Free Republic

A MARINE AS SEEN BY . . . Himself:A handsome, buff, highly trained professional killer and female idol who carries a finely honed K-Bar, wears a crisp 8-point cammie cover and is always on time due to the absolute reliability of his Seiko digital watch. His Wife:A stinking, gross, foul mouthed lovable bum who arrives back at home every few months with a seabag full of dirty utilities, a huge Seiko watch, an oversized knife, a filthy hat and hornier then hell. Headquarters Marine Corps:A drunken, brawling, HMMWV-stealing, woman-corrupting "cumshaw artist" who wears a Seiko watch, an unauthorized K-Bar and...

My daughter is heading to OCS (Quantico,VA) for the USMC in October. Her grandfather (my dad) served in the USMC in the Pacific (WW2), Korea and Vietnam. He passed away 2 years ago. He was still a Marine on the day he died. When she completes OCS I am giving her the K-bar he had on Guadalcanal. My thoughts and admiration go out to all of our people serving in Iraq, but in my family we have a special place in our hearts for Leathernecks.

CORONADO -- The occupants of the multistory fortress perched at 13,000 feet in the Afghan mountains had no idea they were being watched. For several days in February, the people inside the suspected al-Qaida and Taliban stronghold were monitored by members of a U.S.-led special operations unit called Task Force K-Bar. They reluctantly emerged from the fortress at Ali Kheyl when helicopter gunships swooped overhead in the middle of the night and ordered them out. It was then the U.S. special operations troops breathed a sigh of relief: The operation revealed the occupants of the fortress included 56 children....