Stars and Stripes Daily Headlines

July 5, 2017     Families caring for very sick children forced to choose hospice or treatment The rule is usually discovered by parents bracing for their child to die. Already consumed by tragedy, these military families are confronted with a brutal choice: Elect hospice to ease your child’s suffering or choose treatment to keep fighting for your child’s life.   US soldier from Alaska killed by indirect fire in Afghanistan A 19-year-old Texas-based soldier was killed Monday in an attack in Afghanistan’s volatile Helmand province, the Pentagon said Wednesday. Two other soldiers were injured.   Soldier charged in Humvees’ free-fall A sergeant with the 173rd Airborne Brigade has been charged in connection with the spectacular destruction of three Humvees that plummeted to the ground from a C-130 during a parachute drop in Germany last year.   Navy starts drills with Vietnam days after sailing near disputed South China Sea island The Navy has kicked off naval drills with Vietnam, just days after sending a guided-missile destroyer near a South China Sea islet claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam.   Pentagon: Latest North Korean missile is 'not one we’ve seen before' A Pentagon spokesman said that several elements of the first-ever launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile by North Korea were worrisome, including that the missile was launched into busy commercial airspace with no warning.   USAREUR chief headed to Washington think tank after retirement Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, who has designed the U.S. Army’s efforts to intensify operations in the Baltics and Poland since Russia’s intervention in Ukraine, will join a think tank focused on security in central and Eastern Europe when he retires in September.   Nimitz sailors pay tribute to those who fought in WWII’s Battle of Leyte Gulf The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier held a ceremony at sea Monday to remember the sailors who fought in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which is considered to be the largest naval contest of World War II.   American Legion post awarded for community service at Okinawa cemetery Okinawa’s American Legion Wayne E. Marchand Post 28 was one of three civic organizations recognized for community service last week by the Japanese city of Naha.   Schism among Syrian fighters threatens to slow down battle against Islamic State As the U.S.-allied forces advanced into Raqqa, schisms emerged among Syrian fighters — and it is unclear how much the infighting will delay the battle for Islamic State’s Syrian capital, where thousands of civilians remain trapped, or the larger fight to vanquish the group in Syria.   Fugitive who once escaped police in an alligator-infested swamp was busted with fake military IDs According to court documents, David Benjamin Webb was busted in January in a Suffolk hotel room with 20 government ID cards bearing the names of 15 men. And to the ire of federal prosecutors, one of the cards identified him as a sergeant in the Army. Another said he was eligible for VA benefits.   Armed Services committees differ on troop levels, space The House and Senate Armed Services committees took significantly different approaches in their annual Pentagon policy bills, setting up what could be difficult negotiations this year.   1st Armored Brigade Combat Team welcomed home from South Korea at Fort Riley The soldiers were among about 3,700 with their brigade that were deployed to South Korea in October 2016, where they trained with their allies and helped to secure the South Korean border.