Free Republic

BETHESDA, Md. -- The parents of two Marines from Connecticut are fighting to get their youngest son out of Iraq after his brother was seriously injured in the assault on Fallujah. Brian Johnston, 24, lost his right arm and most of his right leg in an explosion on Nov. 9, the second day of the effort to take Fallujah from insurgents. His younger brother, Kevin, 20, remains in Fallujah with a different Marine unit, his parents said. Bruce Johnston, of East Hartford, Conn., and his ex-wife, Vera Heron of Utah, have asked the military to allow Kevin to visit his...

I'd like to ask for prayers for my brother. He's finishing his first week of Recruit Training in the U.S. Coast Guard, in Cape May NJ. He signed up for Delayed Enlistment nearly a year ago and was very excited to finally be able to go to boot camp. My parents, my fiance, and I are very proud of him. His church pastor gave him a serviceman's New Testament that he had used decades ago, which my brother brought to Cape May with him. I have been praying daily for him to have strength as he goes through this stressful...

More than 500 members of First Church of Christ in Wethersfield voted Sunday to leave the United Church of Christ after years of growing discord over differences in theological beliefs and social issues. The decision to break away returns First Church to its status for much of its 369-year history: an independent Congregational church. The vote by First Church, the largest UCC church in New England, called attention to a widening gulf between conservative churches and the UCC Connecticut Conference. First Church leaders have criticized what they say is the denomination's embrace of same-sex marriage, acceptance of homosexuality and teachings...

Shaira Mitchell-Cohen has kept up with the best of them at Stamford High School, earning good grades and winning over teachers with her feisty resolve. Since she came to Connecticut with her mother from their native Chile in 1997, she has had only one goal: Go to college, then medical school. She settled on becoming a plastic surgeon, drawn by the prospect of giving someone else a new start. So when the 18-year-old senior sat with her guidance counselor recently to plan for next year, she reeled off her wish list of colleges, as so many of her friends had...