Free Republic

This is the final Itinerary for the Patriot Guard Mission to honor SPC Keisha M. Morgan, USA, 25, Washington, DC, who gave all on February 22, 2008. It is a go, all contacts have been made. This is a two-part mission. Your ride captain is Kevin Rock, who can be reached at (410) 867-8882. Part I - Sunday, March 2, 2008: 1345 hrs Staging at the Centre at Forestville in front of JC Penny’s on the corner of MD-Rte-4 and Donnell Drive just inside the beltway. From the beltway I-95 take exit-11, MD-Rte-4-North/Washington. Take your second right - Donnell Drive....

ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 16, 2007 – They came from around the country, some with tears in their eyes, putting holiday demands on hold to honor veterans most never knew. In a few hours in freezing temperatures, about 3,000 volunteers yesterday placed more than 10,000 balsam fir wreaths with blazing red bows on graves at Arlington National Cemetery here. “I wish I could lay one on all of them,” said Charles Wright, a Vietnam War Marine veteran and commander of the Kansas City Composite Squadron, a civil air patrol unit. “This is a tribute I’ll remember forever.” Morrill Worcester, owner...

Airmen, civilians lay wreaths at Arlington http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123013643 by Senior Airman J.G. Buzanowski Air Force Print News 12/19/2005 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Despite the cold, wind and snow, about 75 people gathered at Arlington National Cemetery on Dec. 15 to lay more than 5,000 wreaths on gravesites, including four at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Since 1992, members of the armed forces, civil air patrol, veterans of foreign wars and several civilians have gathered to take part in the project, a brainchild of Maine resident Morrill Worcester. Mr. Worcester owns and operates a holiday decoration company. Thirteen years ago he...

12/7/2007 - MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (AFPN) -- Veterans' memorials and gravesites across the nation will be adorned with remembrance wreaths on Dec. 15 in stirring, solemn tributes to the courage and sacrifice of those who have guarded and preserved the nation throughout history. Through Wreaths Across America, Civil Air Patrol members join with Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine, in remembering the nation's departed veterans. CAP units will lead 132 of the 268 observances this year, and will participate with other color and honor guards in approximately 25 additional locations. This year, for the first time ever, members...

Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington has for 15 years been donating wreaths and decorating the graves of 4,500 veterans buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. This year's convoy from Maine to Virginia is slated to be the biggest, with between 50 and 300 vehicles joining along various sections of the route. On Sunday, Dec. 9, more than 10,000 donated Christmas wreaths will make their way down Route 1 from Harrington. Rockland Police Officer John Bagley will be escorting the convoy from Harrington through to South Portland. And as the wreath-loaded tractor trailer passes through Rockport Sunday, the Rockland Fire...

On a cold December day, a crowd of more than 1,000 volunteers—from civilians and soldiers to toddlers and senior citizens—waits quietly, solemnly at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. In the distance they hear the low rumble of a tractor-trailer filled with 5,000 wreaths as it bursts through the morning’s dense fog making its way toward them. As the trailer comes to a stop, it marks the completion of a 750-mile journey from Harrington, Maine (pop. 882), to Arlington, where volunteers prepare to honor our nation’s departed heroes by adorning their graves with wreaths. The creator of the annual holiday...

This afternoon President Bush honored fallen soldiers at the National Memorial Ceremony in Waco, TXTransript Vice President Cheney to veterans of the Iraq war, honoring them for keeping the United States democratic and free and hoping "they will return in victory."Transcript of Vice President Cheney’s remarks Enoy your visit to Sanity Island

ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 11, 2007 – Vice President Richard B. Cheney today remembered millions of veterans at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month at Arlington National Cemetery. Navy veteran Neil Koski, a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Honor Guard, pulls on his gloves prior to the Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Nov. 11, 2007. Koski and other members of the honor guard passed out programs prior to the ceremony. Photo by Melinda L. Larson  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “More than 20 million of our fellow citizens...

December 12, 1997 At 10:30 on Thursday morning at Arlington National Cemetery, a team of gravediggers quietly dug up the remains of Larry Lawrence and carted away his granite tombstone, which was engraved with lies. Chiseled in stone were claims that Lawrence, the late millionaire businessman who became an ambassador, had served in the U.S. merchant marine and had earned the designation of “S1C,” the Navy abbreviation for seaman, first class, which would not have been given to a merchant mariner anyway. Neither claim was true. During his 69-year lifetime, Lawrence fabricated his World War II heroics, his education, how...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070922/METRO/109220035/1001 The Army is proposing to replace the Tomb of the Unknowns' 48-ton white marble monument because of non-structural cracks. A senator has introduced legislation that would prohibit the Army from replacing the 71-year-old marble sarcophagus marking the Tomb of the Unknowns before submitting to Congress a report on the feasibility of repairing the monument. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, Hawaii Democrat and chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, introduced the measure Thursday as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. "The senator wants to make sure before anything irrevocable is done, that we cross all our t"s and dot...

ORONO, Maine -- Charles Frank Burlingame III was the pilot flying American Airlines Flight 77 on Sept. 11. Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon with 64 people onboard. It is believed Burlingame helped divert the plane from its original destination -- the White House -- by literally fighting off the terrorists in the cockpit. In an FBI report released after the crash, it was revealed that the pilot died of injuries sustained before the plane hit the ground. Burlingame's family has requested that he be buried in Arlington Cemetery in Virginia, an honor bestowed only on soldiers and their families. ...

"Help Save the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery It's hard to believe, but officials at Arlington National Cemetery plan to replace the original Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with a new replica solely because of repairable cosmetic imperfections. This 1932 monument is nationally significant and eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The 48-ton marble block has two nonstructural cracks which pose no threat to visitors or the historic structure. Surprisingly, federal administrators want the replica carved from new stone that experts agree will likely again crack along its grain just as marble...

Has anyone ever been down to Arlington Cemetary for Memorial Day ceremonies? If so what was it like and is it worth driving 5 hours to attend? Thanks!

“Words can’t describe it.” “Words can’t describe it.” A simple reply from my 9 year old son, when asked what the funeral for Lloyd Ball had meant to him. We were on our way home from Arlington, and I wondered out loud if he had understood the depth of what he had just witnessed. SSgt Lloyd Ball passed away on April 7th in Monroeville. His obituary listed the customary information found in the rest of the obituaries that day. And like many of the people of “The Greatest Generation” it also contained reference to his military service in World War...

<p>FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON ON NOT CAPTURING BIN LADEN: 'At least I tried. That's the difference between me and some, including all the right wingers. They ridicule me for trying. They had eight months to try, they did not try. I tried. So I tried and failed'...</p>

[There an extra subject at the end of this. It has nothing to do with the main subject, but needed to be mentioned this week.] Before Thursday, I had never attended any ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. On that day, we went to Arlington for the inurnment of the ashes of a great friend, colleague, and teacher, Robert Carleson. I’ve written about Bob before, and any reader can find several find obituaries on him from months ago, when he died. Suffice to say, Bob did more for the long-term well-being of the United States than many who have served as...

ARLINGTON, Va. There are cracks in the white marble Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, and each year, those cracks go farther and deeper. The 74-year-old monument is not in danger of crumbling any time soon. But the cemetery is deciding whether to patch the fissures or replace the marble altogether. The tomb has been patched repeatedly, most recently in 1989. John Metzler, the cemetery's superintendent, says the cemetery could repair it, do nothing or buy an extra marble block and store it as a standby. He worries that some of the carved sculptures could eventually fall off....

Honor Roll: 3D-Joy; Uncle Hambone; Nicolio9175; OBone; W04Man; Jimmy Valentine's brother; trooprally, Tolerance Sucks Rocks; concretebob; Gunsareok; Just A Nobody; Christopher Lincoln; Gate2Wire; Cindy_True_Supporter; Trueblackman; Lurker Bill; two of 3d-Joy's daughters; and kristinn. TgslTakoma was there in spirit with the MOAB she created. We were also joined for an hour by a couple visiting Arlington.It was a warm, sunny late Spring day in our nation's capital yesterday. The best Memorial Day weekend weather in a long time in these parts.Cars were lined up early on Memorial Drive at the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery, waiting for the gates to open...

As throngs came to the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery to honor the fallen on Memorial Day, a handful of protesters from an anti-gay group stood across a four-lane highway from a conservative group supporting the troops.

An Army honor guard watches over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier day and night, summer and winter. They never crack. But the tomb has. Two cracks run about three quarters of the way around it, and they may soon go completely through the massive solid block of marble. "We cannot as custodians allow this condition to continue without doing something to remedy it," said Thomas Sherlock, the Arlington National Cemetery historian. Man With Plan vs. Bureaucracy In Colorado, retired car dealer John Haines had an idea: He'd give the government a 60-ton marble slab from the same Colorado quarry...