Free Republic

Here you see footage of the American forces in their leisure time. The footage dates from 1945 after the German surrender and the invasion of the Allied forces in Germany.GIs when taking a bath in a lake, fishing, getting Christmas presents from their families, writing letters, spending free time together in the camps, attending an improvised performance of German Woman dancing for the GIs, etc.

Egypt's General Intelligence Service warned that a jihadi group is planning to launch terrorist attacks against the US and Israeli embassies in Cairo, according to a report Tuesday by Egypt Independent, citing a secret letter obtained by Al-Masry Al-Youm. According to the report, the attack is being planned by Global Jihad, the group suspected of killing 16 Egyptian border guards in Sinai on August 5. Al-Masry Al-Youm reportedly obtained a copy of the September 4 letter, sent to all Egyptian security sectors, warning that Sinai- and Gaza-based Global Jihad cells were planning attacks on the two embassies.

The Army is ordering its hardened combat veterans to wear fake breasts and empathy bellies so they can better understand how pregnant soldiers feel during physical training. This week, 14 noncommissioned officers at Camp Zama took turns wearing the “pregnancy simulators” as they stretched, twisted and exercised during a three-day class that teaches them to serve as fitness instructors for pregnant soldiers and new mothers. Army enlisted leaders all over the world are being ordered to take the Pregnancy Postpartum Physical Training Exercise Leaders Course, or PPPT, according to U.S. Army Medical Activity Japan health promotion educator Jana York. Developed...

<p>This weekend I joined a new family. The members of this family speak fluent German, French, Italian, Polish, Russian. They also speak fluent Chinese, Japanese, Tagalog. And they speak English in the accents of at least five different languages. Lastly, the heart of this family is a group of women who are all at least eighty years old.</p>

I saw an on line ad for this organization and wondered if it is legit or a political front to not really 'help' our service men and women.

WASHINGTON, July 29, 2008 – A Marine in Fallujah pens a song about standing watch. A sailor stationed in Hawaii scribbles a lullaby for his son while in the Iraqi desert. A soldier raps into a tape recorder to entertain his unit. Songwriters like these servicemembers were among the many who submitted their original songs to this year’s “Songs From the Soul of Service” songwriting contest. Air Force Capt. Steven Wilson was among hundreds of servicemembers who submitted original songs for the Dallas Songwriters Association's “Songs From the Soul of Service” amateur songwriting contest. Wilson submitted three songs, and...

SIERRA VISTA — Tanya Conde has never had her kindergarten class send care packages off with hopes of getting something back. The Bella Vista Elementary School teacher said she’s been military all her life, going from dependent, to active duty, to a spouse; so sending the care packages was just an important thing to do for her. During February’s National Patriotism Week, Conde decided to have her class put together care packages for the dads of two students in her class, both who are fighting in Iraq. Just recently the class received packages of its own from each soldier, including...

BELTON - There appears to be no easy way to address the challenges that inflation has brought to the Texas Department of Transportation. “We’ve seen 60 percent inflation over the last five years for transportation projects,” said Chris Lippincott, a TxDOT spokesman. To look to the federal government for assistance would appear foolhardy at this point as the Federal Highway Trust Fund is expected to become insolvent by 2009. The fund was created in 1956 to ensure a dependable source of financing for U.S. interstates and highways. “The Federal Highway Trust Fund is expected to go into the red very...

Government plans clampdown on vandalism after lobbying from biotech firms Genetically modified crops may be grown in hidden locations in Britain amid fears that anti-GM campaigners are winning the battle over the controversial technology, the Guardian has learned. Officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed they are looking at a range of options to clamp down on vandalism to GM crop trials, after intense lobbying by big crop biotech companies. The firms have warned that trials of GM crops are becoming too expensive to conduct in Britain because of the additional costs of protecting fields...

SIERRA VISTA — It could've been a patrol down any Iraqi street. As a string of troop transports makes its way through the desert, heavy dust mixes with exhaust, obscuring the vision of dozens of Fort Huachuca soldiers keeping an eye out for insurgents. Approaching a car near a mosque, the convoy slows as the sound of an Islamic prayer call hangs in the air. Then comes the chaos.

Why was the U.N. helping Pyongyang obtain militarily useful computers and GPS systems? Of all the evidence turned up by the U.S. concerning irregularities in the United Nations Development Program's operations in North Korea, some of the most disturbing concerns the transfer of dual-use technology. As reported last month, the U.S. has uncovered documents showing the UNDP procured and delivered to North Korea in May 2006 technology that could be used for military purposes: global positioning system (GPS) equipment, a portable high-end spectrometer and a large quantity of high-specification computer hardware. According to packing lists and confirmation receipts, the items...

I received an email a few minutes ago requesting prayers for our troops in Iraq due to the extreme heat. The letter then went on to state that it is 122 degrees over there right now with a low of 115 at night. Has anyone else heard about thess extreme temps ???

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2007 ? A northern-Virginia-based nonprofit organization has provided worldwide assistance to families of deployed U.S. servicemembers for the past six years. Founded in mid-2001, Salute Our Services augments existing military family support programs by providing information and services for spouses and children of deployed military members, Patricia Johnson, the group?s chief executive officer, said from her office in Reston, Va., during a phone interview with American Forces Press Service. Sharing information and concerns with other military spouses who?ve experienced times when their spouses were deployed ?provides you with perspective and makes you better prepared and equipped...

THERE'S GOOD NEWS in the latest Ports-to-Plains progress report for Lubbock and West Texas residents who recognize the evolving trade route's potential economic benefit to our area. Extending from the most active U.S.-Mexico border port, Laredo, through Lubbock and West Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Colorado, the Ports-to-Plains Corridor links the nation's plains states to the border centers of commerce. The Texas Department of Transportation is analyzing funding alternatives including opportunities for private investment and partnerships to pay for moving freight and utilities along the trade route. Using Ports-to-Plains as a case study, TxDOT will research the best potential applications...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2006 – U.S. soldiers detained 15 suspected insurgents, discovered two vehicles being fitted as suicide bombs, and found a big weapons cache Oct. 12 as part of “Operation Dealer” conducted in the Tameen area in western Ramadi, Iraq. Based on a tip from a local resident, soldiers from Task Force 1-35 detained 15 individuals who were identified as suspected terrorists. “This is a great example of the cooperation and support of the local residents in the task to rid their neighborhood of anti-Iraqi fighters,” said Capt. Matt Graham, commander, Bravo Company, 2-6 Infantry, one of the units...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2006 – Special Iraqi security forces and U.S. soldiers captured several terrorists involved in murders and bomb attacks, as well as contraband weapons, during recent raids in Baghdad and Taji. Iraqi forces, with coalition advisors, conducted an Oct. 14 air assault mission at a site in Taji and detained one suspect without incident. The suspect allegedly belongs to a terror cell that is kidnapping and murdering innocent Iraqis, conducting improvised explosive device attacks, and has ties to al Qaeda in Iraq insurgent forces. Iraqi forces caused no significant damage and there were no civilian, Iraqi forces or...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2006 -- Two Army combat veterans who both lost something dear in the war against terrorism say they are determined to keep on battling, and proving it as they prepare to run the Army 10-Miler race tomorrow. Left to right: Army Spc. James Stuck, Capt. Matthew Scherer and Spc. Joseph Keck meet the press at a Washington, D.C., suburban hotel Oct. 6. Stuck and Keck are Army combat veterans who both lost limbs in the war against terrorism. They will compete in the Missing Parts in Action team that’s competing in the Army-10-Miler race held here...

FORT HUACHUCA — On Sept. 11, 2003, Ronald Fruchey was beginning Army basic training. In March of that year, the United States and its coalition partners attacked Iraq. On Monday, Fruchey, now a specialist with Company C, 40th Signal Battalion, held his 6-month-old daughter Eliana. Monday was 9/11, five years after the U.S. was attacked by terrorists and three years after he started basic training to become a soldier, and it was the day he came home from Iraq. While Sept. 11, 2001 and 2003, both have special meanings, for Fruchey it is this year’s Sept. 11 that has the...

KORANGAL VALLEY, Afghanistan - At night, the mountains glow from artillery strikes. By day, gunbattles echo down the valley. Five years after the Sept. 11 attack, Americans are battling al-Qaida militants in this remote area where the U.S. military says the group hatched the terror plot. Only about 100 hard-core Afghan, Arab and Pakistani insurgents operate in the Korangal Valley, but this is where the U.S. last year suffered its worst combat loss in Afghanistan and where the military believes at least second-tier al-Qaida leaders still hide and plan attacks. Many of the U.S. soldiers here see their offensive as...

SIERRA VISTA — Certain knives tell stories. But, unfortunately, many of these stories remain mysteries. “Trapper Jon” Carpenter has a number of special knives made by World War II GIs, each with some kind of story behind its making. He once had a knife that was tailored for or by some soldier. It was different, Carpenter said. The handle was personal. On the butt of the handle, underneath Plexiglas, was the photo of a GI’s family, he said. “I wanted to know about that family and the person who carried it (the knife),” Carpenter said. Today, there is an increase...