Free Republic

As the euphoria of the NSG waiver starts to ebb, I wonder how many of you realise India owes an enormous thank you to George Bush? He’s done for us what no other world leader could have done, and I would add, perhaps none other was prepared to do. But even if you insist there are one or two leaders — Putin or Sarkozy — who might have tried, I’m confident they would not have succeeded. America is the only country that could have delivered the NSG waiver. George Bush is the only president who decided to do so. First,...

(IsraelNN.com) A new Islamist jihad group that may become as much of a threat to Hamas as it is to Israel is gaining strength in Gaza. The Gaza-based group of Salafi Muslims, known as the Army of Islam (Jaish al-Islam), first made headlines a year ago when it kidnapped British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reporter Alan Johnston near his Gaza City bureau office. "It was nothing personal," commented their leader, Abu Mustafa in an interview published over the weekend by the German Der Spiegel. "It was a message to the West that they should release imprisoned Muslims." He added that at...

(IsraelNN.com) A Gaza-based organization has expressed "deep concern" at the recurrence of "internal explosions" caused by the manufacture and storing of weapons in civilian areas. The PCHR (Palestinian Center for Human Rights) released its statement after Thursday's tremendous explosion in a large house in northern Gaza, which killed an infant, a 16-year-old and six terrorists. Forty people were wounded in the blast. PCHR announced it is "deeply concerned about the recurrence of internal explosions as a result of weapons being manufactured, and stored, in areas populated by civilians. These actions are threatening the lives and property of Palestinian civilians." PCHR...

ISG moves from consensus to conflictBy DANIEL LIBIT 4/22/08 4:32 AM EST In December 2006, in an effort to build a national consensus on a “new way forward in Iraq,” the Iraq Study Group painted itself as a portrait of bipartisan chumminess, with all political hackery checked at the door. Sixteen months later, seven of the 10 ISG members are backing presidential candidates with radically different views about how to proceed in Iraq. Republicans James Baker, Lawrence Eagleburger and Ed Meese are supporting Sen. John McCain, who argues that the United States should be sending more troops to Iraq. Democrats...

Reserve search-and-rescue crews based at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base will begin deploying to the Middle East next week. About 80 reservists with the 943rd Rescue Group, which specializes in combat search and rescue, are scheduled to leave in the first of three deployments, said Master Sgt. Shawn McCowan, a unit spokesman. The 943rd will deploy along with members of its parent unit, the 920th Rescue Wing, for more than a year, McCowan said. He wouldn't say when the unit would leave or exactly where the reservists will be sent due to security concerns, which is standard military procedure. The unit...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2008 – For decades, mothers and wives who lost a loved one in combat had a community of others who faced similar feelings to turn to for support. Today, brothers and sisters of those killed in action have a similar support network. Karen A. Hickman, of Indiana, founded Gold Star Siblings Inc., so that siblings of deceased servicemembers had someone to lean on who understands what they’re going through. “There has never been an organization just for siblings,” she said. “Our goal is to become one voice, to reach out and help the ones trying to...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2, 2008 – A group of Texans is offering a warm embrace to make sure wounded servicemembers aren’t forgotten. A three-person team from Operation Military Embrace has been making weekly visits to servicemembers recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center, on Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and their families since December 2005. “Operation Military Embrace … has visited the inpatients on a Sunday while setting up and serving breakfast to the outpatients in the day room of the ‘med hold’ barracks on the (following) Monday morning,” said Jerry Reed, a former Marine and the organization’s president and executive director....

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6, 2007 – The National Fatherhood Initiative is looking for a few good military fathers for the 2008 NFI Lockheed Martin Military Fatherhood Award. “The purpose of the award is to recognize the outstanding efforts of military fathers to stay engaged with their families while meeting the military missions, even through deployments,” said Jim Knotts, Lockheed Martin Corp.’s director of corporate citizenship. “(It) helps bring attention to those sacrifices and celebrates the efforts above and beyond the call of duty to balance military duty with family obligations.” Though the award is given to the father, he added...

LONDON - A British court ordered an Iranian opposition group removed from the government's list of terrorist organizations Friday, potentially giving one of the Iranian government's fiercest foes more freedom to organize and raise money in Britain. The People's Mujahedeen of Iran is considered a terrorist organization in the United States and European Union and experts say it has trained operatives devoted to toppling the Iranian regime. The group's British backers say it no longer engages in any kind of armed struggle and that Friday's court decision in London could help bring the organization back in from the cold. Hundreds...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2007 – Troops from Tennessee are finding a local group is there to offer them a helping hand when they need it. The group, “Tennessee’s Helping Hearts,” works in many ways to honor and support servicemembers serving at home and overseas, Teresa Miller, the group’s president, said. “We strive to be there for our military so they are never alone,” she said. The group’s focus is supporting injured servicemembers, whether help needed is in a practical or material form or just for a day of stress-relieving fun. Group members put in a new driveway for a...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2007 – A group that supports wounded servicemembers and their families is offering troops a friendly ear with its newest program, “Hear 4 You.” The no-cost program that launched Aug. 1 aims to develop a network of volunteers to listen to military personnel and their families affected by post-deployment stress and post-traumatic stress disorder. The program is one of many services offered by Silver Star Families of America, which supports families of wounded servicemembers. The group is a supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2007 – Thousands of servicemembers get care packages with surprises in them every day, thanks to caring folks back home. Some of the surprises, however, are bigger than others. Army Spc. Alfonso Sanchez, of 16th Military Police Brigade, thanks Army Maj. Kristian Sorensen, the brigade’s civil affairs officer, July 24 for sending the names of the unit’s soldiers to Operation Gratitude, a troop support group. Sanchez, who is currently serving in Iraq, had just received Operation Gratitude’s 250,000th care package, which came with a surprise -- keys to a 2007 Jeep Patriot Limited. Photo by Spc....

WASHINGTON, Aug. 10, 2007 – Volunteers in San Jose, Calif., are providing some of the niceties of home to troops serving in hostile and remote areas of the world. These boxes represent the first official shipment of packages from Operation: Action Packed! to servicemembers stationed at Camp Hit, Iraq. The group sends care packages to more than 180 servicemembers each month. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Members of the group, “Operation: Action Packed!” believe they can “all do something to make a difference in the world,” the group’s president, Daniella Magnano, said. “We strive to move...

Iraq needs a dictator, says US group By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent Last Updated: 2:15am BST 10/08/2007 After hundreds of British and American troops died trying to restore democracy to Iraq, a new lobby in the United States has concluded the country must go back to dictatorship. Imposing a strongman to end the chaos resulting from Iraq's civil war is an option rarely raised in America's anguished debate over Iraq. Out with the old, in with the new But Michael Oppenheimer, director of New York University's Centre for Global Affairs, claims a dictatorship is now the most likely route...

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Western U.S. states and Canadian provinces eyeing a joint carbon trading market are hoping to resolve differences over issues such as how emissions are calculated. Representatives of the six U.S. states and two Canadian provinces in the Western Climate Initiative began three days of meetings in Vancouver on Thursday. Two provinces and two states that are thinking of joining the group are also expected to attend. British Columbia Environment Minister Barry Penner hopes the meeting will help narrow down the options the group will consider as it struggles to set regional greenhouse gas reduction goals...

Muslim group 'backing' Army attacks faces ban By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor Last Updated: 2:13am BST 06/07/2007 A radical Muslim group was again threatened with a ban yesterday after one of its leaders defended terrorist attacks on British armed forces overseas. Taji Mustapha, a spokesman for Hizb ut-Tahrir, pledged "support" for attacks on British soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I will stand up and support the right of people whose land is occupied to defend themselves," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) was threatened with proscription by Tony Blair two years ago. The pledge was...

ABOARD USS BOXER (NNS) -- Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group (BOXESG) returned from its twice-extended Western Pacific deployment May 31 to the cheers of friends and family. BOXESG’s mission was to transport the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU)(special operations capable(SOC)) to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Once the Marines were ashore, BOXESG spent five months in the Persian Gulf conducting maritime security operations (MSO) with coalition partners, operating under international maritime conventions to provide security and safety in international waters, which helped ensure commercial shipping could operate freely while transiting the Persian Gulf. “BOXESG furthered our country’s efforts in...

WASHINGTON, May 31, 2007 – Operation Homefront, a military support group dedicated to providing emergency assistance and morale to servicemembers and their families, recently received a $5.9 million grant to expand its services. The grant came from the California Community Foundation’s Iraq Afghanistan Deployment Impact Fund. “We were deeply honored to receive this grant, and it will fund some big dreams that we, and our volunteers, have had,” Meredith Leyva, chairman of Operation Homefront, said. “For example … we’ve been able to launch our Wounded Warrior Wives project.” The new Wounded Warrior Wives project is a combined effort of...

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2007 – Academic scholarships are plentiful for servicemembers wanting to further their education, but for wounded troops, simply re-integrating into civilian life can be emotionally and financially costly. The Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation is helping to ease the burden on wounded troops. The Danville, Calif.-based organization is offering four-year “Life Scholarships” to help smooth severely wounded servicemembers’ transition to the rest of their lives. “When it comes to returning severely injured (servicemembers), we just needed to do more,” Mike Conklin, the foundation’s founder, said. “I felt it was our responsibility, so I developed a plan...

WASHINGTON, May 10, 2007 – The Chrysler Group is driving home its support for the nation’s military and the United Service Organizations this month with a sweepstakes designed to help servicemembers keep in touch with their families. In celebration of Mother’s Day and Memorial Day, the contest, “Our Troops Are Calling On You,” will continue throughout May. Based on the number of entries received for the giveaway of five new Chrysler, Jeep or Dodge vehicles, the Chrysler Group will donate up to $50,000 to USO’s Operation Phone Home. Operation Phone Home distributes free prepaid international and domestic phone cards...

WASHINGTON, May 3, 2007 – The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors paused May 1 to recognize those who help make their program possible during the TAPS 10th Annual Honor Guard Appreciation Luncheon here. Actor Ben Stein speaks at the 10th Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors Annual Honor Guard Appreciation Luncheon in Washington on May 1. Stein, who said he’s “humbly grateful” for servicemembers, has spoken extensively on behalf of TAPS and said he plans to continue to do so. Photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “The Honor Guard Luncheon is our opportunity once a...

WASHINGTON, April 13, 2007 – Armed Forces Entertainment makes it a mission to bring a piece of home to servicemembers stationed far away. With the priority of reaching remote and isolated locations, Armed Forces Entertainment, has been entertaining troops since 1951. The Defense Department agency hosts more than 1,200 shows each year and reaches more than 500,000 servicemembers stationed at more than 300 military installations around the world, according to the group’s Web site. Armed Forces Entertainment is a member of America Supports You, a DoD program connecting troop-support groups, individual citizens and corporations with members of the military...

WASHINGTON, April 6, 2007 – Members of a troop-support group are using their experience as parents of servicemembers to offer support to other military families in Ohio. The Marine Corps Family Support Community began two years ago when a group of parents in Columbus, Ohio, came together for mutual support as their children left for Marine boot camp around the same time. “We were bursting with pride, but scared to death at the same time,” said Michele Gire, current secretary of the organization. “We didn’t know anything about the military.” Since Marine bases are located primarily near the East...

WASHINGTON, March 30, 2007 – Running a nonprofit organization can be strain on an individual’s time, space and resources. One home-front group’s leader says she relies on a specific form of aid through the tough times: divine intervention. Frankie Mayo, founder of Operation AC, said the fund-raising strategy for her troop-support group is prayer. “When God puts something on your heart to do, you just have to do it,” she said. “I pray at night before I go to bed about the issues that have come up, and the next morning God shows me what I’m supposed to do.”...

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2007 – A letter from a soldier added bittersweet importance to Packages From Home’s participation in Tucson Navy Week’s weekend activities at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, and an Arizona Diamondbacks preseason baseball game. Packages From Home volunteers stand ready to tell people attending Tucson Navy Week all about their group and America Supports You. Packages From Home, a Phoenix-based troop-support group, sends care packages to deployed servicemembers. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Kathleen Lewis, founder of the Phoenix-based troop-support group, received a letter March 15 from Army Staff Sgt. Darrel Kasson thanking her...

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2007 – A home-front group that alters clothing for wounded servicemembers received accolades for its efforts on an evening news show last week. “ABC’s World News Tonight” named Ginger Dosedel, founder of Sew Much Comfort, as being the news organization’s “Person of the Week” during its March 23 broadcast. “It was wonderful of ABC to nominate us, and I truly look at that as an ‘us,’” Dosedel said. “I am only one small part of this organization. For them to take time to recognize everything America is doing to support the troops -- I think that...

Roger Highfield describes a heroic mathematical enterprise that could lay bare the fundamentals of the cosmosMathematicians have successfully scaled their equivalent of Mount Everest. Today they unveil the answer to a problem that, if written out in tiny print, would cover an area the size of Manhattan. At the most basic level, the calculation is an arcane investigation of symmetry – in this case of an object that is 57 dimensional, rather than the usual three dimensional ones that we are familiar with. Although this object was first discovered in the 19th century. there is evidence that it could contain...

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2007 – A four-year-old servicemember support group has proved to be “Always Faithful” as it continues to assist Marines, sailors and other military members who have been injured during their service in the global war against terrorism. The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund’s genesis occurred at Camp Pendleton, Calif., in April 2003, when registered nurse and Marine spouse Karen Guenther and other volunteers organized activities for wounded Marines and sailors as they returned from Operation Iraqi Freedom. Guenther’s husband was deployed overseas at the time, she recalled. “My husband was in Iraq, and I knew he...

WASHINGTON, March 1, 2007 – Servicemembers with ties to central Oregon can rely on “Caring for Troops” for a touch of home when they’re deployed, the organization’s president said. Caring for Troops is a member of America Supports You, a Defense Department program highlighting the ways Americans are supporting the nation’s servicemembers. Officially started in September 2004, the group’s main mission is to send care packages to troops with ties to central Oregon, Byron Ames, the group’s president, said. “I think we have 23 people on our list right now,” he said, adding that the numbers have been over...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2007 – Two nonprofit groups that support servicemembers are inviting amateur and professional photographers to look through their viewfinders with a patriotic eye for the 2007 “I Love America Day Photo Contest.” The organizations -- “Flags Across the Nation” and the “Military Family Network” – both are members of America Supports You, a Defense Department program highlighting the ways Americans and the corporate sector support the nation’s servicemembers. Through its Community Connections Partnership program, of which Flags Across the Nation is a member, the Military Family Network supports the grassroots efforts of military-friendly organizations across the...

Wednesday, January 31, 2007 7:36 AM CST U.S. May Have Botched Training of Iraqis By LAURIE KELLMAN WASHINGTON - Training the police is as important to stabilizing Iraq as standing up an army there, but the United States has botched the job by assigning the wrong agencies to the task, two members of the Iraq Study Group say. "The police training system has not gone well," former Rep. Lee Hamilton, who co-chaired the bipartisan commission, said in remarks prepared for delivery Wednesday to the Senate Judiciary Committee. He was joined in his statements by another member of the study group,...

STRASBOURG (AFP) - A new extreme-right group, including veteran French firebrand Jean-Marie Le Pen and Mussolini's granddaughter, was formally created in the European parliament, parliamentary president Josep Borrell announced. The "Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty," group which "slightly changes the political geography of our parliament" has fulfilled the conditions for its formal recognition, said Borrell at the start of a plenary session in Strasbourg. Those rules notably include the requirement that at least 20 MEPs from five EU member states to sign up for the new political group. The formal setting up of the bloc allows it various rights including receiving official...

Iraq Study Group: A Substitute for Victory Ryan Mauro TDCAnalyst@aol.com As critics debate over the recommendations put forth by the Iraq Study Group, politicians on all sides have been given an easy pass. The Iraq Study Group's positions will become every major presidential aspirant's positions. Any politician willing to challenge this report's conclusions will be seen as narrow-minded, and out-of-touch with the situation in Iraq. As of Wednesday, December 6, 2006, the major debate ends, and the question becomes how to implement these changes to bring stability in the region. However, stability will require the consent of the Baathists of...

Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh called it "The Iraq Surrender Group." The conservative New York Post tabloid doctored a front-page photo to depict the co-chairmen of the Iraq Study Group in primate fur, under the headline "Surrender Monkeys," inspired by a frequently quoted line from "The Simpsons." And conservative commentator William J. Bennett vented in volcanic fashion. "In all my time in Washington I've never seen such smugness, arrogance, or such insufferable moral superiority," Bennett wrote on the National Review website. "Self-congratulatory. Full of itself. Horrible." Howls of protest echoed across the right side of the political spectrum as conservatives...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2006 -- With its 4th annual “Holiday Hugs to Our Heroes” drive officially concluded, the SI Yellow Ribbon Campaign is unofficially still working to meet the group’s goal of providing holiday packages to 1,000 troops. SI Yellow Ribbon Campaign is a member of America Supports You, a Defense Department program highlighting ways Americans and the corporate sector support the nation’s servicemembers. “Our goal was to try and hit about 1,000 troops, but it doesn’t look like we’re going to make that,” Amy Oxford, the group’s founder, said. “It’s just so important to me not to give...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21, 2006 -- Wal-mart and Operation Homefront are coming together to spread the holiday spirit to military members and their families through “Operation Christmas.” The Operation Christmas Holiday Caravan will travel to six military communities sprinkled throughout the nation Nov. 22 - Dec. 20 to help kick off the Christmas season with appearances by Santa, tree-trimming craft tables, music and gifts of $20 Wal-mart gift cards. “The Department of Defense is pleased to have two of our America Supports You partners come together to provide for military members and their families,” said Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary...

FORT HUACHUCA — The annual vigil concerning alleged training of torture procedures on the post will happen today near the fort’s Main Gate. The object of the event, which is held in conjunction with the annual nationwide vigil against the now defunct Army School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Ga., is to protest military intelligence training that foster humiliation, intimidation and torture, according to the Tucson School of Americas Watch. The local protest will be held from 2:30 to 4 p.m., with the gathering point at the northeast corner of Fry Boulevard and Buffalo Soldier Trail. In the past...

PHOENIX, Nov. 3, 2006 – In grand fashion, “Packages From Home” welcomed dignitaries and guests to the grand opening of its new digs on the Phoenix Memorial Hospital campus yesterday. Jordan Leigh (left) performs “Soldier I Thank You,” her tribute to the troops, Nov. 2 in Phoenix during the grand opening of a new facility for “Packages From Home,” a nonprofit group that supports the troops. Leigh lost her brother in the global war on terrorism. Her mother, Terri Schall, (center), and Margy Bons, a public information officer for Packages From Home, look on. Photo by Samantha L. Quigley  '(Click...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2006 -- How to pay for a child’s college education shouldn’t be a consideration for those who lose a loved one in battle, and one troop-support group is working to ensure it isn’t. “We provide financial assistance and college grants to the children and spouses of the fallen … and severely injured servicemembers,” Rebecca Campbell, founder of The Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund, said. “It’s all for different needs, but (applicants) have to have a financial need.” The Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund is a member of America Supports You, a Defense Department program...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2006 -- A group from Massachusetts worked diligently on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to keep the nation’s servicemembers warm. New England Caring For Our Military volunteers, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization, help get fleece blankets ready to ship to servicemembers serving away from home Sept. 11. Each of nearly 1,200 blankets, which an area textile mill donated, was accompanied by a letter thanking the troops for their service and explaining who was involved in getting the blankets to them. Courtesy photo  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “I really wanted to have...

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service has revoked the tax-exempt status of the anti-abortion organization Operation Rescue West for prohibited political activity during the 2004 election. President Troy Newman said the Wichita, Kan., group, now known as Operation Rescue, relinquished its charitable status and reorganized more than a year ago. "We gave it back. We didn't fight any sort of deal," he said. The laws that permit some organizations to organize as tax-exempt entities also bar them from participating in or intervening in elections, including advocating for or against any candidate. The IRS revoked the group's tax-exempt status last week,...

WASHINGTON A federally funded California nonprofit that gives legal help to Central Valley farmworkers and others violated federal prohibitions against political behavior, soliciting clients and other activities, an inspector general's report said Thursday. The report was requested by Republican Rep. Devin Nunes of Tulare, who's been critical of California Rural Legal Assistance and also of the federal Legal Services Corporation that funds it. The report found that California Rural Legal Assistance, which claims to provide free legal help to 20,000 poor rural Californians each year, apparently flouted congressional reforms blocking actions like lobbying and advocacy, getting involved in class-action litigation...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2006 -- A group of American seamstresses is working to apply an old-fashioned skill -- sewing -- to help today’s wounded veterans. The nonprofit group “Sew Much Comfort” includes more than 2,000 people who sew specially made clothing for wounded servicemembers, who often find clothing off the rack doesn’t accommodate a variety of medical devices. Sew Much Comfort is a member of the Defense Department’s America Supports You program, which highlights grassroots and corporate efforts to support U.S. troops and their families. Several of the groups set up tables at the end of the America Supports...

DUBAI - The militant Palestinian group which kidnapped and freed two Fox News Channel journalists last month vowed on Saturday to target all non-Muslims who enter the Palestinian territories. In a statement posted on the Internet, the Holy Jihad Brigades said all non-Muslim foreigners it captures could face death unless they convert to Islam or Muslim prisoners be freed in exchange for their release. “God ordered that we fight all infidels as they fight us all ... the blood of any infidel who comes to the land of Palestine has no sanctity,” said the group, unknown before the journalists’ kidnapping....

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2006 – Target Corporation, a national retailer, has taken aim at a Washington area troops support group, providing it with a $20,000 donation, the founder and president of Our Military Kids said. “I actually approached Target to see if they, as a corporation, would be interested in providing us with any financial support for our program,” Linda Davidson said. “They … evaluated the program and came back to us and said they would be very interested in helping to support the fine-arts portion of our grant program.” Our Military Kids, Inc., works to ensure children of deployed...

LOS ANGELES A Korean grocers' group sued former U.N. ambassador Andrew Young for libel for claiming that they and other market owners "ripped off" blacks. The suit, filed last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court, also names the Wal-Mart store chain and seeks at least $7.5 million in damages. The former Atlanta mayor resigned as head of a Wal-Mart advocacy group on Aug. 18 amid controversy over comments he made to the weekly, black-owned Los Angeles Sentinel. In an interview, Young said that Wal-Mart competition had forced smaller, "mom-and-pop" stores out of his neighborhood. "But you see, those are...

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Aug. 29, 2006 -- Wrapping up a trip here that also included stops in Alaska and Reno, Nev., Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld met today with volunteers from “Operation Give,” a nonprofit organization that supports children in war-torn and natural-disaster-affected areas of the world. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, center, meets with Operation Give volunteers and thanks them for their contributions during a stop in Salt Lake City, Utah, Aug. 29, 2006. Photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, USAF  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “Those of you who volunteer your time are appreciated,” Rumsfeld told...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2006 -- The communication gap between military families at Fort Drum, N.Y., and their soon-to-be deployed servicemembers was bridged before it existed, thanks to Operation Homelink. Lisa Wrenn, with help from sons, Casey, 11, (center), and Cody, 8, carries a computer donated by Operation Homelink on Aug. 23 at Fort Drum, N.Y. Wrenn’s husband, Army Spec. William Wrenn, recently deployed with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. Courtesy photo  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Operation Homelink is a member of the Defense Department's America Supports You program, which spotlights ways the American people and...

Captain James Van Thach a Rising Star in Iraq. Your job highlights the “nation-building” purpose of this war, and your choice of this dangerous assignment speaks well of you as highly idealistic.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2006 – San Diego will honor its military heritage with a Freedom Walk planned to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. “The walk begins and ends at the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center,” said Beth Steinke, president of Operation Homefront-San Diego, the nonprofit group organizing the walk. “It’s a leisurely two-mile stroll through the park.” The walk, presented by DefenseWeb, a software company, will begin with opening ceremonies at 9 a.m. in Balboa Park, she said. A color guard and a chaplain are scheduled to participate in the opening ceremonies. “We’re hoping...