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A soldier praised for his courage in Afghanistan, which saw him awarded the Military Cross for bravery, is to present the FA Cup to the winning side. Cpl Mark Ward was chosen to present Saturday's prize to the winning captain because of his "inspirational leadership" as a section commander. A member of the Mercian Regiment, based in Catterick, North Yorks, he will be guest of honour at the Wembley final between Manchester City and Stoke City. He said he was "extremely proud". Among those who have previously presented the trophy are Prince William, the Queen, Winston Churchill and Sir Bobby...

EVEN heroes have their heroes. For Victoria Cross holder Ben Roberts-Smith, the benchmark for valour was set by his mate Sergeant Locke. The Special Air Service Regiment corporal says Locke's courage probably saved his life and stopped a heavily outnumbered Australian patrol being overrun on a mountain top in Afghanistan late one afternoon in 2006. "He was a very, very brave person, Matt, in every sense of the word," Roberts-Smith says. When Roberts-Smith was awarded the Victoria Cross of Australia for his extraordinary charge into a Taliban machine-gun position in June last year, it brought an unexpected burden: the weight...

Since the disaster struck in Japan, about 800 workers have been evacuated from the damaged nuclear complex in Fukushima. The radiation danger is that great. However, CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod reports that a handful have stayed on the job, risking their lives, to try to save the lives of countless people they don't even know. Although communication with the workers inside the nuclear plant is nearly impossible, a CBS News consultant spoke to a Japanese official who made contact with one of the 50 inside the control center. The official said that his friend, one of the Fukushima 50,...

One of the highlights of my experience writing for Power Line was meeting Leo Thorsness in the summer of 2008 when he came to town speaking on behalf of the McCain presidential campaign. Colonel Thorness had been "tied up" in the Hanoi Hilton with John McCain for six or seven years and was touring the country to support McCain. Colonel Thorsness is a recipient of the Medal of Honor for a mission he flew shortly before he was shot down and captured. Yet the bravery he displayed in captivity is on par with the heroics that earned him the Medal...

The crowd sings God Bless America, 6:30 a.m. August 28, 2010. Photo by Freeper Pete. The rally is scheduled to run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT.Links for live reports and coverage:GlennBeck.com rally main pageC-SPAN showing the rally on cable and live stream.Live stream at Glenn Beck's Facebook page.UStream is also live streaming the rally.Class of '97 Freeper Pete is live Tweeting updates and photos. He has a thread going in BloggersFrog Mom's Live Thread from yesterday.Link to D.C. Traffic cameras. Folks camped out overnight at the Lincoln Memorial for the rally.Live traffic cam - National Mall (on map,...

March 31st will mark the five-year anniversary of the needless death of my sister, Terri Schiavo. It is difficult to believe this much time has passed since that horrible event which will be forever seared into my memory. I wish I could say things have changed for the better since my sister’s death or that people with cognitive disabilities are now better protected in response to the horror she had to endure. Tragically, however, it seems the rights of the brain-injured, elderly and others are still being violated. All one has to do is look at what happened just last...

Bravery isn't the first word that comes to mind when looking at these images of a Japanese log-rolling ceremony. But that is exactly what these young men are apparently proving during the bizarre Ki-otoshi ceremony, where they ride the giant logs as they are yanked down steep hills by ropes. Skidding and bumping over the rough terrain, at times the logs literally drop down the steep inclines

A WOUNDED Australian soldier continued fighting in southern Afghanistan for two days before he sought help - because he did not want to let his mates down. Defence said yesterday the latest casualties occurred last Tuesday when a roadside bomb was detonated by Taliban insurgents. The soldier, who sustained back injuries, was one of six Australian soldiers hurt while travelling in a Bushmaster military vehicle in the Chora Valley, in southern Afghanistan's Oruzgan province.

Talk about brass! This guy escaped by a split second. A man pushed a truck off the rails of the train/trolley that was passing at that moment. This happened in Tigre, Argentina.

Kabul - Afghan National Army commando 1st Lt. Mumtaz, 6th Kandak, receives congratulations from Gen. Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, ANA Chief of Staff, after being presented with an achievement medal, or first class BARYA, during a commando graduation ceremony Jan. 21, 2010. Lieutenant Mumtaz was recognized for his bravery and efforts in helping fight the Taliban who attacked Kabul Jan. 18, 2010. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Sarah Brown/RELEASED) NATO Training Mission Afghanistan Story by Staff Sgt. Sarah BrownKABUL, Afghanistan – Less than five days after he helped stop one of the largest insurgent attacks on Kabul since October,...

A police officer who intervened to stop a shooting spree at America's biggest military base was hailed today a heroine as she received treatment for the wounds received in a shoot-out with the gunman. Major Nidal Hasan, an army psychiatrist due to be posted to Afghanistan, shot dead 13 people and wounded 30 others after opening fire with two handguns at Fort Hood yesterday afternoon. But the death toll from the rampage could have been far worse had it not been for the actions of Sergeant Kimberly Munley, a civilian police officer stationed at the base who was the first...

An Indian farmer’s daughter disarmed a terrorist leader who broke into her home, attacked him with an axe and shot him dead with his own gun ...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — Staff Sgt. Philip Crosby was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with combat distinguishing device for heroic achievement and sustained meritorious service during combat operations at a ceremony, here, June 10. Crosby, who is now assigned to 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, was the assistant effects advisor for Military Transition Team 133, Multinational Force West from Nov. 2007 to Oct. 2008 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Crosby and his MTT embedded with the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division, to protect the Iraqi people and support the local government in...

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- They didn't have names, they no longer had a home, and yesterday afternoon they no longer had each other. Two brown-coated boxer dogs, alone on an isolated stretch of Richmond Terrace in Mariners Harbor, likely strayed into traffic. One animal was struck and killed; the other, loyal to its companion, defied vehicles to protect the body.

A seven-year-old boy who died defending his older sister from a potential rapist has been honoured posthumously. Zhenya Tabakov's mother received the order of courage medal on behalf of her son. Just over two months ago Galina lost her son and she's still struggling to get over the shock. Zhenya was brutally murdered by a robber, as the boy was trying to save his 12-year-old sister from being raped. It all happened in late November, in the small military town of Noginsk-9 - a place where even small crimes are rare. Around midday, a man rang the bell of...

I received this via e-mail with the following subject line: "There is no one alive who should ever question the courage of a soldier again." I found the picture interesting. I'll leave it at that.-

EXCLUSIVE Brits fight off deadly pirates                      By DAVID WILLETTS Published: Today       A TEAM of hero Brits battled back deadly pirates four times in 24 hours armed only with Molotov cocktails and flare guns, The Sun can reveal. The three-man ex-military security team were hired to protect cargo ship S. Venus in the pirate infested waters of the Gulf of Aden off the Africa coast. On four separate occasions between New Year's Eve and New Year's Day Somali pirates – armed with AK-47s and rocket propelled grenades (RPG) – tried...

September 12, 2008, 0:00 a.m. Giants Among the Lilliputians True honor. By Kathleen Parker Camden, S.C. — While the political class was focused on the meaning of pigs wearing lipstick, a few fortunate South Carolinians were riveted by the meaning of valor. The occasion was a celebration of four of the state’s living recipients of the Medal of Honor — Charles Murray Jr., (Army, WWII, 1944), John Baker (Army, Vietnam, 1966), James Livingston (USMC, Vietnam, 1968), and Michael Thornton (Navy, Vietnam, 1972). (snip)

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...