beachie.....#100!!
ms feather.....#150!!
Angel Boy.....#200!!
A very interesting read. I'm having trouble getting through it.
The casket of Marine Pfc. Chance Phelps is taken to the cemetery in a horse-drawn carriage driven by Robin Wiltshire on April 17, 2004 in Dubois, Wyo. Photo courtesy of Sarah Beth Barnett/Casper Star-Tribune
Taking Chance Home
U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Chance Phelps, 19, died April 9, 2004, from hostile fire in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. He was buried in Dubois, Wyoming on April 17, 2004. The below story was written by Lt. Col. Mike Strobl, assigned to Manpower Management Officer Assignments at Marine Corps Base Quantico, who volunteered to be the escort officer for Pfc. Phelps during his journey home. Lt. Col. Strobl's mission as escort officer was to ensure Pfc. Phelps arrived home with dignity and honor and in a professional and timely manner.
Chance Phelps was wearing his Saint Christopher medal when he was killed on Good Friday. Eight days later, I handed the medallion to his mother. I didn’t know Chance before he died. Today, I miss him.
Over a year ago, I volunteered to escort the remains of Marines killed in Iraq should the need arise. The military provides a uniformed escort for all casualties to ensure they are delivered safely to the next of kin and are treated with dignity and respect along the way.
Thankfully, I hadn’t been called on to be an escort since Operation Iraqi Freedom began. The first few weeks of April, however, had been a tough month for the Marines. On the Monday after Easter I was reviewing Department of Defense press releases when I saw that a Private First Class Chance Phelps was killed in action outside of Baghdad. The press release listed his hometown-the same town I’m from. I notified our Battalion adjutant and told him that, should the duty to escort PFC Phelps fall to our Battalion, I would take him.
Despite what you've been told, and by whom......you have been misinformed. LOL!
Old-fashioned sunscreen: Wendy Fairchild-Valdez protects herself from good weather in Loveland, Colo.
Dog grooming taken too far: Snickers the Pomeranian marries Jenna Jenkins the 9-year-old before the start of a pet parade in Lampasas, Texas.
U.S. Army Sgt. James Stamper with the 369th Engineer Detachment removes the yellow ribbon attached to the flag at the East Bank Fire Department in West Virginia, where he is a volunteer fireman. Stamper's fellow firefighters posted the yellow ribbon in his honor during his deployment to Iraq, they recently welcomed him home following a deployment of more than one year. Courtesy photo
U.S. Army Sgt. James Stamper with the 369th Engineer Detachment, center, gets a rousing welcome at Yeager Airport in Charleston, W.Va., after returning from more than a year in Iraq. Courtesy photo
U.S. Army Sgt. James Stamper with the 369th Engineer Detachment greets his father, James Stamper, left, on his return to Yeager Airport in Charleston, W.Va., after a deployment to Iraq. Courtesy photo
U.S. Army Sgt. James Stamper with the 369th Engineer Detachment hugs his mother, Cindy Snyder, on his return home from Iraq. Courtesy photo
U.S. Army Sgt James Stamper, 369th Engineer Detachment, hugs his brother Robbie Stamper upon his arrival at Yeager Airport in Charleston, W. Va., after coming home from Baghdad. Courtesy photo.
PLANNING THE FUTURE — U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. B.P Mccoy, Commanding Officer, 3rd Battalion 4th Marines, 1st Marine Division, listens to Sheiks from Anah talk about future plans at the police station in Anah, Iraq. 1st Marine Division, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II, is engaged in Security and Stabilization Operations in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Kevin C. Quihuis Jr.
BABYLON, New York, July 2--Coast Guard Boatswains mate 3rd Class Mike Shepard (l), 21 of Delran, N.J. and Boatswains mate 3rd Class Clayton Stout, 24 of Lewiston, Idaho assist recreational boaters from Stony Brook, N.Y. as they stand next to their boat after the driver went aground on the Oak Beach Inn Shoal near Babylon, N.Y. while operating in foggy conditions July 2, 2004. The Coast Guard boarded and warned the driver approximately ten minutes prior to the grounding to slow down until the foglifted. During this holiday weekend, the Coast Guard will board thousands of vessels nationwide in hopes to educate the boating public to avoid these kinds of dangers. USCG photo by PA2 Mike Hvozda
An American soldier and Iraqi police stop traffic as a U.S. military convoy passes through a busy intersection in Baghdad, Iraq Tuesday, July 13, 2004. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
A U.S. Army soldier with the 1st Cavalry secures the scene of an accident involving a military Humvee and a civilian automobile on a highway in southern Baghdad, July 13, 2004. Three U.S. soldiers were slightly injured in the accident, said an Iraqi police officer on the scene. REUTERS/Ali Jasim
American and Iraqi troops evacuate a soldier from a U.S. Army humvee which was heavily damaged from an apparent roadside attack on the main route to the airport on the outskirts of the Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, July 13, 2004. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
A US soldier lights the cigarette of an Iraqi man while patrolling central Baghdad. Five roadside bombs exploded in central Baghdad as a US army convoy passed by, causing minor damage to an armored car but no casualties, a military spokesman said(AFP/Ahmad Al-Rubaye)
Army Pfc. Scott Magee, 28, of Mystic, Conn., with the 2nd Battalion, 501st Aviation Regiment, 1st Armored Division, washes helicopters at Camp Doha, Kuwait, on July 11 in preparation for the unit’s redeployment to Germany following an extended rotation in Iraq. M. Scott Mahaskey / Military Times
CW3 Alejandro Porter II, 40, of San Antonio, an Apache pilot with 1st Battalion, 501st Aviation Regiment, 1st Armored Division, washes his helicopter at Camp Doha, Kuwait, on July 11 in preparation for the unit’s redeployment to Germany after a long tour in Iraq. M. Scott Mahaskey / Military Times
Soldiers man the wash rack line of the 501st Aviation Regiment, 1st Armored Division at Camp Doha, Kuwait. M. Scott Mahaskey / Military Times
armyboy...did your chinooks look a little like this, all lined up, ready to come home?
During preparations to redeploy, Army CW4 John Crowley, 44, of Jacksonville, Fla., engages in a little horseplay with CW4 Jim Cook, 40, of Dyersburg, Tenn., at Camp Doha, Kuwait, on July 11. Both men are with 2nd Battalion, 501st Aviation Regiment, 1st Armored Division and are preparing to return to Germany following their completion of duty in Iraq. M. Scott Mahaskey / Military Times
Members of the Iraqi National Guard control a checkpoint in front of a U.S. Humvee in Baghdad on July 10. Khalid Mohammed / AP photo
As a U.S. soldier stands guard on the highway, a unit of Iraqi National Guard members climb aboard a transport truck during a shift change at a Baghdad checkpoint July 10. Khalid Mohammed / AP photo
A US soldier crosses the street with two Iraqi boys in Baghdad. Five roadside bombs exploded in central Baghdad as a US army convoy passed by, causing minor damage to an armored car but no casualties, a military spokesman said(AFP/Ahmed Fadaam)
Members of the third contingent of the Cuscatlan Battalion stand in formation at the Ilopango airbase, 10 kilometers east to San Salvador, July 12, 2004. Salvadoran president Elias Antonio Saca announced he would ask his legislature to deploy a third detachment of troops to Iraq. The second contingent will return at the end of July. REUTERS/Luis Galdamez