Free Republic

Secretary of State John Kerry will announce "significant new contributions to support relief efforts" for Syrian refugees later this week, the White House said on Tuesday, according to the Reuters news agency. According to the statement, Kerry's announce will come on Thursday at an international donor conference in London. In addition to the aid, the United States is planning to resettle Syrian refugees in the country, a plan which caused controversy following the Paris attacks in November, in which one of the terrorists snuck into Europe with a group of Syrian refugees. ...

GULFPORT, Miss. (NNS) -- Sailors and Soldiers from two of three Canadian ships operating in the Gulf of Mexico joined U.S. Sailors Sept. 14 in providing support to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts here. Canadian service members from HMCS Ville De Quebec (FFH 332) and HMCS Toronto (FFH 333) joined Seabees from Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (CBMU) 202 Detachment Key West, Fla., along with Sailors from USS Bataan (LPD 5). Canadian sailors and soldiers left their homeport just days after the hurricane to come help aid in relief efforts. Their first stop was Pensacola, Fla., where the ships dropped off more...

U.S. Army, Staff Sgt. Michael L. Baker and Pfc. Michael J. Baker Belle Chasse, Louisiana, Sept. 14, 2005 — Like father, like son; it's all in the family for a pair of infantrymen with the Oregon National Guard. As Staff Sgt. Michael L. Baker from the Oregon National Guard sat on a New York City transit bus at the Belle Chasse Naval Air Station near New Orleans, his thoughts were on his family. And his mind didn't have to wander far. A few buses over sat his young stepson who also mobilized with Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 186th Infantry in...

NAVAL AIR STATION JOINT RESERVE BASE NEW ORLEANS (NNS) -- Members of Naval Environmental Preventive Medicine Unit (NEPMU) 2’s Forward Deployable Preventive Medicine Unit (FDPMU) East continued their efforts to establish a safe environment for relief workers and residents recovering from the impact of Hurricane Katrina Sept. 13. FDPMU East, currently deployed to Naval Air Station (NAS) Joint Reserve Base (JRB) New Orleans, conducted environmental monitoring of residential areas of the St. Benard Parish affected by contamination of oil from a nearby oil refinery as a result of damages sustained Aug. 29 from Hurricane Katrina. The survey, which was coordinated...

For many victims of Hurricane Katrina, an exodus from Lubbock may be days away. A fourth of about 400 New Orleans residents driven here by Hurricane Katrina will be reunited with their families through donated Southwest Airlines tickets. "The Southwest tickets have allowed us to take care of people that need immediate attention," Lubbock American Red Cross Chairman Greg Bruce said. Volunteers identified the residents - who could join family members or who had medical needs - as candidates for the tickets. Already 20 residents have left Lubbock on the tickets: Six left by 1 p.m. Wednesday and another 14...

MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala., Sept. 6, 2005 – Some airmen of the 908th Airlift Wing are returning to their home base today after participating in an overseas deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The troops aren't even back yet, but their commander says they're ready to serve again, only this time, in disaster-relief operations. "A lot of folks have been chomping at the bit to help," Air Force Lt. Col. John Stokes said. He said that his crews sent him e-mails that said, "As soon as we get back, we're ready to turn around and do hurricane-support missions."...

Black Democrats in Congress and civil rights leaders yesterday accused the Bush administration of incompetence and a lack of compassion for blacks in response to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. "Many of these Americans who now are struggling to survive are Americans of color," Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland Democrat, said. "Their cries for assistance confront America with a test of our moral compass as a nation." He quoted the admonition of Christ to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, and said: "To the president of the United States, I simply say that God cannot be pleased with our...

Does anyone know of anyone ( or a group ) from the Fresno Ca area - that is getting ready to head south to help the Hurricane Victims. Thanks we want to help out too.

JAKARTA, Dec 30 (Reuters) - A U.S. aircraft carrier group was headed for Indonesia's tsunami-hit Aceh province on Thursday and several other U.S. military ships were on course to the Bay of Bengal to help with relief operations, officials said. The carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and four other vessels will be stationed off Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra island where the death toll from Sunday's earthquake and tsunami has risen past 47,000. Another group of seven U.S. military ships, including a helicopter carrier, steamed for the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean. Lieutenant General James T. Conway,...