I hope this email finds you doing well. It has been a while since we chatted. Thank you for everything you do everyday to advance the cause of supporting our brave heroes.



I am emailing you today because we need your assistance. We received an urgent request from one of our brave medics asking for help. It seems that they have 4 ambulances that have no armor at all and well – you can understand why this is not a good thing in that region. Of the four, only two ambulances go out of the green zone at a time, so he has requested we send 12 blankets to provide some protection in each emergency vehicle. Here is the note from this hero:



I have 4 ambulances but I only use 2 to go out of the green zone. Based on this I can use 4 seat blankets, 4 floor blankets and 4 blankets I will use in the patient compartment for medics or casualties riding there. These items will give me 2 ambulances with some protection. I was told today that our supply system ordered 4 armor doors(for 2 ambulances) for the front compartment. This is great news. I understand my request can get expensive but me and my soldiers will appreciate any help. Thanks a lot and God Bless!



We are working hard to get these armored blankets out right away. However, the cost for each blanket is $935 which includes shipping and insurance. We need your help to get these blankets to our heroes so that they will have an added layer of protection as they go out to rescue their wounded friends – our wounded heroes.



We are asking for assistance to help us meet this urgent request. If you are able, please send donations in one of the following ways:



· To donate via PayPal, please send your donations to donations@soldiersangels.org



· To donate via check or money order, please send your donation made payable to Soldiers’ Angels to:
Soldiers’ Angels
Armor Up Project
1150 North Loop 1604 West
Suite 108-493
San Antonio, TX 78248



· To donate via Credit Card, please call us at (615) 676-0239 and leave us a message. We will return your call as soon as possible.



Thank you Matt and please thank your readers for their continued support of the brave men and women fighting to keep us safe. We simply couldn’t do this without everyone’s help.



Don





Donald William MacKay

Executive Director

Soldiers' Angels Foundation

www.soldiersangels.org



Soldiers' Angels

Iraqi soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division, rush into a courtyard to search for weapons and ammunition caches and insurgent activity during a counterinsurgency operation in Khaffajiah, Iraq, March 14, 2006. The Iraqi-led operation, which is part of a larger, on-going, Coalition-led counterinsurgency operation dubbed Operation Raging Bull, was the first, fully-independent Iraqi Army-led mission in the "Triad" region of Haditha, Haqliniyah, and Barwanah off the Euphrates River in western Al Anbar Province, Iraq. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Michael R. McMaugh

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Ralph E. Arzate, a squad leader with Company L, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, takes a knee while on patrol during Operation Raging Bull in Albu Hayatt, Iraq, March 12, 2006. The Marines and Iraqi Army soldiers cleared Albu Hayatt, a village just south of Haqlaniyah, Iraq, along the Euphrates River, and maintained a four-day presence in the area to disrupt insurgent activity. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Adam C. Schnell


Two U.S. Marine combat engineers with 1st Combat Engineer Battalion attached to Company L, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, unearth a massive bag of propellants during Operation Raging Bull in Albu Hayatt, Iraq, March 12, 2006. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Adam C. Schnell


An Iraqi army soldier with 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division mans his machine gun as fellow soldiers participate in the region's first Iraqi-led mission to clear Khaffajiah, Iraq, of insurgents and weapons caches during Operation Raging Bull, March 14, 2006. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Adam C. Schnell


Iraqi soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division patrol a street in Khaffajiah, Iraq, March 14, 2006. More than 100 soldiers from the Iraqi Army’s 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division conducted their first independently-executed mission to disrupt insurgent operations during Operation Raging Bull. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Adam C. Schnell


Two Iraqi soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division sweep the palm groves on the river bank of Khaffajiah, Iraq, while searching for buried weapons caches during Operation Raging Bull, March 14, 2006. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Michael R. McMaugh


A Marine with Company L, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, provides security on a hilltop for fellow Marines as the sun rises in Albu Hayatt, Iraq, March 12, 2006. The Marines unearthed nine weapons and munitions caches and caught three insurgents during Operation Raging Bull. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Adam C. Schnell

MAKING FRIENDS — U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Newkirk holds an Iraqi child while fellow soldiers conduct a meeting with a sheik and other community leaders in Azuwiyah, Iraq, March 23, 2006. Newkirk is team sergeant with the 445th Civil Affairs Company, supporting the 101st Airborne Division. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Charles W. Gill

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Protesters Clash With Police Over Belarus Elections
Violence in Iraq Kills 50- Russia: Denies Intel Involvement- McCain: Form Iraq Gov't Now
Freed Hostage Thanks Soldiers Who Rescued Him

Operation Enduring Freedom
Pressure Mounts on Karzaito Free Christian Convert
U.S. Soldier Killed in Afghanistan

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Rally for Immigration Rights
Thousands march in Southern California
Video: Immigrant Rights

Politics
New Jersey Dems DropArab-American Candidate
W.Va. Sen. Byrd's Wife Dead
Transcript: Bush's Radio Address

Oddities
Monet fans get a chance to make big Impression
'No work please,' it's basketball time

Other News of Note
Six Shot Dead at Seattle Party
Shooter later turns gun on self
Video: 'Party House' Shooting

Fox News
NCAA: UCLA Beats Memphis- LSU Roars Past Texas in OT
Colombian Rebels Release Hostages Held for Months
NYC Pays Nearly $9M to Legless Ferry-Crash Victim
Pakistan Nets 57 for Attacks
Pope Celebrates Mass With His 15 New Cardinals
Back at Home (Tennessee minister's murder)
Video: Seeking a Motive
FULL SPORTS COVERAGE

Reuters: Top News
Belarussian police break up march after mass rally - Video
New Orleans candidates court hurricane evacuees
Nigeria to transfer Taylor to Liberia
Secretive Myanmar to offer glimpse of new capital
New Orleans candidates court hurricane evacuees
Canada hunters start killing seals, tempers flare
Mars Orbiter returns first images
Microsoft delays consumer Office software to 2007
Sony to boost marketing spending to push HDTV
Israeli vote campaign highlights growing poverty
Aspirin equally heart-protective in men and women
Oily fish on the menu despite doubts about benefits
All-star cast set for "March of Penguins" spoof
Mishaps plague cruise industry
Delphi creditors committee demands GM documents
Daimler to halt four-door Smart car
Japan finance minister says yuan reform helps China
Campbell Soup may sell UK and Irish units
Bayer set to win Schering as Merck pulls out
Google shrs jump 8 pct on news of S&P 500 addition
Crunch time coming for blank-check companies
Mattress maker Sealy sets IPO at 23.3 mln shares
Stocks may rise after Fed's rate move
Tim Hortons shares jumped 22 pct in market debut
Making room for Google in S&P 500 is no easy task
Corgentech falls on Inet
Stocks rise as Google lifts Nasdaq; Fed looms Video
Alcatel's Bid For Growth
Precious metals still shine

AP World News
U.S. Losing Patience, Senators Tell Iraqis
Nigeria OKs Handover of Liberian Warlord
Federal Agencies to Probe Safety at O'Hare
Police Issue Warrant for Colorado Bomber
Colo. Police Use MySpace to ID Suspects
Country Music Star Buck Owens Dies at 76
Indy Bound: UCLA Shuts Down Memphis
Changing Mood Motivates Israelis at Polls
Scientists Find Skull of Human Ancestor
LSU Heads to Final 4, Toppling Texas in OT
Next Big Quake? Maybe East of Bay Area
Tight Squeeze: Life Inside FEMA Trailer
Bagwell to Start Season on DL, May Be Done

Military.com
A New Place of Honor
US, S. Korea Begin Military Exercises
Schools on the Front Lines
Vandals Deface Sign Honoring Soldier
Marines Try to Recruit 78-Year-Old Woman
Miffed U.K. Still Wants JSF

Department of Defense
Suspects Captured; Weapons Found - Story

ON THE GROUND
Iraqi Police Class Graduates From Academy - Story
Task Force Welcomes Afghan Aviators - Story

DefendAmerica Week in Review
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

TOP NEWS
IRAQ
Forces Focus on Transition - Video
Iraqis Take Control of Battlespace
Officials Provide Iraq Ops Details
Iraqis Increase Security Role
Iraqi Leaders' Perspective Shown
Fact Sheet: Progress and Work Ahead
Report: Strategy for Victory in Iraq
Iraq Daily Update
This Week in Iraq (PDF)
Multinational Force Iraq
State Dept. Weekly Iraq Report (PDF)
'Boots on the Ground' Audio Archive
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps

AFGHANISTAN
General Notes Progress
Troops Detain Suspects
Afghanistan Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Fact Sheet: Budget Request
Fact Sheet: War on Terror
Fact Sheet: Terror Plots Disrupted
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
National Guard, Reserve Update

CASUALTIES
U.S. Troop Killed in Afghanistan - Story

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

Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Gitmo

Today in History
1668 - Britain takes control of Bombay, India
1790 - The US Congress passes the Naturalization Act
1793 - Pro-royalists riot in Vendée region of France
1799 - Napolean captures Jaffa, Palestine
1804 - The US Congress orders the removal of Indians east of Mississippi to Louisiana; The Territory of Orleans is organized in the Louisiana Purchase
1862 - Battle of La Glorieta Pass, New Mexico Territory
1863 - West Virginia votes to approve gradual emancipation of slaves
1910 - US forbid immigration to criminals, anarchists, paupers & the sick
1913 - Bulgaria captures Adrianople, ending the 1st Balkan War
1931 - Iraq & Trans-Jordan sign a peace treaty
1935 - "RvJ" Mitchell & Major Sorley discuss the armament of the Spitfire
1942 - The 1st "Eichmann transport" to the Auschwitz & Birkenau Camps
1942 - Colonel-General Rommel launches a German offensive in North Africa
1943 - Army Nurse Elsie S. Ott becomes the first woman to receive an air medal; Battle of Komandorski Islands, Pacific theater
1944 - 705 British bombers attack Essen
1945 - Churchill looks over at the Rhine, near Ginsberg; Generals Eisenhower, Bradley, and Patton attack at Remagen; Japanese resistance ends on Iwo Jima; Kamikazes attack the US battle fleet near Kerama Retto; The US 7th Army crosses the Rhine at Worms
1954 - The US performs an atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island
1958 - 30th Academy Awards-"Bridge on the River Kwai", Alec Guinness & Joanne Woodward win; The US Army launches America's third successful satellite, "Explorer III"
1960 - Iraq executes 30 after an attack on President Kassem
1971 - Bangladesh declares independence
1974 - The Romanian communist party names Nicolae Ceausescu President
1979 - Israel and Egypt sign the Camp David peace treaty
1982 - In Washington DC, ground is broken for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
1989 - 190 million votes are cast in the first free elections in the USSR; Boris Yeltsin wins

Birthdays
1479 - Vasili III, great prince of Moscow, son of Ivan III
1813 - Thomas West Sherman, Union Brevet Major General
1817 - Herman Haupt, Union Brigadier General
1868 - Fuad I, King of Egypt
1875 - Syngman Rhee, President, South Korea
1893 - Palmiro Togliatti, founder of the Communist Party of Italy
1914 - Ian McGeoch, Vice-Admiral
1914 - William Westmoreland, US Army General (Vietnam)
1920 - George E. Brown, Jr. (Representative, CA)
1930 - Sandra Day O'Connor, 1st female Supreme Court Justice
1940 - Nancy Pelosi (Representative, CA)
1962 - Yuri Pavlovich Gidzenko, Russian Lt. Colonel/cosmonaut

Passings
0752 - Pope Stephen II, dies only 4 days after his election
1258 - Floris the Guardian, count-regent of Holland, dies
1350 - Alfonso XI, King of Castile & León
1546 - Thomas Elyot British diplomat, dies
1649 - John Winthrop, Puritan & 1st Governor (Massachusetts)
1827 - Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (Appassionata), dies in Wien (Vienna) at 56
1902 - Cecil Rhodes, Prime Minister of Cape Colony (1890-96) dies at 48
1926 - Konstantin Fehrenbach German reichs chancellor (1920-21), dies at 74
1945 - David Lloyd George British (L) premier (1916-22), dies at 82; Isaack Stouten, resistance fighter, shot to death at 29
1948 - Helen Ernst German poster artist/resistance fighter, dies at about 43
1975 - Faisal ibn Abd al-Aziz, King of Saudi-Arabia (1964-75), murdered at 68
1983 - Anthony F. Blunt, British art historian/spy for USSR, dies at 75
1993 - Roy Riegels University of California football player who ran wrong way, dies at 84
1994 - Constantine Koukouchkine, Russian diplomat, murdered in Algeria at 41
1996 - Edmund S. Muskie, Vice Presidential candidate/(Governor-ME), dies at 81

Reported Missing in Action
1964
Thompson, Floyd J., US Army SF; L19 shot down (w/Whitesides), released March, 1973 - alive as of 1998

Whitesides, Richard L., USAF (CA); L19 shot down (w/Thompson), NVA told Thompson he was Killed

1967
Crow, Frederick A., Jr., USAF (VA); F4C shot down (w/Fowler), released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

Fowler, Henry P., USAF (MD); F4C shot down (w/Crow), released by DRV February, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive as of 1998

1968
The following USMC personnel reported MIA when their UH34D crashed while evacuating wounded; all listed as Killed, body not recovered:
Allgood, Frankie E. (KS); passenger

Evancho, Richard (PA); passenger

Green, Larry E. (MI); crew chief

Kerr, Ernest C., Jr. (OH); gunner

Lomax, Richard E. (OH);

Mowrey, Glenn W. (OH); passenger

1970
Allen, Henry L., USAF (FL); O1 shot down (w/Elzinga)

Elzinga, Richard G., USAF (OR); O1 shot down (w/Allen)