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Just a day after receiving the Medal of Honor by the president of the United States, former Army staff sergeant Clinton Romesha has declined an invite by the first lady to be her guest at the State of the Union address Tuesday night. He said that after some soul searching he decided he’d rather spend the evening with friends from his former unit, his wife Tammy — with whom he celebrates a wedding anniversary Tuesday — and their families, CNN reports.

KABUL - The family of a U.S. soldier captured in eastern Afghanistan more than five months ago pleaded for the release of their son Friday and urged him to "stay strong." Lt. Col. Tim Marsano of the Idaho National Guard issued a statement from the family of Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, a U.S. airborne infantryman who was taken by the Afghan Taliban in Paktika province June 30.

An Army private first class from southwest suburban Bolingbrook was one of the 13 people killed in the rampage at Fort Hood, his family said. Michael Pearson, 21, joined the Army slightly more than a year ago and was training to deactivate bombs, said his mother, Sheryll.

SPANAWAY, Wash. - A Spanaway grandfather is the latest casualty of war from Washington state. Fifty-nine-year-old First Sergeant Jose Crisostomo was killed in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb Tuesday. He is believed to be the oldest U.S. soldier to die in Afghanistan. Crisostomo, who was known to friends as "Joe Sinbad," was well aware of the risks of combat. During a 24-year military career he served in Vietnam and Kuwait before retiring from the military in 1993. After 9/11, Crisostomo decided to re-enlist in the U.S. Army. "He insisted going back and serving his country," said Crisostomo’s wife of 39...

WASHINGTON, July 9, 2009 – The fifth Army Reserve soldier to earn the Silver Star since the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001 spoke about his experience in a “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable July 6. Army Spc. David Hutchinson receives the Silver Star medal from Army Col. James Doty on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, June 6, 2009. Hutchinson earned the award for valor during and following an ambush in Afghanistan on May 21, 2008. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Spc. David Hutchinson of the 420th Engineer Brigade discussed...

> Now that he's home in Fort Worth he said his boxers will be displayed in the 1st Infantry Division museum at Fort Riley, Kansas. >

A U.S. soldier serving in Afghanistan has become a media sensation after he was photographed fighting Taliban forces while stripped down to his skivvies. Army Spc. Zachary Boyd, 19, who hails from Fort Worth, Texas, said he was in his sleeping quarters at Firebase Restrepo in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan's Kunar province when the Taliban attacked, forcing him to take up a defensive position while clad only in his helmet, protective vest, a T-shirt and his pink "I Love NY" boxer shorts, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Thursday.

hockingly positive views of our forces in Afghanistan are revealed in this translation of a post by a French OMLT (Operational Mentoring Liaison Teams) infantryman working with our toops there. A couple of brief excerpts: Heavily built, fed at the earliest age with Gatorade, proteins and creatine - they are all heads and shoulders taller than us and their muscles remind us of Rambo. Our frames are amusingly skinny to them - we are wimps, even the strongest of us - and because of that they often mistake us for Afghans. [....] Each man knows he can count on the...

“We have shared our daily life with two US units for quite a while - they are the first and fourth companies of a prestigious infantry battalion whose name I will withhold for the sake of military secrecy. To the common man it is a unit just like any other. But we live with them and got to know them, and we henceforth know that we have the honor to live with one of the most renowned units of the US Army - one that the movies brought to the public as series showing “ordinary soldiers thrust into extraordinary events”....

WASHINGTON — "Joe the Plumber" was only one of two Americans injected into the presidential election this past week. The other was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan , whom former Secretary of State Colin Powell invoked in his endorsement Sunday of Barack Obama . Khan was a 20-year-old soldier from Manahawkin, N.J. , who wanted to enlist in the Army from the time he was 10. He was an all-American boy who visited Disney World after he completed his training at Fort Benning, Ga. , and made his comrades in Iraq watch "Saving Private Ryan" every week. He was also a...

LAKE CITY - Spc. Jason Dean Hovater was much more than a soldier stationed in an outpost in Afghanistan near the Pakistan border. "He was a brother and a son and a husband,'' said Hovater's sister, Jessica Davis of Norris. "Most of all, he was a man of God. He was a light to other people around him." Hovater, a Clinton resident, was one of nine soldiers killed last weekend in the deadliest assault in Afghanistan against the U.S. military in three years. Some 200 militants with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars attacked the outpost but were beaten back...

Shahad Abbas, 11, lost her legs to a roadside bomb blast Staff Sgt. Luis Falcon, 38, was patrolling the streets of Baqouba, north of Baghdad, when he saw Shahad Abbas. The 11-year-old girl was in a large decrepit wheelchair Falcon stopped to talk. He came back the next day and the day after that, then every day for six months, bringing her toys, gauze for her legs, a new wheelchair. Anything she asked for, he would bring. Shahad became his mission. So when she asked for legs, that became his mission, too. On Friday, his dream and hers came...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 2007 – Serving in the military was something Jose Munoz always wanted to do, but it wasn’t until after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that he was spurred to enlist and fulfill that dream. Army Sgt. Jose Munoz is telling the military’s story to the American people at community and business events, veterans organizations and other gatherings as part of the Defense Department’s “Why We Serve” public outreach program. Defense Department photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Munoz, now a sergeant with five and a half years in the Army, said a lack of...

RADCLIFF — It wasn’t only family and friends who arrived at Stithton Baptist Church in Radcliff on Saturday to honor the memory of Pfc. Sammie Phillips. Some 200 or more Patriot Guard Riders and community members stood outside the church and lined the drive with American flags. Phillips’ funeral began at 2 p.m., and he was buried at North Hardin Memorial Gardens following the service. The riders and others attended the burial as well, again lining the drive into the cemetery and the path to the graveside. Phillips, 19, was in the Kentucky Army National Guard. He was killed Sept....

When Spencer Timothy Karol, born April 13, 1983, the oldest of Bridget Madison's four sons, was growing up, he was a well-liked kid with a big smile and gentle and helpful manner; a "big brother" who watched over his three younger brothers and assumed "man of the house" responsibilities early and easily and without complaint. Learning values instilled in him early in his life by his famous grandfather, movie and television star Guy Madison, to whom he was very close, Spencer never had troubled teenage years with drugs or alcohol, fights or problems at school. Although he was not interested...

I just have to share this... Was just at the store and noticed a very handsome young man in front of me in-line. A tatoo on his arm said Iraq, something to August, 2007. I got his attention and thanked him for his service. He looked me straight in the eye and said, "No problem m'am, glad to do it." I asked him his name and he replied, "American soldier, m'am, just American soldier." then he winked at me and walked out.

I usually hate these things but this chain letter caught my eye. It is truly motivational and I wanted to share it.

Let me first state that I am probably one of the most humble person you will ever meet. But I have an urge to share a story with you all. So, if you decide to read, please forgive my indulgence. Well, I am an American Soldier currently residing at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. My unit is actually in Darmstadt, Germany; I'm just here for an extended stay for additional training. Well, anyway, I was able to get a pass for Memorial Day weekend, and I was able to come home for the weekend, going just about from one end of the...

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A sailor pleaded guilty Monday to abducting and killing a Marine corporal he thought had been involved in a gang rape. The rape turned out to be a lie, but the truth surfaced too late. Petty Officer 3rd Class Cooper Jackson, 23, pleaded guilty Monday to premeditated murder, kidnapping, impersonating a Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent and obstruction of justice in connection with the death of Cpl. Justin L. Huff, 23. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to spare him a possible death sentence. Federal agents had testified at his Article 32 hearing, the...

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Eight soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division will be court-martialed on murder charges stemming from their service in Iraq, including two who face a death sentence for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl and killing her and her family, the military ordered Wednesday. The Fort Campbell soldiers facing the death penalty are Sgt. Paul E. Cortez and Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman. Both are accused of raping Abeer Qassim al-Janabi in her family's home in Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, then killing her along with her parents and younger sister. Spc. James P. Barker and Pfc. Bryan...

The Military The average age of the military man is 19 years.  He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy  Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country.  He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's; but he has never collected unemployment either.   He's a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a...

Inquiry - Jared Guinther's parents call the Army's actions fair, saying they just wanted to "get our son out"The U.S. Army has disciplined two recruiters who were involved in signing up a Portland teenager with autism, military and congressional officials confirmed Wednesday. S. Douglas Smith, a civilian spokesman for the U.S. Army Recruiting Command in Fort Knox, Ky., said a military investigation found that one of the two recruiters improperly concealed 19-year-old Jared Guinther's disability, which should have made him ineligible for service. That recruiter, Cpl. Ronan Ansley, has been relieved from recruiting duties and will be reassigned. Military officials...

Violates Military Uniform Code by wearing uniform while campaigning, Wears officer's uniform that does not match rank at which he retired HARRISBURG - Republican State Committee Executive Director Scott Migli today questioned Joe Sestak, Democratic candidate in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District, for his repeated violations of federal law and U.S. Navy regulations as it relates to appropriate conduct for the wearing of military uniforms. Those violations include wearing his uniform while engaged in campaign activities and wearing a uniform that displays a rank above what the grade at which he retired from service. "Joe Sestak's improper use of the military...

I didn’t grow up with dreams of spreading democracy. I was an all-American kid from a small southern town who went to college on a baseball scholarship and joined the National Guard to earn some extra money. During graduate school, recruiters persuaded me to join the Army through ROTC so that after graduation I would enter as an officer. I bought their pitch and believed our newly elected president when he promised no more nation building. My dad told me, “It’s a great time to join the military. It has done an excellent job of repairing itself after Vietnam.” I...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, July 5, 2006 – Twenty-seven U.S. soldiers serving on the front lines of the war on terror in Afghanistan became the newest American citizens here yesterday during a special Independence Day overseas military naturalization ceremony here. Army Pvt. 1st Class Joyce Nanquil (front row, second from right), recites the oath of allegiance during a special July 4 naturalization ceremony at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. Nanquil, assigned to Company E, 310th Aviation Battalion, 10th Mountain Division, and a native of the Philippines, was one of 27 U.S. soldiers serving on the front lines of the war...

A former National Guard captain whose military service was supposed to end seven years ago was sent to Iraq for a year by mistake because of an incorrect discharge date in his records. SNIP "They were still carrying me on the books as a captain," Dillinger, now 45, told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "And nobody caught it. Including me." Dillinger was told he had not been discharged because of the military's "stop-loss" program, which kept thousands of soldiers from ending their tours or retiring. "That explanation didn't make complete sense to me, but I accepted it," he said. "I'd been in...

"By his outstanding display of decisive leadership, unlimited courage in the face of heavy enemy fire, and utmost devotion to duty, 1st Lt. Chontosh reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service." That's what the citation says. And that's what nobody will hear. That's what doesn't seem to be making the evening news.

Once American infantry got their hands on reliable, and portable, UGVs (unmanned ground vehicles), they did two things. First, they used their small robots as much as possible, especially for dangerous jobs like checking for roadside bombs, or bad guys lurking inside buildings or caves. The second thing the troops did was ask the UGV manufacturer to put weapons on the robots. So far, the Department of Defense has backed away from proposals to arm these MTRS (Man Transportable Robotic System), because of safety concerns. It's not that the armed robots would just be turned on, and turned lose. They...

1 hour ago NEW LONDON, Conn. - A military jury sentenced a Coast Guard cadet to six months in prison and kicked him out of the service Wednesday for extorting sexual favors from a classmate. Cadet Webster M. Smith, the first student court-martialed in the academy's 130-year history, was acquitted of rape but had faced up to five years and seven months for extortion, sodomy, indecent assault and other charges. Defense attorneys for Smith, 23, of Houston, asked the jury to spare him jail time, saying the stigma of his conviction will follow him forever. He will not graduate from...

Thanks to John Little for linking to PFC Tucker's last recorded phone message to his family: Be proud of me Mom, I'm defending my country. Tell sis and my nephews hello for me, I'm OK, I'm on my way.

Retiring sergeant major's service called `slam dunk' for military Associated Press FAYETTEVILLE - based at fort bragg He has the same self-confidence, the same cleanly shaven head, the same famous last name as his brother. But James Jordan has always been his own man. While his younger brother, Michael, made history on the basketball court, James Jordan forged a distinguished career in a different uniform -- Army green. Now he has retired after 31 years, one more than required because he chose to stay and accompany his unit on a yearlong tour of duty in Iraq. "The Army was my...

BAY SHORE, N.Y. -- A U.S. soldier and his girlfriend found a winning lottery ticket on the ground at a convenience store Monday and turned it in to police, who were able to find its owner -- a $2,500 winner with no idea her lucky ticket was missing. Sgt. Edward Boniberger and Marnie Hall found the ticket in a plastic case at a 7-Eleven store, Suffolk County Police said. They tried to find the woman who had signed it, but when they couldn't, they took it to a police station. Detectives then located Mary Ann Doerrbecker, who hadn't realized she...

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., May 29 — In this "company town" where everything and everyone caters to the well-being of the Marine Corps, there is no shortage of people, both military and civilian, who are willing to give the benefit of the doubt to the troops accused of unjustified killings last November in Haditha, Iraq. Relatives and neighbors gathered near the shrouded bodies of civilians said to have been killed by marines in Haditha, Iraq, in November. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/30/world/middleeast/30voices.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

An ex-Marine pulled out a pocket knife after five people, including a young girl, allegedly tried to rob him late Monday evening in Midtown. That girl died. Another one of the alleged assailants is in critical condition. Investigators are calling the case one of self-defense. They say no charges will be filed against the victim in the case.

Here’s a “column” Jesse MacBeth wrote for the Arizona State University's student online paper, the Web Devil. It is a response to an earlier ASU article which can be found here.Anyone who has seen his video interviews, heard his (probably paid) anti-war speeches or read his anti-war screeds, maybe surprised at his earlier attitude towards US soldiers:Guest Column: I never wanted to protestby Jesse MacbethSpecial to The State PressFriday, April 23, 2004There are several things I would like to mention that Lucia Bill and Brian Clapp of The State Press failed to mention or distorted to fit their opinions.But before...

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2006 – For the past two and a half years, veterans of wars past have been helping heal the latest generation of wounded troops every Friday in a basement steakhouse here. Members of Disabled American Veterans help a wounded servicemember before the final Friday night dinner for wounded troops at Fran O'Brien's steakhouse in downtown Washington, D.C. Groups like DAV and Helping Our Heroes Foundation bring dozens of wounded troops out to the Friday dinners, which now will be held at various locations in the nation's capital, beginning May 5. Photo by Paul X. Rutz  (Click photo...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (May 4, 2006) -- Sgt. Maj. Bradley A. Kasal feels he did what any good Marine would’ve done. That includes taking enemy rifle fire on Nov. 14, 2004, absorbing a grenade blast and refusing medical attention inside Fallujah’s “House of Hell” during Operation Al Fajr (New Dawn). For his extraordinary heroism and leadership in Fallujah, Iraq, as the Weapons Company first sergeant for 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Kasal was awarded the Navy Cross during a ceremony here Monday. “The word hero is tossed around pretty loosely these days,” said Maj....

FORT JACKSON, S.C. - Navy sailors are trading sea legs for land combat as the U.S. Army is opening its largest training base to help them survive when sent into Afghanistan or Iraq. The Navy is sending thousands of men and women to support Army units in those regions and wants its sailors to hone their fighting skills. "Hit the ground and brace yourself with your weapon!" senior drill instructor Warren Brown yelled at a dozen trainees slithering across a mud-soaked field. "Look around, pick yourself up and go! You're under fire!" After struggling up from the mud with her...

Marines Try to Recruit 78-Year-Old Woman Sat Mar 25, 4:28 AM ET SAUGUS, Calif. - Sonia Goldstein was flattered by the nice recruiting letter asking her to consider becoming one of "the few, the proud." But at age 78, she believes she's just a little old to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps. "I couldn't believe it," Goldstein told KCAL-TV on Friday. "My girls were sitting here ... we were in hysterics, we laughed so hard." The letter told her the corps could use her unique language skills, but also warned that life as a Marine would test her physical...

A new U.S. Army Alaska policy penned this week forbids soldiers from carrying privately owned concealed weapons in public, despite being stationed in a state with one of the most liberal concealed weapons laws in the country. The move, officials said, is in response to several incidents involving soldiers and their personal concealed weapons. "In the last six to eight months, there has been a number of incidents involving soldiers and privately-owned concealed weapons that indicated a need to look at this policy," said Maj. Kirk Gohlke, U.S. Army Alaska public affairs officer. Gohlke noted the trial of three Fort...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Two Kansas City-area women are fighting to get their children back after serving their country overseas. When Dena Stephenson went off to war, her 6-year-old daughter, Kristina, went to stay with her father. Stephenson followed the military's Family Care Plan, which gave temporary power of attorney and guardianship of her child to the father. "Once I came back from deployment, naturally, my child wanted to be with me nonstop," Stephenson said. Stephenson said she was supposed to get Kristina back when she returned home, but now the girl's father is asking for 50-50 custody. "I don't...

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. (March 15) - Carlos G. Rojas didn't know what to think when the military life insurance checks started showing up at his office. He didn't know anyone who would have named him a beneficiary, and the checks totaled $200,000. He called Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance, which pays death benefits to military families, and the customer service representatives insisted the money was his and he should cash the checks, he said. Rojas couldn't do it. "It's not like picking up a penny you just found," said Rojas, a 29-year-old marketing consultant. "Somebody's life was connected with that money."...

LOS ANGELES - Don Knotts, the skinny, lovable nerd who kept generations of television audiences laughing as bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show," has died. He was 81. Knotts died Friday night of pulmonary and respiratory complications at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills, said Paul Ward, a spokesman for the cable network TV Land, which airs "The Andy Griffith Show," and another Knotts hit, "Three's Company." Unspecified health problems had forced him to cancel an appearance in his native Morgantown in August 2005. The West Virginia-born actor's half-century career included seven TV series and more than...

<p>Several Marines from Camp Pendleton have been arrested in San Diego on charges of providing stolen body armor — intended for troops in Iraq — that was later sold on the Internet.</p> <p>U.S. Customs officials teamed with the Navy's Criminal Investigative Service to break the ring.</p>

Member of Marines not 'sort of person UW wanted to produce'The University of Washington's student senate rejected a memorial for alumnus Gregory "Pappy" Boyington of "Black Sheep Squadron" fame amid concerns a military hero who shot down enemy planes was not the right kind of person to represent the school. Student senator Jill Edwards, according to minutes of the student government's meeting last week, said she "didn't believe a member of the Marine Corps was an example of the sort of person UW wanted to produce."

William J. Hetherington has been incarcerated in Michigan prisons for more than 20 years for having sex with his wife Linda. In 1986, he became the first man in Genesee County convicted of the new Michigan crime called spousal rape. Linda was not a battered wife; she testified at the trial that he had never beaten her in their 16 years of marriage. Hetherington was honorably discharged from the U.S. Air Force, received a National Defense Service Medal, and had no police record of any sort. The sentencing guideline for this new offense was 12 months to 10 years but,...

WASHINGTON - They are the Pentagon's new "rules of engagement" _ the diamond ring kind. U.S. Army chaplains are trying to teach troops how to pick the right spouse, through a program called "How To Avoid Marrying a Jerk." The matchmaking advice comes as military family life is being stressed by two tough wars. Defense Department records show more than 56,000 in the Army _ active, National Guard and Reserve _ have divorced since the campaign in Afghanistan started in 2001. Officials partly blame long and repeated deployments which started after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and stretched the...

I received a piece of mail last week that got my attention because it involves North Dakota’s most decorated soldier. Cass County Veterans Service Officer Jim Brent, who will celebrate his 10th year in that position on Wednesday, sent along information about Master Sgt. Woodrow Wilson Keeble, a Lakota Sioux who grew up in Wahpeton, N.D., and distinguished himself while serving his country in World War II and Korea. This was the first time I’d heard of Keeble. In two wars, he was awarded five Purple Hearts for wounds, two Bronze Stars, one with “V” for valor, a Silver Star...

SAN DIEGO - If I could, I'd begin this with my son's account of what happened to him and the men of his Bravo Company unit at 14:30 on Dec. 22, 2005. Roman and his squad were on foot patrol somewhere in the south of Baghdad. An insurgents' bomb exploded. That much I know. But I can only tell my side of this story right now. And it begins with a call from an Army captain. "Is this Susan Diaz?" a man's voice said when I answered the phone in my office here at home the day before Christmas Eve....

FORT CARSON, Colo. (Jan. 24) - A military jury recommended a simple reprimand Monday for an Army officer who killed an Iraqi general by stuffing him headfirst into a sleeping bag and sitting on his chest during an interrogation. As soldiers applauded in the courtroom, Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer Jr. hugged his wife after hearing the surprisingly light sentence, which will be reviewed by Fort Carson's commander, Maj. Gen. Robert W. Mixon. The commander cannot order a harsher sentence, defense attorney Frank Spinner said. Welshofer, 43, was charged with murder, but was convicted over the weekend of negligent homicide...