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Luckily Truman didn't think twice By Amanda Compton-Ortiz/amanda@dctribune.com Thursday, July 24, 2008 2:16 PM CDT A Sunday afternoon drive on his new 1300 Honda may have ended in disaster for 51-year-old Jim Kelder of Olive Branch, but thanks to the bravery of one young man his riding days aren't over yet. "I'm grateful there are people like him in this world," said Jim of 16-year-old Truman Gullett of Byhalia. "If it wasn't for him I don't think I'd still be standing here." As fate would have it, Jim, an employee at FedEx, and Truman, a freshman football player at Lewisburg...

    Major gongs for heroic Our Boys   Award ... Captain Paul Britton is congratulated by Major General Gary Robison    By TOM NEWTON DUNN Defence Editor Published: Today     AN Army officer who led a battle despite a lump of burning shrapnel in his shoulder was one of 19 forces heroes awarded the Military Cross yesterday.   Praise ... Lieutenant General Graeme Lamb  Captain Paul Britton, 28, refused morphine so he could control artillery and air strikes to beat off Taliban attackers in Helmand province, Afghanistan. The Royal Artillery officer was wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade...

L/Cpl Matthew Croucher will become part of a select of group of just 20 living George Cross holders when the Queen awards him the medal, which is given for acts showing the same level of heroism as the Victoria Cross. The Marine had less than seven seconds to make up his mind on whether to risk sacrificing his own life to save his friends when the hand grenade rolled onto the ground during an operation in Afghanistan earlier this year. Without hesitating he chose to chance death and save his three fellow Royal Marines. '

The worst moment in Gary Stokes' life was not the day a couple of Marines in dress uniform showed up at his door to tell him his son had been killed in Iraq. That was bad, no doubt. He had spent two years wondering whether he would receive those unwelcome visitors. The worst moment came later, after the tears and the grief. The worst moment came slowly. It was the horrible realization that Sean was gone forever. He would never see his son again. Never again go fishing or camping, or watch him get married and have children of his...

WASHINGTON - During the final allied offensive of the Korean War, Master Sgt. Woodrow Wilson Keeble risked his life to save his fellow Soldiers. Almost six decades after his gallant actions and 26 years after his death, Keeble will be the first full-blooded Sioux Indian to receive the Medal of Honor. The White House announced this morning that Keeble will receive the Medal of Honor posthumously in a ceremony scheduled for 2:30 p.m. March 3. Keeble is one of the most decorated Soldiers in North Dakota history. A veteran of World War II and the Korean War, he was born...

SMITHDALE --A Mississippian who lost both legs in Iraq has married his girlfriend in a hospital-room ceremony. Army Spec. Josh A. Wells, 21, married Brandi M. Clark, 19, in a Nov. 20 ceremony at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. Wells was injured in a Nov. 2 attack on the Stryker Light Armored Vehicle he was driving. The couple dated throughout Wells' previous deployment to Germany and were engaged in July, with a plan to marry upon his return from an 18-month tour of duty in Iraq.

The ultimate tribute: Iraq-hero Hall nominated for George Cross medalBy JONATHAN POWELL - More by this author » Last updated at 22:53pm on 13th October 2007  A British security guard who died as he saved the lives of four colleagues in Iraq is to be recommended for Britain's highest civilian honour, the George Cross. Simon Hall and his companions were unarmed when they were overpowered by gunmen near the Kuwait border, bundled into a pick-up truck and taken on a terrifying journey to almost certain death. But the captives launched a daring escape attempt, with Simon heroically grabbing hold...

BAGHDAD, July 29, 2007 – The top U.S. general in Iraq presented awards to four Apache pilots for their part in the July 2 rescue of two other pilots downed by enemy fire during a July 27 ceremony in the Victory Base Complex here. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of Multi-National Forces Iraq, honored the four pilots of the 1st Cavalry Division’s 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, and eight others who helped rescue the pilots. Chief Warrant Officer Allan Davison and Chief Warrant Officer Micah Johnson, both AH-64D Apache attack helicopter pilots for Company A, 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, received Distinguished...

Three members of the Armed Forces have been recognised for outstanding acts of bravery at an investiture service at Buckingham Palace. The three - Sergeant Michelle Cunningham Royal Logistic Corps, Wing Commander Craig Staniforth and Sergeant Mario Testa RAF - were presented with their medals by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales at a ceremony on Thursday 12 July 2007. Sergeant Michelle Cunningham, 32, is an ammunition technician with the Royal Logistic Corps based with Tidworth Troop 721 Squadron 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Regiment. Sgt Cunningham's team are responsible for assisting civilian police in disposing of explosive ordnance...

These are the men and women, past, present and future whose valor and dedication have kept out nation "The Land of the Free and The Home of the Brave"

In Memoriam: Custer's Last Stand, June 25, 1876 Private William Slaper : «Each man had secreted himself behind a slain horse. » Lieutenant Charles DeRudio: “The horses were laying as if to suggest a barricade.” Lieutenant Luther Hare: “The evidence on the Custer field indicated very hard fighting.” __ Reno court of Inquiry: “In regard to the severity of the fighting on General Custer’s battlefield, did you see any evidences that there was hard fighting there, or the contrary? Lieutenant Godfrey: “I think there must have been a very hard fighting. Reno court of Inquiry: “You think there was a...

TOKYO (AP) - A U.S. search team on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima is zeroing in on a cave where a Marine combat photographer who filmed the iconic flag-raising 62 years ago is believed to have been killed in battle nine days later, officials told The Associated Press Friday. The seven-member search team is looking for the remains of Sgt. William H. Genaust, who was killed in action after filming the flag-raising atop Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi. The team is also searching for other U.S. troops killed in the battle - one of the fiercest and most symbolic of...

Marine fights fog of war, saves life of comrade June 13, 2007; Submitted on: 06/13/2007 11:48:33 AM ; Story ID#: 2007613114833 By Sgt. Stephen M. DeBoard, Regimental Combat Team 6 FALLUJAH, Iraq (June 13, 2007) -- No one really knows how they will react under extreme stress until they are thrust into a situation in which they have no options but to do so. Some may collapse under the weight; others, however, rise up and meet the challenges set before them. One Marine was confronted with a literal do-or-die situation when a roadside bomb rocked his amphibious assault vehicle north...

Hurt cop nabs bad guy  Stabbed in head, he shoots, chases down the suspect until help arrives  BY MELISSA GRACE and ALISON GENDAR DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERSThursday, March 15th 2007, 4:00 AM Officer Anthony Cairone carries injured fellow Officer Angel Cruz into Jamaica Hospital after Cruz was stabbed in the head with a hunting knife during a struggle with suspect on subway platform. Even after he was hacked in the head with a hunting knife, a Brooklyn cop still managed to chase his attacker across a subway platform - shooting him twice before collapsing nearby, police said yesterday. NYPD...

"According to the award citation Caldwell read during the ceremony, Frank Sandoval was presented the Bronze Star for "exceptionally meritorious service while assigned as a team leader during the time of hostilities in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Your leadership, unwavering commitment to mission accomplishment and demonstrated technical expertise were above and beyond all expectations and proved vital to successful combat operations in Iraq. Your initiative and courage in a hostile situation are indicative of the highest standards of service and reflect great credit upon you, this command and the United States Army." The Yuma native, who is currently undergoing...

Circulating somewhere in the Pentagon is a list of dozens of soldiers and Marines who committed acts of supreme valor during the war in Iraq. One serviceman, for example, charged a row of Republican Guards under fire, killing 20 enemy soldiers. At least three others jumped on grenades to save their brothers. Yet relatively few medals have been issued in the 4-year-old war. The Medal of Honor, for instance, the highest citation a soldier or Marine can receive, has been handed out only twice since the war began, both times posthumously. By comparison, the military gave 245 Medals of Honor...

FOUR British soldiers in Afghanistan strapped themselves to the wings of fast-moving Apache attack helicopters in a daring attempt to rescue a comrade shot by the Taliban. "This is believed to be the first time UK forces have ever tried this type of rescue mission ... It was an extraordinary tale of heroism and bravery of our airmen, soldiers and marines who were all prepared to put themselves back into the line of fire to rescue a fallen comrade,'' said UK Task Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Rory Bruce. Royal Marine Lance Corporal Matthew Ford, 30, was shot on Monday when...

Watch the video tribute HERE. It is a worthy thing to fight for one’s freedom; it is another sight finer to fight for another man’s. -Mark Twain On April 4th, 2004 Army Specialist Casey Sheehan and seven fellow soldiers were killed during protracted combat with Shi'ite insurgents in Sadr City, Iraq. Sheehan, a Humvee mechanic, had volunteered for the rescue mission to relieve his besieged comrades only to be ambushed himself while en route. He had been in country for five days. President Bush has made it clear that "America will not abandon Iraq" on his watch, yet he has...

Clarence Lee of Shallowater, a veteran with four tours in Vietnam to his credit, completed 15 years in the Marine Corps the hard way. "The last tour was 14 months long, because that's when I got captured," he said. Lee can stand with a crutch, and moves about with a wheelchair or motorized scooter because of permanent injuries inflicted when he was a prisoner of war. He attributes his survival of nine months of torture to help from God. Lee, now in his 60s, was a helicopter pilot during the war and received five Purple Heart medals while fighting the...

CANTON - When 1st Lt. Aaron Seesan died in combat on May 22, 2005, in Iraq, his parents did not know he had written a prescient poem, “Eulogy of the Common Soldier,” as a high-school senior six years earlier. Tom and Chiquita Seesan attended a dedication Sunday of a memorial with the words of their son’s poem at the Westbrook Veterans Memorial Park on 13th Street NW at Interstate 77. They were joined by Steve and Peggy Buryj, whose son Pfc. Jesse Buryj was killed in Iraq. The granite stone memorial also honors Sgt. Michael Barkey, Staff Sgt. Richard Ramey,...

TWO THOUSAND ONE, NINE ELEVEN (2001-911) Two thousand one, nine eleven Three thousand plus arrive in heaven As they pass through the gate, Thousands more appear in wait A bearded man with stovepipe hat Steps forward saying, "Lets sit, lets chat" They settle down in seats of clouds A man named Martin shouts out proud "I have a dream!" and once he did The Newcomer said, "Your dream still lives." Groups of soldiers in blue and gray Others in khaki, and green then say "We're from Bull Run , Yorktown , the Maine " The Newcomer said, "You died not...

In an effort to upgrade Israel's preparedness for a possible confrontation with Iran, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz has appointed Israel Air Force Commander Major General Elyezer Shkedy as the IDF's "campaign manager" against countries that do not border on Israel - primarily Iran. The appointment was made before the war in Lebanon. As part of his new responsibilities, Shkedy will act as "GOC Iran Command": He will oversee battle plans and manage the forces if war breaks out. According to a security source, Shkedy will be the "orchestra conductor," but will coordinate with the Mossad...

Most of all, we have separated the enemy from the people. Every day, we fight to convince the people of Afghanistan that their best future lies with us and with the Government of Afghanistan. We have built roads and bridges and clinics and schools. We have conducted medical visits that have treated thousands and thousands of people. We have handed out eyeglasses and bookbags and more pens than we can count. We have built hydroelectric plants, we have trained policemen, we have conducted classes on governance. We have spoken at schools, started sports clubs, and spent countless hours on street...

Two weeks ago, I pointed out that we live in something close to the best of times, with record worldwide economic growth and at a low point in armed conflict in the world. Yet Americans are in a sour mood, a mood that may be explained by the lack of a sense of history. The military struggle in Iraq (nearly 2,500 military deaths) is spoken of in as dire terms as Vietnam (58,219), Korea (54,246) or World War II (405,399). We bemoan the cruel injustice of $3 a gallon for gas in a country where three-quarters of people classified as...

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Curtis Haines Soldier Receives Medal for Bravery in Iraq By Sgt. Chris A. Durney Arkansas National Guard Public Affairs NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark., May 31, 2006 — To Sgt. 1st Class Curtis Haines of Hope, Ark., being presented the nation's highest awards for non-combat related bravery is a source of pride for his whole unit, and not just himself. Haines is a member of the Arkansas Army National Guard's Company A, 1-153rd Infantry of the 39th Brigade Combat Team. He thinks that any one of his fellow Guard soldiers is capable of the same...

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Jeremiah Workman Drill Instructor Receives Navy Cross for Bravery in Iraq By Lance Cpl. Heather Golden Parris Island PARRIS ISLAND, S.C., May 26, 2006 —The Marine Corps has a long tradition of excellence in the line of duty. Marines stretching from 1775 to present times are recognized and remembered for their selfless acts and quick thinking on and off the battlefield. On May 12, another Marine was recognized for his actions. Sgt. Jeremiah Workman, a drill instructor with Delta Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, and native of Richwood, Va., received the Navy Cross, second in...

What are you willing to look at when you go to the theater to see a movie? Whether it’s because of my age or the times we live in, I find a real element of risk in going to the movies. There are things that I do not wish to see, images and actions I would rather not chance having burned into my brain in that singular and powerful way that movies are able to do. In a purely free market, people would be able to see whatever they wanted to see, just as they would be allowed to provide...

Returning to her camp near Baghdad, Sgt. 1st Class Juanita Wilson's last supply run turned out very differently than the other missions in her seven-month tour in Iraq.

Irena Sendler Awards Irena Sendler is one of the unsung heroes of World War Two. Now 96, she saved two and a half thousand Jewish children from the Holocaust in Nazi occupied Poland. This March sees the inaugural awards named after her for Polish teachers of the events of the Holocaust. Report by Michal Kubicki 28.03.06 The Polish Association of the Children of the Holocaust recently established an award named after this remarkable woman. It is to be presented annually to teachers who have made teaching about the Holocaust their mission. The Irena Sendler awards have been presented for the...

Ninety-seven congregations have pulled out of the United Church of Christ since the denomination voted to sanction same-gender marriages during its national governing body meeting in July 2005. Speaking to a group in Andover Congregational Church in New Hampshire this week, the Rev. Dr. Bob Thompson of Corinth Reformed Church in Hickory, N.C., said the UCC has a "crisis of lost churches, lost funds and lost unity brought about by the actions of our national leadership," according to the Union Leader. Thompson is the leader of Faithful and Welcoming Churches of the United Church of Christ, an evangelical renewal organization...

A US commander has declared a "fragile victory" in Tal Afar overnight four months after a US-led military operation to break the hold of Al-Qaeda and other insurgents in the northern Iraqi city. Colonel H.R. McMaster said ethnic strife between Turkomen Shiite and Sunni communities is ending, and residents are now cooperating with authorities to keep insurgents from slipping back. The army colonel, who commands the 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment, said the turnaround marks a major physical and psychological defeat for the insurgents, who lost a vital safe haven near the Syrian border. "But, certainly, it's a fragile victory," he...

An old friend asked me to join him for lunch the other day. Although we’d stayed in touch over the years we had not had the opportunity to sit down together for years so this was something not to be missed. Because of my friend’s tight schedule we met at his office and it was both strange and reassuring to walk up the steps of his place of business. It had begun to snow heavily and already young men were busy shoveling off the sidewalk and strewing salt afterwards. My friend is Lieutenant General Dave Petraeus now commanding the Combined...

Time to remember that any reporting of progress and good news in the War on Terror is purposely being kept from US by the media-ocres .. the well-known arrogant and biased typical news sources ... who have such pathetically hateful character that they'd rather deny and color the truth than give any hint of support or praise Pres. Bush or our fabulous military.Especially now that the Dim dark forces and Rinos are converging and conniving to undermine Pres. Bush, while preparing their agendas and stalking points for the 2006 and 2008 elections, it's vital that we get the word out...

In the US tomorrow, everyone traditionally gets together to knock off a turkey and be grateful for what they have. Well, this post is devoted to some things Americans have to be grateful for. Here are some reasons to say "thank you." Also, next time you hear on the news that "X number of soldiers or Marines or Iraqi forces were killed today", ask yourself a question that the TV and print media will never answer: What were they doing when they were killed? What was their mission? What were trying to accomplish? The following are little windows to the...

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has hailed the Iraqi people for "their incredible courage" in voting in large numbers on a constitutional referendum but cast doubt on whether this would lead to an easing of violence. "I think the Iraqi population showed incredible courage, going to vote in large numbers despite the security situation on the ground," the UN chief said. "We had hoped that the constitutional process would have been an exercise that would have been totally inclusive, and pull together all the Iraqis, helping with reconciliation. "Obviously, that did not happen and has not happened." He said that...

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TEHERAN - Iran’s most prominent jailed dissident, journalist Akbar Ganji, has completed one month of hunger strike and is now demanding his unconditional release, his wife was quoted as saying on Monday. “After 31 days of hunger strike, Ganji has a very good morale and wishes to continue his action,” Massoumeh Shafiie told the semi-official ILNA news agency after meeting her husband in Tehran’s Evin prison. “He is demanding his unconditional release and believes the only way to secure this is by continuing his hunger strike. He says he will only eat when he is unconditionally freed,” she added. Ganji...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- "Our son was killed in Iraq. Though we miss him terribly, we're grateful that FOX News was there to tell the story. Thank you for your coverage. We now know more about the heroism of all the U.S. and Iraqi troops and the positive changes they are bringing about." That excerpt, from a letter sent by bereaved parents grieving the loss of a son in Iraq, is typical of the mail I receive each time I return from Iraq and Afghanistan. After eight trips to where the Global War on Terrorism is being fought every day by...

December 7th, 1941, a date that will live in infamy. Why did it happen? What was Japan's logic behind the sneak attack? What was the logic behind the U.S.'s demands for unconditional surrender in 1945? Answering these questions isn't just a dry exercise in trivial history. They carry an important lesson that most people are unaware of. First of all the Japanese military was under no illusion that they could defeat the United States military. They knew that the United States had the resources to defeat them. So why on Earth would Japan attack someone whom they knew could kick...

It is at this time of the year that some sentimental Americans reflect on the greatness of the Founding Fathers. Albeit, in the face of “political Correctness,” the “pop culture” mindset, and a government school system that has abandoned American history, the numbers who ponder such topics is shrinking. Nevertheless, several profound essays have been written on the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and their fates in the wake of that momentous occasion. It is worthwhile to consider just a few from among those perhaps greatest of Americans, how their examples spoke to the nation at its inception, and...

NEW ORLEANS, La. (May 17, 2005) -- A district Marine was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for his role in the recent rescue of a choking toddler. Staff Sgt. Brian C. Stirrat was spending a quiet weekend afternoon in his townhouse when he was startled by frantic screams from his neighbor, Letecia Santos. "She said my son is choking, my son is choking, please help me," explained the 26-year-old canvassing recruiter assigned to Recruiting Station Oklahoma City, Recruiting Sub-station Wichita, Kan. Stirrat quickly leapt over the barrier between the two apartments and assessed the situation. He discovered...

Something I do while perusing the morning Internet is read the military obituaries in the British press, mainly The Daily Telegraph. Invariably, these write-ups mark the passing of a veteran of World War II in the kind of scope and detail, as critic James Bowman has noted, rarely found in an American paper. Sometimes, I feel compelled to save them in a file. Last summer, there was Wing Commander David Penman, 85, the pilot of one of five (out of twelve) Lancaster bombers to return in 1942 from a daring, low-flying, daylight raid on a German engine plant; the year...

Michigan man to be cited for rescuing drivers from lake 2/14/2005, 7:14 p.m. ET The Associated Press SHERMAN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Three times within a year, Bob Toppel heard the frightening "thud" of a car splashing into Fish Lake near his home. All three times, he went into the water in the dark of night to assist drivers he didn't know and could barely see. All survived their accidents, at least in part due to his heroism. For his efforts as a good Samaritan, Toppel, a Navy veteran of the Vietnam War, will receive a Distinguished Citizen Award for...

The Iraqi youth Adel Nassir 'Alegh al-Bahadli had taking his role to vote in the election center located at al-Shahba' School at Hay al-'Amel, Baghdad, looked to the beautiful flowing of the citizens from their houses to the polls to elect who will represent them in the future. Suddenly, Adel paid attention to a scene erects suspicion when he saw a black bearded man tried to rush among the citizens for a purpose may be don't known by others, Adel noted this suspicious man who tried to go forward anxiously and fearfully, the strange man tried to penetrate electors when...

'102 Minutes': Inside the Towers By JAMES B. STEWART Published: January 9, 2005 EPT. 11, 2001, at 8:46 a.m., is surely a defining moment, the precise recollection of where we were, what we saw, what we knew etched into memory. And then there is all we didn't know and didn't see, the stuff of imagination, of fantasy, of dreams or more likely of nightmares. What would we have done had we been in the World Trade Center that brilliant late-summer morning? What was it like? How did it feel? The scenarios compete for our attention, one worse than the next:...

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CNS) -- Just before being deployed to Iraq, 19-year-old Pfc. Nate Smith received the sacrament of confirmation from Harrisburg Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades in a small, private Mass in the chapel at the bishop's residence Dec. 27. Smith, a member of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Lancaster, completed his Army training Dec. 17 at Fort Stewart in Georgia, and spent a Christmas holiday with his parents, Luis and Lil La Boy, before his early January deployment. "This confirmation means a lot to me," he said as he sat with his parents and Father Michael Grab, pastor of...

Here is the gist of a story, that was read by the substitute host on Rush's show, from a US Soldier's letter from Iraq by the substitute host on Rush's show: A US military convoy was going through a city. They came upon a little girl holding a teddy bear sitting in the middle of the street. No amount of coaxing would get the girl to move out of the way. The convoy then simply went around the little girl as the roadways was wide enough. The soldier who sent the letter recognized the little girl as one whom they...

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The current war in Iraq and operations in Afghanistan, my personal recollections and the television interviews with veterans from wars past remind me of the adage that the more things change the more they remain the same. There is an incredible outpouring of support from the home front to our men and women under fire way over there. Bumper stickers, websites, and Herculean efforts from organizations and private citizens have all converged to send support, love, prayers and badly needed personal comfort items to our warriors. Don’t think for a minute that these efforts are not deeply and personally appreciated...

A CHRISTMAS POEM FOR ALL AMERICANS The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light, I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight. My wife was asleep, her head on my chest, My daughter beside me, angelic in rest. Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white, Transforming the yard to a winter delight. The sparkling lights in the tree, I believe, Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve. My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep, Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep. In perfect contentment, or so it would seem, So I slumbered, perhaps I...