Check out this great photo essay, including some of my home state's Heroes:


U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata, left, deputy commanding general for security, Combined Joint Task Force 76, 10th Mountain Division, meets with Afghan Gen. Mulwana, right, and village elders during a key leaders engagement in the village of Landikheyl, Afghanistan, Nov. 25, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Dexter D. Clouden


U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jon Ours, with Task Force Gauntlet, 10th Mountain Division, uses a metal detector to search for buried weapons caches in the village of Landikheyl, Afghanistan, Nov. 25, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Dexter D. Clouden

U.S. Army soldiers of 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) and U.S. Air Force explosive ordnance disposal personnel prepare to dig through the mountainous region of Landikheyl, Afghanistan, Nov. 25, 2006, in search of weapons caches. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Dexter D. Clouden

U.S. Army soldiers from the 102nd Infantry Regiment, Connecticut Army National Guard, prepare to take up security positions on a hilltop in Landikheyl, Afghanistan, after searching for weapons caches in the region Nov. 25, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Dexter D. Clouden

An Afghan army soldier and Afghan Gen. Mulwana watch as U.S. Army soldiers with Task Force Gauntlet, 10th Mountain Division, and U.S. Air Force airmen with Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit destroy weapon caches surrounding the village of Landikheyl, Afghanistan, Nov. 25, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Dexter D. Clouden

U.S. Army soldiers prepare to board a CH-47 Chinook helicopter in Landikheyl, Afghanistan, Nov. 25, 2006, after performing a search for weapons caches in the mountainous region. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Dexter D. Clouden


More photo essays at DefendAmerica

Philadelphia, PA. (Dec. 2, 2006) – Navy Fullback Adam Ballard (22), from Lewisville, Texas, breaks down-field in first series play, during the 107th playing of the Army vs. Navy football game. Navy won the game 26-14 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa., ending the season at 9-3. Navy has accepted an invitation to play in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, in Charlotte, N.C., scheduled for Dec. 30, 2006. U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Brien Aho

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Rumsfeld Before Resigning: Time for Change in Iraq
Three Car Bombs Kill at Least 51 in Baghdad Market
Iraq conjoined twins stable as operation nears end
Women take on major battlefield roles

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Just Saying Prayers? Not Exactly... - REPORT - VIDEO (the story that the Imams were pulled off the plane due to intolerance is, predictably, unravelling)
Mail Still Addressed to WTC 5 Years After Attack
Saudi Arabia detains 136 suspected militants
U.S. and Guyana probe chemical threat to airlines

Other Military News
Military radio signal jams garage doors
War widow dedicates Wiccan plaque symbol

Mid-East Ceasefire / Hamas Rising / Israel at War
Abbas weighs options to end Palestinian stalemate
Lebanon's showdown set for lengthy battle of wills - Video
Hezbollah loyalists camp out in Beirut

Religion of Peace??
In U.S., fear and distrust of Muslims runs deep

Worldwide Wackos
Castro Absent From Cuban Military Parade
North Korea wants Russia support, offers uranium: paper
Venezuela's Chavez favored before re-election vote - Video

Politics / Government
U.S. Rep. Insists on Using Koran for Swearing-In
Delay on tax breaks affects millions
Bush may end drilling ban in Alaskan bay

In the Courts
Supreme court to confront school racial diversity

U.N. News
U.N. agency sees risks to privacy, security online

Science / Nature
Hunt for hundreds killed in Philippine typhoon - Video
Philippines struggles with 4th big storm
Crews work to restore power after storm
Pfizer ends cholesterol drug development

Other News of Note
I Bought Nuke Poison, You Can Too!
Putin Angry With Britain for Not Quieting Ex-Russian Spy

Fox News
Calif. Family Goes Missing While on Holiday Trip
Police Search for Month-Old Baby Taken in Florida

Reuters: Top News
Mysterious epidemic may be killing Guinean chimps
Japanese gamers brave frosty weather for Nintendo Wii
Lindsay Lohan attending AA meetings: publicist
Is there such thing as bad publicity for stars?
Jobs and data to call stocks' year-end tune
Stocks slip on interest-rate, growth worries
Dollar slides after drop in manufacturing data
Nasdaq tumbles after Prudential downgrade
GM stock up as Kerkorian sells, U.S. Nov sales rise
For better or worse
Oil traders again focused on geopolitics
Mack-Cali pulls out of Icahn's Reckson bid
Pfizer ends development of key cholesterol drug
Anti-VW demo brings 15,000 to Brussels streets
Fed sees inflation risk even as growth slows
OPEC divided on need for deeper output curbs
BAE optimistic on Saudi despite fighter furor

AP World News
Protesters taunt NYPD as victim buried
UCLA pulls off shocker against No. 2 USC
Hilton quits Billboard awards over jokes
Gators make their case with SEC title
Escaped murderer caught after 33 years
Calif. diocese snubs Episcopal Church
Nintendo's Wii hits Japanese stores
'Daily Show,' 'Colbert' producer leaving
No. 6 Cards win big, now wait on Rutgers
Big Easy recreates Capote's masked ball
Greg Oden makes Ohio State debut
'Butley' has been with Lane a long time

Military.com
Op-ed: The Senate Kabuki Dance
Blog: And the Winner Is . . .
Warfighters, Kit Up!
Podcast: Operation Homecoming
Real Been There, Done That Tales
ALERT: VA Retro Pay Update

Department of Defense
NEWS UPDATES
For Top News Visit DefenseLink

DefendAmerica Week in Review
Sunday - Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday - Friday - Saturday

BACKGROUND
IRAQ
Renewal In Iraq
Iraq: Security, Stability
Fact Sheet: Progress and Work Ahead
Report: Strategy for Victory in Iraq
Iraq Daily Update
This Week in Iraq
Multinational Force Iraq
State Dept. Weekly Iraq Report (PDF)
'Boots on the Ground' Audio Archive
Weekly Reconstruction Report (PDF)
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps

AFGHANISTAN
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

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
1621 - Galileo perfects the telescope.
1678 - Edmund Halley receives a Master of Arts degree from Queen's College, Oxford.
1685 - Charles II bars Jews from settling in Stockholm, Sweden.
1775 - The first official U.S. flag raising takes place aboard the naval vessel Alfred.
1818 - Illinois is admitted as the 21st U.S. state.
1828 - Andrew Jackson is elected as the seveth President of the U.S.
1835 - The first American mutual fire insurance company issues its first policy, in Rhode Island.
1847 - Frederick Douglass publishes the first issue of his newspaper "North Star."
1863 - Confederate General Longstreet abandons his siege at Knoxville, TN.
1864 - Skirmish at Thomas' Station, Georgia.
1868 - The Trial of Jefferson Davis starts, marking the first time Blacks serve on a U.S. trial jury.
1878 - Settlers arrive at Petach Tikvah, Israel.
1883 - The 48th Congress (1883-85) convenes.
1912 - Turkey, Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria sign a weapons pact.
1920 - Turkey and Armenia agree to a peace treaty.
1923 - For the first time, a U.S. Congressional open session is broadcast via radio.
1930 - Air-borne chemicals combine with fog to kill 60 in Meuse Valley, Belgium; Otto Ender forms the Austrian government.
1931 - Alka Seltzer first goes on sale.
1932 - General Kurt von Schleicher becomes chancellor of Germany.
1934 - Italian colonial Tripoli and Cyrenaica are annexed to Libya.
1941 - Hitler views Poltava, in the Ukraine.
1943 - The Battle of Monte Cassino, Italy begins.
1944 - In Greece, the British order to disarm causes a general strike; the Hungarian death march of Jews ends; the U.S.' 5th Armored division occupies Brandenburg Hürtgenwald.
1946 - The U.S. government asks the U.N. to order dictator Franco out of Spain.
1948 - The first U.S. woman Army officer not in the medical corps is sworn in; the Chinese refugee ship "Kiangya" explodes in the East China Sea, killing 1,100.
1950 - Paul Harvey begins his national radio broadcast.
1952 - Hawaii sees its first TV broadcast.
1953 - Eisenhower criticizes McCarthy for saying communists are in the Republican party.
1958 - The Indonesian parliament accepts nationalization of Dutch businesses.
1959 - The state of emergency on Cyprus ends.
1962 - Edith Spurlock Sampson is sworn-in (the first American Black female judge); Pravda criticizes western art.
1964 - Police arrests 800 sit-in students at the University of California at Berkeley; "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" first airs on TV .
1965 - The U.S.S.R. launches Luna-8; it crashes on the Moon.
1967 - The first human heart transplant performed (Dr Christiaan Barnard, South Africa); The "20th Century Limited," famed New York-Chicago luxury train, makes its final run; in Indonesia, ex-President Sukarno is placed under house arrest.
1971 - President Nixon commutes Jimmy Hoffa's jail term.
1972 - A Convair 990A charter plane crashes in Tenerife, Canary Islands, killing 155.
1973 - Pioneer-10 passes Jupiter (first fly-by of an outer planet).
1976 - Dr. Patrick J. Hillery is elected President of Ireland.
1979 - Iran accepts its constitution.
1980 - A New York Federal jury finds Representatives Thompson (D-NJ) and Murphy (D-NY) guilty of influence peddling and bribery.
1982 - 77ºF becomes the highest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in December.
1985 - The 23rd Shuttle Mission (61-B / Atlantis 2) lands at Edwards AFB.
1989 - George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev end their summit in Malta.
1991 - Muslim Shiites release US hostage Alan Steen; White House Chief of Staff John Sununu resigns.
1992 - The U.N. Security Council votes unanimous for U.S.-led forces to enter Somalia.

Birthdays
1368 - King Charles VI (the Well-Beloved) of France (1380-1422)
1753 - Samuel Crompton, English inventor (mule-jenny spinning machine)
1755 - Gilbert Stuart, portrait painter (painted Washington)
1795 - Sir Rowland Hill, introduced the first adhesive postage stamp (1840)
1806 - Henry Alexander Wise, Confederate Brigadier-General
1809 - Thomas Alfred Davies Union Brevet Major General
1822 - Charles Adam Heckman, Union Brigadier-General
1826 - George Brinton McClellan, Union Major General
1829 - Green Berry Raum, Union Brigadier-General
1838 - Cleveland Abbe, meteorologist (Father of the Weather Bureau)
1857 - Joseph Conrad, novelist (Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness)
1862 - Jules Renkin, Belgian jurist/minister/premier (1931-32)
1886 - Karl Manne Georg Siegbahn, physicist (röntgen spectroscope, Nobel 1924)
1900 - Richard Kuhn Austria, biochemist, worked with vitamins (Nobel 1938)
1924 - John Backus, inventor (FORTRAN computer language)
1934 - Viktor Vassilyevich Gorbatko, cosmonaut (Soyuz 7, 24, 37/36)
1937 - Bobby Allison, auto racer (3 time winner of Daytona 500)
1948 - Ozzy Osbourne England, rock vocalist (Black Sabbath-Bark at the Moon)
1951 - Rick Mears, Indy-car racer (over 25 wins)

Passings
1137 - Lotharius III of Supplinburg, Roman-German emperor (1133-37)
1154 - Anastasius IV Pope (1153-54)
1463 - Louis Chalon, prince of Orange
1469 - Piero de' Medici, ruler of Florence
1533 - Vasili III, great prince of Moscow (1505-33)
1839 - King Frederik VI of Denmark (1808-39) / Norway (1803-14)
1893 - Allan Wilson, British/Rhodesian major, in battle
1894 - Robert Louis Stevenson, English writer (Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde)
1957 - Frank E. Gannett, newspaper publisher
1984 - Virginia Lacy Jones US librarian/presidential advisor
1994 - Giorgi Chanturia, President of Georgia, assassinated
1996 - Babrak Karmal, PM of Afghánistán (1980-81); Det Glynn, teacher/anti-apartheid activist

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Johnson, Stanley, USMC (CA); UH34-D shot down (co-pilot), KIA, body not recovered