blog-heap o' links
Army
Master Sgt. Cirildo Valencio, of Carrizo Springs, Texas, will be buried
on Aug. 4 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.... Valencio was
assigned to Company L, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry
Division then occupying a defensive position near Unsan, North Korea in an area
known as the "Camel's Head." On Nov. 1, 1950, parts of two Chinese Communist
Forces divisions struck the 1st Cavalry Division's lines, collapsing the
perimeter and forcing a withdrawal. In the process, the 3rd Battalion was
surrounded and effectively ceased to exist as a fighting unit. Valencio was one
of the more than 350 servicemen unaccounted-for from the battle at Unsan. In
2002, a joint U.S.-Democratic People's Republic of Korea team, led by the Joint
POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), excavated a burial site south of Unsan near
the nose of the "Camel's Head" formed by the joining of the Nammyon and Kuryong
rivers. The team recovered human remains.... defenselink.mil/ ... 14:46:43Marine Pfc.
Ivan I. Wilson, 22, of Clearlake, Calif., died July 21
while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was
assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine
Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif. 
A
Washington County woman is seeking $125,000 in damages from the city of
Bartlesville after a police officer shot and killed her dog. Sirena Ortiz
claims in her lawsuit that officer Troy Newell shot her Labrodor retriever in
July 2007 after he stepped out of his patrol car to obtain Ortiz's signature on
a document. Ortiz maintains the dog was gentle and that the officer was grossly
negligent... timesonline.co.uk/ ...
14:25:46
The bunny awoke its owners... by scratching on their
bedroom door as smoke poured through the house... The rabbit and its owners
were unhurt... Army 1st Lt. Nick
A. Dewhirst, 25, of Onalaska, Wis., died July 20 in the Qalandar District
of the Khost Province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his convoy came
under attack by individuals using rocket propelled grenades and small arms
fire. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th
Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.
defenselink.mil/ ... 14:04:45Marine Staff Sgt.
Danny P. Dupre, 28, of Lockport, La., died July 15 from wounds sustained
while supporting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned
to 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary
Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. defenselink.mil/ ... 14:04:24Navy Aviation
Boatswain Mate Third Class Petty Officer Daniel R. Verbeke, 25, of
Exton, Penn., died July 14 in Paoli, Penn. of complications from injuries he
suffered in a flight deck accident in December 2005 while serving aboard the
USS Theodore Roosevelt, CVN-71. defenselink.mil/ ... 14:03:55Army Pfc.
Willington M. Rhoads, 23, of Las Vegas, Nev., died July 16 in Bagram,
Afghanistan, of injuries suffered from a non-combat related incident. He was
assigned to the 173rd Brigade Support Battalion (Airborne), Vicenza, Italy. The
incident is under investigation. defenselink.mil/ ... 14:02:41Marine 1st Lt.
Jason D. Mann, 29, of Woodlynne, N.J., died July 17 from a non-hostile
incident in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 1st
Battalion, 6th Marines, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, II Marine Expeditionary
Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. The incident is currently under investigation. defenselink.mil/ ... 14:02:20Air Force Tech. Sgt.
Jackie L. Larsen, 37, of Tacoma, Wash., died of natural causes July 17
at Balad Air Base, Iraq. She was assigned to the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, Beale
Air Force Base, Calif. For further information related to this release, please
contact the Beale Air Force Base public affairs office at (530) 634-8890.
defenselink.mil/ ... 14:02:04The
Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that
the remains of two U.S. servicemen, missing from the Vietnam War, have been
identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military
honors.Army
Chief Warrant Officer Bobby L. McKain, of Garden City, Kan., will be
buried on Aug. 11 in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. Army Warrant Officer
Arthur F. Chaney, of Vienna, Va., will be buried Sept. 16 in Arlington.
Marine Lance Cpl.
Jeffery S. Stevenson, 20, of Newton, N.J., died July 13 from a
non-hostile incident in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to the 7th
Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary
Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. The incident is currently under investigation.
defenselink.mil/ ... 13:53:20Army Staff Sgt.
David W. Textor, 27, of Roanoke, Va., died Jul 15 in Mosul, Iraq, of
injuries suffered from a vehicle incident. He was assigned to the 3rd
Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Lewis, Wash. The incident
is under investigation. defenselink.mil/ ... 13:53:07Army Staff Sgt.
Jeremy D. Vrooman, 28, of Sioux Falls, S.D., died Jul 15 in Baghdad,
Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated while
his unit was conducting combat operations in Kn'an, Iraq. He was assigned to
the 2nd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat
Team, 1st Armored Division, Vilseck, Germany. defenselink.mil/ ... 13:52:01Army 1st Lt.
Jonathan P. Brostrom, 24, of HawaiiArmy Sgt. Israel Garcia, 24, of
Long Beach, Calif.Army Cpl. Jonathan R. Ayers, 24, of Snellville, Ga.Army Cpl. Jason
M. Bogar, 25, of Seattle, Wash.Army Cpl. Jason D. Hovater, 24, of Clinton,
Tenn.Army
Cpl. Matthew B. Phillips, 27, of Jasper, Ga.Army Cpl. Pruitt
A. Rainey, 22, of Haw River, N.C.Army Cpl. Gunnar W. Zwilling, 20,
of Florissant, Mo.Army Pfc. Sergio S. Abad, 21, of Morganfield, Ky.Army Master Sgt.
Mitchell W. Young, 39, of Jonesboro, Ga., died on July 13 of wounds
suffered when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in Kajaki
Sofla, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces
Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C. defenselink.mil/ ... 13:50:03Army Sgt. Brian
S. Leon Guerrero, 34, of Hagatna, GuamArmy Sgt. Samson A. Mora, 28, of
Dededo, GuamArmy Sgt. 1st Class
Steven J. Chevalier, 35, of Flint, Mich., died July 9 in Balad, Iraq, of
wounds suffered in Samarra, Iraq, when his patrol vehicle was struck by a
grenade. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st
Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.
defenselink.mil/ ... 13:39:52Army Sgt. Douglas
J. Bull, 29, of Wilkes Barre, Pa., died July 8 at Bagram Air Field,
Afghanistan, of wounds suffered in Chow Kay Valley, Afghanistan, when his
vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device during a mounted patrol. He
was assigned to the Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st
Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. defenselink.mil/ ... 13:35:39Army Spc. William
L. McMillan III, 22, of Lexington, Ky., died July 8 in Baghdad, Iraq, of
wounds suffered when his patrol was struck by an improvised explosive device.
He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker
Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. defenselink.mil/ ... 13:32:39Army Sgt. 1st Class
Anthony L. Woodham, 37, of Rogers, Ark., died on July 5 of injuries
suffered in a non-combat incident at Camp Adder, Tallil, Iraq. He was assigned
to the 39th Brigade Support Battalion, 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team,
Arkansas Army National Guard, Heber Springs, Ark. The incident is under
investigation. defenselink.mil/ ... 13:32:23Army 1st Lt.
Daniel Farkas, 42, of Brooklyn, N.Y., died on July 4 of injuries
suffered from a non-hostile incident in Kabul, Afghanistan (Camp Phoenix). He
was assigned to the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Syracuse, N.Y. The
incident is under investigation. defenselink.mil/ ... 13:31:59Army Spc. Estell
L. Turner, 43, of Sioux Falls, S.D., died July 2 at the National Naval
Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., of wounds suffered on June 28 in Malikheyl,
Afghanistan, when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. He
was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat
Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky. defenselink.mil/ ... 13:31:40The
Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have
been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full
military honors.Air Force Capt. William K. Mauldin, of Pickens, S.C. will be
buried on July 18 in Easley, S.C. On Feb. 21, 1952, Mauldin departed Kimpo Air
Base, South Korea, on an aerial reconnaissance mission of enemy targets in the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K.). While over Odong-ni,
Mauldin's RF-51 Mustang was hit by enemy fire and crashed near Sinan-ri,
Hoeyang County, D.P.R.K. An aerial search of the crash site was conducted that
day and the next, but found no evidence that Mauldin escaped the aircraft
before it crashed. Between 1991-94, North Korea turned over to the U.S. 208
boxes of remains believed to contain the remains of 200-400 U.S. servicemen.
One set of remains turned over in 1993 included fragments of aircrew
life-support equipment, and were reported to be those of an American pilot
recovered near Sinan-ri.... defenselink.mil/ ... 13:26:12Marine Staff Sgt.
Edgar A. Heredia, 28, of Houston died June 26 while supporting combat
operations in Farah province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Marine
Special Operations Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations
Command. defenselink.mil/ ... 13:25:49Army Sgt. 1st Class
Jeffrey M. Rada Morales, 32, of Naranjito, Puerto RicoArmy Master Sgt.
Shawn E. Simmons, 39, of Ashland, Mass.Army Sgt. James M. Treber, 24, of
Imperial Beach, Calif. Army Staff Sgt.
Travis K. Hunsberger, 24, of Goshen, Ind., died on June 27 of wounds
suffered from an improvised explosive device while on combat patrol near Tarin
Kowt, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group
(Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C. defenselink.mil/ ... 13:22:49Army Sgt. 1st Class
Matthew L. Hilton, 37, of Livonia, Mich., assigned to the 425th Infantry
Regiment, Michigan Army National Guard, Selfridge, Mich.Army Sgt. 1st Class
Joseph A. McKay, 51, of Brooklyn, N.Y., assigned to the 2nd Squadron,
101st Cavalry Regiment (Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition),
New York Army National Guard, Jamestown, N.Y.Army Spc. Mark C.
Palmateer, 38, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 101st
Cavalry Regiment (Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition), New
York Army National Guard, Jamestown, N.Y.Marine Lt. Col.
Max A. Galeai, 42, of Pago Pago, American SamoaMarine Capt.
Philip J. Dykeman, 38, of Brockport, N.Y.Marine Cpl. Marcus W. Preudhomme,
23, of North Miami Beach, Fla.
The White House said on Tuesday that Democratic
presidential candidate Barack Obama's high-profile visit to Iraq may have been
a "distraction for many" but not for President George W. Bush... timesoftheinternet.com/ ... 13:13:26
[Headline:] Ron Paul is like the Energizer Bunny,
he keeps going and going and going... ap.google.com/ ... 13:12:41ST. PAUL, Minn... Supporters of maverick Rep. Ron Paul who
are organizing a rally as an alternative to the Republican National Convention
are moving their crosstown event to a larger venue... local coordinator
Marianne Stebbins said... "Liberty is getting short shrift right now. We're
giving our people a place to go for those days..." 
Barack Obama must have gone off script again in West
Lafayette, Indiana on Wednesday... "Throughout our history, America’s
confronted constantly evolving danger, from the oppression of an empire, to the
lawlessness of the frontier, from the bomb that fell on Pearl Harbor, to the
threat of nuclear annihilation. Americans have adapted to the threats posed by
an ever-changing world..." Just to clarify: a whole lot of bombs fell on Pearl
Harbor. And the threat wasn’t the bomb, it was the empire that sent
massive waves of planes to drop them on our Pacific Fleet. Those bombs fell
because we didn’t adapt to the threat, and in fact we kept telling
ourselves that we could talk the Japanese out of their policy of aggression and
empire. We came within a few aircraft carriers of losing the Pacific out of our
willful blindness to the nature of the Japanese... The same can be said for the
"nuclear annihilation..." newsbusters.org/ ... 13:36:23Andrea Mitchell... doyenne of the liberal media... let
loose on this evening's Hardball, speaking of "fake interviews" and indicating
we don't know the truth of the trip because we don't know what was edited out
of the video that's been released... Jul
11... Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said in interview excerpts
released Friday that Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden should be executed, if he
is ever captured alive... should face the full weight of US and global justice.
"I am not a cheerleader for the death penalty," Obama said. "I think it has to
be reserved for only the most heinous crimes, but I certainly think plotting
and engineering the death of 3,000 Americans justifies such an approach..."
"We have failed to seriously go after Al-Qaeda over the last
five years because of the distraction of Iraq, I think we are now seeing the
consequences of that in Afghanistan..." usnews.com/ ... 23:14:44John
McCain's Home While He Was a POW in Vietnam... latimes.com/ ...
23:14:32Jackson's Obama comments almost went unnoticed A Fox News
technician transcribing the tape overnight heard it, and it took off from
there... 
John Kerry says Republican John McCain doesn't have the
judgment to be president... [Well, at least it's an inadequacy upon which
Kerry is qualified to speak...] smh.com.au/ ... 10:10:15BARACK OBAMA ...calling a news conference to insist he was
not softening his campaign pledge to withdraw all combat troops within 16
months of becoming president. "That position has not changed. I have not
equivocated on that position. I have not searched for manoeuvring room with
respect to that position...." In his initial remarks on an airport tarmac in
North Dakota, Senator Obama had emphasised caveats that seemed to suggest his
timetable might slip, saying he would refine his policies after he consults US
generals during a planned trip to Iraq this year.... During the primaries, he
stressed his promise to bring the troops home by a firm date and it helped
propel him to become the presumptive Democratic nominee... [And in any case,
16 months is plenty of time for GWB's good work to take effect so BHO can take
the credit....] The
Rev. Jesse Jackson... used a slang term for the male anatomy when commenting
about Obama in a conversation when he did not realize a microphone was on...
regarding Obama's relationship with African Americans after the presidential
candidate made several speeches on morality at black churches... moved quickly
to apologize to Obama and explain himself to reporters... [Would you believe
any explanation other than "I
didn't realize the mic was on"??] startribune.com/ ... 21:27:03McCain works hard to polish skills as orator Competing
against an opponent who is a commanding speaker, some McCain advisers say
authenticity is the key... Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says
"mental distress" should not qualify as a health exception for late
term-abortions, a key distinction not embraced by many supporters of abortion
rights... [Now that Hil's out of the way he can start jetting toward the
RightWingNuts...] iht.com/ ... 10:09:55Senator Barack Obama said he might
"refine" his Iraq policies after meeting with military commanders there
later this summer. But hours later he held a second news
conference to emphasize his commitment to the withdrawing of all combat troops
from Iraq within 16 months of taking office... [FLIP FLOP FLIP FLOP
FLIP FLOP here we go again...] Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice... "We're now beginning to see that perhaps it's not so
popular to be a suicide bomber. We're beginning to see that perhaps people are
questioning whether Osama Bin Laden ought to really be the face of Islam....
And I am proud of the decision of this administration to
overthrow Saddam Hussein..." bloomberg.com/ ... 10:02:21Central Berlin will
come alive this Independence Day with jazz, barbecue and fireworks to celebrate
the return of the U.S. embassy to the Brandenburg Gate,
the spot it occupied before the defeat of Adolf Hitler in World War II.
Former President George H. W. Bush, who was in office when the Berlin Wall came
down, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the country's first leader from the
former East Germany, will deliver speeches to an invited crowd of about
4,500... The halt to diplomatic relations with Hitler and war-related damage
preceded the former building's demolishment by the East German government and
concealment behind the Berlin Wall.... "If this was indeed the epicenter of the
Cold War, it has now become the epicenter of a different world," Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice said on June 25.... "I know it was not easy to bring the
embassy to this place. But it is absolutely fitting that the United States
embassy is here where it was before World War II..." [WW2, just a little bit
less with us....] 
Americans are the world's
top consumers of cannabis and cocaine despite punitive US drug laws... 16.2
percent of Americans had tried cocaine at least once, and
42.4 percent had used marijuana... sciencedaily.com/ ... 15:26:11The
latest surveys, taken in the United States and in several developing countries,
showed increased happiness from 1981 to 2007 in 45 of 52 countries for which
substantial time series data was available... the overall rise in reported
happiness is due to greater economic growth, democratization and social
tolerance... 
At least 95
people were injured when a magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck northern Japan
today... 
First Photos: Rare albino eagle found in Colorado...
7-11... Five young lives have been ended by lightning in
less than a week... Landon Dillard, 16, of Macon, Ga., was riding a bicycle at
a summer camp in Colorado when he was struck down on July 3... Two days later,
19-year-old Korey Moore of Swansea, S.C., was riding a personal watercraft when
hit... The next day lightning claimed Stephanie Dawn Kirpes, 23, of Woodbridge,
Va., while she was jogging along the shore in Virginia Beach, Va... And on July
7, two 16-year-olds were killed by lightning: Ben Richter on his family farm at
Watertown, Wis., and Lucian Ellis of Sampson County, N.C., who was in a beach
hut sheltering from a storm...