Robert

(photoshopped by me for security concerns)

Robert, thanks for sending these! And thanks to all of you for all you do. Keep your helmet on - take care, and stay safe!

By Paul X. Rutz / American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 17, 2006 - It took a personal connection to devote Bob Calvert to supporting America's troops, and now he says there's no turning back.

Calvert hosts a weekly radio talk show on Sunday evenings, broadcast mainly by Internet-based Stardust Radio. He said he has completed 20 interviews so far, averaging three or four guests per show. The first show aired Dec. 11, 2005.

"No question about it, my daughter enlisting in the Army was the spark for me," said Calvert in a telephone interview near Fort Carson, Colo. "Once I realized she was serious ... and she was really going in because she believed it was the right thing to do, then I just told her ... I'm going to support you 100 percent."

With no previous connection to the military, in 2003 he quit his job in Kansas City, moved to be near Fort Riley, Kan., where his daughter was stationed at the time, and devoted himself full time to helping the troops. Eventually, after sponsoring concerts and care package events at his own expense, he started his talk show.

"Every Sunday night, I interview men and women in the military so they can share their stories about what they did to help the Iraqi or the Afghan people, or anywhere in the world," Calvert said. He has also hosted guests who talked about stateside operations like the effort to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina.

He expects to do a National Guard feature in late May to follow an April 16 interview with the editor of "GX: The Guard Experience" magazine. Calvert also hopes to take his show on the road to military bases across the country as soon as he can find the money.

Calvert said his work offers him the chance to help other civilians supporting the nation's servicemembers. "Other groups are doing this, but I'm trying to get them to work together where I can actually help them get more visible," he said. "I really feel strongly about alliances."

As a connector between grassroots groups, Calvert compared himself to America Supports You, a defense department program offering a Web site that highlights grassroots and corporate support for the nation's servicemembers and their families.

He mentioned "Soldiers' Angels" as the group he partners with most often. Together, they have teamed up to co-sponsor concerts, banner events and other efforts, especially for troops returning to Fort Carson, which is a stone's throw from his current home.

Other groups Calvert works with include "Operation Troop Appreciation," "Freedom Fund," "SI Yellow Ribbon," "Operation Gratitude" and "Hats off America."

Funding the radio show has been difficult so far, and he is constantly looking for reliable sponsorship, he said. But the program is becoming more popular. In March, for instance, the show had over 33,000 listeners, and AM radio stations, such as WYMM in Jacksonville, Fla., are starting to pick it up.

Calvert said his most memorable interviews happen in moods of intense emotion. "The ones that get me the most, the hardest ones, are probably the moms I'm interviewing that have lost a loved one," he said. "Those are rough, and I just feel for them."

Other interviews fill him with pride, "like the chief warrant officers we've had on. We've had three of them now, and I mean the stories of what they've done in Afghanistan and Iraq are just incredible," he said, noting the millions of dollars worth of goods shipped to school children in those areas. "As Americans, we all agree to support the troops," he said. "But there are still thousands of wounded soldiers back home, and they or their families need help. There are families that have lost a loved one. They still need help."

Related Site:
Talking With Heroes

Atlantic Ocean (April 14, 2006) - The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) prepares to drop anchor off the coast of Saint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles and enjoy a four-day port visit. George Washington Carrier Strike group is currently participating in Partnership of the Americas, a maritime training and readiness deployment of the U.S. Naval Forces with Caribbean and Latin American countries in support of the U.S. Southern Command's (SOUTHCOM) objectives for enhanced maritime security. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Christopher Stephens

RAMADI, Iraq - U.S. troops repelled an attack Monday by Sunni Arab insurgents who used suicide car bombs, rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons in a coordinated assault against this city's main government building and two U.S. observation posts.

The fighting in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, provided fresh evidence that the insurgency is thriving in Sunni Arab-dominated areas despite last month's decline in U.S. deaths.
In Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi forces fought an hours-long gunbattle with about 50 insurgents in the Sunni Arab district of Azamiyah, the U.S. military said. Five insurgents were killed and two Iraqi troops were wounded, the U.S. said.

There were no reports of U.S. casualties in the 90-minute attack in Ramadi, the second in the past 10 days against the government headquarters for Anbar.

Read the Rest - at Military.com

ROOFTOP SECURITY — U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Kenny Benitez provides security during a security patrol in the vicinity of Forward Operating Base Abu Gharib in the Al Anbar province in Iraq, April 12, 2006. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. James J. Vooris

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Iraq Bomb Kills Two Cops
Bomb Under Couch at Baghdad Cafe Kills 7
Fighting erupts in Sunni area of Baghdad

Operation Enduring Freedom
Infant among Afghans wounded by US patrols
Karzai urges coalition restraint

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Moussaoui said mentally ill, mistreated as child
(Oh, boo flippin' hoo. What a stretch - a terrorist with mental problems)
Are terrorists recruiting "white Muslims"?
Islamic extremists have been crossing the Balkans for years
Justices rebuff two held at Gitmo

Other Military News
Army fights Iraqi "insurgents" in Calif. desert
Board to Study Internet's Impact on Military

Immigration
Georgia governor signs sweeping immigration law

Hamas Rising
Israel: Palestinian Authority Responsible for Bombing
Israeli, Palestinian Envoys Trade Charges

Worldwide Wackos
Iran Warns Against Threats- Russia Hopes for Solution
Iran says any attacker will regret action - Video
Oil hits record on Iran
UN nuclear inspectors in Iran on Friday
Iran's new centrifuge claim may be all spin
US expected to press for sanctions against Iran

Homegrown Moonbats
Neil Young urges Bush impeachment on protest album

Politics
Former Illinois governor guilty of corruption
Michael Sneed's lunch with Ryan
Will other politicians feel shivers?
Panel finally found common ground
Dismissed juror: Some weren't 'fair'
Warner: I needed a separate trial
Complete trial coverage
Bush's New Chief of Staff Signals Shake-Up
Cheney Stumps for GOP Candidates in Wash.
Bush picks Portman as next budget director

Supreme Court
Falwell loses Supreme Court appeal over Internet 'gripe site'

Oddities
Future sex: gizmos, robots
That's a pretty big curse...

Other News of Note
Duke Players in Custody
N.J., N.Y. students charged with rape, sexual offense, kidnapping
Would-Be Cannibal Arraigned
Japanese "war dead" soldier is found alive

Fox News
Mexico Bus Fall Kills 57; Survivors Hospitalized
Calif. Quake Anniversary
Indonesia Volcanologists Warn of Major Eruption
Firefighters Contain Disastrous Colorado Wildfires
Missing Nun Found Dead
Stocks to Watch: Symantec
NEW! Small-Business Page
NEW! Cybersecurity Center

Reuters: Top News
Scientists unveil world's oldest ice block
Development jockeys with ecology on Shanghai island
Oracle CEO says may launch own Linux version
Chinese battery maker disputes US safety claims
Evista as good as tamoxifen for breast cancer: study
Wal-Mart reducing certain prescription co-pays
Opus Dei asks "Da Vinci" film makers for respect
UnitedHealth posts higher profit
Merrill Lynch earnings fall after $1.2 bln charge
Nasdaq strengthens finances; LSE shares move up
Standard Life rejects merger proposal, eyes IPO
Wells Fargo 1st-qtr profit rises
J&J profit rises, devices offset weak drug sales
Liberty Media sees revenue growth in 2006
Stock futures flat before IBM, Yahoo earnings
Medisys value halves as it sells off operations
Flir sinks after outlook below views
Nikkei ends higher, financial and oil stocks gain
Krispy Kreme expects loss for quarter, 2006
Sandy Weill to bow out at Citigroup
Japan's long recovery

AP World News
China's Hu to Visit With Microsoft, Boeing
Details Revealed About Huge Dinosaurs
Hawaii May Honor Humuhumunukunukuapuaa
Pedro Martinez Gets 200th Victory
Suit Alleging Abuse by Jackson Dismissed .
Girl Among Survivors of Mexican Bus Crash
Director Pleads Guilty in Wiretap Case
AP: States Omit Minorities' School Scores
Martinez Earns 200th Win, Mets Edge Braves

The Seattle Times
2006 a decisive year for the Balkans
Former game exec charged in crash of rare Ferrari
Two Gulf Coast papers win Pulitzer Prizes
Errant elders find amenities in Japan's jails

Chicago Sun-Times
City must pay $6.74 mil. to 3 wrongly arrested
States help schools dodge No Child
Sun-Times staff honored for Lefkow coverage
Gay pride at White House egg roll
Mexican police kill man mistaken for immigrant
Drug offenses cost Indiana college students financial aid
Fire in house's attic; pot in its basement
Student who skipped jury duty going to jail
Cops: Sex offenders' killer found names on state site
Sheriff's son charged with arson

Boston Globe: World
Ferry with 100 aboard sinks; 2 people rescued
Nepal falls deeper in crisis and turmoil
Thousands flee as record-high Danube floods banks

Military.com
Somalia OKs U.S. Navy Patrols
Rumsfeld Expects Calls for Ouster to Fade
National Archives Vowed Silence
Moussaoui's Mental Health Questioned
Pentagon Kills Special Ops Mini-Sub
New MI Unit Focuses on Interrogation, Debriefing
Limbs Lost to Enemy Fire, Women Forge a new Reality
Returning From War, Soldiers Splurge
Newest Stryker Fielded
Manhunt Sidelines Bin Laden
White House Staff Shake-Up Expected
Hesitant US Stalls Renovations

CENTCOM: News Releases
TRAINEES GRADUATE BASIC TRAINING, BECOME AFGHAN ACADEMY CADETS

AFGHANS, COALITION FORCES THWART TERRORIST ATTACKS

TERRORIST ATTACKS FOILED BY IRAQI ARMY AND COALTION FORCES

MARINES REPEL ATTACKS IN RAMADI

NEW CHEFS GRADUATE ANA COOKING CLASS

TRUCKERS, LOGISTICS COMMANDER SEEK TO IMPROVE SERVICE

Department of Defense
Rumsfeld: War on Terror Stakes Are High - Story
Retired Officers' Critical Views Not Widespread
News Reports of Attack on Iran Are Wrong - Story
Army Activates First Interrogation Battalion - Story
'Faces of the Fallen' Exhibit Date Extended - Story

IRAQIS TAKE THE LEAD
Iraqi Police, Army Gain Trust of Iraqi People - Story

REBUILDING IRAQ
City Leaders Voice Hope, Determination, Unity - Story

ON THE GROUND
Pass Program Geared to Refresh Troops - Story
Soldiers Train Sailors Headed to War Zones - Story
Aviators Make Historic Return to Bagram - Story

IN IRAQ
Air Force F-15s Save Army Ground Troops
Company C Aid Station Soldiers On Call 24/7

IN AFGHANISTAN
Construction Program Improves Afghan Lives
Task Force Tiger Soldiers Aid Afghan School

FACE OF DEFENSE
Red Cross Volunteer Loves Her Work In Iraq - Story

TOP NEWS
IRAQ
Iraq, Coalition Foil Terror Attacks
Marines Killed in Anbar Province
Operation Cowpens Concludes
Rice: Early Departure a Mistake
Accident Claims Life of Marine
Two Marines Killed, 22 Wounded
City Leaders, Residents Gather
Forces Gain in Logistics Capability
Troops Capture, Kill Terrorists
Raid Killed bin Laden Associate
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
Coalition Responds to Casualties
Hospital Delivers Improved Care
Coalition Launches 'Mountain Lion'
Troops Find Weapons Caches
Officials Revise School Attack Toll
Army Graduates Radio Operators
Afghanistan Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Ops Target Terrorists, Insurgents
Task Force Provides Gulf Security
Rice Urges U.N. Action
Rumsfeld, Bush Support Diplomacy
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
Bush Reaffirms Rumsfeld Support
Command Improves Deployments
No-Fly Zone Duty Prepared Pilots
DoD to Set Up Joint Intel Centers
Dental Specialists Train to Deploy
National Guard, Reserve Update

CASUALTIES
Officials Identify Army Casualties - Story

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

Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Gitmo

Today in History
0310 - St Eusebius begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1521 - Parliament of Worms Cardinal Alexander questions Martin Luther
1552 - Mauritius of Saksen occupies Linz
1663 - Osman declares war on Austria
1666 - Peace of Kleef Netherlands & bishop Von Galen of Münster
1676 - Sudbury, MA attacked by Indians
1775 - Paul Revere & William Dawes warn "the British are coming!"
1797 - France & Austria sign cease fire
1834 - Charles Darwin sails to Rio Santa Cruz up Patagonia
1835 - William Lamb Lord Melbourne forms British government
1838 - Wilkes' expedition to South Pole sails
1856 - Russian Republic Chancellor Earl von Nesselrode resigns
1861 - Colonel Robert E Lee turns down offer to command Union armies; Battle of Harpers Ferry, WV
1862 - Battles of Fort Jackson, Fort St Philip & New Orleans LA
1864 - Battle of Poison Springs, AR (Camden Expedition)
1865 - Confederate General Johnson surrendered to General Sherman in North Carolina
1879 - Trial of Standing Bear-Crook on Indians citizen rights begins
1890 - New York Commission of Emigration ends, closing Castle Clinton
1902 - Denmark is 1st country to adopt fingerprinting to identify criminals
1906 - San Francisco earthquake & fire kills nearly 3,000 & destroys approximately 75% of the city
1909 - Joan of Arc declared a saint
1923 - Poland annexes Central Lithuania
1924 - 1st crossword puzzle book published (Simon & Schuster)
1927 - Chiang Kai-shek forms anti-government in China
1929 - Palace for People's industry in Amsterdam devastated by fire
1934 - 1st "Washateria" (laundromat) opens (Fort Worth TX); Hitler names Joachim von Ribbentrop, ambassador for disarmament
1935 - Netherlands election (Musserts NSB wins 8% of vote)
1936 - Pan-Am Clipper begins regular passenger flights from San Francisco CA to Honolulu HI
1939 - Franz von Papen becomes German ambassador in Turkey; Hubert Pierlot forms Belgian government
1942 - "Stars & Stripes" paper for US armed forces starts; James H. Doolittle bombs Tokyo & other Japanese cities
1945 - Clandestine Radio 1212, after broadcasting pro-Nazi propoganda for months used their influence to trap 350,000 German army group B troops; Epe freed (by Corporal G van Aken)
1946 - League of Nations dissolves (3 months after the UN starts); US recognizes Tito's Yugoslavia government
1948 - International Court of Justice opens at Hague Netherlands
1949 - Republic of Ireland withdraws from British Commonwealth
1950 - 1st transatlantic jet passenger trip; Polish Catholic church & government sign accord over relations
1951 - Dutch Antilles government of Da Costa Gomez forms
1954 - Colonel Nasser seizes power & becomes PM of Egypt
1955 - 1st Bandoeng Conference - Afro-Asian conference opens
1956 - Egypt & Israel agree to a cease fire
1958 - Government troops reconquer Padang, Middle-Sumatra Indonesia
1963 - Dr. James Campbell performed the 1st human nerve transplant
1968 - Dutch Department of Amnesty International forms; London Bridge is sold to US oil company (to be erected in Arizona)
1974 - Red Brigade kidnaps Italian Attorney General Mario Sossi
1978 - Senate votes to turn Panamá Canal over to Panamá on Dec 31, 1999
1979 - Major Haddad declares South-Lebanon independent
1983 - A lone suicide bomber kills 63 at the US Embassy in Lebanon
1986 - Robert M. Gates becomes deputy director of CIA; Titan rocket explodes seconds after liftoff from Vandenberg AFB
1987 - An unconscious skydiver is rescued by another diver in mid-air
1990 - Supreme Court rules that states could make it a crime to possess or look at child pornography, even in one's home
1991 - Congress ends railroad workers' 1 day strike; Census Bureau says it failed to count up to 63 million in 1990 census
1994 - Former President Richard Nixon suffers a stroke & dies 4 days later; Lebanon drops relations with Iran; STS-59 (Endeavour) lands
1995 - Houston Post folds after 116 years; Quarterback Joe Montana announces his retirement from football

Birthdays
1480 - Lucretia Borgia, murderess (poison)/daughter (Pope Alexander VI)
1521 - François de Coligny, ruler of van Andelot, French General (Jarnac)
1590 - Ahmed I, 14th sultan of Turkey (1603-17)
1797 - Louis-Adolphe Thiers, President of France
1803 - Charles F. Pahud de Montagnes, Governor-General of Netherlands East Indies (1856-61)
1857 - Clarence S. Darrow, defense attorney at the Scopes monkey trial
1889 - Jessie Street, Australian pro women's/aborigine rights fighter
1906 - Edgar Unsworth, Justice of Appeals (Gibralter)
1910 - Jamie L. Whitten (Representative-MS)
1914 - Henk Lankhorst, pacifist/Dutch MP (PSP)
1917 - Louise Frederika, Queen of Greece
1924 - Henry J. Hyde (Representative-IL); Lord Mason of Barnsley, MP (Lab)/British defense secretary
1934 - Jaap F. Scherpenhuizen, Dutch MP (VVD)
1935 - Joel Hefley (Representative-CO)
1938 - Andreas J. "Cat" Liebenberg, supreme commander (South Africa army)
1940 - Joseph L. Goldstein, physician (Nobel-1985)
1942 - Dick K. J. Tommel, chemist/(D66) Dutch Assistant Secretary of State

Passings
0680 - Mu'awijja, kalif of Al-Schaam
1567 - Wilhelm von Grumbach, German military man, dies at 63
1610 - Robert Parsons, English jesuit leader/plotter, dies at 63
1689 - George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys of Wem/infamous judge
1690 - Charles V. Leopold, Duke of Lotharingen/Austrian fieldmarshal
1853 - William King, US Vice President, dies a month after his inauguration
1871 - Omar Pasha [Michael Lats], Croatian Governor, dies at 64
1917 - Moritz F. Freiherr von Bissing, Governor-General of Belgium (1914-17), dies at 73
1941 - Alexander Korysis, PM of Greece, commits suicide
1943 - I Yamamoto, Admiral of Japanese fleet
1945 - Ernest T. Pyle, British/US newscaster, killed in WWII at 44
1955 - Albert Einstein, German/US physicist (E=MC²)
1958 - Maurice-Gustave Gamelin, French Generalissmo (WWI, WWII), dies at 85
1963 - Henrietta Kreis 3rd of famous Wallenda aerialist killed in a fall
1986 - Marcel Dassault [Bloch], French airplane builder, dies at 94
1994 - Ken Oosterbroek, South African press photographer, shot dead at 32
1995 - Arturo Frondizi, President of Argentina (1958-62)
1996 - Kalim Siddiqui, Islamic campaigner, dies at 62

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Wheeler, James A., USAF (AZ); A1E crashed at target site

1969
Ellis, Randall S., US Army (SC)

1973
James, Samuel L., USAF (TN); F4E crashed (w/Martin) - remains ID'd April, 1999 - ID disputed

Martin, Douglas K., USAF (TX); F4E creashed (w/James - remains ID'd April, 1999