Free Republic

Russian authorities are detaining people mourning the death of opposition leader Alexey Navalny. He died in custody at an Arctic Circle penal colony late last week. Western leaders blame Russia.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Mourners gathered across the country this week to honor the life of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Outside the Supreme Court, fans of the late RBG conducted a stirring, emotional memorial ceremony that ended with a beautiful 21-Molotov Cocktail Salute. "This is our way of honoring our great progressive Justice Ginsburg," said part-time Antifa arsonist Ron Meechan. "We hope that she is watching us from above as we torch this 7-Eleven in her honor. Blessed be her name." Seven shabby figures then stumbled into a line as a nearby comrade played Lady Gaga's "I Was Born This Way" solemnly on...

The New York Times caught flack after the publication labeled Iranian-controlled militias, which attacked the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, as "mourners." "Hundreds of Iraqi mourners tried to storm the United States Embassy in Baghdad, shouting 'Down, down USA!,' in response to deadly American airstrikes this week that killed 25 fighters," the paper said in a Tuesday tweet. The tweet met with swift condemnation from those saying they were parroting Iranian propaganda. Protesters shouted, "Death to America," as they broke into the embassy compound. Your “mourners” must be upset about a video. But these attackers are Hezbollah supporters. Hezbollah is a...

Mourners for a man who was killed in a shooting earlier this month apparently beat up a man they thought was intruding on their loved one's funeral early Friday afternoon in northwest Houston. The attack occurred at the Paradise Funeral Home at 10401 West Montgomery while family and friends were holding a service for Claude Kibbie. Kibbie died July 26, a day after he had been shot in the head while driving away from an argument in the 9500 block of Trudy. Police said at the time they had no suspect or motive in the case. Mourners at the funeral...

TUCSON — Case is home. The body of Army Cpl. Casey Lee “Case” Mellen came back to Arizona around 2 p.m. Monday as a Navy cargo aircraft landed at Tucson International Airport and taxied to the executive terminal. Although it was a sad day, the soldier’s father, Casey Edward Mellen, said, “I’m happy my son’s home.” The war is claiming many American men and women, he said. Case is just one of the dead and is part “of all the future dead soldiers,” Mellen said. It was not a political statement against the war, just a reality as GIs remain...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of mourners intent on seeing their beloved Pope John Paul one last time poured into the Vatican on Tuesday, jamming the narrow cobbled streets and filling them with song, prayer and sorrow. On the Via della Conciliazione, a broad avenue leading from St. Peter's Square to the River Tiber, a quiet, disciplined crowd was contained between metal barriers with police and paramedics stationed at regular intervals. But in the adjacent warren of medieval alleys, pilgrims were flooding in at such a pace that they were blocking streets before police had time to clear...

By my count, we had 21 FReepers and lurkers man the lines today defending the honor of Arlington National Cemetery. Many passersby gave us the "thumbs up" and several folks thanked us for being out giving our opinion of this blood dance. Honor Roll for today's FReep: Kristinn, tgslTakoma, hoodlum91, 3D-JOY, Sauropod, Jimmy Valentine's Brother, 3 lurkers, DonSimmons, LiveFreeorDie, BufordP, RaceBannon, Doctor Raoul, Cobol2Java, LandryFan, and BillF. When you arrive at the Arlington National Cemetary Visitor Center, this is the sign you see: I'm going to show you some pictures of what went on today and you can decide if...

SIMI VALLEY, California (AP) -- A steady stream of admirers is making a pilgrimage to the grave site of former President Ronald Reagan, who died June 5 after battling Alzheimer's disease for a decade. Visitors to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library have quadrupled since June 14, when the hilltop shrine reopened, library spokeswoman Melissa Giller said. Three days earlier, Nancy Reagan said goodbye to her husband of 52 years during a poignant sunset burial.

For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary June 12, 2004 President Bush Salutes Remembers President Reagan in Radio Address      Audio THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week, America mourned the passing of President Ronald Reagan. We remembered a gentle, decent man, and one of the greatest leaders our nation has known. He was a courageous patriot whose leadership transformed the country and the world he leaves behind. In this time of sadness, we think especially of Nancy Reagan, a loyal, loving wife of 52 years; and the President's three children, and the rest of the Reagan family.  Radio Address...

WASHINGTON - Tens of thousands of Americans are streaming through the Capitol Rotunda, undeterred by sweltering heat, to pay their final respects to Ronald Reagan (news - web sites). The public viewing goes on continuously until Friday morning. Capitol Police weren't giving out official crowd estimates. But visitors split into two columns as they entered the viewing area, filing around both sides of the casket in a process that roughly doubled the pace that enabled approximately 106,000 to view the president during a 33-hour period at the Reagan library in California. Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer said at daybreak that...

Dog pays respects to deceased buddy By ELIZABETH FISHER The Intelligencer BRISTOL - It's hard to imagine a more loyal dog than Polo. Even when his best pal died, the 3-year-old shepherd/chow/Labrador mix paid his respects in his own way. Polo was often seen in the company of Ed Crossan, whose daughter, Donna, owns the dog. Polo would scamper around the yard while Crossan mowed the grass or planted flowers. Crossan was famous for the festive decorations in the front yard of his Pond Street property every Easter or Christmas and, when he set up, Polo was always nearby. So...

The family of a man who died went to a funeral home to make arrangements for the service and found his missing dog outside the building. Polo, a three-year-old Labrador and German Shepherd mix, bolted from home after the death of his 73-year-old master, Ed Crossan. Mr Crossan's daughter, Donna, said: "He got out and we went to look for him but couldn't find him. We finally had to just go to make the arrangements." They pulled up in front of the Wade Funeral Home on Radcliffe Street about a mile away from the Crosnan family home, and immediately spotted...

President Bush's secret visit to Baghdad dramatized his commitment to the war and the troops. But it has not put to rest criticism that he has been unwilling to pay the proper respect to those who fought and died. "It's absolutely appropriate to be honoring our soldiers overseas in battle on a day like Thanksgiving," said Chris Lehane, a top adviser to presidential candidate Wesley Clark. But that's not sufficient. "It is more important to honor them every day," including "to appropriately honor the heroes coming back in caskets." As dead American soldiers have come back from Iraq, Bush has...

Photos made into a collage are displayed along with the traditional military memorial service in Honor of fallen soldiers of the 4th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Camp Cherry in Tall Afar, Iraq on Nov. 19, 2003. Pfc. Damian L. Heidelberg was a battalion mail delivery clerk and was killed en rout back from pass to continue his duties in support of Operation Iraq Freedom. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Matthew Siemion Units Mourn Loss of SoldiersKilled in Black Hawk Crashes By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Mark Swart and Spc. Joshua Hutcheson101st...

Genoa, Ill. - In a memorial service almost devoid of the military trappings that have become so familiar with those of other soldiers killed in Iraq, Army 1st Lt. Brian Slavenas was remembered Thursday as a gentle man."I met him as a freshman in high school and I never heard him put another kid down," said Phil Heinisch of Decatur, one of nine friends who told humorous and sometimes touching stories about Slavenas.Slavenas, 30, was one of 16 soldiers killed in Iraq earlier this month when the Chinook helocopter he was piloting was shot down.Also killed were Iowans, Sgt. Paul...

Army Staff Sgt. Morgan D. Kennon of Memphis was given a hero's farewell Friday morning, a week after he was killed in Iraq. "Death reminds us of the sovereignty of God, and the frailty of man," Rev. Arthur Snow, pastor of Greater New Shiloh Baptist Church, said to more than 500 mourners attending services at N. J. Ford & Sons Funeral Home. Kennon's Bronze Star and Purple Heart were displayed next to his flag-draped coffin. Large sprays of red and white flowers surrounded the casket and the dais where dignitaries sat. photographs by Jim Weber As officers and dignitaries paid...

First we mourn, then we persevere, honoring the spirit of the U.S. troops who perished and were wounded yesterday in the most lethal attacks since organized combat was declared over in Iraq. These fine young Americans were engaged in service of a noble cause that is everyday becoming more vital to a secure future. It is terrible to imagine them shaken from reveries of well-deserved rest and relaxation and plummeting in a wounded transport helicopter, their blood spilled on soil to which they owed no allegiance. Such is too often the calling of the U.S. soldiers who have accepted the...

MSNBC just showed an interview of a father who lost his son in the crash of the Chinook......the reporter asked the man if we should be in Iraq....his reply after a lengthy silence said..... "He would have handled it differently...." They got the answer they wanted a military family critizing our war effort.

Kampala Several Anglicans in Uganda described yesterday as "a day of grief, shame and sorrow" after the consecration of the first openly gay man as a bishop in the United States. The Rev. Canon V. Gene Robinson was consecrated bishop of the Episcopalian diocese of New Hampshire following months of heated debate over whether the Anglican Church should have gay clergy. Uganda, which has the second highest concentration of Anglicans in the world after Nigeria, was one of several African countries opposed to Robinson's consecration. In many Anglican churches yesterday, special prayers were said for the continuity of the church...

Dennis Geurin bent and touched the dog tags that hung not from his son's neck but from an M-16 rifle plunged ceremonially into the ground. Barely three months have passed since Lance Cpl. Cory Geurin, 18, died in Iraq when he fell off a building he was guarding. But yesterday's 1st Marine Division memorial service for 39 fallen members was the father's first chance to talk to Marines who ate, slept and fought next to his son. He hungers for every tidbit about his Marine's final days. "I need to touch base with Marines who knew him. I need to...