WASHINGTON — U.S. Reps. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, and Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, applauded the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, in social media statements shortly after the White House took credit for the airstrike during the evening of Thursday, Jan. 2.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — For Iranians whose icons since the Islamic Revolution have been stern-faced clergy, Gen. Qassem Soleimani was a popular figure of national resilience in the face of four decades of U.S. pressure.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iran vowed "harsh retaliation" for a U.S. airstrike near Baghdad's airport that killed a top Iranian general who had been the architect of its interventions across the Middle East, as tensions soared in the wake of the targeted killing.

Snow lightly fell as veterans saluted and residents placed their hands over their hearts Monday morning along Grand Haven’s Harbor Drive, and veterans lowered the flag at the Eternal Flame to half-mast.

As we prepare to celebrate Veterans Day on Monday, the Tribune sat down and talked with two local women who had very different military experiences, but who both devoted a part of their life to help protect and serve their country. 

KINGSLEY — Twenty-one shots from an honor guard. The haunting sound of a bugler playing “Taps.” Then, total silence as two more Michigan Army National Guard Honor Guard members folded the flag draped over U.S. Army Sgt. David Feriend’s casket, presenting one to his two sisters.

LAMONT — The Henry E. Plant Camp No. 3 Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War of Grand Haven will conduct a ceremony to dedicate the organization’s Last Soldier marker for Ottawa County at 3 p.m. Saturday.

MUSKEGON — The USS LST-393 is now moored on Muskegon Lake near downtown Muskegon. Seventy-five years ago, it took part in one of the most important events of World War II: D-Day.

Congressman Bill Huizenga will be hosting an information session on Saturday for West Michigan high school students who are interested in attending a U.S. service academy.

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The U.S. Navy sent two guided-missile destroyers on Monday to challenge China’s claims to two reefs it has militarized without internationally recognized authority to do so, according to the United States.

Seaman Kyle Fialek, a Fruitport native, said his brother served in the U.S. Navy and was a great influence on him growing up.

PORT HURON — Shortly after 8 a.m. recently, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Hollyhock and its crew, surrounded by fishing boats under an overcast sky, pulled away from the Algonac pier, embarking on a buoy-tending mission that would set a record for the ship.

U.S. Navy Cmdr. Brent Jackson, a 1997 graduate of Grand Haven High School, is the commanding officer of the guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93).

SPRING LAKE — Chris Hindley wanted to honor her son, Zachery Clark, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps last fall.

CHICAGO — James MacDonald, the senior pastor and founding member of Harvest Bible Chapel, has been fired, the church announced early Wednesday morning.

The local Chief Petty Officers Association has ended its collection to help Coast Guard members affected by the now-resolved federal government shutdown.

At five minutes to eight o’clock, on a Sunday morning, Dec. 7, 1941, in Hawaii, Japanese planes attacked the United States military base at Pearl Harbor.

The U.S. Senate approved a compromise policy Wednesday on dumping ship ballast water in coastal ports and the Great Lakes, a practice blamed for spreading invasive species that damage the environment and the economy.

Grand Haven’s Norm Spring joined more than 100 other World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans in Washington, D.C., last month for the Talons Out Honors Flight. 

Grand Haven Rotarians lined Beacon Boulevard and Washington Avenue with 150 American flags on Sunday, Nov. 11, in honor of Veterans Day. 

GRAND HAVEN TWP. — There were a lot of anxious nights in the DeGram house back in the early 1940s.

SAN DIEGO — A 2012 Reeths-Puffer High School graduate is serving in the U.S. Navy with Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 73 at Naval Station North Island in Coronado, California.

Lt. Col. Greg Turner assumed the leadership of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Detroit District on Thursday during a change-of-command ceremony.

Two new markers honoring the men and women of the armed forces who’ve served and fallen were unveiled Friday during a ceremony at the Lynne Sherwood Waterfront Stadium.

Lt. Brian Howard said his father inspired him to join the U.S. Coast Guard and that the community inspired him to request Grand Haven as his next assignment.

A 2015 Muskegon High School graduate is serving in the U.S. Navy as part of the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise, Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC).

The Tri-Cities Historical Museum will host a lecture next week called “The True Story of the USCGC Escanaba.”

Brent Jackson, a commander in the U.S. Navy and a native of Grand Haven, took command of the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) on May 9 while underway off the coast of southern California.

SAN DIEGO — Service members and a few of their spouses took oaths to become U.S. citizens aboard the USS Midway Museum as part of the Citizenship and Immigration Service’s celebration of Independence Day.

SPRING LAKE TWP. — A U.S. Army veteran and Spring Lake Township resident puts up a flag memorial in celebration of the Fourth of July and Memorial Day holidays each year.

MUSKEGON — The Smithsonian Channel is launching the second season of “Hell Below,” a five-part series showcasing the strategic decisions made by military submariners during World War II, inspired by a book written at the USS Silversides Museum in Muskegon.

Spring Lake native Anne Allman thought her father was crazy when he first suggested she join the U.S. Coast Guard.

It’s been 75 years to the day since the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Escanaba sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. 

The first clues that something big was happening were the guns.

U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul F. Zukunft will be relieved by the Atlantic Area commander, Vice Adm. Karl L. Schultz, during a change-of-command ceremony at 11 a.m. Friday.

For many, Memorial Day is celebrated as a day off work; a chance to grill out with families and enjoy the beautiful May weather. 

Jennifer Begert had tears in her eyes as a bugler played “Taps” and she was presented with a flag in honor of her father, John C. Begert, during a memorial service Thursday at the American Legion Charles A. Conklin Post 28. 

BATH, Maine — A 2014 Grand Haven High School graduate is serving as part of the Precommissioning Unit for the future Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116).

HOLLAND — Among several changes coming to Coast Guard operations in West Michigan this summer, the Holland Coast Guard station will only be operational on weekends.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Tuesday the U.S. will pull out of the landmark nuclear accord with Iran, declaring he's making the world safer but dealing a profound blow to allies and deepening the president's isolation on the world stage.

Twenty-two veterans take their own lives every day, according to statistics. 

It was a whirlwind weekend for Grand Haven’s Bob Wolniakowski, 88, and George “Skip” Schippers, 85, who both participated in the Talons Out Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., this past Saturday.

The bond of family isn’t the only thing that connects Grand Haven’s Bob Wolniakowski, 88, and George Schippers, 85 — the two are also Korean War veterans.

Al Johnson, a 94-year-old World War II veteran from Hudsonville, said it’s hard for people to remember something that never existed from the perspective of the general public.

The Tri-Cities Historical Museum will host the third in a series of lectures on the history of World War I: “World War I on the Periphery: Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.”

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Escanaba will return to Grand Haven this summer to commemorate the 75th anniversary of its namesake’s sinking during World War II.

SAULT STE. MARIE — U.S. Coast Guard cutters are breaking ice in Lake Superior, Bay of Green Bay, Straits of Mackinac and the St. Marys River as part of Spring Breakout in preparation for the seasonal opening of the Soo Locks.

TRAVERSE CITY (AP) — Traverse City is building a memorial to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Vice Adm. Karl L. Schultz has been nominated by President Donald Trump to be the 26th commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard.