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Military/Veterans (General/Chat)

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  • Info Requested: WWII Medals/Ribbons [Vanity]

    01/13/2015 5:49:21 AM PST · by Lmo56 · 24 replies
    01/13/115 | self
    I need a little help from knowledgeable FR posters. My wife recently came across her father's WWII medals. They were in poor shape. He was a member of Company C, 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Division and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. His company was known as the "Sharpshooters of Munshausen." Anyway, my wife wants to get replacements and we came across a loose clasp that simply said, "1000." Her father was awarded the CIB and also the sharpshooter medal. I am assuming that "1000" means he qualified at 1000 yards. Am I correct?
  • Vanity...1944 vs 2014 photo montage

    01/12/2015 3:20:35 PM PST · by CGASMIA68 · 42 replies
    http://interactive.guim.co.uk/embed/2014/apr/image-opacity-slider-master/index.html?ww2-dday
  • CENTCOM Twitter account hacked by ISIS sympathizers

    01/12/2015 11:26:46 AM PST · by eastforker · 17 replies
    cnn ^ | 1/12/2015 | CNN Staff
    (CNN) - The Twitter account for U.S. Central Command was suspended Monday after it was hacked by ISIS sympathizers, a defense official told CNN. "We can confirm that the U.S. Central Command Twitter account was compromised earlier today. CENTCOM is taking appropriate measure to address the matter," a defense official told CNN. A series of unusual tweets were published with apparent warnings from ISIS, as well as links, images and Pentagon documents that reveal contact information for members of the military.
  • Miep Gies, Protector of Anne Frank, Dies at 100

    01/11/2015 12:07:41 PM PST · by iowamark · 23 replies
    NY Times ^ | January 11, 2010 | RICHARD GOLDSTEIN
    Miep Gies, the last survivor among Anne Frank’s protectors and the woman who preserved the diary that endures as a testament to the human spirit in the face of unfathomable evil, died Monday night, the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam said. She was 100. The BBC said Mrs. Gies suffered a fall late last month and died at a nursing home. “I am not a hero,” Mrs. Gies wrote in her memoir, “Anne Frank Remembered,” published in 1987. “I stand at the end of the long, long line of good Dutch people who did what I did and more —...
  • I Can't Support the War On Terror (Re-Visited)

    01/11/2015 8:23:35 AM PST · by semaj · 8 replies
    semaj ^ | 8/13/2006 | semaj
    Sorry folks, but I can no longer lend my support to the War on Terror. I'm tired of being lied to by our elected leadership. What am I talking you about, you ask? Specifically, when I'm a told by the President of the United States, that Islam is a "Religion of Peace". How am I supposed to square that statement with reality? How am I supposed to support the decision and policies of our government in waging war when our leaders can't even begin to tell the truth about the enemy we're fighting? If the president fears he may offend...
  • Green Berets Helped Rebuild Afghanistan

    01/10/2015 11:05:54 AM PST · by w1n1 · 18 replies
    The Fayettevill Observer ^ | 1/10/2015 | D Brooks
    Just days after the terrorists struck, Green Berets from the Fort Campbell-based 5th Group were in Afghanistan. In more than 13 years since, the Special Forces presence in the country has been a constant. Thousands of soldiers have given years out of their lives to the Afghanistan mission. Many have been wounded. Many have died. In the process, they say, they have built the foundation for a future in a country that has known decades of war. “Back then, there was no (Afghan) army,” Schwartz said. “Really, all their equipment was predominately Soviet, and it was left over from the...
  • Redipuglia, Italy: Memorial is the resting place of 100,000 WWI dead

    01/09/2015 7:50:10 AM PST · by pabianice · 6 replies
    Stars and Stripes ^ | 1/9/15 | Duhr
    A monumental display of history outside of Redipuglia, Italy, is more than just a climb up Monte Sei Busi; it’s a bitter reminder of the Great War. The Military Sacrarium Redipuglia is about an hour’s drive from Aviano Air Base. Its grand steps symbolize the hard-fought battles soldiers endured during World War I to maintain control of the mountain’s summit. Inscribed on plaques are the names of places considered to be the worst battles fought. The military shrine, completed in 1938, is said to be the largest World War I shrine in Italy. Steps leading up the mountainside hug the...
  • Peyton Manning received a letter from a soldier’s wife—and then he did this

    01/09/2015 7:05:53 AM PST · by NKP_Vet · 17 replies
    http://rare.us ^ | January 8, 2015 | Cassy Fiano
    Army Sgt. Ryan Patterson grew up a diehard Colts fan. Even living in Cincinnati, surrounded by Bengals lovers, he was loyal to his Colts and Peyton Manning. During his tours of duty to Afghanistan, he would stay up late to stream Colts games online. When Manning moved to the Broncos, he even tried to change his duty station to Colorado in order to be able to watch him play. Luckily for Patterson, his wife Kristen wrote his idol a letter—and Manning decided to respond, in spectacular fashion. Kristen had forgotten to include her contact information, so Manning set about tracking...
  • Ministry of Defence forced to ask US for help in search for Russian submarine thought to be lurking

    01/09/2015 6:33:54 AM PST · by C19fan · 20 replies
    UK Daily Mail ^ | January 9 , 2015 | Steph Cockroft
    The Ministry of Defence has been forced to ask the US for help as it hunts for a suspected Russian submarine believed to be lurking off the coast of Scotland. Two U.S Navy aircraft were this week drafted in to carry out patrols in the North Atlantic in a bid to bridge the 'gaping chasm' in Britain's anti-submarine capability. It comes after the RAF's £4bn fleet of 'spy-in-the-sky' Nimrod surveillance aircraft was controversially scrapped in 2010, amid warning it would weaken Britain's defences.
  • The Big Lie About Wanat (COP Kahler), Part 1 of 2

    01/07/2015 10:56:35 AM PST · by smokingfrog · 2 replies
    Loose Rounds ^ | 1-2-15 | Shawn
    The Big Lie principle, as elaborated by Hitler and Goebbels, is that if you tell a small lie, you’ll be caught on it, but if you tell a really big, even outrageous whopper, people will tend to believe it. It’s an insight into human psychology which helps explain how those two second-stringers wound up seizing the levers of the most advanced nation in 20th Century Europe and running it into the ground, to the detriment of scores of millions worldwide. But right now, it’s making the rounds in our little world, as hired shills for foreign manufacturers lie about one...
  • Murdered Navy Seal, Chris Kyle...A Texas Goodbye!

    01/07/2015 6:57:52 AM PST · by FreeAtlanta · 19 replies
    email from friend | unknown
    Chris Kyle was Derek's teammate through 10 years of training and battle. They both suffer/suffered from PTSD to some extent and took great care of each other because of it. 2006 in Ramadi was horrible for young men that never had any more aggressive physical contact with another human than on a Texas football field. They lost many friends. Chris became the armed services number #1 sniper of all time. Not something he was happy about, other than the fact that in so doing, he saved a lot of American lives. Three years ago, his wife Taya asked him to...
  • The M-4 Carbine Is Here to Stay

    01/06/2015 8:52:24 AM PST · by C19fan · 80 replies
    War is Boring ^ | January 5, 2015 | Kyle Mizokami
    In the January issue of The Atlantic, retired Maj. Gen. Robert Scales slammed the United States Army’s M-4 carbine, and called for an entirely new weapon in the hands of the modern American soldier. Scales describes the 2008 Battle of Wanat—when the Taliban attacked a forward outpost defended by American troops—and his own experiences in Vietnam with faulty M-16 rifles.
  • F/A-18C Breaks Speed of Sound (VIDEO)

    01/05/2015 6:01:07 PM PST · by kingattax · 18 replies
    YouTube ^ | Jan 1, 2015
    An F/A-18C breaks the speed of sound, leaving behind the tell tale and infamous "Sonic Boom".
  • A Flying Fortress Miracle/Incredible story of one B-17’s survival

    01/05/2015 9:19:00 AM PST · by SMARTY · 35 replies
    Warbirds of America
    I just ran into this. It's to amazing. The Link is: http://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/aviation-communities-and-interests/eaa-warbirds-of-america-warbird-and-ex-military-aircraft/articles/2014-09-a-flying-fortress-miracle
  • Poland Loves Howitzers

    01/05/2015 7:36:22 AM PST · by C19fan · 8 replies
    War is Boring ^ | January 4, 2014 | Robert Beckhusen
    On Dec. 17, Poland inked a deal with South Korea to buy 120 self-propelled howitzers for $320 million. The deal is mostly for the technology and 36 chassis manufactured in South Korea. Poland will build and install the guns and turrets on the howitzers—and also make the remaining 84 chassis, too. The Poles want to add their own components and communications gear to the tracked vehicle, which is based on the South Korean K9 Thunder, and call it the AHS Krab.
  • Digging for their lives: Russia's volunteer body hunters

    01/03/2015 8:39:22 AM PST · by moose07 · 15 replies
    BBC ^ | 13 January 2014 | Lucy Ash
    Of the estimated 70 million people killed in World War Two, 26 million died on the Eastern front - and up to four million of them are still officially considered missing in action. But volunteers are now searching the former battlefields for the soldiers' remains, determined to give them a proper burial - and a name. Olga Ivshina walks slowly and carefully through the pine trees, the beeps of her metal detector punctuating the quiet of the forest. "They are not buried very deep," she says. "Sometimes we find them just beneath the moss and a few layers of fallen...
  • US vet says fighting in Syria was as easy as buying airplane ticket to Miami

    01/02/2015 3:35:49 AM PST · by 9thLife · 5 replies
    Fox News ^ | January 02, 2015 | Catherine Herridge
    All it took was a plane ticket, and an informal background check over Facebook. Then he was ushered to the front lines in Syria, fighting against the Islamic State. In a rare, exclusive interview with Fox, a U.S. military veteran with multiple tours in Iraq detailed his journey to Syria to fight against ISIS, on the condition his identity was protected. The veteran, who asked to be identified as “John,” described a surprisingly simple process that took him from America to the dangerous Syrian civil war – and not as part of the U.S. military. "I just went online and...
  • A Mach 5 Arms Race? Welcome to Hypersonic Weapons 101

    12/31/2014 6:23:25 AM PST · by C19fan · 20 replies
    National Interest ^ | December 30, 2014 | Robery Farley
    According to some analysts, the development of hypersonic weapons creates the conditions for a new arms race, and could risk nuclear escalation. Given that the course of hypersonic research has acknowledged both of these concerns, why have several countries started testing the weapons? The United States is building hypersonics for two reasons. First, we want to kill people fast, without the messy danger of a global thermonuclear war. Second, we want to be able to punch through the defensive systems of peer competitors.
  • ‘UNBROKEN’ REVIEW: IMPERFECT BUT DEEPLY MOVING, DEVOUTLY CHRISTIAN WWII DRAMA

    12/31/2014 5:55:40 AM PST · by Bratch · 21 replies
    Breitbart's Big Hollywood ^ | December 30, 2014 | John Nolte
    First things first: the reviews and social media claims arguing that director Angelina Jolie’s “Unbroken” somehow short shrifts the Christian faith or the Christianity of its subject are not just untrue, they are preposterous. This cinematic adaptation of the true story of Olympian and WWII Veteran Louis Zamperini has its flaws, but respect and reverence for the Zamperini’s Christian faith is not one of them. Quite the opposite. [...] “Unbroken” is the second devoutly Christian WWII film to enjoy a wide studio release in 2014. The first was “Fury,” an even better movie  starring Brad Pitt — Jolie’s husband.  “Fury” and...
  • New U.S. Stealth Jet Can’t Fire Its Gun Until 2019

    12/31/2014 5:11:05 AM PST · by C19fan · 45 replies
    Daily Beast ^ | December 31, 2014 | Dave Majumdar
    The Pentagon’s newest stealth jet, the nearly $400 billion Joint Strike Fighter, won’t be able to fire its gun during operational missions until 2019, three to four years after it becomes operational. Even though the Joint Strike Fighter, or F-35, is supposed to join frontline U.S. Marine Corps fighter squadrons next year and Air Force units in 2016, the jet’s software does not yet have the ability to shoot the onboard 25mm cannon. But even when the jet will be able to shoot its gun, the F-35 barely carries enough ammunition to make the weapon useful.