On Patrol

Three good reads to start your Friday:

• Unmanned aerial vehicles—or drones, as most of us refer to them—have become an essential piece of the war on terror. Now, the Navy is looking at unmanned vessels for dangerous tasks like minesweeping.
  
  
• Brazilian-born Army Sergeant Felipe Pereira was presented the Distinguished Service Cross—the military’s second-highest honor—for saving two lives during an attack in Afghanistan after being wounded himself.
  
  
• The Camp Pendleton, California, cross site—made famous after a group of atheists complained over the religious nature of the memorial on public land—is back in the news. Fox News profiles the continuing standoff between the sides, and adds several details of what it’s like to be standing on the hill next to the slew of makeshift tributes families and friends leave behind.