A Word of Thanks

December 7, 2005 – Today is the 64th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Over 295,000 American men and women gave their lives fighting and winning the war which followed that attack.  Today we are engaged in a different war, following another attack, and America’s young men and women are once again fighting and dying for their country. I ask that you take a moment out from what you are doing and take a look through the following names of the men and women who gave their lives in 2005. No matter what you think about the US involvement in this war, these service people deserve your respect. Enjoy the upcoming holidays.  Thanks for a great 2004. See you next year.  

January 01, 2005
 
•  Marine Lance Cpl. Brian P. Parrello, 19, of West Milford, N.J.; assigned to Small Craft Company, Headquarters Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; killed Jan. 1 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.

•  Army Spc. Jeff LeBrun, 21, of Buffalo, N.Y.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.; killed Jan. 1 when his military vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device in Baghdad.

January 02, 2005
 
•  Army Sgt. 1st Class Pedro A. Munoz, 47, of Aquada, Puerto Rico; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died Jan. 2 in Shindand, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained Jan. 1 when his patrol encountered enemy fire.

January 03, 2005
 
•  Army Sgt. Jeremy R. Wright, 31, of Shelbyville, Ind.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group, Fort Lewis, Wash.; killed Jan. 3 when his military vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Asadabad, Afghanistan.

•  Marine Sgt. Thomas E. Houser, 22, of Council Bluffs, Iowa; assigned to 2nd Force Reconnaissance Company, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; killed Jan. 3 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.

January 04, 2005
 
•  Army Sgt. Bennie J. Washington, 25, of Atlanta; assigned to the 44th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, Camp Howze, Korea; died Jan. 4 in Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, of injuries sustained Oct. 14 when his military vehicle was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade in Ramadi, Iraq.

•  Army Pfc. Curtis L. Wooten III, 20, of Spanaway, Wash.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 77th Armor Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany; killed Jan. 4 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle in Balad, Iraq.

•  Army Spc. Joshua S. Marcum, 33, of Evening Shade, Ark.; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 153rd Infantry Regiment, 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Arkansas Army National Guard, Camden, Ark.; killed Jan. 4 when an improvised explosive devise detonated near his military vehicle in Taji, Iraq. Also killed were Spc. Jimmy D. Buie and Army Spc. Jeremy W. McHalffey.

•  Army Spc. Jeremy W. McHalffey, 28, of Mabelvale, Ark.; assigned to the 39th Infantry Brigade, Arkansas Army National Guard, Little Rock, Ark.; killed Jan. 4 when an improvised explosive devise detonated near his military vehicle in Taji, Iraq. Also killed were Spc. Jimmy D. Buie and Spc. Joshua S. Marcum.

•  Army Spc. Jimmy D. Buie, 43, of Floral, Ark.; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 153rd Infantry Regiment, 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Arkansas Army National Guard, Fordyce, Ark.; killed Jan. 4 when an improvised explosive devise

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Ron Pramschufer

Ron Pramschufer has been in or around the printing and publishing industry for over 35 years. His experience, including working in the pressroom, bindery, production office and estimating department helped give him a firm foundation to build on when he entered sales and management. He was partners in a small press publishing company in Annapolis, MD in the late seventies and co-invented and marketed two controversial political board games which sold over 100,000 copies in the early eighties. Moving from his home state of Maryland to New York City after his game experience, Ron sold printing services to, primarily, small to mid-sized book publishers for over a decade before founding RJ Communications with an old friend. Ron recognized the potential of the Internet very early as a powerful communications tool. In 1997 he started one of the first printer related websites, www.rjcom.com, which caters to the professional print buyer. This evolved into www.BooksJustBooks.com and more recently www.selfpublishing.com which target the print buying novice, primarily self-publishers. All three sites are still operating successfully and SelfPublishing.com was named as one of Writers Digest’s, 101 Best websites for writers for 2006. Educating the novice print buyer has been a top priority from day one. To help address this issue, Ron co-authored the popular title Publishing Basics- a Guide for the Small Press and Independent Self-Publisher, now in its Third Edition, as well as Publishing Basics for Children’s Books, in its Second Edition. He is the organizer of the monthly Publishing Basics Newsletter where he writes a sometimes controversial Ask Ron column which addresses various aspects of the publishing process. On the same note, he started the Publishing Basics Radio PodCast in 2005 and serves as the show’s host. A wide variety of topics are covered including a very popular series titled, The Truth Behind POD Publishing, where he conducts interviews with a select group of industry insiders. Since its inception, RJ Communications has helped thousands of customers print over 105 million books. Ron is married and has three children. His daughter, Stephanie, teaches second grade and recently self-published her first children’s book in the Oliver the Clownfish series. Matthew, his oldest son, owns a website design business and Erik, the youngest, is enjoying high school.

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