THE LONG WAY HOME
Viet Vets Regain Identity Tags, Recognition

The week of Jan. 12, 2004, Tom Barnard, of Longview TX, won PeprallyUSA.com's Pic of the Week contest with the photograph above. Mr. Barnard, a graphic designer at LeTourneau University, used a 2.1 megapixel digital camera, the Canon Powershot Pro90IS, to capture an enormously poignant moment in the life of Vietnam Veteran Denzil Messman. Mr. Messman was presented with his own dogtags, which were lost in 1968, in Viet Nam. The presentation was made by Illinois businessman and Korean War vet, V.R. Roskam, who, with his wife, Martha, had salvaged three dozen of the identification tags from a street vendor in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, in 2001.(click to read more)

Update, Sept. 15, 2004: More than 1000 members of the Armed forces have lost their lives in Iraq so far this year. With an average of 15-20 attacks being made each day on American forces there, it appears that total will grow all too soon. A group of Marine mothers, pins and pens in hand, is determined that each casualty shall be memorialized in the form of a quilt, which may be wrapped around those who will never again be hugged by their service member.

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WHAT CAN HAPPEN WHEN A SMALL TOWN HAS BIG IDEAS
Canastota, NY Celebrates a Centenarian

August 11, 2003 -- One hundred and one years ago, Andrew Carnegie's Foundation saw fit to provide this little village in the middle of New York state with $10,000 to build an edifice suitable to house its ambitious library. Canastota met the Foundation's requirement that it raise an additional $1,000 per year for the library. Construction was undertaken and quickly completed, and the happy result was a banana colored brick structure, designed by Syracuse architect Archimides Russell. The library building was nothing if not solid. Furthermore, it was at the same time a tribute to classic Greek and Roman architecture, -- geometric and symmetrical,complete with protruding brick columns and twin garlands adorning each side of the building's front entrance-- and simultaneously a harbinger of the Art Deco movement which would arrive "officially" two decades later. The building connected the past with the future, which, if one thinks about it, is what libraries are all about. (to read more click here)

• National Police Week Runs May 9 - 16; Peace Officers' Memorial Day is May 15.

  There are approximately 740,000 sworn law enforcement officers now serving in the United States, which is the highest figure ever. About 12 percent of those officers are female. Since the first recorded police death in 1792, more than 15,000 law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty. (find out more)

• SUPPORT FOR TROOPS FLOWS FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA From ski goggles to help Marines through sandstorms to home repairs for military spouses, Americans are finding unique and personal ways to show they care. (more)

• NILES, MI., ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ADOPT MARINE UNIT Marine Lance Cpl. Ayron Kull, graduated from Howard Elementary School, where his mom now works. She spearheaded an Adopt-A-Marine effort at the school.(more)

• New Bern, NC Elementary School Students Write Letters to Deployed Forces

• Liverpool, NY Middle School Supports 174th Fighter Wing

• Americans send Jewish New Year Greetings to Military

• Armed Service Members enjoy "Anger Management" for Free, with Thanks from Adam Sandler