Free Republic

On December 28 a news service reported a 35 year old United States Navy Officer Lt. Cmdr. Scintar Buenviaje Mejia died when he jumped headfirst into a concrete floor from a ten foot high stairway platform. The story as reported was that on December 26, Lt. Cmdr. Mejia had been arrested as a drug currier by police at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport. He was attempting to board a Philippine Airlines Flight from Manila to Los Angeles when he was stopped. The police held up a bag containing white powder they claimed to have found in Mejia’s luggage which they...

Navy Lt. j.g. Bradley Pate thought he was finished. Taliban fighters had ambushed the convoy of his humanitarian-aid team in an Afghan mountain pass, wounding half of the 30-member group Nov. 2, 2006. Pate and the remaining team hunkered down that night, waiting for the next battle. As the sun rose, a mortar shell exploded in the middle of its encampment. Pinned down by rifle and mortar fire, Pate heard the screams of bleeding troops around him. Then he spotted a badly wounded Air Force captain lying in the open. Pate raced out and dragged the captain to relative safety...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US Navy captain said that a top secret US Defense Department intelligence operation had identified Mohammed Atta a year before the Egyptian led the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. Navy Captain Scott Philpott said the top secret US program called "Able Danger" had identified Atta as an Al-Qaeda member in early 2000, according to Fox News. "Atta was identified by Able Danger in early 2000," Philpott -- who worked on the program -- was quoted as saying in a statement to Fox News. Philpott's statement appeared at odds with the Pentagon's position...