A conservative Republican congressman from Georgia is calling for congressional hearings to investigate actions by the U.S. military in recent weeks to cancel or rescind invitations that had been made to two prominent conservative Christian leaders — Franklin Graham and Tony Perkins — to speak at military prayer events.
“I think that we need to have some hearings on this because this seems to be something that the military is spending some energy on and we need to raise the visibility on it,” Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) told CNSNews.com.
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When you’re embedded with the military in a place like Afghanistan, you can spend a lot of time waiting.
And so it was last Thursday. We had been embedded with U.S. and Canadian forces inside Kandahar City for a week, and we were awaiting a military flight back to Kabul.
Our transport – a C-130 Hercules – was still two hours away from arriving, so we settled in at the rather basic “departure lounge” at the huge Kandahar Air Force base – known to the military as simply “KAF.”
After 45 minutes or so, we noticed soldiers drifting from the waiting area to the outside gate, standing there, looking out.
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WASHINGTON — Christian evangelist Franklin Graham says the Army has withdrawn an invitation for him to appear at a special Pentagon prayer service.
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DENVER — The Army is considering whether to rescind an invitation to evangelist Franklin Graham to appear at the Pentagon amid complaints about his description of Islam as evil, a military spokesman said Wednesday.
Graham, the son of famed evangelist Billy Graham, was to appear at the Pentagon on May 6 — the National Day of Prayer.
He said he will be a guest of the Pentagon and would speak only if he’s still invited.
Army Col. Tom Collins said withdrawing the invitation “is on the table,” but no decision has been made. He said Army brass will have the ultimate decision on whether to pull the invite.
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation raised the objection to the appearance, citing Graham’s past remarks about Islam.
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A New Albany veteran is receiving honors for his service during World War II.
Family and friends of Rubin Sher were present Monday as Congressman Baron Hill presented him with the Good Conduct medal, the Presidential Unit Citation for the European/African/Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 1 Silver Service Star, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Honorable Service Lapel Button for World War II.
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On March 23 to 25, the 442nd Signal Battalion Unit Ministry Team sponsored its second Spouse Seminar. The seminar consisted of three days of training to equip military spouses with the knowledge and resources they will need to care for their immediate family and to create vibrant Unit Readiness Groups to care for their larger military family. Our first Spouse Seminar was held in November of 2009 with 18 spouses participating in the training. This past March, 11 spouses participated including spouses from our Warrant Officer Basic Course, the Signal Basic Officer Leaders Course, the Signal Captains Career Course, and our spouses of our permanent party personnel.
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Doris Jean Bailey worried that her grandson, an Army chaplain, would be deployed overseas when she died and wouldn’t be able to officiate her funeral service.
Capt. David A. Hicks indeed was in Afghanistan on Monday, the day of Bailey’s funeral; he tried, but wasn’t able to fly home. Nevertheless, through a live stream over the Internet — with an adjustment of a large monitor to the right so he could see his mother — he was able to read from Scripture and talk about his grandmother to those packed into a chapel of Brown Funeral Home in Elizabethtown.
“I would have loved to have been there,” Hicks said in an interview after the service, taking time out from visits with others who stood in front of the Apple computer screen. “I’m so grateful to be able to do this. This is the next best thing.”
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The 1-1 Special Troops Battalion of (Ready First) 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division out of Fort Bliss, Texas, held a prayer luncheon at the Forward Operating Base Warrior, Iraq.
Col. Patricia Sellers, the 1-1 STB commander, declared the prayer luncheon an opportunity to give thanks for all the relationships between 1-1 STB and their Iraqi partners, the civilian employees STB works with daily and other units who help bring peace to the Kirkuk area.
She then introduced the speaker, Col. Bryan Walker, the 3rd Infantry Division chaplain who actually used to be the Ready First Brigade Chaplain in 2002 and 2003.
Col. Walker, chaplain, told the Soldiers, who met for prayer, that encouragement is one of the most important tools we have against depression.
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