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Friday, May 25, 2007


PATRIOT GUARD RIDERS
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Marine Gen. Peter Pace talks with a member of the Patriot Guard Riders in Chicago, May 19, 2007. The Patriot Guard Riders is a national organization of motorcycle enthusiasts who honor returning veterans. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen


Patriot Guard Riders Website

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America Supports You: Texas Group Packages Morale for Troops



More than 100 golfers participated in the "Tee It Up Fore the Troops" golf outing May 21 at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, Texas, to benefit Defenders of Freedom and the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport’s USO. Among the participants were soldiers from Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and Marines from the Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth. Three Iraqi war veteran amputees also participated. Courtesy photo


By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 25, 2007 – The nearly 500 servicemembers who pass through the United Service Organizations lounge at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Texas each day receive a warm greeting from “Defenders of Freedom.”

Defenders of Freedom is a member organization of the Defense Department’s America Supports You program, which spotlights and facilitates support for U.S. servicemembers by private individuals and groups and the nation’s corporate sector. Donna Cranston, Defenders of Freedom founder, said members of her group greet servicemembers passing through the USO lounge in conjunction with leave, and that the group raises funds to send care packages to deployed servicemembers. Defenders of Freedom’s Web site offers a form that allows servicemembers to request a customized care package and specific items they’d like to receive, Cranston said.

In addition to sending care packages, the group works to encourage wounded servicemembers, especially those with no support, and provide them with needed items. Families of wounded servicemembers also are offered both physical and emotional support, Cranston said.

To cover the costs of this support, Cranston said, the group holds fundraisers.

On May 21, Defenders of Freedom and the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport’s USO teamed up for a golf outing called “Tee It Up Fore the Troops.” Cranston said the event raised $20,000, which will be divided between the two charitable organizations.

America Supports You membership has served the group well when it comes to meeting needs that don’t fall within Defenders of Freedom’s mission statement, Cranston said.

“When I get requests I can’t fill, it has been wonderful to be able to suggest the America Supports You Web site, or to give them the name and number of another group I have met,” she said.


Related Sites:
America Supports You
Defenders of Freedom
United Service Organizations

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SECURITY TEAM — U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Robert Farnsworth, a platoon sergeant with Company A, 325th Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, pulls security next to a soldier from the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division during a morning clearing operation in Baghdad’s Adhamiyah District, May 23, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael Pryor

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In Today's News - Friday, May 25, 2007

Quote of the Day
"The cat in gloves catches no mice."
-- Benjamin Franklin

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom

Air, ground elements continue search for missing Soldiers
Arrests Made in Conjunction wtih Search for Soldiers
He's Back! - Radical Iraqi cleric comes out of hiding in Iran
Top Mahdi Army Militant Killed in Fighting With British
Dems Give Bush War-Funding Bill Without Timetables
Iran's Ambassador to Iraq to Head U.S.-Iran Talks
Iraq contractor sentenced for child porn
Lawmakers predict shift in war policy

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Blasts Near Palestinian PM's Home - PHOTOS
U.S. Aid Starts to Arrive in Lebanon - VIDEO
Al Qaeda 'Torture Handbook'
Israel strikes Gaza - Video
Gunmen kidnap oil workers in Nigeria

Other Military News
Study: Soldiers Want Deadlier Guns (Now, if those in charge would only LISTEN to them...)

Worldwide Wackos
N. Korea Conducts Guided Missile Tests

Homegrown Moonbats
Donald Trump Weighs In on Latest Spat Between Rosie O'Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck

Politics / Government
Family Affair? - House Democrat's finances questioned
New Tests Raise Doubts About JFK Shooter
Senate Approves $2.10 Minimum-Wage Hike
Underdog Biden banks on Iraq plan
Rice lays groundwork for Calif. return

Illegal Immmigration / Border Control
Senators battle for immigration pact

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Have You Seen This Woman?
'Sleepwalking' Georgia Molester Found Guilty
Cops ID 2nd Body in Murders of SoCal Family
Trooper Fired Over Porn Star Tryst - VIDEO
Feds Bust 24 for Allegedly Cheating Casinos in High-Tech Card-Rigging Scheme
Man charged in boy's punching death
Criminalist Lee's credibility challenged
Bribery claimed in NY slave labor case
Tocchet pleads guilty in gambling case

U.N. News
U.N.-AU draw up plans for large Darfur force - Video

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
Facebook becomes hub for outside software makers - Video
Google defends data policy after EU warning

Science / Medicine / Technology
Junk Science: Hot Air Study Melts Global Warming Theory
China says stepping up checks on food exports (Sure...I can't wait for the advertising slogans - "Now with 1/3 less death...")
TV Can Be Bad for Diabetic Kids, Study Shows
World's first lung transplant on HIV patient performed
Women's rights key to Africa AIDS crisis: study
FDA study said to show Avandia risk
TV linked with poor diabetes control

Mother Nature
Rescue on Top of the World
L.A. Gets Aid Nabbing Gator - PHOTOS
Video: Hawaiian volcano's fiery show
Cinemas use night goggles to nab pirates
Swarm of bees forces passenger plane to land (NOT cool...I'm allergic to beestings...)

News from My Neck of the Woods
New Yorkers oppose proposed traffic toll: survey

Oddities
Dr. Martens Sell 'Soles' of Dead Rockers

Other News of Note
Gasoline Prices Finally Retreat — Barely
Gas Tracker: Find Your Price at the Pump
Ukraine Prez Tries to Seize Troops - PHOTOS
Myanmar junta extends Suu Kyi detention by a year

Fox News
Existing-Homes Sales Drop; Prices Slide
NEWS IN PICTURES: Today's News in Photos
Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie Pull a Fast One at Cannes
Summer Reality Shows: K-Fed's Ex, Pirates and Paula Abdul

Reuters: Top News
Travel despite cost
Climate showdown expected at G8 meet
Joaquin Phoenix is "tortured" soul
Taking on Murdoch
Dow Jones doesn't need higher bid: Ottaway
Irish PM Ahern set for 3rd term in close race
Bebo and "Lonelygirl15" creators launch UK version
Vienna goes glam for Europe's biggest HIV charity bash
Jewellery designer dreams of artistic freedom
Health experts help TV docs get facts straight - Video
Ocean's" brings series to spirited close - Video
Oil slips below $71 on refinery restarts
Stocks bounce back with latest M&A news - Video
Dollar slips after soft existing home sales
Amgen to appeal as EU experts reject Vectibix drug
Gold gains above nine-week lows
"Algo" trading takes off in Asia
U.S. platinum ETF launch ruled out
Existing home sales fell 2.6 pct in April
Coca-Cola to buy Glaceau for $4.1 billion
Nasdaq to buy Nordic bourse group OMX for $3.7 bln
Ex-EMI boss says interested in a bid
Revamped Northwest faces post-bankruptcy challenges

AP World News
Millions to hit the roads and airports
Ex-cycling champ Riis admits to doping
Osmonds reuniting for 50th celebration
James, Cavs come up short as Pistons win
Stocks rebound following pullback
Nasdaq in $3.7B deal for Nordic bourse

Military.com
Why Pay for College?
Op-Ed: Misusing Memorial Day
Free Newsletters Come Automatically
Stop the Flop with SERPA
DT: Lawmakers Want M4 Competition

CENTCOM: News Releases
COALITION FORCES FIND EXPLOSIVES CACHE, DETAIN 15
DIYALA SHEIKS MEET TO ADDRESS CONCERNS
IRAQI ARMY, POLICE DISCOVER UNDERGROUND CACHE

USJFCOM
USJFCOM testing Sense Through Structures capabilities - podcast
Liveblogging: Joint Urban Warrior 07
U.S. Joint Forces Command, Marines begin Joint Urban Warrior 07
Unmanned vehicle management system capability under evaluation - podcast

Multi-National Force-Iraq
RAF jets save top Iraqi Police commander
Iraqis taking the lead at Al Suleikh
Three months into the surge, paratroopers in Sha’ab take stock
COALITION FORCES NAB 20 SUSPECTED AL-QAEDA TERRORISTS

DefenseLink
Gates Urges Graduates to Be Strong, Decisive
Speech: Secretary Gates at Naval Academy Commencement
Memorial Day: Honor, Remember, Rededicate
Gates, Pace: Local Leaders Critical to Success
Video: Gates, Pace, Pentagon Media Roundtable
Violence in Iraq Could Pick Up This Summer

More Headline News
Guard’s Lack of Equipment Puts U.S. at Risk
Rebuilding Progress Should Be Taken in Context
Rice, Australian Foreign Minister Visit Marines
President Praises U.S. Coast Guard Graduates

Military News
Sailor Brings Father Home from War, 37 Years Later
USS Anzio Rescues Stranded Ukrainian Sailors
New Stamp Features Air Force One

America Supports You
CBS Highlights ASY
Video: CBS Highlights ASY
Pro Golfer Vows Support
Phone Card Donations Flourish

War on Terror
Coalition, Iraqi Forces Detain 28
Six Soldiers Killed
Coalition Forces Detain 15
Troops Kill, Capture Insurgents

Transformation
Biological Team Protects Airmen
Officials Stand Up Joint Space Office
Thinking Lean, a Must for Force
Navy Launches USNS Byrd

Face of Defense
Reserve Chief Is Business Savvy
Firefighter Lives His Dream
Soldier Shares Experiences
Navy Dad, Marine Son Reunite
Marine Trains in Anti-Terrorism

DefendAmerica
NEWS UPDATES
Troops Kill, Capture Insurgents - Story

ON THE GROUND
Al Qaim Detachment Plays Role in Iraq Transition - Story
Security Brings Desired Results to Al Anbar - Story
New Water Drilling Rig Arrives In Djibouti - Story
Sadoun Street Receives Facelift in Baghdad - Story

IN IRAQ
'Battlefield Docs' Converge in Iraq to Hone Skills
Group Provides Direction for Buddhist Soldiers
Army Unit Gets New Patch During Ceremony
Airmen Prepare Camp for New Living Quarters
Basrah Healthcare Centers Near Completion
Apache Crews Keep Eyes on Mission in Iraq
Al Qaim Medical Facility Gets Needed Upgrade
School Receives Supplies, Medical Attention
Senior U.S. Enlisted Leaders Meet with Troops
Squadron Adopts ‘Raising the Bar’ Mentality
Soldiers Repair Bombed-out Bridge on Highway
Army Engineers Monitor Reconstruction Program
Marine Cooks Up Morale, Troop Welfare in Iraq

IN DJIBOUTI
German Navy Donates Vehicles, Suppport
Joint Effort to Repair School Library in Africa
Task Force Showers Orphans With Supplies

IN AFGHANISTAN
Hard Work Creates Progress in Border Provinces
Coalition Forces Diffuse Soviet–era Bomb

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
585BC - 1st known prediction of a solar eclipse
1085 - King Alfonso VI of Castily/León occupy Toledo on Moren
1241 - 1st attack on Jewish community of Frankfort-on-the-Main Germany
1522 - Emperor Karel I returns to Spain
1632 - Albrecht von Wallenstein recaptures Prague on Saksen
1659 - Richard Cromwell resigns as English Lord Protector
1660 - English King Charles II lands in Dover
1720 - "Le Grand St. Antoine" reaches Marseille, plague kills 80,000
1721 - John Copson becomes America's 1st insurance agent
1784 - Jews are expelled from Warsaw by Marshall Mniszek
1787 - Constitutional convention opens at Philadelphia, George Washington presiding
1793 - Father Stephen Theodore Badin is 1st US Roman Catholic priest ordained
1810 - Argentina declares independence from Napoleonic Spain (National Day)
1812 - Earthquake destroys Caracas Venezuela
1844 - 1st telegraphed news dispatch is published in Baltimore Patriot
1861 - John Merryman is arrested under suspension of writ of habeas corpus; it later sparks a supreme court decision protecting the writ
1862 - Battle of Winchester, VA
1864 - Battle of New Hope Church, GA
1887 - Gas lamp at Paris Opera catches fire; 200 die
1895 - Oscar Wilde sentenced to 2 years hard labor for being a sodomite
1898 - 1st US troop transport to Manila leaves San Fransisco
1900 - Eyre M. Shaw, 78, becomes oldest gold medalist in the Olympics
1911 - Revolution in México overthrows President José Porfirio Diaz
1914 - British House of Commons passes Irish Home Rule
1915 - 2nd Battle of Ypres ends with 105,000 casualties
1919 - Casey Stengel releases a sparrow from under his baseball cap
1923 - Britain recognizes Transjordan with Abdullah as its leader
1927 - Henry Ford stops producing Model T car (begins Model A)
1928 - Amelia Earhart (as a passenger) is 1st woman to fly Atlantic Ocean
1935 - Jesse Owens equals or breaks 6 world records in one hour
1937 - 1st airmail letter to circle the globe returns to New York
1940 - German troops conquer Boulogne; Golden Gate International Expo reopens
1941 - 5,000 drown in a storm at Ganges Delta region in India
1943 - Riot at Mobile, AL shipyard over upgrading 12 black workers; Trident conference in Washington, DC (operation plan '43 against Japan)
1944 - Partisan leader Tito escapes Germans surrounding Bosnia
1945 - Arther C. Clark proposes relay satellites in geosynchronous orbit
1946 - Abdullah ibn Hussein becomes king of Jordan; Jordan gains independence from Britain (National Day)
1947 - Coal dust explosion rocks Centralia Coal Company's Mine #5 killing 111
1949 - Chinese Red army occupies Shanghai
1950 - Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel opens in NYC
1953 - 1st atomic cannon electronically fired, Frenchman Flat NV
1955 - Series of 19 twisters destroy Udall KS & most of Blackwell OK
1959 - Khrushchev visits Angola; Supreme Court rules that Louisiana prohibiting black-white boxing is unconstitutional
1962 - US unions AFL-CIO starts campaign for 35-hour work week
1963 - Organization for African Unity formed by Chad, Mauritania & Zambia
1964 - Supreme Court rules closing schools to avoid desegregation unconstitutional
1965 - India & Pakistan border fights
1966 - Peru & Argentina soccer fans fight in Lima; 248 die
1968 - Gateway Arch in St Louis dedicated
1969 - Sudanese government is overthrown in a military coup
1973 - Argentine Peronist Hector Cámpora installed as president
1973 - US launches 1st Skylab; crew Kerwin, Conrad, Weitz
1978 - "Star Wars" released
1979 - American Airlines DC-10 crashes in Chicago killing 275; Israel begins to return Sinai to Egypt
1981 - Daniel Goodwin, scales outside of Chicago's Sears Tower in 7 hours
1982 - Iranian troops reconquer Khorramshar
1983 - "Return of the Jedi" (Star Wars 3) released; 1st National Missing Children's Day is proclaimed; Fire in Nassermeer, Egypt, kills 357
1985 - Cyclone ravages Bangladesh; 11,000 killed
1986 - Ferry boat Shamia sinks on Maghna River Bangladesh, 600 killed; Hands Across America - 7 million people hold hands from California to New York; Virgilio Barco elected President of Colombia
1989 - Mikhail Gorbachev elected Executive President in the Soviet Union
1991 - Israel evacuates 14,000 Ethiopian Jews
1992 - Oscar Luigi Scalfaro elected President of Italy

Birthdays
1550 - Camillus de Lellis, Italian soldier/monastery founder/saint
1713 - John Stuart, 3rd earl of Bute, English premier (1760-63)
1781 - Ferdinand, archduke of Austria-Este/Governor-General (Sicily)
1852 - Louis Franchet d'Espèrey [Desperate Frankey], French marshal (WWI)
1865 - Frederick Augustus III, King of Saxon (1904-18); John Raleigh Mott, organizer (YMCA, Nobel 1946); Pieter Zeeman, Dutch physicist (Zeeman effect, Nobel 1902)
1886 - Philip Murray, founded Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)
1889 - Igor Sikorsky developed a working helicopter
1892 - Josip Broz Tito Kumrovec, leader of Yugoslavia (1945-80)
1907 - U Nu, Premier of Burma (1948-58, 1960-62)
1932 - Georgi Mikhailovich Grechko, cosmonaut (Soyuz 17, 26, T-14)
1934 - Ron Nesson, press secretary (Gerald Ford)
1943 - Wynand C. Malan, South African lawyer/NP/DP-politician
1949 - Jamaica Kincaid [Elaine P. Richardson], Antigua/US journalist (New Yorker)

Passings
0615 - Boniface IV, Pope (608-15)
0709 - Aldhelmus of Ealdhelm, abbot/bishop/poet/saint, dies at about 69
0946 - Edmund the Older, King of Wessex/England (939-46)
1085 - Gregory VII [Ildebrando], Pope (1073-85)
1125 - Hendrik V, last Salische German King
1261 - Alexander IV [Rinaldo dei conti di Segni], Pope (1254-61)
1510 - Georges d'Amboise French cardinal/viceroy in North Italy, dies at 49
1849 - Andreas Michiels, Dutch Military Governor of West Sumatra, dies in battle at 52
1895 - Ahmed Djevdet Pasja, Turkish minister of Justice, dies at 73
1926 - Symon Petlyura, leader of Ukraine (pogroms), assassinated at 47
1949 - Simon H. Spoor, intelligence officer/general (WWII), dies at 47
1968 - George KFW von Küchler, German marshal (Netherlands 1940), dies at 86
1986 - Chester Bowles, US senator/ambassador, dies at 85
1992 - Philip C. Habib, US diplomat (Middle-East/Asia), dies at 72; Viktor Grishin, hardline soviet communist, dies at 78
1996 - David W Howe test pilot, dies at 77
1997 - Muhammad Fadhel, PM of Iraq (1953-54)

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Harnawee, Tha Chan "Chip," Thai Special Forces / Air America (Thailand); released September, 1974 - alive and well as of 1998

1967
Graves, Richard C., USNR (MA); A1H crashed

1969
Weitz, Monek, USMC (MA); KIA / BNR

Williams, Leroy C., USMC (FL); KIA / BNR

1970
Springman, Richard Harold, US Army (CA); released by PRG February, 1973 - alive as of 1996

1972
Strong, Henry H., USN (PA); A4F shot down

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