Hpy Thxgvng: Text Your Troops

Aircraft crashes have become less common in Iraq

(NEWSER) - An American solider was killed and 12 others were wounded last night when a Blackhawk helicopter crashed at a US base in Iraq, the AP reports. The cause of the crash is unknown and is now under investigation. Air crashes have become less common in Iraq, Reuters says, since the US has less aircraft crossing the country. Yesterday’s death brings the US military death toll in Iraq to at least 4,345 since the war began in March 2003. More»

Unmarried loved ones have no standing, get nothing from Army

(NEWSER) - To the US Army bureaucracy, love means little without a marriage certificate—so the fiancée of a man killed in Iraq was left with nothing other than what his family was willing to part with. Now, the Washington Post reports, Kyle Harper, 27, is trying to forge a path very different from what she and Sgt. Michael Hullender had planned. More»

Sergeant gets 35 years for his role in the killing of 4 prisoners

(NEWSER) - US Army Sgt. Joseph Mayo pleaded guilty today to the murder of four Iraqi prisoners, the Washington Post reports. The 27-year-old was sentenced to 35 years for participating in the execution-style slaying of four men his infantry unit thought had attacked US military patrols in Baghdad. The prisoners had been captured with rifles and ammunition, but Mayo’s unit lacked sufficient evidence to keep them locked up. More»

(NEWSER) - A House member is incensed that a Pentagon official, reporting a 25% increase in combat-zone sexual assault against women, said servicemen should “wait until she's sober,” the New York Daily News reports. “This woman is not in the right line of work,” Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-NY, says of Dr. Kaye Whitley. Whitley said the remark was inspired by a recruiting poster entitled “My Strength is for Defending.” More»

Long-standing policy gives way in name of boosting morale, re-enlistment

(NEWSER) - Desperate to combat sagging morale from repeated deployments to Iraq, the US Army has quietly eased rules against married soldiers living together at war, the AP reports. Wedded soldiers in certain camps can now cohabitate in private trailers. "It makes a lot of things easier," said soldier and husband Marvin Frazier. More»