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From the Podium: J. D. Pendry, Retired Sergeant Major, USMC 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 weak-willed responses to the USS Cole and the First Trade Center Bombing and Our...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HASSANABAD, Afghanistan -- In the middle of a foot patrol Saturday through what may be the most dangerous part of the most dangerous province in Afghanistan for U.S. troops, Staff Sgt. John Nickerson peered through the scope of his assault rifle at a group of Afghan men who were rolling a wheelbarrow toward him. Suddenly, he had to switch gears to the gentler form of counterinsurgency. "Hold," Nickerson said into his hand-held radio, lowering his gun. "We've got some men with a kid in a wheelbarrow trying to get our attention. Where's Doc at?" In the barrow...

Commandant of the Marine Corps awarded French Legion of Honour by French Army Chief of Staff 12/4/2009 By Sgt. Rocco DeFilippis, Marine Forces Europe PARIS — Gen. James T. Conway, the 34th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, was awarded France’s National Order of the Legion of Honour during a military awards ceremony at the historic Les Invalides here Dec. 1. The Legion of Honour, France’s highest decoration, is usually limited to French citizens, however French law allows non-citizens who have served France, or the ideas it upholds, to receive the award. The Chief of Staff of the French...

Listen up y'all. I just heard from dirtyharryy2k and he is in California, as we speak, welcoming his Marine son HOME from Afghanistan. More pics on the bottom of his profile page at the link above.I am so happy for him and his family. Please help me welcome him home with open arms and grateful prayers.WELCOME HOME, MARINE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.

It’s 3/4 Marines* and 3rd Recon, working on both ends of Helmand’s Now Zad valley with a Taliban concentration, communication and supply lines in the middle. It’s the first large unit combat use of Ospreys, used along with helicopters to drop Marines behind the Taliban at the north end of the valley while other Marines push north from their base in the tonw of Now Zad at the south end of the valley

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - Military officials say a decorated Marine from Minnesota has been killed in a parachute training exercise at Camp Pendleton. A Marine Corps statement says Corporal Ryan L. Pape died Thursday night from injuries sustained during a low-level static line jump.

KABUL (AP) -- U.S. Marines and Afghan troops Friday launched the first offensive since President Barack Obama announced an American troop surge, striking against Taliban communications and supply lines in a southern insurgent stronghold, a military spokesman said. Hundreds of troops from the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines and the Marine reconnaissance unit Task Force Raider were dropped by helicopter and MV-22 Osprey aircraft behind Taliban lines in the northern end of the Now Zad Valley of Helmand province, scene of heavy fighting last summer, according to Marine spokesman Maj. William Pelletier. A second, larger force pushed northward from the Marines'...

http://gunnyg.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/use-of-marine-corps-trademarks/ Also posted above url Marine Corps Trademark And Licensing Program http://www.marines.mil/unit/divpa/tmlo/Pages/faq.aspx Other info: SEE ALSO: http://forum.zazzle.com/misc/product_removal_usmc?m=222621 and... http://rovinghistorian.blogspot.com/2009/12/marine-corps-restricts-use-of-emblems.html -- **********

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — Only a handful of the thousands of troops in the U.S. Marines' main base here thought it worth the effort to get out of bed for President Barack Obama's speech on Afghanistan, which began at 5:30 a.m. local time. In the workout gym — one of the few public places with TVs — only two Navy Seabee engineers were watching when the speech began, and they were sharply divided on the wisdom of the president's plan. "I didn't really hear a good reason," said E3 Steven Lewis, 23, of Boise, Idaho. "I think it's all gone...

Four members of a Camp Pendleton squad convicted of taking part in the kidnapping and murder of an Iraqi civilian in 2006 have been ordered by the Secretary of the Navy to be removed from the military. Secretary Ray Mabus also directed the Marine Corps to demonstrate why a lieutenant who oversaw the unit and acknowledged abusing detainees should be allowed to stay in the service. The sweeping order requires the administrative separation within 10 days of "Pendleton 8" defendants Marine Corps Lance Cpls. Tyler Jackson, Jerry Shumate and John Jodka III. Mabus, who has the authority to remove enlisted...

Arthur Colby arrives at Quantico Marine Base by way of Groton boarding school and Dickinson College -- exclusive, private institutions that aren't exactly pipelines to the military. Officer Candidates School, he knows, will be unlike anything he's faced in his young life. At 20, Colby has a résumé crammed with hallmarks of the young and ambitious -- president of Dickinson's freshman class, internships with the Bush and McCain campaigns, a stint with a high-powered Washington consulting firm. He'd be well on his way to a bright future without the Marines. Instead, he's expecting six hellish weeks. Predawn hikes, obstacle courses,...

An inquiry board will convene Wednesday morning at Camp Pendleton to decide if a Marine Corps officer should be demoted for his actions after the shooting deaths of 24 Iraqi men, women and children four years ago. At issue is whether Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, who commanded the Camp Pendleton unit that carried out the slayings, engaged in misconduct in handling the incident. The inquiry board is the final step in Chessani's case; prosecutors earlier this year dropped two counts of criminal dereliction of duty. If the board finds there was no misconduct, the case will be closed. If it...

President Obama is expected to announce Tuesday an additional 30,000-35,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan, which reportedly may start with 9,000 Marines being deployed to southern Afghanistan followed by 1,000 Army trainers in February. The Washington Post reported Sunday that final preparations for the 9,000 Marines will commence as part of a deployment aimed at Helmand province, where the Taliban stronghold has been partly gutted by an additional 10,000 Marines sent earlier this year. "The first troops out of the door are going to be Marines," Gen. James T. Conway, the Corps' top officer, told Marines in Afghanistan on Saturday, according...

There is no yelling. No invective. No spittle-laced derision. Instead, there is a soft, warm welcome for the dozens of young men and women reporting to Officer Candidates School at Quantico Marine Base in Virginia. Arriving in polos and khakis, they check in at their leisure, anytime between 8 a.m. and 11:59 p.m., filing off buses or dropped off by well-wishing parents at what could just as well be the first day of college. This is no Parris Island, the legendary boot camp in South Carolina where the drill instructors' ferocity explodes almost the instant recruits arrive. But for the...

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...