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Full Title: President Putin says five men killed in huge explosion in northern Russia that caused sudden radiation spike died trying to create a weapon that ‘has no equal in the world’ Russian President Vladimir Putin has told widows of the five scientists who died in a nuclear explosion earlier this year that their husbands were working on 'the most advanced and unmatched technical' weaponry. Putin's comments came during a ceremony of state decorations at the Kremlin today where he awarded the deceased employees of Russia's state nuclear company with the Order of Courage, posthumously.

The Real Deal: While idiot NFL players were busy kneeling and protesting America during Thursday night’s official preseason launch, the family of an Air Force hero was grieving his loss. The Air Force released stunning video of Tech Sgt. John Chapman’s final stand in Afghanistan, where he died recently in the heat of battle. [Air Force-released video accompanies story]

FROMBORK, Poland – Nicolaus Copernicus, the 16th-century astronomer whose findings were condemned by the Roman Catholic Church as heretical, was reburied by Polish priests as a hero on Saturday, nearly 500 years after he was laid to rest in an unmarked grave. His burial in a tomb in the cathedral where he once served as a church canon and doctor indicates how far the church has come in making peace with the scientist whose revolutionary theory that the Earth revolves around the Sun helped usher in the modern scientific age. Copernicus, who lived from 1473 to 1543, died as a...

Spc. Ross McGinnis Photo by courtesy Related LinksMedal of Honor: Pfc. Ross A. McGinnisFor more photos, see: WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 23, 2008) - President Bush has announced that Spc. Ross McGinnis will posthumously be awarded the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony June 2, two weeks shy of what would have been his 21st birthday. McGinnis will be just the second U.S. Soldier to receive the medal for actions in Operation Iraqi Freedom and a special Web site dedicated to his heroics has been created by the Soldiers Media Center at www.army.mil/medalofhonor/McGinnis. The site includes a...

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The White House announced Oct. 11 that the family of U.S. Navy SEAL, Lt. Michael P. Murphy will be presented the U.S. Navy Medal of Honor, awarded posthumously, during a ceremony at the White House Oct. 22. The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest military award for valor in action against an enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States. Murphy’s father, Daniel, will accept the award on behalf of his son. Murphy will receive the award for his extraordinary, selfless heroism and steadfast courage while...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2006 -- Special operations forces personnel, so accustomed to operating in the shadows, stepped sadly into the light tonight as the Navy presented the widows of two SEALs killed in Afghanistan with the nation’s second-highest military award for valor. Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter presented the Navy Cross to Cindy Axelson, widow of Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew G. Axelson, and to Patsy Dietz, widow of Petty Officer 2nd Class Danny P. Dietz. The ceremony was fittingly held here at the U.S. Navy Memorial. “These were our men,” said Rear Adm. Joseph Maguire, commander of the...

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...

(snip) Army Pfc. Min Soo Choi, 21, was born in Seoul, South Korea, and had lived with his family in River Vale for the past seven years. He was killed Feb. 26 in an explosion in Abertha, Iraq, a month after he had arrived in the country. On Sunday, more than 500 people packed Pascack Valley High School's auditorium for an emotional, hour-long memorial service attended by Choi's family, members of the military, politicians, high school friends and members of the Bergen County Korean-American community. (snip) Choi also received the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal and combat Infantry...

Remarks by President George W. Bush at the White House ceremony for the presentation of the Medal of Honor to the late Capt. Humbert R. Versace USA July 8, 2002 THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, and welcome to the White House. It's a - this is a special occasion. I am honored to be a part of the gathering as we pay tribute to a true American patriot, and a hero, Captain Humbert "Rocky" Versace. Nearly four decades ago, his courage and defiance while being held captive in Vietnam cost him his life. Today it is my great privilege to recognize...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush presented a posthumous Medal of Honor Monday to Army Capt. Rocky Versace, a Green Beret who defied his Viet Cong captors and was executed in 1965. "He was fluent in English, French and Vietnamese and would tell his guards to go to hell in all three," Bush told a group of about 200 in the East Room of the White House. The audience included Versace's friends and family members, including three brothers. The president gave the framed medal to the captain's brother Steve, who was applauded as he held it over his head and turned...