Former Korean War POW Recieves Diploma from Hometown High School Before it Closes Down Forever

This story is actually a couple of years old, but I recently found out about it and thought it would be worth re-visiting on Memorial Day weekend nonetheless.

Some 56 years after he left high school in his west Texas hometown of Spade to join the Army in the early stages of the Korean War, veteran Sherman Jones was invited to receive an honorary diploma from the class of 2006- the last class that would graduate from Spade's high school before it was closed down forever.



After 2006, students attending Spade's high school were combined with classes from the neighboring Olton school district.

Although Sherman would eventually receive enough credit for a high school diploma and would go to college after his military service, he never had a ceremony where he received his diploma.

Jones was taken prisoner with about 1500 other American soldiers after his unit was encircled and they ran out of supplies and ammunition. As a POW, Jones endured what historians call "Korea's Bataan Death March" where he was only one of 17 survivors. He was found bleeding from gunshot wounds by advancing American forces and would later have to undergo 65 surgeries and would eventually lose his right foot in 1957.

The high school in Spade had to close due to decreased class sizes and lower enrollment. Jones was just one of six members of the 2006 Spade H.S. graduating class

US Army Rejects Beretta Proposal for Updated Version of M9 Service Pistol

The US Army has announced that it will be seeking to replace their current M9 series sidearm, presenting a rare and lucrative opportunity for small arms manufacturers both here and overseas. However, the manufacturer of the current Army sidearm may be on the outside looking in.

The Pentagon has invited gunmakers to submit designs for a “modular handgun system.”

Beretta has produced 600,000 M9s for the Department of Defense and is still under contract to produce another 100,000. The M9s were initially made in Italy, but they have been manufactured in the U.S. since 1987.

The venerable Italian arms manufacturer has been in business since 1526 and their 92 series 9mm pistol was chosen to replace the Colt 1911A1 as the US military handgun in the late 1980s. The military version of the Model 92- known in all four branches as the M9- features a metal frame, slide-mounted safety and 15 round magazine. In December, Beretta introduced the M9A3 which featured improvements such as a removable, modular wrap-around grip, a threaded barrel, tritium sights, an under-barrel accessory rail and a 17-round magazine. The pistol itself is sand-colored, a change from the current gunmetal black. Another selling point Beretta highlighted is that the M9A3 would be interchangeable with components and accessories from the current batch of M9s.

However, the Army rejected Beretta's proposal this month and the new Modular Handgun System will most likely use an entirely different platform. Given the widespread use of Glock handguns by police agencies throughout the United States as well as some NATO allies, it would seem logical that some variation of the polymer-framed 9mm Glock 17 was evaluated at some point. Although relatively new, Smith and Wesson's Polymer-framed M&P series pistol is also being evaluated by the Army as a replacement for the M9. Despite being around for less than a decade, Smith & Wesson's M&P series has been adopted by a number of law enforcement agencies in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia- even replacing earlier versions of Glocks in some instances. Smith & Wesson's [NASDAQ: SWHC] bid for the lucrative Modular Handgun System contract will be assisted by General Dynamics [NYSE: GD] Ordnance and Tactical Systems.

Another possibility could be Modular Handgun System being awarded to SIG-Sauer. The US Army Criminal Investigative Division presently carries the SIG P228 [designated the M11- NANESB!] and the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command ordered 5000 polymer-framed SIG SP2022 9mm pistols. The SP2022 has a number of features similar to SIG-Sauer's full-size P226 series pistols, but is lighter thanks to the polymer frame.

Happy Veteran's Day From Not Another New England Sports Blog

Fort Rosecrans military cemetery overlooking the Pacific ocean in California. Mom to Madre photo

"Happy" seems a little bit of a stretch in light of developments at the VA earlier this year, but some veterans can take heart in the fact that more amd more veterans are getting elected to office after last week's historic midterms, including Senators-elect Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Joni Earnst of Iowa who will become the first Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans to be elected to the US Senate. In fact, Ernst was reportedly incommunicado for a few days after the election to serve the required weekend muster with the Iowa National Guard.

For veterans who have been unhappy with the way things have been going in Washington, it is important that they join a veteran's group such as the American Legion or Veteran's of Foreign Wars to make their voices heard. Feel free to visit them online to enquire about membership or find the nearest Hall.

70 Years Ago Today

On June 6th, 1944, the Allied forces from the USA, Great Britain and Canada turned the tide against the occupying German Wehrmacht along the coast of Normandy.

White House Announces Missing Soldier Returning Home After Negotiating Questionalble Prisoner Swap With Taliban

Flanked by the parents of missing US Army Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, President Obama announced that he had reached a deal with the Taliban securing their son's return from the Taliban in exchange for the release of five senior Taliban leaders who were being held in Guantanamo Bay. The announcement took place during a press conference in the White House rose garden on Saturday and already has both civilian and military officials alike calling the legality of the deal into question.

In addition to the legality of negotiating for Bergdahl's release from the Taliban, a number of soldiers who served with Bergdahl at the time of his 2009 disappearance have come forward and claimed that the missing sergeant is- at best- a deserter and may have been actively collaborating with the Taliban after going AWOL. Reportedly, at least six soldiers were killed in Taliban ambushes as the unit was searching for Bergdahl leading to criticism of the release from some of the soldier's family members.

The circumstances behind Bergdahl's disappearance are murky, but what is known that Bergdahl was absent when his unit-
1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division- conducted a headcount in the early morning hours of June 30th, 2009 at a forward operating base in southern Paktika province. Bergdahl, who was originally from Idaho, expressed growing disillusionment with the US Army in Afghanistan in his correspondence with his father and reportedly made offhanded comments to his platoon-mates about just walking off into the mountains. Some soldiers said that Bergdahl likely told the Taliban on how best to place IEDs for maximum effect on US Convoys.

Bergdahl's father did nothing to allay those suspicions after sending out messages via social networking sites like twitter encouraging the release of all Taliban prisoners in US custody while following foreign fighters in Syria. Bob Berdahl was also reportedly learning to speak Arabic and Pashto- the language primarily used by the Taliban- although that may have been done in an attempt to independently secure the release of his son. The elder Bergdahl also raised eyebrows when he uttered "In the name of Allah, the merciful and compassionate-" in Arabic during his appearance in the Rose Garden with President Obama over the weekend [anybody else find it slightly curious that Obama had time to fly in the elder Bergdahl for the rose garden presser, but not notify Congress?- NANESB!]

The five Taliban detainees who were released were identified as Khair Ulla Said Wali Khairkhwa, Mullah Mohammad Fazl, Mullah Norullah Nori, Abdul Haq Wasiq and Mohammad Nabi Omari. The five were flown to the gulf state of Qatar while Bergdahl was flown to a US Army hospital in Germany.

Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., lawmakers on the Senate Intelligence committee say that the White House has broken the law by entering into negotiations with the Taliban without notifying Congress. According to NBC's senior Washington correspondent, the White House was caught off guard by the military's reaction to Bergdahl's release.

6/4 UPDATE- A couple of even stranger developments began circulating regarding the aftermath of Bowe Bergdahl's disappearance in 2009 that have only recently come to light. The first was that some of Bergdahl's platoon-mates were reportedly ordered by superiors to sign a non-disclosure agreement over Bergdahl's alleged desertion and the search for the missing GI. According to Bergdahl's team leader, an Afghan interpreter translated messages in real-time from radio chatter about a lone American in a nearby village looking for an English speaker so he could talk to the Taliban.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Shinseki Steps Down Over Ongoing VA Scandal

A day after an internal nationwide audit of Veteran's Affairs facilities presented to President Obama showed widespread dysfunction and putting injured veterans on clandestine waiting lists to mask length wait times, VA secretary Eric Shinseki announced his resignation on Friday.

The president announced that Shinseki would resign after they met at the White House and he received an update on an internal review of the problems at the VA. The review showed the problems were not limited to just a few facilities, Obama said, adding: "It's totally unacceptable. Our veterans deserve the best."

On the heels of those and other findings, Obama said, "Secretary Shinseki offered me his own resignation -- with considerable regret, I accepted."

He said Shinseki told him he did not want to be a distraction. "I agree," Obama said. "We don't have time for distractions. We need to fix the problem."

The president had faced mounting calls from members of both parties to remove Shinseki; those calls accelerated after a damning inspector general report on Wednesday. Shinseki suffered another blow on Friday when Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., a former top VA official, called for her former boss' resignation.

Shinseki's departure is likely to calm the political storm, but only briefly. Congressional critics of VA leadership voiced support for the decision on Friday, but urged the administration to quickly get to the root of the problems with VA workers lying about patient wait times.

As recently as a month ago, press reports of systematic problems at the Phoenix, AZ VA center began circulating and it seemed as though the Obama administration wouldn't part ways Shinseki, who was appointed in January 2009. Despite calls from the American Legion and both Democrat and Republican members of Congress, Senate Veteran's Affairs secretary Bernie Sanders [Socialist- Vermont] blamed the mounting pressure for Shinseki to step down on industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch and said in an interview that he hoped Shinseki would remain as the VA secretary.

The findings of the VA's internal audit indicated that employees had been instructed to intentionally misrepresent wait periods for veterans and that the desired 14-day maximum waiting time for appointments was untenable.

In late April, CNN aired an interview with a whistleblower from the Phoenix, AZ VA Medical Center who claimed that some patients were put on waiting lists for appointments with the intent of delaying any substantive medical care until those patients had died- some waiting more then 20 months for care. The whistleblower said that at least 40 had died as the staff manipulated reports on waiting times to make them look more efficient.

Happy Armed Forces Day From Not Another New England Sports Blog

Sgt. Javier Amador/ US Army Photo

May 17th marks Armed Forces Day, which was created 65 years ago under the Truman administration Prior to 1949, the Army, Navy and Air Force had their own seperate days honoring each branch.

While not as widely observed as Veteran's Day or Memorial Day, some municipalities do mark the occasion with parades- one of the longest running in the USA in in the western Washington Navy town of Bremerton. According to the Bremerton Chamber of Commerce, 2014 is the 65th year the the town has had an Armed Forces day parade

Gunman Kills Three at Fort Hood Before Shooting Himself

In a scene eerily reminiscent of the 2009 massacre, three soldiers were killed and 16 were hospitalized on Wednesday after a gunman, identified as 34 year old specialist Ivan Lopez, opened fire on base and shot himself as MP's closed in.

Officials say that Lopez, who was originally from Puerto Rico and served as a truck driver in Iraq in 2011, although he saw no combat. Department of Defense officials say that they're fairly certain Lopez had no ties to any international terror groups, but he had previously self-reported himself for an undisclosed mental health issue.

The 34-year old specialist had also served in the infantry and the Army band and had previously served in the Puerto Rico National Guard.

Lopez legally purchased the murder weapon- a 9-shot Smith & Wesson .45 semiauto- at a nearby store that also reportedly sold Nidal Hassan his gun before his November 2009 killing spree on base, murdering 13 soldiers and injuring more than 30. Lopez was carrying multiple clips and the weapon was not registered with officials on base as is required. Although Lopez was reportedly taking prescription medication and being evaluated from PTSD, there was nothing in his background that would've prevented him from legally purchasing the pistol after a background check.

Witnesses say that Lopez appeared agitated over initially being denied leave to attend his mother's funeral in Puerto Rico. Army investigators also are looking into the possibility that a verbal altercation had preceded Lopez's killing spree. Fox News Latino reports that in a Facebook update from earlier this month, Lopez claimed that he was robbed and- more ominously- he posted in Spanish "I have lost my inner peace, full of hatred. I think this time the devil will take me."

Lopez's mother passed away in November and the Army initially denied him bereavement leave before issuing him a 24 hour pass after his funeral. In October, Lopez's grandfather had also passed away in his Puerto Rican hometown of Guayanilla.

The Army has identified the fatalities as SFC Danny Ferguson of Mulberry, FL, Sgt Timothy Owens of Effingham, IL and Carlos Alberto Rodriguez of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.

Happy Veteran's Day

Tom Story- photo

It is the soldier, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the soldier, not the politician, Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the soldier who salutes the Flag, who serves under the flag.

And whose coffin is draped by the flag, Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

Political Football Sports Chowdah Update- Army, Navy And Air Force Football To Continue Despite Government Shutdown; Bruins Get It Done Shorthanded; Red Sox Await Rays in All AL East ALDS

NCAA FOOTBALL-Pretty busy night for a Thursday, but more on that in a bit.

After some speculation that they wouldn't even take place this weekend, both the Air Force vs Navy and Army vs Boston College games are set to kick off at their scheduled times.

Despite the majority of costs being paid in advance by private booster clubs, reports were circulating that this weekend's football games involving the US Service Academies in West Point, Annapolis and Colorado Springs would be cancelled or postponed due to this week's government shutdown.

However, in what some critics are calling 'Shutdown Theater' [in which the government cuts the most visible and public services as opposed to the most redundant or non-essential- NANESB!] the Pentagon announced that the decision for each academy to play would be subject to review beforehand. The fact that the Air Force vs Navy game was sold out this weekend and the Army Black Knights would likely have to pay a fine for breach of contract undercut most arguments that shutting down the football teams is the most economically prudent thing to do.

The Naval Academy announced that all varsity sports aside from football were cancelled through Sunday as well.

BOSTON COLLEGE- Well, the Eagles managed to bookend their bye week with two relatively difficult games and went 0-2, although given what a train wreck the USC program has become I'm a little disappointed they didn't perform better against the Trojans.

Last weekend, the Eagles actually had a first-half lead against the 8th-ranked Florida State Seminoles, but the defense was clearly outmatched and the 'Noles would go on to win by a 48-34 final on Chestnut Hill.

This weekend's upcoming game at Chestnut Hill has garnered all sorts of attention from the non-sports world, and it has nothing to do with the fact that its Boston College's homecoming.

The BC Eagles will play host to the Army Black Knights, who are sporting a 2-3 record and are [almost literally- NANESB!] being used as a political football due to this week's ongoing government shutdown.

Here is the ESPN3 link to watch Saturday's Army-BC homecoming game http://t.co/b0wosLcU0b #ARMYvsBC pic.twitter.com/TWc0XkbSO8
— BC Football News (@BCFootballNews) October 3, 2013

Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 ET and according to BC Athletics, the game will be streamed for free over ESPN3.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL- After a bye week, the UMass Minutemen are looking for their first win of the season. The Minutemen will head to Bowling Green, OH to take on the 4-1 Bowling Green Falcons on Saturday at 3:30 ET.

The UConn Huskies, after coming up short against the #15 Michigan Wolverines, lost to Buffalo by a 42-12 final last weekend and will host South Florida on October 12th.

BIG 12- The Texas Longhorns rallied late in Ames, IA and held on to win by a 31-30 final as DE Jackson Jeffcoat picked off Iowa State QB Sam B Richardson with 31 seconds left in the 4th quarter.

PAC 12- Although Utah got out to a 14-7 lead in the first quarter of their Thursday night game against #12 UCLA, the Bruins came roaring back late and would go on to win by a 34-27 final. The win give the Bruins a record or 4-0 while the Utes are now 3-2.

ELSEWHERE IN THE PAC 12- The USC Trojans fired head coach Lane Kiffin after the team's 62-41 loss to Arizona state last Saturday. Despite an above .500 record, the loss was reportedly the final straw for some who wanted Kiffin gone. There reportedly has been some interest in interviewing former Jacksonville Jaguars head coach and current Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio to fill the vacancy left by Kiffin's dismissal. However, Del Rio has said he's not interested in the position.

AP- Michael Dwyer

NHL- And just like that, the puck has dropped on the Bruins season.

Not only did the 2013-2014 season get off to a good start, the Bruins managed to make history by becoming the first NHL team to score their first goal of the season on a penalty shot.



Chris Kelly got the Bruins on the board with a penalty shot at the 8:21 mark that beat Tampa Bay goalie Anders Lindback- it also counts as a shorthanded goal since the Lightning had 31 seconds remaining on the power play as well.

Valtteri Filppula got the Lightning on the board with a goal around the 10 minute mark of the second period, but with a minute to go in the second, Milan Lucic put the Bruins back on top. The Bruins then extended their lead with a shorthand tally from Patrice Bergeron just after four minutes into the 3rd period.

Boston goes on to win their home opener by a 3-1 final. The homestand continues through the weekend when the Bruins will host the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. Puck is scheduled to drop at 7:00 ET and the game will be televised on NESN and the NHL Network.

OTHER BRUINS NEWS- The Bruins celebrated opening night on the Causeway by announcing a 4-year contract extension with defenseman Dennis Seidenberg. The extension is said to be worth about $16 million over the next four years.

BOSTON RED SOX- It's been a very busy week in the MLB postseason, yet the Red Sox haven't played a single game all week. Instead, Boston was awaiting the winner of the American League Wild Card tiebreaker game followed by the one game play-in. As it turns out, Boston will face the Tampa Bay Rays after the Rays beat the Texas Rangers by a 5-2 final on Monday and shut out the Cleveland Indians by a 5-0 final on Wednesday- both of those wins coming on the road.

With the ALDS matchup set, game one will take place on Friday afternoon at Fenway with Jon Lester [15-8; 3.75 ERA] getting the start in Game one against Tampa Bay's Matt Moore [17-4; 3.29 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 ET and the game will be televised on TBS.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB- The Pittsburgh Pirates won their first playoff game since 1992 as Francisco Liriano pitched 7 complete innings and allowed just four hits in the Pirates 6-2 win over Cincinnati in the National League Wild Card play-in game on Tuesday night.

The win means the Pirates advance to play another NL Central team, the division champion St Louis Cardinals. St Louis took game one of the series by a 9-1 final on Thursday night with Game 2 set for Friday afternoon. Game two of the NLDS gets underway from Busch Stadium at 1:00 ET with the Bucs Gerrit Cole [10-7; 3.22 ERA] will get the start against the Cards Lance Lynn [15-10; 3.97 ERA] and the game will be televised on the MLB network.

In the other NLDS matchup, the Dodger jumped out to a 1-0 series lead against the Atlanta Braves thanks to Clayton Kershaw's 7 innings of 3-hit baseball while striking out 12 Atlanta batters. Former Red Sox and Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez broke the game open with a 2-run homer in the top of the 3rd and the Dodgers would go on to win by a 6-1 final. Game two is scheduled for Friday at 6:07 ET and will feature LA's Zach Gerinke [15-4; 2.63 ERA] going up against Mike Minor [13-9; 3.21 ERA]. Game 2 will also be televised on the MLB network.

The last series to get underway will be the Tigers and A's from Oakland on Friday night. Game one will feature Detroit's Max Scherzer [21-3; 2.90 ERA] and Oakland's Bartolo Colon [18-6; 2.65 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 9:37 PM Eastern time (6:37 Pacific) and the game will be televised on TBS.

Fort Hood Shooter Sentenced To Death

A military jury in Texas has sentenced former US Army Major Nidal Hasan to death for his role in the November 2009 Ft Hood shootings after a three week trial.

Hasan, who sat motionless as the jury president read the verdict, has said he acted to protect Islamic insurgents abroad from American aggression, never denied being the gunman. In opening statements, he acknowledged to the jury that he pulled the trigger in a crowded waiting room where troops were getting final medical checkups before deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hasan had one final chance Wednesday to give a closing argument before his case went to the jury, but he declined -- continuing an absent defense that he has used since his trial began three weeks ago.

The Army psychiatrist's behavior has only stoked suspicion that his ultimate goal is martyrdom, in the form of a death sentence that would allow him to fulfill what prosecutors have described as a "jihad duty" under his Islamic faith.

The lead prosecutor, Col. Mike Mulligan, told jurors Wednesday morning that history was full of instances of death in the name of religion. But he said it would be "wrong and unsupportive" to tie Hasan's actions to a wider cause

Hasan acted as his own defense counsel throughout the trial, and his strategy consisted solely of admitting that he was the shooter and not challenging the prosecution's claims. The Virginia-born Muslim claimed the shooting was in retaliation for what he claims is an ongoing American war against Islamic nations.

To add insult to injury, the government has classified the terrorist sympathizer Hasan's religiously motivated killing spree as "workplace violence" instead of terrorism- denying survivors and family members certain benefits and awards.

Even worse, the FBI had reportedly intercepted communications between Hasan and radical cleric Anwar Al-Alwaki in Yemen nearly a year before the attack.

Hasan first appeared on the bureau's radar in December of 2008—nearly a year before the Fort Hood massacre—when he emailed Awlaki to ask him whether serving in the US military was compatible with the Muslim faith. He also asked whether Awlaki considered those who died attacking their fellow soldiers "shaheeds," or martyrs.

The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego, which was tracking Awlaki, intercepted Hasan's December email, along with another sent in January. A search of the Pentagon's personnel database turned up a man named Nidal Hasan who was on active military duty and was listed as a "Comm Officer" at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC.

Normally, when the FBI unearths this kind of raw intelligence, it issues an Intelligence Information Report (IIR), which is shared with law enforcement agencies and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. (This system was designed to prevent the kind of information bottlenecks that allowed the 9/11 plot to go undetected.) But the San Diego agents misinterpreted the "Comm Officer" label in Hasan's file to mean "communications officer" (in fact, it meant "commissioned officer") and believed that a person in this role might have access to IIRs. To avoid tipping him off, they skipped the report and sent a detailed memo requesting an investigation directly to the Washington, DC, Joint Terrorism Task Force, a multiagency team overseen by the FBI that investigates terrorism cases in the capital. The message noted that Hasan's "contact with [Awlaki] would be of concern if the writer is actually the individual identified above."

The file languished for nearly two months before it was assigned to an agent for the Defense Criminal Investigative Services, who was on the task force. According to a 2011 report on the Fort Hood shootings by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, DCIS—a law enforcement agency within the Pentagon, which normally deals with fraud and cybercrime among military personnel and contractors—was ill-equipped to tackle a counterterrorism investigation.

Meanwhile, Hasan kept writing Awlaki. Between January and May 2009, he sent the radical cleric more than a dozen emails, and received two relatively benign responses. In one message, ostensibly about Palestinians firing unguided rockets into Israel, Hasan asked Awlaki whether "indiscriminately killing civilians" was acceptable. Two days later, he sent another message answering his own question: "Hamas and the Muslims hate to hurt the innocent but they have no choice if their going to have a chance to survive, flourish, and deter the zionist enemy. The recompense for an evil is an evil." (Hasan's emails contained a number of typos.)

The San Diego field office intercepted these missives, too. But the database where the FBI stored intercepted emails didn't automatically link messages from the same sender, so the staff didn't realize that Hasan's early 2009 emails were from the person who had set off alarms the previous December. Meanwhile, the Washington-based DCIS agent assigned to investigate Hasan put off his inquiry for another 90 days, the maximum allowed under joint task force rules, before conducting a cursory investigation. Over the course of four hours on May 27, 2009, he ran Hasan's name through several databases to see if the psychiatrist had been targeted in previous counterterrorism probes. He also reviewed Hasan's Pentagon personnel file. Hasan's officer evaluations were mostly positive, and the chair of psychiatry at Walter Reed had written that Hasan's research on Islamic beliefs regarding military service had "extraordinary potential to inform national policy and military strategy."


The Senate investigation later found these reports "bore no resemblance to the real Hasan, a barely competent psychiatrist whose radicalization toward violent Islamist extremism alarmed his colleagues and his superiors." Nevertheless, the DCIS investigator concluded, based on Hasan's file, that the Army psychiatrist had contacted Awlaki in connection with his academic research and "was not involved in terrorist activity." The DCIS investigator and a supervisory agent in the Washington field office debated interviewing Hasan or his superiors. They ultimately decided doing so could jeopardize the Awlaki investigation or harm Hasan's career.

Advocates for Fort Hood victims find this decision puzzling. "A US Army major is writing to this imam and essentially asking for religious sanction to kill American soldiers," said attorney Reed Rubinstein, who represents a group of victims who are suing the federal government. "And the FBI's Washington field office doesn't even interview the man or make a phone call to his superiors. It's utterly incomprehensible."

Hasan's superiors reportedly missed or ignored a number of red flags regarding Hasan's performance as an officer, including being overweight and stridently supporting Islamic law during his residency at Walter Reed Army hospital.

Should the Army follow through, this will be the first military execution since 1961.

Today's Train of Thought- Pins and Needles, June 21st, 2013

Today's train of though takes us to the California high desert just west of the Colorado River town of Needles.

Between the Los Angeles Basin and Albuquerque, NM, the fabled Route 66 paralleled the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe's transcontinental mainline, which to this day covers a lot of rugged and sparsely populated territory. From there, both the Santa Fe and Route 66 took dramatically different routes between New Mexico and Chicago- with the Santa Fe going through Colorado and western Kansas and the 66 swinging northeast past Oklahoma City and through the Ozarks on its way to St Louis and Chicago.

With a number of songs and even a TV show written in its honor, Route 66- sometimes known as the Mother Road or Main Street of America- began falling into decline with the completion of the parallel Interstate 40. While decommissioned as a US Highway in 1985, several states mark the former Main Street of America with 'Historic Route 66' markers along the way. Other stretches of the former Route 66 being re-branded state highway 66 in places like Kansas, California,  Missouri, Arizona or Oklahoma.

But as Route 66 fell into decline, the Santa Fe mainline remained an important gateway into and out of the state of California- even after the BNSF merger. The remote nature of the Mojave Desert in California also meant that the Santa Fe had to bring in water to remote towns such as Amboy or Cadiz by tank car- a practice that reportedly continues to this day under BNSF.

The concentration of military facilities around Barstow, CA (the US Army's Fort Irwin, Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow and Edwards Air Force Base) also means that both the BNSF and Union Pacific [via their Salt Lake City- Barstow line- NANESB!] frequently run trains consisting of nothing but military equipment from bases all across the nation destined for the military facilities in the California desert.

Here, railpictures.net contributor Drew Mitchem caught BNSF C44-9W #4955 as it leads a westbound extra consisting of Humvees, trailers, generators, trucks, earthmovers and MRAPs on flatcars as it climbs its way out the Colorado River Valley on Feb 25th, 2012.

Commemerations for 69th Anniversary of D-Day Begins in Normandy

Veterans and their families gathered at military cemeteries throughout northwestern France on Thursday to mark the 69th anniversary of the Allied D-Day invasion of nazi-occupied France.

The massive frontal assault by the Allies against the heavily fortified defenses of the Wehrmacht along the Atlantic coast of France opened up a second front against hitler's military and spelled the beginning of the end for the third reich [the Germans had been fighting losing battle against the Red Army on the Eastern Front since the 1943 Battle of Stalingrad- NANESB!].

After Allied naval bombardment on the morning of June 6th, 1944 forces from the United States, Great Britain, Canada as well as exiled troops from Poland and the Czechoslovakia launched a frontal assault against the entrenched Germans. With the Canadian forces landing at Juno Beach and the British taking Sword, while the 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions of the US Army stormed Omaha and the US Army's 4th Infantry Division took Utah beach. Support was provided by the 101st Airborne Division as well as airborne units from Canada and Britain who were tasked with landing behind enemy positions and seizing strategic bridges and road junctions while US Army Rangers scaled sheer cliffs along coastal defenses in an audacious bid to take out German heavy artillery.

Acting on coded messages transmitted via the BBC, the French Resistance hindered the occupying Germans by sabotaging the rail network and telegraph lines in the days leading up to the Allies assault on Normandy beaches.

While the Germans knew that an Allied assault on the mainland was almost inevitable, they were slow to act due to previous false alarms from their military intelligence and the belief that they thought the actual D-Day assault was a decoy to draw Wehrmacht defenses away from an even bigger Allied assault. The total number of Allied casualties on D-Day is said to be no less than 12,000 with more than 2300 Americans killed or missing in action on the first day.

Within 3 days, the British had built a massive temporary port to facilitate the offloading of troops and supplies, strengthening the Allied foothold on the Normandy beach. Within three months, the Allies would liberate Paris.

The Higgins landing craft that was used during D-Day as well as numerous amphibious campaigns throughout the Pacific was considered instrumental by Allied Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower. The fact that the Higgins boat was manufactured in New Orleans and tested along the shores of nearby Lake Pontchartrain factored into the decision to establish the National WWII Museum (formerly the National D-Day Museum) in the Big Easy.

MEMORIAL DAY

National Medal of Honor Memorial at the Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, CA

Seven Marines Killed In Hawthorne Army Depot Explosion

The United States Marine Corps issued a blanket suspension on the use of all 60mm mortar shells on Monday night after a deadly explosion killed seven Marines during a training excercise at Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada.

Seven U.S. Marines were killed and several others were wounded Monday when a mortar exploded prematurely inside is firing tube during mountain training exercises at Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada. It's unclear what caused the malfunction.

The accident prompted the Marine Corps to immediately halt use of some mortar shells until an investigation can determine its safety.

The Corps on Tuesday announced a "blanket suspension of 60mm mortars and associated tubes" in effect until review of the incident at Hawthorne is complete.

The 60mm mortar is a weapon that traditionally requires three to four Marines to operate but it's common during training for others to observe nearby.

The cause of the incident remains under investigation. The investigation will focus on whether the Marines followed procedures to properly fire the weapon, whether there was a malfunction in the firing device or in the explosive mortar itself, the official said.

Earlier, Russ Collier, an official at the facility, told KRNV-TV that the explosion was an accident unrelated to the ammunition that is stored at the military facility near the small desert community of Hawthorne.

The Associated Press has tenatively identified the unit that was assigned to the Hawthorne Army Depot as the 2nd Marine Expiditionary Force based out of Camp Lejune, NC- although the names won't be released until after the families have been notified.

Hawthorne Army Depot is a 226 square mile facility that stores and disposes of ammunition for the United States military some 140 miles southeast of Reno, NV. In recent years, the facility has been used as a training ground because conditions in the high Nevada desert are similar to what soldiers and Marines could expect in Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, an impromptu memorial was held in the nearby town of Hawthorne to honor the Marines killed in the explosion.

Less than a day after the Marines were killed by a mortar explosion during a training exercise in the western Nevada desert, Hume stood inside the Hawthorne Ordnance Museum surrounded by decommissioned ammunition on display. The military-centric town of 3,200 people relies on the Hawthorne Army Depot, a sprawling facility filled with military munitions.

“I’m always glad to see all these trainees come in here, and then to have something like this happen is really, really — it hurts,” Hume said, tearing up. “It hurts.”

First responders, members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and hundreds of people from Hawthorne gathered at the Veterans Memorial Park to memorialize the victims of the blast. The Marines came from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force from Camp Lejeune, N.C.

“This kind of stuff is very tragic and painful,” said Rosemary Redmon, who lives in Hawthorne. “It’s a very close community, and we are very proud that we are able to help the country to train our soldiers.”

Miles Wertz rode to the memorial with his fellow members of the Iron Nation motorcycle group to honor the Marines who died.

“It’s just terrible,” he said. “We’re down here to show support for the families and pay tribute to the fallen Marines.”

John Stroud, the junior vice commander in chief of the VFW who also lives in Hawthorne, led the vigil and placed a wreath in the Marines’ honor.

“We’ve got to cooperate with the officials as much as possible to get the investigations done thoroughly and accurately so that hopefully we can prevent these things from happening again,” he said after the ceremony.

The Hawthorne Army Depot was opened in 1930, a few years after a lightning-sparked explosion at New Jersey's Lake Denmark Nacal Ammunition Depot killed more than 20 people and heavily damaged the Picatinny Army Arsenal and surrounding communities as the fires burned for days afterwards.

Ed Koch, New York City's Quirky, Caustic Former Mayor, Passes Away At Age 88

Former three-term New York mayor Ed Koch died from congestive heart failure at New York's Presbyterian Hospital in the early morning hours Friday. Known for being quick with a witty, acerbic remark, Koch served as New York's mayor between 1978 and 1989.

Born to Polish immigrants in the Bronx in 1924, Koch grew up in Newark and was drafted into the Army in 1943, serving as a combat infantryman and earning two Battle Stars with the 104th Infantry Division in France.

After the war, Koch enrolled in NYU's School of Law, recieving his degree in 1948 and going into practice the following year. By the early 1960s, Koch was interested in seeking political office, unsuccuessfully running against an incumbent Democrat for State Assembly in 1962. However, he would serve two years on the New York City Council before successfully running for congress in 1968.

During his time in Congress in the early 1970s, the New York Democrat described himself as transitioning from a liberal to what he called a "liberal with common sense" after hearing a number of complaints from his constituents over proposals from then-mayor John Lindsay- including a ham-fisted attempt to place a 3000-person public housing project in a middle class Queens neighborhood. In 1973, Koch resigned from Congress to run for mayor of New York, but didn't even last through the Democrat primaries.

However, by 1975 New York City had to lay off a number of NYPD officers among other city employees- causing an uptick in street crime accompanying a decline in services. In July 1977, there was a citywide blackout- criminals took advantage of the power outage and an NYPD short on manpower and embarked on a looting and arson spree. In response, Koch positioned himself as a 'Law and Order' candidate and was elected mayor of New York City in 1978.

The city's fortunes gradually began to turn around under Koch and in 1981, he was re-elected in a landslide, running on both the Democrat and Republican Party lines. The following year he briefly entered the race for governor but lost to primary challenger Mario Cuomo.

In 1985, Koch ran for a 3rd term and won by a margin of 78%. However, his third term was also wracked by scandals within City Hall and health problems after suffering a stroke in his office in 1987. During the 1988 Presidential primary, Mayor Koch publicly fueded with Democrat candidate Jesse Jackson. Some speculated this feud  with Jackson angered black voters and led to his downfall in the 1989 mayoral election, where he lost to challenger David Dinkins.

After his three terms as mayor, Koch remained in the public eye appearing as a judge on The People's Court and hosting his own radio talk show in the 1990s. More recently, he appeared in a weekly online video segment called Mayor At The Movies as well as appearing as himself in cameos on a number of TV series and films such as The Muppets Take Manhattan and Saturday Night Live.

He also remained involved in politics and would often cross party lines to endorse Republican candidates like George Pataki, Rudy Gulliani, George W Bush and Bob Turner. The former mayor was also something of a foreign-police hawk and staunchly pro-Israel.

In a 2010 forum, Koch said he felt the highlight of his time as mayor was during a 1980 transit strike when he felt the need to do something brash and public.

He strode down to the Brooklyn Bridge to encourage commuters who were forced to walk to work instead of jumping aboard subway trains and buses.

"I began to yell, 'Walk over the bridge! Walk over the bridge! We're not going to let these bastards bring us to our knees!' And people began to applaud," the famously combative, acid-tongued politician recalled at a 2012 forum.

His success in rallying New Yorkers in the face of the strike was, he said, his biggest personal achievement as mayor. And it was a display that was quintessentially Koch, who rescued the city from near-financial ruin during a three-term City Hall run in which he embodied New York chutzpah for the rest of the world.

A lifelong bachelor with no known romantic partners, Koch's sexual orientation was the subject of rumor and speculation. During the 1980s, Koch signed off on gay rights ordinances approved by the city council. When pressed on the issue, Koch famously stated “My answer to questions on this subject is simply, ‘Fuck off.’ There have to be some private matters left.”

Koch was survived by his sister, Pat Thaler, and many grandnieces and grandnephews. He will be buried in a plot in the Trinity Church cemetary- his headstone will reportedly have an inscription that were the last words of journalist Daniel Pearl- a US Journalist who was murdered on videotape by Al Qaeda terrorists in Pakistan in 2002:

“My father is Jewish. My mother is Jewish. I am Jewish.”

Desert Storm Commanding General Norman Schwarzkopf Passes Away At Age 78

Retired General H. Norman Schwarzkopf passed away from complications from pneumonia in Tampa, FL on Thursday at the age of 78.

Nicknamed 'stormin Norman', Schwarzkopf was a 1956 graduate of West Point, served two tours in Vietnam and was named commander of the US Central Command facilities at McDill AFB in Tampa, FL.

In 1990, when Saddam Hussein's forces invaded Kuwait, Schwarzkopf convinced Saudi monarch King Fahd to allow the Arabian peninsula to be used as a staging area for American troops to counterattack and drive Iraqi forces from occupied Kuwait. In addition to US, French and British forces Schwarzkopf also commanded an array of Arab troops from Egypt, Qatar, Syria and the United Arab Emirates. After a months-long buildup, operation Desert Storm was launched in January 1991. As the arab armies thrust into Kuwait, British and French forces- along with the US 101st Airborne Division, the 24th Infantry Division, 1st Armored Division and 3rd Armored Cavalry regiment- swept across the Saudi-Iraq border west of Kuwait, flanking Saddam's forces and decimating Iraqi armor and infantry as airstrikes continually bombarded Baghdad.

The results were devestating for Iraq's military, with as many as 35,000 killed by coalition forces while allied losses were fewer than 500. However, with Saddam's forces in disarray and full retreat into Baghdad, there was finishing thrust into the Iraqi capital by US and coalition forces at the time because the objective had been to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait [I know for a fact there was a giant road sign in English and Arabic measuring the distance to Basra and Baghdad displayed in a motor pool in Ft Stewart, GA in the late 1990s- NANESB!].

Schwarzkopf retired from the Army the following year and wrote a biography called 'It Doesn't Take A Hero'. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth and recieved honors from France, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Qatar and Bahrain. Aside from a brief stint as an NBC military commentator, the retired general mostly avoided politics and the spotlight, occasionaly acting as a spokesman for National Prostate Cancer Awareness and serving on the Nature Conservancy board of governors.

Sports Chowdah Update- Patriots Deal Texas-Sized Ass Whuppin' to Houston; Napoli, Flyin' Hawaiian Land In Beantown; Navy Survives Late Army Rally; Duck Duck, Longhorn!

Jerry Brown: 1987-2012. AP File photo

NFL- A week after the highly publicized murder-suicide involving Kansas City linebacker Jovan Belcher, Dallas Cowboys linebacker Jerry Brown was killed in a single car accident in Arlington, TX. The car was being driven by nose tackle Josh Brent, who was a teammate of Brown's both in Dallas and at the University of Illinois.

According to police, Brent and Brown were speeding west in the 1400 block of the East State Highway 114 service road around 2:21 a.m. Brent’s car “hit the outside curb” and traveled about 900 feet before coming to rest upside down in the middle of the road.

“Our investigators are certain that they were traveling well above the posted speed limit, and they base that on the physical evidence that is out on the scene — gouge marks, skid marks, where the vehicle initially impacted the curb and where the vehicle came to rest,” said Irving police spokesman John Argumaniz. The posted speed limit was 45 mph, he said.

Arriving officers saw Brent trying to drag his teammate from the burning car. Brown, unresponsive, was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The small fire was quickly extinguished.

Brent had minor injuries, mostly scrapes, police said. He failed field sobriety tests and was taken to a hospital. He was later booked into the Irving jail on the second-degree felony charge, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine

The Dallas Morning News is also reporting that Brent had a DUI dating back to his college days in Illinois. Court records from Champaign county, IL show that in February 2009, Brent was arrested for DUI, driving without a valid liscence and speeding near the University of Illinois campus and was sentenced to 60 days in jail, 200 hours community service and two years probation.

Born and raised in St Louis, Brown was on the roster when Vashon High School won three Missouri district titles and rivals.com had him ranked among the top 100 best defensive ends in the country before he accepted a scholarship to Illinois. During the Illini 2007 run to the Rose Bowl, Brown had 2 and a half sacks in 13 games.

Although he was initially undrafted by the NFL in 2011, he did play for the Jacksonville Sharks of the Arena Legue and was on the practice squad for the Hamilton Tigercats of the CFL. In 2012, Brown worked out for the Texans, Jets and Eagles before being signed to the Indianaplos Colts practice squad. After he appeared in one game- the Colts 35-9 loss to the Jets on Oct 14th- he was waived and then signed to the practice roster once again before being cut. Later that month, Dallas picked him up off of waivers and assigned him to the Cowboys practice squad where he reportedly was recieving consideration for a move to the active roster.

Brent is charged with DUI and intoxicated manslaughter.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS- Former NFL Comissioner Paul Tagliabue overturned current comissioner Roger Goddel's suspension of four New Orleans Saints defensive players who were accused of participating in the Bountygate scandal.

In a surprising rejection of his successor's overreaching punishments, former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue threw out "all discipline" current Commissioner Roger Goodell had imposed on two current Saints, linebacker Jonathan Vilma and defensive end Will Smith, and two players no longer with the club, Browns linebacker Scott Fujita and free-agent defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove.

Tagliabue, appointed by Goodell to handle player appeals in the matter, essentially absolved Fujita, but agreed with Goodell's finding that the other three players "engaged in conduct detrimental to the integrity of, and public confidence in, the game of professional football."

The 22-page ruling Tuesday allowed both sides to claim victory more than nine months after the league first revealed the Saints' bounty scandal to shocked fans, describing a performance pool operated by former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams that, among other things, rewarded hits that injured opponents.

The four players punished by Goodell have maintained they were innocent of taking part in bounty program from the beginning, saying they never intended to injure anyone on the field. Vilma even has filed a defamation lawsuit against Goodell in U.S. District Court in Louisiana, and his lawyers, Peter Ginsberg and Duke Williams, said they intend to continue to pursue those claims "vigorously."

The NFL alleges that defensive players from the 2009-2010 New Orleans Saints paid each other off-the-books bonuses for knocking out or injuring players from opposing teams throughout the season. During the 2009-2010 season, the Saints defensive players would've had the opportunity to tee off on quarterbacks such as Brett Favre, Tom Brady, Eli Manning, Kurt Warner, Peyton Manning and Matt Ryan.

However, while Tagliabue's ruling allows the players to get back on the field without further NFL sanction, he also made clear that he holds the Saints coaching staff culpable for allowing the bounty program to continue.

AP Photo/Elise Amendola

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS- In what was only their second prime-time game of the 2012 season, the Patriots delivered a Lone Star state-sized beatdown of the Houston Texans on Monday night football.

In all honesty, I expected the Patriots to win in a fairly close contest where they started to pull away in the 4th quarter. However, Monday night's game in Foxborough seemed to be decided by halftime with the Patriots jumping out to a 14-0 lead on their first two posessions.  Wes Welker's 31 yard punt return and 25 yard reception set the tone early, leading to a 7 yard TD pass from Brady to Aaron Hernandez to open up the scoring. The TD came despite Stevan Ridley being stripped of the ball while rushing for the end zone on 1st and goal.

Trailing 7-0, the Texans were looking to get on the board and put together a nice looking drive until QB Matt Schaub's pass into the end zone was picked off by CB Devin McCourty who ran it back to the New England 19. On the following posession, Brady connected with a wide open Brandon Lloyd for a 37 yard TD reception.

New England went into the locker room at the half up 21-0, but with the Texans inability to get anything going offensively [along with a couple of iffy calls that went New England's way and the fortuitous fumble recovery early on by Hernandez- NANESB!] it felt like much more than that. To emphasise this, the Patriots opened up the scoring in the second half with a 63 yard pass reception and TD run from Brady to WR Donte Stallworth to put New England up 28-0. The Texans finally got on the board late in the 3rd, but New England won this one going away by a 42-14 final.

Brady went 21-35 with 4 TDs and 296 yards on Monday night. This is his 18th career game with 4 or more TDs, moving him past Johnny Unitas to 4th all-time on the list. TE Aaron Hernandez had 8 receptions- two of them for TDs- and 58 yards while Donte Stallworth's 63 yard catch and TD run was his lone reception of the night.

Although Houston lost bad, they still maintain the best overall record in the AFC at 11-2. However, two out of Houston's three remaining games are against the 9-4 Indianapolis Colts- the next closest team in the AFC South, so even though the Texans may have clinched a playoff berth before heading into Foxborough on Monday, clinching the division still isn't a given this late in the season.

New England's next game will be its last scheduled prime-time matchup of the 2012 season- a Sunday Night matchup at Gillette Stadium against the NFC West leading San Francisco 49ers. The game kicks off on Sunday night at 8:20 ET, 5:20 Pacific [no word on whether or not Bob Costas will deliver another patronizing lecture during NBC's halftime show- NANESB!]. After that, the Patriots will take on two Florida teams-  the Jacksonville Jaguars and a home game against AFC East foe Miami to wrap up the regular season.

RED SOX- The Red Sox have been pretty busy during the winter offseason. So far this month, they've reportedly acquired C/1B Mike Napoli [although FOX Sports is reporting that the contract has yet to be finalized, implying that the deal has hit some sort of snag, most likely pending the physical- NANESB!]. The deal- if and when it is finalized- is for three years and will be worth $39M. In 100 games with the Texas Rangers last season, Napoli started as catcher in more than 70 of them, batting .227 with 24 HR and 56 RBI. During the 2010 season, the Red Sox attempted to claim Napoli when the Angels placed him on waivers- although there was speculaton that was a move by Boston to pre-empt the Yankees from picking up Napoli. The Angels then pulled back Napoli from waivers and he remained with the Halos for the remainder of the season before being traded to Texas.

AP Photo/Elise Amendola

This week, the Red Sox also held a press conference to announce the signing of former Phillies and Dodgers outfielder Shane Victorino to a contract of similar duration and monetary value as Napoli's contract. Victorino- a native of the Aloha State- recieved the monicker 'The Flyin' Hawaiian' from his Philadelphia days and was traded by the Phillies to the Dodgers at the trade deadline last season. In his 101 games with Philly last season, he hit .261 with 9 HR, 40 RBI and 24 stolen bases. After being traded to LA, Victorino had 15 stolen bases, 15 RBI and batted .245 with 2 HR.

On Thursday afternoon, the AP was reporting that the Red Sox and starting pitcher Ryan Dempster were close to reaching an agreement reportedly worth $26.5 million for two years. Dempster was also moved during the 2012 trade deadline, going from Chicago to the Texas Rangers. Between the North Side and the Lone Star state, Dempster was 12-8 with a 3.38 ERA last season- that was broken down to a 5-5 record with a 2.25 ERA with the Cubbies and a 7-3 record with Texas and a 5.03 ERA.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB- In a move that easily eclipsed all other rumored deals and transactions on Thursday was the Angels reported signing of free agent outfielder Josh Hamilton. The deal is reportedly worth $125 million and would have Hamilton playing his home games in Orange county through 2018.

Former Angels outfielder Torii Hunter, who left for Detroit as a free agent this offseason, tweeted mockingly that Angels owner Artie Moreno must've had found some money hidden under a mattress after the Halo's front office failed to come up with a qualifying minimum $13.3 million offter to retain Hunter.

Hamilton was batting .285 with 43 HR and 128 RBI for Texas last season.

Earlier this week, the New York Yankees and former Red Sox 3B Kevin Youkilis had reportedly agreed to a 1-year, $12 million deal. Youkilis was traded from the Red Sox to the White Sox in June immediately after an emotional win against the Atlanta Braves where the crowd at Fenway gave him a standing ovation upon leaving the game- before the trade was even announced.

Youkilis is expected to fill in for big money 3B Alex Rodriguez, who will be recovering from hip surgery and isn't expected to return to the Bronx Bomber's lineup until at least June 2013.

NCAA FOOTBALL- With a long overdue victory against Navy in sight, the Army Black Knights broke out the heavy artillery late in the 4th quarter and proceeded to immediately shoot themsleves in the foot with a fumbled handoff that was recovered by the Midshipmen.

Unlike recent Army-Navy games, this one was pretty close with the teams heading into the locer room at halftime tied 10-10. However, late in the 3rd, Navy was able to successfully keep the Black Knights out of the end zone and Army had to settle for a short FG. Although that gave them a 13-10 lead over Navy, it would prove to be short-lived as the Midshipmen took the lead once and for all with 5:17 to go in the 4th quarter. However, even though Army was able to put together a sustained drive deep into Navy territory after starting on their own 17, Army RB fumbled the handoff at the Navy 14 with 1:27 to go and the Midshipmen pounced on the ball and were simply able to run out the clock from there.

Navy hangs on to win by the final of 17-13 and wins the Commander in Chief trophy- Army hasn't won since 1996. That wraps up the season for 2-10 Army while 8-4 Navy will face off against the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl on Dec 29th in San Francisco.

ELSEWHERE IN NCAA FOOTBALL- Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel- dubbed by Aggies faithful and some in the press as 'Johnny Football'- made history over the weekend by becoming the first ever freshman to win the Heisman trophy.

Manziel averaged for more than 284 yards per game in 2012 and had 24 TD's versus 8 interceptions. This was also A&M's first season in the SEC, garnering attention in November when they upset undefeated Alabama by a 29-24 final.

Manziel recieved a total of 474 first place votes in the Heisman balloting- Notre Dame's Manti Te'o came in a distant second with 321 first place votes.

Nathan Goldsmith- Daily Texan photo

NCAA VOLLEYBALL- The final two teams for this year's NCAA women's volleyball tournament are set and defending women's champions UCLA will not be participating after getting knocked out by Michigan State.

In fact, UCLA didn't even advance to the semifinals this week- instead, thie year's NCAA women's volleyball title game will be between a team that hasn't won since 1988 and another that is making their first-ever trip to the finals.

Oregon upended Penn State's bid to return to the title match by defeating them 3 sets to one to advance to their first ever women's volleyball championship berth. Meanwhile, the Texas Longhorns defeated the Michigan Wolverines 3 sets to 2 for their first finals appearence since 2009 when they lost to Penn State. The last time Texas women's volleyball won a national title was in 1988.

The game is set for Saturday, December 15th and will be televised on ESPN2 and streaming on ESPN3 beginning at 7:00 ET from the KFC/Yum! Center in Louisville, KY.

Remebering Veteran's Day

United States Medal of Honor Memorial at the Riverside National Cemetary in California

I have to be honest, even though I try and keep some of the big holiday posts apolitical, I'm still dour and pessemistic after Tuesday's election results.

I suppose I could go off on what would probably come across as some sort of Grumpy Old Man 'get off of my lawn' rant [despite the fact that I'm actually younger than...say...Cameron Diaz or Grace Park- NANESB!] but as a veteran myself, I think that would be inappropriate on today of all days. First and foremost, today is about those who have served and continue to serve- the second it becomes a blunt insturment to bash politicians people don't particularly like with and nothing else, Veteran's Day or Memorial Day would become meaningless.

For those that despair about the future of the nation, I urge you to step into the wayback machine and head back to late October 2012.

The above image got alot of circulation amongst conservatives and milbloggers at the time. It depcits the Honor Guard for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetary in Virginia standing guard in the driving rain and went viral on social networks as Hurricane Sandy bore down on the East Coast.

However, this image was reportedly taken the day the storm hit- the US Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment has guarded the Tomb continuously since 1948. Should the cemetary close due to bad weather, the Old Guard can keep watch either from under an awning or a nearby enclosed area. The Old Guard's Tomb Sentinels reportedly declined to do either that day.

So even though image of the trio of Old Guard sentries on duty in the driving rain wasn't actually taken during Hurricane Sandy [remember that Sandy was still classified as a hurricane until making landfall in further north in New Jersey- NANESB!] I thought it was still a striking and appropriate visual for Veteran's Day.

I'm in between church, some football watching and attending a Veteran's Day ceremony this afternoon, but I wanted to also take this opportunity to thank both veterans and active-duty military for their service to this country.

It's also worth pointing out that restaurant chains like Applebee's, Friendly's, Golden Corral or TGI Friday's among others will be serving complimentary lunches to veterans and active duty servicemen with valid ID or a DD-214. A more comprehensive list can be seen here.

Pre-Emptive Shennanigans? Military Voters Purged From Rolls in Florida; Aircraft Carrying Absentee Ballots Crashes in Afghanistan

With the 2012 Presidential campaign winding down, a number of incidents concerning active-duty members of the United States Military attempting to vote via absentee ballot have come to light.

According to an October 26th Associated report, a cargo plane crashed while on approach to Shindad Air Force Base in Afghanistan on October 19th. The plane was carrying an estimated 4700 pounds of mail at the time, and military investigators believe that this likely included a number of absentee ballots on board. The plane was reportedly carrying inbound mail and the ballots on board had yet to be filled out. All the mail on board was destined for a single APO Zip code and the plane was a civilian aircraft from a company that had been contracted to fly in supplies and mail to the base.

Over in Florida, active-duty military voters from the Tampa area were startled to learn that they had been purged from the roll of registered voters while they were deployed overseas. Valrico resident and Navy Captain Peter Kehrig, who has been abroad for five years tells 10 News he feels cheated by a system that removed him from the rolls.

Florida State Law requires county supervisor of elections offices to perform regular "maintenance" on its voter rolls to eliminate voters who have been convicted of felonies, moved out of the county, or may have died.

Voters who miss two consecutive general elections (2010 and 2008, for instance) are mailed a letter to their residence warning them they will be removed from the rolls. But since the post office only forwards mail for six months, Kehrig never got it.

Meanwhile, a couple from Palm Beach County, FL but stationed at Camp Lejune in North Carolina said they had yet to recieve their absentee ballot from the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections. When reached for comment, an official with the Supervisor of elections told a local TV station they were 'working on it' but declined to elaborate.

According to a recent Military Times poll, Republican nominee Mitt Romney enjoyed support from active duty and reservist members of the United States Military by a 66% margin compared to 26% for President Obama.

During the 2000 Presidential Campaign, lawyers for the Gore campaign fought to get absentee ballots from overseas disqualified from the recount as many of them were from soldiers, Marines, sailors and Airmen stationed overseas who had voted in support of Bush.

More recently, elections officials in Illinois and New York state had failed to mail off absentee ballots in time for the 2010 mid-term elections in violation of the 2009 MOVE act.

[Hat tip: Wyatt Earp]