Free Republic

Simi Valley Freedom Walk to Thank TroopsBy Samantha L. QuigleyAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2006 – Simi Valley, Calif. -- home of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library -- is planning a Freedom Walk to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and to show the community’s support for the nation’s servicemembers. “Simi Valley is a very patriotic city,” said Debbie Gregory, one of the event’s planners. “We respect our troops, and we want to show our support, and what a wonderful way to be able to do it.” Gregory is president of Military...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30, 2006 – Las Vegas will remember those lost in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, with a Freedom Walk on Sept. 9. “We hope this will become an annual commemoration of those we lost on 9/11,” said Courtney Wroblewski, a special events planner with the city. The 2.2-mile loop will begin and end at the Kellogg Zaher Sports Complex at 7901 Washington Ave. Walkers, including Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman and Councilman Larry Brown, will step out beginning at 7:30 a.m. Las Vegas planners called the walk a time to reflect on the lives lost on...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2006 – Troop-support volunteers in Milwaukee are gearing up for the city’s first Freedom Walk, a local organizer said today. Emily Lindeman, Operation Homefront’s chapter president for southeastern Wisconsin, said Milwaukee’s two-mile-long Freedom Walk is scheduled Sept. 11 starting at 9 a.m. at the city’s War Memorial. “We’re going to be walking through Veterans’ Park, which is a park right behind the War Memorial,” Lindeman said, noting there will be a 9/11 memorial service before the walk. Lindeman said Operation Homefront, a co-sponsor of Milwaukee’s Freedom Walk, is a national nonprofit volunteer group that provides emergency support...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2006 – Country music star Tammy Cochran has enlisted to perform at the Freedom Walk in Aurora, Colo., on Sept. 9, according to event organizers. Cochran is slated to perform at the Aurora Municipal Center, along with recording artist Allen Asbury, as well as the Kory Brunson Band, North-40 and other artists and groups. “Tammy Cochran is so generous to come and join us for this special event, and we are happy to have her,” said Leo Pacheco, executive director for the Beacon of Hope Outreach Center, which is sponsoring Aurora’s Freedom Walk. Aurora’s Freedom Walk also...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2006 – A small community in Iowa is among 86 cities and towns in 39 states planning Freedom Walks to honor those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, as well as the nation’s veterans, past and present. The American Legion chapter in Milo, Iowa, a town of about 1,000, is sponsoring its Freedom Walk Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. The American Legion is a member of the Defense Department’s America Supports You program, which spotlights ways the American people and the nation's corporate sector support U.S. servicemembers....

America Supports You: Indiana Town Plans Freedom WalkBy Samantha L. QuigleyAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2006 – Residents of Crawfordsville, Ind., will gather Sept. 11 to participate in a Freedom Walk, joining an ever-growing number of Americans who will pay similar tribute to the victims of 9/11 and the nation’s past and present veterans. Defense Department officials said this morning that so far, 75 communities in 36 states have registered similar events on the department’s Freedom Walk Web site. “We have gotten the message out to the local churches, so they’re going to put the (announcement) in...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2006 – San Diego will honor its military heritage with a Freedom Walk planned to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. “The walk begins and ends at the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center,” said Beth Steinke, president of Operation Homefront-San Diego, the nonprofit group organizing the walk. “It’s a leisurely two-mile stroll through the park.” The walk, presented by DefenseWeb, a software company, will begin with opening ceremonies at 9 a.m. in Balboa Park, she said. A color guard and a chaplain are scheduled to participate in the opening ceremonies. “We’re hoping...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22, 2006 -- A weekend of events in Sacramento, Calif., saluting America’s military veterans and current servicemembers will culminate in a candlelit walk on the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Sacramento’s Freedom Walk, planned in conjunction with similar events around the country to remember those who lost their lives on Sept. 11 and to honor America's past and present military veterans, will begin at 9:30 p.m., after a two-and-a-half hour concert and military tribute in the William Land Park and Amphitheater. “We expect to have a rousing program that’ll culminate a couple...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 21, 2006 – A veteran Utah Army National Guardsman from Salt Lake City is coordinating efforts to hold the municipality’s first Freedom Walk. Salt Lake City’s Freedom Walk is slated for the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, Chief Warrant Officer Paul Holton, an Army interrogator, said. “It’s important for people to remember how we felt that day,” Holton said. It’s also important to honor military veterans, especially those who’ve given their lives safeguarding freedom, he added. Holton is working to get sponsors and publicity for his city’s Freedom Walk....

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2006 -- In conjunction with similar events across the country, up to 1,000 people are expected to walk the streets of downtown San Antonio Sept. 11 to pay tribute to those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001, and to thank America’s veterans, past and present. Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit group that provides emergency support and assistance to servicemembers and their families, is sponsoring the San Antonio Freedom Walk, which will start at the Alamodome and end at North Plaza, in downtown San Antonio. The overall route will be a little more than two...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2006 – Momentum continues to build as 48 U.S. cities -- a number that continues to grow -- prepare to sponsor America Supports You Freedom Walks to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The first Freedom Walk, inaugurated Sept. 11, 2005, in Washington, D.C., attracted more than 15,000 participants, including family members who lost loved ones in the attacks. The walk proved to be so meaningful to those involved that Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, hopes to make it a nationwide observance. “We knew that it...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2006 – The first city to join the Defense Department’s “America Supports You” program is preparing to host a Freedom Walk on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. “The walk itself is not what we’re focusing on, as much as just getting people out to participate,” Enid, Okla., Mayor Ernie Currier said during a telephone interview with American Forces Press Service. Enid became an America Supports You partner in March 2005. Enid will host its Freedom Walk on Sept. 11 at a downtown ballpark, Currier said. Participants will walk...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 11, 2006 – Residents of Munster, Ind., will gather on Sept. 11 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York and Shanksville, Pa., and at the Pentagon. “That day is one of the few days … where the flag is at (half-staff) until sunset, so we do a sunset ceremony,” Frank Darrington, post commander for the Munster Veterans of Foreign Wars, said of the Freedom Walk event planned for 7 p.m. that day. America Supports You Freedom Walks will be held around the country to pay tribute to those who lost their lives on...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9, 2006 – The city whose native son helped turn the United States into a nation of motorists will shun Henry Ford’s invention for a time on Sept. 11. Michael A. Guido, mayor of Dearborn, Mich., shows Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of defense for internal communications and public affairs, a flag that flew over Ground Zero after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. New York firefighters presented the flag to the city in 2002 in appreciation for the $125,000 the city raised for the families of fallen firefighters. Courtesy photo  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “We...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7, 2006 – Oklahoma City volunteers are preparing for the municipality’s first Freedom Walk, slated to run on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, a local organizer said today. Organizers expect as many as 10,000 people to participate in the walk, logistics coordinator Michael Carnuccio said from his office in a telephone interview with American Forces Press Service. Oklahoma City’s Freedom Walk will wend more than a mile through downtown, he said. Initial coordination with Oklahoma City officials, potential sponsors, and volunteers began in mid-July, Carnuccio said. Everyone contacted “was...

SEBRING, Ohio, August 3, 2006 -- If Colton Lockner’s summer project is any indication of his future success, his name is one everyone should remember. Colton, 9, has taken it upon himself to organize this small village’s first America Supports You Freedom Walk, a move that surprised no one who knows the slight boy. “You don’t expect this from a 9-year-old kid,” former local elementary school principal Vito Weeda said. “We look for great things for Colton because of the type of person he is.” Colton’s mother agrees that her son, who has no problem talking business with adults...

WASHINGTON, August 1, 2006 -- Organizers expect 5,000 people top participate in the Aurora, Colo., Freedom Walk event Sept. 9. Freedom Walks around the country will commemorate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and honor American servicemembers. Freedom Walks are part of the Defense Department’s America Supports You program, which highlights corporate and grassroots support for U.S. military members and their families. “Operation Hope,” part of the Beacon of Hope Outreach Center, will host the Aurora Freedom Walk. The nationwide military support program, launched in 2003, provides services to more than 10,000 troops and their families. Event organizer and Beacon...

WASHINGTON, July 31, 2006 – The Defense Department announced today it will hold the second annual America Supports You Freedom Walk on Sept. 10, the night before the five-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. This year’s America Supports You Freedom Walk in the nation’s capital will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will follow a two-mile route from the National Mall to the Pentagon. Participants will pass several national memorials, then will proceed over Memorial Bridge to Arlington National Cemetery before arriving at the Pentagon. Immediately following the walk, musical star Denyce Graves will...

You don't have to be an astronaut anymore to experience walking in space. All you need is $35 million and the willingness to risk your life. A private Virginia firm that already has sent three super-rich men to the international space station for $20 million each announced Friday it would offer an even rarer adventure: A stroll outside the space station for an extra $15 million. "It is the holy grail of spaceflight; it's something very few of the astronauts and cosmonauts have done," said Eric Anderson, chief executive of Space Adventures Ltd. A private Virginia firm that already has...

If you can walk a quarter-mile, odds are you have at least six years of life left in you, scientists announced today. And the faster you can do it, the longer you might live. While walking is no guarantee of health or longevity, a new study found that the ability of elderly people to do the quarter-mile was an "important determinant" in whether they'd be alive six years later and how much illness and disability they would endure. "The ability to complete this walk was a powerful predictor of health outcomes," said study leader Anne Newman of the University of...