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This Memorial Day, Americans should take a moment to reflect on those serving in the military who made the ultimate sacrifice. Left behind are the families of the fallen who must cope with the loss of their loved ones. The Last Full Measure, written and directed by Todd Robinson, is a movie streaming on Amazon. It is a true story with few liberties taken and is based on the courageous acts of Vietnam War hero William H. Pitsenbarger, a U.S. Air Force pararescuer who saved over sixty men. The list of star power is incredible — a who's who. The...

"Historian Garry Adelman describes the events that took place during the Battle of Gettysburg from July 1-July 3, 1863." I found this video very well done in just 4 minutes. Gave me a good start to understanding this complex battle and also something to think about on this day of Pickett's Charge. I don't know how many of you here are well versed with the way the battle went but for me it's still a learning experience.

Controversy over symbols and relics leftover from the American Civil War is hardly new. Earlier this year editorial and journalistic outrage was directed at supporters of the Confederate battle flag; but now in Minnesota a new angle on Civil War controversy is brewing. Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, wants up to six paintings of Civil War events currently displayed in the state Capitol potentially removed to less visible locations. None of the paintings present Confederate forces in a positive light, and none of them feature a Confederate battle flag. In fact, each painting depicts Minnesota soldiers bravely charging into battle...

Friends, family pay tribute to Spc. Adam Harting Church members plan to demonstrate at funeral BY JOYCE RUSSELL joycer@nwitimes.com 219.762.4334 This story ran on nwitimes.com on Friday, August 5, 2005 12:24 AM CDT PORTAGE | As friends, family members and strangers paid their respects Thursday to Army Spc. Adam Harting, members of Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., prepared to picket the Portage soldier's funeral. Harting, a 21-year-old Portage native, was killed in Iraq July 25 when an improvised explosive device detonated outside his vehicle. The 100-member congregation, which announced its decision on Wednesday, demonstrates at military funerals and other...

Roadside bomb in western Iraq.

KABUL (Reuters) - All 17 U.S. troops aboard an American helicopter that crashed after being hit by ground fire in an anti-militant operation in Afghanistan are believed to have died, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

KABUL, March 26 (Reuters) - Four U.S. soldiers were killed when their vehicle struck either a landmine or a roadside bomb in southeast Afghanistan, a U.S. military spokeswoman said on Saturday. Lieutenant Cindy Moore said the military had still to ascertain the cause of the blast, which could have been triggered by an old landmine rather than a newly planted device.

FORT BENNING, Ga. - The Army said its farewell to Sgt. 1st Class David J. Salie here on Tuesday at his home post in his hometown of Columbus, Ga. It was filled with ritual and honors and the tears of friends and family. Sgt. Salie was killed on Valentine's Day in Iraq, just four days after he led the troops of the 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 2/69 Armor, 3rd Infantry Division into that country to begin a yearlong tour with his division. The altar of the old Main Post Chapel was decorated for an Infantry soldier's funeral - a pair...

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Pvt. Odell Sharpe, killed during World War II, is finally coming home. The remains of Sharpe — presumed slain on Christmas Day 1944 when he as only 19 — were recently identified from a skeleton found in a foxhole near the Belgian-German border. . . . READ MORE AT www.foxnews.com

1/26/2005, 12:22 a.m. ET The Associated Press BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — A U.S. Marine helicopter crashed Wednesday in western Iraq, the U.S. military said. There was no immediate word on casualties. The helicopter went down near the town Rutbah around 1:20 a.m. while conducting security operations, the military said in a statement. The aircraft was transporting personnel from the 1st Marine Division. A search and rescue team has reached the site and an investigation into what caused the crash is underway, the military said.

By the time I got back to our compound it was all over the news. It seemed like the thing had just happened when in reality I had been neck deep in it for several hours. And there it was on TV. Frankly, it's kind of a blur. The day began early as I didn't sleep very well last night. Once I was awake I decided not to just lay there and stare at the darkness so I got up, got dressed, shaved and headed into the TOC, the heart of what goes on. In the TOC (Tactical Operations Center)...

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...

New York - A New York City firefighter who had responded to the World Trade Centre attack was killed in Iraq while serving with the Army National Guard, city officials said. Sergeant Christian P Engeldrum, 39, is the first New York firefighter to die in Iraq since the US-led war began, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. Engeldrum was killed on Monday when his vehicle came under attack outside Baghdad. "I join all New Yorkers in mourning his loss and pray that his family finds comfort in the innumerable ways he touched so many lives," Bloomberg said in a statement. Another New...

Gary Qualls had put the letter from Louis down and tried to busy himself. It had been hard to read the letter from his son, and he couldn't reply, not right then. There's a lot going on here, Louis wrote. The next month will be some of the most serious combat the war has yet to see. Well, I'm right in the middle of it. I think I'm truly scared. Dad, I need your prayers and your advice more than ever. It was Tuesday, and Gary Qualls had returned to his house in Temple after a long weekend of hunting...

Marine Cpl. Justin Killingsworth hangs the dog tags of Marine Staff Sgt. Russell Slay on his son, Walker Slay, during funeral services today at the Houston National Cemetery. Russell Slay was the 100th Texan killed while serving in Iraq. Behind the boy is his ex-wife Christine Slay and his mother, Donna Slay.

OMAHA — A 23-year-old Omaha Marine died while fighting in Iraq, the same day he became a father, family members said Tuesday. Shane Kielion's son was born at about 10 a.m. Monday and Kielion died just hours later, said his aunt Karma Matthews. Matthews said Kielion never found out he had become a dad. Kielion, who was on his second tour in Iraq, graduated from Omaha South High School in 1999 and married his high school sweetheart, April, the mother of his new baby. His former teachers and coaches said he was the quarterback of the football team and a...

FRESNO, California (AP) -- Childhood friends who enlisted in the Marine Corps together and died together in Iraq were buried side by side. Jeremiah Baro and Jared Hubbard, who played together, wrestled each other in high school and toughed it out together through boot camp, died November 4, after a roadside bomb exploded. They were in Iraq's Anbar province, where the military was preparing to attack the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.

Tomorrow I and my wife will vote for George W. Bush. Tonight, I heard on the radio that an Army soldier was killed in an ambush in southeast Afghanistan. My son is stationed in southeast Afghanistan. I checked Fox news and they have an article about a US soldier killed and two wounded in a patrol near Orgun. My son is on a patrol near Orgun. I do not care if it is him, tomorrow we will still vote for Bush. God bless America and God bless President Bush. I have not told my wife. She is worried enough that...

Just got a call from my mother informing me that my cousin , Eric Miner , was one of the Americans killed in the restaurant bombing in the Green Zone on Thursday . I will do some praying now , then call Mom back for more details .

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A U.S. soldier has died of wounds he suffered in fighting in Baghdad late Thursday, a U.S. military spokesman said. The death brings coalition deaths -- both hostile and non-hostile -- since the start of the war to 1,000. U.S. military deaths now total 880, with 657 of them by hostile fire. The soldier's name was withheld pending notification of next of kin, AP reported. The spokesman said five insurgents were detained in the fighting. On Thursday, a mortar attack killed five U.S. troops and an Iraqi National Guard member in the central Iraqi city of...