Hostage Freed in Iraq
Roy Hallums rescued by GIs in raid; four other contractors killed in bombing

WASHINGTON -- Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper (left) and Cheryl Downey look on as Tech. Sgt. Michael Downey II and his son, Joseph, compare coins given to them by the chief of staff. General Jumper presented an Airman's Medal to Sergeant Downy here Aug. 31. Sergeant Downey was awarded the medal for exemplary courage and heroism on Oct. 17, 2003, when he swam to a vehicle that crashed into a canal and freed an 89-year-old driver who was trapped inside a vehicle. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Jim Varhegyi)

Amid growing criticism that Hurricane Katrina relief efforts moved too slowly, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Joint Chief of Staff Richard B. Myers said Tuesday that there was no delay in getting aid to victims. The Defense Department began pre-positioning assets in the area before the storm hit, Rumsfeld said.

Read the whole story - at Stars and Stripes

More positive news at Stars and Stripes, too:

In spite of deployments, DODDS test scores go up
Students attending Defense Department schools continue to score higher than the national average despite the high number of deployments in the past three years. Terra Nova standardized test results released in July show students who attend Department of Defense Education Activity schools scored 10 to 20 points above average in 37 of the 45 subtest scores this past spring.

Military, civilians to wear pin symbolizing solidarity with Afghans
Military officials say that troops in Afghanistan have a new weapon in their fight to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people — a small lapel pin with the crossed flags of the United States and Afghanistan. And it’s not just servicemembers who will be wearing these new arms; they’re also mandatory for all civilians working under Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan.

BLAST PROTECTION — U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Charles Hodge, left, from the 451st Air Expeditionary Group, and U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Victor Fontan, right, from the 789th Explosive Ordnance Disposal, tape the ends of two wire cables to the two 105mm mortars that will be placed under a half-inch-thick metal armor plate on Sept. 2, 2005, just outside Kandahar Airfield Base, Afghanistan. This is a simulation of what a land mine does to the half-inch-thick metal armor that is going to be placed on the bottom floor of a Humvee. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Leslie Angulo

News of Note
Hurricane Katrina
Mayor Approves Forced Flight
Water Levels Fall in New Orleans
Suicides Stun New Orleans Cops
Toxins, Mental Health Concerns
Video: Pentagon Briefing
Video: Police News Conference
Video: Bush: 'More Work to Do'
Photo Essay: Hurricane Katrina: Day 9
Focus shifts to disease after Katrina trauma
Boats cruise flooded New Orleans but find few survivors
Natural risks find new scrutiny in Katrina's wake

Operation Iraqi Freedom
SENIOR FALLUJAH TERRORIST AIDE CAPTURED
ABU GHRAIB IED CELL, MEMBERS CAPTURED

U.N. Scandals
Oil-for-Food Probe Criticizes Annan, U.N. Security Council

Supreme Court
Paying Respects to Rehnquist
Roberts Hearings Monday

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Union: Bases Not Secure
Homeland Security: Regulate Chemical Plants

Remembering 9/11
Pentagon to Hold Memorial Tour, Walk
Flight 93 memorial to be chosen

Fox News
Iraqi President: Saddam Confessed to Executions
Egypt Warns Against Protests
Ex-Gaza Security Chief Killed
How Secure is Federal 'Cybersecurity'?
Chertoff Orders Review of Border Security
Coalition Sues to Keep N.J. Army Base Open

Reuters: Top News
Calif. Assembly passes bill to allow gay marriage
Gaza militants kill former security chief Arafat
Crashed Indonesia jet may have had fuel problem

The Seattle Times
Microsoft bungled China, Lee says

JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Bush to speak at Rehnquist furneral
Bob Denver, TV's Gilligan, dies at age 70

Chicago Sun-Times
Gas prices creep down
Blagojevich's base closure suit dismissed
Rocked comet giving up its secrets
Egypt to vote today in first contested presidential race
With Chirac in hospital, France talks of successors
Saudi forces storm holdout after days of fighting militants
Israelis to build 117 more homes at West Bank site
Yahoo accused of helping China jail writer
Fire survivors: Only one exit was available

Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Four Americans killed in southern Iraq bombing
Iraqis observe one-minute silence commemorating stampede dead
Iraq president says Saddam deserves to die '100 times'
Two British soldiers killed in Iraq
Soldiers deny they murdered Iraqi in unprovoked attack

CENTCOM: News Releases
4TH BRIGADE SOLDIERS CAPTURE SUSPECTED TERRORISTS
SOLDIERS DISCOVER IED MAKING CELL
TASK FORCE LIBERTY SOLDIERS DETAIN TERRORISTS FOLLOWING MORTAR ATTACK
MORE TERRORISTS TAKEN OFF THE STREETS IN NORTHERN IRAQ

Department of Defense
3 Soldiers Killed; Safe House Destroyed — Story

ON THE GROUND
Donations Kick Off School Days for Iraqi Kids — Story
Construction Continues on Iraqi Border Forts — Story
Ceremony Transfers Control of Base to Iraqis — Story

IN IRAQ
Sadr City Crews Expand Medical Facilities
10th Mountain Division Brigade Arrives in Iraq

IN AFGHANISTAN
Forces Provide Medical Assistance to Afghans

FACE OF DEFENSE
Marine Recounts Patrol through Ramadi — Story

HOMECOMING
17th Corps Support Battalion Soldiers Return from Iraq

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
'Freedom Calls' Links Troops — Story

TOP NEWS
SPECIAL REPORTS
Hurricane Katrina

IN IRAQ
Sadr City Sees Huge Investment
City Gets $106M Electrical Work
Gunship Attack Kills Iraqi Terrorists
Forces Capture Terror Suspects
Iraqis to Provide Election Security
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps
Iraq Daily Update
Multinational Force Iraq
Eye on Iraq Update (pdf)
Iraq Progress Fact Sheet (pdf)
Weekly Progress Report (pdf)

IN AFGHANISTAN
Operations Stop Bomb Maker
Afghanistan Daily Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
Kearsarge Completes Maritime Ops
9-11 Pentagon Tours Announced
National Guard, Reserve Update

CASUALTIES
Officials Identify Marine Casualty — 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
3114 BC - Presumed origin of the Mayan "long count" calendar system.
1714 - In the Treaty of Baden, the French retain the Alsace; Austria gets the right bank of the Rhine.
1822 - Brazil declares independence from Portugal.
1860 - The excursion steamer Lady Elgin sinks in Lake Michigan, drowning 340.
1863 - A Federal naval expedition arrives off Sabine Pass.
1880 - Geo Ligowsky patents a device to throw clay pigeons for trapshooters.
1903 - The Federation of American Motorcyclists is organized in NY.
1914 - The New York Post Office Building opens to the public.
1934 - The luxury liner Morro Castle burns off NJ, killing 134.
1936 - Boulder Dam (now the Hoover Dam) begins operation.
1940 - The German Air Force blitz London - the first of 57 consecutive nights they will do so.
1956 - The X-2 sets an unofficial manned aircraft altitude record of 126,000'+.
1963 - In Canton, OH, the Pro Football Hall of Fame is dedicated.
1970 - At the Royal Gorge Bridge in CO, Donald Boyles sets a record for highest paracute jump from a bridge (1053').

Birthdays
1533 - Queen Elizabeth I of England, (1558-1603) daughter of Henry VIII
1829 - Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden, U.S. geologist (Geographical Survey 1859-86)
1836 - Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, British PM (1905-08)
1860 - Grandma (Anna Maria) Moses, primitive painter (Old Oaken Bucket)
19-- - Don Messick, cartoon voice (Astro - Jetsons, Bamm Bamm - Flintstones)
1908 - Dr. Michael E. DeBakey, artificial heart pioneer
1914 - James Van Allen (discoverer of Van Allen radiation belts)
1924 - Daniel Inouye (Sen-HI), chair of the Iran-Contra hearings
1930 - King Baudouin I of Belgium (1951- ); Sonny Rollins, jazz saxophonist (Blue Room)
1939 - S. David Griggs, astronaut (STS 51D, STS 33)
1957 - Melvin Edward Mays, one of the FBI's Most Wanted

Passings
1151 - Geoffrey Plantagenet, conquerer of Normandy
1909 - Eugene Lefebvre, while test-piloting a Wright-A aircraft

Reported Missing in Action
None listed