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Largest per-capita Loss Beallsville, Ohio (pop. 475) gained unwanted national notoriety between 1966 and 1971 by having suffered the largest per-capita loss of life in the Vietnam War. Six young men lost their lives in the war, a terrible and profound loss for this small town. Highest State Casualties During Vietnam, West Virginia had the highest casualty rate in the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. The state had 711 casualties -- 39.9 deaths per 100,000 people. Oklahoma had the second-highest casualty rate. Names on the Wall The youngest Vietnam KIA is believed to be Dan Bullock USMC,...

One of the nominees who will be considered next is Janice Rogers Brown...There was an article in a recent New York Times magazine about a far-right legal movement in America called the Constitution in Exile. This movement consists of judges and scholars who believe that the right to private property and economic liberty is almost absolute. Its adherents believe that nearly all Government infringement on property rights is repressive. They encourage judges to strike down laws on behalf of rights that do not appear explicitly in the Constitution. If this philosophy sounds familiar, it should. The article lists Janice Rogers...

Hailing Our Heroes The press should make a real effort to show the tough guys who fight for us. By By Owen & Bing West Outside Fallujah a year ago today, a small convoy was ambushed by 50 insurgents. A rocket-propelled grenade hit the first Humvee, robbing one Marine of his hands and raking the others with shrapnel. Machine-gun fire swept the kill zone. Captain Brent Morel was in the second Humvee. "Stop and dismount," was all he said before opening his door and sprinting off toward the ambush position. A small band of Marines followed him over two berms,...

TNT is showing We Were Soldiers tonight. It is the story of Hal Moore and the men he led into battle in Vietnam. I thought if appropriate to pay tribute to Julia Moore, Lt. Col. Moore's wife. There was not much national news of it, but she passed on to heaven last year. As a proud member a group of individuals known as Military Brats, I know how important the Military Wife/Mom is to the foundation of the Military Family Unit. Mrs. Moore was an outstanding example to all military wives. Below are two links- One is a post by...

The 639th Quartermaster Company of the Montana Army National Guard swooped into the Flathead Valley around noon Thursday, igniting a powerful welcome. With more than 100 soldiers on board, the jet taxied beneath an arch of water sprayed from two waiting fire trucks at the Edwards Jet Center. A flag-waving, emotional crowd pressed against the yellow tape barrier to the tarmac. Sue Cusker, wife of acting 639th commander 1st. Lt. Chris Cusker, had arrived more than an hour early to nab her front row waving spot with son Cody, 6, and Tele, the family's chocolate lab. His parents, Bruce and...

Ben Stein's Last Column... For many years Ben Stein has written a biweekly column for the online website called "Monday Night At Morton's." (Morton's is a famous chain of Steakhouses known to be frequented by movie stars and famous people from around the globe.) Now, Ben is terminating the column to move on to other things in his life. Reading his final column is worth a few minutes of your time. Ben Stein's Last Column... (read all of this or you will have missed the best). ============================================ How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's...

THIS TORE ME UP: Perhaps the single most powerful image  of heroism I've seen...Three Generations of Valor in this one... Pearl Harbor survivor Houston James of Dallas embraces Marine Staff Sgt. Mark Graunke Jr. during a Veterans Day commemoration in Dallas. Graunke lost a hand, a leg and and eye when he defused a bomb in Iraq last year. Yep...this one hit me extremely hard. Both of my grandfathers were WWII Navy. I have uncles that were in Korea and Vietnam. I have cousins who did Gulf War 1 and The War on Terror. Tonight I sit grateful for the freedoms...

Liberators? Absolutely Yet media build myths, skip good news, boost insurgents 09:06 AM PST on Tuesday, December 21, 2004 By ANDY FROST I would like to comment on Cynthia Tucker's "Time erodes war myth" (Opinion, Dec. 15). I do not know what myth Ms. Tucker is talking about. Obviously, she has never been to Iraq and believes everything she reads or sees in the latest media report. She is the one perpetrating a myth. Remember the images of celebration at Firdos Square, when the statue of Saddam was torn down by the Marines and local Iraqis? I suppose this was...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After 58 years of marriage, Lyle Bouck and his wife, Lucy, are still helping each other down the front walk. "I didn't think we'd live that long," laughs Lucy. At one point, Lyle didn't even think he'd make it to the altar. Sixty years ago, Bouck was a young, whip-smart lieutenant, commanding a U.S. Army intelligence and reconnaissance platoon made up of 18 elite soldiers -- the eyes and ears of a fragmented Allied force pushing through Belgium toward the German border. By mid-December 1944, they had just about reached the border. But there was a huge...

John Kerry admitted to intentional war crimes and the major media did everything but canonize him. A U.S. Marine shoots an enemy whom he has every right to believe is getting ready to attack him and the major media tries to demonize him. This is a national disgrace, not what the Marine did but what the media is doing. Put yourself in this young Marine’s place. You walk into a building which has been used by insurgents to attack American Marines and there are bodies on the floor. They all look dead and suddenly one of them moves. You know...

High Time for Heroes Celebrating good guys in sports. Brawls, Steroids, Lockouts ... sniff, sigh, sob! BobLee has been in a funk. It seems that sports (as a mirror of society) gets into these gloomy gulches where all we read about are “bad guys being bad guys” … I understand that no one cares how many planes did NOT crash yesterday, but I went looking for some old fashioned “sports heroes” to cheer for… I found some! An interesting reoccurring theme from you readers … you have marginal to no interest in the NBA. Yes, you read the headlines and...

Precedent-wary Army must weigh capability Chuck Bartles took heart when President Bush pinned a Purple Heart to his chest this year, lauding him for courage and determination despite grievous wounds. Sgt. Bartles, then struggling to recover from having his right arm blown off in Iraq, felt even better when Bush walked out of the hospital ward and made a stirring speech. Just because a soldier has lost a leg or an arm in combat, the president said, doesn’t mean he’s useless. "People are no longer forced out of the military," he declared to applause. "Today, if wounded service members want...

E-MAIL FROM IRAQ A friend of ours, Heidi, a doctor and Lt. Cmdr. in the Navy, just finished a seven-month deployment to Iraq treating wounded Marines. Just a few weeks ago, she came home to her 2-year-old twins she left with her husband while she served in Iraq.   While waiting for her flight home, Heidi wrote an e-mail home listing the good and the bad of her tour of duty. She did this for closure and healing, hoping that somehow the trauma, the fear, the grief, the laughter, the pride and the patriotism that she experience in those long...

E-MAIL FROM IRAQ A friend of ours, Heidi, a doctor and Lt. Cmdr. in the Navy, just finished a seven-month deployment to Iraq treating wounded Marines. Just a few weeks ago, she came home to her 2-year-old twins she left with her husband while she served in Iraq.   While waiting for her flight home, Heidi wrote an e-mail home listing the good and the bad of her tour of duty. She did this for closure and healing, hoping that somehow the trauma, the fear, the grief, the laughter, the pride and the patriotism that she experience in those long...

Editor’s Note: Marine 1st Lt. Joshua Phares, the nephew of Ron Srygley of Carthage(MO), is among those Marines assigned to the ongoing Fallujah invasion. Phares has been injured and is recovering in a field hospital outside Fallujah.The following is a letter from his brother, MM3 Christopher Phares, who is serving aboard the submarine USS Charlotte in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Joshua Phares has carried this letter with him throughout the war in Iraq. To every Marine who has spent a long, cold, dark night in a fighting position. To every Marine who has charged a battlefield with artillery dropping all around...

SPINDALE -- Warren Messer weighed 80 pounds, and had turned blue. His knees were crushed and his feet and fingers were broken. He was struggling to hang on to life in the hell of a Cambodian prisoner-of-war camp during the Vietnam War, when he saw the eyes of the man who would save his life. He never forgot those eyes. Messer was on assignment in Cambodia doing reconnaissance missions for the U.S. Marine Corps when he was captured. Ronnie Scroggs, an Air Force medic and Rutherford County native, lifted Messer from the hells of the Cambodian POW camp on July...

Statement by John O'Neill on "Nightline" Appearance Author: Dated: Friday, October 15 2004 @ 08:00 AM PDT Viewed: 1485 times While I have a tremendous amount of respect for Ted Koppel and ABC News I was appalled to learn that ABC News would go to the lengths of traveling to Vietnam to interview three Viet Cong communists in yet a third attempt by ABC to corroborate John Kerry’s version of the events that took place on February 28th, 1969. I would only ask the American people: "Who do you trust more, three members of a communist regime that tortured and...

Watch this....if this doesn't enegrize you....nothing will.

I would like to extend my sincere and personal gratitude for your generous contribution to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. I am sure you have seen the impact your contribution has had on the public discussion surrounding Senator Kerry's fitness for duties as Commander-in-Chief. You have helped us to raise awareness of these important issues - and the American people are beginning to respond. We would not be where we are today, with what we have accomplished, without your help. Our mission is far from over, however. John Kerry's campaign - aided by a sympathetic media - has responded...

Valor defined Marines confront, overcome the crucible of Fallujah By Rick Rogers UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER July 31, 2004 NELVIN CEPEDA / Union-TribuneCpl. Howard Lee Hampton Jr. compared the insurgent assault his Camp Pendleton unit faced in the battle for Fallujah this spring to the violent D-Day landing scene in the movie "Saving Private Ryan." More than 50 Marines from Echo Company were recognized for bravery. FALLUJAH, Iraq; The citations for valor read like scenes from a movie, and it's only through cinematic comparisons that Cpl. Howard Lee Hampton Jr. can describe the combat his Camp Pendleton unit saw here...

Dear Senator Kerry: Since beginning your campaign for President, you have consistently highlighted your military service as one reason why voters should support your candidacy. You have consistently implied that your military service has prepared you to serve in our country’s highest office. However, we have grave concerns about positions you have taken that affect our men and women in uniform. You voted in favor of going to war with Iraq. In fact, your speeches in the Senate clearly expressed support for not only military action in Iraq, but also the removal of Saddam Hussein. However, as your campaign for...

[Open letter signed by twenty-one Medal of Honor recipients]Dear fellow Veterans:We have listened to Senator Kerry falsely attack President Bush for months over funding for veterans, and it's time to set the record straight.  The truth is President Bush has led the way on improving veterans’ benefits, supporting our troops and restoring honor and dignity to the White House.Since 2001, President Bush has increased veterans funding by over $20 billion, and funding for veterans' health care has increased by 40 percent since he took office.  Funding for veterans has gone up twice as fast under President Bush as it...

This is a must see! Make sure your sound is turned up and be prepared for some graphic images. I commend the man, who created this site; it really gets the point across. When it's finished, click on the info button; scroll down and look closely, it's quite small......... Click on Source or paste the URL below in your browser. http://members.cox.net/classicweb/email.htm

SACRAMENTO - The California National Guard's 1498th Transportation Company will return from their Iraq tour, flying in to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside. Soldiers are scheduled to return on two flights - at 5:20 and 6:25 p.m. today. Approximately 220 soldiers in desert camouflage uniforms are expected to be greeted by family and friends, and will be welcomed home with a barbecue and bagpipe music. The mission of the 1498th, which includes dozens of Antelope Valley residents as well as reservists from across the Southland, was to use its heavy equipment transporter systems to move equipment and supplies from...

A soldier whose wife now lives in Lancaster was one of two soldiers killed Saturday in a convoy attack in Al Amarah, Iraq. Army Spc. Ramon Ojeda, 22, of Ramona and Staff Sgt. Oscar Vargas-Medina, 32, of Chicago were killed in an ambush in Iraq on Saturday, the Department of Defense said Monday. Ojeda joined the Army two years ago this month. His wife, the Lancaster resident, could not be reached because her name was not available. Both soldiers were with the Army's 84th Engineer Battalion, 25th Infantry Division (Light) Schofield Barracks, Honolulu, Hawaii. About 9,000 Schofield soldiers are deployed...

Chance Phelps was wearing his Saint Christopher medal when he was killed on Good Friday. Eight days later, I handed the medallion to his mother. I didn’t know Chance before he died. Today, I miss him. Over a year ago, I volunteered to escort the remains of Marines killed in Iraq should the need arise. The military provides a uniformed escort for all casualties to ensure they are delivered safely to the next of kin and are treated with dignity and respect along the way. Thankfully, I hadn’t been called on to be an escort since Operation Iraqi Freedom began....

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush's re-election campaign has welcomed more than 50 new volunteer fund-raisers who together brought in nearly $80 million of his record $187.5 million re-election war chest, according to the campaign finance group Public Citizen. Overall, Bush's campaign now has 208 Rangers, or those who have raised $200,000. It also has 303 Pioneers, who must raise at least $100,000 to earn the title. Public Citizen, which has posted on its Web site the names of volunteer fund-raisers for Bush and Democratic rival John Kerry, says the Bush campaign recently disclosed the names of 56 of its newest...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. contractor and her husband have been fired after her photograph of 20 flag-draped coffins of U.S. soldiers going home from Iraq was published in violation of military rules. "I lost my job and they let my husband go as well," Tami Silicio, who loaded U.S. military cargo at Kuwait International Airport for a U.S. company, told Reuters in an e-mail response to questions. The Pentagon tightly restricts publication of photographs of coffins with the remains of U.S. soldiers and has forbidden journalists from taking pictures at Dover Air Force Base, the first stop for the...

CBS "60 Minutes" commentator Andy Rooney says its wrong to portray U.S. forces fighting in Iraq as heroes, claiming they are not all "gladly risking their lives for us sitting comfortably back here at home." In a recent column, Rooney writes, "Treating soldiers fighting their war as brave heroes is an old civilian trick designed to keep the soldiers at it. But you can be sure our soldiers in Iraq are not all brave heroes. …" The commentator says a reporter should ask soldiers in Iraq to answer these five questions: Do you think your country did the right thing...

The Dead Of Fallujah Three of the four victims of the atrocity in Fallujah have been identified: Scott Helvenston, 38, was a former member of the US Navy SEALs who joined at the age of 17 and served until 1994. He then became a fitness instructor and actor, appearing in such films as GI Jane and Face/Off. He was the father of two sons, one 15, the other 13. His brother had this to say about Helvenston: He's a hero. He died supplying food to people who needed it. Democratic blogger "Kos" had this to say about Helvenston: I feel...

LANCASTER - The 101st Airborne brigade commander whose "Screaming Eagle" Division troops ended the horrendous careers of Uday and Qusay Hussein puts it simply: The United States is safer today, more than two years after 9-11, with American forces fighting terrorists in Iraq rather than on home soil. On Tuesday as voters streamed toward polling booths, veterans from virtually all service organizations in the Antelope Valley trooped to Lancaster City Hall to greet Col. Joseph Anderson, commander of the 2nd Brigade, 502nd Infantry Regiment. Mayor Frank Roberts proffered a ceremonial "Key to the City" to Anderson and his wife, Beth,...

Often, on waking, my first thoughts roam to the desert, like a waking dream. Not the Mojave Desert of my Antelope Valley home, but the Iraqi desert where our local National Guard troops traverse the sand and pitted roads in convoys that sometimes fall under attack from the thugs who once served Saddam Hussein. Nothing exists out there as an attraction. As winter months end, the temperatures will climb from the daytime 90s past the 100-degree mark, then past 110, 120, 130, and finally past 140 degrees. Troops live in shelters ranging from palaces of the former dictator to canvas...

Not long ago, I had a few health problems that ultimately landed me in the V.A. Hospital in Fayetteville Arkansas. Needless to say, I was feeling sick and lonely, not to mention more than a little scared of dying. I have been a police officer my whole life, both in and out of the military but I had never been more aware of my own mortality. For those of you who have had a brush with death, you know what I mean. I lay in that hospital bed, not really knowing what was going on or what was going to...

They are among the most recognizable aircraft in the world: U-2, SR-71 Blackbird, B-2 stealth bomber and F-117 stealth fighter. But in the beginning, few outside the cloistered world of their development knew of their existence. There were rumors of strange black shapes in the skies over Area 51 in Nevada's desert. But not even the families of those who designed, built and flew these top-secret machines knew what was really taking shape. Now, many of the tales of those "black world" airplanes can be told. Six pilots from those programs shared their stories recently at the Society of Experimental...

Army Pfc. Steven Acosta, 19, of Calexico, Calif.; assigned to C Company, 3rd Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died Oct. 26 from a non-hostile gunshot wound in Baqubah, Iraq. Army Capt. James F. Adamouski, 29, of Springfield, Va.; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Ga.; killed in a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crash in central Iraq. Army Pvt. Algernon Adams, 36, of Aiken, S.C.; assigned to the 122nd Engineer Battalion, Army National Guard, Edgefield, S.C.; died Oct. 28 of non-combat-related injuries at Forward Operating Base St. Mere, Iraq. Army Pfc. Michael...

Bad, treasonous uglies are scheming to demoralize our brave US troops! Come to Outpost 122 on Saturday to join in with OSOT ralliers to hold down our bridge and defend the honor of our fine troops, as 3000 Reserves arrive at Ft. Lewis to train to defend our country and liberties.

SILVER CITY -- There were no emotional tears shed, only a well-known ear-to-ear smile from former prisoner of war Cpl. Joseph Hudson when he was reunited Monday afternoon with two of the Marines who rescued him from captivity. "I'm just ecstatic," Hudson said with enthusiasm. "It's really awesome. These are my two heroes standing next to me." Hudson, Sgt. Sam Overton and Lance Cpl. Curney Russell, dressed in their Class A uniforms, solidified their friendship during Silver City's 30th annual Marine Corps Birthday Ball. The Marine Corps turned 228 years old Monday. Hudson first met Overton and Russell on April...

America's unheralded victory By Caroline Glick | Jerusalem Post Online Edition | Oct 5, 2003 FORT STEWART, Georgia I arrived at Fort Stewart, the home of the US Army's 3rd Infantry Division, early this week to meet with the soldiers and officers of the 2-7 Mechanized Infantry Battalion, 1st Brigade, who had recently returned home after completing their deployment in Iraq. It was with these men that I hitched a ride through Iraq as an embedded reporter during the major combat phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 3rd Infantry was the main combat force in Iraq from the March 19...

LOS ANGELES - One was a rocket plane that flew at the edge of space and with blistering speed. The other was a series of odd-shaped aircraft designed to fly and land without wings. Both research programs are direct ancestors of today's space shuttle, making space travel in reusable, winged vehicles possible, and contributed much to aeronautical knowledge in general. A joint Air Force and NASA research program, the X-15 is considered one of the most successful ever, completing 199 flights from 1959 to 1968 using the skies and dry lake beds of Edwards Air Force Base. A. Scott Crossfield...

To the mother, the grandmother, even a couple of the menfolk, the verdict was unanimous: "They're just babies!" But while it might seem so to look at them, and while it might seem so to a mother's heart, the dozen or so young men gathered around the barbecue were anything but babies. They'd taken wounded. They'd seen death and dealt it out. They had carried the burden of men in war. The banner hanging above the garage announced their return from Iraq. "Welcome Home 1-4": This welcome home message was crafted for Marines, infantry grunts of the 1st Marine Division,...

EDITOR'S NOTE: Capt. Matthew R. Hook, commander of the 1498th Transportation Company, a National Guard unit in which many Antelope Valley soldiers find themselves serving in Iraq, sent this letter to his sister Marianne, a veteran of Desert Storm. We elected to run this at length because of the unique nature of the experience and the high interest shown by Valley Press readers about their local troops in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Thought you might like to hear that I'm safe and sound after my trip into Iraq. I know that you may have heard about interesting things happening here, and...

Samuel J. Smith, Sr., left, and William Toledo are honored during Wednesday's dedication of the Key Management Infrastructure Building on Fort Huachuca. The two former Marines were Navajo Code Talkers and used their native language to transmit messages making it impossible for the enemy to decipher. (Mark Levy-Herald/Review) FORT HUACHUCA -- William Toledo, his voice still strong for a 79-year-old, sang a song every Marine knows, the one that starts with the words "from the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli." Toledo sang the Marine Hymn in English and then in Navajo. It was Navajo, his native tongue,...

By Steve Stanek - The memorial's theme "Freedom isn't Free" stems from hometown hero Although currently under construction, two months from today, this Naperville memorial will be dedicated to honor a hometown hero. Navy Commander Dan Shanower, who was killed in the attack on the Pentagon on 9/11/01, grew up in Naperville Located adjacent to Naperville's municipal buildings center, along the town's riverwalk, the 9/11 memorial will be prominent. The memorial's theme, "Freedom Isn't Free" is taken from a 1997 article authored by Shanower about military personnel lost in training accidents. NAPERVILLE -- Navy Commander Dan Shanower launched into the...

LANCASTER - "I will have a lump in my throat every time I drive by this intersection," said retired astronaut Gordon Fullerton, speaking at the dedication ceremony Wednesday of Columbia Way, formerly Avenue M. "It will bring back the good memories of the most fantastic adventures I've ever had, and again, it will bring back the sad memories of my friends on the crews that were lost," Fullerton said. Avenue M is being renamed Columbia Way in honor of the craft and crew lost Feb. 1 when the shuttle exploded on re-entry to earth. Wednesday's ceremony was at the corner...

PALMDALE - Back when William J. "Pete" Knight was fresh out of training school after learning to fly fighters, he was geared up to enter the Korean War. But, before he was able to fly his first mission, the man who would become the fastest man alive and a state senator, R-Palmdale, had his dreams dashed. The conflict had wrapped up and all the fighting was over. He said he was too young to give a lot of thought about the politics in the war. "I was too young to be concerned with the politics," Knight said. "My mission was...

BAGHDAD - The rounds started popping in a village in the Baghdad suburbs called Al-Musaib, reputedly a holdout hotbed neighborhood of Saddam Hussein supporters. The convoy of California National Guard trucks pulled off by the side of the road to recon a route into a U.S. Army base called "Dogwood," but by dark, there was no sign of the base. So it was time to get the convoy security out - M-16s and squad automatic weapons, light machine guns that fire a 500-round belt of 5.56 mm ammunition. There it was again. No, not firecrackers. Small arms fire from Al-Musaib....

Memorial DayRemembering Our Fallen Heroes A Brief History of Memorial Day Decoration DayThe morning of May 5, 1865. The war weary townspeople of Waterloo, New York, continued the recent Sunday ritual of placing flowers, wreaths, and crosses on the graves of their fallen soldiers in their local cemetery. Much the same was happening throughout the country, in both the Northern and Southern states, as Americans slowly healed the wounds that ravaged our young nation during the Great Civil War. That same day, Henry C. Welles, a druggist in the village of Waterloo, suggested at a social gathering that a more...

In this image from television, a bullet riddled car in a street in Fallujah, Iraq (news - web sites) is seen Tuesday, April 29, 2003 , after a shooting incident Monday night in which U.S. soldiers opened fire on Iraqis at a demonstration after being shot at with automatic rifles by some in the crowd, Col. Arnold Bray of the 82nd Airborne Division said Tuesday. The director of the local hospital said 13 people were killed and 75 injured. The shooting took place about 10:30 p.m. Monday in the town of Fallujah, 30 miles west of Baghdad. (AP Photo/APTN)...

Throngs of Iraqi Shiite pilgrims celebrate as they circle the Imam Hussein holy shrine in Karbala, Iraq (news - web sites) Tuesday April 22, 2003. For the first time in decades, Shiite Muslims in Iraq are able to gather in mass to the Shiite holy city of Karbala to mark the end of the 40-day mourning of the death of one of their most important saints, Imam Hussein. During the rule of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), such rituals were banned. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder) A rescue worker lifts the body of a child recovered from the...

 These are some of the men who have, thus far,  given their lives to free Iraq.I took these pics from Names, Stories, and Pictures of the Fallen Heroes of Operation Iraqi Freedom