Free Republic

Nobody gets the crowds rocking harder than the Motor City Madman, and his appearance at the NRA Convention on Sunday was no exception. This experience, however, began a little different than the others. Sure there was talk of guns and politics and the spirit of the hunt, but that soon gave way to a more somber moment. The moment when the Nuge revealed one of his darkest secrets. "I've got to admit something right here. I feel guilty. You know it's hard to find ammo. I'm sorry … I've got it all. "I'm really sorry about that. I've got...

A blind veteran was forced to defend himself after being attacked in broad daylight. Fifty-one-year-old Gordon Besaw has glaucoma. He and his seeing eye dog, Derby, were headed to the VA Medical Center for treatment Tuesday when police say he was attacked by 27-year-old Christopher Andrew. "He asked me, 'Are you blind?' I said yes," said Besaw. "He said, 'I can make you see before you see God'." Police say Andrew punched the retired U.S. Army Special Forces soldier in the head. "He said, 'I can make you see again' and he punched me in the head again," Besaw said....

I am a disabled combat veteran. I served in Iraq and worked in Afghanistan. I took an IED because my country asked me too, and I was injured by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. I have a Purple Heart and an ARCOM with Valor. I fully expect to be treated differently when I am visiting another country - when I am in America I expect equality and toleration; but what I experienced today is something that I never would have thought I'd have to go through in my own country. The country I fought for! I am a skydiver with...

WEST ALLIS (WITI) — A Marine Corps veteran was able to stop a man early Tuesday, March 12th from nearly kicking a woman to death. It happened near 102nd and Lincoln, and Wisconsin’s concealed carry law made his efforts possible. Charlie Blackmore was driving home from work at 4:00 a.m. along Lincoln Avenue when he saw something on the sidewalk. Blackmore didn’t realize it was a woman on the ground being kicked in the head and stomach until he got closer. That’s when he jumped out of his car and sprung into action. “I said ‘stop’ and he starts coming...

Abita Springs, La - A man who lives just down the road from 32-year-old Jason Glover is among those in Abita Springs just learning that Glover was shot and later died. "I don't even know what happened," said a neighbor. "Somebody just told me that police shot him." Around 11:00 Friday night, Glover's girlfriend called 9-1-1 saying her boyfriend had a handgun and had threatened to kill her. When deputies arrived, they say Glover got out of his vehicle with a gun and pointed it at a deputy. The deputy shot Glover twice. Glover died Saturday morning in the hospital....

Today, retired Army General H. Norman Schwarzkopf was laid to rest at West Point. The commander of coalition forces in the first Gulf War was 78-years-old when he passed away on Dec. 27 in Tampa, Fla. due to complications from pneumonia. On Thursday, the U.S. Military Academy announced that a memorial service was held in honor of the four-star general who evicted the Iraqi army out of Kuwait in 1990.

Now, he’s flying with the angels. Tom Griffin, one of just five surviving Doolittle Raiders, died Tuesday night in his sleep at the Fort Thomas VA hospital in Kentucky. He navigated one of 16 North American B-25 Mitchell bombers from an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Pacific during the early dark days of World War II to launch a surprise daylight attack on Tokyo, lifting American morale. The longtime Green Township, Ohio, resident was 96. By his own count, Mr. Griffin cheated death eight times during World War II. The first time was when he took off in...

Former Navy Seal Gabriel Gomez has announced his intention to run in the special election to fill the vacancy left by John Kerry. A private-equity investor, Gomez now has until the end of the month to collect the 10,000 signatures necessary to get on the ballot. If successful, we would face state Rep. Dan Winslow, a former Romney staffer, in the primary April 30th. “As I look at Washington," Gomez said in a public statement, "I see a lot of unproductive noise and bickering, and I see two parties attacking each other at all times over every issue. I see...

An Indiana, Pa., man was killed Sunday in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles while working on a military-themed reality show for the Discovery Channel. Michael Donatelli, 45, was one of three people, including the pilot, who were killed in the crash, according to Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Jason Brandenburg. The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating. The crash occurred about 3:45 a.m. on the Polsa Rosa Ranch in Acton, north of Los Angeles. Officials at the ranch declined to comment. Mr. Donatelli served four tours of duty in Iraq, worked as a Washington, D.C.,...

Just months after returning from a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan, U.S. Army National Guard veteran Tyler Barge was embroiled in another fight defending the American flag. This time, it involves the management of his Salem, Va. apartment complex. A small American flag, displayed in a cup of dirt on his patio wall, is a violation of the building’s code, he was told. Barge received a notice informing him he must remove the flag, along with a few other items – a broom and table, for instance – deemed inappropriate.

Nathan Haddad, a decorated combat veteran with multiples deployments to Afghanistan, who has spent spent 12 years serving his Country in the United States Army, is now under Arrest!

Press Release - Washington, DC – Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (HI-02) today released the following statement on the news that the Department of Defense will lift the ban on women serving in ground combat roles: “As a twice-deployed combat veteran, I have a firsthand appreciation and understanding of the contributions women in uniform make every single day, all around the world. I have had the honor of serving with incredibly talented female soldiers who, if given the opportunity, would serve as great assets in our ground combat units. It is crucial that we shed light on the great value and opportunities...

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- There's a good news update on a home ransacked and spray painted by a pair of teen burglars in northwest Houston. While the burglars are now in custody, community members and Marines stepped in to help the homeowner -- a 93-year-old World War II veteran. The Marines quickly marched into the defaced home of WWII veteran Elbert Wood, eager to help. "It's important that he knows we're here for him and that we're always his brothers," Major Roberto Rodriguez said. The presence of these local Marines is just one example of the outpouring of support for Wood...

After enduring hours of derision and mockery by the panelists at a Chicago-area guns “forum” Sunday, one man in the audience stood up and addressed the crowd, identified himself as a veteran, and proceeded to give a straightforward but passionate defense of his support for the First and Second Amendments.

Footage from a "Guns and Public Safety Forum" hosted by the New Trier (IL) Democrats on January 20, 2013. A veteran rose to address speakers and defend First and Second Amendments.

Jan. 21, 2013: Two teenagers are accused of spray-painting walls and furniture inside a 93-year-old World War II veteran's home, and police say that paint helped them identify their suspects. Phillip Mena reports.

A Navy veteran can be barred from owning a gun because of a 1968 misdemeanor conviction over a fistfight, a federal appeals court ruled. A three-judge panel in Washington upheld a lower-court ruling “which found ‘no constitutional impediment’ to including common-law misdemeanants” within the federal firearms ban. The lower court observed that “the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited,” U.S. Circuit Judge David Tatel wrote in Friday’s opinion. The federal ban applies to several categories of people, including fugitives, undocumented aliens, those who are judged mentally incompetent or those who have been convicted of felonies or certain...

EDITOR'S NOTE: GET THE TISSUES READY!

Floyd Teske, the oldest veteran in Iowa and a resident at the Iowa Veterans Home, died at the facility Monday at the age of 106. "He had a huge impact on the people here," said Michael Hines, staff assistant to the commandant at IVH. "At 106 years old, he lived a full life." Teske was born July 10, 1906 and is a native of Decorah. In a previous interview with the Times-Republican, Teske said he remembered when World War I ended when he was 12 years old. "Early one morning the fire whistle in Decorah sounded for a long period,"...

"Second Lieutenant Daniel K. Inouye distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 21 April 1945, in the vicinity of San Terenzo, Italy. While attacking a defended ridge guarding an important road junction, Second Lieutenant Inouye skillfully directed his platoon through a hail of automatic weapon and small arms fire, in a swift enveloping movement that resulted in the capture of an artillery and mortar post and brought his men to within 40 yards of the hostile force. Emplaced in bunkers and rock formations, the enemy halted the advance with crossfire from three machine guns. "With complete disregard for his...

'Two-time Oscar nominee Charles Durning - dubbed the king of the character actors - has died aged 89. He died on Christmas Eve of natural causes at his New York City home. Durning portrayed everyone from blustery public officials to put-upon everymen to Big Daddy in a Broadway revival of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. It won him a Tony award in 1990. He was nominated for an Oscar for his over-the-top performance as a corrupt governor in 1982's The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. Just a year later, he got another nomination for Mel Brooks's To Be Or...

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Charles Durning, the two-time Oscar nominee who was dubbed the king of the character actors for his skill in playing everything from a Nazi colonel to the pope, died Monday at his home in New York City. He was 89. Durning's longtime agent and friend, Judith Moss, told The Associated Press that he died Monday of natural causes in his home in the borough of Manhattan. Although he portrayed everyone from blustery public officials to comic foils to put-upon everymen, Durning may be best remembered by movie audiences for his Oscar-nominated, over-the-top role as a comically...

A hero for Hawaii - Daniel Ken Inouye, the grandson of Japanese immigrants, sacrificed his right arm for his country in combat during World War II and devoted much of his life as an unwavering voice for Hawaii in the U.S. Senate [Video, images, text]

We have just learned that Senator Daniel Inouye (D., Hawaii) has passed away at 88. Whatever else the president pro tempore of the Senate was, he was a Nazi-socking badass of a G.I.: In the fall of 1944, Inouye’s unit was shifted to the French Vosges Mountains and spent two of the bloodiest weeks of the war rescuing a Texas Battalion surrounded by German forces. The rescue of “The Lost Battalion” is listed in the U.S. Army annals as one of the most significant military battles of the century. Inouye lost ten pounds, became a platoon leader and won the...

With FReeper AFPhys in Grand Island NY (at home of The Mayor) showing off the Wheelbarrow skills~! Bill at the first Honor Flight out of Akron. He was delighted to chat with Bob Dole. At a Walter Reed Freep - with Bert, Kristinn. He really enjoyed the WH correspondent dinner FReep & time afterward in hotel lounge He may have been old.. but he wasn't stupid!!!! A gentle and kind man has returned to his maker. He was a patriot, FReeper, WW2 Army/AF veteran who received the Bronze Star, and very very young at heart. He buried two wifes...

Lawsuit: Airline, airport workers mistreated paralyzed vet at O'Hare By Jennifer Delgado Tribune reporter 5:37 p.m. CST, November 13, 2012 A former Marine Corps Sergeant who was paralyzed while serving in Afghanistan claims he was mistreated at O'Hare International Airport almost two years ago when airline and airport-related employees injured him and left him to sit in his own urine for nearly two hours. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court, Sgt. Joseph Smith, of North Carolina, says United Airlines and Air Serv Corporation employees refused to help him to his seat during a layover in Chicago...

A U.S. Army officer who received the Bronze Star for valor in combat is also a predator who has roamed the towns near his Colorado military base for two years trying to lure young girls into his van, police revealed. First Lieutenant Aaron G Lucas is also believed to have abducted one nine-year-old girl this past summer and and dropped her off a short time later, according to police. He is charged with kidnapping and sexual assault, among other crimes.

By Etta Pettijohn “Life just happened to us,” Katherine Gavin recalled this week as she sat beside another World War II veteran at the New Mexico Veteran’s Hospital in T-or-C. The petite 91-year-old wore the uniform for this country when there were fewer than 1,000 women who did so for the United States Air Force. Although she eventually managed to travel the world, her armed forces duty took place on the homefront, where she served as a WASP control tower operator at Weir-Cook (known later as Stout) Air Field in Indianapolis, Ind., the ninth in the nation to be certified...

Editor’s Note: Williamsburg resident Joe “Porky” Porcacelli’s oral narrative of his experiences in WWII is available from the Colonel Robert R. McCormick Research Center in Wheaton, IL, http://firstdivisionmuseum.org.> > By Etta Pettijohn >The epic history of WWII has been told through movies and books, but nobody knows the details better than Joe “Porky” Porcacelli. > >His personal war experience was loaded with historic names and places - General George S. Patton Jr., D-Day, Omaha Beach, Nazi prison camps, the Nuremberg Trials, and War Correspondent Ernie Pyle, to name a few. < >Porcacelli quit high school at age 17 and volunteered...

Editor’s Note: Williamsburg resident Joe “Porky” Porcacelli’s oral narrative of his experiences in WWII is available from the Colonel Robert R. McCormick Research Center in Wheaton, IL, http://firstdivisionmuseum.org. Williamsburg Man’s Military Service Gave Close-Up View Of Combat By Etta Pettijohn The epic history of WWII has been told through movies and books, but nobody knows the details better than Joe “Porky” Porcacelli. His personal war experience was loaded with historic names and places - General George S. Patton Jr., D-Day, Omaha Beach, Nazi prison camps, the Nuremberg Trials, and War Correspondent Ernie Pyle, to name a few. Porcacelli quit high...

<p>Paralyzed U.S. Army veteran Daniel Priotti has worn a uniform to celebrate Halloween for years with no problem.</p> <p>But trouble struck -- at the hands of a Marine veteran in a pink tutu -- early Thursday morning at the Pita Pit restaurant at 1702 W. University Ave.</p>

Virginia Congressman: Veterans “Unqualified to Serve” in Congress Because Deployments Prevent Veterans from Serving Local Communities Fairfax, VA – Virginia Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-11) shocked constituents by suggesting that military Veterans are unqualified to serve in Congress because their deployments prevent them from putting “sweat equity” into the districts they hope to serve in Congress. Congressman Connolly is running against Colonel Chris Perkins, a retired officer who served most of his more than 24 years in uniform as an Army Green Beret deployed overseas. Connolly has repeatedly suggested that Perkins’ lack of local involvement because of his military career makes...

I always say a prayer or two when I see prayer requests on FR. I pray a lot. I believe in the power of prayer. Well today there is a Freeper who needs our prayers in his fight against cancer. He is 'hiramknight' here on FR and he is one of my...sorry...he is my closest friend. I have never found anyone who thinks so much like I do. I introduced him to Free Republic and he is someone I can sit with for hours while we discuss and solve all of the world's problems. Scott is a US Navy veteran...

NORTH ANSON, Maine — Despite heavy showers early on and even some light snow, hundreds of people — mostly men, many sporting orange hats, camouflage clothing and carrying guns — were already milling around the former rock quarry on Sunday morning. Start of deer season? Nope. The only deer in sight were decoys or Styrofoam targets, and there was no tagging station in sight. The site was the 10-acre Williams Machine Gun Range and the event was the third annual Wounded Warrior Machine Gun Shoot. Instead of deer, the targets for this event included pumpkins — some with explosive charges...

<p>A debt collector, angered that a disabled US Army veteran was living off of disability payments, told him he “should have died” in war instead of "taking advantage of" other Americans.</p> <p>“If you would have served our country better you would not be a disabled veteran living off Social Security while the rest of us honest Americans work our asses off,” one of the agency’s debt collectors allegedly told the vet. “Too bad, you should have died.”</p>

The Miami Herald Posted on Sat, Sep. 01, 2012 Al Jaffe, WWII hero who inspired movie role, dies in South Florida BY ELINOR J. BRECHER ebrecher@MiamiHerald.com Al Jaffe was a scrappy, streetwise Jewish kid from the Bronx who climbed into a P-51 Mustang fighter plane in the last year of World War II and flew it into history. Second Lt. Abraham “Al’’ Jaffe completed 77 reconnaissance missions in Europe, including one that helped turn the tide of the war during the pivotal Battle of the Bulge. He was also involved in holding the bridge at Remagen, Germany, enabling U.S. troops...

The Germans were the best trained soldiers in the world but they were trained to follow their leaders' commands and weren't taught to think for themselves which was a big difference between them and the U.S. Army soldiers. They said they never knew what the Yanks would do next because we used our heads and did what we thought would work.

The brother of a Navy veteran shot by a deputy in her own backyard wants the sheriff's department to admit its mistake and take responsibility for the incident. Jennifer Orey, 36, was shot Sunday in a surprise encounter with two sheriff's deputies who were searching for a man reportedly in the area wearing a ski mask, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Orey was in her pajamas in her yard around 10:30 p.m. because she heard noises and thought it was her ex-husband, the newspaper reports. Orey and Deputy Luke Berhalter came in contact and the officer's firearm discharged at point-blank...

Constitutional Attorney John Whitehead, who represented wrongly-incarcerated marine Brandon J. Raub for free, appeared on Glenn Beck’s program to talk about how Brandon is unfortunately not alone in many ways.

A Chesterfield County man and Marine veteran is in a local hospital after being picked up by federal and local law enforcement officials concerned about threatening Internet postings. Brandon J. Raub, 26, was in Hopewell's John Randolph Medical Center on Saturday. "I'm currently in John Randolph in the psychiatric ward being held against my will," Raub said in a telephone interview. Reports of his detention Thursday have gone viral on the Internet. Raub said Secret Service, FBI and Chesterfield police officers came to his home Thursday. "They were concerned about me calling for the arrest of government officials," he said....

Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin Engel lands at Elizabethtown Memorial Gardens during the funeral of James Maynard Pile, to honor the veteran Saturday. The family wanted a skydiver at the funeral of their loved one, who was an Army paratrooper in World War II and was shot upon landing on a battlefield in France.

My name is (Deleted) and I am a Veteran of the U.S. Army. I was deployed in efforts of Operation Iraqi Freedom I (2003). I am contacting you because I am concerned over the way the GiBill standard of living payments are being handled by the Veterans Administration and how it is close to impossible for a Veteran to contact the VA over the phone to handle this matter or others. I am a student at (Deleted) University where the year is broken down into 2 sessions that are 8 weeks long that make up one semester. I don’t know...

The premiere of a film to honor World War II veterans broke the Guinness World Record on Saturday for the largest attendance at a film screening. The previous world record of 27,022 attendees was set in 2010 in Brazil. According to the producers of the film “Honor Flight,” the premiere of their documentary — highlighting stories from the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight program, which flies World War II veterans to see the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. — beat the record with a crowd of 28,442.

From Politco: "On Wednesday, a lifelong friend, Major Tom Kennedy, an Army Ranger, was killed by a suicide bomber while serving in Afghanistan. We grew up playing hockey together, and went to high school together (where we played) before he went to West Point. He was in the first infantry to ride into the Iraq airport, and was on his fourth tour. Tommy leaves behind two little twins, Maggie and Brody, who turn two next month. We've established a fund to raise money (which will then be given directly to at the family trust when established).” http://www.youcaring.com/fundraiser_details?fundraiser_id=7264&url=kennedysangels

Police set up a command center near the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin where at least one gunman stormed the mass and opened fire on Aug. 5, 2012 Oak Creek, Wis. (credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images) Filed under News, Syndicated Local Related tags shooting, Sikh Temple, Wade Michael Page, Wisconsin OAK CREEK, Wis. (CBSDC/AP) — Authorities tell CBS News that the shooter behind the deadly massacre at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin Sunday has been identified as 40-year-old Wade Michael Page. Page previously served in the U.S. military, but was no longer on active duty, sources tell CBS News. CBS News reports...

Daniel Rodriguez is about to fulfill a dream, and more importantly to him, keep a promise to a brother-in-arms. Rodriguez found out this week he had been cleared by the NCAA and the Atlantic Coast Conference to join Clemson's football team as a walk-on receiver. Once Rodriguez trots onto the practice field Friday in his orange No. 83 for Clemson's first practice, he'll complete a transformation from a struggling teenager to a young man who's achieved his goal after witnessing some of the most horrific fighting in Afghanistan. "It's been kind of long journey," he said Wednesday. Rodriguez played football...

CLACKAMAS, Ore. - A fight over the American flag is brewing at the Clackamas Town Center. The manager of the children's train at the mall says he's being forced to remove flags that he uses to decorate the train ride. Why? The mall told him the flags are against policy. Thomas Phelps said he was floored when he got a letter from mall management telling him that the flags were "unapproved visuals." That reference didn't sit too well with Phelps, who also happens to be a military veteran. "That is dedicated to veterans and military, police, firefighters, EMTs - all...

GLENDORA {california} (CBS) — A man accused of breaking into a car at a cemetery while pretending to be a mourner was behind bars Thursday, according to police. Glendora Police arrested Jose Angel Abrajan, 31, on suspicion of grand theft that allegedly occurred on June 18 at Oakdale Cemetery at 1401 S. Grand Avenue in Glendora. Abrajan allegedly broke into a car while pretending to be a mourner at a funeral for a former U.S. Marine and Vietnam veteran. After the ceremony, the deceased man’s daughter realized her purse had been stolen from inside her SUV. Family members reviewed photos...

Ermes Efron Borgnino was born in Hamden, Conn., on Jan. 24, 1917, the son of Italian immigrant parents. The family lived in Milan when the boy was 2 to 7, then returned to Connecticut, where he attended school in New Haven. Borgnine joined the Navy in 1935 and served on a destroyer during World War II. He weighed 135 pounds when he enlisted. He left the Navy 10 years later, weighing exactly 100 pounds more. "I wouldn't trade those 10 years for anything," he said in 1956. "The Navy taught me a lot of things. It molded me as a...