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POPSThe First American Navy One of those ships, the United States, actually saw service on both sides during the Civil War. And the Constitution, restored to her full glory in Boston Harbor, is still a U.S. Navy ship. Her captain takes visitors below and shows them how those radical braces meet at the keel. He tells them that that structural nexus is the very point were America first joined the global community.
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POPSThe Battle of San Jacinto At close range, the two little cannon, drawn by rawhide thongs, were wheeled into position and belched their charges of iron slugs into the enemy barricade. Then the whole line, led by Sherman's men, sprang forward on the run, yelling, "Remember the Alamo!" "Remember Goliad!" All together they opened fire, blazing away practically point-blank at the surprised and panic-stricken Mexicans. They stormed over the breastworks, seized the enemy's artillery, and joined in hand-to-hand combat, emptying their pistols, swinging their guns as clubs, slashing right and left with their knives. Mexicans fell by the scores under the impact of the savage assault.
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POPSThe Origin of the Hero Tree The Air Force awarded Herod a posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross. Captain Herod’s actions were in entire disregard of his person, and in the finest traditions of the Texas Air National Guard and the United States Air Force he so gallantly represented.
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POPSKarnes' Crowbar - Heroic Account of Texas Revolution Pinned down in the streets of San Antonio in 1835 by Mexican muskets and cannon, Henry Karnes, a 23 year-old Tennessean, led his company by example. The soldados occupying the house had no desire to face such a determined enemy.
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POPSOverdue Recognition Delivered He received the American Campaign Medal, the European/ African/Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Honorable Service lapel button, Honorable Discharge emblem, Presidential Unit Citation, Bronze Star, Silver Star and a patch for serving with the 344th Bombardment Group.
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POPSMissing Nerve Gas? For example, one site used a scale where "weight could vary by as much as 129 pounds if reweighed on a more accurate scale," the report said. So, auditors wrote, "Due to these methodologies it was determined that weights, in some cases, were inaccurate because of the scales used during the time of production," so it is not surprising they did not match the amounts actually destroyed. Also, auditors wrote that "some of the chemical agent hardened in the container and remained in this state even after the container was destroyed during the demilitarization process." Now do I truly think that this stuff was stolen and sold on the black market? No...but there's still no excuse really.
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POPSForts Crumble Into Trenches Period photographs of Sumter show what appears to be total destruction. Yet it was in fact an impenetrable redoubt. And we're left with a remarkable example of how technology informs us. Masonry was no protection against the new rifled cannons, but pulverized walls were. Southern ingenuity was alert to that lesson. By war's end the South had reinvented defensive fortifications. The old masonry forts lingered another half century, but they never again played any important role in war.
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POPSU.S. Navy Faces an Old Foe - Pirates Armed attacks on cargo ships, oil tankers and cruise ships are estimated to cost more than $1 billion a year, said Peter Chalk, a senior security analyst at Rand Corp. Piracy in Nigeria is leading to a drop in oil shipments because shipping companies are reluctant to risk ships, cargos and crew, he said, adding, “That has implications for U.S. strategic energy supplies.”
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POPSAirman May Receive Medal of Honor The 2009 defense authorization bill contains a section that would authorize Etchberger’s Medal of Honor. It passed in the House of Representatives in May, but still must be passed by the Senate before Bush can sign it into law. This September a monument will be dedicated at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., to Etchberger and the 13 other men who died at Lima Site 85 in Laos.
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POPSHappy 233rd Army! The picture shows Fort Riley Soldiers representing the Army from the Revolutionary War to Operation Iraqi Freedom. On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress authorized the enlistment of 10 companies of riflemen in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The next day, George Washington was appointed commander in chief of this “grand American army.” And thus the U.S. Army was born.
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POPSMargaret Corbin - Soldier for Liberty Life was difficult because of her injury, and in 1779 she received aid from the government...the first woman in the United States to receive pension from Congress. After Congress’s decision, Margaret was included on military rolls until the end of the war. After being discharged, Margaret remained near West Point, known to officials and acquaintances as “Captain Molly”. In 1926, the Daughters of the American Revolution had Margaret’s remains reburied in the West Point military cemetery, becoming the only Revolutionary War soldier to be buried there.
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POPSGreen Beret Receives Distinguished Service Cross O’Connor, 47, said he doesn’t believe he is a hero. He said that police officers and firefighters are courageous every day and that he was only completing his mission. “I am being recognized for a moment of courage,” said O’Connor, whose wife and four children attended the ceremony. “I firmly believe other soldiers in my place would have done the same thing.”
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POPSKentucky Vietnam Memorial Sundial Near the center are 154 names of those who died in one month during the worst slaughter of 1968. At 11:11 AM, each Nov. 11th, the shadow touches a marker for the WW-I armistice.
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POPSThe First Barbary War On Jefferson's inauguration as president in 1801, Yussif Karamanli, the Pasha (or Bashaw) of Tripoli, demanded $225,000 from the new administration. (In 1800, Federal revenues totaled a little over $10 million.) Putting his long-held beliefs into practice, Jefferson refused the demand. Consequently, in May of 1801, the Pasha declared war on the United States, not through any formal written documents but by cutting down the flagstaff in front of the U.S. Consulate.
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POPS'Should Be' News That Iraq has disappeared from the news--save the stories of suicide bombings that, because the way they are the opposite of the way things 'should be,' are judged to be news--is a dangerous trend.
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POPSUncommon Heroes in Iraq 1000 characters isn't enough for this clip. I suggest going to the source. Looking back at my initial arrival in the CPIC, I thought of the Swiss journalist who pulled me aside and asked, "May I offer you a bit of a heads-up before you go out there to your unit tomorrow? I don't want to offend you, but if you'd like to hear the real story, I am happy to tell you." I said, "Sure. Any orientation would be great." But I was thinking, "Uh-oh, this guy is just going to unload on me and tell me how fouled up the Americans are." But putting his arm around my shoulder, he went on: "The facts are quite compelling and simple: The Americans have actually turned the page in Iraq in terms of security, and I am impressed by the brilliance of your General Petraeus." That Swiss journalist must've had extensive "willing suspension of disbelief".
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POPSSatellite Shootdown Necessary? The decision to intercept the U.S. 193 satellite will be debated in the months to come by arms control advocates, opponents and proponents of missile defense, and space experts in the U.S. and abroad. Critics will portray the operation as a staged event that was undertaken just to test missile defense or ASAT technologies under the guise of a humanitarian exercise. They will likely accuse the United States of starting a space arms race and will portray the two ASAT tests as moral equivalents.
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POPSSwitching to Convoy Gunner a Fateful Choice "This is all Hill knows for sure: He loves the Army. He gets most excited when talking about the good he sees the U.S. enacting in that war-torn country across the globe" With all that’s happened, would he return to Iraq? “In a second,” he said. “If the docs say I can go, then I’m gone.” Heartbreaking, yet inspiring...quite a soldier.
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POPSNavy SEAL Chief Killed in Iraq Carter’s C.O. “I am honored to serve with and lead men and women like Chief Mark Carter. He was an outstanding SEAL, teammate, and great American...I urge those who knew him to honor his life, in the best way we know how.”
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POPSWest Point Honors Legendary Marine with Highway Marker "Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller was a force to be reckoned with...Long before he retired as a lieutenant general, he had become a Marine Corps living legend." "The highway marker will be placed on state Route 33 in West Point, where Puller lived before enrolling at Virginia Military Institute."
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POPS4 Green Berets Awarded Silver Stars "Four soldiers assigned to 5th Special Forces Group received the Silver Star Medal Wednesday for gallantry and heroism in a prolonged battle that took place nearly 10 months ago."
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POPSDistinguished Service Cross Awarded "First Lt. Walter B. Jackson became the seventh Soldier since the Vietnam War ended in 1975 to receive the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in action."
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