Free Republic

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, March 3, 2008 – Despite advances in body armor and medicine, many soldiers would hesitate to expose themselves to a hail of bullets and rocket-propelled grenades. And not every soldier would risk his life to help a soldier from a different army. Army Staff Sgt. Joseph Peer, an 82nd Airborne Division Special Troops Battalion medic from Glendale, Ariz., deworms an Afghan child during a medical outreach event in a village near Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, July 14, 2007. Peer is credited with saving the lives of two Afghan soldiers who were wounded in Kapisa province...

An eerie calm prevails at the FleetCenter By David R. Guarino Thursday, June 24, 2004 With convention construction already $5 million over budget and three days delayed due to a picket line, all was amazingly quiet inside the FleetCenter yesterday - 33 days from DNC D-Day. Convention organizers and Mayor Thomas M. Menino say construction's on schedule. But, to the naked eye, the FleetCenter is far from ready for Sen. John F. Kerry's big event. Workers have taken out seats to make room for the convention stage and steel has been added to the ceiling to help light the ceremonies....

<p>The Balkan province of Kosovo has recently suffered the worst flare-up of violence since it was freed from Serb oppression in 1999 by U.S.-led military intervention. The outburst left 28 people dead, scores of houses burned and thousands of people displaced from their homes. Its intensity reflected the bitter reality of Kosovo, where an overwhelmingly ethnic Albanian majority and a dwindling Serb minority show no sign of being willing to live together.</p>

The New Jersey honor guardsman who was fired for saying "God bless you and this family, and God bless the United States of America" during grave-side burial services for veterans has won his job back – with back pay. As WorldNetDaily reported, Vietnam combat veteran Patrick Cubbage believed he was only following orders in giving the blessing as he presented a folded flag to the fallen veteran's family. He cited the federal flag presentation protocol detailed in training literature he was given when he began working as a part-time guardsman at the Brig. Gen. William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery...