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Veterans Day

Veterans Day.  The day we have chosen to honor those who have served... and continue to serve our country.  As we thank them for their service today, we should not forget that during the OTHER 364 days of the year... they remain on duty often risking their lives for us.  As the politicians and the voters debate the purpose and direction of the Iraq war, the members of our armed forces continue to put their lives on the line.

The ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery today was the centerpiece of our nation's tribute to veterans.  Still, the President's war policy seems to be at the heart of a new poll, which shows the President's approval ratings at its lowest point since his father was in office.  NBC's Jeannie Ohm has that story.

From Iraq, more violence against Iraqis... and another attack against a symbol of America in Iraq.  NBC's Tom Aspell is in Baghdad.

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Notes from 'Jihadistan'

Editor's Note (5:51 p.m. ET, Monday, Nov. 13): This piece was promoted as airing tonight, Monday, but has been bumped from the rundown. It will, however, air later this week.

I guess Sen. John Warner, R-Va., summed it up when he said, in reaction to the sea change in Washington, that it’s an appropriate time to review U.S. military strategy in Iraq, and ‘we mustn’t forget Afghanistan.’ With so much focus, and so many resources spent on Iraq, many Americans, it seems, have forgotten the war in Afghanistan. And they’ve forgotten – at least according to some counter-insurgency experts – that we’ve been losing the war there. The Taliban is back, stronger than ever, while U.S. and NATO soldiers are dying at an unprecedented rate.

To assess the situation in the remote, rugged country where the 'War on Terror' began, we’re launching a three-part special series. "The Haven" airs Monday - the 5th anniversary of the fall of Kabul, effectively ending the Taliban’s 5-year regime.  But, five years after the collapse of al-Qaida’s sanctuary, another haven has cropped up, every bit as lawless and threatening. "Jihadistan" as some call it -  an expanse of merciless land the size of Texas - stretches across Southern and Eastern Afghanistan, and over the border into the fearsome tribal belt inside Pakistan. There, in areas like Waziristan, the Taliban has free reign. We see armed fighters control the streets. Al-Qaida-linked fugitives like Mohammad Faquir – a good friend of al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al Zawahiri – boast brazenly to our cameras about future attacks on U.S. and Pakistani forces. Teachers are assassinated, girls’ schools are burned. Edicts that ban clean-shaven faces or impose tax collection for holy war are on the rise. It is like old Taliban days.

"You’ve got not just jihadis," explains one of our Afghanistan experts. "You’ve got drug dealers, you’ve got warlords, you’ve got criminals of every description. But certainly this belt is probably one of the biggest challenges the U.S. has to face in trying to stabilize Afghanistan."

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Our 'Coming Home' series

Beginning Monday, our broadcast will air a series of reports called "Coming Home," telling the story of the other front in the war, here at home. 

Our first report will tell the story of our recent (return) visit to Ward 57 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.  It's an emotional place, where they put men and women together again after combat.  Ward 57 is where the amputees are treated -- and fitted with new limbs. 

There's a lot more that goes on there, which I hope will be apparent through our reporting.  While there is sadness and loss in our reporting throughout the coming week, there is also great hope, recovery, courage, bravery and love.  You will meet people who have lost a limb. You will meet people who have lost a son. But you will also meet people who have found new hope and promise in life, and would not trade anything for the satisfaction that comes from serving.  That's what coming home should be all about, after all. I hope you can join us all week.

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Return to Darfur's edge

Atrocities are escalating, as our NBC News team has returned to Darfur's edge - this time we carry body armor. Landing in Goz Beida, Chad today, it is immediately clear that it is much more dangerous than 8 months ago when we were last in the region. First came reports that thousands of Sudanese government troops had amassed from Darfur to back the Arab militia called Janjaweed. And with the end of Ramadan and the rainy season there was wide-spread fear that a mass killing campaign was being planned.

Then came hard evidence this fear is justified -- the UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, has substantiated at least 10 African villages have been attacked. Most are set on fire. Men are being killed, women are gang raped - the attacks are systematic in most cases by black Arabs against  black Africans. A new crisis is begging to be stopped.

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The highest honor

As I have said in this space before, I sit on only one board: the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation.  The Foundation's stated goal is to promote the values of "courage, sacrifice and patriotism" that the nation's highest military honor is meant to signify.  I point this out because the subject will come up on tonight's broadcast.  President Bush today presented the Medal to a Marine who gave his life for the cause in Iraq.  His story and his citation are chilling, and his act of bravery and selflessness was astounding.  Tonight we will bring you today's event, and Rehema Ellis will tell this young Marine's story.

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The 'Early Nightly' is up

Tomorrow is officially Veteran's Day, but our Daily Nightly Editor Rob Merrill is celebrating today's observed holiday with his wife (who is in the military) by taking the day off.

Tonight's broadcast also recognizes the holiday and our veterans by focusing on the most recent Medal of Honor winner, as Brian tells you in today's vlog. He also explains why we at 30 Rock will be hunkering down until the first of the year.

Watch the vlog

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Navigating the memories of a veteran

When I was growing up back in the 1960s, it seemed like all of my friends' dads had participated to some degree in the big one -- World War II.  I pretty much took it for granted.  I knew my dad had served. I had seen the black-and-white photos he kept in his room and the big cardboard box in the closet that contained some medals, maps, photos, a Japanese yen with the names of cities handwritten on it, and books to help spot enemy planes based on their silhouettes.  But we never really talked much about what he had done.   

Well, it's taken me 30 years to start asking, and maybe it’s taken him that long to feel comfortable about it, but the stories are starting to emerge.  Stories of being scared, airsick, feeling the heat and smelling burning cities as the planes roared in at only 5,000 feet.

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Remembering Ed Bradley

I knew Ed Bradley as a very tough competitor and as a compassionate human being. He arrived in Vietnam for CBS about a year after I joined the staff of NBC News in Saigon. If you were up against Ed on a story, you were on your toes because you knew he was always looking for ways to hammer the opposition.  When Saigon was about to fall to the communist North Vietnamese in April 1975, both Ed Bradley and I had volunteered to go back to cover the end of the Vietnam war for our respective networks.

On April 29, as the word came that Americans were being evacuated from Saigon, Ed tried to tie up all the outgoing long-distance phone circuits from the besieged capital so that the other networks would have problems filing live reports by telephone. One of my NBC News colleagues almost got in a fist fight with Bradley, who protested his innocence.

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A new day, a sad day

The graphic that will overlay our lead story tonight reads: A NEW DAY. Those Americans exhausted by a late election night the evening before woke up this morning to learn of a Democratic sweep. It's official: House and Senate. George Allen of Virginia and Conrad Burns of Montana have conceded, and so begins a new political era in this country. We will cover it all tonight.

Now to the other half of the title of this post. The sad word arrived in our newsroom around mid-morning, and it was hard to believe. Ed Bradley has died. I have just completed writing a remembrance of him for the end of tonight's broadcast. What an elegant man. What a great journalist.  I have been inundated with notes and phone calls from colleagues in the industry. Ron Allen e-mailed me to be sure I mentioned how many people Ed mentored over the years... especially African American journalists, for whom Ed always seemed to be available to lend an ear and offer help. George Lewis reminisced about meeting Ed while covering the Vietnam War. Producer Kelly Venardos (always identified as Ed's "un-official Goddaughter") reminded me what a "happy soul" Ed always was, and so those very words will be added to my own on the air tonight. Howard Stringer agreed to be interviewed today, but was fearful he would break down in the middle of taping. It was that kind of a day. He was that kind of a guy. An icon is gone.

We hope you will join us for our Thursday night broadcast.

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Troops react to Rumsfeld resignation

Editor's note: Don reported this story on Wednesday's hour-long edition of Nightly News. If you missed it, you can watch his report here. I asked him to give us an additional sampling of what the troops he talked to said about Secretary Rumsfeld.

If you ask America's fighting men and women, they'll tell you that changes at the top often take a long time to trickle down to them. On a day-to-day basis, an Army private is much more concerned with decisions made by their platoon leader or company commander, than the secretary of defense. That said, most of the troops we spoke with, at bases across the U.S., had more than just a passing interest in Donald Rumsfeld's retirement. 

They all expressed surprise... particularly since President Bush had publicly endorsed Rumsfeld less than a week before the election. Many also say they respected Rumsfeld, knew that he had made some difficult decisions, and was doing an excellent job. Most were also optimistic, hoping that Robert Gates would be as committed to victory as they are, and might offer some new ideas to bring that about.

Here's a sampling of what we heard from the soldiers and Marines we met at Fort Hood, Fort Drum and Camp Pendleton.

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