Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Nov. 19, 2007 – The Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard each honored one of their own at a Pentagon ceremony today with an award named for actor-comedian Bob Hope. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. hosted the Spirit of Hope Awards ceremony. The award honors Hope’s values of duty, honor, courage, loyalty, commitment, integrity and selfless dedication, said Michael Kagin, the award’s originator. It recognizes individuals or organizations who have “selflessly contributed an extraordinary amount of time, talent or resources to significantly enhance the quality of life of servicemembers around the world,” he...

Rockets serve as wake-up call MARTY KLINKENBERG TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL Published Monday January 29th, 2007 Appeared on page A1 For most of six months, Kelly Taylor slept on a cot in a six- by eight-foot room in a tent at the Kandahar Air Field. She decorated her small space with family photos and hung a scarf, a gift her husband brought back from Bosnia. The mice running amok took a little getting used to, and so did the rockets, fired by insurgents, that whizzed overhead. "We had 22 air raids in the first month and a half I was there," Taylor says....

Heroism: To leap in front of a 370-ton locomotive to save a stranger in a dank New York subway pit takes a kind of courage we'd all like to think we have but don't. Wesley Autrey showed it Tuesday and elevated us all. The new year has begun on a high note from Harlem after Autrey, 50, a construction worker on his way to work with his two little daughters, headed into Manhattan's 137th Street-City College station. Before he got through the turnstile, Autrey spotted a young man thrashing about in a seizure and called for help. But he didn't...

6/27/2006 - POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. (AFPN) -- A tactical air controller was recognized by the secretary of the Air Force with the presentation of a Silver Star in a ceremony June 26 for heroic duties while deployed to Southwest Asia in support of the war on terrorism. Tech. Sgt. Travis Crosby, a terminal attack control-qualified TACP assigned to the 15th Air Support Squadron at Fort Stewart, Ga., was lauded for his handling of close-air support missions and innovative tactics employed to gain control over a hostile situation during Operation Iraqi Freedom on April 4, 2003. While under fire,...

BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Tian Liang, the most popular Chinese diving prince and Olympic champion, was expelled from the national team on Wednesday for failing to concentrate on training. Li Hua, the director of the swimming governing body of China Sport General Administration, told a press briefing here that as an Olympic champion, Tian could not concentrate on training recently and violated regulations and disciplines of the national team many times. Tian, 25, has always been the diving fans' sweetheart with his heart-throbbing smile and handsome looking. He bagged a gold medalon the men's platform in the Sydney Olympics...