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News ReleaseThree Canadian soldiers killed and five injured in AfghanistanCEFCOM NR–08.044 - September 3, 2008OTTAWA – Three Canadian soldiers were killed and five injured after an insurgent attack on their armoured vehicle while they were conducting a security patrol in Zharey district at approximately 9:30 a.m., Kandahar time, on September 3, 2008. The fallen soldiers are Corporal Andrew Paul Grenon, Corporal Michael James Alexander Seggie, and Private Chadwick James Horn. All three soldiers were infantrymen with the Second Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry based in Shilo, Manitoba. The injured soldiers were evacuated by helicopter to the Multi-National Medical Facility...

Nine Funerals for Nine Warriors by Steve Mraz and Jeff Emanuel Three days before the attack, 45 U.S. paratroopers from the 173d Airborne [Brigade Combat Team], accompanied by 25 Afghan soldiers, made their way to Kunar province, a remote area in the northeastern Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, and established the beginnings of a small Combat Outpost (COP). Their movement into the area was noticed, and their tiny numbers and incomplete fortifications were quickly taken advantage of. A combined force of up to 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters quickly moved into the nearby village of Wanat and prepared for their assault...

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, Va., Aug. 25, 2008 – It started as a leap of faith, but more than 10 million steps later, a 10-man relay team arrived here, at what the memorial run’s organizer called the most sacred place in America. Shannon Cleary, center, kisses her mother, Marianne Cleary, Aug. 24, 2008, during the last few moments of Run for the Fallen, a memorial run in memory of Cleary's brother, Army 1st Lt. Michael Cleary. Jack Flanagan, Marianne’s grandson, also participated in the last day of the living memorial that began June 14, outside the gates of Fort Irwin,...

KABUL, Afghanistan - Taliban insurgents once derided as a ragtag rabble unable to match U.S. troops have transformed into a fighting force _ one advanced enough to mount massive conventional attacks and claim American lives at a record pace. The U.S. military suffered its 101st death of the year in Afghanistan last week when Sgt. 1st Class David J. Todd Jr., a 36-year-old from Marrero, La., died of gunfire wounds while helping train Afghan police in the northwest. The total number of U.S. dead last year _ 111 _ was a record itself and is likely to be surpassed. Top...

Pelosi censors poster of troops Bruce Fein Friday, August 22, 2008 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-S.F., has done something worse than commit a crime against the First Amendment. The speaker's censorship of nonobtrusive posters featuring men and women who gave that last full measure of devotion in service to their country is a blunder that could alienate 23 million veterans and their families from the Democratic Party. If she is endowed with a crumb of constitutional or political sense, she will reverse course. The tale of Pelosi's folly begins with Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C. He wished to pay tribute to...

News ReleaseNames released of two Canadian soldiers killed in AfghanistanCEFCOM NR–08.039 - August 21, 2008OTTAWA – The other two soldiers killed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan on 20 August 2008 were: Corporal Dustin Roy Robert Joseph Wasden, and Sapper Stephan John Stock. Both soldiers were combat engineers with 12 Field Squadron, 1 Combat Engineer Regiment from Edmonton, Alberta, and attached to the 2nd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group. -30-

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday pledged to continue the fight in Afghanistan while attending a state funeral in Paris for the 10 French soldiers killed in a Taliban ambush earlier in the week. Sarkozy, who was accompanied by other French leaders at the funeral ceremony in a church at Les Invalides, said France will not give up its fight against terrorism in Afghanistan "We don't have the right to lose over there, we cannot renounce our values," he said. "We cannot let the barbarians triumph because a defeat at the other side of the world will be paid for...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 21, 2008 – The United Warrior Survivors Foundation will host its fifth annual West Coast Survivors Conference Aug. 22-25 in San Diego. “These conferences were established with the unique needs of Special Forces widows in mind, affording them a healing experience and sense of camaraderie and support,” Kelly Chott, foundation administrator, said. The conference brings together Special Forces widows at various stages of bereavement and includes an array of speakers and experts in the fields of military widowhood, bereavement, financial planning, benefits and entitlements, as well as practical classes in self-defense and coping with their children’s grieving...

KANDAHAR - Three Canadian soldiers have been killed in Zhari district in Afghanistan by an improvised explosive device. One soldier was also seriously injured after the device detonated near their vehicle at about 10:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday. One of the soldiers has been identified as Sgt. Shawn Eades, who was on his third tour in Afghanistan and is being described as a devoted father. The families have all been notified, but the Department of National Defence is not releasing the names of the other soldiers at this point. The three soldiers were combat engineers with 12 Field Squadron,...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 20, 2008 – More than 100 runners are expected to participate in a 99-mile run Aug. 23-24 hosted by a Greenville, N.C.-based care package group in honor of the 117 North Carolinians who have lost their lives serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Barbara Whitehead, director of the North Carolina branch of Give2theTroops, said the group’s run is scheduled to coincide with the last two days of the national “Run for the Fallen.” The national event will cover more than 4,000 miles, one mile for each servicemember killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, by the time it ends at...

Mine kills three Polish soldiers in Afghanistan 21 August 2008 | 00:09 | FOCUS News Agency Warsaw. An exploding mine killed three Polish soldiers in Afghanistan Wednesday, seriously injuring a fourth member of their patrol, the Polish army told PAP news agency. The blast happened about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from their Ghazni base in central Afghanistan, Major Jacek Poplawski told the agency. The wounded soldier, part of a 1,200-strong Polish contingent attached to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), was transported by helicopter to another base at Bagram, he added. Polish troop numbers in Afghanistan are due to rise...

<p>President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday he had no regrets about sending 700 more troops to Afghanistan, after insurgents killed 10 French soldiers, the biggest single loss for foreign forces in combat since 2001.</p> <p>The troops were killed in a major battle that erupted when Taliban insurgents ambushed a French patrol just 60 km (40 miles) east of the Afghan capital on Monday. The fighting has heightened fears the militants are gradually closing in on Kabul itself.</p>

WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2008 – Ten French soldiers were killed in Afghanistan when their patrol was attacked by Taliban fighters in Kabul province during fighting that spanned from late yesterday until early today, U.S. officials said. Twenty-one other French troops were wounded in the engagement, which reportedly involved up to 100 insurgents, according to a NATO news release. Afghan security forces were with the French soldiers when enemy fighters attacked. “As I understand it, it was a complex attack involving multiple weapons systems, small arms, mortars, rockets, and [it] lasted for several hours,” senior Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters...

Ten French soldiers have been killed in fighting with the Taleban east of the Afghan capital, Kabul, Afghan and French sources say. The deaths come amid heavy fighting near Kabul after Nato said one of its patrols was ambushed.

KABUL (AFP) - Ten French soldiers were killed in battles with the Taliban near the Afghan capital, a French presidency source said Tuesday, as troops thwarted a second attack on a key US military base in as many days. Military officials in Kabul said the fierce clashes started with an attack Monday on an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) patrol in Sarobi district, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of the capital Kabul. The French source, who requested anonymity, said the soldiers were killed following a "Taliban ambush". Most of the 3,000 French troops participating in the 40-nation ISAF are...

NEW YORK The Pentagon would be required to grant journalists access to ceremonies honoring fallen military personnel, under a bill recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The legislation is significant because it would, for the first time since Vietnam, let photojournalists capture the powerful images of flag-draped caskets arriving on American soil during wartime. This week the bill won the endorsement of the National Press Photographers Association. The Fallen Hero Commemoration Act, or H.R. 6662, was introduced July 30 by Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-N.C.), a member of the House Committee on Armed Services. The bill states: "The...

A British soldier has been killed and two injured in a bombing in Kabul. The British soldier was from 16 Signal Regiment. Next of kin have been informed. The attack on the eastern outskirts of the Afghan capital on Tuesday afternoon also killed three civilians and left 12 wounded. An MoD spokeswoman said: "The three British soldiers were evacuated to a military hospital where one of them sadly died from his wounds. "Our thoughts and condolences are with his family, friends and comrades." The suicide attacker exploded his vehicle by ramming it into a convoy of armoured vehicles.

Media Advisory Our fallen soldiers return home LFCA MA 08-010 - August 12, 2008 OTTAWA, Ont. — Our fallen soldiers, Master Corporal Joshua Brian Roberts, 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (2 PPCLI), based out of Shilo, Manitoba and Master Corporal Erin Doyle, 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (2 PPCLI), based out of Edmonton, Alberta are scheduled to return home to Canada tomorrow. Where: 8 Wing Trenton, Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ontario. When: Wednesday, August 13, 2:00 p.m. What: At the wishes of the family, media are not permitted on the tarmac. Present to pay their respects...

Guardsman Among 2 U.S. Soldiers Killed In First Fatal Attack On Troops In Month

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5, 2008 – A California troop-support group is paying tribute to servicemembers who died while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom with a mobile memorial. The Fueled by the Fallen Memorial Race Car Team -- a trio of cars bearing the names of Marines who died in Iraq -- makes appearances around the country to raise awareness of the sacrifices made in defense of the United States. Fueled by the Fallen also strives to provide support for the families of fallen heroes and to support and raise awareness for those who are afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder, Ken...

U.S. Deaths In Iraq Fall To Lowest Of the War Bush Suggests Gains May Allow More Troops To Come Home Sooner By Amit R. Paley Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, August 1, 2008; Page A01 BAGHDAD, July 31 -- Five American troops died in July as a result of combat in Iraq, by far the lowest monthly U.S. death toll of the five-year war. The number of Iraq-related American troop fatalities in July -- a total of 13 when noncombat deaths and the discovered bodies of two missing soldiers are included -- is a dramatic drop from just over a...

BAGHDAD, July 30 (Reuters) - The number of U.S. soldiers killed in combat in Iraq has dropped sharply in July and the monthly total is likely to be the lowest since the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2003. Five U.S. soldiers have been killed in combat in Iraq so far in July compared to 66 in the same month last year, according to the independent website icasualties.org, which keeps records of U.S. military losses in the conflict. The drop underscores the dramatic fall in violence in Iraq to lows not seen since early 2004. Seeking to build on those...

A British soldier was killed in an explosion in Afghanistan yesterday, the Ministry of Defence has announced. Next of kin have been informed. British soldiers in Afghanistan The latest death brings to 114 the total number of UK forces to die in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in 2001. Of those, 87 have been killed in action. The Ministry of Defence said that the soldier was serving with the 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment. The explosion happened in Helmand province, where most of the UK's 7,800 troops in Afghanistan are based. The soldier was part of a routine patrol that...

Today was the funeral for Army Cpl. Matthew Phillips. Phillips, 27, was just weeks from completing his 15-month tour when he and eight other soldiers were killed in a July 13 attack. They died during a three-hour battle with Taliban militants at a remote base in Afghanistan’s Kunar province. People started lining the road to his funeral at about noon. By the time his procession was passing, escorted by police and Patriot riders, there was a large crowd on both side of the road as far as I could see. I remember seeing an older lady in a car right...

A British Army dog handler has been killed in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. The soldier, from the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, died on Thursday after coming under fire while on routine patrol, the MoD said. Six other soldiers were injured in the incident in Helmand Province. The death brings the total number of British service personnel who have died in Afghanistan to 112. The soldier's next of kin have been informed. The soldier was attached to the 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, serving in the Sangin area of Helmand. His patrol came under small arms fire from...

7/24/2008 - JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq (AFPN) -- The Joint Base Balad Town Hall filled with brothers and sisters mourning the loss of a military family member July 20. Tech. Sgt. Jackie Larsen, a paralegal working with the Law and Order Task Force of the 732nd Expeditionary Support Squadron, died from non-combat related causes July 17. Sergeant Larsen, deployed from Beale Air Force Base, Calif., operated out of Forward Operating Base Shield and was the NCO in charge of all personnel movements for the LAOTF. The LAOTF trains Iraqi lawyers, paralegals and investigators in proper investigations and documentation of evidence...

United States Army Corporal Matthew Britten Phillips, age 27, of Cumming, GA, died Sunday, July 13, 2008 while bravely and proudly serving his country at a forward operating base in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province. Cpl. Phillips was one of nine soldiers to die that day; just days before his unit was scheduled to leave the base. "We feel angry, even bitterly so, because our young men lived better lives, had higher hopes and more perfect love, than their attackers," Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Stevan Horning said during a memorial service held in Vicenza, Italy. "Please help us to not become...

<p>A fallen soldier returned home to a hero’s welcome Wednesday.</p> <p>The body of Cpl. Matthew Phillips arrived Wednesday morning at 9:35 a.m. at Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport in Gainesville aboard a chartered jet from Dover Air Force Base.</p> <p>It was met by an honor guard from the U.S. Army, which placed the casket into a waiting hearse for the trip to a funeral home in Cumming where his body will lie in repose until a funeral on Saturday.</p>

My brother in Gainesville, Georgia closed down his store for a bit to capture the funeral procession of Corporal Matthew Phillips, on the way to neighboring Cumming. Matthew was one of the nine killed in Afghanistan not long ago.

(CNN) -- All six airmen aboard the B-52 bomber that crashed Monday off Guam's northwest coast were killed, Air Force officials confirmed Wednesday. Aboard Raider 21 were Maj. Christopher M. Cooper, 33; Maj. Brent D. Williams, 37; Capt. Michael K. Dodson, 31; 1st Lt. Joshua D. Shepherd, 26; 1st Lt. Robert D Gerren, 32; and Col. George Martin. The plane crashed about 30 miles northwest of Guam, the Air Force said in a statement. Air Force crews switched from a rescue operation to a recovery operation over the 7,000-square-mile crash site, said Air Force spokeswoman Sgt. Ashleigh Bryant.

In 2007, Matt [Vandegrift] left for Iraq as an infantry officer. In April of this year, he gave the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf when he was killed in action...In a fitting act, the Leander School district in Texas voted unanimously to name their new high school, opening in 2010, to honor him. They have chosen to honor what most parents hope to see in the children they send out into the world: loyalty, honor, bravery and determination.

Specialist Matthew Philips was killed in the attack on the base in Afghanistan on Sunday, July 13. He will be laid to rest on Saturday, July 26 at 1:00 at Coal Mountain Baptist Church in Cumming, Georgia. His body will be taken from Ingram's Funeral Home, in downtown Cumming, north on Highway 9. The church is on Highway 9, the burial will be at Coal Mountain Cemetery just down the road from the church following the service. Please join me if you can to show our support for his family and our brave military by lining the road with supporters....

On Friday, another Canadian was killed in Afghanistan. Corporal James Arnal, 25, was the 89th brave Canadian -- 88 soldiers and one diplomat -- to have died there since our mission began six years ago. He was killed by a roadside bomb while out on foot patrol in southern Afghanistan. It was only natural that, over time, the shock of Canadian combat deaths would wear off, and so news of Canadian fatalities would begin to slip from the front pages. Yet each death of a young soldier killed in the line of duty is tragic, and none more so than...

The Better Business Bureau has issued a warning about an internet scam that is trying to take advantage of the identity of slain Michigan soldier Byron Fouty. It works through the online classified Craig's list. An add appearing on the website says someone claiming to be Fouty's father Mick is trying to sell his son's BMW M6 for $2,800. The car has a Kelley Blue Book value of $80,000. The add reads: "this car will be my gift, my gift in the memory of my son. money not a problem, all I want is to find the right person. person...

Canadian Soldier Killed in AfghanistanCEFCOM NR–08.027 - July 19, 2008OTTAWA – Yesterday, a Canadian soldier was killed just before midnight Kandahar time. The soldier was killed by an Improvised Explosive Device while on a foot patrol in Panjwayi District. The fallen soldier is Corporal James (Jim) Hayward Arnal of the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Manitoba. First aid was administered to Corporal Arnal immediately following the incident. He was evacuated by helicopter to Kandahar Air Field’s Role 3 Multi-National Medical Facility, but sadly was pronounced dead upon arrival. All members of Task Force Kandahar are...

SAS signaller Sean McCarthy lived in many places in his 25 years; yesterday, to the sound of military bagpipes, he was buried in his final resting place. Nearly 1000 people attended the funeral, at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church at Crystal Waters on the Gold Coast, of Signaller McCarthy, who was killed last week by a roadside bomb while he was on patrol in southern Afghanistan. Earlier, there had been a private family service for Signaller McCarthy, the sixth Australian soldier to be killed while on active duty in Afghanistan. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson attended...

Two years after Israeli reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were abducted by Hezbollah guerillas in a cross-border raid, coffins said to contain their bodies were taken to the Lebanese side of its border with Israel as part of a prisoner exchange to bring them home. The swap, overwhelmingly approved Tuesday by the cabinet, began at around 9 A.M. Wednesday at the Rosh Hanikra crossing, under the auspices of the International Red Cross Committee. A convoy carrying the bodies of the two Israelis reached the Rosh Hanikra crossing on the Lebanese side of the border at about 8:30 A.M., where...

A school district near Austin, TX wants to name a new high school there Vandegrift High School after a fallen Marine who graduated in 1999. He was killed in Iraq serving his country, and the local school board voted to name a new high school after him. This is a great gesture of appreciation. But unfortunately some lunatic leftists are protesting this decision. Please contact the Leander ISD to let them know you support their decision, despite what a vocal, anti-American minority of fringe activists think. Call the school district at 512-434-5000. Fax a letter to them at 512-434-5398. Email...

THE body of SAS signaller Sean McCarthy, killed in Afghanistan last week, was yesterday returned to his family in a solemn ceremony at the RAAF Base Amberley, near Brisbane. A guard and bearer party of soldiers from the Special Air Service Regiment received and carried the casket from the aircraft as Signaller McCarthy's family and friends looked on. Chief of the Army Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie said the sixth Australian to be killed in action in Afghanistan was a brave soldier who made the ultimate sacrifice. "His loss is being heavily felt throughout the army, and we join with his...

LAKE CITY - Spc. Jason Dean Hovater was much more than a soldier stationed in an outpost in Afghanistan near the Pakistan border. "He was a brother and a son and a husband,'' said Hovater's sister, Jessica Davis of Norris. "Most of all, he was a man of God. He was a light to other people around him." Hovater, a Clinton resident, was one of nine soldiers killed last weekend in the deadliest assault in Afghanistan against the U.S. military in three years. Some 200 militants with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars attacked the outpost but were beaten back...

An Ida (Michigan) Township woman who handled a college scholarship fund named in memory of a local soldier killed fighting in Iraq was convicted yesterday in Monroe County Circuit Court of stealing money from the account.

A single-digit month. Looking at the coalition fatalities for the first half of July, 2008 shows something remarkable...something not yet noted by any mainstream news agencies or blogs. At first glance, the stats show that 6 good Americans gave their lives for our country so far this month in Iraq. But that number of 6 doesn't tell the tale. Looking more closely at the numbers, two of our lost soldiers were due to non-hostile work accidents (e.g. one was electrocuted). But that doesn't mean that we've lost 4 good men to combat this month...you see...two of those lost to combat...

It is with the deepest sorrow that I have to belatedly report the death in service of my late husband. My husband was a soldier of the British Army with an 18yr service record and combat experience from Northern Ireland to Afghanistan. He was a strong man and a doting father to his 2 children. He passed away in May due to injuries he sustained whilst serving abroard. My Husband had been through a hard time the past 18 months, which saw him in civilian court for protecting his family then being accused of a crime he did not commit...

There are moments that throw the nature of America's enemies into the sharpest possible relief. One such moment came this week, as the Army revealed that it had identified the remains of two US soldiers taken captive in Iraq. Pfc. Byron Fouty, 19, and Queens-born Sgt. Alex Jimenez, 25, were captured last May after heavy fighting in Iraq's then-explosive Sunni Triangle. The body of a third captured GI, Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., was found not long afterward - but Jimenez and Fouty's families held out hope for their return. Until now. It's the smallest of comforts that the country may...

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 13 — Taliban insurgents mounted a large-scale attack on an American forward operating base in eastern Afghanistan in the early hours of Sunday, killing nine American soldiers in fierce fighting that continued through the day. Mark Laity, a spokesman for NATO, confirmed that nine soldiers had been killed and 15 more wounded, but did not give their nationality. Separately, a senior American military official confirmed that the nine soldiers killed were Americans. Four Afghan soldiers also were wounded, Mr. Laity said. The Taliban assault on the base was the deadliest single attack on the NATO security force...

KABUL (Reuters) - Insurgents killed nine U.S. soldiers in an assault on an Afghan army and NATO outpost in northeastern Afghanistan on Sunday, making it one of the worst days for foreign troops casualties in the country since 2001. Afghanistan is suffering from a rising tide of violence this year, with a sharp increase in Taliban attacks, especially in the east where NATO says militants have taken advantage of peace deals in Pakistan to cross the border and fight in Afghanistan. --snip-- The dead soldiers were all American, a NATO official said. Fifteen ISAF troops and four Afghan soldiers were...

At least eight US soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan in clashes with Taleban militants. US commander Daniel Dwyer told the BBC the soldiers had been killed in clashes in the north-east of the country. The BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul says it is one of the biggest single losses in a day for the coalition since the start of military operations there. The attack came as international and Afghan security forces battled militants on several fronts. On Sunday, US forces said 40 insurgents had been killed in Helmand province in the past 24 hours. There are conflicting reports as...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Department of Defense confirmed Friday that the remains of two U.S. soldiers captured in an ambush south of Baghdad more than a year ago were found this week. A tip from an informant led the military Wednesday to the bodies of Sgt. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Michigan, according to Jimenez' father, quoting officers who informed him of the discoveries. Sgt. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, and Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, 19, of Waterford, Michigan "The Armed Forces Medical Examiner positively identified human remains...

AT 6.15am, Private Ray Johnson woke, pushed back his camouflage-print doona and got up. It was already hot, despite the constant, noisy work of the airconditioner above his bed. He showered and, when he got back to the room, woke the other two men sleeping in the bunks beside the door. They went quickly through their morning routine: wash, dress, webbing, weapons, helmet, out. Sharing a space this small with two other blokes, each learned to live without getting on the others' nerves. It was just another day. Another eight hours of guard duty, rotating around different positions at the...

WASHINGTON, July 11, 2008 – The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology has identified human remains found in Iraq as those of two 10th Mountain Division soldiers who had been missing since a May 2007 ambush. Army Sgt. Alex R. Jimenez, 25, and Pfc. Byron W. Fouty, 19, were listed as “missing/captured” during operations in Mahmudiyah, Iraq, on May 12, 2007. The two men were soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division’s 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Drum, N.Y. Jimenez and Fouty were part of a patrol of seven Americans and an Iraqi army interpreter...