Today on CNN Newsroom
Fallen Heroes
We'd planned to tell you about these troops in our second hour Friday; unfortunately, the rundown kept changing, and we weren't able to air the Fallen Heroes segment.
Here's the original write-up:
These four soldiers from the Fourth Engineer Battalion trained together... deployed together... and died together.
On October 15, an IED blew up their vehicle in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.
Spc. Jesús Flores Jr. joined the Army in December 2003. His family had moved to the U.S. from the Philippines when he was young. Friends there - and here - knew him as "Jun Jun" and "Lil' Flo".
Spc. Daniel Lawson joined the army in 2008, and shipped out about a year later. He had a degree in computer programming, but wanted to provide more for his family: wife Latoria, and their three kids - ages 10, eight, and five.
Pfc. Brandon Styer was just 19. He'd joined up his senior year of high school, where he was a student-athlete - and a big-time Phillies and Redskins fan. Private Styer's other passion: customizing his prized Mazda MX8.
At 34, Staff Sgt. Glen Stivison Jr. was a paternal figure to a lot of his troops, who called him "Stivey" or "Papa Sti". He loved pranks, karaoke, and fishing. But most of all, he loved his wife Eryn, and their boys - ages six and eight.
We honor the sacrifices of these troops - and the nearly 5,300 other Americans lost in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/30/lawson.daniel.jpg caption="Spc. Daniel Lawson"]
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/30/flores.jesus.jpg caption="Spc. Jesús Flores Jr."]
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/30/stivison.glen.jpg caption="Staff Sgt. Glen Stivison Jr."]
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/30/styer.brandon.jpg caption="Pfc. Brandon Styer"]
Are you shopping on Cyber Monday?
About 195 million people shopped in stores and online during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, according to the National Retail Federation. The numbers are up from the same 4-day period in 2008. While the number of shoppers went up, the amount of money they spent went down.
Online shopping over the so-called Black Friday weekend was up 11% from last year. What does that mean for Cyber Monday? That's today – and the NRF estimates 96.5 million of us will shop online today.
How are you doing your holiday shopping? Do you plan to shop online this Cyber Monday? What is the best deal you have found? We want to hear about your holiday shopping!
Post your comments here, and Heidi will read some of them in the Newsroom, from 9-11am ET.
U.S. Redefines Afghan War
Join TJ Holmes and Betty Nguyen weekend mornings in the CNN Newsroom, beginning 6am ET/ 3am PT.
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