Free Republic

WASHINGTON, March 30, 2006 – Corporate support for the nation's troops means a lot, especially to their families, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here last night as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus began its annual series of performances in the nation's capital. America Supports You welcomed Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus as a corporate member during a kickoff ceremony. Michael Richter, a clown with the circus, poses in front of an ASY sign before the show in downtown Washington, D.C., March 29. Photo by Paul X. Rutz  (Click photo for screen-resolution...

MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. (March 28, 2006) -- As the nation passes its third anniversary in the Global War on Terrorism, families and friends who remain behind continue to offer their support and love to the men and women fighting in the Middle East. One Beaufort father and daughter team are making the most of their resources and going the extra mile for their loved one. Maryann Waldrop's daughter and Robert Waldrop's granddaughter, Lt. Cmdr. Erin Felger, a general surgeon with the U.S. Navy Medical Corps in Camp Pendleton, Calif., was deployed to Iraq in February. The father-daughter duo does...

DALLAS, Texas (Army News Service, March 7, 2006) – More than 260 troops from the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force were treated to a special ‘welcome home’ from Gen. Richard A. Cody, vice chief of staff of the Army March 4. Cody joined airport staff and volunteers from the “Welcome Home a Hero” program at the airport to greet the service members. “America is behind you,” Cody said in an address to the troops. “I know how important that it is for you to know, and you are about to see exactly what I mean here at Dallas/Fort Worth.”...

U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Glennon Parks Jr. Mailman Sheds Weight, Obtains Age Waiver to Join Corps By Sgt. Scott Whittington 4th Marine Corps District EVANSVILLE, Ind., Feb. 14, 2006 —He already has an eagle on his uniform, but now he’s ready to put that one on hold for another – the eagle, globe and anchor. This 34-year-old, postal worker hung up his mailbag and headed for Parris Island Oct. 12 but not without a few bumps in the road. Glennon Parks Jr., has been a postal worker for the last 15 years. He started at the U.S. Postal Service...

/8/2006 - NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (AFPN) -- Units from across the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Australia and the United Kingdom gathered here for the second part of the Red Flag 06-1 exercise, which started Feb. 6. More than 130 aircraft and 2,500 personnel will fight and support in a simulated air war over the Nellis Test and Training Range during day and night missions, through Feb. 18. “Red Flag exists mostly because of the Nellis Test and Training Range -- a lot of air space out there, a lot of ground space,” said Maj. Greg Weart, Red...

When Col. Ken DeVan goes to work at his Army office southeast of Tucson, the prayers of thousands of military families go with him. He's part of a new Pentagon push to bring troops back from war alive. DeVan, head of combat development at Fort Huachuca's military intelligence school in Sierra Vista, is involved in a growing national effort to neutralize the threat posed by IEDs, military-speak for "improvised explosive devices" — the top killer of U.S. troops in Iraq. Simply put, IEDs are the makeshift bombs -------

MIDDLETOWN, NY -- John Simar woke up in Kuwait this morning – a 55-year-old soldier – one order away from risking his life on the bloody streets of Baghdad. His journey from civilian to soldier began with a phone call to the Pentagon's personnel office in August. Simar asked if he could do anything to help with the war effort in Iraq. He figured he might not even hear back. Four days later, his phone rang. The voice on the other end said: "We have a job for you." Just like that, Simar retired from the military more than a...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4, 2005 – The New York Times, one of the country's leading daily newspapers, joined thousands of employers nationwide demonstrating support for the National Guard and Reserve employees here Nov. 3. Guy "Doc" Holliday, vice president for advertising, represented the Times in making an official declaration of support for the reserve components and their role in the nation's defense during a ceremony at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan. Holliday, an Army Reserve major who was mobilized for more than a year as part of the war on terror, signed a statement of support for the...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2005 – The Marine Corps will soon officially join the special operations community with a new Marine Special Operations Command to become a component of U.S. Special Operations Command, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld announced here today. Rumsfeld announced his approval of the plan, part of a sweeping range of transformations under way to strengthen the U.S. military and its special operations forces, during a Pentagon news briefing. The new command "will increase the number of special operations forces available for missions worldwide while expanding their capabilities in some key areas," Rumsfeld told reporters. The new command...

AR RAMADI, Iraq (Oct. 21, 2005) -- Lance Cpl. James Loomis joined the Marine Corps for a number of reasons. While some people join for adventure or college money, others join for the chance to travel and experience other cultures. Loomis, a machine gunner from Orange County, Calif., enlisted in the Corps for all those reasons and more. Loomis, who is with Company L, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, grew up in southern California and always knew that the world had more to offer than the odd jobs he worked before enlisting. “I didn’t have any scholarships for college and...

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday joined Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, and other federal lawmakers in urging Congress to help California repair its aging system of levees. Schwarzenegger, who is expected to announce today his bid for a full term as governor, wants an additional $90 million for levee repairs from a federal government that has a history of failing to show California the money. The hope is to prevent a New Orleans-like disaster in the streets of Stockton and Sacramento. "Many parts of our Central Valley have significantly lower levels of flood protection than similar areas in the...

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, September 8, 2005) – Soldiers of the 13th Corps Support Command from Fort Hood, Texas, are deploying to New Orleans this week in support of Joint Task Force Katrina. The COSCOM will be joining units from the 82nd Airborne Division, 1st Cavalry Division, 4th Infantry Division and the Iwo Jima Amphibious Readiness Group. About 41,500 National Guard personnel are on duty in the area devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Almost 17,500 active-duty personnel are on ships or on the ground in the region, DoD officials said. Army Reserve also deploying More than 220 Army Reserve Soldiers have...

An F-14 Tomcat fighter jet was set in place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Monday in ceremonies marking an important milestone in construction of the Air Force One Pavilion, which is expected to open in the fall. Addressing a crowd of hundreds of guests, Rear Adm. David J. Venlet said the Air Force One exhibit and others at the library and museum tell the story of President Reagan's legacy. "It does a great job of highlighting the military's impact in the defense of freedom," said Venlet, who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for action in the Gulf...

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, Calif., Aug. 18, 2005 – "After all the things he has been through, I'm sure he isn't worried about me screaming in his ear," Marine Staff Sgt. Nathan Nofziger, a drill instructor here, said about his West African recruit. Pfc. Nimley Tabue is one of the 271 recruits in Company B, but few could say they've been in his shoes. The soft-spoken Liberia native recalls visions of war and the struggles he and his family went through to survive when thinking back to his native country. Tabue's parents came from different tribes. He said...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Aug. 11, 2005) -- People join the Marine Corps for many different reasons. Some join for money, some for freedom, and some even join for a place to live. Others, like Cpl. Mediya A. Abakar, joined the Marine Corps to reunite with their family. “Family is precious. Everything comes and goes except family,” Abakar said. So Abakar left Chad, Africa, for the United States to be closer to her two brothers in the Marines and two sisters in the Navy. Living with her aunt, Abakar found she could be closer to her family and...

The U.S. Army's Buffalo boasts a robotic arm tipped with a pitchfork-like hand and a camera for seeing into hard-to-reach areas during the search for improvised explosive devices. BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 10, 2005 — Looking like a creation from the TV show “Monster Garage,” 1st Battalion, 64th Armor’s Buffalo lumbers down the streets of Baghdad, searching for improvised explosive devices. The Buffalo stands far taller than a tank and boasts a robotic arm tipped with a pitchfork-like hand and a camera for seeing into hard-to-reach areas. “We travel slowly along our routes, looking out the windows for anything suspicious,” said...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 8, 2005 – A former Taliban sub-commander of the Paktika province has renounced violence against the government of Afghanistan, further fragmenting the Taliban command structure in eastern Afghanistan, military officials said. Mullah Hajji Jalani formally joined the Program Takhim-E-Sohl Aug. 4. A ceremony honoring his decision will be held Aug. 9. The terrorist cell he was formerly associated with has been accused of conducting and planning a variety of attacks against the Afghan people, the Afghan government, and Afghan and coalition forces. "The fact that Mullah Hajji Jalani has joined with the government of Afghanistan is a positive...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The small farm workers' union founded by labor hero Cesar Chavez joined a coalition of labor groups demanding changes in the AFL-CIO as the 50-year-old federation inched closer Friday to breaking up. The United Farm Workers union, based outside Bakersfield, Calif., brings to seven the number of unions in the Change to Win Coalition. Four of the coalition unions have threatened to bolt the AFL-CIO - the Teamsters and service employees, along with food and commercial workers and hotel, restaurant, retail, textile and laundry employees. The UFW, organized in 1962 and now consisting of 27,000 members, intends...

Bill Clinton's memoir joins 'Harry Potter' as a bestseller in Iranian bookshops By Agence France Presse (AFP) Friday, July 01, 2005 TEHRAN: Iranians may shout "Death to America" and burn the Stars and Stripes in demonstrations, but the memoir of former U.S. President Bill Clinton is on its way to becoming a runaway bestseller in the country. According to publisher Farhang Fattemi, who has just released the book, "many Iranians like the United States and want to hear history straight from the horse's mouth." First published in the U.S. last summer, "My Life" has hit the shelves in Iran in...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has joined Mayor James Hahn's re-election campaign as its honorary chair, the campaign announced Monday. Feinstein, a Democrat, has represented California in the U.S. Senate since 1992 and before that was mayor of San Francisco. "I am very proud and honored that Sen. Feinstein has agreed to serve as honorary chair of my campaign," Hahn said in a statement. "She has been a great friend and partner in our efforts to make Los Angeles a great place to live." Hahn faces competition from former state Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, state Sen. Richard...