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We are pleased to announce that Richard A. Wannemacher, Jr., Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs – National Cemetery Administration, has accepted our invitation to address the audience attending EchoTaps Worldwide 2007 at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, MN on May 19, 2007. VA Memorial Affairs is responsible for providing burial space for Veterans and their eligible family members; maintaining National Cemeteries as national shrines, sacred to the honor and memory of those interred or memorialized there; marking the graves of Veterans with a Government-provided headstone or marker; providing Presidential Memorial Certificates in...

President Bush says the U.S. needs to increase the size of Army and Marines, and says strategy and tactics in Iraq will change to meet the situation on the ground. Bush also said Wednesday that insurgents in Iraq thwarted U.S. efforts at "establishing security and stability throughout the country" in 2006. At a year-end news conference, Bush said the United States will "ask more of our Iraqi partners" in 2007, and he pledged to work with the new Democratic Congress, as well. Bush sidestepped one question _ whether he would order a so-called surge of troops in Iraq as a...

President Bush says the U.S. needs to increase the size of Army and Marines, and says strategy and tactics in Iraq will change to meet the situation on the ground. Bush also said Wednesday that insurgents in Iraq thwarted U.S. efforts at "establishing security and stability throughout the country" in 2006. At a year-end news conference, Bush said the United States will "ask more of our Iraqi partners" in 2007, and he pledged to work with the new Democratic Congress, as well. Bush sidestepped one question _ whether he would order a so-called surge of troops in Iraq as a...

Bolivia is on fire. The fiery democratic revolutionary babes of Santa Cruz are no more. Now, it’s angry citizens of The Media Luna - four provinces, led by Santa Cruz, fighting to the last man against the brutal expansionary communism of Evo Morales’ Bolivia. This is going well beyond peaceful demonstrations to the first stages of insurgency and maybe war. Revolutionary war. They are fighting tyranny. They’re fighting with axes, fists, and cudgels, in an action that began with a general strike Friday in four provinces against Morales’ effort to rewrite the constitution to maximize his own power. Attendence was...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2006 -- The Defense Department is focusing efforts to ensure servicemembers stationed overseas and in the United States know their options for voting in the 2006 congressional and local elections. Sept. 3-9 is Armed Forces Voters Week. Officials caution that this is the last safe week to submit a Federal Post Card Application, or request voter registration forms and absentee ballots that meet most state deadlines. The Defense Department is responsible for ensuring the right to vote for military members and their families, and also for U.S. citizens living overseas. It accomplishes this through the Federal Voting...

7/12/2006 - SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- Political freedom is something the military has defended since the founding of the United States. But, while free to participate in the political process, there are some rules military members need to know. "Our main job is to follow the orders that come down our chain of command, which has an elected official at the top," said Maj. Frank Minogue, chief of civil law for Air Education and Training Command at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. "It would undermine our whole command structure if it appeared that the Air Force was supporting one side,...

WASHINGTON, July 3, 2006 – Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals honored members of the U.S. armed forces yesterday during pre-game festivities that highlighted the organization's annual military appreciation day. Eighteen new military recruits took the oath of enlistment; five veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Hurricane Katrina were honored; and fans were asked to show their support by sending a text message of support to the troops through the Defense Department's "America Supports You" program. "Baseball has a long history with the American military, dating back to World War II," said Josh Golden, the Nationals' manager for entertainment. In fact, more...

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2006 – The Armed Services YMCA honored individuals and organizations for their support of military families in 2005 at its 19th Annual Recognition Luncheon here today. Bryce Moorehouse, 11, shows Navy Force Master Chief Dave Pennington his art contest entry that earned first place during the Armed Services YMCA 19th Annual Recognition Luncheon in Washington. Bryce's mother, Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Andrea Palermo, is stationed at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington. Photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The ASYMCA provides social and support services for military families, organization officials said. Last...

Lawmakers seek to expand self-defense rights Associated Press ST. PAUL - Several Republican lawmakers are introducing legislation to expand the right of citizens to use deadly force against attackers. Court rulings in Minnesota have already recognized what's known as the Castle Doctrine, which is the notion that a person's home is their castle and they have a right to defend it against an imminent threat. But Representative Tony Cornish and Sen. Pat Pariseau want to enshrine that right in state law. They also want a broader definition of castle that includes personal vehicles, businesses and even public places. The lawmakers...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - David Copperfield has magically escaped getting robbed. The 49-year-old illusionist was walking with two female assistants to their tour bus after his show Sunday at a performing arts center when four teens pulled up in a black car, a police report said. Two armed robbers allegedly got out of the car and demanded the group's belongings. One woman handed over $400 from her pockets and the other gave up her purse with 200 euros, $100, her passport, plane tickets and a cell phone. Copperfield refused to empty his pockets, the report said. Copperfield says he...

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2006 – Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld pointed today to two events that occurred on this date in history -- Col. Jimmy Doolittle's 1942 air raid on Tokyo and the San Francisco earthquake in 1906 and its aftermath -- as examples of America's spirit in the face of adversity. "I mention these moments of triumph and tragedy because they remind us of the character of the American people and how Americans, over time, can and do overcome what might seem to be insurmountable difficulties," Rumsfeld told Pentagon reporters. It's a spirit Rumsfeld said is embodied in today's...

Ultra-small particles loaded with medicine - and aimed with the precision of a rifle - are offering a promising new way to strike at cancer, according to researchers working at MIT and Brigham and Women's Hospital. In a paper to appear the week of April 10 in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team reports a way to custom design nanoparticles so they home in on dangerous cancer cells, then enter the cells to deliver lethal doses of chemotherapy. Normal, healthy cells remain unscathed. print this page email this page The team conducted...

NAVAL BASE VENTURA COUNTY, Calif., Feb. 16, 2006 – Army boxers topped all services with 13 points at last week's 2006 Armed Forces Boxing Championships here. Marine Corps Cpl. Raymond Maldonado takes a jab from Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Adam Fusianto during the 2006 Armed Forces Boxing Championships at Naval Base Ventura County, Calif. Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Kimberly Williams, USN  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Marine Corps took second place with 7 points, while the Navy and Air Force tied for third with 4 points each. Each night of boxing brought in a...

Anarchy in the Palestinian Authority (PA) spread to the Rafiah border crossing, which was closed Friday morning after European Union (EU) observers fled 100 armed PA policemen who formed a blockade. The gunmen who stormed the compound belong to the unstable ruling Fatah party of PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas. One of their members was killed in a clash Thursday between terrorists. After the compound was stormed, the EU's observers stationed at the crossing quickly fled the scene in panic while the gunmen prevented vehicles from reaching the crossing. The observers are responsible for monitoring the crossing and enforcing the agreement...

VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: If a black man is armed, is he a criminal? An "old police tradition of requiring off-duty officers to carry their weapons -- 'always armed, always on duty' -- is being scaled back in police departments nationwide following the shootings of off-duty officers by colleagues who thought they were criminals," The Associated Press reported Nov. 28 in a story datelined Providence, R.I.

More than just a branch of America’s armed forces, the modern U.S. Marine Corps serves as a model that other military forces worldwide have attempted to emulate, with varying degrees of success. Marines are aware of this, and justifiably proud. But that pride has not always been conducive to working and playing well with others.

JERUSALEM – A 12-year-old Palestinian boy who was shot by Israeli troops while holding a toy gun last week died of his wounds yesterday, relatives and medical officials said. Israeli forces mistook the boy for an armed militant during an exchange of gunfire Thursday in the West Bank town of Jenin and later discovered he was carrying a toy M-16 rifle, military officials said. The boy, Ahmed Ismail Khatib, was taken to an Israeli hospital with wounds to his head and stomach. Dr. Tzvi Ben-Yishai, a spokesman for Rambam Hospital in the Israeli city of Haifa, said the boy died...

TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif., Sept. 13, 2005 – For more than 140 years, the Armed Services YMCA continues to increase quality of life for service members and their families by offering support to communities and families. For director Anita Neu-Fultz and her staff at the Combat Center ASYMCA, that goal is paramount and unwavering as they volunteer to help others year-round. "Many people do not even know the Armed Service YMCA even exists," said Neu-Fultz. "They hear YMCA, and they think of sports programs and hotels and gyms and pools. But not many realize what we actually do here. We are...

Four illegal Mexican immigrants arrested in a Monday raid on a large marijuana farm near Strawberry have been booked into Coconino County jail, one seen guarding the crop with an assault rifle, another taken down by a police dog when he ran.

It's been nearly six months since Oakland homeowner Patrick McCullough faced down a group of young men outside his home, wounding one of them during a scuffle, and he is still dealing with the fallout. The latest blow came last week when McCullough read a newspaper article that said his insurance company had agreed to pay $55,000 to settle a claim brought by the family of Melvin McHenry, the 16-year-old shot in the arm during the struggle outside McCullough's home on 59th Street. McCullough said he almost choked on his blueberry muffin when he read the article. "We were assured...