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This salute is from Angela Gaffner to her son Specialist Cory Gaffner, Army Reserves.

"Cory is an Army Reservist out of Phoenix, AZ 348th transportation unit 365 day tour in Afghanistan stationed at Camp Leatherneck, He is a Driver and a 50 cal gunner.

He has been there for 2 months so far and he is keeping his spirits up, He enjoys representing his country and feels very proud about what he is doing, he is a wonderful young man with a lot of love in his heart. He is planning on having a huge wedding on September 18th, 2010 to his fiancée Brittany."

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A new poll shows Romney up front in Iowa.

Just wanted to update you all on my son,s status, here are a couple of pics as well as a letter that was just written to me

It states as follows:

"Mom I am well do not worry about me, I love my friends here and I love my missions which I finally started. I am very proud to be doing what Im doing. Sorry I have not got a chance to write, things have been crazy here. I'm a 50 cal gunner and a driver now.

When you roll out on a convoy all the other soldiers and marines look at you like you are some kind of HERO. 90% of the people on the post will never even go out of the front gate like I do on a DAILY basis. I miss my home, I miss my family and my dogs, Arizona in general and yes, I miss my wife. This place is not that bad, time is going by fast. This is the stuff I want to tell my grandkids about, disgruntled old veteran suits me just fine. Thank you for sending packages, I really could use some more wet wipes and I loved those white grape juice drinks.

Love,
Cory
(Camp Leatherneck)"

- Angela Gaffner

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A new poll shows Romney up front in Iowa.

My wife, Sargent Eboni Johnson, is a very strong, loving and caring woman. She is not only a great soldier but a great mother. As well she is a Christian who loves to serve God and have fun with family and friends, and she always has a smile on her face.

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Sports Anchor Rafer Weigel

Eye gouging is an act so deplorable it's not acceptable in even the most violent of sports. Mixed martial arts will let you elbow a guy in the head, but not gouge an eye. Pro wrestling will let you hit a guy with a chair, grab his hair, or step on his head, but no eye gouging.

Hey Spikes, watch where you put those fingers, ok?

Apparently the act of trying to blind someone who is defenseless is not a big deal for the Florida football program or the Southeastern Conference. Gator linebacker Brandon Spikes was caught on-camera blatantly jamming his fingers into the facemask of Georgia’s Washaun Ealey. And now his coach, Urban Meyer, suspended him for a half in their upcoming game against Vanderbilt. A HALF a game for what is basically assault.

Now, I’m not so naïve to think eye gouging doesn’t happen all the time. I know Spikes just got caught. But that doesn’t make it right and it’s why he should have at least SOME kind of punishment that sends a message that these kinds of things are not tolerable.

Tim Tebow—who I normally respect a great deal—said, “I don’t think we did anything in that game that they didn’t do.” This is supposed to be the team’s leader in every sense of the word and he’s justifying it by saying essentially, “Well, those guys did it too.” So essentially, his excuse is since they were doing it, we were doing it too.

Meyer said he doesn’t “condone” Spikes' behavior. Really? That’s good since he could have blinded the guy. Glad to hear you don’t “condone” trying to blind someone.

The people who should be the most upset about Spikes' behavior and his coach’s non-punishment are Florida Gator fans. UF is the reigning BCS National Champion. They hold themselves to a higher standard. To inadequately penalize this means that they also hold themselves to a double standard.

What gets me mad is, coaches are supposed to not just be churning out football players they’re supposed to be churning out men. They’re not just supposed to build champions but build character. Meyer’s response basically confirms what we all inherently knew—the NCAA isn’t about achieving excellence. It’s about winning and generating money off the backs of unpaid athletes many of whom will never play the sport after college. It just would be nice if those in positions of authority like conference cfficials or Meyer would pretend it’s not all about that.

It would also be nice if we could discourage behavior that could leave a player with long-term or permanent injury once they leave school.

Meteorologist Bob Van Dillen

It’s just 5 weeks away, and my legs are barkin’. The Las Vegas Rock ‘N Roll marathon/half marathon is December 6th! I am the honorary chairman for the Crohn’s and Colitis foundation of American, the official charity for this race.

I love being part of Team Challenge, the group of people that are racing and raising money for the foundation. You can check them out at ccteamchallenge.org.

Many of the team members have Crohn’s or colitis, yet they power through it and train for the race anyway. These guys are the true heroes in my opinion.

I just ran 9 miles while being healthy Sunday for training and I feel like a bus hit me this morning.

This is the 3rd half marathon of the year for me, and I think I am done running for a while after this. I love and respect the people that have these diseases so much that I can suck it up for one last this year, it’s the least I can do!

Wish me luck, and in a few weeks I’ll solicit for some jokes to tell while I MC the event at the MGM in Vegas.

Rute Belanger and her husband Army Major John Belanger.

Major John Belanger is on his 4rd deployment. He also has a birthday next month. John joined the military when he was 18 and he is turning 41.

John is my best friend; he is a Transportation Offices assigned to 82nd Division from FT Bragg, NC. John works hard and loves to have fun, especially in sports. He is a great athlete; he has run numerous triathlons and marathons, he plays and coaches hockey. He is very energetic and committed to live a healthy well balanced life.

Happy Birthday sweetheart! We love and miss you and can't wait to see you soon. We are so proud of you!

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Navy Senior Airman Benjamin Frank and his children.

We want to salute our Soldier, Sr A Benjamin Frank with the 151st CES, EOD team serving in OEF Afghanistan. He is a Dad, a wrestling buddy, a husband, and a best friend. He has been gone over a month and we miss him like crazy!

Ben has left behind 3 little boys and his princess who writes him daily and are trying to be as strong as they can to help out Mom while Dad is gone. We can't wait for his return home in April.

We love him so much and we are very proud of what he is doing for our family and for the country. Stay strong and keep safe, Love you babe!

- Tera Frank

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Sarah Walker and her husband Army Specialist Wesley Walker.

Specialist Wesley Walker is not only the love of my life, but the most amazing person that I've ever met.

After enlisting in the military straight out of high school, he left his friends and family and moved to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He is constantly giving 100%, regardless of whether or not he feels up to it.

After us only being married for 6 months, he left for Iraq in January of 2009. I never thought I could be so proud of someone as I am of him.

After meeting him once, you will remember him forever. He always can put a smile on your face, even when you're having the worst day. I love Wesley more than anything in the entire world, and am incredibly proud to call such a thoughtful, caring, intelligent, and all around unbelievable person my husband. Every day I'm amazed at how lucky I am.

I never thought at 20 years old that I'd be married, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Wesley makes me proud to call myself an Army wife.

- Sarah Walker

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Michelle Doyen salutes her husband SGT Steven Doyen of the Army Reserves.

Steven and I met almost 4 years ago, we started dating and he never thought twice about sharing a life with myself an my three children from another marriage ... it was all or nothing and it was never a problem.

In 2007 He proposed and was ready to take on a ready made family, also in that year he reenlisted in the Army Reserves, he was due to be done in February but it was something he believed in and I told him he was in the Army when he met me so it was not my decision to make and that whatever he decided I would be there standing beside him! He enlisted for 6 more years.

In Sept. of 2008 we got married which was the most incredible day of our lives, we went on a wonderful honeymoon cruise and everything was amazing. Then we got the news that his unit the 445th TC out of Sac City & Waterloo Iowa were being deployed to Iraq in May/June, it was like a knife went into my heart, it took so many years to find the man of my dreams and now he was leaving me.

In June we had the send off which was one of the saddest, yet most humbling days of my life, I have never been more proud to be an Army wife and an American. Words cannot describe the emotions of that day. Now we sit and wait missing him everyday, our one year wedding anniversary was a very emotional day spending it apart, but I keep telling myself he will come home and we will have 100 more anniversaries together!

Technology is great and has been a life saver we get to Skype and see each other in conversation and I can see for myself that he is alright, it helps a little but sometimes makes it worse because then I miss him even more!

Hopefully he will be back with us safe an sound next June or so, but being an Army wife there will always be the possibility he will leave again, but I will be strong, take care of things at home so he can do his job and come back to us! God bless all our soldiers and their families for all your sacrifices!!!! We love you Sgt. Steven Doyen!!

- Michelle Doyen

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Writer Mike

We face some interesting choices some days working to put together Morning Express. Take, for instance, Friday morning … the story about the little boy who might have been carried off on a balloon.

Richard Heene has told reporters that a runaway balloon incident involving his son was 'absolutely no hoax.'

It was one of those stories that had captured peoples' imagination. For several hours last Thursday, huge numbers of people were glued to their sets.

But there was an aspect of the story that was hard to believe. In the footage, the balloon certainly looked lightweight. And the story itself was incredible.

A balloon had broken loose from its tether. Mom and Dad were afraid their little boy might have been carried away. He might still be on board. Or he might have fallen off.

But the kid was actually hiding in the attic.

And then there the interview on CNN. His father asked why he hadn’t come out of hiding. He said, “You guys said we did this for the show.”

What exactly did he mean? What show?

Was the kid acknowledging that the thing was a stunt? Had he let something slip?

We felt it was important to at least evaluate the possibility that the balloon incident was a stunt.

But we had nothing to show it was phony. The parents insisted their fear was real.

So we had a balancing act to perform. Our decision: We ran the sound bite of the kid. And followed it with a comment from the sheriff, insisting that he thought the story was no hoax.

That gave viewers the opportunity to make their own judgments. We told them what we knew at the time.

And that’s an important assessment. Some skepticism about a story often becomes necessary. But if you let too much skepticism creep into your reporting, it would begin to color the story beyond the known facts.

So you play it down the middle. And wait to see.