Fort Campbell

Marcus McClinton has played in 34 games and started 25 during his Kentucky career and expects to be one of the leaders of an improved Kentucky defense this year. The senior free safety is coming off a season where he missed five games because of three separate injuries and hopes to be even more productive this year. McClinton, a Chicago native who played in high school for two years in Milwaukee and two years at Fort Campbell, is also an accomplished singer who has made his own music videos.

Marcus McClinton has played in 34 games and started 25 during his Kentucky career and expects to be one of the leaders of an improved Kentucky defense this year. The senior free safety is coming off a season where he missed five games because of three separate injuries and hopes to be even more productive this year. McClinton, a Chicago native who played in high school for two years in Milwaukee and two years at Fort Campbell, is also an accomplished singer who has made his own music videos.

Sgt. Estell Lee Turner, 43, passed away July 2 at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., from injuries he suffered in Afghanistan. He was a motor transport operator with Echo Company, 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. Turner graduated from Buckhorn High School, Buckhorn, Ky. in 1983. Upon graduation he enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving with the 3rd Infantry Division in Germany until 1989. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2007 and attended the Warrior Transition Course at the White Sands Missile Range, White Sands, N.M., then Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. for Motor Transport Operator reclassification training.

Nearly every day I receive letters like this one, from the wife of a brave Kentucky soldier serving in Iraq: "No one wants any more soldiers killed, wounded or missing in action," she writes. "Especially the families of soldiers, like me and my daughter. But knowing he is there making sure we are safe here makes it easier to send my daughter to school. " I hear sentiments like that a lot as I travel to places like Fort Campbell and Fort Knox to meet our troops and their families.

John D. Kline, U.S. Army, was promoted to Lt. Col. at a ceremony officiated by Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser, commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division in Fort Campbell. Lt. Col. Kline pilots UH-60 Black Hawks and serves as executive officer of the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade. Kline's mother, Christine, earned a Master of Divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary and lives in Wilmore. Fully supportive of her son, she said, "There is an army, the Lord's army, in which we can all participate, confronting any extremism and wickedness within ourselves and leaving the world a better place than we found it. "

Pfc. Joshua Mark Kerby, 21, of Nicholasville, graduated from Fort Benning, Ga., Army Infantry Training July 6. He is a 2004 graduate of East Jessamine High School where he played varsity baseball. Kerby is the son of Mark and Kathy Lockhart and Mark Kerby and Regina Greer, and he is a sister to Kristin Kerby, all of Nicholasville. He is the grandson of Dallas and Carolyn Kerby of Lexington, Margie Combs of Lawrenceville, Ga., and Curtis Combs of Nicholasville, and the late Mary Kerby.

The United States Army stands as the pride of this country and the envy of the world. This month marks its 232nd birthday. On June 14, 1775, an all-volunteer force of colonialists banded together to battle the tyranny of a king across the sea and to secure a democratic republic. Today, an all-volunteer force fights in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world to protect our freedoms and security here at home. In between, the men and women of the U.S. Army fought throughout Asia, Europe, the Middle East and on our own soil.

Time is absolute. Every interval of time, every second or hour or day, is exactly as long as every other second or hour or day. Yeah, right. Science may tell us time is absolute, but we know better. We know that how long a second or an hour or a day really lasts depends on how you spend it. Doing something you enjoy makes time seem to fly. Doing something you don't enjoy makes time seem to drag. Let's compare, for instance, how the last year has gone for me, my first year in Winchester, with how the last year has gone for my daughter, who spent it in Iraq with the U.S. Army.

LEXINGTON - Fort Campbell standout Micah Johnson has officially decided to join his brother, Christian, at the University of Kentucky. Johnson was calling other coaches who had recruited him Monday to tell them he was going to Kentucky. He also told several recruits that were at the Kentucky-Tennessee game Saturday that he was set to join the Wildcats. His mother, Vicki, confirmed Monday night that he had made his final decision and picked UK over Notre Dame, Georgia and Virginia Tech.

As Kentucky football coach Rich Brooks tries to finalize what he believes will be an even more successful recruiting class, most of the attention is focused on what key in-state recruits will do. Will Hopkinsville quarterback Curtis Pulley remain true to his early verbal commitment and sign with Kentucky? Will it hurt the Wildcats significantly that Lexington Catholic linebacker Brandon Logan and Murray offensive lineman Corey Zirbel apparently will both sign with Michigan? What impact will it have that the Cats again have had limited success recruiting in Louisville?