Free Republic

Two weeks ago, a senior commander with the U.S. Army’s 1st Cavalry Division, serving in battle-hardened Afghanistan, sent a letter to Auburn, Alabama. It was addressed to a national hero. “You are a true legend…and continue to inspire the troops of today, all across the globe,” he wrote. “We hold one of your edicts close to our hearts – ‘No second-place trophies.’ The winning spirit is alive and well.” A few months earlier, movie stars Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn made a special trip to Auburn for the sole purpose of seeing this same hero. He and Gibson had met...

Like the battle at the Alamo, the one fought at the Little Bighorn has entered the realm where history and legend merge. The basic facts are these: on June 25, 1876, seventh U.S. Cavalry troops commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer came upon history's largest known encampment of Indians beside the Little Bighorn River. In the battle that followed, Custer and all the men with him—more than 260—were wiped out by the Sioux warriors of Chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse as well as Cheyenne warriors. Ironically, the Native Americans' victory hastened their own downfall, as Custer's loss motivated...

Ogalala Sioux healer George Amiotte came alone to pray as the sun rose on the new Indian Memorial at Little Bighorn Battlefield. He wanted to be there early, before the crowds arrived for the dedication of the memorial honoring the American Indians who fought and died there June 25, 1876. There he would offer prayers for the dead on behalf of the three warrior societies to which he belongs on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Dressed in buckskins and feathers, as his ancestors would have been 127 years ago, he offered his thanks for their sacrifice. Amiotte is...

<p>CNN saying troops are making good time, ignoring smaller towns in the run to Baghdad ..</p>