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Please keep this young man and his family in your prayers every day. Dear Lord grant him strength and mercy. May your divine light reside in his his soul and please keep him free from harm.

My nephew deploys to Afghanistan tonight at 1:00 AM. He will be flying his F-16 over with his squadren. He recently lost one of his best friends in a night training mission. His wonderful new bride and family are worried for him. This was his last email to me today. He has been under intense training. Freeper, (me) Like you said, lots of inputs. I leave in less than 24 hours. I'm well trained and not too worried about mechanical failure. If that happens and I win the "Reverse Lottery" then I'll hope my training/muscle memory takes over. Thank you...

"Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield,for our hearts shall rejoice in Him,Because we have trusted in His Holy Name, Let Your Holy Mercy be upon us just as we hope in you." Psalm 33:20-22

I just heard from my daughter, Rebecca (his wife). They are trying to remove fragments from the spinal cord. He still has no feelings in the lower legs or feet. He will be coming into Walter Reid next week. Thank you for all your prayers. Dusty was among the 10th Mountain Division soldiers wounded or killed last week in the IED attack.

Hi everyone, I'd like to ask for a strong, ongoing prayer for my friend's son, about to turn 18, and a new Marine. He will likely be heading to Afghanistan in a couple of months as a rifleman. His family and friends are incredibly proud of this wonderful young man, whom I've known since he was 2. Please keep him, his family and his unit in your prayers. Thank you.

Psalm 107:21,22 Thank God for His Marvelous Love, For His Miracle Mercy to the Children He Loves. Offer Thanksgiving Sacrifices, Tell the World what He's Done; Sing it Out!

You are being ‘pinged’ because I have seen your heart for prayer on one or more recent Free Republic prayer threads. This thread is for those interested in worshipping and praying for those who support our troops and our troops themselves. If this is of interest to you, please read on. If not, send me a private note to be removed from future ‘pings’. (I apologize I don’t know how to put a link for Add/Remove into my posts yet.) I have only been blessed to be part of the FR community for a few months. I was drawn to...

My coworker has been called to Iraq, he will be going over in a couple of months. Please pray for his safety. His name is George Dixon I have his his military email address for anyone interested. Thanks and God Bless Kevmo

I just received an email from a good friend of mine whose nephew is serving in Afghanistan. His Humvee was hit by an RPG today. He survived, but has shrapnel in his back, hip, and shoulder. He is being sent to Kuwait today for surgery. He was well enough to call his wife (who just gave birth to their first baby about a month ago) to warn her that military officials would be coming to their home to notify her. That's good news. I'm asking for prayers for a successful surgery, and for the safety of the other soldiers that...

I would like to start a holiday thread for Matt Maupin and his family. We have so many great memories of family during this time of year. I dont want this Buckeye to be forgotten. Please keep it current and bumped. Born on July 13, 1983 in Batavia, Ohio, Maupin was a 3.5 grade-point-average student and football player at Glen Este High School in Union Township, Clermont County, Ohio. He graduated in 2001 and joined the U.S. Army Reserve and was assigned to the Army Reserve's 724th Transportation Company, from Bartonville, Illinois. On April 9, 2004, Maupin's fuel convoy came...

BLOOMINGTON -- U.S. Army Col. Dirk Spanton lived with the possibility of dying every day during the 32 months he served with Special Forces in Iraq. The Bloomington man was shot at by insurgents, sent to minefields to disarm explosives and once had a rocket-propelled grenade come within feet of ending his life. After three tours of duty in the desert, the 50-year-old former ROTC instructor finally returned home to his wife and five children on Memorial Day. Within days, the family’s joy turned to sorrow as Spanton was hospitalized with a mysterious illness. Doctors later diagnosed him with cancer...

The average age of the military man is 19 years. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's, but he has never collected unemployment either. He's a recent high school graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old...

A very sincere thanks to all the Freepers for the prayers and good wishes for me and my family, both personal and soldiers. With any luck I will be back in less than 18 months. Hopefully in one piece!

I know it is not an emergency prayer request but I need your help. The Bible says that two or more gathered in prayer is very powerful. Please out of personal beliefs, only Christian prayers. Thanks> Please read my request below. I am a Soldier as some of you may know. I am in the recruiting side of the Army which as many of you can imagine, is tough when facing a hostile media and parents that hate President Bush and college students who side with so called peaceful extreme islamist. I recently found out that they are closing my...

My cousin Bill is currently a Battalion Commander in Afghanistan. I just received this email from his sister. BigDaddy_TX ----- Original Message ----- Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 8:24 AM Subject: Prayer Request Dear Family and Friends, It's me again asking for your prayers. Your love, support, and prayers during Tim's father's final days and upon his death were so powerful and supportive, I am asking for your spiritual strength again now. I don't know how many of you remember, or even know, that my brother Bill is the battalion commander of an Army aviation unit that has been stationed...

Please join us on June 7th when we have a special day of prayer for our men and women who are serving in our armed forces. (If you have someone you would like us to pray for, please contact the pastor by emailing: questions@laurelbaptisttemple.org.) "We still care, and we're still praying."

Prayers for the Wiekamp family

My best friend called this morning, in a panic, because her baby, Tracey, will be deployed to Iraq in a few months. Turns out he finagled a transfer because he wants to go. She's proud of him, but also very frightened. So please pray for not only Tracey, but Nora as well. Mainly pray for Tracey's safety and his mom's peace of mind, but also for their general well being. Thanks. I'm proud of my Godson. :-)

FRiends, you who are initially pinged to this thread know whom it is for -- it is for someone whose preparation for a military career has been interrupted for an indefinite amount of time, and whose recovery will take patience and hard work. We will refer to this prayer recipient as Fightin' Spirit. Fightin' Spirit is not a screen name, but a shield to protect the family and friends as we lift them up in prayer without leaving a cybertrail. God knows who this thread is intended for; he reads hearts. So, please, no names in your posts to the...

For an entire year, the flock at Grant African Methodist Episcopal Worship Center in Austin, Texas, would stop everything they were doing at noon and pray for the safe return of the soldiers of the 11th Area Support Group in Afghanistan. They prayed that the group would return "whole, safe, unscathed and unscarred." The congregation also sent the soldiers care packages, blankets, cookies and encouraging emails throughout the year the unit was deployed, according to a report in the Austin Statesman. Last Sunday, they thanked God for answering their prayers because the entire unit made it back home without any...

Unit stationed in Afghanistan returns home safely By M.B. Taboada AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Monday, March 27, 2006 Every day at noon they would stop what they were doing wherever they were and pray. For a year, the members of Grant African Methodist Episcopal Worship Center held prayer vigils for the safe return of the soldiers of the 111th Area Support Group who were stationed in Afghanistan. During Sunday's church service, they thanked God for answering their prayers — there were no fatalities and everyone in the Texas Army National Guard unit made it back earlier this month without injury — and...

Prayers are requested Jacob Spann who was killed yesterday in Iraq, and also for his family who are in mourning. The request was originally posted by a relative of his on an Orthodox Christian Web Forum.

AUGUSTA, Me. - To Laurie, who married him two years ago, Harold Gray is still "the guy I felt like I waited for my whole life." Mercedes, his 6-year-old daughter, likes to think of him racing around the yard, chased by an angry pet goose as she watched and laughed with her two sisters, Isabelle and Natalie. His father, George, calls him "an excellent man," a carpenter and a proud soldier, tough on the outside but with a dream of teaching kindergarten. ... On Dec. 26, 2004, Sgt. Gray, then 34, a member of the 133rd Engineer Battalion of the...

I know this could have been posted in a thread but, GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERY ONE OF OUR BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN SERVING OUR GREAT COUNTRY in our time of need!

The first bullet struck Cpl. Eddie Ryan above the right eyebrow and bored through the frontal lobes, the seat of personality and memory in his brain. Traveling at about a half-mile a second, the bullet generated a shock wave that widened as it went. The pressure crushed brain cells into jelly. The hunk of metal slammed into the left side of his skull and shattered. A second bullet came from the opposite direction. It sliced through the back of his lower left jaw and burst out his chin. Ryan collapsed on the Iraqi rooftop in Ramadi where he and two...

I received an email telling me that Micah Maupin, USMC, the younger brother of POW/MIA Sgt. Keith Matthew Maupin, was injured in a motorcycle accident the day before he was to come home for Christmas. Here is the information that I received: Matt’s younger brother, LCpl Micah Maupin, has been seriously injured at his duty station in California.He was in a motorcycle accident on Sunday afternoon and it wasn't looking very good, but he is improving. He suffered a broken neck, bruised lungs, and he fractured a some vertebrae. His C7 vertebra was removed because it was too fractured to...

SoldiersPrayingMom just phoned me in tears to report that Sgt. Greg Parkinson (jmpmstr4u2) had been injured in the explosion of an improvised explosive device. The Department of Defense called Greg's wife, Tammy, to inform her of the injury just after midnight California Time. They told her that he had been evacuated to a field hospital, that he had all of his limbs, but that he has injuries in his left arm and back. SoldiersPrayingMom requests all Freepers to pray for healing and complete recovery. Pray for his Mom and Dad, Ruth (SoldiersPrayingMom) and Jim Parkinson, Greg's wife, Tammy, and his...

FREEPER JFC'S NEPHEW 1ST LT. MICAH ADKINSON IS IN IRAQ AND HIS MOM CONNIE IS WORRIED. HER IS CONNIE'S E-MAIL TO JFC TODAY: this email was sent to me from my sister, who's son is in Iraq. She is hurting. Please pray for her as well God Bless- JFC This morning I am so sad. If it were not for my family I do not know what I would do. This morning when I got up I thought about what Micah is going through, sleeping on a cold metal vehicle,being fired upon, and when not, not knowing when his vehicle...

I just received a phone call from my son that is in the Air Force. Apparently 3 of his friends and fellow Airmen, were involved in 2 separate accidents yesterday. One was on a motorcycle he had only bought a few minutes before the accident occurred. He told me this young man had just bought this bike literally minutes before and took off without a helmet. He hit a pole and suffered severe head trauma. My son said they were not expecting him to make it. The other 2 were involved in auto accident and my son told me they...

Please Pray for Jmpmstr4u2..... He is the Freeper/Soldier whose "Dear Mom" letters were posted on FR. I have not heard from him in almost a month, since he returned to Iraq from a brief leave at home. I know that he's very busy and is on assignment out in the boonies in Iraq somewhere. It is so hard not knowing where he is and then not hearing from him. He's still working with the Iraqi Wolf Brigade and at this time, he's in need of an acutely alert, sharp mind in-order-to deal with the situations that arise. He is in...

Letter from a mom regarding her son who just left a week ago for first time deployment in Iraq. Keep them all in your prayers

HELP A WOUNDED SOLDIER ~ Appeal from a Security Mom 4 Bush member about her nephewDear SM4B member,This is a forwarded message from Minnie, one of our first volunteers to sign up for Security Moms 4 Bush. Please read her appeal. We rallied as a group last fall when our Security Mom ~ Teri in Ohio  ~ needed our prayers for her son Nate and I know we can rally again! Please read Minnie's message abut Buzz and send a card, note, email and keep him and his beautiful family in your prayers.Nancy Director of Operations Family Security Matterswww.FamilySecurityMatters.com  ...

Hello FreeperNation! I have a special request. My nephew, Zebulon M. Pike, who is in the Army, is back home for a couple of weeks before going back to Iraq. He is stationed just south of Bagdad. While he is stateside, I'm taking this opportunity to sit down with him for an interview. Yes, I'll be videotaping it. My request is this: Please post prayers for him and his unit. At the end of the interview, I will present him with a printed copy of your prayers. If there is anything that he will find encouraging, it will be the...

Please send this prayer request to all of those that you know. Thanks prayer request for Gary and Cindy Hogan Gary is serving in Iraq while his young wife is fighting cancer here. Prayer is a powerful thing. THIS COUPLE NEEDS OUR PRAYERS PLEASE read this. IT MUST BE TERRIBLY DIFFICULT TO BE IN IRAQ WITH A SICK WIFE AT HOME. Bobby S. Briggs, MSgt, USAF 823 ESFS/SFOC Flight Sergeant BAGHDAD AB, IRAQ Tough times don't last.. . Tough people do !!! My name is Gary Hogan. Some of you receiving this know me, some do not. My wife, Cindy,...

Prayers needed for close family friend. J. Baker is in the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines. He's from Cleveland, Ohio. Heard from him yesterday and 6 from his troop died. Haven't heard from him today! Pray for all of their safety & peace within their families. Thank you!

Dear Mom, Salom-Ma-LA-ka (Peace be unto you). The date is 28 May 2005. It has been a week or so since I have written you. I just want you to know that everyone on my MiTT (Military Transitional Team) is doing well and in high spirits (As usual). There have been a few changes recently as far as the team is concerned. Until now, my team of 10 personnel, have been running 24/7 with the Wolf Brigade, and has had very little to none down time. Missions have dictated sleep, and we were averaging 36 to 48 hrs, with no...

Capt. John W. Maloney, 36, who was born in California but grew up in Chicopee, and Lance Cpl. Erik R. Heldt, 26, of Hermann, Mo., were conducting combat operations near Ar Ramadi, Iraq, on Thursday when their vehicle hit an "improvised explosive device," killing them, according to a statement released by the Department of Defense. Both men were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, their unit was attached to the 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force.

Hello all; The date is 22 MAY 05, and I find myself needing to write again. Before I start, I want to say that I am completely overwhelmed with emotions. A brief history if you will bear with me. Approximately 3 weeks ago, I was contacted by my mother regarding a friend of a friend with whom she had been sending my letters for entertainment purposes I am sure…grin Anyway, I received an e-mail from some guy whom I had never met named “Swordmaker” asking me if he could print my letters on an online newspaper. I thought it a...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An Ohio Marine Reserve unit suffered heavy casualties during recent fighting in Iraq, according to the Washington Post. Every member of one of three squads that make up the 1st Platoon of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Regiment had been killed or wounded, Marines told the newspaper. Marine Cpl. Dustin Derga, 24, of Pickerington, was one of two Marines killed and five wounded Saturday during a firefight in Ubaydi. On Wednesday, four more Marines were killed and 10 others were injured when a device exploded under their armored vehicle, according to the Post. On Thursday, the Department...

Some troops ran through thick, black smoke and pulled out wounded men, lining up some of them within feet of the fire. Some of the wounded suffered third-degree burns. Seared flesh hung from their bodies. Most of the wounded had severe burns on their arms and faces. Others had shrapnel wounds. A 3-inch shard of metal protruded from one Marine's abdomen. Marines who survived the blast said they believed that four troops died in the vehicle. Officials on the scene and in Baghdad declined to confirm the casualty toll. Lt. Sam McAmis, who commanded a Marine platoon in the operation,...

<p>I forgot to duck. By the time most of us read this I will be on my way to Germany for treatment. The doctors have decided that I'm too severely injured to continue my job. I don't know when I be back stateside but I will let you know.</p>

My fellow FREEPers, I know it's been a while. Well i forgot to duck. By the time most of you see this I will be on my way to Germany for treatment. The war for me is done. My men continue to do the job. This last rash of bombings and attacks are being under reported and I don't know why. Al Queada is getting desparate. I don't know when I'm will RTS. But I do imagine that it will be soon. God I love wireless. LOL! Please keep praying for us. Socomofficer

<p>TexKat has learned that her son has been injured in Iraq. TexKat posts the daily Operation Phantom Fury Thread....she has left her workplace and has returned to her home to await details....</p> <p>Thank all of you praying Freepers and please continue to pray for mine and for all others that are in harms way. My son took a licking and is lower back sore but still ticking, thank God.</p>

This brave young man and his family need our prayers. Please visit the website, and read the journal, see the photos, and pray for all of them, and for the medical team at Walter Reed. http://www2.caringbridge.org/dc/danielgade/index.htm I know many here pray daily for all our soldiers and their families. As a mom of a WP grad, class of '90, I am hoping that special prayers will be added for Daniel and his family

Local soldier wounded By MIKE KRINGS, Times News Editor Lansing resident Shirley Gustafson is always glad to hear from her son who's serving in Iraq. However, Monday she wasn't glad to receive a call telling her he had been wounded. While the news was hard to take, she said she's just glad it wasn't worse. "We are rejoiced in the fact that it wasn't more serious and that he's coming home," Gustafson said. Her son, Sgt. Timothy Gustafson, 27, of the Tennessee National Guard, was wounded Monday when a Humvee he was riding in was struck. Shirley said she didn't...

Here's wishing all Prayer Warriors and our beloved troops and all standing with them a belated yet very sincere Happy Thanksgiving! I know I'm echoing many when I say we have so very much to be thankful for. High on my list are our magnificent countrymen who stood in lines throughout the nation and voted for the more difficult and rewarding path of Liberation and Morality. High on my list are the precious young men and women who have "placed themselves between their loved homes and the war's desolation" by serving in our armed forces and in our intelligence services...

My friend is a Marine, inactive since 1991. His son is currently serving in Fallujah, and was shot in December. Fortunately, it was a flesh wound in his arm, was bandaged, and he went back to his post the next day (he is a Marine, you know). Yestgerday he shot a driver approaching their position at a high rate of speed, killing him. He followed SOP. He took it hard, and was second-guessing himself, after finding the car had no brakes, and no bombs. He needs your prayers. His name is Zach. To top it off, my buddy Brent's other...

Hi gang. I know we've seen this plenty of times, however, our troops always need our prayers. My son, Casey is still there, since last March. He's doing well, but has had some "near misses" a time or two. He was "knifed" in his shoulder, and has been in a couple of "kill or be killed" situations. Supposed to be home in March. Your prayers are coveted and very much appreciated.

From: Captain Lyle Shackelford Battalion Chaplain HHD, 57th Transportation Battalion As a transportation battalion, my unit will be delivering the voting machines and the ballots to villages and cities throughout Iraq during the upcoming elections. (January 30/31) Our convoys are prime targets for the insurgents because they do not want the equipment to arrive at the polling stations nor do they want the local Iraqi citizens to have the chance to vote; timely delivery must occur so that the elections occur. Encourage your friends and family members and those within our churches to pray specifically for the electoral process. Historically,...