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<p>MERRILLVILLE, Ind. — A World War II veteran who served in France during the war has been reunited with his Army-issued duffel bag nearly seven decades after it went missing.</p> <p>William Kadar, 92, opened a carefully wrapped package Tuesday at his Merrillville, Ind., home and found his drab green duffel bag inside, still stenciled in black with his name and serial number. Kadar last saw the bag used by soldiers to tote their gear in November 1944, a month before he was captured by the Germans.</p>

Is it actually possible that, as you read this, the United States Navy has only one supercarrier battle group at sea? Read on - and be amazed. Look no farther than these two news items, both from today's Sunday Times of London, to see the effect of two decades of shrinkage in the size of the United States Navy and the retreat of the Royal Navy from the high seas: • For the first time in two centuries, British businessmen and others have formed a private navy to protect shipping off the pirate-ridden coast of Somali on the Horn of...

A new draft of a 75-page Army handbook for troops heading to Afghanistan says that American cultural insensitivity is to blame for the 63 attacks this year by Afghan soldiers against the U.S.-led coalition forces who are training them. According to the Wall Street Journal, who obtained an advance copy of the controversial document, the draft manual states that: "Many of the confrontations occur because of [coalition] ignorance of, or lack of empathy for, Muslim and/or Afghan cultural norms, resulting in a violent reaction from the [Afghan security force] member," according to the draft handbook prepared by Army researchers. In...

Militia: a word which has been twisted into something that has an entirely different meaning from when our country was founded and now with its every utterance, spits on the graves of those who died in our nation's birthing. Thanks to the Clintonite media after the Oklahoma City slaughter, just the mention of it conjures up images of rednecks dressed in camouflage, running around the woods with plans to kill everyone isight. A fringe element with who knows what on their minds -- but you can bet it is evil. It is a group that has little in common with...

1941: Santa in a Jeep “The panzer “Santa”, with well-filled sack of radios, books, cookies, and other gifts dear to soldiers hearts, glides up to the door of the barracks in Camp Lee’s Quartermaster Corps and it isn’t hampered by lack of snow in Virginia. Camp Lee, Virginia, Quartermaster Replacement Center” - US Army Center of Military History

A U.S. Army brigade will begin sending small teams into as many as 35 African nations early next year, part of an intensifying Pentagon effort to train countries to battle extremists and give the U.S. a ready and trained force to dispatch to Africa if crises requiring the U.S. military emerge.

A U.S. soldier was killed Friday after he opened fire on members of the Military Police at the Fort Hood Army base in the state of Texas, according to a source. The MPs at Fort Hood while on routine patrol discovered a suspicious vehicle parked near the main gate of the base in the early morning, according to the law enforcement source.

A new Army manual that warns American soldiers in Afghanistan to avoid talking about certain topics has unwittingly acknowledged that Western taboos such as pedophilia are an inherent part of Islamic culture. “By mentioning that pedophilia and women’s rights and saying that soldiers should not mention such things they are tacitly admitting that those things are indeed part of Islam,” said Robert Spencer, founder of Jihad Watch. According to the Wall Street Journal, a new 75-page Army manual suggests U.S. soldiers are to blame for the large number of deadly attacks on them by Afghan security forces. The manual reportedly...

..."Instead of blaming Taliban infiltration or other causes, the draft of a new Army handbook says ignorance of local culture drove many of the insider attacks that killed 63 Americans and other allied forces this year alone." ... The handbook says troops should avoid “making derogatory comments about the Taliban, advocating women’s rights, any criticism of pedophilia, directing any criticism towards Afghans, mentioning homosexuality and homosexual conduct” or “anything related to Islam.” ... "Maybe, just maybe, if Allen suddenly approves the outrageous field manual, the probe against him will be dropped. Stranger things have happened in the last four years."

Here is a strong indicator that the Obama Administration’s crusade to appease Islam has gone too far; a new U.S. military handbook for troops deployed to the Middle East orders soldiers not to make derogatory comments about the Taliban or criticize pedophilia, among other outrageous things. It gets better; the new manual, which is around 75 pages, suggests that Western ignorance of Afghan culture— not Taliban infiltration—is responsible for the increase in deadly attacks by Afghan soldiers against the coalition forces. The soon-to-be-released Army handbook is still being drafted, but a mainstream newspaper got a sneak preview and published an...

Last week, a cadet publicly quit the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, citing forced prayer and churchgoing. Republican strategist Shirley Husar, in a debate on HuffPost Live, asserted that West Point is “a religious institute.” Merry Christmas, Shirley, but West Point is not a religious institute—though that’s not for want of trying on the Christian right’s part. The cadet in question is 24-year-old Blake Page, who described being “severely punished” for not going to church while in basic training. “You scrubbed floors for four hours or went on rock flipping detail so the rocks could get an even tan...

Go Navy! Beat Army.

Game day has come. A place for Old Grads and fans to talk trash and keep up with the game.

A cadet quitting West Point less than six months before graduation says he could no longer be part of a culture that promotes prayers and religious activities and disrespects nonreligious cadets. Blake Page announced his decision to quit the U.S. Military Academy this week, telling The Associated Press that he could not become an officer because of clinical depression played a role in his public protest against what he calls the unconstitutional prevalence of religion in the military. "I've been trying since I found that out: What can I do? What can I possibly do to initiate the change that...

If he doesn't spend the rest of his life in prison, Pfc. Bradley Manning wants go to college and perhaps run for public office, his lawyer, David E. Coombs, told supporters of the former Army intelligence analyst. Manning is accused of illegally giving hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables and classified reports about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the website WikiLeaks. He faces 22 criminal charges and could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted. "He's confident things will turn out OK for him," Coombs said Monday, standing in a wooden pulpit in the All Souls Church...

In October 2004, Betsy Beard's life changed forever when her only son, Spc. Bradley Beard, was killed in action in Iraq. Stricken with grief, Beard began what she called "hemorrhaging on paper," in which she poured out her heartache through journaling. "At the time, I just didn't see how I was going to live through that," said Beard. Beard turned to the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors [TAPS] to find help in dealing with the loss of Bradley. Little did she know her involvement with TAPS, journaling and a special 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) Caisson horse,...

It's that time of the year again. A place for grads and fans to get ready for the game and talk trash.

<p>The first same-sex marriage at West Point’s Cadet Chapel will be celebrated Saturday – when a military veteran and her partner exchange vows roughly one year after President Obama ended the military policy banning openly gay people from serving in the military.</p>

Starting 1 January, 2013 US Military retirees and their families living in the Philippines will be ordered, (mandated), to use only doctors and hospitals that the Tricare Management Activity, (TMA), and their contractor, International SOS, (ISOS), have contracted with to provide medical care to retirees and their families in the Philippines. This is the roll out of the TMA Demonstration Project in the Philippines. The rules state that all retirees must use only the medical providers, (doctors and hospitals), that ISOS was able to beg to agree to be a contracted network provider. If the retiree uses a doctor or...

It’s an issue that has plagued states along the Mississippi River for months and has now landed squarely on the desk of President Obama: how to prevent the imminent shutdown of commercial traffic along the nation’s largest waterway. A nationwide drought, the worst to hit the U.S. in decades, has lowered water levels along the river, threatening barge traffic. White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Thursday that the President raised the issue with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, directing his administration to take “every step to mitigate” the situation. Carney added that there are a number...