Head on over to Alexander the Average for a post about a hero, SSG B., who lost his house in Biloxi due to Katrina. Kris, the blogger there, is looking for some ways to assist him.

Soldiers' Angels is at the ready - if anyone has any other suggestions for Kris and SSG B., please stop by and let him know!

To give you an idea of what the SSG is facing (click the picture for the post at Alexander the Average)


(And be sure to spend a little time at that blog - the newest addition to the IWT Blogroll)

A Soldier from the Oklahoma Army National Guard uses thermal imaging technology in an attempt to locate stranded New Orleans residents. He and fellow Soldiers are on a joint patrol with the Drug Enforcement Agency. Photo by Master Sgt. Scott Reed.

from DefendAmerica

Members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Afghanistan Engineer District remember the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks with a ceremony and Freedom Walk around their compound.

By Mo Ramsey
Afghanistan Engineer District - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 12, 2005 — While thousands of civilians and members of the U.S. armed forces began their morning Freedom Walk from the Pentagon to the National Mall in remembrance of the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001, that claimed the lives of nearly three thousand innocents, members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Afghanistan Engineer District concluded their workday — thanks to time zone differences — with a twilight ceremony complete with a Freedom Walk to show their solidarity with colleagues in Washington, D.C.

Standing before a backdrop of 184 small candles representing those who fell victim when a passenger jet hijacked by terrorists slammed into the Pentagon, Willy Matias, a volunteer civilian deployed to Afghanistan from the New York Engineer District, recalled losing several firefighting friends at the World Trade Center that fateful day.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Matias watched in horror as two planes hit the World Trade Center towers. Piloting Corps vessels, he ferried thousands across the river to safety then feverishly worked for a week without a break at Ground Zero. When the call came to support the Global War on Terrorism here, Matias said he immediately volunteered.

He told the group they are making a difference as they work to reconstruct Afghanistan, a country torn apart by war and violence, and once the home of terrorism.

District Commander U.S. Army Col. Christopher J. Toomey told the assembly that 9-11 was a wake-up call to many Americans who realized that America and the freedoms we enjoy are envied and hated by some around the world. He said that the group’s efforts demonstrate the United States’ resolve in the Global War on Terrorism. He thanked them for their patriotism and selfless service.

Following the lighting of four candles representing New York City’s World Trade Center twin towers, the Pentagon and the crash site of a fourth hijacked plane on a grassy field in Pennsylvania, the group watched as a music video recalled the horror of 9-11. Afterwards, they sang a rendition of “God Bless America.”

Members of the assembly each took one of the 184 candles and walked the perimeter of the District’s compound, once the home of the Iraqi Embassy, in symbolic partnership with the D.C. Freedom Walkers.



U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Afghanistan Engineer District deployed civilians Willy Matias and John Messina stand at attention after lighting candles representing the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks during a twilight remembrance ceremony and Freedom Walk around their compound, Sept. 11, 2005. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo by Carolyn Markos More photos

Freedom Walk participants, led by cadets from the Commonwealth Challenge Academy in Camp Pendleton, Va., cross the Memorial Bridge, to Washington, D.C., Sept. 11, 2005. The Freedom Walk honored the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the Pentagon, World Trade Center towers and United Airlines Flight 93 over Pennsylvania. The walk began near the Pentagon crash site, proceeded over the Memorial Bridge, passed several national memorials and concluded adjacent to the National Mall and Reflecting Pool. Immediately following the walk, country superstar singer and songwriter Clint Black performed a musical tribute on the National Mall. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Daniel DeCook

News of Note
Hurricane Katrina
Bush Back Again
Hopelessness begins to lift in New Orleans
Katrina pushes gas price to all-time high
Hard-Charging General Storms Onto Scene

Operation Iraqi Freedom
Iraqi, U.S. Troops Storm City

Remembering 9/11
Sept. 11 Victims Honored
Video: Fallen Heroes
Photo Essay: Solemn Day
US marks 9/11 anniversary with march, silence
Families mark anniversary of 9/11 attacks
Thousands Mark 9/11 With Freedom Walk -- Photos -- Special Coverage
Photos: Patriot Day Observance Ceremony
Bikers Begin Ride at Dulles, Remember 9/11 -- Photos
Enduring a Kinship of Loss
Families Mourn Victims in New York
Thousands Join Freedom Walk in D.C. - Photos
Md. Town Dedicates Memorial to 9/11 Victims

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Report: Al Qaeda Threatens L.A. and Australia- Video: Terror Threat

Fallen Heroes
Soldier on Leave From Iraq Killed

Football
NFL Scores - Week 1

Fox News
Israeli Soldiers Leave Gaza
China: Natural Disasters No Longer Secret
Report: Japan's Top Party Expected to Win
Let's Hear It (Roberts hearings)
Watch the Hearings Live at Noon ET
Undecided Ophelia

Reuters: Top News
Japan decision on U.S. beef imports may be near
FDA knew of Guidant heart device failures -NYT
Hurricane Ophelia looms off US East Coast
China exiles sue President Hu for persecution
N.Korea hardens stance ahead of nuclear talks
Signs of renewed life in New Orleans

JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
Palestinians take over Jewish settlements
Koizumi wins Japan election by landslide
Speedy confirmation expected for Roberts

Chicago Sun-Times
Online university aids displaced students
Cigarettes, the CIA and Iran-contra
Panel chief: Roe vs. Wade not on table
U.S., Iraqi forces rout insurgents in Tal Afar

Washington Post: World News
Profile of the Nominee
Hazards of La. Work Surprise Veteran Rescuers
For Evacuees in Houston, a Home Away From Home
CIA's Crumpton Comes Out From Undercover

Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
More Than 150 Insurgents Killed in Iraq
Militants put price on Iraqi PM's head
Saddam is denied legal rights, his lawyer says
Jordan PM in historic Iraq visit
Major attack on Iraq 'rebel town'
Revenge Killings Fuel Fear of Escalation in Iraq
Iraq: Planning For Pullout
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Iraq: What's Next?

Department of Defense
Country Musicians Honor Troops Photos
Motorcycle Ride Honors Families of Fallen — Story- Photos
Families of Fallen Troops Show Resolve
Iraqi, U.S. Troops Seize Anti-Terrorist Initiative — Story
Joint Effort Nabs Terrorists, Neutralizes Bomb
Iraqi Army Conducts Independent Operation

ON THE GROUND
Air Force Reservists to Receive Army Medal — Story
Corps Team Builds Iraqi Ammo Supply Point — Story
Iraqi Soldiers Donate to Katrina Victims —Story
Army Veterinary Program Aids Iraqi Livestock — Story

IN IRAQ
Headset Saves Soldier’s Hearing in IED Blast
Iraqi Army Closer to Working Independently

FACE OF DEFENSE
Marine Sees Hope for Children — Story

HOMECOMING
Navy Customs Inspectors Return from Kuwait, Iraq
Photos: 908th Airlift Wing Returns Home

TOP NEWS
SPECIAL REPORTS
Hurricane Katrina

IN IRAQ
Al Qaeda Terrorist Thought Killed
Talabani Thanks U.S. Troops
Police Graduate From Courses
Rescued American Heads Home
Dam Repairs Benefit Tigris Basins
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps
Iraq Daily Update
Multinational Force Iraq

IN AFGHANISTAN
Afghan Governors Confer
Meeting Focus: Food Crop Growth
Afghanistan Daily Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
President Praises American Spirit
Iraq, Afghan Education Progresses
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
Team Aids Storm-Affected Troops
National Guard, Reserve Update

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
490 BC - The Athenians secure victory in the second Persian invasion of Greece at Marathon.
1609 - Henry Hudson discovers the Hudson River.
1649 - Drogheda, Ireland falls to Puritan troops; the inhabitants are massacred.
1758 - Charles Messier observes the Crab Nebula.
1776 - Nathan Hale leaves the Harlem Heights Camp (127th St) on an espionage mission.
1814 - Near Baltimore, the Battle of North Point is fought.
1857 - The Central America sinks off Cape Romain, SC, killing 423.
1901 - Arabs attack Gedara, Palestine.
1918 - U.S. forces launch an attack on German-occupied St. Mihiel, France.
1923 - Britain takes over Southern Rhodesia from the British South Africa Co.
1934 - Lithouania, Estonia, and Latvia sign the Baltic Pact.
1938 - Adolph Hitler demands self-determination for Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia.
1941 - The USS Bear becomes the first American vessel to capture a German ship (the Busko) in WWII.
1949 - In New Jersey, the Hercules Co. power plant explodes, killing 51 and injuring 200 in the worst explosion since WWII.
1953 - Jacqueline Bouvier marries John F. Kennedy; Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Secretary of the U.S.S.R's Communist Party.
1959 - "Bonanza" premiers; the U.S.S.R. launches Luna-2, the first spacecraft to impact on the Moon.
1961 - NASA civilian pilot Joseph A. Walker takes the X-15 to 34,840 m.
1965 - Hurricane Betsy strikes Florida and Louisiana, killing 75.
1966 - "The Monkees," premiers on NBC; Gemini XI is launched for a 71-hour flight.
1970 - The USSR launches Luna-16, which will return samples from the lunar Sea of Fertility.
1978 - "Taxi" premiers on ABC.
1980 - A military coup occurs in Turkey.
1983 - The U.S.S.R. vetoes a U.N. resolution deploring its shoot-down of a Korean civilian airliner.
1986 - In Beirut, U.S. professor Joseph Cicippio is kidnapped and held hostage.
1988 - Gilbert, the strongest hurricane ever (160 mph), devastates Jamaica.
1990 - The U.S., France, England, the U.S.S.R., East Germany, and West Germany sign an agreement allowing the two Germanys to merge.
1991 - The space shuttle STS-48 (Discovery 14) is launched.

Birthdays
1720 - Frederick Philipse III, land owner (Bronx, Westchester, Putnam)
1818 - Richard Jordan Gatling, inventor (hand-cranked machine gun)
1852 - H.H. Asquith, British PM (1908-16)
1871 - Prince Friedrich (Romania)
1888 - Maurice Chevalier, singer / actor ("Gigi" - "Thank Heaven for Little Girls")
1892 - Alfred A. Knopf, publisher (1966 Alexander Hamilton Medal)
1913 - Jesse Owens, track star (spoiled Hitler's 1936 Olympics by winning four gold medals)
1924 - Howard Curtis Nelson (Rep-UT)
1931 - George Jones, country singer (He Stopped Loving Her Today)
1940 - Stephen J. Solarz (Rep-NY)
1944 - Barry White (Love's Theme)

Passings
1972 - William Boyd, cowboy (Hopalong Cassidy)
1988 - Alan Bible (Sen-NV, 1954-74); Lauris Norstad, NATO commander/CEO Corning Fiberglass

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Green, Gerald, USN (CO); F8E shot down (pilot); KIA, body not recovered

1966
Sprague, Stanley G., USAF (SD);A1E shot down (pilot), remains returned September, 1990

Waggoner, Robert F., USAF (CO); F105D shot down (pilot), released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

1967
Hawthorne, Richard William, USMC (NY); RF4B shot down (pilot, w/Hawthorne), presumed KIA, body not recovered

Kane, Richard Raymond, USMC (NJ); RF4B shot down (aircrew, w/Hawthorne)

1968
Maxwell, Samuel C., USAF (NE); F105D shot down (pilot), remains returned June, 1989 - ID'd October, 1989

Shark, Earl E., US Army (CA); disappeared after being wounded in firefight - DIC September, 1968

1972
McMurray, Frederick C., USAF (ID); F4E shot down (navigator, w/Zuberbuhler), released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Lt. Colonel (decorations include Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star with V, Purple Heart, POW medal) - alive and well as of 1998

Zuberbuhler, Rudolph U., USAF (ID); F4E shot down (pilot, w/McMurray), released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive as of 1998