A call to end the fighting in Iraq and to return American troops home were clear messages Saturday as approximately 1,000 peace activists rallied outside the Capitol building for “The Global Day of Protest” on the one-year anniversary of the war in Iraq. Huge peace… Read More
Conversations with a dozen Mainers about the purpose of America’s continued presence in Iraq bring a bevy of responses, much like the weather: Some say the reasons are clear; others say they are still cloudy. How individuals react to daily developments in Iraq depends on… Read More
PORTLAND – A Kennebunk woman whose 51-year-old husband was killed in Iraq last summer says she is losing hope that she will ever learn more about the circumstances of his death. First Sgt. Christopher Coffin, one of the oldest U.S. casualties in the war, died… Read More
Sen. Olympia Snowe: “While today is a day to pay tribute to those nations who gave so much to liberate a brutalized Iraq, we also call upon others in the international community to join us in bringing true, lasting democracy and stability – free from… Read More
Months after the military began scrambling to equip soldiers serving without body armor in Iraq, many of those now being deployed are opting to buy their own rather than trust military reassurances they will have the gear by the time their boots hit the battlefield. Read More
The voting booth could prove the most unpredictable battlefield of the Iraq war, with Americans conflicted over supporting a tenuous democracy and opposing what some consider an unjust war. “This one has clearly divided the country,” said Howard Segal, a University of Maine history professor,… Read More
From the building of ball fields at home to the rebuilding of villages and defending themselves on battlefields abroad, the mission of the Maine National Guard is undergoing a fundamental change, prompting authorities to rethink deployment strategies and some soldiers to rethink plans for re-enlisting. Read More
The war in Iraq was officially over when I arrived in Baghdad last July and the troops were largely getting down to the business of installing democracy and rebuilding a nation. By the middle of summer, when the temperatures swelled to more than 130 degrees, electricity in Baghdad… Read More
It’s 2 p.m. on a cold Sunday in March. Outside the Bangor International Airport terminal a light snow is falling, but inside a couple dozen friends and I have something else on our minds: greeting a World Air jumbo jet filled with 300 troops back from a year… Read More
Some lit candles in their windows, signed mile-long greeting cards, and raffled off red, white and blue quilts. Others tied yellow ribbons to trees, e-mailed battlefront soldiers every day and drove to Bangor International Airport at 3 a.m. to shake hands with weary Marines. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
Tony Aman was canoeing the Allagash Wilderness Waterway with a friend on Sept. 11, 2001, and blissfully unaware for the next two days that terrorist attacks had ushered in our new age of terrorism. As the tragic aftermath unfolded and the bombs began to rain… Read More
A month ago, I received an e-mail from Sa’ad Al-Izzi, the translator who was my constant companion when I was in Iraq in July reporting about Mainers stationed there. “Do you remember when you asked me who is my favorite writer, and I told you… Read More
While temp agencies have noticed slight increases in the need for their services since the start of the war in Iraq, it appears that many companies are reshuffling existing workers to replace employees who have been called to active duty. Most employment agencies in the… Read More
BANGOR – The appeal of high-energy work, adrenaline and a bit of danger often is the reason many firefighters and police officers also enlist in Maine National Guard units. “One drawn to one uniform may likely be drawn to another,” said Mike Starn of the… Read More
CLINTON – The Rev. Kathleen Allan is back in Maine, working quietly at a factory in Burnham that makes golf tees. The tranquility of her life is far from what she experiencing as a minister for six years in her suburban Washington, D.C. congregation. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
Janice Ouellette of Bradford knows what to send her son Army Sgt. John Ouellette, who is stationed in Iraq: “Anything that lets him think about home is what he wants,” she said. Most recently he wanted an electric razor, which she sent packed in 100 “hot balls,” an… Read More
Somewhere in Greater Bangor, there’s a young soldier who’s come home from the fighting in Afghanistan with a Purple Heart – and an amputated leg. The staff at the Bangor Veteran Center on Harlow Street is rightly protecting his identity, certain he’s too angry and emotionally vulnerable to… Read More
A few hours after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the U.S. Army Reserve called Capt. Ellen Beauchaine of Waltham to ask whether she could be ready to leave Maine within 24 hours. She immediately left her nursing job in an Eastern… Read More
RUMFORD – With more than 500 subcontracted linguists providing services in the war effort overseas, World Wide Language Resources Inc. has more than doubled its staff since 9-11. The company provides interpretation, translation and language training services to the military and other businesses overseas. googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
Connie Tourtillotte isn’t done crying yet. She might not even be done when her youngest son, Jason, comes home from Iraq this week. It has been a year of tears and no end in sight. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]];… Read More
A year later, it’s just starting. After two months of intense combat training on the firing ranges of this U.S. Army post in the rolling woodlands near Lake Ontario, the men and women of the Maine Army National Guard’s 133rd Engineer Battalion are ready to stomp the ice… Read More
FORT DRUM, N.Y. – One year ago, Army Sgt. Allen “Jay” Weaver rolled out with the 3rd Infantry Division spearhead that drove from Kuwait to Baghdad. Today, he is headed back to the Persian Gulf, preparing for a second push into Iraq, this time with the Maine Army… Read More