Free Republic

Russian forces occupied Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, for just under a month. Across those 29 days in early 2022, they committed acts of such barbarity that this Ukrainian town will forever be synonymous with war crimes; this conflict’s Srebrenica. Residents were killed and tortured in their hundreds; more than 100 were buried in a mass grave outside the Orthodox Christian church. Others were murdered as they fled. The basement of a children’s summer camp was converted into a torture chamber where women and children were systematically raped. Soldiers slashed throats, mutilated victims and killed parents in front of...

RIVER VALE — At the 234th commemoration on Monday of the Baylor Massacre, it was easy to see how New Jersey earned the nickname Crossroads of the Revolution. River Vale Historian Ed Moderacki wears a British infantry uniform as he helps Lincoln Schefter of Hackensack hold a musket at the site of the Baylor Massacre. The site, along the banks of the Hackensack River near Red Oak Drive, played host to a skirmish that took place in the middle of the night on Sept. 28, 1778, in which 54 soldiers from the rag-tag Continental Army were killed, captured or wounded,...

Happy Birthday to the USMC! Semper Fi and God Bless to all of you!!

FORT HUACHUCA — It wasn’t until nearly 181 years after the U.S Army was formed that the organization had an official flag, although Army units had their own colors. And, for the past 234 years 178 campaign streamers have become an integral part of the Army flying symbol. Each streamer is a visual reminder that throughout the nation’s history, ensuring life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness has required the sacrifices of soldiers. On June 12, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized the official flag. Ike previously had became a General of the Army in World War II and led...