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Hero receives Silver Star for bravery Submitted by: MCB Camp Lejeune Story Identification #: 2004819103545 Story by Pfc. Lucian Friel MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (August 6, 2004) -- The scars on his arms were reminders of the sacrifice he made to save his fellow Marines lives amiss combat in Iraq, earning him the Marine Corps' third highest award. Gunnery Sgt. Timothy P. Haney, 39, a native of Clearfield, Pa., received the Silver Star Medal in a ceremony at the base theater August 6. The medal, designated solely for heroism in combat, was awarded to Haney for his distinct...

Corpsman Awarded Navy Cross Story Number: NNS040812-05 Release Date: 8/12/2004 3:54:00 PM By Raymond L. Applewhite, Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune Public Affairs and Photographer's Mate 1st Class (AW) Eric Schwab, Navy News Service NORTH CAROLINA (NNS) -- Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England presented the Navy Cross to Hospitalman Luis E. Fonseca Jr. in a ceremony held at Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune, N.C., Aug. 11. Fonseca, a 23-year-old corpsman, was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom March 23, 2003, while serving with Amphibious Assault Vehicle Platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines,...

Marine awarded Bronze StarSubmitted by: MCRD Parris IslandStory Identification Number: 2004359350Story by Lance Cpl. Brian Kester MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C.(March 5, 2004) -- The recruits of Platoon 1033 have a hero in their midst, a man who has achieved what some can only dream of achieving -- a Bronze Star for actions on the battlefield. The heroic efforts displayed by this Marine in battle are a direct result of a humble man who was only "out there doing the job." Sergeant Edward R. Ferguson, drill instructor with Platoon 1033, Alpha Company, 1st RTBn., was presented with the Bronze Star for...

<p>October 1, 2003 -- The Marines are looking for a few good ballrooms.</p> <p>Well, actually one will do.</p> <p>As long as it's in Manhattan, not overly expensive and available on the evening of Nov. 8 for the officers and men of Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 25th Regiment of the 4th Marine Division - late of Nasiriyah, Iraq, by way of Kuwait and Campe Lejeune.</p>

Families and friends greeted troops with tears and cheers Saturday as the last wave of Marines from Task Force Tarawa returned to their home base from Iraq. "I'm super blessed," said Gunnery Sgt. Bryant Davis, 36, of Atlanta, who let out three "Wooos!" after embracing his young nieces outside Camp Lejeune's barracks. Davis was one of 2,000 Marines aboard the USS Kearsarge, the last of the seven-ship Amphibious Task Force East that arrived on the North Carolina coast this past week. "It's a beautiful day to come to the United States of America," said Davis, an 18-year Marine veteran....

Story Number: NNS030515-07 Release Date: 5/15/2003 3:46:00 PM Click on graphic for high-resolution image 030131-N-1512S-020 At sea with USS Bataan (LHD 5) Jan. 31, 2003 -- The amphibious assault ship USS Bataan steams through the Mediterranean Sea as one of seven ships attached to Amphibious Task Force-East (ATF-E). The task force departed the east coast January 17 carrying the North Carolina-based 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade’s 7,000 Marines on an undisclosed mission. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Kenny Swartout. (RELEASED) ABOARD USS BATAAN, At Sea (NNS) -- Four and-a-half months ago when the order came to deploy to the...

As some Freepers may know, my grandson's Dad is a young Marine serving with Task Force Tarawa, and his Mom is soon to graduate from Army Basic Training. Tearful goodbyes were given to our young Marine back in January, and since then we've been scouring the internet for information on how he is doing (Freepers may recall my posts). Most anxious of all of us, naturally, has been his mother (my grandson's other grandma; for those of you getting confused, grandson's mother is my daughter). We were all very troubled when we heard that there were several Marines in his...

Release Number: 03-04-209RECONSTRUCTION EFFORT UNDERWAY IN IRAQ AL HILLAH, Iraq -- Various military units, federal agencies, non-governmental and volunteer organizations are descending upon major areas of southern Iraq in a far-reaching humanitarian and reconstruction effort. The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force currently oversees the entire southern region of Iraq. Three major commands are performing the grassroots civil affairs work within the force’s nine governates —1st Marine Division, Task Force Tarawa and 1st United Kingdom Armoured Division. The 1st Marine Division is assessing the infrastructure of An Najaf and Karbala. Approximately 70 percent of An Najaf has water, 33 percent of the...

WASHINGTON (AFP) Apr 24, 2003 Faced with resurgent Shiite political activism, US marines have begun patrolling stretches of the Iraqi border with Iran in order to screen border traffic for hostile infiltrators, the US military announced Wednesday. The Central Command said the patrols involve members of the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion attached to Task Force Tarawa and have been underway in northeastern Iraq since Monday. "The patrols were designed to maintain Iraqi territorial integrity and will simultaneously assist Iraqi expatriates to return home to their loved ones as well," the command said in a statement. The operation began amid...

Road trip to Babylon boosts troops' morale By DENNIS O'BRIEN, The Virginian-Pilot © April 23, 2003 Last updated: 3:30 AM Near the reconstructed arch of Ishtar, Navy chaplains and their escorts begin exploring ancient Babylon to gain perspective for their sermons. Photo by Dennis O'Brien / The Virginian-Pilot. More dispatches from Dennis O'Brien in Iraq BABYLON -- It wasn't the order Charlie Company had hoped for -- which would be ``You're going home'' -- but it beat spending another day camped outside Kut. The Marines were sent on a one-day road trip Tuesday, and what better place to visit...

NEAR KUT -- An idle mind being the devil's playground, Charlie Company's demons have had ample room to roam of late. After five days parked outside Kut awaiting orders, these men are going stir-crazy. Marines do not suffer inactivity well. At first, the downtime was welcome. Knowing their light-armored vehicles weren't rolling right away meant Marines could string rope between them to use as clothesline, and they did laundry. They took showers. They cleaned weapons. They built fires at night in the windswept desert. And despite orders to stay away from the roadside cigarette dealers, because those hawking smokes could...

IN THE PERSIAN GULF A taxi driver from Samawa thought he had escaped his house full of Iraqi soldiers — only to see a bullet hit his son and a speeding car strike down his daughter. A mother from Zubair let her son outside one calm morning after days of intense fighting — only to find that he got caught in rekindled crossfire. A lawyer tried to reunite his extended family in Nasiriyah — but instead saw his brother die and his wife and sister each lose part of a leg when their bus was attacked on the way. Even...

Marines Fuel Coalition Forces 6th ESB enters Corps history books with longest expeditionary fuel line Submitted by: 1st Force Service Support Group Story Identification Number: 200341814410 Story by Cpl. Jeff Hawk LOGISTICAL SUPPORT AREA VIPER, Iraq(April 18, 2003) -- A historic effort by Marine bulk fuelers here kept the coalition's "shock and awe" campaign from turning into "sputter and stall." Military planners tasked 6th Engineer Support Battalion, 4th Force Service Support Group, with fueling coalition forces surging forward during the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Deployed as a whole for the first time, the reserve bulk liquids-designated battalion assembled...

A Son at War As FOX News Live anchor David Asman has mentioned on air, his son is currently serving with the U.S. Marine Corps in Iraq. You (FOX Fans) have asked about his status, so we caught up with David to find out what he's heard from his son, Felipe. Here's what he had to say:

NEAR KUT, IRAQ -- Vaguely feminine and perfumed, the smell did not fit the Marines' mental index of recent aromas: gunpowder, camel, sewage, MREs, body odor. Yet the scent was immediately recognizable to even the most dust-caked nostrils: soap! One month and one day after their last brush with personal hygiene, the Marines of Charlie Company finally lathered up and washed off the war Thursday. To a man, they knew the date of their last shower: March 16. "It was real cold, but it felt unbelievable, to put shampoo in the hair and soap on the body," said Cpl. Franklin...

April 11, 2003 Far From the Battle, Marines Wait to Fight or to Go HomeBy MICHAEL WILSON ITH TASK FORCE TARAWA, near Qalat Sukkar, Iraq, April 10 — In Baghdad, a statue of Saddam Hussein toppled, and a crowd cheered. Here, a dusty lug nut fell from a Humvee wheel to the sand with a mute puff, and no one said much of anything as the marine began loosening the next one. If Baghdad is center stage of the war, this is the back lot. No happy crowds, no we-love-the-Americans chants, no roses. Just tires balder than the heads of...

AL SHOMALI, Iraq(April 7, 2003) -- The Marines of Task Force Tarawa visited the town of Al Shomali, Iraq to help the residents rebuild an elementary school that had been occupied by local members of Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party. The Camp Lejuene, N.C., leathernecks, deployed in support of the I Marine Expeditionary Force during Operation Iraqi Freedom, were greeted by the smiling, waving people they had liberated from a brutal Iraqi regime. Click on photos below for high-resolution image Caption: Children run after a Task Force Tarawa convoy. The Marines were leaving Al Shomali, Iraq after speaking with the local...

SOUTHEASTERN IRAQ -- The Marines of Charlie Company are just now discovering what this conflict is being called, and with all due respect to their commander in chief, they don't think much of the name. Operation Iraqi Freedom is not going to find its way into many tattoos on the bodies of Charlie Company. " `Desert Storm' sounded cool, and it wasn't even a war," said Pvt. Stephen Vasko, 21, of Charlotte, N.C. "Then we come in here and get in a real war with these people, and they call it `Operation Iraqi Freedom?' " And just why do the...

AMARAH, Iraq -- The Marines of Charlie Company did not sleep well Monday night. The next day's mission was their most serious yet -- a probable tank battle with an Iraqi armored division in this city on the Tigris River. That night and the next morning, many Marines talked openly about the possibility of dying. At dawn Tuesday, the company rolled out, a vanguard of a task force planning to attack the Iraqi tanks. But not much goes according to plan these days, and that's not always such a bad thing. When the convoy approached this alleged enemy stronghold, the...

WITH MARINE TASK FORCE TARAWA, west of Amara, Iraq, April 8 — If enemy troops decided to give up, but there was no opposing force to surrender to, did it really happen? A group of Marine battalions from Task Force Tarawa swung east today toward Amara, near the Iranian border, to confront the 10th Armored Division of the Iraqi Army and determine whether it intended to surrender. But on the initial approach to the city, there was no Iraqi division to be found. "Apparently the 10th Armored capitulated yesterday, but they didn't have anybody to capitulate to," Lt. Col. Glenn...