Free Republic

Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group is recording the fastest growth among foreign carmakers in the U.S. market, filling the vacuum left by the troubled ``Big Three'' automakers. In the January-to-April period, General Motors (GM), Ford and Chrysler sold 1.77 million vehicles in total in the U.S. for a combined 44.7-percent share, down 3.6 percent year-on-year in the wake of the bankruptcy protection for GM and Chrysler, according to industry experts. All foreign makers benefited from the decline, but none of them outperformed the Korean maker in the first four months of the year. Hyundai's market share rose 1.3 percentage points to 4.2...

A study of car safety released on Wednesday shows that four of the top-scoring automobiles in tests of five new models were small cars or so-called super-minis — including the Honda Jazz, Hyundai i20, Kia Soul and Peugeot 3008. . . Seats installed in the Kia Soul, for example, “achieved a good result in the program’s whiplash testing, again revealing that it is not only larger or expensive cars that achieve impressive results in safety.” . . . It said the Honda Jazz and Hyundai i20 racked up “impressive pedestrian scores”

PATERSON, N.J. -- A New Jersey man who military authorities say was among five soldiers gunned down in Iraq by a distraught comrade has been laid to rest.

From the Office of State Comptroller Nancy Wyman Contact: Steve Jensen: 860-702-3308/3301 May 12, 2009 Cell Phone: 860-539-9298 E-mail: Steven.Jensen@po.state.ct.us TWO FALLEN STATE SOLDIERS TO BE ADDED TO WALL OF HONOR Ceremony Also Will Recognize All Connecticut Heroes Killed in Iraq and Afghanistan Two Connecticut soldiers killed in Iraq in 2008 will be added to the Wall of Honor tribute in the State Capitol complex during a ceremony scheduled for Thursday, May 21 at 4:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend the ceremony in the Atrium of the Legislative Office Building, 300 Capitol Ave. The tribute now includes photographic...

D/FW AIRPORT — Alan Burks invited himself on this flight, the one that took off in the early afternoon Wednesday bound for the Middle East. On board the American Airlines 767 were 2 tons of supplies from the nonprofit he started in memory of his son Pete, an Army platoon leader from Dallas killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2007. No way would Burks miss the chance to go and mingle with the troops. He took Pete’s younger brother, Zac, with him to share in the experience. "He’s more than ready," Zac Burks said. "This has been his...

March 2009 saw the fewest number of U.S. casualties in Iraq since the beginning of the war. Nine American men and women died in Iraq last month -- five of those troops were killed in non-hostile action. And to add one more interesting fact, one of the four Americans killed in hostile action was a woman, who was serving at a Forward Operating Base in Mosul. July 2008 was the second lowest month for casualties in Iraq, with 13 total. March 2009 was the first month where U.S. casualties were in the single digits since the beginning of the war.

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pfc. Ricky L. Turner, 20, of Athens, Ala., died Jan. 16 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit. He was assigned to the 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Kia Motors Corp (000270.KS: Quote, Profile, Research), South Korea's No.2 automaker, on Thursday reported fourth-quarter net profit had almost doubled from the previous year as a weaker won lifted overseas sales and earnings from abroad. Kia posted a 74.8 billion won ($54.67 million) net profit for the fourth quarter of 2008, in line with a forecast for 71.7 billion won by a Reuters poll of 10 analysts. The figure compares with a 38 billion won profit a year ago and a 22.1 billion won net loss in the third quarter of 2008. But Kia also posted operating profit of 35.9...

John P. Pryor, 42, of Moorestown, the dedicated leader of the University of Pennsylvania's trauma team and a decorated major in the Army Reserve who wrote eloquently about the painful parallels between battlefield deaths and urban homicides, was killed on Christmas by enemy fire in Iraq while serving as a combat surgeon.

The burial next month of Maj. Marion Ryan McCown Jr. in a family plot in Charleston, nearly 65 years after his plane went down in the South Pacific, brings relief and joy to a family who never thought his remains would be found, his relatives said Friday.The Marine pilot had been missing since Jan. 20, 1944, when his single-seat F-4U Corsair failed to return from a combat mission over the island of New Britain, in Papua New Guinea. His remains were recovered from a crash site in the town of Rabaul, where the Japanese had a base, and identified earlier...

The residents of this town are learning to enjoy Korean barbecue, and are wary of bailing out American automakers. 'The foreign cars took the lead, and they deserve it,' says one. This attractive old mill town along the Chattahoochee River, with its brick downtown and streets of cozy, unpretentious homes, could be the backdrop for a patriotic American car commercial -- lacking only the plaintive croak of a Bob Seger or John Mellencamp. But America's Big Three automakers, which are teetering at a financial abyss, shouldn't expect much sympathy here. Kia Motors, the South Korean automaker, is building a plant...

Expedition could lead to largest identification of war dead in U.S. history

Soldier Missing in Action from Korean War is Identified The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors. He is Cpl. Librado Luna, U.S. Army, of Taylor, Texas. He will be buried on Nov. 25 in Taylor. Representatives from the Army's Mortuary Office met with Luna’s next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army. In...

AMERICANS WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES IN SERVICE TO OUR COUNTRY The Department of Defense announced the death of these Americans who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.Requesting prayer for the family, friends, and loved ones of Pfc. Tavarus D. Setzler, 23, of Jacksonville, Fla.Pfc. Tavarus D. Setzler, 23, of Jacksonville, Fla., died of wounds sustained when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in Majar al Kabir, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2d Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. Requesting prayer for the family, friends, and loved ones of Spc. Jason...

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - A Kentucky National Guard soldier was killed in Afghanistan last week when his platoon was attacked by a group of Taliban fighters, military officials said Monday. Sgt. Daniel Wallace, 27, was killed in action Friday in the West Paktika Province of Afghanistan, Kentucky Adjutant General Edward Tonini said. Wallace, a gunner in a Mine-Resistant, Armor-Protected vehicle, was shot when he got out to handle a piece of equipment that had been knocked loose, Tonini said. "Sgt. Daniel Wallace was a true patriot," Tonini said at a news conference. "One who stood up and answered the call...

Soldier Missing In Action From Korean War Is Identified The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors. He is Sgt. 1st Class W.T. Akins, U.S. Army, of Decatur, Ga. He will be buried on June 26 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. Requesting prayer for the family, friends, and loved ones of Sgt. 1st Class W.T. Akins, U.S. Army, of Decatur, Ga.. Representatives from the Army met...

SITREP: What an incredible sight! Members of Run For The Wall XX (Southen Route) Several hundred motorcycles and their military veteran riders and passengers staged at the Salem, VA American Legion parking lot this morning ready to depart for Washington, D.C. where they will gather at the Vietnam War Memorial for the annual remembrance of POW's and MIA's. They had just finished a breakfast sponsored by local veterans groups including the American Legion Post and a military family support group. They sat waiting to depart at 0730 for the last leg of their 10 day cross country (southern route) trip...

Chief Petty Officer Michael E. Koch, 29, a graduate of Charles County schools and former resident of La Plata, was one of two Navy SEALs based in Virginia Beach killed in Iraq last week. Koch and Chief Petty Officer Nathan H. Hardy of Durham, N.H., died Feb. 4 of wounds suffered from small-arms fire during a combat operation, according to Navy officials. Born on Offut Air Force Base in Omaha, Neb., where his father was stationed, Koch moved frequently as a child because of his father's assignments. He graduated from Maurice J. McDonough High School in Pomfret in 1996. For...

PINEVILLE, Ky. - Two teenagers were charged with murder today after they led police on a high-speed chase in southeastern Kentucky and hit a parked sheriff's cruiser, killing the deputy and K-9 dog inside, authorities said. "That happens so often. The bad guys walk away ... too many times," said Bell County Sheriff Bruce Bennett, pausing to brush back tears. "Of course, these are young people. But still, they are murderers now." The driver drove away from an Exxon station in Baxter without paying for $38 worth of gas at 12:35 a.m., authorities said. Police followed the car at least...

I suppose I should speak to the circumstances of my death. It would be nice to believe that I died leading men in battle, preferably saving their lives at the cost of my own. More likely I was caught by a marksman or an IED. But if there is an afterlife, I'm telling anyone who asks that I went down surrounded by hundreds of insurgents defending a village composed solely of innocent women and children. It'll be our little secret, ok?