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Commentary Search

  • Many thanks to the sheepdogs

    My favorite day of the week is Friday. Not because the weekend will follow, but because what I see confirms what a great country we live in and how important what each and every one of us associated with the Armed Services do for our country. One of the enjoyable results of running with the 305th

  • Earn this

    In the summer of 1998, there was a lot of discussion in the media about the opening 10 minutes of the film "Saving Private Ryan", and how traumatic it might be for our greatest generation, those who actually stormed the beaches at Normandy and lived to tell us their tales. As I sat in a very cold

  • Updated Air Force, AMC Priorities

    To the Men and Women of Air Mobility Command: If the last 90 days are any indication, 2008 is turning out to be an amazing year for Air Mobility Command. Most recently, March was a record-setting month for mobility Airmen supporting the Global War on Terror. More than 120,000 passengers were

  • A great Czech experience

    I am a very spiritual person. I fully believe everything happens for a reason. When something happens, whether it is good or bad, I always think the result is for a greater meaning or purpose. During my recent trip to the Czech Republic, I was contemplating why I was lucky enough to be selected to

  • Declare your independence from tobacco

    Independence Day will take a unique and special meaning this year as Col. Balan Ayyar, 305th Air Mobility Wing commander, has set a goal for all Airmen to choose to become tobacco-free by July 4, 2008. Civilian and contract employees are also highly encouraged to reduce their tobacco consumption in

  • Leadership from the ‘heart’

    I was sitting in the front row of the auditorium in my son Jackson's school waiting for the spelling bee to start. I was anxious to see how Jackson would do amongst the best spellers in school. Once it started, he was the fifth person they called. His word was, "intermediate." He replies,

  • The 'marrow of the matter'

    There is a common expression in the English language that describes "getting to the heart of the matter." As a physician I think we should change that expression to "getting to the marrow of the matter." Why? Because marrow represents the most fundamental part of our existence. Within our bones,

  • Not a Soldier’s Christmas

    He couldn't have been a day over 20. His face was covered with the dirt of battle, yet was cleanly shaven; that is, if he even had to shave. He had the Army standard headgear and uniform, but both had seen some wear over the past few months. He was wet and freezing cold, and he knew his mission this

  • If I only had one minute with each of them

    In the spring of 2001, I made my first visit to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. I was attending some training at Fort Meade, Md., at the time and during one of the weekends I was there, I went with a classmate to see this famed cemetery of heroes. It's a big place where you can see rows