Soldier's Dad Flying Tattered Flag Until Son Comes Home

David Hickman, 23, was last of some 4,500 to die

(NEWSER) - On Nov. 14, just a month before the final US troops left Iraq, a 23-year-old soldier lost his life to an improvised explosive device. David Emanuel Hickman was the last American to be killed in a war that cost some 4,500 Americans their lives, the AP reports. With the US mission over, his family and friends are remembering him as a jokester with the nickname "Zeus" (because, he playfully said, his physique was so impressive the gods would be envious); as an outside linebacker who was the linchpin of a defense so complicated his high school had to scrap it after he graduated because no other teen could figure it out; as someone with a goal of one day joining the Special Forces, and who, in the words of a friend, "didn’t sign up to get his life on track. He wanted to be a physically and mentally elite soldier." More»

Soldiers honor fallen comrades

(NEWSER) - US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan remembered their fallen comrades in Memorial Day services nearly a decade after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that sparked the Afghanistan war. In that country, dawn flag-raising ceremonies honored the more than 1,400 who have been killed, the AP reports. "We reflect on those who have gone before us. We reflect on their service and their sacrifice on behalf of our great nation," said a Marine commander. "We should also remember those serving today who embody that same commitment of service and sacrifice." More»

Ashamed private later shot himself in portable toilet

(NEWSER) - Four US Army soldiers in Iraq have been charged with cruelty and maltreatment for hazing a private who later killed himself, MSNBC reports. The NCOs allegedly hazed 19-year-old Keiffer P. Wilhelm with excessive physical exercise while showering him with verbal abuse. Wilhelm, self-conscious about his weight, shot himself in a portable toilet about 2 weeks ago. The soldiers face between 8 and 25 years in prison. More»

(NEWSER) - The ban on media at Dover Air Force Base when America’s war dead come home ignores the very rights they died fighting for, and it should be lifted, Connie Schultz writes for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “Supporters of the Iraq war have long argued that media images of the fallen are nothing more than political statements,” Schultz writes. But "suppressing these images is the more blatant political ploy.” More»

Pentagon sees a huge spike among service members

(NEWSER) - More and more American soldiers are using synthetic marijuana, specifically an herbal concoction called "Spice" that is both potent and easy to get, reports AP . The Pentagon put into place a rigorous testing program this year that flagged more than 1,000 troops. One stat shows the spike: Two years ago, the Navy investigated 29 Marines for using Spice. This year, it was more than 700. The Air Force, meanwhile, punished 500 members in 2011. More»