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The Silver Star Families of America, the SSFOA, is well aware of the dangers of opioids in all their various forms and, for the most part, agrees with the new federal and state guidelines that are tightening up the distribution of the drugs as long as it does not adversely affect the veteran population. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/rr/rr6501e1.htm

National security adviser H.R. McMaster said Saturday that the potential of war with North Korea is "increasing every day" after the nation's latest launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). "I think it's increasing every day" McMaster told Fox News host Bret Baier at the Reagan National Defense Forum, when asked if this week's missile launch heightened the possibility of war with the U.S. McMaster pointed to the latest North Korean missile launch, which flew higher than any of its previous long-range weapons, as posing an increased threat to the U.S. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been working...

On this day in 1783, George Washington says his final goodbye to a group of officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York. washingtons-farewell-to-his-officersNew York had served as the British headquarters throughout the long years of the war. It was the last city to be evacuated when the war was over! On November 25, however, the British finally left, and George Washington entered the city. (See November 25 history post.) Despite the celebrations and elaborate dinners that ensued over the course of the next week, the British hadn’t entirely left the area. Some lingered on boats nearby. Others were still on...

Baghdad (Iraqi News) The self-proclaimed Islamic State group has released a video showing a Syrian pilot, who was captured by the IS extremists more than a year ago, being burned alive, Al Arabeya News reported. The video showed Major Azzam Eid, who was wearing the significant red/ orange uniform that used by the IS for prisoners, being chained to a tree, before the Islamic State militants set him on fire. The man could be heard screaming in pain before his body became completely burned.

SIERRA VISTA — For more than 20 years a group of women — most of them members of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Sierra Vista — have been making lap covers for hospitalized veterans. On Dec. 4, about 20 members of the group — The Crafty Ladies of Immanuel — will travel to the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System (hospital) in Tucson to present veterans with 175 lap covers. Some are knitted, some crocheted and others are machine sewn. The women also make body covers, sewn in patriotic colors and used to cover veterans who have died while hospitalized. “If...

The Argentine Navy has called off rescue efforts to find 44 crew members aboard a missing submarine, effectively acknowledging that there's no hope they'll be found alive. The ARA San Juan disappeared a few hundred kilometers off Argentina's coast on November 15, and despite an extensive air and sea search no sign of the sub has been found. Balbi wouldn't speculate on the fate of the crew, but said the search for the missing sub will continue until it's found. "Despite the magnitude and efforts made it has not been possible to locate the submarine. Information was received from two...

A National City donut shop operated by disabled veterans will be dedicated Sunday to a United States Navy sailor killed in a 2013 helicopter landing mishap. San Diego-based Lieutenant Commander Landon L. Jones was part of a crew conducting operations in the Red Sea in September 2013 when a large wave rocked the USS William P. Lawrence just as the MH-60 Knighthawk helicopter he was riding in was touching down. The wave caused the deck of the ship to pitch up and the helicopter slammed into the deck before rolling into the water.

The U.S. Air Force is rebuilding tens of thousands of World War II-era cannon rounds specifically for the 40mm cannons on its AC-130U Spooky II. Though the service has long been looking to finally retire this particular part of the gunship’s arsenal, which has increasingly become a logistical nightmare, the aging guns have so far proven too effective to get rid of completely. In November 2017, the U.S. Air Force revealed that the 780th Test Systems Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida had been testing the upgraded 40mm high explosive ammunition, known as the PGU-9D/B, earlier in the...

On this day in 1782, a preliminary peace treaty is signed by British and American representatives. It was just one of many steps in the long, hard road to negotiate a peace between Britain and America after the Revolution. We all hear about George WashingtonÂ’s victory at Yorktown! But we hear much less about the two years that followed: We werenÂ’t really at war anymore. But we werenÂ’t really at peace, either. You may recall that the American victory at Yorktown occurred on October 19, 1781. Yet peace talks did not begin until months afterwards. Americans hoped that British General...

Country singer Neal McCoy, a star with three platinum albums and several top five hits to his name, released a single two weeks ago that expresses some heartfelt sentiments about the flag -- and the NFL players who kneel for the anthem. "Take a Knee...My A**" perfectly expresses the contempt many Americans feel toward NFL players who disrespect the flag. Take a Knee... my A**!! From Valley Forge to Vietnam9/11 to AfghanistanThat star-spangled banner does yet waveI won't forget I owe a debt of gratitudeI never can repayArm and arm and side by sideAmerican heroes fought and diedIs showing some...

Helen Francisco was just 3 years old when her older brother, Shirley “Eugene” Bailey, died in World War II. He was one of 12 children in the family’s home on the West Side of Charleston. He and two other brothers were drafted into the Army and fought in Germany at the same time. Francisco was too young to remember her brother, but she can still remember her mother’s fight to bring him home after his remains went unaccounted for after the war. “I was little but I can remember her writing to everyone,” she said. “She never gave up looking...

Just fyi.

Engine failure was likely a factor in deadly C-2 plane crash, Navy sources sayUSS McCain's top officers fired after 'preventable' deadly collisionNavy Releases Collision Report for USS Fitzgerald and USS John S McCain Collisions

The USS Fitzgerald, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer crippled in a collision this summer, was damaged again this month as it was loaded on to a heavy-lift vessel that was supposed to take it to the US for repairs.

Army leaders decided this was a good time to highlight space because activities are growing and the Army wants to attract more officers to the space career field known as Functional Area 40, or FA40. Over the past year, Army space forces supported more than 16 exercises for every geographic combatant command except U.S. Africa Command. Soldiers are picked for the FA40 career field after a competitive selection process through the "voluntary transfer incentive program," which can occur at the four-year mark of a soldier's career. Besides their technical abilities, soldiers applying for the FA40 are evaluated based on their...

The Army is testing an exoskeleton technology which uses AI to analyze and replicate individual walk patterns, provide additional torque, power and mobility for combat infantry and enable heavier load-carrying, industry officials said.Army evaluators have been assessing a Lockheed-built FORTIS knee-stress-release-device exoskeleton with soldiers at Fort A.P. Hill as part of a focus on fielding new performance enhancing soldier technologies. Using independent actuators, motors and lightweight conformal structures, lithium ion battery powered FORTIS allows soldiers to carry 180 pounds up five flights of stairs while expending less energy. “We’ve had this on some of the Army’s elite forces, and they were able...

The U.S. Navy has always been an innovator. It pioneered the Global Positioning System, developed nuclear propulsion, and deployed the first operational laser weapon. The recently commissioned USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) is brimming with bleeding-edge technology. Its stealth design, Integrated Power System, and long-range gun firing capabilities make it the most sophisticated ship in the world. Likewise, the lead ship in the new carrier class USS Gerald R Ford (CVN-78) features many technological advances including an electromagnetic aircraft launch system. However, the Department of the Navy is not always in a rush to phase out and replace assets that continue to...

Russian inmate points an identifying and accusing finger at a Nazi guard who was especially cruel towards the prisoners in Buchenwald camp. (Colorized Photo)

Amid all the scrutiny that Malia Obama has been subjected to in her first months at Harvard University, nothing has attracted as much press attention as her being snapped by eager paparazzi kissing a white guy. The guy—identified by enterprising journalists as 19-year-old Rory Farquharson—is a British-born Harvard sophomore. The kiss, outside last week’s Harvard-Yale football game, suggests that the 19-year-old former first daughter is boldly asserting her independence after eight sheltered years in the White House. The families of presidents have always been the subject of tabloid fascination, but Malia Obama, like her father Barack Obama before her, inhabits...