***Operation Infinite Freedom - Situation Room - 26 MAY 03/Day 68 - LIVE THREAD***

Everywhere TexKat goes, or Ragtime Cowgirl transcribes... | 26 MAY 03 - Memorial Day (observed) | null and void

[Kip Lange]

Happy Memorial Day.

Slight moment of semi-levity to break things up a bit...dated yet relevant P.J. O'Rourke piece (PDF format):

http://www.cato.org/pubs/letters/orourke-catosletters.pdf

"One nice thing about being a Godzilla is that Godzilla doesn't get scared."

[TexKat]

U.S. Naval Sea Cadets Corps Alex Baker, 15, of Wellington, Fla., holds a Memorial Day wreath at Royal Palm Memorial Gardens in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Memorial Day, After Iraq

CBS) President Bush marks Memorial Day with a wreath-laying at Arlington National Cemetery, paying special tribute to troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Mr. Bush and his wife, Laura, returned from a long weekend at their home in Crawford, Texas, on Sunday to prepare for Monday's holiday observance that included a White House reception for military families.

[TexKat]

President Bush designated 11 a.m. Monday in each time zone as a time for Americans to unite in prayer. He also called on Americans and the news media to observe a National Moment of Remembrance beginning at 3 p.m. local time.

[TexKat]

Kurds' aims threaten Iraq stability effort

ULAYMANIYAH, Iraq -- For the first time in at least 40 years, the Kurds of northern Iraq face no enmity or repression from the government of the country. Their joy and relief are exuberant.

Crowds throng the streets of major cities like Sulaymaniyah and Erbil, buying, selling, talking politics, and embracing any American they find to express gratitude for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. Pictures of President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain are displayed alongside those of Kurdish leaders.

[DollyCali]

Good News Aaron???

It is all over the world but in the printed media we only see the bad news... we all know that.

Thanks for your updates .. and also to Ragtime, TexKat & others who so prolifically contribute.

MY GOOD NEWS IS THAT THE RALLY FOR AMERICA IN HUNTINGTON WAS OUTSTANDING !!!! Might get a short report to you & another thread in next day or two.. but it was awesome. Starting with a jet - prolly from Wright Patterson - which buzzed us & “danced” over the stadium three times to kick off the rally’s start.

The attendance was lower than hoped but vibrant and pumped up people from all over the USA were there. (very few it seems from WV)

I have about 200 pix. still in camera but will maybe eventually post some on my profile page.

These are from various (other) sources

This is the section I was sitting in...

Lots of music including Lee Greenwood. I did not realize what a versatile performer he is. Plays sax & keyboard & has decades of good music. I have always said I don't like country music...but I found my self enthralled by Lee, Tracy Byrd and others who participated.

This is Glenn at the rally

I am glad I made the effort to attend and participate.

Have a meaningful day folks !!! /d

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Morning, all! Dolly, glad you made it to the rally.

Mainstream news is stressing the bad and ignoring the good. It's intentional. It's criminal, imho.

Think about WP's headline alone: "In Iraq, U.S. Troops Are Still Dying -- One Almost Every Day" and realize that this reporter knows we have over 150,000 troops on the ground in a nation of 24 million newly freed Iraqis. ONE casualty, while a precious life sacrificed, is not a nation that doesn't want us there. So the press is either intentionally misrepresenting the situation in Iraq, or too lacking in common sense to be allowed to handle such a mighty weapon. OUR press is hitting a new low.

Our Coalition forces do awesome things across Iraq daily. The detailed progress report, the good news is available to the press daily at www.centcom.mil - the latest here: COALITION EFFORTS AID IRAQ'S RECOVERY (25 MAY). Please pass it on to the press. Ask them what they did in the last 24 hours, why they continue to ignore the improvements in Iraq and to mislead and terrify the long-oppressed Iraqi people?!

---

Monday, May 26, 2003  7:46 AM

                     

Excited families and fellow soldiers

prepared over the weekend for the

long-awaited return of over 2,000

marines from the 24th MEU Monday.

Full Story

 

24th MEU Returns Monday

UPDATED: 1:53 a.m. EDT May 26, 2003

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- The first major Marine Corps unit to return to the United States from combat in Iraq prepared to return home Monday while excited families got ready to welcome them back after a nine-month deployment.

~~~

The 2,300 Marines and sailors of the expeditionary unit, called a MEU around the base, left North Carolina aboard three ships last August, expecting a routine six-month patrol in the Mediterranean Sea. They were told in February that their deployment had been extended, then were sent to Kuwait to prepare for the invasion of Iraq. The unit was in battle less than 24 hours after it arrived.

The 24th MEU also saw duty in Kosovo, Kenya and northeast Africa. In all, about 15,000 ground troops from Camp Lejeune were sent to Iraq and Kuwait.

~~~

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Dod News:

Americans Asked to Honor Country's Fallen With Moment of Remembrance

Secretary of Defense Memorial Day Message

Memorial Day Message From the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

 

 

  Fallen Soldiers

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Osprey Does Well In Do-Or-Die Tests

Recent tests of the Marine Corps'

V-22 Osprey aircraft showed a redesign

has fixed the flaws that led to crashes that

 killed 23 troops in 2000, the Pentagon's

top weapons buyer said Friday. Full Story

SLIDESHOW: Osprey Slideshow

[Timeout]

IN FLANDERS FIELD

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place, and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

[TexKat]

The date was June 6, 1944 -- a turning point in history.

D-Day.

The day Allied Forces invaded German-occupied Europe. A day long anticipated by the world. A day prayed for and prayed about. And, for men such as John Talton of Radford who landed on the beaches of Normandy, a day that, 50 years later, remains vivid, a day that lives on in nightmares.

[TexKat]

U.S. Soldier Dies in Northern Iraq Ambush

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. soldier was killed and another was wounded Monday when their convoy was attacked north of Baghdad, the U.S. Central Command said.

It was the second death of an American soldier in two days, after an American soldier died Sunday in an accidental munitions dump explosion near the town of Diwaniya, 95 miles south of Baghdad.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

USO Canteen FReeper Style ~ Memorial Day ~ May 26, 2003

"…from these honored dead we take increased devotion
to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve
that these dead shall not have died in vain." 

~ Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address

USO Canteen FReeper Style ~ Memorial Day Patriotic Music AND Lyrics ~ May 24 2003 ~~~

 Operation Iraqi Freedom Fallen Heroes 

Memorial Day MEMORIAL DAY, Remembering Our Fallen Heroes
Cooking With Carlo ^ | May 23 2003 | Carlo3b

~~~

Army specialist Marcus Knight pauses to pray at a gathering in Union Square

 in Manhattantwo days after the attack on the World Trade Center

[TexKat]

Iraqi police protest for reinstatement of Baathist chief

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Hundreds of Iraqi policemen took to the streets of central Baghdad to protest the sacking of their chief by the US-led coalition for his membership in Saddam Hussein's Baath party.

"We came to express our support for keeping General (Abbas Jadduh) Khalaf in his post as commander of our unit even though he was a senior Baath official," Lieutenant Haidar Abed Kadhem, a member of a special protection unit assigned to the interior ministry, said on Monday.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

CENTCOM:

 

May 26, 2003
Release Number: 03-05-92

COALITION AND IRAQI POLICE WORK TO MAKE IRAQ SECURE

CAMP DOHA, Kuwait -- Coalition Forces continue to aggressively patrol Iraq to eliminate smuggling weapons trade and explosives. Coalition Forces also continue to conduct joint security patrols with Iraqi police in their efforts to increase the professionalism of the police force and prepare them for their role in a self-governed Iraq.

Coalition Activity:

Fifth Corps soldiers kill attacker in Baqubah.

An unknown number of individuals throwing grenades attacked military police guarding the former Badr Corps headquarters in Baqubah late last night. An Iraqi woman, who had her hands folded around her waist, approached U.S. soldiers conducting a walking patrol searching for the attackers. The military police squad leader instructed the woman to stop, and fired a warning shot. Squad members verbally warned her several more times, but she continued to advance towards them. When she refused, the squad shot her several times. She fell to the ground, dropping one grenade, and continued to crawl towards them. The squad fired again, killing her. The soldiers examined her and found another grenade. They turned the woman's body over to the local Iraqi police.

Fifth Corps soldiers raided a site early this morning in Ajaji thought to contain former regime senior military officers and personnel who were close to Saddam Hussein. They've detained 107 Iraqis for questioning.

Third Infantry Division soldiers raided a black market site yesterday in Baghdad, seizing 40 Russian-made night vision goggles and a number of AK-47 rifles. In another raid, soldiers from the 2d Brigade Combat Team seized 10 bayonets, numerous rifle magazines, 50,000 Dinar and $240 at a black market site in Baghdad yesterday. The raid also resulted in the detention of 3 individuals.

Soldiers from the 82d Airborne Division raided a black market arms dealer yesterday in Baghdad and detained one person for questioning.

An unknown assailant fired a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) at 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) soldiers who were on patrol in Al Biaj this morning. The unexploded RPG round struck and remained in a wall. The soldiers called explosive ordnance disposal specialists to remove the round.

Soldiers from 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, acted on information provided to them by a local citizen and captured Saddam Hassan in northern Iraq yesterday. Hassan claims to be one of Saddam’s accountants. Soldiers seized $3,000 and 9 Million Dinars from him.

Police Activity in the Last 24 Hours:

Coalition Forces conducted 7 raids and 2,529 patrols throughout Iraq. Of those patrols, 221 were conducted with Iraqi police. They also detained or arrested 250 individuals. Highlights of police activities include:

Soldiers from the 233d Military Police Company responded to a hostage situation in Baghdad Saturday night. An Iraqi woman reported that three unknown men beat and kidnapped her husband. The woman led the patrol to the house where the kidnappers were holding her husband where the patrol apprehended the kidnappers and released her husband. Iraqi police are holding the suspects at the Al-Alwiah Police Station for further investigation.

Soldiers from the 549th Military Police Company observed a group of people selling forged identification cards, passports, certificates and license plates in Baghdad on Saturday night. The group fled when the patrol approached them, leaving their items behind. The patrol confiscated the items and returned to the area about two hours later to find one of the suspects selling more items. The individual attempted to flee, but military police caught him. They took him to Military Police headquarters for questioning and transportation to the New Baghdad Police Station pending further investigation.

[TexKat]

First Marine Corps Unit Returns From Iraq

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Families gathered Monday to welcome Marines and sailors returning from the Iraq (news - web sites) war. About 2,300 members of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit left North Carolina in August for a routine six-month patrol that stretched into a war-driven nine months.

Parents, spouses and children gathered at the base pier at Onslow Beach as their loved ones began riding transport craft to shore from three ships. It was the first major Marine Corps unit to return to the United States

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

CENTCOM:

 

May 26, 2003
Release Number: 03-05-93

COALITION EFFORTS AID IRAQ'S RECOVERY

CAMP DOHA, Kuwait – Coalition Forces continue to assist in developing a safer and more secure environment in Iraq.

BAGHDAD

The 3rd Infantry Division's "Task Force Neighborhood" mission continues. Recently, they:

• Repaired the main soccer stadium, cleared/graded two practice fields, completed welding of several soccer goals, improved the irrigation for the field, and filled in old fighting positions in the immediate area.
• Removed about 200 tons of garbage, and provided trash bags to community.
• Painted badminton courts.
• Cleared and disposed of several mortars, and more than 120 unexploded artillery/mortar shells and grenades.
• Evaluated electrical and water main supply systems for future work.

Soldiers of the 3rd Infantry Division also:

• Escorted 17 fuel trucks in the area, provided security at gas stations throughout Baghdad, and assisted in the delivery/distribution of 9,083 bottles (39,000 gallons) of propane to government sites.
• Helped the Ministry of Finance make payments to rail and police workers.
• Assisted the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) Ministry of Transportation improve railway security in Baghdad.
• Received 19 tons of humanitarian aid from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) at Baghdad International Airport.
• Escorted Iraqi government banking officials to ORHA headquarters to attend the Ministry of Finance meeting on the creation of a national banking system.
• Removed 1,022 unexploded ordnance from 43 sites.
• Repaired four water line breaks.
• Distributed 5,000 Dinar from the Ministry of Health along with 10,000 UAE Dirhams to each worker at Yarmuk Hospital.

WESTERN IRAQ

3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment soldiers:

• Helped repair the water treatment facility in the city of Hit.
• Worked with Iraqi officials to start shipment of crude oil to a refinery in Basra, where it will be used to produce kerosene.
• Coordinated delivery of monetary funds to support local engineers in repair of the Al Fallujah water treatment facility.
• Received 63 truckloads of bulk food shipments at the UN food distribution site in Ar Ramadi, for a total of 319 shipments to date.
• Cleared unexploded ordnance from an Ar Ramadi residential area.
• Helped repair two broken turbines and three broken water pumps at the Hadithah Dam.

MOSUL / TIKRIT

4th Infantry Division soldiers:

• Provided security for contractor deliveries to the Bayji Power Plant.
• Delivered 4,800 Humanitarian Daily Ration meals from Baghdad to Ad Dawr.

101st Airborne (Air Assault) Division soldiers:

• Received 133 benzene and 6 propane trucks from Turkey.
• Worked with ORHA to repair the Mosul Mayor's building.

SOUTHERN IRAQ

AD DIWANIYAH

Marines of the 5th Marine Regiment:

.
• Reported that sanitation trucks are again removing trash, with trash pick-up back to pre-war levels.
• Met with the local education director and visited five different schools to assess the status of the facilities and delivery of supplies

KARBALA

Marines of the 7th Marine Regiment:

• Assessed the Al Hindyah hospital and submitted funding requests to replace or repair a lab refrigerator, three computers, 10 window air conditioners, a septic tank, radiology equipment and pediatric department equipment.
• Met with the Karbala police department (KPD) and city council to approve the KPD application form, code of conduct and qualification standards.



AL HILLAH

Marines of the 4th Marine Regiment:

• Received 22 benzene gasoline fuel trucks, which reduced the gas lines at the pump stations, and further diminished gasoline sales on the black market.

AN NASIRIYAH

Marines of the 25th Marine Regiment:

• Met with the city council to brief them on the civil administration and recruitment of police, the World Food Program initiative, and the fuel distribution plan.

[TexKat]

Uday Hussein mulling surrender to US forces: report

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Uday Hussein, the feared elder son of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, is considering surrendering to US forces but is hesitant because of the way US officials are handling negotiations, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The daily, citing a "third party" familiar with the talks, said Friday Uday was hiding out in a suburb of Baghdad and, before turning himself in, wanted to know the specific accusations he faces, as well as the conditions under which he would be held and interrogated.

[TexKat]

U.S. Says Needs Time to Restore Order in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's U.S.-run administration said on Monday it would take some time before law and order could be restored in Baghdad that has seen an orgy of looting and mayhem after Saddam Hussein 's rule crumbled.

U.S. forces captured Baghdad on April 9 but, with the complete collapse of the Iraqi police, the invading troops have struggled to address chaos and lawlessness that have since swept the capital.

[TexKat]

Red poppies in Galilee, a vibrant reminder of the blood shed in the Savior’s sacrifice. The poet writes: “Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting; The Soul that rises with us, our life’s star Hath had elsewhere its setting And cometh from afar; Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory do we come from God, who is our home.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

C-Span is airing the Arlington Memorial Day Service.

Speeches from SOD Rumsfeld, Gen. Myers and Pres. Bush were very moving, as was the reception of our leaders from the veterans, families and others in the audience.

President Bush - Memorial Day Service at the Arlington National Cemetary:

 

"We come to this Memorial Day with deep awareness of recent loss and recent courage....beyond the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in section 60...we've laid to rest those who fell in the battle in Iraq."

 

"This nation does not forget."

 

"Last month in section 60, First Lt. Rob Jenkins was buried..along with 5 other members of a bomber crew. They were lost when shot down over N. Africa - in 1942. Six decades later, his plane was found, the remains of the crew identified, and returned home with military honors."

 

"This nation does not forget."

 

"Today we recall that liberty is always the achievement of courage, and today we remember all who have died, all who are still missing and all who mourn."

 

"In every generation of Americans, we have found courage equal to the task of our country."

 

"There is good and evil in this world. That's what's going on. He was the good." (A widow about her husband who recently died.)

 

"I do my job 110%. Don't get distracted or discouraged when out flying on missions...however, when I get some down time, for all the good things we're doing here, I just plain miss you." A soldier who died in Iraq to his wife.

 

"I wish my truck and boat knew how to write. I sure do miss 'em. Today would be a beautiful day for fishing." A soldier who died in Iraq.

 

"They gave all that up, and gave life itself for the sake of others. Their sacrifice was great - but not in vain."

 

"(All Americans), and every free nation on earth can trace their liberty to the white markers (in Arlington).."

 

"May God keep us forever grateful."

 

"Have not I commanded thee, be strong and of good courage. Be not afraid. Neither be not dismayed. For the lord, thy God, is with thee." from the book of Joshua, on the back of the dog tags of a soldier recently buried in section 60.

 

"We pray that they have found their peace in the arms of God."

 

"May God bless America."