Free Republic

Free Republic Friends: The 3/5 Marines and other units are getting hammered by the Taliban fighters because the Obama administration is denying them proper reinforcement and the necessary war materiel to do their jobs. We know about the 3/5 because they relieved my son's unit, the 2/5, in Iraq, when my son came home. The 3/5 is now serving in Afghanistan. I am asking you to pray for all of them. All the units are suffering severe casualties--the 3/5 has suffered more than seven or eight casualties this week, losing four at one time. It's difficult for us to keep...

Boise, Idaho -- Police arrested 24-year old Michael Burkett of Boise early Sunday morning after officers with Capitol Mall Security reported spotting him vandalizing two flag polls on the grounds of the Idaho Statehouse. The flags are memorials to soldiers who lost their lives in the war on terror. "It's certainly upsetting, not just to officers but for any citizen of this county who knows somebody who lost their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan," Lt. Ron Winegar said of the ongoing investigation. Burkett was charged with resisting arrest and Malicious Injury to Property. He and his 22-year-old brother, Tom Burkett,...

Funeral Services have been finalized for a Tri-State soldier killed in Iraq. Forty two year old Sergeant Gregory Rogers of Deer Park died last Sunday after an improvised explosive device destroyed the Humvee he was riding in. Rogers served 22 years in the military including serving in the first Gulf War. Roger's body is scheduled to return tonight around 11:30 p.m and travel from CVG to Deer Park. A visitation will be held tomorrow night from six until nine o'clock at the Deer Park High School. A graveside service will be held a Rose Hill cemetery with full military honors.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The dangers faced by American troops in Iraq have been exaggerated, adding to the difficulty of recruiting soldiers at home, the Army general in charge of National Guard forces said Tuesday. The casualty rate for Guardsmen is low compared with any previous armed conflict, said Lt. Gen. Steven Blum. He said he recognizes that every death is a tragedy for that person's family. "But I lose, unfortunately, more people through private automobile accidents and motorcycle accidents over the same period of time," he added. "It is dangerous, but it is - I shouldn't say it to this...

"We found also that all too often American men were dying in those rice paddies for want of support from their allies." (John Kerry, Senate Testimony on Vietnam, April, 1971) "They were wrong and soldiers lost their lives because they were wrong. And America's paying billions of dollars because they were wrong. And allies are not with us because they were wrong..." (The Guardian, July 12, 2004) The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same... www.grassboots.org

The United States is at war, but from the way Americans are acting, you'd never know it. With every report of a terrorist bombing or ambush, while casualty lists grow by the week, Americans are recoiling in horror, as if they expect combat to be a form of pattycake where nobody, except perhaps for the bad guys, gets hurt or killed. There is a good reason for this. We simply don't understand that this is a real war, a fight to the death, and we can't seem to recognize the fact that wars are brutal things where brutality is the...

Is the War in Iraq becoming like the War in Vietnam once was? No, if you look at the facts on the blood cost of the war. Yes, if you’re still stuck in the tie-died mind set of Woodstock. To explain: A number of apparently reputable media outlets in the United States have fostered the equation of Iraq equals Vietnam by breathlessly reporting of late that “US casualties in Iraq have reached levels not seen since Vietnam.” This demonstrates both historical ignorance and political bias. The bias is intended to promote the “quagmire” merchants. But the facts are far easier...

Executive Mansion, Washington November 21, 1864 Mrs. Bixby Boston, MassachusettsDEAR MADAM: I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our...