Tag Archives: Afghanistan

Wyatt J. Martin killed in action in Afghanistan

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morris-martinPHOENIX – Governor Jan Brewer ordered flags at half-staff for the death of an Arizona soldier. Specialist Wyatt J. Martin of Mesa was killed on Friday, December 12 along with Sgt. 1st Class Ramon S. Morris of New York city. The pair died as a result of a homemade bomb in Parwan Province in Afghanistan.

Specialist Martin joined the Army in August of 2012. He was assigned to the 3rd Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry in June 2014.

The proclamation of the governor reads:

I have ordered that flags at all state office buildings be lowered to half-staff from sunrise until sunset Monday, December 15, 2014, in honor of United States Army Specialist Wyatt J. Martin, 22, of Mesa, Arizona.

Specialist Martin died Friday, December 12, in Parwan Province, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. According to initial reports, Specialist Martin died of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

He was assigned to A Company, 3rd Engineer Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

Please join me in offering a prayer for Specialist Martin, for his loved ones, and for all the men and women who have risked and given their lives to preserve and protect freedom throughout the world.

‘Squatters’ took over soldier’s home after he was deployed; outrageous law lets them stay!

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Photo Source – Facebook

Photo Source – Facebook

A soldier being deployed to Afghanistan is sure to have a lot on his mind, but having squatters take over his home while he is away is probably not high on the list.

But that appears to be precisely what happened to one soldier in Florida.

Michael Sharkey was deployed to Afghanistan two years ago and asked a friend to keep an eye on his home in New Port Richey, Fla. while he was away, according to the local NBC affiliate WFLA.

The soldier, currently station in Hawaii, later learned that strangers moved into the house and now refuse to leave.

“I want the people out,” Sharkey said. “They’re criminals living in my house.”

Read more at BIZPAC Review

Afghan risks US fury over ‘Taliban’ prisoner releases

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_72182267_72182266Afghanistan will release scores of prisoners considered by the US to be a security threat because there is insufficient evidence against them, President Hamid Karzai’s office says.

A statement said there was not enough evidence against 72 out of 88 prisoners previously held by the US.

Correspondents say that the move will further strain relations with the US.

The two countries are at loggerheads over President Karzai’s refusal to sign a security deal with Washington.

The US is strongly opposed to the releases because it says the prisoners have been involved in the wounding or killing of US and Nato troops.

Hundreds of prisoners from Bagram jail have been freed since Kabul took over the running of the prison in March 2013.

The Afghan government says that there is no evidence against 45 out of 88 prisoners, while the evidence against a further 27 detainees is not enough to put them on trial.

Read more at BBC News

Donald Trump says he’ll pay for fallen warrior burials cut by shutdown

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Billionaire Donald Trump has offered to pick up paying a “death gratuity” to families of four soldiers and a Marine who died in combat in Afghanistan over the weekend after the Pentagon announced it is suspending immediate payments to families of combat fatalities because of the government shutdown.

When service men and women are killed in combat, the Pentagon normally pays families $100,000 to cover funerals and the cost of families to travel to receive the remains of their loved ones.

The Pentagon suspended those payments after the government shutdown, stirring outrage on Capitol Hill.

Read more at BizPac Review

U.S. soldier accused of Afghan killings faces “sanity” review

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By Laura L. Myers

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Doctors opened a medical review Sunday on a U.S. soldier charged with killing 16 civilians, most of them women and children, near his Army post in Afghanistan in an effort to determine his state of mind at the time of the killings and ability to stand trial.

The review, known in the military as a “sanity board,” will be conducted by three doctors at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, and will be completed by May 1, according to a U.S. Army spokesman.

The hearing started on Sunday morning and is expected to continue for several days, base spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gary Dangerfield said.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Robert Bales, a decorated veteran of four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan accused of gunning down the villagers in cold blood during two rampages through their family compounds in Kandahar province last March.

More at Yahoo! News

Georgia soldier in Afghanistan marries on Skype

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WLTZ 38 | Columbus Georgia Regional News
(CNN)-A couple from Georgia did not let the thousands of miles separating them keep them from getting married. They used Skype to bridge the gap and tie the knot.

Jacqueline Durham spent her wedding day like most brides. From her bedazzled bride outfit, she got ready with her bridesmaids and took plenty of pictures.

“Say cheeeesee.”

And something not on a typical bride to be list, check her Internet connection.

Jacqueline would marry her Fort Gordon Soldier while he is still stationed overseas in Afghanistan- through skype! “He told me about it. And he’s like what do you think about that? Do you want to do that? And I was like, of course. Since we can’t be together, it’d make it special”

After two years of dating Trey, Jacqueline told me she couldn’t wait any longer.

Read more at WLTZ Channel 38