Tag Archives: Military

DoD says Purple Hearts would Prejudice Hasan Trial

The Department of Defense has told Congress that their bills aimed at granting combat wounded status — Purple Hearts — to the victims of the Fort Hood massacre would prejudice his court-martial:

Passage of this legislation could directly and indirectly influence potential court-martial panel members, witnesses, or the chain of command, all of whom exercise a critical role under the [UCMJ].  Defense counsel will argue that Major Hasan cannot receive a fair trial because a branch of government has indirectly declared that Major Hasan is a terrorist — that he is criminally culpable.

This must be one of the awkward results of the “fairness” of the American judicial system.  Everyone “knows” he did it.  Hasan has even tried to plead guilty, and would Read more

Congress Demands Army Answer for Calling Christians Extremists

The US Army has received a string of criticism in the days since it was revealed a Reserve Army EO officer included evangelical Christians and Catholics (as well as all of Sunni Islam) in “religious extremism.”

FoxNews reports 12 members of Congress have called on the Army to apologize and “provide a balanced briefing on religious extremism.”  (See Congressman Lamborn’s letter to the Secretary of the Army.)

Similarly, another Army email released to FoxNews included copied text from the Southern Poverty Law Center’s “anti-gay intelligence file” mocking the “Christian Right” and its “opposition to equal rights for gays and lesbians.”  The author, an Army LtCol, said

just want to ensure everyone is somewhat educated on some of the groups out there that do not share our Army Values.

“Some of the groups” in the SPLC list included the Family Research Council (which has cited ChristianFighterPilot.com) and the American Family Association — two Christian groups villified by the SPLC for their opposition to the social normalization of homosexuality.

The inclusion of Christians and Christian beliefs in an Army email saying they don’t “share our Army values” actually contradicts Army values.  The Department of Defense has Read more

The Easy Thing for the Air Force not always the Right Thing

LtGen Craig Franklin is the 3rd Air Force Commander and the convening authority for the court martial of LtCol James Wilkerson, the Aviano F-16 pilot who was convicted of sexual assault at court-martial.

LtGen Franklin vacated the ruling and dismissed the case, a move that has been strongly criticized.

A few have missed the fact that Gen Franklin had to make either an affirmative or negative decision on the recommendation of the court-martial — there was no neutral position.  He chose not to approve the ruling, as was his authority, and he explained Read more

Army Highlights Korean War Chaplains

As US Army Chaplain (Capt) Emil Kapaun posthumously receives the Medal of Honor for his service during the Korean War, the US Army took the opportunity to highlight the story of the entire chaplaincy during the era of the Korean War, including Chaplain Felhoelter, the first US Army chaplain killed in the conflict:

Other chaplains…narrowly escap[ed] as one American position after another fell before the North Korean advance. All survived, with the exception of Chaplain Herman G. Felhoelter of the 19th Infantry Regiment.

With his battalion falling back as the American position along the Kum River collapsed, Felhoelter volunteered to remain behind Read more

The Story of Chaplain Kapaun, Medal of Honor Recipient

The DoD has published a lengthy, two-part (1, 2) story on Chaplain Emil Kapaun, who will posthumously receive the Medal of Honor tomorrow.  The articles contain many details of his private and military life, as well as many photographs.

Read Part 1 and Part 2.

Update: The well-covered story by the Associated Press.  In addition, an Army.mil article notes a memorial in Kaiserslautern, Germany, where military facilities are named in honor of Kapaun, including a Kapaun Chapel that still hosts services.

In 1955, four years after his death, the Army named Kapaun Barracks — now Kapaun Administration Annex in Kaiserslautern, Germany — after him.

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Military Chaplains Reach Out

A local article highlights US Army Chaplain (Maj) Douglas Ball and Chap (Capt) Rodney Gilliam, who visited an off-site training location to meet Soldiers’ spiritual needs:

The chaplains wanted to show Soldiers they care about them and are there if they need to talk, Ball said.

“For many of them, I provide a different avenue,” he said. “One of the advantages of the chaplains is our confidentiality…

The quoted troops responded positively:  Read more

Weinstein Responds to Chuck Norris with Name-Calling

Apparently, Michael Weinstein finally got around to reading the columns by Chuck Norris, discussed here last week, and saw the number of MRFF-inspired incidents on the list.

His response was classic playground-bully Weinstein:  He called Chuck Norris names.

And then there are the septuagenarian martial arts film stars who proclaim biblical creationism as fact, can act almost as well as a bar of soap, and who are as smart as a box of rocks.

Chuck Norris, the intelligence-challenged Read more

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