Free Republic

OK Joe, you now have the biggest threat to our nation (and to Israel) in our history as President, and you are caucusing with the same rat bastards that are about to strip you from all of your committee assignments.Why don't you take a step towards the light, and make the "I" afer your name an "R", and caucus with us?One step further away from a fillibuster-proof Senate would send a message to the Messiah.Sean Hannity, I know you read this, so why don't you get on this right away, and get Joe to do the right thing?

The Sack Lunches I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read Perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought. Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me. ' Chicago - to Great Lakes Base. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then...

"McCain is a classy man. He pulled it off with elegance and wit, without coming off as petulent or condescending. It is so refreshing to hear a politician admit "I screwed up." My heart skipped a beat at that moment. I have to admit that I was starting to have doubts about McCain and was leaning towards Obama. But when McCain grabbed that microphone from that anti-Obama woman and defended Obama while his own audience booed him, I began to understand why McCain is such a remarkable and very non-Washington kind of guy. And his appearance on Letterman, and remaining...

The Coast Chamber's annual Salute to the Military is the only event of its kind in the nation. No other American community has so consistently taken the time to thank those in uniform quite like South Mississippi. Tickets are still available for this year's 30th Salute to the Military to be held Oct. 28 at the Coast Coliseum. To obtain tickets - which include dinner as well as the Salute activities - call (228) 604-0014. One impressive aspect of the Salute is that local organizers have been able to attract one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or one of...

ALEXANDRIA, La., Oct. 16, 2008 – His look is piercing. His movements are sharp. His skills are among the best. He wears a patch on his left shoulder that identifies him as the first National Guard soldier in the state of Louisiana certified to train others to meet the high standards embodied by a member of the Military Funeral Honors Program. Shreveport, La., native Army Sgt. Michael A. Huff is the first Louisiana National Guard soldier to complete the Army’s Honor Guard Train the Trainer Course at Camp Robinson, Ark. U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Tresa L. Allemang  (Click photo...

STUTTGART, Germany, Oct. 10, 2008 – An eyewitness never forgets. So was the case on Aug. 11, 1955. Rüdiger Gall, left, a reservist with the German air force, and U.S. Army Col. Robert Armfield, U.S. European Command, salute the 66 fallen soldiers and airmen who died Aug. 11, 1955, in a midair accident near Edelweiler, Germany. U.S. Army photo by Brandon Beach  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. On that day, two C-199 Flying Boxcar planes collided in midair 45 miles south of here. One crashed in a field close to the village of Edelweiler. The other spiraled into...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2008 - The State Department today conferred its highest award on the U.S. commander and diplomat who oversaw a dramatic drop in violence in Iraq and forged a model for future military-civilian partnership. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice presented the Distinguished Service Award to Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the former top U.S. commander in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker, saying that no two public servants are more deserving of the honor. "May you accept this award as but a small down payment on the vast and enduring gratitude that our entire nation...

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi Army wants every Iraqi Soldier to receive ethics training just like he receives marksmanship or drill and ceremony training. Since 2003, the primary focus for the Iraqi Army has been building the force. Getting Soldiers trained to fight took precedence over many other military functions. Iraqis came from all locations and all walks of life to join the fight to secure their country from terrorists. Every one of those Soldiers brought a unique set of values with him: personal values, family values, community values and religious values. Creating a culture of ethical behavior means that each...

"...McCain is neither a liberal nor quite a conservative. McCain is an honor politician--aggressive in opposing corruption, hypersensitive to inauthenticity or dishonesty, addicted to big causes, essentially uninterested in what most conservatives take to be the substance of politics," which tends to tax-cutting, or family-values crusades. McCain believes in small government and he is pro-life, or rather he prefers these views to their opposite numbers, and he can be relied on to back them. But the singular passion that a Grover Norquist pours into tax cuts, or a right to life activist pours into his movement, is channeled in McCain's...

BABAKOT, Pakistan – In a tangle of bushes and trees outside a remote village in southwest Pakistan, six close male relatives of three teenage girls dug a 4-foot wide by 6-foot deep ditch, on a sweltering night in mid-July, and allegedly buried the girls alive. The girls' crime: they dared to defy the will of their fathers and the customs of their tribe and choose their own husbands. The mother of one of the girls and the aunt of another were shot and killed while begging for the girls’ lives, according to local media reports.

On September 11, 2008, the United States was attacked, on our own soil, for the second time in less than 10 years. The terrorist organization, Al Qaeda, hijacked 4 airplanes that morning and successfully crashed them into the World Trade Center towers, causing them to collapse, and the Pentagon. The fourth plane was crashed into a field in Shanksville, PA after the heroic passengers of flight 93 struggled with the cowardly terrorists. This is a day that will long be remembered throughout the United States and the world. This was a day where heroism and honor were truly defined. This...

Since the Democrat campaign is throwing around the words honorable and dishonorable when discussing Senator McCain I thought it appropriate to enlighten those who may not have had the opportunity to read the citations from some of Senator McCain's medals. THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY Washington D.C. 20350 The president of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the SILVER STAR MEDAL to COMMANDER JOHN S. MCCAIN III UNITED STATES NAVY CITATION: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while interned as Prisoner of War in North Vietnam from 27 October to 8 December 1967. His captors, completely ignoring international agreements, subjected...

The Obama campaign took its most personal shot ever at Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday evening, questioning his honor over a claim in a new TV ad that the Democrat calls "perverse." The issue was a new McCain advertisement belittling Obama's record on education, and accusing him of supporting sex education for kindergartners. "Obama's one accomplishment?" the narrator asks. "Legislation to teach 'comprehensive sex education' to kindergartners. Learning about sex before learning to read? Barack Obama. Wrong on education. Wrong for your family."

RNC video of Medal of Honor recipient, Navy Seal Michael Monsoor, narrated by Gary Sinese Video Here

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2008 – Fifteen minutes before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack at the Pentagon, two sisters, both Defense Department employees, sat in the building’s five-sided center courtyard to talk about their family’s newest development. “We discussed her daughter’s first day in kindergarten,” said Kathy Dillaber, recalling the conversation with her “baby sister,” 41-year-old Patricia Mickley. As they spoke, the sisters watched an airplane streak above the open-air courtyard, and their discussion shifted to early reports that morning about a pair of planes crashing in New York City. About 10 minutes later they walked together toward their...

. . . honor, integrity, honesty, ethics, morals, character, judgement? Recently, rumors at the company where I work have started proving true. Our building will be sold and the manufacturing facility sold to another company. Something new; unusual? Market downturn? No, not really. Just greed. Greed likely performed by an officer of the company who thought it would be okay to misreport our earnings. In other words, they "cooked the books". I'm sure they thought that no harm would come as a result of lying; it made their quarterly earnings look better than they were and earned them a higher...

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...

In the Arab-speaking world, the 'honor' gained through fighting trumps any material benefits gained through negotiating. The number-one mistake people make trying to understand the Middle East is refusing to believe folks here think differently from themselves. As Captain Ahab hunted the white whale, as prospectors hunt for gold, as... well, you get the idea, so is the hunt for the great Arab moderate. There are Arab moderates, some very smart and brave people. The problem is none are in positions of power and all must shut up or face repression, defined as enemies of their people. The view of...

Contrary to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution headline, he didn’t actually say he was innocent. He said he had done nothing wrong. That’s not the same thing. According to an earlier story on this case, he confessed to killing his daughter, and explained that he had done it to cleanse his family’s honor. When he appeared before the judge, it is unlikely that he changed this story. He just said he didn’t do anything wrong. And by the lights of the Islamic culture from which he comes, which thinks that a father killing a daughter who has sullied his family’s honor is...

<p>REPUBLICAN US presidential candidate John McCain has got some unexpected support from his former Vietnam War jailer, who said he would vote for the former navy pilot if he could.</p> <p>Speaking to the BBC from Haiphong, Tran Trong Duyet also insisted that Senator McCain's assertions that he was tortured during his time at the prison were lies, and that no one held there was ever subjected to torture.</p>

Italian police have freed a woman who had been imprisoned for 18 years by her family after becoming pregnant out of wedlock. Maria Monaco, 47, was said to be suffering severe psychological trauma after being kept in "indescribable" conditions. She has been taken for treatment to a hospital in Naples. Ms Monaco's 80-year-old mother, Anna Rosa Golino, her 44-year-old brother, Prisco, and 54-year-old sister, Michelina, were all arrested on charges of kidnapping and mistreatment. The police said Ms Monaco's family, who live in the small southern town of Santa Maria Capua Vetere, had "punished" her because she was unmarried when...

WASHINGTON, May 26, 2008 – Americans can be proud of the men and women in uniform and must remember the sacrifices military personnel have made, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen told television morning shows today. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff also said there has been dramatic progress in Iraq, but that any withdrawal of American troops remains rooted in the actions on the ground. Mullen spoke with NBC, CBS, CNN and FOX news networks from the Pentagon. The highest-ranking member of the U.S. military said morale among the troops is high and they are proud of the work...

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2008 – President Bush encouraged Americans to remember the sacrifices of servicemembers during this Memorial Day weekend in his radio address this morning. “Kids will be out of school, moms and dads will be firing up the grill, and families across our country will mark the unofficial beginning of summer,” Bush said. “But as we do, we should all remember the true purpose of this holiday – to honor the sacrifices that make our freedom possible.” The president will commemorate Memorial Day on May 26 by visiting Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., where he will...

WASHINGTON, May 24, 2008 – They last donned their uniforms nearly 70 years ago, but the veterans appeared as proud as if they were still wearing them as they set out for their visit to the nation’s capital to see the memorial in their honor. As guests of Honor Flight Michigan, 40 World War II veterans traveled to Washington, D.C., on May 17, 2008, to visit the memorial built in their honor. Former soldiers Eddie Johnson (left) John Reiff (center) and John DeNardo wait with their Honor Flight guardians, Kim Stafford, Virginia Reiff, and Norm Van Sparr, respectively. The...

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq, May 23, 2008 – Not long ago while I was sitting at my desk at work, a fellow soldier presented an interesting question, not because of what it was, but because of why he asked it. "So what's Memorial Day, again?" the soldier asked. This kind of disturbed me. As it turns out, the confusion came from the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day. While both are federal holidays to remember our nation's servicemembers past and present, only one commemorates the living. The one that doesn't is May 26, the last Monday in May. That one...

ANNAPOLIS (AP) — The all-day physical exercises that mark the end of a midshipman's first year at the Naval Academy were never exactly fun. But this year, they've gotten even more serious. Dodgeball is no longer on the program. Parents aren't allowed to gather on bleachers anymore to cheer. And each stop of the exhausting day is dedicated to a fallen service member. The academy has put greater emphasis on wartime sacrifices, hoping to inspire plebes — the term the academy uses for freshmen — to think about what they are doing behind the academy's walls on the picturesque Severn...

SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- Memorial Day honors men and women who have died during military service to the United States. To show respect to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, two posters are available for download and display. The first poster shows a joint-service honor guard carrying a flag-draped coffin with an illustration of the Airmen's Memorial in the background. The second poster features a grave marker at Arlington National Cemetery. A mourner has placed flowers on the grave to honor the fallen servicemember. "I chose a joint honor guard for one poster because it represents all services and...

5/20/2008 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- Airmen deployed to the 386th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron here commemorated National Police Week May 11 through 17 at a Southwest Asian air base. Members of the 386th ESFS paid homage to those killed in action by hosting a series of events celebrating the memory of their fallen comrades. Every year in the United States, more than 60,000 police officers are assaulted and on average, one officer is killed every 53 hours. In the past 10 years, 1,699 law enforcement members have lost their lives in the line of duty. More than 17,000 officers...

Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed, Mussayyib district IP chief, unveils a memorial honoring fallen IPs during a private ceremony May 9 at the Mussayib IP Station. Courtesy photo. FORWARD OPERATING BASE ISKAN — Members from the Musayyib Iraqi Police Station unveiled a lighted memorial honoring fallen IPs May 9. “These men gave their lives for the people of Iraq and history will show their achievements when Iraq is one country … these men will live forever in our hearts and they are the reason why we are able to live free,� said Lt. Col. Mohammed, district IP chief.Local leaders and sheikhs in...

During a business trip to the Middle East, Jason Araghi had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to bring Saudi Arabia its first gourmet coffeehouse, and opened the Art Nouveau Cafe in 1996. U.S. Army personnel at nearby Eskan Village caught word about the new coffeehouse, and soon after, invited Jason to open a cafe on the US Army base. Within months of operating at Eskan Village, the Air Force extended an invitation for a further 3 locations at the Prince Sultan Air Base, in Al-Kharj KSA. Today, GBCC Inc. serves military personnel in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Qatar, Uzbekistan, and Djibouti, Africa....

A college lacrosse game was held in honor of Jimmy Regan, who chose to sacrifice his education and future career prospects in order to become an army ranger. (VIDEO)

What was supposed to be a fun family vacation for John "Jay" Rosenberry turned into a nightmare when his son and daughter and two others struggled to get out of a riptide that was pulling them out to sea. Rosenberry, a Tucson resident, was honored last week by the U.S. Coast Guard for saving the lives of his children, as well as that of another young boy. He received the Silver Lifesaving Medal at a ceremony in Virginia on Friday — nearly two years after the incident occurred July 24, 2006, at Portsmouth Island, just off the coast of North...

Pilots from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 238th General Support Aviation Brigade, a National Guard unit from Shelbyville, Ind., conducted a flyover at the flag-raising ceremony held at Forward Operating Base Delta, Iraq, March 22. More than 150 U.S. Soldiers and civilians attended the ceremony for a flag that had lain on the grounds of a Georgia apartment complex for almost a week in February until it was taken by Dan Turner, a passerby, who sent it to Iraq to have its honor restored. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Stacy Niles. FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA — More than 150 U.S. Soldiers...

The Everett-based aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln came to a halt in the Pacific Ocean a week after leaving its home port to take care of a solemn and time-honored tradition. Containers with the ashes of 33 former military service members were deposited in the sea March 19 off the Southern California coast, the requests of military people or their families. Burial-at-sea ceremonies often are conducted using deployed naval vessels and are coordinated through hospitals and the Defense Department, said Lt. Karin Burzynski, a ship’s spokeswoman. “These 33 people were willing to lay down their lives to keep us free...

While I am sad to report the death of a long-time friend, I can at least be thankful that he died peacefully in his sleep on March 30, 2008. His funeral will be held on April 5, 2008, and his burial in the National Cemetery at Willamette (Portland, Oregon) will be on Tuesday, April 8, 2008. Gordy was a true hero. I think this biographical announcement pretty much tells the story of a courageous young man who, at a very tender age, became a Marine and a hero under circumstances that defied all odds. Bio of Gordon Morgan: Gordon William...

My Father in Law died last weekend. My husband and I brought him to the hospital for orthopedic surgery. The next day we found out he suffered with pancreatic cancer. The next week we sat by his side 24/7 as he suffered and died but mostly talked about his experiences in the Navy. What were his last words? "I was an Aviation Machinist Mate in the US Navy". He prayed with us. He joked with us. But he loved his country and he was so proud of his service. He mostly loved to talk about that time than any other...

Michael A. Monsoor, a Garden Grove High School graduate, has been selected to receive the prestigious Medal of Honor posthumously for his exceptional courage during a firefight in Iraq when he threw himself on a live grenade to save the lives of his teammates. ... "Without hesitation and showing no regard for his own life, he threw himself on to the grenade, smothering it to protect his teammates who were lying in close proximity," an incident report posted on the Navy SEAL Web site reads. "The grenade detonated as he came down on top of it, mortally wounding him."

WASHINGTON, March 3, 2008 – A memorial in Oklahoma City will honor servicemembers who paid the ultimate sacrifice for freedom while serving Afghanistan and Iraq. “Military memorials … remind us of the great sacrifices that have been made for this country and the world,” said Jason Savage, president of “Freedom Memorials,” A nonprofit group dedicated to planning and raising money for the memorial. “It’s important to honor those sacrifices today.” That’s a tall order if the desired location is on National Park Service land in the National Capital Region, Savage discovered. “The Commemorative Works Act of 1986, which deals...

AUSTIN, Texas - Hillary Clinton, the front-runner no more, sought to bury Barack Obama, but also to praise him in their latest campaign debate and revive her own White House hopes in the process. "No matter what happens in this contest — and I am honored, I am honored to be here with Barack Obama," she said at the conclusion of the 90-minute forum. "Whatever happens, we're going to be fine." It was an unexpectedly gracious moment in a debate that was supposed to be a game changer for Clinton in the run-up to crucial primaries in Texas and Ohio...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20, 2008 – More than 60 years after the custom was last observed, five states have endorsed the Silver Star banner as their official symbol for honoring war-wounded veterans. The practice began in 1918, and the Silver Star banner was granted semi-official status by the Army adjutant general, said Steve Newton, founder of Silver Star Families of America. Sometime between the end of World War I and the beginning of World War II, he said, the practice was lost. Silver Star Families of America has been working to get the banner granted official status since 2005, Newton...

2/7/2008 - DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Imagine being surrounded by enemy forces and having orders to retreat through a foreign land, fighting through the mountainous terrain in frigid temperatures for 78 miles, with little or no food, water and supplies. Many Korean War veterans experienced this and more in what has become known as the 'Forgotten War.' The 9th Annual Ruck March held at the Air Mobility Command Museum Feb. 2 here commemorated those veterans. Four-person ruck march teams, comprised of Air Force, Army, Marine and civilian competitors, walked or ran 6.2 miles to finish the race, each...

I know that many are, rightly, focused on the Primaries and elections. However, news is also happening around the world. Many of these events may not seem to affect those within the US. However, events in other nations show patterns. Patterns point to outcomes. Outcomes which will directly affect America. Today's post focuses on a series of stories from the UK The first article is from The Sydney Morning Herald concerning honor killings among Islamics. Sadly, this cancer of honor killings extends to the US and Canada, but that is for another post. The grainy video, taken on a mobile...

Charlottesville-based filmmaker Scott Mactavish’s new documentary depicts courage and character among American military personnel in a response to what he calls Hollywood portrayals of American troops as rapacious, homicidal sociopaths. “God and Country,” which is now ready for distribution, “corrects the general consensus of the military as guys who have no other recourse in life,” according to Mactavish. He said films such as “Redacted,” “The Valley of Elah” and “Stop Loss” portray American troops as “blood-thirsty thugs.” “It’s part of Hollywood’s [thought pattern] to put out that message and maybe that’s because they haven’t had much contact with the military...

Obama claims Dems' cut-and-run credit for Anbar Awakening!

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Jan. 4, 2008 – One airman’s commitment to a fallen comrade came full circle Jan. 1 with the dedication of a road in his honor here. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Blaine Arsenault, 455th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron, stands by a sign dedicating a road near the fuel farm at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, to the memory of fallen Air Force Master Sgt. Randy Gillespie, Jan. 1, 2008. Gillespie was Arsenault's first supervisor and a career fuels specialist who died July 9, 2007 near Herat, Afghanistan. Photo by Capt. Mike Meridith, USAF  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution...

Join us for the 2008 Honor & Remember Ride To Washington to travel from Minnesota to Washington, DC to visit The Wall, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Arlington National Cemetery and other sites. The return trip includes the Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway, Deal's Gap and Dollywood. Motorcycles and support vehicles will leave St Paul, MN on Saturday, June 14 and return Friday, June 27. The lead group of Minnesota Patriot Guard Riders cordially extend an open invitation to everyone to join us anywhere along the way. Feel free to ride the entire route or any segment of the trip....

“Duty” as a New Year's Resolution By W. Thomas Smith, Jr Wednesday, December 26, 2007 On the morning of October 21, 1805, a force of some 33 British warships sailed in two columns toward a 41-ship French-Spanish fleet – the teeth of Napoleon's Navy – off Spain's Cape Trafalgar. The allied fleet commanded by Admiral Pierre Villeneuve was of course larger. But Admiral Horatio Nelson, commanding the British force, possessed the better tactical mind and perhaps the most superbly trained gun-crews in the world. As the British ships neared the range of the enemy's guns, Nelson – aboard his flagship,...

When Aisha Salim marries her fiance in Pakistan next March, it will be the wedding of her dreams. Wearing a veil and gown, she will be every inch the fairytale virgin bride and as befits her strict Muslim religion, after the ceremony, she will hand her blooded wedding-night sheets to her in-laws as proof of her virginity. But far from being the traditional untouched bride that many Muslim families demand, she is a modern-day university graduate who has smoked, drunk, made love to - and even lived with - a previous English boyfriend. To disguise the fact that she has...

LONDON (Reuters) - A Kurdish woman was brutally raped, stamped on and strangled by members of her family and their friends in an "honor killing" carried out at her London home because she had fallen in love with the wrong man.

12/7/2007 - MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (AFPN) -- Veterans' memorials and gravesites across the nation will be adorned with remembrance wreaths on Dec. 15 in stirring, solemn tributes to the courage and sacrifice of those who have guarded and preserved the nation throughout history. Through Wreaths Across America, Civil Air Patrol members join with Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine, in remembering the nation's departed veterans. CAP units will lead 132 of the 268 observances this year, and will participate with other color and honor guards in approximately 25 additional locations. This year, for the first time ever, members...