By Rex Bowman The 2.5 million-member American Legion expressed its displeasure Thursday with the placement of a bust of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, saying the site has the "notorious distinction of probably having the only bust or statue of Stalin in America."

The fast-attack submarine Norfolk is due home next week, the Navy announced today.
 
Crew size 135 sailors

Leader Cmdr. Douglas Jordan

Location of deployment Europe, the Middle East

Deployed March 5

Expected return Sept. 6

  After a seven-month deployment, the crew of the destroyer Cole is scheduled to return to Norfolk today – two days earlier than planned because of the threat from Hurricane Earl.

SUFFOLK Even if the planned closure of the U.S. Joint Forces Command is averted, it would likely make the city less dependent on military contracts and would bolster efforts to attract other businesses to its besieged high-tech corridor, city leaders acknowledged Wednesday.

About 72 soldiers from the Virginia and Maryland National Guard assigned to the Fort Belvoir-based 29th Infantry Division have been ordered to enter federal active service Nov. 1. The soldiers will be sent to Afghanistan for about a year, after spending several weeks at Camp Atterbury, Ind., conducting pre-mobilization training, according to a news release from the Virginia National Guard.

NORFOLK Earl has put the military on alert. As of Wednesday evening, neither the Navy nor the Coast Guard in Hampton Roads had issued orders to move large numbers of ships in preparation for Earl, although they’re ready to go if they have to, officials with both service branches said.

Up to 200 local Virginia National Guard soldiers and airmen are being activated for possible recovery operations ahead of Hurricane Earl.

After a seven-month deployment, the crew of the destroyer Cole is scheduled to return to Norfolk today – two days earlier than planned because of the threat from Hurricane Earl.

NORFOLK
Residents near Norfolk Naval Station may hear tests of an emergency alert system around noon today, the Navy said.

Naval Support Activity Norfolk, near Terminal Boulevard, plans to test what it calls its “giant voice system.”

The test is routine and will last a few minutes, the Navy said.

SUFFOLK The city is pursuing what it calls a coordinated plan to combat the threatened closing of the U.S. Joint Forces Command and to minimize the economic havoc it would bring to Suffolk and other Hampton Roads cities.