Free Republic

This Memorial Day, you could do much worse than remember John Basilone. Eighty years ago, the US military was grinding it out from one Japanese-held Pacific island to another in a brutal, costly campaign as gut-wrenching as any in American history. Basilone has an honored place in this story. Born in Buffalo and raised in New Jersey by his Italian-American parents, he enlisted in the Army in the 1930s as a teenager. Then, after a stint as a civilian, he signed up for the Marines in 1940. During the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, he almost single-handedly held off a...

It’s wasn’t the first Time and it won’t be the last Time. Showing an utter disregard for ethical journalism, the editors at Time twisted American patriotism into an ad for the green movement to promote “winning the war on global warming.” Green is the new red, white and blue we are told by editors who never liked the old red, white and blue. The magazine used the historic Iwo Jima flag raising photo as a global warming marketing gimmick for its April 28 issue. The flag the Marines were raising was replaced with a tree to equate the evils our...

A 100-year-old World War II veteran traveled from Bristol, Connecticut, to Iwo Jima to mark 80 years since the U.S. fought on the small Japanese island. Joseph Caminiti, a 100-year-old WWII veteran who still goes to the gym daily, joined U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, military officials, and families of those killed in the battle of Iwo Jima to visit the island for the combat’s 80-year anniversary, according to a report by WTNH. Caminiti is among the estimated three remaining living survivors of the battle of Iwo Jima, where the iconic photograph was captured of U.S. Marines raising the...

Looks like the Vice President is firing a .50 cal at 500 yards in the prone position.Love it! https://x.com/ericldaugh/status/1904975288988991723

But former colleagues of the terminated “G-men” say this narrative is backward. FBI officials, past and present, have marshaled significant evidence via whistleblower complaints and testimony indicating that several terminated leaders routinely used their offices for partisan purposes.

For years Marine Corps leaders have been calling for more amphibious ships to transport Marines and their warfighting equipment around the globe. But a recent government oversight report revealed what bad shape the Navy’s existing amphibious ships are in – and raised major concerns about challenges for the Marine Corps in fulfilling critical national security missions. Of the 32 amphibious warfare ships now in inventory, only half are in “satisfactory” shape, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released in December showed. Sixteen ships are classified in “poor material condition,” including five of the nine amphibious assault ships, the largest and...

Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne and 10th Mountain Divisions and a Stryker brigade from the 4th Infantry Division have been told they are next up. The Pentagon is sending about 1,000 soldiers and 500 Marines to the border, while soldiers in the 82nd Airborne and 10th Mountain divisions have been told they would be next. Military police and engineers from eight states are among the Army and Marine units the Pentagon is sending to the southern border this week while soldiers with the 82nd Airborne and 10th Mountain Divisions could join them soon, a U.S. official confirmed on Friday. The...

Are there any Marines on here that were on active duty in 1970? I'm having an online argument with someone who is an extreme braggart and bulls**tter. I tend to not believe a single thing he says. This wasn't the original discussion, but somehow he got to bragging he is a Marine that scored 500 points on his physical fitness test and didn't know anybody else who ever scored that high. I questioned that cause I know the current test has a max of 300 points. Well, he said his test was in 1970. Was wondering if any Marines on...

The country is being inundated with drones. These drones are mapping, and the government is concealing information. Most likely these are drones from China. Iran and Russia are too busy right now to do this. This is a massive coverup.

The MK22 Mod 0 can be changed to fire three different calibers.. U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command has achieved Fully Operational Capability (FOC) for the MRAD MK 22 Mod 0 Advanced Sniper Rifle (ASR) a year ahead of schedule. The MK 22 represents the culmination of Barrett’s dedication to innovation and collaboration with the Department of Defense. Originally developed through a Special Operations Command contract, the MK 22 transitioned to the Marine Corps via the “Special Operations Forces to service” process, with contracting led by the U.S. Army. The seamless interservice cooperation enabled the Marine Corps to achieve FOC a...

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ Marines Preparing To Do Marine Things! U.S. Marine Corps recruits with Fox Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, wait for instructions before a body sparring event at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California, Oct. 28, 2024. Recruits are taught Marine Corps Martial Arts Program techniques that instill basic self-defense that they will execute throughout recruit training during events like body sparring and pugil sticks to help build a warrior ethos and esprit de corps. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Sarah M. Grawcock) Canteen Mission StatementShowing support and...

The owner of the Los Angeles Times has fired his entire editorial board as he seeks to return the paper to its journalistic roots. Posting on the X platform, the paper’s owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong, said he was proud to have posted a letter opposing attacks on white women for voting for Donald Trump and that the paper would be undergoing some major changes moving forward: Proud that we posted this letter from one of our readers on X. When the President has won the vote of the majority of Americans then ALL voices must be heard. Opinions are just that

Oct. 26 falls on a Thursday this year. Ask the significance of the date, and you're likely to draw some puzzled looks — five more days to stock up for Halloween? It's a measure of men like Col. Mitchell Paige and Rear Adm. Willis A. "Ching Chong China" Lee that they wouldn't have had it any other way. What they did 58 years ago, they did precisely so their grandchildren could live in a land of peace and plenty. Whether we've properly safeguarded the freedoms they fought to leave us, may be a discussion best left for another day. Today...

Hershel 'Woody' Williams is 17 years old and lives on a dairy farm in Quiet Dell, West Virginia, with his mother and 11 siblings. War is coming; one, he is sure, that will take away America's freedoms and privileges. Marines wear snappy blue uniforms around town and Woody is impressed. If he's going to war, he's going as a Marine. But, at 17, he needs his mother's signature to enlist. Mom refuses to sign the papers. He turns 18 next October - if he wants to be a Marine, he's going to have to wait. December 7, 1941: Japan attacks...

Bullets whizzed by Cpl. Daniel “Duke” Heller as he rescued wounded Marines who’d been trapped in a North Vietnamese Army ambush in the A Shau Valley, Vietnam, on Feb. 13, 1969. Despite being wounded by shrapnel from an RPG, Heller pushed on. He received a Silver Star Medal for his actions that day, but his fellow Marines campaigned for years to see the award upgraded. Five-and-a-half decades later, that happened. On Wednesday, Heller received the Navy Cross, the second-highest valor award a Marine can receive. The 39th Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Eric Smith, pinned Heller’s Navy Cross to...

An FBI whistleblower has issued a chilling warning to the American people while testifying before U.S. Congress. Veteran FBI staff operations specialist Marcus Allen was called a witness during the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Weaponization of the Federal Government hearing on Wednesday. During a powerful and emotional statement to his fellow Americans, Allen urged “brothers and sisters of all faiths” to “pray” and stock up on food, water, guns, and ammunition. Fighting back tears, he also advised citizens to connect with “three to four friends in your neighborhood and promise to come to each other’s mutual aid.” Allen issued the...

The linked article is in Hebrew, and says that the target of Israel's bombing in Beirut today was Ibrahim Aqil, and that the operation was successful, i.e. he's dead. The Wall Street Journal has a story about the operation, here https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/hezbollah-hunts-for-security-gaps-moles-as-it-reels-from-brutal-week-14210631?mod=hp_lead_pos1 but doesn't identify Aqil as the target. Aqil was wanted by the US for his role in the murder of 300 Marines in Beirut. There was a $7 million reward posted for information about him.

Fox News' Alex Hogan provides details on two U.S. marines' condition following an attack in Turkey that resulted in 15 arrests. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., argues the attack is the result of weak leadership in the White House.

Coverage of the wars in Ukraine and Gaza is mostly dominated by talk of weapons. Reporters and analysts focus on suicide drones, on shell deficits, on targeting algorithms. But for all the attention devoted to modern weapons and munitions, both conflicts are proving that modern war still comes down to people.... ... Before Covid, fewer than 3 in 10 Americans in the prime recruiting demographic — ages 17 to 24 — were eligible to serve in uniform. Those numbers have shrunk further since the pandemic began. Only 23 percent of young Americans are qualified to enlist without a waiver.... In...

Up to 16,000 US Marines would by stationed in Australia's Top End by 2025 under a radical new defence plan. A report by two think tanks has called for the US military presence in Darwin to be beefed up to 16,000 US Marines as one of the cheapest and quickest ways for Australia to deter potential enemies. Currently 2,500 Marines are stationed at Robertson Barracks, Palmerston on a rotational basis ...