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A city attorney can be an elected or appointed position in city and municipal government in the United States. The city attorney is the attorney representing the city or municipality.

In some small towns, the city attorney is usually a lawyer in private practice and handles only governmental matters. In other towns or cities the he or she also prosecutes minor crimes.

A city attorney generally handles all legal matters for the city, from traffic tickets to civil lawsuits to acting as a general counsel, giving legal advice for city departments.

Areas of focus may include:

• Civil claims against city (such as claims against the city police department)
• Criminal - prosecute misdemeanors and violations (felonies are usually prosecuted by a district attorney, State's Attorney or Commonwealth's Attorney)
• Real estate - drug/alcohol nuisance, substandard housing or code enforcement

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Travis Earl Watkins
Born	(1920-09-05)September 5, 1920 Waldo, Arkansas
Died	September 3, 1950(1950-09-03) Near Yongsan, Korea
Place of burial	Gladewater Memorial Cemetery, Gladewater, Texas
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1939–1950
Rank	Master Sergeant
Unit	9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division
Battles/wars	World War II  • Guadalcanal Campaign Korean War  • Second Battle of Naktong Bulge
Awards	Medal of Honor Bronze Star Purple Heart

Travis Earl Watkins (September 5, 1920 – September 3, 1950) was a United States Army soldier and a posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Korean War. A veteran of World War II, Watkins was awarded the medal for his conspicuous leadership during the Second Battle of Naktong Bulge.

Early life and career[link]

Watkins was born in Waldo, Arkansas, on September 5, 1920. His family moved to East Texas when he was a young child and he attended school in the city of Troup.^[1]

Enlisting in the U.S. Army in June 1939^[2], Watkins served in World War II and was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions during the Guadalcanal Campaign. He returned to Texas after the war and in 1948 married Madie Sue Barnett.^[1]

Korean War[link]

In the Korean War, Watkins served as a master sergeant with Company H of the 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. Near Yongsan, Korea, on August 31, 1950, he was among a group of 30 soldiers who were cut off and surrounded by a numerically superior North Korean force. Watkins took command and directed the group's defense, exposing himself to hostile fire in order to lead and encourage his men. When ammunition became scarce, he crossed the defensive perimeter to collect weapons from the bodies of two North Korean soldiers whom he had killed. Encountering three hostile soldiers, he was wounded but managed to kill the three men and took their weapons and ammunition as well before returning to friendly lines.^[3]

Later, six North Koreans gained a position which allowed them to throw grenades into the American defenses. Watkins rose from his foxhole and killed the six soldiers with his rifle. Hit by machine gun fire in the process, he was rendered paralyzed from the waist down. Despite his severe injuries, he continued to encourage his men and refused all food, preferring to save it for others. Realizing that the position was untenable, on September 3 he ordered the group to withdraw and leave him behind. He died of his wounds soon after. For these actions, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor six months later, on February 16, 1951.^[3]

Honors and legacy[link]

Two days short of his thirtieth birthday upon his death, Watkins was buried at Gladewater Memorial Cemetery in Gladewater, Texas. Every year since 2008, a memorial ceremony has been held at his grave on the Saturday closest to National Medal of Honor Day.^[1] The transport ship USNS Watkins (T-AKR-315) was named in his honor.

Medal of Honor citation[link]

Watkins' official Medal of Honor citation reads:

M/Sgt. Watkins distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. When an overwhelming enemy force broke through and isolated 30 men of his unit, he took command, established a perimeter defense and directed action which repelled continuous, fanatical enemy assaults. With his group completely surrounded and cut off, he moved from foxhole to foxhole exposing himself to enemy fire, giving instructions and offering encouragement to his men. Later when the need for ammunition and grenades became critical he shot 2 enemy soldiers 50 yards outside the perimeter and went out alone for their ammunition and weapons. As he picked up their weapons he was attacked by 3 others and wounded. Returning their fire he killed all 3 and gathering up the weapons of the 5 enemy dead returned to his amazed comrades. During a later assault, 6 enemy soldiers gained a defiladed spot and began to throw grenades into the perimeter making it untenable. Realizing the desperate situation and disregarding his wound he rose from his foxhole to engage them with rifle fire. Although immediately hit by a burst from an enemy machine gun he continued to fire until he had killed the grenade throwers. With this threat eliminated he collapsed and despite being paralyzed from the waist down, encouraged his men to hold on. He refused all food, saving it for his comrades, and when it became apparent that help would not arrive in time to hold the position ordered his men to escape to friendly lines. Refusing evacuation as his hopeless condition would burden his comrades, he remained in his position and cheerfully wished them luck. Through his aggressive leadership and intrepid actions, this small force destroyed nearly 500 of the enemy before abandoning their position. M/Sgt. Watkins' sustained personal bravery and noble self-sacrifice reflect the highest glory upon himself and is in keeping with the esteemed traditions of the U.S. Army.^[3]

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	United States Army portal

• List of Korean War Medal of Honor recipients

References[link]

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army Center of Military History.

External links[link]

• "Travis E. Watkins". Hall of Valor. Military Times. http://www.militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/recipient.php?recipientid=3055. 
• Texas Handbook Online
• "Cemetery Biography". http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/pub/user_form.asp?step=1&pers_id=11205. Retrieved October 5, 2010. 

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Kong Hee (Chinese: 康希)(born August 23, 1964) is the founder, honorary and volunteer senior pastor of City Harvest Church in Singapore. Kong is a Christian in the Charismatic Movement, with a philosophy of ministry that emphasizes the Great Commandment, Great Commission, and Cultural Mandate.^[1] City Harvest Church has an average of 23,256 attendees as of December 2010.^[2] It also has 47 affiliate "Harvest" churches. There are 29 affiliate churches and 6 Bible schools in Asia, namely Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan. Another 18 affiliate churches in the East and West Malaysia are under the Malaysian Harvest Fellowship which Kong Hee has co-founded.^[3][4][5][6] Kong has also co-founded an education center, a performing arts school, a publishing house, a missions agency, a ministerial fellowship and a magazine.^[7] Kong is a "motivational speaker" and is the director of a fashion apparel business, Skin Couture, which he runs with his wife.^[8][9][10] He calls himself a "businessman" on the church website.^[11]

Kong Hee’s wife, Sun Ho, is a pop music singer. They have a son, Dayan Kong. They reside in Singapore

Life[link]

Kong is the fifth child of Kong Leng, a professional engineer, and Toh Poh-Eng, a diamond trader. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the National University of Singapore in 1988. In May 2008, Kong was conferred an Honorary Doctor of Business Administration from Hansei University in Seoul, Korea.

From 1975 to 1988, Kong was a member of Marine Parade Christian Center, an Anglican church located in eastern Singapore. During his university years, he worked part-time for the Chapel of the Resurrection under the oversight of Anglican vicar, Reverend Dr. Canon James Wong. During that tenure, he helped Canon Wong set up a new congregation, Orchard Christian Centre. Upon graduation from the university, Kong worked a short stint in a local publishing house as a programmer.

In 1989, Kong was a staff evangelist with “Christ For Asia,” a missions organization in the Philippines led by Assemblies of God minister, Reverend Randy Sing. At that same time, there was an opportunity for Kong to pioneer a new church in Singapore. With the support and encouragement of some senior pastors in the city, Kong decided to relocate back to Singapore and helped set up a new congregation with 20 youths. On May 7, 1989, City Harvest Church was founded as a department (known as "Ekklesia Ministry") of Bethany Christian Centre (Assemblies of God).^[12]

Since 1997, Kong is the executive director of the Festival of Praise, an annual event that brings together churches for united prayer and worship.

Kong is a board member of Dr. David Yonggi Cho’s Church Growth International (South Korea) and Dr. Luis Bush’s Transform World (Indonesia).

Kong Hee and his wife Ho Yeow Sun own two companies, International Harvest, which is a provider of "corporate training" services and "motivational" courses, and a fashion company called Skin Couture.^[11]

Media[link]

Kong's weekly 30-minute television program “Harvest Time” is broadcast on 8 Cable Television Networks and satellites.

Fund probe[link]

On 31 May 2010, the Office of the Commissioner of Charities and the Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police began investigating more than 18 individuals linked to the City Harvest Church, including church founder Pastor Kong Hee and his wife, Sun Ho, after receiving complaints alleging the misuse of church funds.^[13][14][15] The police was looking into financial transactions involving the possible falsification of accounts and criminal breach of trust amounting to millions of dollars which dated back a number of years. The authorities said that regular church activities and services for the congregation need not be disrupted during ongoing investigations, which is expected to take several months.^[16][17][18]

Plagiarism[link]

In March 2010, a blogger identified plagiarism on Kong Hee's 'Daily Devotionals' as they were similar to writings to another publication, "The Leadership Bible" which was published 10 years ago. The copied text were published as physical copies into two books, "Renewing Your Spiritual Energy in 90 Days" without accreditation to the original authors. Apart from "The Leadership Bible", the blogger also alleged other works that have been plagiarized, include content by well-known Christian authors Derek Prince, Neil Anderson, Professor Sid Buzzell and Dr Kenneth Boa. Prof Buzzell, a dean of the school of theology at Colorado Christian University, had warned that continued plagiarism may force them to seek legal advice.

Original release[link]

Kong Hee's daily devotionals were originally compiled from his personal reading notes and printed as supplementary reading for his members, free of charge. Some years later, due to popular demand overseas, a local publisher compiled and released foreign language translations of the devotional for sale.

Aftermath[link]

Kong Hee posted a note on his website and explained that the devotion was "originally meant only for internal circulation among the members of my church. As such, there was an oversight in not quoting the sources of some portions that borrow from the writings of other Christian authors." There was also an apology for the oversight.^[19][20][21]

The publisher of "Renewal" has since made amendments to the soft copies to include accreditation. The publisher who is also a member of City Harvest Church, acknowledged that at the time of publication, both himself and Mr Kong were aware that certain portions of the content were not original.^[20][21][22]

Educational qualifications[link]

• Raffles Institution (1977–1980)
• Raffles Junior College (1981–1982)
• National University of Singapore, Bachelor of Science (Computer & Information Sciences) (1985–1988)
• Hansei University, Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration (2008)

Title ordination[link]

• Bethany Christian Centre (Singapore): January 6, 1991

Founded[link]

• City Harvest Church (1989)
• School Of Theology (formerly known as City Harvest Bible Training Center) (1994)
• Harvest Times (quarterly magazine) (1999)

Co-founded[link]

• Harvest School of Ministry (2001)
• Malaysian Harvest Christian Fellowship (2003)

Positions held[link]

• President, City Harvest Church (Singapore): 1992–Present
• Executive Director, Festival of Praise (Singapore): 1997-2001, 2005–Present
• President, Word of Life (Singapore): 1997–Present
• Board of References, Transform World (Indonesia): 2005–Present
• Committee Member, National Council of Churches (Singapore): 1999-2004
• Board of Advisors, Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International (Singapore): 1996-2000

See also[link]

• City Harvest Church

References[link]

"Kong Hee's Biography". City Harvest Church. http://www.chc.org.sg/english/founder/bio.cfm. Retrieved 2007-05-29. ^{[dead link]}

Others

• Ministries Today Magazine (December 2003).

External links[link]

• Kong Hee's Official Website
• Kong Hee's Biography
• Kong Hee on Twitter
• City Harvest Church Official Site
• City Harvest Bible Training Centre
• City Harvest Community Services Association
• City Harvest Education Centre
• Attributes Christian Bookstore
• Other Related Kong Hee's Sites