A rocket carrying an Air Force satellite that will be used by the military has launched from Cape Canaveral. ...more

December 5, 2009

First, it was Vietnam, which tore our country apart, ruined LBJ's presidency and stunted an entire generation, not to mention the enormous casualties. Then it was Iraq, and all that happened there, which tainted the Bush years. Now it's Afghanistan, "the graveyard of empires," where we have already spent nearly eight fruitless years. ...more

December 5, 2009

The term "exit strategy" seemed to gain favor after the United States left Vietnam under less-than-favorable circumstances. Back then, it seemed like a good idea not to get into a war without a "plan" to fight it and ultimately get out honorably and victoriously. However, wars are extremely unpredictable, with many twists and turns of fate. An example would be the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, an unexpected last gasp by Hitler in which the Allies eventually prevailed. ...more

December 3, 2009

"You can't handle the truth" are famous words in the movie "A Few Good Men." ...more

November 21, 2009

I would posit that any time we cannot raise the troops to fight a war from our own citizenry, but rather must rely on outside contractors, as we are today, (over 133,000 in Iraq and 71,000 in Afghanistan), then we are in a war in which we should not be involved, since obviously the majority of the American people do not support the effort. It then becomes "their war," that is, those who are fighting it, but not "our war." World War II was "our war." Everyone was involved, starting with a draft and going through rationing of food, gas, tires, clothing, etc. We were in an all out mode and we won. ...more

November 21, 2009

I am writing to you to ask you to remind your readers to help support our troops this holiday season. ...more

November 21, 2009

The Highlands Ridge Quilters have made a unique quilt, "Homes," which will be auctioned Nov. 21 to raise money for Habitat for Humanity of Highlands County. ...more

November 16, 2009

With the recent tragic event at Fort Hood, I wonder if anyone will stop and consider the operational tempo our men and women in today's military are faced with. I am retired from the USAF. I have a son in the USAF who just returned from a six-month deployment to Afghanistan. Many of the young men and women at places like Fort Hood have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan four and five times for six to 18 months at a time, facing conditions and dangers that most of us can't even imagine. I hear lots of political rhetoric about how great they are and what a wonderful job they are doing. We now debate a plus-up of the number of troops we have in place. ...more

November 9, 2009

Details are sketchy, but the shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, appear to be a brazen attack on the largest U.S. Army base in the world. ...more

November 6, 2009

Mashelle Lembke stood on a runway at MacDill Air Force Base with family, friends and service members Thursday afternoon, waiting to accompany her husband's body to the city in which he was raised. Plant City soldier Eric Lembke was killed Oct. 23 in Afghanistan. ...more

November 6, 2009