Free Republic

Retired Air Force Sgt. Charise Harper knew in high school that she wanted a career in the military. She sought the structure and career training that she knew the military would provide, and she thrived for 14 years until taking medical retirement. As easy as it was for Harper to make the decision to live the military life, the decisions involved with civilian life were more difficult. "I always wanted to live in New Orleans, and it was the place I chose when I was able to choose where I would live for the first time in my adult life,"...

TUCSON, Ariz. - A disturbing discovery near an abandoned plant off I-19. A documentary crew is shown an underground bunker believed to be used for human trafficking of children. Tucson Police tells us that they are not ruling out the possibility that it was used for human trafficking, but they say they believe the bunker is most likely being used as a homeless camp. Former Navy Seal Craig Sawyer is currently filming "Contraland" to expose the dark side of child sex slavery. Sawyer tells KGUN 9 a homeless advocacy group called his crew after they discovered the underground bunker --...

First lady Melania Trump is expected to attend a White House event on Monday evening to honor Gold Star families, her spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, confirms to CNN. Although the President and Mrs. Trump hosted a similar event last year, the attendance of the first lady at this year's reception will mark the first time she has participated in an official event, either alone or by her husband's side, since May 10 when the first couple greeted freed American prisoners upon their return to Andrews Air Force Base following captivity in North Korea. Four days later, the first lady entered Walter...

Details are set forth in the School and Firearm Safety Action Plan, released May 30, 2018. Abbott’s plan also focuses on the use of retired police officers and 'employing veterans' to serve as armed patrols in Texas schools: Texas public schools are permitted to hire any person who is a licensed peace officer to provide campus security. Texas retired and off-duty peace officers already have extensive firearms and emergency response training, and many would be willing and able to protect Texas campuses. Texas should authorize schools to prioritize recruitment and hiring of such personnel to protect their campuses and their...

AFGE condemns the Senate’s passage of a bill that would open the door to privatization of the country’s largest health care system.Once signed by President Trump, the VA MISSION Act, which focuses on funneling dollars to the private, for-profit sector, will allow for the outsourcing of 36 health care categories including mental health care and spinal cord injury care and allow a private corporate-style commission with unfettered power to decide which VA facilities to close. The act will force veterans into a for-profit private hospital after the closure of their VA.AFGE had attempted to amend the VA MISSION Act to...

In his first Memorial Day remarks as commander-in-chief, President Donald Trump paid tribute to fallen U.S. service members and their families. During his speech at Arlington National Cemetery, Trump saluted Brittany Jacobs and her 7-year-old son, Christian, who was dressed like a Marine. Jacobs’ father, Marine Sgt. Christopher Jacobs, died during a training accident in California in 2011. “Last year at Arlington Cemetery, I met a young boy named Christian Jacobs. He was special,” Trump said. “He was standing fully in a uniform. His father was a great man to him and he was a great man to me. And...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the past six years, business dreams have become a reality for 30 military veterans thanks to Dream Vacations' award-winning annual contest "Operation Vetrepreneur: Become Your Own General" contest. Each year five veterans are awarded a travel agency franchise, and in 2018, the best franchise opportunity for veterans is expanding its contest to award seven veterans with a free franchise, as a result of a grant from the International Franchise Association (IFA) for winning the Gold Franchising Gives Back award in the "Supporting our Veterans" category. The contest will begin on Memorial...

SEOUL, South Korea – Americans and South Koreans paid respects Monday to 28 fallen U.S. servicemembers buried at a foreigner cemetery in Seoul. Hosted by American Legion Post 38 and the South Korean Freedom is Not Free Society, the tenth annual Ben Delahunty Memorial Day ceremony brought more than 100 people from both nations to the tiny Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery overlooking the Han river. The quiet, hour-long ceremony saw Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets from nearby Yongsan Garrison plant U.S. flags on the grave sites. Some of the tombstones remain scarred by bullets from the Korean War. The...

“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined.” – Patrick Henry  “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” – Benjamin Franklin In May 1942, with the U.S. Pacific fleet down to just three carriers after heavy losses incurred at the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway, the USS Wasp, after having distinguished itself in the Atlantic war, embarked to fight the Japanese in the Pacific. After...

Memorial Day, as veterans are quick to point out, is a day to remember America's fallen warriors—not the former ones. (That's Veteran's Day). But it turns out America's military has quite a bit to celebrate this year—in large part thanks to President Trump. When Donald Trump first took office, "Americans really didn't know if this guy was going to get us into a war," says Real Clear Politics pollster Sean Trende. "There was real worry about how risky it was to elect him president." Among military hawks, the concern was Trump's "America First" rhetoric leading to U.S. withdrawal from the...

Have you ever been in a cemetery and saw coins laying on a tombstone? Col. Dave Taylor, a Vietnam War veteran, explained the tradition and the reason behind it. A coin left on a headstone lets the deceased soldier's family know that somebody stopped by to pay their respects. If you leave a penny, it means you visited. A nickel means that you and the deceased soldier trained at boot camp together. If you served with the soldier, you leave a dime. A quarter is very significant because it means that you were there when that soldier was killed.

Tonight as my birthday was headed toward its end, I did something I've done once a year for a few decades. I found an American in uniform and offered him/her a monetary thank-you for keeping me and my family safe. It's my annual birthday present to myself. I've always kept this gesture to myself, but tonight's experience was unusual so I thought I'd share it. I walked into a 7-11 near Ft. Belvoir, figuring I'd find someone in uniform. I brought a $100 bill. The goal was to encourage one servicemember to have a nice dinner on me.

A western central Texas community jumped in to help an area veterans group raise funds to restore a war memorial that mysteriously sustained thousands of dollars of damage in the past week. Breitbart Texas reported that four of 12 commemorative granite tablets, part of a larger memorial, were found in pieces on Sunday by Harold Stieber, president of the Central Texas Veterans Memorial Committee. He estimated the replacement tablets could cost more than $40,000. The Central Texas Veterans Memorial recognizes all U.S. war veterans in a dozen stone structures and 14 plaques but specifically pays homage to the 259 locals who...

As on every Memorial Day, small flags will be placed next to neat, respectful rows of headstones at military cemeteries across America. Neat and respectful is not how you would describe Mare Island Naval Cemetery – a forsaken plot of hallowed ground that fell between the cracks of Pentagon base closings and the city of Vallejo’s bankruptcy. The oldest military cemetery on the West Coast is in utter disrepair. It is the final resting place for 800-plus veterans, including a few who fought in the War of 1812 and three Medal of Honor recipients. The daughter of Francis Scott Key,...

A group of veterans from the Vietnam War who recently met for a reunion in Florida are searching for one of their comrades who they only knew by a nickname. 'Louisiana' is seen in photos with curly brown hair and a goofy face and his friends from the war remember the warm personality he had during the dark times. 'The picture represents the beautiful grin he had almost all the time,' said veteran James Garvin - who took the photo - to WBRZ. According to a Facebook post from wife Susan Waldrop Garvin, 'Louisiana' was a grunt on the ground,...

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe Come on in, we're open Need a place just to hang out? This is it. We serve coffee, tea, conversation and music. Our AWESOME military, our AWESOME allies, and their families are welcomed and honored here. No worries in the FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe. Grab a cup or a glass, and start a conversation.You never know who you might meet in the Cafe. Glad...

President Trump donated his salary for the first quarter of 2018 to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the White House said Thursday. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump’s $100,000 quarterly salary will go toward the VA’s caregiver programs. The president is donating his salary each quarter to "important projects," she said....

MSNBC terrorism analyst Malcolm Nance has long been a source of anti-conservative hysteria, but he outdid his self this week with a malicious smear against military veterans who support our President Donald Trump. A panel hosted by Joy Reid attacked the character of military veterans who support President Donald Trump on Saturday, as Malcolm Nance, who previously called for a terrorist attack by ISIS against a Trump property, said that veterans who support the president are “not honorable.” Nance said: “And these military people love him, all right? And I’m just going to come right out and say it: not...

Ernest L. Medina, the Army captain who was accused of overall responsibility for the March 1968 mass killings of unarmed South Vietnamese men, women and children by troops he commanded in what became known as the My Lai massacre, but was acquitted at a court-martial, died on Tuesday in Peshtigo, Wis. He was 81.

Disabled veterans who may not have realized they can apply to have their student loans forgiven — or who were afraid of the tax implications of claiming the benefit — will soon be getting letters in the mail inviting them to apply for tax-free loan discharges. Until recently, the IRS treated student loan forgiveness granted to disabled borrowers as taxable income. The plight of retired Army 1st. Lt. Will Milzarski, an Afghan war vet who was received a $70,000 tax bill after having $223,000 in loans forgiven, helped inspire Congress to change the law. As part of the changes to...