LIVERMORE FALLS – When injured U.S. Army Sgt. Helaina Lake told her father she loved him by phone Wednesday night, it was all he needed to brighten his day. “She just kept telling me she loved me,” Bernal Lake of Livermore Falls said. “It was awesome. It was just awesome.” Helaina, 23, formerly of Livermore […]
Afghanistan
Posted inFranklin, Maine, sj-web
3 American soldiers and 25 civilians killed in Taliban attack
KABUL, Afghanistan — Two explosions in eastern Afghanistan, one targeting an American convoy, killed three U.S. troops, an Afghan interpreter and at least 24 other Afghans on Wednesday, defying what the military had described as a trend of diminishing violence this year. Western officials had been citing decreased civilian casualties in the first four months […]
advertisement
Posted inFranklin
Livermore Falls grad seriously injured in suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan
LIVERMORE FALLS – U.S. Army military policewoman Sgt. Helaina Lake asked her platoon leader if she was going to die after she was severely injured in a suicide-bombing last Thursday in Afghanistan, her father was told. The platoon leader told the 23-year-old Livermore Falls woman, “’Not under my watch you’re not,’” her father Bernal Lake said Monday. […]
Posted inOp-Eds
View from elsewhere: Obama’s vision for Afghanistan not plausible
The following editorial appeared in the Miami Herald on May 3: President Obama said a lot of fine things in his Tuesday-night speech from Afghanistan — about American commitment, about the sacrifice of U.S. troops, about finishing the job responsibly. But he was long on vision and short on specifics, raising questions about the future […]
Posted inOp-Eds
In Section 60, home too soon
WASHINGTON — On a flawless springlike morning, President Obama stood in the Rose Garden to urge against a hasty retreat from Afghanistan. “We have a strategy that will allow us to responsibly wind down this war,” he said Tuesday, resisting the calls for a quick exit that were prompted by the slaying of Afghan civilians […]
Posted inOur View
War over, a grateful nation says ‘thanks’
The ceremony is over, the flag has been cased and U.S. combat soldiers will be out of Iraq within two weeks. A grateful nation now turns to thanking the 1.5 million Americans who served there, including the 30,000 who were injured and the 4,500 who died. Today, we salute them all, as well as their […]
Posted inRiver Valley
Afghanistan: 10 years of war. For many Maine families the long wait goes on
RUMFORD — Americans first learned about Operation Enduring Freedom as they watched airstrikes on Kabul, Afghanistan at 5 p.m. Oct. 7, 2001. Ten years later Maine has sent scores of troops and lost 18 sons. Currently, 90,000 U.S. troops are deployed in Afghanistan, according to NATO. What is left in the wake of that many […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine and Pa. soldiers killed in Afghanistan
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Military officials have identified a pair of soldiers killed in Afghanistan. The Department of Defense says Pfc. Tyler Springman of Hartland, Maine and Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Elwell, of Holland, Pa. were killed Saturday by an improvised explosive device in Kandahar province. The men were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Marine with ties to Richmond, Maine dies in Afghanistan
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Military officials are investigating the deaths of two North Carolina-based Marines who were killed in Afghanistan. The Department of Defense reported Monday that 27-year-old Sgt. Kevin B. Balduf of Nashville, Tenn., and 43-year-old Lt. Col. Benjamin J. Palmer of Modesto, Calif., died May 12 in Helmand province. No additional details were […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Fallen Navy SEAL honored with warship
BATH, Maine (AP) — The mother of a Navy SEAL killed in a firefight in Afghanistan christened a warship bearing her son’s name on Saturday as the leader of the nation’s special forces said those who died that day would be comforted to know that the al-Qaida leader who caused the war in Afghanistan was […]