As some of my readers know I work at Home Depot. Since I started there in April I have had over 10 people know that I was a Leitch. What do you mean by that, you might ask? Well I have 4 uncles and I look just like all of them. I am from a small town of 15,000 and I would venture to guess that if you ask 8,000 of those people if they know a Leitch there response would be yeah which one. My whole life I have always been very proud to say that I am a Leitch. My grandpa was in the Army and then he helped start a well known company called Howell Paving, Inc. Two of my uncles still work for Howell, ones a plumber and the other a electrician. All of my uncles have built a great name for themselves and well for all Leitch's.
I say all of that to mention that I have spent several hours at work just talking to people who say it was an honor to talk to me and that I had a great Grandpa. So when your doing, well anything, remember you are building a name that will last generations.
Thank you Grandpa for being a stand-up guy who had a desire to help people and provide for his family it has made a lasting impression for generations to come.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
The U.S. Army wants you to be its friend on Facebook.
You can also follow the Army on Twitter. Or post a comment on its new blog. They're all part of the Army's new mission: social networking.
"If Ashton Kutcher can do it, the U.S. Army can do it," said Lindy Kyzer, who posts the Army's "status updates" on Facebook and "tweets" on Twitter.
Kyzer issued a public challenge - to get more followers on Twitter than Kutcher, an actor and social networking fiend who recently won a bet with CNN that he could reach 1 million followers first.
"We know that our ability to share the Army story is shaped by how we tell it and where we tell it," said Lt. Col. Kevin Arata, who heads the Army's new Online and Social Media Division. "Using social media platforms allows us to tell our story where we know people are at and are listening."
Even Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, is on Facebook. With nearly 5,000 "friends," the four-star general is updating his status straight from the battlefield - something unheard of in past conflicts.
Gen. Michael Oates, commander of the 10th Mountain Division based at Fort Drum, N.Y., has been blogging from Iraq for months.
"Six soldiers honored for bravery in Afghanistan; are reminded, 'of those who didn't come back,'" reads one Army "tweet."
"Drill Sergeants work hard to debunk Hollywood stereotypes about their role," reads another.
The Facebook and Twitter messages are really an extension of the press releases and stories that Army officials put out through the Division of Public Affairs. But it's also a place for soldiers and their families to connect.
"Most [wall posts] are shout-outs," Arata said. "They're people saying, 'My son's in the Army, my granddaughter's in Iraq.'"
The Army's not alone. The Air Force is on Twitter and the Coast Guard is on Facebook.
"It's an instant support network," Kyzer said. "We've seen a ton of parents on there."
Officially launched on Thursday, the Army's Facebook page already has more than 3,000 "friends."
The page is an "open forum," but there are rules of engagement: keep it clean and courteous.
"There have been very few negative comments," Kyzer said. "It's self-regulating - that's the beauty of social networking."
With more than 4,000 followers on Twitter, Army officials said they hope to gain a worldwide following.
"We'll see where it goes," Arata said. "We're not fearful of what's out there. We really want to see what the world has to say."
This story is from NYDailyNews.
Happy Birthday America! Thank you to all the soldiers who have fought for this country. A special prayer will be said for all the families of those who died fighting for Old Glory.
Monday, June 29, 2009
About 5 months ago Scott McChrystal approached me about speaking to a church which would have about 300 soldiers in the congregation. How could I turn something like that down.
On thursday my wife and I were able to do one of our favorite things together which is flying. After arriving in Atlanta, Ga. we found ourselves checking into an amazing Hyatt in Buckhead. We spent our first two days sightseeing the city which included World of Coca-Cola, The Bodies Exhibit, and the National Infantry Museum in Columbus, GA.
We then found ourselves greeting 300 basic training soldiers at Evangel Temple Assemblies of God. I shared my testimony with the soldiers and about 500 other congregants and had a response of around 100 soldiers say they wanted God to help them with their walk by finding an accountability partner and another 60 make a decision to accept Jesus into their lives. PRAISE GOD!!! After the service the soldiers were served a steak meal and an amazing dessert buffet. The dessert buffet might not be a big deal to the average person but trust me to a basic training soldier who hasn't had a dessert in 9 weeks that's huge. During the dinner I had several soldiers approach me to say how much their life had been changed by the message they had heard. One soldier in particular asked me to pray for him and his family he joined the Army at the age of 39 to support his family. Please continue with me in prayer for the very soldiers that received this message, for 25% of the deaths in the current war are infantry soldiers and that is who these guys are.
I want to say a special thanks to the following people for making this trip possible: God for being so faithful in giving me the desires of my heart which is to minister to soldiers; my amazing wife for the encouragement; @thefields church, @tspencer, @philipkousma, @allisonaaronb, @mattpolites, and @evancourtney for the prayer; www.etcolumbus.org for inviting my wife and I; Scott McChrystal for being my booking agent, mentor, and amazing friend; and all my other friends and family not mentioned above.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Well my birthday is coming up and I will be 27. I can't believe it. Well as many of you know I am getting ready to take my next step in life and start college in the fall. So in order for me to be ready for this I have to have some school clothes. That leads me to answer the question "All I want for my birthday is....." MONEY for some new school clothes. All the students at college are wearing the hip, in style clothes and I am wearing my t-shirts from the youth camps and army. So if I could get 50 of my readers to send me a birthday wish of $5 that would put me on the path of being the coolest kid on the campus. Well not kid but you know what I mean.
You can get my contact information from my facebook profile. http://www.facebook.com/blakeleitch
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
So much discussion was made over what Taylor Swift and T-Pain would be doing at tonight’s (June 16) CMT Music Awards that I was almost worried the moment would be anticlimactic. But Swift and T-Pain did not disappoint. In a fast-moving video sequence with awards show host Bill Engvall, we saw Swift as a Vulcan in the new Star Trek movie, as a grossly undersized NFL player and then finally as a slightly less-than gansta rapper with T-Pain in the music video for “Thug Story.” Swift rapped original lyrics and poked fun at herself while T-Pain contributed his signature auto-tuned hooks. Her self-deprecating humor was hilarious.
