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thedrifter
07-15-04, 07:22 AM
Iraqi translator's service to Coalition comes at high cost
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 200471555456
Story by Cpl. Veronika R. Tuskowski



AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq(July 11, 2004) -- Sally's children were taken away from her more than six months ago. Her husband beat her. Her brother threatened her life while holding a gun to her head. Her own father contracted her death with a $5,000 reward.

Sally, an Iraqi translator working with Coalition Forces, lost everything by working to help Americans rebuild Iraq. Still, she feels her service with Americans is the right thing for her country

"I lost everything I have, but I have gained so much," Sally said. "If I had to do it over again I would. I help the Americans, help my people."

Sally masks her real identity. She agreed to be interviewed on the condition her location and identity remained hidden. She is still a wanted woman with a price on her head.

Sally, 28, was born in Baghdad to a wealthy family. Her Turkish Christian mother died giving birth to her. Her Muslim father is from Fallujah had ties in Iraqi oil. She wanted for little as a child, even under the repressive regime of Saddam Hussein.

Her father had another wife who raised Sally as her own child.

She was educated at a private Catholic school from the age of five until she was 12, learning English and several other languages. She grew up with a cross-cultural experience unknown to most Iraqis.

"Since my mother was Christian, and my father was Muslim, I studied the bible during the week and went the Mosque every Friday to study the Koran," Sally explained.

Still, there was a parochial and detached feeling to her formative years. She visited her family on the weekends and one month of the year. When she did visit her family, Sally explained that women had little power and could not make any choices of her own.

"My father... I can't even eat at the same table and eat with him," she said. "I must always say yes to everything."

The day she graduated from her Catholic school her father told her something that would change her life.

"I was thirteen years old," Sally said. "I will never forget this... he sits beside me and says, 'Honey, you must marry.'"

Three days later she was married to her fathers' friend, 27-years her senior.

"He wasn't mean at first, and he wasn't nice," she said. "He looked like my father."

She gave birth to her first son at 14 and continued studying engineering in Baghdad. Her family grew over the years to include three more children. It was a life not unlike many for Iraqi women.

"I liked my husband because he let me go to school," she said. "I was a child, I didn't know any better. All my life I was with one guy and I didn't know if he was good, I didn't know if he was bad. He was the only thing I knew. He taught me what to think."

Sally's family did not like Americans and when rumors of a war began circulating last year, her family decided to leave for Turkey.

Still, Sally stayed.

"I love my home," she explained. "I told them I would never leave and they left without me."

Early one morning when the war started, she heard yelling outside her home. Americans in a humvee were talking to one of her neighbors.

"They were speaking English and trying to talk to a man," she said. "They were going to arrest him. So I went outside to help him and talked to the Americans for the man. The Americans were very appreciative and asked me for a job. I told them they know where I live if they ever need my help."

She thought being a translator would be a great way to help out her country. She took an English test and was accepted to become a translator.

Sally's decision, though, was unpopular with her Iraqi neighbors.

"My neighbors found out that I was helping the Americans and they beat my children," she said. "They threw rocks at my daughter and broke both arms on my son. They told me to watch out or I will be killed."

It wasn't just her neighbors who harbored hatred for Sally's assistance to the Coalition. Her family was infuriated.

"When my family came home from Turkey and found out, they told me to that I would be killed," she said. "They called me horrible names like '*****' and '*****.' My brother put a pistol to my head and threatened to kill me."

She lived only because her mother intervened. But it wasn't a measure of love, but family honor.

"My mother stopped him by saying, she is not your real sister, and it's not your honor to kill her," she recalled. "She is not even my daughter, her real mother died when she was born."

Sally fled her home and took residence with her husband and children in Baghdad's Green Zone. She continued to help the Americans, translating at checkpoints.

Her family began looking for her to kill her for betraying them.

"While I was at work, my brother found my husband and told him that I will kill your wife if I find out she is working with the Coalition Forces," she said. "He lied for me and told them that I was not."

Her life continued to crumble. She found her car missing and asked her husband if he knew what happened

"I asked him about it and he said someone stole it," Sally said. "I could not believe it. I asked who would steal? The Americans? The Green Zone was such a safe neighborhood. There was nowhere for it to go."

Her husband became enraged. He flew into a tirade

"He messed up my face and body," she said. "He had such an angry face."

The next morning he apologized to her and told her to go to work because I was going to be late. Her face was beaten, black and blue. She tried to hide her husband's crime with sunglasses and a hat.

Still, her ruse didn't work. Another translator saw the marks.

"I lied and said I did it to myself," she said.

She then told him that her car was also stolen. Then her world fell apart.

"He said, 'your husband divorced you a month ago and took your car, your money and your apartment and gave it to your best friend because you are working with Americans,''' she recalled. "So I went back to my apartment and found my car in the garage and went inside."

continued..........

thedrifter
07-15-04, 07:22 AM
She found her best friend inside with her husband.

"I was so angry I yelled," she said. "I went crazy. I took my keys and took off."

She drove to a nearby restaurant and parked thinking about what just happened.

"I was sitting there in the parking lot and I saw him walking up to me," she said. "I was relieved I thought he was going to apologize. He told me to unroll the window."

When she did, he picked up a nearby rock and repeatedly hit her face. She awoke in a hospital two days later. An Army captain arrested her husband, but she insisted on finding him.

"I saw him cry," she said. "Iraqi men never cry. I was trying to get him out. I didn't care what anyone said."

She was warned to leave him in jail, that he would kill her. She insisted on his release.

"After 15 minutes of getting out the jail he beat me up and put me in his car and took me to the apartment and locked me in the bathroom for three-to-four days with no food," Sally said. "I begged for water. He said 'No, I am ashamed of you. You are an interpreter, that's why I divorced you.'"

Her husband threatened to tell her family where she was, sealing her death sentence.

She escaped only because of her oldest son.

"My older son, who is 13, opened the bathroom door and said, 'Mom you need to run away,'" she recalled. "You cannot stay here. They will kill you. Mom, they will kill you!"

Sally said she did not want to leave her children behind.

"He pushed me out the door and I ran," she said. "I don't know where, but I ran."

She left with nothing but the clothes she was wearing, a picture of her kids and a stuffed tiger her son slept with at night. It was the last time she saw her children.

She returned to work with Coalition Forces.

Master Sgt. Tim D. Curl remembers seeing her in the chow hall days after escaping.

"She was directed by her command to seek medical attention for her wounds," Curl said. "But instead she went to the chow hall. She got up to get something and all of a sudden she collapsed. The place when completely silent."

She spent three weeks recovering in a hospital.

When she returned to work, she opened up an e-mail from her friend to find out there was a price on her head. A poster was being distributed; $5,000 wanted dead or alive. It was offered by her father.

"He is trying to pay my friends for information on where I am," Sally said. "If I go to any Arab country, my father would find me."

Still, she doesn't fear the warrant.

"What can they take from me?" she asked. "I already have lost everything. I see the dead all the time. One of my best friends and three other interpreters were killed - beaten to death - by a knife because they were working with Coalition Forces."

Her commitment has earned praises from Marines.

"Sally risks her life to be here," Curl said. "Many translators we have here have had their lives threatened and their families' lives threatened. She goes on convoys, combat patrols, and they go through the same attacks we do."

Sally understands the risk, but still continues to work with Americans because of her love for the job.

"I love my job, I am helping out my people," she explained. "I am doing something for my country. This is the first time in my life I choose what I want in my life. My father would never let me choose. Now I am fighting for what I believe in."

Her family now is the circle of Marines and soldiers with whom she works. She hasn't heard from her children, but believes they are still with their father. Her worry gnaws at her.

"I can't sleep because I think well maybe my kids are tired," Sally said. "Why should I be able to sleep? I can't eat because I think maybe somewhere my kids are hungry. I can't enjoy a nice hot shower because I think maybe they are dirty. I can't laugh because maybe my kids are sad."

Sally hopes for a better future, possibly in the United States. She's had offers to help her get settled. She's got a passport and recommendations, but no visa. She even aspires to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces.

"The Army taught me how to march, how to shoot a pistol and martial arts," she said. "I want to live in America. I want to become a lieutenant for the Army. I want to go airborne."

The risks of military service, she said, are already known.

"Us translators, we are at great risks," Sally explained. "We just want help. I will go to America. I will still work for the military. I just want this chance."

However, she hasn't forsaken her commitment to her children.

"If I do get to go to America, I promise I will make it back," she said. "It might take me 10 years, but I will be back to find my kids."

For now, though, Sally continues her work, serving as the link between Marines and Iraqis, bridging communication and cultural gaps, even as she seeks to heal her own life's wounds.

"You (soldiers and Marines) come from America to help my country," Sally said. "I must help you help my people. I see these soldiers that lose their lives for Iraqis. They come into our country and die for us. We must appreciate these guys. I appreciate the Army and Marines. I love them."

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200471555814/$file/sally1lr.jpg

Sally, serving as a translator for Coalition Forces, holds up an coin she recieved from the commander of the unit she serves. The 28-year-old was born in Baghdad and has been working with the Coalition since last year. A price on her head was levied by her family for cooperating with U.S. forces.
(USMC Photo by Cpl. Veronika R. Tuskowski) Photo by: Cpl. Veronika R. Tuskowski

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/EF3C73644B5E6C0985256ED2003677EE?opendocument


Ellie

thedrifter
07-15-04, 07:24 AM
Tongan Marines join U.S. Marines in Iraq
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 200471553640
Story by Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald



CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, Iraq(July 13, 2004) -- U.S. Marines here with 1st Marine Division recently welcomed "friendly islanders" from Tonga with a warm "malo e leielei."

Forty-five Tongan Royal Marines traveled from their tiny South Pacific island in order to support the division's security and stabilization mission in Iraq. They arrived earlier this month and are currently planning to stay for a six-month tour before heading home.

This trip marks the first peacekeeping deployment for the Tongan Defense Service outside of the South Pacific.

"All of my men volunteered to come to Iraq," said Tongan Capt. Maama Misi, platoon commander. "Our Marine Corps is very small and everyone wanted to come out here, but we could only bring a certain number."

The country of Tonga - the only monarchy in the Pacific - is four times the size of Washington D.C., and is home to about 110,000 residents. The Tongan Royal Marines Corps is made up of a few hundred people, so the group here makes up a large chunk of the defense force.

The Royal Marines who were selected hold a variety of billets. Most are infantrymen, but a few serve as mechanics, communications technicians and welders.

All of the Tongans make up part of the camp's guard force, responsible for providing internal and external security here.

"Since they got here, the Tongans have been doing the exact same duties as the U.S. Marines," explained Staff Sgt. Kenneth D. Douglas, sergeant of the guard. "They man the towers, rove around the camp and do escort duty. They work the same hours as us and sweat the same sweat."

Before arriving here, the Tongans spent the last year training for the mission.

"We trained for a long time before leaving Tonga," Misi explained. "We focused on conventional warfare - things every Marine knows."

Misi's men learned the intricacies of urban warfare, combat patrols, convoy security and entry control point operations.

They also spent some time in Hawaii for an exercise with U.S. Marines.

Upon arriving to the Middle East, the Royal Marines received training from U.S. Marines in Kuwait. They learned weapons handling procedures and immediate action drills.

"This is new for us," Misi said. "We've trained to do these missions, but this is the first time we've done them in a real combat environment."

Tongan Cpl. Jili Paama said he volunteered to come to Iraq despite the dangers because he wanted to support the Coalition while it helps to bring peace and security to the war-torn country.

This is his second time working with American Marines.

"I think we all wanted to come to help the U.S. Marines," Paama said. "I always enjoy working with them."

Both Misi and Paama described the U.S. Marines as friendly and helpful.

"They've really supported us well and made us feel welcome," Paama explained. "I've made quite a few friends already."

Still, the language barrier has proven to be an obstacle for both Marine forces. Although most of the Tongans understand English, some are not as fluent as others.

"Some of us speak English very well and others can understand what is said but have a hard time speaking English," Misi explained. "We try to get those men to communicate with the U.S. Marines as much as possible to improve their communication skills."

For the most part, Douglas said all of the Marines seem to be adjusting well even if they don't always understand each other.

"The Marines have been talking to one another and getting to know each other," he said. "That definitely has helped to break any language barrier. I think they've found that they have the same habits, the same likes and that they're really not that much different."

He praised the Tongans for volunteering to support the 1st Marine Division.

"They've performed very well so far," Douglas added. "Everything we've asked them to do they've done. They're very attentive and take their jobs seriously."

Misi has few goals for his men during their deployment here.

"I want my Marines to stay alive and gain as much experience as they can," he said.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200471553920/$file/tongans1lr.jpg

Tongan Royal Marine Pvt. Paula Tatafu helps provide security in one of the perimeter towers at Camp Blue Diamond. Tatafu is one of 45 Tongan Royal Marines who arrived here earlier this month to assist is guard duties here.
(USMC photo by Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald) Photo by: Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/6BB4C7D65319F07C85256ED20034CBAF?opendocument


Ellie

thedrifter
07-15-04, 07:24 AM
600 Marines to return home Thursday

By: Staff reports

CAMP PENDLETON ---- About 600 local Marines and sailors will return to Camp Pendleton Thursday after more than seven months in Iraq. The troops are part of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, a unit that participated in some of the most intense fighting in and around Fallujah, according to the base.

The battalion will return with at least a dozen fewer Marines than it had when it left, according to Department of Defense casualty reports.

Several of the battalion's Marines were killed during heavy fighting in March and April. Most were killed by enemy fire, according to the department. One was found dead in a canal. The casualties ranged in age from 19 to 30, and were from all over the United States.


The unit was diverted from a routine deployment in Okinawa, Japan, in March to help support combat operations around Fallujah ---- a volatile city in the Al Anbar province, where fighting erupted this spring.

Troops are scheduled to reunite with their families and loved ones this morning at Camp Horno on the base.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/07/15/military/20_44_287_14_04.txt


Ellie

thedrifter
07-15-04, 07:25 AM
U.S. Marine who vanished in Iraq leaves hospital in Germany, happy to be going home

By: DAVID RISING - Associated Press

BERLIN -- A U.S. Marine who disappeared in Iraq and turned up in Lebanon nearly three weeks later said he was excited to be going home, but his return trip was unexpectedly delayed at the last minute, military officials said Wednesday.

Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun left the U.S. military hospital at Landstuhl on Wednesday and had been expected to be flown home the same day from Ramstein Air Base. Instead, his departure was postponed until Thursday, without explanation.

But Ramstein spokeswoman Darlene Cowsert later said his departure was postponed and she had no explanation. "Missions change," she said.


Earlier, Hassoun made his first public comments since vanishing June 20 from his base near the troubled city of Fallujah. He reappeared July 8 at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, and it remains unclear how he made the 500-mile journey.

Hassoun said he was happy to have completed his debriefing by specialists, according to a statement read to The Associated Press by hospital spokeswoman Marie Shaw.

"The people here at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center have treated me very well, but I am excited to be going home," Hassoun said.

Hassoun, who has dual Lebanese and U.S. citizenship and worked as a translator in Iraq, has relatives in Utah.

"All thanks and praises are due to God for my safety," he said. "I am also very thankful for all the kind wishes, support and praise for me and my family from my fellow Marines, all the people in the United States, Lebanon and around the world.

"I am in good health and spirits. I look forward to my return home to friends and family."

He signed the statement "Semper Fidelis," the Marine Corps motto meaning "always faithful."

During the three weeks he was missing, various conflicting reports emerged about him -- first that he was kidnapped and beheaded, then that he was alive.

He made no mention of his ordeal in his statement.

Hassoun's so-called "survival, evasion, resistance and escape" debriefing at Landstuhl was tailored to help U.S. military specialists learn any lessons about his ordeal that could help others who find themselves in similar situations.

Hassoun was originally scheduled to be brought to the Marine base at Quantico, Va., where his repatriation would continue to be handled by officials of the Pentagon's Joint Personnel Recovery Agency, said Marine Corps spokesman Dan McSweeney at the Pentagon.

The U.S. Navy has said it is investigating whether the entire kidnapping might have been a hoax, but the Naval Criminal Investigation Service is not expected to question Hassoun until his repatriation is complete, McSweeney said.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/07/15/military/21_36_097_14_04.txt


Ellie

thedrifter
07-15-04, 07:26 AM
MSSG-24 enhances MEU vehicle capabilities
Submitted by: 24th MEU
Story Identification #: 2004711144754
Story by Lance Cpl. Sarah A. Beavers



KUWAIT(July 11, 2004) -- With the enemy forces in Iraq constantly changing their tactics, some 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit Marines have been using their acclimatization time in Kuwait to make last minute preparations to their seven-ton trucks and humvees.

This is true for the leathernecks of MEU Service Support Group 24, the Combat Service Support Element for the 24th MEU, who have been making their vehicles combat-ready since arriving in Kuwait over the past few weeks.

"Right now we're modifying our vehicles, attaching "adams-bars", sandbags and outboard-facing benches to the Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement trucks" said 2nd Lt. Peter Bergstrom, 24, a Seneca, Ill., native and Motor Transportation
Platoon commander for Transportation Support Detachment.

"The "adams-bar" is a piece of metal mounted onto the front of the [truck] to protect [gunners] from possible decapitation," he added. "It has jagged edges to cut wire that [the enemy can hang] from overpasses."

They are also putting sandbags in the vehicles and installing outward facing benches in the bed of the 7-ton to give Marines an outward view of the area instead of facing the inside on the truck's benches.

MSSG-24 is also installing M-240G machine guns mounts into the backs of their humvees. These mounts allow the gunner to engage hostile forces from a vehicle not normally equipped with this capability

"The mount will give [a gunner] the ability to fire rounds in a 360 degree angle," said Lance Cpl. John Pontiff, 21, a Martinsville, Va., native and weapons custodian with Headquarters Detachment. "We're also installing a cargo strap for [the gunner] to lean against [for support].

Finally, the Marines are installing new door hinges on their humvees that offer more protection to the Marines during convoy operations in the rough terrain of Iraq.

"These hinges are used to hold the doors of the humvees more securely," said Lance Cpl. Jerry Schultz, 24, a Beach City, Ohio, native and welder with the Maintenance Detachment. "We started making these while we were still at Lejeune, so we used those as prototypes and brought materials to make more here."

Everyone within the MSSG is doing their part to ensure mission accomplishment, working through the blazing Kuwaiti heat with unwavering focus and determination to prepare for a successful deployment in Iraq.

"I keep my eyes on the mission," said Pontiff, "And try not to think about anything else."

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/2004711145450/$file/040710-M-1250B-004lores.jpg

Lance Cpl. Jerry Schultz, 24, a Beach City, Ohio native with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit reinforces the hinges on a humvee door to hold it closed more securely.
Schultz is a welder with maintenance detachment, MEU Service Support Group 24, the Combat Service Support Element for the 24th MEU.
The MEU has arrived in Kuwait to begin acclimatization and further training before departing for their destination in Iraq.
Photo by: Lance Cpl. Sarah A. Beavers

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/7C0D4ACB4213444785256ECE00674350?opendocument


Ellie

thedrifter
07-15-04, 09:31 AM
Savannah Morning News <br />
July 11, 2004 <br />
<br />
Army Training Emphasizes Rifle Marksmanship <br />
<br />
In Iraq, where troops patrol streets on foot and the next ambush could lurk around the corner, survival comes...

thedrifter
07-15-04, 10:27 AM
Inside the Navy
July 12, 2004

Some equipment gets heavy usage

General: Marines OK For Now, But Face Readiness Challenges Ahead

While the overall readiness of deployed Marine units remains good, the high
usage of aging equipment in rough environments such as Iraq represents a
future readiness challenge for the Marine Corps, according to Lt. Gen. Jan
Huly, the service's deputy commandant for plans, policies and operations.
In some cases, deployed Marines are using equipment at eight to 10 times the
normal rate, he told Inside the Navy, following a House Armed Services
Committee hearing July 7. That means for every month some equipment is used
in operations, it accrues the equivalent of eight to 10 months of age, he
said.

"We've got some pretty good readiness rates that are going on now," Huly
told ITN. "How long we're going to be able to keep this up, I don't know.
We're keeping a close eye on it."

Marines are deploying at "much higher tempos than at any other time in
recent memory," he told the committee. Ground equipment readiness rates in
theater are about 85 to 90 percent, with sufficient equipment there to
sustain the effort, he said. Aviation equipment readiness rates average
about 75 to 80 percent, depending on the type-model and series of the
aircraft, he added.

Some weapon systems being used in Iraq are approaching the end of their
service lives, according to Huly's written testimony. For example, the
Logistics Vehicle System (LVS) has a life expectancy of 20 years, but had an
average age of 18 years before Operation Iraqi Freedom began last year, he
wrote. There currently is no "hot" production line, and some vehicles have
been lost in combat, according to the testimony. In addition, the initial
fielding for the LVS replacement is scheduled for fiscal year 2009, he
added.

Service life extension and inspect-and-repair-only-as-necessary programs can
help the situation, but combat stress on equipment "is an area we are
studying closely, and a concern with which we will need your continued
support," according to Huly's prepared testimony to the committee.

The Marine Corps has developed a total life cycle management tool, which is
scheduled for completion this summer, to compile equipment usage rates and
costs from the operating forces, program managers and Marine Corps Logistics
Command, he wrote. The tool will produce a "comprehensive document" to help
assess the costs of the next troop rotations to Iraq and Afghanistan and
determine the most efficient ways to repair or replace equipment.

The Marine Corps also has formed the Strategic Equipment Working Group,
which will work with the operating forces to come up with overall sourcing
practices related to all the service's requirements and future operations in
Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the written testimony.

Marines' equipment in Iraq comes from what the units brought with them as
well as from the prepositioned stocks, Huly said at the hearing. The
resetting of Maritime Prepositioning Squadrons to pre-OIF status will take
time and could be affected by operations, according to his written
testimony. One squadron is completely reset and ready to respond to a
contingency. Several ships in a second squadron have been fully
reconstituted, but they have since been used to support deployments for OIF
II, he added. The time when all three prepositioning squadrons are
reconstituted will depend on equipment requirements for OIF III, Operation
Enduring Freedom VI, service-wide readiness, and the condition of equipment
that returns from OIF II.

"Reconstitution of our forces and Maritime Prepositioning Squadrons will be
a challenge for the foreseeable future," Huly said.
-- Jason Ma


Ellie

thedrifter
07-15-04, 11:42 AM
July 15, 2004

Hawaii Marines should anticipate Iraq deployment

By Laura Bailey
Times Staff Writer


While Marines in Hawaii have not been called for Iraq duty, they should expect to deploy there in the future, the commander of Pacific Marine forces said July 8. “If the Marines in Hawaii are disappointed they haven’t gone yet, they’ll get their chance,” Lt. Gen. Wallace C. Gregson said during a breakfast meeting with defense reporters in Washington, D.C.
He did not offer dates those Marines could expect to deploy except to say “everyone will get their chance before this is done.”

Leathernecks with the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 1st Marine Division and the Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based 2nd Marine Division have rotated in and out of Iraq since the war began, but the majority of the Hawaii-based 3rd Marines has remained in the Pacific doing Marine expeditionary unit work-ups, rotations to Okinawa, Japan, and other exercises.

Gregson said future deployments would not detract from U.S. commitments in the Pacific, such as yearly exercises in the Philippines and Thailand.

“If we have three Marines we’re going to do those exercises,” he said, adding that the exercises could be scaled down to company level if necessary.

The military’s involvement in Muslim Southeast Asian countries, where anti-U.S. sentiment is common, must be maintained, he said.

“It’s hugely important that we support all those countries that have moderate governments,” he said, referring specifically to Indonesia, which sits on the strategically important Straight of Malacca, one of the world’s key oil-transit chokepoints.

Gregson also addressed recent press reports about the possible relocation of some Marines from Okinawa to Japan’s mainland.

“The purpose of moving would be to enhance our ability to train with the Joint Self Defense Forces,” he said. He downplayed tensions between U.S. service members and the civilian population on Okinawa.

He was not involved in relocation discussions, however, and could offer no further details about which units could be moving where.

Also at the meeting, Gregson confirmed the Marine Corps’ stance on seven-month rotations in Iraq, which Pentagon leadership recently considered extending to 12 months.

He said seven months was the right amount of time to keep units fresh and cohesive.

“I think it’s safe to say we’ve made it pretty clear we prefer seven,” he said.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-292925-3088337.php


Ellie

thedrifter
07-15-04, 12:44 PM
MEU troops feel better with ammo <br />
July 15,2004 <br />
ERIC STEINKOPFF <br />
DAILY NEWS STAFF <br />
<br />
CAMP VIRGINIA, KUWAIT - Staff Sgt. Gabriel Marquez was busily handing out rifle and pistol rounds. One by one...

thedrifter
07-15-04, 01:02 PM
Time to apologize to Bush <br />
<br />
Earlier this week, Americans learned from the Senate Intelligence Committee (SIC) report that the Bush administration did not lie about or manipulate intelligence in the...

thedrifter
07-15-04, 03:00 PM
Saddam's captors take piece of him home to Texas




By T.A. Badger
ASSOCIATED PRESS
1:41 p.m. July 14, 2004

FORT HOOD, Texas – When Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq, a pair of monuments stood as symbols of his iron-fisted domination: towering bronze statues depicting a heroic Saddam as the mighty conqueror, on horseback, sword aloft.

But U.S. troops blew the statues off their pedestals after the invasion of Iraq, giving the soldiers who pulled Saddam out of his hiding hole a keepsake to bring home.

The 50-foot-tall statues were melted down and recast by a skilled Iraqi artist who turned them into a new memorial that depicts a GI mourning his fallen comrades while a young girl tries to console him.

The new statue, mounted on a black granite base, is the centerpiece of an Iraq war memorial being built outside the 4th Infantry Division's museum at Fort Hood in central Texas.

"It goes back to the old days when you would take your enemy's cannons and melt them down to make your statues," said retired Sgt. Maj. Chuck Fuss, who served in Iraq as the division's top enlisted man.

The memorial, to be dedicated in August, also includes a 5-foot-high wall that will bear plaques for each 4th Infantry soldier killed.

The museum plans to showcase other tributes from the Iraq war as well, including the suitcase Saddam used to store bundles of $100 bills before his capture by a detachment of 4th Infantry soldiers in December.

The museum also plans to get a head, arm and sword from one of the Saddam statues toppled in Tikrit. One of the defining images of the war occurred when jubilant Iraqis toppled a different Saddam monument – a 40-foot-tall statue in Baghdad.

Ceilia Stratton, curator of the museum, says the unfinished memorial is already attracting a lot of attention.

"It just amazes me how people just gravitate to that site – it's like a magnet," she said.

The soldier in the memorial kneels in front of a traditional Army display for a fallen fighter: an M-16 rifle pointing downward with a helmet resting on top and a pair of boots neatly positioned in front.

Standing behind the mourner is a small girl in a dress, holding a rose in her right hand and reaching out to pat the soldier's shoulder with her left hand.

"Everyone who saw it said that was the best thing we could have ever done," Fuss said. "We've seen grown men and women with tears in their eyes looking at it."

The man who shaped the statue was the same sculptor who had helped create the Saddam statues. Khalid Alussy, a small, wiry man in his late 20s from Tikrit, said he built the original statues despite being a Saddam opponent.

"I made the statues of Saddam, even though I didn't want to, because I needed the money for my family and to finish my education," he told the Wall Street Journal this year. "And I decided to make statues for the Americans for the exact same reasons."

The Internet is peppered with stories that Alussy worked for free as a token of his gratitude to U.S. troops. But Fuss says the artist's real incentive was a hefty payday. Originally the sculptor agreed to $8,000, but by the time the little girl was added the cost was up to $22,000, Fuss said. The memorial was paid for primarily through donations from soldiers.

"He was a nice man, but he didn't do this out of the kindness of his heart," Fuss said. "We found him, we hired him and he raised the price on us three times."

Efforts by The Associated Press to reach Alussy by e-mail this week were not successful.

Larry Polley Sr., whose son Larry Jr. was a 4th Infantry soldier killed in January, said the memorial is a fitting tribute to those who did not return from the war.

"They deserve that," he said Wednesday from his home in Center, Texas. "They lost their lives and I feel like they should never be forgotten about."

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040714-1341-saddamstatues.html


Ellie

thedrifter
07-15-04, 04:22 PM
2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment remembers four killed in Ar Ramadi
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 20047125856
Story by Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald



CAMP COMBAT OUTPOST, Iraq(July 10, 2004) -- The circumstances behind the deaths of Cpl. Tommy L. Parker and Lance Cpls. Pedro Contreras, Juan Lopez and Deshon E. Otey remain a mystery, but Marines with 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment had the opportunity to say goodbye to their fallen comrades July 9.

The four Company E infantrymen were manning an observation post in Ar Ramadi June 21. When the Marines failed to make contact with their higher headquarters, a quick reaction force was sent to the post to check on the team. The QRF found the Marines, each having been shot repeatedly.

"We gather here today to remember four comrades who fought valiantly in combat against an enemy who has given us no order," said Lt. Col. Paul Kennedy, battalion commander. "In one absolutely inhumane act, these men were taken from our lives forever."

According to Capt. Kelly D. Royer, commander of Company E, the four Marines had fought and survived some of the battalion's most ferocious engagements.

During intense gun battles with insurgents in early April, each of the infantrymen "fought like warriors."

One example of these Marines' bravery occurred April 6.

In the mid-day hours, Otey and his squad were battling enemy combatants from their humvee.

Otey, of Radcliff, Ky., jumped out of the vehicle and urged the other Marines to do the same. He sought cover behind a wall several meters from the vehicle. After reinforcements arrived and the fighting subsided, Otey returned to his humvee to find all of the other passengers dead.

Still, the loss did not deter the 24-year-old Marine. He returned to the streets of Ar Ramadi to rid Iraq of anti-Iraqi fighters.

"We must reflect on the lives and sacrifices made by these men," Royer added. "They fought since the day they arrived and they fought hard. Never forget them and the courage they displayed. They were fine warriors."

During the ceremony, commanders and friends spoke about the experiences they had with each of the fallen Marines.

Contreras' and Lopez's platoon commander, 1st Lt. Vincent S. Valdes, recalled his Marines.

He described 22-year-old Lopez, of Dalton, Ga., as a quiet person who kept to himself. Lopez, a native of Mexico, was hoping to become an American citizen upon returning from Iraq.

"Contreras was a proud Texan," Valdes said. "He had a contagious smile, and you always knew he was in the room because he was always yelling."

After leaving the Marine Corps, 27-year-old Contreras was planning to enter the world of law enforcement.

Parker, who trained to be a sniper, was a father and husband who grew up in Heber Springs, Ark.

Those who knew him described him as "fit, trim and carried himself as an upright Marine." Parker, 21, was planning to make the Marine Corps a career. He loved muscle cars and his family.

Kennedy said each of the Marines would be missed.

"I know they're up there as guardians," Kennedy said. "They're watching over all of you making sure you're maintaining the principles of duty and discipline. This is a time to honor their service to the Marine Corps and their comrades."


http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200471251111/$file/ceremony1lr.jpg

Cpl. Robert J. Hernandez, of 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, says goodbye to Cpl. Tommy L. Parker and Lance Cpls. Pedro Contreras, Juan Lopez and Deshon E. Otey during a ceremony at Camp Combat Outpost July 9. The four Marines from Company E were killed June 21 while conducting combat operations in Ar Ramadi.
(USMC photo by Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald) Photo by: Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/A9058A1E804C5AD685256ECF003241C0?opendocument


Ellie

thedrifter
07-15-04, 06:19 PM
Headless Corpse in Orange Jumpsuit Found in Iraq

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A headless corpse dressed in an orange jumpsuit has been found by Iraqi police in the Tigris river and handed over to U.S. forces, but it has not yet been identified, a U.S. military spokeswoman said on Thursday.
She said it was not known whether the body was that of a Bulgarian hostage killed by his captors earlier this week. A deadline for the threatened execution of a second Bulgarian hostage passed last night without news. The body was found near Baiji, 110 miles north of Baghdad, on Wednesday night. "The body had been decapitated. It was dressed in an orange jumpsuit," the spokeswoman said.

Video tapes of foreign hostages in Iraq have often shown them wearing orange jumpsuits, which are typical of U.S. jails and associated around the world with images of Muslims detained at Guantanamo Bay.

A diplomat at the Bulgarian embassy in Baghdad said he was aware that a body had been discovered, but it was not known whether it was one of the captured Bulgarians. The fact the body was headless hindered identification, he said.

In Sofia, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy said the government had asked for an urgent investigation to identify the body. "At this moment we do not have a confirmation whether it is one of our compatriots," he told Bulgarian television.

Kidnappers linked to al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said a week ago they had captured Bulgarian truck drivers Georgi Lazov, 30, and Ivailo Kepov, 32, and would kill them unless U.S.-led forces released Iraqi prisoners.

Earlier this week Arabic satellite television station Al Jazeera said it had received a video tape showing the decapitation of one of the Bulgarians.

The two Bulgarians were transporting cars to the city of Mosul when they disappeared on June 27. Bulgaria said they were simple workers, not political people.

Bulgaria has held its ground on policy, saying its 470 troops in Iraq will stay as long as they are needed.

Several foreigners are missing in Iraq, including a Filipino driver and an Egyptian.

http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/415201|top|07-15-2004::13:27|reuters.html


Ellie

thedrifter
07-15-04, 07:25 PM
Thousands of Iraqis Demand Saddam's Execution <br />
By Mussab Al-Khairalla <br />
<br />
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Thousands of Iraqis marched through central Baghdad on Thursday demanding the execution of former...

thedrifter
07-15-04, 10:37 PM
Exclusive: Army surrenders to 'coward' GI <br />
By Mark Benjamin and Dan Olmsted <br />
United Press International <br />
Published 7/15/2004 5:53 PM <br />
<br />
<br />
WASHINGTON, July 15 (UPI) -- The Army has dropped all legal...