A little while ago, I posted this photo by Michael Yon, and asked you all to come up with a caption:



Here's what we got:

Hey Tanks,,, you're welcome.

Looks like they're getting serious about punishing HOV abusers.

Next On COPS--Baqubah:The solution to road rage.

When directions to your house include "Go past the tank and turn off the paved road, You might be an insurgent."

Looks like Triple A (American Automobile Association) has new roadside service: If you get stuck or break down, we'll blow your car to smithereens!

"Beach????? Everybody knows I love the beach but..."

Nissan: Tank? I ain't afraid of no tank! What's he gonna do, run me over? Blow me up? Uhhhhhhhhm... uh oh, there's a tank. *help me*

"Just another tank in paradise!"



And now it's time to vote:

My favorite caption is...
	Tanks...
	...HOV Abusers...
	Next on COPS...
	...You might be an insurgent...
	...Triple A...
	...I love the beach...
	...I ain't afraid...
	Just another tank...
pollcode.com free polls

Voting closes at midnight Friday morning; winning caption will be posted Friday.


Michael Yon's photos are copyrighted, and are posted by permission. Please do not repost or publish without same.

Labels: Caption This, contests, Michael Yon

Retired Army Cpl. Howard V. Ramsey, Oregon's last living World War I veteran and the last known U.S. combat veteran of WWI, died in his sleep Feb. 22 at an assisted living center in southeast Portland. Photo by Courtesy


Mar 09, 2007
BY Spc. April L. Dustin

PORTLAND, Ore. (Army News Service, March 9, 2007) - The echo of a 21-gun salute and bugler playing Taps seemingly marked the end of an era as a state and national treasure was laid to rest in Portland, Ore., March 2.

Retired Army Cpl. Howard V. Ramsey, Oregon's last living World War I veteran and the last known U.S. combat veteran of WWI, died in his sleep Feb. 22 at an assisted living center in southeast Portland. He was honored in a memorial service attended by nearly 200 people at Lincoln Memorial Park exactly one month before reaching his 109th birthday.

"This is a very historic occasion; we lay to rest today our nation's oldest combat veteran," said Pastor Stu Weber, who officiated over Ramsey's memorial service.

In an Associated Press report, Jim Benson of the Veterans Administration said there are now only seven WWI veterans on record with the VA, although it is possible there are unknown veterans who may still exist.

Of the seven known WWI veterans still living, none were shipped overseas, making Ramsey the last known combat veteran of "The Great War." Ramsey inherited the title two weeks before his passing, when Massachusetts veteran Antonio Pierro passed away on Feb. 8.

Ramsey's lifetime spanned three centuries and 19 presidents. He was born in Rico, Colo., on April 2, 1898, when the U.S. flag had just 45 stars and President McKinley was preparing to declare war with Spain.

Too young to be drafted, Ramsey tried to voluntarily enlist but was told he was too skinny by Army standards. After gorging on bananas and water to successfully meet weight standards, he was placed in the Army's transportation corps.

Ramsey sailed to France in September 1918 to join General John "BlackJack" Pershing's American Expeditionary Force. Ramsey drove cars, trucks and motorcycles for the Army and trained other Soldiers how to drive. He was often selected to drive officers to special engagements, one officer "gigging" him for having a dirty truck despite the constant rain and mud in France. He also drove ambulances, transported troops to the frontlines and delivered water to troops on the battlefields.

Ramsey once recalled his service in WWI saying, "We were under fire a lot at the front, and we really caught hell one time. I lost friends over there."

After the armistice, Ramsey spent several months recovering the remains of American Soldiers who had been hastily buried in the trenches and transported them to the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, the largest American cemetery in Europe.

"You'd better believe it was pretty awful work," Ramsey told Oregonian reporter Rick Bella in 2005. "It was tough, but you became hardened to it."

Nearly 90 years later, Ramsey was still haunted by regret for not breaking the rules and keeping a diary that fell from the pocket of one deceased American Soldier. Ramsey told family and friends, "I wanted to keep that diary so badly to send it to his mother, but it was against the rules to keep anything from off the bodies."

Veterans of many generations and wars, and military representatives attended Ramsey's memorial service to pay their respects, including Brig. Gen. Raymond C. Byrne Jr., commander of the Oregon Army National Guard's 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and Jim Willis, state director of Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs.

"If we are going to end an era, I can think of no better way than to do it with a person who is a model representation of the kinds of Soldiers who served this country in WWI, and someone who would be an example to any combat Soldier serving up to, and including those who serve in Afghanistan and Iraq today. All (veterans) would be justifiably proud to have known Corporal Howard Ramsey," said Willis.

Retired Army Col. Don Holden, whose father was Ramsey's classmate at Washington High School, shared fond memories of Ramsey's sense of humor. He said farewell to his old friend by reading the epic WWI poem "Flander's Field," which Ramsey could recite from memory well into his late 90s.

(Spc. April L. Dustin writes for the Oregon National Guard Public Affairs Office.)

Labels: heroes, tributes, WWI

News of Note
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Pentagon: Iraq in some ways in civil war
Democrats predict passage of Iraq bill

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Terror 'A to Z'
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confesses to planning Sept. 11 attacks on World Trade Center, Pentagon
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's Confessions - VIDEO - BIO
Jordan Sentences Four Al Qaeda Militants to Death
A Trail of Terror and Tears (Photos - WARNING: graphic content)
Chiquita Banana Company Admits Paying Colombian Terror Groups Over $1 Million to Protect Farms
Palestinian PM gives Abbas agreed cabinet list

Troops on Trial
Attorney: Sgt. didn't give kill order

Other Military News
U.S. says open to NATO solution for missile shield
Fired General Says 'We Let Them Down'

Religion of Peace??
Protesters: Hang Indonesian Playboy Editor

Worldwide Wackos
U.N Security Council Agrees on Iran Nuclear Sanctions
U.N. resolution "torn paper": Ahmadinejad
End of bank probe to smooth N.Korea progress: U.S. - Video
Chavez says attacks on Bush not personal

Politics / Government
GOP Senator Calls for Gonzales to Be Fired- Bush 'Not Happy' With Flap - SPEAKOUT!
Senate Debates on Iraq Pullout by 2008
House overturns Bush order on papers secrecy

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Jury Recommends John Couey be Executed for Murder of 9-Year-Old Jessica Lunsford
Police: Suspect's Father, Friend 'Confessed' to Burying Missing Boy, But There's No Body
Two Volunteer Police Officers Among Four Killed in NYC Shootout
13-Year-Old Charged With 128 Felonies
Anti-Zionist Rabbi Beaten by Jews
Cops Arrest 2 in Case of Missing Georgia Boy
Court OKs Crossed-Out Nazi Symbols
Grand jury weighs NYC police shooting

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
Google to adopt new privacy measures

Mother Nature
Odd little critter sheds light on mammal evolution
Australia's Tasmania leads race to save stranded whales
Weak tornado hits in northeast Ohio
The Nation's Weather

News from My Neck of the Woods
Murder-Suicide Eyed in Boston Elevator Blast

Other News of Note
Report: Communist Rebels Kill Nearly 50 Police Officers in Eastern India
Zimbabwe says opposition escalating violence - Video
U.S. plans new financial sanctions on Sudan

Fox News
'American Idol' Says Bye-Bye to Brandon Rogers
Tribal and Bahamian Authorities Meet in Anna Nicole Probe; No Homicide Investigation Under Way
Mario Vazquez Is Not a Bad 'Idol'
Photographer Hospitalized in Encounter With Lindsay Lohan

Reuters: Top News
Food, shelter scarce in Sri Lanka war refugee exodus
China decries cadres colluding with big business
Ivory Coast must punish war-time rapists: Amnesty
Class-action lawyers pounce in subprime crisis
Senator says regulators accountable on subprime
Calling all rebels! Video game market opens wide
Maverick Tokyo designer twins high-tech, tradition
Young French, seeking hard work, head for Britain
Singapore tycoon Ong in spotlight with F1 bid
Binge drinking and drug abuse a problem on campuses (Noooooo....)
Dangers for U.S. teens lurk in medicine cabinets
Jolie adopts Vietnamese boy - Video
Revised R rating has a parental guide
Global stocks rebound from losses, riskier debt gains - Video
Yen rally falters as carry trade unwinding wanes
U.S. futures rise as Europe rallies; PPI on tap
Tradedoubler shares slide after AOL bid withdrawn
Nikkei up 1.1 pct, exporters rebound on weaker yen
Subprime meltdown clouding outlook
States back look into subprime roles
Imperial makes bid for Altadis
Cadbury to split sweets and drinks businesses
OPEC set to continue oil output restraint
Subprime problems may cloud U.S. profit growth further
Vivendi offers big divestitures in BMG deal: source

AP World News
Stock futures point toward higher open
Suns Rise: End Mavericks' home dominance
Bucks fire Stotts, promote Krystkowiak
Paula Abdul, Cowell chummy in real life
Obituaries in the news

Military.com
Poll: Will the Surge Work?
Forum: The Thousand Ship Navy
DT: Pam Hess on the War
Blog: Ernie Pyle is Dead
Advisors: Fighting TRICARE Increases
Finance: Get Money Smart for Springtime
NASCAR

USJFCOM
NATO military committee visits USJFCOM
More about USJFCOM and Allied Command Transformation
JIOC-X continues to improve intelligence support for joint warfighter - podcast
New data technology makes aerial reconnaissance video available to users in the field - podcast
Congressman calls command modeling and simulation hub - podcast

DefenseLink
General Notes Downturn in Violence in Iraq - Story
U.S. Diplomat Feels Renewed Sense of Hope
Troops Reach Out to America via YouTube - Story
Aberdeen Test Center Focuses on Warfighters - Story
Medical Review Group Hosts First Meeting- Story

More Headline News
Gates Reflects on Leadership, Troop Support
Gates: Baghdad Security Plan Encouraging So Far

Military News
Sailors, Marines Honor Iwo Jima Veterans
Military Leaders Discuss Readiness on Capitol Hill
Army Guard Leader Visits Troops in Afghanistan

War on Terror
Program Focuses on Training - Story
Soldier, Marine Killed in Iraq
Soldiers Uncover Four Caches

America Supports You
WWE Honors Wounded Troops
Association Honors Supporters
Overseas Troops Enjoy Gifts

Transformation
Idea Encourages Recycling
Air Force Notes 50th Launch
Future Bright for Space Assets
Marines Finish Corporals Course

Face of Defense
Couple Serves Together in Iraq - Story
Brothers Reunite in Kuwait
Son Motivates Marine's Success

DefendAmerica
ON THE GROUND
U.S., Iraqi Leaders Open Teachers' Institute - Story
Man's Best Friends Search Iraq Countryside - Story
Metal Shop Workers Help Ensure Troops' Safety - Story
U.S. Army Engineers Visit Remote School Project - Story
Iraqi Soldiers Keep 1st Division on the Road - Story

IN IRAQ
Navy's Top Lawyer Visits Military Legal Team
Iraqi Substation Provides Reliable Power Supply
Transition Teams Key to Iraqi Forces' Success
Army Medics Providing Vital Support to Marines

IN KENYA
Chaplain Meets with Kenyan Religious Leaders

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
'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: 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

Today in History
0493 - Theodorik the Great beats Odoaker of Italy
0752 - St. Zachary ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0933 - Battle at Riade: German King Henry I beats Magyaren
1360 - France invasion army lands on English south coast, conquers Winchel
1382 - Conservative "Popolo Grasso" regain power in Florence Italy
1391 - Jew-hating Monk in Seville Spain stirs up people to attack Jews
1493 - Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after 1st new world voyage
1560 - Failed assault on royal palace in Amboise, France
1562 - General François de Guise enters Paris, France
1580 - Spanish king Philip II puts 25,000 gold coins on head of prince Willem of Orange
1672 - King Charles II enacts Declaration of Indulgence
1729 - Sister St. Stanislas Hachard, 1st US nun, takes her vows, New Orleans
1744 - French King Louis XV declares war on England
1778 - Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island discovered by Captain Cook
1781 - Battle of Guilford Court House, South Carolina (British suffer heavy losses)
1812 - 1st Russian settlement in California, Russian River
1820 - Maine admitted as 23rd state
1827 - Freedom's Journal, 1st Black newspaper, publishes
1855 - Louisiana establishes 1st health board to regulate quarantine
1862 - General John Hunt Morgan begins 4 days of raids near Gallatin, TN
1864 - Red River Campaign-Union forces reach Alexandria, LA
1867 - Michigan becomes 1st state to tax property to support a university; Michigan appoints 1st salaried game & fish warden in US(William Alden Smith)
1889 - 6 US & German warships perish in harbor of Apia Samoa, 200 die
1892 - 1st escalator patented by inventor Jesse W Reno (New York, NY); New York State unveils automatic ballot booth (voting machine)
1897 - 1st indoor fly casting tournament opens, at Madison Square Garden
1901 - Horse racing is banned in San Francisco, last race March 16th
1903 - Frederick Lugard occupies Sokoto West Africa
1906 - Brits Rolls, Royce & Johnson form Rolls Royce Ltd
1907 - Finland is 1st European country to give women the right to vote
1913 - 1st Presidential press conference (Woodrow Wilson)
1915 - Netherlands merchant ship Tubantia torpedoed & sinks in North Sea
1916 - General Pershing, 15,000 troops chase Villa into Mexico, stay 10-months
1917 - Nicholas II, last Russian tsar, says he will abdicate
1919 - American Legion forms (Paris, France)
1923 - Lenin is hit with his 3rd stroke
1928 - Mussolini modifies Italy electoral system (abolishes right to choose)
1930 - 1st seaplane glider flown, Port Washington, NY; 1st streamlined submarine of US navy, USS Nautilus, launched (Groton, CT)
1933 - NAACP begins coordinated attack on segregation & discrimination
1934 - US Information Service opens
1937 - 1st blood bank is established (Chicago IL); 1st state contraceptive clinic opens (Raleigh NC)
1939 - Hitler occupies Bohemia & Moravia (Czechoslovakia); Slovakia independence
1940 - Göring says 100-200 church bells enough for Germany, smelt the rest
1941 - Blizzard in North Dakota kills 151
1943 - Allied reconnaissance flight over Java; Red Army evacuates Kharkov
1944 - Italian town of Cassino destroyed by Allied bombing
1945 - Bert Shepard (1 legged WWII veteran) tries out as a pitcher for Senators
1946 - British premier Attlee agrees with India's right to independence
1947 - John Lee appointed 1st Black commissioned officer in US Navy
1951 - Persia nationalizes Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
1955 - US Air Force unveils self-guided missile
1957 - 3rd nation to explode a nuclear bomb (Britain)
1960 - Key Largo Coral Reef Preserve established (1st underwater park); National Observatory at Kitt Peak, Arizona dedicated
1961 - South Africa withdrews from British Commonwealth
1962 - 5 research groups announce simultaneously discovery of anti-matter
1964 - LBJ asks for a War on Poverty
1965 - LBJ asks congress to ensure everybody's right to vote
1965 - TGIFriday's 1st restaurant opens in New York NY
1966 - Racial riots erupt in the Watts section of Los Angeles
1967 - AFCENT-headquarter moves to Brunssum; Marshal Arturo da Costa e Silva sworn in as President of Brazil
1968 - British minister of Foreign affairs George Brown resigns; Uprising in South Yemen; US Mint stops buying & selling gold
1969 - US Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas resigns; Violent Chinese-Russian border dispute (100s dead)
1971 - CBS TV announces it is dropping "Ed Sullivan Show"; Chatrooms make their debut on the Internet
1972 - Assassination attempt on Governor George Wallace of Alabama; Danish airliner hits mountain in Sheikdom of Oman killing 112; NASA selects 3 part configuration for Space Shuttle
1974 - Brazilian President Garastazu Médici resigns
1976 - Failed coup in Nigeria
1977 - "Eight is Enough" premieres on ABC-TV; US House of Representatives begin 90 day test of televising its sessions
1978 - Operation Litani: Israeli offensive in South Lebanon to rid area of Palestine guerrillas
1979 - Apparat releases Newdos+ 2.1 for Radio Shack's TRS-80
1981 - Failed coup in Suriname under Sergeant-Major Wilfred Hawker
1982 - Actress Theresa Saladana, stabbed repeatedly by obsessed fan
1982 - Nicaragua suspends their citizens rights for 30 days
1984 - Tanzania adopts constitution
1986 - Funeral services held for Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme
1988 - NASA reports accelerated breakdown of ozone layer
1989 - Department of Veterans Affairs officially established as a Cabinet position
1990 - Fernando Collor de Mello sworn in as President of Brazil
1991 - 4 Los Angeles police are charged with beating Rodney King
1992 - UN officially embarks on its largest peacekeeping operation
1999 - Pluto again becomes outermost planet

Birthdays
0076 - Hadrian, Roman Emperor (builder of Hadrian's Wall)
1493 - Anne Pierre Adrien, Duke of Montmorency marshal of France
1666 - Georg Baehr, German master builder (Frauenkirche, Dresden)
1713 - Nicolas Louis de Lacaille, astronomer who mapped the So Hemisphere
1750 - Caroline Herschel, astronomer/discoverer
1767 - Andrew Jackson, General/(D) 7th President (1829-37) (and my great-great etc. Uncle!)
1779 - William Lamb, (Whig) Viscount Melbourne, British Prime Minister (1834, 1835-41)
1809 - Joseph Jenkins Roberts, 1st President of Liberia
1811 - Robert Allen, Union Brevet Major General
1831 - Edward Aylesworth Perry, Confederate Brigadier General
1874 - Harold L. Ickes, social activist, New Deal politician
1905 - Berthold Schenck von Stauffenberg, attempted to assassinate Hitler
1912 - Duncan Stuart, Wilson-MacDonald fighter pilot
1915 - David Schoenbrun, CBS broadcast bureau head (Washington DC, Paris France)
1926 - Tim Valentine (Representative-NC)
1932 - Alan Lavern Bean, Captain USN/astronaut (Apollo 12, Skylab 3)
1936 - Donald K. Sundquist (Representative-TN)
1955 - Dee Snider (Twisted Sister-We're Not Gonna Take It)
1961 - Fabio (Lanzoni), romance novels model (Fabio After Dark)

Passings
44 BC - Julius Cæsar, assassinated in Roman Senate in the Portico of the Theater of Pompey
0493 - Odiaker, German army leader/King of Italy (476-93), dies
0752 - Zachary, Greek/Italian Pope (741-52)
0963 - Romanus II, Byzantine emperor (959-63), dies at 25
1034 - Mieszko II, King of Poland (1025-34)
1731 - Adolf H. van Rechteren, Dutch diplomat/politician, dies at 75
1881 - Emory Upton, Union General-Major (Selma), commits suicide at 42
1906 - Alfred Gilpin Jones, Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia (1900-06), dies at 81
1944 - Otto von Below, German commandant (WWI), dies at 86
1945 - Herman B. Wiardi Beckman, Dutch MP (SDAP), dies at 41
1966 - Abe Saperstein, founder (Harlem Globetrotters), dies at 63
1975 - Aristotle S. Onassis, Greek shipping magnate, dies at 69
1977 - Kamal Joemblat, Lebanese politician, murdered
1987 - Sterling W. Cole (Representative-NY), dies at 82
1988 - Dmitri F. Polyakov, Russian Secretary-General/top spy for US, executed
1993 - Ricardo M. Arias Espinosa, President of Panamá (1955-56)

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Clydesdale, Charles F., USN (PA); A1H ditched at sea, KIA, body not recovered

1966
Holmes, David H., USAF (MA); O1E shot down

McElroy, Glenn David, USAF (FL); O1V shot down (w/Nash)

Nash, John M., USAF (IN); O1V shot down (w/McElroy)

Scott, Martin R., USAF (OK); F4C shot down (w/Stewart)

Stewart, Peter J., USAF (FL); F4C shot down (w/Scott)

1967
Frederick, Peter J., USAF (NY); F105 shot down

Smith, Dean, Jr., USN (GA); F8C shot down, KIA, body not recovered

Thompson, Victor Hugo III, USAF (TX); F100D shot down - remains recovered August, 1973 - ID'd January, 1974

1971
Sexton, David M., US Army (OH); M109 gun breach block blew off - Killed, body not recovered

Labels: Headlines, History