By Robert Sternowski —- The national gun debate appears to lack understanding of what an assault rifle is designed to do. I can explain that, based on my expensive, taxpayer-financed Army training as a Vietnam era assault rifle sharpshooter. Basic combat training trains a soldier with endless repetition and practice. We could not [...]
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By David V. Wendell —- Today marks the 94th anniversary of Armistice Day. On April 6, 1917, after four years of unparalleled bloodshed overseas, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress for and received a declaration of war against the Imperial Kaiser’s Germany. More than 5 million Americans were pressed into service, including 115,000 Iowans. [...]
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For six months, Joshua Casteel slept 100 yards from an open-air burn pit that devoured everything from plastics and paint to electronics and human body parts. The Cedar Rapids native didn’t know smoke from the pit may also have been devouring his lungs. Casteel, a 32-year-old writer and peace activist, died Aug. 25 of lung [...]
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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is planning to spend $1.8 million to repair the flood-defense network around Omaha. The repairs being made around Omaha are part of the work being done along the Missouri River to prepare for spring. Last year’s historic flooding along the river damaged many of the levees and drainage ditches [...]
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During her service in Afghanistan, Sonia Kendrick saw starving people dig through rancid garbage, run across minefields to reach supply trucks and otherwise risk their lives for food. With those images embedded in her mind, the 34-year-old Army veteran is embarking on a mission of her own that focuses on feeding those closer to home. [...]
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CEDAR RAPIDS – With large numbers of military personnel, including about 2,500 Iowa National Guardsmen, returning from active duty, the country has a “moral responsibility” to help them find employment, according to Eastern Iowa U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley. “It’s our responsibility to do all we can to give back to these veterans … so they [...]
continue »One hundred and thirty-three years ago, chances are you would have been a farmer, who would live and die within only a few miles of your home. When news of a great Civil War reached your ears, and if you were young and in reasonably good health you would have gone to “see the elephant”. [...]
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Army Sgt. Matthew Macke of Cedar Rapids has been awarded a Purple Heart after he was injured last month in Afghanistan. Army officials say Macke’s vehicle was damaged by an improvised explosive device in the Paktya province of Afghanistan on April 27. The explosion severely damaged the vehicle and fractured Macke’s right foot and left [...]
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Complete coverage of the Medal of Honor ceremony for Cedar Rapids native Sgt. Salvatore Giunta.
continue »Residents here can now comment on the draft of the Army Corps of Engineers study report, which makes the case for a better if limited new flood-protection system in Cedar Rapids. The draft report’s conclusions are the ones that the Corps made public in Cedar Rapids earlier this year at a mayoral flood forum and [...]
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