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Chris O'Meara/Associated Press Vice President Dick Cheney Friday with Master Sgt. Donald R. Hollenbaugh, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.June 11, 2005 TAMPA, Fla., June 10 - Vice President Dick Cheney paid public tribute on Friday to military personnel who often work deep in the shadows, bestowing awards on five Special Operations soldiers for heroism in Iraq and Afghanistan. In a ceremony at the Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base and in a subsequent speech, Mr. Cheney drew attention both to the actions of the individuals he honored and what he said was the growing importance of...

Just heard this on the radio, WFLA, Tampa Florida. Nothing on their website: http://www.970wfla.com Anybody else have any info?

President Bush said on Wednesday: "Today in Iraq, more than 170 newspapers are being published, and I saw the other day that they've even got talk radio. I don't know if they've contacted Rush yet." KVI-AM listeners didn't get to hear Bush's Limbaugh joke. "We just don't generally expose or promote talk-show hosts on other stations," says program director Paul Duckworth, whose station once aired Rush Limbaugh's show.

June 17, 2004 -- President Bush yesterday sent an emotional thanks to U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying their sacrifices were "needed" to create "a democratic free Iraq" that will make America safer.

President Bush spoke to about 10,000 US troops and their families at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, and also live via satellite to U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. He attended a briefing at Central Command Headquarters in Florida. Enjoy your daily dose of W and today's visit to Sanity Island!

Free Iraq's Future Coming Into View, Bush Says at MacDill By John D. BanusiewiczAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, June 16, 2004 – With the transfer of sovereignty two weeks away, the future of a free Iraq is coming into view, President Bush told a worldwide military audience and service members assembled at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., today. U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command have their headquarters at MacDill. A satellite television hook-up enabled the president to make his remarks directly to service members assembled in hangars at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, and Baghdad International Airport, Iraq,...

MacDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - President Bush (news - web sites) gave a pep talk on Wednesday to U.S. forces in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq (news - web sites), claiming steady progress toward democracy in both countries despite a surge in violence in Iraq. "The future of a free Iraq is now coming into view," Bush told several thousand troops in a giant hangar at this waterfront Tampa, Fla., air base that is home to the U.S. Central Command. "A democratic free Iraq is on the way." His remarks were beamed to troops in Iraq and...

Bush Seeks to Boost Morale of U.S. Troops in Iraq Wed Jun 16, 2004 01:55 PM ET By Caren Bohan MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (Reuters) - President Bush sought on Wednesday to rally U.S. troops in Iraq who face extended tours and mounting casualties by telling them "our country has needed that sacrifice." Appearing in the election battleground state of Florida -- home to many military families -- Bush also tried to reassure the soldiers that the mission in Iraq was yielding progress despite the persistent violence. "We're bringing back a 5,000 year-old civilization to life," Bush said. Located...

Central Command Memorial Aims at January 2005 Groundbreaking By Vickie Chachere/Associated Press May 30, 2004 TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - When the planners of the Central Command Memorial began their work nearly three years ago, the idea was to create a monument to the history of those who had served and died in the command's operations from Kenya to Kazakhstan. That was just weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks and a time when no one could foresee wars in Iraq and Afghanistan producing new names to be memorialized nearly every day. The drive to build the $1.5 million memorial at Central...

CLEARWATER - In a quiet and unpretentious gathering, representatives of some of the richest and most powerful nations in the world broke bread together Wednesday in a show of unity. Egypt, Kuwait, France, Singapore, Jordan and Pakistan were there. All part of a 68-member group of countries united against terrorism and based in Coalition Village at MacDill Air Force Base. The group is working together on two military operations to rebuild Iraq and to curb terrorism. And though military brass from those countries don't all practice the same religion, they decided to come together in a show of support at...

With a new, fourth star on his collar, Army Gen. John Abizaid took over as leader of the U.S. Central Command on Monday following a star-studded tribute to retiring commander Gen. Tommy Franks. Abizaid, an Arabic speaker whom Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called "the leader for the 21st century," had served as one of Frank's two deputies at Central Command. During that time, Franks planned the war on terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks and then coordinated the invasion of Iraq. "The greatest honor of any solider is to command the sons and daughters of America," Abizaid said during the...

A man was arrested Friday after he allegedly tried to get through a security checkpoint at MacDill Air Force Base with a loaded handgun and a knife as he asked to see Gen. Tommy Franks. Todd Christian Wiegler, 31, of Brandon, pulled up in his car to a gate at the base around 8:40 a.m., Tampa police spokesman Joe Durkin said. He apparently told MacDill security guards that he wanted to see Franks, who oversaw the war in Iraq as head of MacDill-based U.S. Central Command. The guards asked Wiegler to get out of his car and quickly found a...

Armed Man Arrested at Fla. Military Base By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 5:13 p.m. ET TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- A man with a loaded handgun and a knife was arrested Friday after he allegedly tried to get through the gate of a military base while asking to see Gen. Tommy Franks. Todd Christian Wiegler, 31, pulled up in his car to a security checkpoint at MacDill Air Force Base around 8:40 a.m., said Tampa police spokesman Joe Durkin. He apparently told MacDill security guards that he wanted to see Franks, who oversaw the war in Iraq as head of...

Newly released FBI documents say a 15-year-old boy who stole a plane and crashed it into a skyscraper might have originally targeted MacDill Air Force Base in his suicide mission. An FBI review of Charles Bishop's Internet activity showed the teen sought maps of the base and information about it. He also sent an e-mail to a classmate asking where Central Command was located on the base. Bishop died on Jan. 5, 2002, when he flew a Cessna stolen from a flight school into the Bank of America building in downtown Tampa. He left a note expressing sympathy for Osama...

<p>MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — President Bush yesterday said elite Iraqi forces outside Baghdad are coming under "direct and intense attack" from coalition soldiers and warned Saddam Hussein "there will be a day of reckoning for Iraq, and that day is drawing near."</p>

President Rallies Troops at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa Remarks by the President to Socom and Centcom Community Macdill Air Force Base Tampa, Florida 10:42 A.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, all. (Applause.) Thank you, all. Thank you, all, very much. General Delong, thanks for such a kind introduction. Laura and I are really proud to be here with the good men and women of CENTCOM and MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. (Applause.) We are pleased to see so many family members who are here. We want to -- (applause) -- we thank you for coming. And I want...