Free Republic

WASHINGTON, March 6, 2007 – Hundreds of volunteer buglers and trumpeters are being sought to participate in Armed Forces Day observances held at veterans’ cemeteries nationwide and overseas, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs official said here yesterday. The event, called “Echo Taps Worldwide,” will be held May 19 and is co-sponsored by the VA’s National Cemetery Administration and “Bugles Across America,” a volunteer group, said Michael Nacincik, the cemetery administration’s chief of communications and outreach support. “Echo Taps” will take place at VA-operated national cemeteries, U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service national cemeteries, and American Battle Monuments...

WASHINGTON — President Bush signed into law last week a provision that eliminates funeral honors and burial benefits for a veteran convicted of state or federal crimes carrying any life sentence. The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, closed a loophole in the defense authorization bill. "This law honors our military heroes, and I am so proud to have fought for its passage," Mikulski said in a written statement. "This continues what has been a daily fight for more than 18 years to safeguard vital veterans' services and benefits." The passage was a small...

WASHINGTON — The elderly couple, Daniel and Wilda Davis, opened their door to Russell Wayne Wagner on Valentine's Day 1994. "He took Mom and Dad and sat them on a kitchen chair, tied their hands behind their heads and put a pillowcase over their heads, stabbed them 14-15 times and then he robbed them and then he left," their son, Vernon Davis, tearfully told the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Thursday. Wagner was convicted of the couple's murders and sentenced to two life terms with parole eligibility. When he died in prison, he was cremated and placed in the nation's premiere...