Free Republic

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) -- Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, officially opened Tuesday a euro1 billion (US$1.36 billion) plant in Slovakia and said it planned to invest another euro100 million (US$136 million) in the country, an official said. The plant, located near the northwestern city of Zilina, is the company's first in Europe. Though it was unveiled Tuesday, production began in December, said Dusan Dvorak, the plant's spokesman. The maximum capacity of 300,000 cars a year is expected to be reached by 2010 and the factory will create 3,000 jobs, Dvorak said. This year, it plans to produce 150,000...

WASHINGTON - A private delegation working with the approval of the White House will travel to North Korea this weekend to recover the remains of Soldiers killed in the Korean War. The four-day trip will be led by Bill Richardson, the New Mexico governor and Democratic presidential candidate, and Anthony Principi, the former veteran affairs secretary for President Bush. White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino announced the effort on Tuesday. The bipartisan delegation has been invited by the North Korean government to help recover remains of missing servicemen, Perino said. "The trip will reinforce progress already achieved in this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPmk315w4dM Now "The Rest of the Story" unedited footage of Cpl Chris Mason talking about God & Iraq..... Only a part of this video was shown on CNN, here is the part that was not shown. What CNN Chose to Say About Cpl Chris Mason; Now "The Rest of the Story"

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Navy will name a destroyer after Cpl. Jason Dunham, a young Marine from western New York who fell on a grenade in Iraq to save his comrades. Dunham was already posthumously awarded a Medal of Honor for the selfless act. The emotional White House ceremony in January was attended by President Bush and the Marine's parents. Dunham, of Scio, N.Y., saved at least two lives by acting quickly during a struggle with an insurgent near the Syrian border. The Navy will name its newest guided missile destroyer the USS Jason Dunham, New York lawmakers said Tuesday....

My son, Chris Mason, now has a memorial video and web page in his honor. Please visit the page, and view his video. Share the video with other Americans, so they will know our heroes have faces, lives, and real families. The link is: http://www.imageevent.com/firebase/videos

<p>1st link: Mobile soldier killed in Iraq Thursday, November 30, 2006 By NADIA M. TAYLOR Staff Reporter Baker High School graduate Chris Mason wasn't afraid of dying in Iraq because of his faith in Jesus Christ and his belief in the importance of helping others, his family said Wednesday.</p>

He drew pictures of himself with angel wings. He left a set of his dog tags on a nightstand in my Manhattan apartment. He bought a tiny blue sweat suit for our baby to wear home from the hospital. “Follow your heart,” Charles M. King wrote in a 200-page journal for his son, Jordan, whom he first held this fall just weeks before he died in Iraq. The United States has reached another grim milestone in the war in Iraq: 3,000 military deaths. The Times’s Dana Canedy, whose fiancé was killed in Iraq, is taking questions from readers. Her responses...

CNN will run a one hour special on the Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees show entitled “Ambush at the River of Secrets”. This is a memorial to Jonathan Bowling, Karl Linn, Chris Weaver and Jesse Strong of the 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, Charlie Company of Lynchburg, VA who were lost 1/26/2005 in Haqlaniyah (near Haditha). According to the producer, Amanda Townsend, it will probably air on Tuesday, January 2nd. (It may show again, possibly on 1/26.)

Back to Story - Help U.S. deaths in Iraq exceed 9-11 count By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer 40 minutes ago The U.S. military death toll in Iraq has reached 2,974, one more than the number of deaths in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, according to an Associated Press count on Tuesday.The U.S. military announced the deaths of two soldiers in a bomb explosion southwest of Baghdad on Monday.The deaths raised the number of troops killed to 2,974 since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003. The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks claimed 2,973...

Two more soldiers with the 1st Armored Division based in Giessen, Germany, were identified Saturday as having died Dec. 6 of injuries suffered during operations in Ramadi, Iraq. Capt. Travis L. Patriquin, 32, of Texas, and Spc. Vincent J. Pomante III, 22, of Westerville, Ohio, died of injuries from a bomb that went off near their vehicle during combat operations, according to the Department of Defense. They were with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division.

John Ryan Dennison was a shining light in the Class of 2000 at Urbana High School in Frederick County -- an excellent student, a football player, a wrestler. Yesterday, the school's teachers and administrators reeled from the news that he was killed Wednesday in Iraq. "When you lose a young life, it somehow diminishes all of us," said Principal George M. Seaton. History teacher Norm Crosby, who wrote a recommendation in support of Dennison's application to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, said he was a natural leader. "He was a young man who always knew the right thing...

A roadside bomb killed the deputy commander of Fort Carson’s largest force in Iraq on Thursday along with two other soldiers, the military announced Monday. Lt. Col. Eric J. Kruger, 40, of Garland, Texas, died along with Lt. Col. Paul J. Finken, 40, of Mason City, Iowa, and Staff Sgt. Joseph A. Gage, 28, of Modesto, Calif., when their Humvee struck a bomb in eastern Baghdad. Kruger was second in command of the 3,800-soldier 2nd Brigade Combat Team, which arrived in Baghdad last week. -snip- The 2nd BCT has been working with the unit it is replacing, the 4th Brigade...

Officials from Georgia and Korea hailed the development of Kia Motors Corp.'s $1.2 billion auto plant in Troup County as an economic boon for the Southeast as they turned over ceremonial shovels full of sand Friday near the Georgia-Alabama line. "We are looking forward to many years of cooperation as Kia's new plant in West Point creates thousands of jobs and sets the standard for the automotive industry," Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue said. Although the ceremony was celebrated as a groundbreaking, the 2,000-acre, red clay site was cleared months ago. On the hillsides surrounding the area, earth moving equipment was...

A Navy SEAL sacrificed his life to save his comrades by throwing himself on top of a grenade Iraqi insurgents tossed into their sniper hideout, fellow members of the elite force said. Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor had been near the only door to the rooftop structure Sept. 29 when the grenade hit him in the chest and bounced to the floor, said four SEALs who spoke to The Associated Press this week on condition of anonymity because their work requires their identities to remain secret. "He never took his eye off the grenade, his only movement was...

Police were searching for a man who shot two Polk County sheriff's deputies and a police dog following a traffic stop Thursday, authorities said. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said one of the deputies died. The deputies were taken to a hospital after the noontime shooting in north Lakeland, Judd said. The condition of the other deputy was not immediately known. The shooter was first approached in a traffic stop, but he then fled into a wooded area, Judd said. Shots were fired, and the two deputies and a police dog were hit, he said. The shooting occurred near Kathleen...

On September 13, 2006, at a solemn ceremony at the U.S. Navy’s “Lone Sailor” Memorial in our Nation’s capital, a crowd of 300 friends, family, and warriors gathered to watch and hear the Secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter, honor the lives and sacrifices of our two most recent Navy Cross heroes by presenting posthumous medals to the wives of Gunner’s Mate Second Class (Sea, Air and Land (SEAL)) Danny P. Dietz, and Sonar Technician Second Class (SEAL) Matthew G. Axelson, United States Navy. -snip- Petty Officers Dietz and Axelson were part of a four-man Special Reconnaissance ground element...

Merideth Howard, the oldest known woman to die in combat, was behind the gun of a Humvee MEHTARLAM, Afghanistan -- The older soldiers called themselves the Gray Brigade, but Sgt. 1st Class Merideth Howard never talked about her age. Soon, no one asked. In training, the Waukesha, Wis., resident ran as hard as men much younger. She became a gunner on a Humvee at this small military base, building a wooden box to stand on so she could see over the turret. Her last night here, Howard and Staff Sgt. Robert Paul sat on the back stoop of their barracks...

The following are the U.S. military personnel who have been killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom since January 1, 2006. All dates reflect when the incidents occurred local time. Link

There are nights when 1st Sgt. Adam Harrell lies awake dreading his job as a harbinger of death for the Marine Corps. He can picture how a widow's face contorts with grief, how parents cringe and weep when he knocks on the door to tell them of a loved one killed in action. Some run and hide at the sight of his dress blue uniform. Others throw their arms around him, hugging and sobbing. In the face of such sorrow, the 5-foot-11 military man feels suddenly small. "Hands down, it's the hardest thing I've ever done," said Harrell, who works...

LONDON (Reuters) - A British soldier killed in an operation against Taliban guerrillas in southern Afghanistan was named on Monday as Private Andrew Barrie Cutts. He was killed on Sunday during a pre-planned operation against insurgents in Musa Qualeh in Helmand province, the Ministry of Defence said. The latest death brings the number of NATO soldiers killed since it took over the south from the United States to eight. Seventeen British forces personnel have been killed in Afghanistan since November, 2001, five not in combat. Defence Secretary Des Browne paid tribute to Cutts, from the Royal Logistic Corp based in...

The stories behind the faces By TOVAH LAZAROFF, HILARY LEILA KRIEGER AND JPOST.COM STAFF Yaniv Bar-On As a child, Yaniv Bar-On could recite by heart information on all of Israel's wars. On Wednesday he became a casualty of one. Yaniv's father Asher immigrated from South Africa and his mother came from Canada. The couple then met, fell in love, married and raised their three children. Yaniv came from a family of devoted Zionists, and would not even hear of skipping the army and leaving the country to live a different life abroad, according to his neighbor, Yaakov Schlissel. Yaniv, 20,...

WASHINGTON – The number of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq war has reached 2,500, the Pentagon said Thursday, more than three years into a conflict that finds U.S. and allied foreign forces locked in a struggle with a resilient insurgency. In addition, the Pentagon said 18,490 U.S. troops have been wounded in the war, which began in March 2003 with a U.S.-led invasion to topple President Saddam Hussein. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed. “It's important to remember that there is a mission, and there is a greater good which sometimes necessitates tremendous sacrifice,” said Army Brig....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon confirmed Thursday that 2,500 U.S. troops have died in the Iraq war since it began more than three years ago. The grim milestone was announced just hours before the House was to begin a symbolic election-year debate over the war, with Republicans rallying against calls by some Democrats to set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. While there were no details on who it was or where the 2,500th death occurred, it underscored the continuing violence in Iraq, just as an upbeat President Bush returned from Baghdad determined that the tide was beginning...

J.D. Power and Associates Ranked the different classes of cars by quality. There were 19 classes of cars. Asian car makers too 14 of the top spots in the 19 classes. Japan was on top in 12 classes. 11 of those were taken by Toyota alone! The last Japanese spot was taken by Mazda. South Korean car makers Kia and Hyundai each took a top spot. Subcompact: Kia Rio Compact: Toyota Corolla Compact Sporty: Mazda MX-5 Miata Entry Premium: Lexus IS 250/350 Mid-size Premium: Lexus ES 330 Large Premium: Lexus LS430 Premium Sporty: Lexus SC 430 Mid-size sporty: Toyota Solara...

Army adds 50 names to Special Operations memorial FORT BRAGG, N.C. - The Army Special Operations Command added 49 names of soldiers killed this year in Iraq and Afghanistan to its memorial wall, as well as the one who was killed last year but not added to the wall then. Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) Staff Sgt. Leroy E. Alexander, 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg. Sgt. 1st Class Victor H. Cervantes, 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg. Capt. Jeremy A. Chandler, 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg. Staff Sgt. Edwin H. DazaChacon, 3rd Battalion,...

A main item on the Burner is Corporal Binh N. Le, (KIA Iraq) and his parents. You'd think with all these morons who run around attempting to claim our land as theirs soverign (what ever), the illegal ( I guess some folks just don't understand that word - I bet it's those left wing professors at all the colleges, universitys, grade middle and highschools ( gawd I feel surrounded) that have perverted what illegal means.. so mom and pop citizen, when you son doesn't come home cause he done something illegal that he dicided wasn't illegal using the imigration issue...

SEOUL, April 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's prosecution on Thursday requested an arrest warrant for embattled Chairman Chung Mong-koo of the Hyundai Motor Group, who is accused of creating a huge slush fund to bribe politicians and government officials for business favors. Chung's only son and heir Eui-sun, the president of Kia Motors Corp., will be indicted without physical detention on the same charges, prosecutors said. Kia is a key affiliate of the country's second-largest conglomerate. "We sought a warrant in the morning to detain Chairman Chung on charges of embezzling 100 billion won from the company coffers to...

PHOENIX — Army Sgt. Jim Witkowski threw his body over a grenade before it exploded six months ago, saving the lives of three fellow soldiers. The Army will posthumously honor Witkowski with a Silver Star for bravery in action at a ceremony in Los Alamitos, Calif., today. Witkowski, 32, grew up in Phoenix and went to high school in Scottsdale. He was assigned to an Army Reserve unit based in Fresno, Calif.

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (March 5, 2006) -- It was an honorable mission. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, assisted recently in the search for Army Sgt. Keith M. Maupin remains. The recovery team consisted of U.S. Army and British soldiers. Test results confirmed that several partial sets of remains that were recovered were not American. Still, Marines and soldiers were proud to take part in the search to recover Maupin. “It is the noblest of missions,” said Gunnery Sgt. Brett A. Turek, a 37-year-old Mobile Assault Platoon commander from Hinsdale, Ill. “Fifty years from now,...

Despite the doldrums that have descended upon Detroit, it looks like some automobile manufacturers have cash to burn. Early on Monday, Toyota announced that it would build 100,000 Camrys per year at a Subaru assembly plant in Lafayette, Indiana, and that it might share its hybrid technology with Subaru. Toyota became a major shareholder in Subaru’s parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries, after Fuji and General Motors parted company late in 2005. The Subaru facility in Indiana had previously been operated as a joint venture with Isuzu, but when that Japanese truck builder halted production of the Axiom and Rodeo sport...

ATLANTA(AP) -- South Korean automaker Kia Motors Corp. will open a $1.2 billion plant in Georgia, creating almost 5,500 new jobs in the state, officials announced Sunday night. Cars will begin rolling off the plant's two assembly lines in August 2008. The two million square foot plant will be in West Point, Ga., a town of 4,000 near the Alabama border. It will be Kia's first U.S. manufacturing plant. Kia's parent company, Hyundai Motor Company, already has a plant in Montgomery, Ala. Proximity to that site -- combined with a $258 million incentive package from the state -- helped woo...

2nd Lt. Almar Fitzgerald was born September 21, 1982, in Moncrief Hospital on Fort Jackson U.S. Army Base, South Carolina, to Robert L. Fitzgerald and Sharon M. Fitzgerald. He was pronounced dead February 21, 2006, in Landstuhl Hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. He graduated from Lexington High School in May of 2000. He preceded to undertake a degree in Criminal Justice at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C. He graduated in May of 2004, and entered military service as a Commissioned Officer at Quantico, Va. After completing the required courses, he was assigned to Wpns Co, 3d Bn, 7th Mar, (2-28 BCT,...

Bin Laden has not been heard of since a December 27, 2004 audiotape in which he anointed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraq’s most wanted man, as Al Qaeda’s leader in the war-torn country HE has not issued any public statement all year. Speculation has grown over his influence, health and even possible death. Where is the Western world’s most wanted man, Osama Bin Laden? The Al Qaeda leader’s period of silence is the longest since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, offering no clues to the whereabouts or fate of a man who this year appears to have...

SAN DIEGO -- There's controversy over how the military is transporting the bodies of service members killed overseas, 10News reported. A local family said fallen soldiers and Marines deserve better and that one would think our war heroes are being transported with dignity, care and respect. It said one would think upon arrival in their hometowns they are greeted with honor. But unfortunately, the family said that is just not the case. Dead heroes are supposed to come home with their coffins draped with the American flag -- greeted by a color guard. But in reality, many are arriving as...

The vice president of marketing says search is the killer app for the automotive industry. Ian Beavis is vice president of marketing for Kia Motors. Kia Motors America (KMA) is the sales, marketing and distribution arm of Kia Motors Corp. in Seoul, South Korea. Beavis joined Kia in May 2005, at a time when the company is experiencing continuing sales growth, ongoing new model introductions and significant quality improvements. Beavis oversees KMA’s marketing operations including advertising, product planning and public relations for their U.S. headquarters in Irvine, California. With more than 30 years of experience in the automotive industry, Beavis...

Concern within the UN has been growing over anticipated trouble in Kosovo's 'final status' talks. The threat of inter-ethnic violence has been growing with the recent allegations of Ramush Haradinaj (ex-PM indicted on war crimes) support for a new rebel group called the "Kosovo Independence Army" (UPK) who have sprouted up searching cars in the lawless regions of the province. The international body has already ruled out partition along ethnic lines, union with Albania, and autonomy under Serbian rule. This effectively leaves one option only: conditional independence with international peacekeepers enforcing the province's status. Both parties will most likely object...

Then, the casualties are compared to the population at the time of the war to generate a Casualty Percentage, which is also presented graphically (data here and here).

State officials yesterday expressed shock over plans to auction off the remains of a Civil War soldier tomorrow as part of an auction of vintage firearms and war memorabilia. The auctioneer, J.C. Devine Inc., withdrew the item two weeks ago but only after a description was published in the auction catalog, generating a flood of calls, said Bob Pagano, a writer for the Milford-based company. The auction is slated for tomorrow at the Wayfarer Convention Center in Bedford. State officials said they are researching the legality of bone sales, and a state senator said he will introduce legislation if the...

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 13, 2005 – The sailors who died on board the USS Cole in a terrorist attack were remembered Oct. 12 at Arlington National Cemetery on the fifth anniversary of the attack. The White House Commission on Remembrance hosted the ceremony at the site where three of the guided missile destroyer's crewmembers are buried. As the Cole was refueling in the harbor of Aden, Yemen, a small craft approached the port side of the guided missile destroyer and exploded, blasting a 40-by-40-foot hole in the ship's side. The attack took the lives of 17 crewmembers and 39 others...

SOUTHWEST ASIA - An Air Force officer was killed Sept. 19, and two Airmen were injured as a result of a motor vehicle accident that occurred along the El Alamein Highway, between Cairo West and Alexandria. They were participating in Exercise Bright Star, a recurring joint/combined training exercise held in Egypt. The cause of the accident is under investigation and the names of the personnel are being withheld pending notification of next-of-kin.

The Officer Down Memorial Page Remembers . . .   Police Officer Mario Jenkins University of Central Florida Police DepartmentFloridaEnd of Watch: Saturday, September 24, 2005Biographical InfoAge: 27Tour of Duty: 4 yrBadge Number: Not availableIncident DetailsCause of Death: Gunfire (Accidental)Date of Incident: Saturday, September 24, 2005Weapon Used: Officer's handgunSuspect Info: Not availableOfficer Jenkins was shot and killed by an Orlando police officer who mistook him for an armed suspect at a University of Central Florida football game. Officer Jenkins was working a plainclothes assignment with other university police and Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco agents to combat...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- U.S. Marines and Afghan forces killed more than 40 suspected militants in an operation against insurgents who had inflicted the deadliest blow to American forces since the Taliban's ouster, a military spokesman said Monday. The weeklong operation, which concluded over the weekend, was aimed at rebels in the eastern Koregnal Valley believed responsible for twin attacks that killed 19 troops in June. Three Navy SEALs were killed in an ambush, and all 16 soldiers on a helicopter sent to rescue them died when it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. "It was successful," Lt. Col. Jerry...

The following image has been posted on the front page of the Al Jazeera website: The caption below reads: Photos of some US soldiers killed in Iraq were lifted on a poster during an anti-war protest in front of President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he spends his month-long vacation (Annahar, 8/13/05)

The Tohono O'odham Nation is grieving the death of a 20-year-old tribal member killed in action in Iraq. Pfc. Seferino Reyna, an Army combat engineer and father of two, died Sunday when his vehicle was hit by a homemade bomb near Taji, about 20 miles northwest of Baghdad. "This is a tragic loss for the Reyna family, and the entire Tohono O'odham Nation mourns," said Vivian Juan-Saunders, chairwoman of the nation. Reyna was the first O'odham member killed in Iraq. He is the 21st service member of American Indian or native Alaskan descent to die in Iraq or Afghanistan, according...

Kia Motors could build a sports utility vehicle (SUV) and pick-up truck plant in the U.S. following its parent company Hyundai after being offered VIP treatment there. The Hyundai Motor Group said Monday its chairman Chung Mong-ku discussed building a U.S. plant with Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour at the headquarters of the company in Yangjae, Seoul. Barbour offered Kia conditions on a par with the red-carpet treatment given to Hyundai by the depressed neighboring state of Alabama to Hyundai, the company said. Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Mong-koo poses for a photo with visiting Mississippi governor Haley Barbour, who sits in...

Service men, women who have died in Iraq, Afghanistan To zoom in use the scale left of the map. When the view is zoomed, you can use the arrows on the map's borders to pan. Also while the view is zoomed, you can click the box below the zoom scale to show an overview map. City names will appear when the map is at its maximum zoom level. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/news/photos/war_casualties/map/m10000.html To see more detailed information, roll you mouse over a point and pause to see its name. Clicking on the point will open a new window with the name, age and...

<p>KARABILAH, Iraq — U.S. Marines and Iraqi forces battled insurgents on two fronts Saturday in a restive western province, killing about 50 militants in a dusty frontier town in the military's latest campaign to stop foreign fighters infiltrating from neighboring Syria (search).</p>

Long lists of soldiers killed in wartime can have great emotional power, as anyone who has been to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington can attest. However dignified and moving, though, in the end such a listing can really describe them only as a group: They wore the uniform and died in the service of their country. But who they were individually, how they served, what they left behind — that is more than a catalogue of names can convey. So here is the story behind just one of the names ''Nightline" will enumerate on Memorial Day: Sergeant Rafael Peralta...

“Memory n. 1. The mental faculty of retaining and recalling past experience; the ability to remember. 2. An act or instance of remembrance; a recollection… see smer in Appendix.” “smer – to remember. In Germanic murnon, to remember sorrowfully, in Old English murnan, to mourn.” I remember Chuck Meerholz and the day I was supposed to drive. After four months with B Company, 1st Battalion, 69th Armor; four months of on-the-job-training for a guy trained as an infantrymen, I was being taught to drive our tank. B Company was to participate in a big operation centered on the village of...