Free Republic

   EXCLUSIVE    Fallen hero set for VC honour   Brave ... Cpl Bryan Budd saved his pals   By TOM NEWTON DUNN Defence EditorOCTOBER 16, 2006  HERO Para Cpl Bryan Budd was cut down by a hail of Taliban bullets as he took on a group of the fanatics alone, it was revealed last night.  Full details of his extraordinary actions were described for the first time by a comrade.And it was confirmed that senior officers want the corporal’s extreme valour to be marked with a posthumous Victoria Cross.It would be only the second to be awarded in 24...

   EXCLUSIVE    Gongs for Britain's brave   Courage ... Kevin, with medal   By JOHN KAY Chief ReporterSEPTEMBER 08, 2006  AN ARMY hero told last night how he took a “long walk” to defuse a powerful bomb by hand. Disposal expert Captain Kevin Ivison feared he was on a 100-yard trip to certain death as he set off to tackle the roadside device in Iraq.He was so sure he would not be coming back he left deeply personal messages for loved ones he never expected to see again.On his way to the bomb he passed the bodies of two...

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Willard "Mac" McLain's story of survival after his bomber was shot down over occupied France is like the plot of a movie, a five-month journey of intrigue and danger, avoiding the murderous Nazi Gestapo while moving secretly through an underground network of French resistance fighters. As America observes the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II this month, the 83-year-old McLain is among a dwindling number of men and women still around to tell the tales. When McLain visits the VA hospital in Tampa, veterans of the Korean War, Vietnam War and the Gulf...