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The FReeper Canteen Salutes the U.S. Navy Hospital Corps On Its 115th Anniversary 17 JUNE 1898 – 17 JUNE 2013 From the early days of the Republic the Navy has had enlisted medical personnel known variously as “Loblolly Boys”, Surgeons Stewards, Pharmacists Mates and, most recently, Hospital Corpsmen. Established 17JUN1898 by an Act of Congress, the U.S. Navy Hospital Corps is the only wholly enlisted corps in the Navy. The Hospital Corps is the largest rating in the Navy, comprising approximately ten percent of the Navy’s enlisted personnel. They were originally called Loblolly Boys in Navy records on the...

Dear Pro-life American, Tragically, over 4,000 babies are aborted every day in our nation. That's over 1.6 million every year! But by passing a Life at Conception Act you and I can end abortion in America! The Supreme Court itself admitted in Roe that once Congress establishes the personhood of unborn children, they must be protected by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution which explicitly says: “nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property.” Since the Supreme Court is waiting for someone to tell them who the law counts as persons, let’s not wait another minute!...

PRAYERS ASCENDING ON HIGHFor All Those Affected By The Catastrophic Tornadoesin Texas And Oklahoma! Heavenly Lord, Please Hold Our Brothers And Sisters In Tornado Alley In The Shelter Of Your Healing Wings! _________________________________________________________________ The Twenty-Third Psalm Mahalia Jackson(Click) The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art...

I received a call from a local hospital shortly after 3:00 p.m. informing me that my son David had been beaten up and brought there by ambulance. They were performing X-rays and CT scans. It appears that he suffered a concussion. My wife is at the hospital and I will be following her there in the next few minutes.

REST IN PEACE, FALLEN BROTHERS! In Memoriam My Comrades-In-Arms Of Kilo & Lima Companies, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines Who Fell In Combat In The Mothers' Day Massacre, 11May1969 SSGT. ERWIN EMRICK, JR., USMC LCPL. ROBERT MARTINEZ FUENTES, USMC LCPL. MICHAEL WAYNE GREEN, USMC PFC. STEPHEN RAY LOPEMAN, USMC PFC. ROBERT RUAN MCCLURE, USMC PFC ROBERT NELSON NEWMAN, USMC PVT SAMUEL BRUCE SCHWARTZ, USMC PFC ROBERT BENJAMIN STARKES, JR., USMC CPL TERRY LEE ADKINS, USMC LCpl. ROY LEE BALDWIN, USMC PFC CHARLES WAYNE FORD, USMC LCPL ARTURO BUSTAMANTE GUTIERREZ , USMC PFC ROBERT LLOYD KLEINSMITH, USMC HM3 JEROME MENTER, USN...

Hundreds of bands from the UK and abroad are expected at the event, known as "The Worlds", on 17 and 18 August. The competition coincides with the last days of the 10th Glasgow International Piping Festival - Piping Live! St Enoch Square will act as the hub for the music event from 11-18 August. Among the performers is Julie Fowlis, whose music featured in the film Brave. Major attraction The World Pipe Band Championships, won in 2011 and 2012 by the Field Marshal Montgomery Pipe Band from Lisburn, near Belfast, have been associated with Glasgow for more than 60 years....

The rain spat in Galashiels and Melrose on Tuesday, but it didn’t matter to the parading soldiers of 1SCOTS, the Royal Scots Borderers - they were home, safe from six months in the desert. Nor did the weather dampen the cheering crowds lining the streets to welcome their sons, fathers, and even strangers, back from danger in Afghanistan. The first Borders faces the soldiers saw, as they marched in desert boots shouldering rifles and swords behind the pipes and drums and mascot Shetland pony Cruachan IV, were over a hundred schoolchildren from Langlee Primary School. 24-year-old Lance Corporal Fraser Pairman...

The sounds of pipes and drums will be bigger and louder than ever before as the Glasgow International Piping Festival returns for its tenth year. St Enoch Square will be the new hub for Piping Live! in 2013, which sees the World Pipe Band Championships take place over two days for the first time in its history. Acts from all corners of the globe will make music ring out across the city during the bagpiping week which runs from August 11 until 18. The programme of events includes a headline set from Julie Fowlis at the Gaelic Music Concert and...

IN MEMORIAMT/4 HARVEY E. ROOKUS, USA T/4 Harvey E. Rookus, USA, Hq. China Combat Command, WWII, died 18Mar2013 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7 (KJV) "Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valour, and be in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar. As the Will of God is in Heaven, even so let it be." (1 Maccabees 3:58–60) God Of Our Fathers Rest in Peace, fallen...

The first ever Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championships has proved a roaring success after over 400 students descended on Edinburgh to take part in the competition this weekend. 45 pipe bands from 39 schools flocked to Edinburgh’s Broughton High School on Sunday 10 March 2010 to compete in the much anticipated event where many youngsters had their first taste of performing in public. Bands from Edinburgh, Fife and the Outer Hebrides all took home awards on the day, with judges and organisers praising the young pipers and drummers, some aged just nine years old on the level of talent and...

Sgoil Lionacleit Pipe Band is competing in the first Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championships this weekend. The school band are travelling to Broughton High School for the event which will include bands from more than 40 schools. David Johnston is Chairman of the committee behind the competition, which has the motto, Every school needs a pipe band. He added: “We’ve got pretty big ambitions for getting young people into piping and drumming, but it’s fair to say the number of entrants in our first year has exceeded even our expectations. “It’s brilliant to have so many keen youngsters developing a...

Scotland's Pipe and Drums of the Black Watch 3rd Battalion is an elite military regiment whose history stretches back almost three centuries. The precise origins of the group is unknown, however in 1716 a small band of 'hautboys' existed. The band grew in strength during the early part of the 19th century, and by 1838 could boast some 32 performers. Throughout the 19th century the band expanded, until in 1888 there was an establishment of 44. The Pipe and Drums of the Black Watch 3rd Battalion now travels the world, and in recent years has visited Australia, Bermuda, South Korea,...

REST IN PEACE, FALLEN BROTHER! SWOC Christopher Scott Kyle, USN, Died 2Feb2013 U.S. NAVY SEALS"People Sleep Peaceably In their Beds At Night Only Because Rough Men Stand Ready To Do Violence On Their Behalf. " I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7 (KJV) "Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valour, and be in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar. As the Will of God is in...

NEW ORLEANS -- Three black former NFL coaches say the league needs to rethink its Rooney Rule for promoting minority hiring after 15 top vacancies -- eight head coaching jobs and seven general manager positions -- were all filled by white candidates since the regular season ended a month ago. "I know the concept is good and something we need to do," said Tony Dungy, who was with the Indianapolis Colts during the 2006 season when he became the first black coach to win a Super Bowl. "Obviously, it's not working the way it should." The Rooney Rule, implemented in...

Dear Friends, At this juncture, I must ask for your prayers on my behalf. Last Friday afternoon, while driving home from work I blacked out on I-95 and rear-ended the vehicle in front of me. I was taken by ambulance to Laurel Regional Hospital and was admitted. During my three-day stay I had a head CT, a cervical MRI, an EEG, and a chest CT. They finally released me at about three o’clock this afternoon. In light of the circumstances of this accident, I am coming to the conclusion that I should not drive anymore. No one was injured...

Part-time soldiers who have been on active duty in Afghanistan were presented with medals by the Duke of Rothesay at his home on the Balmoral estate, Prince Charles presented six Afghanistan campaign medals and one long service medal as the Territorial Army men’s proud families looked on. Afghanistan honours were presented to Major Kevin Wood, Corporal Iain McKinnon and Privates Chris Chambers, Benjamin Mellish, Andy Scott and Declan Taylor. Colour Sergeant Gary Buchanan was given the Long Service and Good Conduct medal for his fifteen years service to the Army. Damp weather didn’t deter the spectator’s enthusiasm as the ceremony...

Received the following email from my Sister-in-Law: Hello Everyone, Just wanted to share some news about my sister Michelle. She has been diagnosed with Oral Cancer. About 10 days ago she had an ulcer removed from her lower lip and just received the results of the biopsy yesterday. The good news is that it has not spread to her lymph nodes and hopefully is localized. She is now scheduled for additional surgery on October 16th – the doctor needs to remove more of the surrounding tissue to make sure that all of it has been removed. The recovery period is...

A 1 percent tax on billionaires around the world. A tax on all currency trading in the U.S. dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound sterling. Another “tiny” tax on all financial transactions, including stock and bond trading, and trading in financial derivatives. New taxes on carbon emissions and on airline tickets. A royalty on all undersea mineral resources extracted more than 100 miles offshore of any nation’s territory. The United Nations is at it again: finding new and “innovative” ways to create global taxes that would transfer hundreds of billions, and even trillions, of dollars from...

Full title: Republicans crank up pressure on administration to clear up facts on Libya attack After two weeks of changing stories from the Obama administration regarding the Libya terror attack, Republican lawmakers are putting increasing pressure on the president and his advisers to explain why they made such "implausible" statements in the days following the strike. Members of Congress, frustrated over an apparently light-on-details intelligence briefing last week and the initial insistence by officials that the attack was linked to anger over an anti-Islam film, fired off a round of letters this week seeking clear answers. Mitt Romney, after initially...

HUNDREDS of soldiers from the Royal Scots Borderers have started deploying for a six-month tour to Helmand Province in Afghanistan. An emotional farewell parade was held at the end of last week for the 450 soldiers from 1 SCOTS – the 1st Battalion of The Royal Regiment of Scotland – who were led through the streets of Edinburgh by the pipes and drums from Dreghorn Barracks to Colinton Church where a service was held. Members of the Military Wives Choir sang for the soldiers at the service as hundreds of well-wishers lined the streets. And a new CD featuring the...