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Latest News and Updates Iraq vet's home takes shape A three-day Build Brigade event to build a home for a disabled veteran here with Homes for Our Troops continued Friday as a completed framework was erected by the end of the day. A warrior's reward: His own accessible home Yesterday, amid the din of banging hammers and whining saws, he and his wife, Sara, caught a glimpse of a brighter future as 100 volunteers held an old-fashioned house-raising in Florence. Bikers take to the road to provide Homes for Our Troops Over 225 motorcycles hit the road in support of...

CAMP SHELBY JOINT FORCES TRAINING CENTER, Miss., March 4, 2008 – Fourteen soldiers with the Arkansas National Guard's 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team were injured last night when severe weather passed through Camp Shelby. Army Lt. Col. James Treece, commander of 217th Brigade Support Battalion, stands next to wreckage of a barracks at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, Miss., March 3, 2008. Severe weather damaged the barracks and injured 14 soldiers with the Arkansas National Guard's 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Photo by Maj. Craig Heathscott, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Injuries were mainly limited to...

/29/2008 - SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- Training medical personnel as a member of the 59th Logistics and Readiness Squadron's Medical Readiness Training team was not the path that George Torres had planned to pursue when he trained as an Air Force Pararescueman. A broken back and compound fracture to his ankle, caused by a combat-related incident, ended his Air Force career. However, thanks to the Helping Airman Recover Together, or Palace HART, program he is now working for the 59th Medical Wing. "I knew shortly after the accident my career in the Air Force was over. After five combat deployments...

2/21/2008 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Air Force Theater Hospital Airmen here helped save the lives of seven Iraqi children who were playing soccer when they were wounded in an attack by insurgents Feb. 19 in Al Jumia, Iraq. The seven wounded children were transported to the base and were treated for various injuries. Two were treated for minor injuries and released; five required additional surgery. The children were wounded when two 82-millimeter mortar rounds struck a soccer field in the village of Al Jumia. One 12-year-old child died in the attack. Lt. Col. (Dr.) Todd Rasmussen, a...

WASHINGTON – Sgt. Klay South with help from this mother Janet launched Veterans of Valor on October 4, 2007. South was wounded November 2004 and spent a long recovery process to reconstruct his face and jaw after being shot in the face with an AK-47. Veterans of Valor visited Bethesda Naval Hospital and Walter Reed Army Medical Center January 17 to give backpacks and words of encouragement to wounded service members. BETHESDA, Md. – Cpl. Jimmy Kinsey receives his backpack from Sgt. Klay South, founder of Veterans of Valor. Veterans of Valor visited Bethesda Naval Hospital and Walter Reed...

MARTINEZ - A disoriented and possibly injured beaver was taken from Alhambra Creek to the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek this afternoon.| Marie Woods, an employee at the Contra Costa County Community Services Department, said she saw a beaver behaving strangely at about 1:25 p.m. in the area where beavers have built a dam. "The beaver was just swimming around in the water and he looked so tired or sick," Woods said, adding it bumped into the concrete walls of the creekbed. "He would topple over in the water and then swim away again." Woods said a bystander jumped...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 28, 2007 – Following the philosophy that recovering from an injury is easier with family nearby, a Virginia group is helping to make that possible for wounded explosive ordnance disposal technicians from any branch of service. “Wounded EOD Warrior Foundation is dedicated to helping our wounded explosive ordnance disposal technicians and their families in their greatest time of need,” said Sherri Beck, foundation president. “We are hoping to relieve some of the financial stress involved when a loved one is injured, (and) we also believe that having family present is an integral part of the healing process.”...

*** This message is being distributed to all members of the Class of '91 with E-mail addresses on file at the AOG *** Dear Classmates, As most of you know, Derrick Wright was critically injured earlier this year during a mortar attack on the Green Zone in Iraq. I've sent updates on Derrick over the past few months as I have received them from his wife, Cindy. For those of you that haven't seen the videos that Cindy has made, I've provided the link so that you can see first hand how Derrick has progressed. http://web.mac.com/cindyjwright Derrick continues to improve,...

JOST VAN DYKE, British Virgin Islands, Oct. 30, 2007 – A group of injured war veterans on a 12-mile round-trip kayak adventure paused on the shores of this small British island earlier this month for a two-night stay at a campground locally known as “Ivan’s.” A sign at “Ivan’s Local Flavor Stress Free Bar,” part of White Bay Campground on Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands, says it all for a group of injured war veterans and their spouses. For the veterans participating in a Team River Runner adaptive kayaking and camping adventure trip, Ivan’s did, indeed equal healing....

ST. JOHN, U.S. Virgin Islands, Oct. 29, 2007 – Seven injured veterans geared up to pit themselves against sand and the Caribbean Sea on Oct. 18 as part of an inaugural adaptive adventure trip. Edward Robertson (left) talks with Bill Johnston at Cinnamon Bay campgrounds. Johnston was one of a group of seven injured veterans visiting St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, for an adaptive kayaking trip. Robertson and more than a dozen American Legionnaires and auxiliary members from Chapter 131 brought breakfast out to the group Oct. 18, 2007. Photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2007 – A Maryland-based group is out to show severely wounded servicemembers they’ve still got game through the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project. Jason Beakes holds a prosthetic leg for Army Sgt. Brandon Huff at the end of the day’s runs at Dickerson Whitewater Course, in Dickerson, Md., March 12, 2005. Beakes, a champion whitewater kayaker, volunteers with Team River Runner, teaching kayaking to disabled veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Photo by Neil Hermansdorfer  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “The idea for the program is to … get these guys active as soon...

WASHINGTON, July 5, 2007 – Servicemembers who’ve suffered serious injuries resulting from their wartime service can get financial help thanks to two congressionally legislated programs, a senior U.S. military officer said July 3. Congress established the Traumatic Servicemembers Group Life Insurance program in 2005 in response to the experiences of some former and current military members who found themselves financially strapped after they suffered severe injuries during the war against terrorism. Coverage applies to active-duty and reserve-component members. “This program provides up to $100,000 per event, depending on (the type of) injury,” Army Col. John Sackett, a disability compensation...

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2007 – A former 82nd Airborne Division soldier who has been living with traumatic brain injury for the past seven years is reaching out to recently wounded veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan to help them learn to live with the disease. Retired Army Pfc. Chris Lynch uses his own experience with traumatic brain injury to help inspire others. The former 82nd Airborne Division soldier is pursuing his education, runs marathons and competed in the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in April. Photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Pfc. Chris Lynch was...

SAN DIEGO – Seven people were hospitalized early Thursday morning after a car fleeing from the Border Patrol on a rural highway collided with a tree about 50 miles east of San Diego, the Border Patrol reported. The crash occurred about 4:15 a.m. on Old Highway 80 and Ribbonwood Road, about two miles west of Boulevard, according to Border Patrol spokesman Richard Smith. Agents had “initiated a pursuit” of a car heading eastbound on Old Highway 80 from Tierra del Sol that they suspected was carrying illegal immigrants near Campo, Smith said. The driver apparently lost control of the car...

WASHINGTON, June 8, 2007 – After having breakfast with some of her fans in Nashville, Tenn., yesterday, country music singer LeAnn Rimes, as one of her songs says, had absolutely “Nothin’ Better to Do” than present a handicap-accessible van to a severely injured veteran. LeAnn Rimes hands the keys to a brand new Chevrolet to Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Peter Reid on June 7, 2007, in Nashville, Tenn. His wife, Michele Reid, right, and his full-time caregiver, Brian Kroen, look on. Chevrolet and Rimes teamed up at the Country Music Association Music Festival to present the vehicle to...

WASHINGTON, June 7, 2007 – Inspired by pro golf’s support of the troops, about 100 golfers hit the links each weekend for friendly competition that ultimately benefits injured servicemembers. Those who come away victorious from the informal games at Tournament Players Club Sawgrass in Jacksonville, Fla., donate a portion of their winnings to the cause, Dan McAuliffe, the games’ organizer, said. Since December, the “Gophers,” as the group calls itself, have raised nearly $2,000 in this manner. “We play together week in and week out. … We decided, ‘Let’s go to the golf course, and let’s make a difference...

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2007 – Members of Daniel Acosta’s family already had a lot on their minds when he arrived at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio from serving in Iraq with injuries that ultimately cost him an arm. And shortly thereafter, his wife, Sandy, delivered their third child. To ease part of their burden, Maid Brigade is lending a hand with weekly household cleaning as part of a national partnership with Operation Homefront to serve military families in need. Operation Homefront is a member of America Supports You, a Defense Department program that highlights the ways Americans...

3/22/2007 - ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska (AFNEWS) -- Airmen in Alaska came through for a wounded British Sailor March 21 when he was injured during a deadly explosion aboard the Royal Navy submarine HMS Tireless operating in Arctic waters north of Prudhoe Bay. The submarine experienced an explosion of a self contained oxygen generation candle that killed two Sailors and injured the third late March 20 while conducting a joint U.S. United Kingdom exercise. A civilian helicopter contracted by exercise organizers transported the injured Sailor from the scene to the town of Deadhorse, where an Alaska Air National Guard...

FORT JACKSON, S.C., March 21, 2007 — A Fort Jackson first sergeant has seen and experienced many different things in his nearly 20-year Army career as airborne, air assault, Ranger and pathfinder, but he never imagined that he would literally have to learn to "see" again. U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Charles Nye, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, lost more than sleep one December night in 2003 while deployed from Fort Campbell with the 187th Infantry Regiment to Iraq, when a car bomb exploded outside his building. He lost his left eye, and temporarily lost vision in his right...

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...

VAIL, Colo., March 11, 2007 – Vail firefighters opened their house here yesterday evening for the fourth year in a row to thank the 25 participants of the Vail Veterans Program for their service to the nation. The firefighters treated the veterans and their guests to a homemade lasagna dinner. Vail firefighters and other volunteers serve a homemade lasagna dinner to Army Maj. David Rozelle, administrator for Walter Reed’s Amputee Care Center, and other wounded veterans in Vail, Colo., on March 10. This is the fourth dinner held for the injured veterans participating in the Vail Veterans Program’s winter...

WASHINGTON, March 4, 2007 – A coalition servicemember was injured, eight Afghan civilians were killed and 35 civilians were wounded today when militants assaulted a coalition forces convoy as it moved east along Highway 1 in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, military officials reported. Earlier accounts said as many as 16 civilians caught in the crossfire had been killed, but an updated release early this afternoon from Combined Joint Task Force 76 headquarters at Bagram Air Base contained what officials called “the most accurate numbers to date.” The five-vehicle convoy was moving through a crowded market place near Bari Kot, located...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2007 – A U.S. veteran who lost both legs in 2004 when a roadside bomb exploded in Iraq will begin a new career because his indomitable spirit moved a total stranger to give back to those who have served their country. Army Staff Sgt. Robbie Doughty and Michael Ilitch, the founder of Little Caesars Pizza, one of nation’s largest pizza chains, proudly stood side by side for the grand opening of the veteran’s new pizza store in Paducah, Ky., yesterday. Doughty, 31, was honorably discharged from the Army in July 2004 and began a long road...

Sgt. Scott McDonald, a crew chief with Company C, 3rd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, performs a maintenance check on a UH-60 Blackhawk. McDonald and his fellow Soldiers provide air medical evacuation support for much of Northern Iraq. U.S. Army courtesy photo MEDEVAC Unit Stays on Alert to Save Injured Comrades This air ambulance company’s primary job is to respond quickly whenever there is a call to evacuate or transport an injured person. By Spc. Daniel Bearl 25th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs TIKRIT, Iraq, Feb. 8, 2007 -- Just off the flight line at Contingency...

12/4/2006 - ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam (AFPN) -- Airmen from the 36th Medical Group and 734th Air Mobility Squadron played an integral role in treating and transporting six critically injured Sailors Dec. 2 from Andersen AFB to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. The Sailors were transported via a C-17 Globemaster III to Hickam AFB, then onto the Army's Burn Center at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where they will receive specialized care. The Sailors sustained injuries as a result of an accident aboard a Navy submarine tender, according to a Naval Base Guam press release. The Sailors...

It was a matter of chance that Mick Brennan happened to be at the Headley Court military rehabilitation centre when defence minister Derek Twigg came to call yesterday.Standing on his two artificial limbs, the result of a suicide bomb blast near Baghdad, Cpl Brennan, 27, was having one limb refitted as well as treatment to a head injury. Cpl Brennan represents the scores of servicemen and women whose serious injuries from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are complex and needing more long term help than NHS civilians hospitals can offer. An explosives experts in the Royal Signals, he was with...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2006 -- Two Army combat veterans who both lost something dear in the war against terrorism say they are determined to keep on battling, and proving it as they prepare to run the Army 10-Miler race tomorrow. Left to right: Army Spc. James Stuck, Capt. Matthew Scherer and Spc. Joseph Keck meet the press at a Washington, D.C., suburban hotel Oct. 6. Stuck and Keck are Army combat veterans who both lost limbs in the war against terrorism. They will compete in the Missing Parts in Action team that’s competing in the Army-10-Miler race held here...

Muslim accosts injured Para in hospital By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent (Filed: 02/10/2006) A paratrooper wounded in Afghanistan was threatened by a Muslim visitor to the British hospital where he is recovering. Seriously wounded soldiers have complained that they are worried about their safety after being left on wards that are open to the public at Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham. On one occasion a member of the Parachute Regiment, still dressed in his combat uniform after being evacuated from Afghanistan, was accosted by a Muslim over the British involvement in the country. "You have been killing my Muslim brothers in...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8, 2006 -- Troops appreciate a congressionally legislated insurance program that provides financial aid to badly wounded servicemembers, a senior DoD official told a Senate committee here yesterday. Congress established the Traumatic Servicemembers Group Life Insurance program in 2005 in response to the experiences of some former and current military members who found themselves financially strapped after they suffered severe injuries during the war against terrorism. Coverage applies to active-duty and reserve-component members. “The program is working very well, and the Department of Defense is a satisfied customer,” Michael Dominguez, principal deputy undersecretary of defense for personnel and...

BETHESDA, Md. (NNS) -- National Naval Medical Center and Veterans Affairs are making patient care between the agencies easier with the Seamless Transition Program and benefits counseling. The Seamless Transition Program aids the transitioning process for service members injured in Iraq or Afghanistan, said Bethesda Veterans Affairs liaison Anne LaFond. "[Liaisons] work with social workers, case workers and discharge planners for service members hurt in Iraq and Afghanistan and those who are going to need follow-up care at [Veterans Affairs],” LaFond said. "We try to provide one main point of contact to the family to make sure nobody falls through...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27, 2006 – Three coalition force soldiers were injured in a weapons accident at Camp Echo, Iraq, yesterday. Meanwhile, a hostage was released based on a tip and nine suspected insurgents were detained in three separate incidents on Aug 23, according to officials in Iraq. One American and two Polish soldiers wounded in the Camp Echo incident early yesterday morning were treated immediately at the base military hospital. The American soldier and one of the Polish soldiers were transported to the military hospital in Baghdad for further treatment, and their status was listed as stable yesterday, officials said....

Dying deer given CPR By Corey Wicks Staff reporter When it comes to concern for wildlife, people in Joseph put their mouth where their concern is. Literally. Wallowa County Detective Neil Rogers was called to a report of a deer that had been hit by a vehicle Sunday, July 2, in downtown Joseph. When Rogers arrived a crowd of people had gathered in the street and were in the process of pulling the deer out from underneath a trailer, Rogers said. The deer was badly mangled but managed to wake up and stumble past the crowd. It then fell into...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq (Army News Service, July 10, 2006) – One unit has sole responsibility for getting Baghdad-stationed coalition forces and civilians in need of medical care to the right treatment facilities. Since November 2005, more than 3,500 patients have been transported by Company C, 2nd Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division. The more than 80 Soldiers assigned to the unit operate from Camp Taji and Forward Operating Base Falcon. Missions taken on by the “Dustoff” Company are categorized as urgent or priority according to patients’ conditions. “Our overall mission is to facilitate the safest and...

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2006 – Villagers captured an extremist who threw a grenade into a mosque in the village of Showbi in the Tere Zayi district of Afghanistan's Khost province today during prayer, military officials reported. The grenade injured three men, including the mullah, who were taken to the coalition hospital in Khost for treatment. The villagers chased the assailant down and captured him, then notified coalition forces. Afghan police took the assailant into custody. "Extremists continue to conduct needless attacks on Afghan civilians to threaten and intimidate them in the hopes they won't support a free and growing Afghanistan,"...

Several Border Patrol agents were fired upon Wednesday evening in Nogales while responding to a call about a vehicle that was entering the country without going through a port of entry, an official said Thursday. Around 7 p.m. Border Patrol agents responded to a report of a silver Mercedes sport utility vehicle driving through the desert in Nogales, said Jesus Rodriguez, a spokesman for the agency's Tucson Sector. As the agents neared the SUV, they were fired upon, he said. One patrol vehicle took rounds to the windshield and the body. The agent in that vehicle fired back as did...

THESE ARE THE SENATORS WHO VOTED TO GIVE SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS TO ILLEGAL ALIENS REGARDLESS OF POLITICAL PARTY, THESE POLITICIANS NEED TO BE DEFEATED IN 2006, 2008 OR 2010, WHENEVER THEY NEXT COME UP FOR OFFICE. SEND THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW; THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES NEEDS TO KNOW THIS INFORMATION -- THAT IS, UNLESS THEY DO NOT MIND SHARING THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY WITH FOREIGN WORKERS WHO NEVER PAID INTO IT AND AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE BEING LEFT OUT. Grouped by Home State Alabama: Alaska: Stevens (R-AK), Yea Arizona: McCain (R-AZ), Yea Arkansas: Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Pryor (D-AR),...

Brockworth, England (AHN) - An annual British cheese-rolling competition that entails chasing giant cheeses down a steep slope has resulted in twenty-five injured people, organizers say. A crowd of 3,000 spectators watched dozens of people take part in the event at Cooper's Hill in Brockworth, Gloucestershire, reports Yahoo! News. The 25 injuries, which include 12 injured spectators, occurred when participants chased the wheel-shaped Double Gloucester cheese in a 200-meter race down a slope. The winners of each of the five races were awarded with a big circle of cheese.

I am curious why none of the media covers the most important aspect of the Malvo shootings. If you look at Newspapers on the dates when the shootings are underway you discover something I find quite interesting. The shootings begin to dominate the news the day before the debate on the Iraq war starts and they catch them the day after the declaration of war??? If you ask most people "do you remember the debate about starting the second Iraq war", they will all answer "yes of course". But if you followup with the question "name one point in the...

I recently received a reply to a post that stated: "This should be beneath a "freeper". Sad." So I asked.. what is it that makes a FReeper? My reply (and I will admit was tasteless) was also questioning. It stirred controversy and was removed? Why Moderators? Can you not tell me? Did it not meet with your "FReeper" mentality? According to all posted guidelines it should be listed but no, you chose to delete it. Yes.. I'm the first one IBTZ, I'm sure you'll nick me for speaking up..

Police injured as violence flares in suburbs of Paris By Colin Randall in Paris (Filed: 31/05/2006) At least 100 youths, many brandishing baseball bats, clashed with police in a new outbreak of violence in the same Parisian suburbs in which nationwide rioting started last autumn. The disturbances, which were described as "violent and intense" and left several policemen injured, extended from late on Monday night into the early hours yesterday. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets after coming under attack, while Xavier Lemoine, the centre-Right mayor of Montfermeil, one of two affected suburbs, was left fearing for the lives...

U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Jim Nappier was supposed to serve six months in Iraq, but his tour of duty lasted only 20 days. "The first thing I remember seeing was a dark brown, like a mahogany brown," he says. "I'll never forget that. I never heard the impact. I just felt like the eyes had come out of my head." Nappier's home is in Loxahatchee now — when he's not at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Riviera Beach. Every May since 1868, Americans have remembered their war dead; first as Decoration Day, when the graves of Civil...

HADITHA, Iraq (May 25, 2006) -- When some Marines return from Iraq, they bring back memorabilia, such as tattered Iraqi flags or old photos of Saddam Hussein they found in cluttered streets. Some, like 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Jeremy Russell of Salem, Ore., will bring back memories of actions on the battlefield and scars from being wounded in action. Russell, an infantryman with Weapons Company of the Hawaii-based 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, was manning a machine gun turret in a humvee struck by an improvised explosive device, or IED, last month. The battalion arrived in Iraq two months ago, and...

WASHINGTON, May 25, 2006 – Afghan and coalition forces detained two suspected Taliban fighters in Afghanistan's Kandahar province yesterday, while in separate incidents today and yesterday, three Afghan civilians were killed and three others were wounded by enemy action, military officials reported. Three Afghan civilians were seriously injured today when their vehicle struck a landmine buried in the center of a main road between Orgun and Gayan districts. The injured Afghans suffered ankle fractures and shrapnel injuries to the head. One also suffered an eye injury. All three were taken to a coalition medical facility for treatment. "Roadside bombs cause...

U.S. Army Dr. (Maj.) Steven Bauer (right), brigade surgeon, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, instructs Iraqi Lt. Ceasar Hamed Hassan on how to close and open his newly received prosthetic hand, May 4, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Edgar Reyes Injured by Vehicle Bombs, Iraqi Gets Prosthetic Hand The Iraqi soldier lost his left hand when his vehicle collided with two separate vehicles loaded with bombs during a routine patrol. By U.S. Army Pfc. Edgar Reyes 2nd Brigade Combat Team 4th Infantry Division FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq, May 24, 2006 —...

ABOARD USS GERMANTOWN, At Sea (NNS) -- Sailors from USS Germantown (LSD 42) provided medical assistance to an injured Iranian fisherman May 7, in the Northern Persian Gulf. During routine surveillance of three dhows by Germantown’s Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) team, radio contact revealed an injured crew member on one of the vessels. The dhow’s master stated that the crew member injured a foot during rough seas the day before and requested medical assistance from the VBSS team. A corpsman from Germantown was then transported to the dhow, where he diagnosed the injured man with a severe sprain...

/5/2006 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- A common trait exists among the injured Airmen recuperating at hospitals in the capital region, said the Air Force chief of staff. “Every Airman I’ve met wants to return to active duty and (his or her) unit,” said Gen. T. Michael Moseley in recent testimony on Capitol Hill. “I am proud of them and their courage as they travel the hard road to recovery.” The determination of injured Airmen inspired the creation of a program dedicated to helping them -- Palace HART, or Helping Airmen Recover Together. This program is offered to separated or retired...

A woman from St. Paul was wounded this week near Cincinnati during a freeway shootout that killed the assistant to top-selling rap artist T.I. Janice Gillespie, 22, part of an entourage that included T.I., was hospitalized in stable condition. The rapper, whose real name is Clifford Joseph Harris Jr., was not hurt. But Philant Johnson, 26, his assistant, was slain during a shootout Wednesday. The shooting was the latest in a string of violent incidents involving hip-hop artists during the past month. Cincinnati police said the 3 a.m. shootout between Harris' entourage and unidentified locals may have carried over from...

SANTEE – Six people were injured Tuesday night, two of them seriously, when a pickup carrying suspected illegal immigrants crashed at state Route 125 and Mission Gorge Road, the Sheriff's Department said. According to witnesses, the pickup never slowed down shortly before 11:15 p.m. as it entered the intersection where northbound SR-125 ends at Mission Gorge Road, sheriff's Sgt. Anthony Ray said. The truck drove over the curb and went through a wooden fence before coming to rest on a dirt mound. Deputies found four people in the back of the truck. Two others ran from the accident but were...

-snip- In fact, I learned, you can find Wolfowitz here most Friday nights -- at least twice a month -- meeting with the wounded and hearing their stories. No fanfare or fuss, which is why many outside of Washington don't know about it. -snip-

U.S. Army Maj. Colleen Shiraishi Mom Tends to Injured in Iraq By Spc. Cassandra Groce 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment TIKRIT, Iraq, March 17, 2006 — The “Dura Mater,� or tough mother, of medicine at the Ambulatory Care Center here is an integral part of the leadership of the 47th Combat Support Hospital, 30th Medical Brigade out of Fort Lewis, Wash. Maj. Colleen Shiraishi, the officer in charge of the ACC and a nurse practitioner, has served in the military for more than a decade. Being a mother of three with an experienced background in medicine has made her...