5/9/08

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U.S. Army Sgt. Jacque Keeslar lost both legs in Iraq nearly two years ago. To get around, he relies on a wheelchair and a pair of artificial legs, which help him walk in short bursts."If I have to do a half mile or mile of walking, it just exhausts me," Keeslar said. Now, thanks to a specially designed Segway, the battery-powered transporter, Keeslar says he can ditch his wheelchair and get around without people looking down on him. Keeslar was among 30 vets who received their own modified Segways this week, courtesy of Disability Rights Advocates for Technology. The nonprofit group presented its latest batch of Segways to the veterans in a ceremony Wednesday at the Army-Navy Country Club in Arlington, Virginia. That brings the number of Segways they have donated to vets to about 150. Leonard Timm, who founded DRAFT in 2005, calls the mission "Segs-4-Vets."

Missiles, tanks and other heavy weaponry rolled through Moscow's Red Square in the Victory Day parade Friday, the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union that they have appeared in the annual event.Victory Day, marking the defeat of Nazi Germany, is Russia's most important secular holiday, both honoring the enormous sacrifices of World War II, in which nearly 9 million Red Army soldiers are estimated to have died, and asserting the country's military strength. Russia has nearly quadrupled its defense spending in recent years, aiming to resuscitate the military forces that deteriorated in the post-Soviet period. Topol missiles, which have the capacity to carry nuclear warheads, were part of the display of more than 100 tanks, mobile missile units and armored vehicles that was aimed at underlining the military revival. But many of the heavy weapons shown were only slightly modernized versions of equipment developed decades ago.