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Friday, September 16, 2005

POW/MIAs remembered at vigil
Mount Vernon News Fri, 16 Sep 2005 6:51 AM PDT
MOUNT VERNON
The Patriotic Memorial Committee of Mount Vernon held the annual MIA/POW vigil Thursday night on Public Square. The ceremony is to honor and remember those who have fallen for freedom and not returned.

Veterans reunited after half a century
Kansas City Star
Thu, 15 Sep 2005 10:26 PM PDT
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - There they were, their images frozen in time, framed forever inside the borders of a black-and-white photograph. Their young faces were smooth and smiling, their eyes bright and alive, their hair thick.

Ten Years Ago Today....

OK, this isn't my usual type of post, but it's gotta be done.

Ten years ago today, here's what I was doing:




I am fortunate to have married my best friend, a wonderful guy who puts up with his opinionated wife, and in fact, encourages that (though I'm relatively sure that he sometimes regrets it...). We share the same, often slightly tweaked, sense of humor, most of the same political views, and he wholeheartedly stands with me in supporting our heroes, often taking an active role in my
Soldiers' Angels "soldier shopping" trips. Never a complaint when he wants to head out for a weekend breakfast, but we're delayed because I have to get a blog post up...I am truly blessed.


Happy Anniversary, Honey - I love you.



Rescuers save pets too
JACKSON, Miss. -- Senior Master Sgt. James Sanchez carries a cat he rescued from the second floor of a flooded house in New Orleans. The cat, which he named PJ, is one of 22 cats he has saved during rescue missions in support of Hurricane Katrina relief operations. Sergeant Sanchez is a pararescueman with the 306th Rescue Squadron from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. Elaine Mayo)

From MoveAmericaForward.org

This release has been posted online

PRO-TROOP TOUR TO MAKE 20+ STOPS ACROSS NATION NEXT WEEK:

From San Francisco to Washington, D.C. Includes Stop at 9/11 Crash Site in Shanksville, PA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 15, 2005

CONTACT: Robert Dixon
(916) 441-6197

(SACRAMENTO) - The national organization that supports our troops and the war against terrorism, Move America Forward.org, has announced a national pro-troop bus tour that will stop in more than 20 U.S. cities beginning next Monday, September 19th. Move America Forward and Marine Mom Deborah Johns (founder of Northern California Marine Moms) will launch a cross-country bus tour, including stops for patriotic pro-troop rallies beginning in San Francisco,California on Monday, September 19th.

From there the tour will cross the nation rallying supporters of U.S. Troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. On Sunday, September 25th the bus tour will arrive in Washington, D.C., culminating in a giant pro-troop rally held in conjunction with a coalition of groups including Free Republic, RightMarch and Protest Warrior.

The "Support The Troops And Their Mission" bus tour is currently planning rallies in over 20 U.S. cities including:

San Francisco, California; Vacaville, California; Sacramento,California; Reno Nevada; Elko, Nevada; Salt Lake City, Utah; Cheyenne,Wyoming; Fort Collins, Colorado; Denver, Colorado; Lincoln, Nebraska;Omaha, Nebraska; Des Moines, Iowa; Rockford, Illinois; Chicago,Illinois; Indianapolis, Indiana; Cincinnati, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio;Columbus, Ohio; Wheeling, West Virginia; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania;Shanksville, Pennsylvania (site of Flight 93 crash in 9/11); Baltimore,Maryland; and Washington, D.C.

An itinerary of the tour & rallies is being continuously updated at:MoveAmericaForward.org.

"To those misguided individuals who are trying to undermine the mission our troops are serving in, let us make our message loud and clear: we will travel to any place at any time to rally together the American public to oppose your defeatist, anti-military agenda," said MelanieMorgan, Chair of Move America Forward.

"We will not sit back and let the 'Blame America First' crowd try to turn this generation into a hybrid of the Vietnam protest era. Never again will our nation turn its back on our troops or their mission."

"Most importantly, we will never send a message to the terrorists that we are prepared to cut and run. The United States will never surrender to the terrorists, and they should understand full well that those shrieking voices coming from the radical left do not speak for the majority of Americans," Morgan concluded.

At each stop, Move America Forward will invite members of the community to come out and sign "We Support Our Troops" sheet-banners. Individuals can also include a personal message to our troops serving in Iraq & Afghanistan.

At the conclusion of the national tour and Washington, D.C. rally, Move America Forward will then send the sheets to the troops serving in Iraq & Afghanistan.

Move America Forward will also air television ads nationwide on cable news networks to promote awareness of the bus tour and attendance ateach of the stops and associated rallies.

Today is POW-MIA Recognition Day

WINGED PRAYER
If one night you feel a light touch upon your cheek,
a hand upon your shoulder
and you know there's no one there -
If a soft voice whispers "hang on" -
It is my prayer.

©Copyright October 1998 by Christina

Rev. 9-15-05
For B.D. McKendree"Barbed Wire and Rice"
WWII Collected POW poems

and in Remembrance of all Other MIAs

Visit the Department of Defense's POW-MIA Recognition Website
- click on the link below -






My adopted POW/MIA Hero: Major Charles Lee Bergevin

POW/MIA: Scott Speicher

POW/MIA: Keith "Matt" Maupin

SCOPE Systems POW/MIA Search Engine

National League of POW/MIA Families

Library of Congress POW/MIA Database

P.O.W. Network
DISEMBARK — U.S. Marines assigned to the Expeditionary Strike Group 1, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, disembark a Landing Craft Utility from the amphibious assault ship USS Tarawa, Sept. 13, 2005. The Marines are preparing for “Bright Star”, a multinational exercise held every two years in Egypt. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandon A. Teeples

Take Back the Memorial - Update

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 15, 2005
Contact: Anthony Gardner
Coalition of 9/11 Families
(973) 216-2623

15 Major 9/11 Family Groups
Reject LMDC Mediation Plan

New York, N.Y.—September 15, 3005—The alliance of 15 major 9/11 family organizations was stunned to learn through the media last week and not from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation of their plans to engage in mediated talks with 9/11 family members about the presence of the International Freedom Center on the World Trade Center memorial site. According to the media, the LMDC’s stated purpose in hiring an outside mediator was to facilitate ‘conversations that might otherwise not happen.” We hasten to point out that individual and collective members of the 9/11 family groups, along with of citizens from the Lower Manhattan community and other interested parties, have been meeting in good faith at LMDC-sponsored forums for more than three years. The last such meeting, held by the Civic Alliance for Rebuilding Lower Manhattan, took place just two days ago. If anything, the LMDC has once again demonstrated that it does not understand the difference between having meetings and actually listening to the public.

The LMDC appears not to understand that the objection, in principle, to the presence of the IFC on the World Trade Center site is no longer a matter that can be resolved by 9/11 family groups alone. They have been joined by the 22,000 members of ‘New York’s Bravest”–the Uniformed Firefighters Association– which lost 343 of its active members and three of its retired members in the 9/11 attacks, as well as the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York, the state’s largest firefighter organization consisting of 110,000 volunteer firefighters, many of whom participated in the rescue and recovery effort at Ground Zero. These organizations are also joined by more than 46,000 people from all over the country who have signed an online petition calling for the LMDC to remove the IFC and the Drawing Center from the memorial site. We anticipate that the growing list of organizations joining this fight for a proper memorial will increase these numbers exponentially in the coming days.

The LMDC’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge this wider rejection of the IFC mirrors its denial of other critical problems with the larger memorial and memorial museum plans. Constantly fuzzy and, curiously, always reduced projections on the millions of people per year who will visit the memorial do not add up when compared to other major memorials around the country such as the Statue of Liberty. The LMDC cannot demonstrate that the memorial itself and the underground museum on the site will be able to accommodate visitors without having to turn away millions per year and thousands daily. Nor can it demonstrate that it can safely and securely send 20,000 people underground every day, much less through one entrance and one exit.

Additionally, the LMDC cannot show how precious 9/11 artifacts and the momentous story of the worst attack in the history of our nation can all be contained in a cramped underground space which will also house train tracks, a PATH terminal, loading platforms, passageways, waterfalls, ventilation shafts, soil and root systems from the forest above and infrastructure for a massive cooling plant below. In short, the problem of space may ultimately be the most practical reason not to allocate 300,000 square feet of space to any entity other than the memorial and the memorial museum. To do so will bring dishonor to the lost, discord to the living and disunity to the country.

By creating yet another deaf and redundant ‘process” from which they are removed, the LMDC and Governor George Pataki are simply delaying resolution of an issue which has been clearly laid out before them, as well as wasting time and resources that could be better spent addressing other compelling problems that must be solved before the first shovel is sunk into sacred ground. The time is long overdue for civic and political leaders to act. The IFC must go.

Advocates for 9/11 Fallen Heroes
rjtallon@REMOVETHIScs.com
jalel31@REMOVETHIShotmail.com
l59e85@REMOVETHISaol.com

Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund
Coalition of 9/11 Families
Fix the Fund
Give Your Voice
Margie Miller 9/11 Support Group
9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America
9/11 Families for a Secure America
September 11th Families Association
September’s Mission Foundation
Skyscraper Safety Campaign
Voices of September 11th
W. Doyle 9/11 Support Group
WTC Families for Proper Burial, Inc.
World Trade Center United Family Group
by Sgt. Kevin Bromley
September 15, 2005
Spc. Rene Abelar, from the 1st Armored Division, mans a .50-caliber machine gun atop his 5-ton truck northwest of Baghdad. Abelar's unit, with assistance from Iraqi forces and Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, captured a team of bomb makers in the act of building a car bomb. This photo appeared on www.army.mil.

In Today's News - Friday, September 16, 2005

Quote of the Day
"What was it that kept us going under such adverse conditions? I would say that it was a deep sense of responsibility to America and all that it stands for. Perhaps it could be summed up in that phrase that I have seen on a bumper sticker depicting the American Flag with these words: 'These colors don't run.' This may sound trite but I believe if we all would take a few moments and consider the benefits and privileges we have as Americans, then we can also ask ourselves, 'What can I do to deserve and keep these blessings?' The answer, if you will, is perhaps a return to more patriotism and honor amongst ourselves. I don't feel the image of America has fallen as so many have been heard to say, but we can certainly move forward and, hopefully, our example will be the impetus to start that movement."
-- Former POW Raymond J. Merritt, Col. USAF (Ret.)

News of Note
Hurricane Katrina
Complete Health Coverage
Locating Hurricane Survivors
Two Dolphins Rescued in Gulf
How to Help
'This Great City Will Rise Again'
Transcript: Bush Katrina Address
Authorities Plan Interim Housing
Nagin: New Orleans Set to Reopen
FCC to Provide $211 Million in Aid

Operation Iraqi Freedom
Baghdad Terror Continues
Video: Bombers Attack

Operation Enduring Freedom
NATO Plans to Expand Role in Afghanistan

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Officials Fear Al Qaeda in Gaza
Militants Restore Order
U.N. Criticized on Terror Role

Supreme Court
Two Dems Iffy on Roberts
Poll: Most Expect Confirmation

BRAC News
Bush endorses base-closing commission recommendations

Fox News
GOP May Postpone Social Security Debate
Bubonic Mice Missing
Ophelia Heads Out ot Sea
Iran Says It's Willing to Share Nuke Info With Islamic Nations
Newell Rubbermaid to Slash 5,000 Jobs
Judge Nixes Michigan's Partial-Birth Abortion Ban
Energy Prices Rise, Rest Flat
Search On for Missing Coed
Delta Up, Northwest Down

Reuters: Top News
China draft raises hopes at North Korea talks
Tropical Storm Ophelia crawls toward New England
Car bomb kills 9 near Shi'ite mosque north of Baghdad
Bush: New Orleans will rise again
Bush gives Iran-EU atomic talks new life -- Iran
As Saddam's day in Iraq court nears, hiccups emerge

JuneauEmpire.com: Associated Press
U.S. envoy: Nuke talks still 'in business'
World leaders demand greater U.N. role

Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Iraq president pleads for help against 'forces of darkness'
At least two dead, 13 wounded as gunmen attack day labourers in Baghdad
Syria denounces Iraq attacks, seeks cooperation with US
ACLU releases Iraq prisoner abuse report documents
Gunmen kill Iraqi workers, government official
U.N. to Help Iraqis Print Constitution
Iraqis' right to life no longer protected -Annan

Department of Defense
Democracy Means Failure for Insurgents — Story
NATO Transforms for 21st Century Threats
Anti-Terror Teams Prove Worth During Katrina — Story

ON THE GROUND
Joint U.S., Iraqi Operation Disrupts Insurgents — Story
Airmen Provide Intelligence Support to Marines — Story
Tiny Robot Carries Big Responsibility — Story

FACE OF DEFENSE
Recon Marine Brings Knowledge, Experience to Fight — Story

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Mrs. Myers Receives USO Award – Story

TOP NEWS
SPECIAL REPORTS
Hurricane Katrina
Iraq Transition of Power

IN IRAQ
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps
Iraq Daily Update
Multinational Force Iraq

IN AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan Daily Update
Maps
Afghan Reconstruction Group Recruiting

WAR ON TERRORISM
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
1630 - The Massachusetts village of Shawmut changes its name to Boston.
1662 - Flamsteed sees makes the first astronomical observation of a solar eclipse.
1782 - The Great Seal of the U.S. is used for the first time.
1795 - The British capture Capetown.
1862 - General Bragg's army surrounds 4000 federals at Munfordville, KY.
1908 - William C. Durant founds General Motors.
1915 - The U.S. takes control of Haitian customs and finances - it will last 10 years.
1919 - An act of Congress incorporates the American Legion.
1940 - Samuel T. Rayburn is elected Speaker of the House.
1945 - A barometric pressure of 856 mb (25.55") is recorded off Okinawa - a record low.
1947 - John Cobb sets a world auto speed record at 394.2 MPH.
1968 - Richard Nixon appears on "Laugh-in"
1971 - Six Klansmen are arrested in connection with the bombing of 10 school buses.
1974 - President Ford announces conditional amnesty for American Vietnam War deserters.
1977 - A 90-minute pilot of "Logan's Run" premiers on TV.
1982 - The massacre of 1000+ Palestinian refugees at Chatila & Sabra begins.
1983 - Arnold Schwarzenegger becomes a U.S. citizen.
1984 - "Miami Vice" premiers on TV.
1987 - NASA launches the S-209 space vehicle.
1990 - Iraq televises an 8-minute uncensored speech by George H.W. Bush.
1991 - The U.S. trial of Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega begins.

Birthdays
1387 - King Henry V of England (1413-22)
1638 - King Louis XIV (the Sun King) of France (1643-1715)
1822 - Charles S. Crocker, President of Central & South Pacific Railroad
1823 - Francis Parkman, American historian/author (Oregon Trail)
1858 - A. Bonar Law, British PM (1922-23)
1875 - James Cash Penney, department store founder (J.C. Penney)
1877 - James J. Jeans, cosmologist/astrophysicist (Mysterious Universe)
1888 - Frans Sillanpaa, Finnish writer, Nobel Prize winner (Meek Heritage-1939)
1893 - Albert Szent-Gyoergyi Hungary, biochemist, Nobel Prize winner (1937)
1895 - Charles W. Bidwill Sr., NFL hall of famer (Chicago Cardinals)
1914 - Allen Funt, TV host & creator (Candid Camera)
1925 - B(lues) B(oy) King, blues singer, guitarist (The Thrill is Gone)
1956 - Kevin R. Kregel, pilot/astronaut
1962 - Kimberly McArthur, Playboy playmate (January, 1982)

Passings
1498 - Tomas de Torquemada, inquisitor responsible for burning 10,000 people to death
1672 - Anne Bradstreet, American poet
1946 - Sir James Jeans
1977 - Maria Callas, American-born prima donna

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Merritt, Raymond J., USAF (OR); F105 shot down (pilot), released by DRV February, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive and well as of 1998
*NOTE: Also flew 100 missions in the F-84 during the Korean War

Risner, Robinsin, USAF (OK); F105D shot down, released by DRV February, 1973 - retired as a Brigadier General - alive and well as of 1998
*NOTE: Also was a Korean War "Ace" flying 110 missions in the F-86

1966
Buchanan, Hubert E., USAF (IN); F4C shot down (systems operator, w/Robertson), released by DRV March, 1973 - alive as of 1998

Robertson, John L., USAF (WA); F4C shot down (pilot, w/Buchanan), reportedly DIC

1967
Bagley, Bobby R., USAF (GA); RF101 shot down, released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - deceased as of December, 1997

1969
Trampski, Donald J., US Army (IN); fell into river while crossing a bridge

1975
Biagini, Frederick J., Civilian; released, date unknown

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