Staff Sgt. Dennisur ThompsonStaff Sgt. Dennisur Thompson, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, overcompensates a left turn while on a driving simulator as a part of the Save a Life Tour in Kaiserslautern, Germany.
Photo Courtesy of U.S. [...]
Staff Sgt. Dennisur Thompson




The Brandenberg Gate - then and now
[...] 

Army Secretary John McHugh reviews the troops during a welcoming ceremony for him hosted by Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. and presided over by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Fort Myer, Arlington, Va., Nov. 2, 2009. McHugh was sworn in as [...]
Col. Henry J. Cook
Spc. Justin Slagle

OFF THE COAST OF BEIRUT -- The crew of USS Higgins (DDG 76) stand in formation on the flight deck twenty-six nautical miles off the shores of Beirut during a wreath laying ceremony in honor of those killed in the barracks bombing of Oct. 23, 1983. [...] 
ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 14, 2009 – The USO and the National Cartoonist Society (NCS) will soon deploy ten of today’s most recognized cartoonists and caricaturists on a week-long entertainment [...]
Sailors & Marines Playing Volleyball With Local School Children
Vonetta Flowers (left) and Spc. Jill Bakken power up in the push zone for their 80-mile-an-hour ride down the Winter Olympic bobsledding track. Bakken, the driver, and Flowers, the brakeman, won the first gold medal presented in Olympic women's bobsledding Feb. 19, 2002.
Army Staff Sgt. John Okumu, a Kenya native, speaks with teenagers in northern Uganda, where he is among the first U.S. soldiers setting up operations for Natural Fire 10, an annual multinational exercise, Oct. 13, 2009. Okumu speaks the teens' native language, Luo. U.S. Army photo' [...]
Cpl. Benjamin S. Kopp
Iraqi Engineering professors learn about solar technologies while attending Oregon State University's International Promotion of Sustainable Engineering Seminar in August 2009.

Sgt. Michael Egan
1st Sgt. Jose San Nicolas Crisostomo
Lt. John Madea

In June of 2006, the 3rd Squadron of the 71st Cavalry Regiment (Recon), 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain [...]

This Week's Post Is Via Gazing At The Flag
Face of Defense: Chaplain Recalls 9/11 Attack on Pentagon
Crystal Scott, the daughter of Janice Scott, an Army civilian employee who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the Pentagon, reflects upon her mother's memory at the Pentagon Memorial following the observance ceremony today. DoD photo by Gerry J. Gilmore There Are No Words


Pentagon Lost Victims List
Click on highlighted names to read tributes
Names in Italics are members of American Airlines Flight 77
[...]



Major Stephen Vernon Long 

Major Dwayne WilliamsMarch 19, 1961 - September 11, 2001US ArmyMajor Dwayne Williams was working in the Pentagon the day terrorists flew United Flight 77 into the side of the building. He is survived by his beautiful wife, Tammy, a [...]

The first monument erected [...]

We should not mourn those who die,instead we should thank God that they lived.
Dropped out of high school - ages 18-24
Pfc. Tavonte JohnsonPhoto [...]

Senior Airman Jelly Larsen, pararescueman of the 64th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron scans his sector as the rest of his element team enters a building during a training exercise here Aug. 4. The 64th ERQS provides combat search and rescue support to coalition forces in the Iraqi [...]
Yeoman 1st Class Timothy Gilbert
Army Spc Chad E Brown, a combat medic with the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment,
Story and Photo by Senior Airman Andria J. Allmond
Lance Cpl. Jeremy P. Tamburello


U.S. Army Chaplain (Capt.) Michael Wikstrom shows Afghan refugee children how to blow bubbles during an aid delivery mission in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 24, 2009.Wikstrom is assigned to the Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan. Chaplains and coalition forces frequently volunteer to distribute donated clothing, school supplies [...]
USS Bainbridge
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - A pair of A-10 Thunderbolt IIs from the 74th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, get their final weapons check before taking off on a close-air-support mission. The aircraft assigned here provide close-air support and airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance for [...] 
"How could a readiness for war in time of peace be safely prohibited,
unless we could prohibit, in like manner,
the preparations and establishments of every hostile nation?"
--James Madison


Steve McGuire, a now-retired Navy petty officer second class disabled by a motorcycle accident after returning from an Operation Iraqi Freedom deployment, said the National Veterans Wheelchair Games give him an opportunity to share with and learn from other disabled veterans.
Sgt. 1st Class Gregory A. Rodriguez & Jacko
Rogue Brewery bottled a limited run of "Aviator Ale" to commemorate the return of Oregon Army National Guard's 2-641 Aviation, from a deployment to Iraq. The unit was honored during a demobilization ceremony held July 13 in Salem, Ore. The unit conducted flight missions, transported equipment [...]
Soldiers and Marines stand for the pledge of allegiance as the flags they were presented during their naturalization process sit neatly in their chairs. More than 230 troops were naturalized at the Multi National Force - IraqNaturalization Ceremony at Al Faw Palace at Victory Base Complex, [...]
Cpl. Reynold Armand
Sailors aboard multi-purpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan and embarked Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit watch from the ship's flight deck as amphibious transport dock ship USS Ponce puts on a fireworks display to celebrate Independence Day. Bataan is deployed and is serving [...] 

There are MANY great posts on the internet today about our country. I have decided to post a couple of my favorites.
I am always saddened by how much so many DON"T know about our history...about how we became a country, about who we" [...]
The Signers of the Declaration of Independence
1736-1797
Representing Virginia at the Continental Congress
Carter Braxton was born of a wealthy family in Newington Plantation Virginia. He lost nearly all of his wealth in the course of the revolution, partly through his support of the Union, and partly through attack by the British [...]