As America turns its attention to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, We the Veterans and Military Families will proudly be on hand to launch Military250, a unifying national campaign marking the 250th anniversaries of the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps. This initiative celebrates military history and the enduring values that make America great: service, sacrifice and civic pride. 

Before American patriots proclaimed our independence in 1776, the Founders mustered an Army, Navy and Marine Corps that fought and sacrificed to earn our freedom. So, before the celebration of America’s 250th anniversary in 2026, for which President Donald Trump recently formed a White House task force to coordinate plans, we want to honor the service of those who were instrumental in achieving our independence, setting us on a course to be the nation we are today. 

The Military250 campaign will spotlight key moments in American history, by formally recognizing 250 veteran and military family service organizations, 250 leaders continuing their service and 250 acts of service, demonstrating how actions from everyday people are the backbone that strengthens America.  

SENATE CONFIRMS DOUG COLLINS TO LEAD THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

The journey toward these historic milestones over the next 18 months is an opportunity to pause and reflect on our nation’s past, honor the contributions of all Americans and look ahead toward the future we want to create for the next generation and beyond. Through these moments, and many more, Military250 reminds us that patriotism is more than a concept. It’s a practice rooted in our daily actions. 

As the U.S. Army announces record recruitment numbers, Military250 is a challenge to every American: How will you carry forward this legacy of service? For military families and veterans, this might mean taking on local civic leadership opportunities or mentoring others through a veteran service organization. For others, it could mean volunteering, voting, or even serving as a poll worker. 

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At We the Veterans and Military Families, we’ve seen how everyday actions of patriotic participation can transform communities. They foster connection and remind us of the shared values that bind us together. Grounded in the universal values of service and sacrifice, this campaign brings together those from all corners – community organizations, athletes and sports executives, business leaders and everyday Americans who want to celebrate what’s best about our nation. To honor our past and chart a new course forward toward the next frontier. 

We the Veterans is honored to be invited by the National Football League to be on media row at Super Bowl LIX. As we kick off Military250 on America’s biggest stage, take a moment to reflect on how you can give back to the country that has given us so much.  Find ways to serve — whether through a local veterans’ organization, your neighborhood school or a national charity you care about. 

This campaign is more than a commemoration, it’s a reminder that patriotism requires so much more than waving a flag on Independence Day. It’s about embodying the courage, service and unity that have defined our country for 250 years. As President Ronald Reagan reminded us, "freedom is a fragile thing and it's never more than one generation away from extinction." 

If you’re looking for a way to celebrate America and the shared history that binds us together, join us in honoring our past and building a future that lives up to the sacrifices on the shoulders of the giants on which we all stand.  

Together, we can ensure that America’s next 250 years are defined by the same spirit of resilience and service that built this nation, and that our nation remembers General Jimmy Doolittle’s words that "There's nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer." 

Ben Keiser is a Marine Corps veteran and a co-founder and executive chairman of We the Veterans and Military Families. 

Experts at a New York-based art data science firm believe a long-lost piece by Vincent van Gogh was sold at a garage sale in Minnesota and recently published a report about its investigation.

In a Jan. 28 news release, LMI Group International announced the publication of a 450-page report on a painting called "Elimar," which it believes is a van Gogh original. 

The painting was bought at a Minnesota garage sale for $50 in 2016, and, according to The Wall Street Journal, it could be worth as much as $15 million.

Experts believe the painting was done while the artist was a patient of the Saint-Paul sanitarium in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence between May 1889 and May 1890. It was found with "E L I M A R" on the front of the canvas.

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The report describes the piece, which measures 45.7 by 41.9 centimeters, as an "emotionally rich, profoundly personal work created during the final and tumultuous chapter of van Gogh's life." 

"In this portrait, van Gogh reimagines himself as an older, wiser man depicted against the serene palette-knife-sculpted sky and smooth expanse of the water, evoking van Gogh’s lifelong personal interest with life at sea," the release stated.

The portrait shows a somber-looking man with a pipe in his mouth and a fur hat standing by the ocean. The painting has "the same three-quarter view of all four van Gogh self-portraits painted in 1889," according to the report.

"'Elimar' features stylistically distinct elements that appear throughout van Gogh’s oeuvre, including distinctive marks under the eyes, marks at the corner of the mouth, eyelashes, ‘whites of the eyes’ often in blue or green, a pronounced nasal-labial line, cursory shorthand describing the tragus and helix, and the color of cuff set off from the sleeve," the statement said.

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Analysts also found that a strand of red hair was partially embedded in the corner of the painting, and scientists confirmed it belonged to a male. The painting also had a finish made of egg white, which van Gogh was known to have used.

Despite the stylistic similarities, the Van Gogh Museum has denied the painting's connection to the famed Dutch artist. In February 2019, LMI Group received this statement from the museum: "We have carefully examined the material you supplied to us and are of the opinion, based on stylistic features, that your work … cannot be attributed to Vincent van Gogh."

In a statement, LMI Group President Lawrence M. Shindell said his organization took a "data-based approach" to verifying the origin of the painting, and that it "represents a new standard of confidence for bringing to light unknown or forgotten works by important artists."

"By integrating science and technology with traditional tools of connoisseurship, historical context, formal analysis, and provenance research, we aim both to expand and tailor the resources available for art authentication based on the unique properties of the works under our care," Shindell said.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Van Gogh Museum for comment.

The American Culture Quiz is a weekly test of our unique national traits, trends, history and people, including current events and the sights and sounds of the United States.

This week's quiz features groundbreaking gadgets, Southern staples and much more.

Can you get all eight questions right?

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To try your hand at more quizzes from Fox News Digital, click here. 

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After the passing of 100-year-old former President Jimmy Carter, many are recalling the "killer rabbit" incident in which Carter had to fight off a berserk swamp creature while fishing in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.

The bizarre incident occurred in April 1979 but was not known to the public until months later when, according to an account by then White House Press Secretary Jody Powell, the press official shared the story with reporter Brooks Jackson. After the story broke, it captured the American imagination and came to be seen as emblematic of the Carter presidency, which many perceived as ineffective and flailing.

Sensationalized headlines ran across the country such as the Washington Post’s "Bunny Goes Bugs. Rabbit Attacks President" and the New York Times’s "A Tale of Carter and the ‘Killer Rabbit.’"

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The story, which is backed by a photograph taken by a White House staffer, goes that Carter, while fishing near Plains, suddenly noticed a large swamp rabbit swimming quickly toward him. Powell said that "this large, wet animal, making strange hissing noises and gnashing its teeth, was intent upon climbing into the Presidential boat." Carter used a paddle to splash water at the creature, causing it to change course and swim away.

The New York Times reported in August 1979 that the rabbit had "penetrated Secret Service security and attacked President Carter," forcing him to "beat back the animal with a canoe paddle." The outlet reported one White House staffer saying, "the President was swinging for his life."

The picture, which was not released by the White House until after Carter lost his re-election effort to Ronald Reagan in 1980, shows the now-deceased president splashing water as a large rabbit, its ears poking out of the water, swims away.

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER US PRESIDENT, REMEMBERED IN SPORTS WORLD AFTER DEATH

Carter’s account of the incident is somewhat less dramatic. The deceased president said: "A rabbit was being chased by hounds and he jumped in the water and swam toward my boat. When he got almost there, I splashed some water with a paddle and the rabbit turned and went on and crawled out on the other side."  

However, that did not stop national and local media outlets from running the story about the "killer rabbit" far and wide.

In 1979, Carter was in the middle of his one-term presidency. He was facing several difficulties both at home and abroad, including an energy crisis and economic issues and the Iran hostage crisis. Amid these troubles, Carter’s approval ratings took a dramatic dip, and he reached some of the highest disapproval numbers of his entire presidency.

BIDEN USES FORMER PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER'S DEATH TO CRITICIZE TRUMP IN A VERBAL SPAR AND MORE TOP HEADLINES

While newspaper accounts of the "banzai bunny" and cartoons of giant, bucktoothed rabbits were clearly fanciful, many came to see the whole story as a sort of metaphor for Carter’s struggling presidency.

Powell, who originally thought of the incident as an innocent, comical story, later said he had come to regret his decision to share it with the press because of the way it was used to portray the president as so weak and inept that he was even afraid of a bunny.

Powell described the events as a "nightmare" in his 1985 memoir "The Other Side of the Story."

"It still makes my flesh crawl to think I could have been so foolish, I thought it was funny," he wrote. "Had I been doing my job, I would have stopped the President at that moment, pointed out the dangers to him and his administration if such a story ever got out. . . . Sadly, I did nothing of the kind."

Carter, a Democrat, served as the nation’s 39th president from 1977 to 1981. He was the longest-living president in U.S. history, passing away at the age of 100 in his home in Plains on Dec. 29 at 3:45 p.m. An outspoken Christian, Carter was known for his significant humanitarian efforts after his presidency and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. 

Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, was long associated with peanuts — an enduring symbol of his humble beginnings and a testament to the values of hard work that he embraced during his lifetime.

Before entering the political arena, Carter, who passed away at age 100 on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, managed his family's peanut farm in Plains, Georgia, according to the National Park Service (NPS).

"The key to peanut harvest was the threshing machine, which we called a ‘picker’ because it picked the nuts from the vines," said Carter, the NPS noted.

JIMMY CARTER SPENT NEARLY 2 YEARS IN HOSPICE CARE BEFORE HIS DEATH

"It was most often driven by a flat belt from the rear axle or wheel of a truck, and the dried stacks were hauled to it on wooden sleds, each pulled by a mule," Carter also said, the same source reported.

He added, "This was a big and important operation and involved all the men on the place."

After his father passed, Carter resigned from the U.S. Navy in 1953.

He saw fortune in expanding the three acres of peanuts on the farm.

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Carter began growing peanut seeds himself, opening "Carter’s Warehouse," which sold seeds and shelling. 

The agri-business also supplied corn, ginned cotton, liquid nitrogen, bulk fertilizer and lime.

Carter’s connection to peanuts became a defining feature of his public image. 

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It became a symbol for his White House bid, reflecting his dedication to representing everyday Americans. 

The Jimmy Carter Presidential Campaign Committee even handed out bags of peanuts with "Jimmy Carter for President" during his run against Republican Gerald Ford. 

In Oct. 1977, President Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter hosted a Peanut Brigade Party.

The First Family hosted 500 Georgian supporters on the South Lawn for a barbecue and boiled peanuts, according to the White House Historical Association (WHAA).