Free Republic

Today marks the two year anniversery of the death of an American hero. Memorial Day 2005 (May 30th), Derek Argel was killed in action when the Iraqi air force Comp Air 7SL aircraft he was aboard crashed in eastern Diyala province during an operational mission. Alongside Derek died 3 fellow American Airmen and 1 Iraqi soldier. A member of the Air Force Special Forces Combat Controllers, Derek was an elite warrior. A Lion among men, he chose to be at the tip of the spear to fight for the nation that he loved. Tonight we remember Derek and all that...

Photos by Plea Deal and [Mrs] Trooprally Washington, November 17, 2006-- There is a faraway, yet penetrating look in the eyes of parents who have buried a child, no matter how well they have gotten on with their lives, no matter how much they are doing to honor their hero. It is a look that says, "Nothing is worth getting worked up about. Can you not see that small matters are insignificant? I am here, but part of me is here no longer; I live to honor that part." This 83rd week of the DC Chapter's Friday night troop-support rally...

Eight months after her son Derek's death in Iraq, Lompoc resident Debbie Argel Bastian is raising money in hopes of visiting the war-torn country where the decorated Air Force captain lost his life. Mrs. Bastian wants to join a tour to Iraq organized by the conservative nonprofit organization "Move America Forward" sometime in late spring. She and other Gold Star families -- those who've lost a family member in the war -- plan to visit military bases and try to connect with soldiers. She will not, however, visit the region where her son was killed last Memorial Day. The Air...

The Santa Barbara Veterans for Peace have agreed to remove the name of Capt. Derek Argel from its Arlington West memorial, after the fallen soldier's mother complained that the display was an insult to her son's memory. The Lompoc Air Force special tactics officer was killed Memorial Day in a plane crash in Iraq, and his name became one of the more than 1,800 represented on the rows of crosses displayed each weekend at West Beach. The decision to take down the marker came after the group heard that Debbie Argel Bastian, his mother, and Wendy Argel, his widow, wanted...

This story requires registration, but the point of this post is the blatant misleading title. I have now seen two articles about Derek Argel's mother being opposed to the anti-war protests using his name as part of their cross displays. Both have misleading titles making it sound as if the mother is against crosses or a memorial- typical media The other story is mentioned on the following thread which contains full article text. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1465558/posts Title: Soldier's mother objects to memorial This story is enraging in that the leftist's are saying that they will only take down his name if his...

The mother of a Lompoc soldier killed in Iraq wants her son's name removed from what she believes are anti-war memorials on a Santa Barbara beach and outside President Bush's Texas ranch. Air Force Capt. Derek Argel's remains were buried with four of his comrades at Arlington National Cemetery last week. His mother, Debbie Argel Bastian, says the other memorials are an insult to his memory. "I'm livid about it," Bastian said of the weekly beach display on Santa Barbara's West Beach and the smaller memorial in Texas, where the mother of another dead soldier has made headlines with a...