http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/frontline/?cxntfid=blogs_the_front_line Danielle reports about schools in Ohio’s Mason and Kings districts and students, teachers and parents just like you for The Pulse-Journal newspaper. She wants your suggestions and questions for more news stories. Leave a comment here or e-mail Danielle. en-us bgee@coxnews.com 2008-02-23T13:53:24-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Danielle reports about schools in Ohio’s Mason and Kings districts and students, teachers and parents just like you for The Pulse-Journal newspaper. She wants your suggestions and questions for more news stories. Leave a comment here or e-mail Danielle. In my trips to Iraq, I’ve never met an American-born soldier or marine who had received any formal Arabic training. They’re out there, but they are very few. But now that troops in many regions of Iraq are focused on... http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/masonkingsschools/entries/2008/02/23/in_my_trips_to_iraq.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_front_line In my trips to Iraq, I’ve never met an American-born soldier or marine who had received any formal Arabic training. They’re out there, but they are very few. But now that troops in many regions of Iraq are focused on... 1834202@http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/frontline/ 2008-02-23T13:53:24-05:00 http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/masonkingsschools/entries/2008/02/21/we_set_out_early_just.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_front_line We set out early, just after daybreak. After crossing the Euphrates, we turned north. The sky was opaque and the few features on that blighted landscape were obscured. “I can’t tell if it’s fog or dust,” I announced on my... 1778902@http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/frontline/ 2008-02-21T16:42:50-05:00 http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/masonkingsschools/entries/2008/02/19/neighborhood_watch_in_a_very_b.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_front_line The Sunni Arab men who first came forward nearly two years ago to reject the insurgency and join the American-led fight to secure Iraq neighborhood by neighborhood call themselves the Awakening. The Shiite-led government has rejected that name, and so,... 1710602@http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/frontline/ 2008-02-19T15:44:19-05:00 http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/masonkingsschools/entries/2008/02/19/bodies_in_the_desert_a_gruesom.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_front_line U.S. forces searching for al-Qaida in Iraq fighters today discovered 16 bodies, most killed execution-style within the past three to six months, U.S. Army officials said. The bodies were found in an abandoned industrial chemical storage site in the western... 1709602@http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/frontline/ 2008-02-19T13:06:58-05:00 http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/masonkingsschools/entries/2008/02/18/the_few_the_proud_the_glossary.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_front_line Just as I was feeling proud of myself for mastering the vernacular of the Army — or, at least enough to fake it — I met the Marines. For the last 24 hours, I’ve been living with the Marines in... 1676602@http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/frontline/ 2008-02-18T10:23:04-05:00 http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/masonkingsschools/entries/2008/02/15/the_times_that_try_mens_soles.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_front_line It rained last night in Ramadi. That might seem welcome relief in the harsh, otherwise arid climate of Western Iraq. It’s not. Soldiers and marines dread the rain and measure a good winter by few rains. When it rains, the... 1629302@http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/frontline/ 2008-02-15T07:12:49-05:00 http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/masonkingsschools/entries/2008/02/14/us_commanders_hope_to_shape.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_front_line U.S. commanders hope to shape the Iraqi Army in the image of their own. Rank structure is similar in the Iraqi Army and police forces, but officers tend to issue all orders, and enlisted soldiers simply obey them. That will... 1607802@http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/frontline/ 2008-02-14T10:02:09-05:00 http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/masonkingsschools/entries/2008/02/13/saddams_words_live_on.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_front_line Saddam’s name and face have disappeared from most everywhere in Iraq. His familiar likeness and the iconography of his once-feared Baath Party have long since been destroyed by his fellow countrymen. Yet, if you want to find it, go no... 1590702@http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/frontline/ 2008-02-13T15:57:58-05:00 http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/masonkingsschools/entries/2008/02/12/an_umm_urgent_incentive_to_sub.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_front_line Tonight, I’m staying on Forward Operating Base Kalsu, south of Baghdad. Like other American bases that have come under frequent mortar fire in the past, it has had a long-standing policy of night black-outs. No lights, the thinking goes, makes... 1561902@http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/frontline/ 2008-02-12T15:07:36-05:00 http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/masonkingsschools/entries/2008/02/10/fishing_in_a_war_zone.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_front_line On my first two days back in Iraq, I’ve found new signs of progress: The C-130 military flight from Kuwait to Baghdad, which just a few months ago would have plummeted from the skies in corkscrew fashion to avoid being... 1510602@http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/frontline/ 2008-02-10T12:55:19-05:00 http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/masonkingsschools/entries/2007/12/01/home_at_last.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_front_line As the wheels bumped the runway, a giant exhale. No longer would the threats of Iraq linger. No, there are no roadside bombs in Texas, no masked men peaking around corners wielding grenade launchers and Kalashnikov rifles. “You’re finally... 210699@http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/frontline/ 2007-12-01T14:17:23-05:00 http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/masonkingsschools/entries/2007/11/30/yes_traveling_during_the_holid.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_front_line Our planeload of 308 soldiers from the 1st Cav’s 3rd Brigade landed at 6 this morning local time in Leipzig, Germany, the first of two stops en route to Fort Hood. It is a 5 1/2 hour flight from Kuwait... 210247@http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/frontline/ 2007-11-30T07:55:30-05:00 http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/masonkingsschools/entries/2007/11/28/leaving_war_is_hell_too.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_front_line “I thought I was going to get on a plane, go to Kuwait, stop for two hours and go to Fort Hood,” Sgt. Puletua Fili, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, said to one of his fellow soldiers this morning. No such... 209817@http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/frontline/ 2007-11-28T08:12:43-05:00 http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/masonkingsschools/entries/2007/11/27/_after_14_months_of.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_front_line After 14 months of fighting a war, the last days are surely the longest for the 3rd Brigade As the weeks drew near, these soldiers said they tried not to think too much about home. About the first kiss, the... 209622@http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/frontline/ 2007-11-27T09:46:48-05:00 http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/masonkingsschools/entries/2007/11/26/hello_kuwait_where_the_sand_lo.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_front_line Once we were strapped in — 158 soldiers and one journalist aboard a C-17 — it was too loud for conversation. Sitting shoulder to shoulder, but left to solitary thoughts as the nose lifted and Iraq became a memory.... 209538@http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/frontline/ 2007-11-26T17:23:50-05:00