Free Republic

Exploits Inspire 'Awe Factor' in Iraqi Thicket VOLTURNO BASE, Iraq -- By day, this military camp is a self-contained American bubble in a bizarre setting. Off-duty soldiers listen to country music, watch big-screen basketball, eat grilled steaks, read e-mail from home and jog around an artificial lake, built on a landscaped former resort for Saddam Hussein's cronies and loyalists. By night, the base becomes a launching pad for forays into another world that is equally surreal but far more dangerous. Lightless convoys rumble into the nearby city of Fallujah, where troops hop out and creep through deserted streets, searching houses...

    Welcome to The FReeper Canteen   Today's Spiritual Journey takes us to the Navy Chaplain Corps Click on graphic to link to the original sermon.  A GREAT MARINE Several years ago as the H & S Battalion Chaplain at MCB, Camp Lejeune, I visited the people in the different work spaces, including the rather large main post office. One day a little conversation took place with young Marine Lance Corporal. This unplanned encounter has remained with me, and it seems worth passing on... The Lance Corporal was standing by a very large sack of mail. His job,...

<p>Army Capt. James Yee, shown here in a December file photo, no longer faces capital espionage charges.</p> <p>James Yee, a Muslim chaplain in the Army, spent 76 days in a prison cell while authorities tried to build a capital espionage case against him. Now he is free, the most serious allegations replaced by lesser ones like adultery and possession of pornography, and the military justice system itself is on trial.</p>

    Welcome to The FReeper Canteen   Today's Spiritual Journey takes us to the Fort Knox 2nd Battalion, 81st Armor Regiment Click on graphic to link to the original sermon.  TEN COMMANDMENTS MESSAGE EQUALS LOVE There has recently been a lot of media attention on the subject of the Bible's "10 Commandments" being posted on courtroom walls. No doubt there is much at stake over this issue. But as I read the Bible translation called, "The Message," I gained a whole new perspective on these 4,000-year-old mandates. Romans 13:8b-10 in "The Message" reads, "When you love others, you...

    Welcome to The FReeper Canteen   Today's Spiritual Journey takes us to the Naval Air Station Oceana Click on graphic to link to the original sermon.  NEW LIFE Cecil B. De Mille, the great producer of epic movies, tells a story of fishing with his grandfather when he was just a young boy. The two had spent all afternoon together in a rowboat and the young boy was restless. He leaned over the side of the boat to look into the water and watch the water beetles playing. As he looked, one of the water beetles crawled...

Donations arrive in Iraq, Afghanistan by Master Sgt. Adam Johnston18th Wing Public Affairs2/5/2004 - KADENA AIR BASE, Japan (AFPN) -- Donated goods collected here and nine other bases are beginning to arrive in Iraq. A similar donation program in Afghanistan is expanding to weekly visits, after a year of monthly deliveries. In January, workers here shipped nearly 500 pounds of school supplies, children's clothes and personal hygiene items to Iraq, said Chaplain (Capt.) Dominic Vitaliano of the 18th Wing. Donations for Afghanistan have also been collected, sent and delivered during the last year from here. "This is our first time doing this and we...

    Welcome to The FReeper Canteen   Today's Spiritual Journey takes us to the Navy Chaplain Corps Click on graphic to link to the original sermon.  GOD WILL NOT LET YOU FALL My family and I went camping this past summer. We took several hikes down the little river bed as it flowed through the Cuyamaca State Park near our home in San Diego. We topped for a picnic lunch, and ate with our feet in the cool running water. As I ate my sandwich, I started tracing a trail through the rocks that shot up into the...

Volunteers take weight off staff   BAGHDAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Iraq -- Chief Master Sgt. Barry Deal talks with Army Spc. Samuel Tolley at the Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility here. Specialist Tolley suffered a staff infection in his foot. Volunteers help the CASF staff and comfort patients. Chief Deal is assigned to the 447th Expeditionary Communications Squadron and Specialist Tolley is assigned to the 394th Quartermaster Battalian. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Lisa Zunzanyika) View Larger Download HiRes by Capt. Carrie Clear447th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs1/30/2004 - BAGHDAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Iraq (AFPN) -- Aside from the occasional mortar attack, people at...

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif.(Jan. 23, 2004) -- "For heroic achievement in connection with combat operations against the enemy as Religious Program Specialist, I Marine Expeditionary Force ... in support of Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom." January 2003, thousands of I Marine Expeditionary Force Marines and Sailors deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. First Battalion, 11th Marines out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., were among them. From "grunt" to "admin" clerk, every element of the air ground task force was represented - and they had their "doc" to patch them up, and...

Task Force 1st Armored Division Soldiers Swap Smiles With Orphansby CJTF-7 Public Affairs BAGHDAD, Iraq - Even in a hostile environment where the enemy could be just around the corner, nothing will put a smile on a soldier's face more quickly than little kids. The soldiers of 2nd Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Camp Marlboro never pass up a chance to make life just a little bit easier for some of the less fortunate Iraqi children. The 2nd Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment supports Task Force 1st Armored Division. Earlier this month, these soldiers visited Al-Rhama's House for...

    Welcome to The FReeper Canteen   Today's Spiritual Journey takes us to the Navy Chaplain Corps Click on graphic to link to the original sermon.  ARE YOU TOO BUSY FOR GOD? We know sea service life can be a continuous stream of movement and activity. Sometimes it seems as if it will never slow down long enough for us to catch our breath. Although we think that all of our activities are crucial, we need to honestly ask ourselves, "Are these things really important?" A prophetic messenger said, "And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and...

14 Dec. 2003 Memorandum: Hon. Les Brownlee Acting Secretary of Army Subject: Preliminary Report on Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) From: Charles Moskos Introduction: This report on Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) is based on field research conducted in Kuwait. Qatar and Iraq, 29 November to 7 December, 2003, The report is based on a variety of methods: field observations, casual conversations, in-depth interviews, and a survey of approximately 500 soldiers. This preliminary report is based on the field observations, conversations and interviews. Statistical data of the surveys is now being tabulated and will be ready in several weeks. The basic findings...

"I remember Martin. I remember sitting in the audience and listening to the power of his rhetoric," said U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry C. Black as he stepped to the podium. The retired Navy chief of chaplains was on hand to deliver the keynote address for the 19th annual Martin Luther King Pentagon breakfast today. Noting that he was a student in Alabama during the civil rights movement, Black said, "I remember the sit-ins, the water fountains with the signs 'colored' and 'white.' I remember the Alabama jail cells. I remember being turned away from houses of worship because of the...

    Welcome to The FReeper Canteen   Today's Spiritual Journey takes us to the Navy Chaplain Corps Click on graphic to link to the original sermon.  FDR’S D-DAY PRAYERFilms such as "Saving Private Ryan" "The Thin Red Line" and "U 571" bring to life the struggles of a whole generation of Americans who fought tyranny in World War II. No movie, however, could adequately capture the sense of dedication and courage which so many ordinary men and women demonstrated in order to bring an end to the horrors that were being committed against innocent people around the world....

<p>The power of rationalization is a huge power we have to choose to believe what fits into our way of thinking. Our ability to rationalize is really put to the test especially when something happens that is hard for us to explain.</p>

    Welcome to The FReeper Canteen   Today's Spiritual Journey takes us to the Navy Chaplain Corps Click on graphic to link to the original sermon.  GIVING IT ALL YOU’VE GOTEver hear the expression "Giving it the whole nine yards"? Do you happen to know where it comes from? I used to think it was a sports term. "Not so" say several experts. But here seem to be at least two schools of thought on the phrase's origin. Both seem plausible. I'll let you decide.One explanation says that it's an expression from the construction trade. A full truck...

Orthodox Warrior Keeps Kosher on the Front Lines By DAVID KLINGHOFFER Mikhail Ekshtut is a warrior. His mom is a worrier. So when the Air Force Reserve called Ekshtut up to active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he had a problem. One of the relatively few Orthodox Jews in the American military, Technical Sergeant Ekshtut hesitated to commit an untruth. But he also guessed that his mother would be consumed by anxiety if she knew where her boy was headed. So he told a little white lie. "My mom thinks I'm in Turkey," he told the Forward, "so...

    Welcome to The USO Canteen FReeper Style   Today's Spiritual Journey takes us to the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Click on graphic to link to the original sermon.  Insights: Have a good day! Or a bad one!As I was doing the mountain of paperwork necessary to lease the apartment that would become home during my tour as your chaplain, I noticed a rock in the apartment manager's office with a saying painted on it. It read, "We can't change the direction of the wind, but we can adjust our sails." When I read this I...

    Welcome to The USO Canteen FReeper Style   Today's Spiritual Journey takes us to the Navy Chaplain Corps Click on graphic to link to the original sermon.  THE LOSER WHO NEVER GAVE UPFor "Sparky", school was all but impossible. He failed every subject in the eighth grade. He flunked physics in high school, getting a grade of zero. He also flunked Latin, algebra and English. And his record in sports wasn't any better. Though he did manage to make the school's golf team, he promptly lost the only important match of the season. Oh, there was a...

The 101st Celebrates Christmas in Northern Iraq By Pfc. Chris Jones, USASpecial to American Forces Press Service NORTHERN IRAQ, Dec. 23, 2003 - Army Sgt. Paul Mauney had trudged through crowded Baltimore-Washington International Airport, pushing an artificial Christmas tree in a rolling cart and enjoying onlookers' attention. A week later, the "Freedom Tree" was sitting gloriously beside Mauney's office at the 101st Airborne Division's main compound headquarters in Mosul, Iraq, now adorned with bright lights and bells of silver, blue, red and green. Mauney, dubbed the "Christmas Tree Soldier," says his evergreen friend is a memory in the making...