors down from the emergency room.

Those people in the plane that landed in the Hudson River should be real thankful to God I'd say.

As much as I love Ninjas,


Got to love em pirates too.


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Brr

It's been so cold up here, I'm just dreaming of the beach.


I played tennis for 3 hours this morning. It was pretty good, kinda short, but good enough. I didn't quite get the high of it all. I'm going to play early tomorrow again.

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Update

COOl Dogs!! Caucausian Mountain Dog- never seen this one before.



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A witch? Burn Her to Death!

Right.. we sure are evolving.

Woman suspected of witchcraft burned alive

A woman in rural Papua New Guinea was bound and gagged, tied to a log and set ablaze on a pile of tires this week, possibly because villagers suspected her of being a witch, police said Thursday.

Her death adds to a growing list of men and women who have been accused of sorcery and then tortured or killed in the South Pacific island nation, where traditional beliefs hold sway in many regions.

The victims are often scapegoats for someone else's unexplained death -- and bands of tribesmen collude to mete out justice to them for their supposed magical powers, police said.

"We have had quite difficulties in a number of previous incidents convincing people to come forward with information," said Simon Kauba, assistant commissioner of police and commander of the Highlands region, where the killing occurred.

"We are trying to persuade them to help. Somebody lost their mother or daughter or sister Tuesday morning."

Early Tuesday morning, a group of people dragged the woman, believed to be in her late teens to early 20s, to a dumping ground outside the city of Mount Hagen. They stripped her naked, bound her hands and legs, stuffed a cloth in her mouth, tied her to a log and set her on fire, Mauba said.

"When the people living nearby went to the dump site to investigate what caused the fire, they found a human being burning in the flames," he said. "It was ugly."

The country's Post-Courier newspaper reported Thursday that more than 50 people were killed in two Highlands provinces last year for allegedly practicing sorcery.

In a well-publicized case last year, a pregnant woman gave birth to a baby girl while struggling to free herself from a tree. Villagers had dragged the woman from her house and hung her from the tree, accusing her of sorcery after her neighbor suddenly died.

She and the baby survived, according to media reports.

Killings of witches, or sangumas, is not a new phenomenon in rural areas of the country.

Emory University anthropology Professor Bruce Knauft, who lived in a village in the western province of Papua New Guinea in the early 1980s, traced family histories for 42 years and found that 1 in 3 adult deaths were homicides -- "the bulk of these being collective killings of suspected sorcerers," he wrote in his book, From Primitive to Postcolonial in Melanesia and Anthropology.

In recent years, as AIDS has taken a toll in the the nation of 6.7 million people, villagers have blamed suspected witches -- and not the virus -- for the deaths.

According to the United Nations, Papua New Guinea accounts for 90 percent of the Pacific region's HIV cases and is one of four Asia-Pacific countries with an epidemic.

"We've had a number of cases where people were killed because they were accused of spreading HIV or AIDS," Mauba said.

While there is plenty of speculation why Tuesday's victim was killed, police said they are focused more on who committed the crime.

"If it is phobias about alleged HIV/AIDS or claims of a sexual affair, we must urge the police and judiciary to throw the book at the offenders," the Post-Courier wrote in an editorial.

"There are remedies far, far better than to torture and immolate a young woman before she can be judged by a lawful system."

CNN World News

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Of losing weight and sleep

I've been so damn tired these past few days.

I read this article about lack of sleep and weight loss. It's all the things you eat for gosh sakes. It's easy to understand for the most part.

We have this guest- a scholar- here with us now who's been telling us different stories of the world and etc and today he told us the story of Buddha, aka Siddhartha.

I find this picture of him to be a very nice one to describe his leaving everything behind:


Siddhartha grew up in a palace where he was completely shielded from any misery and suffering that is so prevalent in our world today. The compound in which he lived was a very vast one, and it was only when he was already a young man with a child of his own that he saw the wall that was keeping him within that "fake world" that his parents created for him in hopes of keeping him from becoming what a priest has predicted he would be before his birth- a great sage. His father figured if he didn't see the suffering of the world he wouldn't look for the solution to the suffering. Of course that didn't stop him.

He was great friends with his chariot driver and one day when he saw the wall, he asked his chariot driver to take him outside that wall. His chariot driver refused of course, but upon Siddhartha's nagging him- he finally gave in, and said, "All right all right- tomorrow night, we'll go." They sneaked out of a small hole in the wall ... and that's where Siddhartha's "awakening" to the miseries of the world came about.

We'll zip right through the little details and... here, so this picture- is probably just when he was about to leave everything. The night after he went out and saw all the miseries, he had his chariot driver his beautiful white horse who he had grown up with bring him deep into the forests. He took of all his jewelry and beautiful clothes and exchanged it with his chariot driver's clothes. He cut off his beautiful long black hair and told his chariot driver to leave. His horse was standing there, head hanging, tears streaming down his face. The chariot driver said, "No, no, I can't leave you. You are my Lord, You are my life. How can I leave You here?" But Siddhartha was firm, "No, you must go. I must find the solution to the miseries of life." Even his horse didn't want to go, and so Siddhartha went and whispered some words into the horse' ear, so then both the horse and the chariot driver had to go. :'(

Anyway... I loved it.

Anyway.. don't forget to watch your daily Ninjai Chapter

War again!

The War in Gaza's raging... our world seems to be ripped apart by wars one after another. It's pretty crazy. It's sad. :(



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I've always been fascinated by soldiers

Chinese Philosphers

I've been reading a bit about some Chinese philosophers like Confucius and Lao Tzu. It's all pretty awesome stuff.

China's such a beautiful place. I like the sounds and looks of it much better than Japan's. I used to tell people I was half Chinese rather than Japanese. But the language has always been a problem anyway. darn.





Don't forget to watch your Daily Ninjai Chapter.

Happy New Year!

Haven't seen me around here since last year!

I didn't really celebrate the New Year's thing... as I usually don't anyway.

Pretty crazy weight loss story:

Today is the first day of a year that Ernesto Suncar and his doctors feared he might never see.

Weighing 640 pounds, wearing 10X shirts and with a 70-inch waist, the 33-year-old New Yorker was told by doctors he would likely be dead within 12 months.

Realizing it was a choice between losing weight and dying, the proud father of three, who had tried every diet imaginable, underwent gastric bypass surgery - and has shed more than two-thirds of his former self.

"I want people to feel inspired when they look at me," says the Hell's Kitchen resident, who's down to 210 pounds. "Hopefully, if they have a weight issue, they will finally do something about it, starting right now.

"Losing this weight saved my life. Without the operation, I doubt I would be here to celebrate New Year's.

"It's scary to think what might have happened."

The business management student says his body ballooned after he came to the U.S. from his native Dominican Republic at the age 7.

"I was a normal, active kid who used to run and play outdoors in the tropical climate," he recalls. "When we moved into a small apartment where it was cold, I stayed inside and didn't get any exercise.

"The only games I played were video games."

His love of chow didn't help. He would gorge himself on Spanish-style fried pork chops, rice and plantains, McDonald's, pizza and pasta.

"My mom would tell the guys at the corner deli not to serve me, so I'd just walk to another block," Suncar admits.

He once lost 64 pounds on a 1,800-calorie-a-day diet, but then gained 120 pounds. At his heaviest, the 6-foot-2 food junkie tipped the scales at 640 pounds.

"My little son had to tie my shoelaces," he says. "I poked fun at myself, but inside I was hurting."

The turning point came when chronic breathing difficulties and the immense strain on his heart threatened to kill him.

"The doctor said, if I carried on as I was, I would be dead in a year," Suncar says.

Dr. Elliot Goodman, chief of bariatric surgery at Beth Israel Medical Center, performed the gastric bypass.

There were minor complications, but this winter, after following a nutritious eating plan and increasing his fitness at the gym, Suncar has reached - and maintained - a healthy weight.

His waistline has shrunk to 34 inches and, instead of having to buy expensive outsize clothes on the Internet, he shops for stylish gear at The Gap.

"I feel reborn," he says. "These days I can cycle along the Hudson River, play with my kids and this summer, I'm planning on taking a flight. Before, I couldn't have fit in an airline seat.

"I keep some of my old things in my closet to remind me of how I used to look. But there's no going back."

Source

Damn. That's pretty crazy all right. Got to respect him for the will power to do that tho. I'm sure he and his family are much better off now. It's always hard to have to carry extra weight around.

So on to a 2009! Best wishes to everyone.

And that... don't forget to watch your daily Ninjai Chapter

Get going

I've been pretty happy these past few days. :)

Army to honor soldiers enslaved by Nazis

BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- The U.S. Army says it will honor the "heroism and sacrifice" of 350 U.S. soldiers who were held as slaves by Nazi Germany during World War II.
Bernard "Jack" Vogel died in a Nazi slave camp in the arms of fellow U.S. soldier, Anthony Acevedo, in 1945.

Bernard "Jack" Vogel died in a Nazi slave camp in the arms of fellow U.S. soldier, Anthony Acevedo, in 1945.
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The decision by the Army effectively reverses decades of silence about what the soldiers endured in the final months of the war in 1945 at Berga an der Elster, a subcamp of Buchenwald where soldiers were beaten, starved, killed and forced to work in tunnels to hide German equipment.

More than 100 U.S. soldiers died in the camp or on a forced death march. Before they were sent back to the United States, survivors signed a secrecy document with the U.S. government to never speak about their captivity.

"The interests of American prisoners of war in the event of future wars, moreover, demand that the secrets of this war be vigorously safeguarded," the document says.

CNN last month reported the story of Anthony Acevedo, who was a 20-year-old medic when he was sent to Berga with the other soldiers. Acevedo kept a diary that details the day-to-day events inside the camp and lists names and prisoner numbers of men as they died or were executed. See inside Acevedo's diary »

That story prompted a chain of events, including hundreds of CNN.com users urging their congressional leaders to honor the soldiers of Berga. Two congressmen, Reps. Joe Baca, D-California, and Spencer Bachus, R-Alabama, wrote U.S. Army Secretary Peter Geren and asked him to recognize the 350 soldiers.
Don't Miss

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* Vet breaks silence on Nazi slave camp

The Army recently responded to the two congressmen, saying it is working "to determine an appropriate way to honor the heroism and sacrifice of these soldiers. We expect this review to be complete by March 6, 2009."

After learning of the Army's decision, Baca said in a press release, "The courage and perseverance they demonstrated in enduring such inhumane conditions is awe inspiring, and I am pleased the Army has opened a more extensive investigation into honoring these men."

For the dozen of Berga survivors who are still living, the news came as a shock. Many had long ago given up hope that their country would ever recognize them for what they endured.

"It's amazing," said Morty Brooks, now 83, when informed of the Army plans. "It's a recognition that's many years past due. No particular notice was ever given to us by the government, and it should be part of the military's annals."

Acevedo, now 84, noted the ages of the remaining survivors -- all of whom are in their 80s. Some are in failing health. He said he hopes the Army can reach its decision before March, because of the possibility some could die before then.

"If they can do it a lot sooner, we would appreciate it much," he said. "I thank God I'm still able to communicate and express myself with dignity, and I'm hoping the other fellas are able to communicate also.

"I've always been proud to be a U.S. soldier. It did me some good, with God's help and faith. I'll pray for everybody, all my other fellas."

He said the 350 soldiers are heroes who "exposed our lives for our country, for democracy and freedom of speech." The soldiers, all of them survivors of the Battle of the Bulge, had originally been sent to a POW camp known as Stalag IX-B in Bad Orb, Germany. From there, the Nazis separated the 350 soldiers based on being Jewish or "looking like Jews" and sent them to the slave camp around February 8, 1945.Video Watch Acevedo describe treatment in the camp »

In Boston, Martin Vogel sits quietly in his home. His brother, Bernard "Jack" Vogel, died in Acevedo's arms at the age of 19 in April 1945. Bernard Vogel had tried to escape from Berga with another soldier named Izzy Cohen. Both were captured and forced to stand in their underwear outside the barracks for at least two days until they collapsed.

The last words Bernard Vogel ever uttered were "I want to die, I want to die." Listen as Acevedo tells brother of victim: "I held him in my arms" »

Martin Vogel, 82, said that "since learning of my brother's death in 1945, a week has not passed that I don't think of his untimely death. Many questions had gone unanswered during this time."

After talking with CNN.com and the few remaining survivors, he said, "My thoughts have come into a clearer focus. I have learned of the last few days of [Bernard's] life and what horrendous event took place prior to death. This has at least crystallized the uncertainty of his death and brought a close to this chapter."

Vogel still gets emotional talking about his brother's death. He wrote his thoughts so he wouldn't cry talking about it.

He continued, writing that questions remain on many issues, including the fate of his brother's captors and "the unwillingness of the Army to publicly document the capture and imprisonment of these soldiers. ... The least is I now know Jack died with friends near him, giving him comfort in his last moments."

The two Berga commanders -- Erwin Metz and his superior, Hauptmann Ludwig Merz -- were tried for war crimes and initially sentenced to die by hanging. But the U.S. government commuted their death sentences in 1948, and both men were eventually set free in the 1950s.

Charles Vogel, the uncle of Bernard and Martin, was outraged at the decision. At the time a powerful Manhattan attorney, he petitioned President Harry Truman, Secretary of State George Marshall and Defense Secretary James Forrestal to overturn the commutation.

Charles Vogel also helped form a group called "Berga Survivors" after the war in which some of the slave camp soldiers would meet to discuss the best way to pressure the government to honor them and allow them to testify against Metz and Merz.

In a bulletin from one of their meetings in early 1949, the "Berga Survivors" appeared optimistic the government would act. "Your cooperation now is doubly important, for things are beginning to break our way," the bulletin says. "A little enthusiasm, a little more cooperation, a little more action will accomplish a great, great deal now."

It adds, "You can aid in the campaign to get Washington to procure full justice for us."

More than six decades later, it appears the work of the original "Berga Survivors" group was not in vain. Most have since died, but the few who remain alive say they will never let their fellow soldiers be forgotten.
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"It's finally gotten to a point where the Army is coming to their senses after they had ignored us in the past," Acevedo said. "Why the silence all these years? It's time to recognize all these soldiers who sacrificed their lives."

CNN.com has located 14 Berga soldiers who are alive and will keep working to find if any others are still living.

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Updates

So Christmas is finished. I'm feeling much better. I've been trying to surf for the past couple days.

Not much interesting happening.

Just don't forget to watch your daily Ninjai Chapter. :)