defense secretary robert gates and admiral mike mullen asked mcchrystal to meet them for a sec ket faceek at a u.s. military base 12 miles north of nato headquarters in belgium. they wanted an interim report. chief david petraeus also through in. august 14, mcchrystal will deliver his strategy to the head of nato and gates and the assessment will reportedly involve a request for more u.s. troops. >> from everything i have seen, it looks like the afghan army has to be increased and significantly, and that's going to be a huge cost, and i -- it appears as if we need more troops. >> but how many, and will the president agree? the issue is politically sensitive in washington where the new administration worries afghanistan will become president obama's quagmire. >> much like iraq, we cannot be there forever. afghans are going to have to provide a measure of their own security, much as we're asking iraqis to do, and that they're doing in their own country. >> sources tell fox general mcchrystal will present three options for troop increase. a small option of 1 to 2 big grades around 7,000 tr

among them, defense secretary robert gates, chairman of the joint chiefs, mike mullen, centcom commander, david petraeus, and stanley mccrist tall, who was recently put in charge of troops in afghanistan. sources tell abc news, that mcchrystal's assessment team has suggested another dramatic increase in troops. four to six brigades during 2010. that's anywhere from 12,000 to 27,000 troops. that was be in addition to the more than 20,000 troops president obama already approved. also recommended, an increase in the afghan national army. >> i think we need to accelerate its development. and we need to grow it larger. >> reporter: but it is adding u.s. troops that would be the most controversial. in the past, secretary gates said he would have to think long and hard about that. >> we have to look carefully at how our strategy is proceeding some months down the road before i would contemplate forwarding a recommendation for additional troops to the president. >> reporter: a u.s. military official tells abc that the drawdown from iraq would have to be accelerated in order to add more troops to

chef michael's canine creations. >>> we're back with mike mullen and retired general eikenberry.let's continue the conversation. here are the three leading candidates in afrg. i want to move on to a major challenge. you have a new strategy for dealing with this, admiral. help me understand. the numbers are stunning. 2001, afghanistan produced 185 met rick tons of opium. in 2008, look at how much that has gone up, 7,700. from 12% of the poppy crop to 93%. do you have a new strategy that allows you to target drug kingpins if you believe they are supporting the taliban and insurgency. is that correct? >> actually, we've had that for many months. and specifically changed our rules of engagement so that kingpins, laboratories, individuals who support, transport, specifically, these products are also able to be both either captured or killed. but we're just -- >> if there's a pro u.s. government, how does that happen? >> i just think it's something that -- has not been the focus of the afghan president specifically over the last seven or eight years. some of the things we're seeing rig

be an am t sopnic o sy'uns da ee"mseth press" we'll talk to the chaiane otht f ejofsief staff, mike mullen and karl eikenberry and plus we will have a deba on health care with senators hatch and schumer. >>> there is reaction tonight to a claim by former homeland security secretary tom ridge that he was pressured to raise the nation's terror threat level just days before the 2004 presidential election. in a move he said he believed was meant to sway the vote. ridge says in a new book, the pressure came from top advisers to president bush, former defense secretary donald rumsfeld and then-attorney general john ashcroft. a spokesman for rumsfeld called the claim nonsense. thterror threat level was not ra posed by hurrito bcahehrbet nei posed by hurricane bill which has been losing steam as it churnsut in the atlantic.t itexpected to pass between be thanuds. md aiaiand mo.orr both the east coast and bermuda are already feeling its effects. whether channel meteorologist jim cantore is in bermuda and he has got the very latest. jim. >> reporter: conditions with bill have been getting worse all

this morning admiral mike mullens, the chairman of the joint chiefs, this morning, is saying the military situation in afghanistan is, according to him, quote, serious and deteriorating. in the meantime, a commission that is investigating the country's presidential election, that took place last week, says, charges of fraud are so widespread that they could tip this balance in the final results. president hamid karzai's top challenger, the former foreign minister accuses him of rigging the vote and both candidates claiming to be in the lead after the elections. >> eric: a call for a u.n. resolution condemning libya for the homecoming celebration with the convicted lockerbie bomber and senator schumer made the suggestion late yesterday and you heard republican congressman from georgia phil gingrey joining in for wanting that and what are the chances of a resolution, and joining us is a man who knows these things very well, ambassador john boenltd, fox news contributor and ownership ambassador. good to see you. >> glad to be here serving let me get it straight, the president wants susan ric

mike mullen says the situation is deteriorating but he does that say whether more troops will be needed to do the job. >>> the outcry over alleged voter fraud in the elections in afghanistan is escalating. charges are saying that turnout fraud was padded. it was censored -- it was serious enough to affect the outcome. >>> international hunt for a suspected killer ended last night with a gruesome discovery. >> police found the body of ryan jenkins in canada. athy park has the latest on that. >> police say they found ryan jenkins dead of an apparent suicide. the call about a body came sunday evening about a hotel staff member. the manager said they found him hanging from a bar of a clothing rack and that he check in with a young woman. he had been on a run after the mutilated body of his jasmine fiore jasmine was found in a trash bin. they were married this year and soon separated. his boat was found at a marina near the u.s.-canada area. a massive manhunt have been going on for days. kathy park, abc 7 news. >> thank you. >>> 6:36. time for a check with some -- of some business headlines.

who's mike mullen who's 68 years old? don't look a day over 18. we were to pass health care reform. he's concerned. >> you know, mike, your medicare is not going to go away under health care reform. health care reform in many ways you can think of it as sort of reform for the rest of us. medicare is here, it exists, it's in many ways an example of a social program that works. right? people over the age of 65 are pretty well taken care of. there might be some changes to try to make it more efficient. medicare is a bit wasteful right now, but the medicare will not go away as mike knows it. >> here to stay. >> here to stay. >> to the twitter board. my question is this -- we have something wonderful in the united states. the there's no place in the world you want to be if you get a rare diggs order, if you get cancer, have some freakish kind of injury. we can deal with that. in canada, for example, they're not good at that. they come here to get treated for that, people in canada, but they're really good at broken ankles, bad colds and the ow wees we

admiral mike mullen. talking about afghanistan.d then two key members of senate finance committee. schumer and hatch. they will be debating the way forward on health care. you don't want to miss it. >>hat will be interesting. th will go at it. david gregory ogon "meet the press," airing sunday morning here on news4. 10:30. >>> a police officer in tennessee is in trouble for sleeping on the job. she was nodding off and it was recorded on the cell phone camera of a man who had called police to his house for help. the man said he noticed something was wrong as the officer sat at his table filling out the police report and got so concerned that he called the officer's supervisors to report the trouble. >> started looking at concentration on her face and could see her eyes were closed. it wasy obvious she was going t sleep. i counted about 14 times that she dozed off. and fell asleep. really concerned with her driving, concerned with her safety and safety that -- safety of others. >> the officer had been working long hours. she apologiz

. >> mike mullen, the chairman of the chief joints of staff, presumably, they had have to give thoseers are instructed not to reveal information in any fashion. they could just as easily, do it over e-mail, do it over the phone, right? >> i was just talking to my co-worker, they have personal cell phones over there. you can post the stuff, you just can't use the marine computers they provide. you can go to a welfare recreational tent and post it there. this isn't necessarily going to stem the flow of information. it's just not going to come from a dod computer. but it is going to make it harder for those marines and service members way out, not in these big bases. >> thank you very much for joining us. we've got people already saying how do they enforce it. >> just ahead, president obama wants the left to back off. >> will moveon.org listen and stop going after fellow democrats? grill: holy moly!!! what just hap...whoa! grill: i mean...wow! hey! that looks great. grill: and there's no need to discuss it further. in fact, you can buff most of that out. just give it a once-over with a

two men charged with coordinating in this area mike mullen, chairman of the joint chief's of staff anded lieutenant general karl eikenberry. good morning to both of you. this was a poll taken by the washington news and abc news. this is the result. is the war in afghanistan worth the fight? no, 51%. has american -- have the american people lost the will to fight the war? >> well, i'm a vietnam veteran myself. i'm aware of the criticality of the support of the american people for this war and in fact, any war. certainly, the numbers are of concern. the president has given me and the american military a mission. it focuses on new strategy and mission. i am mindful and concerned about the threat that's there. the strategy focuses on feeding al qaeda and their extremist allies. that's where the original 911 attacks came from, that region. they have moved to pakistan. i don't think that threat is going to go away. they still plot against us, see us as somebody they want to kill in terms of as many american lives as possible. in that regard, we are focused on executing that mission. >> let's

we'll be joined by the cheryl of the joint chiefs of staff, mike mullen and u.s.n, and the very latest on the fight of health care reform. with us, oren hatch and democratic senator chuck schumer. >> that will do it for us. next weekend on "today," swine flu fears as the school year starts, authorities are bracing for a big outbreak. >>> whitney houston making a comeback, for the first time in years. i'll see you back here tonight for nbc nightly news. until then, so long and have a great day. >> coming up, she's maryland's first lady, a judge, and a hands-on mom. katie o'malley coming up. >> and our tech expert is here with the must-have items for the school year. >> had enough of the heat, humidity, and rain?

tomorrow david gregly on "meet the press" will meet with two men, admiral mike mullen and karl eikenberryhis sunday on "meet the press. " you must be looking for motorcycle insurance. you're good. thanks. so is our bike insurance. all the coverage you need at a great price. hold on, cowboy. cool. i'm not done -- for less than a dollar a month, you also get 24/7 roadside assistance. ght on. yeah, vroom-vroom! sounds like you ran a 500. more like a 900 v-twin. excuse me. well, you're excused. the right insurance for your ride. w, that's ogressive. call or click today. jo. >>> >>> we continue to watch hurricane bill spinning toward bermuda at this hour. that's what you see. dangerous waves are pounding the island. people are waiting out the storm inside their homes and hotels. former president bill clinton to and hillary clinton were vacationing earlier this week but they were able to cut their trip short and got out on thursday night. meantime a tropical storm warning is up for the coast of massachusetts. todd santos is here with more on bill. todd, another good morning to you. >> i at leas

the press" afghanistan will be a big topic when david gregory interviews joint chiefs chairman mike mullens democratic schumer from new york, he's crucial to watch because he's been pretty strong in maintaining that there has to be a public option. so if somebody like him on the senate side comes out and says this has got to be there, that's going to be pretty big news, right? >> that's a great point, david. one other thing about chuck schumer is he was one who was actually drafted very early on to actually have a compromise of sorts. not the compromise we're talking about with the co-op plan that a lot more centrists and moderate democratic senators are pushing, but actually one that would probably make the nancy pelosis and a lot of the public option plan people pretty happy. what i think is interesting, if republicans aren't going to be at the table and president obama and max baucus have said they will be, but if they're not, there's a really good chance that a schumer-like compromise might be more likely than we would see on the co-op plan. so there is some potential that a lot of lib

appearing on cnn's state of the union this morning, mike mullen said no decision had been made yet on asking for more u.s. troops. >>> learn what's fact and fiction in health care reform. extreme challenges. an ac 360 special returns in a moment. they taste fresh... say it again! what? say it like, "mmmm, these healthy choice fresh mixers taste freshh!!" they taste fresh... wait. what are you doing? got it. you're secretly taping me? you were good too! but you know, it wasn't a secret to us, we knew... yes, but it was a secret to me. of course, otherwise i would be sitting like this and completely block his shot. so that's why i was like... didn't you notice this was weird? no. they taste fresh because you make them fresh. healthy choice fresh mixers. >>> here's the biggest challenge president obama faces on health care reform. namely paying for it. the price tag is immense. >> we had make sure that no insurance company or government bur owe accurate gets between you and the care that you need. and we will do this without add to go our definite set over the next decade. >> here's my q

the chairman of the joint chi s chiefsedchiefs admiral mike mullen says the insurgency has become moreesident hamid karzai has tried to claim victim in last week's presidential election. his primary rival rejects that and says the election was rigged. votes are still being counted. >>> in the bigger picture, opposition to the war in afghanistan is growing with each u.s. casualty as voters and even members of congress begin to question the mission there. senator russ feingold, democrat of wisconsin, called on president obama to provide a time table for withdrawal of american troops while questioning the effects the war is having. quote, after eight years i am not convinced that pouring more and more troops into afghanistan is a well thought out policy. this is a strategy that is not likely to succeed and we are helping to drive more extremists in pakistan by continuing to build up troops and resentment in afghanistan. joining us live is democratic congressman -- >> thank you. >> let me get your reaction to what senator feingold had to say about his thoughts on afghanistan. >> well, i th

yesterday, joint chiefs of staff chairman admiral mike mullen offered a stark assessment on cnn's statef the union with john king. . >> i think it is serious and it is deteriorating and i have said that over the last couple of years that its tlb insurgency has gotten better, more sophisticated. their tactics just in mean recent visits out there talking to our troops certainly indicate that. >> you have no doubt he will ask for more troops. >> no, actually, we're not at a point yet where he has made any decisions about asking for additional troops. his guidance from me and from secretary of defense was to go out, assess where you are. and tell us what you need. and when we'll get to that point. and i want to, i guess, assure you or reassure you that he hasn't asked for any additional prepares -- troops up to this point in time. >> warner: separately, top regional u.s. commanders in afghanistan told president obama's special envoy richard holbrooke this weekend that they need more troops. for more on this, we go to two experts who've been to afghanistan this summer. kimberly kagan, presid

. >> we are going to have admiral mike mullen, the key voice on this afghanistan policy, who is a very interesting person to talk to, as well as our ambassador iken berry over there in in afghanistan. the big question is, are we winning and what are we fighting for? most americans think it's not worth it. if there is progress, how are we measuring that progress? that's going to be big part of what we talk about, and the health care debate, where does it go next? schumer and hatch. two key players on the finance question, which is, as you know, what controls this fight. and the debate between tavis smiley and our own joe scarborough. >> we'll be watching you tomorrow night hosting nbc "nightly news." >> for brian, i'll be there. >> so a lot of david gregory. can't get enough. thank you very much. >>> still ahead, nbc news terrorism analyst michael sheehan. "the washington post's" david ignatius. and "newsweek's" jonathan alter. all this, "andrea mitchell reports" only on smst. fresh mixer thingys, they taste fresh... say it again! what? say it like, "mmmm, ese healthy choice fresh mixer

. >>> mike mullen issues a sobering assessment of the situation for the u.s. forces on the ground in afghanistan. >>> president obama on his first vacation. will he be able to leave the health care debate behind? i'm carlos watson. a lot coming your way today. rhode island senator jack reed and new york congresswoman from brooklynee yvette clark and documentary filmmaker from hbo and who is out that run house reverend run joins us live in the studio. let's fast forward through the top headlines. stunning home video capture inside maine as a killer wave from hurricane bill pulled a family out to sea. this home video as the coast guard tried to desperate rescue three people and a 7-year-old, unfortunately, died. her father and a 12-year-old were hospitalized there. you see it there. >>> fire crews knee athens, greece to snuff out wildfires. wildfires rage for a fourth day near athens. help from other european nations arrive. crews are taking advantage of low winds today. >>> reality show contestant turned murder suspect was found dead in a secluded canadian mote

admiral mike mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. and from afghanistan this morning, our u.s. ambassador, retired lieutenant general, karl eikenberry. welcome to both of you. let me start with you, admiral mullen, on the question of u.s. resolve. this was a poll taken by "the washington post" and abc news this week and these were the results. is the war in afghanistan worth the fight? no, 51%. has american -- have the american people lost that will to fight this war? >> well, i'm a vietnam veteran myself. i'm certainly aware of the criticality of support of the american people for this war, and, in fact, any war. so, certainly, the numbers are of concern. that said, the president's given me and the american military a mission and that focuses on a new strategy, new leadership, and we're moving very much in that direction. i am very mindful and concerned about the threat that's there. the strategy really focuses on defeating al qaeda and their extremist allies. that's where the original 9/11 attacks came from, that region. they've now

chairman mike mullen was on television yesterday, talking about this issue. here is some of what he had to say. >> over the last couple of years the taliban insurgency has gotten better or more sophisticated in their tactics. our troops certainly indicate that. general mcchrystal is about to wrap up his assessment. i have not seen that. >> you have no doubt that he will ask for more troops? >> actually, we are not at a point yet where he has made any decision about that. his guidance from me and the secretary of defense was to go out and determine where we are and we need. i want to reassure you that he has not asked for any additional troops up to this point. host: minneapolis, republican line. good morning. caller: i think that we are in another quagmire. do me a favor as well. explain to me how it is that callers that call on the republican line say that they voted for barack obama, espousing liberal ideas. calling on the independent line and you can tell the they never voted for a republican in their life. i notice that you drop a lot of republican calls

mike mullen says the taliban is getting better and more sophisticated.ng on people to support islamic militants in the country's tribal regions. plenty of problems in both nations. can things be turned around? greg mortonson is the author of three cups of tea and back from six weeks on the ground of afghanistan. it's so great to see you. and if i may personally compliment you on the work you've done to build schools. 60 some schools you've been running and more than 60,000 children gets an education because of the work you're doing there. >> thank you, john. >> when you spend time on the ground, you tend to go to a lot of rural villages. we get a sense of what the situation is like on the ground. eight years after this war now, what is it really like? >> well, one thing is what we do is we respect elders, we meet with the elders and listen to the people and also the military is really, i think, gone through a huge learning curve, listening to people, building relationships, and pretty much without exception most people what they want is peace, stability,

secretary has told us about a secret trip that robert gates took over the weekend with admiral mike mullenthey met the top commander in afghanistan, stan mcchrystal, as well as other top military brass, to make an assessment on where the new strategy stands. we will let you know if we get any more information from that meeting. in the middle box, lawyers for o.j. simpson are back in court today trying to convince a court panel to release him and co- defendants from prison. simms and will not be in court for that today. -- simpson will not be in court for that to date. in the bottom box, possible locations for relocating prisoners from guantanamo bay. trace: that should be interesting. the airplane just dropped. that was from passengers on this flight from brazil. the plane was diverted to miami international after hitting clear air turbulence. clear air turbulence is nearly impossible to detect with onboard radar systems. we are speaking to our houston affiliate. have they made it to houston? >> not yet. the next arrival is 1:15 p.m. there was one flight that arrives, but no one from that

the taliban is getting stronger according to admiral mike mullen.harder for the security situation to get under control. >> the taliban insurgency has gotten more sophisticated. jon: joining us now is the director of communications for the center for defense studies. we have been sending all of these extra troops to the -- to afghanistan. the obama administration asked for additional troops. how can this situation be getting worse? >> i think that is an overstatement i think the brakes have been put on. let's look at the recent success of the election in afghanistan. jon: you disagree with what the chairman of the joint chiefs said? >> i think we have had some successes. he is talking about long-term trends, which clearly we have to monitor and be worried about. we did have a successful set of elections. when the administration goes in to ask for more troops, we have to give the current commander police six months to get control the situation. we do not have that yet. what we need to look at here is the whole picture. are we implying the correct str

you've got the top military officer in the country, admiral mike mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, he's got thousands of followers on twitter, and he's tweeting almost every day. >> the air force also recently trangd twitter messages along with other social sites to gauge the public backlash this spring following the air force one photo shoot flyover in manhattan. how it's used is still up for debate. michelle franzen, nbc news, new york. >> the defense department has created its own cyber command. it's reviewing the twitter policy for all four branches of the military. >> stay with us, everyone. "news 4 today" continues now at 5:00 a.m. >>> shots fired. an outbreak of gunfire in the district and a young girl rushed to the hospital. how police say a 13-year-old was shot inside her own home. >> bump in the road. a construction project amgd at easing traffic congestion. why lawmakers in northern virginia have decided to hit the brakes on this plan. >> middle ground. opposition against a proposed health care plan is gaining momentum. what president obama is now saying he'll

so what mike mullen is trying to do is turn that around.e is trying to and what is called the battle for the narrative, the battle to win back from the taliban the perceptions of the people and to gain the support of the people. by the way, this is don necessarily a strategic issue so much as it is a tactical issue. it is the performance of young men and women every day in scotts and platoons who go out on patrol that will really help shape the narrative and turn this war back in favor of the allies. jon: in many respects, it seems to be the same kind of strategy that general petraeus was practicing in iraq. addressing the needs of the local population, keeping them safe, and letting that dictate the tempo of the war. >> a little bit, but afghanistan is not iraq. the theaters of war are so different. this war is being fought at a much lower level, the inkatha against insurgent who is far more skillful. it is fought against a tribal culture that is far more fragmented than in iraq where local chiefs how far more control of the local populati

admiral mike mullen says afghanistan is still vulnerable to extremist. all of this as we wait for the result of the country's presidential election. millions of afghans voted despite significant threats to their safety. a u.n. commission says it's gotten 225 complaints about fraud and other issues. the u.s. special envoy for the region says the u.s. government will wait for ruling from the afghanistan monitoring body before trying to judge legitimacy of the vote. there are new signs that tension between north and south korea may be thawing. south korea held a state funeral for former president kim dae-jung. tens of thousands crowded outside the parliament building to pay tribute to the nobel peace prize winning leader. the delegation sent by kim jong il returned to porn porn bef porn -- returned to pyongyang before the funeral. they conveyed a message to their leader in a meeting yesterday. >>> athens, greece, under a state of emergency. massive wildfire reached the suburb north of the greek capital overnight. 10,000 people have been forced to essentiall

, top military officers say the situation in afghanistan is serious an dear ratings and admiral mike mullenrefusing to say more american troops will be needed and the hurricane bill making its way toward canada, the storm bringing rough waves and rain, and -- to parts of the east coast in the u.s. and bill is planned to make landfall tomorrow in canada and there are reports of power outages and cancelled flights and president barack obama kicking off the first week long vacation at martha's vineyard and the first family arriving the massachusetts island and the president is planning to relax and not make any news this week. >> gregg: you seem to run through the headlines quickly, are you anxious to go somewhere and do something. >> julie: i want to get out of here, i have -- >> gregg: something is happening in six days... >> julie: i am getting married in six days! you're losing me! that was us at megan's wedding and they'll be attending my wedding next saturday. >> gregg: lucky guy. >> julie: aren't you jealous. >> gregg: look at the next one here. >> julie: and this is when we -- went dow

let me ask you something about what the chairman joint chiefs of staff mike mullen said. and is he correct in making that statement? >> john, i think he's mostly right. i think the situation has been deterioratin deteriorating, undoubtedly. i would have chosen different words from what little i was able to ascertain in the military situation. i don't want to claim firsthand knowledge. i don't have much time to look into it. we're seeing pockets of success in the places we've deployed forces this spring and summer. 30,000 u.s. troops have gone in to afghanistan. the strategy is starting to make sense in the limited number of places where they have put boots on the ground. the problem is, we don't have enough of them and we haven't had enough time to build up the economy and the government in place where is they've gone. so whatever progress we've had is fragile. the admiral has to be carolful here. he's fatalistic. if the americans think that 30,000 more troops makes no difference, it's going to be hard to sustain public support. >> already sentiment to the war is changing

including defense secretary robert gates and joint chiefs of staff chairman admirable mike mullen.nywhere 12 to 27,000 additional troops could be deployed to afghanistan as soon as next year. that's on top of the more than 20,000 troops already approved by president obama. gretchen: 100 people rushed to the hospital because of a chemical leak trash disposal facility. people falling in and out of consciousness. the facility is in bedford, massachusetts. >> we have obligation as public safety officials to try to find every piece of evidence that we can to provide the medical community with that to help them in their recovery. >> investigators believe the fumes came from a truck dumping construction debris. peter: feeling the pinch as the federal tax revenue continues to fall badly. an a.p. report shows that uncle sam will take in 18% less from taxpayers this year. while the federal deficit soars to a record of almost $2 trillion. the report comes as president obama and congress push for expensive health care overhaul and several new costly programs. economists say if the recession do

let us start with your exclusive interview yesterday with admiral mike mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs, on afghanistan. guest: it was a very stark interview. he said, listen, i am not going to lie to you, we are in a big hole. we start our military and diplomatic resources there. we created a culture of poverty, that caught our ears, in our own military. it will take us many years to dig out of it. he gave a candid and bleak assessment and said it is an uphill slog. i think a lot of people are still focused in iraq but the afghan theatre is becoming more prominent. host: what does he mean by a culture of poverty? guest: they were so used to doing without, whether it is military equipment or specialties needed in the field, particularly dealing with the civilian side would you are doing the nation building. the military sort of got into the mindset that there was little they can do, so they were in this all occurred down mentality. he is trying to break the cycle. he said there is an open checkbook. he told particularly general mcchrystal, whatever you need, you will get it and w

but i was absolutely astonished that this man, admiral mike mullen who's the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, would know my story. telling this story is so difficult for me to tell so i ask for your patience if i stumble. until relatively recently on my lifeline my father was just one of among many of more than 78,000 american servicemen still missing from world war ii. on june 9th, 1999, a flag-draped casket carrying his remains was borne on a hearsh-drawn caisson to its resting place at arlington national cemetery. he was buried with full military honors that includedded a flyover by four a-10's in the missing man formation, the wing man spiraling away symbolizing the lost pilot. when the planes rode above us i was literally pulled out of my chair it was so powerful a tribute. it was appropriate for my father to be honored by these modern version of the p-47 thunderer bolt. for the events that led to that day began more than half a century earlier. i am the only child of second lieutenant george phillip gaffney jr. who at 23 went missing in his p-47 on march 11th, 1944 in new guin

but i was absolutely astonished that this man, admiral mike mullen who's the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, would know my story. telling this story is so difficult for me to tell so i ask for your patience if i stumble. until relatively recently on my lifeline my father was just one of among many of more than 78,000 american servicemen still missing from world war ii. on june 9th, 1999, a flag-draped casket carrying his remains was borne on a hearsh-drawn caisson to its resting place at arlington national cemetery. he was buried with full military honors that includedded a flyover by four a-10's in the missing man formation, the wing man spiraling away symbolizing the lost pilot. when the planes rode above us i was literally pulled out of my chair it was so powerful a tribute. it was appropriate for my father to be honored by these modern version of the p-47 thunderer bolt. for the events that led to that day began more than half a century earlier. i am the only child of second lieutenant george phillip gaffney jr. who at 23 went missing in his p-47 on march 11th, 1944 in new guin