Free Republic

The link to the story is below. You've heard the wall-to-wall coverage about the Italian intelligence agent killed in Iraq. But when U.S. forces make heroic efforts to save someone like this little Afghan boy, don't look for any credit in the press at all -- it's not their way.

Maj. Gen. William G. Webster Jr. listens as Maj. Gen. Mudhir Al Mawlla discusses the significance of the 41st Brigade during a ceremony honoring the activation of the unit March 3. Sgt. Andrew Miller Iraqi Army 41st Brigade activates By Sgt. Andrew Miller March 7, 2005 BAGHDAD (Army News Service, March 7, 2005) – The 41st Brigade of the Iraqi Army was activated March 3 during a ceremony at an Iraqi Army training facility here. More than 200 Iraqi Soldiers, who make up the headquarters element of the brigade, participated in the ceremony. Members of the brigade – who...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, March 4, 2005) --Operation Happy Feet brought smiles to children of Sadr City as Soldiers of B Company, 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry distributed sneakers at Marakah al-Taf Elementary School Feb. 28. Working in conjunction with Civil Affairs, Soldiers purchased 500 pairs of shoes from a local vendor to give out at the northeastern Baghdad school, according to Capt. Timothy Terese, B Co. commander. “We go around to lots of schools in the area, basically every day, to make sure they have the proper equipment to function,” said 1st Lt. Jason Rocks, B Co. fire support...

More than 100 Army Reserve soldiers came home to the waiting arms of family members in Tucson Thursday night, thrilled to be back after a year in Iraq but sad that one colleague hadn't survived. The late Sgt. Tina S. Time's picture was posted above a sign saying "Welcome Home Soldiers from the 208th" that hung on a wall inside the assembly hall of the Army Reserve Center on the South Side. There, three busloads of reserves rolled in shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday, just as the sun dipped beneath the horizon. Time, who died in a vehicle crash near...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - As more people lose loved ones to the relentless violence, Iraqis are becoming increasingly angry at insurgents, even staging public demonstrations condemning militants. While it is impossible to precisely gauge public opinion, it is clear many Iraqis have grown tired of two years of insecurity, and some are directing their wrath at those behind the bombings and attacks. "I demand that they be put in the zoo along with the other scavengers, because that is where they belong," said Bassam Yassin, who lost his brother to an insurgent attack in Mosul. He spoke Wednesday after relatives of...

Rick Rescorla may be remembered forever as a hero who led hundreds of people to safety from the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, but he will be immortalized at Fort Benning as a young soldier in Vietnam. A portrait of the former Army colonel was unveiled Thursday in a special ceremony honoring Rescorla, a decorated Vietnam veteran who died in the terrorist attack after helping evacuate 2,700 employees from the World Trade Center. The 62-year-old Rescorla, a Fort Benning Officer Candidate School Hall of Famer, was security chief for Morgan Stanley working in the south tower. After the...

SAN DIEGO — Sgt. Rafael Peralta is dead, but the story of his sacrifice to save fellow Marines will live long in Marine Corps lore. In the fierce battle for the Iraqi town of Fallujah, Peralta, with gunshot wounds to his head and body, reached out and grabbed a grenade hurled by an insurgent, cradling it to his body to save others from the blast. The explosion in the back room of a house injured one Marine, but four others managed to scramble to safety. Peralta, 25, an immigrant from Mexico who enlisted the day he got his green-card work...

Iowa Marine may be candidate for Medal of Honor Associated Press Saturday, February 26, 2005, 2:59:02 PM DES MOINES -- An Iowa Marine is receiving widespread praise for his bravery after leading a daring rescue mission in Iraq last fall. Sgt. Brad Kasal, of Afton, said he learned three fellow Marines were wounded inside an enemy-controlled house during house-to-house battles with insurgents in Fallujah on Nov. 13. "The insurgents would kill them, or worse -- torture them and then kill them, so time was essential," Kasal said. "So I gathered up a bunch of young Marines and tried to enter...

SCHWEINFURT, Germany — First Sergeant kept his word. One month after a rocket-propelled grenade blew off his leg, mangled his arm and tore a gash in his head while his convoy patrolled in Iraq, 1st Sgt. Brent Jurgersen fulfilled a pledge he made to troops of the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment when they left for the Middle East a year ago. He vowed he would personally lead them home. Kristen Chandler Toth / U.S. Army First Sgt. Brent Jurgersen, twice badly injured in Iraq, is reunited with Capt. Jeff Paine, commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, during a...

A British soldier surveys the scene from the top of an armoured vehicle after insurgents detonated a bomb in the west of Baghdad, killing two civilians who were passing by in a vehicle, in Iraq Saturday, Feb. 26, 2005. It was not clear what the target was although a U.S. tank was nearby at the time but was not damaged in the blast. (AP Photo/Mohammed Uraibi)

February 27, 2005 On the Home Front, a Source of Support By KATE ZERNIKE MONG the promises to help firm your thighs or give you a more lustrous head of hair that shout out from covers of women's magazines, "7 Things to Expect From A Man Who's Been Living in the Desert" strikes a somewhat discordant note. It was one of the teasers gracing the cover of the first issue of Military Spouse, a new magazine published every other month that was founded in the run-up to the Iraq war by two Navy wives frustrated by what they perceived as...

Generally: You start to think "its not so bad here". You say "this place sort of grows on you". You say, "it feels cooler today" and find out that the temperature is 110. You call your tent (trailer if you're lucky) "Home". You get excited at the idea of "ICE". Apaches excite you much more than Blackhawk's or Kiowa's. Armaments: You don't jump when a door slams or someone drops something. You aren't alarmed when every second person you see has a gun or two or three. You kick the M-16 on the floor aside without a second thought when...

BAGHDAD, Feb. 26 -- U.S. forces have arrested an Iraqi father and son accused of participating in a 1982 massacre in the predominantly Shiite Muslim village of Dujail in retaliation for an assassination attempt on then-President Saddam Hussein. Senior U.S. officials said in interviews that Abdulla Rwayid and Muzhir Abdulla Rwayid were arrested Monday and charged with crimes against humanity for their alleged role in the killing of hundreds of people associated with the Dawa party, a Shiite group that carried out the attempt on Hussein's life on July 8, 1982. Charges against the two detained men were referred to...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE DANGER, Iraq, Feb. 20 - The old pilot was recalling a different war in a different place. "Every time we went in, we went in hot," he remembered. "You were fighting your way in and fighting your way out." The pilot, Chief Warrant Officer James G. Freeman, was 23 when he began flying Huey helicopters in the Vietnam War in 1970. His missions with the 116th Assault Helicopter Company often involved dropping into a battleground to unload soldiers after helicopter gunships had "prepped" the zone with a torrent of rockets and machine-gun fire. "There were a lot...

Meet Corporal John Quinones, whose family I brought out to L.A. for a little vacation a few weeks ago. He was home on leave from nineteen months in Iraq after six months in Afghanistan. He's 25 years old. He was in the reserves, but he signed up for the Regular Army after 9/11. "I wanted to go to war against those people," he said. With him came his wife, Yenncy, holding their one-year daughter Samantha. She doesn't really know her father because he's been away fighting in Iraq for the whole time she has been alive except for one week...

Standing Guard

FALLUJAH, Iraq (Feb. 14, 2005) -- The Marines of Civil Affairs Detachment 4-4, Regimental Combat Team 1, 1st Marine Division, visited several facilities during a civil military operation in the city of Fallujah, Iraq, Feb. 14, passing out Valentine's card and candy. The Marines were able to speak to several contractors to assess the damage and the necessary steps to rebuild and reopen several needed structures. The CMO is part of an ongoing operation to evaluate the progress of the city’s schools, medical clinics, fire stations and other major installations. Rahma Katheer, 8, a native of Fallujah, Iraq, gives Cpl....

AL MADINAH, Iraq (Feb.11, 2005) -- Local residents and Marines of 2nd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment celebrated the completion of a village improvement project here with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Feb. 10, 2005. Throughout the past seven months, 2/10 Marines worked with village leaders here to build working relationships and identify ways to improve the village's living conditions. The battalion invested more than $360,000 for the refurbishment of 32 homes, which provided residents with new septic and electrical systems. The projects improved the quality of life for the Iraqi people, and strengthened their local economy - many of them were hired...

weapons training Pushups the Gorkha way Celebrating the end of training the Gorkha way by cutting the neck of a goat in one stroke Soldier paying tribute to his comrades killed in battle in Kashmir insurgency Soldier going through the punishment drill for failing to meet the exacting standards set by the Gorkhas during training Soldier sharpning his khukri, Gorkha knife Gorkha commandoes fighting no holds barred full contact karate Soldier singing cadence going through the drill Giving the Gorkha war shout Soldier being trained in rappelling for mountain warfare Soldier training on the obstacle course come rain or shine...

DefendAmerica News - Coalition Doctors Mend Boy's Cleft Palate Jan Mohammad holds his nephew Khan in Ghazni after the surgery. Courtesy photo. Coalition Doctors Mend Boy's Cleft Palate During a medical assistance mission, doctors noted the boy's condition and contacted a combat support hospital to determine if they could help. By U.S. Army Sgt. Stephanie L. Carl 17th Public Affairs Detachment BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Feb. 14, 2005 Three-year-old Khan Mohammad clung to his uncle, Jan Mohammad, as he entered Bagram Airfield, overwhelmed by the unfamiliar people around him. "To perform this surgery is very gratifying," said Dr. (Col.) John Caufield...