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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, Ky., also received the Silver Star for their roles in the same action. According to military accounts of the firefight, insurgents attacked the convoy as...

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,...

Folks, Thanks to your help the Silver Star Service Flag for our honored wounded is now available. If you know of any families or wounded service members, they can go here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SilverStarFamiliesofAmerica/join Membership is Free to the wounded and their families. Since the organization is small at this time, we cannot pay for the Silver Stars but we can help you obtain them. God bless all and I hope you enjoy this new "Old Sergeant." Chief Steve Newton (ret)

“Memory n. 1. The mental faculty of retaining and recalling past experience; the ability to remember. 2. An act or instance of remembrance; a recollection… see smer in Appendix.” “smer – to remember. In Germanic murnon, to remember sorrowfully, in Old English murnan, to mourn.” I remember Chuck Meerholz and the day I was supposed to drive. After four months with B Company, 1st Battalion, 69th Armor; four months of on-the-job-training for a guy trained as an infantrymen, I was being taught to drive our tank. B Company was to participate in a big operation centered on the village of...

TO MY FRIENDS AT FREE REPUBLIC Well, sometimes you’re right and sometimes your wrong. When I came to you all for support of the Silver Star Service Flag for our honored wounded, many of you suggested that I should just “DO IT!” While still working to get signatures for a petition to get Congressional recognition, I decided to take your advice. (http://www.petitiononline.com/12251952/petition.html) I wanted you all to be the first to know that we have now formed THE SILVER STAR FAMILIES OF AMERICA. (Temporary Site: http://steven.newton6.home.att.net/) and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SilverStarFamiliesofAmerica/join I just decided that years waiting for legislation was too long. Now...

Gunny Bob's Hall of Heroes You have just entered a sacred place. Here in this Hall of Heroes are the stories of just a handful of the heroes who have risked their lives under fire in the war on terror. In some cases, these men of steel and grit have made the ultimate sacrifice so that others might live. In the case of those who survived their selfless act of heroism, none ever brag about their medals and the deeds that brought these bits of cloth and metal to their chests. They simply salute, reload, and press on with...

Silver Stars Foreverby Capt Greg Castagner, AETE Cold Lake; research by MWO Keith Christensen, AETE Cold Lake. March 31, 2005 4 WING COLD LAKE – The sun will soon set for the final time on the venerable T-33; officially the CT-133AN "Silver Star" Mark III but more commonly known as the T-Bird. This august airframe, the longest serving aircraft in the history of the CF or RCAF, will cease flying operations on March 31, 2005. The T-Bird is a two-seat derivative of the Lockheed-designed P-80 "Shooting Star", the world's first full-production jet fighter! The RCAF acquired 20 USAF T-33As in...

A Swiftboat veteran who was a member of Sen. John Kerry's crew when their boat was targeted in Feb. 1969 by an enemy rocket launcher has refuted Kerry's claim that he single-handedly saved his crew from the attack - an account that earned the top Democrat the Silver Star. Interviewed during Kerry's 1996 Senate reelection battle, Kerry crew member Tom Bellodeau told the Boston Globe that he - not Kerry - fired the shot the brought down the enemy fighter, who had aimed a loaded rocket launcher at their boat just after Kerry beached it on the Ca Mau peninsula....

While running for Senate against Bill Weld in 1996, a lot of the same issues that dog Kerry now were part of the political landscape. To placate some concerns, John Kerry allowed reporter Charles Sennott of the Boston Globe to watch five hours of his homemade video that was taken while he was on the Meekong Delta in Vietnam. The article, which is entited: "The making of the candidates: JOHN FORBES KERRY" was published on page A31 of the Globe on 10/6/1996. In it, Kerry admitted that he had used a video camera while in combat and had reenacted many...

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - Two Green Berets who carried wounded comrades out of danger as gunfire continued around them during separate incidents in Iraq were awarded Silver Star medals Thursday. The Silver Stars - the Army's third highest award for actions in combat - were pinned on Master Sgt. David Miles, 37, of Powellton, W.Va., and Master Sgt. Kelly Mahon, 40, of Virgil, Kan., during a ceremony at Fort Campbell. Miles killed or directed the killing of up to 20 Saddam loyalists on April 7, 2003, at a bridge overpass south of Baghdad where they had set up fighting positions...

FORT McCOY, Wis. (Army News Service, Feb. 28, 2005) -- As the 724th Transportation Company was welcomed home from Iraq Feb. 25, the first Army Reserve Soldier in the Global War on Terrorism received a Silver Star. Pfc. Jeremy Church of the 724th was pinned during a homecoming ceremony at Fort McCoy, Wis., with the Silver Star, the Army’s third-highest medal for valor. Church earned the medal when his convoy was attacked April 9 by more than 150 insurgents in an ambush during which Spc. Keith “Matt” Maupin was captured. Church was the convoy commander’s driver in the lead vehicle....

DefendAmerica News - Father Pins Silver Star on Son in Baghdad Staff Sgt. William Thomas Payne, his father Carl and Maj. Gen. Pete Chiarelli, stand together after Payne was awarded the Silver Star at the cross sabers monument in central Baghdad. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. John Queen, 3rd BCT Public Affairs Father Pins Silver Star on Son in Baghdad Staff Sgt. Payne received the United States third highest award for heroism in combat. U.S. Army Sgt. John Queen 3rd BCT Public Affairs BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 1, 2005 -- Staff Sgt. William Thomas Payne of the 1st Cavalry Division received...

 News   Platoon Leader awarded Silver Star for conduct under fire 1st Lt. Neil Prakash from Syracuse, New York, a tank platoon leader from 2nd Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment is presented the Silver Star Medal - one of the military’s highest decorations - by 1st Infantry Division Commander Maj. Gen. John R.S. Batiste for his actions under fire in Ba'qubah June 24. (Photo by Sgt. Kimberly Snow, 196th MPAD) FORWARD OPERATING BASE SCUNION, BA’QUBAH, Iraq -- After leading his platoon through a fierce onslaught, enemy fire pounding them from every direction, 1st Lt. Neil Prakash went back in for...

WASHINGTON: It wasn't just in the summer of '99 on Kargil heights that an Indian soldier went back for more battlefield action. Lt. Neil Prakash did that in the summer of 2004. In Baqubah, Iraq. Only, he was fighting for the United States, his adopted country. For courage under fire, the India-born Prakash, a tank platoon leader from the 2nd Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment of the US Army, was awarded with the Silver Star Medal, one of the US military's highest honours, last week. The Silver Star is awarded "For Gallantry in Action Against an Opposing Armed Force," and its...

Spc. Micheaux Sanders with Silver Star HEIDELBERG, Germany (Army News Service, Dec. 14, 2004) -- Spc. Micheaux Sanders deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 fresh from Army basic training. Sanders tank crew and two others from his unit – C Company, 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor -- were called to the aid of a 1st Cavalry patrol trapped in an ambush by Iraqi insurgents. “There were blown up Humvees all over,” said Sanders. “They were throwing everything at us,” said Sanders. “They were shooting AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades, pistols, shotguns and throwing grenades.” The tankers fired back, but were low on...

W.Va. soldier awarded Bronze Star for actions in clash near Iraqi-Syrian borderFORT CAMPBELL, Ky. -- An Army trumpet player turned Green Beret was awarded Thursday with a Silver Star, the Army's third highest award for combat valor. Staff Sgt. Charles Good was credited with exposing himself to enemy fire on the Syrian/Iraqi border to assist in getting a critically wounded comrade into a Humvee, then negotiating in Arabic a ride from an Iraqi man for them when the Humvee became crippled by enemy fire. "Something took over me," said Good, 34, of Altoona, Pa., after the brief ceremony. "That's pretty...

I just read John Kerry's Silver Star citation and almost fell out of my chair. Having served at one time as an "awards and decorations officer", which is an additional duty assignment for staff officers, I know full well how these citations can be colored and worded to change an "oh no!" into a "attaboy." That is what happened with Kerry's situation. He probably would have been disciplined for endangering his boat and crew, but instead, because of his political connections, they gave him what is known as a "coverup award." One of the oldest tricks in the military book...

4th Infantry Division - Command Sgt. Maj. Ron Riling said he's honored to be awarded the Silver Star, but he'd gladly give it back if it would bring back the 12 Marines who lost their lives in Rammadi, Iraq, April 6. "I'd do it in a heartbeat," Riling said. "That would be my reward, to let those kids be still alive. I'd do it in a minute." Riling, who serves as the 4th Infantry Division's command sergeant major, was serving with 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, when he and his brigade commander, Col. Buck Connor, were notified Marines attached to...

The greatest man in the world died peacefully in his sleep three hours ago in his home in Georgia with his wife of 62 years by his side. My dad was a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne in WWII. He fought mightily in the Korean Conflict. He held Silver Stars and numerous awards of the Purple Heart. He was the proud owner of six combat jumps. He was a man of honor, love of country, devotion to family. Our family loved him deeply and our hearts are broken. He wanted to get to the WWII Memorial Dedication more than anything...

Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004 9:19 a.m. EST Fallujah Marine in Trouble for Pulling a Kerry The television press was awash Monday night with video of a U.S. Marine entering a Fallujah terrorist nest filled with dead snipers, who moments earlier were shooting at his unit. Upon discovering that one of the snipers is still breathing, the Marine shouts a warning to his buddies, the screen goes dark and a gunshot his heard - suggesting the Marine finished off the wounded terrorist. Iraq war critics are already salivating at the prospects of another Abu Ghraib-like military fiasco. Not so fast, say...