Two hours from airtime and a dark air mass has just rolled in off Lake Michigan, dumping rain on the beautiful skyline of Chicago.  As I just told the afternoon host on WLS Radio, we need everyone here to hope for clearing right as we go on the air, so we can show off this beautiful city for all it's worth. Right now, the radar is showing a bad storm in Joliet and an even bigger one in Kankakee, which doesn't bode well for us.  Between the deluge of cicadas here (our closing story tonight) and the sudden downpour -- Chicago is throwing us challenges today. We will rise to the challenges and conquer.

I spent the afternoon at our NBC Station here, WMAQ-TV -- much of it with two of my absolute favorite local anchors anwhere in the country: Warner Saunders and Allison Rosatti (they've posted some video of chats with Brian on the WMAQ-TV Web site).  They are among the very best there are. Perhaps because Allison's son is also a baseball pitcher, we've always gotten along very well.  We taped a few local promos together -- and had a lot of fun in the process.  I also saw my friend Bob Sirott of WMAQ's anchor staff (a great broadcaster and former CBS Newser) and I was stunned at how much he's aged.  I'm not serious, of course, but he seems to read this blog every day and it will horrify him to read that.

The TB story got more interesting today -- we'll have all the twists and turns.  We'll also cover the president's environmental message and talk about "going green" with Chicago Mayor Daley.  He has to serve until 2010 to serve as many years as his Dad.  He told me today he feels guilty about taking Sundays off sometimes -- when he remembers his old man used to work 7 days a week.

Janet Shamlian will join us at our live anchor location with her interview with Michelle Obama -- a revealing and interesting look at the wife of the Chicago Favorite Son in the running for the Dem's nod.  Actually, our visit here today means full employment for both correspondents in our Chicago Bureau: Kevin Tibbles will report on the cicadas.  Weekend Nightly anchor Lester Holt will report on this day in Billy Graham's life -- with three former Presidents on hand to call attention to the honor.

As we continue to roll out our series of one-a-day profiles of the 110 living recipients of the Medal of Honor, today's bio (they appear alphebetically) is my friend and fellow Medal of Honor Foundation Board member "Barney" Barnum -- a modest guy with a wry sense of humor.  You can read about what he did on a battlefield long ago to deserve the nation's highest military honor.

Finally, it was brought to my attention today that it's been two years since I wrote my first blog entry and the Daily Nightly was born.  As I told someone today, it's not as if I had a chunk of unused time every afternoon before the broadcast -- but I've come to depend on this as a kind of daily column, as one half of an ongoing conversation -- and hopefully a kind of "viewer's guide" to the broadcast.  It continues to be my pleasure, and it wouldn't be what it is without the hard work of editors like Rob Merrill and Constance Parten, and all of my colleagues who contribute to it every day.

We hope you can join us as we broadcast from Chicago tonight, and join me in hoping that this rain stops.

Shortly after you leave the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, N.C., you swing onto The Billy Graham Parkway. He is arguably this city's favorite -- and certainly most famous -- son. So it is no surprise that today's dedication of the Billy Graham Library is earning live television coverage here.

On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to tour the 40,000-square-foot library with Franklin Graham who now heads his father's ministry. As you walk beneath the 40-foot cross that frames the entrance, you are first struck that there are no statues or busts of Billy Graham. Though in many ways it is similar to presidential libraries, the elder Graham insisted this would not be a monument or tribute to him, but rather an instrument with which to further his life-long message about Jesus Christ as a path to salvation.

As we made our way through the exhibits, it became clear the library will have a profound spiritual impact on believers. There is a canvas tent set up in the fashion of Graham's earliest crusades -- what Graham himself referred to as the "canvas cathedral." There are also moving video testimonials from people who explain how their lives were profoundly changed after hearing his message. You leave the last exhibit walking through a towering series of glass cutouts of a cross. Franklin explained to me the library is meant to leave visitors examining their relationship with Jesus.No matter your faith, however, you can also argue the library offers an incredible history lesson. There are reminders everywhere of Graham's incredible reach and influence and the historic moments he has been a part of. A replica of Checkpoint Charlie, the border crossing between former West and East Germany, tells the story of Graham's groundbreaking trip behind the iron curtain. His son Franklin reminded me that at the time many of his supporters and even his own family urged him not to go. "We were all afraid for him, because, you know we just suspect, 'Oh, they're going to do something' or 'Oh, they're going to poison him.' But none of that happened," his son Franklin said. In his 60-year-long ministry, Billy Graham appeared before an estimated 210 million people in 185 countries. He comforted nations in times of crisis, and even counseled presidents -- 11 of them.I'll have more on the museum and my tour and conversation with Franklin Graham on tonight's edition of NBC Nightly News.

All photos by NBC Producer Joo Lee.

She was polite about not checking her watch, but I could tell she was concerned about the time.  Michelle Obama had spent the day campaigning in Iowa and now she was spending time with me, but her heart was already headed to Chicago where her two little girls were waiting for Mommy. As a mother of five children under the age of 12, it's a tug I know well -- you've memorized the flight number and departure time of the last plane home.

Obama makes no bones about it -- her family comes first. In a candid interview [click to watch], the 43-year-old wife of

Janet sits down with Michelle Obama for an interview. Photo by NBC News Producer Doug Adams

Her home life sounds a lot like those of other families with young children, except for the Secret Service agents posted outside their home. Time together is more likely to be focused on piano practice than politics ... and Obama says the only campaign in the home is the one waged by daughters Malia and Sasha, angling for a later bedtime.

You can watch Janet's interview with Michelle Obama tonight on the NBC Nightly News .

Brian is on the ground in Chicago preparing for the broadcast and found time to jump in front of a camera, after all.

So click here or on the image to watch his version of the Early Nightly. We'll consider Janet's the early Early Nightly.

Hi. It's an economy edition today, with a lot of discussion on the Internet and in the papers about the GDP and the stock markets.

Huffington Post links to AP's story on Gross Domestic Product, the broadest measure of the economy which was revised to a scant 0.6% today.

Nouriel Roubini is a bearish economist who has taken a lot of criticism, including  being called an "economic Eeyore" as the stock markets have continued to rise. Today's GDP revision gives his views some validation and his readers more to talk about. (This is one blog where smart people regularly post comments. The comments section is almost always worth looking through.)

And speaking of the markets, RawStory links to the news that the S&P 500 hit a new all-time high yesterday.

Bloomberg analyzes yesterday's Fed Minutes and starts digging into role of the mortgage broker in the subprime fiasco.

Andrew Leonard at Salon talks about the incredible, undaunted American consumer.

And one more economic indicator -- the price of a prime ticket to see The Police at Madison Square Garden: (gulp) $11,500.

Politics: Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters muses about Fred Thompson. As does Glenn Greenwald. And here's Fred Thompson talking about himself.

And if it never occurred to you to set video of tornado destruction to music.. you're not alone. It did occur to the folks at National Geographic though!

Brian anchors the broadcast from Chicago tonight. In addition to his conversation with Mayor Daley, you'll also see a profile of Michelle Obama from NBC's Janet Shamlian. Janet previews her conversation in today's vlog.

Click here or on the image to watch.

Every weekday for 110 straight days we will feature a different living recipient of the Medal of Honor. These are the men who have received their nation's highest military honor. Brian is a board member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. The words and photos are courtesy of Artisan Books, publishers of "Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty by Peter Collier with photographs by Nick Del Calzo.

HARVEY C. "BARNEY" BARNUM, JR.
First Lieutenant, U.S. Marines Corps Company H, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division

At the Cheshire, Conn., high school military assembly in 1958, representatives of all branches of the military made presentations to the student body. After the Navy, Army and Air Force speakers were all interrupted by hoots and catcalls, the Marine recruiter stood up and gave a tongue-lashing to the rude students, as well as to the faculty members who had made no effort to correct their behavior. As he began to stalk out of the auditorium, he was surrounded by students eager to sign up. Among them was senior class president Harvey C. "Barney" Barnum, Jr.

In late 1965, Barnum a first lieutenant, arrived in Vietnam with the Ninth Marines. On the morning of December 18, as the battalion was moving through the heavy overgrowth in Quang Tin Province south of Da Nang, the area suddenly exploded with the fire from enemy rockets, mortars, and machine guns.

Barnum's company of about 110 men was cut off from the rest of the American force; the company commander was down, his radioman alongside him. Barnum ran to help them, but the radio operator was already dead, and the captain died in Barnum's arms. It was clear that the enemy had targeted the two men to destroy the company's command and control and overwhelm the survivors of the initial attack. Barnum took the radio off the dead operator, strapped it on his back, and assumed command.

Estimating that the marines were outnumbered about ten to one, Barnum quickly organized defenses, called in artillery fire, and led a counterattack on the enemy trench lines to destroy the machine guns that had his men pinned down. He saw that they weren't facing Vietcong but North Vietnamese regulars, troops disciplined enough to have let the bulk of the Marine battalion pass through before triggering the ambush.

At close to 6:00 p.m., after nearly eight hours of continuous fighting, the battalion commander radioed Barnum that it would be impossible to mount a rescue for his cut-off marines. Barnum knew that if he tried to hold out through the night, his dwindling force would be wiped out by morning, so he ordered the company engineers to blow a space in the heavy tree cover to allow two H-34 helicopters to land for the evacuation of the dead and the wounded. Then he ordered the rest of his men to move out in fire team rushes. Perhaps because the maneuver was so unexpected, they were able to break through North Vietnamese lines, crossing five hundred years of fire-swept ground to rejoin forward elements of his battalion before darkness.

Barnum was told two days later that the commanding general was recommending him for the Medal of Honor.

He was presented the medal on Feb. 27, 1967, by Secretary of the Navy Paul Nitze. But it would take months, even years, for the fragments of this day to come together in his memory. When they did, it was often only with the help of messages he occasionally received from the men he had commanded. "Somebody gave me your name," one Marine e-mailed him decades later. "I think you're a lieutenant who fought beside me with a .45 caliber pistol and a 3.5 rocket launcher for a while back '65. If so, thanks for saving my life." Until this communication, Barnum hadn't remembered the incident.

First Lieutenant Barnum left Vietnam in February 1966. He worked as a military aide in Washington on the condition that he be allowed to pick his next assignment. When it came time to make the move, he chose Vietnam. He was the first man who received the Medal of Honor in Vietnam to return to action there.

The expression "worst nightmare" does indeed come to mind when you read the details of the virulent case of TB in the news.  Tonight we'll look at the detective story behind it and the ramifications of it ... and we'll see if that expression is warranted.   The Atlanta Journal-Constitution led the way on this story today, chiefly with its interview with the so-far anonymous quarantined patient. We have a thorough package of coverage planned.

We'll also have the latest on the NATO chopper reported downed this afternoon in Afghanistan.  We'll report on Iraqi refugees -- and we have a fascinating report to get on the air over the next two days from our own Richard Engel who has just traveled to Kurdistan.  Wait 'til you see what life is like just 300 miles north of Baghdad.

Kevin Tibbles has a survival guide to corporate buyouts (if YOU work for the company being bought out, that is...) and Mark Mullen has a great piece from China to get us off the air.

An advance heads-up: tomorrow night we will air a revealing interview that our own Janet Shamlian conducted with Michelle Obama.

Want some good news?  There's reason to believe the whales MAY have made it to open waters.  We'll have an update tonight from George Lewis, live in San Francisco.

Please remember to read the story of today's Medal of Honor recipient.

WESTWARD BOUND

Following the broadcast tonight, we'll head to Chicago, where we will anchor the broadcast tomorrow night. Chicago has never looked better -- one of the all-time great American cities, from the people to the food to the shopping to the architecture. 

It's always great to visit, and we're hoping for one of those sparkling days along Lake Michigan to greet us upon our arrival.  To give you some indication of our schedule while we're on the ground in Chicago: I just spoke to an old friend there, and we figured out that between my arrival late tonight and my departure tomorrow night, the only time we have to see each other is if he rides with me in the backseat of a cab to O'Hare to see me off, before I board my flight back to New York.  What a relaxing way to catch up with one of my mates -- but it IS a business trip, after all.

In the meantime -- back to present tense -- we hope you can join us for the broadcast from New York tonight.

"What do we want? Decency! When do we want it? Now!" 

That was the chant by a small but determined group of women outside the offices of Viacom in midtown Manhattan. They're targeting the media giant because it owns BET, MTV and VH-1, and the hip hop and rap music they play.

"What specifically do you want off the air?" I asked. The terse response: music about bitches, hos and nig%$#'s. You know it when you hear it. "Prurient, debased and racist depictions of women in particular in the media," is how Janice Mathis of Rainbow Push describes it.

I honestly believe we would not have been out there were it not for Don Imus. The women agree.  Numerous groups came together to form something called "Women's Voices," during the Imus controversy. Now, they're trying to ride the public interest generated back then, to try and clean up the airwaves. Some of Imus' defenders said he was just repeating what's so often heard in rap music. "Women's Voices" is trying to take that defense away.

Rather than just march in the streets, they've targeted Viacom's shareholders gathering in New York for their annual meeting. Interestingly, some members of the women's coalition have bought shares in companies like Viacom so they'd have the right to enter the room. It's a fight that they say has been going on more than 15 years, but largely out of the public view.

"Some of the music is destroying our culture," said Dr. E. Faye Williams of the National Congress of Black Women. "Young people are being told making this kind of music is the way to the American dream."

They face a daunting obstacle. In fact, their protest was nearly drowned in Times Square, certainly one of the loudest corners anywhere. The rap and hip hop music industry is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise deeply ingrained in popular culture. But in recent years, sales have been plummeting, down 21 percent in 2006, and with no album in the top ten for the first time in a dozen years. What's more, numerous studies have been produced linking rap to a variety of negative social trends, like drug use and young people being more sexually active. That's perhaps no surprise. Critics long have complained that some rap music "Objectifies" women, often portraying females as "sexual appliances." You've seen the music video screen of the fellas lounging around the pool with what looks like a harem. If you haven't seen the scenes, your kids probably have.

But has the industry hit a tipping point? There's certainly a lot more buzz about just that. "Women's Voices" certainly hopes to give it a good shove.

There weren't any artists out there at the Viacom protests to defend what's usually described as a unique form of "poetry." But in interviews, various artists have said their "music is a mirror," a product of their environments, and harsh realities of life. They claim, and rightly so, that  they have a right to talk and sing about whatever they want. All of this does raise rather complex issues of race, gender and culture, and especially in the African American community. And of course, businesses have a right to sell whatever they want.

"Women's Voices" says the issue isn't free speech, but rather decent  speech. In ways big and small they're hoping to move the market of ideas and record sales that determine what's considered appropriate. This isn't the first time they and other critics have made their case before the entertainment industry's shareholders. They remain steadfast and determined. Things do change. And fallout sometimes takes a bit of time to fall.

Robert Bazell previews some of the stories we're working on for tonight's broadcast.

Click here or on the image to watch.

Every weekday for 110 straight days we will feature a different living recipient of the Medal of Honor. These are the men who have received their nation's highest military honor. Brian is a board member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. The words and photos are courtesy of Artisan Books, publishers of "Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty by Peter Collier with photographs by Nick Del Calzo.

VAN T. BARFOOT
Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army 157th Infantry, 45th Infantry Division

Later in his life, Van Barfoot would be hailed as one of the significant Native American heroes of World War II. His grandmother was a full-blooded Choctaw but his mother failed to enroll him with the government as a member of that tribe, so Barfoot grew up aware only that he had American Indian blood, not that he was an "official" Choctaw.

He enlisted in the Army in 1940, before the new selective service law authorizing the peacetime draft was passed by Congress, and he was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division. After his training, he participated in maneuvers in Louisiana and Puerto Rico. In December 1941, he was promoted to sergeant and assigned to the newly activated Headquarters Amphibious Force Atlantic Fleet at Quantico, Virginia. When the unit was inactivated in 1943, he was reassigned to the 157th Infantry.

Technical Sergeant Barfoot took part in the landings at Sicily in July 1943 and at Salerno two months later. In late January 1944, the 157th landed at Anzio and began moving inland rapidly. But counterattacking German reinforcements stopped the Allied advance, even forcing some withdrawals. By May, Barfoot's unit had been in a defensive position near the town of Carano for several weeks, during which time Barfoot conducted day and night patrols to probe the German lines, mentally mapping out the terrain and minefields in front of enemy positions.

Early on the morning of May 23, his company was ordered to attack. As the lead squads approached the German minefields, they came under heavy fire. Because he knew the lanes through the minefields so well, Barfoot asked for permission to head a squad. Moving through depressions in the terrain and shallow ditches, he advanced to within a few yards of an enemy machine gun on the right flank and destroyed it with a grenade. Then, following the German trench line, he moved to the next gun emplacement, where he killed two soldiers with his submachine gun and wounded and captured three others. When he approached the Germans manning a third gun, they surrendered. In all he captured seventeen of the enemy.

Later in the day, after he had consolidated the newly captured position. Barfoot, seeing three German tanks advancing in a counteroffensive, grabbed a bazooka and destroyed the track of the leading tank, causing the two other tanks to change direction. As the crew of the disabled tank jumped out, Barfoot killed three of them, then continued into enemy territory and destroyed a German fieldpiece with a demolition charge. He ended the day by helping two seriously wounded men from his squad walk nearly a mile to safety.

Not long after this action, Barfoot was promoted to lieutenant. Four months later, his unit was in France's Rhone valley when he was ordered to division headquarters and informed that he had been awarded the Medal of Honor. Given the choice of returning to the United States for the ceremony or receiving the medal in the field, Barfoot chose the latter so that his men could be present. Lieutenant General Alexander Patch awarded him the medal in Epinal, France, on September 28, 1944.

We're in Boston with beautiful views of the Green Monster, the Charles River, M.I.T., and of course the Citgo sign.  This morning's journey here was an odd confluence: on board the shuttle, I was reading the astounding piece this morning in the Wall Street Journal -- about how air travel is actually slowing down -- meaning: the extraordinary delays now built into the system.  Sure enough, due to "airspace congestion," the 9:30 flight departed at 10:20 -- and everyone on board took the news quietly.  It's hard to pinpoint just when our transportation system got this way, exactly, and when the notion of codified delays become an acceptable part of the American transportation system.  Is it part of the overall "leadership" issue that Lee Iacocca laid out in our interview with him last week?

During our broadcast from here tonight, we'll look at two issues germane to the Commonwealth and of interest to the other 49 states: Romney's health care system here, and what would have been JFK's 90th birthday.  Its hard to picture the former President as a gray (or white) eminence, a classic elder statesman enjoying weekends and grandchildren at the Cape.  Would that it were the case.  We'll talk to historian, author and rabid Red Sox fan Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Justice Ginsberg's reading of her dissent from the bench today attracted a lot of attention to the Supreme Court's pay equity decision, and we'll look at that tonight.  And of urgent note: this quarantine of a virulent TB case -- and those who may have been "fellow travelers" without knowing it.

We'll update the whales in California, the situation in Venezuela, and the spike in violence in Iraq.

Please remember to read today's profile of Medal of Honor recipient Don Ballard, as we continue to publish all 110 profiles of the living recipients of the Medal.

And so, from the shadow of the Green Monster, we hope you will join us tonight for NBC Nightly News.

Every weekday for 110 straight days we will feature a different living recipient of the Medal of Honor. These are the men who have received their nation's highest military honor. Brian is a board member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. The words and photos are courtesy of Artisan Books, publishers of "Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty by Peter Collier with photographs by Nick Del Calzo.

DONALD E. BALLARD
Hospital Corpsman Second Class, U.S. Navy (FMF) Company M, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division

/

Donald Ballard was 20 years old, married, and working in a dental lab with the hope of someday becoming a dentist when he decided to join the Navy in 1965. Midway through basic training, informed that dental assistants were plentiful but corpsmen were in short supply, he was sent to surgical assistant school. He assisted in orthopedic and general operations, then was "volunteered" to serve as a medic with the Marine Corps. His unit soon sailed for the Mediterranean, where it made a simulated amphibious landing on Corsica. While there, Ballard and the other American servicemen got to know some French Legionnaires, who told them daunting stories about Vietnam. In 1967, he was sent into the war zone on a transport plane, which had a strange smell. He later found out that it served as a "morgue plane" on its outbound trips.

On the day he arrived, he was issued a .45-caliber pistol, but there was no magazine. "Don't worry, Doc," the supply sergeant told him when he was asked about it. "If you need a weapon, there'll be plenty on the ground when the fighting starts." He would learn from the personal observation that corpsmen were more likely to be wounded than riflemen because they had to be the first men standing after everyone else had hit the dirt. "Corpsmen up!" was part of the Marine battle cry.

Ballard was shot in one of his Marine unit's first actions and received the first of his three Purple Hearts. (He should have had eight by the time left Vietnam, but he tended to his own wounds on five occasions.)

On May 16, 1968, having just treated two Marines for heat exhaustion during a patrol, Ballard was returning from the evacuation landing zone when his company was ambushed by a North Vietnamese unit firing automatic weapons and mortars. He rushed to a group of wounded Marines, one of whom had both legs shredded by a grenade. As he kneeled to care of him, another Marine who had been shot in the face yelled, "Grenade!" Ballard's first thought as he saw it hit nearby was that it would kill the men he was treating if it exploded, so he threw himself on the grenade and cradled it to his body. After what seemed like an eternity with no explosions, he threw the grenade away and turned his attention back to the wounded men. He was told later that the grenade, which apparently had a defective fuse, had exploded in the air.

After being wounded again in the fall of 1968, Ballard returned to the United States and was assigned to work in a Navy surgical clinic. One day an Army recruiter came to the hospital and offered him a commission to make a "lateral transfer" from the Navy. He had already decided to make a career of the military, so he joined the Army. While waiting to attend Officer Candidate School, he was informed that he was to receive the Medal of Honor. It was presented to him on May 14, 1970, by President Richard Nixon, who told him, "the country has a lot to be thankful for, having men of your caliber. I am very proud of you."

After serving a total of 35 years active and reserve, Donald Ballard retired from the Kansas National Guard in 2000 as a colonel.

The day after Memorial Day finds a lot of debate about America's fighting men and women on the blogs and in the papers -- some loud and conspicuous booing at two very different forums -- and some culinary advice for Brian, who's in Boston today.

Salon's Tim Grieve sums up some stats from Memorial Day 2007.

And Powerline reprints Peter Collier in the WSJ's Opinion Journal on "America's Honor."

Spencer Ackerman of Washington Monthly tells Democrats that supporting the troops by bringing them home doesn't fly with the actual troops.

But there was a good deal of dissent among the troops on display on Memorial Day.

And the anti-war Boston University professor Andrew Bacevich, who lost his son in Iraq, writes about the great divide in this country.

Blogger Digby says the terms of the political debate have become twisted beyond definition.

TPM's Muckraker analyzes an Associated Press report on the President's assertions about American public opinion on the war.

And Boston Globe reporter Peter Canellos writes about how GOP '08ers are conflating Iraq and 9/11.

More politics. Someone posts the New York Observer's story that Rudolph Giuliani supporters have been banned from the conservative forum FreeRepublic on Free Republic.

And the Politico explains why social conservatives are embracing the abortion-and-gay-rights-supporting former mayor.

By the way, Digby hated the NYT's front page "Journeys with Giuliani" today.

Steve Clemons' report that Vice President Cheney wants to do an end-run around his boss and gin up a military conflict with Iran has been around for a few days. Does yesterday's meeting between American and Iranian diplomats make this seem more or less credible?

In a diary at DailyKos, Cindy Sheehan bows out as an anti-war spokesperson. (Watch a July 5, 2006 Hardball interview with Sheehan.) Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters bids her goodbye, as does Raging_Dave at Four Right Wing Whackos though his goodbye is not as friendly.

Booing in the news: Michelle Malkin blogs about anti-Americanism at the Miss Universe pageant.

And Raw Story links to a video showing that U-Mass graduate students (and faculty) didn't take kindly to the awarding of an honorary degree to former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card.

Technology corner: the Houston Chronicle comments on what may be the first real-life cyber-war.

And the San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board is creeped out by Google's data gathering.

Kid stuff: John Aravosis at Americablog heaps scorn on Poland's attack on Tinky Winky. And Slate recruits pediatrician Sydney Spiesel to add to the body of knowledge about babies and kids and sleep problems. No, this has nothing to do with (yawn) my life.

And in honor of Brian's trip to the ancestral home of his Dad -- and me -- here's Salon with an interview with beloved Boston Chef Jasper White and a link to his recipes for some of New England's finest fare. Brian, it's "chowdah" and "lobstah" rolls for lunch!

The last year of high school is tough enough without distractions.
This past weekend, kids from Killeen, Texas, graduated from high school. For 55 of those students, they managed to get through that last year with a heavy burden -- 54 dads and 1 mom deployed to Iraq.

The Killeen, Texas, schools serve the massive Fort Hood Army base. For the past four years, the schools and the Army have worked out a system of video conferences to allow soldiers at forward bases to see their kids graduate. Monitors are set up to allow kids to see that Dad or Mom is watching, thumbs-up gestures and signs are displayed to a monitor as kids walk off the stage.

Not one of the kids I talked with while preparing this story wallowed in self pity or anger. All  of them spoke with pride of their parent's courage and patriotism. School officials told me this has become the new normal for these kids, accustomed as they are to frequent moves and parents missing big events.

Watch Lester Holt's report from Monday

Brian is in Boston today, where he'll anchor tonight's broadcast, which means we had to find someone else to cover today's vlog duties. Instead, though, we opted for something a bit out of the ordinary -- recycling. If you missed yesterday's vlog from correspondent Mark Mullen due to the holiday, here's a second chance for you to get a special, behind-the-scenes tour of NBC's fast-growing Beijing Bureau.

I'm a writer for Nightly News, so my focus is usually on subjects like Iraq, health news, and people who are making a difference. Today, though, I am writing about ChapStick.

I know ChapStick is supposed to be on my lips, but I have had it on my brain instead, ever since our Friday afternoon editorial meeting, when Brian, a fellow traveler in observing the rituals and vagaries of American consumer culture, reached into his pocket and pulled out a brand new tube and pointed out that, imprinted on the famous black label were the words "ChapStick Classic Original."

ChapStick Classic Original? We both laughed. Coke Classic is one thing – but ChapStick Classic? What other kinds of ChapStick were there, anyway?

Turns out, lots.

I guess I had been vaguely aware during my increasingly frequent trips to a local chain drugstore for packs of Dentyne Arctic Ice (the best gum flavor ever invented; uh oh, I feel another blog entry taking shape), but really, until I delved deeper into the ChapStick world over the holiday weekend, I had no idea.

Talk about brand extension!

A combination of my own eyewitness accounts, plus information from the ChapStick-dedicated Web site, has revealed what, since my childhood, has truly become the wide world of ChapStick.

There are four ChapStick Classics: Original, Cherry, Spearmint, and Strawberry.

There is ChapStick Moisturizer, also available in Vanilla Mint.

There is ChapStick Medicated with analgesics to soothe sore lips.

For kids, there's ChapStick Flava-Craze: Grape Craze, Blue Crazeberry, and Fruit Craze.

Need sun protection? ChapStick Ultra 30.

Lips drying out while you are sleeping? ChapStick OverNight.

Breast cancer research and treatment gets a boost from the ChapStick Pink Pack.

If green's your thing, there's ChapStick Natural.

And to "give your lips a kick," there's ChapStick Peppermint with its jazzy red-and-white cap.

If that's not enough ChapStick, the brand is also in a lip-lock with Disney: Apple Accelerator and Whizzin' Watermelon help market the movie "Cars." The ChapStick Disney Princess Pack features Ariel Blue Coral Berry and Belle Enchanted Cherry. And "just about every child will want the Nemo Pack featuring mouthwatering flavors, Nemo Coral Cherry and Nemo Wavy Grape."

Yes, ChapStick has come quite a distance since its invention in the early 1870s in Lynchburg, Virginia, by, according to Wikipedia, "physician and pharmacological tinkerer" Dr. Charles Browne Fleet.

And yes, I know Brian's lips get chapped at the mere mention of Wikipedia, but because Brian is a buff of all things Watergate, I invoke in self-defense the fact that Wiki's ChapStick entry includes a really cool photo of the microphones that were hidden in ChapStick tubes used by Watergate burglars Hunt and Liddy. Those tubes? ChapStick Classic Original—of course.

Lester Holt completes his dusk-to-dawn holiday duties on Nightly News this evening, but correspondent Mark Mullen gives a special behind-the-scenes tour of NBC's fast-growing Beijing Bureau for the Memorial Day edition of Early Nightly.

Good afternoon from New York.  I'll be at the anchor desk tonight as Brian takes the night off.

The big story today is the historic face to face meeting between American and Iranian diplomats in Baghdad. The focus was narrow.  There was no discussion of Iran's nuclear programs, only ways to end the violence in Iraq.   We'll have a full report tonight on the outcome and expectations.

We will of course be framing our war coverage around the day's Memorial Day observances.  We are reminded on a day like this of the names, faces and stories of the individuals who so often are reported only as troop deployment or casualty numbers.  Tonight you'll get to know some of the Army dads who recently watched their sons and daughters graduate high school in Texas via a video-conference hook-up from their bases in Iraq.  It's a nice story about keeping families connected, and I'm happy we can share it with you.

We're also in Afghanistan tonight where Jim Maceda continues his excellent reporting from the battlefield with members of the 10th Mountain Division holding the line against the Taliban.

Also this evening: pulling the plug on a TV station, and some good news finally on those wayward whales.

Thanks for checking-in.  I hope you can join us tonight for NBC Nightly News.

Every weekday for 110 straight days we will feature a different living recipient of the Medal of Honor. These are the men who have received their nation's highest military honor. Brian is a board member of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. The words and photos are courtesy of Artisan Books, publishers of "Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty by Peter Collier with photographs by Nick Del Calzo.

VERNON BAKER
First Lieutenant, U.S. Army 370th Regiment, 92nd Infantry Division

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In need of a job and wanting to serve his country, Vernon Baker enlisted in the Army in June 1941. He was assigned to the segregated 270th Regiment of the 92nd Infantry Division; it was the first black unit to go into combat in World War II, although not until late in the fighting and then under the command primarily of white officers. In June 1944, the 370th landed at Naples and fought its way north into central Italy. One evening in the fall, Baker, on night patrol, ran into a German sentry. In the duel that followed, Baker killed the German but was wounded so badly himself that he had to be hospitalized for two months.

In the spring of 1945, Lt. Baker -- the only black officer in his company -- was in command of a weapons platoon made up of two light-machine-gun squads and two mortar squads. His unit was near Viareggio on April 5 when it was ordered to launch a dawn assault against Castle Aghinolfi, a mountain stronghold occupied by the Germans. Moving ahead of the other platoons, Baker and his men had reached a shallow ravine about 250 yards below the castle at about 10:00 a.m. when they encountered heavy fire. As they took cover, Baker spotted a pair of cylindrical objects pointed up out of a mound in the hill above him. At first he thought they were flash suppressors for machine guns, but as he slithered closer, he realized they were observation scopes. He stuck his rifle into the slit of the observation post and emptied the clip, killing the two Germans who had been directing fire from the castle.

Moving forward, Baker stumbled on a well-camouflaged machine-gun nest and shot and killed the two soldiers manning it. The next moment, as Company C's commanding officer joined Baker, a German soldier appeared in the ravine and tossed a potato masher grenade, which came to rest at their feet. Luckily, it turned out to be a dud, and Baker shot the German as he tried to run. Spying a dugout quarried into the hillside, he blasted open the fortified entrance with a grenade, shot one enemy sniper who emerged after the explosion, then entered the dugout and killed two more.

By afternoon, German fire began to inflict heavy casualties on Baker's platoon. His captain ordered a withdrawal and left with his radioman as Baker covered their retreat. Then Baker and his men -- the six remaining of the 25 he had led into battle earlier -- began to make their way back down to the American lines. They ran into two more German machine-gun positions that had been bypassed during the assault. Baker used hand grenades to destroy them.

The next day, Baker volunteered to lead a battalion assault on Castle Aghinolfi. On the way up the hill, he saw bodies of the 19 men he had lost the day before, all of them barefoot because the Germans had taken their shoes and socks during the chilly night. Picking their way through minefields and heavy fire, the Americans finally routed the Germans and secured the position at the top of the mountain.

Vernon Baker was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in July 1945, and remained in the military until 1968. In March 1996, more than 50 years after the assault on Castle Aghinolfi, he received a telephone call from a man working on a federal grant to reevaluate heroism of blacks in World War II. Extensively interviewed about the events of April 5 and April 6, 1945, he then learned that he was to be awarded the Medal of Honor. When President Bill Clinton presented him with the medal on January 13, 1997, Vernon Baker became the only living black serviceman from World War II to receive this honor.

Editor's note: NBC's Bob Faw introduces you to Frank Buckles tonight on the Memorial Day edition of NBC Nightly News [VIDEO LINK]. You can hear more from Buckles in his own words by clicking here to watch a video produced by NBC's Andy Gross and editor Ed Eaves.

When you are with 106-year-old Frank Buckles, you are in the presence of the 20th century. You are also sitting with the last remaining veteran of World War I who served overseas. It is this fact that afforded me the opportunity to spend a day with Buckles on his postcard perfect farm in West Virginia while preparing tonight's story with correspondent Bob Faw for this Memorial Day edition of Nightly News. When asked if he ever thought that he'd be the last survivor among the 4 million men who fought in the Great War for the United States, he just chuckles and shakes his head. You get that a lot from Frank; bemused grace from a life that touched on many of the seminal moments of the last century. You see it all just sitting with him in his memorabilia-crammed study. Here are just some of his historical highlights: Watched Jesse Owens run and saw Adolf Hitler at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, was a POW of the Japanese for 39 months in WWII in the notorious Los Banos internment camp; and was rescued in a daring raid by the 11th Airborne Division. "I didn't ask for all of it, it just happened that way," Frank says of his remarkable life.

Photo caption: Frank Buckles on his porch in West Virginia. The red ribbon he's wearing is the Legion of Honor, France's highest military award, given to him for his service in France during WWI. Photo by David DeJonge of DeJonge Studio.

Born on his father's farm in Missouri in 1901 during the presidency of William McKinley, young Frank had a thirst for history. He was particularly interested in the exploits of Gen. John Joseph Pershing and tales from the Spanish-American War. When the war in Europe broke out, Buckles scoured the newspapers, trying to follow the action thousands of miles away. Lying about his age, he enlisted in the U.S. Army at 15. "If anybody asked how old I was, I told them it wasn't any of their damn business," he laughed. Desperate to get overseas before the fighting ended, Buckles signed up for duty with the ambulance corps, a branch that was short of men. He sailed for Europe in 1917 aboard the RMS Caparthia, a ship that earned fame five years earlier when it answered the distress calls of the Titanic and sailed full-steam through the night to rescue the stunned survivors.

Buckles remained in England for the next several months, only making it to France once the war was winding down. Later, when he had returned stateside, he had the chance to meet and chat with his boyhood hero and wartime commander, Pershing. The general, a known stickler for military appearance, noticed that Buckles was holding gloves in his hand. "What the hell was that corporal carrying gloves for in his hand? That is only reserved for the cavalry," said Pershing. But did Buckles apologize? "No," he laughs, his eyes twinkling at the long-ago memory of standing up to his hero.

Buckles is in fine shape for being one of the few remaining McKinley-era babies. He credits it to exercise and hard work.  Pointing out a giant charcoal-colored leather medicine ball sitting on the top shelf in his study, Buckles told me, "I got that in Germany in 1932. They don't make them like that anymore!"

No sir, they sure don't, and they don't make them like Frank Buckles anymore either.

Special thanks to my editor, Ed Eaves, camera crew Jim Long and Bill Gebhardt and NBC News Associate Elizabeth Bacelar.

Good afternoon from New York.  There are a number of developments coming out of Iraq.   On Nightly news this evening we will be reporting on today's raid by U.S. troops on what they're calling an al Qaeda prison in Diyala. Dozens of prisoners, some showing apparent signs of torture were set free in the raid.  The operation is of particular significance to U.S. commanders because it was the result, they say, of Iraqi citizens stepping forward and speaking out against al Qaeda.  It's the kind of progress the Bush administration is eager to highlight. In fact our John Yang will report that more of the pressure for success in Iraq is coming from Republicans.  All sides are eagerly awaiting that progress report expected to come out in September.

If you watched the broadcast last night you no doubt heard rapid gunfire threatening to drown out Richard Engel's live report from outside a Palestinian refugee camp in Tripoli, Lebanon.  I'm happy to report Richard is safe and he will update us on the fighting there between government troops and Islamic militants that has forced thousands of civilians to flee their homes.

We will also examine the rising price of food.  The increasing demand for corn as a source of energy is having a ripple affect that many Americans are feeling at the grocery checkout aisle.

And our chief environmental correspondent Anne Thompson has a fascinating spot out of California where the rubber is truly meeting the road.  Rubber sidewalks are apparently now giving a big bounce to the green movement.

We'll look for you tonight on NBC Nightly News.

Remember that awkward first dance where the groom and the bride try to dance a waltz or a foxtrot?  Those days are gone!  Say hello to... "Thriller" as the first dance where the entire wedding party growls their way through the dance floor... or a step by step rendition of the last scene of "Dirty Dancing" or dancing to Metallica. More and more couples are opting for less traditional wedding dances and making wedding an expression of themselves.  We met Paul Starke and Melissa Rosenfield, who works for NBC Sports, through a dance instructor who does only customized dances for her clients. They have a surprise in store for their guests in June. Their first dance: The Spy Who Loved Me by Carly Simon... not your typical "At Last" from Etta James. But Paul and Melissa hope their guests have a laugh and their unique choreography, with hands clasped to mock guns, will set the tone for the wedding by having everyone join them on the dance floor.  Gabriella Barnstone, their instructor from MatriMony Mony, says that's exactly what other couples want too. She is busier than ever this year and says it's because couples want to make their wedding an expression of who they are. Many of those couples are finding that their wedding is not the only place where they can strut their stuff.  Some post their wedding videos on You Tube getting as many as two hundred thousand hits... becoming instant web stars. Like the break dancing couple... one of my favorites... who begin dancing the waltz and then the song stops… they look around and start break dancing... rather well in fact.  Then there's the couple from California who decide to surprise their family and friends by starting out with a traditional Indian song... making the DJ scratch the record and breaking into "California Love" rap song.  Or another couple from Florida who decided to have a fog machine to ensure a grand entrance... Some etiquette experts say this is going a little overboard and this new trend is part of a shift where weddings are becoming huge productions - less about commitment, more about show.  For Paul and Melissa it's not about that at all. For them a little laughter and a unique dance is definitely the right first step into a loving marriage. We'll have their story tonight on NBC Nightly News.

Good day from New York.  I hope you are enjoying a safe and healthy weekend. Tonight on Nightly News we are taking a closer look at reports the White House may be looking to actually reduce the number of troops in Iraq beginning next year.  The White House reminds us that not all the reinforcements identified as part of the troop surge have even arrived in Iraq. Still, if you listen carefully to the President's remarks from this week's news conference he may have opened the door to some kind of a troop draw down. A New York Times report today suggests such discussions are in fact underway.  Our John Yang is working the story and will have more on the broadcast this evening.

Also on Nightly News, how much would you spend for a vehicle that breaks down every four-and-a-half hours?  The US Marine Corps spent over 1.5 billion on a new amphibious assault vehicle that is apparently spending way too much time in the garage.  Our senior investigative correspondent Lisa Myers has the story.

If you're reading this at home you may be among the Americans unwilling to hit the road this holiday in face of soaring gasoline prices.  Millions of others, however, have bitten the bullet and are paying dearly to make the long weekend escape.  We'll report tonight on exactly what holiday travelers are facing.

Finally, as we go about this weekend hopefully enjoying good weather, friends and family and maybe some well deserved time off from work, lets each take a moment to think about what this holiday represents and remember our fellow Americans who have died for this country.

Thanks for taking the time to check-in.  I'll look for you tonight on NBC Nightly News.

So I just scanned the big Internet stories today, and they include Senator Schumer getting treated for a tick bite, Senator McCain's swipe at Senator Obama, the President getting hit by bird poop during yesterday's Rose Garden news conference, and a Brit who has set the record for going without sleep.

It must be the Friday before Memorial Day weekend.

In the broadcast tonight, the Iraq war intel, last night's Senate vote, the weekend getaway (bring your wallet), immigration and more.

Also tonight we will feature an interview I conducted with Lee Iacocca this week. The Chrysler sale had us thinking of him -- you may be interested to see this icon in winter on our broadcast tonight.

Our feature on the Medal of Honor recipients continues here today. I'm hoping the cumulative effect of these stories will mean an increased awareness of their heroism and values. These guys are the real deal. Take today's profile of John Baker. Earlier this week, as I watched the door to the new Medal of Honor museum swing open and the older recipients filed in with their wives and family members, I noticed something: off to the side, helping guide the crowd into the door, was John Baker. He stayed at his post until the last of the visitors had filed in. To museum visitors, he was simply a quiet, modest, diminutive man greeting them at the door. Until you noticed the ribbon around his neck. Until you realize that on November 5, 1966, he killed 10 enemy soldiers, took out six machine gun bunkers, and saved eight American men. All in a day's work, just like minding the door at the museum.

So as I wish you a good and safe Memorial Day weekend, I'd also ask that you take a moment, at some point over the next three days, to think about its meaning. Go to the parade where you live, and whatever your opinion of the current war, clap hard when the soldiers pass by. Remember those who are not in the line to march. Many of the recipients I was with this week told me they are unhappy with what Memorial Day has become in modern-day America... because they remember what it was for in the first place.

Please forgive a day off on Monday to be with my family. Lester Holt will be in the chair. I'll see you Tuesday from Boston. We hope you will join us for tonight's broadcast.