Free Republic

On a crisp fall day in a cemetery in Queens, a Marine Corps honor guard blew taps over the country's oldest female Marine. Sgt. Miriam Cohen did not die jumping on a hand grenade, or storming the beaches of Normandy or battling the Japanese on Iwo Jima. Most appropriately, she died on Veteran's Day, one day after the 234th birthday of the United States Marines Corps. Cohen lived nearly half as long: She would have been 102 on Dec. 13. When World War II threatened civilization, this beautiful, gutsy Brooklyn gal answered the call of a bugle, just like the...

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Marines treated at Camp Lejeune for post-traumatic stress had to undergo therapy for months in temporary trailers where they could hear bomb blasts, machine-gun fire and war cries through the thin walls, according to servicemen and their former psychiatrist. The eight trailers were used for nearly two years, until a permanent clinic was completed in September in another location on the base, said a Camp Lejeune medical spokesman, Navy Lt. j.g. Mark Jean-Pierre. The noise from training exercises "shook me up real bad. I couldn't take it. I almost ran out of there a couple of...

MARTINEZ -- A Martinez high school graduate will appear in federal court today on charges that he masqueraded as a decorated military veteran after being photographed wearing a host of fake medals, including the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart, authorities said. Steven Douglas Burton, 39, of Palm Springs was charged last week in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles with unauthorized wearing of military medals or decorations, a misdemeanor. Burton has never served in the military, authorities say. They say he works at a bank in Palm Springs. He is expected to enter a not-guilty plea today in a...

A former U.S. Marine who survived several tours of duty in Iraq and a knife attack at his Phelan home a few months ago was violently beaten to death with a hammer while installing cable at a Victorville home, authorities said. A relative of the homeowners has been arrested in the attack. Trevor Neiman, 25, a Charter Communications Cable installer, was found beaten and bloody by San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies who responded to the home shortly after 4:30 p.m. Monday. While Neiman was working on the cable at the home in the 15200 block of San Jose Drive, a...

5:00 min clip set to heavy metal music sound-track --video maker shows knowlege of basic editing. This string of short color video clips shows US Army and USMC performing small infantry unit tactical ops, small arms, mortars, etc. This is not a short, black-and-white clip of a Predator launching a hellfire against some hajis. http://www.apacheclips.com/media/11596/Now_ZAD_2009/

Google strikes yet another blow for p.c.: celebrating the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street on its front page, while ignoring the 234th anniversary of the founding of the USMC.Priorities ...

THe USMC has a great slideshow andvideo on the birthday of the USMC on top of the page and top right of the URL listed here. One of the great ads is here:http://our.marines.com/cms_content/showblogvideo/rel_id/169/id/870

Click on the link to watch the video. It is on the right side, down the middle of the page.

Happy Birthday U.S. Marines! Thank You!

Happy Birthday to the USMC! Semper Fi and God Bless to all of you!!

The FReeper Canteen Salutes the U.S. Marine Corps on Its 234th Birthday - 10NOV1775 – 10NOV2009 Semper Fidelis!(Always Faithful!) O Eternal Father, we commend to Thy protection and care the members of the Marine Corps. Guide and direct them in the defense of our country and in the maintenance of justice among nations. Protect them in the hour of danger. Grant that wherever they serve they may be loyal to their high traditions and that at all times they may put their trust in Thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Marine Corps Prayer by Bishop Sherrill, former Presiding Bishop...

http://www.popaditchforcongress.com/

Watch the Full Program Online Warning: Graphic Language and violent imagery Viewer Discretion Advised. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/obamaswar/view/

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James T. Conway has emerged in internal Pentagon deliberations as the most outspoken opponent of permitting gay men and women to serve openly in the U.S. military, according to a former senior Pentagon official. Most of the senior brass hold deep reservations about President Obama's pledge to end the ban on gays in the military, especially in the middle of two wars that have put extra stress on the military, down to the platoon level, where soldiers and Marines would be expected to bond with openly gay colleagues. But Gen. Conway has gone further than others...

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James T. Conway has emerged in internal Pentagon deliberations as the most outspoken opponent of permitting gay men and women to serve openly in the U.S. military, according to a former senior Pentagon official. Most of the senior brass hold deep reservations about President Obama's pledge to end the ban on gays in the military, especially in the middle of two wars that have put extra stress on the military, down to the platoon level, where soldiers and Marines would be expected to bond with openly gay colleagues. But Gen. Conway has gone further than others...

Launching An American Knight in Washington Written by John Horvat    Thursday, October 29, 2009 On October 27, the TFP Washington Bureau was filled with friends and supporters to hear a presentation on the book, An American Knight The Life of Colonel John W. Ripley, USMC just authored by TFP member Norman Fulkerson. The author presented the book to a full and lively auditorium of some 50 people and later personally signed copies. As a special guest, Duke Paul of Oldenburg from the German TFP, gave the opening remarks commenting on the meaning of chivalry today. Also attending was...

Chalk up another bull's-eye for the Marine Corps. On Friday, Camp Pendleton is celebrating a big win over the Army, a traditional military rival. Shooters from the Southern California base's School of Infantry have returned home with the top prize in the ninth annual U.S. Army Sniper Competition that took place Oct. 14-22 at Fort Benning, Ga.

BreakingNews San Diego media: 9 missing after collision of Coast Guard C-130 and Marine Cobra helicopter off the SD coast. BNO News working to confirm.

The "Axis of Idiots"  From the Podium:J. D. Pendry, Retired Sergeant Major, USMC FROM THE PODIUMThis retired USMC Sgt. Major has his Stuff together. Jimmy Carter, you are the father of the Islamic Nazi movement. You threw the Shah under the bus, welcomed the Ayatollah home, and then lacked the spine to confront the terrorists when they took our embassy and our people hostage. You're the "runner-in-chief." Bill Clinton, you played ring around the Lewinsky while the terrorists were at war with us. You got us into a fight with them in Somalia and then you ran from it. Your...

The White House could not have imagined it was a step behind generous Daily News readers when it invited a wounded Marine to join the First Lady at tonight's opening game of the World Series. Lance Cpl. Michael Stilson had already gotten a pair of tickets as part of an outpouring by News readers offering to help wounded vets see the Yankees try for another world championship. Of course, the 22-year-old recovering at Bethesda Naval Medical Center was still more than honored by the offer from the White House. He did not want just to say thanks, but no thanks....

The Marine Corps earned bragging rights during the 9th annual U.S. Army International Sniper Competition at Fort Benning, Ga., last week, when Leathernecks from the Corps' Scout Sniper School (West) in Camp Pendleton, Calif., claimed the title of top marksmen.

It's hard to envision -- or, for the dwindling few, to remember -- what the world looked like on Oct. 26, 1942, when a few thousand U.S. Marines stood essentially stranded on the God-forsaken jungle island of Guadalcanal, placed like a speed bump at the end of the long blue-water slot between New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago, the most likely route for the Japanese Navy to take if they hoped to reach Australia. On Guadalcanal, the Marines struggled to complete an airfield. Japanese Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto knew what that meant. No effort would be spared to dislodge these upstart...

Twenty-six years after a bombing in Lebanon stunned Jacksonville, Camp Lejeune and surrounding communities, veterans and their families still remember with sadness but are forging healing bonds. On Friday morning, the city and Camp Lejeune marked the anniversary of the 1983 suicide bombing that took the lives of 241 Marines, sailors and soldiers, most of whom were from the First Battalion, Eighth Marines, based at Jacksonville’s Camp Geiger. The service at the Beirut Memorial drew hundreds to the granite wall carrying a simple, eloquent inscription: “They Came in Peace.” Jacksonville Mayor Sammy Phillips recalled the grief stricken moments the community...

RAIN RAN in small rivers from the equipment and the faces of the men loading up to leave in the early hours of that morning. Although the day had barely gotten a running start, already Camp Lejeune Marines were packing their gear, tying it down, and prepping for deployment. On the faces of these men — young and shiny baby Marines, experienced men facing their first deployment, and experienced veterans who had already been there and done that — was a grim expectation of what they would face in a few hours when they reached their destination: Beirut, Lebanon. Their...

At 6:20 on the morning of Oct. 23, 1983, a massive truck bomb plowed through the gates of the barracks of a U.S. Marines Corps peacekeeping force stationed in Beirut, Lebanon. The detonation, the most powerful non-nuclear explosion on record, would kill 241 of the 271 servicemen inside — the largest single-day death toll for the Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. At the time, Mark Wolcott of Tioga County was a lance corporal in the Marine Corps, assigned as a repairman for amphibious troop carriers, or “Amtraks.” On the night of Oct. 22,...

With political and public attention once again focused on the sacrifices made by our military in Afghanistan, it's more important than ever to remember American heroes who set an example for us all. In this first cradle-to-grave biography of Colonel John W. Ripley, author Norman Fulkerson tells the extraordinary life story of a Marine Corps hero of legendary stature; the selfless leader of combat troops and embodiment of "Semper Fi." "If a young officer or Marine ever asks what is the meaning of Semper Fidelis," Col. Ripley once told a friend, "tell them my story." This is his story!

Sgt. Aaron Taylor had been in the country for about a month A bomb technician from Camp Pendleton has become the latest locally based Marine to die from a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. Staff Sgt. Aaron Taylor died Friday when he exited a vehicle and stepped on the homemade explosive, his brother Kyle Taylor said in a telephone interview from the family's home in Minnesota. The Defense Department announced his death Tuesday. "He was an all-around good guy," 21-year-old Kyle Taylor said of his older brother. "He was really ambitious and everything he did he went after 150 percent."

Burial of an American Lady Written by Norman Fulkerson    Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Colonel Ripley often referred to Moline as his "queen." On September 25, 2009, a small group of family and friends said their final farewell to Moline Blaylock Ripley. She died at her home in Annapolis, Md., on Saturday, September 12, 2009 at the age of 68. Moline was born in Bluefield, W.Va., on Pearl Harbor day, December 7, 1941, to Arnold Vincent and Edna Pais Blaylock. Her family eventually moved to Radford, Va. where she attended Radford High School and later went on to graduate...

***Policy change comes after child died from bite at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune*** U.S. Marines are known for being aggressive, but service brass don't want the troops' dogs to have the same trait. Marine Corps headquarters in Washington recently instituted a ban on what it considers dangerous dogs at its bases worldwide. The policy specifically bans purebred and mixed breed pit bulls, Rottweilers, wolf hybrids "or any canine breed with dominant traits of aggression" that pose a risk to people living in base family housing. The Marine Corps' mascot, the bulldog, is not mentioned in the new policy. A spokeswoman...

Judge orders killer released on compassionate grounds Richard Keech, 89, was serving a life term for shooting his son-in-law to death in Long Beach in 1996. He suffers from dementia... By Victoria Kim In a quiet residential neighborhood in Long Beach 13 years ago, Dick Keech fired four shots at his son-in-law, who lay face-down on a neighbors lawn, bleeding from an earlier gunshot wound. Its all over, he said later to a neighbor who ran out at the sound. He wont bother anyone anymore. On Monday, a Long Beach judge said he would grant Keech, 89, the compassion he...

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — The government has dropped a murder charge against a Marine who pleaded guilty Tuesday to dereliction of duty for killing an unarmed Iraqi detainee during a battle to recapture the city of Fallujah. If convicted of murder, Sgt. Jermaine Nelson could have faced a maximum sentence of life in prison and a dishonorable discharge. Instead, he now faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a bad conduct discharge – one grade less than dishonorable. Defense attorney Joseph Low told reporters the plea agreement says Nelson will not serve any prison time and will...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2009 – An indictment handed down yesterday in a North Carolina federal court charges three men with plotting to attack Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., with the intent to murder U.S. military personnel. The men -- two American citizens and a legal U.S. resident from Kosovo – are Daniel Patrick Boyd, 39; his son, Zakariya Boyd, 20; and Kosovo native Hysen Sherifi, 24, according to Justice Department and Marine Corps news releases. The three allegedly were involved in a plot to procure maps of the base and assemble weapons as a precursor to an attack, the releases...

Federal prosecutors say two North Carolina terrorism suspects plotted to kill U.S. military personnel. A superseding indictment returned Thursday against Daniel Patrick Boyd and Hysen Sherifi is the first time authorities have said the men had specific targets. Prosecutors said Boyd obtained maps of Virginia's Marine Corps Base Quantico in order to plan an attack. Prosecutors have previously said the man went on training expeditions in the weeks leading up to their arrests in July, practicing military tactics with armor-piercing bullets on a property in rural North Carolina. Seven men are awaiting trial in the case, and investigators say an...

I am pleased and proud to announce that my USMC son has completed his flight training and will be getting his wings on Friday the 25th of September in Pensacola. He hopes to complete his training in flying the CH-53..... As it turns out my uncle who was killed in WW2 was a Marine pilot. My brother is the family historian, is sending my uncles wings to FL to be used in the ceremony. We have three sons and this is my eldest sons day. The second in line is completing his college is going into flight in the USMC...

Greenville, South Carolina saw the arrival of a Marine who perished in Afghanistan, and Gaffney, S.C. was his ultimate resting place. Only the faint sound of lightly marching feet could be heard as hundreds stood silent on the Greenville-Spartanburg International tarmac Wednesday while fully adorned Marines carried Lance Cpl. Chris Fowlkes’ flag-draped coffin. The solemn arrival began an afternoon-long procession that ultimately wound through the streets of the 20-year-old Marine’s hometown of Gaffney, where businesses shut down and mourners lined the streets. The homecoming came six days after the former Gaffney High School football player died in a military hospital...

In a little noticed development last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates ordered 2,500 to 3,000 more troops to Afghanistan as soon as possible to meet imminent threats from roadside bombs. Gates was responding to a request from the overall U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, for more bomb disposal and route clearance teams, medical rescue units and intelligence specialists. All are needed to combat the rising use of roadside bombs, the No. 1 troop killer in Afghanistan. Which troops are getting those assignments remained unclear Monday. But as military officials and the Obama administration debate the next steps...

A documentary film chronicling a Camp Pendleton squad convicted in the 2006 kidnapping and killing of an Iraqi man debuts in New York this week and will be screened in Oceanside next month. "Article 32" was produced primarily by Don Sikorski, who began working on the project two years ago, after the seven Marines and a Navy medical corpsman were prosecuted for the killing of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, a retired Iraqi policeman and father of 11. The 65-minute film tells the story of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment Kilo Company squad initially charged with capital murder. After several plea...

KHAN NESHIN, Afghanistan — We're with the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion in southern Helmand province, just 75 kilometers from Pakistan, in "battle space" that was the heart of Taliban territory until a few weeks ago. When these Marines fought their way into this dusty district capital in July, the Taliban were stunned. No Afghan government or coalition authorities had been here since 2002. Taliban leaders across the border in Pakistan told their minions to fight back. They did, and it was a terrible mistake. Scores of them died trying to stop the joint American/Afghan National Army troops from establishing...

A military appeals court has ruled against CBS in a battle over unaired portions of a "60 Minutes" interview with a key figure in the 2005 slaying of 24 Iraqis in the city of Haditha. The U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Appeals rejected the network's claim of reporter privilege in its battle with Marine Corps prosecutors who want access to the outtakes of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich's interview. Wuterich is charged with nine counts of voluntary manslaughter and related offenses in the incident that was triggered by a roadside bombing that killed one Marine and injured two others. His case...

I feel guilty because originally I supported the decision by the Associated Press to release the photo of the young Marine that was taken as he lay dying. I lost readers over that and I do not blame them. Sarah Palin weighed in on Facebook. "Many of us join Secretary Gates in condemning the Associated Press for its heartless and selfish decision to turn its back on the wishes of a grieving family in order to exploit the tragic death of a true American hero. Lance Corporal Joshua ‘Bernie’ Bernard was a selfless young American who sacrificed everything for our...

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is objecting “in the strongest terms” to an Associated Press decision to transmit a photograph showing a mortally wounded 21-year-old Marine in his final moments of life, calling the decision “appalling” and a breach of “common decency.” The AP reported that the Marine’s father had asked – in an interview and in a follow-up phone call — that the image, taken by an embedded photographer, not be published. Gates: “I cannot imagine the pain and suffering Lance Corporal Bernard’s death has caused his family. Why your organization would purposefully defy the family’s wishes knowing full well...

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is objecting “in the strongest terms” to an Associated Press decision to transmit a photograph showing a mortally wounded 21-year-old Marine in his final moments of life, calling the decision “appalling” and a breach of “common decency.” The AP reported that the Marine’s father had asked – in an interview and in a follow-up phone call — that the image, taken by an embedded photographer, not be published.rest of story at link...

This came from a Marine unit over in Iraq. SLEEP LAST NIGHT? Bed a little lumpy... Toss and turn any... Wish the heat was higher... Maybe the a/c wasn't on... Had to go to the john... Need a drink of water... Scroll down Yes... It is like that! Count your blessings, pray for them, Talk to your Creator And The next time when... The other car cuts you off and you must hit the brakes, Or you have to park a little further from Walmart than you want to be, Or you're served slightly warm food at the restaurant, Or...

WASHINGTON — While Republicans are calling a Department of Veterans Affairs health planning booklet a "death book" that encourages veterans to kill themselves or forgo care, ethicists and legal and medical experts say it's a reasonable attempt to help America's veterans plan for the end of their lives. Jim Towey, the former director of President George W. Bush's White House office of faith-based initiatives, wrote in The Wall Street Journal last month that the VA's "Your Life, Your Choices" booklet encourages veterans to "hurry up and die." Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele added in a television interview that the...

On Saturday, millions watched as Ted Kennedy made his final trip to Arlington National Cemetery. With rather less attention, Arlington's soil opened again Monday to accept the remains of one of Kennedy's former aides, 40-year-old Bill Cahir. The deceased, an Alexandria resident, was unknown to most Americans, but he did no less for his country than his old boss -- and, gauged by the last full measure of devotion, he did even more. He went from his job working for Kennedy in the Senate to become, at various points, a Washington journalist and a failed congressional candidate. But it was...

The only Marine imprisoned in the 2006 killing of an Iraq man in what was then the deadly Sunni Triangle says he never would have hurt someone he did not believe was an insurgent intent on killing U.S. troops. "I never would have knowingly harmed any innocent Iraqi," former sergeant and now Pvt. Larry Hutchins III said during an interview with the North County Times on Friday. "If I knew for sure to this day that the person that was killed was an insurgent, I would sleep a lot better at night." The 25-year-old Hutchins, who sports a large spiderweb...

The Marine Corps has decided not to seek to reinstate criminal charges against a former battalion commander at Camp Pendleton for a 2005 incident in which his troops killed 24 civilians in Haditha, Iraq. Chessani Instead, the Marine Corps will convene a Board of Inquiry to hear testimony and recommend whether Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani should be demoted to major for purposes of retirement. Even if such a recommendation is made and then accepted by the Secretary of the Navy, Chessani's retirement pay would still be based on being a lieutenant colonel. The Marine Corps had sought to try Chessani...

Vietnam Vet, Actor and Morale Booster As part of a group of online journalists and bloggers on BlogTalkRadio, I was able to participate in a DOD "bloggers roundtable" discussion with R. Lee Ermey, the legendary Vietnam veteran and actor that played the drill sergeant in the movie Full Metal Jacket. Ermey has received multiple military decorations for his service in the Marine Corps to include the Combat Action Ribbon for his Vietnam service. A retired Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant or "Gunny", Ermey's morale trips to combat zones often draw huge lines of service members. This year,Ermey hopes to travel to...

MCRD Parris Island needs a hand, and someone needs to step forward to see that it happens. The Iwo Jima Memorial at Parris Island needs to be replaced and the private sector should raise the money to do it. The statue by the parade deck is one of the most significant fixtures in Beaufort County. Because Parris Island is one of only two boot camps for the Marine Corps, it's a memorial with national importance. The memorial depicts a moment in American and Marine Corps history that still is seared in the nation's mind 64 years after five Marines and...

Gunny G: Marine Richard Keech Family Needs Help… Some of you folks who have been on my e-mail list and/or who have browsed my websites since about 1998 will recognize the name of Richard Keech. But most of you will not know of him. Richard was a pre–World War Two China Marine and his unit was sent to the Philippines (from China) a few weeks prior to the fall of Corregidor. When Corregidor fell he became a prisoner of the Japanese along with many others. The remainder of WWII was spent in a POW camp in Japan. After the war,...