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CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq (August 5, 2005) -- During basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., Joanna Lael Baker met her nemesis as she stood atop of the rappel tower and peered down at her certain doom. Her fear of heights was being challenged in a finale that meant the difference between her passing the test with the other recruits and falling back in training. She took a deep breath, grabbed the rope and jumped 40 feet down – stopping short just a few feet from the woodchips. Lance Cpl. Baker finally conquered her fear...

New York (July 29, 2005) -- Marines from 6th Communication Battalion joined officers of the 101st and 75th precincts of the New York Police Department in teaching children about leadership and drug awareness through the Drug Education For Youth (DEFY) program held at Floyd Bennett Field, recently. The Marines ran the program from July 5 to July 15. The program, which focuses on building the self-esteem of inner city children ages nine through 13, was created to help the children resist the temptation of drugs and gangs. During the program, groups of children from Far Rockaway and East Brooklyn participated...

In battle, one of the hardest challenges is saving the wounded. Medical professionals encounter injuries not normally seen in peacetime, and many times see multiple life-threatening injures requiring immediate treatment on the battlefield. Another problem is moving patients across hot desert sands on bumpy roads in Iraq, which can be logistically challenging and uncomfortable for the patient. And there is always the danger of roadside bombs. To solve these problems, military aeromedical planners developed what is now an efficient medical evacuation system that moves patients from where they were injured to definitive care quickly and safely. Along the way, patients...

BALAD, Iraq, July 29, 2005 – Bernd and Virginia Zoller are two full-time Army Reserve officers with a lot in common, pulling military duty in an uncommon place. First off, the Zollers share the same rank -- lieutenant colonel -- and both are public affairs officers. "We were promoted together here on Dec. 24 in this room," Lt. Col. Virginia Zoller said during a July 27 interview with American Forces Press Service here. And the pair has the same last name, because they're a couple. The Zollers will celebrate their first year of marriage Aug. 29. Virginia, 42, acknowledged she...

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (AFPN) -- U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, “Thunderbirds,” officials announced their new pilots for the 2006 demonstration season which includes the first female demonstration pilot in the 52-year history of the Thunderbirds. Capt. Nicole Malachowski, of the 494th Fighter Squadron at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, joins the team as the first female demonstration pilot on any U.S. military high performance jet team. Lt. Col. Kevin Robbins, from the Air Force Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., and Capt. Ed Casey, of the 56th Training Squadron at Luke AFB, Ariz., also were selected for...

Sergeant, 23, Is First Woman Awarded Silver Star Since World War IIBy John J. Lumpkin Associated Press Writer Published: Jun 16, 2005 WASHINGTON (AP) - A 23-year-old sergeant with the Kentucky National Guard on Thursday became the first female soldier to receive the Silver Star - the nation's third-highest medal for valor - since World War II. Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, who is from Nashville, Tenn., but serves in a Kentucky unit, received the award for gallantry during a March 20 insurgent ambush on a convoy in Iraq. Two men from her unit, the 617th Military Police Company of Richmond,...

Steve Rasmussen stood earnestly, his voice cracking with emotion describing his father’s love for the U. S. Military Academy and his privilege to witness something that meant so much to his father with the hope it will mean the same to its new owner. His father, James Asa Rasmussen, USMA class of 1945, who died October 26, had a last wish of contributing his class ring to the Class Ring Memorial Program. His ring was included among the 12 present at the ring ceremony conducted at the Pease & Curren Refinery in Warwick , R.I. , March 8. In four...

A tribute to fallen HEROES  from the staff and visitors at FreeRepublic.com, FreedomUSA.org and Veterans for Constitutional Restoration (VetsCoR)  During the course of this country's history brave men and women have stepped forward from time to time, answering the country's call to fight against would-be tyrants, dictators and despots,  and to defend the individual freedom that is our birthright.  Many of these brave men and women have paid the ultimate price. It is to these brave men and women of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine that we dedicate this page, and to...

WEST POINT, N.Y. - Graduating U.S. Military Academy cadets - who came here just weeks before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - were told Saturday they were a special group forged by historic events. Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called the class "one of the few since the early days of the Vietnam War who came to West Point in peace time, saw the nation transition to war and chose to stay, knowing you would raise your right hand and take an oath and swear to defend the constitution of a nation that was still...

FRAMINGHAM -- When Collin Kelly arrived at Edgell Grove Cemetery to place flowers on soldiers' graves yesterday, he discovered a crowd of people and decades of emotions buried deep. The cemetery visit by the young boy, whose effort to honor dead veterans has made him a national media celebrity this past week, attracted a large group of onlookers: veterans, reporters, patriotic well-wishers and people grieving the loss of loved ones laid to rest at Edgell Grove.

(snip, snip) "Do you ever take a half step back and say, 'Was this war really necessary?' Or you don't even go there?" asks Safer. "No, on a daily basis. Because it's a responsibility I have to my soldiers, because they're gonna ask me those questions," says Blickhan. "And no reporter can put it as blunt as an American paratrooper. 'Why are we here? Why are we doing this?' And I've gotta be able to answer that. In my heart, I've found an answer that it's worth it. And I've lost soldiers, and Americans are dying over there, and Iraqis...

Sunday, May 01, 2005 The Battle For Mosul The Deuce-Four Fighting for Mosul Mosul, Northern Iraq As the new map of Iraq unfolds, a picture of progress emerges. The Iraqis who want freedom and democracy are gaining ground. From what I hear about the news back home, this might sound unreal. Nightly tallies of roadside IEDs and suicide car bombers driving headlong into crowds, like the Vietnam body counts on the Huntley-Brinkley Report, are the main summary of events, while most of this country is peaceful. There are seventeen provinces in Iraq, and more than ten are quiet. They are...

Pfc. Sam Huff decided at age 16 she would enlist in the Army. On Monday she was killed when a roadside bomb detonated next to her Humvee in Baghdad. Eighteen-year-old Pfc. Sam Huff was born with a man's name. But she was a consummate "girlie-girl," said her father, Robert Huff. She liked to wear false eyelashes and played flute in her high-school band. Last July, she joined the Army, the first step in a career she hoped would take her to the FBI. On April 18, Huff, an only child, became the 37th U.S. female to die in combat since...

The sergeant stationed just west of Baghdad was once again recounting the dangers of being on the front line - sometimes with dark humor. He referred to how the "muj" (mujahideen or insurgents) were the gang that couldn't shoot straight, but still represented a considerable threat. "They're horrible shots," he wrote in an e-mail to his family, "but every once in awhile they get lucky. We lost another Marine the other day." This is the first war in which American GIs and military families can communicate freely and in real time via e-mail and cellphone, while gathering endless amounts of...

Soldiers that were severely wounded, lost limbs, but are going back to Iraq

WASHINGTON (AP)-U.S. military guards discovered a 600-foot tunnel-dug with makeshift tools-leading out of the main prison facility for detainees in Iraq before anyone had the opportunity to escape, officials said Friday.

The Kentucky National Guardsmen were outnumbered and under heavy gunfire when they counterattacked Iraqi insurgents who ambushed a coalition convoy southeast of Baghdad. A 30-minute firefight ensued on a Sunday morning, pitting 10 guardsmen against dozens of insurgents. When the shooting ended, 26 guerrillas lay dead and another was mortally wounded, while six others were wounded and another was captured unharmed. The guardsmen didn't go unscathed. Three members of the military police unit were wounded and later transported for medical treatment in Germany, where they are recovering. "It was crazy," recalled Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester. "Adrenaline pumping, you didn't have...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 22, 2005 — National Guard soldiers from the Richmond, Ky.-based 617th Military Police Company were still reminiscing today about the extraordinary battle they fought on Sunday, when dozens of Iraqi insurgents ambushed a U.S. patrol — touching off one of the fiercest battles in Iraq since the fight for Fallujah last fall. But what is more extraordinary is who the U.S. soldiers are — a shoe store manager, hotel worker, printing press operator and several students. The firefight serves as a reminder of how citizen-soldiers are shouldering much of the burden in Iraq. Of the U.S. forces...

A Black Hawk helicopter pilot had a surprise visit four days before Christmas, receiving an Army Commendation Medal, Air Medal and promotion to major. Maj. Ladda “Tammy” Duckworth, of the Illinois National Guard’s 1-106th Aviation, is recuperating from injuries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center after a rocket-propelled grenade hit the helicopter she was piloting in Iraq Nov. 12. “I hope this is the worst thing that happens to anyone in the 106th during this deployment,” said Duckworth. “This is not so bad, there is always somebody worse off than you are. I’m just glad it was me and not...

Healing hands welcomed home(staff photo by Steven Georges) LOS ALAMITOS — As a rifleman in Somalia and a sniper protecting former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Army Spc. Salvador Romo had empathy for the wounded soldiers he helped treat at a U.S. Army hospital in Germany. ***************************************************** Healing hands welcomed homeMembers of 349th General Hospital cared for service members hurt in Iraq.By David RogersStaff writerLOS ALAMITOS — As a rifleman in Somalia and a sniper protecting former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Army Spc. Salvador Romo had empathy for the wounded soldiers he helped treat at a U.S. Army hospital in Germany....

U.S. General Says Met Israeli Interrogator in Iraq LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. general who was in charge of Baghdad's notorious Abu Ghraib prison said on Saturday she had met an Israeli interrogator in Iraq, a controversial allegation likely to irritate many in the Arab world. A U.S. military spokesman in Washington said he had no information and an Israeli official denied Israel was involved. Brigadier-General Janis Karpinski, who was responsible for military police guarding all Iraqi jails at the time prisoners were abused by U.S. troops there, told the BBC she met the Israeli at a Baghdad interrogation center....

<p>May 13, 2004 -- WASHINGTON - Shocking shots of sexcapades involving Pfc. Lynndie England were among the hundreds of X-rated photos and videos from the Abu Ghraib prison scandal shown to lawmakers in a top-secret Capitol conference room yesterday.</p> <p>"She was having sex with numerous partners. It appeared to be consensual," said a lawmaker who saw the photos.</p>

Pentagon possesses three disks of photos, one of which includes some brief video clips. Many of the photos are redundant, and some have little to do with Iraqi detainees but show sex between U.S. soldiers... Pentagon officials prevailed at least temporarily in their insistence that the administration not immediately release the images, which include the forced masturbation of a detainee...

It sounds like a Sci-Fi movie conceived in the mind of Betty Friedan: Misogynist Muslim males in an Iraqi prison under the control of a female general are leashed like dogs for the amusement of female guards during a game of carnal hijinks -- "2004: A Sexual Space Odyssey." What once was a men-are-dogs satirical cartoon in feminist magazines is now a photo on the front page of newspapers. Will Hillary Clinton, who sits on the Senate Committee on Armed Services set to browbeat Donald Rumsfeld today, apologize for the photo of the female guard leashing a Muslim male? Where...

<p>Jessica Lynch has become a motivational speaker.</p> <p>The slight blonde who went from broken prisoner of war and national hero to an instant and controversial celebrity has taken on a new public identity, offering her story in a presentation titled "Survival is a Choice."</p>

Hours after a bomb exploded in front of Army Staff Sgt. Kimberley Fahnestock Voelz in Iraq, she died in a military hospital in the arms of her husband. Voelz's death Sunday was caused by the explosion of a bomb she was defusing. The blast nearly tore off her left leg and filled her body with shrapnel. Only the quick action of a fellow soldier, who applied a tourniquet to her injured leg, kept her from dying on the spot. From Our Advertiser As Voelz, 27, was being taken to the hospital, her husband, Staff Sgt. Max Voelz, who was stationed...

CAMP UDAIRI, Kuwait -- A female Stryker brigade soldier reported she was raped late Friday or early Saturday at this desert post about 10 miles south of the Iraqi border, brigade officials said Saturday. Detectives with the Army's Criminal Investigation Division taped off the area around a cargo container next to the shower trailer where the alleged assault occurred. "A 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division female soldier has allegedly been sexually assaulted at Camp Udairi. The soldier is being provided with medical care and emotional support," spokesman Lt. Col. Joseph Piek said in a statement. "The incident is under investigation,"...

I've got a serious question that I need some Freeper help with. I know that in World War II women were able to serve separately from men in the Armed Forces in such services as the WACS and the WAVES. Are there any such women's only corps in our services today? This is an honest question. I have wanted badly to serve my country, but I have almost always felt that women's roles in the military should not be a soldiers but as equally important nurses, intelligence officers, and other support staff. ANY FEMALE SOLDIERS OR VETS READING THIS PLEASE...