Free Republic

A-10 Pilot Wows Smithsonian Crowd by Senior Master Sgt. Rick Burnham Air Force News March 30, 2004 WASHINGTON -- The Iraqi republican guard may have had luck on their side that miserable Baghdad day, but they did not know who was flying the A-10 Thunderbolt II they had just hit with a rocket. It was April 7, 2003, and an elite unit of Iraqis had U.S. forces pinned down along the Tigris River, firing rocket-propelled grenades into their position, not far from the North Baghdad Bridge. The word from the forward-air controller on the ground with the U.S. forces indicated...

Thanks to another Freeper, I read the book Thunderbolt! by Robert S. Johnson. I was deeply impressed by the following description he gave of our men flying the big bombers during WWII. We must never forget the courage and sacrifice of our military heroes of yesteryears as well as today. "From each savage collision metal dropped, and metal fluttered, ludicrous, and almost featherlike. Wings or tail surfaces, flip-flopping almost gently as the spume of jagged steel and flame rushed by in the endless plummet to earth. Within the cubic mile of space, within the heart of the more than six...

Dear Lord, There's a young man far from home, called to serve his nation in time of war; sent to defend our freedom on some distant foreign shore. We pray You keep him safe, we pray You keep him strong, we pray You send him safely home ... for he's been away so long. There's a young woman far from home, serving her nation with pride. Her step is strong, her step is sure, there is courage in every stride. We pray You keep her safe, we pray You keep her strong, we pray You send her safely home...

When Lt. Grant Turley, 21, was shot down over Germany on March 6, 1944, he was carrying a four-leaf clover, a photo of his wife and a lock of his horse's mane. Turley, the fighter pilot who was Arizona's first ace in World War II, is cherished as much for his humanity as for his heroics. His siblings recall that this tall, lean cowboy from Aripine was quiet and generous, that he would lend his brother Stan $5 for socializing and be satisfied to be paid back only $3 because, he would tell Stan, "you need it more than I...