CPT. Kettner is one of our Soldiers' Angels adoptees. Here's just one of the ways he - and all of our troops - have earned the title of Heroes:

Soldiers from Bloomington unit help save Iraqi boy
By Scott Richardson
FORWARD OPERATION BASE BUCCA, Iraq — Members of the 33rd Military Police Battalion based in Bloomington gave a special Christmas gift to a 15-year-old Iraqi boy who was dying of brain cancer.

About a month after arriving in Iraq in October, the U.S. soldiers arranged for the boy to be transported to Kuwait where doctors performed an operation to remove the large tumor.

The growth had stunted his growth. He appeared to be just age 6 or 7 and was barely conscious when the boy’s father, Mussa Abbud of northern Rumailah, carried Sattar to the gates of the base located in south Iraq near the city of Um Qasr, said Master Sgt. Matt Feit of Normal in an email to the Pantagraph from Iraq...


Read the Rest - at Pantagraph.com

Washington, D.C. (Dec. 30, 2006) - Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Mike Mullen, far-left, accompanied by other senior military leaders, pay their respects at the conclusion of memorial services for the nations 38th President Gerald R. Ford. Ford died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, Dec. 26 at the age of 93. A private interment service is scheduled for Jan. 3 at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential museum in Grand Rapids, Mich. DOD photo by William D. Moss

That's right - it's time to vote.

For the first of IWT's Heroes of the Month, we have two nominees:


Nominee #1:
Daniel, US Army:

My nomination for Hero of the Month would by my son [Daniel] currently stationed [in Iraq] on his second tour.

Here is why.

During training at the National Training Center...just before deployment Dan was complaining to an officer that the officer should stop sending his men out on suicide missions that they were not learning anything and they needed to learn things that would keep them alive in Iraq. Apparently Dan and the officer got into a heated exchange and they went behind a building. Shortly the officer appeared from behind the building white faced and exited the area. Dan's men were not sent on any more suicide missions during the rest of their time there.

I have a new found respect and pride in my son as a leader. I did not get this story from Dan, it came from the father of a young PFC in Dan's squad...


Nominee #2:

Jens, German Mountain Infantry:

Says Sandra,

You can read about him over here and here

and another post about him over here.

Posts about our Bat Cave Crew you can find over here

There is an index beneath the photo of them.

We both adopted them but I think Jens would deserve the "Hero of the month" title because he is a German Officer, HUGE Supporter of the US Military, loving boyfriend, is definitely going to join the Marines... even if he doesn't get the title, he already is my personal HERO!


What do the winners receive?
1. A blog post in their honor (NOTE: Last name, rank, unit, and specific location of any deployed Hero will be edited, including photoshopping pictures, unless I am specifically told that such detail is OK to post)

2. If a deployed Hero, a care package and letter, and submission to Soldiers' Angels for adoption if not already an adoptee, and if requested. Care packages are being generously provided by Patti of Soldiers' Angels - thanks, Patti!

So, you can vote once per day, and voting closes Sunday, January 7th - the winner will be announced on Monday, January 8th. Vote now!

Who gets your vote for IWT's January -07 Hero of the Month?
	Daniel
	Jens
pollcode.com free polls

To nominate a Hero for February, email me at iraqwartoday-AT-sbcglobal.net

Ford's Body Arrives in Washington for Official Honors
Photo by Tech. Sgt. Christopher J. Matthews

December 31, 2006 A ceremonial honor guard carries the casket of former President Gerald R. Ford at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on Dec. 30 as part of the national farewell funeral procession honoring the former commander in chief. In a proclamation formally announcing his death, President Bush referred to the former president as "a true gentleman who reflected the best in America's character." President Ford will lie in state at the Capitol Rotunda where the public will be able to pay their respects. The actual funeral will be held at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan 2. His final resting place will be in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich., at a site just north of the Gerald R. Ford Museum.

Related:
Ford's Body Arrives in Washington for Official Honors

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Iraqi Officials to Probe Filming of Saddam Hanging
Full Video of Saddam's Hanging (WARNING: graphic and NOT work-safe)
Iraqi deaths hit record as Bush mulls changes
Iraqis ponder lessons of history after Saddam hangs
Thousands of Iraqis Die in 2006

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Bangkok bombs cast shadow over Thai tourism
Photographer, Palestinian gunmen abducted in Gaza
Palestinian militants attack Israeli truck

Troops on Trial
Arroyo justifies transfer of convicted Marine

Other Military News
PTSD may Raise Heart Attack Risk

Religion of Peace??
Somalis Appeal for Foreign Peacekeepers
Ethiopian troops to stay in Somalia weeks
Somalia's PM: Major fighting likely over

Worldwide Wackos
Iran will press ahead with nuclear work: president

Politics / Government
National funeral service to honor Ford
Romney Readies Run for President
Dems eager to put stamp on new Congress
Dems to inherit agenda dominated by war

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment
Duke Prosecutor's Fourth Victim
SoCal prison on lockdown after riot

Immigration / Border Control
Refugees in U.S. use Jan. 1 as birthday
Texas smuggling deaths retrial to resume

U.N. News
Op-Ed: When the U.N. Fails

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
Colorado Couple Sells Snow on eBay
Reporters Expected to Testify in CIA Leak Case
Networks "pull together" for Ford funeral coverage
Oprah Winfrey opens school in S. Africa

Science / Nature
Food to Be Dropped in Colorado
Sections of Colo. remain buried in snow
Scientists Engineer Mad Cow-Proof Bovines
Taiwan researchers retract report in global journal
Endangered Idaho snail losing habitat

News from My Neck of the Woods
Man Injured at Coney Island Polar Bear Swim

Oddities
Paging Agent Mulder: 'UFO' Reported at Airport
Inventor creates ping pong for three
Hotel chain offers massages for dogs

Other News of Note
No Motive in Murder of NFL Player
VIDEO: Denver Broncos Cornerback Killed in Drive-By
University Releases 'List of Words and Phrases Banished From the Queen's English'

Fox News
Md. Kids Found Alive After Mom's Murder
Big Wins, Comebacks at College Bowl Games
Bobby Knight Becomes Winningest Coach
90 Found Dead Among Wreckage of Missing Indonesian Jet; 12 Survivors Reported
Britney Spears Falls Asleep at Las Vegas Nightclub; Manager Says 'She Was Not Drunk'

Reuters: Top News
Rescuers search rough Java seas for ferry survivors - Video
Brazil's Lula pledges economic growth in 2nd term - Video
Web wishes show contrasting French election styles
In kidnapping, finesse works best
Physical abuse leads to adult depression: study
Study links post-traumatic stress to heart disease
Stiller and Smith movies lead New Year box office
Euro firm, oil back below $61 - Video
Mild jobs may lift stocks as '07 starts
Oil dips below $61
Gold hits one-month high on weaker dollar
Forex-Euro hits record peak vs yen as yields in focus
Markets start to embrace Fed's views
Diary of Fed events in January
Condo conversions stall
Hyundai targets 2007 revenue growth spurt
Apple options probe spotlights ex-officials: paper
AT&T to push wireless, seek revenue in ads: paper
Russia, Belarus sign gas deal
India's Jet Airways buys 10 Boeing 787 aircraft
Insurers to pay DaimlerChrysler 168 million euros: paper

AP World News
Housing slump seen weighing on economy
USC tops Michigan in Rose Bowl
Union to support New Orleans officers
Study: 2 of 5 bosses don't keep word
No. 9 Boise State wins Fiesta Bowl in OT
Doctors back new approach on 2nd opinion
Smoking ban concerns businesses in D.C.
Jackie Chan to produce 10 films in China
Rose Parade pays tribute to Star Wars
Obituaries in the news

Military.com
Blog: Public Ugliness
DT: Unbeatable Pain Beam
Advisors: Recruiters and Resumes
Kit Up! For the New Year
The Editor's Desk Podcast 2006 Highlights

CENTCOM: News Releases
AL-QAIDA WEAPONS DEALER KILLED DURING BAGHDAD RAID

MND-B TROOPS HIT BY ROADSIDE BOMB

IRAQI ARMY CAPTURES IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICE FACILITATOR

IRAQI ARMY CONDUCTS OPERATIONS TO CAPTURE INSURGENT CELL LEADER

INITIAL TIP LEADS TO DISCOVERY, ELIMINATION OF IED MATERIALS

SUSPECTED IED FACTORY FOUND IN EASTERN BAGHDAD

IRAQI SECURITY FORCES COMBAT INSURGENCY IN ANBAR PROVINCE

TWO TASK FORCE LIGHTNING SOLDIERS KILLED, TWO WOUNDED

IRAQI FEMALE KILLED BY INSURGENT MORTAR ATTACK NORTHWEST OF HABBANIYAH

SIX DETAINED IN JOINT OPERATION

SIX TERRORISTS KILLED DURING BAGHDAD RAID

CALVARY TROOPS FIND 3 WEAPONS CACHES

IRAQI ARMY DETAINS FIVE IN FALLUJAH

IRAQI ARMY DETAINS 15 NEAR HABBANIYAH

IRAQI ARMY DETAINS 3 SUSPECTED BOMBERS

TERRORISTS FLEE FROM IRAQI ARMY, BREAK OFF ATTACK BY MOSQUE

SECURITY PATROL STRUCK BY IED

IRAQI ARMY DETAINS TWO DURING OPERATIONS AGAINST INSURGENT GROUP NEAR KARABILAH

IP CAPTURES 3 AL QAEDA IN IRAQ TERRORISTS SOUTHWEST OF MOSUL

IP CAPTURE 6 INSURGENTS DURING RAID SOUTH OF BAGHDAD

USJFCOM
2006 -- The Year in Review
USJFCOM gets approval to connect U.S., Australian networks - podcast

Department of Defense
NEWS UPDATES
Saddam Executed After Fair Trial - Story
Dictator Executed for Crimes Against Humanity
Stability & Security in Iraq Report (pdf)
For Top News Visit DefenseLink

ON THE GROUND
Coalition Troops Kill 4 Terrorists; Iraqis Detain 21 - Story
Operation in Al Doura Market ‘Sweeping’ Success - Story
Iraqi Doctors Facilitate Change in Healthcare - Story
U.S. Troops Help Conduct Operations in Siniyah - Story
Iraqi Security Forces Increasing Capabilities - Story
Combined Forces Capture 60 Insurgents - Story

IN IRAQ
Soldiers Rescue Kidnapped Iraqis from Insurgents
Five Iranians Detained in Recent Baghdad Raids
Soldiers Take Pride in Transferring Supplies
Chief of Naval Operations Visits USS Boxer

IN AFGHANISTAN
Afghan Officials, U.S. Troops Open Runway
Chief of Chaplains Brings Support to Region
Buccaneers Return from Afghanistan Tour

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
Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Germany
Ansbach Aschaffenburg Berlin Berlin-Tempelhof Berlin/Schonefeld Bremerhaven
Darmstadt Frankfurt Frankfurt/Main Freiburg/Breisgau Garmisch
Garmisch-Partenkirchen Geilenkirchen Gelnhausen Giessen Kitzingen
Hanau Am Main Heidelberg Mainz Mannheim Nurnberg Stuttgart Trier
Wiesbaden Wurzburg

Gitmo

Guam
Agana Agana Heights Agat Andersen AFB Asan Barrigada

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

Japan
Kadena Air Base Okinawa Tokyo Yokohama

Philippines
Baler Radar Site Catanduanes Radar Site Manila

South Korea
Cheju Upper/Radar Chonju Chunchon Inch'on Kunsan Masan Mokp'o
Osan Pusan Seoul Suwon Taegu Taejon Tonghae Radar Site Ulsan Yosu

* If you're deployed, and want to see your location's weather listed here, please email me! *

Today in History
0069 - Roman Lower Rhine army proclaims its commander, Vitellius, emperor
0533 - John II begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1235 - Emperor Joseph II orders Jews of Galicia Austria to adopt family names
1492 - Spain recaptures Granada from the Moors (Granada Day)
1570 - Tsar Ivan the Terrible march to Novgorod begins
1602 - Spanish forces in Ireland surrender to the English at Kinsdale
1757 - British troops occupy Calcutta India
1776 - 1st revolutionary flag displayed; Austria ends interrogation torture
1788 - Georgia is 4th state to ratify US constitution
1800 - Free black community of Philadelphia PA petitions Congress to abolish slavery
1811 - US Senator Thomas Pickering is 1st senator censured (revealed confidential documents communicated by the President of the US)
1831 - Liberator, abolitionist newspaper, begins publishing in Boston
1839 - 1st photo of the Moon (French photographer Louis Daguerre)
1842 - 1st US wire suspension bridge for general traffic opens in Pennsylvania
1861 - Colonel Charles Stone is put in charge of organizing DC militia; SC seizes inactive Fort Johnson in Charleston Harbor
1863 - Battle of Murfreesboro (Stone's River) ends
1871 - King Amadeus I of Spain inaugurated at 25
1885 - General Wolseley receives last distress signal of General Gordon in Khartoum
1890 - Alice Sanger becomes 1st female White House staffer; Record 19'2" alligator shot in Louisiana by E.A. McIlhenny
1893 - 1st US commemoratives & 1st US stamp to picture a woman issued
1896 - Battle at Doornkop, South Africa (Boers beat Dr Jamesons troops)
1903 - President T. Roosevelt shuts down post office in Indianola MI, for refusing to accept its appointed postmistress because she was black
1905 - Elara, a satellite of Jupiter, discovered by Perrine; Japanese troops capture Port Arthur
1910 - 1st junior high schools in US open in Berkeley CA
1919 - Anti-British uprising in Ireland; Lithuania gains independence
1920 - 10,000 US union & socialist organizers arrested (Palmer Raids)
1923 - Ku Klux Klan surprise attack on black residential area Rosewood FL, 8 killed (compensation awarded in 1995)
1925 - Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region established (now in Tadzhik SSR)
1929 - US & Canada agree to preserve Niagara Falls
1933 - US troops leave Nicaragua
1934 - 1st state liquor stores open, in Pennsylvania
1935 - Bruno R. Hauptmann trial begins for kidnap-murder of Lindbergh baby
1936 - 1st electron tube to enable night vision described, St Louis MO
1938 - Book publisher Simon and Schuster founded
1942 - 28 nations, at war with Axis, pledge no separate peace; German troops in Bardia surrender; Japanese troops occupy Manila, in the Philippines
1944 - 1st use of helicopters during warfare (British Atlantic patrol)
1945 - Allied air raid on Neurenberg; Radio Orange ends cooperation at Liese-Aktion
1947 - Mahatma Gandhi begins march for peace in East-Bengali
1956 - Poujadists/communists win French parliamentary elections
1959 - USSR launches Mechta (Luna 1) for 1st lunar fly-by, 1st solar orbit; Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista flees
1960 - Senator John F Kennedy, announces his candidacy for President; John Reynolds sets age of solar system at 4,950,000,000 years
1964 - Ayub Khan elected President of Pakistan; Failed assassination attempt on President Nkrumah of Ghana
1965 - Martin Luther King, Jr., begins a drive to register black voters; Obverse design of all Canadian coins is changed to depict the Queen with a slightly more mature look
1966 - 1st Jewish child born in Spain since 1492 expulsion
1968 - Christiaan Barnard performs 2nd heart transplant
1970 - US population is 205,052,174
1971 - A barrier collapses at Ibrox Park football ground at end of a soccer match in Glasgow Scotland, killing 66
1972 - Mariner 9 begins mapping Mars
1974 - 55 MPH speed limit imposed by Richard Nixon; Worst fire in Argentine history destroys 1.2 million acres
1975 - US Department of Interior designates grizzly bear a threatened species
1978 - Bülent Ecevit forms government in Turkey
1979 - Sid Vicious' trial for murder of girlfriend Nancy Spingen begins
1983 - Garry Trudeau takes a 20-month break from writing "Doonesbury"
1984 - Riot in Tunis kills over 100; Wilson Goode, sworn-in as Philadelphia's 1st black mayor
1987 - Troops of Chad President Habré conquer Fada oasis
1988 - Oil storage tank spills 3.8 million gallons, Pennsylvania; Mulroney & Reagan sign Canada-US free trade agreement
1994 - Battles between army & rebellious Indians in South Mexico, kill 57
1995 - Bus crashes in Luzon Philippines, 29 killed; Most distant galaxy yet discovered found by scientists using Keck telescope in Hawaii (estimated 15 billion light years away)
1998 - Autopsy of Chris Farley shows he overdosed of opiates & cocaine

Birthdays
1642 - Mehmed IV, sultan (Turkey)
1647 - Nathaniel Bacon, leader of Bacon's Rebellion, Virginia (1676)
1699 - Osman III, sultan (Turkey)
1727 - James Wolfe, commanded British Army (captured Québec)
1835 - Charles Russell Lowell, Jr., Brigadier General (Union volunteers)
1861 - Helen Herron Taft, First Lady (1909-13)
1873 - Anton Pannekoek, Dutch astronomer/marxist theorist (Communist Tactics)
1880 - Louis Breguet, French aviation pioneer
1895 - Count Folke Bernadotte, statesman (Red Cross, UN)
1899 - Paul-Henri Spaak, Premier/Secretary-General of NATO (1957-61)
1913 - Ernest Sidey, British air marshal; Juanita E. Jackson Mitchell, US head (NAACP)
1920 - Penelope Jessel, politcal activist; Peter Harrison Swan, bomber pilot/stockbroker
1927 - Richard Belmont Ray (Representative-GA)
1928 - Dan Rostenkowski (Representative-IL, -94), House Ways & Means Committee chair
1928 - Vaughn Beals, CEO (Harley Davidson motorcycle)
1931 - Toshiki Kaifu, premier of Japan (1989-91)

Passings
1763 - John Casteret Earl Granville, English premier, dies at 72
1861 - Frederik Willem IV King of Prussia (1840-61)/Germany (1849-61), dies at 65
1863 - Roger Weightman Hanson, Confederate Brigadier General, dies in battle at 35
1904 - James Longstreet, Confederate General, dies at 82
1921 - Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, German chancellor/PM (Prussia); referred to the international treaty guaranteeing Belgian neutrality as "a scrap of paper", dies at 64
1923 - Sam Carter, Black resident of Rosewood FL, lynched by KKK
1945 - Betram Home Ramsay, English Admiral/Commander Naval Forces (Normandy), dies at 61
1955 - José Antonio Remon, President of Panamá (1952-55), assassinated
1960 - Friedrich Adler, Austria social-democrat, assasinated PM Stürgkh, dies in Zürich at 80
1990 - Alan Hale, Jr., actor (Skipper Jonas Grumby-Gilligan's Island), dies of cancer at 71
1994 - Caesar Romero actor (Joker-Batman), dies at 86; Dixy Lee Ray, chairwoman (US Atomic Energy Commission), dies at 79
1995 - Mohammed Siyad Barre, President of Somalia (1969-91); Siad Barre, General/President of Somalia (1969-91), dies at 84

Reported Missing in Action
1966
MacLaughlin, Donald C., USN (MD); A4C disappeared while on combat mission

1967
Menges, George Bruce, USAF (OH); O1F shot down - remains returned August, 1980

1970
Brooks, Nicholas G., USN (NY); A6A shot down (w/Fryar); remains returned February, 1982

Fryar, Bruce C., USN (NJ); A6A shot down (w/Brooks)

Lindstrom, Ronnie G., USAF (MN); F4D shot down (w/West)

West, John T., USAF (MD); F4D shot down (w/Lindstrom)