For Dan Del Piano, there is no question that in the New Testament of the Bible, there is significant focus on children. In numerous parables and teachings, Daniel Del Piano has observed, Jesus made reference to children and used them as examples of how people should approach their faith. Daniel Del Piano has taken these words to heart, using them as his inspiration to begin his new kids’ ministry. The ministry Dan Del Piano has created is called Kingdom Kid’s Club.

Daniel Del Piano Enriches Kids’ Lives Through Kingdom Kid’s Club

Per Dan Del Piano, the goal of Kingdom Kid’s Club is to bring the word of God to children and to encourage them to spend time reading it. The motivational tools Daniel Del Piano uses to achieve this goal include the following:

· sponsoring kids so they can enter into reading “contracts with God”
· enabling kids to earn points that allow them to periodically buy prizes
· awarding kids with diplomas for the completion of 12 months of reading

By using such tools in his ministry, Dan Del Piano hopes to enrich the lives of the kids who participate.

Kingdom Kid’s Club Will Help Revitalize God’s Kingdom, Hopes Dan Del Piano

The ministry Daniel Del Piano has established is a noble undertaking. In his own words, Daniel Del Piano ultimately hopes that Kingdom Kid’s Club will result in “the world’s most powerful revival for God’s kingdom through the little children.”

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.

Buckles earned the rank of corporal and traveled England and France serving as an ambulance driver. After the Armistice in 1918, Buckles escorted prisoners of war back to Germany. He was discharged in 1920.

In 1942 Buckles worked as a civilian for a shipping company in the Philippines, where he was captured in Manila by the Japanese the day after they attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He spent three and a half years in the Los Baños prison camp. He was rescued on February 23, 1945.

Buckles married Audrey Mayo of Pleasanton, Calif., in 1946. The couple moved to his Gap View Farm near Charles Town in January 1954 where Buckles reportedly continued to drive his tractor until he was 106.

On February 4, 2008, with the death of 108-year-old Harry Richard Landis, Buckles became the last surviving American World War I veteran. Since, Buckles championed veterans’ causes, was invited to the White House and honored at the Pentagon.

In March 2008 Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates honored Buckles during a Pentagon ceremony in which officials unveiled a World War I veterans’ exhibit.

“Whoever views this display will, I am sure, feel a connection to Mr. Buckles and his comrades-in-arms,” Gates said. “We will always be grateful for what they did for their country 90 years ago.”

Buckles, then 107, received a standing ovation from the mostly military audience.

“I feel honored to be here as a representative of the veterans of WWI and I thank you,” Buckles said.

Buckles is survived by his daughter, Susannah Buckles Flanagan. His wife, Audrey, died in 1999.

In a White House statement issued today President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama saluted the fallen veteran.

“Frank Buckles lived the American Century,” the President stated. “Like so many veterans, he returned home, continued his education, began a career, and along with his late wife Audrey, raised their daughter Susannah. And just as Frank continued to serve America until his passing, as the Honorary Chairman of the World War I Memorial Foundation, our nation has a sacred obligation to always serve our veterans and their families as well as they’ve served us.

“We join Susannah and all those who knew and loved her father in celebrating a remarkable life that reminds us of the true meaning of patriotism and our obligations to each other as Americans.”

The destruction caused by the Stuxnet worm makes military action against Iran less likely, according to several analysts.

Today a NY Times report illuminated the role of Israel’s nuclear arms complex Dimona, where the Israelis, with support from the United States, are reported to have been spinning nuclear centrifuges extremely similar to those used at Natanz in Iran.

“To check out the worm, you have to know the machines,” the Times quoted an American expert on nuclear intelligence as saying. “The reason the worm has been effective is that the Israelis tried it out.”

As reported earlier this month in the Monitor the Stuxnet cyber weapon may have destroyed as many as 1,000 Iranian nuclear-fuel centrifuges in late 2009 and early 2010. By Feb. 18, 2010, quarterly reports issued by IAEA inspectors highlighted that there might be problems in centrifuge installation at Iran’s Natanz plant.

Last month, on the eve of his retirement Meir Dagan, head of the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, gave a summary to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee saying that Iran was far from developing the ability to produce nuclear weapons after a string of failures set its nuclear ambitions back by several years

Olsen, a member of the U.S. bobsled team since 2007, enlisted  Jan. 6. “I already represent my country,” he said. “Now I have an opportunity to serve and represent my country at the same time.”

Olsen will train as a human resource specialist for the Joint Force Headquarters after this season’s World Cup ends. Once he completes his individual entry training, Olsen plans to apply for the Army World Class Athlete Program, which provides outstanding soldier-athletes with support and training to compete in national and international competitions while maintaining a professional military career and promoting the Army to the world..

“I hope to be selected and, as a soldier-athlete, I hope that I can give back as much to the program as they are giving me,” Olsen said. “My plans are to continue to earn medals and make a name for my sport and the program.”

Olsen began thinking about the National Guard when his fellow USA Bobsled teammate Mike Kohn, who was then a sergeant in the Virginia Army National Guard, told him about the Army National Guard and the World Class Athlete Program.

“The wealth and strength of the New York Army National Guard comes from the longstanding tradition of talent, abilities and dedication of our service members,” said Lt. Col. Steve Rowe, commander of the New York Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention Command.

“As a world-class athlete, Justin has distinguished himself as the best of the best and brings to us those exact talents and desire to serve, that we look for in any of our soldiers,” Rowe continued. “It’s great to have someone who has already represented his country so well and we look forward to the contributions he will continue to make in his service in the nation and the Guard.”

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG,

JUSTICE FOR ALL!

“Operation Iraqi Freedom is over,” Obama said, speaking just hours after the launch of Operation New Dawn in Iraq. “The Iraqi people now have the lead responsibility for the security of their country.”

Obama offered high praise for the men and women in uniform whose service and sacrifice led to this “historic moment” in time.

“The Americans who have served in Iraq completed every mission they were given,” he said. “They defeated a regime that had terrorized its people. Together with Iraqis and coalition partners who made huge sacrifices of their own, our troops fought block-by-block to help Iraq seize the chance for a better future.”

That effort came at tremendous cost, he said, noting more than 4,400 U.S. troops killed and thousands more wounded during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“Ending this war is not only in Iraq’s interest; it is in our own,” Obama said. “The United States has paid a huge price to put the future of Iraq in the hands of its people. We have sent our young men and women to make enormous sacrifices in Iraq and spent vast resources abroad at a time of tight budgets home.

“We have persevered because of a belief we share with the Iraqi people: a belief that out of the ashes of war, a new beginning could be born in this cradle of civilization,” he continued.

“Through this remarkable chapter in the history of the United States and Iraq, we have met our responsibility,” he said. “Now, it is time to turn the page.”

Obama outlined the future role of the transitional force of U.S. troops to remain in Iraq through December 2011. They’ll advise and assist Iraqi security forces, support Iraqi troops in targeted counterterrorism missions and protect U.S. civilians.

“Consistent with our agreement with the Iraqi government, all U.S. troops will leave by the end of next year,” he said.

And as the military draws down, civilian diplomats, aid workers and advisors will step up to help Iraq strengthen its government, institutions and ties with the region and the world. “This new approach reflects our long-term partnership with Iraq – one based upon mutual interests and mutual respect,” the president said.

Obama conceded that violence in Iraq will not stop with the end of the U.S. combat mission there, and that enemies of Iraq will keep up their attempts to derail progress. He expressed confidence, however, that the Iraqis have the will, and Iraqi security forces, the capability, to stand up to the extremists.

“Ultimately, these terrorists will fail to achieve their goals,” the president said, offering assurance that the United States will continue to support Iraq as a friend and partner.

While building that long-term partnership, the United States will take the lessons learned in Iraq as it confronts what Obama called its most pressing security challenge: the fight against al-Qaida.

“As we speak, al-Qaida continues to plot against us, and its leadership remains anchored in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he said. “We will disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaida, while preventing Afghanistan from again serving as a base for terrorists.

“And because of the drawdown in Iraq,” he said, “we are able to apply the resources necessary to go on the offense.”

The surge forces in Afghanistan will serve for a limited time to break the Taliban’s momentum and help the Afghans build their capacity and secure their future, Obama said.

As in Iraq, he said Afghanistan’s future ultimately will depend on its own government and security forces’ capabilities.

Toward that end, the United States will begin a transition to Afghan security responsibility next July, with the pace of troop reductions based on conditions on the ground.

Obama offered assurance of enduring U.S. support for Afghanistan as this transition takes shape.

“But make no mistake: this transition will begin,” he emphasized, “because open-ended war serves neither our interests nor the Afghan people’s.”

One of the lessons of Iraq, he said, is that “American influence around the world is not a function of military force alone.”

“We must use all the elements of our power, including our diplomacy, our economic strength and the power of America’s example, to secure our interests and stand by our allies,” he said.

Obama called the milestone achieved today in Iraq a reminder to all Americans that “the future is ours to shape, if we move forward with confidence and commitment.”

“It should also serve as a message to the world that the United States intends to strengthen our leadership in this young century,” he added.

Though it is not uncommon to think that law enforcement equipment refers to weaponry, in actuality, there are all different types of gear that is designed for various purposes that are not weapon related. For instance, there are items such as protective gloves that prevent hands from cuts, high quality holsters, flashlights, bullet-proof vests, handcuffs, etc.

In addition, another important piece of equipment that should be considered is helmets. Safe guarding one’s head is vital in a number of situations, and having the right head gear can make all the difference. An example of a great product is the Tactical Ballistic Helmet (TBH – II). This particular item has been specially created to be light and give the wearer better ballistic shell protection. Furthermore, it provides enhanced situational awareness and interface, as well as better comfort and stability due to its suspension and retention systems. This helmet was based on the U.S. Army Advanced Combat Helmet and the USMC Lightweight Helmet.

Thus, if you are in need of law enforcement equipment, it’s a good idea to find out what is available and take the time to investigate products, so you chose the best ones that will provide the most comfort and protection.

Did you know Sergeant Leigh Ann Hester, a Guard soldier with the 617^th Military Police Company, Kentucky National Guard, became the first woman in the US Military since World War II to earn a silver Star Medal?

The Story:

Sgt. Hester’s squad was following a supply convoy on March 20, 2005, in Iraq when insurgents ambushed the convoy. Her squad quickly moved into position, cutting off the enemy’s escape route. Hester led her team directly into the line of fire into a flanking position, and then began an assault on a trench line. She and her squad leader cleared two trenches. When the attack was over, 27 insurgents were dead, six were wounded, and one was captured. In June 2005, Hester was the first woman soldier since World War II to be awarded the Silver Star Medal.

Here is a link to the full story from the Washington Post, Friday, June 17, 2005