Free Republic

WASHINGTON, March 12, 2008 – Nick Jackson wakes up earlier and has longer days than most freshmen at the University of Cincinnati, and once a week his clothes are selected for him. But unlike most students here, Jackson, one in about 30 cadets enrolled in the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps, will graduate school without debt and with a job awaiting him. “I decided to take the scholarship for financial reasons, but then once I got in here and I met everybody and I’m friends with everybody, it’s turning into something else,” said Jackson, dressed in Army camouflage as...

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...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2006 -- The Ohio State University men’s lacrosse team has a new motto and 129 new fans cheering them on from afar. The team has been sending care packages to the infantrymen of B Company, 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. It is the same battalion made famous by the Battle of the Bulge during World War II and depicted in the HBO television series “Band of Brothers.” Continuing the grassroots effort among college students that first began with the lacrosse team at Pennsylvania’s Bucknell University, the captains and coaches at Ohio State expressed...

WASHINGTON, July 6, 2005 – David Kelso's trip to Iraq started out as an experiment to figure out how to broadcast radio live from the Middle East. But it turned into much more after the Oklahoma City disk jockey was introduced to a group of Marines from his area. Among the Marines Kelso met was Lance Cpl. Aaron Mankin, a 23-year-old combat correspondent from Rogers, Ark., who enlisted in the Marines from Oklahoma. Kelso said he was impressed right away by Aaron's military bearing and by his striking blue eyes. "He was incredibly well spoken," said Kelso, a DJ for...