Don't watch any news if you can avoid it. If you have to watch TV for news, Fox News is the lesser of all the evils, IMHO. Plenty of good sources for fair and balanced news on the internet.
Try to learn where your Marine is and what he does. A Fobbit (somebody who never goes outside the wire, like me) aboard Taqaddum is safer than he would be at Pendleton. No alcohol and no motorcycles. On the other hand, a rifleman on some Combat Outpost or a CH-46 crewman or a Humvee gunner on Main Supply Route Mobile is earning every dime. The particular type of unit he is in and his Military Occupational Specialty can give you some clues, if you know how to interpret them, but every Marine is a rifleman and a file clerk can be reassigned as a road warrior pretty quick.
Understand that Iraq is a big place, and Anbar Province is the biggest province in Iraq, so bad things can can be reported happening in a place far away from where your son is, and he might not even hear about them.
How'd you get back? Doesn't matter what I do I can't seem to get back through the system!
If you're a TQ I have a 'brother' there and a very good friend that used to work for me at another site.
We used to think that the area down on the lake by the ROWPUs would be a great BBQ/party area with that view on the lake and all.