From the category archives:

Military

Private Bill Millin dies at 88

August 19, 2010

Do you remember the story of Bill Millin of the 51st Highlanders? Forty years ago today, British troops were pinned down near a bridge, waiting desperately for help. Suddenly, they heard the sound of bagpipes, and some thought they were dreaming. Well, they weren’t. They looked up and saw Bill Millin with his bagpipes, leading [...]

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On Memorial Day

May 31, 2010

Mark Halperin writes in the Wall Street Journal: The debt we owe, and in regard to which we are at present deeply in arrears, may be difficult to pay but it is easy to see. To grasp its conspicuous clarity one need only walk among the graves and pause to give proper thought to even [...]

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Suddenly, my rough day doesn’t look so bad

March 25, 2010

Mrs. P’s husband was killed in action in Afghanistan last week: Sad isn’t even the word to describe it, but honestly at this point I can’t find the words to describe it. Angry, empty, crushed, confused, shocked, alone, unglued, hateful, depressed, beaten down… none of these words can do justice to my feelings. I am [...]

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Staff Sergeant Jared Monti

September 17, 2009

Staff Sergeant Jared Monti, of Raynham, Massachusetts – just a few hundred yards from my former home in Taunton, Massachusetts, was today awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, posthumously, for his actions in 2006 in Afghanistan: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Staff [...]

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RIP, Captain Spreicher

August 2, 2009

After eighteen years – Captain Michael Scott Speicher’s remains have been found: The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) has positively identified remains recovered in Iraq as those of Captain Michael Scott Speicher. Captain Speicher was shot down flying a combat mission in an F/A-18 Hornet over west-central Iraq on January 17th, 1991 during Operation [...]

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Think about what you should be doing…

January 29, 2009

Late in the afternoon of May 6th, 1864, Confederate General Jubal Early successfully attacked troops under the command of General John Sedgwick. During that night, General Grant was receiving reports about the “disaster” that had befallen Sedgwick, one of the Union generals expressed grave concerns that Lee would follow up on the Confederate success and [...]

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Taking Chance – HBO – February 21st

January 10, 2009

There are few stories about the War in Iraq that affected me emotionally as reading about Lt. Colonel Michael Strobl’s story of escorting home the body of PFC Chance Phelps in a series called Taking Chance — now we’re told that HBO is releasing a made for tv movie with the same title on February [...]

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Ed “Too-Tall” Freeman

August 24, 2008

Jules Crittenden writes As we speak, mild-looking old men are limping through airports all over the United States. Each wears a black Stetson cavalry hat, and each is making his way to, of all places, Boise, Idaho. If their fellow travelers ever knew… Ed “Too-Tall” Freeman, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor for his [...]

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