Free Republic

Someone might want to pass on to Senator McCain that is opponents in the upcoming election thought todays Iraq vote was important enough to show up and represent the people that voted for them. Sen. McCain did not and that, is exactly how many votes he should get in the primaries.

Private Damian Lopez Rodriguez,19, died a week ago in Iraq - killed by a roadside bomb. Rodriguez's body is back home in Arizona Friday. His body arrived at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base with military honors. Friday evening, his friends at Pueblo High School offered their own tribute. During the school's annual fiesta, students took a moment to pause in honor of Rodriguez, and reflect on his memory. His friends also performed a special drum routine in memory of Rodriguez, who graduated from Pueblo High School two years ago. "He was the one who took me under his wing, taught me...

Remember the Californian Dream that needed so much protecting just three months ago? That dream where solitary visionaries, like Disney, DeMille, Hewlett and Packard, and Jobs & Wozniak, could work through the night in a garage and create sensational things that could best be summed up by B.C. Forbes who long ago stated, "The purpose of capitalism is not to create a pile of wealth, but a pile of happiness." Remember that that dream was in such danger that the biggest gubernatorial campaign ever imagined was undertaken just to save it? After some really great pomp, humor, dancing kids, and...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 20, 2006 -- New Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, here on a surprise pre-Christmas visit, today urged Americans to remember military members and their families throughout the holiday season. Defense Secretary Robert Gates meets with troops from the 1st Cavalry Division during a visit to Baghdad, Iraq, Dec. 20, 2006, just two days after being sworn in as the 22nd secretary of defense. Defense Dept. photo by Cherie A. Thurlby   '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “I hope that everybody at home here at the holiday will remember that all these men and women are away...

Australian Army Brig. Gen. John P. Cantwell lays a wreath of make-shift poppies at the Australian flag in remembrance of the servicemen and women who have died in duty at the Gardens, U.S. Embassy – Baghdad. BAGHDAD -- Australian military personnel here held a Remembrance Day Ceremony 11 a.m. Saturday at the Gardens, United States Embassy - Baghdad. Eighty-eight years ago, the fifth hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the Europeans experienced a strange phenomenon which had been foreign to them for the past four years. The silence of gunfire followed an armistice.At 11:11 a.m., November 11th,...

(Click sfgate for real picture heading/description.)

One issue that needs much more play in the gubernatorial election is California's structural deficit. On Sept. 26 state Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill released her latest analysis of the state budget. She found that the state's structural deficit – its nagging inability to pay its bills – will be "in the range of $4.5 billion and $5 billion projected for" fiscal 2007-08, which begins next July 1, and fiscal 2008-09. That's up from about $3 billion in her budget estimates earlier this year. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides has said the state's budget problem stems from too little revenue, and...

OKLAHOMA CITY, Sept. 12, 2006 – With the sun hanging low in the western sky yesterday, Oklahomans of all ages assembled at the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. They came to this sacred ground to remember those who lost their lives to terrorism. They came on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to participate in the Oklahoma City Freedom Walk, a commemorative event about remembrance of the Sept. 11 victims, reflection on the tragedy of that day, recommitment to the ideals of freedom that epitomize the United States its promise to “never forget,” and respect and support...

Lib/Dem/Soc/Commies -- You've Forgotten The Lessons Of 9/11 Written by Doc Farmer Monday, September 11, 2006 Author's Note: This is a request to most of my conservative, patriotic readers. Please don't read it with yourself in mind. Instead, send it along to every lib/dem/soc/commie discussion board, mailing list or group you can find. Send it to every lib/dem/soc/commie media outlet. Call every lib/dem/soc/commie talk show with it. This message is for them, and it's high time they heard it. Five years. It's not that long a time, when you consider the history of our nation. It's a mere blink of...

While there isn’t a person in this country that doesn’t know what happened on September 11, 2001, most of the somber spotlight tends to fall on the collapse and tragedy in the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The other two incidents, the crashing of a plane into the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania crash, often seem to be overlooked. Today many films are being made about the events of that day and what happened in New York, but Paul Greengrass decided to push the focus to Flight 93, which was intended to hit Washington D.C. but crashed in Shanksville,...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2006 – Atlanta will join communities across America to host a Freedom Walk Sept. 11, the fifth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States. The Freedom walk is being sponsored by Checkers restaurants, and presented by Operation Homefront. “We wanted to reflect on the events that happened on 9/11 at the Pentagon and the twin towers in New York City, and in Pennsylvania,” said Vicki Sarracino, president of the Georgia chapter of Operation Homefront. “And we also wanted to renew our commitment to freedom and the values of our country, and to honor the...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30, 2006 – Las Vegas will remember those lost in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, with a Freedom Walk on Sept. 9. “We hope this will become an annual commemoration of those we lost on 9/11,” said Courtney Wroblewski, a special events planner with the city. The 2.2-mile loop will begin and end at the Kellogg Zaher Sports Complex at 7901 Washington Ave. Walkers, including Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman and Councilman Larry Brown, will step out beginning at 7:30 a.m. Las Vegas planners called the walk a time to reflect on the lives lost on...

WHEN DO WE GIVE UP .. HOPE I remember a time when I trusted my government. I remember a time when I trusted my policeman. I remember a time when I trusted my news. I remember a time when I trusted my church. I remember a time when I had "hope". I remember a time when I remember .. I trusted. I no longer try to remember. God help all of us Mrclose (comments are welcome)

7/2/2006 - SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- Staff Sgt. Erick Trusty is tired and dirty. Another day has come and gone that he survived. At least on this day an improvised explosive device -- one of the enemy's deadliest weapons of choice in Iraq -- didn't hit his team. And the raid he and others carried out on a house full of weapons and munitions was a success. Then the sergeant thinks about how much he misses his new bride back in Texas. But that doesn't last long. Before him his four-legged partner signals that there are other things to worry...

LONDON - A crude wooden sign carries an uneven scrawled epitaph: "He died as he lived. Brave and fearless, a true British hero." In 1916, British soldiers erected the simple tribute to a singular British hero in the French town of Becordel-Becourt to mark the grave of artillery officer Alan Lloyd, one of 125,000 soldiers from Britain and the Commonwealth killed during one of the most vicious conflicts of World War I. British war veterans were gathering near that memorial for the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme on Saturday. The Battle of the Somme raged across northern...

Streets renamed after fallen soldiersBy CAROLYN THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer Wed Jun 14, 3:15 AM ET Taps is played during an unveiling ceremony for R. V. Derenda Lane in honor of Army Sgt. 1st Class Robert V. Derenda, in Cheektowaga, N.Y., Saturday May 20, 2006. Derenda was killed in Iraq last August. The names of the fallen soldiers of Iraq are becoming permanent fixtures on the landscapes the soldiers themselves will never return to. (AP Photo/David Duprey) BUFFALO, N.Y. - Loretta Derenda's home sits only a few steps from what used to be called Candlelight Lane, where her son Robert...

Ex-soldier fights to make Japan remember its past By Colin Joyce in Tokyo (Filed: 07/06/2006) Japan's amnesia over its militarist past is being challenged by a compelling documentary film which suggests that the Japanese army breached the terms of surrender in 1945 by leaving soldiers to fight on in China. The Ants, to be released next month, records the struggle of the Japanese veteran Waichi Okumura to put atrocities on record and to tell the story of the forgotten soldiers left behind in China. Now 81, Mr Okumura revisited Shanxi province where he fought, including a pilgrimage to the place...

At Evergreen Cemetery American flags are lined up row upon row, marking the names of veterans. On this Memorial Day, hundreds came to Evergreen for a ceremony that paid tribute to all of the men and women who died fighting for this country. Veterans placed wreaths and fired a salute. Boy Scouts blew taps. Others released doves. And, as the birds soared, so did emotions. Mike Brewer, a Vietnam Veteran, says, "I've been roaming around with Buddy Poppies since I was 8 years old, so 50 years of emotions." Judy Baldwin says, "My father was in World War II....

WASHINGTON, May 27, 2006 – There will be no backyard barbecues here to celebrate Memorial Day. There won't be reunions with family or cold drinks while pitching horseshoes. A few will stay up late enough to catch live ball games from the United States or a part of the Indianapolis 500, but most servicemembers will just want to sleep. Memorial Day for most Americans at home means the beginning of the summer season and a three-day weekend. But for most Americans here, Memorial Day will be a regular day at war. When troops here have time, what they do will...

Click on the link for a display featuring those who have been highly decorated in the GWOT.