Free Republic

As I watched the daring rescue of the two airmen shot down over Iran in early April 2026, I found myself thinking of John Bagwell. His story, which he shared with me on my True Crime Reporter® podcast, unfolded nearly six decades earlier, but it remains gripping, timely, and no less dramatic. In 1968, Bagwell was a 19-year-old Armed Forces Radio disc jockey in Vietnam. The volunteer from Ardmore, Oklahoma, believed he had landed one of the safest jobs in a war zone. But the Battle of Hue left him wounded and hunted behind enemy lines in the bloodiest fight...

Drew Carey took to social media to slam Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt. “Anyone who votes for, or endorses Spencer Prattfall for Mayor of LA needs to get their head out of their ass,” Carey wrote on Threads. “I understand being angry/unsatisfied, but at least get behind someone competent and not some serial scammer without a soul or moral compass. F--- this guy already.” Former reality star Pratt (credits include The Hills, The Princes of Malibu and I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!) is one of several candidates vying for mayor of Los Angeles, running against incumbent...

The best hope for ending a poorly planned war, which started with scant consultation with Congress or the American people, may be an unsatisfactory peace that leaves critical issues to be resolved later and deepens Washington strife. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said a deal to halt the conflict he chose against Iran is imminent and very close. Each time, his predictions turned out to be wishful thinking or a misreading of Iran’s true intentions. So it’s no surprise his latest claims that a framework agreement with Tehran is near have been met with skepticism and confusion — nor that...

Today I had the experience of driving for an extended period behind a Tesla. One of my daughters was with me. We were in a rural area of upstate New York, on a two-lane road with enough curves and oncoming traffic that there were few opportunities to pass. So we were behind this car for about 20 miles. We took the opportunity to observe some things about how the new world works. Living in Manhattan, we don’t go out for extended drives in the country all that often. Maybe most readers here drive much more than I do and have...

The chief of police in New Chicago, Indiana, stood accused Sunday of selling a pawn shop a gun that was being held as evidence and then trying to have it bought back, among other allegations. New Chicago police Chief Earl Mayo was charged with theft, official misconduct, and attempted obstruction of justice, as well as unlawful possession of an anabolic steroid, according to court documents. Chief Mayo was booked Sunday as an inmate in Clark County, Ohio, after authorities said he tried to evade arrest. Court documents said this past Thursday, a Lake County, Indiana, sheriff's police commander received a...

Saturday on “The Alex Marlow Show,” Dr. Sebastian Gorka talked about counter terrorism. Gorka said, “177 jihadis in one weekend, which makes it the biggest counter terrorism operation since September the 11th. 177 enemy killed in action.”

It’s pretty clear to see why they’re so upset: They’re not doing well. Run, little donkeys, run. The congressional redistricting of the South and Midwest, arising from the GOP’s crushing Supreme Court victory in Louisiana v. Callais, has started. The herd of elephants is charging. And they’re trampling every rural Democrat in their path, from North Carolina to Texas and Missouri. The donkeys are forced to cower in their anthill-like cities. The elephants won’t take the biggest ones, or the states that are so Blue, they’re ultraviolet. But they’re taking the rest of the country. According to my scorekeeping, this...

The twelve apostles included "Thaddaeus" (Matt. 10:3). Victorious Christian living requires great courage. Thaddaeus was a man of many identities. In the King James translation of Matthew 10:3 he is called "Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus." He is also called "Judas the son of James" (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13) and "Judas (not Iscariot)" (John 14:22). Judas, which means "Jehovah leads," was probably the name given him at birth, with Thaddaeus and Lebbaeus added later as nicknames to reflect his character. Apparently Thaddaeus was the nickname given to him by his family. It comes from a Hebrew root word that refers...

Perhaps the full $1.8 billion fund will not be required, but it is likely that a substantial fund will be needed to compensate people victimized by overzealous political prosecutors. President Trump and sons sued the federal government for its unauthorized release of their tax returns to the public. A settlement resulted, and it was agreed that a $1.8 billion fund would be established to compensate people (but not the Trumps) who were prosecuted on the basis of their political convictions. This Anti-Weaponization fund will be available to anyone making a credible and verified claim, regardless of party or politics. Even...

🇺🇸Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem 🇮🇱(5/25/26)[Prayer]PersonalitiesDeuteronomy 29:2929 The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.( The King James Version)________________________

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A man on trial for killing a first-year university student has denied a charge of manslaughter. Vickrum Digwa is accused at Southampton Crown Court of the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak, from Chafford Hundred, Essex, in Belmont Road, Southampton, on December 3 2025. The 23-year-old is also charged with carrying a knife in public and his mother, Kiran Kaur, 53, is accused of assisting an offender by removing a weapon from the scene. The court has heard that Digwa was carrying a kirpan – a religious knife – with a 21cm blade which the prosecution says caused five stab wounds...

Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey is shaping up to be the biggest movie of the year, and right-wing voices are furious at it. “Chris Nolan desecrated the Odyssey,” wrote Elon Musk on X. Musk, alongside hundreds of right-wing culture warriors algorithmically boosted on his platform, have spent the past few weeks fuming over the news that Kenyan-Mexican actress Lupita Nyong’o is playing Helen of Troy, and that transgender actor Elliot Page might be playing Achilles. One right-wing influencer described the casting of Page as Achilles as “the final straw to ruin Homer.” Another pundit, in a post that received...

After King Henry VIII proclaimed himself supreme head of the Church in England and Wales, a violent wave of anti-Catholic persecution began -- and lasted over a century. It started with the executions of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher, but didn't end there. Hundreds were killed between 1535 and 1679; the Church recognized the heroism of 40 martyrs from England and Wales in a canonization ceremony on October 25, 1970. (Later, a separate feast on May 4 was created to recognize the 284 canonized or beatified martyrs of the English Reformation.)The group of 40 martyrs celebrated on October 25...

After being involve with the production of Band of Brothers, The Pacific and Masters of the Air, plus starring in Saving Private Ryan, I'm looking forward to this documentary from Tom Hanks which begins today at 8pm eastern on the History Channel. All Day yesterday off and on I watched WW II in HD narrated by Gary Sinese on the History Channel. Additionally, this morning at 11am on AMC their Band of Brothers marathon begins, I remember when this premiered-on HBO right before 9/11 and thought it was fantastic, episodes 2,5, and 7 are my personal favorites. Episode 2 -...

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A film buff found a lost 1968 British TV movie about vampires that sparked a legend it was so terrifying it was marked for destruction, a preservation group announced. “No Such Thing as a Vampire” — one of six episodes from the short-lived 1960s BBC anthology series “Late Night Horror” — has been missing for more than half a century after it scarred viewers and caused an uproar that prompted the network to not only kill the show. But what is now believed to be the last surviving copy of the gory movie was recently discovered by English film-buff and...

Almost 300 illegal migrants with commercial driver’s licenses were stopped and prosecuted in Indiana over the last three months, according to a top aide to the state’s Gov. Mike Braun. Tony Ferraro, an aide to the governor who also serves on the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission, told the board on Thursday that the state has discovered at least 283 undocumented drivers operating trucks at its weigh stations over a 90-day stretch. “That’s over three a day that we pulled out of trucks,” he said, according to the Chicago Tribune. “The bottom line is it was illegal. It was against...

Annual Salute to Israel Parade on Fifth Avenue will take place without New York City’s mayor; organizers expect record attendance and a strong presence of Israeli official representatives.

A left-wing Sacramento city councilwoman who is running for Congress has repeatedly turned her back on the American flag and refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance. It remains to be seen how councilwoman Mai Vang’s obstinance will play with voters as she is seeking to unseat longtime Democratic Rep. Doris Matsui in the June primary election. Vang is reportedly polling neck-and-neck with the incumbent and slightly ahead of Republican Zachariah Wooden, the California Post reported. However, the deviance may not be the best strategy in the recently redrawn 7th congressional district, which now includes more conservative areas like Lodi,...