Free Republic

U.S. Marines and Afghan security forces moved into Taliban-infested villages Wednesday evening in one of the Obama administration's first major military operations in the previously forgotten war in Afghanistan. The offensive was launched shortly after 1 a.m. local time in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province. More than 4,000 Marines and an estimated 650 Afghan soldiers and police sought to clear insurgents from towns and villages along the Helmand River Valley before the nation's Aug. 20 presidential election. Dubbed Operation Khanjar, or "Strike of the Sword," the military push was described by officials as the largest and fastest-moving of the war's newest...

Some Berkeley business owners say they have received such a negative response from the recent City Council resolutions against the Marine Corps recruiting center in Downtown Berkeley that they may withhold city taxes in protest. Last week the council declared that the center was "unwelcome" in Berkeley and sought to aide Code Pink, a group that organizes regular protests outside the center, by reserving a parking space for the group in front of the center, among other actions. Since then, the resolutions have elicited a nationwide response. Last Thursday, United States Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said he would attempt to...

The MARINE CORPS marathon is tommorrow! Is it possible for any FREEPERS to get out there and support those guys & gals who are running in it & maybe post photos of it later?

We are asking prayer for safety,well-being and release of the Korean hostages from Taliban terrorists. 2-3 of the hostages have been murdered! Negotiations for release are political, so the process is slow and painful. Please pray for families involved waiting for their loved ones. Thank You for your prayerful support. Hebrews 13:3..Remember the prisoners as if chained with them, and those who are mistreated, since you yourselves are in the body also.

First the Marine Corps made Chuck Norris an honorary Marine. Now the Corps wants all Marines to follow in his footsteps. All Marines must now qualify for their tan belt in the Corps' version of martial arts by the end of 2007, Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway said in a recent Corps-wide message. The move mostly affects those who joined before 2001, when the service made the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program part of basic training and the Basic School, said 1st Lt. Brian P. Donnelly, a spokesman for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. The Corps originally hoped to have all...

SEMPER FIDELIS, SEMPER................

All U.S. Marines are gung-ho. But, few can match the vision and total commitment of the famous 13th Commandant, Gen. John A. Lejeune. In 1921 he issued Marine Corps Order No. 47, Series 1921.

I am asking all FReepers who are outraged at Rep. John Murtha for his devastating political stunt yesterday to contact him. Murtha may not care to hear from you unless you are one of his constituents, but HE put himself on the National stage yesterday calling for the immediate withdrawal of our troops in Iraq and as Americans, we need to let him hear from us. If ever there was a time for us to ban together on this forum, we need to do it now. The anti-war drumbeats are becoming deafening and ALL OF US need to find our...

(CBS) At first glance, Parris Island looks a lot like a nature preserve. But CBS News correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi finds that this is where Marines are made. As Alfonsi tours, she finds that dawn breaks with croaking drill instructors. First stop: the dreaded obstacle course. It's supposed to build strength, but it also tests character — often in inches and agony. It's where Alfonsi meets Michael Laurello, a scrappy 19 year old who enlisted right out of high school. "My mother actually cried," Laurello says of when he enlisted. "It was like a funeral at my going away party." Some...

It is often said, every Marine is a rifleman. However, many Marines only get a chance to shoot only once a year when they qualify with the M-16A2 service rifle. This may not be enough to satisfy the warrior marksman within them. Station Marines can rest assured because Adair Park shooting range may be just what they are looking for if they enjoy shooting their personal firearms, said Cpl. Jesse D. Spurgeon, Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron communications technician. The park is approximately 14 miles east of the station on Highway 95 and is the only out-door range in the state...

After marching 500 miles from Egypt, U.S. agent William Eaton leads a small force of U.S. Marines and Berber mercenaries against the Tripolitan port city of Derna. The Marines and Berbers were on a mission to depose Yusuf Karamanli, the ruling pasha of Tripoli, who had seized power from his brother, Hamet Karamanli, a pasha who was sympathetic to the United States. The First Barbary War had begun four years earlier, when U.S. President Thomas Jefferson ordered U.S. Navy vessels to the Mediterranean Sea in protest of continuing raids against U.S. ships by pirates from the Barbary states--Morocco, Algeria, Tunis,...

MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. (April 14, 2005) -- "I asked my senior drill instructor three questions before I made the phone call. 'Is there something wrong with my brother?' 'Yes.' 'Is he dead?' 'No.' I forced down tears and asked if his body was still intact ... he told me he didn't know and that we would find that out today." Days before Pfc. Ryan Rice went through the Crucible, an essential training aspect of recruit training, he and his senior drill instructor, Staff Sgt. Jorge Melendez, received word that Rice's fraternal twin brother had been involved in a land...

Fallujah post-mortem     Some Marine units moved through Fallujah in November with Arabic translators. The infantrymen wanted to be able to eavesdrop on the terrorists' radio net.     A Marine told us that, roughly translated, one terrorist was heard to say: "We are fighting. But the Marines keep coming. We are shooting, but the Marines won't stop."     The Marines, backed by Army tanks, captured Fallujah in 11 days and with it the last large base for Abu Musab Zarqawi.

U.S. MARINE CORPS FORCES PACIFIC, CAMP H.M. SMITH, Hawaii (Jan. 5, 2005) -- The Marine Corps implemented a new, efficient and fast system for family and friends to stay in touch with Marines deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Bahrain. Motivational Mail, also known as MotoMail, which became operational on Dec. 1, enables deployed Marines to receive letters within about 24 hours, without requiring the use of the e-mail. "E-mail requires for the sender to know a recipients e-mail address, while MotoMail only requires the sender to know the recipients deployed mailing address," said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Don L....

Happy 229th Birthday to the United States Marine Corps! http://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/usmc.asp?isc=gdf1110.

From a Marine officer on the Iraqi warfront with Jihadistan... (This is an open letter to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, "Islamic Response," and the rest of the so-called al-Qa'ida "insurgents" in Iraq and elsewhere. We don't have an e-mail address for these swine -- though we are closing in on their snail-mail address, but we are forwarding this letter to Federalist Patriots around the world in the hope you good people will forward it to as many other Patriots as possible to rally prayer and support for our fellow Marine, Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun. Should these al-Qa'ida pigs spill his blood,...

Marine awarded Bronze StarSubmitted by: MCRD Parris IslandStory Identification Number: 2004359350Story by Lance Cpl. Brian Kester MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C.(March 5, 2004) -- The recruits of Platoon 1033 have a hero in their midst, a man who has achieved what some can only dream of achieving -- a Bronze Star for actions on the battlefield. The heroic efforts displayed by this Marine in battle are a direct result of a humble man who was only "out there doing the job." Sergeant Edward R. Ferguson, drill instructor with Platoon 1033, Alpha Company, 1st RTBn., was presented with the Bronze Star for...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Dragon isn't the most disciplined member of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268. He's been known to steal food. He runs around Camp Pendleton's flight line like he owns the place. And he can't maintain his bearing, always bowing his head and folding his ears back. Get him really excited and he'll even leave a puddle on the floor. But his Marines love him. It's hard not to. The lovable mutt is just that -- a stray the squadron's Marines came to call their own during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Dragon has migrated from the...

''Operation Devil Dog'' aims to cool Marines' canine heroes By CATHERINE KOZAK, The Virginian-Pilot © May 16, 2003 An Outer Banks animal-help group is lending a hand to raise money for loyal four-legged Americans in the Middle East desert that need to chill out. After Patti Bourexis, a volunteer with the Coastal Humane Society, saw pictures of Marine dogs deployed with the U.S. military, she tracked down the nonprofit North Carolina museum that is collecting dollars to buy cooling vests and pads for the hot dogs. ``I really believe that the dogs are troops, just like the humans are troops,''...

Only a Marine... Would *drive* an amphibious assault vehicle up to Baghdad.. Would greet bullets and RPG fires with a OOOAHHHGG! Would fly helecopters leftover from Vietnam and kick butt with them.. Would endure 3 months of *real* boot camp... No slight to the Brave Army folks (including Special Ops). But, the Marines are still our tip of the spear! They are "our boys" and as they adapt to new war strategies, they will continue to be. (There was a reason I enlisted in the *Army* -- wanted it easier than the Marine Corps.)