Military

The Dyess AFB Annual Farewell Golf Tournament to support our troops as they all join together for a big farewell to our departing members and welcome those coming home to Dyess. The Mesquite Grove Golf Course at Dyess is one of the best maintained courses in West Texas for active military, retirees, families and civilians. You’re invited to join in as a sponsor for this popular event.

The Texas State Veterans Cemetery at Abilene will host a special ceremony honoring real-life heroes in the Big Country this Memorial Day. This commemoration is open to veterans and all those who support them.

What could be more American than some football and our military? The Abilene Ruff Riders have been on the road the last 3 weeks but this Memorial Day Monday they will be at home and celebrating our military.  Military Appreciation Night will be full of fun, football and give-a-ways.

Abilene is a unique community with our ties to the military and Dyess Air Force Base. We have a great fondness of our military personnel that will be celebrated this weekend at the Abilene Zoo’s, Zoolute to Dyess day. Join in all fun activities Saturday, May 19th.

The other day we posted a homecoming video in which a soldier surprises his two young children, who were throwing out the first pitch at an Arizona Diamondbacks game, by being the mystery catcher. We said it was the best homecoming video we’ve seen in some time. Well, consider it topped.

Six-year-old Jackson Aguirre and his five-year-old sister Alanna were pretty thrilled to have been chosen to throw out the first pitch at a recent Arizona Diamondbacks game. Which isn’t surprising, as that honor is usually reserved for luminaries, not a couple kids in elementary school. Right before their big moment the stadium’s JumboTron displayed a video message from their dad, a soldier statio

Technology is awesome. And not just because it helps us play Words With Friends on our phone when we’re bored at work. It also allowed Specialist Brock Howland to witness the birth of his son.

In one of the most poignant ways of honoring a fallen comrade we’ve ever seen, former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell recently went to a Newtown, CT, pub and offered to pay the owner enough money to buy a random person a pint of Guinness every hour for the entire day.

While on tour of duty in Afghanistan, soldier Donny Eslinger adopted an adorable dog that he named Smoke-pup Barbarian. But after he was critically wounded during a mortar attack and shipped to Germany, Eslinger was forced to leave the pooch behind.

Yoga. Whether you can’t get enough of it or can’t get away from it, there’s no denying its peaceful approach to connecting one’s body and mind. Who’d have thought that this practice is now more and more becoming the method of choice for relieving PTSD symptoms in US soldiers?

Dyess Air Force Base could lose four B-1 bombers in as government cuts kick in.  The base is the primary home of the B-1 fleet, and any cuts are cause for economic concern in Abilene.   Representative Randy Neugebauer said that the reduction would be gradual, happening over the next five years.

The families of US Marines mourning loved ones killed in action recently got a most unwelcome surprise when an epic blunder caused them to receive Purple Hearts intended for soldiers who’d been wounded but survived.