Free Republic

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — It’s a few minutes before 5 a.m. The sun isn’t up yet, but Chris Weir is. A few years ago, the Cleveland, Tenn., native might still have been in bed at this hour. He might have been dreaming about his chances of winning the Bradley County mayoral race before getting up and putting on the suit and tie that had become his uniform in the business world. But today the 28-year-old already is dressed, and he’s wearing a different kind of uniform. It’s the same kind his little brother died in. Though the fabric is fairly...

Sen. Bob Corker on Saturday voted for passage of H.R. 2638, the continuing resolution, which passed the Senate by a vote of 78 to 12. Sen. Lamar Alexander voted against the bill. The resolution funds the ongoing operations of the federal government, including Tennessee defense and military construction projects, and lifts the 25 year-old federal ban on oil exploration along the Outer Continental Shelf. The legislation must now be signed into law by the President. “This was a tough vote for me,” said Sen. Corker. “We should have considered each of the appropriations bills independently - with full debate and...

BALAD, Iraq, June 11, 2008 – Since May 22, more than 500 former insurgents in the Balad area have reconciled with the Iraqi government, choosing a different path for their lives. Operation Balad Musalahah is a combined effort between the qada-level government of Iraq -- a qada is roughly equivalent to a U.S. county -- and the leadership of the Iraqi police, 4th Iraqi Army Division, and the 101st Airborne Division’s 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team. The ongoing effort has encouraged tribal leaders and local people with significant influence to promote unity within the once-beleaguered area,...

WASHINGTON, June 3, 2008 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed four enemy fighters, captured 13 suspects and seized scores of weapons in Iraq in recent days, military officials said. Troops captured seven suspects today, including two wanted men believed to be tied to al-Qaida in Iraq bombing networks. One wanted man, captured with four associates in Mosul, allegedly is a security leader for al-Qaida in Iraq and is suspected of coordinating bombings against Iraqi police. Forces seized the other wanted man, who reportedly facilitates suicide bombings and foreign-terrorist movement in Tikrit for al-Qaida in Iraq, along with an additional suspect....

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq – A local sheik, informed by a Sons of Iraq member, gave a tip to Coalition forces, leading them to a huge munitions cache approximately 13 kilometers south of Baghdad May 21.Soldiers from 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), retrieved the cache containing 268, 57 mm mortar rounds; two, 82 mm mortars and four, 107 mm rocket casings.None of the rounds were serviceable, but they could have been alternately used as improvised explosive devices.The munitions were turned over to Iraqi Army personnel at a nearby compound.                                                                          -30-

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON — A Military Transition Team stationed at FOB Falcon, about eight kilometers south of Baghdad, plays a rigorous and important role in rebuilding the capacity of Iraq. The MiTT helps the Iraqi Army to operate in an optimal manner, said Sgt. Chad Highland, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). Soldiers from the MiTT, assigned to 1-33rd Cav. Regt., teaches a five-day Iraqi basic training course using U.S. Army knowledge converted into something Iraqi Army Soldiers can execute. “It’s basically a course to teach basic...

PATROL BASE YATES — As part of their commitment to keeping insurgents away, members of the Sons of Iraq built a checkpoint on a narrow stretch of road through Fuhail Mujeer Village, 25 kilometers southwest of Baghdad, April 25. As recently as December, Rakkasan Soldiers of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), established a presence in the area, which was previously an insurgent safe haven. Now Soldiers from 2nd Platoon, Company C, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, assigned to their battalion’s Company D, are living at the newly built Patrol Base Yates and working with the SoI...

With the ball, Spc. Cortez Cox, a water purification specialist, and Staff Sgt. Howard Benjamin, a section leader, both with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), teach Radwaniyah children how to defend and take the ball away during day two of a three-day basketball camp at Patrol Base Lion’s Den. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Tony M. Lindback, 3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Div. (AASLT). BR>PATROL BASE LION’S DEN — Radwaniyah area children were treated to something a little out of the ordinary when U.S. Soldiers at Patrol Base Lion’s...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, April 10, 2008 – On the 101st day of 2008, the headquarters of the 101st Airborne Division officially became Combined Joint Task Force 101 and took command of NATO’s Regional Command East sector of Afghanistan from the 82nd Airborne Division. Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser and Division Command Sgt. Maj. Vincent Camacho of 101st Airborne Division uncase the division colors during a transfer-of-authority ceremony at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, April 10, 2008. The 101st Airborne Division assumed command of Combined Joint Task Force 101 from 82nd Airborne Division in Regional Command East of NATO’s International...

BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad soldiers engaged and killed 23 criminals in separate engagements in Baghdad March 28. Soldiers from 2nd BCT, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), killed one criminal in northeastern Baghdad after seeing the individual with a rocket propelled grenade launcher in an alleyway during a patrol. At approximately 4 p.m., a 3rd BCT, 4th Infantry Division vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in northeastern Baghdad. A number of criminals then fired on the soldiers while they attempted to recover the vehicle. Soldiers spotted and engaged two of the attackers, killing them both. Iraqi security forces and...

BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad soldiers engaged and killed 23 criminals in separate engagements in Baghdad March 28. Soldiers from 2nd BCT, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), killed one criminal in northeastern Baghdad after seeing the individual with a rocket propelled grenade launcher in an alleyway during a patrol. At approximately 4 p.m., a 3rd BCT, 4th Infantry Division vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in northeastern Baghdad. A number of criminals then fired on the soldiers while they attempted to recover the vehicle. Soldiers spotted and engaged two of the attackers, killing them both. Iraqi security forces and...

BAGHDAD: Iraqi soldiers uncovered a cache of Iranian-made rockets and armor-piercing roadside bombs Saturday in an apartment building occupied by Shiite militia members south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. The cache was found in one apartment and contained 17 bombs known as explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, three Iranian-made 107 mm rockets and an assortment of rifles and Iraqi security force uniforms. Col. Dominic Caraccilo, commander of the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, said the rockets were marked with manufacture dates as recent as 2007, and were believed to have been brought into the country from Iran during a...

Bravo By Day, Bravo By Night January 17, 2008 It’s hard to remember when the day went from routine, almost boring, to unpredictable, even exciting. It’s hard to remember when we went from chatting up the locals in town to staring at piles of dirt in the desert. I know we got back to the base at about 11:00 pm. I know I hadn’t peed since 8:30 am. I had eaten an Otis Spunkmeyer muffin around lunchtime, figuring that would hold me until dinner. But then dinner turned out to be goldfish crackers and the hard candy that is kept...

Tribute video for Congressman Duncan Hunter, who ended his candidacy for president today.

101st Airborne prepares for deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan

I received an e-mail today from Mrs. Irma Haex of Holland. She and her teenage son, Wesley, have adopted the graves of four Americans buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.Irma writes... We do this out of respect for the men who paid the ultimate price for our freedom, it is 62 years ago that the war ended, but most of the Dutch people won’t forget. I thought people here might enjoy knowing that there people like Irma and Wesley Haex, tending the graves of our fallen overseas. _______________________________ Irma Haex at the grave of Sergeant Robert E. Grame,...

SWEETWATER, Tenn. – A 6-foot banner hanging from a gazebo in the center of this town of 6,000 reads: “Ray fought for Sweetwater. Now let's fight for Ray.”Folks in Sweetwater are standing by hometown soldier Raymond Girouard, raising more than $18,000 for his defense against murder charges.The 24-year-old staff sergeant with the 101st Airborne Division, was one of four soldiers charged with murdering three Iraqi detainees last year.“Anybody that knows Raymond knows his character, and this is not Raymond,” said his grandfather, 64-year-old Ron Bentley.The other soldiers have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors; Girouard, the squad leader,...

A Eulogy for Rene Schmidt, Soldier of the CrossLast Thursday night, Feb. 1, 2007, my brother in Christ, Rene Schmidt, Soldier of the Cross, was honorably discharged from the battle of this life at age 89. It appeared God just stilled his great heart and his soul departed in peace. What an uncommon blessing for an uncommon saint! I know he’s never been happier, nor I for him. Without ever shirking God’s call on his life, he spoke often to me, in the five years I knew him, of his longing to be in heaven with Jesus and reunited with...

Calling all fishermen. the Great state of Tennessee has long been known for its call to service and has earned the title, "Tennessee Volunteers." Well it time to step up to the plate for all of the fishermen out there as well as the lady fishermen. The American Bass Anglers, along with the Paris/ Henry Coounty Chambers, The Stewart Co Chamber, Northwest TN Tourism and the Friends of Paris Landing need your help to take the solders of the 101st Airborne Div on a fishing trip to be held on KY Lake out of Paris landing State Park on Oct...

Titans get surprise wakeup by 101st Airborne Division By Gary Glenn Titans Online Linebacker Keith Bulluck (53) and Titans players were surprised with an early morning workout Monday at nearby Ft. Campbell. CLARKSVILLE, TN, Aug. 7, 2006 -- As Titans players went to bed Sunday evening, they had no idea what was about to transpire only a few hours later. With only a single practice scheduled for Monday afternoon, they figured Monday morning would be a piece of cake. That turned out to be far from the truth. They were awakened at 4:30 a.m. by fists pounding on their doors from...

New Unit has Developed the Army’s New Iraq Strategy The newest unit for Operation Thank You is the Pathfinder Company of the 5th Battalion of the 101st Airborne Regiment. The 60 members of Pathfinder Company are deployed to Central Operating Base Speicher near Tikrit, Iraq, and have developed the Army’s newest strategy in dealing with the Terrorists targeting US Troops and the civilians supporting the new Iraqi government.

On Aug. 6, Sgt. Paul Cortez will face the first steps in the military trial process. Cortez will undergo an Article 32 hearing in Iraq for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the killing of her family while serving in Mahmudiya.

The honor guard arrives with the colors during the 101st Brigade Troops Battalion NCO Induction Ceremony. Story and photo by Sgt. Rachel Brune101st Sustainment Brigade Q-WEST BASE COMPLEX -- Fourteen newly-promoted noncommissioned officers of the 101st Brigade Troops Battalion were inducted into the NCO corps in an induction ceremony July 19 at the MWR Theater here. The Soldiers inducted belong to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Company A, Company B, 620th Movement Control Team and 55th Postal Detachment. After viewing a musical slide show depicting NCOs in action around the battalion, Command Sgt. Maj. Stephen D. Blake, 101st Sustainment Brigade, led...

US MILITARY officials fear that religious hurdles in exhuming the body of a teenage girl could complicate the prosecution of American soldiers accused of raping and murdering her. The officials said a vigorous prosecution was essential and punishment should be severe if the five servicemen and one former soldier were convicted. Five soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division are accused of raping and murdering Abeer al-Janabi near the town of Mahmoudiya on March 12. A sixth soldier is accused of failing to report the crime. Three of her family members were also killed in the assault. The victim's male relatives...

The Patriot Guard Riders need help on the afternoon/evening of Wednesday July 12th for a PGR SPECIAL MISSION in Oak Grove, KY for the Ft. Campbell Eagle Remeberance Ceremony. There is a possibility that protestors may try to show up but PGR really wants to do a tremendously positive display at the front gate that will honor America's fallen heroes and they are requesting help.DETAILS FROM THE PGR WEBSITE: "Ft. Campbell and the 101st Airborne Division are holding the monthly Eagle Remembrance Ceremony to honor all 101st Airborne Division soldiers who have been killed in the previous month. July's...

Shelby Monroe, a reporter embedded with 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division in Iraq, stands in front of an overturned truck that had been found filled with explosives near Tal Afar, Iraq. Courtesy photo by Shelby Monroe Reporter Spends 101 Days with 101st Airborne Tennessee reporter embeds with 101st Airborne to report on soldiers' stories. By U.S. Army Capt. Lyn Graves 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment KIRKUK, Iraq, July 3, 2006 -- Spending 101 days with the 101st Airborne Division in the heat of north-central Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom is not what some journalists would call a...

Hello Everyone who is posting to this story. First I would like to introduce myself. My name is Laura Anderson and I am Tommy Tuckers cousin who lives in Portland, Or. I am so grateful that so many people from all over the world have been so supportive of my families loss. This was definately our worst fear. I know that on friday the city of madras is going to have a candle light vigil so please all who are supportive please lite a candle to honor all the soldiers who have fought for us and lost their lives. If...

WASHINGTON - Three soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division have been charged with murder in connection with the deaths of three Iraqi detainees in their custody last month, the U.S. military said Monday. The sergeant and two lower-ranking soldiers with the division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team from Fort Campbell, Ky., also have been charged with attempted murder, conspiracy, communicating a threat and obstructing justice. The three detainees died May 9 during an operation near Thar Thar Canal in southern Salah ad Din province, U.S. Central Command said. The soldiers charged are Staff Sgt. Raymond Girouard, Spc. William Hunsaker and Pfc....

WASHINGTON, April 21, 2006 – U.S. soldiers from Task Force Band of Brothers scored successes in two operations this week. Soldiers from the task force caught seven suspected insurgents in the act of emplacing explosives yesterday. Soldiers on patrol with Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, observed the suspects digging. As the patrol approached, the suspects tried to flee in two vehicles. The soldiers stopped, searched and detained all the suspects. In one vehicle, a blue truck, soldiers discovered more than 120 mortar rounds, fuses and four missiles. At the site where the...

The latest criticism of the war in Iraq has become so politically manipulative, so disingenuous, so over-the-top that it is undermining a critical cause that we cannot, for a variety of global security reasons, afford to lose... Let’s look at last Thursday, March 16, the day the Iraqi National Assembly opened in Baghdad and a high-profile "air assault" northeast of Samarra, as an example:

Six members of a fringe church in Kansas picketed Thursday outside the funeral of a Minnesota soldier who was killed in Iraq, leading to a heated exchange with the grieving mother. The six men and women, standing outside the Anoka funeral for Cpl. Andrew Kemple, 23, who died Feb. 12 after his vehicle came under fire, are members of a church in Topeka, Kan., that espouses the belief that God is killing American soldiers because they fought for a country that tolerates homosexuality. They were countered by a group of 20 affiliated with the Patriot Guard Riders, a rapidly growing...

It's taken a while to download ... but I have a very well done 3-minute video clip of the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq. The video is very well done and professional grade in appearance. If anyone is interested in viewing this clip, send me a note with an email contact!

A 23-year-old Cambridge, Minn., soldier has been killed fighting in Iraq, the Department of Defense announced today. Cpl. Andrew J. Kemple died in Tikrit on Sunday, when his Humvee came under small arms fire. Kemple was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division in Fort Campbell, Ky. Kemple is the 31st military member with Minnesota ties killed in Iraq and the second in 2006. Kemple joined the Army in 2003, the Defense Department said. His military awards include the Army Service Ribbon, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal,...

TIKRIT, Iraq (Army News Service, Jan. 9, 2005) -- The 101st Airborne Division’s “Rakkasan” brigade assumed control of operations in the Salah Ad Din Province in a ceremony Jan. 5 at Forwarding Operating Base Speicher as Soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division prepared to head home. Various Iraqi officials attended the ceremony, including Lt. Gen Abdel Aziz, Iraqi Army 4th division commander, and Humad Mumood Shugti governor of Salah Ad Din. The ceremony opened with the Iraqi national anthem and the United States national anthem played by the 101st Army Band. The ceremony passed authority at FOB Speicher to the...

(AP) GREELEY, Colo. The funeral for a soldier from Evans killed while serving in Iraq was held on Friday, Veterans' Day. Pvt. 1st Class Tyler Ryan MacKenzie, 20, died Nov. 2 when a roadside bomb blew up south of Baghdad near the Humvee he and his fellow soldiers were riding in. MacKenzie was assigned to the First Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, Second Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He was the first Weld County resident killed in the Iraq war.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7, 2005 – The 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division formally took control of the southwestern Baghdad area of operations from the Georgia Army National Guard's 48th Brigade Combat Team on Oct. 31. Brig. Gen. Stewart Rodeheaver, 48th BCT commander, and brigade Command Sgt. Maj. James Nelson cased the unit's colors, representing the end of their mission and responsibility for this area. Shortly after the 48th's guidon was cased, Army Col. Todd Ebel, commander of 2nd BCT, 101st Airborne Division, and Army Command Sgt. Maj. Brian Stall, the brigade's senior enlisted soldier, uncased the colors...

TIKRIT, Iraq — Standing in the shadow of Saddam Hussein’s former pleasure palaces, officials with the 42nd Infantry Division Tuesday morning formally ceded operations in north central Iraq to the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) from Fort Campbell, Ky. Attendees and leaders praised the progress that has been made since the 42nd ID, a New York Army National Guard unit, took control of the area in February. “They have helped us in every aspect,” said Abdul Rahman Mustafa Fatah, 54, the governor of Kirkuk province. “Services, projects … for security, also.” “The mission has been executed brilliantly,” said Lt. Gen....

TIKRIT, Iraq, Nov. 2, 2005 – Task Force Band of Brothers and the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) officially took command of military operations in north-central Iraq in a ceremony at Forward Operating Base Danger here Nov. 1. The ceremony marked the transfer of authority from Task Force Liberty and the 42nd Infantry Division, a National Guard unit from New York that has been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom for a year, to TF Band of Brothers. TF Band of Brothers is composed of two brigade combat teams and a combat aviation brigade of the 101st Airborne Division,...

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — The 101st Airborne Division (search) on Thursday reactivated a historic unit whose actions during World War II and Vietnam were the subject of the book "Band of Brothers." (search) The 506th Regimental Combat Team — also known as the "Currahees," a Cherokee Indian word meaning "stands alone" — returned to the division just as its soldiers were completing final preparations to return to Iraq.

Facts and Figures Total Death Row Inmates: 8 (as of 4/29/05) RACE Black - 6 White - 1 Asian - 1 GENDER Male - 8 United States Military Death Row Roster 1. Kenneth Parker (B) 2. Wade L. Walker (B) 3. Jessie Quintanilla (A) 4. James T. Murphy (B)* 5. Ronald Gray (B) 6. Dwight J. Loving (B) 7. William Kreutzer (W)* 8. Hasan Akbar (B) *Awaiting re-trial or re-sentencing. (Source: NAACP Legal Defense Fund) Number of Executions 135 people have been executed by the Army since 1916 (Source: National Law Journal, 4/5/99) Date of last military execution On April...

Forged in the fight Eads foundry's unit will shine at home of 101st By Jon W. Sparks Contact June 12, 2005 Standing in the same room with the unfinished warriors is unnerving. Four life-size figures loom in the sculpture studio of Andrea Holmes Lugar in Eads. They represent soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division who have faced the foe in World War II, Vietnam and both Gulf wars. Their destiny is to become part of a monument at Fort Campbell, Ky., headquarters of the 101st. Until then, they will undergo an amazing process of being shaped and then cast in...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. .................................................................. .................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should...

The military has not executed one of its own since 1961, while states have put scores of civilian killers to their deaths. Specialists say the key difference in military justice is the role of the president, who unlike a governor, must take an active role in signing off when a service member gets the ultimate punishment.

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- Sgt. Hasan Akbar was sentenced to die Thursday night for a grenade and rifle attack that killed Army Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert and an Air Force officer and wounded 14 others. Helen Seifert, of Williams Township, began to weep as she watched the man who killed her son chained and led away from the courtroom.

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Hours after giving a brief, barely audible apology, a soldier was sentenced to death by a military jury for attacking comrades with a rifle and grenades early in the Iraq invasion. Sgt. Hasan Akbar, 34, could have been sentenced Thursday to life in prison with or without parole for the March 2003 attack on members of the elite 101st Airborne Division at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait. Two officers were killed and 14 other soldiers were wounded. "I want to apologize for the attack that occurred. I felt that my life was in jeopardy, and I had...

A US soldier said to have hated America has been sentenced to death for the murder and attempted murder of comrades during the invasion of Iraq. Sgt Hasan Akbar used grenades and a rifle to kill two officers and wound 14 other personnel at a camp in Kuwait in the opening days of the war.Prosecutors said the murders were ideologically driven hate crimes. Defence lawyers do not dispute the attack but argue Akbar was too mentally ill to have planned the attack. The death penalty was announced a week after he was convicted by a military jury at Fort Bragg,...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — A military jury sentenced Sergeant Hasan Akbar (search) to death for the 2003 murders of two officers in a grenade attack at an Army camp in Kuwait.

Fort Bragg -- An Army sergeant convicted of murdering two officers in a grenade attack on his comrades in Kuwait quietly said he was sorry Thursday before a military prosecutor urged the jury to sentence the soldier to death because he was an idealogically driven killer. "I apologize for my actions. ... When I did that, I felt my life was in jeopardy, and I had other problems," Sgt. Hasan Akbar told the 15-person military jury. Akbar spoke for less than a minute, making an unsworn statement that could not be cross-examined. He testified in such a low voice that...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Facing a possible death penalty for his fatal attack on fellow soldiers, Sgt. Hasan Akbar will make an unsworn statement to the jury in his own defense, a lawyer said Wednesday. The statement by Akbar is to come Thursday, the fourth day of the sentencing phase of his court-martial, said the defense lawyer, Maj. David Coombs. Akbar was convicted last week of premeditated murder and attempted murder in the March 2003 attack on the 101st Airborne Division at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait. Akbar will speak from the witness box, and prosecutors will be able to call...

(FORT BRAGG) - The prosecution has rested its case in the sentencing phase of the court-martial of an Army sergeant convicted of murdering his fellow soldiers. Seven witnesses testified, following the 15 that testified on Monday. Defense attorneys are expected to call their witnesses Wednesday. The defense admits Sergeant Hasan Akbar carried out the attack, but claims he was mentally unstable at the time. The judge in the case says he expects deliberations to begin on Thursday. Meanwhile, jurors have been sent home for the day with copies of Akbar's diary and a mitigation report. Witnesses detail physical, emotional trauma...