Free Republic

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va(Aug. 22, 2005) -- Throughout the annals of Marine Corps history, inspired quotations have framed the heroics of great Marines, transforming passing moments into epic legends to be forever retold and celebrated by the generations of warriors who follow. Never to be forgotten is the rallying cry of Gunnery Sgt. Dan Daly at the Battle of Belleau Wood, France, on June 4, 1918: “Come on you son’s of bitches! Do you want to live forever?” [snip] So too will a contemporary Marine be remembered, not only for his extraordinary act of courage and composure under...

The Tohono O'odham Nation is grieving the death of a 20-year-old tribal member killed in action in Iraq. Pfc. Seferino Reyna, an Army combat engineer and father of two, died Sunday when his vehicle was hit by a homemade bomb near Taji, about 20 miles northwest of Baghdad. "This is a tragic loss for the Reyna family, and the entire Tohono O'odham Nation mourns," said Vivian Juan-Saunders, chairwoman of the nation. Reyna was the first O'odham member killed in Iraq. He is the 21st service member of American Indian or native Alaskan descent to die in Iraq or Afghanistan, according...

Special operations forces eye terrorists By Rowan Scarborough THE WASHINGTON TIMES August 12, 2005 U.S. Special Operations Command has drafted a war plan that sets up procedures for how its commandos will work with other regional commands across the globe to hunt for senior Islamic terrorists. The complex plan from SoCom in Tampa, Fla., has been in the works since summer 2002, when Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signed a secret directive authorizing it. His memo directed SoCom to come up with a plan for dispatching special operations forces on quick notice to virtually any spot in the world to...

HIT, Iraq (August 5, 2005) -- Marines with 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment have a new weapon in the war against terrorism and it is simple, effective and voluntary. The tip lines provided by Regimental Combat Team-2 allows citizens here and in surrounding communities to assist in the fight to make their city safe and secure while remaining anonymous and safe from reprisal from insurgents. Since March, a tip line was provided for the Hadithah area, which proved ineffective and unsecure. Two new lines were installed a few weeks ago and are ringing off the hook. “We have been advertising...

CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq (August 5, 2005) -- During basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., Joanna Lael Baker met her nemesis as she stood atop of the rappel tower and peered down at her certain doom. Her fear of heights was being challenged in a finale that meant the difference between her passing the test with the other recruits and falling back in training. She took a deep breath, grabbed the rope and jumped 40 feet down – stopping short just a few feet from the woodchips. Lance Cpl. Baker finally conquered her fear...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (August 5, 2005) -- Coming to Iraq, the Marines of Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment knew they would be fighting as ‘street cops’ on the roads. The job includes locating hidden bombs before the enemy could use them against the Marines, Iraqi Security Forces and civilians. Their most recent find on a combat patrol brought their total number of bombs found to nearly 200. Over the past six months, they have maintained a ratio of three found to one detonated. “We are successful at this because we are outsmarting them and they’re very predictable,” explained...

New York (July 29, 2005) -- Marines from 6th Communication Battalion joined officers of the 101st and 75th precincts of the New York Police Department in teaching children about leadership and drug awareness through the Drug Education For Youth (DEFY) program held at Floyd Bennett Field, recently. The Marines ran the program from July 5 to July 15. The program, which focuses on building the self-esteem of inner city children ages nine through 13, was created to help the children resist the temptation of drugs and gangs. During the program, groups of children from Far Rockaway and East Brooklyn participated...

In battle, one of the hardest challenges is saving the wounded. Medical professionals encounter injuries not normally seen in peacetime, and many times see multiple life-threatening injures requiring immediate treatment on the battlefield. Another problem is moving patients across hot desert sands on bumpy roads in Iraq, which can be logistically challenging and uncomfortable for the patient. And there is always the danger of roadside bombs. To solve these problems, military aeromedical planners developed what is now an efficient medical evacuation system that moves patients from where they were injured to definitive care quickly and safely. Along the way, patients...

BALAD, Iraq, July 29, 2005 – Bernd and Virginia Zoller are two full-time Army Reserve officers with a lot in common, pulling military duty in an uncommon place. First off, the Zollers share the same rank -- lieutenant colonel -- and both are public affairs officers. "We were promoted together here on Dec. 24 in this room," Lt. Col. Virginia Zoller said during a July 27 interview with American Forces Press Service here. And the pair has the same last name, because they're a couple. The Zollers will celebrate their first year of marriage Aug. 29. Virginia, 42, acknowledged she...

BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Each MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle mission flown in the Iraqi sky begins and ends here. Predator operators deployed here put the aircraft in the air and make sure it lands safely. Sitting side by side in the “cockpit,” enlisted Airmen and officers work as a team providing top cover to Soldiers on the ground. Pilots and sensor operators with the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron here each play a key role in the successful Predator mission. While technology allows pilots to control the aircraft from the U.S., Predator takeoffs and landings must be controlled...

FORT DIX, N.J. (AFPN) -- C-5 Galaxy aircrews must tape over some white lights in the cockpit of their huge aircraft before missions into a “blacked out” environment when they must use night vision goggles. Sometimes crews use flashlights or even pull circuit breakers and light bulbs for other light systems to minimize the visual “wash out” effects lights have on their sensitive goggles. Then Air Mobility Battlelab innovators here came up with a solution. This week, command officials at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., approved use of the C-5 Aviator Night Vision Lighting system. This is a portable “clip-on”...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (July 29, 2005) -- The average day of a Marine deployed to a combat zone is filled with dangerous situations. Marines prepare on a daily basis to ensure that each situation is handled skillfully and diligently. Today’s Marines face tough and unexpected situations on a daily basis in combat zones throughout the world in the Global War on Terrorism. Staff Sgt. John M. Kennedy of Junction City, Ohio, was awarded the Purple Heart medal here, July 25, for wounds received while deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom with 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion,...

Turn on your audio and set back on watch this. This is about a real American hero, Captain Brian Chontosh, USMC. Unfortunately our biased news media doesn't cover items like this.

TAHOUA, Niger — Heat exhaustion, dehydration, diarrhea. “Stuff” happens when soldiers spend days in 120-degree desert heat in Third World conditions. That’s one reason soldiers from the 160th Forward Surgical Team were brought to Niger for Flintlock 05. There might still be dust from Iraq on their medical tent, one said, because that stuff is hard to get out. But inside it’s nearly as clean as a hospital. One week into their mission in Niger, the doctors and medics of the 160th FST had treated three cases of heat- or food-related misfortune. Flintlock 05 is a monthlong training exercise for...

<p>KARABILAH, Iraq — U.S. Marines and Iraqi forces battled insurgents on two fronts Saturday in a restive western province, killing about 50 militants in a dusty frontier town in the military's latest campaign to stop foreign fighters infiltrating from neighboring Syria (search).</p>

Marines train with troops from four other nations in Poland By Russ Rizzo, Stars and Stripes European edition, Friday, June 17, 2005 STUTTGART, Germany — For old-timers, it was a sign of the times. Infantry soldiers from Russia and Germany stormed the beaches of Poland, guns in hand, to keep the peace. U.S. Marines and their equivalents from four other countries practiced a beach landing and peacekeeping operations on the northern coast of Poland this week as part of the 33rd annual Baltic Operations maritime training program. Once on land in Ustka, Poland, the nearly 500 troops from the United...

Sergeant, 23, Is First Woman Awarded Silver Star Since World War IIBy John J. Lumpkin Associated Press Writer Published: Jun 16, 2005 WASHINGTON (AP) - A 23-year-old sergeant with the Kentucky National Guard on Thursday became the first female soldier to receive the Silver Star - the nation's third-highest medal for valor - since World War II. Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, who is from Nashville, Tenn., but serves in a Kentucky unit, received the award for gallantry during a March 20 insurgent ambush on a convoy in Iraq. Two men from her unit, the 617th Military Police Company of Richmond,...

BAGHDAD , Iraq – Task Force Baghdad Soldiers provided medical treatment for two Iraqi children injured when a roadside improvised explosive device exploded in northwest Baghdad May 27. The children were hurt when a bomb targeting the Soldiers' patrol detonated prematurely near an Iraqi vehicle. The Soldiers tended to the children's injuries and sent them on their way. While the medics were helping the children, an Iraqi man brought his 4-year-old daughter to Soldiers providing security at the site. The little girl was bleeding from shrapnel wounds. The girl's father told the Soldiers his daughter had been playing with some...

Long lists of soldiers killed in wartime can have great emotional power, as anyone who has been to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington can attest. However dignified and moving, though, in the end such a listing can really describe them only as a group: They wore the uniform and died in the service of their country. But who they were individually, how they served, what they left behind — that is more than a catalogue of names can convey. So here is the story behind just one of the names ''Nightline" will enumerate on Memorial Day: Sergeant Rafael Peralta...