The FReeper Foxhole - Military Related News in Review - August 18th, 2003

various news sources

[snippy_about_it]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

God Bless America
...................................................................................... ...........................................

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

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REPORTER KILLED NEAR ABU GHYRIAB PRISON

FORMER REGIME LOYALIST DETAINED

COALITION AND IRAQI PEOPLE WORK TO MAKE IRAQ SECURE

4ID SOLDIER KILLED

SOLDIER KILLED IN CONVOY ATTACK

THIRD TRIPARTITE COMMISSION MEETS AT BAGRAM

ONE KILLED, ONE INJURED IN TRAFFIC ACCIDENT

PALESTINE HOTEL INVESTIGATION CONCLUDES

ONE KILLED, TWO WOUNDED IN CONVOY AMBUSH

COALITION AND IRAQI PEOPLE WORK TO MAKE IRAQ SECURE

OPERATION IVY LIGHTNING

STATEMENT FROM CENTRAL COMMAND (coalition soldiers fired on)

ONE KILLED, TWO WOUNDED IN IED ATTACK

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Clic on the Iraq banner for detailed information.

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Clic on the Afghanistan banner for detailed information.

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Iraq's 55 Most Wanted - Status Link

DoD News Releases

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Casuality Identification List for the past week from the DoD

August 11, 2003
DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of four soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. Floyd G. Knighten, Jr., 55, of Olla, La., died on Aug. 9 in Iraq. Knighten died as a result of a non-combat related cause while in a convoy from Camp Bilad heading to Camp Pennsylvania. Knighten was assigned to the 1087th Transportation Support Company, Army National Guard, Fort Polk, La.

Spc. Levi B. Kinchen, 21, of Tickfaw, La., died on Aug. 9 in Baghdad, Iraq. A fellow soldier tried to wake Kinchen and noticed he was not breathing. Kinchen was assigned to 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Polk, La.

Pvt. Matthew D. Bush, 20, of East Alton, Ill., died on Aug. 8 in Camp Caldwell, Iraq. A fellow soldier tried to wake Bush and noticed he was not breathing. Bush was assigned to F Troop, 1st Squadron, 10th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas.

Pfc. Duane E. Longstreth, 19, of Tacoma, Wash., died on Aug. 7 in Baghdad, Iraq. Longstreth died as a result of non-combat related injuries. Longstreth was assigned to Company B, 307th Engineer Battalion, Fort Bragg, N.C.

These incidents are under investigation.

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August 12, 2003
DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today that Staff Sgt. David S. Perry, 36, of Bakersfield, Calif., was killed on Aug. 10 in Baquabah, Iraq. Perry was inspecting a suspicious package when it exploded and fatally injured him.

Perry was assigned to 649th Military Police Company, U.S. Army National Guard, Camp San Luis Obispo, Calif.

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August 12, 2003
DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today that Pfc. Brandon Ramsey, 21, of Calumet City, Ill, died on Aug. 8 in Tallil, Iraq. Ramsey was part of a convoy escort mission when the vehicle he was in rolled over during a chase of a suspicious vehicle and fatally injured him.

Ramsey was assigned to the 933rd Military Police Company, U.S. Army National Guard, Chicago, Ill.

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August 13, 2003
DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today that Staff Sgt. Richard S. Eaton Jr., 37, of Guilford, Conn., died on August 12 in Ar Ramadi, Iraq. A fellow soldier tried to wake Eaton and noticed he was not breathing.

Eaton was assigned to the 323rd Military Intelligence Battalion, U.S. Army Reserves, based at Fort Meade, Md.

Incident is under investigation.

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August 13, 2003
DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today that Pfc. Daniel R. Parker, 18, of Lake Elsinore, Calif., died on Aug. 12 in Mosul, Iraq. Parker was thrown from his vehicle when the driver swerved to avoid an oncoming vehicle in another lane. Parker was fatally injured.

Parker was assigned to B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.

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August 14, 2003
DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today that Pfc. Timmy R. Brown, Jr., 21, of Conway, Pa., was killed on Aug. 12 in Taji, Iraq. Brown was in a convoy when he was injured by an explosive device. Brown died of his injuries.

Brown was assigned to D Company, 519th Military Intelligence Battalion, Fort Bragg, N.C.

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August 14, 2003
DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today that Sgt. Taft V. Williams, 29, of New Orleans, La., was killed on August 12 near Ar Ramadi, Iraq. Williams was in a convoy when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device. Williams died of his injuries.

Williams was assigned to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Carson, Colo.

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August 15, 2003
DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today that Sgt. Steven W. White, 29, of Lawton, Okla., was killed on August 13 in Tikrit, Iraq. White died of injuries sustained when his M113 armored personnel carrier hit an antitank mine.

White was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery Regiment, based at Fort Hood, Texas.

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Defend America. mil Photo Essay - Medevac Mission

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New Attack Submarine Virginia Christened


This is the sixth U.S. Navy ship to carry the name Virginia since the original USS Virginia was commissioned in 1777. The most recent USS Virginia was the nuclear powered cruiser CGN 38, which was decommissioned in 1994.
Full Story here.

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Soldiers with the 151st Romanian Infantry set up a stall where the women will be searched for illegal contraband during a vehicle checkpoint established by U.S. and Romanian forces on highway 4 near the providence of Spin Buldak, Afghanistan, Aug. 12, 2003. The checkpoint was to prevent smuggling of any weapons into Afghanistan from Pakistan. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Hugo A. Baray-Vasquez) (Released)

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Select any button below to go to the respective Military homepages for more news and information on our Armed Forces.

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[snippy_about_it]

Officials: No intention of lowering pay for troops in Iraq, Afghanistan

WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2003 – Pentagon officials have no intention of lowering total compensation for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Defense Department's top personnel officer said Aug. 14.

David S.C. Chu, defense undersecretary for personnel and readiness, took questions from the media on the topic in response to published media reports suggesting DoD would cut the pay of forces serving overseas in the war on terrorism.

At issue are temporary increases Congress approved in April for two forms of compensation: imminent danger pay and family separation allowance.

Imminent danger pay went from $150 per month to $225, while family separation pay increased from $100 to $250 per month. The two increases are set to expire Sept. 30, and defense officials have urged Congress not to extend them, saying they are unfunded.

But, Chu stressed, this doesn't mean troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan will see a cut in take-home pay. "We are not going to reduce their compensation," Chu said. Another senior official called the notion that the Pentagon would cut pay to combat troops "absurd."
Link to Chu press conference

Link to DoD Statement on Family Separation Allowance and Imminent Danger Pay

[snippy_about_it]

[snippy_about_it]

.......FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

.......Good Monday Morning Everyone!


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[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.

It's hot here in Oklahoma. How are things where you are?:-D

[snippy_about_it]

Morning EGC. We actually have a cool morning here this morning. I'm in shock. LOL.

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning Snippy, Sam, Darksheare, everyone!
How be ya today?
Snippy, Sam, Darksheare, I really have had Starsbucks coffee now!!
WHOO HOO!

[snippy_about_it]

Good Morning. Welcome back.

So what did you have at Starbucks and how was it?

[Soaring Feather]

Well, Snippy, first off I had my Starbucks coffee in our nations capital, Washington DC, in the Washington Hilton Towers, where I competed in a contest with thousands of poets.

The coffee was great.

Oh, I won a book publishing contract.

[Colonel_Flagg]

Good morning, good morning!

Gonna be over 90 in the north woods today, which is like 120 anywhere else ;)

Hope you had a great weekend.

[snippy_about_it]

Oh, I won a book publishing contract.

Congratulations!

That's wonderful, you must be thrilled. We wondered where you were off to.

So when is this book by the poet bentfeather going to be coming out. Of course I expect a signed autographed copy. :)

[snippy_about_it]

It is finally cooler here than in the last two months. The weekend wasn't long enough of course.

Stay cool in the heat. Hope you are doing well. ;)

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on August 18:
472 Flavius Ricimer general of the Western Roman Empire, kingmaker
1276 Adrianus V, [Ottobono Fieschi], Italian Pope (7/11-8/18/1276)
1503 Alexander VI, [Rodrigo the Borja], Spanish Pope (1492-1503)
1587 Virginia Dare 1st American born of English parents
1685 Brook Taylor England, mathematician, discoverer of Taylor's Theorem
1750 Antonio Salieri Italy, composer (Tatare)
1774 Meriwether Lewis, American explorer who led the Corps of Discovery with William Clark
1778 Fabian Gottlieb von Bellinghausen 1st to circumnavigate Antarctica
1792 John 1st Earl Russell, British Whig PM (1846-52, 1865-66)
1834 Marshall Field founded Chicago-based store chain
1873 Otto Harbach songwriter (Smoke Gets in Your Eyes)
1896 Alan Mowbray London England, actor (Dante, Colonel Flack)
1900 Walter O'Keefe Hartford Ct, songwriter/TV host (Mayor of Hollywood)
1904 Max Factor Jr CEO (Max Factor Cosmetics)
1904 Sterling W Cole (Rep-R-NY)
1906 Andre Van Gyseghem England, actor (Search for the Nile)
1907 Enoch Light Canton Ohio, orch leader (Gulf Road Show with Bob Smith)
1916 Elsa Morante Italy, writer (L'isola di Arturo)
1916 Moura Lympany Saltash England, pianist (OBE-1979)
1917 Casper Weinberger US Secretary of Defense (1981-87)
1919 Walter J Hickel (Gov-R-Alaska)/US Secretary of Interior (1969-71)
1922 Alain Robbe-Grillet France, novelist (Voyeur)
1922 Shelley Winters [Schrift], St Louis Mo, actress (Poisidon Adventure)
1924 Mohammad Zia Ul-Haq pres of Pakistan (1978-88)
1927 Rosalynn Carter Georgia, 1st lady, Pres Carter's main lust
1930 Grant Williams NYC, actor (Greg-Hawaiian Eye)
1930 Johnny Preston Port Arthur, Tx, rocker (Feel So Fine)
1933 Roman Polanski director (Knife in the Water, Repulsion)
1934 Rafer Lewis Johnson US, decathalete (Olympic-gold-1960)
1934 Roberto Clemente pro baseball player (Pittsburgh Pirates)
1935 Gail Fisher Orange NJ, actress (Peggy-Mannix)
1937 Robert Redford Calif, actor (Sting, Candidate, Natural, Great Gatsby)
1941 Christopher Jones Jackson TN, actor (Wild in the Streets)
1943 Martin Mull Chic Ill, actor/comedian (Bad Manners, Flick, Serial)
1945 Nona Hendryx Trenton NJ, rocker (LaBelle-Lady Marmalade)
1948 Rudy Hartono Kurniawan Indonesia, All-England tennis champ
1951 Candice Earley actress (Donna Tyler-All My Children)
1952 Patrick Swayze Houston Tx, actor/dancer (Dirty Dancing, Ghost)
1961 John Viscardi NYC, actor (Father Tony-One Life to Live)
1967 Blas Elias Gomez Kennedy TX, rock drummer (Slaughter-Stick it Live)
1967 Tracy Tracy rocker (Primitives-Lovely, Lump of Coal)
1968 Greta Lind actress (Katie Kennicott-All My Children)
1970 Malcolm Jamal Warner Jersey City NJ, actor (Theodore-Cosby Show)
1971 Trey Ames Canton Oh, actor (David-A Year in the Life)

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Deaths which occurred on August 18:
1227 Genghis Khan Mongol conqueror, died
1952 Ralph Byrd actor (Dick Tracy TV Show), dies at 43
1959 Harvey Glatmin executed
1961 Learned Hand Chief judge of US court of Appeals, dies at 89
1968 Cy Walter pianist (3's Company), dies at 52
1982 Beverly Bayne actress, dies at 87
1988 Frederick Ashton choreographer (Cinderella), dies at 83
1990 B.F. Skinner psychologist (Skinner Box), dies from Leukemia at 86

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1964 UOM CHEM BARUNG THAILAND
1966 RYKOSKEY EDWARD J. CARLISLE PA.
1968 DAVIS DANIEL R. ATLANTA GA.
[REMAINS IDENTIFIED 21 AUG 95]
1971 KUYKENDALL WILLIE C. BATESVILLE MS.
1971 WEAKS MELVIN L. CONCORD NC.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
0410 King Alarik I's Visigoths occupy & plunders Rome
1587 1st English child born in the New World (Virginia Dare)
1590 - John White returns to Roanoke, VA & finds no trace of colonists he had left there 3 yrs earlier
1686 Cassini reports seeing a satellite orbiting Venus
1759 The French fleet is destroyed by the British under "Old Dreadnought" Boscawen at the battle of Lagos Bay.
1769 Gunpowder in Brescia Italy church explodes, killing 3,000
1817 Gloucester, Mass, newspapers tells of wild sea serpent seen offshore
1834 Mt Vesuvius erupts
1835 Last Pottawatomie Indians leave Chicago
1838 1st US marine expedition
1846 Gen Stephen W Kearney's US forces captures Santa Fe, NM
1862 - Sioux Indians begin uprising in Minnesota
1864 Petersburg Campaign-Battle of Weldon Railroad day 1 of 3 days
1868 Pierre Janssan discovers helium in solar spectrum during eclipse
1873 1st ascent of Mount Whitney, Calif (14,494')
1894 Congress creates Bureau of Immigration
1914 Pres Wilson issues Proclamation of Neutrality
1920 Tennessee ratifies 19th Amendment, guarantees women voting right
1930 Eastern Airlines begins passenger service
1936 106.5ø F-Hottest afternoon ever in Iowa
1938 FDR dedicates Thousand Islands Bridge connecting US & Canada
1941 Phillies commit 8 errors in a game
1943 Final convoy of Jews from Salonika Greece arrive at Auschwitz
1943 Otto Skorzeny's Heinkel-111 shot down at Sardinia
1946 Golf Writers Associaton of America formed
1947 Naval torpedo & mine factory explodes at Cadiz, Spain killing 300
1954 Asst Sec of Labor James Wilkins became 1st black to attend cabinet
1956 Cincinnati Reds (8) & Cubs (2) combine to hit 10 HRs in a 9 inning game
1956 - Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog/Don't Be Cruel" reaches #1
1957 Amelia Wershoven sets record of female throwing a baseball (252'4«")
1957 Juan-Manuel Fangio, wins his last auto World Championship at 46
1958 Betsy Palmer joins the Today Show panel
1958 Fidel Castro makes a speech on Cuban pirate radio Rebelde
1958 Great Britain issues regional stamps (N Ireland, Scotland & Wales)
1958 Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov, published
1958 TV game show scandal investigation starts
1960 1st photograph bounced off a satellite, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
1961 Construction on Berlin Wall completed
1962 Peter, Paul & Mary release their 1st hit "If I Had a Hammer"
1963 James Meredith became 1st black graduate from U of Mississippi
1965 Hank Aaron loses a HR, because he hit it out of the batter's box
1965 Operation Starlite marks the beginning of major U.S. ground combat operations in Vietnam.
1966 Australian troops repulse a Viet Cong attack at Long Tan.
1967 Rolling Stones release "We Love You"
1972 Police fine Paul & Linda McCartney $800 in Sweden cannabis possession
1973 Hank Aaron's record 1,378 extra base hit surpasses Stan Musial record
1976 USSR's Luna 24 soft-lands on Moon
1978 Memphis, Tenn, settles with striking police officers & firefighters
1979 Iran Ayatollah Khomeini demands Saintly War against Kurds
1981 Jerry Lewis appears on "Donahue" to defend Telethons
1982 1st time NYSE tops 100 M figure, 132.69 M shares traded
1982 LA Dodgers beat Chicago Cubs, 6-5, in 21 innings (game started 8/17)
1982 Pete Rose sets record with his 13,941st plate appearance
1983 Hurricane Alicia battered Houston & Galveston, Texas
1983 Royals defeat Yanks, 5-4, completing "pine-tar" game (12 minutes)
1983 Samantha Druce, age 12y 119d is youngest woman to swim English Channel
1984 Triangle Oil Corp, above-ground storage tank at Jacksonville Fla, spills 2.5 m gallons of oil burned after lightning sparked a fire
1986 Crockett's Tavern opens in Fort Wilderness
1986 WYSP-FM Philadelphia begins simulcasting Howard Stern Show
1987 Philip Rush of NZ, set record for triple crossing English Channel. His time 28:21, 10 hours faster than the 1st man to do it
1988 FDA approves Minoxidil as a hair loss treatment
1988 Largest house (130 rooms) on Long Island sold for $22 million
1988 Republican Convention in New Orleans select Bush-Quayle ticket
1989 Arturo Barrios of Mexico sets the 10K record (27:08.23) in Berlin
1991 Pan Am games closes in Havana
1991 On the eve of the planned signing of a new Union treaty for the U.S.S.R., eight senior officials of the Soviet government and military launched the August Coup against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Hawaii : Admission Day (1959) ( Friday )
Mich : Montrose-Blueberry Festival ( Friday )
Bad Poetry Day

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Religious Observances
RC : Commemoration of St Agapitus, martyr
RC : Comm of St Helena, empress, mother of Constantine the Great
Ang : Commemoration of William Porcher DuBose, priest

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Religious History
1688 Puritan clergyman John Bunyan, 69, preached his last sermon, before dying 13 days later. In 1678 he had authored Pilgrim's Progress, an allegory describing the difficulties encountered in the Christian life, while journeying through this world.
1856 Birth of Charles Gabriel, American sacred music artist. He edited a great number of hymnbooks, and wrote several hymns, including "More Like the Master," "I Stand Amazed in the Presence" and "Send the Light."
1927 At age 20, Christian radio pioneer Theodore Epp was converted to a living faith. In 1939 he founded Back to the Bible Broadcast, an evangelistic radio program with outlets today on over 600 stations around the world.
1930 English apologist C. S. Lewis wrote in a letter: 'One creeps home, tired and bruised, into a state of mind that is really restful, when all ambitions have been given up. Then one can really for the first time say, "Thy Kingdom come."
1963 Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth wrote in a letter: 'Even if there is cause for great dissatisfaction with one's church, one should stay in it in the hope that new movements will come.... Only in this way could I continue to be a member of the Evangelical Reformed Church.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"If rabbits feet are so lucky, what happened to the rabbit?"

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You might be a dog lover if...
you decide you might have kids so the dog will have playmates

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Murphy's Law of the Day...
"Far-away talent always seems better than home-developed talent."

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Cliff Clavin say's it's a little known fact that...
The Chinese were using aluminum to make things as early as 300 AD Western civilization didn't rediscover aluminum until 1827.

[snippy_about_it]

Thought for the day : "If rabbits feet are so lucky, what happened to the rabbit?"

oooh. I hadn't thought of that. lol.

[aomagrat]

Today's classic warship, USS Astoria (CL-90)

Cleveland class light cruiser
Displacement 10,000 t.
Lenght 610'1"
Beam 66'4"
Draft 25'
Speed 32.5 k.
Complement 1255
Armament 12 6", 12 5" 28 40mm, 10 20mm, 4 Aircraft

USS Astoria, a 10,000-ton Cleveland class light cruiser, was built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Commissioned in mid-May 1944, she made a shakedown cruise in the Western Atlantic and, late in September, transited the Panama Canal en route to join the war against Japan. The new cruiser's first combat operation took place in December 1944, when she screened Task Force 38 aircraft carriers during the Mindoro invasion. Astoria continued her carrier escort duties for the next five months, as the fleet raided targets on the Asian mainland, Formosa and in Japan and supported amphibious campaigns against Luzon, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. During March-May 1945 she helped fight off intense enemy air attacks, claiming to have shot down eleven hostile aircraft. Following repairs in the Philippines during June, Astoria rejoined the carriers during their Japan raids of July and August. She also took part in surface anti-shipping sweeps off the enemy coast.

Immediately after Japan's early September surrender Astoria steamed across the Pacific to California. She operated in the West Coast and Hawaiian areas for the next three years and made a cruise in the Central Pacific between October 1946 and February 1947. Her final active service was a Far Eastern cruise that lasted from October 1948 until March 1949. Preparations for inactivation followed, with the ship decommissioning at the beginning of July 1949.

She was part of the Pacific Reserve Fleet for the next two decades, initially at San Francisco and, after 1958, at San Diego. USS Astoria was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in November 1969 and sold for scrapping in January 1971.

[snippy_about_it]

Thank you aomagrat. Nice looking warship.

[aomagrat]

I wish I had one.

[snippy_about_it]

I wish I had one.

I bet you do! The tough decision would be who to fire those big guns on first. lol.

[Johnny Gage]

Oh, I won a book publishing contract.

Congratulations Bentfeather!

Soon to be a "published" poet!

[CholeraJoe]

Good morning, ma'am. What the hell's going on in Iraq? You reported three deaths that were FDIB's (Found Dead in Bed) That just doesn't happen when there's no alcohol or drugs available. I'll be watching to see what develops.

[Soaring Feather]

Thanks so much Johnny!!