FReeper Canteen ~ Office of the Pentagon Chaplain ~ Nov 27 2005

This line says it all.

We were there another three or four hours because we weren't leaving the vehicle there," McCarver said. "We had a dead Marine inside.

" http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1529216/posts

A Glint of Silver at 23

The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal ^ | 27 November 2005 | by Jon W. Sparks

Posted on 11/27/2005 4:32:10 AM PST by Maigrey

Marine's help to comrades in Fallujah firefight earns medal

Abraham McCarver is slightly uncomfortable with the fuss.

He understands discomfort.

He's had three tours in Iraq.

So the 23-year-old Marine lance corporal is putting up with the attention that comes with being awarded the Silver Star -- the third-highest combat decoration given by the military -- presented to him last month. He came home Thanksgiving Day for a weekend of family and food. On Saturday, the White Station High School graduate was at his grandparents' home in the Sea Isle area, joking around with aunts, uncles and cousins. But to tell his story to a reporter, he retreated to a quiet corner of the house with his girlfriend, Elise Wainwright. There, his chronicle of gallantry in action on April 13, 2004, unfolded in amazing, heartbreaking detail. McCarver was already in his second tour and the Marines were making the first major push into Fallujah. Sixteen members of the Second Squad of the 2nd Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment were packed into an amphibious assault vehicle ripping into the city. They were cut off from friendly forces. The fighting was ferocious. McCarver saw the vehicle's gunner die when the Marine took a rocket-propelled grenade in the chest. The platoon leader, Lt. Christopher Ayers, was seriously wounded in the leg. "When the vehicle started to vibrate and shake, we knew it wasn't going to last much longer," McCarver said quietly. The Marines jumped out and took cover in a nearby house. But there was still a dead Marine and the wounded platoon leader in the vehicle. There was simply no question what had to be done. "I went around front and gave covering fire. Then Gunny Sagredo climbed up trying to get Lt. Ayers down." Gunnery Sgt. Ismael Sagredo and McCarver struggled to get Ayers out of the vehicle and into the house. The lieutenant was big and weighted down with gear that got caught on a bolt. Enemy fire was pinging off the vehicle as the snag finally gave way and the Marines got into the house. Rescue came about an hour later, a long hour spent dodging grenades and killing any enemy that came in range. McCarver moved from room to room in the house, dragging Ayers along. The lieutenant, dosed up on painkillers, still had the presence of mind to keep ordering "save the ammo!" It wasn't nearly over yet. "We were there another three or four hours because we weren't leaving the vehicle there," McCarver said. "We had a dead Marine inside." That meant going back to the hot zone. "Me and a friend, Jeff Starr, went out and helped hook it up," McCarver said, describing how they jury-rigged it to be towed. "Then we took a Humvee in front of four tanks and two other armored vehicles and drove them out. That's with no armor on our Humvee, Jeff standing up with two guns and me driving." In fact, this is not a story he relishes telling, except for taking pride in how the men in his unit did what they were trained to do. "Everyone knew exactly where to go and what to do. Everything we learned kicked in." Eight Marines were wounded in the battle, in addition to the one killed. Nine grenade holes were in the vehicle. A hundred insurgents were estimated killed. McCarver, like most of the rest of his unit, had a couple of rounds left. After that April's three-week siege of Fallujah, the Marines turned over security to the Iraqis. The effort failed and U.S. troops overran the city last November. But McCarver has hope for Iraq. "In my three years, I've seen a lot of progress." McCarver is stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and will be getting out of the Marines in April. "I'm coming home and going to school," he says. "I want to do something that will get me into federal law enforcement, something like the DEA or ATF." His family, many of whom have served in the military, backs him up. "My cousin Danny was in the Army and he went to Afghanistan," McCarver said. "My brother goes to West Point, my other cousin that's not here yet is an officer in Korea with the Army. My grandfather was in the Air Force." And of course, one more question comes up. Yes, he's seen "Jarhead." "It's a good movie," he grins. "It gets a little Hollywoodish with guys shooting guns in the air, but as far as the ..." he pauses to find the right word "... interesting things we do on a daily basis, it portrays it very well."

On this Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on November 27:
1701 Anders Celsius Sweden, scientist, inventor (centigrade temp scale)
1746 Robert Livingston delivered oath of office to George Washington
1809 Frances Anne "Fanny" Kemble England, Shakespearian actress (Juliet)
1865 Jose Asuncion Silva Colombia, poet (Nocturno III)
1874 Chaim Weizmann Israeli statesman (1st President)
1874 Charles A Beard American historian (American Continentalism)
1901 Ted Husing NYC, sportscaster (Monday Night Fights)
1903 Johnny Blood aka John McNally, early NFL halfback (Green Bay)
1909 James Agee American writer (The African Queen)
1912 David Merrick Broadway producer (Hello Dolly)
1917 "Buffalo" Bob Smith Buffalo NY, TV host (Howdy Doody)
1921 Alexander Dubcek headed Czech Communist Party (1968-69)
1932 Benigno Aquino Jr Philippine opposition leader; assassinated
1940 Bruce Lee San Francisco CA, karate star/actor (Green Hornet)
1942 Jimi Hendrix rock guitarist (Jimi Hendrix Experience-Purple Haze)
1944 Eddie Rabbitt Brooklyn, country singer (I Love a Rainy Night)
1952 James D Wetherbee Flushing NY, Lt Cmdr USN/astronaut (STS-32, sk:46)
1957 Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg JFK's daughter
1959 Charlie Burchill rocker (Simple Minds-Breakfast Club)
1962 Calvin Hayes rocker (Johnny Hates Jazz-Turn Back the Clock)
1963 Fisher Stevens Chicago, actor (My Science Project, Short Circuit)
1964 Rebecca Michelle Ferratti Helena Mt, playmate (Jun, 1986)
1965 Fiachna O'Broanain rocker (Hothouse Flowers-Don't Go)
1976 Jaleel White Los Angeles CA, actor (Steve Urkel-Family Matters)

Deaths which occurred on November 27:
0008 BC Horace Latin poet & satirist, dies (birth date unknown)
0511 Clovis, King of Franks, dies at 45
1680 Athanasius Kircher, German Jesuit/inventor (lantern), dies
1852 Ada Lovelace (b.1815), daughter of Lord Byron & co-inventor of Charles Babbage's “Analytical Engine,”
1887 U.S. Deputy Marshall Frank Dalton, killed in the line of duty near Fort Smith, Ark.
http://www.gunslinger.com/dalton.html
1934 "Baby Face" Nelson [Lester Gillis], gangster, shot by FBI at 26
http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/outlaws/nelson/1.html
1934 Herman Hollis FBI agent, killed by Baby Face Nelson
1934 Sam Cowley FBI agent, killed by Baby Face Nelson
1953 Eugene O'Neill playwright, dies in Boston at 65
1965 Harry Harvey Sr actor (It's a Man's World), dies at 64
1972 Mahalia Jackson, vocalist (Got Whole World in His Hands), dies at 61
1975 Ross McWhirter Guinness Book of Records keeper, is murdered
1977 John L McClellan (Sen-D-Ark), dies at 81
1978 George Moscone (San Francisco Mayor) & City Sup Harvey Milk shot by Dan White
1981 Lotte Lenya singer/actress, dies in NY at 83
1984 Percy Norris deputy high commissioner of India, shot dead
1986 Steve Tracy actor (Percival-Little House on the Praire), dies at 61
1988 John Carradine actor, dies at 82 of kidney failure

Take A Moment To Remember
GWOT Casualties

Iraq
27-Nov-2003 1 | US: 1 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Specialist Thomas J. Sweet II Camp Junction City (Ar Ramadi) - Anbar Non-hostile - weapon discharge

27-Nov-2004 4 | US: 4 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Lance Corporal Joshua E. Lucero Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US Specialist Jeremy E. Christensen Ad Duluiyah (near, nr. Balad) - Salah ad Din Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Sergeant Michael A. Smith Walter Reed Medical Ctr. Hostile - hostile fire - sniper
US Corporal Kirk J. Bosselmann Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire

Afghanistan
11/27/04 Miller, Harley D. R. Specialist 21 US U.S. Army 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 25th Infantry Div. Non-Hostile - Aircraft Crash Bamyan Prov.
11/27/04 Grogan, Travis W. Chief Warrant Officer 31 US U.S. Army 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 25th Infantry Div. Non-Hostile - Aircraft Crash Bamyan Prov.
11/27/04 McMahon, Michael J. Lieutenant Colonel 41 US U.S. Army 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 25th Infantry Div. Non-Hostile - Aircraft Crash Bamyan Prov.

http://icasualties.org/oif/
Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White
//////////
Go here and I'll stop nagging.
http://soldiersangels.org/heroes/index.php

On this day...
0043 BC Octavian, Antony and Lepidus form the triumvirate of Rome
0399 St Anastasius I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1582 William Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway
1759 Town officials in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, evicted the Rev. Francis Gastrell from William Shakespeare’s home after he cut down a 150-year-old tree that had been planted by the famed writer.
1815 Cracow (Poland) declared a free republic
1817 US soldiers attack Florida Indian village, beginning Seminole War
1839 American Statistical Association organizes in Boston
1863 Battle at Fort Esperanza Texas
1863 Battle of Payne's Farm, VA
1864 2nd day of Battles at Waynesboro, Georgia
1868 Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer's 7th Cavalry kills Chief Blackkettle and about 100 Cheyenne (mostly women and children) on the Washita River.
1870 NY Times dubs baseball "The National Game"
1885 Earliest photograph of a meteor shower made
1887 U.S. Deputy Marshall Frank Dalton, brother of the three famous outlaws, is killed in the line of duty near Fort Smith, Ark.
1889 1st permit issued to drive a car through Central Park (Curtis Brady)
1890 1st signal box for San Francisco Police Department goes into operation
1895 Alfred Nobel establishes Nobel Prize
1901 Army War College established in Washington DC
1910 NY's Penn Station opens as world's largest railway terminal
1912 Albanian National Flag adopted
1912 Spanish protectorate in Morocco established
1924 57,000 watch a High School football game in LA
1926 110,000 watch Army & Navy play a 21-all tie
1926 KXL-AM in Portland OR begins radio transmissions
1926 Restoration of Williamsburg, Virginia, begins
1941 USSR begins a counter offensive causing Germany to retreat
1941 British 13th Army corp reaches Tobruk
1942 French navy at Toulon scuttles ships & subs so Nazis don't take them
1943 Conference of Teheran (Churchill-Roosevelt-Stalin)
1944 US 121st Infantry regiment opens assault on Hurtgen
1945 Gen George C Marshall named special US envoy to China
1947 Joe DiMaggio wins his 3rd MVP, beating Ted Williams by 1 vote
1951 1st rocket to intercept an airplane, White Sands, NM
1957 Army withdraws from Little Rock AR, after Central HS integration
1954 Alger Hiss, convicted of being a Soviet spy, is freed after 44 months in prison.
1958 USSR abrogates Allied war-time agreements on control of Germany
1960 Gordie Howe becomes 1st NHLer to score 1,000 points
1960 Trailing 38-7 late in 3rd quarter, Buffalo Bills tie Broncos at 38-38
1961 Gordie Howe becomes 1st to play in 1,000 NHL games
1965 1st French satellite launched, France becomes 3rd nation in space
1966 In highest-scoring NFL game, Wash Redskins defeat NY Giants 72-41
1967 Beatles release "Magical Mystery Tour"
1967 Gold pool nations pledge support of $35 per ounce gold price
1967 Charles DeGaulle vetoes Great Britain's entry into the Common Market again.
1970 George Harrison releases 3 album set "All Things Must Pass"
1970 Pope Paul VI wounded in chest during a visit to Philippines by a dagger-wielding Bolivian painter disguised as a priest
1971 Soviet Mars 2 becomes 1st spacecraft to crash land on Mars
1972 Yanks trade Ellis, Torres & Spikes to Indians for Nettles & Moses
1973 Senate votes 92-3 to confirm Gerald R Ford as VP
1980 Soyuz T-3 carries 3 cosmonauts to Salyut 6 space station, launched
1985 Republic of Ireland gains consultative role in Northern Ireland
1990 Britain's conservatives chose John Major to succeed Margaret Thatcher
1991 Undertaker beats Hulk Hogan to become new WWF champ
2000 A day after George W. Bush was certified the winner of Florida's presidential vote, Al Gore laid out his case for letting the courts settle the nation's long-count election.
2001 Afghan factions met in Bonn, Germany, and agreed to give former King Mohammad Zahir Shah a role in a new Afghan government. 4 factions included 11 delegates from the Northern Alliance, 11 from the Rome Group, 3 from exiles in Cyprus, and 3 from exiles in Pakistan.
2002 Daniel Baraniuk (27) from Gdansk, Poland, set a new pole-sitting world record, coming down from his perch in a German fun park after 196 days and nights.
2003 Pres. Bush flew to Iraq under extraordinary secrecy and security to spend Thanksgiving with US troops.
2004 Ukraine's parliament declared invalid the disputed presidential election that triggered a week of growing street protests and legal maneuvers, raising the possibility that a new vote could be held.

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Paraguay : Flag Day
Burma : National Day
Cuba : Martyrs' Day
Israel : Weizmann Day
Mass : John F Kennedy Day (1963) (Sunday)
Bern Switzerland : Onion Market Day-autumn festival (Monday)
International Drum Month

Religious Observances
RC : Commemoration of the Miraculous Medal
RC : Amelberga, abbess to Susteren/patron of Temse

Religious History
1095 In France, Pope Urban II solemnly proclaimed the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont. Urban's twin_purpose was to relieve the pressure by the Seljuk Turks on the Eastern Roman Empire, and to secure free access to Jerusalem for Christian pilgrims.
1755 Land for the first Jewish settlement in America was purchased by Joseph Salvador, who bought 10,000 acres near Fort Ninety_Six, in the southern part of the Carolina Colony.
1862 Birth of Adelaide Pollard, Presbyterian hymnwriter. Plagued with frail health most of her life, she lived the life of a mystic. Of the several hymns she penned, "Have Thine Own Way, Lord" is still popular today.
1950 American missionary martyr Jim Elliot wrote in his journal: 'What gets me into the Kingdom, from Christ's own statement, is not saying "Lord, Lord," but acting "Lord, Lord."'
1953 English Christian apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter: 'Anxiety is not only a pain which we must ask God to assuage but also a weakness we must ask Him to pardon __ for He's told us to take no care for the morrow.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

S.C. Cemetery Offers Annual Holiday Deal

Nov 26, 9:36 PM (ET)

GREENWOOD, S.C. (AP) - It's that time of year for the annual holiday special at Greenwood Memorial Gardens & Mausoleum - half price on a cemetery plot and deals on vaults and markers.
For years, the cemetery has advertised the special on U.S. 25.
"This is our way of trying to help families out during the holidays," Manager Gary Blythe said. "A lot of our customers look forward to this time of year."

Blythe said he isn't sure if anyone has actually given a spot in the cemetery or a grave marker as a Christmas gift, but business often increases once the sale starts. "Half off of a cemetery space is a good bargain," Blythe said.
Reaction to the sign advertising the sale is mixed. Some think it's a great idea, while others find it a bit odd, Blythe said.

Thought for the day :
"Whatever your advice, make it brief."
Quintus Horatius Flaccus Horace

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