Free Republic

...the thought occurs to me how thankful I am for the unprecedented President Barack Obama and the bumbling Democrats who support his agenda. Hang in there, patriots...

The State of Virginia has argued in a federal court filing that they can legally send out absentee ballots to active duty soldiers the day before an election. Restated again, the Democratic Chairwoman of the Virginia State Board of Election (appointed by the Democratic National Committee Chair Tim Kaine, in his capacity as Virginia Governor) Jean Cunningham just claimed a legal basis for massively raising the barrier to voting for soldiers at war.

Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ___________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release June 1, 2009 LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2009 - - - - - - - BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride...

Today is Armed Forces Day! Thank a vet for what they have done, are doing, and will do to defend our United States of America!

Keeping the Military Free Written by John Horvat II    Thursday, April 23 2009 If anyone should know how to run the military, it is those who have years of experience at leading men at every echelon in both peace and war. It is these proud Americans who have served our country with honor who are now petitioning the President and members of Congress to keep our military free of the politically-motivated agenda of homosexual right activists and their allies. Among the 1,115 signatures can be found a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, several Service Chiefs,...

A few days ago I posted about the Obama administration’s plan to rob soldiers of some of their medical benefits. Today the head of the American Legion (the nation’s largest veterans organization) paid a visit to Obama to talk about the issue, and he didn’t leave happy.Normally I am a staunch advocate of limited government and privatization. But in this instance we have troops who served their country, often in awful war zones that left them scarred and maimed, and they did so with the assumption that medical care would be one of the benefits they’d receive as compensation. The...

North Korea demanded Monday that the U.S. call off its annual military exercises with South Korea, a report said as rare talks between the North and U.N. forces ended without clear progress on defusing tensions. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the North made the demand during talks with the U.S.-led U.N. Command at the Korean border village of Panmunjom, held for the first time in nearly seven years. It came amid fears North Korea is gearing up to test-launch a missile believed capable of reaching U.S. territory. Yonhap quoted an unidentified South Korean military official as saying the North...

Here's a speech we would like to hear from an Academy Award winner:

Mexico has pretty much always been a rough-and-tumble place. In recent years, however, the security environment has deteriorated rapidly, and parts of the country have become incredibly violent. It is now common to see military weaponry such as fragmentation grenades and assault rifles used almost daily in attacks. In fact, just last week we noted two separate strings of grenade attacks directed against police in Durango and Michoacan states. In the Michoacan incident, police in Uruapan and Lazaro Cardenas were targeted by three grenade attacks during a 12-hour period. Then on Feb. 17, a major firefight occurred just across the...

In Hopewell Township, N.J., the veterans of American Legion Post 339 have put their building up for sale. "Today's vets don't come out," 82-year old Jim Hall told The Times of Trenton last month. The post is down from 425 paying members in the 1960s and '70s to 202 this year; only about a dozen regularly attend. But it's America that has changed, not vets. Since 1970, the population of the United States has grown by about 50 percent, from roughly 200 million to 300 million. Over the same period, the number of active-duty armed forces has fallen approximately 50...

Veterans in Politics Talk Show Introduces Patricia Driscoll LIVE on www.AllTalkRadio.net December 6: Patricia Driscoll President and Executive Director for Armed Forces Foundation: Co-Host Jilrean "Sage" Bocook: "Veterans In Politics" is a weekly radio show produced by the Veterans In Politics International and hosted by Steve Sanson and Co-Hosted by Jilrean "Sage" Bocook. The "Veterans In Politics" show is live every Saturday 2:05 PM Pacific Time you can call in and speak to the guest or/and hosts at (702) 942-7371.

“We have shared our daily life with two US units for quite a while - they are the first and fourth companies of a prestigious infantry battalion whose name I will withhold for the sake of military secrecy. To the common man it is a unit just like any other. But we live with them and got to know them, and we henceforth know that we have the honor to live with one of the most renowned units of the US Army - one that the movies brought to the public as series showing “ordinary soldiers thrust into extraordinary events”....

About 375 stuffed Beanie Babies shipped out from Montesano to Iraq last week. Local AMVETS members Jerry Hliboki and Bob Blewett sorted through new donations of toys and snack foods behind a large “We Support Our Troops” sign in the downtown Montesano window. “Montesano people, they give through the nose,” Hliboki says. “(But) it’s not enough.” Most items in the Operation Troop Support center get set aside for local Army National Guard soldiers recently deployed to Iraq. Others will go to the soldiers’ family members left on the Harbor. Boxes and plastic packages covered floors and counter tops. Hliboki and...

The 2008 Military Appreciation Monday dinner will be held on Monday, November 17, 2008 from 5 pm to 9 pm in all Golden Corral Restaurants. The free “thank you” dinner is available to any person who has ever served in the United States Military. If you are a veteran, retired, currently serving, in the National Guard or Reserves, you are invited to participate in Golden Corral’s Military Appreciation Monday dinner. To date, Golden Corral restaurants have provided over 1.8 million free meals and contributed over $2.53 million to the Disabled American Veterans organization.

On Nov. 11, Veterans’ Day, we honor those who have sacrificed in service to others. This annual observance offers an opportunity to highlight the value these dedicated individuals add to America’s businesses when they return to their communities and civilian employment. Across the nation, businesses both large and small are stepping up to recruit, hire and retain veterans. Many employers recognize it’s the right thing to do. But there are other important reasons to employ returning service members – including those who return with disabilities and combat-related injuries. Dawn Halfaker, CEO of the small business Halfaker & Associates, hires disabled...

SULA, TARLAC PROVINCE, Philippines - After a long hot day of treating patients at a medical and dental civil action project Oct. 21, U.S. Navy Lt. Christian Sutter, a physician with Marine Wing Support Squadron 171, attached to Marine Aircraft Group 36 for Talon Vision an annual exercise in the Philippines, recalled the prior day's work when he delivered a healthy baby boy, Christian Tomas. He did not deliver the baby in a hospital or clinic; instead he delivered the child in the Tomas' home without high tech equipment or even running water. He was definitely outside his ideal medical...

The media loves the troops -- as long as they are dead, wounded, disfigured, disabled, evicted, disturbed, suicidal, broke, deserting, or otherwise in a category that can be portrayed as a “victim” of the Pentagon or a Republican President. Healthy, squared-away, gung-ho troops who believe in their country, duty and mission, interest the media very little. This is why I’m always suspicious of claims from certain quarters of the press (do the initials “C.M.” and “K.O.” seem to fit?) that they “support the troops.” But for those who would like to support the troops in a way the troops might...

US deaths in Iraq fell in October to their lowest monthly level of the war, matching the record low of 13 US fatalities suffered in July. Iraqi deaths fell to their lowest monthly levels of the year. Eight of the 13 Americans died in combat, most of them in northern Iraq where al-Qaida and other Sunni insurgent groups remain active. The US suffered 25 deaths in September and 23 in August. The sharp drop in US fatalities reflects the overall security improvements across the country following the Sunni revolt against al-Qaida and the rout suffered by Shiite extremists in fighting...

Spray Gun Shoots Adult Stem Cells Onto Wound One goal of the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine is a way to quickly seal battlefield wounds and promote more rapid healing. One method already being tested is a skin spray gun; it sprays skin stem cells onto a wound. The technique also utilizes an innovative wound dressing that acts as a bioreactor, nurturing the sprayed-on cells. The method, which uses the patient's own cells, has already been successfully tested on 16 burn patients at the Berlin Burn Center, providing faster and more efficient healing than typical skin grafts. The patient's...

SEATTLE, Wash-- A Seattle man started a trend that pays respect to soldiers in uniform when they are in public places like airports. Since launching a website in September he's received millions of web hits. The trend is called the Gratitude Campaign and it all starts with a hand signal that you can do anytime you see a soldier in uniform. The signal is a new way to thank soldiers for their service without having to interrupt them or make them feel uncomfortable. Soldiers in the 81st Heavy Brigade Combat team are preparing to leave for Iraq in August. They...

He rose through the ranks and paid his dues. He beat the odds to become not only the top Canadian military man, but a key cog for NATO in Bosnia-Herzegovina and subsequently became the point-man in the Free World’s War on Terror with his successful tenure as Commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. Not only did he work tirelessly to rebuild the Canadian Armed Forces to a level of respectability, he instilled a long-lost pride in our military by spearheading the change from ‘peacekeeping force’ to actual ‘military’. In some nations, they would give him...

Last year 44 states, the District of Columbia and cities across the nation joined with the Silver Star Families of America to remember and honor our wounded and ill on May 1st. This year the organization is hoping all 50 states will join with them but they are taking a more grass root approach to this May 1st to kick off Military Appreciation Month.

Like pensions and insurance, defence is one of those subjects to which too many people only pay attention when things go wrong. You might think, in the light of the past decade, that this would have changed. But you would be sadly mistaken. Even today, even after Iraq, few mainstream MPs without an immediate personal or constituency interest in the subject turn up in the Commons for defence debates. Many politicians who are thoughtful about a range of domestic issues still pass by on the other side when the conversation gravitates to the military. In this they reflect the British...

You'll recall Hillary Clinton's recent speech in which she attempted to play up her foreign policy experience by recounting her "harrowing" 1996 trip to Bosnia. "I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base." Well, mainstream media has discounted that account, and such luminaries as comedian Sinbad have chimed in as well. It appears, however, that Clinton caved in too soon when she admitted overstating the dangers, as Barely Political...

Cindy Sheehan barely fits into her "campaign limo," her sister's blue Hyundai Tiburon. She ducks low to avoid hitting her head on the way in, and her knees are nearly at her chest when she sits, even with the seat rolled all the way back. Traveling over the Oakland Bay Bridge, her campaign manager at the wheel--steering with one hand and scrolling through e-mails with the other--the 6-foot-tall antiwar activist turned congressional hopeful tries in vain to stretch out in the passenger seat. It's raining when they pull into a parking spot near Berkeley City College, where Sheehan is about...

A few months ago, a day before one of the occasional marches the Capital sees demanding an end to the Iraq War, I began the descent into the Metro stop near my office, looked up, and saw a number of representatives of Code Pink standing at the railing overlooking the escalator. Or rather, I heard them first. They were screaming at the parade of commuters, at the top of their lungs and in a tone somewhere between simple frustration and righteous anger, "End the war!!!" Well, I thought, that ought to take care of things. Good work, hippies! I kid...

The recent Hillary Clinton campaign advertisement asking who Americans want answering the phone in the White House when a crisis erupts at 3 a.m. has sparked a national debate about which candidate would best handle such a phone call. But while the ad was designed to boost the Clinton candidacy, likely voters nationwide say they would feel more secure having Republican John McCain answering the call of a crisis, a new Zogby International telephone poll shows. Given the choice between Clinton and McCain, 55% preferred McCain while 37% would want Clinton to answer the phone, while 9% said they were...

The worst moment in Gary Stokes' life was not the day a couple of Marines in dress uniform showed up at his door to tell him his son had been killed in Iraq. That was bad, no doubt. He had spent two years wondering whether he would receive those unwelcome visitors. The worst moment came later, after the tears and the grief. The worst moment came slowly. It was the horrible realization that Sean was gone forever. He would never see his son again. Never again go fishing or camping, or watch him get married and have children of his...

WASHINGTON - Borrowing a theme from the presidential contest, Vice President Dick Cheney said Tuesday that the possibility of a 3 a.m. emergency call to the White House is all the more reason for the next commander in chief to follow through on President Bush's plans for a national missile defense. "It's plain to see that the world around us gives ample reason to continue working on missile defense," Cheney told the conservative Heritage Foundation at a dinner recognizing the 25th anniversary of President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, a proposed network of rockets capable of shooting down incoming intercontinental ballistic...

While hundreds of Mexican soldiers are deserting the army to join drug trafficking gangs, California is facing the opposite problem: A growing number of gang members here have infiltrated the U.S. Armed Forces in order to receive military training. The numbers speak for themselves: In 2003 there were just 16 incidents of gang members in the U.S. Armed Forces, while in 2006 the total was 10,309, according to the study, "Gang-Related Activity in the U.S. Armed Forces Increasing," released in 2007 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Twenty-two official entities, including the Los Angeles Police Department, participated in the...

SAN FRANCISCO, Actor Sean Penn and Peace Activist Cindy Sheehan will headline "Iraq: 5 Years Too Many", an event marking the fifth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq. Also featured will be Reverend Gregory Stewart, Senior Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church; Matt Gonzalez, former President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors; and Justin Raimondo, Editorial Director of Antiwar.com. The program will begin at 5pm on Sunday, March 16th, 2008 at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 1187 Franklin Street (near Geary) in San Francisco. After the speakers finish, attendees will march to the War Memorial Auditorium on Van Ness...

One expert said some productions made by the terror group were 'good enough to put on the Discovery Channel' PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN In an Internet age, al-Qaeda prizes geek jihadis as much as would-be suicide bombers and gunmen. The terror network is recruiting computer-savvy technicians to produce sophisticated Web documentaries and multimedia products aimed at Muslim audiences in the US, Britain and other Western countries. Already, the terror movement's al-Sahab production company is turning out high quality material, some of which rivals productions by Western media companies. The documentaries appear regularly on Islamist Web sites, which al-Qaeda uses to recruit followers...

SELDOM has the sacrifice of so many been so sneered at by such a worthless few. Barely a week goes by without one or more brave members of our Armed Forces giving their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan. We at The Sun SALUTE our heroic Boys and Girls – and today declare the ban on them wearing their proud uniforms in public an INSULT. Last night PM Gordon Brown slammed a barmy order that 2,000 RAF personnel must don civvies on a city’s streets to avoid confrontations with “antiwar” thugs. The same cowardly minority of hooligans have spat at and...

The improvised explosive device went off at approximately 3:45 a.m., shattering glass and twisting the building's metal frame. Some will dismiss this as just another attack on our troops in Iraq or Afghanistan. But, the attack didn't take place in the Middle East – the attack against our troops took place here on American soil. The bombing of the military recruiting center located at Times Square in New York City is still under investigation. Police report a hooded individual leaving the scene on a bike just prior to the bomb's explosion. Eight Democratic politicians received letters providing a warning of...

<p>Please visit http://www.rtmrwdc.org/upevents.html and view Rolling Thunder Washington DC support.</p> <p>As I’ve suggested on many occasions, the only way to support our nation, our troops, our fallen, and make our point, send our message, convince people of what we stand for, is putting our ”boots on the ground”, or should I say “rubber on the target”?</p>

The Marines are getting a boost from one of the country's largest pro-troop organizations. MoveAmericaForward.org has launched a new ad criticizing the city.

WASHINGTON - During the final allied offensive of the Korean War, Master Sgt. Woodrow Wilson Keeble risked his life to save his fellow Soldiers. Almost six decades after his gallant actions and 26 years after his death, Keeble will be the first full-blooded Sioux Indian to receive the Medal of Honor. The White House announced this morning that Keeble will receive the Medal of Honor posthumously in a ceremony scheduled for 2:30 p.m. March 3. Keeble is one of the most decorated Soldiers in North Dakota history. A veteran of World War II and the Korean War, he was born...

Secret evidence. Denial of habeas corpus. Evidence obtained by waterboarding. Indefinite detention. The litany of complaints about the treatment of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay is long, disturbing and by now familiar. Nonetheless, a new wave of shock and criticism greeted the Pentagon's announcement on February 11 that it was charging six Guantánamo detainees, including alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, with war crimes--and seeking the death penalty for all of them. Now, as the murky, quasi-legal staging of the Bush Administration's military commissions unfolds, a key official has told The Nation that the trials have been rigged from the start....

Some columns write themselves. Some are a struggle and leave me confused, conflicted and a little angry. This is one of those. It started out as a tongue-in-cheek look at the recent action by the city council in Berkeley, Calif., to oust the U.S. Marine Corps recruiting office and brand the Marines “uninvited and unwelcome intruders.” I planned to compare the situation in that strange city with our fairly-liberal-but-not-ridiculously-so approach here in Corvallis. Then I started doing research. I learned that an anti-military organization has access to our high school students equal to that of the U.S. Armed Forces. The...

he brouhaha sparked by the Berkeley City Council these past couple of weeks demonstrates again that you can be within shouting distance of one of the world's great educational institutions and still be terminally stupid. The council, as almost everybody not in a deep trance must know, voted to send a letter telling the U.S. Marine Corps to, in effect, get the hell out of town. The particular target was a Marine recruiting office on Shattuck Square. Predictably, that got the right-wing bloggers knee-jerking right back, sending them into paroxysms of righteous indignation. It also – and justifiably – upset...

Contact: Lindsey M. Brothers (202) 547-4713 Armed Forces Foundation -PRESS RELEASE- Armed Forces Foundation Unveils Commemorative Military Bass Boat Boat To Be Auctioned Off At Armed Forces Foundation’s Congressional Gala In March Washington, DC (February 11, 2008) – The Armed Forces Foundation (AFF), a national nonprofit benevolent foundation under the Department of Defense’s America Supports You program, is proud to unveil its Ranger 188VX tournament-ready bass boat at ESPN’s 2008 Bassmaster Classic. The tournament will be held from February 22nd-24th on Lake Hartwell in Greenville, S.C. The boat will be auctioned March 5th, at the 4th Annual Armed Forces Foundation’s...

In late January, the Berkeley city council voted 8-1 to declare the Marines working at a local recruiting office “uninvited and unwelcome intruders,” proceeding to express wishes to have said office removed from the city. The resolution further stated that the City of Berkeley applauded residents and organizations that “volunteer to impede, passively or actively, by nonviolent means, the work of any military recruiting office located in the City of Berkeley.” This action is disrespectful and inappropriate. The United States Marine Corps includes some our bravest and most dedicated service men and women. Regardless of whether or not one agrees...

The recent attack on the Marine Corps as "unwelcome intruders" is just the latest example of Berkeley politicians behaving badly. Showered with ridicule, confronted with the loss of federal and state money, the City Council was obliged to withdraw its misbegotten resolution, though it wasn't prepared to apologize for its blunder. "To err is human, but to really screw up it takes the Berkeley City Council," one councilmember ruefully acknowledged. But ask Standard & Poor's, the financial services company, what it thinks about Berkeley and you'll get a very different response. Last month, the firm upgraded the city's bonds to...

Berkeley, Calif., has always been considered a Mecca for hippies. Their staunch anti-war views and liberalism have been allowed to flourish there, and when the Marines opened up a recruiting station in the heart of Berkeley, the women who belonged to CODEPINK began choking on their vanilla lattes and vegan muffins. According to its Web site, CODEPINK "is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the war in Iraq, stop new wars and redirect our resources into health care, education and other life-affirming activities." While I may believe in some of their viewpoints, the insanity they...

BERKELEY, Calif. (KCBS) -- Protesters have returned to the Berkeley Marines recruiting center just a day after a showdown between anti-war and pro-military demonstrators before the Berkeley City Council. This time, several dozen members of the peace group CodePink urged people to make love, not war. The Berkeley demonstration is one of 20 “Kiss Don’t Enlist” protests across the country. ”Polls show that the majority of Americans are opposed to the war, and this has given people a chance to really come out and show that. And it’s kind of fun to make out, instead of making war, right?” said...

ORLANDO, FL -- A small Florida company has turned one of the world's most popular high tech gadgets into a tool for American troops that can help save lives. "They speak with their hands -- a lot," US Army Sergeant Darren Williams said, remembering the times he worked to communicate with the local people during his year as a soldier in Iraq. "If you grab something, or if you say, 'Hold it.' Or, 'Pick it up. Pick it up.' You use that a lot, too," the Jacksonville-based Army recruiter said, waving his hands through a series of gestures. For Williams,...

VALDOSTA, Ga., Jan. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Little Caesar Enterprises, Inc. today celebrates the grand opening of the fifth store to open under the Little Caesars Veterans Program as U.S. military veteran and Little Caesars franchisee Patricia Evans opens her doors for business at 1650 F Baytree Road in Valdosta, Georgia. "The Little Caesars Veterans Program has provided me the opportunity to transition to a new career as my family and I begin the next chapter in our lives," said Evans. "I am proud to be the first woman to open a store under this program, and I'm excited to be...

For the past several years as I've been traveling around the country, I've been approaching soldiers in the airports and thanking them for serving for us. On several occasions I have noticed that it felt a little awkward for both of us. There are several reasons, some of which I am even just now learning as I produce this film and talk to more soldiers. But they have always appreciated being thanked, and I have always felt better having expressed my gratitude.I started to think that it would be nice if civilians had a gesture or sign that they could...

Mark Steyn’s review of the candidate’s Christmas campaign messages is a must-read today because it’s likely to be the funniest thing you’ll see all day. Here’s a taste: John Edwards’s message is the usual Dickensian affair about the two Americas. I forget the details, but the upshot is that one America is a land of spindly emaciated Tiny Tims with barely three farthings to rub together for their next cup of gruel, while the other’s a marshmallow world where Dick Cheney, high on wassail, shoots a brace of turducken out of season, and then chows down as the Radio City...

For the first time since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, a chief rabbinical chaplain is servicing the spiritual and religious needs of Jewish soldiers in Russia's armed forces and various security services. Rabbi Gurevich and three Russian Jewish soldiers. Photo: Courtesy Rabbi Aharon Gurevich, 34, was appointed after being asked to fill the role by the chief rabbi of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in Russia, Rabbi Berel Lazar, who had received official permission from the Russian government to establish a military rabbinate. Upon accepting the post, Gurevich was granted the rank of colonel by Russian authorities and was given permission to visit...