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FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas, Aug. 26, 2008 – Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind the program “Sesame Street,” and the United Service Organizations joined forces to bring “The Sesame Street Experience for Military Families” to 43 installations across the country. Amanda Moran of Military OneSource, helps Kassandra Chavez, 11, and her brother José, 9, put beading kits into a bag Aug. 10, 2008, at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The table was one of many with giveaways and information at the “Sesame Street Experience.” U.S. Army photo by Cheryl Harrison  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “The tour travels for...

New video feature will zero in on the issues and events - an online video series to keep you up to date on the election. Host Stuart Shepard gets insights on the presidential race from Tom Minnery, senior vice president of government and public policy at Focus Action. Family advocates from across the nation will appear in upcoming episodes. "This is a challenging year for Christian conservatives to sort through where the leading candidates stand on pro-family issues," Shepard said. "We'll cut through the hype and the campaign ads and shine a light on how they view the sanctity of...

BAGHDAD — The families of 21 detainees entered Victory Base Complex to visit their family member Aug. 9 – and bring them home. The detainees had been determined to no longer be security threats and were released after a brief ceremony led by Iraqi officials. "I am happy to be standing in front of these free men willing to participate in building and securing their country,” said Hadi Al-aameri, the chairman of the Council of Representatives’ Committee on Defense and Security. “Iraq today is secured more than ever," Al-aameri said. "We all are Iraqis and have to live together -...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, Aug. 14, 2008 – As deployments have remained consistent for soldiers and family members of the 4th Infantry Division, separation has been commonplace. Army Pfc. Shannon Willingham, who hails from Pendleton, S.C., shows off the books she has read to children back home while on Camp Taji, Iraq, Aug. 12, 2008. Willingham serves in Multinational Division Baghdad as a supply clerk with the 4th Infantry Division’s Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division. U.S. Army photo by Capt. Kathryn Rains, Multinational Division Baghdad   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13, 2008 – Kim Robinson knows that when military members deploy, they face a lot of stress overseas on top of worrying about their families at home. To help alleviate that stress, Robinson has committed to do what he can to ease the burden on the families of his employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserve. Robinson’s company, Robinson Transport, of Salina, Utah, provides $1,000 a month to the families of employees who are deployed with the National Guard or Reserve. This money is meant to supplement the family’s income, and the company still pays all...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11, 2008 – During World War I, the Choctaw Nation began a long tradition of service to the country when a group of Choctaws volunteered as “code talkers,” sending messages for the military in a code derived from their own language to confuse German spies. Today, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma continues that tradition of service, extending it to include support of its members and employees who serve in the National Guard and reserves and families of military members. The organization is being recognized for its efforts with the 2008 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. Serving...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 4, 2008 – A military child’s education is one of many things a servicemember’s injury or death in the line of duty could jeopardize. To make sure that never happens, retired Air National Guard F-16 pilot and Iraq War veteran Maj. Dan Rooney created Oklahoma-based “Folds of Honor.” “Folds of Honor is dedicated to providing deserving families with tailored, effective, lasting change through education,” said Jason Ohrenberger, the organization’s senior vice president for future development. “[It] provides current- and future-use educational scholarships for spouses and children of military servicemembers killed or disabled in action in Iraq or...

WASHINGTON, July 25, 2008 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today called it a “sacred responsibility” to care for the generation of American military children affected by the deployment, and in some cases the death, of a servicemember parent. “The empty seat at the dinner table night after night is a constant reminder of a child’s worry for his or her parent’s safety,” Gates said, according to his prepared remarks. “And there is also the grief and the heartbreak when a loved one is injured or killed -- a grim reality of war.” Roughly 43 percent of U.S. active-duty,...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq , July 18, 2008 – When Patton’s tanks rolled across North African desert sands, letters of encouragement, love and support from family back home connected 1st Armored Division soldiers to loved ones left behind. Army Pfc. Courtney Flaherty, a unit mail clerk and Pacific, Miss., native, sifts through letters for Spc. Daniel Conley, of Columbiaville, Mich., in the mail room of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, on Forward Operating Base Hammer, Iraq, on July 12, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Michael Schuch, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st...

WASHINGTON, July 17, 2008 – Servicemembers being treated at military medical facilities in the national capital region now can recuperate with their families thanks to one group’s ingenuity and the generosity of corporate donors. Christopher Payne Jr. enjoys his new home in the Operation Homefront Village serving Washington’s Water Reed Army Medical Center and the National Naval Medical Center, in Bethesda, Md., July 15, 2008. The village offers transitioning wounded warriors rent-free housing while they recuperate at one of the medical facilities. Photo courtesy of Operation Homefront   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Operation Homefront welcomed wounded warriors...

WASHINGTON, July 10, 2008 – Two years ago, Steve Newton, founder of Silver Star Families of America, asked the governors of all 50 states and the mayor of the District of Columbia to sign a proclamation to observe May 1 as Silver Star Banner Day, honoring wounded and ill servicemembers from all wars. “We asked the governors to make this day a permanent and official day of observance each year thereafter,” Newton said. “This is a community outreach program that can be implemented by each governor to benefit the wounded and ill troop population in this unique way.” Governors...

Apparently Michelle Obama’s pride in America (circa 2007) places her in a unique situation to understand the issues facing patriotic military families. I'm sure they'll love her.

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2008 – AMVETS, one of the nation’s leading veterans service organizations, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness signed a memorandum of understanding last week at the alliance’s Virginia headquarters in Arlington. The memorandum allows AMVETS and NAMI to share resources to assist veterans and their families in identifying and coping with mental illness. Together, the two organizations have more than 2,500 locations where veterans and their families can go to learn more about readjustment issues and mental illness. “When troops come home from war, they just want to go home. They often don’t want to...

"One morning in 2006 Kimberly, then a 38-year-old New York therapist, was getting her three children ready for their day at preschool. She was cooking breakfast for her two daughters and one son when her husband, Ken, called out from another part of the house, telling her there was a morning show segment on that she should watch. Kimberly (who did not want her last name used) turned on the television in the kitchen. As the camera panned across a group of youngsters and infants visiting the show's studio with their mothers, she moved closer to the screen -- and...

WASHINGTON, June 23, 2008 – Losing a parent or sibling who served in the military can be devastating to children, but they don’t have to cope alone. Monica Williams, 4, of Honolulu, was delighted to see her 2007 Good Grief Camp mentor, Javaris Warthen, when she came back to camp this year. For children attending the camp, a relationship with a mentor helps them cope with the loss of a loved one who served in the military. Monica's father, Sgt. Eugene Williams, died in Iraq in 2003. Photo courtesy of TAPS  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Thanks to...

For millions of children across the U.S., this Sunday will not be a cause for celebration. Because of dramatic increases in divorce and nonmarital childbearing, about 28% of our nation's children -- more than 20 million kids -- now live in a household without their father, up from 10 million kids (14%) in 1970, according to a recent Census Bureau report. Moreover, because most of these boys and girls see their dads infrequently (once a month or less), Father's Day will offer cold comfort to many of these children. Our nation's epidemic of fatherlessness is just the most salient indicator...

Honoring Thy FathersBRADFORD WILCOXFor millions of children across the U.S., this Sunday will not be a cause for celebration. Because of dramatic increases in divorce and nonmarital childbearing, about 28% of our nation's children -- more than 20 million kids -- now live in a household without their father, up from 10 million kids (14%) in 1970, according to a recent Census Bureau report. Moreover, because most of these boys and girls see their dads infrequently (once a month or less), Father's Day will offer cold comfort to many of these children.Our nation's epidemic of fatherlessness is just the most...

Walter Dean Myers, a best-selling author of books for teenagers, sometimes visits juvenile detention centers in his home state of New Jersey to hold writing workshops and listen for stories about the lives of young Americans. One day, in a juvenile facility near his home in Jersey City, a 15-year-old black boy pulled him aside for a whispered question: Why did he write in "Somewhere in the Darkness" about a boy not meeting his father because the father was in jail? Mr. Myers, a 70-year-old black man, did not answer. He waited. And sure enough, the boy, eyes down, mumbled...

WASHINGTON, June 11, 2008 – Servicemembers, veterans and their families going through problems related to deployments can get help from a California-based troop-support organization. Members of the group, called Patriotic Hearts, have developed a plan to help families navigate the sometimes-unexpected issues they may face when a loved one returns from the front lines. The plan involves working with spouses of deployed servicemembers to map out welcome-home parties, helping veterans find jobs, and hosting military marriage-enrichment weekends. “This three-point plan also addresses the needs of the military children, who endure tremendous stresses,” Mark Baird, president of Patriotic Hearts, said....

Tears, hugs and American flags welcomed members of a North Dakota National Guard unit back to their home state after nearly a year in Iraq.Most of the 104 members of the 817th Engineer Company arrived at Jamestown airport on two chartered flights Saturday, shortly after 7 a.m., about 45 minutes ahead of schedule. Eleven soldiers had returned earlier and two went directly to homes in Wisconsin and Colorado.Guard officials did their best to notify families of the early arrival, and hundreds turned out to welcome home the troops."The year is done," said Daine Flieth, who was reunited with her husband,...

WASHINGTON, June 5, 2008 – In Ohio, a new team is taking a community approach to supporting troops and military families. “Our mission is to empower communities to support military members and their families through the deployment cycles,” said PamelaJune Banks-Anderson, founder of the Ohio-based National Restoration to Military Families Team. The team, which operates as “National Restoration Team,” takes a three-pronged approach to helping servicemembers and their loved ones. First, the team works to encourage faith- and community-based leaders and organizations to build servicemember- and veteran-friendly communities. It also helps servicemembers with readjustment and reunion issues while remembering...

WASHINGTON, June 4, 2008 – For deployed servicemembers and their loved ones, maintaining close family ties takes more than the occasional phone call or e-mail. Kursten Byrne, holding a photo of her husband, Marine Capt. Patrick Byrne, and their four children use “Websites for Heroes” as a way to stay in touch. Captain Byrne is deployed in Iraq. Photo courtesy of Websites for Heroes   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. It happens through a free, personalized and password-protected Web site. “Deployments are hard on families. When you’re away and you’re in harm’s way, … it’s a lonely place,”...

WASHINGTON, May 22, 2008 – President Bush saluted thousands of soldiers of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division during his visit to Fort Bragg, N.C., today. The president cited the soldiers’ distinguished service in Afghanistan and Iraq. “This is the first time since 2006 that five brigades from your division have assembled together,” Bush remarked to troops after performing an in-ranks review of the division. Many of the paratroopers Bush addressed had recently completed 15-month deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq. “We’ve asked a lot of you,” Bush told the soldiers, noting they’ve “achieved difficult objectives in a new kind...

SCHWEINFURT, Germany, May 22, 2008 – Army officials in Europe are working to develop a standard model to ensure all redeploying soldiers and their families receive the same programs and services regardless of their location. Planning for this summer's redeployment of 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team from Afghanistan, representatives from Installation Management Command Europe and U.S. Army garrisons Vicenza, Italy; and Schweinfurt and Bamberg, Germany, met early this month. "In addition to fixing and replacing and upgrading our equipment and training for future missions, we also have to revitalize our soldiers and families by providing them the time and opportunity...

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court has overturned a gay marriage ban in a ruling that would make the nation's largest state the second one to allow gay and lesbian weddings. The justices' 4-3 decision Thursday says domestic partnerships are not a good enough substitute for marriage. Chief Justice Ron George wrote the opinion. The city of San Francisco, two dozen gay and lesbian couples and gay rights groups sued in March 2004 after the court halted San Francisco's monthlong same-sex wedding march. The case before the court involved a series of lawsuits seeking to overturn a voter-approved law...

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2008 – Two former Marines have set out to provide wounded veterans with a week’s worth of rest and relaxation in luxury homes. Dennis Cline, a wounded veteran, enjoyed a week’s vacation through Vacations for Veterans. The organization works to match Purple Heart recipients from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts with available vacation homes. Homeowners donate at least a week’s worth of free lodging to the veterans and their families through Vacation for Veterans. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “Our mission is to pair up recently wounded veterans who are the recipients of...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Approximately 120 men of the Chalabi tribe returned to their homes recently in the Sayafiyah region, about 25 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, more than a year after being driven out by al-Qaeda in Iraq extremists. Escorted by Sons of Iraq leader Jumah al-Kazarji and Soldiers of 1st Platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), a large convoy of cars and trucks ushered the Chalabi men back to their abandoned village. Their reclamation of homes signaled the hopeful beginning of a new era of peace and...

Displaced families and Soldiers from Company B, 415th Civil Affairs, currently attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, distribute humanitarian aid bags filled with food at the Hateen apartment complex in Iskandariyah, Iraq. Photo by Spc. Amanda Mcbride, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs. FOB KALSU — Coalition forces recently participated in a 200-bag humanitarian aid drop to more than 20 displaced families in Iskandariyah, approximately 30 miles south of Baghdad. Soldiers from Company B, 415th Civil Affairs (CA), currently attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, distributed the aid in the Hateen...

Staff Sgt. Joseph Marcy, of the 511th Military Police Co., shares a moment with Iraqi children after a food distribution mission in the Zuwerijat district of Al Kut, Iraq, April 30. U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Daniel T. West. FOB DELTA — Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and American Soldiers recently gave humanitarian assistance to more than 200 families in the Zuwarijat district of al-Kut, 163 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, as part of Operation Thunder II. The humanitarian mission furthered the operation’s goal of establishing a permanent ISF presence in the area.During Operation Thunder II, ISF occupied three buildings to serve...

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2008 – Gift cards can make a stay away from home while a loved one recovers easier for servicemembers and their families. A Bank of America Visa debit card bearing the Fisher House Foundation logo is displayed during a ceremony to present the first 400 such cards to the Brooke Army Medical Center Fisher Houses on Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Through a new partnership, Bank of America’s Military Segment has agreed to cover processing and other fees associated with purchasing gift cards, thereby stretching the Fisher House Foundation’s donors’ dollars. Photo courtesy of the Fisher House...

FORT BLISS, Texas, May 2, 2008 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates paid tribute here last night to what he called “the power behind the power” -- the families and community members who stand behind the troops engaged in the war on terror. Speaking to local and military family group leaders at the Officers Club, Gates praised Fort Bliss soldiers who, along with their comrades throughout the military, have been “giving their all” in the fight against extremism. That’s been possible, he said, because of the support troops receive from their families, as well as the support they and...

WASHINGTON, April 29, 2008 – Operation Homefront has extended the deadline for those interested in one of 25 American Patriot Freedom Scholarships the group offers to children of military families for tuition and other education-related expenses. “The organization is extending its application date to allow the children stationed at military bases abroad additional time to submit their applications,” Arthur Hasselbrink, founder and president of Homefront America, said. With the change in deadline, applications must be postmarked by May 30. Homefront America, with the help of the W. Daniel Tate family and Sara’s Hope, which offers annual scholarships to high...

WASHINGTON, April 28, 2008 – It’s almost peak moving season again for military families, and Defense Department leaders want families to know new resources are available to help. “Plan My Move,” soft-launched in late summer, is the next generation of DoD’s MilitaryHomefront tools to provide an integrated “e-moving” solution, officials said. Moving to a new community can be a stressful event for all service and family members,” Leslye A. Arsht, deputy undersecretary of defense for military community and family policy, said. “This tool helps to ease that burden. It will put our servicemembers and their families in direct contact...

It’s long been known that family break-up inflicts massive social costs on communities and children. But what about the burden it imposes on the American taxpayer? It’s a proven fact that family dissolution places children at greater risk of poverty, mental and physical illness, juvenile delinquency, abuse, substance abuse, and educational failure. A few years ago Wade Horn, former director of the federal Administration for Children and Families, revealed, “My agency spends $46 billion per year operating 65 different social programs. If one goes down the list of these programs… the need for each is either created or exacerbated...

In the four years that Master Sgt. Tony Roy's electronic combat unit has been deployed, he's spent nearly two years away from home. Roy is one of roughly 140 airmen based at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base who have been constantly at war since March 2004, deploying several times to provide electronic cover to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Members of the 55th Electronic Combat Group hop back and forth from combat zones to Tucson for months at a time, coming home only long enough to retrain, regroup and head back.

WASHINGTON, April 17, 2008 – Military Resale and Morale, Welfare and Recreation programs are working to support members of the military community regardless of their proximity to installations, a defense official told the House Armed Services Committee today. “Our Resale and MWR programs are more effectively reaching out to our active-duty, Guard and reserve families, our retirees, the digital generation of our members, and our military spouses who work,” said Leslye A. Arsht, deputy undersecretary of defense for military community and family policy. Part of that MWR outreach will benefit what Arsht described as “far-flung military members and families.”...

BAGHDAD, April 9, 2008 – Soldiers at Forward Operating Base War Eagle here invited a group of Iraqi children to showcase their artistic skills and creativity March 29 by painting the concrete walls used to protect citizens in their neighborhood. Young Iraqi artists pose in front of their artwork after a day spent painting a T-wall at Forward Operating Base War Eagle in northern Baghdad, March 29, 2008. The children of the village next to the base painted the T-walls that line their route to school. Photo by Army Spc. Joseph Rivera Rebolledo, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry...

Bird flu may spread within families 11:53 08 April 2008 NewScientist.com news service Debora MacKenzie There has been another case of human-to-human transmission of H5N1 bird flu, this time in China. This does not mean, however, that the virus has evolved to spread easily among humans. But the cases reinforce fears that there could be many undiagnosed human H5N1 infections in China. On the bright side, they may also point to a cure. A salesman hospitalised in Nanjing last November with fever, diarrhoea and pneumonia was given antibiotics for suspected bacterial infection. He didn't respond, however, and just before he...

MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, April 7, 2008 – Dealing with a loved one’s deployment can be difficult. But for Marine families based thousands of miles from home, the challenges might seem even more daunting if not for an active family support network in place to help them. Carrie Heironimus, wife of Navy Lt. Brandon Heironimus, right, gets information about family-support programs at a table set up in Marine Corps Base Hawaii’s base exchange from Brenda Hawkins, left, administrative assistant for the Marine Corps Family Team Building program, and Cheryl Roy, center, the base’s readiness and deployment support trainer. Photo...

INDIANAPOLIS, March 31, 2008 – The Greater Indianapolis YMCA is offering family members of state National Guardsmen an affordable way to stay active and healthy while their loved ones are deployed. Jaxon Curtis, 3, entertains Indiana Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman (left) and Army Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger, Indiana National Guard adjutant general, while they wait to address spectators and media at the YMCA in Noblesville, Ind., on March 11, 2008. Jaxon and his sister, Chloe, 1, are the children of Capt. Maurice Curtis, who is deployed to Iraq with 1st Battalion, 293rd Infantry Regiment, 76th Infantry Brigade Combat...

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2008 – A group of volunteer mental health professionals that offers its services to troops and their extended families will host a conference May 16-18 in Los Angeles for military members who have served in the global war on terror and those who interact with them. Officials of the group, called The Soldiers Project, said the conference theme is “Hidden Wounds of War: Pathways to Healing.” Dr. Jonathan Shay, the first keynote speaker on the conference schedule and a psychiatrist at the Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Boston, will discuss combat trauma. U.S. Rep. Bob Filner...

3/25/2008 - BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- A Bagram Air Base Airman is making a difference for servicemembers and their families as she has one of the most difficult jobs in the area of responsibility. Senior Airman Sekina Moye, a services journeyman assigned to the 755th Air Expeditionary Group, is filling a six-month in-lieu-of tasking with Bagram's Mortuary Affairs. She is the only Air Force member of the five-person Army team who processes the remains of U.S. and coalition fallen heroes. "I was scared. I had never done this aspect of services," said Airman Moye, who is deployed from...

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2008 – Wounded warriors in need in San Antonio now have a place to call home as they transition from military to civilian life. The new facility is Operation Homefront’s first of four planned transitional housing facilities across the United States. Jody Brothers from the PGA Tour and representatives from local Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores were on hand to cut the ribbons on the apartments the Wal-Mart Foundation sponsored. “Thanks to these and other sponsors, wounded warriors and their families can live at Operation Homefront Village rent-free so they can rebuild their financial foundation as...

WASHINGTON, March 19, 2008 – More than 6,300 families need to be located to collect DNA samples for the purpose of identifying missing soldiers from World War II and the wars in Korea and Vietnam, a U.S. Army official said yesterday. The military maintains a database of mitochondrial DNA samples from family members of missing-in-action soldiers in the Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab, Army Lt. Col. Julius Smith, chief of past conflict repatriation for Army Casualty and Mortuary Affairs, said during a teleconference with online journalists and “bloggers.” Smith explained that the DNA samples help the Army identify missing...

WASHINGTON, March 14, 2008 – A new “virtual installation” concept that helps families who live far from a military base get information and tap into services available for them during their loved ones’ deployment is expected to begin rolling out next month. Recognizing the challenges Reserve families face during deployments, Laura Stultz, wife of Army Reserve Chief Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz, is promoting a virtual installation concept that helps bring information and other resources within reach of families far from military posts. Army Reserve photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Plans are being laid to open several...

BAGHDAD, March 4, 2008 – With the security situation here improving every day, Iraqi and coalition forces increasingly are helping displaced families move back into their old neighborhoods. A sheik addresses displaced Iraqi families returning to their homes, appealing for adherence to the local reconciliation agreement, during a ceremony welcoming families back to Baghdad’s Aamel neighborhood, Feb. 9, 2008. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division’s Company A, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, in cooperation with Iraqi security forces, the local reconciliation committee, and local and civic...

Politics and the street fight between Hillary and Barack Obama aren't the only games in town. A bachelor acquaintance of mine, a prosperous man in his 40s, was new in town and wanted to meet the love of his life, to marry, and become a father and citizen (and voter). So, I organized a small cocktail party and invited several attractive women in their late 30s who are still looking for Mr. Right (and might be willing to settle for Mr. Good Enough). They're women with professional careers but want marriage and family, too. They feel a mild panic that...

BAQUBAH — Families displaced from a town near Baqubah were escorted back to their homes by the Iraqi Army (IA) and Coalition forces, Feb. 13, during ‘Operation Fierce Thrasher’. During the operation, Soldiers from Company F, 52nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis, Wash., helped 39 families dislocated due to fear of terrorist attacks return to their homes in the town of Durah. “Today’s mission was to secure the village of Durah to allow the repatriation of the Sunnis into the village,” said Capt. Troy Mills, commander of Company F. The Coalition troops...

BAGHDAD, Feb. 11, 2008 – Prominent civilian leaders in southern Baghdad's Rashid district, with help from Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers, began the process of returning 200 displaced families to their homes Feb. 9. Local leaders in southern Baghdad's Saydiyah neighborhood thumb through documents to verify people's legal ownership of property Feb. 9, 2008. The process was mandatory to guarantee criminals were not moving into the region. Photo by Spc. Nathaniel Smith, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Members of the Saydiyah Neighborhood Council, along with soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division’s 4th Battalion, 64th Armored Regiment, 4th Brigade,...

With rents in many cities skyrocketing, men and women marrying later and a divorce rate for first-time marriages that hovers at about 45%, it's no wonder more American couples are deciding to shack up. There were an estimated 6,017,462 unmarried-partner households in the U.S. in 2006, according to the Census' latest research. This number includes 779,867 same-sex households. When the Census began measuring unmarried partners in 1996, there were only 2,858,000 opposite-sex couples. Though you likely know at least one cohabiting pair, unlike their married and single peers, unmarried couples are not an easy group to quantify. They cannot check...