Free Republic

Friday, October 26, 2007 WASHINGTON -- Quick: Name a movie star, a noted celebrity, a great athlete and a radio or TV personality. When I posed these queries to some nice Americans this week, I got answers such as: "Russell Crowe," "Paris Hilton," "Britney Spears," "quarterback Tom Brady," "Curt Schilling of the Red Sox," "Tiger Woods" and "Rush Limbaugh." Now: Can you name a contemporary American hero? Only two of the dozen or so people I challenged came up with, "Navy SEAL Michael Murphy." That says a lot about what our mainstream media thinks is important. Last month, during a...

Common Name, Uncommon Valor BY RALPH KINNEY BENNETT March 29,2006 Since his days growing up in Tampa, Fla., the lanky kid had wanted to be a soldier. By this bright morning, April 4, 2003, Sgt. First Class Paul Ray Smith had more than fulfilled his dream. He had served 15 of his 33 years in the U.S. Army, including three tours of duty in harm's way--in the Persian Gulf, Bosnia and Kosovo. Now all his training, all his experience, all the instincts that had made him a model soldier, were about to be put to the test. With 16 men...

Army dedicates Simulation Center for fallen Soldier December 9, 2003 Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith cuts the lock of a suspected ammunition storage facility in central Iraq. SGT Craig Zentkovich The Army’s former Simulation & Training Technology Center in Orlando, Fla., was renamed Nov. 7 in honor of Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith, a Floridian who lost his life in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Smith was killed in battle April 4. His unit, the 11th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, was assigned the task of establishing an enemy prisoner of war holding area and was aggressively counter-attacked by a...