By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2011 – Frank Woodruff Buckles, the last surviving American World War I veteran, died yesterday at his West Virginia home. He was 110.

Sixteen-year-old Buckles enlisted in the Army on Aug. 14, 1917 after lying to several recruiters about his age.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, left, talks with Frank Buckles

“I was just 16 and didn’t look a day older. I confess to you that I lied to more than one recruiter. I gave them my solemn word that I was 18, but I’d left my birth certificate back home in the family Bible. They’d take one look at me and laugh and tell me to home before my mother noticed I was gone,” Buckles wrote in 2009.

Buckles tried the Marines and Navy, but both turned him away. An Army recruiter, however, accepted his story.

“Somehow I got the idea that telling an even bigger whopper was the way to go. So I told the next recruiter that I was 21 and darned if he didn’t sign me up on the spot!” he wrote. (continue reading…)

WHISTLER, British Columbia, Feb. 26, 2010 – Army National Guard Outstanding Athlete Program bobsled pilot Sgt. Shauna Rohbock teamed with Michelle Rzepka to finish sixth in the Olympic women’s bobsled event Feb. 24 at the Whistler Sliding Centre.

Rohbock, of Park City, Utah, finished 1.78 seconds off the winning pace at the treacherous, 16-turn venue with a four-run time of 3 minutes, 34.06 seconds in USA 1. Canadians Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse broke the track record in their first three heats en route to winning the gold medal in 3:32.28. Helen Upperton and Shelly-Ann Brown took the silver aboard Canada 2 with a time of 3:33.13.

Erin Pac, 29, of Farmington, Conn., and Elana Meyers, 25, of Douglasville, Ga., claimed the bronze with a time of 3:33.40 in the USA 2 sled.
Sgt. Shauna Rohbock teamed with Michelle Rzepka to finish sixth in the Olympic women’s bobsled event.

“It wasn’t the Olympics that I dreamed of for four years, but the U.S. got a medal today, and that’s amazing,” said Rohbock, a silver medalist at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin, Italy. “That’s awesome. That’s all I want to see is the U.S. on that medal stand. I didn’t drive the four runs to be on the medal stand and Erin did, so she deserves it. I didn’t put together the runs to be on the podium anyway.”

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Feb 11 – I love the Olympics, Summer or Winter makes no difference to me. The pomp and grandeur of the opening and closing ceremonies is always worth the time wasted frying your brain cells in front of the tube. Teams from all over the world gather for one week of all out, blood sweat and tears, leave nothing behind competition, awesome. This week the XXI Olympic Winter Games will be held in British Columbia, Canada from Feb. 12th -28th. That’s west coast Canada, so we will actually get to see some TV coverage at a reasonable time.

Sgt. Jeremy Teela, a bi-athlete with the Army’s World Class Athlete Program, practices prone shooting Oct. 21, 2009 at Soldier Hollow, Utah, in preparation for the XXI Olympic Winter Games Feb. 12-28 in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. U.S. Army photo by Tim Hipps

I like all the events but especially the individual events. With all the different camera angles available the crazy fast events like luge, 2 man bobsled and downhill (girls do that one too) are a real thrill ride. But one of the sport that you hardly ever get to see, unless the US has a vested interest, is the biathlon.  So when I heard that Army Sgt. Jeremy Teela a three-time Olympic athlete was returning with his sights set on becoming the first U.S. bi-athlete ever to win an Olympic medal I was stoked. (continue reading…)