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FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- Former Gov. Sarah Palin attended Thursday afternoon's welcome home ceremony for the 1st Stryker Brigade from Fort Wainwright at the Carlson Center. The appearance is Palin's first in the United States since resigning her office in July. Palin's oldest son, Track, is a member of the brigade that recently returned from a yearlong deployment in Iraq. Current Gov. Sean Parnell, who took over for Palin, was among the officials scheduled to speak at the Thursday afternoon public event. A memorial unveiled Wednesday at Fort Wainwright bears the names of 12 soldiers who died during the deployment. Seven...

On this date in 1942, General Wainwright surrendered the American forces on Corregidor. Those men (my father among them), and a small number of nurses began their captivity at the hands of the Japanese army.My respects to the Americans and Filipinos who were The Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor.

Soldiers stationed in Alaska, who are used to below-freezing temperatures, are just now finishing a mission that not only provided them invaluable desert training for their coming mission in Iraq but also snared thousands of undocumented immigrants and thousands of pounds of marijuana. More than 400 soldiers in the U.S. Army's 4th Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, stationed in Wainwright, Alaska, were part of "Operation Bootheel," which paired them with U.S. Border Patrol agents in southwest and south-central New Mexico. "They're a cav unit, so their job is to observe and track the enemy and then...

Among my many occupations as an average working class guy, I sell honey at a local farmer's market. Today, a tall gentleman came to my booth. His posture and bearing was military even through the withering effects of age. I noticed this immediately and looked him over to observe, rather than to see. On the inside of his left forearm he bore a blurred tattoo. My father carries a tattoo from WWII that has become blurred and indistinct with time. The lettering on the tattoo was blurred like a jail-house tattoo, but the age of the man and the date...