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BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, July 14, 2008 – A soldier from 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team was awarded a Silver Star Medal in a ceremony here July 12. Army Capt. William G. Cromie receives the Silver Star Medal from Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser, Combined Joint Task Force 101 commander, at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, July 12, 2008. Cromie was recognized for his valor and leadership abilities in a combat operation on Nov. 16, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Christina Sinders, Combined Joint Task Force 101  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser, Combined Joint Task...

KORENGAL VALLEY, Afghanistan, July 12, 2008 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff yesterday took the opportunity to present 12 paratroopers with awards here for valorous and heroic achievements in combat. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen pinned five Army Commendation Medals with valor devices, five Purple Heart Medals, one Bronze Star with valor device, and one Silver Star on the troopers’ chests during a ceremony at their combat outpost here. “It’s an honor and privilege to be here,” Mullen said to the awardees. “This ceremony is about individuals who represent the sacrifice of so many.” The paratroopers are assigned...

Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, the commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division and Multi-National Division - Baghdad, presents an impact Bronze Star Medal to Sgt. Shawn Griffith, a native of Richwood, W.Va. Griffith, who serves with 769th Engineer Battalion, 35th Engineer Brigade, was one of six of the battalion's Soldiers recognized for their hard work and dedication in installing approximately 130,000-square feet of rocket-propelled grenade fencing and sniper-screen material over a 1,200 foot distance, with heights measuring up to 40 feet, at Joint Security Station Ur in the Sadr City District of Baghdad to veil the aerostat and its docking...

Pure hell of the siege of Musa Qala A little-reported battle against the Taliban in which seven of our (Poster's note: "our" means British, the Royal Irish Brigade troops) troops died has been revealed as one of the fiercest and most heroic of the Afghan campaign. Lieutenant-Colonel DJ Reynolds Musa Qala, a besieged outpost deep in Taliban territory, holds a special place in the battle records of the Pathfinder platoon of 16 Air Assault Brigade – and of the Irishmen, Danes and other soldiers who braved face-to-face fighting to relieve them. When a column at last got through to Musa...

Germany scraps new Iron Cross By Bojan Pancevski Last Updated: 2:13am GMT 08/03/2008 The German government was yesterday forced to scrap plans to re-introduce the Iron Cross, after opponents said the military medal still carried the "burden" of association with Nazi atrocities. Iron Cross: the Nazis added a swastika to the design The medal, the equivalent of the Victoria Cross in Britain, was established during the Napoleonic Wars to reward bravery and valour of officers and enlisted men alike. But its reputation was tarnished by the Nazis, who added a swastika to the design, linking it to atrocities in the...

LATHAM — The same grit that got Nick Grinaldo through one of the bloodiest battles of World War II’s Pacific campaign hadn’t dimmed with age when he was first told several years ago that he wasn’t eligible for a certain medal. The Army veteran’s determination, and help from an employee at the state’s military museum, resulted in Grinaldo finally receiving the New York State Conspicuous Service Star from the New York National Guard on Thursday. Friends, relatives and uniformed Guard members crowded a conference room at Guard headquarters here in suburban Albany to see the retired cobbler from Troy receive...

- Michael Yon : Online Magazine - http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp - Men of Valor: Part I of about VIII November 20, 2007 “Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valor, and be in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar.” —Winston Churchill “Bizarre” is an accurate word to describe how quickly a man can fly from, say, Orlando and land smack in the middle of a minefield. Not a metaphorical minefield, but a big, real minefield. The transition occurred in a matter...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2007 – When Army Staff Sgt. Jason Fetty put himself between a suicide bomber and the bomber’s intended targets at the grand opening of a new medical facility in Khost, Afghanistan, he wasn’t thinking of the strategic, or even tactical, importance of his actions. Army Staff Sgt. Jason Fetty (center) is the first Army reservist to earn the Silver Star for actions in Afghanistan. With him are Army Command Sgt. Maj. Leon Caffie (left), senior enlisted advisor for the Army Reserve, and Navy Cmdr. John F.G. Wade, commander of Joint Provincial Reconstruction Team Khost, Afghanistan, when...

Many quilters and guilds across the US are participating in this worthy endeavor. If you quilt (or know of some one who does) you might want to contribute to the project for the benefit of our wounded Troops. Not a very flattering photo, but the quilts are beautiful. We meet every Tuesday at the Baker Community Center in Millington from 10-Noon. Milllington Quilter's Guild

Critics say the medals system has been weakened by inconsistencies, including a failure to recognize service members’ most valiant actions with the Medal of Honor. Some blame politics, suggesting that a desire to highlight how well the war was going in its first weeks led military and government officials to play down acts of heroism performed during fierce fighting. Others say the nature of the war in Iraq has limited the kind of direct combat that leads to Medals of Honor. Inconsistencies in the medals system have surfaced in previous wars, too, though the current conflicts have called attention to...

ExclusiveWar crime: FBI targets fake heroes BY THOMAS ZAMBITO DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERSunday, May 6th 2007, 4:00 AM The FBI is using a new law to nab phonies like Georgia's Richard Thibodeau, who was outed as a fake marine. Federal agents are taking aim at phony war heroes who tell tall tales of battlefield valor and pin bogus medals upon their chests, the Daily News has learned.The FBI's Washington headquarters receives at least 15 tips a week about fake heroes - and most of the information comes from veterans who are furious that the scam artists are demeaning real...

BAGHDAD — “Men, you have one second in your life where you can decide if you are going to be a coward or if you are going to fight. The time to decide is now.” That sentence is something that Maj. James “Jim” Gant, who serves as the chief of the Iraqi National Police, Quick Reaction Force Battalion Transition Team, tells his policemen all the time, encouraging them to fight for what they believe in. Though most the time he was talking in generic terms, this time he knew the fight was waiting for them. For six weeks his patrol...

This is a very short thread to remind you all about this wonderful organization (which was also highlighted on the last ABC's "HOME MAKEOVER" with Ty Pennington). Adopt a soldier and show your support to our men and women in uniform in a personal way. http://www.adoptasoldiernow.org/Home.html

[On 21-22 January 1879, immediately after the disaster of Isandlwana, Zululand, where Britain's initial invading force was wiped out by the Zulus, aproximately 150 British soldiers, wounded and volunteers defended a supply depot and hospital against 4000 Zulu warriors at a place called Rorke's Drift.] [snip] .... From a position on top of the store's roof, Private Fred Hitch shouted he could see some four to six thousand Zulus advancing towards the post. One wit, Private Augustus Morris, retorted from below, "Is that all?" Chard withdrew the infantry picquets and the Zulus came in sight. Ranged against Chard's command of...

LEXINGTON, Ky., Feb. 21, 2007 – A Kentucky Army National Guardsman has become the first Guard soldier -- and only the fifth servicemember overall -- to receive the Distinguished Service Cross. Kentucky Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Timothy Nein, left, remains at attention after receiving the Distinguished Service Cross from Army Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, in Lexington, Ky., Feb. 17. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy, USA  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Distinguished Service Cross is second only to the Medal of Honor among awards for valor in battle. Staff...

Everywhere you looked November 9 to 11 at the Hyatt Regency in Arlington, Va., you saw a hero. Gathering there for the American Veterans Center’s Ninth Annual Conference were distinguished veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. They met and spoke with their fellow veterans from across the generations, a grateful public and hundreds of high school and college students. The conference proved to be a who’s who of American heroes and featured such legends as veterans of the “Doolittle Raiders” and the “Band of Brothers” from World War II, former prisoners of...

Spc. Ashley Pullen wasn't thinking about the dozens of Iraqi insurgents who had just ambushed the convoy. Or their piles of guns and grenades or the bullets ripping through the air around her. Her bloody comrade lay on the road south of Baghdad, and she had to help the gravely wounded soldier — fast. So she hustled as quickly as her short legs would carry her, ignoring the heat, the ferocious battle and her heavy gear. She ran 100, 200, 300 feet — the length of a football field. It was March 20, 2005, the day Pullen, a member of...

Inscribed on the base of the Marine Corps War Memorial in Washington D.C. is the tribute of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz to the fighting men on Iwo Jima: "Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue." That simple statement says a lot about the character of the boys (as they were called then) who went to war two generations ago. These boys grew up fast. And when they returned home, they proceeded to build the greatest economic and industrial power anyone had ever seen. Truly they were the Greatest Generation. In a time when political mudslinging and the total lack...

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Three Fort Bragg soldiers were honored Tuesday with the Silver Star — the Army’s third-highest award for valor in combat — for their actions in Afghanistan. Sgt. 1st Class Bruce Holmes and his team sergeant, Master Sgt. Keith Logsdon, received the medal for a 14-hour battle in a village in southern Afghanistan last year. Staff Sgt. Matthew Keefe received the medal for a separate battle. “I went in and did my job. No one expects to go and get a Silver Star,” Holmes said.

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (Army News Service, Aug. 10, 2006) – Thirty-one Soldiers from the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) were decorated with honors to include three Silver Star Medals for valorous actions in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom in a ceremony here, Aug. 8. The three Silver Star Medal recipients were Master Sgt. Keith Logsdon, Sgt. 1st Class Bruce Holmes and Staff Sgt. Matthew Keefe. The Silver Star Medal, the Army’s third highest award for combat valor is awarded to Soldiers for distinguished gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States during military operations. Maj. Gen. Thomas R....

Staff Sgt. Nathan Reed had one hope as he worked through daily physical therapy sessions after losing his leg to a car bomb in Iraq. He wanted to his commanding general to present his Purple Heart medal. On Tuesday, Reed stood at attention as he balanced on crutches before Maj. Gen. James D. Thurman, the 4th Infantry Division's commander. After Thurman pinned on the medal, he hugged Reed and told him he would like to have him back in the fight as soon as he feels up to it. "I would go with him any time, any where, anything," Reed...

FORT HOOD – Though pockets of violence are a problem in Iraq's capital city, Baghdad is not out of control as some news reports have indicated, the 4th Infantry Division's commander said Tuesday. While home from Iraq for a two-week rest and recuperation leave, Maj. Gen. James D. Thurman said sectarian violence, which appears to have escalated in recent days, has been caused by a political and economic power struggle. Iraq's government – which is composed of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds, the three main Islamic sects in Iraq – was seated in May, and Thurman said coalition forces need to...

FORT HOOD – Maj. Gen. James D. Thurman keeps a special list of names in his right hip pocket. Every day, the 4th Infantry Division's commander reminds himself of the soldiers he has lost in Iraq by looking at that list. On Tuesday, at home on two weeks of rest and recuperation leave, Thurman joined the 4th Infantry's rear at a memorial service remembering 13 soldiers who died in Iraq since May. Thurman also added a new name to his list. Staff Sgt. Jason M. Evey, 29, of Stockton, Calif., died Sunday in Baghdad after his Bradley fighting vehicle rolled...

This is a MOH nomination for a true American hero. Wouldn't it be great to see this on the front page? NARRATIVE NOMINATING SSG DAVID BELLAVIA FOR THE MEDAL OF HONOR DURING OPERATION PHANTOM FURY FALLUJAH, IRAQ On the night of 10 November 2004 Third Platoon, A Company, Task Force 2-2 IN near OBJ Wolf in Fallujah, Iraq, was ordered to attack to destroy six to eight Anti Iraqi Forces (AIF). 1LT Edward Iwan, the A Company Executive Officer, had identified six to eight AIF who had entered a block of twelve buildings. These AIF had engaged A55 and tanks...

The day was winding down for most Iraqis as Pfc. Kameron Coleman was drowning in fuel inside a burning Bradley fighting vehicle. A group of soldiers from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division had just received a new platoon leader earlier that day and were showing him their operations area. At 5:15 p.m., a few minutes after their patrol began, their Bradley exploded and flipped upside-down after rolling over a roadside bomb. The first thing Spc. Wesley Whitehead saw after he jumped out of the smoking Bradley was the lifeless body of...

ARLINGTON, Va., May 29, 2006 – America's top military leaders -- the commander in chief, secretary of defense, and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff -- commemorated this Memorial Day by paying tribute to generations of Americans, past and present, who have "answered the call to serve and stepped forward to protect the nation they loved." Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace, accompanied by Pres. George W. Bush and the Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, addresses the audience during Memorial Day ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery May 29. Photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles...

MARINE CORPS RECRUITING STATION PITTSBURGH (May 17, 2006) -- In a recent ceremony held in a room full of friends, family, and members of his former Camp Lejeune, North Carolina-based Marine unit, 1st Lt. Raymond G. Baronie, was honored with a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, with combat “V” for Valor, for his courageous actions while deployed to Iraq. Baronie, a native of Lower Burrell, PA and 2002 graduate of Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA, served in Iraq with the Marine Corps’ 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force as a liaison officer between the newly created Iraqi Security Forces and the...

Unseemly squabble over Upham VCs needs compromise 22 April 2006 It is unfortunate that the fate of Charles Upham's Victoria Crosses involves a public spat, writes The Press in an editorial. The legacy of so honourable a man should not be exposed to such a wretched dispute. Upham, in death as he was in life, is the epitome of the brave and honourable New Zealander _ a man who twice displayed conspicuous gallantry in the face of the enemy and lived the rest of his life in unassuming modesty. He counted his own survival as inconsequential in the fight for...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (April 11, 2006) -- The Corp’s highest-ranking officer decorated a Darkhorse Marine for combat valor here, April 11. Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Michael W. Hagee presented the Bronze Star Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device to Sgt. Matthew S. Scarborough, a TOW gunner with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment at the Camp Fallujah Chapel of Hope. The award for Scarborough’s actions a year-an-a-half ago while fighting in Fallujah. He’s back, this time with Regimental Combat Team 5. “It’s a shock,” said the 22-year-old from Dripping Springs, Texas. “Big shock. It’s a good award, but...

CAMP AL ASAD, Iraq (Feb. 18, 2006) -- A Marine from Maryville, Tenn., was recognized here today for his life-saving actions during combat operations in Husaybah, Iraq, last November. Cpl. Neill A. Sevelius, a 21-year-old combat videographer with Regimental Combat Team-2, received the Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal with Combat “V” for valor for aiding a wounded Marine while under fire. The Combat “V” device is awarded specifically for heroic actions in combat. Sevelius was attached to a Marine infantry company during Operation: Steel Curtain – the Marine and Iraqi Army-led, two-week offensive, in western Al Anbar Province to disrupt insurgent...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- Sgt. Maj. William Skiles, 44, was awarded a Bronze Star with a "V" for Valor Friday for his actions during combat in Fallujah in April 2004. Skiles, a 26-year-veteran, was the senior noncommissioned officer for Echo Company of the Pendleton-based 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment during a battle with insurgents on April 26 of that year. On Friday, he was commended for showing leadership that "strengthened the resolve" of the Marines even though they were pinned down and outnumbered by insurgents. Skiles braved enemy fire to deliver additional ammunition to the Marines and to evacuate wounded Marines...

I am a combat veteran. I joined the VFW my first day back in the States, and am a life member. I flew forty missions in the Gulf War, and have received many citations for my combat service, and my non-combat service. There is a flare up underway about John Murtha's combat/decoration history here, here, and on this page is a Brit Hume video on the subject. Based on what I have read in the opening paragraphs of Forgotten Soldier and the entirety of Stolen Valor some people have a habit of exaggerating their combat records...if they have one at...

"Be strong and of good courage." -- Joshua, 1:6. "Stranger, go tell the Spartans that here we are buried, obedient to their orders." -- Herodotus, quoting the epitaph for the Spartans at the battle of Thermopylae, 480 B.C. "Fix your eyes on the greatness of Athens, as you have it before you day by day, fall in love with her, and when you feel her great, remember that this greatness was won by men with courage, with knowledge of their duty, and with a sense of honor in action. ... For the whole Earth is the sepulcher of famous men;...

FORT BENNING, Ga. (Army News Service, Nov. 22, 2005) -- Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker presented Army Rangers more than 25 awards for valor during a ceremony at Fort Benning, Ga., Nov. 18. The Soldiers, all assigned to 3rd Bn., 75th Ranger Regt., deployed between July and October in support of Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom. “I am glad I could be here to recognize great heroes,” said the Army chief. “I’m proud of your service. I am proud of what you do and what you represent. You are living the Ranger Creed and Warrior...

AL ASAD, Iraq (Nov. 6, 2005) -- Two hours into a deep sleep, he awoke to the sound of bullets flying and alarms screaming as heavily armed al-Qaeda terrorists attacked the U.S. Consulate Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He immediately assumed his duties as acting detachment commander of the Marine Security Guard, and was directly responsible for saving the lives of Consulate employees and maintaining security of the consulate. Staff Sgt. Michael L. Young, an EA-6B Prowler mechanic staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge with Marine Electronic Warfare Squadron 1, was awarded the Bronze Star with combat distinguishing device, Nov. 1, at Al Asad, Iraq,...

MARINE BARRACKS WASHINGTON, Washington D.C. (Oct. 28, 2005) -- The annals of Marine Corps history are filled with stories of men and women who have sacrificed their all in service to their country. Puller, Basilone, Lejeune, Butler, Daley—names that are synonymous with valor in combat and Marine Corps lore. "There is a fellowship of valor that links all U.S. Marines, past, present, and future," said Joseph Alexander, retired Marine Colonel in his book The Battle History of the U.S. Marines: A Fellowship of Valor. Now, another story of valor can be added to the Marine history books and for one...

how can I find a quality color copy of an AP photo from a year or 2 ago titled " Generations of Valor"? it was a uniformed Pearl Harbor survivor hugging a uniformed recently returned amputee veteran of Iraq.

This account bears a repost for any who may have missed it ~ "This is Mrs. Cindy Sheehan, 48, of Vacaville, California. She is leading an anti-war protest outside President Bush's ranch in Texas. She has led or been part of many other protests against the war in Iraq for the past year at least. Her son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, was killed in the battle for Sadr City, Iraq, of April 4, 2004. We published a story about that battle on October 19, 2004: 'Black Sunday' in Sadr City, April 4, 2004 We introduced our readers to Mrs. Sheehan,...

Half the skin on his face was torn away and his left hand was shattered. But Tucson Police Officer David Lewis knew he had to put his pain aside. He forced up his arm and pointed his gun at the suspect and commanded him to stop. Moments later, the man was taken into custody, accused of leading police on a crosstown chase in which he used his car as a ramrod aimed at officers. Lewis, 32, was pinned to his squad car by the burglary suspect's car in the incident and was dragged 150 feet. Many thoughts went through his...

No one knows for sure how it got there, and for 20 years it has confounded monument specialists in Washington. Spray-painted prominently on the base of the neoclassical bronze-gilded equestrian statue "Valor" on the Arlington Memorial Bridge is a single word: "dykes." The government tried using paint stripper to remove the word, a derogatory term for lesbians. It tried arsenic, but that only made the problem worse and left ugly purple streaks on the statue. Now the government has enlisted the help of an Atlanta-based "object conservator," who will try to remove the offensive word with a laser. The removal...

Turn on your audio and set back on watch this. This is about a real American hero, Captain Brian Chontosh, USMC. Unfortunately our biased news media doesn't cover items like this.

December 7th, 1941, a date that will live in infamy. Why did it happen? What was Japan's logic behind the sneak attack? What was the logic behind the U.S.'s demands for unconditional surrender in 1945? Answering these questions isn't just a dry exercise in trivial history. They carry an important lesson that most people are unaware of. First of all the Japanese military was under no illusion that they could defeat the United States military. They knew that the United States had the resources to defeat them. So why on Earth would Japan attack someone whom they knew could kick...

Author, historian and former state representative Daniel W. Barefoot has written nine previous books, several of them covering former Civil War events and/or personalities. But he's well aware that his latest Let Us Die Like Brave Men: Behind The Dying Words of Confederate Warriors (John F. Blair) may stir some severe emotions and responses, particularly with its cover illustration that includes a soldier holding the Confederate flag. Yet Barefoot, who signs copies of his book today at the Hermitage Museum Shop, hopes that readers understand exactly what's he trying to do with this book rather than make assumptions depending on...

PENTAGON A 23-year-old sergeant with the Kentucky National Guard is the first woman since World War Two to get a Silver Star, the nation's third-highest medal for valor. Sergeant Leigh Ann Hester, who is from Nashville, Tennessee, but serves in a Kentucky unit, received the award for gallantry during a March 20th insurgent ambush on a convoy in Iraq. Two men from her unit, the 617th Military Police Company, also received the Silver Star. According to military accounts, insurgents attacked the convoy south of Baghdad, launching their assault from trenches along the road. Hester and her unit moved through enemy...

KABUL, Afghanistan (Army News Service, May 13, 2005) – Two Soldiers at the Kabul Military Training Center were awarded the Army Commendation Medal with Valor device May 5 for saving the life of an Afghan soldier. Staff Sgt. Scott Erhman and Staff Sgt. David Dixon of the 136th Regional Training Center received the award for actions that saved an Afghan National Army soldier who stepped on a land mine near KMTC. KMTC is the schoolhouse for the ANA and much of the training is conducted on the surrounding ranges. Minefields are a reminder that KMTC was once occupied by the...

“A Tale of Two Lives” It will take more then hanging the Ten Commandments in schools to acquire these virtues. As a matter of fact, and please indulge me as I make this statement—radical as it is, no politician whether Democrat or Republican can instill these values in America by mere legislation. The values I’m referring to are illustrated in the tale of two living stories. These virtues did not originate with government or legislation nor did either entity nurture them. They came by another source. Whether living in a traditional two parent home or a home with a surrogate...

It was in the third week of the Iraq war, as U.S. troops barreled toward Baghdad, that Sgt. 1st Class Paul Smith's band of combat engineers found themselves on the wrong end of 10-to-1 odds. In a walled courtyard not far from Baghdad's airport, Smith and his 15 lightly armed soldiers were trying to hold off 100 Special Republican Guard fighters wielding rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and AK-47 assault rifles. When wounds downed the U.S. crew of the armored vehicle bearing the Americans' sole heavy machine gun, Smith scrambled into the breach. In the gunner's hatch of that personnel carrier, with...

In the early days of Vietnam I commanded a 150 Marine replacement unit arriving in country by ship. As we entered port the ship's Captain summoned me and ordered a perimeter established around the Seabee compound where we docked. It had been receiving probing attacks by the Viet Cong. When the unit was in position I called my four Staff NCOs and told them to move up and down the line all night to keep everyone alert and their spirits high. I reminded them these were very young Marines and that they had never heard a shot fired in anger....

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. -- The Coast Guard awarded one of its highest medals for heroism yesterday to a rescue swimmer who plunged into an icy chemical spill in the ocean off Virginia a year ago to save six seamen from the sunken tanker Bow Mariner. Petty Officer 3rd Class Dave Foreman received the Coast Guard Medal for entering the 44-degree ocean and helping the six exhausted men from a life raft into a hovering rescue helicopter. Those six men were the only survivors of the Bow Mariner sinking on Feb. 28, 2004 the region's worst maritime disaster in more than...

Senators, Representatives, honored guests, veterans. Welcome to the 2005 Veteran’s Awareness Day, sponsored by the Oklahoma Veteran’s Council. Thank you for allowing us this time to address you and speak of veteran’s issues in the State. I often am accused of being rather inflammatory in my speech. As an old Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant I have a tendency to be rather blunt and straightforward when I speak on issues I feel strongly about. So if I seem like a bull in a china closet, let me apologize in advance. I realize this time is valuable and limited so I will...