Free Republic

In 1971, the U.S. Air Force offered a checkout in the McDonnell F-4 to Republic F-105 drivers who had completed a 100-mission combat tour and were willing to volunteer for a second tour. I dearly loved the Thud, but with its numbers dwindling due to combat losses, its future was bleak.I checked out in the F-4 at Homestead Air Force Base in Florida and in June arrived at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand. The usual mission of the 13th Tactical Fighter Squadron was two-ship bombing flights under forward air control in Laos and an occasional reconnaissance escort...

In 1977 in Kansas City, Mo., Richard Brack found what he knew was someone's lost class ring. "I saw a little glimmer out of the corner of my eye and reached down in the gravel and picked it up," Brack said. Brack said he knew it was important to the owner and he wanted to get it back to them. The ring was engraved with the name, "Gladewater High School", the year 1970, and the initials, "DEC." Brack began to search for the owner with the limited information he had. The years passed and Brack still hadn't found the ring's...

A U.S. soldier returning to Fayetteville, N.C., from Afghanistan got a surprise welcome from two dogs he saved from starvation while stationed in the war-torn country. WRAL.com, a FOX affiliate in Raleigh, reports that a charity animal-rescue program run by Internet search engine Dogpile.com reunited Staff Sgt. Daniel Barker with two dogs reportedly rescued by Barker and his fellow soldier, Adam Krause, during their 2008 deployment to Afghanistan. Barker and Krause found the malnourished puppies abandoned on the streets of Afghanistan and brought them back to their military base, where they named them Jack and Emma, the station reports. When...

Ron Wood has confirmed long-standing reports that the Faces are gearing up for a reunion tour next year. “We had a few fantastic rehearsals last week and we’re ready to go,” Wood tells Rolling Stone. “It’s like no time has passed by.” Rod Stewart’s touring bassist Conrad Korsch sat in on bass, replacing original Faces bassist Ronnie Lane who died in 1997. “There’s a lot of guest bass players that want to do it — including Flea,” says Wood. They plan on hitting the road sometime in 2009, though no dates have been set. “We just have to sort out...

Awesome.

Little more than a month ago, I wrote a post about an amazing event in my life -- and that of my son Gary, the precious infant I gave up for adoption when he was just two days old and I was barely sixteen. Now a grown man, Gary and his wife Tami spent a day researching birth records and learned that I was his birth mother. The Blessing caused an amazing reaction throughout the internet. And beyond. Entertainer and song writer Lloyd Marcus, a staunch conservative from the Central Florida area, was inspired to write a pro-life song about...

Army Sgt. Shane M. White and Marine Corps 1st Sgt. Joseph C. Gray visit at Al Asad Air Base, Sept. 25, 2008. Gray is White's father, and the men were seeing each other for the first time in more than a year. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Trent M. Lowry. AL ASAD AIR BASE — In a line of Marines from Team Tank, Regimental Combat Team 1, one man stood out in his gray digital uniform as he participated in a combat-marksmanship program shoot. Army Sgt. Shane M. White, 22, an information systems specialist with 4th Psychological Operations Group,...

Fifty years ago, 899 young men gathered in the then-new Naval Academy field house to hear a graduation address by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. After four grueling years of military and academic training, their numbers had dwindled by a quarter,but for those who had survived, promising futures stretched out ahead. [snip] "We're not going out looking for another job, especially one that's as overwhelming as being president of the United States," said Potter, who planned to travel from California to attend the reunion. "Many of us wonder, 'Where does he get the energy to do this?' But those who knew...

40 Years After Capture, USS Pueblo Crew Reunites JERICHO, Vt. — Ralph McClintock expected only a three-week mission when he boarded the USS Pueblo in January 1968. Instead, he and his shipmates became pawns in a Cold War sideshow when North Korea captured the Navy spy ship and imprisoned its 82 crew members. Some still suffer the physical effects of torture or malnutrition they suffered in 11 months of captivity. McClintock is proud of his service as a 24-year-old communications technician and the bonds he made with his crew mates, but that pride is tinged with bitterness. "We were treated...

A reunited trio of World War II veterans recall the night they were seperated, seemingly foreverIt was a miserable January night outside the French village of Rimling, made bleaker by advancing German troops from the 559th and 257th Volks-Grenadier Divisions. Don Hildenbrand's company was pinned down on a ridge about two miles from town, just a grenade toss from the border. Their communications line had been cut and German units had pushed past them on both flanks. "Everybody knew something bad was going to happen, we were badly outnumbered," Hildenbrand recalled Saturday. Sgt. Pete Petracco asked for a volunteer to...

Team members visit a renovated school. Most schools in southern Iraq showed years of neglect so the renovations normally included window and door repair, new lights, bathroom fixtures and painting. Darrow’s six-person FEST-A team started 170 projects, including 49 schools, during four months in 2003. Courtesy photo. FOB KALSU — He was among the first helping rebuild key facilities in southern Iraq shortly after Saddam Hussein’s regime was toppled. This month, Lt. Col. Michael Darrow returned to Iraq on another U.S. Army Corps of Engineers mission. This time he will be the Officer-in-Charge of the Forat Area Office overseeing 42...

SEOUL — Kim Chun-su had to join the army, but he didn’t have to go to Vietnam. Almost four decades ago, Kim, then a soldier doing his mandatory three-year service in the South Korean military, opted to fight in what was even in his country an unpopular war. He wanted to get away from the army’s notoriously abusive officers, who he said would wake soldiers up for no reason and beat them. He also wanted to show his gratitude to the United States for helping South Korea during the Korean War. Kim and most of the 97 South Korean veterans...

We like to think reunions should come in neat, predictable increments of five to ten years. But last week, 82-year-old Bill Gregg was sitting at the airport, waiting for a reunion 63 years in the making. "You think you've seen everything, right?" Gregg says with a laugh. "And then something like this happens." A dangerous mission During World War Two, Gregg was overseas serving as a nosegunner, which meant shoving his 6'1" frame into the tip of a B-24 bomber. It was a precarious position and dangerous job. "You know you're gonna be shot at by somebody," Gregg says. "Seeing...

F-18 pilot returns home to canine friend from Iraqi war zone They spent months in an Iraqi war zone cementing a special bond. Marine Major Brian Dennis greets Nubs early Saturday morning at Camp Pendleton. But after more than a month of being apart, Marine Maj. Brian Dennis began to worry if Nubs the dog would still remember him, especially in a new place like San Diego. Their reunion early Saturday at Camp Pendleton clearly showed otherwise. The 2-year-old old dog, named for his two nubby ears, drenched Dennis' face with doggie kisses and said hello with excited whimpers. “You...

Marine Reunited in San Diego With Dog He Rescued in IraqA San Diego-based Marine major was reunited on Saturday with one of his closest war buddies — a 2-year-old dog named Nubs. Nubs greeted Maj. Brian Dennis at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station when the fighter pilot returned from Iraq. It was the first time the two were together since Dennis' family and close friends helped raise $3,500 to fly the dog to San Diego about a month ago. Nubs wasn't allowed to stay on base in Iraq. Dennis, 36, of St. Pete Beach, Fla., had spotted the mongrel dog...

DALLAS -- Security details at Barack Obama's rally Wednesday stopped screening people for weapons at the front gates more than an hour before the Democratic presidential candidate took the stage at Reunion Arena. The order to put down the metal detectors and stop checking purses and laptop bags came as a surprise to several Dallas police officers who said they believed it was a lapse in security.

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Feb. 15, 2008) -- Families and friends gathered at Goettge Field House, here, to celebrate the return of their Marines and Sailors. The 2nd Marine Logistics Group returned from a successful deployment to the Al Anbar Province. MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (February 15, 2008) – Families and friends gathered at Goettge Field House, here, to celebrate the return of their Marines and Sailors. The 2nd Marine Logistics Group returned from a successful deployment to the Al Anbar Province. MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (February 15, 2008) – Families and friends gathered...

As teenage residents of West Berlin during what many consider to be the first battle of the Cold War, Guenther and Gisela Petzold never knew how close the Berlin Airlift came to collapsing. It wasn't until years later, after the couple married and became U.S. citizens, that they learned of the difficulties surrounding the operation and how their neighbor played a critical role in the airlift's success. While the Petzolds didn't get to know retired Gen. T. Ross Milton until the trio met at an Oro Valley affair, they certainly benefited from his actions during the pivotal standoff between the...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq, Jan. 7, 2008 – When two brothers stationed in Iraq couldn’t be home with their families for the holidays, linking up with each other during the season was the next best thing. The Morgan brothers - Brad, left, and Clay – are both U.S. Army engineer officers deployed to Iraq. The brothers were able to reunite during the holidays at Forward Operating Base Delta, Iraq. Photo by Kevin Olsen  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Coordinating schedules and moving around Iraq isn’t easy, but the Morgan brothers from Union City, Tenn., managed to pull...

SCOTIA -- Nathan Grier had problems in math, problems in science, problems socializing -- problems that, as bad as they were, seemed to disappear the minute he went home to his 2-year-old pit bull, Booger. They were inseparable friends living in Ocala, Fla. Booger accompanied 13-year-old Nathan to the bathroom and shower. They even slept in the same bed, Nathan nestled under the covers, Booger flat on his back, nose pointed, all four legs extended toward the ceiling.It was a perfect relationship.Then it was over.In September, Nathan's mother, Bonnie, who grew up in Schenectady, talked her husband, Steve, into moving...