Hi Everyone,

My mom Patti Patton Bader founder of Soldiers' Angels is up for consideration for NBC's America's Favorite Military Mom on Monday (May 5th). You can help her, Soldiers, Angels, and me, by voting for her at http://www.nbc.com/Americas_Favorite_Mom/ - You can only vote Monday May 5th from 9 AM to 9 PM Eastern ST but you can vote up to 10 times (on the 5th) for each valid email address you have.

If she wins Soldiers' Angels will get more exposure on a National T.V. show on May 11. This exposure helps us show our troops in a real way that they are strongly supported by us at home, and also helps to provide awareness and needed donations so that we can continue to meet the needs of our heroes.

Also, if you get a chance, my mom will be on NBC's The Today Show during the 9 A.M. hour [o n Monday, May 5th]. As you all know Soldiers' Angels is a wonderful organization of volunteers that does a lot of great support for all the men and women of the military, aids our troops wherever we raise the Stars and Stripes, helps wounded heroes here and abroad, and assists military families in times of need.

Please help us by voting for my mom Monday and maybe passing on this email to a few of your friends. It's for a good cause and only takes a moment. Here's the link again.

http://www.nbc.com/Americas_Favorite_Mom/

Thank you and God Bless everyone who helps our troops,

SSGT Brandon H. Varn

Labels: Patti Patton-Bader, Soldiers' Angels, Supporting the troops

PAVE HAWK RESCUE - A U.S. Air Force HH-60G Pave Hawk picks up a pararescueman and a survivor off a ship about 260 miles south of New Orleans during a rescue mission, April 25, 2008. Responding to a U.S. Coast Guard request, the rescue team performed a 10-hour mission to retrieve Cuban migrants in distress who were picked up by a passing ship. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Gina Chiaverotti

Labels: helicopter, HH-60G, Pave Hawk, photos, US Air Force, US Coast Guard

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Pentagon Backs $5 Billion Green Zone Development Plan

Operation Enduring Freedom
Three children killed by blast in Afghan capital

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
U.S. Frustrated By Loose Terrorists
Opponents Criticize Flight 93 Memorial for Using Islamic Symbols
Pipe Bomb Damages Federal Courthouse in San Diego
Rice pushes for peace progress; Israel denies hidden agenda

Other Military News
Documents show UK post-WWII dilemma over Jewish refugees

Worldwide Wackos
Iran to reject incentives that violate atomic rights

Homegrown Moonbats
California's Failed Balloon Ban May Be Floated Again

Politics / Government
Obama: Hillary Is Like Bush
Poll: Most Voters Unaffected by Rev. Wright Uproar
Dems Turn Focus to McCain Pastors
Contrasting Styles
BRIEFING BOOK: (PDF) North Carolina and Indiana
AEHQ: GOP Pins House Hopes on Wealthy Candidates
Bush Delivers Commencement at Storm-Hit High School
Democrats fear divided party after nominee chosen
Barack Obama gains after denouncing pastor: poll
U.S. ready for emergency student loan advances: report
Democrats split on Obama, Clinton - Video
Washington must do more to help housing market : FHFB
Differences between McCain and Obama go well beyond the obvious
Analysis: Candidates use news shows to woo superdelegates

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Two Abducted Children Found Safe in Arizona
Lawyer says Austrian incest father "a broken man"
AP Interview: Austrian wife clueless of daughter's captivity
Suspect charged in Philly cop's slaying; 2nd suspect sought

U.N. News
U.N. sees world climate change deal in 2009

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
Oklahoma Developer Buys Famed Santa Monica Pier's Ferris Wheel in eBay Auction
Yahoo may face lawsuit flood after talks collapse
All eyes on Yahoo for alternate deal - Video
Yahoo, News Corp talks have "cooled"
Yahoo CEO on hot seat after rebuffing Microsoft's $47.5B bid
NBC tries to balance coverage of triumph and tragedy

Science / Medicine and Health / Technology
Study links child's autism, parents' mental illness
China experts identify gene for yield, height in rice
"Grand Theft Auto" simplifies song purchasing
Video: Electric sports car debuts in U.S.
Future of lucrative cholesterol drugs murky
WHO: deadly child virus in China not a threat to Olympics
Part II: Straining to progress, as family challenges mount
'Smart' power meters herald future of our electricity use

Mother Nature
Feds Probe Shooting Deaths of Six Protected Sea Lions
Australia needs several years of rain to end drought
Farmers face climate challenge in quest for more food
Climate change warms Arctic, cools Antarctica
Rain and snow spell relief for Great Lakes
One dead as Chilean volcano spews ash for third day
Cyclone damage assessed in Myanmar - Video

News from My Neck of the Woods
Hundreds of Passengers Evacuate Derailed NYC Subway Trains
Amazon suing New York state over new sales tax law

Other News of Note
Dalai Lama, Chinese Envoys Plan More Talks
China farms the world to feed a ravenous economy

Fox News
PETA: Suspend Derby Jockey
Country Star Gretchen Wilson at Age 34 Goes Back to School

Reuters
Bolivia's richest region votes "yes" on autonomy - Video
Wall Street, lenders face new subprime probe, WSJ reports
Asian stocks hit 4-month highs
Out of joint
Slim hope for insurers on tax code
Buffett says U.S. in recession; banks to face pain
Omaha bets on NoDo to extend downtown revival
Global Fund mulls loans to fight AIDS
Buffett's Berkshire to look at RBS insurance unit
Filipino investors gobble up San Miguel's beer IPO
At least 16 people killed in Mexican massacres
"Iron Man" a superhero hit at the box office
Def Leppard's Joe Elliott offers glimpse into "Lounge"
Angel of North trounces St Paul's in landmark poll
Hunt for new "Famous Five" author as TV show starts
Video: Seniors who've just 'Gotta Dance'
Kobe Bryant inspires Lakers win over Jazz
Penguins eliminate Rangers on Hossa's overtime goal
Anthony Kim becomes youngest PGA Tour winner in six years
Early homers help Angels' Joe Saunders win sixth in a row
Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay could meet in New York

AP World News
15 dead after boat sinks in Brazil's Amazon region
New Orleans sings praise as Neville Brothers finally reunite
Zimbabwe teachers say they are targets following election
Celtics rout Hawks in Game 7 to set up matchup with Cavs
Hawks' Williams ejected after take-down of Celtics' Rondo
Bears' Cedric Benson arrested on intoxicated boating charge
Old cemetery poses grave dilemma for buyers of Vt. farm
Miley Cyrus performs at Disney but doesn't address photo

News Blaze
Military Mom Remain's 'Army Strong' Through Deployments
Combat Medics Practice Their Trade at NTC
Soldiers' Angels and Patriot Guard
Iraq News
Read about Operations in Iraq
FOB Warhorse Memorial Photos
Videos

CENTCOM
Sons of Iraq help secure Fuhail village

USJFCOM
Druid's Dance exercise yields major training milestone
USJFCOM signs agreement with Old Dominion University Research Foundation
Learn more about CRADAs - podcast
Joint Knowledge Online earns prestigious award for distance learning
Learn more about Joint Knowledge Online
Joint Knowledge Development and Distribution
Interoperability assessment begins - podcast
Learn more about JSIC

Multi-National Force - Iraq
Coalition Forces Extend Care to Iraqi Community
Families Return to Chalabi Village
Basra Children’s Hospital Shows Progress
EFP Cache Found in Warij
SOI recover cache in Kartani Fahal village
ISF, MND-B Soldiers seize cache in Risalah following tip
MND-B soldiers kill 5 terrorists, detain 24, find EFPs, 3 caches across Rashid

DefenseLink
WOUNDED CARE
Gates Works to Change Mental Health Question
Private Investors Sought to Back Regenerative Medicine
Mullen: Troops Must Be Mentally Fit
Panel Evaluates Care of Wounded

IRAQ NEWS
Forces Kill, Capture Insurgents
Gates: 'What's the Endgame?' in Iraq
Military Condemns Suicide Bombings

TOP NEWS
Mullen: Civilian Agencies Must Help Overseas
Chairman Urges Cadets to Become Leaders
Defense Secretary Salutes Homefront Power

MILITARY NEWS
Troops to Get More Choices for Death Benefits
Army Handbooks Focus on First 100 Days of Combat
Bikers Gather for Pentagon Motorcycle Safety Event

AFGHANISTAN NEWS
Troops Fight Enemy in Helmand, Khows Provinces
Gates: Command Restructuring Worth Considering

FACE OF DEFENSE
Pilot Breaks Own World Record for Hours in F-16
Sailor Donates Marrow
Navy Chaplain Meets Pope

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Bank of America, Fisher House Help Troops

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
0553 - 2nd Council of Constantinople (5th ecumenical council) opens
1382 - Battle of Beverhoutsveld - population beats drunken army
1430 - Jews are expelled from Speyer, Germany
1494 - Christopher Columbus 1st sights Jamaica on his 2nd voyage to the New World
1640 - English Short Parliament unites
1646 - King Charles I surrenders at Scotland
1762 - Russia & Prussia sign peace treaty
1797 - Napoleon I's sister Elisa marries Felix Bacciochi
1809 - Citizenship is denied to Jews of Canton of Aargau Switzerland; Mary Kies is 1st woman issued a US patent (weaving straw)
1814 - British attack Fort Ontario, Oswego, NY
1834 - Charles Darwin's expedition begins at Rio Santa Cruz
1847 - American Medical Association organized (Philadelphia)
1855 - NYC regains Castle Clinton, to be used for immigration
1861 - Alexandria, VA - CS troops abandon city
1862 - French army intervenes in Puebla México: Cinco de Mayo; Peninsular Campaign-Battle of Williamsburg VA
1863 - Battle of Tupelo, MS
1864 - Atlanta Campaign-5 days fighting begins at Rocky Face Ridge; Battle between Confederate & Union ships at mouth of Roanoke; Battle of Wilderness, VA (Germanna Ford, Wilderness Tavern)
1865 - 1st US train robbery (North Bend, OH)
1867 - Battle of Pueblo; Mexicans defeat Maximilian's forces (Cinco de Mayo)
1874 - Dutch 2nd Chamber passes child labor law
1881 - Anit-Jewish rioting in Kiev Ukraine
1893 - Panic of 1893: Great crash on New York Stock Exchange
1908 - Great White Fleet arrives in San Fransisco
1912 - 5th modern Olympic games opens in Stockholm, Sweden; Soviet Communist Party newspaper Pravda begins publishing
1915 - German U-20 sinks Earl of Lathom
1916 - US marines invade Dominican Republic, stay until 1924
1920 - German-Latvian peace treaty signed; Polish troops occupy Kiev; US President Wilson makes Communist Labor Party illegal
1925 - John T. Scopes arrested for teaching evolution in Tennessee
1926 - Sinclair Lewis refuses his Pulitzer Prize for "Arrowsmith"
1930 - 1st woman to fly solo from England to Australia takes-off (Amy Johnson)
1932 - Japan & China sign a peace treaty
1936 - Edward Ravenscroft patents screw-on bottle cap with a pour lip; Italian troops occupy Addis Ababa
1939 - Flash floods kill 75 in Northeast Kentucky
1940 - Norwegian Government in exile forms in London
1941 - 2 Fokker's employees flee Nazi occupied Netherlands to England; Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa; Pulitzer prize awarded to Robert E Sherwood (There shall be no night)
1942 - British assault on Diego Suarez, Madagascar; US begins rationing sugar during WWII
1943 - Postmaster General Frank C. Walker invents Postal Zone System
1944 - Gandhi freed from prison; Russian offensive against Sebastopol Krim
1945 - Mauthausen Concentration camp liberated; Premier Gerbrandy on Radio Orange tells Dutch they are liberated; Uprising against SS-occupying troops in Prague
1947 - Mississippi Valley flooding kills 16 & causes $850 million in damage
1948 - 1st air squadron of jets aboard a carrier; Belgian Government of Spaak resigns
1949 - Council of Europe established
1950 - Phumiphon Abundet crowned as king Rama IX of Thailand
1952 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Herman Wouk (Caine Mutiny)
1954 - Military coup by General Alfredo Stroessner in Paraguay
1955 - West Germany granted full sovereignty by 3 occupying powers
1957 - Adolf Schärf elected President of Austria
1961 - Alan Shepard becomes 1st American in space (aboard Freedom 7)
1964 - Separatists riot in Québec
1965 - 1st large-scale US Army ground units arrive in South Vietnam
1969 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Norman Mailer (Armies of the Night)
1971 - Race riot in Brownsville section of Brooklyn (NYC)
1972 - Alitalia DC-8 crashes west of Palermo Sicily; killing 115
1975 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Michael Shaara (Killer Angels)
1979 - Voyager 1 passes Jupiter
1980 - Siege at Iranian Embassy in London ends; British commandos & police stormed the building
1987 - Congress begins Iran-Contra hearings
1994 - Labour beats Conservatives in British local elections; North-Yemen air force bombs Aden South Yemen
1997 - Iridium-1 Delta 2 Launch, Successful
2000 - conjunction of Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn & Moon

Birthdays
1352 - Ruprecht, Roman Catholic German king
1557 - Emmanuel-Philibert van Lalaing, Baron of Montigny/Marquis of Renty
1818 - Karl Marx, philosopher (Communist Manifesto, Das Kapital)
1823 - James Allen Hardie, Union Army Brevet Major General
1826 - Eugénie M de Montijo y de Guzman, Empress of France
1835 - Leopold II, Belgian crown prince, baptized
1884 - Wang Tjing-Wei, Premier of China (1932-35)
1887 - Lord Geoffrey Fisher of , Archbishop of Canterbury
1900 - Mervyn A. Ellison, British astronomer (spectrohelioscope)
1905 - Arnold Meijer, Dutch leader of fascist Dutch National/Black Front; Robert Houben Belgian, CVP-Minister of Public health (1958)
1908 - Jacques Massu, French general (Algeria)
1910 - William I. Martin, US pilot/Vice-Admiral (WWII)
1930 - Michael James Adams, USAF pilot (X-15)
1939 - James R. Jones (Representative-D-OK)
1943 - Michael Palin, comedian (Monty Python, Fish Called Wanda)

Passings
0311 - Gaius VM Galerius, Emperor of Rome, at about 50
1028 - Alfonso V, King of León/Galicia (999-1028), in battle
1194 - Kazimierz II the Justified, Grand Duke of Poland (1177-94)
1309 - Charles II the Lame, King of Naples (1285-1309)
1504 - Anton of Burgundy, the Great Bastard, knight, at about 82
1525 - Frederik III the Wise, ruler of Saxon (1486-1525), at 62
1582 - Charlotte de Bourbon Princess of Orange
1705 - Leopold I von Hapsburg, Emperor of Holy Roman Empire, at 64
1786 - Pedro III King of Portugal
1821 - Napoleon I Bonaparte, Emperor of France (1799-1815), in St. Helena
1827 - Frederik Augustus I, the Justified, King of Saxon (1806-27), at 76
1864 - Alexander Hays, Union general-major, in battle at 44; John Marshall Jones, Confederate Brigadier-General, in battle at 43; Leroy A. Stafford, Confederate Brigadier-General, in battle at 42
1875 - Jan A.C.A. van Nispen tot Sevenaer, Dutch MP (1848-75), at 71
1921 - Alfred H. Fried Austrian/German pacifist (Nobel 1911)
1971 - Petro Scaglione, Italian procureur-general, killed by Mafia
1977 - Ludwig Erhard, German minister of Economic Affairs (CDU), at 80
1981 - Bobby Sands, IRA activist, dies on 66th day of hunger strike

Reported Missing in Action
1966
Dawes, John J., US Army (CA); CH47 crashed (passenger); presumed Killed/BNR

Heilig, John, USN (FL); RF8A shot down - released by DRV February, 1973 - retired as a Captain - alive and well as of 1998

Thomas, Kenneth Deane, Jr., USAF (IL); F105D shot down, remains recovered August, 1985

1967
Hughes, James L., USAF (IA); F105D shot down (w/Larson) - released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

Larson, Gordon A., USAF (MN); F105D shot down (w/Hughes) - released by DRV March, 1973 - alive and well as of 1998

Shively, James R., USAF (WA); F105D shot down - released by DRV February, 1973 - alive as of 1998

1968
Mitchell, Harry E., USN (IN); possibly seen in U.S.A. September, 1979

Norrington, Giles R., USN (OH); RA5C shot down (pilot, w/Tangeman) - retired as a Captain - released by DRV March, 1973 - alive as of 1998

Tangeman, Richard G., USN (NY); RA5C shot down (navigator, w/Norrington) - released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Captain - alive as of 1998

Labels: Headlines, History