Iraq Archives - Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge vet receives Bronze Star 70 years after World War II

Posted at 11:35 am April 7, 2015
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Melvin Kallio, right, received a Bronze Star on Monday, 70 years after he fought in Colmar Pocket in France during World War II, south of the Battle of the Bulge. Pictured with Kallio from left are WVLT-TV Anchor Alan Williams, U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann, and the Rev. Craig Kallio, one of Melvin’s two sons.

Seventy years after he fought in France during World War II, an Oak Ridge veteran has been awarded the Bronze Star.

Melvin E. Kallio, 92, fought in Colmar Pocket. He was a machine gunner in the 12th Armored Division, and he and other soldiers had been ready to fight at the Battle of the Bulge.

But they wound up fighting against what they initially heard were draftees, part of a German “breakthrough” south of the Battle of the Bulge. The enemy turned out to be tougher and more fierce than draftees. [Read more…]

Roane State course teaches emergency responders lessons learned from combat

Posted at 10:23 pm January 27, 2015
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Roane State’s Kirk Harris (second from left, facing camera) reviews the main points from the college’s two-day combat casualty care/tactical emergency casualty care course. (Photo courtesy Roane State)

Roane State Community College’s Kirk Harris believes details save lives.

Harris, director of continuing healthcare and safety education, recently started offering a course on tactical combat casualty care/tactical emergency casualty care. The course applies lessons learned from the experiences of U.S. soldiers and the latest research on combat care in Iraq and Afghanistan to situations first responders could face.

“Unfortunately, we are seeing law enforcement incidents that are more like military combat, such as mass shootings at schools and industries,” Harris said. “We can learn a lot from the experiences of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. This course brings that knowledge together.” [Read more…]

Veterans Day Parade in Clinton tonight

Posted at 9:11 am November 11, 2014
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The 8th Annual Anderson County Veterans Day Parade is tonight in downtown Clinton.

This years’ theme is “Welcome Home for All Iraq/Afghanistan War Veterans.” This year’s grand marshal will be all Anderson County Iraqi/Afghanistan War Veterans.

The parade starts at 6 p.m. today (Tuesday, November 11). It’s presented by the director of veterans services for Anderson County and the Clinton American Legion Post #172 in partnership with the Tennesseans for Living History. [Read more…]

Safety, health, business manager running for OS Town Council

Posted at 10:52 am October 17, 2014
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Nathan Benson

OLIVER SPRINGS—Nathan Benson of Oliver Springs is running for Oliver Springs alderman in Ward 4 in the November 4 municipal election.

Benson and his wife Jennifer (Wright) Benson graduated from Oliver Springs High School in 2001. They have two children named Riley and Addison Benson that attend Norwood Middle and Elementary schools.

Benson served in the Tennessee Army National Guard 278th Armored Calvary Regiment as a calvary scout after graduating from high school. During his six years in the service, he was deployed to Iraq as a sergeant assigned to the Regimental Protective Services Detail.

Benson is now employed with Canberra Industries in Oak Ridge as the safety, health, and business improvement manager, a press release said. He has been employed with them for nearly 12 years, including his leave of absence to serve overseas. [Read more…]

Corker dampens presidential speculation, calls ISIS ‘demonic’

Posted at 12:30 pm August 26, 2014
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

U.S. Senator Bob Corker, right, downplayed speculation of a possible presidential run during a visit to Oak Ridge on Friday, but he also didn’t rule out a campaign. At center is Jim Haynes, president and chief executive officer of Consolidated Nuclear Security, the new managing and operating contractor at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

He’s been asked the question before, and on Friday, U.S. Senator Bob Corker answered it again: Are you considering running for president in 2016?

Corker didn’t say “no,” but he did dampen the discussion. The Tennessee Republican pointed out that if he were a candidate, he would likely be making trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, key early stops in presidential campaigns, rather than visiting Oak Ridge and East Tennessee.

Still, after a short speech to the East Tennessee Economic Council on Friday, Corker, a Tennessee Republican, said every senator involved in policy decisions and helping to solve the nation’s problems probably thinks about a presidential run “from time to time.”

Corker was the guest speaker at ETEC’s weekly Friday morning meeting. During his talk, he bemoaned the nation’s lack of vision, saying the chief executive needs to have one but President Obama doesn’t lead toward one.

“Without vision, people bicker,” Corker said. The question is: Who is going to create the national vision? the senator said. The nation may need three priorities, he said. [Read more…]

Fleischmann urges caution on U.S. response to Iraq

Posted at 5:29 pm June 17, 2014
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Chuck Fleischmann

U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann on Friday urged caution in responding to the rapid advance of militants who have taken control of a wide swath of Iraq and are pressing on toward Baghdad.

Fleischmann was in Oak Ridge during the annual two-day Secret City Festival.

The militants are known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. The Sunni organization was once part of Al Qaeda, and it has effectively gained control of large swaths of Iraq and Syria during the past year, including Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city. There have been battles in Baquba, less than 40 miles north of Baghdad.

Now, the United States and other countries are struggling with how to respond. Among the options that have been proposed are airstrikes and working with Iran to repel the rebels. [Read more…]

Memorial Day ceremony honors 181 Anderson County residents who died in conflicts

Posted at 9:34 am May 27, 2014
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Anderson County Memorial Day Wreath-laying

From left, Anderson County Veteran Services Director Leon Jaquet, Mayor Terry Frank, and Tennessee Rep. John Ragan take part in a Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremony on Monday at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton.

CLINTON—More than 100 Anderson County residents have died in conflicts from the Revolutionary War more than 200 years ago to the ongoing war on terrorism and battles in Afghanistan, a county official said during a Memorial Day ceremony on Monday.

Those 181 heroes are remembered and their names inscribed on the Veterans Memorial at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton, Veteran Services Director Leon Jaquet said.

“We gather here today in remembrance of our nation’s heroes, especially our county’s heroes who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in support of this nation’s agenda throughout the world,” Jaquet said. “Our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters who served this country to protect our freedoms and wrote that final check with their lives in support of freedom and democracy.”

Jaquet recognized guests at Monday’s ceremony, including Glen and Amy Morris, parents of Staff Sgt. Daniel Morris, who was killed in Iraq in 2006, and Gerald and Kathy Hovater, parents of Cpl. Jason Hovater, who died in Afghanistan in 2008.

“We remember the 1.3 million Americans who have made the supreme sacrifice during this nation’s wars, from the Revolutionary War to the continued War on Terrorism and Afghanistan,” Jaquet said. [Read more…]

Weekly memorial for veterans moves to Municipal Building on Sunday

Posted at 11:35 pm December 14, 2013
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A symbol of the friendship between Oak Ridge and Japan, the 20-year-old Friendship Bell at Alvin K. Bissell Park is closed while the city make repairs to the structure holding up the bell.

Since the structure housing the Friendship Bell is under repair for an indeterminate amount of time, the group that has met each week for more than 400 Sundays to ring the Friendship Bell in remembrance of those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in recent years, for Anderson County veterans of American wars, will meet Sunday, Dec. 15, at the Veterans Memorial/Flag Pole in front of the Oak Ridge Municipal Building.

The memorial is at 12:20 p.m. Sunday.

The group, which varies in composition and number, plans to meet each week when the weather forecast is dry, a press release said. When the weather forecast is wet, the names to be read in memorium will be saved for the next gathering. [Read more…]

Fifth ‘In God We Trust’ sign, flagpole, vets memorial celebrated at courthouse

Posted at 2:40 pm September 21, 2013
By John Huotari 1 Comment

Anderson County General Session Court In God We Trust Sign

Steve McDonald of Calvary Baptist Church introduces a new “In God We Trust” sign on the side of the Anderson County General Sessions Division II Courthouse in Oak Ridge.

A sign inscribed with the national motto “In God We Trust” was unveiled on the side of a Anderson County courthouse in Oak Ridge on Friday.

It’s the fifth “In God We Trust” sign to be posted on a county courthouse since July in a citizen-led initiative that has prompted a debate over the proper separation of church and state.

Also celebrated during a lunchtime ceremony Friday were a flagpole and memorial to five Anderson County veterans killed in the past decade in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. [Read more…]

Corker returns from Middle East, visits East Tennessee on Tuesday

Posted at 2:33 pm August 18, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, left, a Tennessee Republican, meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, second from right. (Submitted photos)

After a week-long trip to the Middle East that ended Saturday, U.S. Sen. Bob Corker said the recent expansion of violence there threatened the region’s security and America’s national interest.

Corker is a Tennessee Republican and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. From Aug. 10-17, he visited with U.S. and foreign officials in Turkey, Iraq, and Jordan. The trip focused on regional political and security issues important to the United States, including the violence in Egypt, the conflict in Syria, and the threat of sectarian violence and terrorism in the region, a press release said.

Corker will be in East Tennessee on Tuesday, with stops in Knoxville and Maryville. He spent the first week of the Senate’s August recess in Middle Tennessee and will be making stops throughout Tennessee this coming week. [Read more…]

Funeral service Saturday for Oak Ridge soldier killed in Afghanistan

Posted at 12:55 pm April 11, 2013
By John Huotari 2 Comments

SSG Christopher Michael Ward

A Saturday funeral has been scheduled for an Oak Ridge soldier killed in southern Afghanistan by a suicide car bomber last weekend.

The funeral for U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Christopher Michael Ward, 24, starts with a receiving of friends from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Weatherford Mortuary in Oak Ridge.

A celebration of Chris’ life will follow at 12 p.m. Family and friends will have a chance to share their stories and memories of Chris. Full military honors will be provided.

Following the services, the family will welcome friends to their home in Oak Ridge, the obituary said. In keeping with Chris’ wishes, his body will be cremated. [Read more…]