AFGHAN MISSION — U.S. Army paratroopers assigned to A Company, 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, prepare to board a Chinook transport helicopter that will return them to their home base at the end of a five-day mission in Mianashin, Afghanistan, Oct. 5, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Mike Pryor

Quote of the Day
"Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die."
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Iraq Gov't Steps Up Security for Saddam Trial Lawyers
Video: Attorney Slain
Irish Reporter Tells of Baghdad Abduction
Hughes Misspeaks About Saddam's Atrocities
General: Iraq Army Not Ready

Operation Enduring Freedom
Afghanistan's Karzai condemns Taliban body burning
8 Police, 4 Taliban Killed in Afghanistan

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Bomb Scare in D.C.
Video: Capitol Scare

Supreme Court
Miers supported affirmative action: paper

Politics
DeLay Hearing Delayed

Hurricane Season
Wilma Holds in Mexico
Key West Locals in No Rush to Flee
Jeb Bush: Prepare for Worst
Photo Essay: Wilma Hits Mexico
More Arrests Expected for Katrina Patient Deaths
New Orleans home market uncertain

Pakistan Earthquake
Pakistani quake survivors fight over food
Two weeks on, many quake survivors still cut off
Quake donations lagging
Rights Group: Pakistan Storing Relief Aid

Oddities
Dead man gets parking ticket
Golf scores soar as strong winds play havoc
Giant 'corpse flower' blooms in Germany

Fox News
Teen Suspect in Vitale Murder Charged as Adult
Syria Rejects Accusations
Irish Journalist Freed
South American Parrot, Croatia Swans die of Bird Flu
Missing Sailor Found After Five Days at Sea
Kansas Court: New Sentence for Gay Sex Offender
Shark Victim: 'Feels Shark-y'
Mother of S.F. Bay Victims Pleads Not Guilty

Reuters: Top News
Hariri's son urges punishment for father's killers
Bush invokes Reagan as he woos conservatives
Jazz veteran Shirley Horn dies at 71
RIM ruling risks US Blackberry shutdown
Senate stem cell vote to wait until 2006
Asthma hospitalizations in kids often preventable
Job strain may be hard on young men's arteries
North and South divided by common Korean language

AP World News
Countries Try to Prevent Bird Flu Cases
Bush Calls for U.N. Action Against Syria
Brazilians Rush to Beat Visa Crackdown
Italian Cops Go After Organized Crime
France Orders Positive Spin on Colonialism
(If you still think we should be more like Europe, you want to read this - France has now legislated histgory)
Britain Honors 1805 Battle of Trafalgar
Russians Mourn Architect of Perestroika
Syria Rejects Accusations in Hariri Probe
Brother-In-Law of Syrian Leader Implicated
Russia Population Shrinks to 143 Million
Attempt to Limit British War Powers Fails
U.S., S. Korea Hail North's Nuclear Pledge
Thousands Attend Obote Funeral in Uganda

The Seattle Times
Fast outlay of FEMA aid draws scrutiny
DeLay lawyers want new judge
Indonesian students challenge U.S. envoy
Kansas strikes down same-sex rape law
Driver, 93, unaware of body in windshield
NASA shake-up part of strategy to revisit moon

Boston Globe: World
Turkey promises $150m for survivors
China's president to visit North Korea on weapons appeal

Military.com
Band of Brothers Back for Iraq
VA Finding Jobs for Iraq, Afghanistan Vets
Air Force Tells Chaplains to Chill
Iraq's Crossroads
Coast Guard Rescues Navy Pilot

CENTCOM: News Release
TASK FORCE LIBERTY SOLDIERS FIND CACHE, DETAIN SUSPECTS IN BAYJI
COALITION FORCES DESTROY TERRORIST SAFE HOUSE
FEMALE DETAINEE RELEASED

Department of Defense
Bush: Islamic Radicalism 'Doomed to Fail' — Story Remarks
Baghdad Raids Helped Preempt Attacks — Story Video
Iraqi Army Needs Logistics System, NCOs — Story
Teams Play Pivotal Role in Afghanistan — Story
Detainees' Ramadan Dietary Needs Observed — Story

ON THE GROUND
Training Center Puts Soldiers in the Fight — Story
Paratroopers Adapt, Afghan Mission Succeeds — Story Photos
Team Turns Old Fort Into Detention Facility — Story
New Substation Improves Service for 20,000 — Story
Ninewa Residents to Benefit From New Power Cables
Big Easy 5K Run Aids Hurricane Victims — Story

HOMECOMING
1-17 Cav Paratroopers Return from Iraq Deployment
Corps Support Command Troops Return Home Photos

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Artist Brightens Day at Hospital — Story

TOP NEWS
SPECIAL REPORTS
Hurricane Coverage
Iraq Transition of Power

IRAQ
Terrorist Safe House Destroyed
5 U.S. Troops Killed in Operations
Iraqi Recalls Saddam's Wrath
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps
Iraq Daily Update
Multinational Force Iraq
Eye on Iraq Update (pdf)
Iraq Progress Fact Sheet (pdf)
Weekly Progress Report (pdf)

AFGHANISTAN
NATO To Expand Afghanistan Role
Misconduct Allegation Investigated
Afghanistan Daily Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Search, Seizure Training Tougher
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
Rumsfeld in Korea Video
Labor Dept. Takes Care of Veterans
National Guard, Reserve Update

CASUALTIES
Defense Officials Identify Casualties — Story

FACE OF DEFENSE
Army Mom Graduates at Top — 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

National Hurricane Center

Today in History
1746 - In NJ, Princeton University receives its charter.
1836 - Sam Houston is inaugurated as the first elected president of the Republic of Texas.
1875 - Sons of the American Revolution is organized.
1883 - The original Metropolitan Opera House in NYC has its grand opening (Faust is performed).
1928 - President Hoover speaks of the "American system of rugged individualism."
1936 - The first commercial flight from the U.S. mainland to Hawaii takes place.
1938 - For the first time, a Xerox copy is made.
1939 - The Eagles play the Dodgers in the first TV NFL game.
1953 - Laos gains full independence from France.
1954 - West Germany joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
1962 - JFK imposes a naval blockade on Cuba, beginning the missile crisis.
1963 - 225,000 students boycott the Chicago schools in a Freedom Day protest.
1966 - The U.S.S.R. launches Luna-12 for a Lunar orbit.
1968 - Apollo-7 returns to Earth.
1973 - U.N. Security Council Resolution 338 brings a cease fire to the Yom Kippur War.
1975 - The Soviet spacecraft Venera-9 soft-lands on Venus.
1977 - The International Sun-Earth Explorers 1 and 2 are launched into Earth orbit.
1979 - The deposed Shah of Iran arrives in NY for medical treatment; Walt Disney World greets its 100-millionth guest.
1980 - The new South Korean constitution comes into effect.
1981 - The U.S. national debt tops $1 trillion.

Birthdays
1811 - Franz Liszt, romantic composer/virtuoso pianist
1880 - Joe Carr, NFL hall of famer/NFL president (1921-39)
1887 - John Reed, journalist who reported on Mexican, Russian revolutions
1896 - Charles Glenn King, biochemist (discovered vitamin C)
1905 - Karl Jansky, discovered cosmic radio emissions
1920 - Timothy Leary, Harvard professor, LSD taker
1922 - John Chafee (Sen-RI)
1933 - Donald H. Peterson, Colonel USAF/astronaut (STS 6)
1963 - Cherie Witter, Playboy playmate (February, 1985)

Passings
1934 - Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, shot dead by FBI agents in Ohio
1979 - Jesse Bishop, murderer, in the Nevada gas chamber
1986 - Jane Dornnacker, WNBC-AM NYC helicopter traffic reporter, dies doing a live traffic report as her copter crashes

Reported Missing in Action
1964
Towery, Herman, US Army (NC); DIC, remains recovered / ID'd October, 1964

1965
Cherry, Fred V., USAF (VA); F105 shot down released by DRV February, 1973 - alive as of 1998
** First African-American POW of the Vietnam War, also a Korean War veteran. To read his story, click here **

Mann, Robert Lee, USAF (IN); RB66 exploded in air (pilot), KIA, body not recovered

McEwen, James Arthur, USAF (PA); RB66 exploded in air (aircrew), KIA, body not recovered

Weger, John Jr., USAF (CA); RB66 exploded in air (aircrew), KIA, body not recovered

1966
Harris, Harold L., US Army (NC); swept away while trying to cross river, Killed, body not recovered

Klenert, William Blue, USN (NY); RA5C crashed (aircrew, w/Kolstad), SRV returned remains to PCOM March, 1977

Kolstad, Thomas Carl, USN (MN); RA5C crashed (pilot, w/Klenert), SRV returned remains to PCOM March, 1977

McBride, Earl Paul, USN (PA); F4B crashed, KIA, body not recovered

1967
Dooley, James E., USN (VT); A4E shot down

1971
Garrett, Maurice E., Jr., US Army (PA); AH1G crashed (pilot), Killed, body not recovered