By Nick Pisa

An amateur historian has discovered the mummified body of a World War I solider frozen into an Italian glacier.

Dino De Bernardin made the grim find as he walked in mountains close to his home, which had been the scene of bitter fighting between Italian and Austro-Hungarian troops between 1915 and 1917.

At an altitude of 2,800metres, his attention was drawn to a ‘bundle of rags’ that he saw emerging from the melting ice.

When he went to investigate, he was shocked to find the soldier’s skeleton complete with rotting boots.

Police were called to the scene just below a cable car station at Serauta close to Canazei in the Marmolada mountain range of the Dolomites in north-east Italy. Close to the border with Austria, the area is a popular ski resort in the winter.

Alpine rescue teams were also alerted and the skeleton was carefully dug out from the glacier before being taken to the mortuary of the local hospital.

They will now be examined by a pathologist to determine the exact cause of death and his identity. He will later be buried in a military cemetery. 

Today an emotional Mr De Bernardin, who is a collector of World War I memorabilia, said: ‘I couldn’t believe it when I realised that what I had found were the remains of a brave solider. 

On the march: Italian infantry take a break during May 1916 before marching on to meet Austro-Hungarian forces

’At first I saw a bundle of rags poking out of the melting ice and then when I got closer to have a look I recognised the material as military leggings that were common among First World War soldiers. 

’I dug away at the ice and then I saw the bones of the skeleton slowly emerging and I could see he was still wearing boots although they had practically rotted away and it was then that I realised I had found the corpse of a soldier.’

Mr De Bernardin added: ‘I have always been interested in the First World War and have been collecting memorabilia for years but this is the first time that I have found the remains of  a fallen soldier.

’It’s difficult to say what happened to him and how he died. But from talking to the police we think he was probably hit by shrapnel from a grenade or he could have stepped on a mine as the bones were not all in one piece – death in war is never pleasant.

’The head is also missing, the torso has been split in half and the legs are damaged.

‘But what struck me was how well preserved the uniform and the boots were – you could still see the nails in the soles and these factors for me suggest it is an Italian solider.’

During the First World War the Dolomites were the scene of fierce battles between Italian and Austro-Hungarian troops. A characteristic of the fighting was the fact artillery was used at altitude with horses and donkeys being used to carry the guns up to 9,000ft.

The area is still littered with military hardware and gas masks, helmets, berets, guns and ammunition. Unexploded bombs and hand grenades are often found as are bits of uniform – more than 9,000 soldiers died in the mountains from either fighting, avalanches or the cold.

It is not the first time a mummified body has been found in the Dolomites.

In 1991, the 5,000-year-old corpse of an Iron Age warrior was found and named Oetzi. He is now on display in Bolzano museum in a special temperature-controlled refrigerated cabinet.

USASOC News Service

Two U.S. Special Forces Soldiers died when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device July. 29 in Tsagay, Afghanistan.

The following Soldiers, all assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, died when their vehicle struck an IED.

Capt. Jason E. Holbrook, 28, a native of Burnet, TX.

Staff Sgt. Kyle R. Warren, 28, a native of Huntington Beach, Ca.

Click here for Warren’s bio.

Click here for Holbrook’s bio.

Armed with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and an automatic rifle, a rogue Afghan soldier attacked a group of British troops early Tuesday in southern Afghanistan, killing three of the soldiers and wounding four others before escaping.

The Afghan soldier was assigned to a patrol base shared by NATO troops and the Afghan National Army in the volatile southern province of Helmand, according to NATO spokespeople and Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry.

Helmand is where American troops mounted a large-scale offensive earlier this year to uproot Taliban insurgents from a stronghold in the town of Marjah.

The motive for the attack in the Nahr-e-Saraj district remained unclear, but it could prove deeply embarrassing for both the Afghan government and U.S. military leaders, who have stressed the importance of ratcheting up the training of Afghan security forces so that they can gradually take on more responsibility for securing their own country.

The Associated Press reported that Afghan President Hamid Karzai sent a letter of apology to the British government.

Karzai’s spokesman, Waheed Omar, said Karzai “was upset to hear this. … It’s a very regrettable case, and we hope that this is thoroughly investigated.”

NATO and the Afghan Defense Ministry have begun a joint investigation. In a statement released by NATO, U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, said Afghan and NATO security forces “must ensure that the trust between our forces remains solid in order to defeat our common enemies.”

Attacks by renegade Afghan soldiers or police on NATO troops are rare but have occurred in the past.

Tuesday’s attack is likely to renew concerns about the infiltration of Taliban militants or sympathizers into Afghan security forces.

Last November, an Afghan police officer killed five British soldiers at a training base in Helmand province. A month later in the northwest province of Badghis, an Afghan soldier shot and killed an American soldier and injured two Italian troops.

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The motive for the attack is unclear? For fucks sake, are we that cowardly that we can’t just say why the Afghan killed the British troops?

 HE’S A GAWDDAMN GOAT FUCKIN’ SON OF A WHORE RAGHEAD!

That’s why!

By Diggers Realm

It seems like just yesterday that I was standing in the hot Arizona sun with sweat pouring off of me. I was not alone however that day, there was an American patriot sitting next to me on the stairs. I held an umbrella over his head as he wiped the sweat from his brow and took a drink from a water bottle. He looked up at me.

“Is it soon?” he asked.

“Just a few minutes more,” I said.

Terry Anderson didn’t look to me as I had pictured him. He was slightly gaunt and pale. His spirit however was still inside of him. Terry had been on the radio for 10 years doing the Terry Anderson Show and is known for the phrase “If you ain’t mad, you ain’t payin’ attention!”.

He had traveled into the middle of the desert on a day that would hit 107 degrees to stand and share his message with the people of Arizona and the people of America. The message was, no amnesty for illegal aliens. The day was June 5, 2010 and it would be the last day that I would see this great man.

Little did I know at the time, Terry was suffering from pancreatic and liver cancer and it was the cause of his gaunt, pale condition that day. It was a little over a month later, just yesterday in fact, that this patriot died.

“You ready to go?” I asked him.

“As ready as I’ll be,” he replied.

It troubles me that someone with pancreatic and liver cancer – a month from dying – can take the time to stand with his fellow Americans, but there are Americans in this country who claim to be patriots who will make every excuse in the book not to attend events or be active in something they say they care about. Actually it angers me more than it troubles me and looking at a man like Terry just puts the point home. Terry is an example to us all. I believe that he would say to all Americans to get off your butts and get out there!

America is much the poorer with the loss of this great man named Terry Anderson.

Terry stood up tall from sitting next to me, walked up the stairs and took the podium. Below is what he had to say that hot day in June in Phoenix Arizona.

Gulf News

Kabul: Nato said that five US service members have been killed by roadside bombs – two in the west, two in the south and one in the east of the country. No other details have as yet been disclosed.

Also on Monday, the British Defence Ministry said a British soldier had been killed in a blast during a vehicle patrol in the southern Helmand province.

Their deaths have brought to 14 the number of US and other international troops killed so far this month.

June was the deadliest month of the war for US and international forces.

The AP count, based on announcements by the alliance and national commands, indicates that 103 international service members, including 60 Americans, died in June.

 Four NATO soldiers, including two Americans, were killed in southern Afghanistan as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan heads to the White House to speak to President Barack Obama on Wednesday about the disparaging comments made by the former and his aides in an yet to be published article.

Two American troops died following bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan, the military said on Wednesday, bringing to 14 the number of soldiers died in two days in the war-torn land-locked Asian nation.

The U.S. servicemen died on Tuesday in separate attacks, said Lt. Col. Joseph T. Breasseale, a U.S. military spokesman, who did not provide further details.

A NATO statement said besides the two American troops, the other foreign soldier died in a firefight and the fourth in a militant attack.

Tuesday’s casualties came a day after ten NATO troops were killed in attacks and a helicopter crash. The latest deaths brought to 69 the number of NATO troops killed so far this month, 43 of them being Americans.

The deadliest month for U.S. forces in the nine-year-old Afghan war was October last year when 59 troops were killed. For NATO forces overall, the deadliest month was July last year when 75 troops were killed. [More]

Navy Times

Navy officials laid the keel Friday for a destroyer named after a SEAL who died in Afghanistan, according to an announcement.

More than 50 sailors, civilians and family members gathered for the ceremony at the General Dynamics-Bath Iron Works shipyard in Bath, Maine.

The keel authentication ceremony marks the beginning of construction of DDG 112, which will be known as the destroyer Michael Murphy. Lt. Michael Murphy was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions during Operation Redwing on June 28, 2005, in Afghanistan.

“There are no words,” Murphy’s mother, Maureen Murphy, said in a statement. “I still can’t get it through my head that a U.S. Navy ship is going to be named after my son. He would be honored. I hope to have a good rapport with the crew of the Michael Murphy. On the ship, it’s going to be like one big family, and I would like to have a good relationship with the crew.”

In addition to Murphy’s mother, his father, Dan; brother John; and nearly 20 SEALs attended. The Murphy family signed a steel plate during the ceremony, which will later be affixed to the hull of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

“We love everyone involved with the Michael Murphy,” Dan Murphy said in a statement. “They have no idea how much they have touched us.”

Cmdr. David Price, program manager, supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, said the vessel will serve as a testament to Murphy’s character.

“This ship will transform from just plates of steel, miles of piping and cables and electronics, to a ship and crew, operating as one, imbued with the spirit of her namesake, and her sponsor,” Price said in a statement.

Stars and Stripes

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Five NATO troops including three Americans died in fighting Friday in Afghanistan, raising to 34 the number of U.S. troops killed in the war so far this month.

NATO said Friday that the two Americans died in an insurgent attack and another died in a roadside bomb explosion, but did not provide further details. The U.S. command confirmed their nationalities but did not specify where they died.

In London, the British Defense Ministry said one of its soldiers was killed by in an explosion in Helmand province.

NATO said a fifth soldier was killed in eastern Afghanistan but did not give the nationality.

June is shaping up to be one of the deadliest months for U.S. troops in the nearly 9-year-old Afghan war, as insurgents have stepped up attacks in response to a NATO push into Taliban strongholds in the south. The deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan was October 2009, when 59 Americans died.

In all, some 52 international troops have been killed in the country so far this month. The deadliest month of the war for international forces was in July 2009 when 75 troops, including 44 Americans, were killed.

NY Daily News

Spc. Jonathan Kellylee Peney

11News

SPC. JONATHAN KELLYLEE PENEY died on June 1, 2010 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Spc. Jonathan Kellylee Peney, 22, was a combat medic assigned to 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Hunter Army Airfield, Ga.

He was born on July 1, 1987, in Marietta, Ga.

Spc. Peney was killed by enemy fire while moving under heavy fire to provide aid to a wounded Ranger in the Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.

He was on his fourth deployment in support of the War on Terror with three previous deployments to Afghanistan.

After graduating from high school, Spc. Peney enlisted in the U.S. Army from his hometown of Marietta, Ga., in November 2005.

He completed Basic Combat Training at Fort Benning and Combat Medic Training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

He returned to Fort Benning in June 2006 and completed the Basic Airborne Course and the Ranger Indoctrination Program before attending the Special Operations Combat Medic Course at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Spc. Peney was then assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment in November 2007.

His military education includes the Basic Airborne Course, Ranger Indoctrination Program, Special Operations Combat Medic Course and the U.S. Army Ranger Course.

His awards and decorations include the Ranger Tab, Expert Field Medical Badge, and the Parachutist Badge.

He has also been awarded the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with combat star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon.

He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart and the Meritorious Service Medal.

Spc. Peney is survived by his wife Kristin E. Peney of Savannah, Ga., and his mother Sue L. Peney of LaGrange, Ga.