HERO - Fort Worth dad deploying to Iraq, the country that took his son

In a few days, Francisco Martinez will land in Iraq.

He is one of tens of thousands of men and women who, with various motivations, enlisted in the armed forces, knowing that they’d someday end up there.

For Martinez, Iraq is a kind of perdition, a receptacle for all the dark emotions, anguish and guilt that have buffeted him for the last three years.

When Martinez steps off the airplane, he will be in the country that took his only son, a 20-year-old skateboarder and budding graphic artist whose loss is felt every single day of his father’s life.

This deployment — in fact, his entire enlistment — is completely his doing. Nobody forced this on Martinez, except maybe the sniper who put one well-placed bullet in Spc. Francisco G. Martinez on March 20, 2005, in Ramadi.

More from The Star-Telegram

Son's Death In Iraq Drives Father To Build Life-Saving Robot

It's called the LandShark, and the shopping cart-sized robot is a memorial to a young U.S. soldier killed in Iraq whose father is convinced the device can be effective in thwarting at least some of the explosive attacks that are aimed at U.S. forces in that war-torn country.

When Army Pfc. John Hart was killed in a 2003 ambush, his grief-stricken father, Brian Hart, decided to channel his heartache and anger into finding a way to help U.S. troops, who lacked proper armor and other protection.

"He asked me to help him," Brian Hart told The Associated Press, recalling a call he got from his son in Iraq. "Get us body armor and vehicular armor," the son requested.

"He thought he'd be killed on the road and in an unarmored Humvee," the father continued. "And a week to the day later, he was."

The elder Hart's solution was to create Black-I Robotics, a company that develops relatively inexpensive unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) aimed at combating the ever-more-effective and deadly improvised explosive devices that have caused the majority of casualties among U.S. military personnel in Iraq.

More from Information Week

Why John McCain may still be alive - Billy Graham and McCain's Father Prayed for Son's Release from POW Camp

The Reverend Billy Graham says he prayed for John McCain when he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam -- decades before the two finally met for the first time in North Carolina on Sunday.

Publicist Mark DeMoss says the 89-year-old evangelist told McCain that he met the senator's father, who was an admiral in Honolulu, during the Vietnam War.

Graham recalled that he and Admiral McCain prayed for young John McCain's release, and did so again at a subsequent meeting.

This past Sunday, DeMoss says the Republican presidential candidate prayed with both Billy and Franklin Graham during a 45-minute private meeting.

From Christian World News

Firefighter Lifts Car, Rescues Pinned Woman

An Ocala firefighter lifted a vehicle about a foot off the ground, allowing other firefighters to free the arm of a driver who was involved in a crash.According to Ocala fire officials, two firefighters who were not at the fire station drove up on the crash, which took place on Northeast 36th Avenue, at about 12:15 p.m. Tuesday.An older model Chevrolet Blazer was on its side and two people were inside the sport utility vehicle, fire officials said. A small white car had apparently pulled out of a nearby convenient store parking lot and struck the SUV, causing it to flip, fire officials said.

The Blazer driver's arm became trapped between the vehicle and the pavement as the SUV overturned, firefighters said.Firefighters responding to the crash stabilized the overturned Blazer, but the driver could not be removed from the vehicle until her arm was freed, officials said.Firefighter Chris Hickman lifted the SUV about 12 inches off the ground, allowing other firefighters to free the driver's arm, officials said. The roof of the SUV was cut away by firefighters, and the woman was removed and airlifted to Shands Teaching Hospital in Gainesville, fire officials said. Her condition was not released.The occupants of the other vehicle were not injured.

From Local6.com

Girl, 3, uses song lyrics to call 911 for mom

A 3-year-old girl used the simple song lyrics "911 green" to call 911 and get help after her pregnant mother fainted. Jessica Eaves, 24, taught her daughter Madelyn the song a week before she fainted due to a medical condition called vasovogal syncope.

When Eaves fainted, Madelyn picked up her mother's BlackBerry phone and pressed 911 and the green button and was connected to a dispatcher.

In the recently released 911 call, Madelyn was able to answer questions about her house and cars outside that led emergency workers to the home.

And this isn't the first time Madelyn has used a phone to call for help for her mother.

Eaves first learned of her condition a year ago and taught her daughter the lyrics "green, green, green."

When Eaves lost consciousness then Madelyn picked up a cell phone and pressed the green button which called the last person Eaves had called and that person called for help.

From Yahoo News

HERO - Hiker sacrificed self to save wife on Mtn. Rainier

A hiker who lost his life high on Mount Rainier lay down in the snow and used his body's warmth to save his wife and a friend from the 70-mph winds of a freak June blizzard, national park officials say.

When it became obvious the trio of friends could not find their way back to base camp in whiteout conditions, they dug a snow trench with their hands. Then 31-year-old Eduard Burceag lay down on the snow and his wife and a friend lay on top of him. Later, when they begged him to switch places, Burceag refused, saying he was OK.

"In doing so, he probably saved their lives," park spokesman Kevin Bacher said Thursday.

Mariana Burceag, also 31, survived the storm, as did the couple's good friend, Daniel Vlad, 34.

More at AZCentral

Mike Huckabee knows how to save a life - PERFORMS HEIMLICH ON NC LT. GOV. CANDIDATE

He may not be the next president, but he’s a savior to at least one.

Former Arkanas Gov. Mike Huckabee performed the Heimlich maneuver on a choking Robert Pittenger during Saturday’s North Carolina GOP convention breakfast, Huckabee’s former campaign spokeswoman confirmed Sunday.

Huckabee was the keynote speaker at the convention, and was sitting next to the Pittenger, who’s running for the lieutenant governor’s seat, when Pittenger began choking.

Huckabee noticed Pittenger couldn’t breathe and took action, giving Pittenger the heave in the chest needed to dislodge the offending food bit.

“I’m glad that Mike was in the right place at the right time and continued to lead by example,” former South Carolina Lt. Gov. candidate Mike Campbell told The Palmetto Scoop. “We all know that [Huckabee] is pro-life, and once again he has lived up to it.”

The newspaper noted that Pittenger apparently suffers from acid reflux, which likely caused the incident to occur. It added that Huckabee, who is also known for losing 110 pounds and promoting healthy living, was trained as an EMT in college and this may not be the first time he’s sprung to action when needed.

From Fox News

A $10 Mosquito Net Is Making Charity Cool

Donating $10 to buy a mosquito net to save an African child from malaria has become a hip way to show you care, especially for teenagers. The movement is like a modern version of the March of Dimes, created in 1938 to defeat polio, or like collecting pennies for Unicef on Halloween.

Unusual allies, like the Methodist and Lutheran Churches, the National Basketball Association and the United Nations Foundation, are stoking the passion for nets that prevent malaria. The annual “American Idol Gives Back” fund-raising television special has donated about $6 million a year for two years. The music channel VH1 made a fund-raising video featuring a pesky man in a mosquito suit.

It is an appeal that clearly resonates with young people.

More from The New York Times

Afghan insurgents 'on brink of defeat'

Even though our brave troops due an incredible job overseas, the American Press does not have our best interest in mind and are often afraid to share it. I WILL!

The new "precise, surgical" tactics have killed scores of insurgent leaders and made it extremely difficult for Pakistan-based Taliban leaders to prosecute the campaign, according to Brig Mark Carleton-Smith.

In the past two years an estimated 7,000 Taliban have been killed, the majority in southern and eastern Afghanistan. But it is the "very effective targeted decapitation operations" that have removed "several echelons of commanders".

This in turn has left the insurgents on the brink of defeat, the head of Task Force Helmand said.

"The Taliban are much weaker," he said from 16 Air Assault Brigade headquarters in Lashkar Gah.

"The tide is clearly ebbing not flowing for them. Their chain of command is disrupted and they are short of weapons and ammunition."

More from The Telegraph

Street preacher set to challenge powers that be

A street preacher who earlier claimed he was harassed by police for speaking about the Gospel on public streets has announced his candidacy to be mayor, so he can work on some of the problems he's seen.

"I would require that the city police go through a mandatory course on the Bill of Rights and the Constitution and a course training them on what their actual legal authority is and training them on when it is proper to use force to apprehend a suspect…" Daniel Guyeski said in a campaign statement released to WND.

Now Guyeski is launching his campaign.

He said his agenda would include addressing faith:

"As a Bible believing Christian I firmly believe that there is a God and that we are all created in his image and I firmly believe that as individuals and as a community and as a nation that we are accountable to God for how we live and act," he said.

"As mayor I would fight to preserve our Christian heritage and speak out on issues of local importance and take a stand against the liquor and pornography industries coming into our beautiful city. I would protect the churches from unlawful taxing and interference with worship and other activities and I would protect the right of street preachers and evangelists to share their faith freely in public," he said.

He also cited his allegiance to the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

More from WorldNetDaily

HERO - Dad died saving his little girl

With an out-of-control car bearing down, Joseph Richardson grabbed his 4-year-old daughter and held her up out of harm's way.

It was his last act -- and one that apparently saved his daughter's life.

Richardson, a 39-year-old father of three, was killed Monday evening by the car, driven by a man who police say was drunk.

The car pinned Richardson and his daughter Kaniyah against a wrought iron fence at 95th Street and Wentworth, police said.

Kaniyah survived and was listed in critical but stable condition Tuesday evening at Comer Children's Hospital, where a spokeswoman said she was doing well.

More from the Chicago Sun-Times

TODDLER SAVED FROM STORM DRAIN

Before Saturday night, Bruce Hebert wondered why God kept him on Earth.
By 7:30 p.m., he had his answer.
Police are describing Hebert and Pedro Davila as heroes after they rescued a 21-month-old baby girl from a watery storm drain in the area of Fourth and Morgan streets.
Hebert said he was cooking on a grill outside his Fourth Street home when a minivan pulled up nearby.
“Then a lady was flipping out and running around,” he related.
“I wonder why Jesus keeps me on Earth,” he said. “I got my answer tonight. It was to save that little girl.”
More from The Herald News

Du Toit, who lost leg in scooter accident, will swim in Beijing Games

South African amputee Natalie Du Toit qualified for the Beijing Olympics on Saturday after she finished fourth in the 10 kilometer ace in the Open Water World Championships.

The 24-year-old, who lost her left leg when she was hit by a car while riding her scooter in 2001, clocked a time of 2 hours, 2 minutes 7.8 seconds, just 5.1 seconds behind winner Larisa Ilchenko of Russia.

The 10 kilometer open water race is making its debut as an Olympic event in Beijing.

Du Toit almost qualified for the Sydney Olympics in three events at the age of 16 but she suffered the accident a year later.

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