Baqubah is the capital of Iraq's Diyala Governorate. The city is located some 50 km (31 mi) to the northeast of Baghdad, on the Diyala River. In 2003 it had an estimated population of some 280,000 people.
Jesse Kenneth Tobey was an American actor active from the early 1940s into the 1990s, with over 200 credits in film, theatre, and television. He is best known for his role as a captain who takes charge of an Arctic military base when it is attacked by a plant-based alien in The Thing from Another World (1951), and a starring role in the 1957-1960 Desilu Productions TV series Whirlybirds.
The Hidden is a 1987 American science fiction film directed by Jack Sholder, written by Jim Kouf, and released by New Line Cinema. It stars Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Nouri, along with Clu Gulager, Chris Mulkey, Ed O'Ross, Clarence Felder, Claudia Christian and Larry Cedar, and received mostly positive reviews. A sequel, The Hidden II, was directed by Seth Pinsker and released in 1993.
Delta Farce is a 2007 American war comedy film directed by C. B. Harding and stars Bill Engvall, Larry the Cable Guy, DJ Qualls and Danny Trejo. The first film after the Blue Collar Comedy Tour concert films to star both Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy, the title is a play on the Delta Force, one of the United States Army's elite special operations units alongside the Army Rangers and the Green Berets.
Gardens of Stone is a 1987 American drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on a novel of the same name by Nicholas Proffitt. It stars James Caan, Anjelica Huston, James Earl Jones, D. B. Sweeney, Dean Stockwell and Mary Stuart Masterson.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq, which lasted from March 20 to May 1, 2003, resulted in a small number of U.S. and Coalition Prisoners of war (POW/s).
Stop-Loss is a 2008 American war drama film directed by Kimberly Peirce and starring Ryan Phillippe, Channing Tatum, Abbie Cornish and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as young soldiers whose experience in the Iraq War leaves them psychologically shattered. It was distributed by Paramount Pictures and produced by MTV Films. The film received mixed reviews, and earned less than half of its $25 million production budget at the box office. The title refers to the U.S. government's controversial stop-loss policy, which allows the government to extend the term of duty of soldiers who have already served their contracted number of years of service.
The May 2007 abduction of American soldiers in Iraq occurred when Iraqi insurgents attacked a military outpost in Al Taqa, Iraq, killing four U.S. Army soldiers and an Iraqi soldier before capturing Private Byron Wayne Fouty, Specialist Alex Ramon Jimenez, and Private First Class Joseph John Anzack Jr. on May 12, 2007.
The 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) – abbreviated 3rd SFG(A) and often simply called 3rd Group – is an active duty United States Army Special Forces (SF) group which was active in the Vietnam Era (1963–69), deactivated, and then reactivated in 1990. 3rd Group is designed to deploy and execute nine doctrinal missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, direct action, counter-insurgency, special reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, information operations, counterproliferation of weapon of mass destruction, and security force assistance. The 3rd SFG(A) was primarily responsible for operations within the AFRICOM area of responsibility, as part of the Special Operations Command, Africa (SOCAFRICA). Its primary area of operations (AO) is now Africa as part of a 2015 SOCOM directive but 3rd Group has also been involved in the Caribbean and the Greater Middle East. The 3rd SFG(A) has seen extensive action in the War on Terror and its members have distinguished themselves on the battlefield in Afghanistan.
Maneater is a 2007 American television natural horror film directed by Gary Yates and produced by RHI Entertainment, starring Gary Busey, Ty Wood, and Ian D. Clark. The film aired on various video on demand channels, before officially premiering in the United States on the Syfy Channel on September 8, 2007. Filmed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, the film is produced under an agreement with Syfy. Based on Jack Warner's novel Shikar, the film details the killing spree of an escaped Bengal tiger after it gets loose in a small town along the Appalachian Trail. Trying to stop it are Sheriff Barnes (Busey) and big game hunter Colonel Graham (Clark), while a young boy named Roy (Wood) who has a strange connection to the tiger, tries to save it. It is the 4th film in the Maneater Series.
Skeleton Man is a 2004 made-for-tv action horror film directed by Johnny Martin and starring Michael Rooker and Casper Van Dien. It was aired from Sci Fi Channel on March 1, 2004. In the film, the titular Skeleton Man stalks a squad of soldiers.
Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon is a 2008 horror film that was broadcast on the Sci Fi Channel on November 8, 2008. The film stars Carly Pope, Peter DeLuise, Ona Grauer, and Crystal Lowe. Its plot concerns a group of people who, after crashing their plane into the Himalayan Mountains, encounter the Yeti. This encounter sends them into a fight for survival. It is the 14th film in the Maneater Series.
David Gregory Bellavia is a former United States Army soldier who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Second Battle of Fallujah. Bellavia has also received the Bronze Star Medal, two Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals, and the New York State Conspicuous Service Cross. In 2005, Bellavia was inducted into the New York Veterans' Hall of Fame. He has subsequently been involved with politics in Western New York State. Upon being awarded the Medal of Honor on June 25, 2019, Bellavia became the first, and currently only living recipient of the Medal of Honor for service during the Iraq War.
Alien Siege is a 2005 Sci-Fi Channel Original Movie about an alien race that comes to Earth seeking a cure to a deadly virus, for which the antidote is human blood.
The 2004 Good Friday ambush was an attack by Iraqi insurgents on April 9, 2004 during the Iraq War on a convoy of United States supply trucks during the Battle of Baghdad International Airport. It happened in the midst of the Iraq spring fighting of 2004, which saw intensified clashes throughout the country.
The Men Who Stare at Goats is a 2009 satirical black comedy war film directed by Grant Heslov, adapted by Peter Straughan, and starring George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, and Kevin Spacey. It was produced by Clooney's and Heslov's production company Smokehouse Pictures. The film is a fictionalized version of Jon Ronson's 2004 book of the same title of an investigation into attempts by the U.S. military to employ psychic powers as a weapon — which, in turn, is a companion to a British miniseries Crazy Rulers of the World.
The Battle of Danny Boy took place close to the city of Amarah in Southern Iraq on 14 May 2004, between British soldiers and about 100 Iraqi insurgents of the Mahdi Army. The battle is named after a local British checkpoint called Danny Boy.
Sand Serpents is 2009 Canadian made-for-television sci-fi action horror film directed by Jeff Renfroe. It is the 19th film of the Maneater film series and originally premiered on Syfy on July 11, 2009.
Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's Al Anbar Governorate, was under U.S. military occupation during the Iraq War. It was a focal point of Iraqi insurgency, which erupted into open armed conflict in 2004 and in 2006, part of the Iraq War in Anbar Province. Operation Murfreesboro was a U.S. offensive in February 2007 intended to cut off the Ma'Laab district of eastern Ramadi from the rest of the town in order to drive out Zarqawi's Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
On 16 January 2008, United States Army Private First Class Dave Sharrett II was killed during a battle with insurgents near Balad, Iraq during the Iraq War. Subsequent investigation determined Sharrett was shot a single time by his commanding officer, then-Lieutenant Timothy Hanson.
