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1st PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1789-97 FAMILY ESSAY "Washington came of very good blood - aw, quite good - I b'lieve." Attributed by his classmates to Amory Blaine in F. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise. The Washingtons are of unusual antiquity in European terms, let alone American ones. A direct male ancestry has been traced back to William de Wessington or Wessyngton (i.e., Washington, a town in Tyne and Wear, formerly County Durham, in northern England), who was living in the late 12th century. The remoter ancestry is not absolutely certain but a detailed argument has...

“The Vespa 150 TAP is a Vespa scooter modified for use with paratroops. Introduced in 1956 and updated in 1959, it had a U.S.-made light anti-armour cannon. Roughly 800 of these scooters were deployed in the Algerian War.”

In line with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s order for troops to have their workplaces searched for “degrading or offensive” materials—part of an attempt to curb sexual assault in the military—the Navy will inspect even its bathrooms. While what’s degrading or offensive is open to interpretation, the material can include song lyrics and “inappropriate cartoons.” In a memo sent on June 13, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus ordered that all sailors, Marines, cadets and civilian employees have their workplaces searched by June 28. The “comprehensive visual inspections” of the workspaces conducted by commanding officers will “ensure they are free from materials that...

Eight eager and well-trained canines – joined by their human partners – entered the ranks of the MTA Police Department’s Canine Unit at a graduation ceremony held on Friday, June 14, 2013, in Grand Central Terminal. The canines, who are roughly 1½ years old and are German Shepherds or German Shepherd/Belgian Shepherd mixes, completed an intensive 14-week course with their human partners in which they learned all aspects of explosives detection, recognition and handling. The MTA K-9 Unit is believed to be the largest such force in the nation, with 50 canines in service. “The MTA PD canines are one...

Well said! Occasionally, I venture back to one or another military post, where I'm greeted by an imposing security guard who looks carefully at my identification card, hands it back and says, "Have a good day, Sir!" Every time I go back to any Military Base it feels good to be called by my previous rank, but odd to be in civilian clothes, walking among the servicemen and servicewomen going about their duties as I once did, many years ago. The military is a comfort zone for anyone who has ever worn the uniform. It's a place where you know...

AQABA, Jordan (NNS) -- The Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group (KSG ARG) and embarked Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) commenced their participation in Exercise Eager Lion 2013, June 9. Eager Lion is a multilateral exercise held annually in Jordan, and is a continued effort to support military-to-military partnerships and enhance security and stability in the region. "International exercises like these are important because they strengthen ties and promote interoperability between countries," said Amphibious Squadron Four commodore, Capt. Brad Skillman. "We are delighted to be working with our JAF long-time partners and we are looking forward to a valuable,...

A simple image of a Lynchburg, Va., Marine and his bride praying before their wedding has gone viral. In the photo, Bre and Josh Curtas are seen holding hands from around a corner so that the groom cannot see the bride. According to Bre, who started a Tumblr account after the photo went viral, the future husband and wife were were praying for their marriage. “My husband prayed that God would bless our marriage, that through thick or thin together we would never lose hope in one another,” she wrote. “That instead of focusing on each others imperfections we would...

The Legacy Lives On! Mark’s Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation “Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are the founding principles.” --Mark Levin in Liberty and TyrannyWelcome to “The Levin Lounge”… Step in and have a virtual FRink.Taking the country by storm, one radio station at a time – and kicking the BUTTS of the competition! Welcome all, to the most FUN LIVE THREAD on FreeRepublic.com! You can call Mark’s show: 1-877-381-3811

Captain Kirk is a native of Bethesda, Maryland and raised in Hershey, Pennsylvania. He was commissioned at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1990 and has served in a variety of afloat and ashore billets as a Surface Warfare Officer. He has served afloat on destroyers, cruisers, frigates and staffs including USS Fife (DD 991), USS The Sullivans (DDG 68), USS Hue City (CG 66), USS John S. McCain (DDG 56), and as a Gas Turbine Inspector on the staff of Commander, Pacific Fleet. His most recent sea duty includes command of USS De Wert (FFG 45) and Operations Officer...

STRZYSZOW, Poland, - Police in Poland said a woman was hospitalized with injuries incurred when she accidentally detonated an anti-aircraft missile while cleaning her kitchen. Investigators said the incident at the Strzyszow home was initially thought to be the result of an exploded gas cylinder, but they soon discovered the 56-year-old woman apparently knocked over a World War II-era missile stored behind a kitchen cupboard while sweeping the floor, Polskie Radio reported Wednesday. Police said the woman's husband brought the object to their home years ago and the family had assumed it was no longer active.

An Arlington Heights man is suing his local police department after officers came to his home and confiscated his antique firearms and his valid Illinois firearms ID card (FOID card) without a warrant following a session the man had with a therapist. In the lawsuit, Arthur Lovi, a 72-year-old Air Force veteran, claims the Arlington Heights police department — Arlington Heights is a suburb of Chicago and a village in the notoriously anti-gun Cook County — violated his Second and Fourth Amendment rights, causing him emotional distress. He is seeking financial damages for the anguish he experienced as a result...

The House Armed Services Committee voted unanimously on an amendment to the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act that would require the Army to finish phase III of the Individual Carbine competition. The competition would determine if, and what rifle may replace the M4 in service today. The Individual Carbine competition began over five years ago and has pitted offerings from top-tier companies against each other to find out if newer carbines perform better than what’s in use currently, including Colt, FNH, Heckler & Koch, KAC and Remington. In 2012 the Army began phase II of the competition, having narrowed their...

For aviation fans, get ready for a ton of wonderful archival footage coming your way in William Lorton's Spitfire 944. A true-life story, Lorton has discovered rare 16mm footage of a 1944 spitfire crash and tracks down the pilot, now an 83-year-old World War II veteran to show him the footage. The early parts of this film consists of wartime remembrances and nostalgia for days gone by. The elderly pilot recalls his time spent with his comrades and explains the basic information involved with his aircraft. What he doesn't know is that he is about to see, for the first...

Now everyone can shoot like a trained marksman. For a price. A Texas-based applied technology firm has launched new smartgun technology that gives novice shooters the chance to participate in “extreme distance hunting.” TrackingPoint’s new precision guided firearm technology, XactSystem, allows the shooter to lock onto a target before allowing the gun to fire upon the intended target, much like a fighter jet’s “lock-and-launch” technology. And the firearm can consistently hit a target from over 1,000 yards away, the maker says. “Think of it like a smart rifle. You have a smart car; you got a smartphone; well, now we...

It would seem as though we all have government snooping wrong. They are not prying, they are like cockroaches when the lights come on. They are scurrying, hiding, defenseless. There is a reason they must spy on us all. What is that reason? Political Correctness. If the federal government is watching you, it is because the Liberal left wing politicians have neutered them. Trust me / They would rather profile. What are your thoughts on this? Do you agree the government has been handicapped by political correctness, i.e. profiling EVERYONE instead of the obvious terrorists? Will good men stand up...

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Civil War buffs have long speculated about how different the war might have been if only the Confederacy had won formal recognition from Britain. But few recognize how close that came to happening — and how much pro-Southern sympathy in Britain was built on a lie... Early British support for the South was further buttressed by something as mundane as a protective tariff — the Morrill Tariff — approved by Congress on March 2, 1861. This new tariff, passed to protect American infant industries, also unwittingly gave rise to a troublesome myth of mounting trans-Atlantic proportions. The tariff had been...

An Army reservist on Long Island says he woke up Monday morning to see hateful words spray-painted in bright red on his property. Bryant Walker, who served one tour in Iraq, said someone went to his house on Moriches Road in Mastic Beach overnight and spray painted the n-word on his fence and on his boat. The vandal or vandals also defaced two of his cars. "It's a total violation," said Walker, who works full-time for New York City Transit. Walker did not hear anything unusual, and his pit bull never barked overnight, but he believes his home was vandalized...

“Soldier in black and white uniform to conceal him while climbing trees. He stands in front of a house camouflaged to represent a fence and trees. Company F, 24th Engineers. American University, D.C. Army Engineer Corps..”

On June 10, 1863, the lead troops of General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia left the army’s staging area near Culpeper Court House, Virginia and began a march northward. Their destination: Pennsylvania – where Lee hoped to win a major battle on Northern soil and end the Civil War with a Southern victory. Soon his army would be trailed by his main Northern adversary, the Federal Army of the Potomac. Ahead of both armies, across the Potomac River and in the heartland of southern Pennsylvania, lay the quiet crossroads town of Gettysburg, which would become the site of...

It is fairly rare that an email gets me out of bed to work on a video right away. It means, well, getting out of bed, firing up machines and timing, subtitling and editing a video. But when I saw this three minute speech to a county legislature I simply had to do it. There may be another one equally good but that will have to wait till tomorrow. Watch the video

President Obama has said the outrage over the federal government’s decision to monitor citizens’ phone activity is all “hype.” He might want to share his opinion with the Air Force, which is ordering members of the service not to look at news stories about it. WND has received an unclassified NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) that warns airmen not to look at news stories related to the data-mining scandal. The notice applies to users of the Air Force NIPRNET (Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network), which is the only way that many troops stationed overseas and on bases in the U.S. are...

Discovery Channel host, assisted by Ministry of National Defense R.O.C, sponsored by Longtan Township Hall and WARGAME.NET.     Front view of CM-32 Cloud Leopard armored vehicle and you can see the add-on armor blocks and remote-control weapon station.     Military Police's Cadillac V-150S armoured personnel carrier(Many more - hit the link.)

<p>Recent news is both disheartening and I am sure, confusing to some of our young people in both the Military and High school’s across this nation. When yesterday's headlines read, “17 yr. old Valedictorians speech “Our Father, whom art in Heaven…. ” goes viral” and today’s headlines read, “‘Jesus Gun’ controversy in US Military,” one might think, what’s going on and/or where are the personal freedoms, once the backbone of a truly free Nation? Both headlines spotlight Warriors fighting battles neither started nor wanted. One fought half way across the globe and the other right here in small-town America’s backyard. Both are answers to attacks waged by radical cowards or Terrorists whose goal is the same, to eliminate all reference and worship of God (Christian of course) and to remove personal freedoms from this earth.</p>

So in the middle of all this business of the IRS, the NSA, Benghazi, the investigation of AP and Fox’s James Rosen comes this. Todd Starnes gets kudos for reporting this. Here’s the link to his story, which we will quote directly: A veteran member of the U.S. Army Band said he is facing retribution and punishment from the military for having anti-Obama bumper stickers on his car, reading books written by conservative authors like Mark Levin and David Limbaugh, and serving Chick-fil-A sandwiches at his promotion party.

Obama's real crime is not his citizenship status (He was certified and qualified by the governing entities responsible for doing so, that I must accept until that entity find otherwise). It is not Benghazi (because he is Commander and Chief of the U.S armed forces and her agents and is entitled to the leeway and lattitude it takes to function as such, I dont' want any President encumbered by anything but public outrage and opinion in regards to CIC duties). The true scandal and 'high crimes and misdemeanors' lies within his cabinet and political appointees, i.e the IRS, DOJ, EPA,...

The pistol caliber debate can finally end. Pistol Caliber War - It's Over!

Subbing for Biggirl...

You know things are bad when the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Raymond Odierno, issues a statement to the troops declaring that "the fight against sexual assault and sexual harassment is our primary mission." [1] And Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has announced that sequestration cutbacks will affect everyone but sexual assault professionals in the military. [2] Let's hope that our nation's potential adversaries don't take advantage of our military leaders' current distractions. The Pentagon has been hit by an internal explosive device − the latest report of the Sexual Assault Prevention & Response Office (SAPRO). In two...

Students were told to walk with hands clasped on the top of their head, which is a practice used in prison yardsTony Gonzales was picking up his grandson at Meadows Elementary this week, when he didn’t like something he saw on the playground. Children were walking in a circle with their hands clasp on the top of their head. “What got me is they had their hands on their heads. So I looked and I said you know what, it's pretty degrading to have the kids walk around like that.” The Vietnam Veteran said it reminded him of images of...

It’s been 70 years since Alvia Hearren completed his senior classes at Benton Harbor High School, but because of World War II, he never got to walk across a stage and receive his diploma on graduation day. That will all change Friday evening when the 88-year-old veteran dons a black robe and square academic cap to turn his tassel with the 2013 graduating class of the Benton Harbor Tigers in Benton Harbor, Mich. “It’s been on my mind quite a while, but more so in the last six, eight months I got to thinking about it,” said Hearren, who lives...

Today marks 69 years since D-Day, when 160,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, kicking off Operation Overlord. There is no official casualty figure for D-Day, though most sources say that there were nearly 2,500 Americans lost in the operation. Overall 9,000 Allied soldiers were killed or wounded. Some numbers put German casualties at anywhere from 4,000 to 9,000. The number of casualties still seems hard to pin down because of the brutality of the fighting. World War II veterans are a precious, diminishing resource all over world. With them passing, we also lose vital pieces of American...

69 years ago today my father in law was landing in Normandy France in a glider....crawling through hedgerows....doing his duty. Thank you Ralph "Bud" Thomas.

A local Vietnam veteran’s lost dog tags have finally been returned to him after 40 long years. For the past four decades, retired Sgt. Major Stan Grimes says he felt a piece of him was missing, left behind in Vietnam. On an early morning more than 40 years ago, right in the heat of a firefight, Grimes lost the dog tag he wore around his neck. “Rounds were flying over my vehicle as we were set in for the night, so I jumped off [the vehicle] and that’s probably where I lost them,” Grimes told NBC 7. Personalized dog tags...

:::"Atheist military chaplain on the eve of battle: “You’re going into battle tomorrow. No one is watching over you; no one is at your side; and you’re not cradled in anyone’s divine love. Have fun and be careful.” Atheist military chaplain in a fox hole: “We’re going to die! We’re going to die! And after that . . . nothing!!!” Atheist military chaplain at a dying soldier’s side: “Please, my son, ignore the fact that your life had no meaning, your death will have been equally meaningless and, when you die, you’ll rot and turn to dust. Don’t worry. Be...

Both problems listed have a prominent place in our armed forces currently. Now this is pure speculation on my part, but the culture seems to have changed quite a bit in the last seven decades to more easily allow these issues to arise. Sixty nine years ago it was the evening of D-Day. Omar Bradley could say that the initial crisis had passed. The American assault troops had broken through the first wall of German fortifications, though Omaha and Utah beaches were still separated. The success of the paratroop drop was unknown. The fact the Germans had been unable to...

Today your job is straightforward. First you must load 40 to 50 pounds on your back. Then you need to climb down a net of rope that is banging on the steel side of a ship and jump into a steel rectangle bobbing on the surface of the ocean below you. Others are already inside the steel boat shouting and urging you to hurry up. Once in the boat you stand with dozens of others as the boat is driven towards distant beaches and cliffs through a hot hailstorm of bullets and explosions.... In front of you, over the steel...

... ...Slideshow and Video In the face of what has been happening to our military, the humiliation of our soldiers, the needless blood that has been shed by an enemy we are forbidden to name, we MUST remember when sacrifice meant something; when defeating our enemies was job one. The many whose sacrifices and courage kept us free are leaving us much too quickly and with sadness in their hearts wondering what their sacrifice was for. Remember them this anniversary of D Day and honor them because we are not likely to be allowed to win the victories they...

I'm camping at Colleville-sur-Mer, which should be a familiar name to those of you who are familiar with D-Day. Not only do I have a quick walk to the beach, but that walk happens to take me straight into the area of some of the hardest fighting that day. The eastern-most thrust on Omaha walked into a meat grinder, and one part of that grinder was a German position known to them as WN60. WN60 is on a high bluff to the east of where the eastern push by the Big Red One attemped to move up the draw towards...

12:30 a.m., June 6, 1944...

Controlling the movements of a helicopter just with your mind sounds like something out of a science fiction movie, but scientists at the University of Minnesota have made it a reality. They have learned to use their thoughts to steer a model helicopter around a gym, making it dip, rise, turn, and even fly through a ring. The scientists have published their study in the Journal of Neural Engineering. The development of brain computer interfacing (BCI) is to provide the user with the ability to communicate with the world outside and manipulate objects through thought modulation. Achieving this is accomplished...

At the Vineland (N.J.) Veterans Memorial Home, assistant business manager William H. Palmer Jr. has a special bond with the 175 or so World War II veterans who live there. His father, Ensign William H. Palmer, was part of a secret mission during the D-Day invasion that delivered messages from the command ship Ancon to the shore during days of radio silence. … Just like Butch Maisel, a Baltimore history teacher whose father landed on D-Day, Palmer is determined to carry forth the legacy. “I went to find out what my father did on D-Day,” he said, and the research...

A clip and reunion, a nice story

In a book published in 1963, Hannah Arendt immortalized an expression that since has become the signature line to describe a person who commits acts of prodigious evil simply in the process of following orders. The individual in question was Adolf Eichmann, whose trial resulted in her treatment titled, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. Eichmann was banal, all right; in fact, as alluded to in T. S. Eliot's famous poem, "The Hollow Men," he resembled Mister Kurtz in Joseph Conrad's chilling Heart of Darkness -- "hollow at the core." Which did not prevent him from...

A British hate-preacher has been caught on camera saying the soldier beheaded in a London street last month will "burn in hellfire." Anjem Choudary - an extremist accused of inspiring other outbreaks of terror — shockingly claimed Lee Rigby, 25, would be tortured in hell for not being Muslim. "As an adult non-Muslim, whether he is part of the Army or not part of the Army, if he dies in a state of disbelief then he is going to go to the hellfire," said the cleric. "We invite them to embrace the message of Islam. If they don't, then obviously...

A Near-Run Victory at Midway Walter Lord and Gordon Prange considered Midway an incredible, miraculous victory. For Mitsuo Fuchida and Masatake Okumiya, the battle doomed Japan. The calculated risks Chester Nimitz took required assembling all possible resources, and still left him with a three to one disadvantage in ships. To appreciate further this tenuous condition note the fate of four Army B-26 medium bombers rushed to Midway. Captain James Collins led the aircraft in torpedo attacks. The pilots had never seen or practiced with aerial torpedoes. They would now only practice takeoffs and landings. Those early B-26’s earned a reputation...

The White House says President Barack Obama has signed a bill making it a crime to lie about receiving a military medal. The Stolen Valor Act cleared both chambers of Congress last month. The White House says Obama signed it Monday. The measure revives a law struck down by the Supreme Court in 2006. …

c. 1940s: Military donkey ride

Call The Rush Limbaugh Show program line between 12noon and 3pm Eastern Time, at: 1-800-282-2882 E-mail Rush: ElRushbo@eibnet.com Fax Rush at: 212-445-3963 Write a letter to Rush and mail it to: The Rush Limbaugh Show, 1270 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 Join This Ping List Now! Click Here To Join this Ping List! ___ Subbing for Biggirl ___

I’ve been asked by several followers to share my experiences and thoughts on Israeli airport security and how it stacks up against the TSA here in the U.S. First let me detail my experiences with Israeli security. We arrived to Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv via a local taxi. The car was stopped at the gate to the airport and a security guard armed with an M4 rifle asked the driver a few questions in Hebrew. He then walked around the car and opened the rear door to ask me where I was going. I responded I was going...