U.S. TROOPS & VETERANS NEWS

buy us flag jpg,165 x 145 | 12k usaflagpoles.com ************************************************************************************* The People of Wexford County say “WELCOME HOME” to FCI SW Ethan J. Martin; Thank you for serving our country.

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      HAPPY 4th of JULY.CELEBRATE INDEPENDENCE DAY.HAPPY 4th of JULY

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      What is the  CADILLAC  AREA  HONOR  GUARD????

      It is a group of military veterans from WWII, Korea,

      Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan who volunteer their

       time and energy, freezing in winter and sweltering in

       summer, to provide full honors and a military funeral

       to fellow veterans who pass away.  They have an array

       of other services they provide as well — for free – to  

       the families of their brothers- and sisters- in- arms.    

       The organization runs on donations only.  If you are a 

       veteran who can spare some time to help other

       veterans’ families during difficult times, please check

       out this Facebook website.  Just click on “Cadillac Area

       Honor Guard”  in Links or click on the following for

       more information:

 http://www.Facebook.com/group.php?gid=89077014454.

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  LEST WE FORGET…    

  

 dc flags,                                                                            SKI

  

JAMES B. KING, age 94.

Born:  April 13, 1915 in Hendersonville, N.C.

Died:  June 27, 2009 at Lakeview Luthern Manor, Cadillac, Michigan.

Military Service:

            Served in the U.S. Army during both WWII and the Korean War. 

He was a member of the American Legion.

 

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BERTIE JAMES PUFF, age 84.

Born:  April 7, 1925, in Grant, Michigan.

Died:  June 27, 2009 at home in Highland Township, Michigan.

Military Service:

            Served in the U.S. Navy during WWII.  He was a member of the VFW Blue Mountain Post No. 6015 in Marion, Michigan.

 

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FRANCIS J. “BUD” SLATTERY, age 88

  

Born:  February 27, 1921, in Rockford,  Illinois.

Died:  June 27, 2009 at Autumnwood Nursing Home, McBain,  

            Michigan.

Military Service:

            Served as a technical seargent in the U.S. Marine Corps.

            during WWII.

         

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June 28, 2009

Paralyzed Vt. GI gets star-

spangled welcome home

AP – Pfc. Andrew Parker, in wheelchair, waves to the crowd during a parade welcoming him home in Hyde Park, …

 

By JOHN CURRAN, Associated Press Writer – Sun Jun 28, 1:19 am ET

HYDE PARK, VT. – For Pfc. Andrew Parker, it was a bittersweet homecoming: He was hailed as a hero, feted with a star-spangled parade and showered with gifts at a welcome home ceremony. He had to watch it all from a wheelchair.

Parker, a 21-year-old U.S. Army cavalry scout, was paralyzed last November when a roadside bomb blew up the vehicle he was driving on patrol in Afghanistan.

On Saturday, after months of rehabilitation in Veterans Administration hospitals and a community fundraising effort that added wheelchair-accessible accommodations to his parents’ house, the wounded warrior came home.

Many called him a hero, toasting his sacrifice or giving him gifts — a key to the town, a check for $100,000, a lifetime pass to the adaptive ski program at Smugglers’ Notch ski resort and full scholarship offers from Norwich University and Johnson State College, among other things.

Riding in his wheelchair in the back of a flatbed truck, a smiling Parker took in the flag-waving well wishers and the hand-lettered signs — “For your sacrifice and our freedom” and “Thank you, Andrew” among them — on a six-mile parade to Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7779.

“To welcome him like this, it means a lot,” said organizer Diane Marcoux-Laclair, 54. “It means a lot. `Cause he’s paid a big price.”

In the bombing, Parker was thrown from the vehicle and landed on his head, breaking his neck. He was paralyzed from the chest down. He has movement in his arms but his hands are severely injured.

His injury triggered an outpouring of support in his small northern Vermont hometown.

Marcoux-Laclair — Parker’s former kindergarten teacher — and others began soliciting donations and in-kind services so his parents could renovate their modest ranch house, turning a garage into a new living space with a wheelchair ramp, special shower, bed and living area.

All told, the work cost about $100,000.

“It would’ve been a heckuva’ lot tougher without all this support,” said his father, Greg Barnes.

The American Legion, VFW, Norwich University, Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart and numerous others participated in the parade.

“I cried the whole way,” said his mother, Winnie Barnes. “Tears of joy.”

The process was greeted by a phalanx of honor guards lining the entrance to the VFW post, where Parker was hoisted onto a stage and sat quietly as more than two dozen speakers, including Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas.

Parker, an aspiring teacher who acquaintances say is a man of few words, never spoke during the ceremony, except when a flustered speaker said she hadn’t expected to be called up to the podium. “They didn’t tell me I was going to be up here, either,” he cracked, drawing a laugh from the crowd.

Asked about all the accolades after, he said: “It was awesome.”

Parker, who plans to attend college and wants to be a history teacher, is already planning his next moves. One of them is getting out of the wheelchair.

“His spirit throughout all of this has been amazing. He’s bound and determined he’s going to get through this. He’s looked at me straight in the eye and told me `I’m going to walk again,’” said Marcoux-Laclair.

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June 29, 2009

Air Force test fires missile from Calif coast

AFP/USAF/File – A Minuteman II ballistic missile blasts off from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The START …

 

Mon Jun 29, 8:36 am ET

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – The Air Force says it has successfully launched an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile from a California base, firing it to targets in the Pacific Ocean.

Lt. Raymond Geoffroy (JEFF-rey) said the ICBM was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 3:01 a.m. Monday.

He said it carried three unarmed re-entry vehicles that hit their targets near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, some 4,200 miles away.

On clear mornings, missile launchings from Vandenberg can be seen as far away as Los Angeles, 140 miles to the southeast, but fog along the coast made Monday’s launch difficult to see even in the immediate area, Geoffroy said.

The Air Force said the launch was an operational test to check the weapon system’s reliability and accuracy.

Test data will be used by United States Strategic Command planners and Department of Energy laboratories.

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   June 30, 2009

4 US soldiers killed during Iraq cities pullout 

  AFP  – Baghdad parties ahead of US pullout

 

AP – Iraqi security forces patrol in central Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, June 30, 2009. U.S. troops pulled out …

 

By PATRICK QUINN, Associated Press Writer

 

BAGHDAD – Four U.S. soldiers were killed in combat shortly before the American military completed a withdrawal from Iraq’s cities, and the prime minister assured Iraqis that government forces taking control of urban areas on Tuesday were more than capable of protecting the country.

Nouri al-Maliki said in a televised address that “those who think that Iraqis are not able to protect their country and that the withdrawal of foreign forces will create a security vacuum are committing a big mistake.”

The streets of Baghdad were relatively quiet, as the Iraqi government named June 30 National Sovereignty Day and declared it a public holiday.

In the walled-off Green Zone in central Baghdad, al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders appeared at a military parade to mark the day.

Iraqi infantry soldiers wearing khaki uniforms and policemen in blue uniforms marched in formation near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier while Iraqi helicopters flew overhead. U.S.- and Russian-made tanks also drove by along with blue-and-white Iraqi Humvees.

The withdrawal that was completed on Monday was part of a U.S.-Iraqi security pact and marks the first major step toward withdrawing all American forces from the country by Dec. 31, 2011. President Barack Obama has said all combat troops will be gone by the end of August 2010.

In the attack Monday against U.S. forces, the military said the four soldiers who were killed served with the Multi-National Division-Baghdad but did not provide further details pending notification of their families. It said they died as a “result of combat related injuries.”

It was the deadliest attack against U.S. forces since May 21, when three soldiers were killed and nine others were wounded in a roadside bombing in southern Baghdad.

The top U.S. commander in Iraq said the latest deaths show militants remain a threat but said he was confident Iraqi security forces could face the challenge.

“It reminds me that there are still dangers out there. There are still people out there who do not want the government of Iraq to succeed. They do not want to see a democratic country move forward,” Gen. Ray Odierno said Tuesday at a news conference.

He said many of the attacks in Baghdad were being carried out by militants being funded or trained by Iran, including powerful roadside bombs and rocket strikes against the Green Zone, which houses the U.S. Embassy.

But, he said, the number of such attacks was “significantly smaller” due to security measures making them more difficult to carry out.

“Iran is still supporting, funding and training surrogates who operate inside of Iraq. They have not stopped and I don’t think they will stop,” Odierno told reporters at Camp Victory, a U.S. military base on the western edge of Baghdad.

He also said that 130,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, although he declined to say how many would remain in cities as trainers and advisers.

“We will be here, we are not leaving,” he said. “We’ll continue to be in support of the Iraqi security forces to maintain and improve stability throughout the country and I feel confident that we’ll be able to do that.”

There was a significant spike in violence before the June 30 withdrawal. More than 250 people were killed in a series of bombings, including one on June 20 that left 81 dead outside a mosque in northern Iraq and another in a Baghdad market on June 24 that killed 78. Al-Maliki has blamed the attacks on al-Qaida in Iraq and the remnants of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party.

“I congratulate the Iraqi people on this day, June 30, when the U.S. forces have withdrawn from Iraq cities in accordance to the forces withdrawal agreement,” al-Maliki said. “We consider this day as a national holiday and it is a joint achievement by all Iraqis.”

President Jalal Talabani said the day could not have happened without the help of the United States, which invaded Iraq in 2003 and ousted Saddam, who was later convicted by an Iraqi court and executed in December 2006.

“While we celebrate this day, we express our thanks and gratitude to our friends in the coalition forces who faced risks and responsibilities and sustained casualties and damage,” Talabani said.

Describing June 30 as a “glorious page” in Iraq’s history he warned that “security will not be achieved completely without the proper political environment and without a real national unity and reconciliation.”

The midnight handover to Iraqi forces filled many citizens with pride but also trepidation that government forces are not ready and that violence will rise. Shiites fear more bombings by Sunni militants; Sunnis fear that the Shiite-dominated Iraqi security forces will give them little protection.

If the Iraqis can hold down violence in the coming months, it will show the country is finally on the road to stability. If they fail, it will pose a challenge to Obama’s pledge to end an unpopular war that has claimed the lives of more than 4,300 U.S. troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis.

Some U.S. troops will remain in the cities to train and advise Iraqi forces. U.S. combat troops will return to the cities only if asked. The U.S. military will continue combat operations in rural areas and near the border, but only with the Iraqi government’s permission.

The U.S. has not said how many troops will be in the cities in advisory roles, but the vast majority of the U.S. forces remaining in the country will be in large bases scattered outside cities.

There have been some worries that the 650,000-member Iraqi military is not ready to maintain stability and deal with a stubborn insurgency.

___

Associated Press Writers Sameer N. Yacoub and Kim Gamel contributed to this report from Baghdad.

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