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This is a list of things I personally miss so far since being in Iraq. I'm sure I won't remember them all so please feel free to add your own.

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, Oct. 7, 2008 – The phone at the desk is ringing. At the same time, a soldier is hovering, asking for help with getting lights for an event to be held later. Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Baird, Mountain Visitor Bureau Commandant at the Multinational Division Center headquarters building and a native of Bartlett, Ill., stands by his cubicle at Camp Victory, Iraq, Oct. 2, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Justin Snyder, Multinational Division Center  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. You can almost sense that a doorknob just broke somewhere or the air conditioning isn’t...

A U.S. Army soldier was brutally beaten by other soldiers in his platoon earlier this month following two incidents in which a drill sergeants allegedly used anti-Semitic slurs to address the soldier. Pvt. Michael Handman, 20, who has just completed his fifth week of basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, was recently released from a hospital where he was treated for a concussion, facial wounds, and severe oral injuries following the attack, according to the boy’s father, Jonathan Handman. The soldier’s father said he received a disturbing telephone call last week from his son’s commanding officer “to tell me that...

Soldier posted to Siberia for online whinge Roger Boyes, Moscow If Russian soldiers have anything to sing about they usually do so in foot-stomping Cossack choirs, belting out the words to "Kalinka". Lieutenant Vitaly Efremov, however, decided to take a more modern approach: he made a rap video, released onto the internet, complaining about the rotten state of his barracks. The clip has hit a nerve with the top brass who have now decided to post him to Siberia where he can exercise his musical talents in the windswept tundra. He can probably consider himself lucky that he is not...

Soldier gets 7 months in deaths of 4 Iraqis Pretrial agreement results in reduction of court’s sentence of 40 years’ confinement VILSECK, Germany — A Germany-based soldier who testified Thursday that he pulled security while his fellow soldiers killed four Iraqi detainees and "didn’t care" at the time that they would end up dead will spend seven months in prison, for his role in the incident. He also will see his rank reduced to private and receive a dishonorable discharge. A military judge sentenced Spc. Belmor Ramos to 40 years’ confinement in the 2007 slayings after he pleaded guilty to...

FORT BRAGG (AP) — The Army says a Special Forces trainee found dead this summer during a land navigation exercise in North Carolina was bitten by a poisonous water moccasin, also known as a cottonmouth. The military said Wednesday the autopsy of 20-year-old Pfc. Norman M. Murburg of Dade City, Fla., ruled out heat or dehydration as a cause of death. Murburg was bitten multiple times while training at the Hoffman training area near Fort Bragg's Camp Mackall. Soldiers began searching for Murburg when he didn't return from the exercise. His body was found June 10. Authorities met with Murburg's...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq, Sept. 17, 2008 – For Army Pfc. Wislet Genelus of Company B, 40th Engineer Battalion, the path to U.S. citizenship is finally complete – at the age of 40. Army Pfc. Wislet Genelus, a native of Haiti, became a U.S. citizen while serving in Iraq. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Born in Jean-Rabe, Haiti, Genelus has been on the front lines of political turmoil for 23 years. Genelus’ parents moved to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. shortly after he was born, while he spent the first 15 years of his life living with...

Barry's War = So Barry Wanted to be a Soldier eh?

Missing WWII Soldier Is Identified The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors. He is Pvt. James W. Turner, U.S. Army, of Altus, Okla. He will be buried on Sept. 11 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. Representatives from the Army met with Turner’s next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army....

FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq, Sept. 9, 2008 – So far, September is a big month for Army Spc. Selma Colesbacco. Army Spc. Selma Colesbacco poses with her U.S. citizenship certificate and American flag at Camp Victory, Iraq, shortly after becoming a citizen Sept. 1, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Latrece Westbrook  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. On Sept. 1, Colesbacco, who was born in the Seychelles Islands and raised in Italy, became a U.S. citizen. Two days later, she was promoted to specialist. The two events take her closer to her ultimate goal: becoming a...

Dear Mr. Obama, Iraq was not a 'mistake'.

A soldier made a YouTube video to Barack Obama. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4fe9GlWS8

An injured National Guard soldier from Woodbury gets a great gift Friday -- a new home. Sgt. Marcus Kuboy was seriously injured by an explosion in Iraq last year and is mostly confined to a wheelchair because of leg and back injuries. Right now he can only use his legs for short periods of time. The project's been under construction for several months now and hundreds of people have helped. On Friday, volunteers were getting started on the landscaping by planting flowers and shrubs. The inside is almost complete as well. Kuboy will have his own elevator and a kitchen...

BEIJING (Army News Service, Aug. 12, 2008) -- Spc. Glenn Eller won the Gold Medal in double trap shooting Tuesday, setting an Olympic record with a total score of 190. Eller's teammate, Spc. Jeff Holguin, finished fourth. Both Soldiers are members of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit based at Fort Benning, Ga. Eller went into the final round leading by four shots and hit 45 out of 50 targets, to win the first shooting Gold for Team USA in Beijing. Eller is a three-time Olympian. He finished 15th in 2000 and 17th in the last summer Olympic games. He claimed...

(IsraelNN.com) A left-wing kibbutz member, who had never seen a Yesha settlement until the day she came to destroy it, asks forgiveness of the people she expelled. "Three years without a home is much too long," she says. The soldier publicized her story, and request for forgiveness, in an interview with Yedidya Meir on the Kol Chai radio station. She had been an active member of a left-wing youth movement in her kibbutz, never having met a "settler" (Jewish resident of Judea, Samaria and Gaza), or been inside a Jewish town there, in her life. After enlisting in the army,...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2008 – President Bush this week approved the death penalty for an Army private convicted of committing multiple murders and rapes in the late 1980s on Fort Bragg, N.C. Exercising the commander in chief’s final authority to approve capital punishment for a servicemember, Bush issued the order against Pvt. Ronald A. Gray on July 28, the first time such a presidential directive has been invoked in 51 years. Gray faces the death penalty after being convicted of two killings, one count of attempted murder and of raping all three victims, among other crimes he was found guilty...

My brother in Gainesville, Georgia closed down his store for a bit to capture the funeral procession of Corporal Matthew Phillips, on the way to neighboring Cumming. Matthew was one of the nine killed in Afghanistan not long ago.

In 2007, Matt [Vandegrift] left for Iraq as an infantry officer. In April of this year, he gave the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf when he was killed in action...In a fitting act, the Leander School district in Texas voted unanimously to name their new high school, opening in 2010, to honor him. They have chosen to honor what most parents hope to see in the children they send out into the world: loyalty, honor, bravery and determination.

A US army medic who became a symbol of American heroism and integrity in the Iraq war has died of an apparent drugs overdose.

The Better Business Bureau has issued a warning about an internet scam that is trying to take advantage of the identity of slain Michigan soldier Byron Fouty. It works through the online classified Craig's list. An add appearing on the website says someone claiming to be Fouty's father Mick is trying to sell his son's BMW M6 for $2,800. The car has a Kelley Blue Book value of $80,000. The add reads: "this car will be my gift, my gift in the memory of my son. money not a problem, all I want is to find the right person. person...

An Ida (Michigan) Township woman who handled a college scholarship fund named in memory of a local soldier killed fighting in Iraq was convicted yesterday in Monroe County Circuit Court of stealing money from the account.

The walk down the aisle yesterday was only a matter of yards. Yet for Martyn Compton it meant everything. Indeed, his determination to make the distance was matched only by that of the beautiful young woman he was about to marry. And when he falteringly held out his hand for her to slip the gold ring on his finger, they both finally fulfilled the dream they had fought desperately against all the odds to make a reality. It was so nearly destroyed when, two years ago, Martyn, a Lance-Corporal in the Household Cavalry, was badly burned in an ambush in...

'WIRE' LAW FAILED LOST GI 10-HOUR DELAY AS FEDS SOUGHT TAP TO TRACK JIMENEZ CAPTORS IN IRAQ By CHARLES HURT, Bureau Chief October 15, 2007 WASHINGTON - U.S. intelligence officials got mired for nearly 10 hours seeking approval to use wiretaps against al Qaeda terrorists suspected of kidnapping Queens soldier Alex Jimenez in Iraq earlier this year, The Post has learned. This week, Congress plans to vote on a bill that leaves in place the legal hurdles in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act - problems that were highlighted during the May search for a group of kidnapped U.S. soldiers. A...

Rembember!

CARCASSONNE, France (AFP) — President Nicolas Sarkozy promised swift and severe punishment Monday after a soldier shot and wounded 17 people, including a three-year-old boy and both his parents, at an open day at an army barracks. The sergeant opened up with an assault rifle, firing live rounds instead of blanks into a crowd of hundreds of visitors watching a hostage-taking exercise Sunday at the base near the southwestern city of Carcassonne. A man who witnessed the shooting told AFP that "suddenly, people were falling, we thought it was part of the exercise, and then we saw blood."

WILLIAMSBURG, Va., June 27, 2008 – On Aug. 19, 2006, the life of Army Capt. James Barclay IV changed forever. Army Capt. James Barclay IV bonds with his hunting dog, Bryant. A Williamsburg, Va., trainer donated his services to train Bryant for Barclay, who was wounded in an Afghanistan roadside-bomb attack. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joe Laws   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. He was in the lead vehicle of a convoy in a remote area of Afghanistan when a roadside bomb tore through his vehicle. Barclay survived, but suffered burns over 40 percent of...

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors. He is Sgt. Gene F. Clark, U.S. Army, of Muncie, Ind. He will be buried June 28 in Muncie. Representatives from the Army met with Clark's next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the secretary of the Army. In September 1950, Clark was assigned to Company L, 3rd Battalion,...

A local soldier’s view on Iraq Monday, June 16, 2008 7:53 AM CDT First, I want to say hello to all my friends in Thomaston. For those who don’t know me, my name is Stephen Boyd and I am a coach and teacher at Upson-Lee High School. I am currently deployed in Iraq for my second tour with the Georgia National Guard. I am a military police sergeant with the 278th MP Company out of Fort Gordon. Some of my friends sent me copies of The Thomaston Times, and I feel an obligation to tell the people back home what...

Just because the U.S. military now lacks what defense eggheads call a peer competitor — a country capable of beating us in a head-to-head confrontation — that doesn't mean it lacks for imagination in conjuring fearful foes. Sure, it was easier for John F. Kennedy to blow smoke about a non-existent "missile gap" with the Soviet Union, or for Ronald Reagan to convince us of the need for a "Star Wars" missile shield when Moscow was still our superpower rival (it may no longer be, but we're still spending $10 billion annually on missile defenses). Snip...The scientists also warn that...

A British soldier told yesterday how he survived after a Taliban sniper’s bullet passed through his brain. Sergeant Alistair McKinney of the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment said the bullet entered his head above his left eye, went through his brain and exited his skull above his right ear. Sgt McKinney, 36, was hit by sniper fire from hills as he patrolled the perimeter fence of his base at Musa Qala, Afghanistan in August 2005. He has no recollection of the shooting. He said: “The bullet smashed my forehead just above the left eye, went through part of my brain...

Media Advisory Fallen Soldier Returning Home MA 08-006 - June 5, 2008 OTTAWA, Ont. — Our fallen soldier, Captain Richard (Steve) Leary, a member of the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, based in Shilo, Manitoba, is scheduled to return home to Canada tomorrow. Where: 8 Wing Trenton, Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ontario. When: Friday, June 6, 2008, 2 p.m. What: Media are invited to view the arrival; however, no interviews will be given. Present to pay their respects will be the Honourable Peter Gordon MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, and...

“I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means...” —John Adams

I just witnessed the greatness of Americans as I drove past the route which the funeral procession will take on the way to bury Loveland's first military loss in the war against terror. The route is approximately 10 miles long - and every street corner is lined with citizens and American flags and signs saying God bless our Troops. No Code Pinks - no antiwar just one long field of American flags. It appears that a grade school allowed all their students to be present - the high school also allowed students to attend. Tears wear in my eyes as...

BAGHDAD (AP) - An American soldier used a Quran, the Islamic holy book, for target practice in a predominantly Sunni area west of Baghdad, prompting an apology from the U.S. military, a spokesman said Sunday. snip Iraqi police found the bullet-riddled Quran with graffiti inside the cover on a small-arms range near a police station in Radwaniyah, a former insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, U.S. military spokesman Col. Bill Buckner said in an e-mailed response to a query. The shooting, which occurred May 9 and was discovered two days later, threatened to further strain relations between the Americans and Sunni...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A soldier used the Quran -- Islam's holy book -- for target practice, forcing the chief U.S. commander in Baghdad to issue a formal apology on Saturday. Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Hammond, commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad, flanked by leaders from Radhwaniya in the western outskirts of Baghdad, apologized for the staff sergeant who was a sniper section leader assigned to the headquarters of the 64th Armored Regiment. He also read a letter of apology by the shooter. It was the first time the incident -- which tested the relationship between U.S.-backed Sunni militiamen and the...

An American soldier has been disciplined and ordered from Iraq, the U.S. military said on Sunday, for using a copy of the Koran for target practice at a shooting range near Baghdad. Such an act of desecration of the Muslim holy book could inflame anger against the U.S. military presence in Iraq, but an Iraqi community leader told Reuters an apology by senior American military commanders had helped calm tensions...[yadda,yadda,yadda]

BAGHDAD — Iraqi citizens, who witnessed a vehicle borne improvised explosive device that killed one Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldier, turned over a criminal to the Iraqi National Police, May 1. The citizens observed a man parking a vehicle and walking a significant distance away from it. They saw the man using a cell phone before the detonation. After the blast, Iraqi citizens chased the criminal and made a citizen’s arrest. The criminal was turned over to the Iraqi National Police, where he tested positive for explosive compounds. Two other criminals were also apprehended after they were observed and identified...

FORT HOOD, Texas - A military jury Thursday acquitted an Army sergeant of premeditated murder in the death of an unarmed Iraqi insurgent who was killed in a village overrun by al-Qaida operatives. The family of Sgt. Leonardo Trevino gasped, clapped and sobbed after the verdict in his court-martial was read. The 31-year-old from San Antonio also was cleared on charges of attempted murder, solicitation to commit murder and three counts of obstruction of justice. Trevino said he felt betrayed by the soldiers who testified against him but that he held no ill will toward the Army.

A Fort Bragg soldier who crawled 200 feet while being fired upon to save a wounded colleague and then led a group of besieged soldiers to safety has received the Distinguished Service Cross. Master Sgt. Brendan O'Connor received the cross in a ceremony Wednesday at Fort Bragg for his actions in Afghanistan. The cross is the Army's second-highest award for combat valor, behind only the Medal of Honor. O'Connor was honored for his actions during a battle in 2006 in southern Afghanistan. He is assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group. The unit is based at Fort Bragg, a massive...

A court-martial panel on Friday found a Hawaii-based soldier not guilty in the killing of an unarmed Iraqi during a raid on a suspected insurgent hideout last year. Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales' friends and family erupted in cheers when the head of the military panel, or jury, read the verdict. The jury of nine soldiers acquitted Corrales of all three charges, including premeditated murder, after more than seven hours of deliberation. Corrales would have faced a minimum sentence of life in prison if he had been convicted. Corrales said it feels like a 200-pound weight had been lifted from...

CINCINNATI (AP) - Military workers and supporters from across the country joined in memorials Sunday for a slain Army reservist who had become a poignant picture of the war in Iraq after he was captured by insurgents. Thousands walked past Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin's casket during a daylong visitation at a civic center in Clermont County, east of Cincinnati, where he grew up. Many of them headed to Great American Ball Park, home of the Cincinnati Reds, for an afternoon memorial service. The crowd occupied the lower portion of the 42,000-seat stadium, behind home plate, stretching from first base to...

CINCINNATI (AP) - Thousands of people are expected to attend the funeral of a young Ohio soldier whose remains were found in Iraq last month, four years after he was kidnapped west of Baghdad. Great American Ballpark, the home of the Cincinnati Reds, will host the memorial Sunday for Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin, who grew up in suburban Batavia. Maupin was honored Saturday by hundreds of mourners who lined the Cincinnati streets with American flags as a police procession led his casket to a memorial service. The 20-year-old was captured April 9, 2004, when insurgents attacked his fuel convoy. The...

WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, Hawaii (AP) — A court-martial panel on Friday found a Hawaii-based soldier not guilty in the killing of an unarmed Iraqi during a raid on a suspected insurgent hideout last year. Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales' friends and family erupted in cheers when the head of the military panel, or jury, read the verdict. The jury of nine soldiers acquitted Corrales of all three charges, including premeditated murder, after more than seven hours of deliberation. Corrales would have faced a minimum sentence of life in prison if he had been convicted. Corrales said it feels like a...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, April 21, 2008 – More than 10 years ago, Maranata Temese was an elementary school teacher living in American Samoa with his wife, Leaiseaiga, and their three children. Wanting to provide a better life for his family, he decided to join the military. But there was one problem: He was not a U.S. citizen. Army Staff Sgt. Maranata Temese, center, a platoon sergeant in Company G, Task Force 12, waits to receive his Certificate of Naturalization during a Multinational Corps Iraq naturalization ceremony at Camp Victory, Iraq, April 12, 2008. Temese, who was born in Samoa,...

For thousands of troops who have seen the war in Iraq first hand, the mission is a personal one even after they take off the uniform. Concerns about where that war may be heading is putting some local veterans face to face with lawmakers, fighting a different side of Operation Iraqi freedom. For retired Navy Veteran Chris Chilson, time with family is a luxury he's still getting used to. Afternoons spent together were few and far between during his 20 years on board aircraft carriers, some of them spent in the searing heat of the Iraqi desert. Chilson says, "It...

FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas, April 18, 2008 – A robot normally used by doctors to perform work remotely allowed a soldier in Baghdad to virtually interact with his newborn son in Texas for the first time. Displayed on the screen of a laptop computer in Baghdad, baby Blake Lloyd, on Fort Sam Houston, Texas, “meets” his daddy for the first time. U.S. Army photo by Capt. Kay McKinnie  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. An RP-7 Remote Presence Robotic System, wireless, mobile, remote-presence robot that allows a doctor to be in two places at once, allowed Army Staff Sgt....

The injured man had befriended British soldiers An Iraqi teenager accidentally shot by a British soldier is to receive £2m, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. The man - who cannot be named for legal reasons - will receive the payout after suffering severe spinal injuries which have left him paralysed. The payout is higher than anything paid to any British troops injured in Iraq. The MoD said it was "not a precedent, it is an exceptional case", but admitted similar payouts were possible in the future. The man was wounded in September 2003 when a British soldier, whom...

THE story of a US soldier who sacrificed his life for his comrades has moved US President George W. Bush to tears. When a grenade bounced off his chest and fell to the floor near his fellow troops, Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Monsoor acted out of instinct. His actions didn't stem from a lack of training. His instant reaction was to protect his comrades. PO Monsoor was one of the US military's most highly trained combatants, a navy SEAL. The navy said he committed a selfless act by jumping on the grenade and taking the full force of the...

HE was many miles from home - a Roman soldier posted to Manchester, perhaps feeling cold and lonely, longing for loved ones left behind. He was called Aelius Victor. And now after 2,000 years an altar he built to keep a promise to the goddesses he prayed to has been unearthed in the middle of the city. The altar - described by experts as being in 'fantastic' condition - was discovered during an archaeological dig at a site on Greater Jackson Street earmarked for development. Aelius Victor had dedicated it to two minor goddesses. A Latin inscription on the altar...

The widow of a soldier killed in Iraq this week wants to harvest her husband's sperm before he's embalmed. He was stationed at Fort Benning. Yesterday his wife filed a motion for a temporary restraining order and an injunction to stop her deceased husband's remains from being altered until his sperm can be reserved. A judge signed that order Friday. The soldier's wife claims they planned to start a family once he came home. His sperm will be extracted within 72 hours, but the medical representative will retain custody until it is determined who has legal rights to the sperm.