Sheehan returns to Crawford
Dead soldier's mom resumes anti-war vigil before Bush returns
08/24/05 10:12 PM, EDT
The California woman at the center of anti-war protests outside President Bush's ranch returned to Texas to cheers -- and a few boos -- Wednesday after nearly a week away to tend her ailing mother.
FULL STORY - from CNN.com

Head on over to "Boots in Baghdad" for a video of some of our heroes returning fire on some terrorists in Iraq...

And while you're there, check out some of the other great videos he's got posted, too.

Hat Tip to the Mudville Gazette

That's right - I'm helping Richie Rich out over at Bizblogger, and will be putting up a couple posts over there each week - stop on in and check the place out when you have the time!

Memo: Suicide bomber tried to enter U.S.
08/24/05 01:55 PM, EDT
U.S. Customs authorities blocked a Jordanian man from entering the country 20 months before he was accused of carrying out an Iraq suicide bombing, according to an internal Homeland Security memo obtained Wednesday.

FULL STORY - from CNN.com

1st Lt. Charles E. Hayter, a 26-year-old native of Billings, Mont., once again leads Marines as a platoon commander with 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. Hayter's right leg was amputated at mid-shin after he stepped on an Italian toe-popper landmine while on operations in Afghanistan. (Official U. S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. G. S. Thomas)

Read his story - at Marine Corps News

As BlackFive would say, Wilbert Davis is Someone You Should (Have) Know(n)...

By Capt. Steve Alvarez, USA
American Forces Press Service
from Defend America

MAITLAND, Fla., Aug. 23, 2005 – Not many people have heard of the sleepy town of Maitland. But the central Florida borough where I live has been in the news recently because 11 boys from here have advanced to the Little League World Series, in Williamsport, Pa.

Watching these boys from my town play, I was reminded of Little League legend Wilbert Davis.

In 1975, Davis was a 12-year-old pitcher and outfielder for a Tampa, Fla., Little League team. Davis, one of eight children, grew up poor and in "the projects," raised by his widowed mother. His youth league produced baseball greats Dwight Gooden and Gary Sheffield.

Like the Maitland boys, Davis's team advanced to the Little League World Series. His team played in the championship game that year, an objective now in the sights of the Maitland team.

Davis had to win 13 games in a row to get his team to the World Series. In the process, his mother said at a 2003 ceremony inducting Davis into the Little League Hall of Excellence, he threw his arm out. The team finished second.

Years later Davis joined the Army, and in April 2003 he was a staff sergeant with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division when he was killed in Iraq after his Humvee went into a canal near Baghdad.

Little League Baseball said Davis was "eager to make a contribution to the effort" in Iraq. In published reports, his family said he was dedicated to the military and to his mission in Iraq. He had two passions in his life: Little League and the Army.

As professional sports are in upheaval, it is nice to watch the game being played not for money, but for fun; not for contract posturing, but simply for the love of the game. It is sportsmanship purity: competition and goodwill.

On the Little League fields here in central Florida, dugout conversations tend to focus on video game strategies and post-game pizza. Losses hurt, but coaches make them less painful. Kudos are given for games well played and even for efforts that fail to be fruitful. Games are won and lost, but all the boys and girls ultimately win as they learn humility, fairness and resiliency, all building blocks that will some day make these good boys and girls become good men and women.
What you don't see on television are the lessons these coaches impart on the kids, how their words dry a player's crying eyes after a critical loss or how to explain to 12-year-olds that they need to be pulled from the game "for the good of the team" -- a hard lesson in selflessness.

Many of these kids will take the bonds forged on these playing fields and the lessons of teamwork with them as they participate in the game of life. Their coaches are like noncommissioned officers, the backbone our military, carefully molding children into adults.

Remarkably, the coaches pull it off. The kids are humble, good sports, and supportive of each other, despite international media attention and praise from fans. They do what they have to for each other --hitting sacrifice fly balls and bunts, trying to play the best game they can to go home with a trophy.

As I watch the Maitland kids, many of whom are my neighbors, I can't help but think about Sgt. 1st Class Davis (he was posthumously promoted). I think about the fortitude he had at 12 that empowered him to win 13 consecutive games, and I wonder what other sacrifices he made as a boy out on the baseball diamond.

Davis's selfless service embodies what servicemembers continue to do today for the cause of liberty throughout the world. Davis went from the ball field to the battlefield, and although he outgrew his Little League uniform and traded it for an Army camouflaged uniform, he took his Little League values with him to Iraq.

In Iraq, Davis made "the ultimate sacrifice." It was the last thing he would do for a team.

And even though Davis played in the same Little League as Sheffield and Gooden, and although he is part of noteworthy group by being inducted into the Hall of Excellence with the likes of Cal Ripken Jr., Tom Seaver, and Nolan Ryan -- to me, he is in a league all his own.

And since I wear the same team uniform that Davis wore when he died, I find it fitting that he be remembered today, two years to the day after he was inducted into the Little League Hall of Excellence.

It's the least one teammate can do for another.


Related Article:
Marine General and Soldier Inducted Into Little League's Hall of Fame

IRAQ DUTY — U.S. Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Michael L. Burke (right), platoon commander, Combined Action Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, communicates with his Marines during a foot patrol with Iraqi Security Forces in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, Aug. 8, 2005. Burke’s radio operator, Cpl. Peter H. Do, kneels behind him and provides security. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tom Sloan

SPC Noah Pincusoff has been seriously injured in a VBIED attack. He received a severe spinal injury, and was undergoing surgery yesterday.

His mother is the blogger of "Some Soldier's Mom."

Please stop by and give her a message of support.

Soldiers' Angels is awaiting marching orders - we're ready to do what we can to help.

Sgt. Stephanie White, from the 64th Military Police Company, 720th Military Police Battalion, takes a short break to chat with a 13-year-old Iraqi boy while on patrol in the al-Zohour section of Baghdad. Photo by Pfc. Laura Bigenho.

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Forces Kill 2 Attacking Insurgents
Iraqi Environment Recovering
Zarqawi Claims Jordan Attack

Operation Enduring Freedom
Military Doctor Gives Afghan Girl Gift of Life
Team Builds Up Remote Corner of Afghanistan

Gaza Withdrawal
Sharon faces political fallout after quitting Gaza
Palestinian happy to see Israelis leave
Israel says onus is now on Palestinians
Settler home demolitions to take 10 days
Israel, Egypt reach deal on Gaza border

War on Terror / Homeland Security
Britain presents plans to ban hate preachers

Only in America
Rename Your Town, Get 10 Years of Free Satellite TV

Other News of Note
New Military Graves Inscribed With Pentagon Slogans (slightly misleading headline here - shame on you, Fox!)

Fox News
Egypt to Patrol Gaza Border
Bush Won't Meet Sheehan (nor should he - he's already met with her)
Robertson Urges 'Taking Out' Chavez; U.S. Distances Itself
Video: Take Him Out?
Video: 'A Terrific Danger'
Google Launches IM Service
Report: Fetuses Don't Feel Pain Until Late Pregnancy
Fates of Military Bases Hang in Balance
(Military)Academies in Crisis

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Iraqi leader wants constitution for all
Iraqi envoy criticizes other Arab nations
U.N.: Uranium brought to, not made in Iran
Police, suspected militants clash in Egypt
Seven killed by suicide bomber in Iraq

Reuters: Top News
U.S. evangelist calls for assassination of Chavez
U.S. says IAEA report won't end concerns over Iran
Bush: Iraq's Sunnis face choice on constitution
Israeli army to be out of Gaza by mid-September-Mofaz
Unions plan fight against Wal-Mart, multinationals

JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Bush: Pullout would hurt Iraq's democracy
U.S. dodges Robertson comments on Chavez
Final vote on military bases to begin

Department of Defense
Rumsfeld: Delays in Iraq Part of Process — Story Transcript
Homeland Defense Exercise Wraps Up — Story

ON THE GROUND
Iraqi Engineer Regiment Focuses on Training — Story Photos
U.S. Troops Teach Iraqi Soldiers Medical Skills — Story

IN TURKEY
Incirlik Hub Delivers Cargo to Warfighters

FACE OF DEFENSE
Firefighter Gets Promotion While Deployed — Story

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Iraqi Boy to Receive Heart Surgery — Story
Mo. School Supports Soldier, Kids
Santa Barbara Welcomes Sailors

TOP NEWS
IN IRAQ
Bombing Kills Americans, Iraqis
Canal Work to Benefit Basra Area
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps
Iraq Daily Update
Multinational Force Iraq
Iraq Progress Fact Sheet (pdf)
Weekly Progress Report (pdf)

IN AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan Daily Update
Maps
Afghan Reconstruction Group Recruiting

WAR ON TERRORISM
Navy Reservists Defend Gulf Coast
West Va. Guard Supports Exercise
Exercise Tests Disaster Response
Bush: U.S. Seeks ' Total Victory'
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
National Guard, Reserve Update

CASUALTIES
Defense Officials Identify Casualties — Story

Weather
Iraq
Al Azamiyah Al Basrah Al Hillah Al Karkh Al Kazimiyah Al Kut An Nasiriyah Baghdad Baqubah Mosul Najaf Nineveh Tall Kayf

Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Gitmo

Today in History
79 - Mt. Vesuvius erupts, burying Pompeii and Herculaneum.
410 - Rome is overrun by the Visigoths, symbolizing the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
1572 - King Charles IX orders the massacre of thousands of French Protestants.
1662 - The Act of Uniformity requires all English to accept the book of Common Prayer.
1682 - Delaware is awarded to William Penn.
1751 - In England, Thomas Colley is executed for drowning a supposed witch.
1814 - The British sack Washington, D.C., burning the White House.
1853 - In Saratoga Springs, NY, Chef George Crum prepares the first potato chips.
1869 - The waffle iron is invented.
1891 - Thomas Edison patents the motion picture camera.
1909 - Workers start pouring concrete for the Panama Canal.
1912 - The Territory of Alaska is organized.
1912 - The U.S. passes the Anti-gag law, giving Federal employees the right to petition the government.
1932 - Amelia Earhart completes the first non-stop transcontinental flight by a woman.
1949 - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is established.
1950 - E.S. Sampson becomes the first U.S. Negro delegate to the U.N.; Operation Magic Carpet transports 45,000 Yemenite Jews to Israel.
1954 - At the height of McCarthyism, the Communist Control Act is passed.
1956 - The first non-stop transcontinental helicopter flight arrives in Washington, D.C.
1959 - Hiram L. Fong is sworn in as the first Chinese-American Senator, while Daniel K. Inouye becomes the first Japanese-American Representative; both are from Hawaii.
1961 - Former Nazi leader Johannes Vorster becomes South Africa's Minister of Justice.
1966 - The U.S.S.R. launches Luna-11 for a lunar orbit.
1968 - France becomes the world's 5th thermonuclear power.
1970 - A bomb kills one person at the University of Wisconsin's Army Math Research Center.
1976 - Soyuz-21 returns to Earth.
1979 - The U.N.'s Vienna office begins issuing postage stamps.
1981 - Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20-years-to-life for the murder of Beatle John Lennon.
1987 - It is announced that Mars may experience tornadoes.
1989 - Pete Rose is suspended from baseball for life for gambling.
1989 - Voyager-2 flies past Neptune.
1990 - Iraqi troops surround embassies in Kuwait City (including the U.S. embassy).
1991 - Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as head of the U.S.S.R's Communist Party; the Ukraine declares its independence from the U.S.S.R.

Birthdays
1113 - Geoffrey Plantagenet, conquerer of Normandy
1787 - James Weddell, Antarctic explorer (Weddell Sea)
1898 - Albert Claude, physician, Nobel Prize winner (1974)
1922 - Rene Levesque, Quebec premier (1976-85)
1927 - William V. Shannon, journalist / ambassador to Ireland (1977-81)
1944 - Gregory B. Jarvis, astronaut (STS 25)
1946 - Richard "Dick" N. Richards, USN / astronaut (STS-28, 41, sk:50)
1949 - Anna L. Fisher, M.D. / astronaut (STS 51-A)
1962 - Mary E Weber, Ph.D. / astronaut

Passings
1991 - Bernard Castro, patented the convertible couch

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Brunhaver, Richard M., USNR (WA); A4C shot down (pilot), released by DRV February, 1973 - alive as of 1998

Doremus, Robert H., USN (NJ); F4B shot down (NFO, w/Franke), released by DRV February, 1973 - retired as a Captain - alive as of 1998

Franke, Fred A., USN (NY); F4B shot down (pilot, w/Doremus), released by DRV February, 1973 - retired as a Captain - alive and well as of 1998

1967
Allard, Richard M., US Army (MI); UH1H crashed after being caught in a downdraft (crewchief)
Goff, Kenneth B., Jr., US Army (RI); UH1H crasehd after being caught in a downdraft (passenger)

Hess, Jay C., USAF (UT); F105 shot down, released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Lt. Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

Holtzman, Ronald L., US Army (VA); UH1H crashed after being caught in a downdraft (gunner)

Schell, Richard J., US Army (MN); UH1H crashed after being caught in a downdraft (passenger)
1968
Heep, William Arthur, USN (CA); F4B shot down (pilot), KIA, body not recovered

Ladewig, Melvin E., USAF (CO); F4D shot down (WSO, w/Read)

Read, Charles H., Jr., USAF (FL); F4D shot down (pilot, w/Ladewig)

1969
Hatch, Paul G., US Army; escaped August, 1969