Free Republic

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md., Dec. 17, 2009 – He turned 80 in November and is having difficulty getting around - not because of any physical impairments, but rather because during his 59 years of recruiting, retired Army Sgt. Maj. Raymond Moran seems to know everyone, everywhere. Retired Army Sgt. Maj. Ray Moran stands next to the sign that points to his office at Fort George G. Meade, Md., and uses the nickname he gives to himself and many others, "Old Soldier." U.S. Army photo by Jonathan E. Agee  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "I hate to take him...

Suspect's dad: FBI 'dropped the ball' on warning signsReported by: David Goins Last Update: 11/24 7:58 am The father of the man charged with shooting two soldiers in Little Rock is speaking out. He says his son, Abdulhakim Muhammad, was manipulated by Islamic extremists overseas and the FBI knew it but didn't step in before it was too late. Melvin Bledsoe of Memphis looks at what his son is accused of doing at the Army Recruiter Station in Little Rock last June the same way he looks at foiled terror plots in Dallas, and the Fort Hood shootings earlier this...

11/10/2009 - SHREVEPORT, La. (AFNS) -- An Air Force recruiter stopped a robbery in progress while attending his unit's annual training conference Oct. 29 here. Staff Sgt. Cesar Munoz, a recruiter with the 344th Recruiting Squadron stationed in Killeen, Texas, subdued two assailants attempting to mug an elderly man at the Sam's Town Hotel and Casino in Shreveport. Sergeant Munoz and his wife, April, had just left the squadron's annual promotion party at the hotel and were heading to the casino. The party had featured a Halloween theme, so Sergeant Munoz entered dressed as Elvis, complete with white sequined jumper,...

A proud democrat around March 28, 1968 Senator Byrd said Dr. King ran like a "scared rabbit". Sheets Byrd.

Capital murder charge filed in Army recruit killingBy: Associated Press - Texarkana Gazette - Published: 07/23/2009 LITTLE ROCK—Prosecutors have filed a capital murder charge against a man who confessed to killing one soldier and wounding another outside an Army recruiting center in Little Rock. Abdulhakim Muhammad, 24, is also charged with attempted capital murder and 10 counts of firing a gun from a vehicle. Muhammad is accused of fatally shooting Pvt. William Long, 23, of Conway and wounding Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula of Jacksonville. Both had just finished basic training and were outside the recruiting center June 1 when Muhammad drove...

The day before he died, U.S. Army Pvt. William Andrew “Andy” Long floated the Buffalo River with his sister, Vanessa Rice. If he had his way, she said, the pair would have gone skydiving. “I’m so blessed to have had that day with Andy,” Rice tearfully told guests at her brother’s funeral Monday at Harlan Park Baptist Church in Conway. “My brother meant the world to me. Andy loved to be outdoors, to travel, and he couldn’t wait to get to Korea to serve his country.” The service was followed by a burial with full military honors Monday at the...

The case has attracted high-level attention, with President Obama saying Thursday in a written statement that he was "deeply saddened" by the shootings.

Freepers: I need your help. As you are aware, the terrorist attack in Little Rock, Arkansas, resulting in the murder of Pvt Long, and wounding of another garnered alot of controversy by the inaction of our President, and the mediablackout compared to the Tiller shooting.Now there is another outrage. A muslim fanatic crashed the memorial service where the National Anthem, a prayer for PVT Long were just being completed. Please go to YouTube.com, (click the link in the header), and sign up if you have to. Don't let the anti-Americans and anti-semites on Youtube take up for this gross disrespect...

• –––––CONWAY — Pvt. William Andrew “Andy” Long, 23 of Conway, died Monday, June 1, 2009. Andy was born June 26, 1985, in Long Beach, Calif., to Daris and Janet (Roberson) Long. Andy recently finished Army training at Ft. Benning, Ga., and was on his way to Korea. He attended Sunny Gap Baptist Church in Conway. His family says he had an infectious smile, a great sense of humor, and a brilliant mind. He is a hero. Andy is survived by his parents, Daris and Janet Long of Conway; sister Vanessa Rice and husband Robert of Conway and brother Triston...

CONWAY, Ark. — A Muslim convert accused of fatally shooting an Army private and wounding another had previously been arrested on a weapons charge in Tennessee, but that charge eventually was dropped. Police say Abdulhakim Muhammad, then known as Carlos Bledsoe, was arrested in February 2004 after a traffic stop in Nashville. He was found with an SKS rifle inside in the car, with five rounds in a clip and one round in the rifle's chamber. Officers also found a sawed-off shotgun and another shotgun inside the car, as well as an ounce of marijuana, a switchblade knife and two...

In conjuntion with www.freerepublic.com, The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Patriot Guard (AR), and Alerts Secure Arkansas is planning a huge rally to support our military. It will be held on Thursday, June 4th, at 4 p.m., in front of the Army-Navy Recruiting Station at Ashley Square, corner of Reservoir Road and Rodney Parham in Little Rock (. This is an emergency rally to show respect for our troops and let them know we mourn the loss of soldier William Long and the wounding of soldier Quinton Ezeagwula. Please bring your Flags, yellow ribbons, and signs. For more...

CONWAY, Ark. (AP) — The father of a soldier slain outside a recruiting center sought a quiet life for his family in rural Arkansas after years of military service, but the battlefield came home to find them. Daris Long's son, Army Pvt. William Andrew Long, was shot Monday in suburban Little Rock while he stood and smoked a cigarette, far from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Long, 23, died in an attack that also wounded Pvt. Quinton I. Ezeagwula, 18. The alleged gunman, Abdulhakim Muhammad, also 23, told investigators he wanted to kill as many Army personnel as he...

In an armed attack outside the Army-Navy Career Center which handles recruiting, in Little Rock, AR, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, 23, killed one soldier wounded another. Muhammad, an American citizen who is a convert to Islam and previously known as Carlos Bledsoe, already had been under investigation by the FBI at the time of the shootings. He had traveled to Yemen, received indoctrination from radical clerics, according to a watch group, and possessed a false Somali passport. He was charged in the death of Pvt. William Long, 23, while a prosecutor said Muhammad admitted shooting Long and another soldier "because of...

The eight a.m. NPR news update today included word of the fatal shooting of one soldier and the wounding of another outside an army recruiting station in Arkansas. The news reader, Nora Raum, outlined the incident and stated that the shooting appeared to have "religious motivations." She did not name the suspect, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, or tell NPR listeners what those religious motivations might be. In other words, it could have been a radical Unitarian who gunned down the soldiers, or possibly a violent Presbyterian. Why the shyness? Why not tell people what is actually happening in the world? We...

Obama condemns Muslim attack on Arkansas Army recruiters…not By Michelle Malkin  •  June 2, 2009 12:47 PM President Obama announced his choice for Army Secretary this afternoon.The news isn’t what he said in his statement about GOP Rep. John McHugh:“As Secretary of the Army, he will ensure that our soldiers are trained and equipped to meet the full spectrum of challenges and threats of our time. And John [McHugh] shares my belief that a sustainable national security strategy must include a bipartisan consensus at home, and he brings patriotism and a pragmatism that has won him respect on both sides of...

The recent convert to Islam who allegedly shot and killed a U.S. soldier at a Little Rock, Ark., recruiting booth had ties to a number of global locations linked to extremists, including Yemen, Somalia and Columbus, Ohio, ABC News has learned. Yemen and Somali are known hotbeds for terrorism. Columbus, Ohio, has been an area of domestic concern for authorities who have observed a number of Somali Americans traveling from there to Somali to wage jihad. Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, 24, upon his arrest Monday shortly after the fatal shooting, allegedly confessed and told authorities he acted alone, according to court...

Freepers: After sleeping on it, I have decided to call you to action! A great injustice is being perpetrated by our main stream media (MSM) and our Commander In Chief (CINC), President Barrack Hussein Obama. The time now is 10:04 CST, 02 JUNE 09, exactly 24 hours after Privates William Long, 23 of Conway, AR, and Private Second Class Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, of Jacksonville, AR became the first victims of terrorism on American soil since 11 SEP 01 and we have heard no statement from their Commander in Chief, President Barrack Hussein Obama. Almost as egregious as Obama’s silence, we...

According to news reports, one Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, 23, described as a man with “political and religious motives,” murdered a soldier and wounded another on Monday in “a targeted attack on a military recruiting center.” Obviously, this is the work of Ariana Huffington (”Huffington Post”) and Markos Moulitsas (”Daily Kos”), the sponsors of left-wing Web sites which feature anti-military rhetoric on a regular basis.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A 23-year-old man upset about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan opened fire from his truck at two soldiers standing outside a military recruiting station here on Monday morning, killing one private and wounding another, the police said. The gunman, identified by the police as Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad of Little Rock, fled the scene and was arrested minutes later a short distance from the recruiting station, in a bustling suburban shopping center. The police confiscated a Russian-made SKS semiautomatic rifle, a .22-caliber rifle and a handgun from his black pickup truck. The two privates, who were...

An Arkansas man was arrested Monday in connection with a shooting at a Little Rock military recruiting center that killed one soldier and wounded another, authorities said. Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad -- a 24-year-old Little Rock resident formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe -- faces a first-degree murder charge and 15 counts of engaging in a terrorist act, Little Rock Police Chief Stuart Thomas said. The terrorist counts stem from the shots fired at an occupied building.

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Shooter identified himself as a muslim, Mr. Abdul Mohammad, formerly Mr. Bledsoe. previously of Memphis and Nashville. Recently converted to Islam while in Prison.Breaking live on LRPD press conference.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A new soldier helping to attract others to the military was shot and killed outside an Army recruiting office Monday and a second soldier was wounded. Police arrested a suspect and confiscated an assault rifle. A man inside a black vehicle pulled up outside the Army-Navy recruiting office in west Little Rock and opened fire about 10:30 a.m., police spokesman Lt. Terry Hastings said.

DEVELOPING: An Army recruiter was shot and killed Monday at a recruiting center in Little Rock, Ark., and a second recruiter was wounded

Gathering of Eagles and Eagles Up has announced this year’s plans for Recruiter Appreciation Day. Armed Forces Day is on Saturday, May 16, but GoE is dedicating the whole week, May 11 to May 16, to Recruiter Appreciation Day. The whole week will give everyone a chance to better plan their Day. The GoE link has a lot of great ideas so be sure to look at it, especially if you are new to this. There have been several One FReeper Recruiter Appreciation visits in the past so don’t think you need a group. Just do it. If the recruiting...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq, Nov. 21, 2008 – Army Sgt. 1st Class Charles Washington, a career counselor attached to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, mentors soldiers and puts them into a position for future success. Army Sgt. 1st Class Charles Washington and Army Master Sgt. Keith Green, career counselors assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team, discuss re-enlistment options at the brigade’s retention office on Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq, Nov. 10, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Terence Ewings  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Washington is a recruiter assigned to...

There was a good program on HBO recently. You might find it interesting. It is basically segments showing the life of an Army recruiter and the difficult job that he has. It will be shown again tonight. Show: The Recruiter Set in a small Louisiana town, this HBO documentary focuses on Sergeant First Clas Clay Usie, one of the most prolific U.S. military recruiters. Cameras follow four of Usie’s high school recruits as they lead up to basic training and then follow up with them after, up until the point that some of them are deployed to Iraq. Rated TVMA:...

"Finally, a member of Congress has announced a laudable plan to do something about the abusive behavior of demonstrators of the anti-war left. Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, has introduced legislation to deal with what he has described as “a growing number of our fellow citizens [who] are abusing their right of free expression through vandalism and violent protest aimed at military recruiters and those who wish to serve.”" Finally someone talking serious about Code Pink's anarchical activities. There are a lot more examples of Code Pink's crimes then noted in the article....

At lunch time, May 16, 2008, several members of the DC Chapter of Free Republic thanked the military recruiters at the Silver Spring, Md. Military Recruiting Center (MRC) and at the L St., NW, Washington, DC, MRC, for their service to our country. SILVER SPRING MCR REPORT:At noon, Mr and Mrs Trooprally, Cindy_True_Supporter, Kburi and PrezUSA222 carried pizza, soda, patriotic balloons and Certificates of Appreciation into the Recruiting Center. (Pics are by [Mrs] T). We spent some time talking with Navy and Marine recruiters. It was a good break for them and gave us a chance to express our thanks...

Gathering of Eagles has just announced Recruiter Appreciation Day, Saturday, May 17 or there abouts. Being a Saturday, some recruiter stations have shortened hours or are closed. Friday or Monday might be a better day. As in other Support the Troop Events, one organization steps forward to be the main coordinating organization. GoE has once again stepped up to the plate this year. Check out the GOE site for pertinent info. Hopefully no one doubles up on a Recruiter Station while one across town is neglected.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2007 – Every time he meets someone -- be it the newsboy, the bagger at the local grocery or the spectator at the high school football game -- Army Sgt. Charles “Rob” Myers mentally puts them into one of two categories: those he can recruit into the Army and those who can help him recruit someone else. “When I go out and talk to people, if they’re between the ages 17 and 41, I automatically assume that they’re somebody who could join the Army,” he said. “If they’re outside that age group, I consider them somebody who...

WASHINGTON, July 30, 2007 – A Navy SEAL recruiter went the extra mile – or extra 135 miles, to be exact – to reach athletes who may have the fitness and drive to make it through the notoriously difficult SEAL training course. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class David Goggins crosses Death Valley alongside French competitor Albert Vallee in the Badwater Ultramarathon. Photo by Seaman Michael Lindsey, USN  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class David Goggins, assigned to the Naval Special Warfare Recruiting Directorate in Coronado, Calif., competed in and finished third place in the...

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - A suburban parking official is threatening to auction off a Marine Corps recruiter's car tied to nearly $5,000 in unpaid tickets, part of what the city claims is the Corps' roughly $94,000 tab. "We've tried to be reasonable, but all we've been getting is the run-around," Parking Commissioner Albert Moroni said. The car will be put up for sale in September unless the fines are paid, he said. The vehicle, bearing U.S. government license plates and a Marine Corps decal, was parked in a city garage without payment, according to Moroni. It has racked up 94...

Because some of the Military recruiting offices are closed on Saturday, and also because some of us went to them today, I am starting this thread early for all who participate to add their pictures and stories of support for our Military Recruiters.

Requested to post and update you all on ORA.Less than two weeks into this important effort, and with a month still to go, we already have over 125 commitments across 37 states! Plus hundreds of inquiries on top of that, and I know at least a few state coordinators are working on efforts behind the scenes. Although I know it will change, as of right now we do not yet have ORA (Operation Recruiter Appreciation) representation from: AR, DC, DE, ID, KS, LA, MT, NE, NM, OR, RI, SD, WI, WY, Pizza has been a very popular selection (who doesn't...

LAKE ORION, Mich. - He was a stern-faced sniper — and a soft-hearted Marine who handed out candy to kids in Iraq. He was a warrior who wrote poetry about life and death. He was featured in Michael Moore's antiwar documentary, "Fahrenheit 9/11," portrayed as an overzealous Marine recruiter who targeted poor kids. But Staff Sgt. Raymond Plouhar was far more complicated than that. And it was that complicated man who died in Iraq in late June, as he served with some of the same men he had recruited years ago. It was that complex man who was buried Friday,...

My daughter is talking to RECRUITER for military service, and we have someone coming by from the Army tonight. Can you please help me with questions to ask? We plan to talk to all branches before she decides. Thank you for any help.

Since the New York Times and Wall Street Journal broke the news about the admission of Taliban official Sayeed Rahmatullah Hashemi to a special student program at Yale, we’ve received numerous emails from outraged Yale Alumni. One email stood out from the rest — "I won’t give Yale one red cent this year, but maybe I will give them a red fingernail instead!" She was referring to the Taliban’s policy of pulling the fingernails off of Afghani women who dared to wear fingernail polish. Some of these women even had their thumbs sliced off as punishment. To date, Mr. Rahmatullah...

MARINE CORPS RECRUITING STATION DENVER (Feb. 8, 2006) -- Making the transition from enlisted Marine to warrant officer is something that many Marines often dream of, but rarely act on. However, Chief Warrant Officer Thomas W. Walker, formerly a gunnery sergeant, has long established himself as a leader. He now looks forward to his next steps as an officer of Marines. “The Corps offers many bittersweet moments and this is one of them,” said Master Sgt. Al Matthews, assistant recruiter instructor for RS Denver. “I hate to see him go. He was an outstanding NCOIC and recruiter who, as a...

HADITHA DAM, Iraq (Jan. 10, 2006) -- When Staff Sgt. Barrett A. Kahl was a recruiter in South Boston, Va., he talked with prospective enlistees about the Marine Corps being the smallest, yet most respected organization in the U.S. military. Little did he know that one day those words would apply in his own life when he got the chance to reminisce with one of his recruits while deployed to Iraq. “I saw him here one day standing in the chow line,” said Kahl, a Jarrettsville, Md., native. “It was weird how we were stationed at the same base in...

As those thinking of becoming soldiers arrive on the slushy doorstep of the U.S. Army recruiting station here, they cannot miss the message posted in bold black letters on the storefront right next door. "Remember the Fallen Heroes," the sign reads, and then it ticks off numbers: the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq, the number wounded, the number of days gone by since the war began. The sign, put up by Scott Cameron, a former soldier, has stirred intense debate, though always polite, in this city along the western edge of Lake Superior. In a way, many of...

Before Saturday, Mary Music had never attended a war protest or a peace rally. As the parent of a Marine, she simply didn’t feel right about them. That’s not to say she didn’t think about the current war in Iraq, however. In fact, she thinks about it every day. Music’s son, Marine Cpl. Ian Freudenburg, is stationed in Fallujah. “I’d been invited to peace rallies several times before, but I never went,” Music said. “I felt I’d be betraying my son.” But after two years of war and worry, Music said it was she who felt betrayed — by the...

While the media have been focusing on the flap at Harvard growing out of its president's statement about the reasons for the under-representation of women in the sciences, a much worse and more revealing scandal has unfolded at the University of Seattle, where a student mob prevented a military recruiter from meeting with those students who wanted to meet with him. At first, the university president said that the student rioters should apologize. But the storm this created forced the typical academic administrator's back-down under pressure. One of the student rioters explained that she didn't want anyone to be sent...

Talk Show Host Tricks Navy Recruiter

The Liberal Photo/Tom Lynn Bix Firer is a recent graduate of Shorewood High School. Shorewood - Earlier this school year, when a military recruiter sought to buy an ad in Ripples - the student newspaper at this lakeside village's public high school - the recruiter met a less-than-friendly response. Bix Firer, 17, editor of the newspaper, rejected the offer, saying the U.S. military's actions run contrary to the advertising policy he drafted. The policy rebuffs businesses and organizations "deemed destructive to the social, economic and environmental health of the earth and all of its inhabitants." He also says he didn't...

THE alleged terrorist who police believe recruited the suicide bombers responsible for the deaths of 202 people in Bali last October is also thought to be a pivotal member of Abu Bakar Bashir's outlawed Jemaah Islamiah group. Heri Hafidin, an Indonesian national, has a long association with three alleged senior regional terrorists whom he studied with in Malaysia. They are Bali commander Imam Samudra, another JI figure detained in Malaysia, Zulkifli Marzuki, and a third man known as Faiz Bafana, who is thought to be the mastermind behind a plot to destroy Western targets in Singapore. Hafidin was arrested on...

Hamburg: Ahead of the September 11 attacks, German intelligence attempted to recruit an Islamic extremist who was a key link to the Hamburg terrorist cell of hijackers, according to a news report. The report in Der Spiegel magazine, due to hit newsstands tomorrow, says German intelligence approached Syrian-German terrorist suspect Mohammed Haidar Zammar. Zammar, currently in detention in Syria, is widely believed to have recruited the suicide pilots who hijacked planes and flew them into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. As early at 1996, however, German intelligence approached Zammar with a lucrative incitement to provide information on radical...

(8/27/02) — A navy recruiter reportedly took the law into his own hands when he shot a suspect being chased by police. The incident began Monday night when sheriff's deputy began chasing a suspect on Uvalde in east Harris County. The chase ended when the suspect crashed into another vehicle. The officer got out of the car with his weapon drawn. That's when police say a navy recruiter who knew the officer drove up and shot the suspect twice. The navy recruiter says the suspect was charging at him, but the suspect was shot in the back. The shooting is...