Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2006 – Mark L. Kniffen, 41, was overwhelmingly thankful for his employer paying his full salary, allowing him to keep his medical benefits and helping solve family crisis for the 15 months he was in Kuwait and Iraq supporting the war on terrorism. When he returned home from war, Kniffen decided to show his appreciation for what his employer did for him and more than 100 other deployed National Guardsmen and Reservists. He composed a powerful, glowing nomination letter recommending Eaton Corp. for the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. And, to his surprise, the firm...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HIT, Iraq (Jan. 17, 2006) -- In the middle of a relaxed game of soccer, the frantic call for counter-fire brings the fun to an abrupt end. While the ball continues to roll, Marines of the 81mm mortar platoon race to their guns and scramble into Kevlar helmets and dusty flak jackets. “We [the 81mm mortar platoon] can do all types of missions,” said Lance Cpl. Jesse L. Evans, of Clifton Springs, N.Y., a mortarman with Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines. “We fire counter-fire missions against insurgent mortar teams, fire illumination missions, or even mark...

MONROVIA, Liberia, Jan. 17, 2006 – The newly elected president of Liberia visited USS Mount Whitney sailors and civilian mariners today while the ship was off the coast of Liberia's capital city, Monrovia. Mount Whitney, the U.S. 6th Fleet's flagship, and frigate USS Carr were deployed to the area as a sign of support for the newly elected leader. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf came aboard via "Ghostrider," the MH-60S helicopter stationed aboard Mount Whitney. She briefly met with Navy Capt. Ladd Wheeler, the ship's skipper, and several other key staff members before having a brief tour and addressing the crew. "Thank...

Send a Valentine to a soldier in Iraq!/Support Our Troops Visit www.operationaBitofHome.com, and click on the big red heart. We will send a valentine to a soldier in your name with your Valentines message. We are fundraising to send more boxes to the Freedom Rest R&R Facility in Iraq. Valentines are $1.00, but you can give more! You can no longer send any mail to "ANY SOLDIER" it is destroyed as a security risk., We have a military distributuion point in Iraq where your Valentines will reach thousands of troops. Background In March, 2004, while my wife was in Iraq,...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14, 2006 – Gary Sinise, star of the hit television show "CSI: NY," appeared on the Fox News Channel program Hannity and Colmes yesterday to discuss his continued support for American troops and his charity Operation Iraqi Children. Co-host Sean Hannity asked Sinise about his experience visiting wounded servicemembers recovering in the hospital. "I'm not a guy who has an easy time in hospitals, so I was a little fearful of what I would see there," Sinise said. "When you do go you completely forget about your own self, because that's not why you go. You're there for...

A federal court will soon sentence attorney Lynne Stewart to prison for "providing material support" to terrorists, among related charges.[1] The charges center upon her assistance to Egyptian sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman who, from a federal prison cell in Minnesota, has continued his quest both to install an Islamist government in Egypt and to kill Americans and Jews around the world. Stewart's case is symbolic of a corollary battle in the war against terror and highlights the need not only to counter terrorism but also the ideology of Islamism. Her infatuation with her client's cause evolved into an example of...

Folks in Oklahoma are readjusting to an image not typically associated with the global war on terrorism, a 73-year old great-grandmother just back from Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lena Haddix, a native of Lawton, has spent the last six months in full battle armor helping troops find snacks, shampoo and other American products at the Army & Air Force Exchange Service Post Exchange/Base Exchange in Camp Liberty, Iraq. The personification of the Exchange’s motto of “We Go Where You Go,” Haddix recently returned from her second voluntary deployment to the Middle East as a store manager. After previously volunteering to work...

  For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces. Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today! Tour guide trussell  Welcome back to the tour of Mesa Verde. Today we will be visiting the Spruce Tree House Ruin and the Museum. Follow me through the "Doorway of time"   This is called a Cliff Dwelling. The cliff is formed by the runoff of water from rain or melting snow. The cliffs are sandstone and shale. The water runs through the sandstone until it hits the shale. It...

Montana-Based Program Supports Troops By Christopher J. Moore Each “Giving Tree” ornament had a soldier’s name written on it. Supporters were asked to purchase suggested items for one of the soldiers and place them in a gift bag beneath the tree. Courtesy Photo Montana Supporting Soldiers group members box care packages to send to deployed soldiers. Courtesy Photo WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2006 - Liann Meyer, an America Supports You team member based in Helena, Mont., sent some cheer to deployed troops this holiday season. Meyer’s organization, Montana Supporting Soldiers, sent care packages full of cookies, candy, cards and decorations to more...

AL ASAD, Iraq (Jan. 3, 2006) -- Marines are blazing new trails for an expeditionary Air Traffic Control detachment in Al Asad, Iraq. The detachment, primarily based out of Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., is a mix of Marines from Marine Air Control Squadron 1, based at MCAS Yuma, MACS-2, based at MCAS Cherry Point, N.C., and MACS-24, a reserve squadron based at Ft. Worth, Texas. The detachment recently expanded its role from controlling aircraft in and around Al Asad, to broadcasting information via pictures across western Iraq. A Joint Interface Control Cell team from Al Udeid, Qatar, helped...

(PORTSMOUTH, Va. - Dec. 28, 2005) -- Knowledge support in a coalition environment was among the discussion topics as a multinational team of experts making final preparations for Multinational Experiment 4 (MNE4) met during the event's final planning conference earlier this month. Scheduled for Feb. 20 - March 17, 2006, MNE4 will explore use of the full range of effects based operations (EBO) to influence the behavior of adversaries. While U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) from the United States is the overall lead for MNE4, coalition partners lead the specific concepts and processes being explored. The knowledge support (KS) cell...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 28, 2005 – U.S. and coalition aircrews flew combat and support missions Dec. 27 in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa, U.S. Central Command Air Forces Forward officials reported. In Iraq, coalition aircraft flew 36 close air support missions. U.S. Air Force F-16s destroyed enemy positions and vehicles near Hawijah with precision-guided munitions. F-15s and F-16s provided close air support to coalition troops near Balad. The F-15s struck an enemy mortar location, and the F-16s hit an insurgent building. Eleven U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft flew missions in Iraq. British Royal...

Online Auction of the 50,000th copy of Military Salute to benefit Operation First Response The Minnesota Platoon, a group of five disabled Vietnam-era Veterans that distributes “Military Salute” at no charge to active-duty Military units, Veterans groups, family support groups, public safety organizations, church groups, school districts, and students working on patriotic projects, is now conducting an online auction of the 50,000th copy of the video to benefit Operation First Response. Operation First Response ... http://www.operationfirstresponse.org ... sends backpacks to Combat Support Hospitals in Iraq, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, and visits Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the...

The recent spotlight on the impending execution of multiple-murderer Stanley “Tookie” Williams has once again highlighted the flaws in California’s death penalty law. Williams was put to death at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, after he was denied clemency by Governor Schwarzenegger. Williams was convicted in 1981 of murdering four people and sentenced to death. Yet 26 years after his victims took their final breaths, the killer still lives. His lawyers have continued to maneuver to thwart the sentence duly handed down by a jury of his peers until the very end. Williams’s case demonstrates just how dysfunctional the death penalty...

FORWARD LOGISTICS AREA ANACONDA, Iraq, Dec. 26, 2005 – It doesn't matter how many troops you have or how well trained they are if you can't sustain them. Coalition logisticians are working with the nascent Iraqi army to build a logistics capability for the force. Army Lt. Col. Steven Shapiro, chief of operations for 3rd Corps Support Command and selected for promotion to colonel, said the command's soldiers are training Iraqis through schools and, mostly, through on-the-job experience. "We're training the Iraqis to follow up and provide support to their forces as they engage the enemy," Shapiro said during an...

GREAT SPEECH BY RUMMY TO THE TROOPS! For anyone who missed it, FOX and FRIENDS had it live this morning. MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wrapped up his visit to Iraq at a Christmas eve dinner with American troops in Mosul, the country's second largest city and one of its most volatile. Escorted by Apache helicopters to the U.S. regional headquarters in Mosul, Rumsfeld lent a hand serving troops a dinner of lobster tails and steak. Addressing troops later, he reflected on a year in which, he said, Iraqi security forces had assumed greater responsibilities. "When...

Last month I introduced you to Nikolette Harris, a twelve year old girl from my parish who is fighting leukemia for the third time. Here are some major updates: 1. GOOD NEWS: In the past two weeks, the football fans in Oregon have discovered Nikolette's case and have helped raise $25,000 for her treatment ("only" $100,000 to go). 2. GOOD NEWS: The football trend continues: from this story: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls05/news/story?id=2261066 we find that several bowl games are competing to raise funds for Nikolette. 3. GOOD NEWS (after bad): After having all of her bone marrow inactivated by chemotherapy to put her...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2005 – As Iraq progresses militarily and democratically, citizens there are stepping forward to inform indigenous and coalition forces of terrorist operations and covert weapons caches, Multinational Force Iraq officials reported today. Iraqi citizens sometimes even are apprehending suspected terrorists themselves, officials noted. For example, on Dec. 17, a group of Iraqi citizens near Kirkuk, in northern Iraq, captured two suspected terrorists who were observed digging up a weapons cache. The citizens reportedly subdued the suspects and called the Kirkuk Joint Coordination Center, which then relayed the information to a nearby patrol. The combined Iraqi and U.S....

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2005 – Inspired by lonely childhood holidays, the daughter of a former airman has written a song that deployed troops will hear this holiday season, thanks to a grassroots partner in the Defense Department's "America Supports You" program. Gina Stewart of the Charlotte, N.C., band Volatile Baby, describes her song - "Christmas Without You" -- as a traditional, harmonized country arrangement. "The message is basically 'I really miss you, I know that you're gone for a good reason, and it's not that I don't understand, but it's a real pain to be standing under the mistletoe alone,'"...

GROVEPORT, Ohio (12/5/2005) — "This has been the longest year of my life. I finally get my life back...I finally get my baby back," said a tearful Nancy Marquez as she sat eagerly awaiting her Soldier’s entrance; her wait was just about over. Marquez’s son, Spc. Justin Marquez, as well as 29 other Soldiers from the Ohio Army National Guard’s 237th Personnel Services Battalion were celebrated as heroes during a welcome home ceremony Dec. 4 at Groveport Madison High School. Loud cheers and applause went up as the Soldiers filed in and took their place of honor at the front...