Free Republic

Since 1791, there have been 22,155 known line of duty deaths in America. ODMP Research Volunteers constantly discover forgotten line of duty deaths throughout the country. Because of our efforts, this number includes 1,338 previously forgotten heroes, now honored on the ODMP and other local, state and national memorials. https://www.odmp.org/

Far too many people are indifferent to the meaning of Memorial Day, thinking of it as just a long weekend or official start of summer. There are cook-outs and family get-togethers but the only mention of the Memorial Day weekend is in store ads. Brass bands and ceremonies are performing to dwindling crowds. Americans have forgotten the sacrifices of those who perished to preserve their security, peace and freedom. What a tragedy that today so many citizens are willing to surrender these irreplaceable treasures to an American Idol tyrant. Memorial Day should never be confused with Veterans Day. On Memorial...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Tribune News Service) — A group of French-speaking 8th graders used toothbrushes to clean moss off old tombstones of African-American military veterans. Not something you see everyday in Kansas City. But there they were, 25 or so students from Academie Lafayette working to get Highland Cemetery, a segregated black cemetery from Kansas City’s early days, ready for Memorial Day. They planted flags on graves long forgotten in a cemetery long neglected. Seems like such goodwill deserved blue sky and sunshine. Aucune une telle chance. Uh, no such luck. It was 52 degrees, breezy and spitting rain. The...

Our paschal lamb The Passover 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep...

Few Catholics think about this question. The reason is that most Catholics are not aware that the Church teaches that the Mass is an actual sacrifice. They know that the rite is called the Sacrifice of the Mass, that it is performed by a priest, that the congregation assembles before an altar, and that the consecrated bread wafers are called hosts. Nevertheless, most Catholics do not seem to realize that the Church teaches that the Mass is a real and true sacrifice, that a prime function of the Catholic priesthood is to offer sacrifice, that an altar is a place...

The Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs gathered at the National War Memorial on Sunday to pay their respects to fallen soldiers, including Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, who was shot and killed while guarding the memorial last month. The teams came together late on Sunday morning ahead of their game at 6 p.m. ET at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

Wednesday April 24th marks the 99th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. That day also marks another year that’s gone by where the Turkish government has not recognized the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians as a genocide. ... The Armenian Genocide was one of the most compelling human rights crises of World War I. Many historians talk about how what happened in 1915 perhaps helped inspire Adolf Hitler, three decades later, to carry out the atrocities of World War II. In a speech where Hitler was preparing to invade Poland, he is quoted saying: “Who, after all, speaks of the annihilation...

"Transgender Day of Remembrance Lunch Join us as and discuss the challenges that the transgendered community faces in the workplace and society. Lunch is provided. This event is brought to you by the [comapanys named] PRIDE Network. Join now."

'Mosques will take the unprecedented step of urging British Muslims to 'wear the poppy, rather than burn it' this week in a bid to counter claims of being unpatriotic. Poppy stalls will be set up at around the country leading up to Remembrance Sunday in a move backed by government ministers and the Royal British Legion. It follows high-profile protests in the past by Muslim extremists, including those linked to the hate preacher Anjem Choudary, and the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby outside Woolwich barracks in south-east London.'

The Lafayette Flag Brigades' 10th annual 9/11 Remembrance and Candlelight Vigil will feature not only what is believed to be the largest overpass display in California, but also a display of three large pieces of steel recovered from "ground zero," the site of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks. The remembrance, at the El Curtola overcrossing of Highway 24 on the Lafayette-Walnut Creek border, begins at 3 p.m. with the flags and with the display of the steel pieces. At 5:30 p.m., the main speaker, scheduled to be a retired Fire Department of New York firefighter, will address the gathering....

When I was a little girl, I thought Memorial Day was a day to honor ALL of our dead. This idea started, because it was the day my father generally chose to go to the cemetery to visit the grave of the beautiful woman who gave me my name. This is also where I began my interest in wandering through cemeteries. As Daddy paid his respects, I would wander around looking at the graves and wondering what kind of stories were now silenced. As I grew older, I found out the real reason for Memorial Day. Started as a way...

The Holocaust as Seen in 2011 By Ari Bussel It was ten a.m. in Israel on the Holocaust and Bravery Remembrance Day, and I stood in a city square as the siren started. It sounded somewhat distant, yet touched every nerve in my body. People stopped, instantly frozen in their tracks. Cars stopped, their doors opened and the drivers and passengers exited. No one was honking. No one was talking. Everyone stood straight, silent, their heads bowed. In this two-minute freeze-frame time span even the birds ceased their spring celebration. All was still, an entire nation respecting its dead, six...

The Nazi Hunter by Ari Bussel A Nazi Hunter, now 89, was giving an account of his first exposure to the horrors of the Holocaust. This was probably the first public account of several daring missions he directed while at the Israeli Mossad. The decades have passed, the secrecy removed after some 50 years, but the real reason for this disclosure is two fold: First, his generation is disappearing, and this is probably a last opportunity to give first hand testimony. Second, the position of the Jewish people in 2011, 66 years after the end of the War, is probably...

I wanted to write something special for Memorial Day. I wanted people to read my words and with those words jumping off the page at them, just say “Wow!” I’ve sat here for hours thinking about this, and my emotions have run the gamut from anger to sorrow to happiness to fear. What started off as a quest to write something superb will end up being a mere description of my emotions and thoughts about Memorial Day. First, I am angry at the American people. Memorial Day is a special time of observance, a time to remember those that gave...

4/28/2010 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNS) -- Airmen from six partner nations gathered at the memorial plaza for a dawn service to observe Australian and New Zealand Army Corps Day April 25 here. A national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, ANZAC Day is commemorated April 25 every year by both countries to honor members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought in Turkey during World War I. Much like Memorial Day in the United States, ANZAC Day pays tribute to all who have served in military operations for their country. Royal Australian Air Force Squadron...

FORT HOOD, Texas, Jan. 19, 2010 – Army Spc. Jonathan Emard, 20, was killed June 4, 2008, in Tikrit, Iraq, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces using small-arms fire and hand grenades. A photo of Army Spc. Jonathan Emard hangs in the Hall of Remembrance at Fort Hood, Texas. Emard was killed June 4, 2008, in Tikrit, Iraq. His family submitted the photo to honor their soldier’s memory and sacrifice. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. At Fort Hood, his is one of 97 photographs of fallen servicemembers enshrined in the survivor outreach services program’s...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2010 – The survivor outreach services center here officially opened the Hall of Remembrance Jan. 11 to honor all those affiliated with Fort Hood and surrounding Texas communities who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the nation. Army Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone, commanding general of 3rd Corps and Fort Hood, Texas, looks at the pictures hanging in the Hall of Remembrance honoring those who paid the ultimate price. The hall was officially opened to the public Jan. 11, 2010, and honors the fallen with a Central Texas or Fort Hood affiliation. U.S. Army photo  (Click...

We do not know their names.We do not know where they died or how they died.We do not know where they lived or how they lived before or after.But we know that for a brief and shining moment, ALL were heroes, and that anywhere on earth that men are free to dream great dreams is their legacy. They did not fight for glory.They did not fight for self. They fought for the ideals that formed this Great Republic.We honor them to a man and woman, every single one of them. We will not forget, and what is more important,...

President George W. Bush plans a quiet day in his Dallas office Friday in his first Sept. 11 since leaving the White House. *snip* "Eight years ago, our nation and our freedom came under attack. On this solemn anniversary, Laura and I hold the victims and their families in our thoughts and prayers. We honor those who volunteer to keep us safe and extend the reach of freedom — including members of the armed forces, law enforcement officers, and intelligence and homeland security professionals. Their courage, service and sacrifice is a fitting tribute to all those who gave their lives...

On this day in 2004, Ronald Reagan, the nation’s 40th president, died at age 93 after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. Most historians give Reagan good marks for having lifted American confidence and for having managed the Cold War conflict with Soviets in its later stages. Before embarking on a political career that brought him to the White House in 1981, Reagan spent two decades in Hollywood. Although he never became a top movie star, he appeared in more than 50 films and several television programs. His nickname “the Gipper” came about from his having played Notre Dame football...